1 Chronicleschapter 16
43 verses · Ezra, by tradition · 450 to 400 BC · History
David appointed some of the Levites to minister before the ark of the LORD, to celebrate, to give thanks, and to praise the LORD, the God of Israel.
Introduction
Ezra, by tradition, History, 1 Chronicles Overview.
This chapter was written for the Jews who came home from Babylon, a people under Persian rule who worshipped in a rebuilt temple and wanted to know where their service began. The writer is unnamed, and Jewish tradition gives the book to Ezra the scribe. The day the ark reached Jerusalem becomes the first day of a service that ran for centuries. A hymn stands inside the narrative, built from parts of three psalms the hearers already sang. Listen for the refrain of thanks, and for the moment the song turns to speak to every nation.
Context
- Who
- Singers and priests whose own daily rota began on this day
- What
- A narrative of the ark's installation in Jerusalem, with the psalm of thanks David gave to Asaph and the Levites appointed to serve before it.
- Where
- The tent David pitched for the ark in Jerusalem, with the tabernacle and its bronze altar still standing at Gibeon.
- When
- The day the ark reached Jerusalem, about 1003 BC on the reckoning from the text's own figures.
- Why
- To show the returned community where its daily worship and its song of thanks began.
Historical context
1 Chronicles names no author, and it names its own sources at 29:29, the histories of Samuel the seer, Nathan the prophet and Gad the seer. The Babylonian Talmud at tractate Bava Batra 15a assigns the book to Ezra the scribe, and C. F. Keil follows that tradition. Sara Japhet, H. G. M. Williamson and Gary Knoppers hold instead that an anonymous writer of the Persian period compiled it. The day is the day the ark reached Jerusalem, about 1003 BC on that same reckoning. The places are the plain tent David pitched in Jerusalem and the tabernacle Moses built, six miles away at Gibeon, where the great bronze altar stood. Israel held two sanctuaries at once from this day, so the writer splits the staff between them. Zadok and his priests kept the burnt offerings going morning and evening at Gibeon, while Asaph and his company ministered before the ark in Jerusalem, until Solomon's temple joined them again. A first hearer knew the offerings and the distribution follow the pattern of a covenant meal, since burnt offerings went up whole and peace offerings were shared. Every person in the crowd, men and women alike, received bread, a portion of meat and a cake of pressed raisins, which were dense, sweet and easy to carry. He knew the song David hands to Asaph is assembled from pieces that stand elsewhere in the Psalms, which is how a worship leader builds a liturgy out of the existing hymnbook.
Significance
The refrain, give thanks to the LORD for he is good and his mercy endures forever, became the standing response of Israel's worship for the next thousand years. Ezra records the first hearers singing it at the laying of the second temple's foundation. This chapter told them where their own service came from. The song also aims outward, declaring his glory among the nations, so a small province under Persian administration was handed a job description that assumed the whole world was listening.
This chapter in Jewish lifeWhat this chapter is in Jewish life and reading.
What is done
1 Chronicles carries no weekly portion and no Haftarah, and no part of it is read in the synagogue service on any Sabbath of the year. In the Hebrew Bible Chronicles stands among the Writings, and the Haftarah is drawn from the Prophets, so the yearly cycle passes this book over entirely. This site's own table of synagogue readings records the same absence. It holds no portion, no Haftarah use and no festival reading for any of the twenty-nine chapters of the book.
What this chapter records of practice is older than that cycle, and the commentary reads it as an order of service. Rashi takes the Levites' appointment at the fourth verse as a rule of recitation. "To make mention" names the two psalms headed with that word. "To give thanks" names the psalm that opens with the call to give thanks, and "to praise" names the psalms that begin with Hallelujah (Rashi on I Chronicles 16:4:1). At the seventh verse he describes how the thanksgiving was performed. Asaph began the line and all his brethren answered after him, and Rashi brings the offices of Nehemiah's day as the same practice still running (Rashi on I Chronicles 16:7:1). At the twelfth he reports from Seder Olam where the song was used. It was said over the morning daily offering, and the song beginning "Sing to the Lord" over the afternoon one (Rashi on I Chronicles 16:12:1).
How it is read
The corpus carries thirteen kept notes of Rashi for this chapter in The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg, under CC-BY. He reads the whole composition as one piece written about the ark. At the twelfth verse he names what the hearer is told to remember. It is the plague of the mice, the milch cows that went straight without turning back, and the breach of Uzza. He then says that "The entire song was composed concerning the Ark" (Rashi on I Chronicles 16:12:1). At the twenty-fourth the salvation to be told among the nations is the one the people had just watched, "when the Ark was exiled to the land of the Philistines" (Rashi on I Chronicles 16:24:1). At the eleventh he identifies the might that is to be sought with the sanctuary and the ark, and derives the name of Uzza from his charge over it (Rashi on I Chronicles 16:11:1).
