Aphses is a name found in the King James Bible, appearing 1 time in the text.
Who This Was
Aphses was a priest in the division of Harim during the reign of King David. He is named in 1 Chronicles 24:15, in a passage that records how David, together with Zadok the priest and Ahimelech the priest, organized the descendants of Aaron into twenty-four divisions for the service of the house of the LORD. The seventeenth lot fell to Hezir, and the eighteenth lot fell to Aphses. This single verse is the only place his name appears in the King James Bible.
The setting of this passage is a major administrative and spiritual reorganization. David gathered the sons of Aaron and the Levites and divided them by lot for their appointed duties in worship. The lot was a means of seeking the LORD’s direction, and it determined the order in which each division would serve. Aphses therefore belonged to the eighteenth of these twenty-four courses, a rotation that governed when his family line would minister in the sanctuary.
Scripture says nothing else about Aphses personally—nothing of his birth, his character, or his death. What it does say is that he held a place among the priests set apart for the LORD’s service. His name is preserved in a list of those who were entrusted with the worship of God at a pivotal moment in Israel’s life, when the tabernacle service was being ordered toward the coming temple. His significance lies not in any deed of his own but in his inclusion among the consecrated priests.
The Name
The name Aphses appears in the Hebrew text of 1 Chronicles as a form of the name elsewhere rendered Happizzez. The precise meaning is not clearly recoverable, and scholars have proposed differing suggestions without firm agreement. Because the name’s etymology is uncertain, no meaning can be stated with confidence. What is clear is that the name belonged to a priest of the eighteenth division, and that is the surest thing the text allows us to say about it.
A Closing Thought
Aphses never speaks, never acts, and never appears again after his one mention in Scripture. Yet his name is written in the book of God, and his lot was counted among those who served in His house. Most of us will live quietly, without a record of great deeds. That is no small thing. Faithfulness in an unseen place is still faithfulness, and the God who ordered the courses of the priests also orders the hidden lives of His people.
At a Glance
- Gender: Male
- Testament: Old
- Mentions in the KJV: 1
Where It Appears in Scripture
- 1 Chronicles 24:15 — The seventeenth to Hezir, the eighteenth to Aphses,