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1–19. The appointment of the Levites to guard the gates. 20–28. The Levites are the guardians of the church treasures. 29–32. The Levites were scribes and judges. 1 Chronicles 26:1. This is the distribution of the gatekeepers: From the Korahites: Meshelemiah the son of Korah, of the sons of Asaph. 1 Chronicles 26:2. The sons of Meshelemiah: the firstborn Zechariah, the second Jediael, the third Zebadiah, the fourth Japhneel, 1 Chronicles 26:3. the fifth Elam, the sixth Jehohanan, the seventh Elihohenai. 1 Chronicles 26:4. The sons of Obed-Edom: Shemaiah the firstborn, Jehozabad the second, Joah the third, Sahar the fourth, Nathanael the fifth, 1 Chronicles 26:5. the sixth Ammiel, the seventh Issachar, the eighth Peulfai, because God blessed him. 1 Chronicles 26:6. His son Shemaiah also begat sons who were leaders in their family, because they were strong men. 1 Chronicles 26:7. The sons of Shemaiah: Hophni, Rephael, Obed and Elzabad, his brothers, mighty men, Elijah, Shemahiah [and Ievakom]. 1 Chronicles 26:8. They are all of the sons of Obed-edom; They and their sons and their brothers were diligent people and capable of service: Obed-Edom had sixty-two of them. 1 Chronicles 26:9. Meshelemia had eighteen sons and brothers, capable people. The Levite gatekeepers from the tribe of Korah Kohathite (1 Chronicles 6:22) belonged to two lines. The representative of one was Meshelemiah (verses 1-3), or according to the reading (1 Chronicles 9:19) Shallum, the son of Asaph, but not the singer, since this latter came from the tribe of Gershon (1 Chronicles 6:39,43), and Meshelemia the Korean was from the family of Kohath (1 Chronicles 6:22). Meshelemiah's firstborn Zechariah is mentioned both in (1 Chronicles 9:21) and below in (1 Chronicles 26:14). The representative of the second line was Obed-edom with his eight sons and grandsons (verses 4-8). What makes Obed-Edom count as a member of the generation of Korah is the fact that another group of gatekeepers, the descendants of Merari, begins to be counted from the 10th verse. In (1 Chronicles 16:38) Obed-edom is called the son of Jeduthun (Ethan), but not the singer, since the latter belonged to the generation of Merari (1 Chronicles 6:44–47). Sixty-two gatekeepers from the descendants of Obed-edom (v. 8) and eighteen from the generation of Meshelemiya make up the 80 gatekeepers of the line of Kohath. 1 Chronicles 26:10. Khosa, of the sons of the Merarins, has sons: Shimri is the chief, although he was not the first-born, but his father made him chief; 1 Chronicles 26:11. the second Hilkiah, the third Tebaliya, the fourth Zechariah; Khosa had thirteen sons and brothers. The gatekeepers are from the family of Merari, thirteen in number. The name of one of them, Hoza, is mentioned along with the name of Obed-Edom in (1 Chron. 16:38). With 80 gatekeepers from the line of Kohath, 13 gatekeepers from the line of Merari make 93 gatekeepers. 1 Chronicles 26:13. And they cast lots, both small and large, according to their families, at each gate. As can be seen from further verses, the church gates were in accordance with the four cardinal points - four. 1 Chronicles 26:15. Obed-Edom to the south, and his sons at the storehouses. The storerooms, designated for storing vessels, treasures, etc., were located near the southern gate and, according to (1 Chronicles 26:17), had two guarded entrances. 1 Chronicles 26:16. Shupim and Jose to the west, at the gate of Shallekhet, where the road rises and where there is guard against guard. The gate of Shallekhet lay along the road that led from the lower part of Jerusalem to the church located on a hill. 1 Chronicles 26:17. To the east there were six Levites, to the north there were four, to the south there were four, and at the storehouses there were two. 1 Chronicles 26:18. To the west near the porch there are four on the road, and near the porch itself there are two. According to (1 Chronicles 26:14), ten porters, six on the east and four on the north, posted the house of Meshelemiah; the house of Obed-Edom accounted for eight - four to the south and four at the storerooms (1 Chron. 26:15), and Hoza six - four to the west and two at the porch. The entire church guard thus consisted of 24 people. 1 Chronicles 26:20. The Levites, their brothers, looked after the treasures of the house of God and the treasuries of consecrated things. More precise indications of which of the Levites looked after the “treasures of the house of God,” i.e. for all the objects needed for worship, and who for the “treasures of consecrated things”, i.e. jewels dedicated to God are found in the following verses. Namely, the first were watched by Zepham and Joel - the heads of the house of Laedan belonging to the line of Gershon (1 Chr. 26:21-22; cf. 1 Chr. 23:8), and the second was watched by the descendant of Moses from his second son Eliezer - Shelomith, together with his brothers (1 Chr. 26:26; cf. 1 Chr. 23:15). The leader of both groups of overseers was Shebuel, the grandson of Moses (1 Chronicles 26:24; cf. 1 Chronicles 23:16). As can be seen from a comparison of these verses, with (1 Chronicles 23:7 et c., 1 Chronicles 24:20 et c.), those Levites who were entrusted with “the affairs of the house of the Lord” were appointed to store the utensils of worship and the treasures dedicated to the church. And this is quite understandable: according to (1 Chronicles 24:20, etc.), some of them were assistants to the priests during divine services, and therefore it was most natural to give them supervision over the vessels, etc. 1 Chronicles 26:29. From the tribe of Isaac: Henaniah and his sons were assigned to external service among the Israelites, as scribes and judges. 1 Chronicles 26:30. From the tribe of Hebron: Hashabiah and his brothers, a mighty people, one thousand seven hundred, had charge over Israel on this side of the Jordan to the west, in all the works of the service of the Lord, and in the service of the king. 1 Chronicles 26:31. Among the tribe of Hebron, Jeriah was the head of the Hebronians, in their clans, in generations. In the fortieth year of David's reign they were numbered, and men of courage were found among them in Jazer-gilead. 1 Chronicles 26:32. And his brothers, capable men, two thousand seven hundred, were heads of families. King David placed them over the tribe of Reuben and Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh, in all the works of God and the affairs of the king. The Levites of three lines of the house of Kohath were the scribes and judges: one was the descendants of his son Izgar (1 Chronicles 6:18) and the other two were the descendants of Kohath’s son Hebron (1 Chronicles 6:18). The latter on the western and eastern sides of the Jordan numbered 4,400 (verses 30, 32), therefore, the remaining 1,600 judges (all of them were 6,000 - 1 Chron. 23:4) were from the generation of Izgar. The appointment of Levites as judges was in accordance with the law of Moses (Deut. 17:9), but in the hands of David it was a means of centralizing power: the Levites were subject to the high priest, and this latter to the king. You might be interested in: