20-21. Ornan was threshing wheat--If the census was entered upon in autumn, the beginning of the civil year, the nine and a half months it occupied would end at wheat harvest. The common way of threshing corn is by spreading it out on a high level area, and driving backwards and forwards upon it two oxen harnessed to a clumsy sledge with three rollers and some sharp spikes. The driver sits on his knees on the box, while another person is employed in drawing back the straw and separating it from the grain underneath. By this operation the chaff is very much chopped, and the grain threshed out.
23. I give thee ... the threshing instruments for wood--that is, to burn the sacrifice of the oxen. Very little real import--the haste and the value of the present offered--can be understood in this country. The offering was made for instant use. Ornan, hereby hoping to terminate the pestilence without a moment's delay, "gave all," oxen, the large threshing machine, and the wheat.
25. David gave ... for the place six hundred shekels of gold--At first he bought only the cattle and the threshing instruments, for which he paid fifty shekels of silver ([2Sa 24:24]); afterwards he purchased the whole property, Mount Moriah, on which the future temple stood. High in the center of the mountain platform rises a remarkable rock, now covered by the dome of "the Sakrah." It is irregular in its form, and measures about sixty feet in one direction and fifty feet in the other. It is the natural surface of Mount Moriah and is thought by many to be the rock of the threshing-floor of Araunah, selected by David, and continued by Solomon and Zerubbabel as "the unhewn stone" on which to build the altar [BARTLETT, Walks about Jerusalem; Stanley].
26. David built there an altar--He went in procession with his leading men from the royal palace, down Mount Zion, and through the intervening city. Although he had plenty of space on his own property, he was commanded, under peremptory direction, to go a considerable distance from his home, up Mount Moriah, to erect an altar on premises which he had to buy. It was on or close to the spot where Abraham had offered up Isaac.
answered him by fire from heaven--(See [Le 9:24]; [1Ki 18:21-23]; [2Ki 1:12]; [2Ch 7:1]).
28. when David saw that the Lord had answered him ..., he sacrificed there--or, "he continued to sacrifice there." Perceiving his sacrifice was acceptable, he proceeded to make additional offerings there, and seek favor by prayer and expiatory rites; for the dread of the menacing angel destroying Jerusalem while he was absent in the center of worship at Gibeon, especially reverence for the Divine Being, led him to continue his adorations in that place which God ([2Ch 3:1]) had hallowed by the tokens of His presence and gracious acceptance.
Chapter 22
[1Ch 22:1-5]. David Prepares for Building the Temple.
1. David said, This is the home of the Lord God--By the miraculous sign of fire from heaven, and perhaps other intimations, David understood it to be the will of God that the national place of worship should be fixed there, and he forthwith proceeded to make preparations for the erection of the temple on that spot.
2. David commanded to gather together the strangers--partly the descendants of the old Canaanites ([2Ch 8:7-10]), from whom was exacted a tribute of bond service, and partly war captives ([2Ch 2:7]), reserved for the great work he contemplated.
[1Ch 22:6-19]. He Instructs Solomon.
6. Then he called for Solomon ... and charged him--The earnestness and solemnity of this address creates an impression that it was given a little before the old king's decease. He unfolded his great and long cherished plan, enjoined the building of God's house as a sacred duty on him as his son and successor, and described the resources that were at command for carrying on the work. The vast amount of personal property he had accumulated in the precious metals [1Ch 22:14] must have been spoil taken from the people he had conquered, and the cities he had sacked.
Chapter 23
[1Ch 23:1]. David Makes Solomon King.
1. when David was old ... he made Solomon ... king--This brief statement, which comprises the substance of [1Ki 1:32-48], is made here solely to introduce an account of the preparations carried on by David during the latter years of his life for providing a national place of worship.
[1Ch 23:2-6]. Number and Distribution of the Levites.
2. he gathered together all the princes of Israel--All important measures relating to the public interest were submitted for consideration to a general assembly of the representatives of the tribes ([1Ch 13:1]; ; ; [26:1-32]).
3. the Levites were numbered ... thirty and eight thousand--Four times their number at the early census taken by Moses (see on Nu 4:1-49; 26:1-51). It was, in all likelihood, this vast increase that suggested and rendered expedient that classification, made in the last year of David's reign, which the present and three subsequent chapters describe.
by their polls, man by man--Women and children were not included.
4. twenty and four thousand were to set forward the work of the house of the Lord--They were not to preside over all the services of the temple. The Levites were subject to the priests, and they were superior to the Nethinim and other servants, who were not of the race of Levi. But they had certain departments of duty assigned, some of which are here specified.
5. praised the Lord with the instruments which I made--David seems to have been an inventor of many of the musical instruments used in the temple ([Am 6:5]).
6. David divided them into courses among the sons of Levi--These are enumerated according to their fathers' houses, but no more of these are mentioned here than the twenty-four thousand who were engaged in the work connected with the Lord's house. The fathers' houses of those Levites corresponded with the classes into which they [Josephus, Antiquities] as well as the priests were divided (see on [1Ch 24:20-31]; [1Ch 26:20-28]).
