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1 Chronicles 25:16-22
The roster continues in sequence from the ninth through the fifteenth lot, repeating the same group size and naming pattern.
Meaning in context
The roster continues in sequence from the ninth through the fifteenth lot, repeating the same group size and naming pattern.
Section 4 of 5
Lots Nine Through Fifteen Listed
The roster continues in sequence from the ninth through the fifteenth lot, repeating the same group size and naming pattern.
Movement
Remembering David after exile
Artifact
Genealogies and temple preparation
Biblical Timeline
Exile & Return
1 Chronicles context: 586 BC - 400 BC
Biblical Timeline
Exile & Return
1 Chronicles context
Exile & Return / 586 BC - 400 BC
1 Chronicles context is set in the exile and return, where Babylonian exile, return, rebuilding, and renewed covenant life under Persian rule.
Scripture Text
Thesis
The roster continues in sequence from the ninth through the fifteenth lot, repeating the same group size and naming pattern.
Verse by Verse
Lots nine and ten The ninth lot is assigned to Mattaniah, counted with “his sons and his brothers,” making twelve. The tenth lot is assigned to Shimei, again counted with “his sons and his brothers,” making twelve.
Lots eleven and twelve The eleventh lot is assigned to Azarel, and the text repeats the same group formula: his sons and his brothers, twelve total. The twelfth lot is assigned to Hashabiah with the same total of twelve.
Lots thirteen through fifteen The thirteenth group is assigned to Shubael, again listing his sons and brothers as twelve. The fourteenth is assigned to Mattithiah with twelve. The fifteenth is assigned to Jeremoth with twelve. The sequence highlights that each lot corresponds to a full, equal-sized group.
Literary Context
This unit sits inside a longer roster in 1 Chronicles 25 that organizes singers and musicians for service connected with the sanctuary. Earlier in the chapter, the larger pool of musicians is introduced and arranged, and then the lots are listed one by one in a steady, repetitive format (compare 1 Chronicles 25:9–15). Verses 16–22 keep the same logic and wording, functioning like the middle of a schedule: the story pauses to record names, numbers, and order. The repetition emphasizes consistency and completeness more than it emphasizes individual biography.
Historical Context
Chronicles was compiled in the Persian-period setting, when the Judean community was rebuilding stable public life around the temple and its personnel. Lists like this would help preserve memory of recognized families, roles, and rotations, especially for Levite-related service. Even though the chapter portrays arrangements associated with David’s reign, the record also serves later readers by showing that worship service was organized, shared among households, and run in an orderly way. The “lots” language reflects a common ancient way of assigning turns fairly rather than relying on personal status or negotiation.
Theological Significance
Questions
Keep Studying
These verses are part of a larger roster that assigns temple music service by lot. Each entry follows the same formula: a numbered lot is assigned “to” a named leader, and the leader is connected with “his sons and his brothers,” with a total of twelve each time (lots nine through fifteen). The repeated “twelve” suggests standard-sized teams and an even distribution of responsibility.
The passage is administrative rather than descriptive. It does not explain what each group played or sang; it documents a system meant to be orderly, predictable, and fair.
Who is included in the “twelve.” Some read the “twelve” as including the named leader (leader + 11 others). Others read it as the leader plus a separate count of “sons and brothers” (meaning the twelve could be the non-leader members, or the phrasing could be shorthand).
What “brothers” means. Some take “brothers” as biological siblings of the leader. Others understand it more broadly as fellow members of the same extended family line or work-guild connected to temple music.
Why some names differ elsewhere in the chapter. The same person may appear under slightly different spellings (for example, Azarel in this list compared with a different form elsewhere in the chapter), or a name may be missing in another subsection due to copying or omission.
Why the disagreement exists The Hebrew wording can be read as either counting the leader within the group total or listing him alongside a counted group. Also, “brothers” can naturally mean either close siblings or a wider kin/fellow-member category in roster contexts. Finally, name lists across manuscripts and parallel lines in the chapter show small variations, which invites different explanations (variant spellings versus an accidental omission).
What this passage clearly contributes This unit reinforces that temple service was structured: specific leaders were associated with fixed-size groups, and assignments were made by lot rather than by personal preference. Within the wider chapter, it supports the picture of worship personnel being organized in an accountable, repeatable schedule (compare the earlier lots list in 1 Chronicles 25:9 and surrounding verses).
two (šə·nêm)