All these which were chosen to be porters in the gates (Heb., thresholds) were two hundred and twelve. — This seems to assign the number of warders at the epoch of which the chronicler, or, rather, his source, is writing. Nehemiah 11:19 makes the total of the porters one hundred and seventy-two. According to Ezra 2:42, one hundred and thirty-nine returned with Zerubbabel. Under David, the number of warders was ninety-three (1 Chronicles 26:8-11).
These were reckoned by their genealogy in their villages. — Rather, these — in their villages was their registration.
These. — That is, their ancestors. Guilds and corporations do not die.
Whom David and Samuel the seer did ordain in their set office. — These David and Samuel had ordained in their office of trust, or, in permanence. No mention is made elsewhere of Samuel’s part in arranging the Levitical service. He died before David’s accession (1 Samuel 25:1). Tradition doubtless associated him with David in the work of religious reform, and from what is known of his relation to the sovereigns of his day, the statement of the text may be held true in spirit, if not in the letter.