Chapter XVI
¹And they brought in the ark of God, and set it in the midst of the tent that David had pitched for it: and they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before God.
1. the tent] Compare xv. 1, note.
they offered] In 2 Samuel vi. 17, David offered. The Chronicler associates the elders with David as in xv. 26.
burnt offerings] Compare Leviticus i. 1–9.
peace offerings] The “peace offering” (Hebrew shelem) was a thank-offering or an offering made in expiation of a vow; compare Proverbs vii. 14.
²And when David had made an end of offering the burnt offering and the peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord.
2. blessed the people] Compare 2 Chronicles vi. 3.
³And he dealt to every one of Israel, both man and woman, to every one a loaf of bread, and a portion of flesh¹, and a cake of raisins.
¹ Or, of wine.
3. a loaf of bread] A flat round cake such as is still made in Egypt is meant.
a portion of flesh] margin “of wine.” The meaning of the Hebrew word is unknown. Of flesh is rightly in italics here as in 2 Samuel vi. 19.
a cake of raisins] Compare Isaiah xvi. 7 (Revised Version) where the same Hebrew word is used.
4–6 (compare verses 37, 38).
David’s Arrangements for Ministration before the Ark.
⁴And he appointed certain of the Levites to minister before the ark of the Lord, and to celebrate and to thank and praise the Lord, the God of Israel:
4. to celebrate] The literal meaning is to call to mind; compare verse 12 (remember). Compare Psalms xxxviii., lxx. (titles).
⁵Asaph the chief, and second to him Zechariah, Jeiel¹, and Shemiramoth, and Jehiel, and Mattithiah, and Eliab, and Benaiah, and Obed-edom, and Jeiel, with psalteries and with harps; and Asaph with cymbals, sounding aloud;
¹ In chapter xv. 18, Jaaziel.
5. Asaph] Compare xv. 17, note.
and Obed-edom] It is possible that the names Obed-edom, and Jeiel and Asaph (in the latter part of the verse) have been inserted by the interpolator who wrote xv. 19–21 and wished to accommodate these verses to the altered text in chapter xv.
⁶and Benaiah and Jahaziel the priests with trumpets continually, before the ark of the covenant of God.
6. Benaiah and Jahaziel] Two priests for the two trumpets.
Benaiah] In xxvii. 5, 6 a Benaiah son of Jehoiada the priest (Revised Version) is mentioned who may possibly be identified with the Benaiah who was one of the thirty heroes (xi. 24, 25). Compare also xii. 27.
7–36.
The Psalm of Praise.
⁷Then on that day did David first ordain¹ to give thanks unto the Lord, by the hand of Asaph and his brethren.
¹ Or, make it the chief work.
The psalm which follows consists of Psalms cv. 1–15, Psalms xcvi. 1b–13a, Psalms cvi. 1, 47, 48. It has been compiled from the Psalms just mentioned and placed here as an utterance such as would be appropriate to the situation. For detailed criticism as to the original form and present text of these Psalms, the reader must be referred to the commentaries on the Psalter. Only such comment is here given as seems called for in their present setting.
8–22 (= Psalms cv. 1–15).
⁸O give thanks unto the Lord, call upon his name;
Make known his doings among the peoples.
8, 9. These verses are perhaps based upon Isaiah xii. 4, 5.
⁹Sing unto him, sing praises unto him;
Talk¹ ye of all his marvellous works.
¹⁰Glory ye in his holy name:
Let the heart of them rejoice that seek the Lord.
¹ Or, Meditate.
9. Talk ye] margin Meditate. Meditation leads to fresh proclamation.
marvellous works] (compare verse 12). i.e. works beyond man’s expectation; compare Genesis xviii. 14, Is anything too hard (wonderful, Revised Version margin) for the Lord?
¹¹Seek ye the Lord and his strength;
Seek his face evermore.
11. and his strength] Perhaps (altering only the points of the Hebrew word) and be ye strong. So LXX. καὶ ἰσχύσατε (in Psalms cv. 4 καὶ κραταιώθητε). A promise is sometimes expressed in Hebrew by the imperative.
¹²Remember his marvellous works that he hath done;
His wonders, and the judgements of his mouth;
12. His wonders] in particular, the marvels of the deliverance from Egypt; Psalms cv. 27–36.
¹³O ye seed of Israel his servant,
Ye children of Jacob, his chosen ones.
13. of Israel] Psalms cv. 6, of Abraham.
¹⁴He is the Lord our God:
His judgements are in all the earth.
