Categoria: 1 Chronicles

With his death imminent David shows how he had provided gold, silver, bronze, iron, wood etc. for the building of the temple including donations from his own personal wealth. Following David’s example the leaders, commanders and officials gave generously too. They gave freely and wholeheartedly which made David greatly rejoice saying: “Praise be to you, Lord… Yours, Lord, is the greatness and the power… Yours, Lord, is the kingdom… Wealth and honour come from you… praise your glorious name”! David was thrilled because the people gave willingly and with honest intent from all that had come from God. And all the people bowed down before the Lord.

Then Solomon was acknowledged as king and was anointed as king with Zadok as priest. They sacrificed 1,000 bulls, 1,000 rams and 1,000 male lambs and they ate and drank with great joy. And everyone pledged their submission to King Solomon.

Having reigned for 40 years David died at a good old age.

 King David assembled all the segments of Israel society and told them that he had had it in his heart to build the temple, but that God told him not to do it because he was a warrior who had shed a lot of blood. Instead the task would fall to his son Solomon within the eternal dynasty that God had established with the tribe of Judah. David stressed that Solomon, for this to occur, would need to be faithful to God, serving God whole heartedly and with a willing mind. David said that if Solomon sought God he would find him, but if he forsook God he would be rejected. Then David gave Solomon the plans for the temple which were the result of all that the Spirit had put in his heart for the temple of the Lord and all the surrounding rooms. He also instructed him about the divisions of the priests, Levites and servants, and determined the quantities of gold and silver to be used. Every detail of the temple was given by David to Solomon in writing as a result of the Lord’s hand upon him. David encouraged Solomon to be strong and courageous because God was with him.

 Now David defined the organization of Israel’s army with Joab as army commander, and the army had 12 divisions with 24,000 men in each division, and each division was responsible for a month of the year. 

Next came the definition of the tribal leaders with an aborted counting of the people being mentioned. Then too a variety of administrative roles were given to the king’s overseers with responsibilities for the royal storehouses, the storehouses of outlying districts, farm workers, vineyards, produce of the wine vats, olive and fig trees, olive oil, herds, camels, donkeys, flocks and King David’s property. Then David’s uncle Jonathan was a counsellor, Jehiel took care of the king’s sons, Ahithophel was the king’s counsellor, and Hushai was the king’s confidant.

These chapters of 1 Chronicles show David’s great interest and planning for the efficient functioning of the temple which his son Solomon was to build. After the careful planning of the temple worship in the previous chapter, David now goes on to first of all organize the temple gatekeepers. There were 62 descendants of Obed-Edom, 18 sons and relatives of Meshelemiah and 13 sons and relatives of Hosah. Lots were cast to define which gates would be cared for by whom and there were 6 guards a day on the east side of the temple, 4 a day on the north, 4 a day on the south plus 2 at a time at the storehouse, and 4 on the west at the road and 2 at the court itself. So these were the divisions of the gatekeepers who were descendants of Korah and Merari.

Next David appointed the treasurers of the temple and other officials. The treasurers were responsible for the treasuries of the house of God and the treasuries of the dedicated things. A variety of Levites were nominated for these roles. From the Izharites, Kenaniah and his sons were given duties away from the temple as officials and judges. Others were commissioned to care for the land east of the Jordan.

King David set apart Asaph, Heman and Jeduthun for the ministry of prophesying accompanied by music in the temple. These 3 leaders each led their sons in musical prophesy and praise to the Lord. Clearly music in the temple was to be seen as a spiritual gift which communicates spiritual messages. The 3 leaders also included their relatives in a total of 288 skilled and trained musicians who cast lots for their order of duties in the temple. Thus temple worship was well organized and of a high standard. The temple music was to be provided by harps, lyres and cymbals.

