1 Chronicles 16:38

And Obededom with their brethren, threescore and eight; Obededom also the son of Jeduthun and Hosah to be porters:

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

16:37-43 The worship of God ought to be the work of every day. David put it into order. At Jerusalem, where the ark was, Asaph and his brethren were to minister before the ark continually, with songs of praise. No sacrifices were offered there, nor incense burnt, because the altars were not there; but David's prayers were directed as incense, and the lifting up of his hands as the evening sacrifice. So early did spiritual worship take place of ceremonial. Yet the ceremonial worship, being of Divine institution, must by no means be omitted; therefore at Gibeon, at the altars, the priests attended; for their work was to sacrifice and burn incense; and that they did continually, morning and evening, according to the law of Moses. As the ceremonies were types of the mediation of Christ, the observance of them was of great consequence. The attendance of his appointed ministers is right in itself, and encourages the people.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The Psalm here put before us by the Chronicler, as sung liturgically by Asaph and his brethren on the day of the ark's entrance into Jerusalem, accords closely with the passages in the present Book of Psalms noted in the marg reff.

It is, apparently, a thanksgiving service composed for the occasion out of Psalms previously existing.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

38. Obed-edom with their brethren—Hosah, mentioned at the close of the verse, and a great number besides (see on [382]1Ch 26:1).

to be porters—doorkeepers.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Or, door-keepers, as the same Hebrew word is rendered, 1 Chronicles 15:23,24; of which see the note on 1 Chronicles 15:23.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

The Levites, the brethren of Asaph and Obededom, these were left before the ark to minister there:

Obededom also the son of Jeduthun; or Ethan, which some take to be another Obededom; but the "vau" may be explanative, "even Obededom":

and Hosah to be porters; these he left to be doorkeepers of the ark.

Geneva Study Bible

And Obededom with their brethren, threescore and eight; Obededom also the son of Jeduthun and Hosah to be porters:

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

38. Obed-edom with their brethren] Probably one or more names are missing after Obed-edom. LXX. however has καὶ οἱ ἀδελφοὶ αὐτοῦ, i.e. and his brethren.

porters] R.V. doorkeepers. See the notes on 1 Chronicles 9:17.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 38. - Obed-edom with their brethren. Explanation is needed of the plural pronoun "their." Either another name is wanted with Obed-edom, or tacit reference is made to "Asaph and his brethren," as though the name Asaph had not been followed in its own place by the clause "and his brethren." Keil draws attention to the "three score and two" of 1 Chronicles 26:8, in connection with the three score and eight of this place; and it has been proposed to make up this number by some of the sons of Hosah, of our following verse and of 1 Chronicles 26:11. In this case the name Hesah might be the name missing before, "and their brethren." Conjecture, however, has not sufficient clue here to warrant it, and the textual state of this verse must be debited with the obscurity. The ambiguity respecting the name Obed-edom has already (1 Chronicles 13:14) been alluded to. Neglecting this ambiguity, it may be repeated that Obed-edom,... son of Jedithun (as the Keri of this passage is) was a Merarite Levite, while Obed-edom son of Jeduthun (1 Chronicles 15:25) was of Gath-rimmon, a Gittite (2 Samuel 6:10-12; Joshua 21:24), a Kohathite (1 Chronicles 6:66, 69), and a Korhite (1 Chronicles 26:1-5). 1 Chronicles 16:38

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

Division of the Levites for the management of the public worship. - At the same time as he set up the ark in the tent erected for it on Mount Zion, David had prepared a new locality for the public worship. The Mosaic tabernacle had continued, with its altar of burnt-offering, to be the general place of worship for the congregation of Israel even during the long period when the ark was separated from it, and it was even yet to be so; and it became necessary, in order to carry on the religious service in both of these sanctuaries, to divide the staff of religious officials: and this David now undertook.

1 Chronicles 16:37-38

Before the ark he left Asaph with his brethren (ל( nerht before the accus. obj., according to the later usage), to serve, to minister there continually. בּיומו לדבר־יום, "according to the matter of the day on its day," i.e., according to the service necessary for each day; cf. for this expression, Exodus 5:13, Exodus 5:19; Exodus 16:4, etc. "And Obed-edom and their brethren." In these words there is a textual error: the plural suffix in אחיהם shows that after אדום עבד at least one name has been dropped out. But besides that, the relation in which the words, "and Obed-edom the son of Jeduthun, and Hosah, to be porters," stand to the preceding clause, "and Obed-edom and their brethren," is obscure. Against the somewhat general idea, that the words are to be taken in an explicative sense, "and Obed-edom indeed," etc., the objection suggests itself, that Obed-edom is here defined to be the son of Jeduthun, and would seem to be thereby distinguished from the preceding Obed-edom. In addition to that, in 1 Chronicles 15:21 and Obed-edom is mentioned among the singers, and in 1 Chronicles 16:24 one of the doorkeepers bears that name, and they are clearly distinguished as being different persons. On the other hand, however, the identity of the two Obed-edoms in our verse is supported by the fact that in 1 Chronicles 26:4-8 the doorkeepers Obed-edom with his sons and brethren number sixty-two, which comes pretty nearly up to the number mentioned in our verse, viz., sixty-eight. Yet we cannot regard this circumstance as sufficient to identify the two, and must leave the question undecided, because the text of our verse is defective. Jeduthun the father of Obed-edom is different from the chief musician Jeduthun ( equals Ethan); for the chief musician is a descendant of Merari, while the doorkeeper Jeduthun belongs to the Korahites (i.e., Kohathites): see on 1 Chronicles 26:4.