1 Chronicles 23:5

(5) Moreover four thousand were porters.—Literally, and four thousand (are to be) warders. (Comp. 1Ch_9:21-27.) Reuss thinks 4,000 warders too many; but the different clans went on duty in turn.

And four thousand praised the Lord . . .—Rather, and four thousand (are to be) praising the Lord with the instruments that I have made for praising. (On “praising,” see 1Ch_16:4.) We have here an interesting reference to the fact that David was not only a minstrel and inspired psalmist, but also an inventor of stringed instruments. So the prophet Amos (1Ch_6:5) speaks of the effeminate nobles of Israel, “who prattle on the mouth of the nebel, that invent themselves instruments of music, like David.” The reference is repeated in Neh_12:36.

Which I have made.—This expression proves that 1Ch_23:4-5 should be within inverted commas, as representing a spoken decree of David. Ewald thinks that the narrative is interrupted in 1Ch_23:5 by a fragmentary quotation from an ancient poet who speaks in the name of Jehovah, characterising the musicians as “those whom I have formed to sing my praise.” (But see 2Ch_7:6.)

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

1Ch 23:5 Moreover four thousand [were] porters; and four thousand praised the LORD with the instruments which I made, [said David], to praise [therewith].

Ver. 5. Moreover four thousand were porters.] Quos barbare vocant Sacristas.

And four thousand praised the Lord.] Whereof some were teachers, {1Ch 25:7} and some scholars.

Which I made,] i.e., Invented, {Amo 6:6} and appointed to be used in the temple by God’s commandment. {1Ch 29:1-30 1Ch 25:1-31}

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.

1Ch_23:5

And four thousand praised the Lord with the instruments which I made.

Music and religion

I. The object of music. To praise therewith well expresses the attitude of the Bible towards music. Plutarch says: The chiefest and sublimest end of music is the graceful return of our thanks to the gods. In these words the wisdom of the Bible representation is vindicated. A worthy conception of God is the only thing which can give the true inspiration of music, and keep it pure and noble through all its strains. Thus music and religion ought never to be divorced.

II. Some of the features of the revelation of God which the Bible gives, and see how they agree with the best features of musical life and growth.

1. The Bible reveals God to man, and man to himself; it opens up depths of meaning which ordinary life cannot sound; it calls man the son of God; it bases itself upon the love of God, which passeth knowledge; it speaks of things which eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, nor hath it entered into the heart of man to conceive. If we allow music any rights of its own, they must be based upon its claim to give expression which is beyond the power of words, and to utter conceptions which thought cannot formulate. It has the power to take them out of the surroundings even of the deepest thoughts, to lift their aspirations where nothing else can go, to carry them into the presence of a power of harmony and order more fundamental than the skill of the hand or the logic of the mind can represent.

2. Then there is the universality of religion. It is meant for all men: there are all grades and kinds of reception of it. The gospel of Christ is for all men; it has truths for the simple, and doctrines for the wise; it meets all nations of men, each according to its nature and its needs. So music in one way or another affects the simplest and the most cultured, appeals to the joyful and to the sorrowing, defies lines of nationality and of language, and is appropriated by all according to the needs of each.

3. The object of religion is harmony--harmony between heaven and earth, between man and man, harmony in the life of the individual, with its varying experiences. The power of man to appreciate harmony finds a response in the growing resources of the musical art; and the yearnings of man for a better existence, where life shall not clash with death, joy with sorrow, and love with hate, finds an answer in a revelation which destroys death, comforts sorrow, and makes love seen everywhere. There could be no better expression for heaven, aa the place where such a revelation finds its completion, than as the place of music. (Arthur Brooks, D. D.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

1Ch 23:5. Four thousand were porters — Whose office it was to take the charge of all the gates of the temple, and its courts, that no forbidden or unclean person might enter there, and of the courts themselves, and of the several chambers and buildings belonging to the temple and the service thereof. These also were to do their work by turns. Praised the Lord with instruments — Whereof two hundred and eighty-eight persons were of greater skill than their brethren, and instructed them, and had some authority over them.

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

Hebrew, I made, meaning David.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

praised the Lord with the instruments which I made--David seems to have been an inventor of many of the musical instruments used in the temple (Amo 6:5).

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

Verse 5. Four thousand praised the Lord] David made this distribution according to his own judgment, and from the dictates of his piety; but it does not appear that he had any positive Divine authority for such arrangements. As to the instruments of music which he made they are condemned elsewhere; see Am 6:5, to which this verse is allowed to be the parallel.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

5. porters] R.V. doorkeepers. The courses and duties of these are given in 1Ch_26:1-19.

four thousand praised the Lord] Cp. 1Ch_25:1-31, from which it appears that there was also a picked choir consisting of 288 persons, divided into twenty-four courses, whose special duty was psalmody.

the instruments which I made] Cp. 2Ch_29:26.

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.

Moreover four thousand were porters,.... At the east, north, and south gates of the temple, in their turns:

and four thousand praised the Lord with the instruments; were singers in the temple, which in all made up 38,000:

which I made, said David, to praise therewith; which instruments he devised and ordered to be made to praise the Lord with; see Ch2 29:26.

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

David. Literally, "he." Septuagint, "they." Protestants, "which I made (said David) to praise therewith." (Haydock)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Porters; whose office was to take the charge of all the gates of the temple and its courts, that no forbidden or unclean person might enter there, and of the courts them selves, and of several chambers or buildings belonging to the temple and the service thereof: these also were to do their work by turns.

Four thousand praised the Lord with instruments; whereof two hundred and eighty-eight were persons of greater skill than their brethren, and did instruct them, and had some authority over them.

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

Porters (Hebrew doorkeepers. The word is so translated in 1Ch_15:23, 1Ch_15:24. It was the duty of these to keep the entrances of the sanctuary, by day and night, in their courses. (see also 2Ki_7:10, 2Ki_7:11) The Chaldaic equivalent of this word is rT Ezr_7:24; Dan_2:49) There is no connection between either the word or idea we have here, and those of Psa_84:11, where the Hithp. conjugation of pps; is used, and the sense of residence probably intended to be conveyed. The instruments which I made to praise. Possibly the quotation of a short sentence often on David"s lips. Men given to music may have been very conscious of it, in ancient days, as well as in modern. The language, however, does not necessarily assert that David claimed the inventing or in any similar sense the making of these musical instruments, but that he appointed them for the service of praise. What some of them were may be seen in 2Ch_5:12 psalteries, harps, trumpets" (see also 2Ch_29:25-27; Neh_12:35, Neh_12:36; Amo_6:5)

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

Moreover four thousand were porters,.... At the east, north, and south gates of the temple, in their turns:

and four thousand praised the Lord with the instruments; were singers in the temple, which in all made up 38,000:

which I made, said David, to praise therewith; which instruments he devised and ordered to be made to praise the Lord with; see Ch2 29:26.

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.)