Outline of Chapter 16:

Introduction

         vv.     1–7           Celebrating the Ark in Jerusalem

         vv.     8–22         Psalm 105:1–15

         vv.    23–33         Psalm 96:1–13

         vv.    34–36         Psalm 106:1, 47–48/The People’s Response

         vv.    37–42         David’s Assignments of Spiritual Positions

         v.       43           The People Return Home

                                     Addendum 

Charts, Short Doctrines and Maps:

         Introduction         Matthew Henry’s Outline of 1Chronicles 16

         Introduction         Selman’s Organization of 1Chronicles 16

         v.       1              A Basic Review of the Ark of the Covenant

         v.       2              What It Means for David to Bless the People

         v.       3              The Hidden Parallels of 1Chron. 16:1–3

         v.       4              The Psalms Sung before the Ark Give Thanks, Praise and Call to Remembrance

         v.       5              The Asaph’s of Scripture

         v.       5              The Zechariah’s of Scripture

         v.       5              The Musical Instruments Played

         v.       5              The Jeiel’s of Scripture

         v.       5              The Shemiramoth’s of Scripture

         v.       5              The Jehiel’s of Scripture

         v.       5              The Mattithiah’s of Scripture

         v.       5              The Benaiah’s of Scripture

         v.       7              Where Goes in that Day?

         v.       7              Matching the Psalms with Chronicles

         v.       7              A Question about these Psalms

         v.       8              Make His Deeds Known Among the People

         v.       8              Why Do We Find Psalm 105 Twice in the Bible?

         v.       9              Singing in the New Testament

         v.      11              Why Did David Bring the Ark into Jerusalem?

         v.      12              The Argument for the Historicity of Miracles

         v.      16              God’s Appearances and Promises to Abraham

         v.      16              God’s Covenant to Abraham in the New Testament

         v.      17              God’s Covenant with the Patriarchs throughout the Old Testament

         v.      22              Christian Martyrs Versus Muslim Martyrs

         v.      22              Islam versus Christian Links

         v.      22              Why Did God the Holy Spirit Include Portions of these Psalms in Chronicles?

         v.      23              Commentary on 1Chron. 16:23a from Psalm 96:1b

         v.      23              Joshua (or Jeshua), in the Greek, is Jesus

         v.      23              Commentary on 1Chron. 16:23b from Psalm 96:2c

         v.      24              Commentary on 1Chronicles 16:24a from Psalm 96:3a

         v.      24              Commentary on 1Chronicles 16:24b from Psalm 96:3b

         v.      25              The Greatness of God—Scriptural References

         v.      26              Online Doctrines for Satan, Demonism and the Angelic Conflict

         v.      26              Commentary on 1Chronicles 16:26b from Psalm 96:5b

         v.      27              Commentary on 1Chronicles 16:27a from Psalm 96:6a

         v.      27              Commentary on 1Chronicles 16:27b from Psalm 96:6b

         v.      28              Commentary on 1Chronicles 16:28a from Psalm 96:7a

         v.      28              Translations and Interpretations of 1Chronicles 16:28/Psalm 96:7 Part I

         v.      28              Translations and Interpretations of 1Chronicles 16:28/Psalm 96:7 Part II

         v.      28              Translations and Interpretations of 1Chronicles 16:28/Psalm 96:7 Part III

         v.      28              What Does This Mean Ascribe to Jehovah glory and strength?

         v.      29              Commentary on 1Chronicles 16:29a from Psalm 96:8a

         v.      29              Commentary on 1Chronicles 16:29b from Psalm 96:8b

         v.      29              1Chronicles 16:29 Explained (by way of Psalm 96:8)

         v.      29              Commentary on 1Chronicles 16:29d from Psalm 96:9a

         v.      29              Closing Points on the Beauty of His Holiness

         v.      30              Commentary on 1Chronicles 16:30b from Psalm 96:10b

         v.      30              Commentary on 1Chronicles 16:30c from Psalm 96:10c

         v.      31              Commentary on 1Chronicles 16:31a from Psalm 96:11a

         v.      31              Commentary on 1Chronicles 16:31b from Psalm 96:10a

         v.      31              Old Testament Calls to Evangelize the Gentiles

         v.      33              Commentary on 1Chronicles 16:33a from Psalm 96:12b–13a

         v.      33              Commentary on 1Chronicles 16:33b from Psalm 96:13c

         v.      34              Commentary on 1Chronicles 16:34 from Psalm 106:1

         v.      37              God the Holy Spirit is in the Details

         v.      39              Why Doesn’t David Move the Tabernacle to Jerusalem?

         v.      39              The Two High Priests

         v.      42              Who is responsible for what?

         v.      42              Problems and Solutions concerning Who does What

         v.      42              Clarke Rants about Musical Instruments

         Addendum          Selman’s Organization Revisited with Additional Parallels

         Addendum          What is in 1Chronicles 16 that we do not Find Elsewhere?

         Addendum          A Complete Translation of 1Chronicles 16

I ntroduction: 1Chron. 16 is parallel to the last few verses of 2Sam. 6, but it presents these events very differently than those presented in 2Sam. 6. What is emphasized here in great detail is what happens after David brings the Ark into the city of Jerusalem. We will have the celebration within the city; the words of the psalms which are sung in celebration; and then David will give the assignments to those who would be involved in spiritual service.

Essentially, what I am doing is, exegeting the book of Samuel, which, from time to time, sends me off on several tangents. As has already been pointed out in 2Sam. 6, Chronicles has 3 parallel chapters: 1Chron. 13, 15–16. So, while studying 2Sam. 6, I have, when appropriate, studied these chapters of Chronicles, this being the last of the 3. I have also studied several psalms which appear to be appropriate to this study and the study of previous chapters. My recommendation will be, once we come to the quotations of these psalms, that you go first to the exegesis which I have done on the psalm, and then return back to 1Chron. 16—in any case, that is the way I approached it.

One of the things to bear in mind as we examine this chapter of Chronicles is, there are certain psalms found here which tell us what was sung during celebration of the moving of the Ark. At no time do we find the entire psalm, although we have about half of Psalm 105. We may want to be attuned to any differences between what we find here and what is found in the book of Psalms; and we may want to question in the back of our mind, why God the Holy Spirit repeats Himself here and in the book of Psalms. Is there any reason beyond the writer of Chronicles feeling as though it would be important for us to know which psalms were sung during this ceremony. In this, bear in mind that, believers for hundreds of years did not possess a Bible as we do today. That is, it was not easy for the believer to go to the computer or to the coffee table or book shelf, and pull out an entire copy of the Old and New Testaments. Not only were these rare documents to begin with, but there would be times when even a group with a library of sorts would not have all the books of Scripture.

