And David assembled all the princes of Israel, the princes of the tribes, and the captains of the companies that ministered to the king by course, and the captains over the thousands, and captains over the hundreds, and the stewards over all the substance and possession of the king, and of his sons, with the officers, and with the mighty men, and with all the valiant men, unto Jerusalem. (1 Chronicles 28:1)
This was a general assembly of the princes called by David to set before the leaders of the nation the project of building the Temple and to install Solomon publicly as king. Solomon had been anointed hurriedly and privately to forestall Adonijah’s usurpation (see 1 Kings 1:38, 39), but this was now to be the formal coronation.
Princes of Israel.
The princes and national leaders designated in the following clauses.
Commanders of the 12 divisions of the army (see ch. 27:2-15).
Captains over the thousands.
At the time of the Exodus from Egypt the Lord instructed Moses to set over the people “rulers of thousands, and rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens”Ex. 18:21.
The royal princes were probably included in the list of leading men of the realm to be consulted in matters of importance. They are later mentioned (ch. 29:24) as pledging allegiance to Solomon.
The officers.
Heb. sarisim, literally, “eunuchs.” Some think that saris at times has a generalized sense, denoting a courtier or palace official, although this cannot be proved (see on Gen. 37:36).