And the porters were, Shallum, and Akkub, and Talmon, and Ahiman, and their brethren: Shallum was the chief;
The porters were Shallum and Akkub and Talmon and Ahiman and their brethren, with Shallum as the chief appointed for temple service. The verse stands in the first nine chapters of Chronicles, which are filled almost wholly with genealogies. Such genealogical records mattered because temple duties were hereditary and had to be taken up by those entitled to them by descent.
The verse belongs to the order described in 1 Chronicles 9:1-32 that was originally ordained by David and Samuel, even though it describes conditions after the return from Babylon. As part of that Davidic order, it provides a mention of the Sabbath connected with the events of David's life, after a period of five hundred years with no mention of the Sabbath from Joshua through 1 Kings. The porters' gate-watching was a necessary service equal in importance to the singers' ministry, so serving by night was as much service as playing music in the morning.
The porters were Shallum and Akkub and Talmon and Ahiman and their brethren, with Shallum as the chief appointed for temple service. The verse stands in the first nine chapters of Chronicles, which are filled almost wholly with genealogies. Such genealogical records mattered because temple duties were hereditary and had to be taken up by those entitled to them by descent.
The verse belongs to the order described in 1 Chronicles 9:1-32 that was originally ordained by David and Samuel, even though it describes conditions after the return from Babylon. As part of that Davidic order, it provides a mention of the Sabbath connected with the events of David's life, after a period of five hundred years with no mention of the Sabbath from Joshua through 1 Kings. The porters' gate-watching was a necessary service equal in importance to the singers' ministry, so serving by night was as much service as playing music in the morning.