1 Chronicles 9
The full text of 1 Chronicles 9 in the Trinity Bible Version — clear modern English, translated from the original Hebrew. Free to read.
1 All Israel was enrolled by genealogies, and these are written in the Book of the Kings of Israel. Judah was taken into exile to Babylon because of their unfaithfulness.
2 The first to resettle in their possessions in their towns were Israelites, priests, Levites, and temple servants.
3 In Jerusalem lived some of the descendants of Judah, Benjamin, Ephraim, and Manasseh:
4 Uthai son of Ammihud, son of Omri, son of Imri, son of Bani, from the descendants of Perez son of Judah.
5 From the Shilonites: Asaiah the firstborn and his sons.
6 From the sons of Zerah: Jeuel and their relatives — six hundred and ninety.
7 From the sons of Benjamin: Sallu son of Meshullam, son of Hodaviah, son of Hassenuah;
8 Ibneiah son of Jeroham; Elah son of Uzzi, son of Michri; and Meshullam son of Shephatiah, son of Reuel, son of Ibnijah.
9 Their relatives according to their generations were nine hundred and fifty-six. All these men were heads of fathers' houses.
10 From the priests: Jedaiah, Jehoiarib, Jachin,
11 and Azariah son of Hilkiah, son of Meshullam, son of Zadok, son of Meraioth, son of Ahitub, the chief officer of the house of God.
12 Also Adaiah son of Jeroham, son of Pashhur, son of Malchijah; and Maasai son of Adiel, son of Jahzerah, son of Meshullam, son of Meshillemith, son of Immer.
13 Their relatives, heads of their fathers' houses, numbered one thousand seven hundred and sixty — able men for the work of the service of the house of God.
14 From the Levites: Shemaiah son of Hasshub, son of Azrikam, son of Hashabiah, from the sons of Merari;
15 Bakbakkar, Heresh, Galal, and Mattaniah son of Mica, son of Zichri, son of Asaph;
16 Obadiah son of Shemaiah, son of Galal, son of Jeduthun; and Berechiah son of Asa, son of Elkanah, who lived in the villages of the Netophathites.
17 The gatekeepers: Shallum, Akkub, Talmon, Ahiman, and their relatives. Shallum was the chief;
18 he was stationed until then at the king's gate on the east side. These were the gatekeepers from the camps of the Levites.
19 Shallum son of Kore, son of Ebiasaph, son of Korah, and his relatives from his father's house, the Korahites, were over the work of the service, keepers of the thresholds of the tent. Their fathers had been over the camp of the LORD, keepers of the entrance.
20 Phinehas son of Eleazar was formerly ruler over them — the LORD was with him.
21 Zechariah son of Meshelemiah was gatekeeper at the entrance to the tent of meeting.
22 All those chosen as gatekeepers at the thresholds were two hundred and twelve. They were enrolled by genealogies in their villages. David and Samuel the seer established them in their trusted position.
23 They and their descendants were over the gates of the house of the LORD — the house of the tent — as guards.
24 The gatekeepers were on the four sides: east, west, north, and south.
25 Their relatives in their villages were to come in every seven days, in turn, to be with them.
26 The four chief gatekeepers, who were Levites, were in a trusted position. They were over the chambers and over the treasuries of the house of God.
27 They lodged around the house of God because the watch was their responsibility, and they were in charge of opening it every morning.
28 Some of them were in charge of the articles used in the service, for they counted them when they brought them in and when they took them out.
29 Some of them were appointed over the furnishings and over all the holy utensils, and over the fine flour, the wine, the oil, the frankincense, and the spices.
30 Some of the sons of the priests mixed the ointment of spices.
31 Mattithiah, one of the Levites — the firstborn of Shallum the Korahite — was in the trusted position over the things baked on griddles.
32 Some of their relatives from the Kohathites were over the rows of bread, to prepare it every Sabbath.
33 These are the singers, heads of Levite fathers' houses, who lived in the chambers and were free from other service, for they were on duty day and night.
