(18) And with them their brethren of the second degree.--So 1Chronicles 16:5 : "Asaph the leader, and his second Zechariah." Fourteen minstrels of the second rank--that is, subordinate to the first three--are named here.

Ben (son) is not a proper name. That of Zechariah's father may have fallen out after it (comp. the Syriac and Arabic: "Zechariah son of Ne'ael"), or it may be due to a scribe's inadvertence. The LXX. omits it.

Shemiramoth.--This peculiar name resembles the Assyrian Sammurramat, the classical Semiramis. Delitzsch suggests that it is a compound of sammim ("spices"), and ra'imat ("loving"): a suitable name for a woman, and actually borne by a lady of the court of Ramman-nirari (B.C. 812), king of Assyria.

Jaaziel.--Called Jeiel by mistake in 1Chronicles 16:5.

And Jeiel.--The LXX. adds, "and Azaziah" (Ozias). (Comp. 1Chronicles 15:21.) Perhaps this should be read, and "the porters" omitted. (See 1Chronicles 15:24.)

Verse 18. - Ben. This word is either altogether an accidental interpolation, or a remnant of some statement of the patronymic character regarding Zechariah. Another indication of the state of the text in this verse is to be found in the probable omission of the name Azazgah of ver. 21, after Jeiel. It will be observed that no trace of this word Ben is found in the repeated list of ver. 20.

15:1-24 Wise and good men may be guilty of oversights, which they will correct, as soon as they are aware of them. David does not try to justify what had been done amiss, nor to lay the blame on others; but he owns himself guilty, with others, of not seeking God in due orderAnd with them their brethren of the second degree,.... Who were next unto them, both in office and skill in singing:

the fourteen following, Zechariah, Ben, and Jaaziel, and Shemiramoth, and Jehiel, and Unni, Eliab, and Benaiah, and Maaseiah, and Mattithiah, and Elipheleh, and Mikneiah, and Obededom, and Jeiel, the porters; who, when they were not employed in singing, were doorkeepers of the sanctuary; either they had been porters at the tabernacle in Gibeon, or were so after the ark was placed in the tabernacle David prepared for it.