In 1Chron. 16:1, the Ark is placed within the tent which David had prepared for it, and then the celebration continues. There are sacrificial offerings (v. 2) and food is distributed v. 3 (in 2Sam. 6, this appears to occur for their return home; in this chapter, it appears to occur during the worship service). What appears to be the case is, these provisions were distributed near the end of the ceremonies, which comports well with this chapter and 2Sam. 6. In vv. 4–5, the musicians who played during the second half of the celebration are named.

Asaph and his relatives appear to be in charge of the song service in v. 7, wherein, at least 3 psalms (or portions of Psalms) are sung: Psalms 105, 96 and 106 (1Chron. 16:8–36a). David then makes assignments to certain Levites to the Ark as well as to the Tabernacle of God, which is apparently now in Gibeon (vv. 37–42). In v. 43, all of the people are sent back to their homes and David returns to his.

Since some of this is repetitious, it is reasonable to ask, why 1Chron. 16? In fact, why 1Chron. 13, 15–16? We are already told what happens in 2Sam. 6. Besides giving us greater details, one of the most important aspects of 1Chron. 15–16 is that it breaks down the moving of the Ark into two parts: the Ark is brought to Jerusalem; and then the Ark is brought into Jerusalem. These are two separate, but consecutive, ceremonies. It is not that we need to recognize, for whatever reason, that two sets of ceremonies took place, but that, what is in view here is the 1^st Advent of our Lord and His Millennium reign. The Ark being brought to Jerusalem is Jesus Christ in His incarnation, walking this earth 2000 years ago. The Ark being in Jerusalem, and being there forever more, as it were, represents our Lord’s reign from Jerusalem over the world during the Millennium.

A second thing which the book of Chronicles does in general is, it stands as a permanent testimony to the heroes of the faith of men who otherwise would have been completely forgotten. As an illustration, if you were some kind of a star in high school, and there is, inside the trophy case, some award which either has your name on it or is in that case because of what you have done, then you are quite proud of that achievement (I realize that this is not the experience of most people). These people of the faith are known in the Word of God, which lives and abides forever. I recognize that when you come across someone’s name in the book of Chronicles, and you know very little about that person; still, God the Holy Spirit has seen fit to record their name forever in the Word of God; that person spent 70 years on this earth, and, at least once or twice, did something or led a life worthy of mention. In the Church Age, I assume that there is going to be some sort of hall of records or some trophy case which will record the impact of our lives as well. Our human good will be burned, our sins will be forgiven and forgotten, but what will remain is our spiritual life and spiritual service.

I must tell you that, when I began this exegetical study, a couple months ago, I never expected this to run in excess of 200 pages. What I did do in this chapter, unlike my approach in the past, is I included much of the exegetical information about Psalm 96 both here and in Psalm 96. However, wherever this exegetical information is not new, I clearly indicate that.

Celebrating the Ark in Jerusalem

1Chronicles 16:1–3 = 2Samuel 6:17–19a

Here is how others have translated this verse:

Ancient texts:                       Note: I compare the Hebrew text to English translations of the Latin, Syriac and Greek texts (using the Douay-Rheims translation; George Lamsa’s translation, and Sir Lancelot Charles Lee Brenton’s translation, respectively). When there are serious disparities between my translation and Brenton’s, I look at the Greek text of the Septuagint (the LXX) to see if a substantive difference actually exists (and I reflect these changes in the English rendering of the Greek text). Now and again, I update these texts with non-substantive changes (e.g., you for thou, etc.).

Masoretic Text                       And so they bring in an Ark of the Elohim and so they set him in a midst of the tent which spread out David for him. And so they bring near burnt offerings and peace-offerings to faces of the Elohim.

Septuagint                              So they brought in the ark of God, and set it in the midst of the tabernacle which David pitched for it; and they brought near whole–burnt–offerings and peace–offerings before God.

Significant differences:           None.

Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrases:

CEV                                       They put the sacred chest inside the tent that David had set up for it, then they offered sacrifices to please the LORD and sacrifices to ask his blessing.

Good News Bible (TEV)         They took the Covenant Box to the tent which David had prepared for it and put it inside. Then they offered sacrifices and fellowship offerings to God.

The Message                         They brought the Chest of God and placed it right in the center of the tent that David had pitched for it; then they worshiped by presenting burnt offerings and peace offerings to God.

New American Bible              They brought in the ark of God and set it within the ten which David had pitched for it. Then they offered up holocausts and peace offerings to God.

NIRV                                      The ark of God was brought into Jerusalem. It was put in the tent David had set up for it. The priests brought burnt offerings and friendship offerings to God.

New Life Version                    They brought the special box of God, and put it inside the tent David had set up for it. Then they gave burnt gifts and peace gifts to God.

New Living Testament           They brought the Ark of God and placed it inside the special tent David had prepared for it. And they presented burnt offerings and peace offerings to God.

Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

Bible in Basic English             Then they took in the ark of God and put it inside the tent which David had put up for it; and they made offerings, burned offerings and peace-offerings before God.

God’s Word™                         The men carrying the ark set it inside the tent David had put up for it. They presented burnt offerings and fellowship offerings in God's presence.

New International Version      They brought the ark of God and set it inside the tent that David had pitched for it, and they presented burnt offerings and fellowship offerings [traditionally, peace offerings] before God.

Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

MKJV                                     And they brought the ark of God and set it in the middle of the tent which David had pitched for it. And they offered burnt sacrifices and peace offerings before God.

New King James Version       So they brought the ark of God, and set it in the midst of the tabernacle that David had erected for it. Then they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before God.

Young’s Updated LT             And they bring in the ark of God, and set it up in the midst of the tent that David stretched out for it, and they bring near burnt-offerings and peace-offerings before God.

What is the gist of this verse? The special procession which David had organized came to the Jerusalem gates and the Levites carrying the Ark of God brought it into the city and placed it inside the tent which David had pitched for it. Then they offered up burnt offerings and peace offerings to God.

Translation: So they brought the Ark of Elohim [into Jerusalem]... David, once he realize just exactly what he had done wrong the first time he attempted to transport the Ark of God, did it again, and according to the instructions found in the Law of Moses. The Ark was supposed to be moved by Levites who did not come into physical contact with the Ark, but placed poles through the rings on the sides of the Ark, so that they could lift up and carry the Ark using these poles, and so they would never have to actually touch the Ark.

The idea here was, the Ark of God represented Jesus Christ. We have gone into great detail about this in the Doctrine of the Ark of God, which we covered in great detail back in 1Sam. 4:11.

Translation: ...and placed it in the middle of the tent which David pitched for it. The Ark is supposed to be placed into the Tent of God (generally called the Tabernacle; a word for a semi-permanent tent ). What I cannot answer definitively is, why didn’t David bring the Tabernacle into Jerusalem as well? I can, however, give you my best guess: David had every intention of building a permanent home for the Ark—a Temple, if you will. So, step #1: bring the Ark into Jerusalem; step #2: build a Temple for the Ark. Therefore, in David’s mind, bringing the Tent of God into Jerusalem was really not important, as he felt he needed to build a permanent home for the Ark of God. This is purely conjecture, but I’m probably right.

