✝
← Bible
ARCBLIVREKJVVBL

1 Crónicas 23

VBL · Chapter 23/29

1Cuando David envejeció, habiendo vivido una larga vida, nombró a su hijo Salomón rey de Israel.

2También convocó a todos los jefes de Israel, a los sacerdotes y a los levitas.

3Se contaron los levitas mayores de treinta años, y fueron 38.000 en total.

4“De ellos, 24.000 estarán a cargo de las obras de la casa del Señor, mientras que 6.000 serán oficiales y jueces”, instruyó David.

5“Y 4.000 serán porteros, mientras que 4.000 alabarán al Señor usando los instrumentos musicales que he proporcionado para la alabanza”.

6David los dividió en secciones correspondientes a Los hijos de Levi: Gersón, Coat y Merari.

7Los hijos de Gersón: Ladán y Simei.

8Los hijos de Ladan: Jehiel (el jefe de familia), Zetham y Joel, tres en total.

9Los hijos de Simei: Selomit, Haziel y Harán, tres en total. Estos eran los jefes de las familias de Ladán.

10Los hijos de Simei: Jahat, Ziza, Jeús y Bería, cuatro en total.

11Jahat (el jefe de familia), y Ziza (el segundo); pero como Jeús y Bería no tuvieron muchos hijos, fueron contados como una sola familia.

12Los hijos de Coat: Amram, Izhar, Hebrón y Uziel-un total de cuatro.

13Los hijos de Amram: Aarón y Moisés. Aarón estaba dedicado al servicio con las cosas más sagradas, para que él y sus hijos presentaran siempre ofrendas al Señor, y ministraran ante él, y dieran bendiciones en su nombre para siempre.

14En cuanto a Moisés, el hombre de Dios, sus hijos estaban incluidos en la tribu de Leví.

15Los hijos de Moisés: Gersón y Eliezer.

16Los hijos de Gersón: Sebuel (el jefe de familia).

17Los hijos de Eliezer: Rehabías (el jefe de familia). Eliezer no tuvo más hijos, pero Rehabías tuvo muchos hijos.

18Los hijos de Izhar: Selomit (el jefe de familia).

19Los hijos de Hebrón: Jeria (el jefe de familia), Amarías (el segundo), Jahaziel (el tercero) y Jecamán (el cuarto).

20Los hijos de Uziel: Micaías (el jefe de familia) e Isías (el segundo).

21Los hijos de Merari: Mahli y Musi. Los hijos de Mahli: Eleazar y Cis.

22Eleazar murió sin tener hijos, sólo hijas. Sus primos, Los hijos de Cis, se casaron con ellas.

23Los hijos de Musi: Mahli, Eder y Jeremot, tres en total.

24Estos eran los descendientes de Leví por familias, los jefes de familia enumerados individualmente por su nombre: los que tenían veinte años o más y servían en la casa del Señor.

25Porque David dijo: “El Señor, el Dios de Israel, ha dado la paz a su pueblo, y vivirá en Jerusalén para siempre.

26Así que los levitas ya no necesitan llevar la Tienda ni nada necesario para su servicio”.

27De acuerdo con las instrucciones finales de David, se contaron los levitas de veinte años o más.

28Su misión era ayudar a los descendientes de Aarón en el servicio de la casa del Señor. Eran responsables de los patios y las habitaciones, de la limpieza de todas las cosas sagradas y del trabajo del servicio de la casa de Dios.

29También eran responsables del pan de la proposición que se ponía sobre la mesa, de la harina especial para las ofrendas de grano, de los panes sin levadura, de la cocción, de la mezcla y del manejo de todas las cantidades y medidas.

30También debían ponerse de pie todas las mañanas para dar gracias y alabar al Señor, y hacer lo mismo al atardecer,

31y siempre que se presentaran holocaustos al Señor, ya fuera en los sábados, lunas nuevas y días festivos. Debían servir regularmente ante el Señor según el número que se les exigiera.

32Así, los levitas debían cumplir con la responsabilidad de cuidar la Tienda del Encuentro y el santuario, y con sus hermanos los descendientes de Aarón, servían a la casa del Señor.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

Now elderly, David organizes the Levites into divisions of work for the different services of the temple that would be built: administration, judgment, gatekeeping, and music, counting those who were thirty years old or more for service.

Explanation

This chapter shows David acting as a careful administrator in the final years of his life, organizing the Levites — who received no territory of their own but served in specific religious tasks — into clear categories of responsibility. This reorganization also reflects a shift in expectations: since the permanent temple would replace the portable tabernacle used in the wilderness, the Levites would no longer need to physically carry the sacred structure from place to place, freeing them for other roles such as music, teaching, and administration. The meticulous attention to organizational detail shows that good practical management is also part of serving God with excellence.

