1 Chronicles 15:21

_AND MATTITHIAH, AND ELIPHELEH, AND MIKNEIAH, AND OBEDEDOM, AND JEIEL, AND AZAZIAH, WITH HARPS ON THE SHEMINITH TO EXCEL._ Mattithiah ... with harps on the Sheminith to excel. Gesenius rendered it, 'Miattithiah ... played on harps in the octave' (i:e., deep tone, the bass) х_ LªNATSEEACH_ (H5329)], so as to lead the Song of Solomon 1:1:e., to regulate the singing-to act the part of a precentor....

1-24 Wise and good men may be guilty of oversights, which they will correct, as soon as they are aware of them. David does not try to justify what had been done amiss, nor to lay the blame on others; but he owns himself guilty, with others, of not seeking God in due order...

Verse 1 Chronicles 15:21. _ON THE SHEMINITH_] According to the Targum, this signifies an instrument that sounded an _octave_, or, according to others, an instrument with _eight_ strings. The Syriac and Arabic have it, instruments to sing with daily, at the _third, sixth_, and _ninth_ hour; the Vulgate, an octave, _for a song of victory_: some think the _eighth_ band of the musicians is intended, who had the _strongest_ and most _sonorous_ voices; and that it is in this sense that _shelomith_ and _lenatstseach_ should be understood....

HARPS ON THE SHEMINITH - “Sheminith” properly means “the eighth,” and has been compared with the modern musical term “octave.” Further, “Sheminith” and “Alamoth” are regarded as contrasted, and the harps of Mattithiah and his companions are supposed to have been pitched an octave below the psalteries of Zechariah and his brethren. The word translated “to excel,” is taken as meaning “to lead,” and Mattithiah, etc., as leaders of the singers....

EXPOSITION 1 CHRONICLES 15:1 The contents of this verse and the following verses up to the twenty-fifth have no parallel in the Book of Samuel, and excite suggestion respecting the different objects with which the compiler of Chronicles wrote, as compared with those of the author of the former work. They also direct fresh attention to the sources upon which they drew. The history of the preparations made for the reception of the ark, and for its safe and religious escort into the city, is now proceeded with. These preparations occupied the three months, or part of the three months, spoken of in 1 Chronicles 13:14. The HOUSES may have been both his own ...

AND MATTITHIAH, AND ELIPHELEH, AND MIKNEIAH, AND OBEDEDOM, AND JEIEL, AND AZAZIAH,.... These six were appointed to sound: WITH HARPS ON THE SHEMINITH TO EXCEL; which Sheminith some take to be an harp with eight strings, or the beginning of a song, or a musical tone, the bass; see the title of Psalms 6:1....

1 _;_ 2. _And David made him houses in the city of David, and prepared a place for the ark of God, and pitched for it a tent. Then David said, None ought to carry the ark of God but the Levites: for them hath the LORD chosen to carry the ark of God; and to minister unto him for ever._ It should not be carried upon a new cart, dragged by unwilling oxen but it should be borne upon the cheerful shoulders of the God-appointed bearers, the Levites. 1 Chronicles 15:3. _And David gathered all Israel together to Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the LORD unto his place, which he had prepared for it. And David assembled the children of Aaron, and the Levites:_ Then follows the list of them, which we need not now read. 1 C

; 1 Chronicles 16:1 . THE ARK BROUGHT TO JERUSALEM CHAPTER 15:1-16:3 _ 1. The true preparation to fetch the ark (1 Chronicles 15:1)_ 2. The great procession (1 Chronicles 15:16) 3. The ark brought back (1 Chronicles 15:25; 1 Chronicles 16:1) The ark rested in the house of Obed-edom for three months. During that time David prepared a place for the ark of God and pitched a tent.Warned by what had happened, his conscience aroused, David said, “None ought to

1 CHRONICLES 15:1 TO 1 CHRONICLES 16:43. THE BRINGING UP OF THE ARK TO JERUSALEM (_cf._ 2 Samuel 6:12_ a_). The account given by the Chronicler is much more elaborate, stress being laid on the part played by the priests and Levites; they are not mentioned in 2 S. 1 CHRONICLES 15:2. _Cf._ Numbers 1:50; Numbers 4:15; Numbers 7:9;...

SHEMINITH. _the_ eighth. (See App-65.) TO EXCEL. to lead....