seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
1 Chronicles 27:16 The leaders of the tribes of Israel:
over the Reubenites: Eliezer son of Zikri;
over the Simeonites: Shephatiah son of Maakah;
17 over Levi: Hashabiah son of Kemuel;
over Aaron: Zadok;
18 over Judah: Elihu, a brother of David;
over Issachar: Omri son of Michael;
19 over Zebulun: Ishmaiah son of Obadiah;
over Naphtali: Jerimoth son of Azriel;
20 over the Ephraimites: Hoshea son of Azaziah;
over half the tribe of Manasseh: Joel son of Pedaiah;
21 over the half-tribe of Manasseh in Gilead: Iddo son of Zechariah;
over Benjamin: Jaasiel son of Abner;
22 over Dan: Azarel son of Jeroham.
These were the leaders of the tribes of Israel.
23 David did not take the number of the men twenty years old or less, because the Lord had promised to make Israel as numerous as the stars in the sky. 24 Joab son of Zeruiah began to count the men but did not finish. God’s wrath came on Israel on account of this numbering, and the number was not entered in the book[a] of the annals of King David.
over the Reubenites: Eliezer son of Zikri;
over the Simeonites: Shephatiah son of Maakah;
17 over Levi: Hashabiah son of Kemuel;
over Aaron: Zadok;
18 over Judah: Elihu, a brother of David;
over Issachar: Omri son of Michael;
19 over Zebulun: Ishmaiah son of Obadiah;
over Naphtali: Jerimoth son of Azriel;
20 over the Ephraimites: Hoshea son of Azaziah;
over half the tribe of Manasseh: Joel son of Pedaiah;
21 over the half-tribe of Manasseh in Gilead: Iddo son of Zechariah;
over Benjamin: Jaasiel son of Abner;
22 over Dan: Azarel son of Jeroham.
These were the leaders of the tribes of Israel.
23 David did not take the number of the men twenty years old or less, because the Lord had promised to make Israel as numerous as the stars in the sky. 24 Joab son of Zeruiah began to count the men but did not finish. God’s wrath came on Israel on account of this numbering, and the number was not entered in the book[a] of the annals of King David.
a. 1 Chronicles 27:24 Septuagint; Hebrew number
I got this commentary from Biblestudytools.com.
16. over the tribes of Israel: the ruler--This is a list of the hereditary chiefs or rulers of tribes at the time of David's numbering the people. Gad and Asher are not included; for what reason is unknown. The tribe of Levi had a prince ( 1 Chronicles 27:17 ), as well as the other tribes; and although it was ecclesiastically subject to the high priest, yet in all civil matters it had a chief or head, possessed of the same authority and power as in the other tribes, only his jurisdiction did not extend to the priests.
18. Elihu--probably the same as Eliab ( 1 Samuel 16:6 ).
23. But David took not the number of them from twenty years old and under--The census which David ordered did not extend to all the Israelites; for to contemplate such an enumeration would have been to attempt an impossibility ( Genesis 28:14 ), and besides would have been a daring offense to God. The limitation to a certain age was what had probably quieted David's conscience as to the lawfulness of the measure, while its expediency was strongly pressed upon his mind by the army arrangements he had in view.
24. neither was the number put in the account of the chronicles of King David--either because the undertaking was not completed, Levi and Benjamin not having been numbered ( 1 Chronicles 21:6 ), or the full details in the hands of the enumerating officers were not reported to David, and, consequently, not registered in the public archives.
the chronicles--were the daily records or annals of the king's reign. No notice was taken of this census in the historical register, as from the public calamity with which it was associated it would have stood as a painful record of the divine judgment against the king and the nation.
18. Elihu--probably the same as Eliab ( 1 Samuel 16:6 ).
23. But David took not the number of them from twenty years old and under--The census which David ordered did not extend to all the Israelites; for to contemplate such an enumeration would have been to attempt an impossibility ( Genesis 28:14 ), and besides would have been a daring offense to God. The limitation to a certain age was what had probably quieted David's conscience as to the lawfulness of the measure, while its expediency was strongly pressed upon his mind by the army arrangements he had in view.
24. neither was the number put in the account of the chronicles of King David--either because the undertaking was not completed, Levi and Benjamin not having been numbered ( 1 Chronicles 21:6 ), or the full details in the hands of the enumerating officers were not reported to David, and, consequently, not registered in the public archives.
the chronicles--were the daily records or annals of the king's reign. No notice was taken of this census in the historical register, as from the public calamity with which it was associated it would have stood as a painful record of the divine judgment against the king and the nation.
I have to remind myself that we're looking at documents [in a way]. Apparently these documents would have been some census documents pertaining to the counting the troops. Back in 1 Chronicles 21, David decided to do a census for no other reason than he had a big head. Then God gave him three choices and he chose the plague because he's the one that decided to do the count and that was the only choice that would allow him [personally] to pay the debt by suffering the plague. The other two options would not have affected David [personally]. Anyway... this is part of that census... apparently. Now I figure... the plague started before the count was complete.... and that's why a couple of tribes weren't counted. On top of that... not everyone wanted the census... so they were slow about the task as well. Joab opposed the census and he drug his heels in.... so that might be a reason for the missing census numbers.
I've worked as a census taker. [I've had a multitude of jobs over the five decades I was part of the workforce.] I took part as a field enumerator in the census, 1990, 2000, and 2010. I'm hoping to pick up a little work in the 2020 census as well. A field enumerator is responsible for clean up. It's generally one or two addresses on a street where the people didn't send back the census form. At an agreed upon time... field enumerators are sent out to get a census on the place.... are the people there? how many? do they live there all year? is the place completely vacant? Are their squatters??? that kind of thing.
God didn't want a census. I figure it's because of greed. As long as David [or some other leader for that matter] didn't know how many people he had in "his" kingdom, he couldn't develop a tax based budget. Without a tax based budget then the Israelites had to depend on God to take care of them.... providing good weather, crops, and plunder. The Nation of Israel was a Theocracy [probably still is] not a man made kingdom.
Anyway... it's more duty rosters... right?
