Bible Strands
1 Chronicles 24:5
Thus they were divided by lot, for there were officers of the sanctuary and officers of God among both Eleazar’s and Ithamar’s descendants.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrative records David’s administrative division of the priestly families of Eleazar and Ithamar after counting their heads of households. This occurs during the reorganization of temple service under royal authority.
The words — The Hebrew verb וַיַּחְלְקוּם (va-yach-lə-qūm) means "and they divided them," while the phrase בְּגוֹרָלוֹת (bə-gō-rā-lō-wṯ) specifies the method as "by lots." These terms ground the administrative procedure in a randomized allocation process.
The thread — The practice of casting lots for sacred assignments reappears in the same chapter when David directs Zadok and Ahimelech to continue the lottery (1 Chronicles 24:31) and echoes Joshua’s territorial distribution at Shiloh (Joshua 18:10). This establishes a consistent biblical pattern of using lots to determine divine allocation.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition that sacred service and leadership roles are distributed by sovereign allocation rather than human ambition. It requires readers to accept assigned duties without claiming priority based on lineage or merit.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Thus were they divided by lot, one sort with another; for the governors of the sanctuary, and governors of the house of God, were of the sons of Eleazar, and of the sons of Ithamar.
Cross-references
- 1 Chronicles 24:31 As their brothers the descendants of Aaron did, they also cast lots in the presence of King David and of Zadok, Ahimelech, and the heads of the families of the priests and Levites—the family heads and their younger brothers alike.
- Joshua 18:10 And Joshua cast lots for them in the presence of the LORD at Shiloh, where he distributed the land to the Israelites according to their divisions.
- 1 Chronicles 9:11 Azariah son of Hilkiah, the son of Meshullam, the son of Zadok, the son of Meraioth, the son of Ahitub, the chief official of God’s temple;
- 2 Chronicles 35:8 His officials also contributed willingly to the people and priests and Levites. Hilkiah, Zechariah, and Jehiel, the chief officials of the house of God, gave the priests 2,600 Passover offerings and 300 bulls.
- Nehemiah 11:11 Seraiah son of Hilkiah, the son of Meshullam, the son of Zadok, the son of Meraioth, the son of Ahitub, the chief official of the house of God;
- Proverbs 16:33 The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD.
- Jonah 1:7 “Come!” said the sailors to one another. “Let us cast lots to find out who is responsible for this calamity that is upon us.” So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah.
- Matthew 26:3 At that time the chief priests and elders of the people assembled in the courtyard of the high priest, whose name was Caiaphas,
- Matthew 27:1 When morning came, all the chief priests and elders of the people conspired against Jesus to put Him to death.
- Acts 1:26 Then they cast lots, and the lot fell to Matthias. So he was added to the eleven apostles.