Three shorter notes carry the furniture of the scene. Rashi says the trumpets of the sixth verse were the instruments of the priests and points back to the earlier chapter for the same arrangement (Rashi on I Chronicles 16:6:1). At the second he reads the blessing David pronounces as given in the name that was called upon the ark (Rashi on I Chronicles 16:2:1). At the third he glosses the portion handed to each person as one sixth of a bull (Rashi on I Chronicles 16:3:1).
The longest notes are on the patriarchs, and there Rashi argues rather than glosses. At the nineteenth verse he holds that the wonder lies in the smallness of the number. The oath was sworn while the fathers were few, and while they were strangers sojourning in the land rather than settlers holding it (Rashi on I Chronicles 16:19:1). At the twentieth he reads the walking from nation to nation through Abraham in Egypt and Gerar, Isaac after him, and Jacob's twenty years in Laban's house. He glosses the Hebrew verb there with one word of Old French (Rashi on I Chronicles 16:20:1). At the twenty-first and twenty-second he takes the kings who were reproved to be Pharaoh, Abimelech, Laban and the men of Shechem. He observes there that the psalm this chapter draws on carries the sequence further than the chapter itself does (Rashi on I Chronicles 16:21:1 and 16:22:1). At the tenth he reads glorying in the holy name as the confidence that God helps whoever believes in him (Rashi on I Chronicles 16:10:1).
Radak, Metzudat David and Malbim comment on this chapter as well, and three further notes of Rashi stand beside them. The corpus carries their refs with the reason that Sefaria holds no English version of them, so they stand here cited and unquoted. Radak comments at I Chronicles 16:8:1, 16:9:1, 16:13:1, 16:14:1, 16:15:1 and 16:16:1. Metzudat David stands at I Chronicles 16:5:1 and Malbim at I Chronicles 16:1:1. The three unquoted notes of Rashi are at I Chronicles 16:17:1, 16:18:1 and 16:23:1.
What the rabbis say
The corpus carries forty rabbinic locators for this chapter and the text of none, so each is cited and linked here rather than quoted. They gather on three verses. The thirty-third, where the trees of the forest sing out, carries six. They are Ein Yaakov, Khagigah 2:10, Midrash Tanchuma, Emor 18:1 and Terumah 9:15, Midrash Tanchuma Buber, Emor 27:1 and Terumah 9:2, and Shemot Rabbah 17:1. The twenty-second, the warning not to touch the anointed ones, carries five: Midrash Lekach Tov on Genesis 26:11:1 and on Genesis 31:29:3, Midrash Tanchuma, Metzora 1:1, Seder Olam Rabbah 14:2, and Shabbat 119b:10. The thirty-sixth, the blessing that closes the psalm with the people's Amen, carries five more. They are Ein Yaakov (Glick Edition), Yoma 7:2, Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael, Tractate Shirah 8:22, Midrash Aggadah on Leviticus 19:2:3, and Midrash Tanchuma and Midrash Tanchuma Buber, each at Kedoshim 2:1.
The rest follow the psalm verse by verse. On the thirty-fifth, the prayer to be gathered from the nations, the corpus carries Aggadat Bereshit 32:3, Devarim Rabbah 2:23, Midrash Tehillim 14:7 and Pesikta Rabbati 41:1. On the twenty-seventh, glory and majesty before him, it carries Bereshit Rabbati, Parashat Bereshit 35, Chagigah 5b:11 and Midrash Tehillim 20:1. On the sixteenth, the covenant with Abraham and the oath to Isaac, it carries Midrash Sekhel Tov, Shemot 2:24:1 and Midrash Tehillim 105:2. On the fifth, the Levites named with their instruments, it carries Arakhin 13b:5 and Shemot Rabbah 15:1.
Eleven more stand one to a verse. On the first is Bamidbar Rabbah 4:20, on the fourth Midrash Tehillim 70:1, on the eighth Bereshit Rabbah 54:4, and on the eleventh Midrash Tanchuma, Ha'Azinu 4:1. On the fifteenth is Yalkut Shimoni on Torah 2:5, on the seventeenth Midrash Lekach Tov on Genesis 26:5:6, and on the twentieth Seder Olam Rabbah 21:2. On the twenty-first is Midrash Sekhel Tov, Bereshit 31:29:3. On the twenty-fourth is Yalkut Shimoni on Torah 369:9, on the twenty-eighth Yalkut Shimoni on Torah 684:1, and on the thirty-fourth Megillah 10b:25. Two close the chapter, Zevachim 118b:20 on the thirty-ninth, where Zadok is left before the tabernacle at Gibeon, and Jerusalem Talmud Sanhedrin 2:4:4 on the last verse, where David turns home to bless his house. What each of them teaches is a saying of the rabbis, and is reported as theirs wherever this site quotes one. The quotations wait on a fetch that carries the text.
