1 Chronicles 27:24

_JOAB THE SON OF ZERUIAH BEGAN TO NUMBER, BUT HE FINISHED NOT, BECAUSE THERE FELL WRATH FOR IT AGAINST ISRAEL; NEITHER WAS THE NUMBER PUT IN THE ACCOUNT OF THE CHRONICLES OF KING DAVID._ Neither was the number put in the account of the Chronicles of king David - either because the undertaking was not completed, Levi and Benjamin not having been numbered (1 Chronicles 21:6), or the full details in the hands of the enumerating officers were not reported to David, and, consequently, not registered in the public archives. "The Chronicles" were the daily records or annals of the king's reign. No notice was taken of this census in the historical register, as, from the public calamity with which it was associated, it would have stood painful record of the divine judgment against the king and the nation....

16-34 The officers of the court, or the rulers of the king's substance, had the oversight and charge of the king's tillage, his vineyards, his herds, his flocks, which formed the wealth of eastern kings. Much of the wisdom of princes is seen in the choice of their ministry, and common persons show it in the choice of their advisers. David, though he had all these about him, preferred the word of God before them all. Thy testimonies are my delight and my counsellors....

Verse 1 Chronicles 27:24. _NEITHER WAS THE NUMBER PUT IN THE ACCOUNT_] Joab did not return the whole number; probably the plague began before he had finished: or, he did not choose to give it in, as he had entered on this work with extreme reluctance; and he did not choose to tell the king how numerous they were....

BECAUSE THERE FELL WRATH - literally, “And there fell wrath.” The falling of God’s wrath was not the cause of Joab’s ceasing. His motive is clearly stated in 1 Chronicles 21:6. See also the marginal references. NEITHER WAS THE NUMBER ... - The meaning is, that in the portion of the chronicles of King David which treated of numbers - the number of the standing army, of the Levitical and priestly courses, the singers, etc. - the return of the number of the people made by Joab was not entered. The disastrous circumstances which followed on the taking of the census perhaps produced a feeling that God might he further provoked by its being put on record in the state archives. The numbers which have come down to us must therefore have been derived from private sources....

EXPOSITION This chapter, continuing the general subject of David's arrangements of all the leading departments, sacred and civil, of the kingdom, which he was so soon to yield into the hands of his son Solomon, proceeds in the first fifteen verses to the enumeration of the military courses of his people, month by month. These were twelve in number, each containing twenty,four thousand men; and the _captain_,_ _or _chief_, or _chief father_,_ of _each is specially mentioned. 1 CHRONICLES 27:1 It is impossible to feel fully satisfied with any translation which the words of this verse offer. Yet there can scarcely he any doubt of the meaning of the verse, viz. that the writer would speak of the children of Israel, including the chief fathers and captains of thousands and hundreds, as regards their c

JOAB THE SON OF ZERUIAH BEGAN TO NUMBER,.... By the order of David, but entirely against his own will, see 1 Chronicles 21:2, BUT HE FINISHED NOT; the two tribes of Benjamin and Levi not being counted by him, 1 Chronicles 21:6 BECAUSE THERE FELL WRATH FOR IT AGAINST ISRAEL; the plague being broke forth before he had done numbering, which put a stop to it, 1 Chronicles 21:14 NEITHER WAS THE NUMBER PUT IN THE ACCOUNT OF THE CHRONICLES OF DAVID; that which was brought in by Joab, though imperfect, was not entered into the diary, journal, or annals which David ordered to be written of all memorable events and transactions in his reign; an

6. THE CAPTAINS, PRINCES, AND VARIOUS OFFICIALS CHAPTER 27 _ 1. The twelve captains (1 Chronicles 27:1)_ 2. The princes of the twelve tribes (1 Chron. 27-16-22) 3. The unfinished numbering (1 Chronicles 27:23) 4. Various officers (1 Chronicles 27:25) We have here the military organization of David's kingdom. The army comprised all males over twenty years of age. The host had twelve divisions each of 24,000. It is remarkable how the number twenty-four occurs again and again. Twelve is the governmental number and twice twelve, that is, twenty-four, would indicate a perfect and complete government such as will be established when Heaven's Ki

ORGANISATION OF DAVID'S ARMY: ENUMERATION OF HIS OFFICIALS (_cf._ 1 Chronicles 11:10 ff.) 1 Chronicles 27:1. According to this verse the army comprised 288,000 soldiers; this is an exaggeration. 1 Chronicles 27:32. David's uncle: better kinsman; the Hebrew word _dô d_ is used in this general sense. 1 Chronicles 27:33. _Cf._ 2 Samuel 15:12; 2 Samuel 15:37. the ki

THERE FELL WRATH. Compare 1 Chronicles 21:6; 1 Chronicles 21:7....

The Princes of the Tribes of Israel Cp. Numbers 1:2-15 where Moses is enjoined to have with him a representative of each tribe at the numbering of the people; cp. 1 Chronicles 27:23-24 below. In the present list the tribes of Gad and Asher are omitted, probably accidentally. 17. _Of the Levites_ R.V. OF LEVI. _Hashabiah_ Perhaps the person mentioned in 1 Chronicles 26:30. The name is common among Levites. _of the Aaronites, Zadok_ R.V. OF AARON, ZADOK. Cp. 1 Chronicles 12:27-28, whence we may conclude that Zadok succeeded Jehoia