Few people appreciate just exactly what is happening here. God is going to reign over this earth for 1000 years; from where will He reign? Jerusalem. David chose Jerusalem. A mere man decided to bring the Ark, which represents Jesus Christ, and to place it permanently in Jerusalem. This decision of David actually will be respected by God. God the Son will choose Jerusalem from which to rule in the Millennium. This is truly an amazing thing. David makes a choice and God will go along with his choice. Remember, David also represents Jesus Christ, so his choice as a believer filled with doctrine (a man after God’s own heart) is like Jesus Christ choosing to rule from Jerusalem—it is all done in shadow form.

Now, David probably used a very nice tent in which to place the Ark; but on his mind is the building of a permanent residence for the Ark.

By the way, if you know the general details of David’s intention to build a Temple, but that God said no to David but yes to Solomon, you may wonder why. It is quite simple: David represents Jesus Christ in His 1^st and 2^nd Advents, often presented as just one event in prophecy. Solomon represents Jesus Christ on the throne in the Millennium, during which there will be 1000 years of peace on this earth. So, much of David’s life will be parallel to our Lord’s in His advents; much of Solomon’s life will parallel our Lord in the Millennium. Realize that very few people ever saw the Ark of God. It was rarely removed from the Holy of Holies. It was taken out legitimately once by Joshua and then illegitimately during the time of Eli. Apart from those two times, no one saw the Ark. It was hidden from them. Here, all of a sudden, not only do we have much of Israel being able to see the Ark, but they are celebrating the entrance of this Ark into Jerusalem, walking right along side of it. This is our Lord coming into the city of Jerusalem. When Solomon comes along and then builds a permanent residence for the Ark of God—the Temple—this is Jesus Christ ruling the earth from a semi-permanent dwelling in Jerusalem (I only say semi-permanent, because our Lord will only rule for 1000 years, and then there will be a new heaven and a new earth).

Translation: Then they offered up burnt offerings and peace offerings before Elohim. This seems like what would be apropos to bringing the Ark of God into Jerusalem and placing it in its tent. The burnt offerings represent Jesus Christ on the cross dying for our sins; the peace offerings are those which represent peace between man and God. We are not pals with God; we do not naturally mix well with God. We are at enmity with Him; we sin against Him; we have Adam’s original sin imputed to us, so positionally, we are against Him; and we have the old sin nature within us, which makes us putrid before God. We represent an affront to all that is holy about God. We are by birth, by action and by imputation at war with God. Because Jesus Christ paid the penalty for our sins on the cross (the burnt offerings) we are able to have peace with God (the peace offerings).

Here is how others have translated this verse:

Ancient texts:

Masoretic Text                       And so completes David from a causing to go up the burnt offering and the peace-offerings. And so he blesses the people in a name of Y^ehowah.

Septuagint                              And David finished offering up whole–burnt–offerings and peace–offerings, and he blessed the people in the name of the Lord.

Significant differences:           None.

Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrases:

CEV                                       After David had finished, he blessed the people in the name of the LORD...

Good News Bible (TEV)         After David had finished offering the sacrifices, he blessed the people in the name of the LORD.

The Message                         When David had completed the offerings of worship, he blessed the people in the name of GOD.

NET Bible®                             When David finished offering burnt sacrifices and peace offerings, he pronounced a blessing over the people in the LORD's name.

New Life Version                    When David finished giving the burnt gifts and peace gifts, he prayed in the name of the Lord that good would come to the people.

New Living Testament           When he had finished his sacrifices, David blessed the people in the name of the Lord.

Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

LTHB                                     And when David finished offering the burnt offering and the peace offering, and he blessed the people in the name of Jehovah;...

Young’s Updated LT             And David ceases from offering the burnt-offering and the peace-offerings, and so he blesses the people in the name of Jehovah.

What is the gist of this verse? Once David had completed offering up the burnt offerings, then he blessed the people.

Translation: [After] David finished from causing the burnt offering to go up as well as lit., and] the peace-offerings,... It is not clear whether David offered up any sacrifices directly or not. In my opinion, the use of the Hiphil (the causative stem—used in both verses), indicates that he did not, having the priests offer up these animal sacrifices. Furthermore, David had read up on how God expected things to be done, and, after losing one good man because he touched the Ark of God, I think that David was more careful. Furthermore, in the previous verse, we have they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings; so, I think that it is clear that David himself was not offering up sacrifices on behalf of the people.

You have to be careful anytime you read about a king or a general doing this or that. That does not mean that a king actually does this or that thing. David may be spoken of as routing the Philistine army; but this does not mean that David went out there with a sword and chased the Philistine army away. In fact, it is even possible that David does not personally engage in any fighting. As king, David has command over his people, and he tells them what to do. The Bible may speak of David doing this or that, but, in all actually, David ordered that this or that thing be done. This explains why Dr. Constable is incorrect to comment, According to the Mosaic Law individual Israelites were to bring their sacrificial animals to the sanctuary and slay them themselves (Lev. 1:3-5; 3:2; 1 Chron. 16:1-2). Only the priests were to place the blood and other parts of the animals on the altar (Lev. 1:5; 3:2, 5). How could David, clothed in a priestly garment (15:27), offer sacrifices to God since he was not an Aaronic priest? Evidently he did so as a priest after the order of Melchizedek, fulfilling the provisions of the Abrahamic Covenant, rather than as an Aaronic priest serving under the Mosaic Covenant.58 David realized he was the king promised to the patriarchs (Gen. 17:6; 49:10; et al.) for whom Israel had been looking (cf. 1 Sam. 2:10). Constable goes to a great deal of trouble trying to justify David offering up animal sacrifices, when he really does not need to do this. As king, David organized the sacrificial offerings, but he did not actually do the sacrificing himself. Please remember that David has read the Bible of his day (the Mosaic Law), and he knows that the Levites and the line of Aaron are to play an important part in the area of animal sacrifices.

Now, there is a misperception which I need to correct here. If you study the doctrines of Islam, you cannot help but be struck with how coercive and how legalistic it is, as well as how merit-based blessing is. The Old Testament is not filled with tidbits of legalism which are done away with in our dispensation of grace. The specifics given in the Old Testament were not to force the Israelites into some sort of legalistic box, but to present the gospel in such a way that the Holy Spirit could communicate Jesus Christ to the Jews at the time (and to those who knew about the Jews). If you have spent any amount of time in the books of Exodus or Leviticus, all of these offerings and rituals all point to the person of Jesus Christ. Once Jesus Christ had come to His people, then we no longer needed to learn about Him in shadow form.

