1 Chronicles 27:16-24

21. THE PRINCES OF THE TRIBES (1 Chronicles 27:16-24)

TEXT

1 Chronicles 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: 17. of Levi, Hashabiah the son of Kemuel: of Aaron, Zadok: 18. of Judah, Elihu, one of the brethren of David: of Issachar, Omri the son of Michael: 19. of Zebulun, Ishmaiah the son of Obadiah: of Naphtali, Jeremoth the son of Azriel: 20. of the children of Ephraim, Hoshea the son of Azaziah: of the half-tribe of Manasseh, Joel the son on Pedaiah: 21. of the half-tribe of Manasseh in Gilead, Iddo the son of Zechariah: of Benjamin, Jaasiel the son of Abner: 22. of Dan, Azarel the son of Jeroham. These were the captains of the tribes of Israel. 23. But David took not the number of them from twenty years old and under, because Jehovah had said he would increase Israel like to the stars of heaven. 24. Joab the son of Zeruiah began to number, but finished not; and there came wrath for this upon Israel; neither was the number put into the account in the chronicles of king David.

PARAPHRASE

1 Chronicles 27:16-22. The top political officers of the tribes of Israel were as follows: Over Reuben, Eliezer (son of Zichri); Over Simeon, Shephatiah (son of Maacah); Over Levi, Hashabiah (son of Kemuel); Over the descendants of Aaron, Zadok; Over Judah, Elihu (a brother of King David); Over Issachar, Omri (son of Michael); Over Zebulun, Ishmaiah (son of Obadiah); Over Naphtali, Jeremoth (son of Azriel); over Ephraim, Hoshea (son of Azaziah); Over the half-tribe of Manasseh, Joel (son of of Pedaiah); Over the other half of Manasseh, in Gilead, Iddo (son of Zechariah); Over Benjamin, Ja-asiel (son of Abner); Over Dan, Azarel (son of Jeroham). 23. When David took his census he didn-'t include the twenty-year-olds, or those younger, for the Lord had promised a population explosion for his people. 24. Joab began the census, but he never finished it, for the anger of God broke out upon Israel; the final total was never put into the annals of King David.

COMMENTARY

Before David passed he was concerned about the political organization of each of the tribes of Israel. Among the other matters in his check list and in the sacred record of the chronicler would be the detail of the naming of the ruler or prince of each tribe. The tribes of Gad and Asher are not listed here. For this there is no satisfactory explanation. The tribe of Levi is listed and receives special attention in that Hashabiah is the ruler over the Levites while Zadok is the ruler over the priests (those of Aaron's house). When the historian turns to Joseph he names three rulers or princes for this tribe. Hoshea is prince of Ephraim. Joel rules over Manasseh in Canaan. Iddo is prince over Manasseh beyond the Jordan eastward. Elihu (1 Chronicles 27:18) most likely was Eliah, David's brother, who is prince of Judah. Thirteen men were named here in spite of the omission of the tribes of Gad and Asher. David had taken a military census of the tribes of Israel (2 Samuel 24:1-9; 1 Chronicles 21) contrary to Jehovah's will. That it was a military accounting is evident in this record (1 Chronicles 27:23) which says that he would not number those under twenty years of age.[43] The military age was twenty years old and upwards (Numbers 1:3). Jehovah had made this wonderful promise about multiplying Israel (Genesis 15:5), but David was not considering that promise when he ordered Joab to take the census. Joab saw no need for the numbering and went about the task half-heartedly. Joab made no attempt to number the people of the tribes of Levi and Benjamin (1 Chronicles 21; 1 Chronicles 6), so the census was never actually completed. Jehovah's wrath came in the form of an awful pestilence (1 Chronicles 21:1-7) which killed seventy thousand Israelites. While David made remarkable provisions for all of the tribes of Israel at this time in the record, the historian called to remembrance David's sin which had disastrously reduced Israel's population.

[43] Cook, F. C., The Bible Commentary, I SamuelEsther, p. 363