God’s Word Translation
1 Chronicles 23:5
54,000 were appointed to be gatekeepers, and 4,000 were appointed to praise the Lord with the instruments David had made for praising God.
1 Chronicles 23:5 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Moreover four thousand were porters; and four thousand praised the Lord with the instruments which I made, said David, to praise therewith.
- New International Version (NIV)Four thousand are to be gatekeepers and four thousand are to praise the Lord with the musical instruments I have provided for that purpose.”
- English Standard Version (ESV)4,000 gatekeepers, and 4,000 shall offer praises to the Lord with the instruments that I have made for praise."
- New King James Version (NKJV)four thousand were gatekeepers, and four thousand praised the Lord with musical instruments, “which I made,” said David, “for giving praise.”
Context of 1 Chronicles 23:5
3Every male Levite who was at least 30 years old was counted. There were 38,000. 4Of these, 24,000 were appointed to supervise the work on the Lord’s temple, 6,000 were appointed to be officers and judges, 4,000 were appointed to be gatekeepers, and 4,000 were appointed to praise the Lord with the instruments David had made for praising God. 6David organized the Levites into divisions based on which of Levi’s sons (Gershon, Kohath, or Merari) they were descended from. 7Ladan and Shimei were Gershon’s descendants.
Read all of 1 Chronicles 231 Chronicles 23:5 word by word
וְאַרְבַּ֥עַת אֲלָפִ֖ים שֹׁעֲרִ֑ים וְאַרְבַּ֤עַת אֲלָפִים֙ מְהַֽלְלִ֣ים לַיהוָ֔ה בַּכֵּלִ֕ים אֲשֶׁ֥ר עָשִׂ֖יתִי לְהַלֵּֽל׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for 1 Chronicles 23:5
- 1 Chronicles 9:17The gatekeepers were Shallum, Akkub, Talmon, Ahiman, and their relatives. (Shallum was in charge.)
- 1 Chronicles 15:23Berechiah and Elkanah were gatekeepers for the ark.
- 1 Chronicles 16:38David also left Obed Edom and 68 of his relatives ⌞to serve there⌟. Obed Edom (Jeduthun’s son) and Hosah were to be gatekeepers.
- 1 Chronicles 26:1The following were the divisions of the gatekeepers: For Korah’s descendants there was Meshelemiah, the son of Kore, from the descendants of Asaph.
- 2 Chronicles 8:14As Solomon’s father David had directed, he set up the divisions of priests for their service and the ⌞divisions of⌟ Levites for their appointed places. ⌞The Levites⌟ were to lead in praising ⌞the Lord⌟ and to serve beside the priests by doing whatever needed to be done each day. Solomon also set up divisions of doorkeepers at every gate because this is what David, the man of God, had commanded.
- 2 Chronicles 35:15The singers (Asaph’s descendants) were in their places as David, Asaph, Heman, and the king’s seer Jeduthun had commanded. The gatekeepers were stationed at each gate. They didn’t need to leave their work, because their relatives, the Levites, prepared ⌞animals⌟ for them.
- Ezra 7:7Some Israelites (including priests, Levites, singers, gatekeepers, and temple servants) went to Jerusalem in Artaxerxes’ seventh year as king.
- Nehemiah 7:73The priests, Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, some of the people, the temple servants, and the rest of Israel settled in their own cities. When the seventh month came, the people of Israel were in their own cities.
- 1 Chronicles 6:31David put men in charge of the music in the Lord’s temple after the ark was placed there permanently.
- 1 Chronicles 9:33These were the musicians who were the heads of the Levite families. They lived in rooms in the temple and were free from other duties because they were on duty day and night.
- 1 Chronicles 15:16David told the Levite leaders to appoint some of their relatives to serve as musicians. They were expected to play music on harps, lyres, and cymbals to produce joyful music for singing.
- 1 Chronicles 16:41With Zadok and his relatives were Heman, Jeduthun, and the rest of the Levites who had been selected, chosen by name, to give thanks to the Lord ⌞by singing,⌟ “His mercy endures forever.”
- 1 Chronicles 25:1David and the army commanders appointed the sons of Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun to serve as prophets with lyres, harps, and cymbals. This is the list of the men who performed this service:
- 2 Chronicles 20:19The Levites, descendants of Kohath and Korah, stood up to praise the Lord God of Israel with very loud songs.
- Psalms 87:7Singers and dancers will sing, “Zion is the source of all our blessings.”
- 1 Kings 10:12With the sandalwood the king made supports for the Lord’s temple and the royal palace, and lyres and harps for the singers. Never again was sandalwood like this imported ⌞into Israel⌟, nor has any been seen ⌞there⌟ to this day.
Commentaries on 1 Chronicles 23:5
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 5Four thousand praised the Lord - David made this distribution according to his own judgment, and from the dictates of his piety; but it does not appear that he had any positive Divine authority for such arrangements. As to the instruments of music which he made they are condemned elsewhere; see Amos 6:5, to which this verse is allowed to be the parallel.Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 3-5The records of the Levites list them by their roles instead of their families.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 55. praised the Lord with the instruments which I made--David seems to have been an inventor of many of the musical instruments used in the temple (Am 6:5).Read the comment
Topics related to 1 Chronicles 23:5
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on 1 Chronicles 23
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
God’s Word Translation — © 1995 God’s Word to the Nations Bible Society
Commentaries