1 Chronicles 12 in Hebrew & English

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Tenakh Study · Read 1 Chronicles in Hebrew and English, one chapter per page. Our Tenakh study meets every Wednesday at 7 pm (Central Time) on Zoom. Text us for the Zoom link. Our Messianic Jewish notes appear below each passage; tap Commentary above to hide them. The full commentary on this chapter is on our 1 Chronicles commentary page.

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Tenakh Study · 1 Chronicles 12:1–41

1 Chronicles, Chapter 12

דברי הימים א יב

The mighty men who came to David at Tziklag while he kept himself close because of Shaul, from Binyamin, Gad, Yehudah and Menashe, and the numbers of armed men from every tribe who came to Ḥevron to make David king, with three days of eating and drinking and joy in Israel.

Verse numbers follow the Hebrew Bible, where verse 4 of most English Bibles is divided in two. So verses 4–5 here are verse 4 there, and from verse 6 on each verse here is one higher than there.

12:1Now these are they that came to David to Tziklag (Ziklag), while he yet kept himself close because of Shaul (Saul) the son of Kish: and they were among the mighty men, helpers of the war.

אוְאֵ֗לֶּה הַבָּאִ֤ים אֶל־דָּוִיד֙ לְצִ֣יקְלַ֔ג ע֣וֹד עָצ֔וּר מִפְּנֵ֖י שָׁא֣וּל בֶּן־קִ֑ישׁ וְהֵ֨מָּה֙ בַּגִּבּוֹרִ֔ים עֹזְרֵ֖י הַמִּלְחָמָֽה׃

12:2They were armed with bows, and could use both the right hand and the left in hurling stones and shooting arrows out of a bow, even of Shaul’s brethren of Binyamin (Benjamin).

בנֹ֣שְׁקֵי קֶ֗שֶׁת מַיְמִינִ֤ים וּמַשְׂמִאלִים֙ בָּֽאֲבָנִ֔ים וּבַחִצִּ֖ים בַּקָּ֑שֶׁת מֵאֲחֵ֥י שָׁא֖וּל מִבִּנְיָמִֽן׃

12:3The chief was Aḥi’ezer (Ahiezer), then Yo’ash (Joash), the sons of Shema’ah (Shemaah) the Giv’ati (Gibeathite); and Yezi’el (Jeziel), and Pelet, the sons of Azmavet (Azmaveth); and Berachah, and Yehu (Jehu) the Anetoti (Antothite),

גהָרֹ֨אשׁ אֲחִיעֶ֜זֶר וְיוֹאָ֗שׁ בְּנֵי֙ הַשְּׁמָעָ֣ה הַגִּבְעָתִ֔י ויזואל (קרי וִיזִיאֵ֥ל) וָפֶ֖לֶט בְּנֵ֣י עַזְמָ֑וֶת וּבְרָכָ֕ה וְיֵה֖וּא הָעֲנְּתֹתִֽי׃

Written and read. Written ויזואל, read וִיזִיאֵ֥ל. The Hebrew shows the written form (ketiv); the English follows the reading (qere).

12:4And Yishma’yah (Ismaiah) the Giv’oni (Gibeonite), a mighty man among the thirty, and over the thirty;

דוְיִֽשְׁמַֽעְיָ֧ה הַגִּבְעוֹנִ֛י גִּבּ֥וֹר בַּשְּׁלֹשִׁ֖ים וְעַל־הַשְּׁלֹשִֽׁים׃

12:5and Yirmeyah (Jeremiah), and Yaḥazi’el (Jahaziel), and Yoḥanan (Johanan), and Yozavad (Josabad) the Gederati (Gederathite),

הוְיִרְמְיָ֤ה וְיַחֲזִיאֵל֙ וְי֣וֹחָנָ֔ן וְיוֹזָבָ֖ד הַגְּדֵרָתִֽי׃

12:6El’uzai (Eluzai), and Yerimot (Jerimoth), and Be’alyah (Bealiah), and Shemaryahu (Shemariah), and Shefatyahu (Shephatiah) the Ḥarufi (Haruphite),

ואֶלְעוּזַ֤י וִירִימוֹת֙ וּבְעַלְיָ֣ה וּשְׁמַרְיָ֔הוּ וּשְׁפַטְיָ֖הוּ החריפי (קרי הַחֲרוּפִֽי)׃

Written and read. Written החריפי, read הַחֲרוּפִֽי. The Hebrew shows the written form (ketiv); the English follows the reading (qere).

