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The Spirit of God came on Azariah and he said to Asa and all Judah and Benjamin: The Lord is with you when you are with him! If you forsake him he will forsake you! Be strong and do not give up, for your work will be rewarded. These words encouraged Asa to combat paganism in Judah, and he repaired the altar of the Lord. Then Asa assembled all Judah in Jerusalem and he sacrificed 700 head of cattle plus 7,000 sheep and goats from the plunder brought back from the defeat of the Cushites, and the people went into a covenant to seek the Lord with all their heart and soul, but all who refused to enter this covenant were to be put to death. As part of Asa’s reform he even deposed his own grandmother Maakah from her position as queen mother because of her bad involvement with pagan Asherah religion. Asa’s heart was fully committed to God throughout his life and there was no more war until the 35th year of Asa’s reign. 

Abijah died and his son Asa succeeded him as king and reigned for 10 peaceful years. Asa lived correctly before God and destroyed all aspects of paganism in Judah whilst also building up its fortified cities. Asa had an army of 300,000 men from Judah and 280,000 from Benjamin. Then the Cushites marched against Judah with an enormous army including 300 chariots, so Asa called to the Lord for his help saying they relied on God as they faced such a vast army. So the Lord struck down the Cushites and the people of God pursued them as they  fled as far as Gerar killing a great number of them on the way. Thus the men of Judah obtained a great deal of plunder destroying and looting all the villages around Gerar, and capturing droves of sheep, goats and camels.

Abijah reigned for 3 years as king of Judah and he was engaged in war with Jeroboam of Israel. Abijah’s army was half the size of Jeroboam’s but he made a rousing speech condemning Jeroboam’s rebellion and idolatry and focusing on God’s promise of a Davidic dynasty. Thus God intervened on Judah’s behalf because Judah’s priests were the sons of Aaron and they presented regular burnt offerings and incense to the Lord. Judah was faithful to God but Israel was not, and when the priests blew their trumpets and the men of Judah raised the battle cry God gave the victory to Judah with 500,000 casualties amongst Israel’s men because Judah relied on the Lord. So Jeroboam died but Abijah was very much alive and  married 14 wives with whom he had 22 sons and 16 daughters!    

Once Rehoboam was well established as king of Judah he and all the nation abandoned God. As a consequence King Shishak of Egypt attacked Jerusalem with the support of Libyans, Sukkites and Cushites, and they captured the fortified cities of Judah coming as far as Jerusalem. So the prophet Shemaiah told Judah that God had abandoned them because they had abandoned God. The leaders of Judah admitted that God’s action was just and in the light of them humbling themselves God said he would not destroy them but would teach them a lesson by letting them become subject to Shishak. So Shishak plundered all the wealth of the temple and royal palace in Jerusalem, but Rehoboam continued as king of Judah for 17 years although he had not set his heart on seeking the Lord, and there was continual warfare between Rehoboam and Jeroboam before Rehoboam died and was succeeded by his son Abijah. 

 Rehoboam mustered 180,000 young men from Judah and Benjamin to go to war against Israel, but the man of God Shemaiah spoke against this so they turned back from marching against Jeroboam. Rehoboam however built up towns for defence in Judah such as Bethlehem and Hebron. He strengthened their defenses and put commanders in them, and the priests and Levites in Israel sided with Rehoboam because Jeroboam had rejected them as priests appointing his own priests for the high places and for the goat and calf idols he had made. Those that set their hearts on serving the Lord followed the Levites to Jerusalem where they supported Rehoboam for 3 years.

Rehoboam married Mahalath, then married Maakah who was his favourite out of his 18 wives and 60 concubines! (like father like son!) He had 28 sons and 60 daughters. He appointed Abijah as crown prince among his brothers and he dispersed some of his sons throughout Judah and Benjamin giving them abundant provisions and many wives.

When Rehoboam became king the people asked for a reduction in taxes and the work load, so he made consultations over a 3-day period about the matter. The older experienced counsellors proposed that he should grant the people their request, but a younger contemporary group of counsellors rejected the people’s request and even proposed a tax/workload increase! Rehoboam opted for his peers’ response causing a disastrous political rift, with Israel rebelling against Rehoboam. They stoned the man in charge of forced labour to death but Rehoboam escaped. Thus Israel in the north has been in rebellion against Judah and the house of David since then.

Here is another Chronicles re-run of a previously told story. In this case the story of the Queen of Sheba visiting King Solomon was previously told in 1 King 10. The Queen had heard of Solomon’s fame and came bringing gifts to see how much was true for herself. He answered all her questions and she was overwhelmed by all she heard and saw. She admitted that Solomon’s wisdom was twice as great as she had been told and she praised God for having placed Solomon on Israel’s throne to maintain justice and righteousness. She then gave Solomon 4 tons of gold plus precious stones and extraordinary spices, and he gave the Queen of Sheba gifts of even greater value in return before she returned to her own country.

