1 Chronicles 26:6

“Also unto Shemaiah his son, etc.] His firstborn, (<132604>1 Chronicles 26:4) were sons born, that ruled throughout the house of their father; were heads of families, eminent and principal men: for they were mighty men of valour; which their office sometimes required them to be, to guard the temple at night as well as day from thieves and robbers, and to hinder resolute men entering in, unfit for it, and seize on rioters, and quell tumults raised.”

“mighty men of valour--The circumstance of physical strength is prominently noticed in this chapter, as the office of the porters required them not only to act as sentinels of the sacred edifice and its precious furniture against attacks of plunderers or popular insurrection--to be, in fact, a military guard--but, after the temple was built, to open and shut the gates, which were extraordinarily large and ponderous.”

“Of valour - This clause is divers times mentioned, because their office required both strength and courage: for they were to shut the doors of the temple, one whereof was so great and weighty, that in the second temple it required twenty men to open and shut it. They were also to keep the guard, to keep out all unclean or forbidden persons, to prevent or suppress any tumults or disorders which might happen in the temple or in its courts, to keep the treasures of the temple, Ch1 26:20, Ch1 26:22, Ch1 26:24, Ch1 26:26, to be officers and judges over Israel, Ch1 26:29, and to manage every matter pertaining to God, and the affairs of the king, Ch1 26:32. 1 Chronicles 26:10”

“mighty men of valour: They were not only porters, or door keepers, in the ordinary sense of the word, but they were a military guard to the gate, as Dr. Delaney suggests that the word shoarim should be rendered here, and perhaps in this sense alone are we to understand their office, which appears to have been of considerable dignity, and conferred only on men of the first rank. They were appointed to attend the temple, to guard all the avenues to it, to open and shut all the outer gates, and attend at them, not only for state but for service. They were also required to direct and instruct those who were going to worship in the courts of the sanctuary in the conduct they were to observe, to…”