1 Chronicles 9 - Clarke's commentary and critical notes on the Bible

So all Israel were reckoned by genealogies; and, behold, they were written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah, who were carried away to Babylon for their transgression. Were reckoned by genealogies - Jarchi considers these as the words of Ezra, the compiler of the book; as if he had said: I have given the genealogies of the Israelites as I have found them in a book which was carried into Babylon, when the people were carried thither for their transgressions; and this book which I found is that which I have transcribed in the preceding Chapter s.

Now the first inhabitants that dwelt in their possessions in their cities were, the Israelites, the priests, Levites, and the Nethinims. Now the first inhabitants - This is spoken of those who returned from the Babylonish captivity, and of the time in which they returned; for it is insinuated here that other persons afterwards settled at Jerusalem, though these mentioned here were the first on the return from the captivity. Properly speaking, the divisions mentioned in this verse constituted the whole of the Israelitish people, who were, ever since the days of Joshua, divided into the four following classes:

1. The priests.

2. The Levites.

3. The common people, or simple Israelites.

4. The Nethinim, or slaves of the temple, the remains of the Gibeonites, who, having deceived Joshua, were condemned to this service Joshua 9:21, etc. In David's time it is probable that other conquered people were added, as the successors of the Gibeonites were not sufficient to perform all the drudgery of the temple service.

And in Jerusalem dwelt of the children of Judah, and of the children of Benjamin, and of the children of Ephraim, and Manasseh; And in Jerusalem dwelt - Several of the tribes of Judah, Benjamin, Ephraim, and Manasseh, took advantage of the proclamation of Cyrus to return to Jerusalem, and so mingled with the Israelites, and those to whom Jerusalem had previously appertained; and this was necessary in order to provide a sufficient population for so large a city.

Uthai the son of Ammihud, the son of Omri, the son of Imri, the son of Bani, of the children of Pharez the son of Judah. Uthai the son of Ammihud - The list here is nearly the same with those found in Ezra and Nehemiah, and contains those who returned to Jerusalem with Zerubbabel; but the list in Nehemiah is more ample, probably because it contains those who came afterwards. The object of the sacred writer here was to give the list of those who came first. Now the first inhabitants, etc.

And of the Shilonites; Asaiah the firstborn, and his sons.

And of the sons of Zerah; Jeuel, and their brethren, six hundred and ninety.

And of the sons of Benjamin; Sallu the son of Meshullam, the son of Hodaviah, the son of Hasenuah,

And Ibneiah the son of Jeroham, and Elah the son of Uzzi, the son of Michri, and Meshullam the son of Shephathiah, the son of Reuel, the son of Ibnijah;

And their brethren, according to their generations, nine hundred and fifty and six. All these men were chief of the fathers in the house of their fathers.

And of the priests; Jedaiah, and Jehoiarib, and Jachin,

And Azariah the son of Hilkiah, the son of Meshullam, the son of Zadok, the son of Meraioth, the son of Ahitub, the ruler of the house of God; The ruler of the house of God - The high priest at this time was Jeshua the son of Jozadak, (Ezra 3:8), and Seraiah, (Nehemiah 11:11), called here Azariah, was the ruler of the house; the person next in authority to the high priest, and who probably had the guard of the temple and command of the priests, Levites, etc. It is likely that the person here was the same as is called the second priest, 2 Kings 25:18 (note), who was the sagan or high priest's deputy. See the note there.

And Adaiah the son of Jeroham, the son of Pashur, the son of Malchijah, and Maasiai the son of Adiel, the son of Jahzerah, the son of Meshullam, the son of Meshillemith, the son of Immer;

And their brethren, heads of the house of their fathers, a thousand and seven hundred and threescore; very able men for the work of the service of the house of God. And their brethren - What a prodigious number of ecclesiastics to perform the Divine service of one temple! no less than one thousand seven hundred and eighty able-bodied men! and this number is reckoned independently of the two hundred and twelve porters who served at the gates of the house of the Lord, 1 Chronicles 9:22.

And of the Levites; Shemaiah the son of Hasshub, the son of Azrikam, the son of Hashabiah, of the sons of Merari;

And Bakbakkar, Heresh, and Galal, and Mattaniah the son of Micah, the son of Zichri, the son of Asaph;

And Obadiah the son of Shemaiah, the son of Galal, the son of Jeduthun, and Berechiah the son of Asa, the son of Elkanah, that dwelt in the villages of the Netophathites.

And the porters were, Shallum, and Akkub, and Talmon, and Ahiman, and their brethren: Shallum was the chief;

Who hitherto waited in the king's gate eastward: they were porters in the companies of the children of Levi. The king's gate - That by which the kings of Judah went to the temple; see on 2 Kings 16:18 (note).

