the chief fathers: The patriarchs, chief generals, or generals of brigade. This enumeration is widely different from that of the preceding. In that, we have the order and course of the priests and Levites, in their ecclesiastical ministrations: in this, we have the account of the order of the civil service, what related simply to the political state of the king and kingdom. Twenty-four persons, chosen out of David's worthies, each of whom had a second, were placed over 24,000 men, who all served a month at a time, in turn; and this was the whole of their service during the year, after which they attended to their own affairs. Thus the king had always on foot a regular force of 24,000, who served without expense to him or the state, and were not oppressed by the service, which took up only a twelfth part of their time; and by this plan he could, at any time, bring into the field 12 times 24,000 or 288,000 fighting men, independently of the 12,000 officers, which made in the whole an effective force of 300,000 soldiers; and all these men were prepared, disciplined, and ready at a call, without the smallest expense to the state or the king. These were, properly speaking, the militia of the Israelitish kingdom. captains: 1Ch 13:1, Exo 18:25, Deu 1:15, 1Sa 8:12, Mic 5:2 served: 1Ch 28:1, 2Ch 17:12-19, 2Ch 26:11-13 any matter: 1Ki 5:14 month: 1Ki 4:7, 1Ki 4:27 Reciprocal: Num 1:4 - General 1Ch 7:2 - whose number 1Ch 29:6 - the chief 2Ch 1:2 - to the captains 2Ch 25:5 - captains over thousands