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142 priest's office. And David with Zadok of the sons of Eleazar, and Ahimelech of the sons of Ithamar, divided them according to their ordering in their service. And there were more chief men found of the sons of Eleazar than of the sons of Ithamar; and thus were they divided: of the sons of Eleazar there were sixteen, heads of fathers' houses; and of the sons of Ithamar, according to their fathers' houses, eight. Thus were they divided by lot, one sort with another; for there were princes of the sanctuary, and princes of God, both of the sons of Eleazar, and of the sons of Ithamar. And Shemaiah the son of Nethanel the scribe, who was of the Levites, wrote them in the presence of the king, and the princes, and Zadok the priest, and Ahimelech the son of Abiathar, and the heads of the fathers' houses of the priests and of the Levites: one fathers' house being taken for Eleazar, and one taken for

3. Ahimelech of the sons of Ithamar] The colleague of Zadok in the priesthood is variously named in different passages:—

Probably the same person is meant throughout, the confusion springing from a false reading in 2 Sam. viii. 17, Ahimelech the son of Abiathar for Abiathar the son of Ahimelech; see the notes on xv. 11, xviii. 16.

according to their ordering] i.e. according to the arrangement which follows; cp. ver. 19.

4. more chief men found of the sons of Eleazar than of Ithamar] The superiority of the Zadokites (sons of Eleazar) in the post-exilic period is read back into the days of David, and construed in the terms of a right of primogeniture: thus the proportion assigned here is sixteen to eight, i.e. Eleazar's descendants have a double portion, besides the right of the High-priesthood.

5. one sort with another] i.e. sons of Eleazar with sons of Ithamar.

there were princes of the sanctuary, and princes of God, both of the sons, etc.] The princes of the sanctuary (Is. xliii. 28) are probably the same as the princes of God and as the chiefs of the priests (2 Chr. xxxvi. 14). The Heb. expression in 2 Chr. xxxv. 8 is different (rulers of the house of God).

6. the scribe, who was of the Levites] so designated in order to distinguish him from the king's scribe (cp. 2 Chr. xxiv. 11).

one taken] This rendering involves a simple and entirely probable