Biblion Bible Commentary
Read the introduction to 1 Chronicles · About this commentary
Ministry at Two Altars
1 Chronicles 16:37-43
37 So he left Asaph and his brothers there before the ark of Yahweh’s covenant, to minister before the ark continually, as every day’s work required; · WEB
The ark and the altar were left in two different towns, and the arrangement that follows is stable, lawful and incomplete.
The chapter ends with an administrative note that turns out to describe a problem.
Asaph and his brothers stay at Jerusalem before the ark of Yahweh's covenant, to minister before the ark continually 1 Chronicles 16:37, with doorkeepers appointed. And Zadok with the priests is stationed somewhere else entirely: before Yahweh's tabernacle in the high place that was at Gibeon 1 Chronicles 16:39.
So the two halves of Israel's worship are in two towns. The ark, which was the place of meeting, is in a tent David pitched. The tabernacle Moses made, with the altar of burnt offering, is where it had been left. Neither site is complete without the other.
And the arrangement is scrupulous rather than careless. The daily offerings continue at Gibeon morning and evening, even according to all that is written in Yahweh's law 1 Chronicles 16:40, which is the same standard invoked when the ark was carried wrongly. Nobody is improvising. Everything prescribed is being done, in two places, because the prescribed things had come apart.
Singers are appointed at both, with the refrain that will follow them through the rest of the book: they give thanks because his loving kindness endures forever 1 Chronicles 16:41.
This is what the second half of the book exists to resolve. The temple, when it comes, is not primarily a grander building. It is one place where the ark and the altar are together again, and every preparation David makes from here on is aimed at that.
The last verse sends everyone home. The people depart each man to his house, and David returned to bless his house 1 Chronicles 16:43. He has spent the day housing the ark in a tent and now goes back to a palace of cedar. The next chapter opens with him noticing exactly that.
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