Sources: Rashi, Rashi on I Chronicles 16:2:1 to 16:24:1, thirteen kept notes in The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg, CC-BY; Radak, Radak on I Chronicles 16:8:1, 16:9:1, 16:13:1, 16:14:1, 16:15:1 and 16:16:1, cited by ref because the corpus carries no English text; Metzudat David, Metzudat David on I Chronicles 16:5:1, cited by ref because the corpus carries no English text; Malbim, Malbim on I Chronicles 16:1:1, cited by ref because the corpus carries no English text; The Sefaria corpus, scripts/data/sources/sefaria/1-chronicles/16.json, the 40 Talmud and Midrash locators of this chapter; This site's table of synagogue readings, src/lib/hebraic/readings.ts, which records no portion, no Haftarah use and no festival reading for 1 Chronicles.
The heads below are this chapter's scenes. The numbered points under each are its verses.
Burnt offerings, bread for everyone, a day of gladness
1 Chronicles 16:1-3
placed it inside the tent: Chronicles opens where 2 Sam 6:17-19 opens, with the ark placed “inside the tent that David had pitched for it”, before Solomon's temple is built. Chronicles spends the rest of the chapter on the psalm and the choir David founds around the ark, which Samuel sums up in a line.
1 Chronicles 16:1
“So they brought the ark of God,.... What is contained in these three verses is the same with 2Sa 6:17, see the notes there. See Gill on 2Sa 6:17. See Gill on 2Sa 6:18. See Gill on 2Sa 6:19.”
1 more voice on this verseWhat preachers and commentators have said about this verse, in their own words.
1 Chronicles 16:1
“The first three verses form part of the narrative commenced at 1Ch 15:25. Compare 2Sa 6:17-19, where the passage is not torn from its proper context.”
he blessed the people in: David finishes the burnt offerings and peace offerings before he turns to the crowd. He then blesses the people in the LORD's name. Adam Clarke sends the reader to 2 Samuel 6:18-20, where the same day ends with the same blessing and the same gifts.
1 Chronicles 16:2
“He blessed the people - “He blessed the people in the name of the Word of the Lord.” - T.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
1 Chronicles 16:2
“27 Glory and honour are in his presence; strength and gladness are in his place. 28 Give unto the L ORD , ye kindreds of the people, give unto the L ORD glory and strength. 29 Give unto the L ORD the glory due unto his name: bring an offering, and come before him: worship the L ORD in the beauty of holiness.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
a loaf of bread: David gives bread and cakes to every woman of Israel as well as every man. Adam Clarke calls the loaf a whole cake. He gives the Targum's reading of the second gift as a sixth part of an ox with a sixth part of a hin of wine.
1 Chronicles 16:3
“To every one a loaf of bread - A whole cake. A good piece of flesh; “the sixth part of an ox, and the sixth part of a hin of wine.” - T. See 2Sa 6:18-20; see Jarchi also.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 Chronicles 16:4-6
appointed some of the Levites to minister: David appoints the Levites' offices in three verbs, “to celebrate, to give thanks, and to praise”, material found only in Chronicles. Asaph stands first, the name the Psalter attaches to twelve psalm titles, and Chronicles fixes his house as chief of the choir at this verse.
1 Chronicles 16:4
“This passage is interposed by the writer of Chronicles between two sentences of the parallel passage in Samuel. It contains a detailed account of the service which David instituted at this time, a service out of which grew the more elaborate service of the temple. The language of much of the passage is remarkably archaic, and there can be no reasonable doubt that it is in the main an extract from a record of the time of David. 1Ch 16:5 The occurrence of the name “Jeiel” twice in this list is considered suspicious.”
Asaph was the chief: Asaph is chief of the men David appoints. John Gill notes that among the three leading singers Heman stands first and Asaph next at 1 Chronicles 6:33. The names from Zechariah to the second Jeiel stand already in the list at 15:18, Gill adds, and Asaph's cymbals match 15:19.
the priests Benaiah and Jahaziel: Benaiah and Jahaziel are priests, and their task is the trumpets. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown find Benaiah among the priests at 15:24, where the list lacks Jahaziel. They read regularly as trumpet blasts at set times before the ark and in the tabernacle.
1 Chronicles 16:6
“Benaiah also and Jahaziel--The name of the former is mentioned among the priests (1Ch 15:24), but not the latter. The office assigned to them was that of blowing trumpets at regular intervals before the ark and in the tabernacle.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
first committed to Asaph and his brothers: The song David commits to “Asaph and his brothers” is a composite. Its opening shares text with Ps 105:1-15, its middle with Ps 96, and its close with Ps 106:47-48. The one liturgy stands in two books of Scripture, and Samuel's account of the same day has no such song.
