16Furthermore over the tribes of Israel: of the Reubenites was Eliezer the son of Zichri the ruler: of the Simeonites, Shephatiah the son of Maacah: 17of Levi, Hashabiah the son of Kemuel: of Aaron, Zadok: 18of Judah, [1]Elihu, one of the brethren of David: of Issachar, Omri the son of Michael: 19of Zebulun, Ishmaiah the son of Obadiah: of Naphtali, Jeremoth the son of Azriel: 20of the children of Ephraim, Hoshea the son of Azaziah: of the half tribe of Manasseh, Joel the son of Pedaiah: 21of the half tribe of Manasseh in Gilead, Iddo the son of Zechariah: of Benjamin, Jaasiel the son of Abner: 22of Dan, Azarel the son of Jeroham. These were the captains of the tribes of Israel. 23But David took not the number of them from twenty years old and under: because the LORD had said he would increase Israel like to
16—24. The Princes of the Tribes of Israel.
Six tribes which were accounted "sons" of Leah are given first, then six "sons," actual or legal, of Rachel; whilst Zadok as chief of the priestly caste may be reckoned as standing in a category by himself, representative of the nation as a whole. Gad and Asher are omitted, for some reason not easy to discern, perhaps accidentally or because the traditional number of "twelve" tribes was complete in this list without them.
17. Hashabiah] Perhaps the person mentioned in xxvi. 30. The name is common among Levites.
of Aaron, Zadok] Cp. xii. 27, 28.
18. Elihu] Perhaps the "Eliab" of 1 Sam. xvi. 6; cp. mg.
21. Gilead] "Gilead" is strictly speaking the name of the district between the Jabbok and Moab, in which the tribes of Gad and Reuben dwelt. Here it is used less precisely to include Bashan, the district N. E. of Jordan in which the half tribe of Manasseh lived: cp. ii. 22, note.
Iddo] Spelt quite differently in Heb. from the name of the father of the prophet Zechariah (Zech. i. 1).
Abner] 1 Sam. xiv. 50, 51.
23. took not the number] In Num. i. 3 ff. it is said that in the census which God commanded Moses to take in the wilderness only those above twenty years old were to be numbered, and a chief from each tribe was appointed to assist Moses in the task of numeration. The Chronicler in this section wishes to say that, though David erred in taking the census unbidden by Jehovah, he at least conformed to the principles of the Law in carrying out his project: those under 20 years of age were not counted, and the princes just enumerated may be supposed to correspond to the chiefs who assisted Moses.
- ↑ In 1 Sam. xvi. 6, Eliab.
