1 Chronicles 15:23

Hebrew (Westminster Leningrad Codex)

English Translation

Berechiah and Elkanah were doorkeepers for the ark.

World English Bible · Public Domain

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וּבֶֽרֶכְיָה֙

Berekyâh

H1296

“and · Berachiah”

Conjunction + Noun, Proper

Appears 11× in the Hebrew Bible
First appears at 1 Chronicles 3:20

Full BDB Definition

Origin: from H1290 and H3050

TWOT: None

Berachiah or Berechiah = "Jehovah blesses" - a son of Zerubbabel - a Levite who returned for the exile - father of Meshullam, one of Nehemiah's chiefs who assisted in rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem - father of Zechariah - a Gershonite Levite, the father of Asaph, the singer, doorkeeper of the ark - an Ephraimite chief in the time of Ahaz

About this verse

These counts appear in no published source. They are computed here, from the morphology-tagged text and Lemma’s own curated glosses. What Lemma adds →

4: words
4: distinct lemmas
Historical: section

Notable vocabulary

The rarest word here is וּבֶֽרֶכְיָה֙ Berachiah H1296 — appearing just 11 times in the whole Hebrew Bible.

Shared distinctive vocabulary

וּבֶֽרֶכְיָה֙ Berachiah H1296 occurs in 11 verses of the Hebrew Bible. Also found in:

Grammatical profile

4 nouns

Hebrew & Septuagint length

In English translation the verse runs 8 words from the Hebrew and 9 from the Septuagint (LXX English) — closely comparable.

A rough comparison of the two English renderings, which tokenize alike — not a word-level alignment.

Word counts can differ between the Hebrew and the Greek without any difference in meaning — e.g. the Hebrew direct-object marker אֵת has no separate Greek word, and Greek often adds the article ὁ.

In the original languages it is 4 Hebrew tokens and 7 Greek tokens — but the two are counted differently (Hebrew bundles its prefixes and suffixes into one token; the Greek is in lemma form), so that isn’t a like-for-like length.

Cross-references

Topical passages linked to 1 Chronicles 15:23 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — connected by theme and wording, ordered by reader-vote popularity; previews shown in the World English Bible.

2 Kings 22:4 Go up to Hilkiah the high priest, that he may sum the money which is brought into the house of Yahweh, which the keepers of the threshold have gathered of the people:
2 Kings 25:18 The captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief priest, and Zephaniah the second priest, and the three keepers of the threshold:
1 Chronicles 9:21–23 Zechariah the son of Meshelemiah was porter of the door of the tent of meeting.
Psalms 84:10 For a day in your courts is better than a thousand. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, Than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.

Cross-references courtesy of OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0).

Hebrew and Greek witnesses Masoretic Hebrew ↔ Greek Septuagint

The same verse in the two great witnesses to the Old Testament, shown verse-for-verse.

These are two independent witnesses, not word-aligned to each other, and the Septuagint is shown in lemma (dictionary) form.

Hebrew 1 Chronicles 15:23 Masoretic · Westminster Leningrad Codex

וּבֶֽרֶכְיָה֙ וְאֶלְקָנָ֔ה שֹׁעֲרִ֖ים לָאָרֽוֹן

Berechiah and Elkanah were doorkeepers for the ark.

World English Bible · Public Domain

Greek LXX 1 Chronicles 15:23 Septuagint · lemma form

καί βαραχια καί ηλκανα πυλωρός ὁ κιβωτός

And Barachia and Elcana were doorkeepers of the ark.

LXX2012 (modern English Septuagint) · Public Domain

Hebrew: Westminster Leningrad Codex (CC BY 4.0). Greek: Septuagint (public domain); English from LXX2012 (modern English Septuagint) (Public Domain). How the Septuagint differs from the Hebrew →

Commentary

Notes on 1 Chronicles 15:23 from classic Christian and Jewish commentators (each source and its license shown beneath its notes). The classic Christian expositions comment on the surrounding passage and are grouped to its opening verse, so a note may address several verses; the Jewish commentaries on the Tanakh (Rashi and others) are per-verse, so they appear only where the commentator wrote on this verse.

Lemma curates 59 commentaries, every one of them public domain or Creative Commons licensed, each selected and text-cleaned for this edition rather than reprinted as found. About our sources →

Trapp's Complete Commentary

John Trapp

1Ch 15:23 And Berechiah and Elkanah [were] doorkeepers for the ark.

