The Priestly Courses by Lot
1 These were the divisions of the sons of Aaron. The sons of Aaron: Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. 2 But Nadab and Abihu died before their father, and had no children; therefore Eleazar and Ithamar served as priests. 3 David, with Zadok of the sons of Eleazar and Ahimelech of the sons of Ithamar, divided them according to their ordering in their service. 4 There were more chief men found of the sons of Eleazar than of the sons of Ithamar; and they were divided like this: of the sons of Eleazar there were sixteen, heads of fathers’ houses; and of the sons of Ithamar, according to their fathers’ houses, eight. 5 Thus they were divided impartially by drawing lots; for there were princes of the sanctuary and princes of God, both of the sons of Eleazar, and of the sons of Ithamar. 6 Shemaiah the son of Nethanel the scribe, who was of the Levites, wrote them in the presence of the king, the princes, Zadok the priest, Ahimelech the son of Abiathar, and the heads of the fathers’ households of the priests and of the Levites; one fathers’ house being taken for Eleazar, and one taken for Ithamar. 7 Now the first lot came out to Jehoiarib, the second to Jedaiah, 8 the third to Harim, the fourth to Seorim, 9 the fifth to Malchijah, the sixth to Mijamin, 10 the seventh to Hakkoz, the eighth to Abijah, 11 the ninth to Jeshua, the tenth to Shecaniah, 12 the eleventh to Eliashib, the twelfth to Jakim, 13 the thirteenth to Huppah, the fourteenth to Jeshebeab, 14 the fifteenth to Bilgah, the sixteenth to Immer, 15 the seventeenth to Hezir, the eighteenth to Happizzez, 16 the nineteenth to Pethahiah, the twentieth to Jehezkel, 17 the twenty-first to Jachin, the twenty-second to Gamul, 18 the twenty-third to Delaiah, and the twenty-fourth to Maaziah. 19 This was their ordering in their service, to come into Yahweh’s house according to the ordinance given to them by Aaron their father, as Yahweh, the God of Israel, had commanded him. 20 Of the rest of the sons of Levi: of the sons of Amram, Shubael; of the sons of Shubael, Jehdeiah. 21 Of Rehabiah: of the sons of Rehabiah, Isshiah the chief. 22 Of the Izharites, Shelomoth; of the sons of Shelomoth, Jahath. 23 The sons of Hebron: Jeriah, Amariah the second, Jahaziel the third, and Jekameam the fourth. 24 The sons of Uzziel: Micah; of the sons of Micah, Shamir. 25 The brother of Micah: Isshiah; of the sons of Isshiah, Zechariah. 26 The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. The son of Jaaziah: Beno. 27 The sons of Merari by Jaaziah: Beno, Shoham, Zaccur, and Ibri. 28 Of Mahli: Eleazar, who had no sons. 29 Of Kish, the son of Kish: Jerahmeel. 30 The sons of Mushi: Mahli, Eder, and Jerimoth. These were the sons of the Levites after their fathers’ houses. 31 These likewise cast lots even as their brothers the sons of Aaron in the presence of David the king, Zadok, Ahimelech, and the heads of the fathers’ households of the priests and of the Levites, the fathers’ households of the chief even as those of his younger brother.
Twenty-four priestly courses are assigned by lot before witnesses, and the arrangement claims no originality at all.
The priestly register opens on a loss. Aaron had four sons; Nadab and Abihu died before their father, and had no children 1 Chronicles 24:2. The whole priesthood of Israel descends from the two who were left. A list of privileges begins by recording what happened to the men who took the office lightly.
The two surviving houses are unequal — sixteen chief men from one, eight from the other 1 Chronicles 24:4 — and the method of assignment is chosen with that in mind. They are divided impartially by drawing lots 1 Chronicles 24:5.
The lot is doing specific work here. Twenty-four turns of duty at the sanctuary are the most desirable appointments in the country, and the larger house has twice the claim of the smaller. Casting lots takes the distribution out of the hands of everyone in the room, including the king. The last verse says so plainly: the same procedure applied to the chief's household even as those of his younger brother 1 Chronicles 24:31.
The process is also minuted. A scribe wrote them in the presence of the king, the princes, the two senior priests, and the heads of the households 1 Chronicles 24:6, alternating between the two lines as the lots came out. This is a document produced under witness, and the witnesses are named.
The result is a rota that fixed the shape of Israel's worship for centuries. Twenty-four courses, each serving in turn, is what put a particular priest at a particular altar on a particular week for as long as a temple stood.
And the chapter disclaims its own originality. The ordering was according to the ordinance given to them by Aaron their father, as Yahweh, the God of Israel, had commanded him 1 Chronicles 24:19. Nothing is presented as new. A king and a scribe and two high priests spend a chapter organizing something, and the finished arrangement is credited to a command given generations earlier.
The remaining Levites are then divided the same way, casting lots alongside the sons of Aaron 1 Chronicles 24:31. What governs the sanctuary governs the men who assist in it, and the same method reaches both.
settled What this mark means