1
This is the list of the Israelites—the heads of families, the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, and their officers who served the king in every matter concerning the divisions on rotating military duty each month throughout the year. There were 24,000 men in each division:
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
lə·mis·pā·rām ū·ḇə·nê yiś·rā·’êl rā·šê hā·’ā·ḇō·wṯ wə·śā·rê hā·’ă·lā·p̄îm wə·ham·mê·’ō·wṯ wə·šō·ṭə·rê·hem ham·šā·rə·ṯîm ’eṯ- ham·me·leḵ lə·ḵōl də·ḇar ham·maḥ·lə·qō·wṯ hab·bā·’āh wə·hay·yō·ṣêṯ ḥō·ḏeš bə·ḥō·ḏeš lə·ḵōl ḥā·ḏə·šê haš·šā·nāh ‘eś·rîm wə·’ar·bā·‘āh ’ā·lep̄ hā·’a·ḥaṯ ham·ma·ḥă·lō·qeṯ
Word by word27 · parsed
√ miçpâr — a number, definite (arithmetical) or indefinite (large, innumerablePreposition-lNounmasculine singular constructthird person masculine plural
miçpâr: a number, definite or indefinite The governing word of the whole chapter. The Chronicler is not writing a story here; he is publishing a reckoning, and both Ellicott and K&D place the weight of the heading on this phrase. Everything that follows (twelve names, twelve months, one figure repeated twelve times) is the content of that number.
√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcConjunctive wawNounmasculine plural construct
√ Yisrâʼêl — Jisrael, a symbolical name of JacobNounpropermasculine singular
√ rôʼsh — the head (as most easily shaken), whether literal or figurative (in many applications, of place, time, rank, itcNounmasculine plural construct
rôʼsh: the head, whether literal or figurative Not a rank invented for the army but the ordinary word for a clan head. JFB calls these "the hereditary heads of tribes who, like chieftains of clans, possessed great power and influence," so David's militia is organised along lines that already existed in the households.
√ ʼâb — father, in a literal and immediate, or figurative and remote applicationArticleNounmasculine plural
√ sar — a head person (of any rank or class)Conjunctive wawNounmasculine plural construct
√ ʼeleph — hence (the ox's head being the first letter of the alphabet, and this eventually used as a numeral) a thousandArticleNumbermasculine plural
√ mêʼâh — a hundredConjunctive waw, ArticleNumberfeminine plural
√ shôṭêr — properly, a scribe, iConjunctive wawNounmasculine plural constructthird person masculine plural
shôṭêr: properly, a scribe Ellicott glosses them as "Scribes, who kept the muster-rolls, and did the work of recruiting sergeants," and JFB assigns them the commissariat. The list is held together by writing: a standing army of this shape is impossible without men whose weapon is a register.
√ shârath — to attend as a menial or worshipperArticleVerbPielParticiplemasculine plural
shârath: to attend as a menial or worshipper A Piel participle, continuous action. The lexicon's own gloss holds both senses at once, menial and worshipper, and the Chronicler has just spent several chapters using the root of Levites before the ark. Placing it here over the king's clerks keeps civil service and sanctuary service in one vocabulary.
√ ʼêth — properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)Direct object marker
√ melek — a kingArticleNounmasculine singular
√ kôl — properly, the wholePreposition-lNounmasculine singular construct
√ dâbâr — a wordNounmasculine singular construct
√ machălôqeth — a section (of Levites, people or soldiers)ArticleNounfeminine plural
machălôqeth: a section (of Levites, people or soldiers) The hinge word of 1 Chronicles 23 to 27. Ellicott states plainly that "The same Hebrew term ( mahlĕqôth ) was used of the Levitical classes in the preceding chapters," and its range in the lexicon covers Levites, people and soldiers alike. Israel's worship and Israel's defence are organised by one noun.
√ bôwʼ — to go or come (in a wide variety of applications)ArticleVerbQalParticiplefeminine singular
bôwʼ: to go or come A feminine singular participle agreeing with the division, so the corps is the thing that comes and goes, not the king and not the year. Cambridge: "Came on duty and went off duty."
√ yâtsâʼ — to go (causatively, bring) out, in a great variety of applications, literally and figuratively, direct and proximConjunctive waw, ArticleVerbQalParticiplefeminine singular
√ chôdesh — the new moonNounmasculine singular
chôdesh: the new moon The word for month is the word for new moon: the rotation is keyed to the lunar cycle, which is why the roster has exactly twelve places and not ten or twenty. Benson observes the practical result, that each man's turn "came but once in a year, and that only for one month."
√ chôdesh — the new moonPreposition-bNounmasculine singular
√ kôl — properly, the wholePreposition-lNounmasculine singular construct
√ chôdesh — the new moonNounmasculine plural construct
√ shâneh — a year (as a revolution of time)ArticleNounfeminine singular
√ ʻesrîym — twentyNumbercommon plural
√ ʼarbaʻ — fourConjunctive wawNumbermasculine singular
√ ʼeleph — hence (the ox's head being the first letter of the alphabet, and this eventually used as a numeral) a thousandNumbermasculine singular
√ ʼechâd — properly, united, iArticleNumberfeminine singular
ʼechâd: properly, united, one Read distributively, "one at a time," as K&D argues from Judges 8:18 and Numbers 17:6. The figure 24,000 is not the whole army but the size of a single shift; twelve shifts give the 288,000 that Gill and JFB both compute.
√ machălôqeth — a section (of Levites, people or soldiers)ArticleNounfeminine singular