These were the divisions of the priests descendants of Aaron. Eleazar and Ithamar served as priests as did Zadok descendant of Eleazar and Ahimelek descendant of Ithamar. Then David separated 24 priests (16 descendants of Eleazar and 8 descendants of Ithamar) giving them the order of ministering in the temple by casting lots. Then the non-priestly Levites were also divided according to their families and their relative duties were also distributed by casting lots. Thus God made it clear that worship in his house would need to be well organized, whilst also being ethically transparent as to the distribution of everyone’s tasks and duties.

When David was very old he made his son Solomon King. Then he set about reorganizing the Levites from their mobile duties with the tabernacle to their fixed duties with the future temple. He counted all the Levites who were 38,000. Of these David determined that 24,000 would be responsible for temple duties, 6,000 were to be officials and judges, 4,000 were to be gatekeepers and 4,000 were to be responsible for the praise in the temple playing musical instruments.

Then David separated the Levites into 3 divisions: Gershonites, Kohathites and Merarites according to the sons of Levi. Then the duties of the Levites were listed in more detail: be in charge of the courtyards; the purifying of sacred things; care for the bread on the table; care for the flour for the grain offering; the baking and mixing of loaves; to stand every morning to praise the Lord and in the evening too.

Nearing the end of his life David’s principal focus was not wars but worship. That is he concentrated on accumulating vast amounts of materials for the building of the temple which his succeeding son Solomon would build. King David appointed stonecutters, made iron nails for the doors, accumulated more bronze than could be weighed and obtained large quantities of cedar from the Sidonians and Tyrians. Thus David made great preparations for his son to build the temple before his death. David summoned his son and gave him this task as he said he had shed much too much blood in wars to build the temple, whereas Solomon’s reign would be of peace and quiet. David encouraged Solomon to be a man of discretion and understanding keeping the law of the Lord, being strong and courageous. David told Solomon of his great preparations for the building of the temple accumulating no less than 3,400 tons of gold, 34,000 tons of silver and quantities of bronze and iron to much to be weighed. He also had many stonecutters, masons, carpenters, and metal craftsmen. David ordered all Israel’s leaders to help Solomon so that the temple could be built on the land that David had bought.

David decided to carry out a census of Israel’s fighting men which was a satanic idea certainly not pleasing to God. His commander perceived the error in this and tried to dissuade David, but he remained resolute.  So Joab went ahead with the count and reported back to David 1,100,000 fighting men. This count was evil in the sight of God so he punished Israel. Then David asked forgiveness of God, and God gave him 3 options of punishment. 3 years of famine, 3 months of being swept away by your enemies or 3 days of plague in the land. God sent a plague which killed 70,000 men. David told God that the fault was his and not the people’s, so asked for him and his family to be punished and not the people. So God ordered David to build an altar in order to offer sacrifices to halt the plague. David sought to buy some land to build the altar but the owner insisted in donating it. But David refused the offer and bought it for 6.9 kg of gold. He built the altar on which he made burnt and fellowship offerings. 

Israel’s army commander Joab defeated the Ammonites and captured Rabbah. David took the crown of their king, which weighed 34 kg in gold, and it was put on David’s head. 

Then war broke out with the Philistines and David’s army had repeated victories including the killing of giants at Gath. These killings included that of Goliath’s brother and another giant with 12 fingers and 12 toes.

This story was previously told in 2 Samuel 10. It tells the story of how David sent a delegation to the Ammonites to express sympathy for the death of their king, but that this kind gesture was misinterpreted as in fact being a spying mission. So the Ammonites humiliated the delegation by shaving their beards, cutting their clothes so as to reveal their buttocks, and sent them away, meaning David soon heard about this humiliation. So the Ammonites together with their Syrian allies prepared for battle with the Israelites and David sent Joab to face them together with his brother Abishai. Israel was victorious with the enemy fleeing. In the battles David killed 7,000 Aramean charioteers and 40,000 foot soldiers as well as Shophak who was the Aramean commander. Thus the Arameans were no longer willing to help the Ammonites.