Let me put this in a different way. You have this new girlfriend and you are crazy about her and you’re telling your family members about her, and describing her personality, her values and showing them pictures of her. However, when you bring her over to meet the family, you no longer talk about her in the 3^rd person and describe what she looks like or how she acts, because she is right there for everyone to see and to interact with. You no longer need the props in order to convey who and what this girl is. Well, once Jesus Christ came onto the scene, God no longer needed to present Him with sacrifices and feast days and rituals.

I mentioned Islam: when Christ came, we became free of the ceremony and rituals of the Old Testament, because people actually spoke face to face with our Lord; they recorded His words and deeds in the gospels. When Islam came along much later, they simply tried to place a burden of ceremonies and rules upon their adherents, not for any reason other than place them under a greater burden than they perceived the Law of Moses to be.

Back to the exegesis of this verse. There is an interesting nuance here, and I do not quite get it, but I need to point it out: in the previous verse, David causes to offer up burnt offerings and peace offerings; in this verse, he causes to offer up the burnt offering and the peace offerings. The definite article probably just refers back to the offerings first mentioned in the previous verse; however, I do not know what we went from a plural burnt offerings in the previous verse to the singular in this verse. My assumption is, the burnt offering refers to the absolute singularity of Jesus Christ, who will offer Himself in our stead.

Translation: ...he then blessed the people in the name of Y^ehowah. The ceremonies are over. The Ark of God has been successfully brought into the tent which David had prepared for it. There was music and singing on their approach to Jerusalem; there were sacrifices and offerings all along the way and after the had gotten inside the Jerusalem city gates; and there were psalms sung after entering the city walls as well.

As we often find in the Hebrew, we do not get a strict chronological view. The first 3 verses simply tell us what happens after entering into the city walls with the Ark. Then we find out about David’s organization of the Levites, which organization was first seen at the ceremony of the transporting of the Ark (vv. 4–7). Then we actually have bits and pieces of the psalms which were publically performed there (it is not clear whether there was strictly a choir or whether the people all sang along, or if there was a combination of these things. Why doesn’t the Bible clue us in here? Because it is unimportant. The content of what was sung is important. Who sang what when and in which order is much less important. The Bible doesn’t provide a myriad of details and miscellaneous historical facts so that we simply get an historical perspective on what they did way back when; but the Bible is designed to teach those who examine it carefully. And so I am not misunderstood here, I am not suggesting that the individual believer begin his or her own regular Bible study with Strong’s Concordance on one side and two Bible translations and a commentary on the other—God designed for us to learn under a pastor-teacher.

Here is how others have translated this verse:

Ancient texts:

Masoretic Text                       And so he apportions to all Israel from a man as far as a woman to a man a round of bread and a [piece of] meat and a raisin-cake.

Septuagint                              And he divided to every man of Israel (both men and women), to every man one baker’s loaf, and a cake.

Significant differences:           The Greek has from every man of Israel rather than from all Israel. The meaning is essentially the same, although it is not clear whether the translators of the Greek took liberties with the Hebrew text or if the Hebrew text was actually different. In any case, the meaning remains unchanged.

Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrases:

CEV                                       ...and gave every person in the crowd a small loaf of bread, some meat, and a handful of raisins.

Good News Bible (TEV)         ...and distributed food to them all. He gave each man and woman in Israel a loaf of bread, a piece of roasted meat, and some raisins.

The Message                         Then he passed around to every one there, men and women alike, a loaf of bread, a slice of barbecue, and a raisin cake. A slice of barbeque?

NET Bible®                             He then handed out to each Israelite man and woman a loaf of bread, a date cake, and a raisin cake.

New Life Version                    He gave to every man and woman in Israel a loaf of bread, a share of meat, and a loaf of dried grapes.

New Living Translation           Then he gave to every man and woman in all Israel a loaf of bread, a cake of dates [Or, a portion of meat. The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain] and a cake of raisins.

Revised English Bible            ...and distributed foot, a loaf of bread, a portion of meat, and a cake of raisins, to each Israelite, man or woman.

Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

Bible in Basic English             And he gave to everyone, every man and woman of Israel, a cake of bread, some meat, and a cake of dry grapes.

God’s Word™                         He also distributed to every person in Israel-both men and women-a loaf of bread, a date cake, and a raisin cake.

HCSB                                     Then he distributed to each and every Israelite, both men and women, a loaf of bread, a date cake, and a raisin cake.

JPS (Tanakh)                         And he distributed to every person in Israel—man and women alike—to each a loaf of bread, a cake made in a pan, and a raisin cake. The meaning of the Hebrew for the latter two items is uncertain.

Today’s NIV                          Then he gave a loaf of bread, a cake of dates and a cake of raisins to each Israelite man and woman.

Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

Updated Emphasized Bible    And he apportioned to every one of Israel, both man and woman, to every one, a loaf of bread, and a sweet drink [So Fuerst thinks; but the etymology and meanings are unknown], and a raisin cake.

English Standard Version      ...and distributed to all Israel, both men and women, to each a loaf of bread, a portion of meat, and a cake of raisins.

LTHB                                     ...even he passed out to every one of Israel, both man and woman, to each a loaf of bread, a portion, and a raisin cake.

MKJV                                     And he divided to every one of Israel, both man and woman, to every one a loaf of bread and a portion, and a raisin cake.

New King James Version       Then he distributed to everyone of Israel, both man and woman, to everyone a loaf of bread, a piece of meat, and a cake of raisins.

Young’s Updated LT             And he gives a portion to every man of Israel, both man and woman: to each a cake of bread, and a measure of wine, and a grape-cake.

What is the gist of this verse? David saw to it that everyone had rations to take with them on their return to their hometowns.

Translation: He apportioned to all Israel... David did not send care packages throughout all Israel. However, there were a number of Israelites who had gathered there for the moving of the Ark, at great expense to themselves. Recall that the Philistines had conquered portions of Israel and had killed their king Saul. So, for some period of time, portions or all of central and northern Israel would have been paying tribute to the Philistines. Furthermore, you must understand that logically, the Philistines are not going to put a minor burden on Israel; they are going to be greedy and they will want to take as much as they can get away with. Having defeated Israel’s army in battle, this would be a relatively easy thing for the Philistines to do. The upshot of this is, having just come out from under Philistine rule (well, to be precise, it is very possible that David had not yet defeated the Philistines in his land, having just become ruler over northern Israel), we have a population of Jews who are, for the most part, quite poor. Therefore, David is going to see to it that they have enough foodstuffs to get them home.

Translation:...—both men and women—... Both the writer of 2Samuel (probably David) and the writer of Chronicles (who, no doubt, was using the Samuel manuscript along with other sources) thought it important to point out what was allotted to the people there and that both men and women were all given their share.

