The Gershonites: Ladan and Shimei. Ladan is the same as Livni mentioned in the Torah (Exod 6:17). He is mentioned as Livni earlier in this book (6:5).

The sons of Ladan the chief Jehiel. “Jehiel the chief” is [one] intended meaning, but there is in no single, exclusive reading: [the word “chief”] refers both to what appears before it and to what appears after it. For Livni—who is the same as Ladan—was Gershon’s first-born [and thus a “chief”], and Jehiel was the first-born of Livni. Jehiel is the same as Jahath mentioned above (ibid.). Zetham and Joel are also sons of Ladan; so here they total three. But below, the text says that Zetham and Joel are sons of Jehiel, for it says, “The sons of Jehiel: Zetham and his brother Joel” (cf. 1 Chr 26:22)! We may infer that here it includes grandsons with sons: there are many cases like this in the book. Alternatively, we might explain that it says below “The sons of Jehiel: Zetham and Joel” because his sons were named for his brothers. Or it elides a vav, and it means: The sons of Jehiel and Zetham (ve-Zetam) his brother were over the treasuries of the House of the Lord.

The sons of Shimei. This Shimei is not a son of Gershon. Rather, one of the sons of Ladan that are mentioned had a name “Shimei,” and his sons were Shelomith, Haziel, and Haran—three.

And the sons of Shimei. This is Shimei son of Gershon.

Also, the Levites need not carry the Tabernacle etc. This means: After the Tent was put in place in Jerusalem, the Levites were to have no more carrying duties.

Among the last matters of David. This means: These were among the last of David’s acts: counting the Levites who were twenty years old and above, appointing them to their shifts, and making all the necessary preparations for the Sanctuary. For he had originally counted the ones who were thirty and above (1 Chr 23:3) consistent with what it says in the Torah (Num 4:3); but at this point, he figured that because the Levites do not have to carry anything by shoulder, he would appoint the ones who were twenty years old and above also.

And over tohorat le-kol qodesh. The Levites had to be prepared for tohorat kol qodesh (=the purification of all the holy things), as the text says in connection with Hezekiah: “The priests went into the House of the Lord to purify it … The Levites received [the unclean things] to take them outside to Wadi Kidron” (2 Chr 29:16).

**U-ma‘aseh ‘avodat the House of God. **U-ma‘aseh is not in the construct state, for it is vocalized with a segol. What this means is: u-lema‘aseh ve-la-‘avodat (=for activites and for the service of) the House of God—they had to be prepared for it all.

For mesurah and middah. They also had to be prepared to fix the quantities (middot) needed for the Sanctuary: one-third, one-quarter, or one-tenth of either a hin or an ephah. Mesurah is a general term for smaller measurements, and middah is a general term for larger measurements.

And whenever offerings were made to the Lord. [The Levites] also had to be prepared to sing praises any time offerings were brought on sabbaths, new moons, and holidays, and to help the priests on those days, because there were so many offerings. They would help bring the animals, prepare them, slaughter them, and perform any other task up until the catching of the blood; for the priests were commanded to do everything from that point on (b. Berakhot 31b).