1 Chronicles 16:7
“Then on that day,.... The ark was brought to Zion, and the above persons appointed to minister before it: David delivered first this psalm to thank the Lord into the hand of Asaph and his brethren to be sung by them now, and on every proper occasion; and this seems to be the first that was delivered to them; afterwards there were many more, as the titles of the psalms show; the following is composed of part of two others, as they now stand in the book of Psalms.”
Sing to the LORD and remember His covenant forever
1 Chronicles 16:8-11
call upon His name; make known: The opening four verses parallel Ps 105:1-4. They call Israel to “Seek out the LORD and His strength”, and to “seek His face always”. The verb seek becomes the measure the Chronicler applies to every later king, and 1 Chr 22:19, 2 Chr 15:12-13 and 20:3-4 return to it.
1 Chronicles 16:8
In the first book of Chronicles the psalm praising the Lord attributed to Asaph and his brothers, which begins "O give thanks to the Lord, call on his name," is, for the most part, the same as Psalm 104, down to the words "Do my prophets no harm!" After that it is almost identical to Psalm 95 from the beginning, "Sing to the Lord, all the earth!"
Origen of Alexandria · written before 253 · Letter to Julius Africanus 21patristic
tell of all His wonders: Verse 9 gives the singers three verbs: sing, sing praises and tell. The wonders they tell are the deeds that verse 8 says to make known. Eusebius of Caesarea counts the psalms ascribed to Asaph, the singer who received this song at verse 7, among those that carry prophecy.
1 Chronicles 16:9
“This sentence stands in connection with exhortations to offer thanksgiving unto the Lord and to make known His deeds among the people. Thus it runs, "Sing unto Him; sing Psalms unto Him; talk you of all His wondrous works." The old typical religion of the Jews and the perverse superstition of the heathen made some places sacred and some places unclean—some actions holy and other actions, performed however well they might be—common and not to be connected in any degree with holiness.”
Charles Spurgeon · written before 1892 · The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 3399: “Good Talk” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition)Particular Baptist
Glory in His holy name: Glory here means to boast. The boast is in the LORD's holy name, and the joy belongs to every heart that seeks Him. Verse 11 takes up the verb seek twice more, and Eusebius of Caesarea reads the psalms given to Asaph as prophecy as well as praise.
1 Chronicles 16:10
“That seek the Lord - “That seek the Word of the Lord.” - T.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
seek His face always: The verb seek comes twice in this verse. It calls Israel to seek the LORD's strength and to seek His face always. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown note on verse 40 that worship ran daily at two places, the ark in Jerusalem and the altar at Gibeon.
1 Chronicles 16:12-15
Remember the wonders He has done: Verses 12 through 15 parallel Ps 105:5-8. Israel is to remember “the wonders He has done” and “the judgments He has pronounced”, and the singers address the “offspring of His servant Israel”. The covenant “for a thousand generations” leads into three verses that name Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in turn.
1 Chronicles 16:12
“Remember his marvellous works - The whole of the psalm refers to God’s wondrous actions among the nations in behalf of Israel.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
O sons of Jacob: The singers address Israel and Jacob, two names for one man and his sons. His chosen ones names the whole people as the LORD's elect. Adam Clarke reads the anointed of verse 22 the same way, as all the Jewish people, the elect and special people of God.
His judgments carry throughout the earth: Verse 14 names the LORD as Israel's own God and then widens His rule to the whole earth. The judgments here are the ones He has pronounced in verse 12. Justin Martyr quotes the call of verse 23 for all the earth to sing, the reach this verse prepares.
Remember His covenant forever: The call to remember turns from the LORD's wonders in verse 12 to His covenant. A thousand generations means a reach without end. Eusebius of Caesarea cites the psalms ascribed to Asaph, written in David's time, to show that the Psalter holds prophecy along with its hymns.
1 Chronicles 16:15
“As it has been supposed by some that the book of Psalms merely consists of hymns to God and sacred songs and that we shall look in vain in it for predictions and prophecies of the future, let us realize distinctly that it contains many prophecies, far too many to be quoted now, and it must suffice for proof of what Isaiah to make use of two psalms ascribed to Asaph, written in the time of David.”
Eusebius of Caesarea · written before 339 · Proof of the Gospel 10.1patristic
1 Chronicles 16:16-18
the covenant He made with Abraham: The covenant runs through three names: Abraham, Isaac by “the oath He swore”, and Jacob by confirmation. It promises “the land of Canaan as the portion of your inheritance” while Israel was still a handful of strangers in it. The wording follows Ps 105:9-11 almost word for word.
