And they cast lots, ward against ward. — Rather, And they cast lots of charge, that is, for determining the order in which each of the twenty-four guilds, or classes, should take charge of the services. (Comp, the LXX., κλήρους ἐφημερίων, “lots of courses;” and see Luke 1:6.) Some Hebrew MSS. and the Targum repeat the word “ward” (mishmèreth, “charge”), whence the reading of the Authorised Version. The ancient versions omit the word altogether.
As well the small as the great. — Heb., exactly as the small (or, the younger), so the great (or, the elder). (Comp. the Vulg., “ex aequo tam major quam minor.”) But perhaps leummath is here used absolutely: “They cast lots in like manner” (1 Chronicles 24:31). The senior houses, or guilds, had no advantage over the juniors, the order of rotation being decided by lot. (Comp. 1 Chronicles 24:31.)
The teacher as the scholar. — Literally, cunning (1 Chronicles 25:7) with learner. According to 1 Chronicles 23:5, the whole number of Levites appointed for the service of song was 4,000. These were all included in the twenty-four classes, 288 of them being “cunning” men, that is, masters in their art, and the remaining 3,712 forming the rank and file of the choirs under the training of the proficients. The Aramaic word talmid (scholar) occurs nowhere else in the Old Testament. It is the term used of the disciples of the Rabbis in the Talmud, and is the exact equivalent of the New Testament word, μαθητής.