27:1-15 In the kingdoms of this world readiness for war forms a security for peace; in like manner, nothing so much encourages Satan's assaults as to be unwatchful. So long as we stand armed with the whole armour of God, in the exercise of faith, and preparation of heart for the conflict, we shall certainly be safe, and probably enjoy inward peace.

Verse 1. - It is impossible to feel fully satisfied with any translation which the words of this verse offer. Yet there can scarcely he any doubt of the meaning of the verse, viz. that the writer would speak of the children of Israel, including the chief fathers and captains of thousands and hundreds, as regards their courses and their number in their courses, as they succeeded one another, month by month, including also all those officers who served the king in any relation to these courses - the courses were twelve, and each course was numbered twenty-four thousand. Meantime, when we turn to the list, we do not find any full complement of chiefs, captains, and officers specified, but apparently only the chief of each course, with somewhat ambiguous additions in vers. 4 (Mikloth), 6 (Ammizabad), 7 (Zebadiah); while what seems an unnecessary stress repeats the number each time. This, however, in fact, tallies with the clause "respecting their number" in the first verse, and may constitute the explanation of the apparent inconsistency in question. Milman ('Hist. of the Jews,' 1:251, edit. 1830) says on this military portion of David's preparations, that he "organized an immense disposable force; every month twenty-four thousand men, furnished in rotation by the tribes, appeared in arms, and were trained as the standing militia of the country. At the head of his army were officers of consummate experience and, what was more highly esteemed in the warfare of the time, extraordinary personal activity, strength, and valour. His heroes remind us of those of Arthuror Charlemagne, excepting that the armour of the feudal chieftains constituted their superiority; here, main strength of body and dauntless fortitude of mind." Which came in and went out month by month; i.e. exchanged places in rotation (2 Kings 11:5-7, 9; 2 Chronicles 23:8).

Now the children of Israel after their number,.... Not the whole body of the people, but the militia of the nation; for after the account of the division of the priests and Levites into courses, follows an account of the militia of the nation, being divided also into monthly courses; which, though done in the beginning of David's reign, as Kimchi and Jarchi observe, yet is here related; and that it was so soon is clear from the instance of Asahel, who was killed while David was king in Hebron, 1 Chronicles 27:7 to wit:

the chief fathers; the chief men in the tribes, the princes of them, not the natural fathers of the soldiers in each course, as a learned man suggests (i): since it can never be thought that such a number sprung from those as made a course of 24,000; for they are distinct from the captains and officers after mentioned, under which the soldiers were; besides, why should they be called "chief fathers?" these, no doubt, were the general officers or princes, under which the captains and inferior officers were:

and captains of thousands and hundreds; in the several tribes:

and their officers; that were under them:

that served the king in any matter of the courses, which came in and went out month by month, throughout all the months of the year; by which it appears that the militia of the kingdom was divided into twelve courses, which served each month by turns; when one went out another came in; by which means the king was well supported and guarded, and had an army at once at command upon any insurrection or war that might arise; and each course serving but one month in a year, it was no great burden upon them, even if they maintained themselves, since they were at leisure, the other eleven months, to attend to their business; and especially if it was, as Jarchi observes, that not the poor but the rich were selected for this service:

of every course were twenty and four thousand; so that the twelve courses amounted to 288,000 men.

(i) Delaney's Life of King David, vol. 1. p. 319.

CHAPTER 27

1Ch 27:1-15. Twelve Captains for Every Month.

1. came in and went out month by month—Here is an account of the standing military force of Israel. A militia formed, it would seem, at the beginning of David's reign (see 1Ch 27:7) was raised in the following order: Twelve legions, corresponding to the number of tribes, were enlisted in the king's service. Each legion comprised a body of twenty-four thousand men, whose term of service was a month in rotation, and who were stationed either at Jerusalem or in any other place where they might be required. There was thus always a force sufficient for the ordinary purposes of state, as well as for resisting sudden attacks or popular tumults; and when extraordinary emergencies demanded a larger force, the whole standing army could easily be called to arms, amounting to two hundred eighty-eight thousand, or to three hundred thousand, including the twelve thousand officers that naturally attended on the twelve princes (1Ch 27:16-24). Such a military establishment would be burdensome neither to the country nor to the royal treasury; for attendance on this duty being a mark of honor and distinction, the expense of maintenance would be borne probably by the militiaman himself, or furnished out of the common fund of his tribe. Nor would the brief period of actual service produce any derangement of the usual course of affairs; for, on the expiry of the term, every soldier returned to the pursuits and duties of private life during the other eleven months of the year. Whether the same individuals were always enrolled, cannot be determined. The probability is, that provided the requisite number was furnished, no stricter scrutiny would be made. A change of men might, to a certain degree, be encouraged, as it was a part of David's policy to train all his subjects to skill in arms; and to have made the enlistment fall always on the same individuals would have defeated that purpose. To have confined each month's levy rigidly within the limits of one tribe might have fallen hard upon those tribes which were weak and small. The rotation system being established, each division knew its own month, as well as the name of the commander under whom it was to serve. These commanders are styled, "the chief fathers," that is, the hereditary heads of tribes who, like chieftains of clans, possessed great power and influence.

captains of thousands and hundreds—The legions of twenty-four thousand were divided into regiments of one thousand, and these again into companies of a hundred men, under the direction of their respective subalterns, there being, of course, twenty-four captains of thousands, and two hundred forty centurions.

and their officers—the Shoterim, who in the army performed the duty of the commissariat, keeping the muster-roll, &c.

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