These are the divisions of the porters among the sons of Kore, and among the sons of Merari.

1 CHRONICLES 26:19KJV
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1 Chronicles 26:19 (KJV)

What does 1 Chronicles 26:19 mean?

1 Chronicles 26:19 closes a list of organized groups who guarded entrances to the house of God. The verse identifies these gatekeepers as belonging to two family lines: the sons of Kore and the sons of Merari.

In the KJV, “porters” means gatekeepers, not people carrying luggage. The verse brings the preceding assignments together under those family names, showing how the gatekeepers were grouped.

The Hebrew behind 1 Chronicles 26:19

  • “divisions” — מַחְלְקוֹת (maḥleqot): The word refers to groups arranged for a particular task. Here it points to an organized allocation of gatekeeping work.
  • “sons” — בְּנֵי (benei): The word can mean descendants as well as immediate sons. Here it identifies family lines, rather than necessarily naming only the direct children of Kore and Merari.

Why 1 Chronicles 26:19 matters

  • The gatekeeping work involved several assigned places, not a single entrance. The preceding verses name gates on different sides and a storehouse among the posts.
  • Family membership was part of the record of these assignments. The closing phrase names both “the sons of Kore” and “the sons of Merari.”

Where else these words appear

“Kore” Hebrew H7145 · used in 8 verses

  • Exodus 6:24 And the sons of Korah; Assir, and Elkanah, and Abiasaph: these are the families of the Korhites.
  • 1 Chronicles 9:19 And Shallum the son of Kore, the son of Ebiasaph, the son of Korah, and his brethren, of the house of his father, the Korahites, were over the work of the service, keepers of the gates of the tabernacle: and their fathers, being over the host of the LORD, were keepers of the entry.
  • 1 Chronicles 12:6 Elkanah, and Jesiah, and Azareel, and Joezer, and Jashobeam, the Korhites,

“divisions” Hebrew H4256 · used in 36 verses

  • Joshua 11:23 So Joshua took the whole land, according to all that the LORD said unto Moses; and Joshua gave it for an inheritance unto Israel according to their divisions by their tribes. And the land rested from war.
  • 1 Chronicles 27:6 This is that Benaiah, who was mighty among the thirty, and above the thirty: and in his course was Ammizabad his son.
  • 1 Chronicles 28:21 And, behold, the courses of the priests and the Levites, even they shall be with thee for all the service of the house of God: and there shall be with thee for all manner of workmanship every willing skilful man, for any manner of service: also the princes and all the people will be wholly at thy commandment.

“porters” Hebrew H7778 · used in 37 verses

  • 2 Samuel 18:26 And the watchman saw another man running: and the watchman called unto the porter, and said, Behold another man running alone. And the king said, He also bringeth tidings.
  • 1 Chronicles 16:38 And Obededom with their brethren, threescore and eight; Obededom also the son of Jeduthun and Hosah to be porters:
  • Ezra 7:7 And there went up some of the children of Israel, and of the priests, and the Levites, and the singers, and the porters, and the Nethinims, unto Jerusalem, in the seventh year of Artaxerxes the king.

“Merari” Hebrew H4847 · used in 38 verses

  • Genesis 46:11 And the sons of Levi; Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.
  • Numbers 7:8 And four wagons and eight oxen he gave unto the sons of Merari, according unto their service, under the hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.
  • 1 Chronicles 6:63 Unto the sons of Merari were given by lot, throughout their families, out of the tribe of Reuben, and out of the tribe of Gad, and out of the tribe of Zebulun, twelve cities.