Commentaire sur Chroniques 1 24:34

And of the sons of Aaron The meaning is: These are the sons of Aaron, etc. according to their divisions.

And Nadab and Abihu died, etc., and they had no sons Since they had no sons, Eleazar and Ithamar served as priests in their stead, but if Nadab and Abihu had had children, they would have preceded Eleazar and Ithamar in the high priesthood, for so we find with Ezra (3:9), for Jehozadak was Joshua’s father, and Jehozadak and Ezra were the sons of Seraiah, as it is written: (above 5:41): “... and Seraiah begot Jehozadak.” And in Ezra (7:1), it is written: “Ezra the son of Seraiah.” And Jehozadak went into exile to Babylon, and when they came up from Babylon, Joshua went up and served, but Ezra did not serve because Jehozadak was the firstborn, and the son of his firstborn brother preceded him, as is written in the prophecy of Haggai (1:1): “Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the High Priest.”

and Ahimelech was of the sons of Ithamar This is Ahimelech the son of Ebiathar, as is proven immediately following (verse 6): “And Shemaiah, etc. wrote them...” until “and Ahimelech the son of Ebiathar.”

and thus they were divided: of the sons of Eleazar there were sixteen heads of the fathers’ houses Originally, in the Tabernacle of Shiloh, there were no more than sixteen watches: eight from Eleazar and eight from Ithamar, as is delineated in Tractate Taanith (27), but when David saw that the men of Eleazar were many, he divided each watch of Eleazar into two and made them sixteen watches, but the watch of the sons of Ithamar he left as the watches had originally been, viz. of eight watches. This is proven immediately following (verse 6): “... one father’s house established for Eleazar, and what was established for Ithamar remained established,” i.e., as it was established [that they] be stationed as a watch in the Tabernacle, so did David station them now in the Temple.”

And they divided them by lots, these with those to whom the lot would fall to be first or second or third or fourth, and so all of them.

And Shemaiah... wrote them to be a reminder for them who was first, who second, and so all of them.

These are their appointment[s] to their service Those who are written here are the heads of the watches. Their appointments were over the watches.