2 Chronicles 8:14

Hebrew (Westminster Leningrad Codex)

English Translation

He appointed, according to the ordinance of David his father, the divisions of the priests to their service, and the Levites to their offices, to praise, and to minister before the priests, as the duty of every day required; the doorkeepers also by their divisions at every gate: for so had David the man of God commanded.

World English Bible · Public Domain

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וְהַשּׁוֹעֲרִ֥ים

shôwʻêr

H7778

“and · the · gatekeepers”

Conjunction + Particle, Definite Article + Noun, Common, Masculine, Plural, Absolute

Appears 37× in the Hebrew Bible
First appears at 2 Samuel 18:26

Full BDB Definition

Origin: from H8179

TWOT: 2437b

gatekeeper, porter

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 →

29: words
23: distinct lemmas
Historical: section

Shared distinctive vocabulary

וְהַשּׁוֹעֲרִ֥ים gatekeeper H7778 occurs in 37 verses of the Hebrew Bible. Also found in:

Grammatical profile

3 verbs
20 nouns
3 prepositions
1 conjunction
1 adverb
1 particle

Verb forms

וַיַּעֲמֵ֣ד Hiphil · Sequential Imperfect
לְהַלֵּ֨ל Piel · Infinitive Construct
וּלְשָׁרֵ֜ת Piel · Infinitive Construct

Repetition

Words recur within this verse — often emphatic in Hebrew:

דָּֽוִיד David H1732 ×2
מַחְלְק֨וֹת course H4256 ×2
הַכֹּהֲנִ֜ים priest H3548 ×2
עַל upon H5921 ×2
י֣וֹם day H3117 ×2
לְשַׁ֣עַר gate H8179 ×2

Hebrew & Septuagint length

In English translation the verse runs 57 words from the Hebrew and 67 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 29 Hebrew tokens and 53 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 2 Chronicles 8:14 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 9:17 The porters: Shallum, and Akkub, and Talmon, and Ahiman, and their brothers (Shallum was the chief),
Ezra 6:18 They set the priests in their divisions, and the Levites in their courses, for the service of God, which is at Jerusalem; as it is written in the book of Moses.
Nehemiah 12:24 The chiefs of the Levites: Hashabiah, Sherebiah, and Jeshua the son of Kadmiel, with their brothers over against them, to praise and give thanks, according to the commandment of David the man of God, watch next to watch.
Nehemiah 12:36 and his brothers, Shemaiah, and Azarel, Milalai, Gilalai, Maai, Nethanel, and Judah, Hanani, with the musical instruments of David the man of God; and Ezra the scribe was before them.
Deuteronomy 33:1 This is the blessing, with which Moses the man of God blessed the children of Israel before his death.
2 Samuel 23:2 The Spirit of Yahweh spoke by me, His word was on my tongue.
1 Kings 13:1 Behold, there came a man of God out of Judah by the word of Yahweh to Beth El: and Jeroboam was standing by the altar to burn incense.
1 Chronicles 6:31–48 These are they whom David set over the service of song in the house of Yahweh, after that the ark had rest.

1 Chronicles 15:16–22 David spoke to the chief of the Levites to appoint their brothers the singers, with instruments of music, psalteries and harps and cymbals, sounding aloud and lifting up the voice with joy.
1 Chronicles 16:4–6 He appointed certain of the Levites to minister before the ark of Yahweh, and to celebrate and to thank and praise Yahweh, the God of Israel:
1 Chronicles 16:42 and with them Heman and Jeduthun [with] trumpets and cymbals for those that should sound aloud, and [with] instruments for the songs of God; and the sons of Jeduthun to be at the gate.
1 Chronicles 23:1–26:19 Now David was old and full of days; and he made Solomon his son king over Israel.
1 Chronicles 28:19 All this, [said David], have I been made to understand in writing from the hand of Yahweh, even all the works of this pattern.
2 Chronicles 5:11 It happened, when the priests were come out of the holy place, (for all the priests who were present had sanctified themselves, and did not keep their divisions;
2 Chronicles 23:4 This is the thing that you shall do: a third part of you, who come in on the Sabbath, of the priests and of the Levites, shall be porters of the thresholds;
2 Chronicles 31:2 Hezekiah appointed the divisions of the priests and the Levites after their divisions, every man according to his service, both the priests and the Levites, for burnt offerings and for peace-offerings, to minister, and to give thanks, and to praise in the gates of the camp of Yahweh.

