seer did ordain in their [1]set office. 23So they and their children had the oversight of the gates of the house of the LORD, even the house of the [2]tabernacle, by wards. [3]24On the four sides were the porters, toward the east, west, north, and south. 25And their brethren, in their villages, were to come in every seven days from time to time to be with them: 26for the four chief porters, who were Levites, were in a set office, and were over the chambers and over the
for the phrase refers, not to their origin, but to their organisation. For another suggestion see below on ver. 26.
Samuel] The association of Samuel with the organisation of the sanctuary is confined to this passage, and is a significant illustration of the working of late Jewish thought, which was little concerned with historic probability and much with edification. The tradition has probably arisen from the remark in 1 Sam. iii. 15, that Samuel "opened the doors of the house of the Lord." As Samuel died before the reign of David, the Chronicler doubtless does not intend to represent him as contemporary with David in the organisation of the Temple, but probably supposes that Samuel's work was done in connection with the tent, which according to the Chronicler was located in Gibeon (2 Chr. i. 3).
the seer] For the title, xxvi. 28, xxix. 29; 1 Sam. ix. 9; and cp. 2 Chr. xvi. 7.
in their set office] or in their trust; i.e. in their responsible positions.
23. the house of the tabernacle] mg. Tent. The phrase designates the period before the building of the Temple.
24. On the four sides] Fuller details are given in xxvi. 14—18.
25. in their villages] No special villages inhabited by porters are mentioned, but perhaps porters as well as singers dwelt in the "villages of the Netophathites" (ver. 16; Neh. xii. 28, R.V.).
26. the four chief porters, who were Levites] It seems clear from this verse (and from the structure of the chapter, cp. vv. 10, 14, 17—as is pointed out in the note on ver. 17) that the doorkeepers were not, as a body, Levites; and according to ver. 25 they dwelt outside Jerusalem, whilst their leaders (ver. 27) were within the city. Perhaps this distinction between the leaders and the rank and file could be used to explain the supposed inconsistency (if any exists—see above ver. 22, note on whom David . . .) between vv. 19 and 22, as regards the tradition of origin: it might be said that whilst the leaders claimed that their office dated from the time of Moses (ver. 19), the rank and file traced their institution to David (ver. 22). (In 2 Chr. xxxiv. 9 Levites appear exercising the duties of doorkeepers, but this does not prove that all doorkeepers were Levites.)
chambers] i.e. store-chambers in which tithes and sacred vessels were