12:7Elkanah, and Yishiyahu (Jesiah), and Azar’el (Azareel), and Yo’ezer (Joezer), and Yashov’am (Jashobeam), the Korḥim (Korhites),

זאֶלְקָנָ֡ה וְ֠יִשִּׁיָּהוּ וַעֲזַרְאֵ֧ל וְיוֹעֶ֛זֶר וְיָשָׁבְעָ֖ם הַקָּרְחִֽים׃

12:8And Yo’elah (Joelah), and Zevadyah (Zebadiah), the sons of Yeroḥam (Jeroham) of Gedor.

חוְיוֹעֵאלָ֧ה וּזְבַדְיָ֛ה בְּנֵ֥י יְרֹחָ֖ם מִן־הַגְּדֽוֹר׃

Commentary · 12:1–8

Shaul’s own brothers come to Tziklag

Chapter 12 has no parallel in Samuel. It goes back first to the men who came to David while he was still a fugitive, then forward to the tribes who came to Ḥevron to crown him: the hidden years first, the public day second.

Tziklag was the Pelishti town Achish gave David (1 Samuel 27:6), the lowest point of his life: an anointed king living under a Pelishti lord, outside the land. The Chronicler begins his picture of the kingdom there, and the first men who come are the last we would expect: “Shaul’s brethren of Binyamin” (12:2), some from Shaul’s own Giv’ah (12:3). Binyamin was the tribe of slingers, “seven hundred chosen men lefthanded” (Judges 20:16); Ya’akov named this son Binyamin, “son of the right hand” (Genesis 35:18), and the tribe of the right hand learned to fight “both the right hand and the left.” Shaul lost the kingdom over a sin he could not recover from; these men of Binyamin could change hands.

Messianic reading. A Pharisee of Binyamin named Shaul, who had hunted the Messiah’s people, later came over to the Son of David with both hands, and offered himself as proof that Hashem had not cast away His people: “I also am an Israelite… of the tribe of Binyamin” (Romans 11:1). The men of Binyamin at Tziklag are the first of that line.

Read more in the full commentary →

The men of Gad

12:9And of the Gadi (Gadites) there separated themselves unto David into the hold to the wilderness men of might, and men of war fit for the battle, that could handle shield and buckler, whose faces were like the faces of lions, and were as swift as the roes upon the mountains;

טוּמִן־הַגָּדִ֡י נִבְדְּל֣וּ אֶל־דָּוִיד֩ לַמְצַ֨ד מִדְבָּ֜רָה גִּבֹּרֵ֣י הַחַ֗יִל אַנְשֵׁ֤י צָבָא֙ לַמִּלְחָמָ֔ה עֹרְכֵ֥י צִנָּ֖ה וָרֹ֑מַח וּפְנֵ֤י אַרְיֵה֙ פְּנֵיהֶ֔ם וְכִצְבָאיִ֥ם עַל־הֶהָרִ֖ים לְמַהֵֽר׃

12:10Ezer the first, Ovadyah (Obadiah) the second, Eli’av (Eliab) the third,

יעֵ֖זֶר הָרֹ֑אשׁ עֹבַדְיָה֙ הַשֵּׁנִ֔י אֱלִיאָ֖ב הַשְּׁלִשִֽׁי׃

12:11Mishmanah (Mishmannah) the fourth, Yirmeyah the fifth,

יאמִשְׁמַנָּה֙ הָרְבִיעִ֔י יִרְמְיָ֖ה הַחֲמִשִֽׁי׃

12:12Atai (Attai) the sixth, Eli’el (Eliel) the seventh,

יבעַתַּי֙ הַשִּׁשִּׁ֔י אֱלִיאֵ֖ל הַשְּׁבִעִֽי׃

12:13Yoḥanan the eighth, Elzavad (Elzabad) the ninth,

יגיֽוֹחָנָן֙ הַשְּׁמִינִ֔י אֶלְזָבָ֖ד הַתְּשִׁיעִֽי׃

12:14Yirmeyahu the tenth, Machbanai the eleventh.

ידיִרְמְיָ֨הוּ֙ הָעֲשִׂירִ֔י ס מַכְבַּנַּ֖י עַשְׁתֵּ֥י עָשָֽׂר׃

12:15These were of the sons of Gad, captains of the host: one of the least was over a hundred, and the greatest over a thousand.

טואֵ֥לֶּה מִבְּנֵי־גָ֖ד רָאשֵׁ֣י הַצָּבָ֑א אֶחָ֤ד לְמֵאָה֙ הַקָּטָ֔ן וְהַגָּד֖וֹל לְאָֽלֶף׃

12:16These are they that went over Yarden (Jordan) in the first month, when it had overflown all his banks; and they put to flight all them of the valleys, both toward the east, and toward the west.