1 Chronicles 16:16
“Pharaoh was so, and Abimelech. They were the anointed of the Lord, sanctified by his grace, sanctified by his glory, and had received the unction of the Spirit. They were his prophets, instructed in the things of God themselves and commissioned to instruct others (and prophets are said to be anointed, 1 Kings xix.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
He confirmed it to Jacob: The covenant now reaches Jacob, the third patriarch. Jacob and Israel are one man under two names, and the decree made to him stands as an everlasting covenant. Adam Clarke counts God's care for Jacob among the proofs that the patriarchs were the anointed ones of verse 22.
the land of Canaan as: The covenant promises the land of Canaan to Israel. The portion is the measured share each heir receives. Adam Clarke notes that God guarded Abraham and Jacob as they moved about, the story verses 19 to 22 go on to tell.
1 Chronicles 16:19-22
few in number, few indeed, and strangers: The LORD “rebuked kings on their behalf”, warning “Do not touch My anointed ones” and “Do no harm to My prophets”. Adam Clarke takes the anointed as the patriarchs themselves, who held a royal and priestly rank under God before Israel had a throne. The lines parallel Ps 105:12-15.
wandered from nation to nation: The patriarchs moved from one kingdom to another as strangers. Abraham went down to Egypt and to Gerar. Adam Clarke lists Genesis 12:17 and 20:3 as places where God guarded Abraham among those kingdoms, and Genesis 31:24 for Jacob.
He rebuked kings on their behalf: The kings rebuked here include Pharaoh and Abimelech. Adam Clarke cites Genesis 12:17 and 20:3 for Abraham, and Genesis 31:24, 34:26 and 35:5 for Jacob, as times God stepped in for the family. The LORD kept every oppressor off them while they were few, as verse 19 says.
The warning calls the patriarchs His anointed and His prophets. Adam Clarke takes the title to mean the patriarchs, who held a royal and priestly rank under God. He adds that the title may also cover the whole people of Israel, chosen by God.
1 Chronicles 16:22
“Touch not mine anointed - By this title the patriarchs are generally understood: they had a regal and sacerdotal power in the order of God. In the behalf of the patriarchs God had often especially interfered: in behalf of Abraham, Gen 12:17; Gen 20:3; and of Jacob, Gen 31:24; Gen 34:26; Gen 35:5. But the title may be applied to all the Jewish people, who were the anointed, as they were the elect and peculiar people of God. See on Heb 11:26 (note).”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Let the heavens be glad and the trees of the wood sing
1 Chronicles 16:23-25
Sing to the LORD, all the earth: At verse 23 the psalm moves to Ps 96:1-3 nearly word for word, and the summons now reaches “all the earth”. The call to “Proclaim His salvation day after day” and to “Declare His glory among the nations” moves the psalm from remembrance to mission.
1 Chronicles 16:23
“And again, in another prophecy, the Spirit of prophecy, through the same David, intimated that Christ, after He had been crucified, should reign, and spoke as follows: "Sing to the Lord, all the earth, and day by day declare His salvation. For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, to be feared above all the gods. For all the gods of the nations are idols of devils; but God made the heavens. Glory and praise are before His face, strength and glorying are in the habitation of His holiness. Give Glory to the Lord, the Father everlasting.”
Justin Martyr · written before 165 · The First Apology, Chapters XLI-XLIIpatristic
Declare His glory among the: Verse 24 widens the charge of verse 23 from all the earth to the nations. What they hear is His glory and His wonderful deeds. Justin Martyr quotes the song from verse 23 as the Spirit of prophecy, through David, telling of Christ's reign after He was crucified.
greatly to be praised: Verse 25 gives the reason for the praise: the LORD is great. Fear of Him ranks above fear of all gods, and verse 26 names those gods as idols. Justin Martyr quotes these lines as David's prophecy, with his text calling the gods of the nations idols of devils.
1 Chronicles 16:26-27
For all the gods of the nations are idols: The psalm states the difference: “all the gods of the nations are idols, but it is the LORD who made the heavens”. The lines “Splendor and majesty are before Him” and “strength and joy fill His dwelling” use courtly language for the ark's tent. The pairing belongs to Ps 96:4-6.
Splendor and majesty are before: Splendor, majesty, strength and joy are pictured as attendants in the LORD's presence. His dwelling here is David's tent for the ark. Justin Martyr's text renders the second line as strength and glorying in the habitation of His holiness.
