=17‒27= (compare Nehemiah xi. 19; 1 Chronicles xxvi. 1‒19). ORGANISATION AND DUTIES OF THE PORTERS (DOORKEEPERS). =17‒27.= The same subject is treated in xxvi. 1‒19, and this fact has been urged as an argument for the view that chapter ix. is an addition to the Chronicler’s work (see Introduction p. xxiii). But it is also reasonable to suppose that the Chronicler would here give a register of inhabitants of Jerusalem (which could not be included in the list of the separate tribes), and such a register would probably give a survey of the Levitical classes. The verses present on analysis several confusing features, see notes on verses 17, 22, 25, 33. ¹⁷And the porters; Shallum, and Akkub, and Talmon, and Ahiman, and their brethren: Shallum was the chief; =17.= _And the porters_] Render, =doorkeepers= as in xvi. 38 and xxvi. 1. In Solomon’s Temple there were “keepers of the threshold,” three in number (2 Kings xxv. 18), priests in rank (2 Kings xii. 9). A distinction between the doorkeepers and the Levites (verse 14) seems to be implied, but in verses 19, 26 the doorkeepers, or at any rate their leaders, are called Levites (compare Nehemiah xi. 15, 19 with 1 Chronicles xxvi.). The supposed distinction may have died out before the Chronicler’s period, or perhaps earlier and later stages are reflected in the chapter (see also the note on verse 26). _Shallum...Ahiman_] These two names are absent from Nehemiah xi. 19 together with the clause _Shallum was the chief_. This omission of all reference to Shallum must be accidental. _Shallum, and Akkub, and Talmon_] The three names represent families, not individuals; compare Ezra ii. 42 = Nehemiah vii. 45, where the fuller form is given, _the children of Shallum, ... the children of Talmon, the children of Akkub...._ These names persist in the five lists of porters which refer to post-exilic times; Ezra ii. 42 = Nehemiah vii. 45; Nehemiah xi. 19 = 1 Chronicles ix. 17 (_Shallum_ is to be supplied in Nehemiah from Chronicles); Nehemiah xii. 5 (_Meshullam_ = _Shallum_). For the Chronicler’s traditions of Levites, singers, and doorkeepers of the Davidic period, see chapters xv., xxiv. ff. _Ahiman_] Elsewhere in the Old Testament this name occurs only among the names of the sons of Anak, and it is probable that the Chronicler (or some scribe) made here an error of transcription, and that AHIMAN has arisen from the word AHEIHEM “their brethren” which follows. A fourth name was probably given in the original text, for see verse 26. ¹⁸who hitherto _waited_ in the king’s gate eastward: they were the porters for the camp of the children of Levi. =18.= _who_] i.e. _Shallum_ (verse 17), called _Shelemiah_ in xxvi. 14 (= Meshelemiah, xxvi. verse 1). As mentioned above, a family is meant. _hitherto_] i.e. to the time of the Chronicler.