Now these are the divisions of the sons of Aaron,.... Into the classes or courses following:

the sons of Aaron; Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar; 1 Chronicles 6:3, these were the immediate sons of Aaron; but the division or distribution of them into classes are of their posterity in the times of David, who descended from the two latter.

The division of the priests and Levites into classes. - Vv. 1-19. The twenty-four classes of priests. After the statement as to the fathers'-houses of the Levites (1 Chronicles 23), we have next the arrangements of the priests for the performance of the service in the sanctuary; the priestly families descended from Aaron's sons Eleazar and Ithamar being divided into twenty-four classes, the order of whose service was settled by lot.

1 Chronicles 24:1 contains the superscription, "As for the sons of Aaron, their divisions (were these)." To make the division clear, we have an introductory notice of Aaron's descendants, to the effect that of his four sons, the two elder, Nadab and Abihu, died before their father, leaving no sons, so that only Eleazar and Ithamar became priests (יכהנוּ), i.e., entered upon the priesthood. The four sons of Aaron, 1 Chronicles 24:1, as in 1 Chronicles 6:3, Exodus 6:23.

Now these are the divisions of the sons of Aaron. The sons of Aaron; Nadab, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.

24:1 Divisions - The several branches into which that family was divided.

CHAPTER 24

1Ch 24:1-19. Division of the Sons of Aaron into Four and Twenty Orders.

1. Now these are the divisions of the sons of Aaron-(See on [402]1Ch 23:6).

24:1-31 The divisions of the priests and Levites. - When every one has, knows, and keeps his place and work, the more there are the better. In the mystical body of Christ, every member has its use, for the good of the whole. Christ is High Priest over the house of God, to whom all believers, being made priests, are to be in subjection. In Christ, no difference is made between bond and free, elder and younger. The younger brethren, if faithful and sincere, shall be no less acceptable to Christ than the fathers. May we all be children of the Lord, fitted to sing his praises for ever in his temple above.