The Bible is mischaracterized as being misogynistic (against women; anti-woman). What is true is, the Bible has different roles for the man and the woman to play. When the feminist movement was at its zenith, one of their tenets appeared to be that men and women are not really different; and all of the differences between men and women are a matter of socialization. Most parents with at least 1 each of a boy and a girl can tell you that, for the most part, these are creatures from a different planet, no matter how they attempt to raise them. An activist can certainly attempt to emasculate his or her male children and to toughen up his or her female children—the parents have a great deal to do with the growth and socialization of their own children—but left to their own devices, with a reasonable amount of training, boys grow up to be men and girls grow up to be women (not exactly an earth shattering observation, I admit). In any normal marriage, both the man and the woman relate differently to their children and offer different things to their children. God, in the Bible, institutionalizes our gender roles, but never presents man as the superior gender or woman as the inferior gender. What we find in Scripture is, equality in the spiritual realm, and role differences for man and woman here on earth. Therefore, in instances like this, men and women are treated equally.

Translation: ...to each one, a loaf of bread,... This should seem odd, for both the writer of Chronicles and of Samuel to tell us just exactly what David gave to these people. For this reason, we ought to consider what God the Holy Spirit is conveying to us. So there is no misunderstanding, these are literal, historical events which took place. These are the food items which David gave to the assembled Israelites. However, we may reasonably find more here than the surface meaning.

Bread is associated with basic sustenance and with spiritual food. The Jews in the desert, marching from Israel to the Land of Promise, complained about the lack of food, and God sent them bread from heaven, which both provided sustenance for them, and spoke of the True Bread from Heaven that He would send them. Our daily sustenance comes from Jesus Christ and our eternal sustenance comes from Him as well. Therefore, we get from this that God provides for us in every way.

Translation: ...a [piece] of meat, and a raisin-cake. The second item which they received is unknown, this word being found only twice in the Bible, and, apparently, without clear cognates. As referenced above, the idea seems to be that we are dealing with a specific portion, and my guess is, this is a portion of meat (as is the assumption of many other exegetes). The reason we make this assumption is, many animals were sacrificed as the Ark made its way, step by step, into the city of Jerusalem. Therefore, the offerings made by David would then be distributed to the people there. It would make little sense to offer up all of these sacrifices and for the people not to be given a share of it.

The 3^rd item which was received was a pressed grape cake which is, insofar as I know, a desert bar.

In the book of 2Samuel, it appears as though David distributes this food to the people for their journey home. Here, it appears to occur while they are around the gates of Jerusalem celebrating the Ark. Although the text is not clear, here or in 2Sam. 6, it appears as though the crowds of people must have followed the Ark into Jerusalem. I have no idea as to the size of Jerusalem, the size of the crowd, and whether or not they were all able to fit. This is not what we would call a fundamental doctrinal point, and, my own thinking is, they were all able to enter into the city of Jerusalem to complete the celebration.

There are a lot of animal sacrifices which are taking place (v. 2). The meat from these offerings was distributed to the people of Israel. It would make sense for the bread and raisin-cakes to be distributed at this time as well. Although we have no idea as to the timeline here, my guess is, all of this took much of the day. My guess would be 4–8 hours. Recall that, every 6 steps, 2 animals would be sacrificed (2Sam. 6:13), which, I would assume, would later be offered up as burnt offerings. There were psalms sung on the way to Jerusalem and after the Ark had been put in its place in Jerusalem.

Near the end of the ceremony, as the animals were offered up as burnt offerings, the meat would then be carved and distributed to the people. It would be reasonable for the bread and raisin cakes to be distributed at this time as well. This reasonably places the food distribution at the end of the ceremonies before the people are going home. Therefore, the placement in this chapter and in 2Sam. 6 is apt and there is no contradiction.

It is also worth pointing out that, 2Samuel completes this verse by saying, “And everybody went home.” 1Chron. 6 will say that at the end of this chapter, and the intervening 40 verses are unique to Chronicles.

The psalms in this chapter were no doubt performed after the Ark had been placed in the tent, and possibly while the people were being served. Whether they all sang or whether the Levites simply performed these psalms, we do not know. My guess is, there was a bit of both.

Obviously, you are wondering, what does this mean to me? The food is being distributed to everyone at such and such a time; so what? The burnt offering along with the meat which is distributed all represent Jesus Christ dying for our sins and the appropriation of His death to ourselves. The bread represents not just the bread of the Word but sustenance for our daily lives on this earth, which actually begins even before salvation. We must be kept alive to get to the point of salvation, and the bread represents basic support to the unbeliever, which is followed by logistical grace for the believer. Obviously, if Satan had his way, every single person who reached God consciousness would be killed at that point.

The final item, the grape-cakes, is probably a desert, and represents the blessings that we receive in life. That David gives these items to each and every person indicates that God has these provisions for each and every person. He brings us alive to the point of God consciousness and then to the point of gospel hearing; after we believe, we are sustained; and, after awhile, we are given great blessings in life. In other words, you may have thought that this is simply useless information being added in, but the author includes this, as it parallels the life of the believer.

This is something else I want you to notice: in the previous verse, David blesses the people. Now, for some, that can be relatively meaningless. “Bless you, my brother” can mean very little. When James addressed a similar situation, he said, “You don’t tell a hungry man, ‘be full.’ ” You feed him. David is doing the same thing; he is not just mouthing the words bless you; he is giving them blessings to take with them.

Application: This is similar to our lives as believers. If you are a growing believer, God is going to bless you, and it will be notable. That is, God does not simply say from on-high, “Bless you” and that is the end of it; God gives us rich blessings; He gives us blessings far beyond what we deserve. This does not mean that you will become a millionaire after believing in Jesus Christ, although that is not out of the question. It does not mean that everything you ever desired is going to be dropped off on your front porch next week. It does not mean that you will walk around with a smile on your face like some kind of a clown. But it does mean, you should be able to look at your life before believing in Jesus Christ and after, and notice a considerable change after a few years (assuming that you are growing spiritually; if you aren’t grow spiritually, then this does not apply).

——————————

At this point, we completely leave the text of 2Sam. 6 and we find material here which is exclusive to the book of Chronicles. Recall that the writer of Chronicles used genealogical records, the book of Samuel, and several other books from which to construct this history. The book of Nathan the Seer is mentioned, and it is reasonable to suppose that Nathan recorded this information originally, as this was around his time period.

Here is how others have translated this verse:

Ancient texts:

Masoretic Text                       And so he give to faces of an Ark of Y^ehowah from the Levites serving and to speak of and to give thanks and to praise Y^ehowah Elohim of Israel.

Septuagint                              And he appointed before the ark of the covenant of the Lord, Levites to minister [and] lift up the voice, and to give thanks and praise the Lord God of Israel.

Significant differences:           The Greek adds in the phrase of the covenant. The Hebrew, Latin and Syriac lack these words.

