Attributed commentary excerpt
Keil & Delitzsch on 1 Chronicles 9:18
A historical reference excerpt for this verse. Read it alongside the biblical text and other available sources.
Commentary on the Old Testament
C. F. Keil & F. Delitzsch · 19th-century historical commentary
Source: BibleWord.ai's local reference edition of this named work.
The duties of the Levites. - Ch1 9:18. The first half of this verse, "And until now (is he) in the king's gate eastward," must be referred to Shallum (Berth.). To imagine a reference to all the doorkeepers, "until now are they," does not suit Ch1 9:24-26, according to which the doorkeepers kept guard upon all the four sides. The eastern gate of the temple was called the king's gate, because by this gate the king went in and out to the temple; cf. Eze 46:1-2; Eze 41:3. The remark, "until now is Shallum watcher," etc., presupposes the existence of the temple at the time of the preparation of this register, and points to the pre-exilic time. Against this Bertheau has raised the objection that the name king's gate may have been retained even in the post-exilic times for the eastern gate. This must of course be in general admitted, but could only be accepted if it were proved that Shallum lived after the exile. This proof Bertheau obtains by taking the words, "until now is Shallum in the king's gate," to mean, "that, according to the ancient arrangement, Shallum, the chief of all the doorkeepers, had still to guard the eastern entrance; according to which Shallum would be the collective designation of the whole series of the chiefs of the doorkeepers who lived from David's time till after the exile;" but the words cannot be thus interpreted. Such an interpretation cannot be made plausible by identifying the name Shallum with Meshelemiah or Shelemiah, to whose lot it fell in the time of David to be doorkeeper to the eastward ( Ch1 26:1, Ch1 26:14); for in doing so, we would overlook the fact that in Ch1 9:21 of our chapter also he bears the name Meshelemiah. The circumstance that both Shallum and Meshelemiah are called Ben-Kore, of the sons of Abiasaph, by no means justifies the identification of these two quite different names; for it is neither necessary nor probable that בּן should here be taken in its narrower sense, and Kore regarded as the immediate father of both. The name קרא is repeated in the family of the east doorkeepers, as we learn from Ch2 31:14, where it is stated that this office was held by a Kore ben Jimna. "These (who are named in Ch1 9:17) are the doorkeepers for the camp of the sons of Levi" (of the Levites), - an antiquated expression, bringing to remembrance the time of Moses, when the Levites, on the journey through the wilderness, were encamped about the tabernacle ( Num 3:21.). Ch1 9:19 Ch1 9:19 gives more exact information as to Shallum's person and his official position. He, the descendant of Kore, the son (descendant) of Abiasaph, a Korahite, and his brethren according to his father's-house (i.e., called brethren because they, like him, belonged to the father's-house of Korah), were over the work of the service, viz., keepers of the thresholds of the tent, i.e., of the house of God, of the temple, which, according to the ancient custom, was called tent, because God's house was formerly a tent-the tabernacle. "And his fathers (the ancestors of Shallum) were by the encampment of Jahve, guardians of the entrance." With these words the author of this register goes back into the ancient time; and we learn that Shallum's ancestors, of the father's-house of the Korahite Abiasaph, had held the office of guardian of the entrance to the house of God from the time of the conquest of Canaan and the setting up of the tabernacle in Shiloh. The remark in Ch1 9:20, that Phinehas the son of Eleazar was prince over them in time…
This public page shows a contextual excerpt from the locally available source text.
How to use this source
This excerpt is attributed to its named commentary. It is included as a historical study resource and should be evaluated in light of Scripture and other relevant evidence.
