This is the thing which you shall do: a third of you, of the priests and Levites who come in on the Sabbath, shall be gatekeepers,
Parallel translations
- WEB This is the thing that you must do. A third part of you, who come in on the Sabbath, of the priests and of the Levites, shall be porters of the thresholds.
- KJV This is the thing that ye shall do; A third part of you entering on the sabbath, of the priests and of the Levites, shall be porters of the doors;
- BSB This is what you are to do: A third of you priests and Levites who come on duty on the Sabbath shall keep watch at the doors,
- NKJV This is what you shall do: One-third of you entering on the Sabbath, of the priests and the Levites, shall be keeping watch over the doors;
- NLT This is what you must do. When you priests and Levites come on duty on the Sabbath, a third of you will serve as gatekeepers.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Jehoiada assigned the priests and Levites coming on duty to guard the temple thresholds. He organized careful protection for the holy place and the king.
Overview
The plan divided the incoming Sabbath shift to serve as gatekeepers at the temple doors. Jehoiada's attention to order respected the sanctity of God's house even amid a coup. The careful arrangement reflects reverence for both the king and the Lord's holiness.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 5
- 1 Chr 24:3–6David with Zadok of the sons of Eleazar and Ahimelech of the sons of Ithamar, divided them according to their ordering in their service.
- Luke 1:8–9Now while he executed the priest’s office before God in the order of his division,
- 1 Chr 23:3–6The Levites were counted from thirty years old and upward; and their number by their polls, man by man, was thirty-eight thousand.
- 1 Chr 9:25Their brothers, in their villages, were to come in every seven days from time to time to be with them:
- 1 Chr 26:13–16They cast lots, the small as well as the great, according to their fathers’ houses, for every gate.
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Christ at the center
Temple, priesthood, and the repeated need for a faithful king who seeks the LORD all point past every imperfect reign to the King and Temple who finally and fully dwell with God's people.
How 2 Chronicles 23:4 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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