Page:03.BCOT.KD.HistoricalBooks.B.vol.3.LaterProphets.djvu/181

 priesthood of his father Eleazar, i.e., in the time of Joshua, just as Eleazar, under the high-priesthood of Aaron in the time of Moses, had the oversight of the keepers of the holy place, as prince of the princes of Levi (Num 3:32). The words עמּו יהוה do not contain a historical remark, “Jahve was with him,” for then the conjunction w would stand before it, as in 1Ch 11:9; they are a blessing - “Jahve be with him” - in reference, probably, to the covenant of peace entered into with him and his descendants by Jahve (Num 25:11-13).

Verse 21
1Ch 9:21 1Ch 9:21 is quite unconnected with the preceding context, the conjunction w being omitted, and its contents also present considerable difficulties. Zechariah, the son of Meshelemiah, can only be the Zechariah who is mentioned in 1Ch 26:2 as the first-born of Meshelemiah, and who lived in the time of David; for at the time when David divided the porters into classes, there fell to him the lot towards midnight, i.e., the duty of waiting at the door on the north side of the holy place (1Ch 26:14). With this, indeed, the general statement of our verse, “he was porter of the door (or the entrance) of the tent of the covenant,” is not inconsistent. But what purpose does this general statement serve? With what design is Zechariah, and he alone, mentioned? We have no means of giving a definite answer to this question; but he may perhaps be named as being the person who, before David's division of the Levites into classes was carried out, had charge of the porters' service in the tabernacle. But even if this conjecture be accepted as well grounded, the abrupt way in which it is mentioned still remains enigmatical.

Verse 22
With 1Ch 9:22 the narrative seems to return to the enumeration begun in 1Ch 9:17-19, so that the reflections on the earlier times, 1Ch 9:19-21, are to be regarded as a parenthesis. 1Ch 9:22 runs: “They all who were chosen for doorkeepers for the thresholds, 212 (men): they, in their villages were they registered; they were ordained by David and Samuel the seer on their fidelity.” The infinitive התיחשׂ is used substantively, “in reference to them, in their villages as their genealogical registration accomplished.” If 1Ch 9:22 be the continuation of 1Ch 9:17-21, then the number given (212) will refer to the doorkeepers in active service at the time of the preparation of the register. With this hypothesis, however, the last clause of the verse, which states that David and Samuel had appointed them, does not seem to harmonize. But if we consider that the four men