treasuries in the house of God. 27And they lodged round about the house of God, because the charge thereof was upon them, and to them pertained the opening thereof morning by morning. 28And certain of them had charge of the vessels of service; for by tale were they brought in and by tale were they taken out. 29Some of them also were appointed over the furniture, and over all the vessels of the sanctuary, and over the fine flour, and the wine, and the oil, and the frankincense, and the spices. 30And some of the sons of the priests prepared the confection of the spices. 31And Mattithiah, one of the Levites, who was the firstborn of Shallum the Korahite, had the set office over the things that were baked in pans. 32And some of their brethren, of the sons of the Kohathites, were over the shewbread, to
kept; cp. 2 Chr. xxxi. 5, 11, 12; Neh. xiii. 4—9: in ver. 33 of this chapter they seem to be in use also as rooms in which Levites could dwell. The chambers were probably built as outbuildings round the Court of the Temple; cp. xxiii. 28, xxviii. 12.
28, 29. Duties of the Levites.
28. And certain of them] The reference is to the Levites. The contents of vv. 28, 29 clearly refer to Levitical duties (cp. xxiii. 29), and the transition from porters to Levites is made easier by the fact that the four porters last mentioned (vv. 26, 27) are Levites. Some commentators hold that the paragraph dealing with the duties of the Levites begins in ver. 26 with the words "And they were over," etc.
29. Cp. xxiii. 29.
30. A Priestly Duty.
30. the sons of the priests] i.e. "members of the priesthood, priests." Cp. 2 Chr. xxv. 13, "the soldiers of the army" (lit. "the sons of the troop") and the common expression "the sons of the prophets."
confection] (For the word, cp. 1 Sam. viii. 13, R.V. text and mg.) This "ointment" was peculiarly holy (Ex. xxx. 23—25). The Levites might have charge of the oil and spices (ver. 29), but only the priests might make the confection.
31, 32. Other Levitical Duties.
31. who was the firstborn of Shallum] In xxvi. 2 the firstborn of Meshelemiah (= Shallum) is called Zechariah. Probably Mattithiah and Zechariah represent each a household belonging to an elder branch of the great family of Shallum.
32. the shewbread] Lit. the bread of the Row (or of the Pile), for