1 Chronicles 16:28-29
O families of the nations, ascribe: The call “Ascribe to the LORD” comes three times across these two verses. Verse 29 closes with “Worship the LORD in the splendor of His holiness”, a phrase found at 2 Chr 20:21, Ps 29:2 and Ps 96:9. At 2 Chr 20:21 the phrase goes out ahead of an army.
bring an offering and come: The families of the nations are told to bring an offering and come before the LORD. Matthew Henry takes holiness as the beauty of the LORD and of every sanctified soul and act of worship. Justin Martyr quotes the call among David's words of prophecy.
1 Chronicles 16:29
“Holiness is the beauty of the Lord, the beauty of all sanctified souls and all religious performances. Let God's universal monarchy be the fear and joy of all people.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
1 Chronicles 16:30-31
tremble before Him, all the earth: Verse 31 gives the nations their shout, that the LORD reigns. That declaration opens Ps 93, 97 and 99, a formula this psalm shares with the Psalter's kingship songs. Adam Clarke notes that the Targum renders “the heavens” as the supreme angels, a reading kept in the Aramaic tradition.
Let the heavens be glad: Heaven and earth are both told to rejoice, and the nations are given the words to say: the LORD reigns. Adam Clarke notes that the Targum renders the heavens as the supreme angels, using the Greek word for angels in Hebrew letters. Justin Martyr reads the reign as Christ's.
1 Chronicles 16:31
“Let the heavens be glad - “Let the supreme angels be glad, and the inhabitants of the earth rejoice.” - T. In this place the Targumist uses the Greek word αγγελοι, angels, in Hebrew letters thus, אנגלי angeley.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 Chronicles 16:32-34
Let the sea resound, and all that fills it: These verses come from Ps 96:11-13 almost word for word. Verse 34 then gives the refrain “Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; His loving devotion endures forever”. The refrain returns at 2 Chr 5:13, 7:3 and 20:21 and runs through all of Ps 136.
the trees of the forest: After the sea and the fields of verse 32, the trees of the forest join the song. The reason is the LORD's coming to judge the earth. Justin Martyr reads this part of the song as David's prophecy of Christ's reign.
Save us, O God, and gather us from the nations
His loving devotion endures forever: This line of thanks becomes the chapter's refrain. Verse 41 hands it to Heman and Jeduthun as the words of their thanks. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown note that worship in David's time ran at two places, and the refrain went to both.
1 Chronicles 16:35-36
The closing prayer, “Save us, O God of our salvation; gather and deliver us from the nations”, matches Ps 106:47-48 almost exactly. The people answer with “Amen!” and “Praise the LORD!”, the same Amen that seals Ps 106 in its own place.
1 Chronicles 16:35
“From the Heathen - This psalm or prayer was made by David for the use of the church, not only in that present time, but in future ages, in which David foresaw by the spirit of prophecy, the Israelites would forsake God, and for their apostacy be dispersed among the Heathens. In the midst of our praises, we must not forget to pray for those servants of God that are in distress.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
Then all the people said: The blessing on the LORD, the God of Israel, runs from everlasting to everlasting. All the people answer Amen and add their praise. Eusebius of Caesarea names the psalms of Asaph, the singer who received this song at verse 7, among the Psalter's prophecies from David's time.
1 Chronicles 16:36
“And the sons of Jeduthun were porters. 43 And all the people departed every man to his house: and David returned to bless his house. The worship of God is not only to be the work of a solemn day now and then, brought in to grace a triumph; but it ought to be the work of every day.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Asaph before the ark, Zadok at Gibeon
1 Chronicles 16:37-38
before the ark of the covenant of the LORD: David leaves Asaph and his brothers “to minister there regularly according to the daily requirements”, and the psalm just sung becomes a standing office. Obed-edom, whose household the LORD blessed while the ark stayed with him three months in 2 Sam 6:11, now serves as a gatekeeper with Hosah.
1 Chronicles 16:37
“So he left there, before the ark of the covenant of the Lord, Asaph and his brethren,.... Whom he, that is, David, had appointed for the service of it: to minister before the ark continually; in singing the praises of God: as every day's work required; at the time of the morning and evening sacrifice, as Jarchi and Kimchi interpret it.”
1 more voice on this verse
1 Chronicles 16:37
“Indeed no incense was burnt there, nor sacrifices offered, because the altars were not there. But David's prayers were directed as incense, and the lifting up of his hands as an evening sacrifice. So early did spiritual worship take place of ceremonial.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
Obed-edom and his sixty-eight relatives: Obed-edom and Hosah become gatekeepers of the ark in Jerusalem, and sixty-eight of Obed-edom's kin serve with him. The verse names Obed-edom twice. John Gill notes that some take Jeduthun's son as another man, while he reads the joining letter as even, so that one Obed-edom is meant.
1 Chronicles 16:38
“The Levites, the brethren of Asaph and Obededom, these were left before the ark to minister there: Obededom also the son of Jeduthun; or Ethan, which some take to be another Obededom; but the ו, "vau" may be explanative, "even Obededom": and Hosah to be porters; these he left to be doorkeepers of the ark.”