2 Samuel 8 is the earlier parallel to this chapter. Here the power of David’s reign is highlighted and a list of his mighty victories are related. David defeated and subdued the Philistines, defeated the Moabites and defeated King Hadadezer of Zobah capturing 1,000 chariots, 7,000 charioteers and 20,000 foot soldiers. He hamstrung most of their chariot horses. David also defeated the Arameans when they tried to help Hadadezer. David obtained much gold and bronze plunder from Hadadezer and when king Tou of Hamath heard about it he paid homage to David and gave him a lot of gold, silver and bronze articles. The Lord gave victory to David wherever he went. 

David reigned over all Israel with Joab as army commander, Jehoshaphat was recorder, Zadok and Abiathar were priests and Shavsha was secretary. 

The parallel to this chapter is 2 Samuel 7.  David started feeling bad because he had a luxurious palace but the things of God dwelt in a tent, so he started thinking about building a temple. God however spoke to David through the prophet Nathan telling him that rather than David building him a house, he would build for David a house and dynasty and establish his throne forever. David thus replied to the Lord in prayer:

Who am I to deserve this was the reaction of David. Hence David launches into a prayer of thanksgiving. David is so overjoyed and grateful that he exclaims: “There is no one like you Lord, and there is no God but you”! David then prayed that the promise of God would indeed be confirmed and that his house would be established forever. 

The ark was placed inside the tent prepared for it, and burnt and fellowship offerings were made before God. Then David gave each person a loaf of bread, a cake of dates and a cake of raisins. After this David appointed some of the Levites to minister before the ark of the Lord and some had to play musical instruments. Then David told Asaph and his associates to sing a Psalm of praise to the Lord, and much of this is also found in the Book of Psalms as for example Psalm 105. The Psalm of praise is as follows:

Give praise to the Lord… sing to him… glory in his holy name… look to the Lord and his strength… remember the wonders he has done… he is the Lord our God… he remembers his covenant forever… sing to the Lord all the earth… for great is the Lord… splendour and majesty are before him… ascribe to the Lord the glory due to his name… worship the Lord in the splendour of his holiness… give thanks to the Lord for he is good… praise be to the Lord the God of Israel! And all the people said amen and praise the Lord.

Then David left Asaph and his associates to minister regularly, and left Zadok and the priests to serve before the tabernacle. Then all the people went home and David returned home and blessed his family.

David prepared a place for the ark of God and pitched a tent for it. Then he said that the bringing of the ark to Jerusalem had to be done by the Levites as this was the will of God, and that the reason for the sad incident with Uzziah was because he wasn’t a Levite. So David assembled all the people and summoned Zadok and Abiathar the priests to bring the ark to Jerusalem, and he instructed all the Levites to consecrate themselves for this. Some of the Levites would also be musicians for the procession sounding bronze cymbals, lyres and harps. Doorkeepers were appointed for the ark and the priests were to blow trumpets. Then they sacrificed 7 bulls and 7 rams. David was dressed in fine linen as were the Levites and the musicians and the one in charge of the singing. So all Israel finally brought the ark of the covenant to Jerusalem with the sound of rams horns, trumpets, cymbals and music. But as the ark entered the city of David Michal, David’s wife and daughter of Saul, despised David’s dancing in her heart.

King Hiram of Tyre cent cedar logs, stonemasons and carpenters to build a palace for King David. David took more wives and became the father of another 13 children including one called Solomon.

When the Philistines heard that David was king over all Israel they searched for him, but David heard about it and went out to meet them. David enquired of God as to whether he should attack them, and upon receiving an affirmative he defeated them at Baal Perazim. David saw this victory as a watershed moment and he burnt the Philistine gods. Then the Philistines again confronted Israel and God told David to circle round and attack them in front of the Poplar trees, and again David was victorious with his fame becoming international! 

During Saul’s reign the ark of the covenant was put aside and largely forgotten, but when David came to the throne he called all the people from far a wide to unite in bringing back the ark. Then they went to Kiriath Jearim to bring up the ark of God the Lord. They put the ark on a new cart with Uzza and Ahio guiding it whilst David and all the Israelites celebrated with songs, harps, lyres, tambourines, cymbals and trumpets. However the oxen stumbled and Uzzah reached out his hand to steady the ark, but this angered God who eliminated him! This really subdued the festivities and David was angry as it seemed impossible to bring the ark back to Jerusalem, and he ended up leaving the ark with the family of Obed-Edom at Gittite for 3 months where God blessed abundantly.

