I Chronicles 27, Military and Civilian Leaders in Israel

We continue the report of temple worship and its organization. The Chronicler, reporting on past practices of David, is motivated by the creation of the second temple at the end of Nehemiah.

1 Chronicles 27: 1-15, Twelve months, twelve army divisions

This is the list of the Israelites--heads of families, commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds, and their officers, who served the king in all that concerned the army divisions that were on duty month by month throughout the year. Each division consisted of 24,000 men.

     In charge of the first division, for the first month, was Jashobeam son of Zabdiel. There were 24,000 men in his division. He was a descendant of Perez and chief of all the army officers for the first month.

     In charge of the division for the second month was Dodai the Ahohite; Mikloth was the leader of his division. There were 24,000 men in his division.

     The third army commander, for the third month, was Benaiah son of Jehoiada the priest. He was chief and there were 24,000 men in his division. This was the Benaiah who was a mighty man among the Thirty and was over the Thirty. His son Ammizabad was in charge of his division.

     The fourth, for the fourth month, was Asahel the brother of Joab; his son Zebadiah was his successor. There were 24,000 men in his division.

     The fifth, for the fifth month, was the commander Shamhuth the Izrahite. There were 24,000 men in his division.

     The sixth, for the sixth month, was Ira the son of Ikkesh the Tekoite. There were 24,000 men in his division.

     The seventh, for the seventh month, was Helez the Pelonite, an Ephraimite. There were 24,000 men in his division.

   The eighth, for the eighth month, was Sibbecai the Hushathite, a Zerahite. There were 24,000 men in his division.

     The ninth, for the ninth month, was Abiezer the Anathothite, a Benjamite. There were 24,000 men in his division.

     The tenth, for the tenth month, was Maharai the Netophathite, a Zerahite. There were 24,000 men in his division.

     The eleventh, for the eleventh month, was Benaiah the Pirathonite, an Ephraimite. There were 24,000 men in his division.

     The twelfth, for the twelfth month, was Heldai the Netophathite, from the family of Othniel. There were 24,000 men in his division.

David sets up a rotation of soldiers in his capital. The text translates at 24,000 men per division, 288,000 in all. Payne argues that eleph here translated "thousands" should be translated "chiefs" and so each month there were 24 chiefs and their clans rotating into Jerusalem to protect the city.

All of the leaders of these divisions are described elsewhere as "mighty men" of David.  Jashobeam is in charge of the first division, Dodai, father of Eliazar, of the second division. Jashobeam and Eleazar are listed in 1 Chronicles 11: 11-12 as part of the powerful "Thirty" leaders of David. The exploits of Benaiah, in charge of the third division, are described in 1 Chronicles 11: 22-25. Asahel, son of David's sister Zeruiah, was killed by Abner in a battle in 2 Samuel 2: 17-32. He is described here as being in charge of the fourth division and after his death, his son Zebadiah was in charge. The remaining leaders (says Payne) all appear in a list of warriors in  1 Chronicles 11: 26-47, with slight variants in spelling (Shamhuth = Shammoth, etc..)

1 Chronicles 27: 16-22, Officers

The officers over the tribes of Israel: 

     over the Reubenites: Eliezer son of Zicri; 

     over the Simeonites: Shephatiah son of Maacah;
     over Levi: Hashabiah son of Kemuel; 

     over Aaron: Zadok;
     over Judah: Elihu, a brother of David; 

     over Issachar: Omri son of Michael;
     over Zebulun: Ishmaiah son of Obadiah; 

     over Naphtali: Jerimoth son of Azriel;
     over the Ephraimites: Hoshea son of Azaziah; 

     over half the tribe of Manasseh: Joel son of Pedaiah;
     over the half-tribe of Manasseh in Gilead: Iddo son of Zechariah; 

     over Benjamin: Jaasiel son of Abner;
     over Dan: Azarel son of Jeroham. 

These were the officers over the tribes of Israel.

David sets up tribal officers for each tribe. For some reason neither Gad nor Asher appear in this list. The tribe of Manasseh had split, at the time of Joshua, between settlers east of the Jordan (transjordan) and settlers west of the Jordan. The tribe of Levi apparently has a leader appointed over the priests (descendants of Aaron) and a leader appointed over the rest of the tribe. In all, there are 13 leaders listed here: two for the tribe of Levi, two for the tribe of Manasseh, none for Gad or Asher. 

Questions arie regarding Elihu, assigned as leader over the tribe of Judah and described as "brother" of David. The name does not appear elsewhere in lists of the children of David's father Jesse. Payne suggests "brother" means "relative"; an alternate view is that Elihu is a variant of the name Eliab, David's older brother.

1 Chronicles 27: 23-24,

David did not take the number of the men twenty years old or less, because the LORD had promised to make Israel as numerous as the stars in the sky.

Joab son of Zeruiah began to count the men but did not finish. Wrath came on Israel on account of this numbering, and the number was not entered in the book of the annals of King David.

We have a brief allusion to the beginning of a census by Joab, probably the event of 1 Chronicles 21.

1 Chronicles 27: 25-34, Other royal supervisors

Azmaveth son of Adiel was in charge of the royal storehouses. 

     Jonathan son of Uzziah was in charge of the storehouses in the outlying districts, in the towns, the villages and the watchtowers. 

     Ezri son of Kelub was in charge of the field workers who farmed the land. 

     Shimei the Ramathite was in charge of the vineyards. 

     Zabdi the Shiphmite was in charge of the produce of the vineyards for the wine vats. 

     Baal-Hanan the Gederite was in charge of the olive and sycamore-fig trees in the western foothills. 

     Joash was in charge of the supplies of olive oil. 

     Shitrai the Sharonite was in charge of the herds grazing in Sharon. 

     Shaphat son of Adlai was in charge of the herds in the valleys. 

     Obil the Ishmaelite was in charge of the camels. 

     Jehdeiah the Meronothite was in charge of the donkeys.

     Jaziz the Hagrite was in charge of the flocks. 

All these were the officials in charge of King David's property.

Jonathan, David's uncle, was a counselor, a man of insight and a scribe. Jehiel son of Hacmoni took care of the king's sons. Ahithophel was the king's counselor. Hushai the Arkite was the king's friend. Ahithophel was succeeded by Jehoiada son of Benaiah and by Abiathar. Joab was the commander of the royal army.

We have here a list of other advisory roles. One man, Jehiel, is assigned to "care for the king's sons." One wonders what this means; was Jehiel to prepare the princes for future rule?  Hushai is "the king's friend", a role that may have been informal but echoes formal roles in kingdoms of Egypt and Canaan (eg. "The Origin of the Title 'King's Friend'" by Selms.)

Hushai and Ahithophel play competing roles in Absalom's rebellion (2 Samuel 15.) After his counsel was ignored by Absalom, Ahithophel committed suicide and was then succeeded by Jehoiada, presumably the father of Benaiah, leader of the third army in verse 5.