For Asaph to Joseph - His first-born.

The second to Gedaliah - The first-born of Jeduthun.

Now the first lot came forth for Asaph to Joseph,.... His second son to the preference of the firstborn, 1 Chronicles 25:2,

the second to Gedaliah, who with his brethren and sons were twelve: and which must also be understood of Joseph, and supplied to him; for those being both in one verse, as Jarchi observes, it is but once mentioned, but must be supplied, or otherwise the number of two hundred and eighty eight could not be made up; the same is observed of all the other lots and courses to the end of the chapter as here, and therefore need no more remarks.

The order of succession was so determined by lot, that the four sons of Asaph (1 Chronicles 25:3) received the first, third, fifth, and seventh places; the six sons of Jeduthun, the second, fourth, eighth, twelfth, and fourteenth; and finally, the four sons of Heman (first mentioned in 1 Chronicles 25:4), the sixth, ninth, eleventh, and thirteenth places; while the remaining places, 1 Chronicles 25:15-24, fell to the other sons of Heman. From this we learn that the lots of the sons of the three chief musicians were not placed in separate urns, and one lot drawn from each alternately; but that, on the contrary, all the lots were placed in one urn, and in drawing the lots of Asaph and Jeduthun came out so, that after the fourteenth drawing only sons of Heman remained.

(Note: Bertheau, S. 218, draws quite another conclusion from the above-mentioned order in which the lots were drawn. He supposes "that two series, each of seven, were first included in the lot: to the one series belonged the four sons of Asaph and the three sons of Heman, Mattaniah, Uzziel or Azarel, and Shebuel or Shubael; to the other, the six sons of Jeduthun and Bukkiah the son of Heman. A lot was drawn from each series alternately, commencing with the first, so that the four sons of Asaph and the three sons of Heman obtained the places 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13; while to the six sons of Jeduthun, and the son of Heman added to them, fell the places 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14. The still remaining ten sons of Heman were then finally drawn for, and received the placed from the 15th to the 24th." This very artificial hypothesis explains, indeed, the order of the lots, but we cannot think it probable, because (1) for the supposed dividing of the lots to be drawn into divisions of 10 and 14 no reason can be assigned; (2) by any such division the sons of Heman would have been placed at a disadvantage from the beginning as compared with the sons of Asaph and Jeduthun, since not only Asaph's four sons, but also all Jeduthun's six sons, would have been placed in the first rank, while only four sons of Heman accompany them, Heman's ten remaining sons having had the last place assigned them.)

As to the details in 1 Chronicles 25:9, after Joseph we miss the statement, "he and his sons and his brothers, twelve;" which, with the exception of the הוּא, used only of the second lot, and omitted for the sake of brevity in all the other cases, is repeated with all the 23 numbers, and so can have been dropped here only by an error. The words ליוסף לאסף are to be understood thus: The first lot drawn was for Asaph, viz., for his son Joseph. In the succeeding verses the names are enumerated, sometimes with and sometimes without ל. Some of the names diverge somewhat in form. Izri, 1 Chronicles 25:11, stands for Zeri, 1 Chronicles 25:3; Jesharelah, 1 Chronicles 25:14, for Asarelah, 1 Chronicles 25:2; Azarel, 1 Chronicles 25:18, for Uzziel, 1 Chronicles 25:4 (like the king's names Uzziah and Azariah, 1 Chronicles 3:12, and 2 Chronicles 26:1); Shubael, 1 Chronicles 25:20, for Shebuel, 1 Chronicles 25:4 (cf. 1 Chronicles 23:16 with 1 Chronicles 24:20); Jeremoth, 1 Chronicles 25:22, for Jerimoth, 1 Chronicles 25:4; Eliyathah, 1 Chronicles 25:27, for Eliathah, 1 Chronicles 25:4. Besides these, the fuller forms Nethanyahu (1 Chronicles 25:12), Hashabyahu (1 Chronicles 25:3), Hananyahu (1 Chronicles 25:23), are used instead of the shorter Nethaniah, etc. (1 Chronicles 25:2, 1 Chronicles 25:19, 1 Chronicles 25:4). Of the 24 names which are here enumerated, besides those of Asaph, Jeduthun, and Heman, only Mattithiah recurs (1 Chronicles 15:18, 1 Chronicles 15:21) in the description of the solemnities connected with the bringing in of the ark; "but we are not justified in seeking there the names of our twenty-four classes" (Berth.).

Now the first lot came forth for Asaph to {f} Joseph: the second to Gedaliah, who with his brethren and sons were twelve:

(f) So that he served in the first turn and the rest every one as his turn followed in order.

25:9 To Joseph - For the family of Asaph, of which Joseph was. Here that clause, he, his sons, and his brethren were twelve, is to be understood, as it is expressed in all the following verse s, otherwise they do not make up that number of two hundred and eighty - eight mentioned ver.7.

25:1-31 The singers and musicians. - David put those in order who were appointed to be singers and musicians in the temple. To prophesy, in this place, means praising God with great earnestness and devout affections, under the influences of the Holy Spirit. In raising these affections, poetry and music were employed. If the Spirit of God do not put life and fervour into our devotions, they will, however ordered, be a lifeless, worthless form.