Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
1 Chronicles 25:6 All these were under the hands of their father for song in the house of the LORD, with cymbals, psalteries, and harps, for the service of th…
1 Chronicles 13:8 And David and all Israel played before God with all their might, and with singing, and with harps, and with psalteries, and with timbrels, a…
1 Chronicles 15:16 And David spake to the chief of the Levites to appoint their brethren to be the singers with instruments of musick, psalteries and harps and…
1 Chronicles 16:5 Asaph the chief, and next to him Zechariah, Jeiel, and Shemiramoth, and Jehiel, and Mattithiah, and Eliab, and Benaiah, and Obed-edom: and J…
1 Chronicles 16:42 And with them Heman and Jeduthun with trumpets and cymbals for those that should make a sound, and with musical instruments of God. And the…
1 Chronicles 25:1 Moreover David and the captains of the host separated to the service of the sons of Asaph, and of Heman, and of Jeduthun, who should prophes…
Psalms 150:5 Praise him upon the loud cymbals: praise him upon the high sounding cymbals.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on 1 Chronicles 15:1-24
Preparation is here made for the bringing of the ark home to the city of David from the house of Obed-edom. It is here owned that in the former attempt, though it was a very good work and in it they sought God, yet they sought him, not after the due order, Ch1 15:13. "We did not go about our work considerately; and therefore we sped so ill." Note, It is not enough that we do that which is good, but we must do it well - not enough that we seek God in a due ordinance, but we must seek after him, in a due order. Note, also, When we have suffered for our irregularities we must learn thereby to be more regular; then we answer the end of chastisement. Let us see how the matter was mended. 1. David…
David spake to the chief of the Levites to appoint . . . the singers with instruments--These eminent Levites were instructed to train the musicians and singers who were under them, for the solemn procession. The performers were ranged in three choirs or bands, and the names of the principal leaders are given (Ch1 15:17-18, Ch1 15:21), with the instruments respectively used by each. "Ben" (Ch1 15:18) is omitted (Ch1 15:20). Either it was used merely as a common noun, to intimate that Zechariah was the son of Jaaziel or Aziel, or Ben is the same as Azaziah [Ch1 15:21].
Adam Clarke on 1 Chronicles 15:17
- Heman - Asaph - Ethan - These were the three chief musicians in the time of David; see Ch1 6:31.
John Gill on 1 Chronicles 15:19
So the singers, Heman, Asaph, and Ethan,.... The three principal of them: these were appointed
to sound with cymbals of brass; for as there were three sorts of musical instruments, 1 Chronicles 15:16 these three chief singers had one of those instruments appropriated to them, one of which were the cymbals of brass, to which the apostle alludes, 1 Corinthians 13:1.
Keil & Delitzsch
Dictionary and topics
Brass — Which is an alloy of copper and zinc, was not known till the thirteenth century. What is designated by this word in Scripture is properly copper (Deut. 8:9). It was used for fetters (Judg. 16:21; 2…
Chronicles, Books of — The two books were originally one. They bore the title in the Massoretic Hebrew Dibre hayyamim, i.e., “Acts of the Days.” This title was rendered by Jerome in his Latin version “Chronicon,” and hence…
Cymbals — (Heb. tzeltzelim, from a root meaning to “tinkle”), musical instruments, consisting of two convex pieces of brass one held in each hand, which were clashed together to produce a loud clanging sound;…
Ethan — Firm. (1.) “The Ezrahite,” distinguished for his wisdom (1 Kings 4:31). He is named as the author of the 89th Psalm. He was of the tribe of Levi. (2.) A Levite of the family of Merari, one of the…
Heman — Faithful. (1.) 1 Kings 4:31; 1 Chr. 2:6, a son of Zerah, noted for his wisdom. (2.) Grandson of Samuel (1 Chr. 6:33; 15:17), to whom the 88th Psalm probably was inscribed. He was one of the “seers”…
Jeduthun — Lauder; praising, a Levite of the family of Merari, and one of the three masters of music appointed by David (1 Chr. 16:41, 42; 25:1-6). He is called in 2 Chr. 35:15 “the king’s seer.” His…
Kirjath-jearim — City of jaars; i.e., of woods or forests, a Gibeonite town (Josh. 9:17) on the border of Benjamin, to which tribe it was assigned (18:15, 28). The ark was brought to this place (1 Sam. 7:1, 2) from…
Music — Jubal was the inventor of musical instruments (Gen. 4:21). The Hebrews were much given to the cultivation of music. Their whole history and literature afford abundant evidence of this. After the…
Asaph · organization of the tabernacle service — organization of the tabernacle service
Brass · .Cymbals — .Cymbals
on 1 Chronicles 15:19
So the singers, Heman, Asaph, and Ethan,.... The three principal of them: these were appointed
to sound with cymbals of brass; for as there were three sorts of musical instruments, Ch1 15:16 these three chief singers had one of those instruments appropriated to them, one of which were the cymbals of brass, to which the apostle alludes, Co1 13:1.
Tyndale Open Study Notes on 1 Chronicles 15:19-22
The second list of Levitical musicians focused on their musical specialties rather than their rank.
Rashi on 1 Chronicles 15:19
And the singers: Heman, Asaph, and Ethan, etc. To make a resounding voice, they were appointed over those musical instruments.
Heman · 2. “The singer,” a chief Levite, and musician — 2. “The singer,” a chief Levite, and musician
Tact · .In organizing the temple music — .In organizing the temple music
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