34 These were heads of Levite fathers' houses, leaders according to their generations. They lived in Jerusalem.
35 In Gibeon lived the father of Gibeon, Jeiel, whose wife's name was Maacah.
36 His firstborn son was Abdon, then Zur, Kish, Baal, Ner, Nadab,
37 Gedor, Ahio, Zechariah, and Mikloth.
38 Mikloth fathered Shimeam. They also lived alongside their relatives in Jerusalem, opposite their kinsmen.
39 Ner fathered Kish, Kish fathered Saul, and Saul fathered Jonathan, Malchi-shua, Abinadab, and Esh-baal.
40 The son of Jonathan was Merib-baal, and Merib-baal fathered Micah.
41 The sons of Micah: Pithon, Melech, Tahrea, and Ahaz.
42 Ahaz fathered Jarah, and Jarah fathered Alemeth, Azmaveth, and Zimri. Zimri fathered Moza.
43 Moza fathered Binea, and Rephaiah was his son, Eleasah his son, Azel his son.
44 Azel had six sons, and these are their names: Azrikam, Bocheru, Ishmael, Sheariah, Obadiah, and Hanan. These were the sons of Azel.
Translation notes (12)
- 1 Chronicles 9:1a The Book of the Kings of Israel is a lost source the Chronicler cites repeatedly (compare 2 Chronicles 20:34; 33:18); it is not the canonical books of Kings, though it may overlap with their royal annals. Judah's exile is attributed to ma'al (מַעַל), 'unfaithfulness', a term of covenant breach that frames the Chronicler's entire account.
- 1 Chronicles 9:2a Netinim (נְתִינִים), 'temple servants,' derives from natan, 'to give,' designating persons given or dedicated to assist the Levites in sanctuary duties. The term appears chiefly in Ezra and Nehemiah; Ezra 8:20 traces the class to appointments made by David. Some connect their origins to the Gibeonites made temple laborers in Joshua 9.
- 1 Chronicles 9:11a The Hebrew sar bayith, 'chief officer of the house,' refers to the chief administrator of the temple, a role also associated with the high priest.
- 1 Chronicles 9:18a The Masoretic Text for 'king's gate' reads sha'ar ha-melek (שַׁעַר הַמֶּלֶךְ). This likely refers to a significant entrance within the temple complex, given the context of Levites serving as gatekeepers.
- 1 Chronicles 9:19a The Korahites descend from the Korah who led the rebellion of Numbers 16, yet Numbers 26:11 records that his sons did not die; here his line holds the trusted office of guarding the sanctuary entrances. The phrase shomerei hassippim, 'keepers of the thresholds', links this duty to the earlier Levitical guard around the wilderness tent (Numbers 3:38).
- 1 Chronicles 9:20a The title nagid, 'ruler', places Phinehas over the ancestral gatekeepers of the sanctuary. The Chronicler reaches back to Numbers 25, where Phinehas's zeal at Baal-peor won him a perpetual covenant of priesthood, and the closing formula 'the LORD was with him' presents that divine favor as the warrant for his authority.
- 1 Chronicles 9:22a Samuel is called ro'eh (רֹאֶה), 'seer', the older term for a prophet (1 Samuel 9:9). Since Samuel died before David reigned, the joint attribution indicates the Chronicler traces the gatekeepers' office to arrangements begun under Samuel and completed by David. "Trusted position" renders be'emunatam, literally 'in their faithfulness'.
- 1 Chronicles 9:23a The phrase 'house of the tent' (בֵּית הָאֹהֶל, beit ha'ohel) is a reference to the Tabernacle, underscoring its historical continuity with the later Temple.
- 1 Chronicles 9:31a The Hebrew word heʾāmān (הֶאָמָן), 'the trusted one', refers to an administrative position of oversight and financial responsibility.
- 1 Chronicles 9:35a The Masoretic Text reads Jeiel, 'father of Gibeon', and the parallel text in 1 Chronicles 8:29 likewise identifies Jeiel as the father of Gibeon, listing Baal among his sons (8:30; 9:36).
- 1 Chronicles 9:39a The name Esh-baal preserves the original form, likely 'man of Baal' or 'fire of Baal'. In 2 Samuel the same son of Saul appears as Ish-bosheth, 'man of shame', reflecting a scribal practice of substituting boshet ('shame') for the name of the Canaanite deity Baal. The genealogies of Chronicles retain the unaltered form, as they do with Merib-baal in the following verse.
- 1 Chronicles 9:40a Merib-baal appears in 2 Samuel as Mephibosheth, where bosheth ('shame') replaces the divine name Baal, a substitution scribes commonly made to avoid pronouncing the name of the Canaanite deity. Chronicles preserves the older form of the name, as it does with Esh-baal (Ish-bosheth) in the preceding verse; baal could simply mean 'lord' and was not always idolatrous in early Israelite names.
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