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King James Version (KJV)
“In our prayers we talk to God, in our Bible study God talks to us, and we had better let God do most of the talking.”
— D.L. Moody
Scripture focus
Now the children of Israel after their number, [to wit], the chief fathers and captains of thousands and hundreds, and their officers that served the king in any matter of the courses, which came in and went out month by month throughout all the months of the year, of every course [were] twenty and four thousand.
1 Chronicles 27:1 — KJV
The chief fathers. The heads of the tribal clans, that is, of the twelve tribes of Israel.
After giving an outline of the religious organization of the land (chs. 22–26), the record gives a brief account of the military and civil administration. This is done by presenting a catalogue of officers and civil administrators, setting forth such details as would give a brief picture of the civil administration as established by David. Verses 1–15 give a catalogue of the commanders of the 12 army corps, vs. 16–24 list the princes of the tribes, vs. 25–31 list the names of the 12 overseers of the royal estates, and vs. 32–34 list the names of the king’s privy counselors.
Captains of thousands. Compare ch. 13:1.
That served the king. The king was, of course, commander in chief of the armies. Only with that prerogative could he function, truly, as head of the realm.
Month by month. Each month a division of 24,000 men stood at arms as a sort of national guard, ready for instant action. This constant rotation of troops made possible the drilling of a large number of men so that an adequate army of trained men would be available at any time, should an emergency arise. Since the term of service was only a month, there was no great hardship on anyone.
By SdaBc
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