Fun facts

  • The minimum age for Levitical service is given here as thirty, but in later chapters and other books the age of twenty also appears — a difference scholars attribute to changes over time, as the practical needs of the temple evolved.
  • Moses, despite being the most important leader in Israel's history up to that point, is described here only briefly within the Levitical genealogy, showing how the chronicler prioritizes institutional organization over individual achievements, even those of the greatest leaders of the past.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. 1 Crónicas 23:1Now old, David makes Solomon king over Israel while he is still alive — a period of joint rule that guarantees a smooth transfer of power, with no dispute over the throne after his father’s death.
  2. 1 Crónicas 23:2David gathers all the leaders of Israel, the priests, and the Levites — a great national assembly to organize the kingdom’s structure before he dies for good.
  3. 1 Crónicas 23:3Thirty-eight thousand Levites are counted and divided by function: one part oversees the temple work, another serves as officers and judges, another as gatekeepers, and four thousand are musicians alone. It is a complete reorganization of Levite work now that the ark has a fixed home.
  4. 1 Crónicas 23:4Of the thirty-eight thousand Levites counted, twenty-four thousand are put in charge of the work of the house of the LORD, and six thousand become a kind of officers and judges — the Levites also carried out civil duties, not only religious ones.
  5. 1 Crónicas 23:5Another four thousand serve as gatekeepers, and yet another four thousand are dedicated purely to music — using instruments David himself had made specifically for that purpose.
  6. 1 Crónicas 23:6David organizes all these Levites into shifts, following the natural division of Levi’s three families: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari — the same genealogical structure from chapter 6 now becomes a practical work organization.
  7. 1 Crónicas 23:7The detailed listing of the Gershonites begins: Laadan and Shimei are the two main names in this family.
  8. 1 Crónicas 23:8The three sons of Laadan, with Jehiel as chief — one more layer of organization within the already detailed Gershonite branch.
  9. 1 Crónicas 23:9Three more names tied to this family, described as heads of Laadan’s household — the organization of the Levites is every bit as detailed as any tribal genealogy from the start of the book.
  10. 1 Crónicas 23:10The four sons of Shimei close out this part of the Gershonite family — Jahath, Zizah, Jeush, and Beriah.
  11. 1 Crónicas 23:11The text explains a practical detail: since Jeush and Beriah did not have many sons, the two families were counted as one — an administrative adjustment for lists that do not grow evenly.
  12. 1 Crónicas 23:12It moves on to the Kohathites: the four sons of Kohath — Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel — the same names already seen in chapter 6.
  13. 1 Crónicas 23:13From Amram come Aaron and Moses, but only Aaron and his descendants are set apart for the most sacred priestly service — burning incense before the LORD and blessing the people in His name, an exclusive, permanent role.
  14. 1 Crónicas 23:14Even though Moses is called ‘the man of God,’ his sons receive no special priestly status — they are counted simply as ordinary Levites, showing that not even the Bible’s greatest prophet secured hereditary privilege for his family.
  15. 1 Crónicas 23:15Moses’ two sons, Gershom and Eliezer, carry on his line within the tribe of Levi, even without the priestly prominence Aaron’s family received.
  16. 1 Crónicas 23:16Shebuel leads the descendants of Gershom, son of Moses — one more small branch within the great Levite family tree.
  17. 1 Crónicas 23:17Rehabiah leads the descendants of Eliezer, and the text notes something curious: even though Eliezer had no other sons besides him, Rehabiah’s line grew enormously — a single branch that multiplied on its own.
  18. 1 Crónicas 23:18Shelomith leads the descendants of Izhar, one more family within the great structure organized by David.
  19. 1 Crónicas 23:19The four sons of Hebron round out another Kohathite branch, each with a defined position in the family hierarchy.
  20. 1 Crónicas 23:20The two sons of Uzziel close out the list of Kohath’s four families, each already detailed with its own leaders.
  21. 1 Crónicas 23:21Now the Merarites: Mahli and Mushi, and Mahli’s two sons, Eleazar and Kish — one more branch within the third great family of Levi.
  22. 1 Crónicas 23:22Eleazar dies with only daughters, no sons, and the solution is the same one seen before with Zelophehad: the cousins, Kish’s sons, marry these daughters to keep the line within the family itself.
  23. 1 Crónicas 23:23The three sons of Mushi close out the Merarite genealogy, completing the detailed organization of Levi’s three families before the final summary.
  24. 1 Crónicas 23:24The minimum age for Levite service drops from thirty to twenty in this reorganization, because the heavy work of carrying the tabernacle from place to place will no longer exist once the temple is fixed — leaving room for younger Levites to take on other roles.
  25. 1 Crónicas 23:25David explains the reason for changing the rules: now that the LORD has given the people rest and will dwell in Jerusalem forever, the heavy work of carrying the tabernacle from place to place simply no longer exists.
  26. 1 Crónicas 23:26That is why the Levites no longer need to carry the tabernacle or its furnishings on their backs — the shift in role that Jerusalem’s stability brought to their daily work.
  27. 1 Crónicas 23:27According to David’s last decisions, the minimum age for counting the Levites drops from thirty to twenty — since the work became physically lighter, more people can serve earlier.
  28. 1 Crónicas 23:28The Levites’ new main function is to directly assist the priests descended from Aaron — caring for the courts, the chambers, and the purification of everything considered holy.
  29. 1 Crónicas 23:29The specific tasks include tending the showbread, the flour for the offerings, the ritual cakes and fried offerings, and even the exact measurements used for each offering — a very detailed job of religious logistics.
  30. 1 Crónicas 23:30It also fell to the Levites to stand every morning and every evening to thank and praise the LORD — a fixed routine of worship, not just occasional tasks.
  31. 1 Crónicas 23:31Besides that, they tended every burnt offering on the sabbaths, new moons, and appointed feasts — keeping Israel’s religious calendar running smoothly.
  32. 1 Crónicas 23:32A summary closes the chapter: the Levites were responsible for keeping watch over the tent of the congregation, the sanctuary, and supporting the priests — the supporting role that would define their function from then on.

Chapters

1234567891011121314151617181920212223242526272829

Our apps

Our apps →

Bible in Stories

The Bible told as a story, with audio and videos.

📱 Get the app

World in Stories

True stories of humanity that sound made up.

App StoreGoogle Play

Feito! Pequenas Vitórias

A light daily routine for people who lose track of the day.

App StoreGoogle Play