Chapter XXVII The Organisation of the Military and Civil Officials
1–15.
The divisions of the Army by Courses.
It is in keeping with the plan and spirit of the Chronicler that he should not fail to ascribe to David, who for all his piety was preeminently the warrior-king, the organisation on an immense scale of the military and civil forces of the land. In monthly “courses” the king is here said to be attended by officers and soldiers totalling 288,000 men! The enumeration of David’s “mighty men” in chapter xi. 10 ff. is an utterly insufficient reason for supposing that the present chapter cannot also come from the Chronicler. It is suitable to his narrative, characteristic of his style, and, if further evidence be needed, it may be found in the tone of the references to the civil and military authorities in xxii. 17; xxiii. 2; xxviii. 1 ff., 21; xxix. 6 ff.
¹Now the children of Israel after their number, to wit, the heads of fathers’ houses and the captains of thousands and of hundreds, and their officers that served the king, in any matter of the courses which came in and went out month by month throughout all the months of the year, of every course were twenty and four thousand.
1. came in and went out] Came on duty and went off duty; compare 2 Chronicles xxiii. 8.
²Over the first course for the first month was Jashobeam the son of Zabdiel: and in his course were twenty and four thousand.
2. Jashobeam] Compare xi. 11, note.
³He was of the children of Perez, the chief of all the captains of the host for the first month.
3. Perez] For Perez, see ii. 4, 5.
⁴And over the course of the second month was Dodai the Ahohite, and his course; and Mikloth the ruler: and in his course were twenty and four thousand.
4. Dodai the Ahohite] Read probably (compare xi. 12), “Eleazar the son of Dodo, the Ahohite.”
and his course; and Mikloth the ruler] The words are corrupt and are omitted in the LXX. The original text is quite uncertain. A Benjamite called Mikloth is mentioned in viii. 32.
⁵The third captain of the host for the third month was Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada the priest¹, chief: and in his course were twenty and four thousand.
¹ Or, chief minister See 2 Samuel viii. 18.
5. Benaiah] Compare xi. 22 ff., xviii. 17.
Jehoiada the priest, chief] “chief” refers to Benaiah.
⁶This is that Benaiah, who was the mighty man of the thirty, and over the thirty: and of his course was Ammizabad his son.
6. the mighty man of the thirty, and over the thirty] Compare xi. 25.
⁷The fourth captain for the fourth month was Asahel the brother of Joab, and Zebadiah his son after him: and in his course were twenty and four thousand.
7. Asahel] compare xi. 26, note.
⁸The fifth captain for the fifth month was Shamhuth the Izrahite: and in his course were twenty and four thousand.
8. Shamhuth the Izrahite] Perhaps to be identified with “Shammoth the Harorite” of xi. 27; see note there.
⁹The sixth captain for the sixth month was Ira the son of Ikkesh the Tekoite: and in his course were twenty and four thousand.
9. Ira] compare xi. 28.
¹⁰The seventh captain for the seventh month was Helez the Pelonite, of the children of Ephraim: and in his course were twenty and four thousand.
10. Helez the Pelonite] Compare xi. 27, note.
¹¹The eighth captain for the eighth month was Sibbecai the Hushathite, of the Zerahites: and in his course were twenty and four thousand.
11. Sibbecai the Hushathite] Compare xi. 29, notes.
Zerahites] (also verse 13). Descendants of Zerah, son of Judah; ii. 4.
¹²The ninth captain for the ninth month was Abiezer the Anathothite, of the Benjamites: and in his course were twenty and four thousand.
12. Abiezer the Anathothite] Compare xi. 28.
¹³The tenth captain for the tenth month was Maharai the Netophathite, of the Zerahites: and in his course were twenty and four thousand.
13. Maharai the Netophathite] Compare xi. 30.
¹⁴The eleventh captain for the eleventh month was Benaiah the Pirathonite, of the children of Ephraim: and in his course were twenty and four thousand.
14. Benaiah the Pirathonite] Compare xi. 31.
¹⁵The twelfth captain for the twelfth month was Heldai¹ the Netophathite, of Othniel: and in his course were twenty and four thousand.
¹ In chapter xi. 30, Heled.
