Synopsis of the Chapter
David near death designates Solomon as king, and distributes the Levites into their classes and assigns their offices. He also counts among the Levites the sons, that is, the descendants of Moses.
Verse 11: Jeush and Beriah ¶
11. JEUSH AND BERIAH DID NOT HAVE MANY SONS — that is, these two together did not have more sons than a single one of those already listed; therefore these two constituted only one class, while each of the others constituted one class by themselves.
Verse 13: Aaron Was Set Apart ¶
13. AND AARON WAS SET APART — that is, by God through Moses, Aaron was chosen so that he and his firstborn descendants would be the high priests or pontiffs; while the others who were not firstborn would be lesser priests. Hence only the pontiffs entered the Holy of Holies; but the other priests burned incense on the altar of incense, which was in the Holy Place before the Holy of Holies.
Verse 14: The Sons of Moses ¶
14. THE SONS OF MOSES, THE MAN (friend) OF GOD, WERE ALSO COUNTED AMONG THE TRIBE OF LEVI. — Remarkable was the resignation and humility of Moses, by which he submitted to the ordinance of God decreeing that the leadership of the people should be transferred to Joshua, while his own sons should be numbered not among the priests but among the Levites. For the priesthood was assigned by God to the descendants of Aaron, who was the elder brother of Moses.
Verse 24: From Twenty Years Old and Upward ¶
24. THE SONS OF LEVI FROM TWENTY YEARS OLD AND UPWARD. — David numbered the Levites twice: first, in verse 3, "from thirty years old and upward;" secondly, here, "from twenty years old and upward." The reason was that originally it was decreed by God through Moses that the Levites should serve the tabernacle from the thirtieth year of age and onward, because their duty was to carry the furnishings of the Tabernacle through the desert, in which they were continually wandering, for which a strong and robust age, such as thirty years, was required. But David, since this burden had ceased, the temple now being built and Israel at rest in the holy land, decreed in this verse that they should be numbered from the twentieth year, and begin to serve; namely so that, with the older ones already enrolled and distributed into their classes of ministers, gatekeepers, officers, judges, and singers, the younger ones might serve them in lesser matters. This is the reason David gives here in verse 26.
Verse 29: The Priests Moreover ¶
29. THE PRIESTS MOREOVER. — These words are not in the Hebrew nor in the Greek; therefore the duties which are appended here pertain to both Levites and priests, because it was the Levites' role to prepare those things, and the priests' role to offer to God what had already been prepared, as a sacrifice.
AND OVER EVERY WEIGHT AND MEASURE — both because it was the duty of the priests and Levites to measure all things to be offered to God, namely whether they had just weight and measure, and because it was their duty to preserve the just standards of measures and weights in the temple, so that if through the fraud of some among the people those standards were corrupted, diminished, or increased, they could be restored and corrected according to the measures and weights of the temple.