1 Chronicles 27:16-34--Leaders of Tribes

1 Chronicles 27:16-34
English Standard Version

Leaders of Tribes
16 Over the tribes of Israel, for the Reubenites, Eliezer the son of Zichri was chief officer; for the Simeonites, Shephatiah the son of Maacah; 17 for Levi, Hashabiah the son of Kemuel; for Aaron, Zadok; 18 for Judah, Elihu, one of David's brothers; for Issachar, Omri the son of Michael; 19 for Zebulun, Ishmaiah the son of Obadiah; for Naphtali, Jeremoth the son of Azriel; 20 for the Ephraimites, Hoshea the son of Azaziah; for the half-tribe of Manasseh, Joel the son of Pedaiah; 21 for the half-tribe of Manasseh in Gilead, Iddo the son of Zechariah; for Benjamin, Jaasiel the son of Abner; 22 for Dan, Azarel the son of Jeroham. These were the leaders of the tribes of Israel. 23 David did not count those below twenty years of age, for the LORD had promised to make Israel as many as the stars of heaven. 24 Joab the son of Zeruiah began to count, but did not finish. Yet wrath came upon Israel for this, and the number was not entered in the chronicles of King David.

25 Over the king's treasuries was Azmaveth the son of Adiel; and over the treasuries in the country, in the cities, in the villages, and in the towers, was Jonathan the son of Uzziah; 26 and over those who did the work of the field for tilling the soil was Ezri the son of Chelub; 27 and over the vineyards was Shimei the Ramathite; and over the produce of the vineyards for the wine cellars was Zabdi the Shiphmite. 28 Over the olive and sycamore trees in the Shephelah was Baal-hanan the Gederite; and over the stores of oil was Joash. 29 Over the herds that pastured in Sharon was Shitrai the Sharonite; over the herds in the valleys was Shaphat the son of Adlai. 30 Over the camels was Obil the Ishmaelite; and over the donkeys was Jehdeiah the Meronothite. Over the flocks was Jaziz the Hagrite. 31 All these were stewards of King David's property.

​32 Jonathan, David's uncle, was a counselor, being a man of understanding and a scribe. He and Jehiel the son of Hachmoni attended the king's sons. 33 Ahithophel was the king's counselor, and Hushai the Archite was the king's friend. 34 Ahithophel was succeeded by Jehoiada the son of Benaiah, and Abiathar. Joab was commander of the king's army.

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David assigned local governors for each of the twelve tribes to help make sure that the needs of all the people were being met, and to bring the concerns of the people to him.  The names of the governors over the twelve tribes are given here.  Each tribe had a representative chosen from among their own people to represent them, and the governors over the tribe were already leaders among the people.  These men helped with the census, but we are reminded that Joab did not finish counting because he knew David had sinned in taking a second census that was not commanded by the LORD.  We're also reminded that only men of fighting age (20 years old and older) were counted, and we are told the reason for that--God made a promise to multiply the people, and it was not to purpose of the census to test that promise, but as a tool to help divide the fighting men into appropriate divisions with officers to oversee them and train them.  Because the LORD did not order this second census, it was never officially documented (we have an accounting in Scripture, but you wouldn't find it in the official government records).

We spoke of the treasurers over the Temple previously, but there were also treasurers over the treasury of the king and the nation.  Additionally, there were men in charge of the king's vineyards which produced wine and olive oil, and men in charge of the flocks and herds of the king.  It took all kinds of men doing all kinds of things to allow the king to focus on governing the nation.  He need not worry about anything as he had trusted men that he could delegate the everyday tasks to.  

The last notes here on people that King David trusted with the care of his sons.  They were his most-trusted advisors.  We see that his sons didn't turn out so well, even though they had a good father and good caretakers.  Also listed in this last section were advisors that had no official role or title but were close friends who David trusted to give him advice and counsel.  And last, but not lease, was David's friend Joab who commanded the army and was always there to defend David from any enemy--even from David's own sons, and sometimes from David himself when David was his own enemy (however, no one in this list is perfect--they all have sin-stained records that Christ had to die for).  It is good to have good people surrounding you as a leader, and even better to have good friends who will stick close to you and not use and abuse you while you are in power.  David would have a short list of enemies that he would ask Solomon to take care of for him (David didn't take vengeance himself, but trusted the LORD to do that for him, even if that didn't happen in David's lifetime).  This ends the section on David getting things ready for King Solomon and wrapping up his reign.  He's had a chance to thank everyone that he wanted to, and next time we'll see him address the nation in a farewell address and to give some final instructions to Solomon on how to rule the LORD's people.