[1Ch 23:7-11]. Sons of Gershon.
7-11. the Gershonites--They had nine fathers' houses, six descended from Laadan, and three from Shimei.
[1Ch 23:12-20]. Of Kohath.
12. The sons of Kohath--He was the founder of nine Levitical fathers' houses.
13. Aaron was separated--as high priest (see on [1Ch 25:1-19]).
14. concerning Moses--His sons were ranked with the Levites generally, but not introduced into the distinctive portion of the descendants of Levi, who were appointed to the special functions of the priesthood.
[1Ch 23:21-23]. Of Merari.
21-23. The sons of Merari--They comprised six fathers' houses. Summing them together, Gershon founded nine fathers houses, Kohath nine, and Merari six: total, twenty-four.
[1Ch 23:24-32]. Office of the Levites.
24-27. These were the sons of Levi ... that did the work ... from the age of twenty years and upward--The enumeration of the Levites was made by David ([1Ch 23:3]) on the same rule as that followed by Moses ([Nu 4:3]), namely, from thirty years. But he saw afterwards that this rule might be beneficially relaxed, and that the enrolment of Levites for their proper duties might be made from twenty years of age. The ark and tabernacle being now stationary at Jerusalem, the labor of the Levites was greatly diminished, as they were no longer obliged to transport its heavy furniture from place to place. The number of thirty-eight thousand Levites, exclusive of priests, was doubtless more than sufficient for the ordinary service of the tabernacle. But this pious king thought that it would contribute to the glory of the Lord to employ as many officers in his divine service as possible. These first rules, however, which David instituted, were temporary, as very different arrangements were made after the ark had been deposited in the tabernacle of Zion.
Chapter 24
[1Ch 24:1-19]. Division of the Sons of Aaron into Four and Twenty Orders.
1. Now these are the divisions of the sons of Aaron--(See on [1Ch 23:6]).
2. Nadab and Abihu died before their father--that is, not in his presence, but during his lifetime (see [Nu 3:4]; ).
therefore Eleazar and Ithamar executed the priest's office--In consequence of the death of his two oldest sons without issue, the descendants of Aaron were comprised in the families of Eleazar and Ithamar. Both of these sons discharged the priestly functions as assistants to their father. Eleazar succeeded him, and in his line the high priesthood continued until it was transferred to the family of Ithamar, in the person of Eli.
3. Zadok ... and Ahimelech of the sons of Ithamar--This statement, taken in connection with [1Ch 24:6], is not a little perplexing, since ([2Sa 15:24], ; ) Abiathar is mentioned as the person conjoined in David's time with Zadok, in the collegiate exercise of the high priesthood. Some think that the words have been transposed, reading Abiathar, the son of Ahimelech. But there is no ground for regarding the text as faulty. The high priests of the line of Ithamar were the following: Ahiah or Ahimelech, his son Abiathar, his son Ahimelech. We frequently find the grandfather and grandson called by the same name (see list of high priests of the line of Eleazar, [1Ch 6:30-41]). Hence the author of the Chronicles was acquainted with Ahimelech, son of Abiathar, who, for some reason, discharged the duties of high priest in David's reign, and during the lifetime of his father (for Abiathar was living in the time of Solomon, [1Ki 2:27]) [Keil].
4. there were more chief men found--The Hebrew may be translated, "There were more men as to heads of the sons of Eleazar." It is true, in point of fact, that by the census the number of individuals belonging to the family of Eleazar was found greater than in that of Ithamar. And this, of necessity, led to there being more fathers' houses, and consequently more chiefs or presidents in the former.
5. Thus were they divided by lot--This method of allocation was adopted manifestly to remove all cause of jealousy as to precedence and the right of performing particular duties.
6. one principal household--The marginal reading is preferable, "one house of the father." The lot was cast in a deliberate and solemn manner in presence of the king, the princes, the two high priests, and the chiefs of the priestly and Levitical families. The heads of families belonging to Eleazar and Ithamar were alternately brought forward to draw, and the name of each individual, as called, registered by an attendant secretary. To accommodate the casting of the lots to the inequality of the number, there being sixteen fathers' houses of Eleazar, and only eight of Ithamar, it was arranged that every house of Ithamar should be followed by two of Eleazar, or, what is the same thing, that every two houses of Eleazar should be followed by one of Ithamar. If, then, we suppose a commencement to have been made by Eleazar, the order would be as follows: one and two, Eleazar; three, Ithamar; four and five, Eleazar; six, Ithamar; seven and eight, Eleazar; nine, Ithamar; and so forth [Bertheau]. The lot determined also the order of the priests' service. That of the Levites was afterwards distributed by the same arrangement ([1Ch 24:31]).
Chapter 25
[1Ch 25:1-7]. Number and Office of the Singers.
1. David and the captains of the host--that is, the princes ([1Ch 23:2]; ). It is probable that the king was attended on the occasion of arranging the singers by the same parties that are mentioned as having assisted him in regulating the order of the priests and Levites.
2. according to the order of the king--Hebrew, "by the hands of the king," that is, "according to the king's order," under the personal superintendence of Asaph and his colleagues.