📖WEB · 1 Chronicles 15:21
What does 1 Chronicles 15:21 mean?
"and Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, Mikneiah, Obed-Edom, Jeiel, and Azaziah, with harps tuned to the eight-stringed lyre, to lead."
— 1 Chronicles 15:21 (World English Bible)
Surrounding context
and with them their brothers of the second rank, Zechariah, Ben, Jaaziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, Mikneiah, Obed-Edom, and Jeiel, the doorkeepers.
So the singers, Heman, Asaph, and Ethan, were given cymbals of brass to sound aloud;
and Zechariah, Aziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Maaseiah, and Benaiah, with stringed instruments set to Alamoth;
and Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, Mikneiah, Obed-Edom, Jeiel, and Azaziah, with harps tuned to the eight-stringed lyre, to lead.
Chenaniah, chief of the Levites, was over the singing. He taught the singers, because he was skillful.
Berechiah and Elkanah were doorkeepers for the ark.
Shebaniah, Joshaphat, Nethanel, Amasai, Zechariah, Benaiah, and Eliezer, the priests, blew the trumpets before God’s ark; and Obed-Edom and Jehiah were doorkeepers for the ark.
Explanation
This verse comes from a longer list naming Levites whom King David appointed as musicians when he organized the procession to bring the Ark of the Covenant into Jerusalem. In plain language, it simply identifies six men — Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, Mikneiah, Obed-Edom, Jeiel, and Azaziah — and tells us their specific musical assignment: they played stringed instruments described as being tuned to "the eight-stringed lyre" (a Hebrew term, "sheminith," whose exact musical meaning is debated by scholars, but which clearly refers to a particular pitch, tuning, or style of stringed instrument). Their role was "to lead," meaning they were given a leading or directing function in the musical procession, likely setting the tone or rhythm for the larger group of singers and instrumentalists.
The context is 1 Chronicles 15, which recounts David's second, successful attempt to bring the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem after an earlier attempt ended in tragedy (1 Chronicles 13) because the Ark was transported improperly, in violation of the Law of Moses, which required it be carried by Levites using poles, not carts. Chastened by that failure, David consulted with the priests and Levites and organized the transport meticulously according to God's instructions in the Law. Chapter 15
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