📖WEB · 1 Chronicles 9:22
What does 1 Chronicles 9:22 mean?
"All these who were chosen to be gatekeepers in the thresholds were two hundred twelve. These were listed by genealogy in their villages, whom David and Samuel the seer ordained in their office of trust."
— 1 Chronicles 9:22 (World English Bible)
Surrounding context
Shallum the son of Kore, the son of Ebiasaph, the son of Korah, and his brothers, of his father’s house, the Korahites, were over the work of the service, keepers of the thresholds of the tent. Their fathers had been over Yahweh’s camp, keepers of the entry.
Phinehas the son of Eleazar was ruler over them in time past, and Yahweh was with him.
Zechariah the son of Meshelemiah was gatekeeper of the door of the Tent of Meeting.
All these who were chosen to be gatekeepers in the thresholds were two hundred twelve. These were listed by genealogy in their villages, whom David and Samuel the seer ordained in their office of trust.
So they and their children had the oversight of the gates of Yahweh’s house, even the house of the tent, by wards.
On the four sides were the gatekeepers, toward the east, west, north, and south.
Their brothers, in their villages, were to come in every seven days from time to time to be with them:
Explanation
1 Chronicles 9:22 tells us that two hundred twelve men were chosen to serve as gatekeepers at the thresholds of the house of God. These men were not selected casually or by popular vote; they were listed according to their genealogy, meaning their family lineage was carefully traced and verified before they were given this responsibility. The verse also notes that David and Samuel the seer were the ones who established, or "ordained," these men in their positions of trust, giving the office a sense of long-standing authority reaching back through Israel's history.
The context of this passage is important. First Chronicles opens with lengthy genealogies, tracing Israel's tribes and families, and chapter 9 specifically focuses on those who resettled Jerusalem after the Babylonian exile, along with a description of temple personnel and their duties. The Chronicler, writing to a post-exilic Jewish community trying to reestablish its identity and worship practices, wanted to show continuity between the restored community and the ordered worship instituted generations earlier under David. By mentioning that Samuel and David originally set up this system, the text links the gatekeepers' service not to a recent invention but to a divinely sanctioned tradition rooted in Israel's earlier history.
Theologically, this verse highlights the seriousness with which Israel treated access to the sacred space of the temple. Gatekeepers were not minor figures; they guarded the entrances to God's dwelling place among his people, a task requiring integrity, reliability, and lineage that could be verified. The phrase "office of trust" is key — these men
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