1 Chronicles 23

A “Levite” in its broadest meaning was a descendant of Levi, one of Jacob’s 12 sons. So, all the priests and their associates were Levites. But priests became a unique branch of that tribe. They were descendants of one notable man in the extended family that made up the tribe: Aaron, the brother of Moses. Aaron was Israel’s first priests, and his sons served as priests. Their descendants alone had the honor of serving as priests. All other Levites became their associates. Priests were the queen bees of the tribe. Everyone else was a worker bee.

In David’s day, it seems, a man needed to reach the age of 30 before he could serve as a working Levite at the worship center, whether in a tent or the Temple. But that age restriction seemed to fluctuate throughout the centuries. Verses 24 and 27 set the age at 20, and Ezra 3:8 agrees. In the time of Moses and his brother Aaron, who was Israel’s first high priest, the age was set at 25 (Numbers 8:23-26).

That’s a lot of Levites. Some scholars suggest that in the days before and during Solomon’s construction of the Temple, they would be helping with that work.

Inserted between this sentence and verse 8 is an odd sentence that seems out of place. It says: “Shimei had three sons: Shelomoth, Haziel, and Haran.” But verse 8 was talking about Shimei’s brother Ladan, and the end of verse 9 jumps back to Ladan’s boys, calling them leaders of their clan. Added to the confusion is verse 10, which says “Shimei had four sons: Jahath, Zina, Jeush, and Beriah.” Was verse 9 a late insert and a mistake? Many scholars today say chapters 23-27 were late addons to the history reported in Chronicles. Or perhaps Shimei had three sons as a young man and four more from a new wife. It’s a puzzle.

See the note for verse 9.

Aaron is where the lineage of Israel’s priests begins, distinct from the rest of the Levites. Priests were higher regarded, in general, and better paid, thanks in part to rules in the book of Leviticus, which some scholars say reads like priests wrote it to their benefit. They were well rewarded with meat from many of the sacrificed animals and baked goods and grain from grain offerings. “This food is my gift to the priests. I’m letting them share in this offering. It’s a sacred offering, like the sin offering and the guilt offering” (Leviticus 6:17).

A blessing is the opposite of a curse. Instead of wishing harm on people, it’s a wish and a prayer for good things to happen to them. It praises people. It encourages them. It asks God to show kindness to them. Many people seemed to believe that spoken words, with God’s help, had the power to make the wish come true.

This flat bread, also known as Matzah or Unleavened Bread, was made without yeast. Priests ate this bread inside the Temple once a week in a holy ritual. The ritual reminded them of how God has provided food for his people (Exodus 25:30).