Deeper Commentary
1Ch 27:1 Now the children of Israel after their number, the heads of
fathers’ households and the captains of thousands and of hundreds, and their
officers who served the king, in any matter of the divisions which came in
and went out month by month throughout all the months of the year- of every
division were twenty-four thousand-
See on 1 Chron. 24:1.
Twelve groups of 24,000 men mean that David's total army numbered
288,000 men- probably the majority of the fit men of Israel. David's
earlier desire to number the fighting men of Israel would rather suggest that this
system didn't work that well in the longer term. If he could trust the
leaders to rally their men, then he wouldn't have needed to number them.
We have an idealized picture of David's Kingdom presented in Chronicles
[hence the omission of his sin with Bathsheba]. This may be because it was
understood by the time Chronicles was written that David was a prototype
of Messiah. However it could be that the reference to David's numbering in
:24 suggests that David sought to number all Israel- as if he felt the
288,000 soldiers weren't enough and wondered how many other men there were
available in Israel. In this case he was acting like the wealthy man who
counts up his investments and panics that he really needs more.
1Ch 27:2 Over the first division for the first month was Jashobeam the son
of Zabdiel; and in his division were twenty-four thousand-
"Jashobeam" was one of David's followers in the wilderness (1
Chron. 11:11). Indeed, nearly all of those mentioned in the list of army
commanders here were with him then. Those faithful in the wilderness years
were exalted to leadership in David's kingdom, and that is how it shall be
with the loyal servants of the Lord Jesus.
1Ch 27:3 He was of the children of Perez, the chief of all the captains of
the army for the first month-
This massive system of rotating army service matched that described
in previous chapters for serving in the temple. I am uncomfortable with
the spiritual implications of all this. It was not envisioned in the
Mosaic law, and smacks of the kind of centralized control which is
political and religious, rather than spiritual. And as often mentioned,
the tabernacle didn't require such huge amounts of labour; the whole
temple system which did require it was of David's creation, not God's,
although He worked through it.
1Ch 27:4 Over the division of the second month was Dodai the Ahohite, and
his division; and Mikloth the ruler; and in his division were twenty-four
thousand-
"Thousand" is often used not of 1000 literal persons but of an
administrative or military division, and that may be the case here.
1Ch 27:5 The third captain of the army for the third month was Benaiah,
the son of Jehoiada the priest, chief; and in his division were
twenty-four thousand-
Those who followed David in his wilderness years became the senior
officials in his Kingdom. There's a clear parallel with the Lord Jesus and
we His followers. As a priest, he must have often been unable to fully
achieve his priestly calling during the wilderness years. It could even be
that Benaiah was not a priest (1 Chron. 4:36 suggests he was a Simeonite),
but functioned as one during the years of exile from the sanctuary. This
may have led David to himself act as a priest when the ark was brought to
Zion.
1Ch 27:6 This is that Benaiah, who was the mighty man of the thirty, and
over the thirty; and of his division was Ammizabad his son-
Benaiah was one of David's senior military commanders (2 Sam. 8:18; 1
Chron. 27:5), and the Hebrew of 2 Sam. 23:20 can be translated "Benaiah
the son of Jehoiada the priest, as head", i.e. of a group of David's mighty
men. The Jehoiada in view as his father would therefore be Jehoiada the
priest. The idea is that priests were also military leaders within David's
army, indeed it seems there were a large group of them as ordinary
soldiers in 1 Chron. 12:27. This shows how priesthood was not understood
as abstract spirituality, but that spirituality was articulated in
practice.
1Ch 27:7 The fourth captain for the fourth month was Asahel the brother of
Joab, and Zebadiah his son after him; and in his division were twenty-four
thousand-
Asahel was long dead at this time (2 Sam. 2:23), so the names of
these 'captains' may not refer to living men, but rather to symbolic
heads. At the very end of David's life, Joab was disloyal to him and
Solomon slew him. So we wonder to what extent these detailed plans of
David were in fact fulfilled.
1Ch 27:8 The fifth captain for this fifth month was Shamhuth the Izrahite;
and in his division were twenty-four thousand-
Izrahite means from the family of Zerah (1 Chron. 2:4,6), meaning he
was from the tribe of Judah.
1Ch 27:9 The sixth captain for the sixth month was Ira the son of Ikkesh
the Tekoite; and in his division were twenty-four thousand-
He too was from Judah if from Tekoah; these army captains are not
evenly spread out throughout the 12 tribes, but many of them were from
Judah, thus retaining national control in the hands of David and his
immediate tribal and social circle.
