These were... chief men. — These were: chiefs of clans; according to their birth-rolls, chiefs. All the names from 1 Chronicles 8:14 to 1 Chronicles 8:27 are included in this summation. The repetition of the word “chiefs” (Heb., heads) is peculiar. The writer can hardly have meant other than to warn his readers against the idea that the preceding names represent individual members of single families, whereas, in truth, they are “heads of clans.” (“Heads” in Hebrew may denote “companies,” or “divisions,” as at Judges 7:16, “And he divided the three hundred men into three heads.”)
These dwelt in Jerusalem. — This statement contrasts the five branches of Benjamin, whose sub-divisions have just been enumerated, with the clans that dwelt in Geba and Manahath (1 Chronicles 8:6), in Moab (1 Chronicles 8:9-10), in Lod and Ono (1 Chronicles 8:12), and in Ajalon (1 Chronicles 8:13), as well as with those who dwelt in Gibeou. (1 Chronicles 8:29).