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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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on the Whole Bible</h1>
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[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1708)
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<!-- (Begin Body) -->
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<CENTER>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>F I R S T C H R O N I C L E S</B></FONT>
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<BR>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. XXVII.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
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<P>
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In this chapter we have the civil list, including the military,
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I. The twelve captains for every separate month of the year,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ch+27:1-15">ver. 1-15</A>.
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II. The princes of the several tribes,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ch+27:16-24">ver. 16-24</A>.
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III. The officers of the court,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ch+27:25-34">ver. 25-34</A>.</P>
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<A NAME="1Ch27_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Ch27_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Ch27_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Ch27_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Ch27_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Ch27_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Ch27_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Ch27_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Ch27_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Ch27_10"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Ch27_11"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Ch27_12"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Ch27_13"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Ch27_14"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Ch27_15"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Officers of the Army.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1015.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>1 Now the children of Israel after their number, <I>to wit,</I> the
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chief fathers and captains of thousands and hundreds, and their
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officers that served the king in any matter of the courses, which
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came in and went out month by month throughout all the months of
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the year, of every course <I>were</I> twenty and four thousand.
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2 Over the first course for the first month <I>was</I> Jashobeam the
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son of Zabdiel: and in his course <I>were</I> twenty and four
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thousand.
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3 Of the children of Perez <I>was</I> the chief of all the captains
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of the host for the first month.
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4 And over the course of the second month <I>was</I> Dodai an
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Ahohite, and of his course <I>was</I> Mikloth also the ruler: in his
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course likewise <I>were</I> twenty and four thousand.
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5 The third captain of the host for the third month <I>was</I>
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Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, a chief priest: and in his course
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<I>were</I> twenty and four thousand.
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6 This <I>is that</I> Benaiah, <I>who was</I> mighty <I>among</I> the thirty,
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and above the thirty: and in his course <I>was</I> Ammizabad his son.
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7 The fourth <I>captain</I> for the fourth month <I>was</I> Asahel the
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brother of Joab, and Zebadiah his son after him: and in his
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course <I>were</I> twenty and four thousand.
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8 The fifth captain for the fifth month <I>was</I> Shamhuth the
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Izrahite: and in his course <I>were</I> twenty and four thousand.
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9 The sixth <I>captain</I> for the sixth month <I>was</I> Ira the son of
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Ikkesh the Tekoite: and in his course <I>were</I> twenty and four
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thousand.
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10 The seventh <I>captain</I> for the seventh month <I>was</I> Helez the
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Pelonite, of the children of Ephraim: and in his course <I>were</I>
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twenty and four thousand.
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11 The eighth <I>captain</I> for the eighth month <I>was</I> Sibbecai the
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Hushathite, of the Zarhites: and in his course <I>were</I> twenty and
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four thousand.
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12 The ninth <I>captain</I> for the ninth month <I>was</I> Abiezer the
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Anetothite, of the Benjamites: and in his course <I>were</I> twenty
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and four thousand.
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13 The tenth <I>captain</I> for the tenth month <I>was</I> Maharai the
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Netophathite, of the Zarhites: and in his course <I>were</I> twenty
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and four thousand.
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14 The eleventh <I>captain</I> for the eleventh month <I>was</I> Benaiah
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the Pirathonite, of the children of Ephraim: and in his course
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<I>were</I> twenty and four thousand.
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15 The twelfth <I>captain</I> for the twelfth month <I>was</I> Heldai the
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Netophathite, of Othniel: and in his course <I>were</I> twenty and
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four thousand.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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We have here an account of the regulation of the militia of the
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kingdom. David was himself a man of war, and had done great things with
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the sword; he had brought into the field great armies. Now here we are
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told how he marshalled them when God had given him rest from all his
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enemies. He did not keep them all together, for that would have been a
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hardship on them and the country; yet he did not disband and disperse
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them all, for then he would have left his kingdom naked, and his people
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would have forgotten the arts of war, wherein they had been instructed.
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He therefore contrived to keep up a constant force, and yet not a
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standing army. The model is very prudent.
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1. He kept up 24,000 constantly in arms, I suppose in a body, and
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disciplined, in one part or other of the kingdom, the freeholders
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carrying their own arms and bearing their own charges while they were
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up. This was a sufficient strength for the securing of the public peace
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and safety. Those that are Israelites indeed must learn war; for we
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have enemies to grapple with, whom we are concerned constantly to stand
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upon our guard against.
