לְאַרְבַּ֣ע רוּח֔וֹת יִהְי֖וּ הַשֹּׁעֲרִ֑ים מִזְרָ֥ח יָ֖מָּה צָפ֥וֹנָה וָנֶֽגְבָּה
On the four sides were the porters, toward the east, west, north, and south.
World English Bible · Public Domain
1 Chronicles 9:24
Hebrew (Westminster Leningrad Codex) 1 Chronicles 9:24 appears in the Hebrew Old Testament. The text above is from the Westminster Leningrad Codex. Each word links to its Strong’s number, a concise gloss, and parsing drawn from the Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible morphology. Click any word for its full Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB) entry.
English Translation
On the four sides were the porters, toward the east, west, north, and south.
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Compare translations 3
The same verse in 3 English versions, stacked beneath the original-language interlinear above. Click any original word for its lexicon entry.
Each is an independent rendering of the whole verse — the interlinear is not word-aligned to these translations.
Highlighted words mark where these versions differ — a whole-verse word diff, not a word-by-word alignment.
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World English Bible Public Domain
On the four sides were the porters, toward the east, west, north, and south.
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King James Version Public Domain
In four quarters were the porters, toward the east, west, north, and south.
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unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0
The gatekeepers were to the four winds: east, west, north, and south.
unfoldingWord Literal Text — © unfoldingWord, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Word-aligned USFM3 via Door43 (git.door43.org/unfoldingWord/en_ult).
Show all 18 translations
Every available English version of this verse, each an independent rendering of the whole verse.
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World English Bible Public Domain
On the four sides were the porters, toward the east, west, north, and south.
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Berean Standard Bible Public Domain
The gatekeepers were stationed on the four sides: east, west, north, and south.
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Majority Standard Bible Public Domain
The gatekeepers were stationed on the four sides: east, west, north, and south.
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King James Version Public Domain
In four quarters were the porters, toward the east, west, north, and south.
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American Standard Version (1901) Public Domain
On the four sides were the porters, toward the east, west, north, and south.
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Revised Version (1885) Public Domain
On the four sides were the porters, toward the east, west, north, and south.
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Geneva Bible (1599) Public Domain
The porters were in foure quarters Eastward, Westward, Northward and Southward.
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Douay-Rheims (1899) Public Domain
In four quarters were the porters: that is to say, toward the east, and west, and north, and south.
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Young's Literal Translation Public Domain
At four sides are the gatekeepers, east, west, north, and south.
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Literal Standard Version CC BY-SA 4.0
The gatekeepers are at [the] four sides: east, west, north, and south.
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Unlocked Literal Bible CC BY-SA 4.0
The gatekeepers were posted on all four sides, toward the east, west, north, and south.
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unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0
The gatekeepers were to the four winds: east, west, north, and south.
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Darby Bible Public Domain
At the four quarters were the doorkeepers, toward the east, west, north, and south.
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World Messianic Bible Public Domain
On the four sides were the gatekeepers, toward the east, west, north, and south.
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Webster's Bible Public Domain
In four quarters were the porters, towards the east, west, north and south.
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Free Bible Version CC BY-SA 4.0
The gatekeepers were placed on four sides: east, west, north, and south.
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Bible in Basic English Public Domain
There were keepers of the doors on the four sides, to the east, west, north, and south.
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JPS Tanakh (1917) Public Domain
On the four sides were the porters, toward the east, west, north, and south.
Literal Standard Version (2020), Covenant Press — licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API (eBible.org). Unlocked Literal Bible (unfoldingWord) — licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API (eBible.org). unfoldingWord Literal Text — © unfoldingWord, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Word-aligned USFM3 via Door43 (git.door43.org/unfoldingWord/en_ult). Free Bible Version, Dr. Jonathan Gallagher — licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API (eBible.org).
Word by word
More ways to search: Search by grammar → Find every occurrence → Compare this word →
Practice this passage: Drill this verse → Learn its vocabulary →
הַשֹּׁעֲרִ֑ים
shôwʻêr
H7778
“the · gatekeepers”
Particle, Definite Article + Noun, Common, Masculine, Plural, Absolute
- Appears 37× in the Hebrew Bible
- First appears at 2 Samuel 18:26
- Part of Speech
- Particle + Noun
- Type
- Common
- Gender
- Masculine
- Number
- Plural
- State
- Absolute
Full BDB Definition
gatekeeper, porter
- לְאַרְבַּ֣ע ʼarbaʻ H702 “to/for · four” Preposition + Adjective, Cardinal number, Feminine, Singular, Absolute
- רוּח֔וֹת rûwach H7307 “spirits” Noun, Common, Both, Plural, Absolute
- יִהְי֖וּ hâyâh H1961 “to be” Verb, Qal, Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Plural
- הַשֹּׁעֲרִ֑ים shôwʻêr H7778 “the · gatekeepers” Particle, Definite Article + Noun, Common, Masculine, Plural, Absolute
- מִזְרָ֥ח mizrâch H4217 “east” Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute
- יָ֖מָּה yâm H3220 “sea · toward” Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute + Suffix, Demonstrative
- צָפ֥וֹנָה tsâphôwn H6828 “north · toward” Noun, Common, Feminine, Singular, Absolute + Suffix, Demonstrative
- וָנֶֽגְבָּה negeb H5045 “and · south · toward” Conjunction + Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute + Suffix, Demonstrative
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 →
- 8
- words
- 8
- distinct lemmas
- Historical
- section
Shared distinctive vocabulary
הַשֹּׁעֲרִ֑ים gatekeeper H7778 occurs in 37 verses of the Hebrew Bible. Also found in:
Grammatical profile
- 1 verb
- 6 nouns
- 1 adjective
Verb forms
- יִהְי֖וּ Qal · Imperfect
Hebrew & Septuagint length
In English translation the verse runs 14 words from the Hebrew and 11 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 8 Hebrew tokens and 12 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
1Topical passages linked to 1 Chronicles 9:24 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — connected by theme and wording, ordered by reader-vote popularity; previews shown in the World English Bible.
- 1 Chronicles 26:14–18 The lot eastward fell to Shelemiah. Then for Zechariah his son, a wise counselor, they cast lots; and his lot came out northward.
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.
κατά ὁ τέσσαρες ἄνεμος εἰμί ὁ πύλη κατά ἀνατολή θάλασσα βορέας νότος
The gates were toward the four winds, eastward, westward, northward, southward.
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 →
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 8 words (8 distinct Hebrew lemmas). Its most distinctive word is shôwʻêr (“gatekeeper”). A historical commentator’s framing appears above. Read the whole chapter for the surrounding context.
Discussion questions
- How does “gatekeeper” (shôwʻêr) shape what this verse is saying?
- 2 Samuel 18:26 shares the word «gatekeeper» with this verse. How do the two illuminate each other?
- The translations on this page render this verse differently — a whole-verse word diff, not a word-by-word alignment. What might account for the different wordings?
- The verb «יִהְי֖וּ» is Qal Imperfect. How does its form color the action?
- Reading how Trapp's Complete Commentary and Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers read this verse, where do the two commentators agree and where do they part?
Things to notice
- This verse counts 8 Hebrew ↔ 12 Greek words.
- These translations choose different wording for 6 words in this verse.
- 8 distinct Hebrew lemmas span 8 words in this verse.
Commentary
Notes on 1 Chronicles 9:24 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
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.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
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
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
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary
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).
Matthew Poole's English Annotations
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Keil & Delitzsch
C. F. Keil & F. Delitzsch
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.)