Wednesday, July 29, 2015

Burden for Song


Burden for Song
            Probably the most important thought in I Chronicles 15:22, and another concept that has not fared well in most translations, is the importance of the words "was for song" (massa 4853) The Hebrew word massa is often misunderstood here as meaning "carriage."  Therefore, some translators and commentators have believed that this verse is explaining that he was an expert in handling the Ark of the Covenant, since the fifteenth chapter gives a detailed account of bringing the ark up to Jerusalem.
             However, it is important to note that the portion of that chapter, including verses sixteen through twenty-four, is a musical discourse concerning the Levites that King David placed in charge of pre-Temple music at the time of the moving of the ark and placing it in the tent.  We know from verse fifteen that Levites did in fact carry the ark after the due order of Moses, but if Chenaniah was a teacher of ark carriage then why was he mentioned in the middle of the list of Levite musicians in verses 19-21 and why was the so-called teacher of "handling the ark" walking with the singers?  Why was he not walking as verse twenty-seven states, with ". . . the Levites that bare the ark?"  We will discuss these questions in tomorrow’s post.

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