What Does 1 Chronicles 26:19 Mean in the King James?
These are the divisions of the porters among the sons of Kore, and among the sons of Merari.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The gatekeepers are not an afterthought: the verse gives their work a distinct share in the larger service.
THE MEANING
Work that attends a community’s entrances has distinct, named shares; it is not left as an undefined task at the edge of the whole. The verse gives that threshold work a clear place within the larger service.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The belief that work at the doorway is incidental dissolves here: the gatekeepers are expressly counted among the divisions of service.
THE ROOT
מַחְלְקוֹת
machleqot
GROWS FROM
חלק
ḥ-l-q
To divide, apportion, or assign a share.
“divisions” in this verse is machleqot. The root carries both division and allotment: these are distinct portions of one service, not a fracture of it. The family groups each have a defined share in the work.
ALSO GROWS
cheleq: A portion or share.
חֵלֶק
It reveals the divisions as allotted portions of the gatekeeping work.
chalaq: To divide or apportion.
חָלַק
It names the act that makes responsibilities distinct within a larger whole.
machaloqet: A division or divided group.
מַחֲלֹקֶת
It shares the root of the verse’s word for divisions, linking the assigned groups to the act of apportioning.
שֹׁעֲרִים
sho'arim
GROWS FROM
שער
sh-ʿ-r
Gate or entrance.
“porters” in this verse is sho'arim. The Hebrew names these workers as people of the gate, placing their work at the point of passage. Their place among the divisions makes care at the threshold part of the ordered service.
ALSO GROWS
sha'ar: A gate or entrance.
שַׁעַר
It is the place the gatekeepers attend.
sho'er: A gatekeeper.
שֹׁעֵר
It names the person by the entrance they serve.
THE PATTERN
Shared work becomes clear through distinct responsibilities assigned to particular people.
And Moses chose able men out of all Israel, and made them heads over the people, rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens.Now it came to pass, when the wall was built, and I had set up the doors, and the porters and the singers and the Levites were appointed,Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business.THE THREAD
And they shall divide it into seven parts: Judah shall abide in their coast on the south, and the house of Joseph shall abide in their coasts on the north.The Hebrew root חלק (ḥ-l-q), meaning to divide or apportion, appears in both passages. Joshua uses it for portions of land; here it names portions of service, showing how distinct shares can belong to one whole.
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