1 Chronicles 9:2
in 1 Chronicles 9Now the first to resettle their own property in their cities were Israelites, priests, Levites, and temple servants.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Now the first inhabitants that dwelt in their possessions in their cities were Israel, the priests, the Levites, and the Nethinim.
KJV
Now the first inhabitants that dwelt in their possessions in their cities were, the Israelites, the priests, Levites, and the Nethinims.
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This verse in 1 Chronicles 9
Commentary
6 notes on this verseIsraelites - The common people of Judah and Israel, called here by the general name of Israelites, which was given them before that unhappy division of the kingdoms, and now is restored to them when the Israelites are united with the Jews in one and the same commonwealth, that so all the names and signs of their former division might be blotted out.
This site's exposition
the first inhabitants that dwelt
on 1 Chronicles 9:2-9
The chapter's list of returned dwellers sorts by class before it sorts by name: Israelites first, then priests, Levites, and the Nethinims, the temple servants first named at Ezra 2:43. The same four groups and many of the same names reappear at Neh 11:3-19, close enough that Barnes reads both writers drawing on one common and fuller document rather than one copying the other. Judah, Benjamin, Ephraim and Manasseh dwell together in verse 3, Gill notes, the reunited kingdom now settled in one city rather than two.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Now the first inhabitants that dwelt in their possessions in their cities,....
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Almost all the names recur in Nehemiah (Ne 11:1-36), although there are differences which will be explained there. The same division of the people into four classes was continued after, as before the captivity; namely, the priests, Levites, natives, who now were called by the common name of Israelites, and the Nethinims (Jos 9:27;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
Now the first inhabitants - This is spoken of those who returned from the Babylonish captivity, and of the time in which they returned; for it is insinuated here that other persons afterwards settled at Jerusalem, though these mentioned here were the first on the return from the captivity. Properly speaking, the divisions mentioned in this verse constituted the whole of the Israelitish people, who were, ever since the days of Joshua, divided into the four following classes: 1. The priests. 2. The Levites. 3. The common people, or simple Israelites.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
The first inhabitants - i. e. the first inhabitants of the holy land after the return from the captivity. They are enumerated under four heads: (1) Israelites, i. e. the mass of the laity, whether belonging to the ten tribes or the two; (2) priests; (3) Levites; and (4) the lowest order of the ministry, the Nethinims. These last, whose name is derived from a root “to give,” were a sort of sacred slaves - persons “given” to the Levites to perform the more laborious duties of the sanctuary. Some had been “given” as early as the time of Moses Num 31:47; and the number afterward increased Jos 9:23; Ezr 8:20. At the time of the return from the captivity, owing to the small number of Levites who came back Ezr 2:40-42, the services of the Nethinims became very important. They are mentioned under the name of Nethinims only in Chronicles, Ezra, and Nehemiah.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
And Judah was taken into exile in Babylon because of its violations.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 5 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
9 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְהַיּוֹשְׁבִים֙ | vehaiyoshevim | and the inhabitants | H3427 → | 1079 times |
| הָרִ֣אשֹׁנִ֔ים | harishonim | <the> first | H7223 → | 182 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֥ר | ʾasher | who | H834 → | 5497 times |
| בַּאֲחֻזָּתָ֖ם | baachuzatam | [were] in possession their | H272 → | |
| בְּעָרֵיהֶ֑ם | beareihem | in cities their | H5892 → | 1090 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵל֙ | yisrael | [were] Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| הַכֹּ֣הֲנִ֔ים | hakohanim | the priests | H3548 → | 750 times |
| הַלְוִיִּ֖ם | halviyim | the Levites | H3881 → | 291 times |
| וְהַנְּתִינִֽים׃ | vehanetinim | and the temple servants | H5411 → |
וְהַיּוֹשְׁבִים֙and the inhabitants
vehaiyoshevimH3427 →1079 times
הָרִ֣אשֹׁנִ֔ים<the> first
harishonimH7223 →182 times
אֲשֶׁ֥רwho
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
בַּאֲחֻזָּתָ֖ם[were] in possession their
baachuzatamH272 →
בְּעָרֵיהֶ֑םin cities their
beareihemH5892 →1090 times
יִשְׂרָאֵל֙[were] Israel
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
הַכֹּ֣הֲנִ֔יםthe priests
hakohanimH3548 →750 times
הַלְוִיִּ֖םthe Levites
halviyimH3881 →291 times
וְהַנְּתִינִֽים׃and the temple servants
vehanetinimH5411 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Ezra 8:20They also brought 220 of the temple servants, all designated by name. David and the officials had appointed them to assist the Levites.
it leads to
- Ezra 7:7
So in the seventh year of King Artaxerxes, he went up to Jerusalem with some of the Israelites, including priests, Levites, singers, gatekeepers, and temple servants.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Ezra 2:43
The temple servants: the descendants of Ziha, the descendants of Hasupha, the descendants of Tabbaoth,
- Ezra 8:17
And I sent them to Iddo, the leader at Casiphia, with a message for him and his kinsmen, the temple servants at Casiphia, that they should bring to us ministers for the house of…
- Ezra 7:7
Through
Ezra 2:58The temple servants and descendants of the servants of Solomon numbered 392 in all.
it leads to
- 1 Kings 9:21
their descendants who remained in the land, those whom the Israelites were unable to devote to destruction—Solomon conscripted these people to be forced laborers, as they are to this day.
- Joshua 9:21
They continued, “Let them live, but let them be woodcutters and water carriers for the whole congregation.” So the leaders kept their promise.
- Joshua 9:27
On that day he made them woodcutters and water carriers, as they are to this day for the congregation of the LORD and for the altar at the place He would choose.
- Joshua 9:23
Now therefore you are under a curse and will perpetually serve as woodcutters and water carriers for the house of my God.”
- 1 Kings 9:21
Through
Ezra 2:70So the priests, the Levites, the singers, the gatekeepers, and the temple servants, along with some of the people, settled in their own towns; and the rest of the Israelites settled in their towns.
it leads to
- Nehemiah 7:73
So the priests, Levites, gatekeepers, singers, and temple servants, along with some of the people and the rest of the Israelites, settled in their own towns. And by the seventh month the Israelites had…
- Nehemiah 7:73
About 1 Chronicles
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament.