1 Chronicles 27:4 Kommentar

In this chapter we have the civil list, including the military, I. The twelve captains for every separate month of the year (Ch1 27:1-15). II. The princes of the several tribes (Ch1 27:16-24). III. The officers of the court (Ch1 27:25-34).

INTRODUCTION TO 1 CHRONICLES 27 In this chapter we have an account of twelve military courses, or twelve legions of soldiers, with the captains of them, that served David monthly in their turns, Ch1 27:1 and of the princes of the several tribes, Ch1 27:16 and of his economical rulers, Ch1 27:25, and of his counsellors and general, Ch1 27:32.

An account of the twelve captains who were over the monthly course of twenty-four thousand men; each captain serving one month in turn, Ch1 27:1. The names of the twelve, and the months in which they served, Ch1 27:2-15. The names of the rulers of the twelve tribes, Ch1 27:16-22. The reasons why the whole number of Israel and Judah had not been taken, Ch1 27:23, Ch1 27:24. The persons who were over the king's property, treasures, fields, flocks, etc., Ch1 27:25-31. His officers of state, Ch1 27:32-34.

TWELVE CAPTAINS FOR EVERY MONTH. (Ch1 27:1-15) came in and went out month by month--Here is an account of the standing military force of Israel. A militia formed, it would seem, at the beginning of David's reign (see Ch1 27:7) was raised in the following order: Twelve legions, corresponding to the number of tribes, were enlisted in the king's service. Each legion comprised a body of twenty-four thousand men, whose term of service was a month in rotation, and who were stationed either at Jerusalem or in any other place where they might be required. There was thus always a force sufficient for the ordinary purposes of state, as well as for resisting sudden attacks or popular tumults; and when extraordinary emergencies demanded a larger force, the whole standing army could easily be called to arms, amounting to two hundred eighty-eight thousand, or to three hundred thousand, including the twelve thousand officers that naturally attended on the twelve princes (Ch1 27:16-24). Such a military establishment would be burdensome neither to the country nor to the royal treasury; for attendance on this duty being a mark of honor and distinction, the expense of maintenance would be borne probably by the militiaman himself, or furnished out of the common fund of his tribe. Nor would the brief period of actual service produce any derangement of the usual course of affairs; for, on the expiry of the term, every soldier returned to the pursuits and duties of private life during the other eleven months of the year. Whether the same individuals were always enrolled, cannot be determined. The probability is, that provided the requisite number was furnished, no stricter scrutiny would be made. A change of men might, to a certain degree, be encouraged, as it was a part of David's policy to train all his subjects to skill in arms; and to have made the enlistment fall always on the same individuals would have defeated that purpose. To have confined each month's levy rigidly within the limits of one tribe might have fallen hard upon those tribes which were weak and small. The rotation system being established, each division knew its own month, as well as the name of the commander under whom it was to serve. These commanders are styled, "the chief fathers," that is, the hereditary heads of tribes who, like chieftains of clans, possessed great power and influence. captains of thousands and hundreds--The legions of twenty-four thousand were divided into regiments of one thousand, and these again into companies of a hundred men, under the direction of their respective subalterns, there being, of course, twenty-four captains of thousands, and two hundred forty centurions. and their officers--the Shoterim, who in the army performed the duty of the commissariat, keeping the muster-roll, &c.

second month was Dodai--or, "Dodo." Here the text seems to require the supplement of "Eleazar the son of Dodo" (Sa2 23:9).

INTRODUCTION TO 1 CHRONICLES 27 In this chapter we have an account of twelve military courses, or twelve legions of soldiers, with the captains of them, that served David monthly in their turns, Ch1 27:1 and of the princes of the several tribes, Ch1 27:16 and of his economical rulers, Ch1 27:25, and of his counsellors and general, Ch1 27:32.