The remainder of the differences are going to seem pretty picky. Both texts have 4 verbs at the very end of this verse—the Hebrew has 1 participle followed by 3 infinitives and the Greek has 3 participles followed by one infinitive (although my Online Bible says they are all participles, the verb form of the final verb is an infinitive). Explaining the difference is going to be moderately difficult. A participle can express continuous action, but it can also refer to a job which a person does. In the Hebrew, the Levites are the ministers to the Ark of God. That is their job. The infinitive often states a purpose, and, in the Hebrew, their purpose is to call doctrines to remembrance, to give thanks to and to praise Jehovah the God of Israel. That would be the 3 reasons David placed some of the Levites in front of the Ark.

Now, interestingly enough, even though we have 3 participles followed by an infinitive in the Greek, Brenton, whose English translation I use (and correct or update from time to time), translates these as 4 (English) infinitives. It is not a stretch to suggest that the participles in the Greek just indicate the actions which these Levites will be engaged in while being stationed in front of the Ark of God.

All that being said, I don’t know that any of these differences are significant.

Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrases:

CEV                                       David appointed some of the Levites to serve at the sacred chest; they were to play music and sing praises to the LORD God of Israel.

The Message                         Then David assigned some of the Levites to the Chest of GOD to lead worship--to intercede, give thanks, and praise the GOD of Israel.

New Jerusalem Bible             He appointed some of the Levites as ministers before the ark of Yahweh, to extol, glorify and praise Yahweh, God of Israel;...

Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

Complete Apostles’ Bible      And he appointed before the ark of the covenant of the Lord, Levites to minister and lift up the voice, and to give thanks and praise the Lord God of Israel.

God’s Word™                         David appointed some Levites to serve in front of the LORD'S ark by offering prayers, thanks, and praise to the LORD God of Israel.

New International Version      And he appointed some of the Levites to minister before the ark of the LORD, to commemorate, to thank, and to praise the LORD God of Israel:...

NIV – UK                                He appointed some of the Levites to minister before the ark of the LORD, to make petition, to give thanks, and to praise the LORD, the God of Israel:.

The Scriptures 1998              And he appointed some of the Lĕwites to serve before the ark of יהוה, to bring to remembrance, and to thank, and to praise יהוה Elohim of Yisra’ĕl:...

Today’s NIV                          He appointed some of the Levites to minister before the ark of the LORD, to extol [or, petition, invoke], thank, and praise the LORD, the God of Israel:...

Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

The Amplified Bible                He appointed Levites to minister before the ark of the Lord and to celebrate [by calling to mind], thanking and praising the Lord, the God of Israel:...

Updated Emphasized Bible    And he placed before the ark of Yahweh certain of the Levites, as attendants—to celebrate [or, to bring to remembrance], to give thanks and to render praise to Yahweh, God of Israel.

English Standard Version      Then he appointed some of the Levites as ministers before the ark of the LORD, to invoke, to thank, and to praise the LORD, the God of Israel.

LTHB                                     And he set before the ark of Jehovah ministers from the Levites, even to celebrate and to thank and to give praise to Jehovah the God of Israel:...

New King James Version       And he appointed some of the Levites to minister before the ark of the LORD, to commemorate, to thank, and to praise the LORD God of Israel:.

Young’s Updated LT             And he puts before the ark of Jehovah, of the Levites, ministers, even to make mention of, and to thank, and to give praise to Jehovah, God of Israel:...

What is the gist of this verse? David will make specific spiritual assignments, which is spoken of in general here, and named specifically in vv. 5–7 and 38–42.

Before I get started with this verse, I should point out that there are two sets of assignments: vv. 4–6 and vv. 37–42. Here is the difference in the assignments, and why there is some overlap: in vv. 4–6, we are dealing strictly with those whom God has placed in charge of the music with regards to the moving of the Ark. Once we get down to vv. 38–42, we see David’s full-time assignments regarding the Ark, the gates and the Tabernacle (which is in Gibeon at this time).

Translation: He placed in front of the Ark of Y^ehowah [some men] from the ministering Levites [or, from the Levites (as) ministers]... The he spoken of here is David. As king over Israel, he made the various spiritual assignments, as we will also see in 1Chron. 15:16 16:37–42 23:2–6 24:3. This in itself is quite interesting. The impression from much of 1Samuel is, Saul had very little to do with spiritual things—although he did some sacrifices when he shouldn’t have and he did wipe out the priest clan in Nob—but we do not have him appointing anyone to do anything. David, on the other hand, is closely involved with the spiritual aspects of his kingdom. He recognizes the importance of these things.

Application: Our leaders should also have a recognition of the importance of spiritual things as well as their own spiritual life. Quite obviously, so should we.

At this point in the narrative, we are no longer in a procession. The Ark is inside the Jerusalem walls inside the tent which David had prepared for it. However, in front of this tent, David stationed Levites, here either called ministering Levites or Levites who were placed there as ministers. Again, in these few verses, we are speaking of this particular celebration of the Ark, now that we are inside the Jerusalem walls.

Generally speaking, the job of the Levites was to minister to God in a variety of capacities, most of them having to do with the Tabernacle of God. However, since the Tabernacle of God is not in view here, they are going to act in association with the Tabernacle furniture, which, in this case, is the Ark. All Levites are, in effect, ministers to the Tabernacle of God by birth (Num. 1:50–53 18:1–6). However, David selected a few of them to place in front of the Ark to function as ministers during this celebration. Now, what does that mean? This is laid out in the rest of v. 4.

Translation: ...even to call to remembrance, to give thanks to and to praise Y^ehowah the Elohim of Israel. We have 3 infinitive verbs here which tell us what these Levites would do as ministers before the Ark of God. Their first assignment is to call to remembrance, to bring to mind...Jehovah the God of Israel. The exact method here is not clear. I assuming that, in this case, the Ark having been moved into Jerusalem, that they are going to sing psalms and lead the people there in the singing of psalms. The psalms which are chosen will call to remembrance what God has done for Israel; these psalms will give thanks to God, and they will praise God for all that He has done. These psalms may have been sung by individuals or sung by all those who are there or simply recited. In any case, when we examine the psalms spoken of in this chapter, it will be clear that all 3 things are accomplished by these psalms.

The final verb describing their responsibilities has them praising, singing, celebrating and/or glorifying God, which certainly involves singing psalms.

Based upon these verbs, I would assume that the Levites stationed in front of the Tent of the Ark would read from the Sacred Scriptures, from the psalms. They would probably sing and offer up prayers and sacrifices as well.

Now, later on, at the end of this chapter, there will be permanent assignments, and it is a little less clear as to how the Ark will fit into the life of Jerusalem. The passage which describes what was to be done is equally vague. In this passage, for this celebration, we can pretty much figure out just exactly what these men are doing. When we get to v. 37, those assigned to the Ark full time have duties which are described even more generally. There is the possibility that they would explain just exactly what the Ark of God looks like, as well as giving some history of the Ark, but that is pure conjecture, and not even suggested by the text at the end of this chapter.

