1Ch 25:9-31
The order of succession was so determined by lot, that the four sons of Asaph (1Ch 25:3) received the first, third, fifth, and seventh places; the six sons of Jeduthun, the second, fourth, eighth, twelfth, and fourteenth; and finally, the four sons of Heman (first mentioned in 1Ch 25:4), the sixth, ninth, eleventh, and thirteenth places; while the remaining places, 1Ch 25:15-24, fell to the other sons of Heman. From this we learn that the lots of the sons of the three chief musicians were not placed in separate urns, and one lot drawn from each alternately; but that, on the contrary, all the lots were placed in one urn, and in drawing the lots of Asaph and Jeduthun came out so, that after the fourteenth drawing only sons of Heman remained.
As to the details in 1Ch 25:9, after Joseph we miss the statement, “he and his sons and his brothers, twelve;” which, with the exception of the הוּא, used only of the second lot, and omitted for the sake of brevity in all the other cases, is repeated with all the 23 numbers, and so can have been dropped here only by an error. The words ליוסף לאסף are to be understood thus: The first lot drawn was for Asaph, viz., for his son Joseph. In the succeeding verses the names are enumerated, sometimes with and sometimes without ל. Some of the names diverge somewhat in form. Izri, 1Ch 25:11, stands for Zeri, 1Ch 25:3; Jesharelah, 1Ch 25:14, for Asarelah, 1Ch 25:2; Azarel, 1Ch 25:18, for Uzziel, 1Ch 25:4 (like the king’s names Uzziah and Azariah, 1Ch 3:12, and 2Ch 26:1); Shubael, 1Ch 25:20, for Shebuel, 1Ch 25:4 (cf. 1Ch 23:16 with 1Ch 24:20); Jeremoth, 1Ch 25:22, for Jerimoth, 1Ch 25:4; Eliyathah, 1Ch 25:27, for Eliathah, 1Ch 25:4. Besides these, the fuller forms Nethanyahu (1Ch 25:12), Hashabyahu (1Ch 25:3), Hananyahu (1Ch 25:23), are used instead of the shorter Nethaniah, etc. (1Ch 25:2, 1Ch 25:19, 1Ch 25:4). Of the 24 names which are here enumerated, besides those of Asaph, Jeduthun, and Heman, only Mattithiah recurs (1Ch 15:18, 1Ch 15:21) in the description of the solemnities connected with the bringing in of the ark; “but we are not justified in seeking there the names of our twenty-four classes” (Berth.).