1 Chronicles 26:12 -

Translate, To these divisions of the porters, as regards the chief men, belonged the charge together with their brethren to officiate in the house of the Lord. According to the present chapter, then, the divisions add up to ninety-three. And if at any time of the history it were the case that these ninety-three were the leaders of groups among the total of "four thousand porters," it would put exactly forty-two under each of these ninety-three, leaving but one over. This number ninety-three, meantime, does not agree with the two hundred and twelve of 1 Chronicles 9:22 . And the three score and two of Obed-edom in 1 Chronicles 9:8 of the present chapter does not agree with the three score and eight of Obed-edom in 1 Chronicles 16:38 . At the same time, no little light may be thrown on this subject by noticing that the porters numbered in Zerubbabel's time one hundred and thirty-nine ( Ezra 2:42 ); and that the number one hundred and seventy-two is given for them by Nehemiah ( Nehemiah 11:19 ). The conclusion may well be that the numbers varied in David's time and the other times severally;and that the date in question ( 1 Chronicles 9:22 ) was not the same with the date of David in our present chapter, but was a subsequent date nearer the time of the Captivity. There is, therefore, no special ground for doubting the accuracy of the numbers given in this chapter.