14. His judgements are in all the earth] Compare verses 20–22.
¹⁵Remember his covenant for ever,
The word which he commanded to a thousand generations;
¹⁶The covenant which he made with Abraham,
And his oath unto Isaac;
¹⁷And confirmed the same unto Jacob for a statute,
To Israel for an everlasting covenant:
15. Remember] Read (with Psalms cv. 8) He hath remembered. Compare Exodus xxiv. 3–8, xxxiv. 10–27.
¹⁸Saying, Unto thee will I give the land of Canaan,
The lot¹ of your inheritance:
¹ Hebrew cord, or, line.
18. The lot] The Hebrew word (“ḥebel”) means a portion not assigned by lot but measured by line; compare margin Canaan is co-extensive with Israel’s inheritance.
inheritance] All nations receive an inheritance from God; Deuteronomy xxxii. 8.
¹⁹When ye were but a few men in number;
Yea, very few, and sojourners in it;
19. When ye were] Psalms cv. 12, When they were.
sojourners] The patriarchs were not simply strangers, but strangers who made a long sojourn in Canaan.
²⁰And they went about from nation to nation,
And from one kingdom to another people.
20. kingdom... people] The “kingdom” is Egypt (Genesis xii.); the “people” the Canaanite and Perizzite (Genesis xiii.).
²¹He suffered no man to do them wrong;
Yea, he reproved kings for their sakes;
21. he reproved kings] Genesis xx. 3–7.
²²Saying, Touch not mine anointed ones,
And do my prophets no harm.
22. my prophets] Genesis xx. 7.
23–33 (= Psalms xcvi. 1–13).
²³Sing unto the Lord, all the earth;
Shew forth his salvation from day to day.
²⁴Declare his glory among the nations,
His marvellous works among all the peoples.
23. Sing unto the Lord] In Psalms xcvi. 1, 2 this exhortation is thrice repeated; in Chronicles it is once given. Note that verse 2a of the Psalm is also omitted here.
²⁵For great is the Lord, and highly to be praised:
He also is to be feared above all gods.
25. to be feared above all gods] i.e. to be feared as being above all “that are called gods,” these being “things of nought” (verse 26, Revised Version margin). The real existence of false gods is not assumed.
²⁶For all the gods of the peoples are idols¹:
But the Lord made the heavens.
¹ Or, things of nought.
26. made the heavens] A fine epithet. Compare Jeremiah x. 11, The gods that have not made the heavens... shall perish from the earth.
²⁷Honour and majesty are before him:
Strength and gladness are in his place.
27. are before him] i.e. are His, belong to Him as His attributes. Perhaps also before him refers to God’s abode in heaven, while the parallel expression in his place (Psalms xcvi. 6, in his sanctuary) refers to His temple on earth.
Strength and gladness] Psalms xcvi. 6, Strength and beauty. The reference seems to be to the strength and gladness (or beauty) which God bestows on Israel (Psalms lxviii. 35; Isaiah lxi. 3).
in his place] Read with Psalms xcvi. 6, in his sanctuary. Compare the two preceding notes.
²⁸Give unto the Lord, ye kindreds of the peoples,
Give unto the Lord glory and strength.
28. of the peoples] An expectation that the Gentiles will turn to the worship of the true God is expressed not rarely in the Psalms; compare Psalms xxii. 27, Psalms lxviii. 31, 32; and is, of course, one of the greatest contributions of Old Testament faith to the religious aspirations of humanity.
²⁹Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name:
Bring an offering, and come before him:
Worship the Lord in the beauty¹ of holiness.
¹ Or, in holy array.
29. before him] Psalms xcvi. 8, into his courts.
Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness] Render as margin, worship the Lord in holy attire (see Kirkpatrick on Psalms xxix. 2, Psalms xcvi. 9; and compare Exodus xxviii. 2). Compare 2 Chronicles xx. 21.
³⁰Tremble before him, all the earth:
The world also is stablished that it cannot be moved.
30. The world also is stablished, that it cannot be moved] In Psalms xcvi. 10 this clause is preceded by the words, Say among the nations, The Lord reigneth, and is followed by the words, He shall judge the peoples with equity.
³¹Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice;
And let them say among the nations, The Lord reigneth.
³²Let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof;
Let the field exult, and all that is therein;
31. And let them say] Psalms xcvi. 10, Say [ye]. The clause is displaced in Chronicles; compare note on verse 30.
The Lord reigneth] i.e. the Lord is claiming His kingdom over the earth by coming to judge the earth; compare verse 33. Contrast Habakkuk i. 14, where the prophet complains that Jehovah is not asserting Himself as the ruler of men.