טזאֵ֣לֶּה הֵ֗ם אֲשֶׁ֨ר עָבְר֤וּ אֶת־הַיַּרְדֵּן֙ בַּחֹ֣דֶשׁ הָרִאשׁ֔וֹן וְה֥וּא מְמַלֵּ֖א עַל־כָּל־גדיתיו (קרי גְּדוֹתָ֑יו) וַיַּבְרִ֨יחוּ֙ אֶת־כָּל־הָ֣עֲמָקִ֔ים לַמִּזְרָ֖ח וְלַֽמַּעֲרָֽב׃

Written and read. Written גדיתיו, read גְּדוֹתָ֑יו. The Hebrew shows the written form (ketiv); the English follows the reading (qere).

Commentary · 12:9–16

The Gadi cross the Yarden in flood

Hebrew lesson: נִבְדְּלוּ (nivdelu), “they separated themselves.” “And of the Gadi there separated themselves unto David into the hold to the wilderness” (12:9). This is the Torah’s word for holiness: Israel is to “put difference (lehavdil) between holy and unholy” (Leviticus 10:10), and Ezra uses it for the returned exiles who “separated themselves… from the filthiness of the heathen of the land” (Ezra 6:21). The Gadi did not merely desert to David. They set themselves apart to him, the way a priest is set apart for service. Coming to the king is an act of havdalah.

The Yarden in the first month. Moshe blessed Gad with the lion (Deuteronomy 33:20), and these eleven men with “faces like the faces of lions” “went over Yarden in the first month, when it had overflown all his banks” (12:16). The first month is the month of Pesaḥ, and only one other crossing of the Yarden in flood stands in Scripture: Yehoshua’s, on the tenth of the first month (Joshua 3:15; 4:19). Then the waters were cut off; here the men cross the flood. The Gadi coming to David in the month of redemption is a small new exodus, and it keeps their fathers’ old promise to cross over armed before their brethren (Numbers 32:20–22) one more time.

Read more in the full commentary →

Men of Binyamin and Yehudah

12:17And there came of the children of Binyamin and Yehudah (Judah) to the hold unto David.

יזוַיָּבֹ֗אוּ מִן־בְּנֵ֤י בִנְיָמִן֙ וִֽיהוּדָ֔ה עַד־לַמְצָ֖ד לְדָוִֽיד׃

12:18And David went out to meet them, and answered and said unto them, “If you are come peaceably unto me to help me, my heart shall be knit unto you: but if you are come to betray me to my enemies, seeing there is no wrong in my hands, the God of our fathers look thereon, and rebuke it.”

יחוַיֵּצֵ֣א דָוִיד֮ לִפְנֵיהֶם֒ וַיַּ֨עַן֙ וַיֹּ֣אמֶר לָהֶ֔ם אִם־לְשָׁל֞וֹם בָּאתֶ֤ם אֵלַי֙ לְעָזְרֵ֔נִי יִֽהְיֶה־לִּ֧י עֲלֵיכֶ֛ם לֵבָ֖ב לְיָ֑חַד וְאִֽם־לְרַמּוֹתַ֣נִי לְצָרַ֗י בְּלֹ֤א חָמָס֙ בְּכַפַּ֔י יֵ֛רֶא אֱלֹהֵ֥י אֲבוֹתֵ֖ינוּ וְיוֹכַֽח׃

12:19Then the spirit came upon Amasai, who was chief of the captains, and he said, “Yours are we, David, and on your side, you son of Yishai (Jesse): peace, peace be unto you, and peace be to your helpers; for your God helps you.” Then David received them, and made them captains of the band.

יטוְר֣וּחַ לָבְשָׁ֗ה אֶת־עֲמָשַׂי֮ רֹ֣אשׁ השלושים (קרי הַשָּׁלִישִׁים֒) לְךָ֤ דָוִיד֙ וְעִמְּךָ֣ בֶן־יִשַׁ֔י שָׁל֨וֹם ׀ שָׁל֜וֹם לְךָ֗ וְשָׁלוֹם֙ לְעֹ֣זְרֶ֔ךָ כִּ֥י עֲזָרְךָ֖ אֱלֹהֶ֑יךָ וַיְקַבְּלֵ֣ם דָּוִ֔יד וַֽיִּתְּנֵ֖ם בְּרָאשֵׁ֥י הַגְּדֽוּד׃

Written and read. Written השלושים, read הַשָּׁלִישִׁים֒. The Hebrew shows the written form (ketiv); the English follows the reading (qere).

