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HomeBible Commentary1 ChroniclesChapter 161 Chronicles 16:37-43

1 Chronicles 16:37-43 meaning

1 Chronicles 16:37-43 describes David leaving Asaph and his relatives to minister continually before the ark of the covenant in Jerusalem with Obed-edom and Hosah as gatekeepers, while Zadok the priest and his relatives remain at the tabernacle of the LORD in Gibeon to offer the morning and evening burnt offerings according to the law, with Heman and Jeduthun leading thanksgiving with trumpets and cymbals, and then all the people depart to their homes and David returns to bless his household.

1 Chronicles 16:37-43 records the standing arrangements David made once the celebration ended: So he left Asaph and his relatives there before the ark of the covenant of the LORD to minister before the ark continually, as every day's work required (v 37). The appointment of 1 Chronicles 16:4 becomes a permanent post. Continually and as every day's work required (v 37) describe a daily rhythm of song and thanksgiving before the ark, the practice the chronicler's readers knew in the second temple and traced back to this day. 

Gatekeepers are posted with them: and Obed-edom with his 68 relatives; Obed-edom, also the son of Jeduthun, and Hosah as gatekeepers (v 38). Obed-edom, whose house had sheltered the ark for three months and been blessed for it (1 Chronicles 13:14), now guards the ark's door. The repetition of his name likely distinguishes two men of the same name, one a musician (1 Chronicles 16:5) and one a gatekeeper, and the chronicler's care over the gatekeepers (1 Chronicles 9:17-27; 26:1-19) shows that guarding God's house was a sacred calling in its own right.

The scene then shifts several miles northwest: He left Zadok the priest and his relatives the priests before the tabernacle of the LORD in the high place which was at Gibeon, to offer burnt offerings to the LORD on the altar of burnt offering continually morning and evening, even according to all that is written in the law of the LORD, which He commanded Israel (vv 39-40). The tabernacle Moses built and the bronze altar that stood before it were at Gibeon (1 Chronicles 21:29; 2 Chronicles 1:3-5), and the law required a lamb on that altar every morning and every evening (Exodus 29:38-42; Numbers 28:3-8). David left the altar at Gibeon and the ark on Zion. For a generation the ark, God's throne, sat in Jerusalem with singers before it, while the altar of sacrifice stood at Gibeon with priests before it. Both ministries were kept according to all that is written in the law of the LORD (v 40), the phrase that governs the chronicler's view of faithful worship.

The arrangement was provisional; Solomon would go to Gibeon to sacrifice at the start of his reign (1 Kings 3:4; 2 Chronicles 1:6) and would then bring the ark and the tabernacle together into the temple (2 Chronicles 5:5), so that presence and sacrifice met under one roof. Hebrews describes a later and greater meeting of the two, when Jesus entered "the holy place once for all" by His own blood (Hebrews 9:12), bringing sacrifice and presence together in Himself.

Gibeon had its own musicians: With them were Heman and Jeduthun, and the rest who were chosen, who were designated by name, to give thanks to the LORD, because His lovingkindness is everlasting. And with them were Heman and Jeduthun with trumpets and cymbals for those who should sound aloud, and with instruments for the songs of God, and the sons of Jeduthun for the gate (vv 41-42). Heman and Jeduthun—the latter most likely the same man called Ethan in 1 Chronicles 15:17, 19, since the two names head the same guild—join Asaph as the three chief musicians of David's reign (1 Chronicles 25:1), and psalm titles carry all three names (Psalm 88; Psalms 39, 62, 77; Psalms 73-83). The reason for their song is the refrain of 1 Chronicles 16:34, because His lovingkindness is everlasting; the same thanksgiving rose at both sites. Instruments for the songs of God is a phrase the Chronicler uses for the instruments David made for sacred use (2 Chronicles 7:6; 29:26-27). Song was built into sacrifice.

The chapter closes quietly: Then all the people departed each to his house, and David returned to bless his household (v 43). This matches 2 Samuel 6:19-20, which continues with Michal meeting David at the door in contempt. The chronicler has already told that part in one verse (1 Chronicles 15:29) and leaves it there. His closing picture is a king who, having blessed the nation "in the name of the LORD" (1 Chronicles 16:2), goes home to bless his own household. The next chapter opens with David sitting in that house, troubled that the ark of the covenant is still under curtains while he lives in cedar (1 Chronicles 17:1). The tent on Zion was the place where Israel learned to sing while it waited for God to build what He had promised.