in their villages] Compare verses 16 and 25.
whom David ... did ordain] The Chronicler attributes to David the organisation of the priests (xxiv. 3), of the Levites (xxiii. 27; xxiv. 31), of the singers (xxv. 1 ff.), and of the doorkeepers (in this passage). It has been thought that this verse is at variance with verses 18, 19, where the Mosaic origin of the gatekeepers seems to be implied. But in answer it may be said that the Chronicler is guilty of no inconsistency in ascribing the origin of the doorkeepers to the Mosaic period and saying here that David and Samuel “ordained them in their set office,” for the phrase refers, not to their origin, but to their organisation. For another suggestion see below on verse 26.
Samuel] The association of Samuel with the organisation of the sanctuary is confined to this passage, and is a significant illustration of the working of late Jewish thought, which was little concerned with historic probability and much with edification. The tradition has probably arisen from the remark in 1 Samuel iii. 15, that Samuel “opened the doors of the house of the Lord.” As Samuel died before the reign of David, the Chronicler doubtless does not intend to represent him as contemporary with David in the organisation of the Temple, but probably supposes that Samuel’s work was done in connection with the tent, which according to the Chronicler was located in Gibeon (2 Chronicles i. 3).
the seer] For the title, xxvi. 28, xxix. 29; 1 Samuel ix. 9; and compare 2 Chronicles xvi. 7.
in their set office] or in their trust; i.e. in their responsible positions.
²³So they and their children had the oversight of the gates of the house of the Lord, even the house of the tabernacle[¹], by wards.
[¹] Hebrew Tent.
23. the house of the tabernacle] margin Tent. The phrase designates the period before the building of the Temple.
²⁴On[¹] the four sides were the porters, toward the east, west, north, and south.
[¹] Hebrew Towards the four winds.