Then the chief of the fathers and princes of the tribes of Israel,.... The princes of the twelve tribes:

and the captains of thousands, and of hundreds, with the rulers over the king's work; who were now assembled, 1 Chronicles 28:1.

offered willingly; and cheerfully; needed no more arguments to press them to it, but at once readily communicated.

The princes follow the example, and willingly respond to David's call. האבות שׂרי equals האבות ראשׁי, 1 Chronicles 24:31; 1 Chronicles 27:1, etc. הם מלאכת ולשׂרי, and as regards the princes of the work of the king. The למּלך וּמקנה רכוּשׁ שׂרי, 1 Chronicles 28:1, the officials enumerated in 1 Chronicles 27:25-31 are meant; on ל see on 1 Chronicles 28:21. They gave 5000 talents of gold (22 1/2 or 11 1/2 millions of pounds), and 1000 darics equals 11 1/2 millions of pounds. אדרכּון, with א prosth. here and in Ezra 8:27, and דּרכּמון, Ezra 2:69; Nehemiah 7:70., does not correspond to the Greek δραχμή, Arab. dirhem, but to the Greek δαρεικός, as the Syrian translation derîkônā', Ezra 8:27, shows; a Persian gold coin worth about 22s. 6d. See the description of these coins, of which several specimens still exist, in Cavedoni bibl. Numismatik, bers. von A. Werlhof, S. 84ff.; J. Brandis, das Mnz-Mass und Gewishtssystem in Vorderasien (1866), S. 244; and my bibl. Archol. 127, 3. "Our historian uses the words used in his time to designate the current gold coins, without intending to assume that there were darics in use in the time of David, to state in a way intelligible to his readers the amount of the sum contributed by the princes" (Bertheau). This perfectly correct remark does not, however, explain why the author of the Chronicle has stated the contribution in gold and that in silver in different values, in talents and in darics, since the second cannot be an explanation of the first, the two sums being different. Probably the sum in darics is the amount which they contributed in gold pieces received as coins; the talents, on the other hand, probably represent the weight of the vessels and other articles of gold which they brought as offerings for the building. The amount contributed in silver is not large when compared with that in gold: 10,000 talents equals 3,500,000, or one half that amount. The contribution in copper also, 18,000 talents, is not very large. Besides these, those who had stones, i.e., precious stones, also brought them. אתּו הנּמצא, that was found with him, for: that which he (each one) had of stones they gave. The sing. אתּו is to be taken distributively, and is consequently carried on in the plural, נתנוּ; cf. Ew. 319, a. אבנים is accus. of subordination. יד על נתן, to give over for administration (Ew. 282, b). יחיאל, the Levite family of this name which had the oversight of the treasures of the house of God (1 Chronicles 26:21.).

Then the chief of the fathers and princes of the tribes of Israel and the captains of thousands and of hundreds, with the rulers of the king's work, offered willingly,

6-8. Then the chief of the fathers-or heads of the fathers (1Ch 24:31; 27:1).

princes of the tribes-(1Ch 27:16-22).

rulers of the king's work-those who had charge of the royal demesnes and other possessions (1Ch 27:25-31).

offered willingly-Influenced by the persuasive address and example of the king, they acted according to their several abilities, and their united contributions amounted to the gross sum-of gold 5,000 talents and 10,000 drams; and of silver, 10,000 talents, besides brass and iron.

29:1-9 What is done in works of piety and charity, should be done willingly, not by constraint; for God loves a cheerful giver. David set a good example. This David offered, not from constraint, or for show; but because he had set his affection to the house of God, and thought he could never do enough towards promoting that good work. Those who would draw others to good, must lead the way themselves.