This chapter lists the warriors who adhered to David’s cause at Ziklag when he was still persecuted by Saul, and the warriors that joined David to crown him King at Hebron.

Firstly there were warriors who were relatives of Saul from the tribe of Benjamin. Then there were Gadites who defected to David at his stronghold in the wilderness. Their faces were the faces of lions and they were as swift as Gazelles. Other Benjamites and some from Judah also joined David in the stronghold. Some too of the tribe of Manasseh defected to David when he went with the Philistines to fight Saul. 

Secondly a great number of warriors united with David at Hebron to anoint him King. From Judah there were 6,800; from Simeon 7,100; from Levi 4,600; from Benjamin 3,000; from Ephraim 20,800; from half the tribe of Manasseh 18,000; from Issachar 200 chiefs; from Zebulun 50,000; from Naphtali 1,000 officers plus 37,000 men; from Dan 28,600; from Asher 40,000; and from east of the Jordan from Reuben, Gad and half the tribe of Manasseh 120,000 men.

1 Chronicles now continues telling stories already told in previous books of the Bible as happened in the previous chapter. 

All Israel now acclaimed David as King and anointed him at Hebron. Then David marched to Jerusalem with all the Israelites and conquered the Jebusites that lived there capturing the fortress of Zion which became the City of David. Joab led this conquest and became Israel’s army commander. David became more and more powerful because the Lord was with him. David had 3 ultra-elite warriors and 30 semi-elite warriors. Jashobeam killed 300 men with his spear. Then came Eleazar who was another of the ultra-elite triad. The third was Abishai. Then another great warrior was Benaiah who struck down the 2 mightiest warriors of Moab and he killed a lion in a snowy pit. He also killed an Egyptian who was 2.3 metres tall even though he wasn’t one of the 3 ultra-elite warriors. The chapter ends with a list of semi-elite warriors.

This chapter is a parallel to 1 Samuel 31 with much of the 2 chapters identical word for word. It tells the story of a battle between the Philistines and the Israelites when first of all the Philistines kill King Saul’s sons Jonathan, Abinadab and Malki-Shua. Then they pursued Saul and the archers wounded him. Saul ordered his armour-bearer to finish him off, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it, so Saul fell on his own sword and killed himself. The Philistines came and stripped him and cut off his head and hung it in the temple of their pagan god Dagon. Saul suffered this tragic demise because he was unfaithful to God to the extent of even consulting a medium rather than the Lord. So the Lord put him to death and gave the kingdom to David.

This chapter summarizes the return of the Israelites from their exile in Babylon focusing on the tribes of Benjamin, Judah and Levi. The 1,760 priests are mentioned and the Levites. A lot of emphasis is placed on the role of 212 gatekeepers responsible for guarding the thresholds of the tents. They were also in charge of guarding the gates of the house of the Lord. 4 principal gatekeepers were also responsible for the rooms and treasuries in the house of the Lord. The gatekeepers spent the night stationed round the house of God and were responsible for opening it each morning. They were also responsible for the utensils, articles and furnishings of the temple. The chapter concludes with a repeat of the genealogy of Saul to serve as a literary bridge between the long genealogies of the opening 9 chapters of first Chronicles and the text about Saul’s suicide in chapter 10.

This chapter gives a detailed genealogy of the tribe of Benjamin focusing especially on Saul who was Israel’s first king. Jonathan, David’s great friend and Saul’s son, is also mentioned, though he did not become king after his father’s death because God eliminated Saul’s dynasty owing to his disobedience. The families of Benjamin living in Jerusalem are also mentioned. This detailed genealogy sets the scene for the following chapters of this book which cover the history of the tribe of Benjamin including the reign and death of King Saul.