2 Chronicles 35:10 So the service was prepared, and the priests stood in their place, and the Levites by their divisions, according to the king's commandment.
Luke 1:5 There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the priestly division of Abijah. He had a wife of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth.
Luke 1:8 Now it happened, while he executed the priest's office before God in the order of his division,
Acts 13:22 When he had removed him, he raised up David to be their king, to whom he also testified, 'I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after my heart, who will do all my will.'
Acts 13:36 For David, after he had in his own generation served the counsel of God, fell asleep, and was laid with his fathers, and saw decay.

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 2 Chronicles 8:14 Masoretic · Westminster Leningrad Codex

וַיַּעֲמֵ֣ד כְּמִשְׁפַּ֣ט דָּֽוִיד אָ֠בִיו אֶת מַחְלְק֨וֹת הַכֹּהֲנִ֜ים עַל עֲבֹדָתָ֗ם וְהַלְוִיִּ֣ם עַל מִ֠שְׁמְרוֹתָם לְהַלֵּ֨ל וּלְשָׁרֵ֜ת נֶ֤גֶד הַכֹּֽהֲנִים֙ לִדְבַר י֣וֹם בְּיוֹמ֔וֹ וְהַשּׁוֹעֲרִ֥ים בְּמַחְלְקוֹתָ֖ם לְשַׁ֣עַר וָשָׁ֑עַר כִּ֣י כֵ֔ן מִצְוַ֖ת דָּוִ֥יד אִישׁ הָאֱלֹהִֽים

He appointed, according to the ordinance of David his father, the divisions of the priests to their service, and the Levites to their offices, to praise, and to minister before the priests, as the duty of every day required; the doorkeepers also by their divisions at every gate: for so had David the man of God commanded.

World English Bible · Public Domain

Greek LXX 2 Chronicles 8:14 Septuagint · lemma form

καί ἵστημι κατά ὁ κρίσις δαυίδ ὁ διαίρεσις ὁ ἱερεύς κατά ὁ λειτουργία αὐτός καί ὁ λευείτης ἐπί ὁ φυλακή αὐτός ὁ αἰνέω καί λειτουργέω κατέναντι ὁ ἱερεύς κατά ὁ λόγος ἡμέρα ἐν ὁ ἡμέρα καί ὁ πυλωρός κατά ὁ διαίρεσις αὐτός εἰς πύλη καί πύλη ὅτι οὕτως ἐντολή δαυίδ ἄνθρωπος ὁ θεός

And he established, according to the order of his father David, the courses of the priests, and that according to their public ministrations: and the Levites were appointed over their charges, to praise and minister before the priests according to the daily order: and the porters were appointed according to their courses to the different gates: for thus were the commandments of David the man of God.

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 2 Chronicles 8:14 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

2Ch 8:14 And he appointed, according to the order of David his father, the courses of the priests to their service, and the Levites to their charges, to praise and minister before the priests, as the duty of every day required: the porters also by their courses at every gate: for so had David the man of God commanded.

Ver. 14. According to the order of David.] See 1Ch 24:1.

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.

The Biblical Illustrator

Joseph S. Exell

2Ch_8:14

As the duty of every day required.

Duty

To some Christians the sense of duty and kindred phrases sound unattractive and suspicious. Yet it is dangerous even to minimise the sense of duty. A man who makes no terms with conscience, but does what God commands, will find his love grow stronger. A Christians sense of duty is not the same as the sense of duty of one who has no faith. Natural religion would teach a man to be honest, sober, and industrious, but Christs teaching goes far beyond this. Religious duties; purity of heart; forgiveness of others, etc. But it is in the realm of supernatural help, prayer, and the sacraments that the greatest divergence is seen. As the duty of every day required. Words such as these suggest that unless we are living a life of prayer, unless we are partaking of the life of Christ in the means He left for us to use, we are undutiful. What we claim for our religion is this--

1. The personal love of Christ will make us more severe with ourselves in performing hard, unwelcome duties of every day.