Ver. 23. Were doorkeepers.] To keep off any such as would rush rudely upon the ark. Procul, o procul este profani; Stand off.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Joseph Benson's Commentary

1Ch 15:23. Berechiah and Elkanah were doorkeepers — Were appointed to keep the door of the tent in which the ark was to be put and kept, that no unhallowed person might press in and touch it. And in like manner they were to attend upon the ark in the way, and to guard it from the press and touch of profane hands: for which end these two went before the ark, as their other two brethren, mentioned in the close of 1Ch 15:24, came after it that it might be guarded on all sides.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown

Berechiah and Elkanah were doorkeepers--who marched immediately in front, while Obed-edom and Jeiel went in the rear, of the ark.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(23) Doorkeepers for the ark.—“Porters” (1Ch_15:18). Warders are meant. Obed-edom and Jehiah were also warders of the Ark (1Ch_15:24). In the procession two may have walked in front of it and two behind. They would be responsible for the prevention of all unauthorised approach to the Ark of God.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne

23. were door-keepers for the ark] The same statement is made in 1Ch_15:24 concerning Obed-edom and Jehiah.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

John Gill's Exposition

And Berechiah, and Elkanah, were doorkeepers for the ark,.... Either while it was at Kirjathjearim, and at Obededom's house; or rather after it was put in the tabernacle David had prepared for it; though it may be best of all to understand it, that those, as it was carrying, went before it, to keep the people from pressing to it, and gazing on it.

And Berechiah, and Elkanah, were doorkeepers for the ark,.... Either while it was at Kirjathjearim, and at Obededom's house; or rather after it was put in the tabernacle David had prepared for it; though it may be best of all to understand it, that those, as it was carrying, went before it, to keep the people from pressing to it, and gazing on it.

1 Chronicles 15:24

ch1 15:24

ch1 15:24

ch1 15:24And Shebaniah, and Jehoshaphat, and Nethaneel, and Amasai, and Zechariah, and Benaiah, and Eliezer, the priests, did blow with the trumpets before the ark of God,.... With the silver trumpets; one use of which was to blow with when the camps and ark of the Lord moved, Num 10:5.

and Obededom and Jehiah were doorkeepers for the ark; they went behind it, as the others before it, for the same purpose, as it was bringing up.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations

They were appointed to keep the door of the tent, in which the ark was to be put and kept, that no unallowed person might press in and touch it; and in like manner they were to attend upon the ark in the way, and to guard it from the press and touch of profane hands; for which end these two went before the ark, as their other two brethren, mentioned in the close of 1Ch 15:24, came after it, that so it might be guarded on all sides; which, how necessary it was to be done, sufficiently appears from the danger of coming too near the ark, or to look into it, which was exemplified in the Bethshemites, 1Sa 6:19.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Whedon's Commentary on the Bible

Daniel D. Whedon

23. Doorkeepers for the ark — Whose duty it was to see that no one profanely touched the ark, or attempted, like the men of Beth-shemesh, (1Sa_6:19,) to uncover and look into it.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The Pulpit Commentary

Berechiah and Elkanah. It appears from the following verse that there was also another couple of doorkeepers (i.e. persons to protect the openings of the ark, that it should not be opened), viz. Obed-edom and Jehiah.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

John Wesley's Explanatory Notes

Door-keepers - They were appointed to keep the door of the tent in which the ark was to be kept, that no unallowed person might press in and touch it; and in like manner they were to attend upon the ark in the way, and to guard it from the press and touch of prophane hands; for which end these two went before the ark, is their other two brethren mentioned in the close of ver. 24, came after it.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

Keil & Delitzsch

C. F. Keil & F. Delitzsch

And Berechiah, and Elkanah, were doorkeepers for the ark,.... Either while it was at Kirjathjearim, and at Obededom's house; or rather after it was put in the tabernacle David had prepared for it; though it may be best of all to understand it, that those, as it was carrying, went before it, to keep the people from pressing to it, and gazing on it.

And Berechiah, and Elkanah, were doorkeepers for the ark,.... Either while it was at Kirjathjearim, and at Obededom's house; or rather after it was put in the tabernacle David had prepared for it; though it may be best of all to understand it, that those, as it was carrying, went before it, to keep the people from pressing to it, and gazing on it.

1 Chronicles 15:24

ch1 15:24

ch1 15:24

ch1 15:24And Shebaniah, and Jehoshaphat, and Nethaneel, and Amasai, and Zechariah, and Benaiah, and Eliezer, the priests, did blow with the trumpets before the ark of God,.... With the silver trumpets; one use of which was to blow with when the camps and ark of the Lord moved, Num 10:5.

and Obededom and Jehiah were doorkeepers for the ark; they went behind it, as the others before it, for the same purpose, as it was bringing up.

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)

Lesson kit

Teaching starters — assembled from the data on this page, not authored interpretation. Every prompt links to the verse data it draws on. Edit before teaching.

1 Chronicles, in the Historical, opens this verse with 4 words (4 distinct Hebrew lemmas). Its most distinctive word is Berekyâh (“Berachiah”). A historical commentator’s framing appears above. Read the whole chapter for the surrounding context.

Discussion questions

How does “Berachiah” (Berekyâh) shape what this verse is saying?
1 Chronicles 3:20 shares the word «Berachiah» with this verse. How do the two illuminate each other?
These translations render this verse differently. What is at stake in choosing one wording over another?
Reading how Trapp's Complete Commentary and Joseph Benson's Commentary read this verse, where do the two commentators agree and where do they part?

Things to notice

This verse counts 4 Hebrew ↔ 7 Greek words.
These translations choose different wording for 4 words in this verse.
4 distinct Hebrew lemmas span 4 words in this verse.