**Peullethai the eighth, for God had blessed him—**as it says above: “And the Lord blessed the house of Obed-edom and all he had” (1 Chr 13:14). Indeed, it says, “sixty-two of Obed-edom” (v. 8). But above it says, “and Obed-edom and their brothers—sixty-eight” (1 Chr 16:38)! It is possible that Obed-edom had six brothers, so that all together they totaled sixty-eight. The plural pronoun in “and their brothers” would then refer to Obed-edom and his sons, because their father’s brothers may also be called their brothers, as if they were their own. Here, though, the text says that “the sons of Obed-edom” (v. 8) totaled sixty-two. And when it says here “they and their sons and their brothers” (v. 8), “they” refers to the sons of Obed-edom, “and their sons” refers to the grandsons who are mentioned, and “and their brothers” to those not mentioned. Finally, “Man of ability” (v. 8) is like “men of ability.” Our Sages, of blessed memory, explain midrashically (b. Berakhot 63b) that “the Lord blessed the house of Obed-edom” in that his wife and eight daughters-in-law each gave birth to sextuplets, so that they amounted to sixty-two.

Who were likened (ha-mimshalim) to their ancestral house, because they were men of great ability. [Shemaiah’s sons] were similar to [the men of their ancestral house] in ability: their ancestral house consisted of men with great ability for service, and they were no different. Ha-mimshalim is an adjective, with a ḥireq under the mem, similar to “the cities ha-mivdalot (=marked off)” (Jos 16:9) and “Athaliah ha-mirsha‘at (=the wicked one)” (2 Chr 24:7).

[The Levite gatekeepers] cast lots, young and old alike—as we have explained above (24:31).

For each gate. This means that the lots they drew were not to determine who among them should serve first, but rather to whom should be assigned the east gate and to whom the west, south, and north gates. The lot for the east fell to Shelemiah, the north to his son Zechariah, to Obed-edom the south, and to Shuppim and to Hosah the west.

And to his sons, the chamber of the Asuppim. This means that his sons would guard the chamber of the Asuppim, which was outside the Temple court, to the south of it. “At the Asuppim—two, two” (v. 17) has two rabbinic interpretations (b. Tamid 27a): One is that each of the Asuppim chambers had two Levites; and the other is that each of the Asuppim chambers had one, so that it means: at the Asuppim, of which there were two, there were two Levites—one for each. These assignments, like the shifts, numbered twenty-four: six in the east, four in the north, four in the south, two and two at the Asuppim totaling four, four in the west, and two at the parbar, for a total of twenty-four (vv. 17–18). Our Sages divide these into twenty-four stations; for they say in the Mishnah (Middot 1:1): “The priests guard the Sanctuary at three stations: at the chamber of Abtinas, at the chamber of the spark, and at the chamber of the fireplace; and the Levites at twenty-one stations: five at the five gates of the Temple Mount and four at its four inner corners, five at the five gates of the Temple court and four at its four outer corners, one at the compartment for sacrifices, one at the compartment for the curtain, and one behind the chamber of the curtain.” They raise an objection on the basis of these verses, however, which, speaking about the Levites, list twenty-four (b. Tam. 27a)! And they reply that in twenty-four places priests are called Levites—for example: “But the priests—the Levites—descended from Zadok” (Ezek 44:15)—so here also, three were priests and twenty-one were Levites. They also resolve the verses in a different way, consistent with what appears in tractate Tamid (ibid.) and in Zevaḥim (55b). [In this context] they say: “What is the meaning of ‘at the parbar’ (v. 18)? It is akin to the expression kelappei bar (=positioned toward the outside).”

The sons of Ladan. He is the same as Livni, as we have explained (23:7). Perhaps the reason the text says “the sons of the Gershonite” is that there was another Ladan; so it says: The sons of Ladan who were Gershonites—that is, the six clan chiefs of Ladan mentioned above (23:7–9)—those of Ladan the Gershonite […]. But all this is just extra elaboration, for the text could have said it only once. One of the sons of Ladan the Gershonite was Jehieli, who was the first-born. It then says that these sons were “in charge of the treasuries of the House of the Lord” (v. 22).

The sons of Jehieli. I explained this above (23:8).

His son Rehabiah, his son Jeshaiah. This means that Jeshaiah was a son of Rehabiah; for Eliezer’s only son was Rehabiah, as the text says above (23:17). In fact, Jeshaiah,Joram,Zichri, andShelomith were [all] sons of Rehabiah. And whereas he had many sons, as it says, “the sons of Rehabiah were very numerous” (ibid.), Shelomith was chief over all of them, as it says, “Shelomoth and his brothers were over all the treasuries of dedicated things” (v. 26). (Shelomoth is the same as Shelomith, for after “his son Shelomith” it says, “That Shelomoth and his brothers” [ibid.].) Furthermore, it says, “anyone who dedicated something did so through Shelomith and his brothers” (v. 28). Whereas here the text says that Ahijah was over the treasuries of the House of God and the treasuries of the dedicated things (v. 20), afterward it says that Zetham and his brother Joel were over the treasuries of the House of the Lord (v. 22); still later it says that Shebuel son of Gershom son of Moses was the chief officer over the treasuries (v. 24); and finally it says that Shelomith and his brothers were over all the treasuries of the dedicated things! It seems that initially Ahijah was appointed over the treasuries, and that Zetham and Joel were also appointed over them. But the treasuries—which consisted of everything dedicated over the course of all the generations from the wilderness until David—were divided up; for some people would dedicate for offerings, some for the construction of the Temple, and some for the furnishings of the House of the Lord. Each treasury, then, was independent, and there was an appointee over each. Shebuel, however, was a chief officer in charge of all of them, as the text says, “Shebuel son of Gershom son of Moses was the chief officer over the treasuries.” And Shelomith was appointed over everything dedicated from [the time of] Samuel onward: whatever was dedicated by Samuel, Saul, David, Abner, Joab, and the clan chiefs who were over the officers of thousands and hundreds was dedicated through Shelomith (vv. 26–28).

For outside tasks. [This means]: the tasks performed outside the city—chopping wood in the forests, hewing stones, and [working the] fields, vineyards, gardens, and orchards belonging to the Sanctuary. It was over these that Chenaniah and his sons were appointed. The text says “over Israel” because every year there were many Israelites who volunteered to dedicate some of their fruit and other produce, and these men were appointed as supervisors and foremen over their subordinates, who were appointed to gather everything in and bring it to the House of the Lord.

Across the Jordan, on the west. [This means on] the edge of the land that stands across the Jordan—that land’s western edge, which is near the Jordan. But the land of Gilead in its entirety stood to the east of the land of Israel, and it is regularly identified in those terms.

They were investigated in the fortieth year of David’s reign. This refers to those across the Jordan. In fact, the entire account leading up to this took place in the fortieth year; for the text says at the beginning, “When David reached a ripe old age, he made his son Solomon king … and the Levites were counted … and David formed them into divisions” (1 Chr 23:1–6). But the dividing of Israel took place at the beginning of his reign, as it says above, “And these were David’s chief warriors who strongly supported him in his kingdom, together with all Israel, to make him king” (1 Chr 11:10), listing the same warriors that it lists here. Asael the brother of Joab was the fourth one, for the fourth month (1 Chr 27:7), and he did not live much past the beginning of this reign, because Abner killed him (2 Sam 2:23).