1 Chronicles 9 explained: Who Came Home and Kept Watch

Exile and resettlement (vv. 1-9)

The writer says the earlier lists came from a royal record, now lost, and that the people were taken to Babylon because they were unfaithful to God. The first to return were ordinary Israelites, priests, Levites (the tribe set apart for worship work) and temple servants, and the families settling Jerusalem came from the northern tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh as well as Judah and Benjamin, so the return reads as all Israel coming home.

Priests and Levites (vv. 10-16)

Priests are listed by family, including one who was a senior official over God's house, and they are praised as capable men for the work. Levites follow, some descended from Asaph and Jeduthun, well known family lines of temple musicians, and many of these names also appear with some differences in Nehemiah 11.

The gatekeepers (vv. 17-27)

Gatekeepers guarded all four sides, including the King's Gate on the east, which seems to have been kept for the king's own use, and they slept nearby so they could open the doors each morning and protect the storerooms. The writer ties their job back to the old worship tent of the wilderness days and to David and Samuel, so it reads as an honored, ancient trust and not just guard duty.

Supplies and holy bread (vv. 28-32)

Some Levites counted the sacred utensils in and out and looked after the flour, wine, oil and incense, while only priests blended the holy spices. A Levite named Mattithiah baked the offering bread, and members of the Kohathite clan, fellow Levites, prepared the bread set out on the table before God every Sabbath.

Musicians day and night (vv. 33-34)

The musicians were heads of Levite families who lived in rooms at the temple. They were freed from other duties because their work of singing went on day and night.

Saul's family again (vv. 35-44)

This repeats King Saul's family tree from chapter 8, apparently to lead straight into the story of Saul's death in chapter 10. Esh-Baal and Merib-Baal are the same men called Ish-bosheth and Mephibosheth in the books of Samuel.

Key verse: 1 Chronicles 9:2

Something to think about

This chapter takes care to record who counted the cups, baked the bread and opened the doors; what unnoticed work keeps the things you care about running, and who gets remembered for it?