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2. He changed them every month; so that the whole number of the militia
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amounted to 288,000, perhaps about a fifth part of the able men of the
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kingdom. By being thus distributed into twelve courses, they were all
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instructed in, and accustomed to, military exercises; and yet none were
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compelled to be in service, and at expenses, above one month in the
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year (which they might very well afford), unless upon extraordinary
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occasions, and then they might all be got together quickly. It is the
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wisdom of governors, and much their praise, while they provide for the
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public safety, to contrive how to make it effectual and yet easy, and
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as little as possible burdensome to the people.
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3. Every course had a commander in chief over it. Besides the subaltern
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officers that were rulers over thousands, and hundreds, and fifties,
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there was one general officer to each course or legion. All these
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twelve great commanders are mentioned among David's worthies and
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champions,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Sa+23:8-39,1Ch+11:10-47">2 Sam. xxiii. and 1 Chron. xi.</A>
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They had first signalized themselves by their great actions and then
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they were advanced to those great preferments. It is well with a
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kingdom when honour thus attends merit. Benaiah is here called <I>a
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chief priest,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ch+27:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>.
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But, <I>cohen</I> signifying both a <I>priest</I> and a <I>prince,</I>
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it might better be translated here <I>a chief ruler,</I> or (as in the
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margin) <I>a principal officer.</I> Dodai had Mikloth
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ch+27:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>)
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either for his substitute when he was absent or infirm, or for his
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successor when he was dead. Benaiah had his son under him,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ch+27:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>.
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Asahel had his son after him
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ch+27:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>),
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and by this it seems that this plan of the militia was laid in the
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beginning of David's reign; for Asahel was killed by Abner while David
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reigned in Hebron. When his wars were over he revived this method, and
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left the military affairs in this posture, for the peaceable reign of
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his son Solomon. When we think ourselves most safe, yet, while we are
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here in the body, we must keep in a readiness for spiritual conflicts.
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<I>Let not him that girdeth on the harness boast as he that puts it
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off.</I></P>
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<A NAME="1Ch27_16"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Ch27_17"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Ch27_18"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Ch27_19"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Ch27_20"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Ch27_21"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Ch27_22"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Ch27_23"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Ch27_24"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Ch27_25"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Ch27_26"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Ch27_27"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Ch27_28"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Ch27_29"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Ch27_30"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Ch27_31"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Ch27_32"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Ch27_33"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Ch27_34"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Military Force.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1015.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>16 Furthermore over the tribes of Israel: the ruler of the
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Reubenites <I>was</I> Eliezer the son of Zichri: of the Simeonites,
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Shephatiah the son of Maachah:
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17 Of the Levites, Hashabiah the son of Kemuel: of the
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Aaronites, Zadok:
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18 Of Judah, Elihu, <I>one</I> of the brethren of David: of
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Issachar, Omri the son of Michael:
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19 Of Zebulun, Ishmaiah the son of Obadiah: of Naphtali,
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Jerimoth the son of Azriel:
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20 Of the children of Ephraim, Hoshea the son of Azaziah: of
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the half tribe of Manasseh, Joel the son of Pedaiah:
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21 Of the half <I>tribe</I> of Manasseh in Gilead, Iddo the son of
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Zechariah: of Benjamin, Jaasiel the son of Abner:
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22 Of Dan, Azareel the son of Jeroham. These <I>were</I> the princes
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of the tribes of Israel.
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23 But David took not the number of them from twenty years old
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and under: because the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> had said he would increase Israel
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like to the stars of the heavens.
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24 Joab the son of Zeruiah began to number, but he finished
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not, because there fell wrath for it against Israel; neither was
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the number put in the account of the chronicles of king David.
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25 And over the king's treasures <I>was</I> Azmaveth the son of
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Adiel: and over the storehouses in the fields, in the cities, and
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in the villages, and in the castles, <I>was</I> Jehonathan the son of
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Uzziah:
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26 And over them that did the work of the field for tillage of
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the ground <I>was</I> Ezri the son of Chelub:
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27 And over the vineyards <I>was</I> Shimei the Ramathite: over the
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increase of the vineyards for the wine cellars <I>was</I> Zabdi the
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Shiphmite:
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28 And over the olive trees and the sycamore trees that <I>were</I>
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in the low plains <I>was</I> Baal-hanan the Gederite: and over the
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cellars of oil <I>was</I> Joash:
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29 And over the herds that fed in Sharon <I>was</I> Shitrai the
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Sharonite: and over the herds <I>that were</I> in the valleys <I>was</I>
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Shaphat the son of Adlai:
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30 Over the camels also <I>was</I> Obil the Ishmaelite: and over the
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asses <I>was</I> Jehdeiah the Meronothite:
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31 And over the flocks <I>was</I> Jaziz the Hagerite. All these
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<I>were</I> the rulers of the substance which <I>was</I> king David's.
