1 Chronicles 27:16

Study note

Setting — The Chronicler records the administrative structure of Israel during a sequential roster of tribal officers and military divisions. This verse appears mid-list as the narrator assigns named leaders to specific tribal groups.

The words — נָגִיד (na.Gid) translates literally to "chief" or "officer," denoting the appointed authority over a tribal division. שִׁבְטֵי (shiv.Tei) means "tribes," identifying the distinct familial groups being organized under this administrative framework.

The thread — This roster runs parallel to the tribal chief lists in Numbers 1:4-16 and continues the Chronicler’s census record in 1 Chronicles 27:15 and 17. The pattern of naming a specific leader for each tribe repeats throughout the historical books to document Israel's organized settlement.

Why it lands — The text demands recognition of Israel's structured tribal governance and the deliberate assignment of authority to specific lineages. It requires the reader to track how leadership was distributed across the tribes rather than centralized in a single figure.

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.