2. It will also claim from us earnest prayer, belief in the grace of the Holy Spirit, etc. (W. R. Hutton, M. A.)

.

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

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(14) And he appointed.—Caused to stand. (1Ch_6:16; 1Ch_15:16.)

According to the order of David his father.—Order, i.e., ordinance or institution.

The courses of the priests.—See 1 Chronicles 24.

Charges.—Watches, wards, stations.

To praise.—See 1Ch_25:3.

And minister before the priests.—1Ch_23:28.

As the duty of every day required.—For a day’s matter (i.e., prescribed work) on its day. (Comp. 2Ch_8:13.)

The porters also.—See 1Ch_26:1-19. The construction is, and he appointed, or stationed, the warders.

For so had David . . .—See margin. A similar phrase occurs in Neh_12:24.

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

14. according to the order] R.V. according to the ordinance.

of David] Cp. 1 Chronicles 24-26.

to praise and minister before the priests] R.V. to praise, and to minister before the priests; cp. 1Ch_23:28.

the porters] R.V. the door-keepers.

David the man of God] Targ. David the prophet of the Lord (a correct paraphrase). Cp. Neh_12:36.

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

Now all the work of Solomon was prepared unto the day of the foundation of the house of the Lord, and until it was finished,.... The materials were prepared, and the money for the expenses; and even the very stones and timber were made fit for the building, so that there was nothing to retard the completion of it:

so the house of God was perfected; in the space of seven years, in all the parts, and according to the form and pattern of it, see Kg1 6:38.

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

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The man of God - This phrase, so common in Kings (see the introduction to Kings, 4th note), is rare in Chronicles, and is applied only to Moses 1Ch 23:14, David, and one other prophet 2Ch 25:7, 2Ch 25:9.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary

CHAPTER VIII.

And gate, at their respective posts. See 1 Paralipomenon xxvi. (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).

Matthew Poole's English Annotations

The man of God, i.e. a prophet inspired by God in these matters, whose commands therefore are the commands of God.

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

The Pulpit Commentary

The courses of the priests the Levites to their charges the porters also by their courses at every gate. (For the particulars of this verse, see, with the exposition to them,) (1Ch 24:1-35 1Ch_25:1-7 1Ch 26:9:17-28) David the man of God. This title occurs only once in 1 Chronicles, viz. 23. 14, where it is used of Moses; and six times in 2 Chronicles, viz. here to David; 11:2, to Shemaiah; three times, 25:7, 9, to an unnamed prophet; and once again to Moses, 30:16; the expression occurs much more frequently in Kings.

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

Man of God - A prophet inspired by God in these matters, whose commands therefore are the commands of God.

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

unfoldingWord translationNotes

Door43 World Missions Community

In keeping with the decrees of his father David

"According to the decrees of his father David" or "As his father David had decreed"

He also appointed the gatekeepers by their divisions to every gate

"He also appointed groups of gatekeepers to each gate"

gatekeepers

These were Levites who guarded the gates and only let inside those who had permission to go inside.

These people did not deviate from the commands

Here "deviate from the commands" represents to do something different from what was commanded. It can be stated positively. AT: "These people carefully obeyed the commands" (See: Metaphor)

translationWords

decree

appoint

priest

works

Levi

praise

servant

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

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.

2 Chronicles, in the Historical, opens this verse with 29 words (23 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

What does “gatekeeper” (shôwʻêr) contribute to the verse as a whole?
How does 2 Samuel 18:26, which shares the word «gatekeeper», read alongside this verse?
What does the repetition of “David” (2× in this one verse) do in this verse?
These translations render this verse differently. What is at stake in choosing one wording over another?
«וַיַּעֲמֵ֣ד» is a Hiphil Sequential Imperfect verb. How does that grammatical form shape the action described?
Compare how Trapp's Complete Commentary and The Biblical Illustrator read this verse. Where do they agree or differ?

Things to notice

This verse counts 29 Hebrew ↔ 53 Greek words.
These translations choose different wording for 23 words in this verse.
“David” occurs 2× in this single verse.
23 distinct Hebrew lemmas span 29 words in this verse.