15. Heldai] Called Heled in xi. 30.
of Othniel] compare Judges i. 13, iii. 9. Thus Heldai was not of pure Israelite descent, but belonged to the Kenizzites (Kenaz), a younger branch of the Calebites, an independent tribe which settled primarily in southern Judah and was later incorporated in the tribe of Judah. Genealogically this fact was expressed by calling Caleb a son of Hezron, the son of Judah. See the article Caleb in Encyclopedia Britannica¹¹.
16–24.
The Princes of the Tribes of Israel.
Six tribes which were accounted “sons” of Leah are given first, then six “sons,” actual or legal, of Rachel; whilst Zadok as chief of the priestly caste may be reckoned as standing in a category by himself, representative of the nation as a whole. Gad and Asher are omitted, for some reason not easy to discern, perhaps accidentally or because the traditional number of “twelve” tribes was complete in this list without them.
¹⁶Furthermore over the tribes of Israel: of the Reubenites was Eliezer the son of Zichri the ruler: of the Simeonites, Shephatiah the son of Maacah: ¹⁷of Levi, Hashabiah the son of Kemuel: of Aaron, Zadok:
17. Hashabiah] Perhaps the person mentioned in xxvi. 30. The name is common among Levites.
of Aaron, Zadok] compare xii. 27, 28.
¹⁸of Judah, Elihu¹, one of the brethren of David: of Issachar, Omri the son of Michael: ¹⁹of Zebulun, Ishmaiah the son of Obadiah: of Naphtali, Jeremoth the son of Azriel: ²⁰of the children of Ephraim, Hoshea the son of Azaziah: of the half tribe of Manasseh, Joel the son of Pedaiah:
¹ In 1 Samuel xvi. 6, Eliab.
18. Elihu] Perhaps the “Eliab” of 1 Samuel xvi. 6; compare margin.
²¹of the half tribe of Manasseh in Gilead, Iddo the son of Zechariah: of Benjamin, Jaasiel the son of Abner: ²²of Dan, Azarel the son of Jeroham. These were the captains of the tribes of Israel.
21. Gilead] “Gilead” is strictly speaking the name of the district between the Jabbok and Moab, in which the tribes of Gad and Reuben dwelt. Here it is used less precisely to include Bashan, the district north-east of Jordan in which the half tribe of Manasseh lived: compare ii. 22, note.
Iddo] Spelt quite differently in Hebrew from the name of the father of the prophet Zechariah (Zechariah i. 1).
Abner] 1 Samuel xiv. 50, 51.
²³But David took not the number of them from twenty years old and under: because the Lord had said he would increase Israel like to the stars of heaven.
23. took not the number] In Numbers i. 3 ff. it is said that in the census which God commanded Moses to take in the wilderness only those above twenty years old were to be numbered, and a chief from each tribe was appointed to assist Moses in the task of numeration. The Chronicler in this section wishes to say that, though David erred in taking the census unbidden by Jehovah, he at least conformed to the principles of the Law in carrying out his project: those under 20 years of age were not counted, and the princes just enumerated may be supposed to correspond to the chiefs who assisted Moses.
²⁴Joab the son of Zeruiah began to number, but finished not; and there came wrath for this upon Israel; neither was the number put into the account in the chronicles of king David.
24. but finished not] Compare xxi. 6.
into the account in] A summary of the numbers of David’s census is given in xxi. 5 and also (with divergences) in 2 Samuel xxiv. 9. The Chronicler probably means in the present passage that the details of the census were not entered in the official records.
the chronicles] Literally the acts of the days; compare Introduction, § 5.
25–31.
Various Officers of the King.
Twelve different officers are named here who acted as stewards of king David’s property.
²⁵And over the king’s treasuries was Azmaveth the son of Adiel: and over the treasuries in the fields, in the cities, and in the villages, and in the castles, was Jonathan the son of Uzziah: ²⁶and over them that did the work of the field for tillage of the ground was Ezri the son of Chelub:
25. castles] Literally towers; compare 2 Chronicles xxvi. 10, xxvii. 4.
²⁷and over the vineyards was Shimei the Ramathite: and over the increase of the vineyards for the wine cellars was Zabdi the Shiphmite:
27. the Ramathite] The well-known Ramah was in Benjamin, but there was also a Ramah (or Ramoth) of the South (Joshua xix. 8; 1 Samuel xxx. 27) from which the epithet “Ramathite” might be derived.
the Shiphmite] The adjective is probably derived from “Siphmoth” (1 Samuel xxx. 28), the name of a place in the south of Judah. If so, we should read either “Siphmite” here, or “Shiphmoth” in 1 Samuel.