As has been mentioned in our studies of 2Samuel, what we do not find here is the Tabernacle of God. The reason for this is, David plans to build a Temple instead of a Tabernacle for God. He’s not going to, but those are his plans, and that is why David does not go out and fetch the Tabernacle as well.

Here is how others have translated this verse:

Ancient texts:

Masoretic Text                       Asaph the head and his second Zechariah; Jeiel and Shemiramoth and Jehiel and Mattithiah and Eliab and Benaiah and Obed-Edom [lit., a slave of Edom] and Jeiel in manufactured goods harps and in hand harps; and Asaph in a [pair of] cymbals causing to hear.

Septuagint                              Asaph [was] the chief, and next to him Zacharias, Jeiel, Semiramoth, Jeiel, Mattathias, Eliab, and Banaeas, and Abdedom: and Jeiel sounding with musical instruments and lutes and harps, and Asaph sounding with cymbals. Brenton’s English text did not match the Greek text too well, so I made some changes in the English text to better reflect the Greek.

Significant differences:           There are a few minor differences: there are fewer and’s in the Greek except with regards to the musical instruments, where, in the Greek, it sounds as though there are 3 sets of instruments played by the group of Levites, and, in the Hebrew, it sounds like there are 2 sets of instruments (although this is not entirely clear, as the connective in the Greek could also mean even). As is the case in almost all discrepancies in the text, nothing affects any major or minor doctrine.

Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrases:

CEV                                       Asaph was their leader, and Zechariah was his assistant. Jeiel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Mattithiah, Eliab, Benaiah, Obed-Edom, and another man named Jeiel were appointed to play small harps and stringed instruments. Asaph himself played the cymbals,...

Good News Bible (TEV)         Asaph was appointed leader, with Zechariah as his assistant. Jeiel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Mattithiah, Eliab, Benaiah, Obed Edom, and Jeiel were to play harps. Asaph was to sound the cymbals,...

The Message                         Asaph was in charge; under him were Zechariah, Jeiel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Mattithiah, Eliab, Benaiah, Obed-Edom, and Jeiel, who played the musical instruments. Asaph was on percussion.

New Century Version             Asaph, who played the cymbals, was the leader. Zechariah was second to him. The other Levites were Jaaziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Mattithiah, Eliab, Benaiah, Obed-Edom, and Jeiel. They played the lyres and harps.

New Life Version                    Asaph was the leader, then Zechariah, Jeiel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Mattithiah, Eliab, Benaiah, Obededom, and Jeiel. They were to play harps. And Asaph played loud-sounding timbrels..

New Living Translation           Asaph, the leader of this group, sounded the cymbals. Second to him was Zechariah, followed by Jeiel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Mattithiah, Eliab, Benaiah, Obed-edom, and Jeiel. They played the harps and lyres.

Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

Bible in Basic English             Asaph the chief, and second to him Zechariah, Uzziel and Shemiramoth and Jehiel and Mattithiah and Eliab and Benaiah and Obed-edom and Jeiel, with corded instruments of music; and Asaph, with brass instruments sounding loudly;...

Complete Apostles’ Bible      Asaph was the chief, and next to him Zechariah, then Jeiel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Mattithiah, Eliab, Benaiah, and Obed-Edom; and Jeiel sounded with musical instruments, lutes and harps, and Asaph with cymbals.

God’s Word™                         Asaph was the head; Zechariah was second, then Jeiel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Mattithiah, Eliab, Benaiah, Obed Edom, and Jeiel with harps and lyres. Asaph played the cymbals.

Today’s NIV                          Asaph was the chief, and next to him in rank were Zechariah, then Jaaziel [See 1Chron. 15:18,20; Hebrew Jeiel, possibly another name for Jaaziel], Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Mattithiah, Eliab, Benaiah, Obed-Edom and Jeiel. They were to play the lyres and harps, Asaph was to sound the cymbals,...

Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

English Standard Version      Asaph was the chief, and second to him were Zechariah, Jeiel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Mattithiah, Eliab, Benaiah, Obed-edom, and Jeiel, who were to play harps and lyres; Asaph was to sound the cymbals,...

Hebrew Names Version         Asaf the chief, and second to him Zekharyah, Ye`i'el, and Shemiramot, and Yechi'el, and Mattityah, and Eli'av, and Benayah, and Obed-Edom, and Ye`i'el, with psalteries and with harps; and Asaf with cymbals, sounding aloud;...

King James 2000 Version      Asaph the chief, and next to him Zechariah, Jeiel, and Shemiramoth, and Jehiel, and Mattithiah, and Eliab, and Benaiah, and Obed-edom: and Jeiel with lyres and with harps; but Asaph made music with cymbals;...

NASB                                     Asaph the chief, and second to him Zechariah, then Jeiel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Mattithiah, Eliab, Benaiah, Obed-edom and Jeiel, with musical instruments, harps, lyres; also Asaph played loud-sounding cymbals,...

New King James Version       Asaph the chief, and next to him Zechariah, then Jeiel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Mattithiah, Eliab, Benaiah, and Obed-Edom: Jeiel with stringed instruments and harps, but Asaph made music with cymbals;...

Young's Updated LT              Asaph the head, and his second Zechariah; Jeiel, and Shemiramoth, and Jehiel, and Mattithiah, and Eliab, and Benaiah, and Obed-Edom, and Jeiel, with instruments of psalteries, and with harps; and Asaph with cymbals is sounding.

What is the gist of this verse? This is a list of the main musicians involved in the celebration of the moving of the Ark.

Translation: Asaph [was] the head and second to him [was] Zechariah. Periodically in the Bible—and in Chronicles particularly—believers are named, and, in so doing, given some recognition. This is somewhat fascinating to me, as many people like some measure of fame. I recall walking down 6^th Street in Austin (200 miles from my home) with a lady friend and, out of nowhere, some kid yells my name loudly as he and some other lads drive on by. This was just the right amount of fame. The kid did not yell out “You suck” or anything like that; the woman I was with was clearly impressed that, even outside of my hometown, some people knew and honored me, and, I would not be surprised if she saw me in a different light after that, for at least another half hour or so. It was just the right amount of fame. God apparently allows for some of this, as He is, ultimately glorified when we take in doctrine and make a few good decisions. In fact, in the first ten or so chapters of Chronicles, that is all that we saw was name after name after name after name. These names here will stand forever, and, at some point in time, I am sure we will have the opportunity to meet these celebrities (they are celebrities by virtue of the fact that they reflect the glory of God). This further suggests that we, in the Church Age, will receive some measure of recognition as well. Now, don’t get confused here. God is not going to give out gold stars to each and every person in order to boost our self-esteem; many believers will stand before the Judgment Seat of Christ and have all their human good burned, and, apart from that, they have nothing. There will not be some memorial somewhere for the losers in the Christian life. They will be saved forever and spend eternity with God, but that is as far as it will go. There are other believers who will be rewarded for their time here on earth—and this reward will glorify God and, in some way, probably give them some measure of non-sinful fame. I base this on the book of Chronicles, where we have name after name of those who have believed in Jesus Christ. So, we might breeze through such a chapter, but, when our name is read or posted in special recognition, I am sure there is going to be some measure of satisfaction associated with that.