And Shallum the son of Kore, the son of Ebiasaph, the son of Korah, and his brethren, of the house of his father, the Korahites, were over the work of the service, keepers of the gates of the tabernacle: and their fathers, being over the host of the LORD, were keepers of the entry. Keepers of the entry - Whose business it was to suffer no person to come to the tabernacle but the priests, during the performance of the sacred service; see Jarchi.

And Phinehas the son of Eleazar was the ruler over them in time past, and the LORD was with him. And Phinehas - The Targum says, "And Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, was ruler over them from ancient times, from the day in which the tabernacle was set up in the wilderness; and the Word of the Lord was his assistant."

And Zechariah the son of Meshelemiah was porter of the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.

All these which were chosen to be porters in the gates were two hundred and twelve. These were reckoned by their genealogy in their villages, whom David and Samuel the seer did ordain in their set office.

So they and their children had the oversight of the gates of the house of the LORD, namely, the house of the tabernacle, by wards.

In four quarters were the porters, toward the east, west, north, and south.

And their brethren, which were in their villages, were to come after seven days from time to time with them.

For these Levites, the four chief porters, were in their set office, and were over the chambers and treasuries of the house of God.

And they lodged round about the house of God, because the charge was upon them, and the opening thereof every morning pertained to them.

And certain of them had the charge of the ministering vessels, that they should bring them in and out by tale.

Some of them also were appointed to oversee the vessels, and all the instruments of the sanctuary, and the fine flour, and the wine, and the oil, and the frankincense, and the spices.

And some of the sons of the priests made the ointment of the spices. The sons of the priests made the ointment - Only the priests were permitted to make this ointment; all others were forbidden to do it on pain of death; see Exodus 30:34-38 (note), and the notes there.

And Mattithiah, one of the Levites, who was the firstborn of Shallum the Korahite, had the set office over the things that were made in the pans.

And other of their brethren, of the sons of the Kohathites, were over the shewbread, to prepare it every sabbath.

And these are the singers, chief of the fathers of the Levites, who remaining in the chambers were free: for they were employed in that work day and night.

These chief fathers of the Levites were chief throughout their generations; these dwelt at Jerusalem.

And in Gibeon dwelt the father of Gibeon, Jehiel, whose wife's name was Maachah: Whose wife's name was Maachah - Here our translators have departed from the original, for the word is אחתו achotho, his Sister; but the Vulgate, Septuagint, Syriac, Arabic, and Chaldee, have Wife; to which may be added 1 Chronicles 8:29, the parallel place. Almost all the early editions, as well as the MS. editions, have the same reading. Of all the Polyglots the Complutensian alone has אשתו ishto, his Wife. His wife is the reading also of Vatablus's Polyglot, but in the margin he observes that other copies have his sister. There is most certainly a fault somewhere, for Maachah could not be both the sister and wife of Jehiel. Whether, therefore, 1 Chronicles 8:29 has been altered from this, or this altered from that, who can tell? A single letter makes the whole difference: if the word be written with ח cheth, it is Sister; if with ש shin, it is Wife. The latter is most probably the true reading. It is so in three very ancient MSS. in my own possession.

And his firstborn son Abdon, then Zur, and Kish, and Baal, and Ner, and Nadab,

And Gedor, and Ahio, and Zechariah, and Mikloth.

And Mikloth begat Shimeam. And they also dwelt with their brethren at Jerusalem, over against their brethren.

And Ner begat Kish; and Kish begat Saul; and Saul begat Jonathan, and Malchishua, and Abinadab, and Eshbaal.

And the son of Jonathan was Meribbaal: and Meribbaal begat Micah.

And the sons of Micah were, Pithon, and Melech, and Tahrea, and Ahaz. And Ahaz - This is added by our translators from 1 Chronicles 8:35, but such liberties should only be taken in a note; for although the words are now sufficiently distinguished from the text by being printed in Italics, yet it is too much to expect that every editor of a Bible will attend to such distinctions, and in process of time the words will be found incorporated with the text.

1 Chronicles 9:35, and the following verses, are a repetition of what we find in 1 Chronicles 8:29-38 (note), where see the notes.

And Ahaz begat Jarah; and Jarah begat Alemeth, and Azmaveth, and Zimri; and Zimri begat Moza;

And Moza begat Binea; and Rephaiah his son, Eleasah his son, Azel his son.

And Azel had six sons, whose names are these, Azrikam, Bocheru, and Ishmael, and Sheariah, and Obadiah, and Hanan: these were the sons of Azel. Commentary on the Bible, by Adam Clarke [1831].