1; The twelve captains for every several month.
16; The princes of the twelve tribes.
23; The numbering of the people is hindered.
25; David's several officers.
* the chief fathers.
The patriarchs, chief generals, or generals of brigade. This
enumeration is widely different from that of the preceding.
In that, we have the order and course of the priests and
Levites, in their ecclesiastical ministrations: in this, we
have the account of the order of the civil service, what
related simply to the political state of the king and kingdom.
Twenty-four persons, chosen out of David's worthies, each of
whom had a second, were placed over 24,000; men, who all served
a month at a time, in turn; and this was the whole of their
service during the year, after which they attended to their
own affairs. Thus the king had always on foot a regular force
of 24,000, who served without expense to him or the state, and
were not oppressed by the service, which took up only a
twelfth part of their time; and by this plan he could, at any
time, bring into the field 12; times 24,000; or 288,000; fighting
men, independently of the 12,000; officers, which made in the
whole an effective force of 300,000; soldiers; and all these
men were prepared, disciplined, and ready at a call, without
the smallest expense to the state or the king. These were,
properly speaking, the militia of the Israelitish kingdom.
* captains.
13:1 Ex 18:25 De 1:15 1Sa 8:12 Mic 5:2
* served.
28:1 2Ch 17:12-19 26:11-13
* any matter.
1Ki 5:14
* month.
1Ki 4:7,27
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