1Ch 27:10 The seventh captain for the seventh month was Helez the
Pelonite, of the children of Ephraim: and in his division were twenty-four
thousand-
He is called a man of Ephraim here, but Beth-Palet [he was a
"Paltite", 2 Sam. 23:26] was a town in the tribe of Judah. See on :9.
1Ch 27:11 The eighth captain for the eighth month was Sibbecai the
Hushathite, of the Zerahites; and in his division were twenty-four
thousand-
He too was from Judah, from the family of Zerah (1 Chron. 2:4,6); see
on :9.
1Ch 27:12 The ninth captain for the ninth month was Abiezer the
Anathothite, of the Benjamites: and in his division were twenty-four
thousand-
Anathoth was a priestly town, so this may have been a faithful priest
from Benjamin who would have been disillusioned with Saul's
unspirituality.
1Ch 27:13 The tenth captain for the tenth month was Maharai the
Netophathite, of the Zerahites; and in his division were twenty-four
thousand-
This is now the third person from the subdivision of Zerah in Judah.
The choice of leaders was clearly not representative of all the tribes of
Israel, but rather power was being concentrated in the hands of David's
tribe and immediate circle.
1Ch 27:14 The eleventh captain for the eleventh month was Benaiah the
Pirathonite, of the children of Ephraim; and in his division were
twenty-four thousand-
Pirathon was in Ephraim (Jud. 12:15), and there was always antipathy
between Judah and Ephraim. So as noted on :12, here again was a man who
stepped out from his surrounding cultural expectations in loyalty to
David.
1Ch 27:15 The twelfth captain for the twelfth month was Heldai the
Netophathite, of Othniel; and in his division were twenty-four thousand-
This was near Jerusalem and the Levitical singers lived there after
the exile (Ezra 2:22; Neh. 11:28); so he too may have been a Levite living
in Judah. See on :9.
1Ch 27:16 Furthermore over the tribes of Israel: of the Reubenites was
Eliezer the son of Zichri the ruler: of the Simeonites, Shephatiah the son
of Maacah-
Gad and Asher are omitted here- perhaps because they were not that
loyal to David?
1Ch 27:17 of Levi, Hashabiah the son of Kemuel: of Aaron, Zadok-
This suggests the Levites had two 'rulers', perhaps one over the
priests and another over the soldiers, or for the other Levites.
1Ch 27:18 of Judah, Elihu, one of the brothers of David: of Issachar, Omri
the son of Michael-
In 1 Chron. 2:15, David is placed seventh of seven sons, but
elsewhere eighth of eight (1 Sam. 14:10,11; 17:12). Perhaps the eighth son
was the Elihu of 1 Chron. 27:18. Or perhaps one of the sons died without
children, and is therefore not included in 1 Chron. 2:15. LXX gives Eliab.
Again we see the concentration of power in David's immediate circle (see
on :9).
1Ch 27:19 of Zebulun, Ishmaiah the son of Obadiah: of Naphtali, Jeremoth
the son of Azriel-
The only other mentions of Obadiah and Azriel in Chronicles refer to
Levites. So these men may have been Levites from those areas. Which fits
in with the suggestion on :9 that David was appointing a leadership which
was loyal to him; for the priesthood was loyal to him, and so the Levites
likely were too.
1Ch 27:20 of the children of Ephraim, Hoshea the son of Azaziah: of the
half-tribe of Manasseh, Joel the son of Pedaiah-
"Hoshea" is s.w. Joshua, who was also of the tribe of Ephraim (Num.
13:8), and was likely named after him.
1Ch 27:21 of the half-tribe of Manasseh in Gilead, Iddo the son of
Zechariah: of Benjamin, Jaasiel the son of Abner-
Jaasiel is the son of the Abner who was Saul’s cousin (1 Chron. 9:36;
1 Sam. 14:50). This is a departure from the common theme in these lists of
David concentrating power in his own circle (see on :9). It was perhaps a
sign of David's abiding softness and kindness towards the house of Saul,
which is all the more notable because David was an astute politician and
was used to cementing his own power through political appointments.
1Ch 27:22 of Dan, Azarel the son of Jeroham. These were the captains of
the tribes of Israel-
We note that many if not all of these leaders of the tribes, and
their fathers, had Godly names.
1Ch 27:23 But David didn’t take the number of them from twenty years old
and under, because Yahweh had said He would increase Israel like the stars
of the sky-
See on 1 Chron. 24:1.
