Treasury of Scripture
the chief fathers The patriarchs, chief generals, or generals of brigade. This enumeration is widely different from that of the preceding. In that, we have the order and course of the priests and Levites, in their ecclesiastical ministrations: in this, we have the account of the order of the civil service, what related simply to the political state of the king and kingdom. Twenty-four persons, chosen out of David's worthies, each of whom had a second, were placed over
24,000 men, who all served a month at a time, in turn; and this was the whole of their service during the year, after which they attended to their own affairs. Thus the king had always on foot a regular force of
24,000, who served without expense to him or the state, and were not oppressed by the service, which took up only a twelfth part of their time; and by this plan he could, at any time, bring into the field
12 times
24,000 or
288,000 fighting men, independently of the
12,000 officers, which made in the whole an effective force of
300,000 soldiers; and all these men were prepared, disciplined, and ready at a call, without the smallest expense to the state or the king. These were, properly speaking, the militia of the Israelites kingdom.
captains
1 Chronicles 28:1 And David assembled all the princes of Israel, the princes of the tribes...
2 Chronicles 17:12-19 And Jehoshaphat waxed great exceedingly; and he built in Judah castles, and cities of store...
2 Chronicles 26:11-13 Moreover Uzziah had an host of fighting men, that went out to war by bands...
any matter
1 Kings 4:7,27 And Solomon had twelve officers over all Israel, which provided victuals for the king and his household...