³³Then shall the trees of the wood sing for joy before the Lord,
For he cometh to judge the earth.
33. to judge the earth] The joy with which the coming judgement is greeted arises from the fact that the Hebrews regarded a judge as a champion of the oppressed and not as a precise interpreter of statutes.
34–36 (= Psalms cvi. 1, 47, 48).
³⁴O give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good:
For his mercy endureth for ever.
34. his mercy endureth for ever] Compare Exodus xx. 6, “shewing mercy unto a thousand generations of them that love me” (Revised Version margin).
³⁵And say ye, Save us, O God of our salvation,
And gather us together and deliver us from the nations,
To give thanks unto thy holy name,
And to triumph in thy praise.
35. gather us together] A phrase which shows very clearly that the standpoint of the Psalmist is post-exilic.
³⁶Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
From everlasting even to everlasting.
And all the people said, Amen, and praised the Lord.
36. said, Amen, and praised the Lord] In the Psalms (cvi. 48) “say, Amen! Hallelujah! (i.e. Praise ye the Lord!).” This verse belongs not properly to the Psalm, but is the doxology marking the conclusion of the fourth “book” of the Psalms. Apparently then the Psalms had already been arranged in the five collections or “books,” into which they were finally divided, by the time of the Chronicler; but the argument is not conclusive since (1) the doxology may be really part of the Psalm, and (2) there is the possibility that verses 7–36 are a later insertion in Chronicles.
37–43.
The Service before the Ark and the Service at Gibeon.
The description of the disposition of the Priests and Levites for the worship in Jerusalem and in Gibeon which was begun in verses 4–6 is here resumed. verses 37, 38 summarise verses 4–6.
³⁷So he left there, before the ark of the covenant of the Lord, Asaph and his brethren, to minister before the ark continually, as every day’s work required: ³⁸and Obed-edom with their brethren, threescore and eight; Obed-edom also the son of Jeduthun and Hosah to be doorkeepers:
38. Obed-edom with their brethren] A name or names seems to be missing after Obed-edom. The LXX. cuts the knot by reading simply “and his brethren.” Probably we should insert after Obed-edom the words “and Hosah” from the last part of the verse: see the following note.
Obed-edom also the son of Jeduthun] If the view of xv. 19–21 and xvi. 5 taken above be correct, these words also may be deleted as a harmonising gloss, added by someone who wished to insist on Obed-edom as a singer, and hence gave him a place in the line of Jeduthun, one of the three great choral guilds.
³⁹and Zadok. the priest, and his brethren the priests, before the tabernacle of the Lord in the high place that was at Gibeon,
39. Zadok the priest] As Zadok alone is here mentioned as “before the tabernacle,” the Chronicler perhaps implies that Abiathar (Ahimelech) the other high-priest was in charge of the Ark in Jerusalem. On Zadok and Abiathar, see xv. 11, note.
the tabernacle of the Lord in the high place that was at Gibeon] See prefatory note to chapter xiii.; and 2 Chronicles i. 3.
⁴⁰to offer burnt offerings unto the Lord upon the altar of burnt offering continually morning and evening, even according to all that is written in the law of the Lord, which he commanded unto Israel;
40. the altar of burnt offering] 2 Chronicles i. 5, 6.
morning and evening] Exodus xxix. 38, 39 (= Numbers xxviii. 3, 4).
⁴¹and with them Heman and Jeduthun, and the rest that were chosen, who were expressed by name, to give thanks to the Lord, because his mercy endureth for ever;
41. Jeduthun] Psalms xxxix., lxii., lxxvii. (titles). In vi. 33–47, xv. 17, 19 the names of the leading singers are given as Heman, Asaph, and Ethan. Here and in xxv. 1 ff. however Jeduthun seems to take the place of Ethan. Probably there was a variation in the tradition as to the third name, two families competing each for the honour of its own ancestor.
⁴²and with them Heman and Jeduthun with trumpets and cymbals for those that should sound aloud, and with instruments for the songs of God: and the sons of Jeduthun to be at the gate. ⁴³And all the people departed every man to his house: and David returned to bless his house.
42. and with them, etc.] The words with them are possibly repeated in error from verse 41. Render perhaps, And Heman and Jeduthun had trumpets and cymbals. For trumpets compare xv. 24 (note).
sons of Jeduthun] Perhaps a gloss connected with the statement in verse 38, where see note on Obed-edom also the son of Jeduthun.
to be at the gate] David’s organisation of the doorkeepers is given in xxvi. 1–19.