²⁸and over the olive trees and the sycomore trees that were in the lowland was Baal-hanan the Gederite: and over the cellars of oil was Joash:
28. sycomore] The fig-mulberry, a tree having leaves like mulberry-leaves, and bearing a fruit resembling figs. Compare 2 Chronicles i. 15; Amos, vii. 14.
in the lowland] Hebrew Shephelah. See note on 2 Chronicles i. 15 (“vale”).
Gederite] i.e. inhabitant of “Geder” (Joshua xii. 13), perhaps another form of “Gederah” (Joshua xv. 36). A place in the south of Judah is intended in any case. See note on xii. 4.
²⁹and over the herds that fed in Sharon was Shitrai the Sharonite: and over the herds that were in the valleys was Shaphat the son of Adlai:
29. Sharon] The great maritime plain bounded on the east by the “lowland” (Shephelah). “The valleys” would probably be the depressions among the hills of the Shephelah which open out into Sharon; compare Canticles ii. 1.
³⁰and over the camels was Obil the Ishmaelite: and over the asses was Jehdeiah the Meronothite:
30. Obil] The name is a form of the Arabic word ābil, “one who feeds camels.”
the Meronothite] Meronoth was perhaps near Gibeon and Mizpah; compare Nehemiah iii. 7.
³¹and over the flocks was Jaziz the Hagrite. All these were the rulers of the substance which was king David’s.
31. Hagrite] Compare v. 10.
32–34 (compare xviii. 15–17 = 2 Samuel viii. 16–18; compare 2 Samuel xx. 23–26).
David’s Officers at Court.
³²Also Jonathan David’s uncle¹ was a counsellor, a man of understanding, and a scribe: and Jehiel the son of Hachmoni was with the king’s sons:
¹ Or, brother’s son.
32. Jonathan David’s uncle] The name Jonathan is common in Hebrew, but no uncle of David is elsewhere mentioned. A “Jonathan, son of Shimea,” David’s brother, is referred to in xx. 7 (= 2 Samuel xxi. 21), and many scholars in consequence prefer to follow the margin and render Jonathan, David’s brother’s son. Curtis renders David’s lover, taking the reference to be to Jonathan, Saul’s son, who as the friend of David’s youth might be spoken of as his first “counsellor.” This view seems improbable but is not impossible, despite the phrase “and a scribe” which could not possibly be said of Saul’s warrior son. There is some evidence that those words are a gloss, and it is true that the list is not one of living men only (compare Ahithophel), whilst finally the Chronicler might well be tempted to drag in an allusion to a relationship so well-known and so creditable to David.
a scribe] Not the chief scribe; compare xviii. 16, note.
with the king’s sons] As tutor; compare 2 Kings x. 6.
³³and Ahithophel was the king’s counsellor: and Hushai the Archite was the king’s friend:
33. Ahithophel] See 2 Samuel xv. 31; xvi. 20–xvii. 23.
Hushai] See 2 Samuel xv. 32–37, xvi. 16–19, xvii. 5–16.
Archite] The “border of the Archites” was near Bethel (Joshua xvi. 2). The word has no connection with the “Arkite” of i. 15.
king’s friend] compare 2 Samuel xvi. 16. “Special titles served to signify the degree of rank the great men held with respect to the king [of Egypt]. In old times the most important were the friend and the well-beloved friend of the king” (Erman, Ancient Egypt, English translation p. 72). The Greek kings of Syria granted similar titles to their chief dependents; compare 1 Maccabees ii. 18 (Revised Version with margin), “thou and thy house shall be in the number of the king’s Friends.”
³⁴and after Ahithophel was Jehoiada the son of Benaiah, and Abiathar: and the captain of the king’s host was Joab.
34. after Ahithophel] Compare verse 33.
Jehoiada the son of Benaiah] Either we must read, “Benaiah the son of Jehoiada” (compare xviii. 17), or we must assume that a person known only from this passage is meant.
and Abiathar] Possibly such a phrase as “And Zadok and Abiathar were priests” (compare 2 Samuel xx. 25) originally stood here.