Eleazar

29After all this, Joshua the son of Nun died. He had served the LORD his whole life. He was 110 years old.

And it came to pass after these things, that Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died, being an hundred and ten years old.

Note110 years old was a very great age. Calling someone the servant of the LORD was high praise.

30They buried him on his own land at Timnath-serah. That is in the hill country of Ephraim. It is north of the hill called Gaash.

And they buried him in the border of his inheritance in Timnathserah, which is in mount Ephraim, on the north side of the hill of Gaash.

NoteEphraim was one of the twelve family groups of Israel. The hill country of Ephraim was the land where they lived.

31Israel served the LORD as long as Joshua lived. They served him as long as the older leaders lived who outlived Joshua. Those leaders had seen everything the LORD did for Israel.

And Israel served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that overlived Joshua, and which had known all the works of the LORD, that he had done for Israel.

32The people of Israel had carried Joseph's bones out of Egypt. They buried them at Shechem, in a piece of ground Jacob had bought. Jacob bought it from the sons of Hamor, Shechem's father, for a hundred pieces of silver. That land became the land of Joseph's family.

And the bones of Joseph, which the children of Israel brought up out of Egypt, buried they in Shechem, in a parcel of ground which Jacob bought of the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem for an hundred pieces of silver: and it became the inheritance of the children of Joseph.

NoteJoseph died in Egypt hundreds of years before this. He asked his family to carry his bones back to this land one day. There were no coins yet. People paid with pieces of silver that were weighed.

33Eleazar, the son of Aaron, also died. They buried him on a hill in the country of Ephraim. That hill had been given to his son Phinehas.

And Eleazar the son of Aaron died; and they buried him in a hill that pertained to Phinehas his son, which was given him in mount Ephraim.

NoteAaron was Israel's first priest. A priest helped the people bring their gifts to God. Eleazar and Phinehas were priests after him.

1Here are the groups of the men who came from Aaron. Aaron's sons were Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.

Now these are the divisions of the sons of Aaron. The sons of Aaron; Nadab, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.

NoteAaron was Moses' brother. He was the very first priest. A priest was a man who worked at God's house for everyone.

2Nadab and Abihu died before their father did. They had no sons. So Eleazar and Ithamar did the priests' work.

But Nadab and Abihu died before their father, and had no children: therefore Eleazar and Ithamar executed the priest’s office.

NoteThe priests' work was leading people when they came to worship. They also brought the people's gifts to God.

3Zadok came from Eleazar's family. Ahimelech came from Ithamar's family. They helped King David sort the priests into groups by their jobs.

And David distributed them, both Zadok of the sons of Eleazar, and Ahimelech of the sons of Ithamar, according to their offices in their service.

NoteDavid was the king of Israel long ago. Zadok and Ahimelech were the two head priests who helped him.

4Eleazar's family had more leaders than Ithamar's family. So the groups were made to match. Eleazar's family had sixteen leaders. Ithamar's family had eight leaders.

And there were more chief men found of the sons of Eleazar than of the sons of Ithamar; and thus were they divided. Among the sons of Eleazar there were sixteen chief men of the house of their fathers, and eight among the sons of Ithamar according to the house of their fathers.

NoteA leader here means the man in charge of one big family group. Whole families lived and worked together back then.

5They were split into groups by drawing lots, fairly for all. Both families had men who led the work at God's house.

Thus were they divided by lot, one sort with another; for the governors of the sanctuary, and governors of the house of God, were of the sons of Eleazar, and of the sons of Ithamar.

NoteDrawing lots was like picking names out of a hat. It was a fair way to choose, so no one could argue. God's house was where people came to worship God.

6Shemaiah was a writer. He was the son of Nethaneel, and he was a Levite. He wrote down all the names. The king watched, and so did the leaders. Zadok the priest watched. So did Ahimelech, the son of Abiathar. The family heads of the priests and Levites watched too. One family was picked from Eleazar, then one from Ithamar, back and forth.

And Shemaiah the son of Nethaneel the scribe, one of the Levites, wrote them before the king, and the princes, and Zadok the priest, and Ahimelech the son of Abiathar, and before the chief of the fathers of the priests and Levites: one principal household being taken for Eleazar, and one taken for Ithamar.

NoteA Levite was a man from the family of Levi. Levites helped with the work at God's house. A writer, or scribe, had the job of writing things down. Very few people knew how to write then.