There are a lot of things which are gratifying in this life, which are a part of our shadow image of God (as we are created in the shadow image of Him). God is glorified by our application of doctrine while filled with the Spirit; and I am certain that there will be some corresponding measure of fame given to us, as reflections of His glory.

Along those same lines, I am designing and helping to build my own library and media room (along with some other rooms), and as these plans slowly come to fruition, it gives me great pleasure to look at them. God is the creator of everything, and we have some measure of that same creativity, as well as some measure of pleasure when we create something which we are proud of (I don’t mean pride in a sinful way). We are the shadow image of our Creator insofar as, we like to create and we like it when our creations turn out to look good. My point in this analogy is, we are reflections of our Creator, and therefore, there will be common aspects of our essence.

One of the things about Asaph which I find fascinating, and am unable to explain, is he is mentioned back in 1Chron. 6:39 as a part of the genealogies; but here and 1Chron. 15 is the first time that we find something out about Asaph. He is not even mentioned at all in 2Samuel, and yet found about a dozen times in the book of Chronicles, so what is that? How did the historians who composed the book of Samuel (which probably included Samuel, David, Nathan and possibly even Saul and Jonathan) forget Asaph? I don’t doubt that somewhere, some person who has chosen not to believe in the Bible, has postulated that Asaph is a creation of the author of Chronicles. However, Jesus said, “The Scriptures cannot be broken” so, my thinking is, He probably has a better handle on this than does some critic bloviating hundreds of years later. There are times in history when those who actually make history are not properly recognized until years later. I think that President George Bush will fall into this category, just as his predecessor, touted by many as a wonderful president, will fall into the category of average, several decades from now.

Now, you may counter with, God the Holy Spirit is supposed to be the ultimate Author of Scripture; and indeed, He is. However, the Bible is written by men as inspired by the Holy Spirit. For this reason, we should never discount or downplay the man-ward side of Scripture. There is no inaccuracy involved, but this helps to explain why John’s gospel, for instance, is so much different from Luke’s. So, whoever wrote this parallel section of Samuel (probably David and/or Nathan), probably did not recognize the full spiritual importance of Asaph; however, a later writer, given all of the psalms which Asaph produced, no doubt recognized his importance to this time period. As is mentioned in the Asaph’s of Scripture, there is a scribe from the time of Hezekiah named Joah. He may have written or assembled historical documents which either became or were used when Chronicles was written. He would have a reason for wanting his ancestor Asaph to be recognized for his contributions to his time.

I mentioned fame earlier, and that we should expect, as believers in Jesus Christ, some modicum of fame to be given to some of us. Asaph illustrates this—to the historians of his time period, his contributions seemed to go unnoticed. Even David’s bitchy first wife, Michal is more prominent in the book of Samuel than is Asaph (who is not found there at all). The fact that we find Asaph mentioned several times in Chronicles attests to the fact that many very quiet believers will receive some recognition from God at some point in the future. There are believers in Jesus Christ whose gift it is to pray for others—and I am sure that there are those out there praying regularly for our country and our military—whose names and faces we will not know in our own lifetimes. I believe that there will be some eternal recognition of these believers, just as we find Asaph mentioned throughout Chronicles as a testimony to his impact on his generation.

Zechariah (not the same as the prophet) is also found several times in Chronicles, but not at all in Samuel. Again, maybe this was Joah a descendant of Asaph, a scribe from the days of Hezekiah, who recognized that Asaph and Zechariah made meaningful contributions to their generation (and to future generations), and wanted them to be known for their impact. It is the same principle as we covered with Asaph: we may not have a very prominent place in contemporary history—a hundred years from now, we may at most, be names in a genealogy. However, God knows our true grace impact on history and I believe that God will recognize us in some way.

Now, I don’t want you to get all tangled up and think that some measure of fame means that the sin of pride is involved. We are the products of grace. The Bible teaching we have received is grace. The ability to hear and take it in, is grace. The opportunity to apply Bible doctrine is also grace. So, whatever recognition we receive will no doubt be a reflection of the grace of God, much as the earth is a reflection of the sun, and the greatness of this earth depends entirely upon the sun. Speaking of which, let me pass along an email, which I have received from several sources: God’s Perspective of the Universe.

One of the amazing things is coming across famous Christian literature which I have not heard anything about, which would now include Blunt’s “Undersigned Coincidences.”

Translation: Jeiel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Mattithiah, Eliab, Benaiah, Obed-Edom and Jeiel [were] on the manufactured musical instruments—the harps and hand-held harps;... These men appear to be separate from Asaph and Zechariah, and they appear to all be musicians which play the harp and the hand-held harp.

There are two men on this list name Jeiel. Barnes suggests that the first one is a corrupt reading for “Aziel” (1Chron. 15:20) or “Jaaziel” (1Chron. 15:18). The first citation is quite close to our passage: And the singers were Heman, Asaph, and Ethan, to sound with cymbals of bronze; and Zechariah, and Aziel, and Shemiramoth, and Jehiel, and Unni, and Eliab, and Maaseiah, and Benaiah, with harps set to Alamoth (1Chron. 15:19–20). 1Chron. 18:5 reads: Asaph the head, and Zechariah his second; Jeiel, and Shemiramoth, and Jehiel, and Mattithiah, and Eliab, and Benaiah, and Obed-edom, and Jeiel, with instruments of harps, and with lyres; and Asaph was sounding with the cymbals. I have underlined the names which are the same, and bolded the two which Barnes believes to be the same person.

The Revised English Bible thinks that this should be Jaaziel, as per 1Chron. 15:18. So the Levites appointed Heman the son of Joel; and of his brethren, Asaph the son of Berechiah; and of their brethren the sons of Merari, Ethan the son of Kushaiah; and with them their brethren of the second rank. The gatekeepers: Zechariah, Ben, Jaaziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattithiah, Elipheleh, Mikneiah, Obed-Edom, and Jeiel (1Chron. 15:17–18). Asaph [was] the head and second to him [was] Zechariah. Jeiel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Mattithiah, Eliab, Benaiah, Obed-Edom and Jeiel [were] on the manufactured musical instruments—the harps and hand-held harps; and Asaph sounded a pair of cymbals; and Benaiah and Jahaziel, [two] priests, at regular intervals, [played] the trumpets before the Ark of the Covenant of Elohim (1Chron. 18:5–6). Again, we have a veritable match-up in names, where I have underlined those names which are found in both passages and bolded the names which the REB believes to be the same.