1 Chronicles 26:6

1Ch 26:6 Also unto Shemaiah his son were sons born, that ruled throughout the house of their father: for they [were] mighty men of valour.

Ver. 6. That ruled throughout the house of their father.] Or, Were like to the house of their father: i.e., they were mighty men of valour, able to execute their office, and to suppress all tumults that might arise at the gates of the temple, by reason of the great concourse of people resorting thereunto, at the three great feasts especially.

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 26:6. They were mighty men of valour — This clause is divers times mentioned, because their office required both strength and courage: for they were to shut the doors of the temple, one whereof was so great and weighty that in the second temple it required twenty men to open and shut it. They were also to keep the guard, to keep out all unclean or forbidden persons, to prevent or suppress any tumults or disorders which might happen in the temple or in its courts, to keep the treasures of the temple, (1Ch 26:20; 1Ch 26:22; 1Ch 26:24; 1Ch 26:26,) to be officers and judges over Israel, (1Ch 26:29,) and to manage every matter pertaining to God and the affairs of the king, 1Ch 26:32.

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

Or, like their father’s house, meaning, worthy men, and valiant.

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

mighty men of valour--The circumstance of physical strength is prominently noticed in this chapter, as the office of the porters required them not only to act as sentinels of the sacred edifice and its precious furniture against attacks of plunderers or popular insurrection--to be, in fact, a military guard--but, after the temple was built, to open and shut the gates, which were extraordinarily large and ponderous.

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 6. They were mighty men of valour.] They were not only porters or door-keepers in the ordinary sense of the word, but they were a military guard for the gates: and perhaps in this sense alone we are to understand their office.

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

(6) That ruled throughout the house of their father.—Rather, The lords of their clan. The word translated “that ruled,” is not a verb, but an abstract noun (mimshâl), like our expression “the authorities,” or “the government.” It only occurs besides in Dan_11:3; Dan_11:5.

Mighty men of valour.—See Note on 1Ch_9:13.

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

6. throughout the house] R.V. over the house.

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.

Also unto Shemaiah his son,.... His firstborn, Ch1 26:4.

were sons born, that ruled throughout the house of their father; were heads of families, eminent and principal men:

for they were mighty men of valour; which their office sometimes required them to be, to guard the temple at night as well as day from thieves and robbers, and to hinder resolute men entering in, unfit for it, and seize on rioters, and quell tumults raised.

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

Semei, who is called Semeias, ver. 4., and 7. The last syllable is not lost in Hebrew or Septuagint. (Haydock) --- Valour. Their post was of a military nature, and required strength. Josephus says, some of the gates could hardly be shut by twenty men.

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).

That ruled throughout the house of their father; that had the command of their brethren and families, being, as some say, captains of hundreds or of thousands; of which see Exo 18:25; 2Ki 11:9.

They were mighty men of valor: this clause is divers times mentioned, because their office returned both strength and courage; for they were to shut the doors of the temple, one whereof was so great and weighty, that in the second temple it required the help of twenty men to open and shut it, as Josephus, an eye-witness, reports. They were also to keep the guard, and to keep out all unclean or forbidden persons, who might sometimes presumptuously attempt to enter into the temple, as Uzziah did, and to prevent or suppress any tumults or disorders which might happen in the temple or in its courts, and to keep the treasures of the temple. 1Ch 26:20,22,24,26, and to be officers and judges over Israel, 1Ch 26:29, and to manage every matter pertaining to God and the affairs of the king, 1Ch 26:32.

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

Vers. 6, 7. In the former of these verses, eulogy is pronounced by anticipation on the six grandsons of Obed-edom through his son Shemaiah, about to be mentioned in the latter verse. The singular number of the verb (dlwOn), with a plural nominative, as found here, often occurs elsewhere, and repeatedly, even in this book, in cases where the relative pronoun rva intervenes between the subject and its verb. That ruled throughout the house of their father. The plural masculine abstract noun ( here employed, in place of a verbal or participial form, is intended to gain force. A similar use of the feminine form of the same noun in the singular, and with suffix, may be cited from 2Ch_32:9. Whose brethren. An erroneous translation for his brethren; a correction, however, rendering more patent the inconvenience of the unexplained absence of the conjunction, which seems to be called for before both "Elzabad," and "his brethren." Bertheau suggests that other names are wanting which should fill up the meaning of "his brethren." The brethren intended were probably Elihu and Semachiah.

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

Of valour - This clause is divers times mentioned, because their office required both strength and courage: for they were to shut the doors of the temple, one whereof was so great and weighty, that in the second temple it required twenty men to open and shut it. They were also to keep the guard, to keep out all unclean or forbidden persons, to prevent or suppress any tumults or disorders which might happen in the temple or in its courts, to keep the treasures of the temple, ver. 20, 22, 24, 26, to be officers and Judges over Israel, ver. 29, and to manage every matter pertaining to God, and the affairs of the king, ver. 32.

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

Also unto Shemaiah his son,.... His firstborn, Ch1 26:4.

were sons born, that ruled throughout the house of their father; were heads of families, eminent and principal men:

for they were mighty men of valour; which their office sometimes required them to be, to guard the temple at night as well as day from thieves and robbers, and to hinder resolute men entering in, unfit for it, and seize on rioters, and quell tumults raised.

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.)

who ruled through their father’s house The meaning is that those ruling were doing so through their father, and a similarity is [found] at the end of Daniel (11:3): “and rule a great dominion (וּמָשַל מִמְשַל רַב).”

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.