 Now the genealogies of 6 northern tribes of Israel are presented: Issachar, Benjamin, Naphtali, Manasseh, Ephraim and Asher with the focus being on the fighting preparedness of some of these tribes and their lineage. 

First of all comes Issachar which had a total fighting force of 87,000. Next came Benjamin with a total of 59,434. This was followed a brief list of the sons of Naphtali. Then the genealogy switches to Manasseh with the emphasis on the descendants of his son Gilead. Then comes something of the tribe of Ephraim’s lineage with a snapshot of tribal incidents involving Ezer and Elead being killed by men of Gath. Ephraim sorely mourned these deaths before having a new son with his wife. Finally came Asher whose descendants were said to be choice men, brave warriors and outstanding leaders amounting to 26,000 men.

This chapter details the genealogical information of the tribe of Levi which was the tribe set aside by God for his exclusive service, priesthood, tabernacle (then temple) worship and ministry. The genealogical focus is on the descendants of Levi’s 3 sons Gershon, Kohath and Merari. 

Details are given of the tabernacle/temple musicians. From the Kohathites of special note are Herman, to whom Psalm 88 is attributed, and Asaph to which about a dozen Psalms are attributed. 

Of course the first high priest Aaron and his sons are listed in this chapter. Then in the final section of the chapter the cities and respective pasture lands of the Levites are listed. The list is divided up by families with Kohath first, Gershon second and Merari last.  

This chapter relates the genealogies of the tribes of Reuben, Gad and half the tribe of Manasseh which lived east of the River Jordan. Reuben was Jacob’s firstborn but he lost his birthright because he defiled his father’s marriage bed which is probably a reference to him having had sex with one of his father’s concubines. The text also tells about Reuben’s descendants up to their Assyrian exile in about 733 BC.

Next come the descendants of Gad who lived north of the Reubenites east of the Jordan. The tribes of Reuben, Gad and Manasseh summed 44,760 men fit for military service and they battled with the Hagrites, Jetur, Naphish, and Nodab. God was with them and they seized 50,000 camels, 250,000 sheep, 2,000 donkeys and 100,000 people. They killed many people too and occupied the land until the Assyrian exile. 

Finally in this chapter are listed the heads of Manasseh’s families. Sadly Reuban, Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh turned away from God and returned to pagan idolatry which resulted in the eventual exile in Assyria of Israel as punishment from God.

The list of genealogies continue in this chapter focusing on the main clans of Judah and Simeon. Initial emphasis was on the descendants of Judah whose prominent descendant was David. Of special note is the honourable Jabez who sought from God his blessing, freedom from harm and pain and increased territory, and God granted his request. The second section of the chapter highlights the descendants of Simeon and their territory in south Canaan within Judah. 

This chapter starts by listing the 6 sons born to David in Hebron in the 7 and a half years he was king of Judah. It then lists his next 13 sons born to him in Jerusalem when he was also king of Israel for a further 33 years. He also had sons with his concubines but these are not listed.

Then the genealogy continues with a record of Solomon’s sons who assumed David’s throne as his father was David and his mother was Bathsheba. Then the last part of the chapter traces the royal line of Solomon after the exile in Babylon. 

This chapter starts by presenting the sons of Israel (Jacob): Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Dan, Joseph, Benjamin, Naphtali, Gad and Asher.

Then the focus is on Judah and the genealogical tree that leads to King David. God’s historical plan is traced through the tribe of Judah showing the faithfulness of God to his people. Caleb is emphasized too. 

The 2 books of Chronicles tell the story of Israel from Adam to the post-exile period in Babylon with much use of genealogies and records. Much focus is on King David, God’s covenant with Israel, the building of the temple by King Solomon and thus covers much history covered previously in the books of Samuel and Kings.

Chapter 1 starts with genealogical records starting with Adam then Noah and his sons. It mentions Enoch who never died and Methuselah who was the man who lived the longest of all. It then traces people to Abraham and his descendants, Isaac, Esau and Jacob (Israel) etc. These records helped post-exilic Israelites to trace their origins.