Commentary · 12:17–19

“Yours are we, David”

David has been betrayed before, by Ke’ilah and by the Zifim (1 Samuel 23:12, 19). So when a company of Binyamin and Yehudah arrives at the hold, he meets them outside and puts the question. His welcome is tender: “my heart shall be knit unto you,” in Hebrew levav leyachad, “a heart for togetherness.” His warning is a courtroom: “the God of our fathers look thereon, and rebuke it” (12:18). He will not fight them; he refers the case upward.

Hebrew lesson: וְרוּחַ לָבְשָׁה (veruach lavshah), “and the Spirit clothed.” “Then the spirit came upon Amasai” (12:19) is literally “clothed Amasai.” Scripture uses the idiom three times: of Gid’on (Judges 6:34), here, and of Zechariah son of Yehoyada when he rebuked King Yo’ash in the Temple court (2 Chronicles 24:20). Each time the Spirit clothes a man to say in public what Heaven has decided. Here the Spirit rests not on the king but on the man who recognizes him.

“Son of Yishai,” in the mouths of Shaul, Naval and Sheva a sneer (1 Samuel 20:27; 25:10; 2 Samuel 20:1), becomes a confession, and Isaiah would make it a title of the Messiah: “there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people” (Isaiah 11:10).

Messianic reading. When Peter said, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God,” Yeshua answered, “flesh and blood has not revealed it unto you” (Matthew 16:16–17); “no man can say that Yeshua is Lord, but by the Holy Spirit” (1 Corinthians 12:3). To recognize the king while he is still in the hold is the Spirit clothing a man.

Read more in the full commentary →

Men of Menashe

12:20And there fell some of Menashe (Manasseh) to David, when he came with the Pelishtim (Philistines) against Shaul to battle: but they helped them not: for the lords of the Pelishtim upon advisement sent him away, saying, “He will fall to his master Shaul to the jeopardy of our heads.”

כוּמִֽמְּנַשֶּׁ֞ה נָפְל֣וּ עַל־דָּוִ֗יד בְּבֹא֨וֹ עִם־פְּלִשְׁתִּ֧ים עַל־שָׁא֛וּל לַמִּלְחָמָ֖ה וְלֹ֣א עֲזָרֻ֑ם כִּ֣י בְעֵצָ֗ה שִׁלְּחֻ֜הוּ סַרְנֵ֤י פְלִשְׁתִּים֙ לֵאמֹ֔ר בְּרָאשֵׁ֕ינוּ יִפּ֖וֹל אֶל־אֲדֹנָ֥יו שָׁאֽוּל׃

12:21As he went to Tziklag, there fell to him of Menashe, Adnaḥ (Adnah), and Yozavad (Jozabad), and Yedia’el (Jediael), and Micha’el (Michael), and Yozavad, and Elihu, and Tziltai (Zilthai), captains of the thousands that were of Menashe.

כאבְּלֶכְתּ֣וֹ אֶל־צִֽיקְלַ֗ג נָפְל֣וּ עָלָ֣יו ׀ מִֽמְּנַשֶּׁ֡ה עַ֠דְנַח וְיוֹזָבָ֤ד וִידִֽיעֲאֵל֙ וּמִיכָאֵ֣ל וְיוֹזָבָ֔ד וֶאֱלִיה֖וּא וְצִלְּתָ֑י רָאשֵׁ֥י הָאֲלָפִ֖ים אֲשֶׁ֥ר לִמְנַשֶּֽׁה׃

12:22And they helped David against the band of the rovers: for they were all mighty men of valour, and were captains in the host.

כבוְהֵ֗מָּה עָזְר֤וּ עִם־דָּוִיד֙ עַֽל־הַגְּד֔וּד כִּֽי־גִבּ֥וֹרֵי חַ֖יִל כֻּלָּ֑ם וַיִּהְי֥וּ שָׂרִ֖ים בַּצָּבָֽא׃

12:23For at that time day by day there came to David to help him, until it was a great host, like the host of God.

כגכִּ֚י לְעֶת־י֣וֹם בְּי֔וֹם יָבֹ֥אוּ עַל־דָּוִ֖יד לְעָזְר֑וֹ עַד־לְמַחֲנֶ֥ה גָד֖וֹל כְּמַחֲנֵ֥ה אֱלֹהִֽים׃

Commentary · 12:20–23

Menashe, and a host like the host of God

The Chronicler assumes we know 1 Samuel 29, and adds what Samuel does not say: on the road home from the Pelishti camp seven captains of Menashe “fell to him” (12:21), in time to help against “the band of the rovers” that had raided Tziklag (12:22; 1 Samuel 30). Hashem used the Pelishtim’s suspicion to keep David out of the battle in which Shaul died, and used the same road to bring him captains from Yosef’s house.

