At Parbar westward

1 Chronicles 26:18 At Parbar westward, four at the causeway, and two at Parbar.

One preacher, trying to be funny, said that 1 Chronicles 26:18 is a verse that will solve your problems. How does that work? Well, by the time you find the verse and then figure out what it means, you will have forgotten about your problems!

There is perhaps some bit truth in that humor. Nevertheless, 1 Chronicles 26:18 is just as inspired and infallible as John 3:16 or Psalm 23. It is not just as perspicuous (clear, easy to understand).

“Happy are those who dwell in God’s house: for, as they are well fed, well taught, and well employed, so they are well guarded. Men attended at the gates of the temple, but angels attend at the gates of the New Jerusalem, Rev 21 12.” Matthew Henry

Coverdale Bible

Taverner: In the watch houses on the highway westward four: two in the house.

Great Bible: In Pharbar toward the west two at the going up, and two in Pharbar.

Geneva: In Parbar toward the West were four by the paved street, and two in Parbar.

(Geneva note: “Which was an house wherein they kept the instruments of the Temple.)

Bishops: In Parbar toward the west two at the going up, and two in Pharbar.

(Has the same note as Geneva.)

There are lots of ideas and opinions about what Parbar means: the annex, a building adjacent to the temple, the chamber of the vessels, the colonnade, the court, the courtyard, the covered courtyard, the large building, the portico, the western pavilion.

• “The word is supposed to be of Persian origin…”
• “It would seem that Parbar was…”
• “In 1 Chron 26:18 his structure was possibly…”
• “…the Jewish writers generally interpret it an outward place, but Dr. Lightfoot thinks…”

I like that the King James translators did not try to interpret Parbar, as many other translators have gone about doing.