1 Chronicles 27
David’s monthly army reserve
David’s one-month-a-year soldiers
1David created an army reserve by dividing his army into 12 divisions of 24,000 men each. Every division served one month a year. Here is a list of the men who led each division. These men were family leaders, military commanders, and royal officials.2Month 1. Jashobeam son of Zabdiel commanded the first month’s division. He led the 24,000 soldiers on duty during the first month of the year. [1] 3Jashobeam was a descendant of Perez, Judah’s son, and he led Israel’s army during the first month of every year.
4Month 2. Dodai, a descendant of Ahoha, commanded the second division of 24,000 soldiers during the second month of the year. Mikloth served as the first officer of the division.
5Month 3. Benaiah directed the third division on the third month of the year. He was the son of the top priest, Jehoiada. 6He commanded King David’s elite fighting unit known as The Thirty. But he put his son, Ammizabad, in command of the third divisional army reserve.
7Month 4. Asahel, commanded the fourth divisional army of the year. He was the brother of David’s top general, Joab. Asahel’s son, Zebadiah, succeeded his dad as divisional commander.
8Month 5. Shamhuth commanded the 24,000 reserve soldiers of the fifth division. They served near the end of summer. [2] He was from Izrah’s clan.
9Month 6. Ira commanded the sixth army division. He came from the town of Tekoa. Ikkesh was his father.
10Month 7. Helez commanded the seventh army. He came from the town of Pelon, in the tribal territory of Ephraim.
11Month 8. Sibbecai commanded the eighth divisional army of 24,000 soldiers. He came from the town of Hushah and the clan of Zerah.
12Month 9. Abiezer commanded the ninth division. He came from the town of Anathoth in the tribal territory of Benjamin.
13Month 10. Maharai led the tenth division. He came from the town of Netophah and from the family of Zerah.
14Month 11. Benaiah commanded the eleventh division. He came from Pirathon, in Ephraim’s tribal territory.
15Month 12. Heldai commanded the twelfth division of the army reserve. He came from the town of Netophah and from Othniel’s clan.
Leaders of the 12 tribes
16These men led the 12 tribes of Israel in David’s day.Reuben’s tribe. Eliezer son of Zikri.
Simeon. Shephatiah son of Maacah.
17Levi. Hashabiah son of Kemuel. The priest Zadok led the group of Levi’s tribe and descended from Aaron, brother of Moses and first high priest of Israel.
18Judah. Elihu, one of David’s brothers.
Issachar. Omri the son of Michael.
19Zebulun. Ishmaiah son of Obadiah.
Naphtali. Jerimoth son of Azriel.
20Ephraim. Hoshea son of Azaziah.
West Manasseh. Joel son of Pedaiah.
21East Manasseh. Iddo son of Zechariah.
Benjamin. Jaasiel son of Abner.
22Dan. Azarel son of Jeroham.
These men led the tribes of Israel.
Body count
23The LORD promised to make Israel’s population look like stars in the night sky. So, David took a census. [3] He counted the men, ages 20 and up. [4] 24David gave the census job to his commander, Joab son of Zeruiah. He never finished the census. He stopped when the LORD punished Israel for counting the men.Officers of the king’s wealth
25David put Azmaveth, son of Adiel, in charge of the royal treasury—everything the king owned. And David put Jonathan, son of Uzziah, in charge of the king’s scattered storage rooms, in cities and communities throughout Israel26David put Ezri, son of Chelub, in charge of farmers and field hands working on the king’s properties.
27Shimei from the town of Raman managed the king’s vineyards. Zabdi from the town of Shepham handled the harvest and storage of the king’s wine.
28Baal-hanan from the town of Geder managed the king’s olive and sycamore trees in the foothills west of Jerusalem. Joash oversaw storing olive oil produced from the king’s olive groves.
29Shitrai, from the flatland coastal area of Sharon, took care of the king’s herds that grazed in the fields and valleys of Sharon. Shitrai’s father was Adlai. 30Obil, from the tribe of Ishmael, served as the king’s camel herder. Jehdeiah from the town of Meronoth worked as the king’s donkey herder.
31These men managed the king’s property.
David’s close advisors
32David arranged for two men to teach his sons. The first was David’s uncle, Jonathan. He was not only smart, but he was also wise. The second teacher was Jehiel the son of Hachmoni.33David had several personal advisors. One was a man named Ahithophel. The other was one of David’s friends, Hushai. He came from the town of Archi in the tribal territory of Ephraim. 34David’s main advisors were Jehoiada the son of Benaiah, Ahithophel, and later Abiathar. Joab commanded Israel's army.
Footnotes
The first month on the ancient Jewish calendar tracks with March-April on today’s calendar. That’s during the religious season of Passover and Easter. Hebrew ancestors of the Jewish people called the month Aviv, which means “spring” or “first harvest.” Farmers began harvesting barley in early spring. Jews later called the month Nisan, a Romanized version of the word, meaning the same thing. Israel marked the seasons with a lunar calendar. Every new month started at the first tiny crescent after the new moon. A new moon is when the moon is hidden behind earth’s shadow for one day. The sun, moon, and earth are aligned, with earth in the middle.
The fifth month was Av, during parts of July and August.
This is a low-profile account of a huge tragedy reported in 2 Samuel 25 and 1 Chronicles 21. David orders a census and God gets angry about it and sends a plague on Israel. Nowhere in the Bible does a writer say what made God angry enough to kill 70,000 of his own chosen people. Some scholars say the writer reverse-engineered the idea that the plague came from God. So, he presumed it was God’s fault. The writer may have believed that since God controlled everything, he must have caused the plague. The idea is that God sends bad experiences to bad people, and he rewards good people. That would mean God is especially fond of the filthy rich, which is pretty much the opposite of what prophets and Jesus had to say about wealth (Matthew 6:24; Hebrews 13:5).
Many people in Old Testament times seemed to think a census was somehow wrong, or at least bad luck. That’s probably why Joab pushed back on the king about it. Perhaps they saw it as the sin of pride, in this case, a king wanting to brag about the size of his army. The 2 Samuel 25 version of the story says God nudged or manipulated David into ordering the census. Another version says Satan did the nudging (1 Chronicles 21:1). Either way, some scholars say they see satan in God. When we say “Satan,” we’re speaking Hebrew. It’s a word that means “Accuser.” God was accusing Israel of some undisclosed sin. God was the Accuser. Some scholars take another approach to explaining the discrepancy about who nudged David. They say God allowed Satan to manipulate David. So in a sense one writer can say God did the manipulation. Another can say Satan did it. And both could be right. Yeah, well that sounds like a bit of a stretch to others.
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