Hebrew lesson: כְּמַחֲנֵה אֱלֹהִים (kemachaneh Elohim), “like the host of God.” “For at that time day by day there came to David to help him, until it was a great host, like the host of God” (12:23). The phrase comes from one place in the Torah. When Ya’akov came back to the land, “the angels of God met him. And when Ya’akov saw them, he said, This is God’s host (machaneh Elohim): and he called the name of that place Maḥanayim” (Genesis 32:1–2). The commentators read the Chronicler’s phrase as a figure for a very great host; the words themselves recall Ya’akov’s angels.

And they came “day by day.” The kingdom grew one man at a time, in a Pelishti border town, while the official king still sat on his throne. The first assembly of Yeshua’s followers grew the same way: “the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved” (Acts 2:47).

Read more in the full commentary →

The tribes come to Ḥevron

12:24And these are the numbers of the bands that were ready armed to the war, and came to David to Ḥevron (Hebron), to turn the kingdom of Shaul to him, according to the word of Hashem.

כדוְ֠אֵלֶּה מִסְפְּרֵ֞י רָאשֵׁ֤י הֶֽחָלוּץ֙ לַצָּבָ֔א בָּ֥אוּ עַל־דָּוִ֖יד חֶבְר֑וֹנָה לְהָסֵ֞ב מַלְכ֥וּת שָׁא֛וּל אֵלָ֖יו כְּפִ֥י יְהוָֽה׃

12:25The children of Yehudah that bore shield and spear were six thousand and eight hundred, ready armed to the war.

כהבְּנֵ֣י יְהוּדָ֔ה נֹשְׂאֵ֥י צִנָּ֖ה וָרֹ֑מַח שֵׁ֧שֶׁת אֲלָפִ֛ים וּשְׁמוֹנֶ֥ה מֵא֖וֹת חֲלוּצֵ֥י צָבָֽא׃

12:26Of the children of Shim’on (Simeon), mighty men of valour for the war, seven thousand and one hundred.

כומִן־בְּנֵ֣י שִׁמְע֗וֹן גִּבּ֤וֹרֵי חַ֨יִל֙ לַצָּבָ֔א שִׁבְעַ֥ת אֲלָפִ֖ים וּמֵאָֽה׃

12:27Of the children of Levi four thousand and six hundred.

כזמִן־בְּנֵי֙ הַלֵּוִ֔י אַרְבַּ֥עַת אֲלָפִ֖ים וְשֵׁ֥שׁ מֵאֽוֹת׃

12:28And Yehoyada (Jehoiada) was the leader of the Aharoni (Aaronites), and with him were three thousand and seven hundred;

כחוִיהוֹיָדָ֖ע הַנָּגִ֣יד לְאַהֲרֹ֑ן וְעִמּ֕וֹ שְׁלֹ֥שֶׁת אֲלָפִ֖ים וּשְׁבַ֥ע מֵאֽוֹת׃

12:29And Tzadok (Zadok), a young man mighty of valour, and of his father’s house twenty and two captains.

כטוְצָד֥וֹק נַ֖עַר גִּבּ֣וֹר חָ֑יִל וּבֵית־אָבִ֥יו שָׂרִ֖ים עֶשְׂרִ֥ים וּשְׁנָֽיִם׃

12:30And of the children of Binyamin, the kindred of Shaul, three thousand: for hitherto the greatest part of them had kept the ward of the house of Shaul.

לוּמִן־בְּנֵ֧י בִנְיָמִ֛ן אֲחֵ֥י שָׁא֖וּל שְׁלֹ֣שֶׁת אֲלָפִ֑ים וְעַד־הֵ֨נָּה֙ מַרְבִּיתָ֔ם שֹׁמְרִ֕ים מִשְׁמֶ֖רֶת בֵּ֥ית שָׁאֽוּל׃

12:31And of the children of Efrayim (Ephraim) twenty thousand and eight hundred, mighty men of valour, famous throughout the house of their fathers.

לאוּמִן־בְּנֵ֣י אֶפְרַ֔יִם עֶשְׂרִ֥ים אֶ֖לֶף וּשְׁמוֹנֶ֣ה מֵא֑וֹת גִּבּ֣וֹרֵי חַ֔יִל אַנְשֵׁ֥י שֵׁמ֖וֹת לְבֵ֥ית אֲבוֹתָֽם׃

12:32And of the half tribe of Menashe eighteen thousand, which were expressed by name, to come and make David king.