This certainly seeks to present David positively. For his desire to
take a census of Israel at the time of 2 Sam. 24:1 was a result of his
lack of faith, and David himself took guilt over what he had done. We have
an example here of God yet again imputing righteousness to David, as He
did over the sin with Bathsheba. Or it could be that his refusal to number
Israel under the age of 20 was indeed because of his faith that God would
multiply Israel, yet at the same time he lacked faith in taking the census
of all the fighting men. This co-existence of faith and unbelief in a
person is quite typical; how many of us have prayed "Lord I believe, help
my unbelief" (Mk. 9:24).
1Ch 27:24 Joab the son of Zeruiah began to number, but didn’t finish; and
there came wrath for this upon Israel; neither was the number put into the
account in the chronicles of king David-
See on :1. The wrath came "upon Israel" because they sinned by not paying the temple tax
due when they were numbered. The sin is presented as theirs, which is why
they were punished. David was unwise in leading them into that sin, but he
seems to have taken false guilt upon himself over the matter. Which is why
they and not he were punished by God.
1Ch 27:25 Over the king’s treasures was Azmaveth the son of Adiel. Over
the treasures in the fields, in the cities, and in the villages, and in
the towers, was Jonathan the son of Uzziah-
This could imply that David had his own extensive personal wealth,
including vineyards (:27), servants who worked the ground (:26). This was
exactly what Samuel had warned Israel about; a human king would take
Israel's men to till their ground, and would take their vineyards from
them (1 Sam. 8:12,14). That all suggests that David slipped spiritually at
the end of his life. For he came from a poor family, and to have all these
things meant he had taken them for himself, and had ignored these warnings
of his one time mentor Samuel.
1Ch 27:26 Over those who did the work of the field for tillage of the
ground was Ezri the son of Chelub-
See on :24. This clearly alludes to the warning of the misbehaviour
of Israel's king in 1 Sam. 8:12, so Ezri's job was to ensure that this
work was done. We note that the overseers over this (Ezri, Shimei in :27
and Baal Hanan in :28) don't have Godly names but rather secular names.
1Ch 27:27 And over the vineyards was Shimei the Ramathite. And over the
increase of the vineyards for the winecellars was Zabdi the Shiphmite-
See on :25,26.
1Ch 27:28 And over the olive trees and the sycamore trees that were in the
lowland was Baal Hanan the Gederite. And over the cellars of oil was
Joash-
"The lowland" refers to the Shephelah, one of the five subdivisions
of the territory of Judah. Baal Hanan may have been a Gentile (1 Chron.
1:49).
1Ch 27:29 And 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-
"Sharon" seems to refer to the pastureland between mount Carmel and
Joppa.
1Ch 27:30 And over the camels was Obil the Ishmaelite. And over the
donkeys was Jehdeiah the Meronothite. And over the flocks was Jaziz the
Hagrite-
The Hagrites were Gentiles who had been defeated by Israelites (1
Chron. 5:18-22). There is quite a theme of the former enemies of David
becoming converted to his God and firmly personally loyal to him. We think
of the Gittites being so faithful to David, the very men of Gath whose
champion he had killed. This kind of radical transformation of human
relationships is a major testament to the real power of God in human
lives.
1Ch 27:31 All these were the rulers of the substance which was king
David’s-
This may mean that there was a difference between David's personal
wealth, and that of the Kingdom.
1Ch 27:32 Also Jonathan, David’s uncle, was a counsellor, a man of
understanding, and a scribe. Jehiel the son of Hachmoni was with the
king’s sons-
Again as noted on :9, we get the impression that David installed his
own tribe and personal circle as the leaders of Israel. This list was
presumably an older list, and not written at the time the lists of the
temple orders were written, which was at the end of David's life. And here
we have a mention of David's uncle. But he could be David's nephew, see 2
Sam. 21:21.
1Ch 27:33 Ahithophel was the king’s counsellor. Hushai the Archite was the
king’s advisor-
2 Sam. 23:34 tells us that Bathsheba's father Eliam was "the son of
Ahithophel the Gilonite". And he and Uriah were both amongst David's
"mighty men". Eliam was the father of Bathsheba, making Ahithophel her grandfather.
We can more readily understand why he turned against David after his
shameful behaviour with his granddaughter.
1Ch 27:34 and after Ahithophel was Jehoiada the son of Benaiah, and
Abiathar. The captain of the king’s army was Joab-
Joab was given this role but had it removed at least twice. So this list
is a snapshot of David's kingdom at some particular point, perhaps taken
earlier in his reign.
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