1 Chronicles 16:39-40
before the tabernacle of the LORD at the high place: Jerusalem now holds the ark and the singers, and Gibeon holds the tabernacle, the priests and the altar of sacrifice. Adam Clarke and Jamieson, Fausset and Brown note the split stood until Solomon, and 2 Chr 1:3-5 finds him still sacrificing at Gibeon.
1 Chronicles 16:39
“And Zadok the priest, and his brethren the priests,.... These he left, having appointed them to be before the tabernacle of the Lord, in the high place that was at Gibeon; namely, the tabernacle of Moses, which was removed from Nob thither in the days of Saul, and continued there to the times of Solomon, 1Ch 21:28.”
1 more voice on this verse
1 Chronicles 16:39
“Zadok the priest - Both Zadok and Abiathar were high priests at this time: the former David established at Gibeah, or Gibeon, where the ark had been all the days of Saul; and the latter he established at Jerusalem, where the ark now was: so there were two high priests, and two distinct services; but there was only one ark. How long the service at Gibeon was continued we cannot tell; the principal functions were no doubt performed at Jerusalem.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
morning and evening: Zadok's priests at Gibeon offer the burnt offerings morning and evening, as the Law of the LORD commanded. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown note that worship in David's time ran at two places. The ark and its singers stayed in Jerusalem.
1 Chronicles 16:40
“Thus, in the time of David, the worship was performed at two places, where the sacred things that had been transmitted from the age of Moses were preserved. Before the Ark in Jerusalem, Asaph and his brethren officiated as singers, Obed-edom and Hosah served as doorkeepers, and Benaiah and Jahaziel blew the trumpets.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
1 Chronicles 16:41-42
Heman, Jeduthun, and the rest: Heman and Jeduthun join Asaph as the three principal singers whom Chronicles names in full at 6:33 and 25:1, and their courses serve at Gibeon. They give thanks because “His loving devotion endures forever”, carrying the refrain of verse 34 to the second site.
1 Chronicles 16:41
“We know two psalms with the title "For Idithun," the sixty-first and the thirty-eighth. We think that the composition of the work is owed to David; that was given to Idithun for his use that he might correct the passions of his soul and also as a choral song to be sung in the presence of the people. Through it, also, God was glorified, and those who heard it amended their habits.”
Basil of Caesarea · written before 379 · Homilies on the Psalms 21:1 (Ps 61)patristic
instruments for the songs of: Heman and Jeduthun lead the music at Gibeon, and Jeduthun's sons keep the gate. John Wesley reads these instruments as set apart for worship. Adam Clarke gives the Syriac reading, where these upright men sang to God with a joyous mouth and a pure and holy prayer.
1 Chronicles 16:42
“Musical instruments of God - Ad canendum Deo, “to sing to God.” - Vulgate. Των ωδων του Θεου, “of the sons of God.” - Septuagint. The Syriac is remarkable: “These were upright men who did not sing unto God with instruments of music, nor with drums, nor with listra, nor with straight nor crooked pipes, nor with cymbals; but they sang before the Lord Almighty with a joyous mouth, and with a pure and holy prayer, and with innocence and integrity.” The Arabic is nearly the same.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
1 Chronicles 16:42
“Of God - Appropriated to the worship of God; not such as they used on other occasions. Between common mirth and holy joy, there is a vast difference: and the limits and distances between them must be carefully kept up.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
David returned home to bless his household: The chapter closes on the same day 2 Sam 6:19-20 records, David returning to bless his own household. Samuel's version continues straight into Michal's contempt at David dancing before the LORD, and that whole scene is missing here. Chronicles ends the day on David's blessing rather than his wife's rebuke.
1 Chronicles 16:43
“And all the people departed, every man to his house,.... Having accompanied the ark to its place, and having praised the Lord for it, and been refreshed with food, see 2Sa 6:19. and David returned to bless his house; his family; the Targum is,"to bless the people;''see 2Sa 6:20.”
How this psalm is built
The form: Narrative with a psalm inside it, an installation followed by a compiled hymn and two standing rotas, as table classes it.