לבוּמֵחֲצִי֙ מַטֵּ֣ה מְנַשֶּׁ֔ה שְׁמוֹנָ֥ה עָשָׂ֖ר אָ֑לֶף אֲשֶׁ֤ר נִקְּבוּ֙ בְּשֵׁמ֔וֹת לָב֖וֹא לְהַמְלִ֥יךְ אֶת־דָּוִֽיד׃

Commentary · 12:24–32

The tribes at Ḥevron: Yehudah to Menashe

“To turn the kingdom of Shaul to him, according to the word of Hashem” (12:24) uses the same verb as 10:14, “He turned the kingdom unto David.” Hashem turned it; the tribes turned it. The second is how the first was done.

The numbers are not what we expect. Yehudah, David’s own tribe, sends 6,800; Shim’on 7,100; Binyamin, “the kindred of Shaul,” only 3,000, “for hitherto the greatest part of them had kept the ward of the house of Shaul” (12:30). But Efrayim sends 20,800 and the half tribe of Menashe 18,000, “expressed by name, to come and make David king” (12:31–32). The near tribes send the fewest, the far tribes the most. The tribes of Yosef, who in a later generation would tear the kingdom in two, come in tens of thousands. In the Chronicler’s day these numbers were a memory and a promise: Efrayim and Menashe once came to the son of David with all their strength, and the prophets say they will again (Ezekiel 37:19; Jeremiah 31:6, 9).

The priests come armed. The Torah exempted Levi from the military census (Numbers 1:47–49), but here Levi’s 4,600, Yehoyada “the leader of the Aharoni” with 3,700, and “Tzadok, a young man mighty of valour” (12:27–29) are counted among the bands “ready armed to the war.” The Chronicler shows the returned community its own priesthood standing at the birth of the kingdom. The Temple and the throne were never two institutions in his mind.

Read more in the full commentary →

12:33And of the children of Yissachar (Issachar), which were men that had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do; the heads of them were two hundred; and all their brethren were at their commandment.

לגוּמִבְּנֵ֣י יִשָּׂשכָ֗ר יוֹדְעֵ֤י בִינָה֙ לַֽעִתִּ֔ים לָדַ֖עַת מַה־יַּעֲשֶׂ֣ה יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל רָאשֵׁיהֶ֣ם מָאתַ֔יִם וְכָל־אֲחֵיהֶ֖ם עַל־פִּיהֶֽם׃

Commentary · 12:33

Yissachar: men who understood the times

Every other tribe is counted by thousands. Yissachar is counted by its two hundred heads, and described not by its weapons but by its mind: “men that had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do” (12:33).

The sages saw a tribe of scholars: halachic authorities come from Levi or from Yissachar (Yoma 26a), and the Midrash reads the two hundred heads as heads of the Sanhedrin (Bereshit Rabbah 72:5). Rashi on Ya’akov’s blessing explains that the tribes followed Yissachar’s rulings on fixing the months and the years (Rashi on Genesis 49:15). “Understanding of the times” was, first of all, the calendar (compare Esther 1:13; Megillah 12b). Ariel Cohen Alloro, in “New World Order – Hiram and the Freemasons – Part 11”, says, “Yissachar, the donkey, is the one that knows the times,” and connects it to knowing “when the Mashiach has to come.” The donkey is Ya’akov’s image for Yissachar (Genesis 49:14) and the Messiah’s mount (Zechariah 9:9). We take the hint as a hint.

Messianic reading. Yeshua rebuked the leaders of his generation with Yissachar’s gift: “can you not discern the signs of the times?” (Matthew 16:3). The same Yeshua said, “It is not for you to know the times or the seasons” (Acts 1:7), and our Statement of Faith sets no dates. Understanding the times, in Yissachar’s sense, means knowing which king to go to, and going.

Read more in the full commentary →

12:34Of Zevulun (Zebulun), such as went forth to battle, expert in war, with all instruments of war, fifty thousand, which could keep rank: they were not of double heart.

לדמִזְּבֻל֞וּן יוֹצְאֵ֣י צָבָ֗א עֹרְכֵ֧י מִלְחָמָ֛ה בְּכָל־כְּלֵ֥י מִלְחָמָ֖ה חֲמִשִּׁ֣ים אָ֑לֶף וְלַעֲדֹ֖ר בְּלֹא־לֵ֥ב וָלֵֽב׃

12:35And of Naftali (Naphtali) a thousand captains, and with them with shield and spear thirty and seven thousand.

