29 The holy bread was in their care, and the crushed grain for the meal offering, of unleavened cakes or meal cooked over the fire or in water; they had control of all sorts of weights and measures;
Do not make false decisions in questions of yard-sticks and weights and measures. Have true scales, true weights and measures for all things: I am the Lord your God, who took you out of the land of Egypt;
And on the table at all times you are to keep my holy bread.
And when you give a meal offering cooked in the oven, let it be of unleavened cakes of the best meal mixed with oil, or thin unleavened cakes covered with oil. And if you give a meal offering cooked on a flat plate, let it be of the best meal, unleavened and mixed with oil. Let it be broken into bits, and put oil on it; it is a meal offering. And if your offering is of meal cooked in fat over the fire, let it be made of the best meal mixed with oil.
Anyone touching the flesh of it will be holy: and if any of the blood is dropped on any clothing, the thing on which the blood has been dropped is to be washed in a holy place. But the vessel of earth in which the flesh was cooked is to be broken; or if a brass vessel was used, it is to be rubbed clean and washed out with water. Every male among the priests may take it for his food: it is most holy. No sin-offering, the blood of which is taken into the Tent of meeting, to take away sin in the holy place, may be used for food: it is to be burned with fire.
And take the best meal and make twelve cakes of it, a fifth part of an ephah in every cake. And put them in two lines, six in a line, on the holy table before the Lord. And on the lines of cakes put clean sweet-smelling spices, for a sign on the bread, an offering made by fire to the Lord. Every Sabbath day regularly, the priest is to put it in order before the Lord: it is offered for the children of Israel, an agreement made for ever. And it will be for Aaron and his sons; they are to take it for food in a holy place: it is the most holy of all the offerings made by fire to the Lord, a rule for ever.
From the first sons of Israel he took it, a thousand, three hundred and sixty-five shekels, by the scale of the holy place;
And Solomon had all the vessels made for use in the house of the Lord: the altar of gold and the gold table on which the holy bread was placed;
And some of them were responsible for the holy things and for the vessels of the holy place, and the meal and the wine and the oil and the perfume and the spices. And some of the sons of the priests were responsible for crushing the spices. And Mattithiah, one of the Levites, the oldest son of Shallum the Korahite, was responsible for cooking the flat cakes. And some of their brothers, sons of the Kohathites, were responsible for the holy bread which was put in order before the Lord, to get it ready every Sabbath. And these were those who had the ordering of the music and songs, heads of families of the Levites, who were living in the rooms, and were free from other work, for their work went on day and night. These were heads of families of the Levites in their generations, chief men; they were living at Jerusalem.
By whom burned offerings and perfumes are sent up in smoke before the Lord every morning and every evening; and they put out the holy bread on its table and the gold support for the lights with its lights burning every evening; for we keep the orders given to us by the Lord our God, but you have gone away from him.
Then they went in to King Hezekiah and said, We have made all the house of the Lord clean, as well as the altar of burned offerings with all its vessels, and the table for the holy bread, with all its vessels.
How he went into the house of God and took for food the holy bread which it was not right for him or for those who were with him to take, but only for the priests?
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on 1 Chronicles 23
Commentary on 1 Chronicles 23 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
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; 15:25; 22:17; 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.