Matthew Henry on 1 Chronicles 27:1-15
We have here an account of the regulation of the militia of the kingdom. David was himself a man of war, and had done great things with the sword; he had brought into the field great armies. Now here we are told how he marshalled them when God had given him rest from all his enemies. He did not keep them all together, for that would have been a hardship on them and the country; yet he did not disband and disperse them all, for then he would have left his kingdom naked, and his people would have forgotten the arts of war, wherein they had been instructed. He therefore contrived to keep up a constant force, and yet not a standing army. The model is very prudent. 1. He kept up 24,000 constantly…
Read the whole note in the consoleJamieson-Fausset-Brown on 1 Chronicles 27:4
second month was Dodai--or, "Dodo." Here the text seems to require the supplement of "Eleazar the son of Dodo" (Sa2 23:9).
Adam Clarke on 1 Chronicles 27:5
Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, a chief priest - Why should not this clause be read as it is in the Hebrew? "Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada the priest, a captain; and in his course," etc. Or, as the Targum has it, "The third captain of the host for the month Sivan was Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada the priest, who was constituted a chief." He is distinguished from Benaiah, the Pirathonite, who was over the eleventh month. Some think that the original word הכהן haccohen, which generally signifies priest, should be translated here a principal officer; so the margin has it. But, in the Old Testament, כהן cohen signifies both prince and priest; and translating it by the former removes the difficulty fr…
Read the whole note in the consoleJohn Gill on 1 Chronicles 27:2
Over the first course for the first month,.... The month Nisan, sometimes called Abib, which was March:
was Jashobeam the son of Zabdiel; the first and chief of David's worthies, 1 Chronicles 11:11.
and in his course were twenty and four; and so in all the following ones; this man was of the posterity of Perez, or Pharez, a son of Judah, and so had the preference and command of all the captains of the army for that month:
Dodai an Ahohite; the same with Dodo, 1 Chronicles 11:12 was over the course of the second month, the month Ziv, sometimes called Jiar, or April; and his lieutenant or successor was Mikloth:
Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, a chief priest; or rather a prince, a principal of…