להוּמִנַּפְתָּלִ֖י שָׂרִ֣ים אָ֑לֶף וְעִמָּהֶם֙ בְּצִנָּ֣ה וַחֲנִ֔ית שְׁלֹשִׁ֥ים וְשִׁבְעָ֖ה אָֽלֶף׃

12:36And of the Dani (Danites) expert in war twenty and eight thousand and six hundred.

לווּמִן־הַדָּנִי֙ עֹרְכֵ֣י מִלְחָמָ֔ה עֶשְׂרִֽים־וּשְׁמוֹנָ֥ה אֶ֖לֶף וְשֵׁ֥שׁ מֵאֽוֹת׃

12:37And of Asher, such as went forth to battle, expert in war, forty thousand.

לזוּמֵאָשֵׁ֗ר יוֹצְאֵ֥י צָבָ֛א לַעֲרֹ֥ךְ מִלְחָמָ֖ה אַרְבָּעִ֥ים אָֽלֶף׃

12:38And on the other side of Yarden, of the Re’uveni (Reubenites), and the Gadi, and of the half tribe of Menashe, with all manner of instruments of war for the battle, a hundred and twenty thousand.

לחוּמֵעֵ֣בֶר לַ֠יַּרְדֵּן מִן־הָראוּבֵנִ֨י וְהַגָּדִ֜י וַחֲצִ֣י ׀ שֵׁ֣בֶט מְנַשֶּׁ֗ה בְּכֹל֙ כְּלֵי֙ צְבָ֣א מִלְחָמָ֔ה מֵאָ֥ה וְעֶשְׂרִ֖ים אָֽלֶף׃

Commentary · 12:34–38

Zevulun to the far side of the Yarden: “not of double heart”

Zevulun sends 50,000, Naftali a thousand captains and 37,000, Dan 28,600, Asher 40,000, and the Re’uveni, the Gadi and the half tribe of Menashe beyond the Yarden 120,000 (12:34–38). Added together, about 340,800 men came to Ḥevron. The two and a half tribes across the river, whose faith and exile the Chronicler recorded in chapter 5, send the largest contingent of all. No tribe is absent.

Hebrew lesson: בְּלֹא־לֵב וָלֵב (belo lev valev), “not with a heart and a heart.” That is the phrase behind “they were not of double heart” (12:34; compare Psalm 12:2). Zevulun’s fifty thousand had one heart between them, and verse 39 says it of all: they “came with a perfect heart (belevav shalem) to Ḥevron… and all the rest also of Israel were of one heart (lev echad) to make David king” (12:39). One heart is the prophets’ promise for the end of days: “I will give them one heart, and one way” (Jeremiah 32:39; Ezekiel 11:19). The Chronicler shows it kept once, at Ḥevron, as a pledge that it will be kept again.

The first followers of Yeshua in Yerushalayim are described in the same words: “the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul” (Acts 4:32). One heart toward the king makes one people.

Read more in the full commentary →

12:39All these men of war, that could keep rank, came with a perfect heart to Ḥevron, to make David king over all Israel: and all the rest also of Israel were of one heart to make David king.

לטכָּל־אֵ֜לֶּה אַנְשֵׁ֣י מִלְחָמָה֮ עֹדְרֵ֣י מַעֲרָכָה֒ בְּלֵבָ֤ב שָׁלֵם֙ בָּ֣אוּ חֶבְר֔וֹנָה לְהַמְלִ֥יךְ אֶת־דָּוִ֖יד עַל־כָּל־יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל וְ֠גַם כָּל־שֵׁרִ֧ית יִשְׂרָאֵ֛ל לֵ֥ב אֶחָ֖ד לְהַמְלִ֥יךְ אֶת־דָּוִֽיד׃

Three days with David

12:40And there they were with David three days, eating and drinking: for their brethren had prepared for them.

מוַיִּהְיוּ־שָׁ֤ם עִם־דָּוִיד֙ יָמִ֣ים שְׁלוֹשָׁ֔ה אֹכְלִ֖ים וְשׁוֹתִ֑ים כִּֽי־הֵכִ֥ינוּ לָהֶ֖ם אֲחֵיהֶֽם׃

12:41Moreover they that were nigh them, even unto Yissachar and Zevulun and Naftali, brought bread on donkeys, and on camels, and on mules, and on oxen, and food, meal, cakes of figs, and bunches of raisins, and wine, and oil, and oxen, and sheep abundantly: for there was joy in Israel.