The patterns in this chapter
| Device | What it does | Where to see it |
|---|---|---|
| For he is good, for his mercy endures for ever | Verse 34 is the first appearance of the line in the canon's order. Verse 41 sends it out to the second site at Gibeon in the same words. The site's published exposition lists its later returns at 2 Chronicles 5:13, 7:3 and 20:21 and through the whole of Psalm 136. What arrives in this chapter as a borrowed ending becomes the book's own signature line from here forward. | 1 Chronicles 16:34, 1 Chronicles 16:41 |
| The psalm opens and closes on giving thanks, and the people seal it | Verse 8 opens the psalm with a call to give thanks to the LORD and call on his name. Verse 34 closes it with the same call, and verse 36 has all the people say Amen and praise the LORD. The congregation's answer is the same Amen that seals Psalm 106 in its own place in the Psalter, which is where the closing couplet comes from. | 1 Chronicles 16:8, 1 Chronicles 16:34, 1 Chronicles 16:36 |
| The psalm turns outward and speaks to the nations | Through verse 22 the psalm recites Israel's own history. At verse 23 it turns and summons all the earth to sing, and at verse 28 it calls the kindreds of the people three times over to give to the LORD. Verse 29 closes the summons with worship in the beauty of holiness. The audience changes inside one hymn, from a nation remembering to the world being told. | 1 Chronicles 16:23, 1 Chronicles 16:28, 1 Chronicles 16:29 |
| Two staffs listed for two sanctuaries | Verses 37 and 38 leave Asaph and his brethren before the ark in Jerusalem with Obed-edom and Hosah as porters, sixty-eight Levites named in all. Verses 39 to 42 station Zadok and his priests at the tabernacle in the high place at Gibeon with Heman and Jeduthun and their instruments. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown state the arrangement plainly, that in David's time the worship was performed at two places.Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, on 1 Chronicles 16:40. | 1 Chronicles 16:37, 1 Chronicles 16:39, 1 Chronicles 16:41 |
The word that measures every later king
11 more paragraphs on the patterns
Verses 8 to 11 parallel Psalm 105:1 to 4 and call Israel to seek the LORD and his strength, and to seek his face continually. The site's published exposition marks that verb as the one this book measures every later king by. It lists the returns at 1 Chronicles 22:19 and at 2 Chronicles 15:12, 15:13, 20:3 and 20:4, in the same words. John Gill reads the call to glory in his holy name as the ground of the whole psalm, that a heart which seeks the LORD has cause to rejoice before any answer has come.
The beauty of holiness, four times in Scripture
Verse 29 closes the outward summons with worship in the beauty of holiness. The site's published exposition records the phrase entering Scripture at this verse, with only three other occurrences, at 2 Chronicles 20:21, Psalm 29:2 and Psalm 96:9. Matthew Henry reads holiness itself as the beauty of the LORD and of every sanctified soul and religious act. The phrase reappears at 2 Chronicles 20:21 in front of an army.
The covenant recited to a people who had lost the land once
Verses 16 to 18 run the covenant through three names in one breath, Abraham, Isaac by oath and Jacob by confirmation. Canaan is named the lot of their inheritance while Israel was still a handful of strangers in it. Matthew Henry reads the patriarchs of verses 16 to 22 as the anointed and the prophets of the clause. Adam Clarke reads touch not mine anointed the same way, of men who held a regal and sacerdotal standing under God before any throne existed in Israel.
This book was written for a remnant just returned to that same land under Persian rule, so reciting the covenant here answers a people who needed telling that the promise outlasted the exile.
How the church read the summons to the nations
Justin Martyr took verses 23 to 31 as prophecy rather than praise, reading the Spirit of prophecy speaking through David that Christ would reign after he had been crucified. Cassiodorus read the composite itself as the point, that sections from different psalms are clearly assembled into one for the salvation of the human race. Origen of Alexandria states which psalm the song mostly repeats in the Greek numbering, and names it among the songs of Scripture. Basil of Caesarea works the titles that carry Jeduthun's name in the Psalter.
The declaration at verse 31 that the LORD reigns opens Psalms 93, 97 and 99 as well, so the borrowed psalm shares a formula with the Psalter's kingship songs.
What this account leaves out
The chapter ends on the same day 2 Samuel 6:19 and 6:20 record, with the people sent home fed and David returning to bless his own household. Samuel's version continues straight into Michal's contempt. That whole scene stands in the chapter before this one, at 15:29, as a single sentence, and it is absent here. The day closes on the blessing rather than the rebuke, which keeps the chapter the thanksgiving it began as.
Keep studying
Places1
Sources for this chapter
The summary
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory; John Wesley, Notes on the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary.
The form and classifications
Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible, on 1 Chronicles 16:34; This site's published book guide, src/components/book/guides/1-chronicles/Book1ChroniclesGuide.tsx, the BANDS table, the band "The Ark, and the Covenant" at 13:1 to 17:27 and This site's published book sections table, src/lib/bible/book-sections.ts, the entry "1 Chronicles": "history".
The exposition
Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments; Eusebius of Caesarea, PROOF OF THE GOSPEL 10.1; Jamieson Fausset and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Justin Martyr, The First Apology, Chapters XLI-XLII; Keil, The Books of the Chronicles and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.