and David’s sons were the
first ones alongside the king. This is a substitution for “and David’s sons
served as priests” in 2 Samuel 8:18. The Chronicler is concerned to preserve
the prerogatives of the priestly line, whereas in the early days of the
monarchy, it appears that members of the royal dynasty at times could perform
priestly functions. “The first ones” is a little ambiguous: while it probably
indicates that they had some role as ministers or councillors, it could also
conceivably mean the sons born early, as against the many sons David begot during
his years in Jerusalem. (Robert Alter, The Hebrew Bible, 3 vols. [New
York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2019], 3:904)
