Chapter 27

1 The twelve captains for every several month. 16 The princes of the twelve tribes. 23 The numbering of the people is hindered. 25 David’s several officers.

1. The chief fathers. The heads of the tribal clans, that is, of the twelve tribes of Israel.

After giving an outline of the religious organization of the land (chs. 22–26), the record gives a brief account of the military and civil administration. This is done by presenting a catalogue of officers and civil administrators, setting forth such details as would give a brief picture of the civil administration as established by David. Verses 1–15 give a catalogue of the commanders of the 12 army corps, vs. 16–24 list the princes of the tribes, vs. 25–31 list the names of the 12 overseers of the royal estates, and vs. 32–34 list the names of the king’s privy counselors.

Captains of thousands. Compare ch. 13:1.

That served the king. The king was, of course, commander in chief of the armies. Only with that prerogative could he function, truly, as head of the realm.

Month by month. Each month a division of 24,000 men stood at arms as a sort of national guard, ready for instant action. This constant rotation of troops made possible the drilling of a large number of men so that an adequate army of trained men would be available at any time, should an emergency arise. Since the term of service was only a month, there was no great hardship on anyone.

2. Jashobeam. According to 2 Sam. 23:8 (see 1 Chron. 11:11), Jashobeam was evidently the one “that sat in the seat, chief among the captains,” of all David’s mighty men. The honor of commanding the first corps to serve during the year was accorded to him.

3. Children of Perez. Perez or Pharez, was of the tribe of Judah (ch. 2:4), and of the branch from which David himself sprang (ch. 2:4–15).

The chief. This was Jashobeam (v. 2). Jashobeam, however, was not David’s leading general. That post belonged to Joab, a son of David’s sister Zeruiah (chs. 2:16; 11:6; 20:1).

4. Dodai an Ahohite. Perhaps “Eleazar the son of Dodo, the Ahohite” (ch. 11:12), is meant.

5. Benaiah. Compare ch. 11:22.

Jehoiada. Compare ch. 12:27.

6. Among the thirty. Compare ch. 11:25.

7. Asahel. Asahel was slain by Abner before David began his reign over the united kingdom (2 Sam. 2:18–23), and he therefore could not have been alive late in the reign of David to fill the position here assigned him. Actually Zebadiah, the son of Asahel, commanded the fourth army corps, and Asahel (see 1 Chron. 11:26) may be mentioned by way of honor to his memory. It is also possible that these army corps had been built around smaller nuclei of units dating from David’s earlier days, and that Zebadiah had taken over his father’s old command.

8. Shamhuth the Izrahite. Compare 1 Chron. 11:27; 2 Sam. 23:25.

9. The sixth. For the names given in vs. 9–15, compare ch. 11:28–31.

15. Heldai. Or, “Heled” (ch. 11:30).

16. Over the tribes. Verses 16–24 list the princes of the 12 tribes. This listing may have to do with the taking of the national census (vs. 23, 24). When the census was taken in the wilderness, the Lord commanded that a representative of each tribe was to work with Aaron in the taking of the census, every one to be a “head of the house of his fathers” (Num. 1:4). David also employed princes from the tribes. However, the number of princes here is 13. Although Gad and Asher are not listed here, there were two princes for the separate half tribes of Manasseh, one for Levi, together with Zadok for the house of Aaron (v. 17).

The tribes are here listed in an order not in accord with any previous listing (see 1 Chron. 2:1, 2; Gen. 35:23–26; 46:8–27; 49:3–27; first are named the six tribes descended from sons of Leah, in order of age (Gen. 29:31–35; 30:17–20; 35:23); then six tribes (counting Manasseh as two half tribes) descended from Rachel (Gen. 30:22–24; 35:16–18; cf. 46:20 and 48:5), including two sons of her maid Bilhah (see Gen. 30:6–8), who were legally reckoned as hers. This makes up twelve tribes, aside from the representative of the Aaronites. The reason for omitting Gad and Asher is not given.

Ruler. Each tribe had its own chief officer.

18. Elihu. This should probably be Eliab, the eldest son of Jesse (see 1 Sam. 16:6; 17:13, 28; 1 Chron. 2:13), unless he was “brother” in the sense of “relative” (see on ch. 2:7).

21. Jaasiel. This was probably a son of Saul’s famous general, who was a Benjamite.

22. Of Dan. Neither Dan nor Zebulun appears in the tribal registers of chs. 4–7, but both tribes occur in the present list.

23. Took not the number. The remark here implies that David’s numbering of the people was connected with the military arrangements set forth earlier in the chapter. David desired to know how many men he could count on in the building up of his army.

24. He finished not. See ch. 21:6.

There fell wrath. See ch. 21:7–15.

Neither was the number. The number was not inserted in the official state archives of David’s reign. This does not mean that it was not preserved elsewhere. The figures are found in 1 Chron. 21:5.

25. The king’s treasures. These were probably treasures of gold, silver, bronze, and precious stones in the royal treasury at Jerusalem. Verses 25–31 comprise an important section dealing with the question of the royal revenue and the means by which it was acquired. David’s wealth consisted of treasure laid up in storehouses in cities and in rural areas. Its sources were fields, vineyards, olive orchards, sycamore plantations, flocks, herds, camels, and asses. David had become wealthy, and it was necessary that expert help be provided to take care of his financial interests.

Castles. Or, towers (see 2 Chron. 26:10).

26. For tillage. The arable domains of David probably brought in a considerable and constant flow of revenue.

27. Vineyards. The soil of Palestine was favorable to grape raising. The grape flourished throughout the land, on the hills of Judah and Samaria, the plains of Jericho and Esdraelon, and the highlands across the Jordan.

28. Olive trees. The olive tree was cultivated in Palestine in olive yards. The olive was highly valued not only as the whole fruit but also for its oil. The oil was used in cooking and seasoning, also burned in lamps, and used as an ointment.

Sycomore trees. These were the sycamore figs. They were abundant in the lowlands of Judah and were also found in the Jordan valley.

29. Sharon. A fertile plain along the Mediterranean coast, south of Mt. Carmel.

30. Obil the Ishmaelite. Ishmaelites from the Arabian Desert were well acquainted with camels, and one of this group would have been a fitting person to look after David’s camels. The camels were probably kept in the uplands east of the Jordan.

31. Flocks. Heb. soХn, flocks of sheep and goats. The country of Palestine was particularly suited for grazing purposes.

32. Counsellor. The list of officials in vs. 32–34 probably constituted David’s privy council. For other lists of David’s chief officers see 1 Chron. 18:15–17, also 2 Sam. 8:16–18; 20:23–26.

With the king’s sons. Hachmoni was probably a tutor of the king’s sons.

33. Ahithophel. The counselor of David who went over to Absalom, and who committed suicide when he found that his advice was not accepted by Absalom (2 Sam. 15:31; 17:23).

Hushai the Archite. The faithful counselor of David who thwarted the counsel of Ahithophel (see 2 Sam. 17:7–14).

34. After Ahithophel. After the defection of Ahithophel he was succeeded by Jehoiada and Abiathar.

Jehoiada. This was probably the Jehoiada who is designated as a “priest” (v. 5). Jehoiada’s son, Benaiah, had the same name as his grandfather.

Abiathar. Abiathar was one of the high priests (see 1 Chron. 18:16; 2 Sam. 20:25).