1 Chronicles 27:16

Furthermore over the tribes of Israel: the ruler of the Reubenites was Eliezer the son of Zichri: of the Simeonites, Shephatiah the son of Maachah:

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

II. THE PRINCES OR EMIRS OF THE TWELVE TRIBES (1Chronicles 27:16-24).

(16) Furthermore over the tribes of Israel. Literally, and over the tribes of Israel . . . the Reubenites had as prince (nāgîd) Eliezer, etc.

Eliezer the son of Zichri.—Originally the emir of the tribe was its leader in war, as well as its chief authority in times of peace. David, as appears by the list (1Chronicles 27:1-15) made the important change of nominating the chief commanders himself. The emirs would still manage the internal affairs of their tribes.

Benson Commentary

1 Chronicles 27:16. Over the tribes of Israel: the ruler, &c. — These were the princes of the tribes, the constant rulers of the tribes; who seem to have had a superior power to these twenty-four captains, and therefore are named before them, being probably the king’s chief counsellors and assistants in the great affairs of his kingdom.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

27:16-34 The officers of the court, or the rulers of the king's substance, had the oversight and charge of the king's tillage, his vineyards, his herds, his flocks, which formed the wealth of eastern kings. Much of the wisdom of princes is seen in the choice of their ministry, and common persons show it in the choice of their advisers. David, though he had all these about him, preferred the word of God before them all. Thy testimonies are my delight and my counsellors.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Gad and Asher are omitted from this list of the tribes. Similarly, Dan and Zebulon are omitted from the genealogical survey of the tribes 1 Chronicles 4-8. We can only suppose that the lists, as they came down to the writer of Chronicles, were incomplete. The "rulers" or "princes" of the tribes appear to have been the oldest lineal descendants of the patriarchs according to the law of primogeniture.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

1Ch 27:16-24. Princes of the Twelve Tribes.

16. over the tribes of Israel: the ruler—This is a list of the hereditary chiefs or rulers of tribes at the time of David's numbering the people. Gad and Asher are not included; for what reason is unknown. The tribe of Levi had a prince (1Ch 27:17), as well as the other tribes; and although it was ecclesiastically subject to the high priest, yet in all civil matters it had a chief or head, possessed of the same authority and power as in the other tribes, only his jurisdiction did not extend to the priests.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Over the children of Israel, i.e. these were the princes of the tribes as they are called below, 1 Chronicles 27:22, who were the most ancient and constant rulers of the tribes at all times, whether of war or peace; who seem to have had a superior power to these twenty-four captains, and therefore are named before them, 1 Chronicles 28:1, being probably the king’s chief counsellors and assistants in the great affairs of his kingdom.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Furthermore, over the cities of Israel,.... Were the following rulers or princes; the captains over the militia before named were of David's appointment; but these ruled over their respective tribes in their own right, or by the choice of their tribes: the ruler of the tribe of Reuben was Eliezer, the son of Zichri: of the tribe of Simeon, Shephatiah the son of Maachah; whether this was his father's or mother's name is not certain, it being the name both of a man and woman: of the tribe of Levi, Hashabiah the son of Kemuel: of the Aaronites, who were of the same tribe, but, being priests, are thus distinguished from the Levites, Zadok, who was made high priest in the times of Solomon: of the tribe of Judah, Elihu, a brother of David's, the same with Eliab, 1 Samuel 16:6, of the tribe of Issachar, Omri the son of Michael: of the tribe of Zebulun, Ishmaiah the son of Obadiah: of the tribe of Naphtali, Jerimoth the son of Azriel: of the tribe of Ephraim, Hoshea the son of Azaziah: of the half tribe of Manasseh, on this side Jordan westward, Joel the son of Pedaiah: of the half tribe of Manasseh, in Gilead, on the other side Jordan eastward, Iddo the son of Zechariah: of the tribe of Benjamin, Jaasiel the son of Abner, the famous general on the side of Ishbosheth; of the tribe of Dan, Azareel the son of Jeroham:

these were the princes of the tribes of Israel; of all excepting Gad and Asher, who are omitted; perhaps he that was prince of the tribe of Reuben, or else of the half tribe of Manasseh beyond Jordan, was ruler of Gad and Asher; these lying between Zebulun and Naphtali, might be under the prince of one of them.

Geneva Study Bible

Furthermore {c} over the tribes of Israel: the ruler of the Reubenites was Eliezer the son of Zichri: of the Simeonites, Shephatiah the son of Maachah:

(c) Meaning besides those twelve captains.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

16–24. The Princes of the Tribes of Israel

Cp. Numbers 1:2-15 where Moses is enjoined to have with him a representative of each tribe at the numbering of the people; cp. 1 Chronicles 27:23-24 below. In the present list the tribes of Gad and Asher are omitted, probably accidentally.

17. Of the Levites] R.V. of Levi.

Hashabiah] Perhaps the person mentioned in 1 Chronicles 26:30. The name is common among Levites.

of the Aaronites, Zadok] R.V. of Aaron, Zadok. Cp. 1 Chronicles 12:27-28, whence we may conclude that Zadok succeeded Jehoiada as ruler.

Pulpit Commentary

Verses 16-22. - These verses give the names of the rulers (ver. 16), or princes (ver. 22), of ten out of the twelve tribes of Israel. The tribes not mentioned are Gad and Asher, an omission which reminds of that of the two tribes Dan and Zebulon from the genealogies contained in ch. 4-7, and equally unexplained. These designations ruler (נָגִיד) and prince (שַׂר) are the same as are found in the list of vers. 1-15 - the former in ver. 4, and translated also as here "ruler;" and the latter in vers. 1, 3, 5, 8, under the Authorized Version word of" captains." This rehearsal of the rulers or captains of the tribes stands evidently in no special relation to the preceding military enumeration, but it forms naturally enough one of four lists in this chapter that purport to set forth David's complete arrangement of the affairs of the kingdom. So far as the enumeration goes, it appears to aim at fulness and no omission, for the "Aaronites" (ver. 17) are given, and Ephraim and the two halves of Manasseh separately (vers. 20, 21). 1 Chronicles 27:16

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

The princes of the twelve tribes. - The enumeration of the tribal princes, commencing with the words, "and over the tribes of Israel," immediately follows the catalogue of the divisions of the army with their commanders, because the subjects are in so far connected as the chief management of the internal business of the people, divided as they were into tribes, was deposited in their hands. In the catalogue the tribes Gad and Asher are omitted for reasons unknown to us, just as in 1 Chronicles 4-7, in the genealogies of the tribes, Dan and Zebulun are. In reference to Levi, on the contrary, the Nagid of Aaron, i.e., the head of the priesthood, is named, viz., Zadok, the high priest of the family of Eleazar.