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32 Also Jonathan David's uncle was a counsellor, a wise man,
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and a scribe: and Jehiel the son of Hachmoni <I>was</I> with the
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king's sons:
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33 And Ahithophel <I>was</I> the king's counsellor: and Hushai the
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Archite <I>was</I> the king's companion:
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34 And after Ahithophel <I>was</I> Jehoiada the son of Benaiah, and
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Abiathar: and the general of the king's army <I>was</I> Joab.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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We have here an account,</P>
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<P>
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I. Of the princes of the tribes. Something of the ancient order
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instituted by Moses in the wilderness was still kept up, that every
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tribe should have its prince or chief. It is probable that it was kept
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up all along, either by election or by succession, in the same family;
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and those are here named who were found in that office when this
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account was taken. Elihu, or Eliab, who was prince of Judah, was the
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eldest son of Jesse, and descended in a right line from Nahshon and
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Salmon, the princes of this tribe in Moses's time. Whether these
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princes were of the nature of lord-lieutenants that guided them in
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their military affairs, or chief-justices that presided in their courts
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of judgment, does not appear. Their power, we may suppose, was much
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less now that all the tribes were united under one king than it had
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been when, for the most part, they acted separately. Our religion
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obliges us to be subject, not only to <I>the king as supreme, but unto
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governors under him</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Pe+2:13,14">1 Pet. ii. 13, 14</A>),
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the princes that decree justice. Of Benjamin was Jaaziel the son of
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Abner,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ch+27:21"><I>v.</I> 21</A>.
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Though Abner was David's enemy, and opposed his coming to the throne,
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yet David would not oppose the preferment of his son, but perhaps
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nominated him to this post of honour, which teaches us to render good
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for evil.</P>
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<P>
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II. Of the numbering of the people,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ch+27:23,24"><I>v.</I> 23, 24</A>.
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It is here said,
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1. That when David ordered the people to be numbered he forbade the
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numbering of those under twenty years old, thinking thereby to save the
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reflection which what he did might otherwise cast upon the promise that
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they should be innumerable; yet it was but a poor salvo, for it had
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never been customary to number those under twenty, and the promise of
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their numbers chiefly respected the effective men.
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2. That the account which David took of the people, in the pride of his
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heart, turned to no good account; for it was never perfected, nor done
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with exactness, nor was it ever recorded as an authentic account. Joab
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was disgusted with it, and did it by halves; David was ashamed of it,
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and willing it should be forgotten, because there fell wrath for it
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against Israel. A good man cannot, in the reflection, please himself
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with that which he knows God is displeased with, cannot make use of
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that, nor take comfort in that, which is obtained by sin.</P>
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<P>
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III. Of the officers of the court.
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1. The <I>rulers of the</I> king's <I>substance</I> (as they are
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called,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ch+27:31"><I>v.</I> 31</A>),
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such as had the oversight and charge of the king's tillage, his
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vineyards, his olive-yards, his herds, his camels, his asses, his
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flocks. Here are no officers for state, none for sport, no master of
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the wardrobe, no master of the ceremonies, no master of the horse, no
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master of the hounds, but all for service, agreeable to the simplicity
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and plainness of those times. David was a great soldier, a great
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scholar, and a great prince, and yet a great husband of his estate,
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kept a great deal of ground in his own hand, and stocked it, not for
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pleasure, but for profit; for the king himself is <I>served of the
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field,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+5:9">Eccles. v. 9</A>.
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Those magistrates that would have their subjects industrious must
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themselves be examples of industry and application to business. We
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find, however, that afterwards the poor of the land were thought good
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enough to be vine-dressers and husbandmen,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+25:12">2 Kings xxv. 12</A>.
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Now David put his great men to preside in these employments.
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2. The attendants on the king's person. They were such as were eminent
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for wisdom, being designed for conversation. His uncle, who was a wise
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man and a scribe, not only well skilled in politics, but well read in
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the scriptures, was his counsellor,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ch+27:32"><I>v.</I> 32</A>.
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Another, who no doubt excelled in learning and prudence, was tutor to
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his children. Ahithophel, a very cunning man, was his counsellor: but
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Hushai, an honest man, was his companion and confidant. It does not
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appear that he had many counsellors; but those he had were men of great
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abilities. Much of the wisdom of princes is seen in the choice of
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their ministry. But David, though he had all these trusty and
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well-beloved cousins and counsellors about him, preferred his Bible
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before them all.
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+119:24">Ps. cxix. 24</A>,
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<I>Thy testimonies are my delight and my counsellors.</I></P>
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1708)
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