מאוְגַ֣ם הַקְּרֽוֹבִים־אֲ֠לֵיהֶם עַד־יִשָׂשכָ֨ר וּזְבֻל֜וּן וְנַפְתָּלִ֗י מְבִיאִ֣ים לֶ֡חֶם בַּחֲמוֹרִ֣ים וּבַגְּמַלִּ֣ים וּבַפְּרָדִ֣ים ׀ וּֽבַבָּקָ֡ר מַאֲכָ֡ל קֶ֠מַח דְּבֵלִ֨ים וְצִמּוּקִ֧ים וְיַֽיִן־וְשֶׁ֛מֶן וּבָקָ֥ר וְצֹ֖אן לָרֹ֑ב כִּ֥י שִׂמְחָ֖ה בְּיִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃

Commentary · 12:39–41

Three days of feasting: “for there was joy in Israel”

The chapter that began at Tziklag, with a hunted man and a handful of archers, ends with some 340,000 men eating together at Ḥevron for three days, supplied by caravans from as far as Yissachar, Zevulun and Naftali, who “brought bread on donkeys, and on camels, and on mules, and on oxen” (12:41). Figs, raisins, wine and oil are the fruit of the land (Deuteronomy 8:8); the land itself comes to the coronation.

A coronation is a feast. The Chronicler ends David’s reign as he begins it: when all Israel crowns Shlomo, they “did eat and drink before Hashem on that day with great gladness” (29:22). Isaiah saw the end of days as “a feast of fat things” on the mountain, where “He will swallow up death in victory” (Isaiah 25:6–8), and Yeshua promised that “many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Avraham, and Yitzḥak, and Ya’akov, in the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 8:11). Joy in Chronicles is never private; it is what happens when all Israel is in one place, around one king. Nehemiah told the returned exiles, “the joy of Hashem is your strength” (Nehemiah 8:10); the Chronicler shows them the day it first was.

Messianic reading. David in the hold at Tziklag, hidden and outside the land, is David in the pattern of Mashiach ben Yosef. David at Ḥevron with every tribe before him is David in the pattern of Mashiach ben David. Our Statement of Faith teaches that these are one Messiah in two comings. Day by day they still come. The Chronicler promises that the Ḥevron day is coming, when “all the rest also of Israel” are “of one heart,” and there is joy in Israel.

Read more in the full commentary →

Sources & method

Hebrew text: The Masoretic text with vowels (nikkud) and cantillation marks (ta’amim), from the Westminster Leningrad Codex (public domain) as published by the Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible (CC BY 4.0). Where the written text (ketiv) differs from the reading (qere), the Hebrew shows the written form, the reading follows in small type, and a note under the verse gives both. The English follows the reading. A paragraph mark (ס or פ) inside a verse is shown in small type.
English translation: The King James Version (public domain), lightly modernized by Benei Avraham: “thee/thou/ye” become “you,” older verb forms are updated (“hath” to “has”), and archaic words are replaced only where the meaning would otherwise be unclear. People and places carry their Hebrew names, with the King James spelling in parentheses the first time on each page (e.g., Yehudah (Judah)). The Divine Name (יהוה, “the LORD” in the KJV) is written “Hashem”; “God” (Elohim) is unchanged, and “law” is “Torah” where the Hebrew is תּוֹרָה.
Verse numbers: Verse numbers follow the Hebrew Bible. In 1 Chronicles they differ from most English Bibles in chapters 5, 6 and 12; a note under the summary on those pages explains how.
Commentary: Written for our Wednesday Tenakh study from a Messianic Jewish perspective, in line with the Benei Avraham Statement of Faith. It reads the passage first in its Torah setting, then with the Sages, and then with the witness of the Brit Hadashah. Its sources include the Talmud and Midrash, Rashi, Radak, Rambam, the First Fruits of Zion End of Days lessons, and teachings of Rabbi Efraim Palvanov and Ariel Cohen Alloro. Numerical readings (gematria) are offered as hints, not proofs. The notes here are short versions of our full 1 Chronicles commentary, which is a draft for our teachers to review. They are shown by default; tap Commentary to hide them.
Quiz: Written by Benei Avraham for young readers (about 11 and up). Every answer is in the chapter on this page. Answers and scores are kept only in this browser (local storage) and can be cleared with Start over.
Hebrew font: SBL Hebrew, by the Society of Biblical Literature.

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1 Chronicles 12 (Divrei HaYamim Alef) in Hebrew and English

1 Chronicles, Chapter 12

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