1 Chronicles 23:11

And Jahath was the chief, and Zizah the second: but Jeush and Beriah had not many sons; therefore they were in one reckoning, according to their father's house.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(11) But Jeush and Beriah had not many sons.—Now Jeush and Beriah had not multiplied sons; so they became (one) father-home (bêth-âb), one class (or muster—pĕquddāh). Altogether, then, there were nine Gershonite clans: viz., six of the sons of Laadan, and three of the sons of Shimei, among the 24,000 Levites of 1Chronicles 23:4.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

23:1-23 David, having given charge concerning the building of the temple, settles the method of the temple service, and orders the officers of it. When those of the same family were employed together, it would engage them to love and assist one another.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

See the marginal references and notes. 1 Chronicles 23:28-32 give the most complete account in Scripture of the nature of the Levitical office.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

1Ch 23:7-11. Sons of Gershon.

7-11. the Gershonites—They had nine fathers' houses, six descended from Laadan, and three from Shimei.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

They were reckoned together as one family, and were not called by the name of their two immediate parents, but by the name of their grandfather Shimei.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And Jahath was the chief,.... The prince and head of a family:

and Ziza the second; the same with Zina in 1 Chronicles 23:10, and is there read Ziza in the Septuagint and Vulgate Latin versions:

but Jeush and Beriah had not many sons; so as to constitute distinct families:

therefore they were in one reckoning, according to their father's house; made one family with their brethren.

Geneva Study Bible

And Jahath was the chief, and Zizah the second: but Jeush and Beriah had not many sons; therefore they were in one reckoning, according to their father's house.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

11. they were in one reckoning, according to their father’s house] R.V. they became a fathers’ house in one reckoning.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 11. - In one reckoning. The Hebrew of the word here translated "reckoning" is פְקֻדָּה, i.e. "enumeration." The meaning is they were accounted as only one "father's house." The derivative significations of the word are "care," "custody," and generally "office" (2 Chronicles 23:18). The total of Gershonite houses will amount to nine, three of these being houses of Shimei, and six of Landau. 1 Chronicles 23:11

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

The sons of Shimei: Shelomoth or Shelomith (both forms are found in 26:35 of another Shelomith), Haziel, and Haran, three. These (three and three) are the heads of the fathers'-houses of Laadan. - In 1 Chronicles 23:10 and 1 Chronicles 23:11 there follow the fathers'-houses of the Shimei mentioned in 1 Chronicles 23:7 along with Laadan: they are likewise three, derived from the four sons of Shimei, Jahath, Zina, Jeush, and Beriah; for the last two, as they had not many sons, were included in one father's-house, one פּקדּה, i.e., one official class (1 Chronicles 24:3; 2 Chronicles 17:14). The Gershonites at that time, therefore, numbered nine father's-houses-six named after Laadan, and three after Shimei.