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2 Chronicles 23:4

in 2 Chronicles 23

This is what you are to do: A third of you priests and Levites who come on duty on the Sabbath shall keep watch at the doors,

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

This is the thing that ye shall do: a third part of you, that come in on the sabbath, of the priests and of the Levites, shall be porters of the thresholds;

KJV

This is the thing that ye shall do; A third part of you entering on the sabbath, of the priests and of the Levites, shall be porters of the doors;

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This verse in 2 Chronicles 23

Commentary

3 notes on this verse
The writer of Chronicles relates the orders that were given to the Levites, the author of Kings those received by the royal body-guard (2Ki 11:5 note).

This site's exposition

shall keep watch at the doors

on 2 Chronicles 23:4-7

Jehoiada's plan turns on one restriction the parallel in Kings does not carry. “No one is to enter the house of the LORD except the priests and those Levites who serve”, since “they are consecrated”. Chronicles builds it around the temple's line between holy and common ground.

The record, by era

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

The people were divided into three bodies; one attended as guards to the king, while the other two were posted at all the doors and gates, and the captains and military officers who entered the temple unarmed to lull suspicion, were furnished with weapons out of the sacred armory, where David had deposited his trophies of victory and which was reopened on this occasion.

The words behind it

12 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • זֶ֥הthis

    zehH2088 →1180 times

  • הַדָּבָ֖ר[is] the thing

    hadavarH1697 →1440 times

  • אֲשֶׁ֣רwhich

    ʾasherH834 →5497 times

  • תַּעֲשׂ֑וּyou will do

    taasuH6213 →2628 times

  • הַשְּׁלִשִׁ֨יתthe third [part]

    hashelishitH7992 →107 times

  • מִכֶּ֜םof you

    mikem

  • בָּאֵ֣י[who] come of

    baeiH935 →2568 times

  • הַשַּׁבָּ֗תthe sabbath

    hashabatH7676 →110 times

  • לַכֹּֽהֲנִים֙to the priests

    lakohanimH3548 →750 times

  • וְלַלְוִיִּ֔םand to the Levites

    velalviyimH3881 →291 times

  • לְשֹֽׁעֲרֵ֖י[will become] <into> [the] gatekeepers of

    leshoareiH7778 →37 times

  • הַסִּפִּֽים׃the thresholds

    hasipimH5592 →32 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

7 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

1 Chronicles 23:3–6The Levites thirty years of age or older were counted, and the total number of men was 38,000.2 works1 Chronicles 26:13–16They cast lots for each gate, according to their families, young and old alike.2 worksLuke 1:8–9One day while Zechariah’s division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God,2 works1 Chronicles 24:3–6With the help of Eleazar’s descendant Zadok and Ithamar’s descendant Ahimelech, David divided them according to the offices of their service.2 works1 Chronicles 9:25Their relatives came from their villages at fixed times to serve with them for seven-day periods.2 works1 Chronicles 24:19This was their appointed order for service when they entered the house of the LORD, according to the regulations prescribed for them by their forefather Aaron, as the LORD, the God of Israel, had commanded him.2 works
The other 1 cross-references, with their words ▾
2 Chronicles 8:14In keeping with the ordinances of his father David, Solomon appointed the divisions of the priests over their service, and the Levites for their duties to offer praise and to minister before the priests according to the daily requirement. He also appointed gatekeepers by their divisions at each gate, for this had been the command of David, the man of God.2 works

The walk

3 stops

Each 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

    1 Chronicles 9:25

    Their relatives came from their villages at fixed times to serve with them for seven-day periods.

    it leads to

    • 2 Kings 11:5

      and commanded them, “This is what you are to do: A third of you who come on duty on the Sabbath shall guard the royal palace,

    • 2 Chronicles 23:8

      So the Levites and all Judah did everything that Jehoiada the priest had ordered. Each of them took his men—those coming on duty on the Sabbath and those going off duty—for Jehoiada the priest…

    • 2 Kings 11:7

      the two divisions that would go off duty on the Sabbath are to guard the house of the LORD for the king.

About 2 Chronicles

Saphan Reading the Book of the Law to Josiah, Philip Galle, engraving after Maarten van Heemskerck, 1569, Royal Library of Belgium. Public domain.
Saphan Reading the Book of the Law to Josiah, Philip Galle, engraving after Maarten van Heemskerck, 1569, Royal Library of Belgium. Public domain.
2 Chronicles: the study guide →Read 2 Chronicles 23 →

This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible and Keil, The Books of the Chronicles.

Read on in 2 Chronicles 23 →