Solomon used to receive 23 tons of gold per annum not including merchant and trader revenue. What is more all the kings of Arabia brought gold and silver to Solomon. Thus the King made hundreds of golden shields which he put in the Palace. Then he made a glorious throne covered with ivory and pure gold. The throne had 6 steps with a lion standing beside each of them on either side. All the goblets and household articles were made of gold with nothing made of silver. King Solomon was greater in wealth and wisdom than any other king on earth. He had 4,000 stalls for horses and chariots and 12,000 horses imported from Egypt and other countries. Solomon reigned over all Israel for 40 years and when he died he was buried in Jerusalem, and his son Rehoboam succeeded him.

At the end of 20 years Solomon rebuilt the villages given to him by Hiram and settled Israelites in them. He rebuilt Upper and Lower Beth Horon as fortified cities. Solomon conscripted the descendants of the Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites as slave labour, but he did not make slaves of the Israelites who were fighting men. Solomon built a palace for his wife, who was Pharoah’s daughter, because he didn’t want her in holy places where the ark had been. On the altar Solomon maintained the regular sacrifices according to the law of Moses and he appointed the priests, Levites and gatekeepers according to the ordinance of his father David. Then Solomon sent out sailors and ships and they sailed to Ophir bringing Solomon 15 tons of gold. 

 When Solomon finished praying the fire fell and the priests couldn’t work inside the temple because the glory of the Lord had filled it. Then the people knelt before God on the pavement saying God is good, his love endures forever. Then King Solomon sacrificed 22,000 head of cattle and 120,000 sheep and goats as they dedicated the temple! The priests and Levites took up their positions, musical instruments were played and the priests blew their trumpets. The festival lasted for 7 days, then there was a vast assembly on the 8th day, prior to 7 more days of festival. Then the people went home.

Then the Lord appeared to Solomon, after he had completed the temple and the palace, and said to him: I have heard your prayer and chosen the temple for myself. When I send drought, locusts or plague if my people will humble themselves and pray turning from their wicked ways then I will forgive their sin and heal their land. I have consecrated this temple so that my name might be there forever. If you walk faithfully in obedience then I will establish your throne, but if you do not then I will uproot Israel from my land and reject this temple and it will become a heap of rubble. 

King Solomon said: Praise be to the Lord that I have built a magnificent temple for God which was something in my father’s heart but which was left for me to do. Just as the Lord had promised I have built the temple for the name of the Lord. The Lord has kept the promise he made. Then Solomon stood on the bronze platform in the outer court, he then knelt down, spread out his hands towards heaven and said: Lord, the God of Israel, there is no God like you… you have kept your promise to David my father… But will God dwell on earth with humans?… May your eyes be open to this temple day and night… Hear from heaven and forgive… hear from heaven and act condemning the guilty and vindicating the innocent… when Israel is defeated because of sin or there is drought because of sin then forgive your repentant people… hear the foreigner so that all peoples may know your name… uphold the cause of your people… hear the prayers of your repentant people… may your eyes be open and your ears attentive to the prayers offered in the temple… now arise Lord God… may your priests be clothed with salvation… remember the great love promised to David!

When Solomon finished building the temple he placed in it all the gold, silver and furnishings left by his father. Then Solomon called all Israel’s leaders to bring up the ark, and the Levites took the ark and all the sacred furnishings, and they sacrificed an enormous number of cattle and sheep. Then the priests put the ark in the most holy place of the temple beneath the wings of the cherubim, and in the ark were the 2 tablets that Moses placed in it at Horeb. Then the priests withdrew from the holy place and the Levite musicians Asaph, Heman and Jeduthun and families played cymbals, harps and lyres and 120 priests played trumpets giving praise and thanks to God saying, “He is good; his love endures forever”. Then the cloud of God’s glory filled the temple.

Solomon made a bronze altar 9 metres long and 4.5 metres high. Below the rim figures of bulls encircled it. The Sea stood on 12 bulls with 3 facing north, 3 south, 3 east and 3 west. He then made 10 basins for washing the things to be used in the burnt offerings, but the Sea was for the cleansing of the priests. He also made 10 gold lampstands and 10 tables, and he also made 100 gold sprinkling bowls. Huram made the pots, shovels and sprinkling bowls and thus finished his work for King Solomon. Huram-Abi made a great deal for Solomon of polished bronze. Then Solomon made all the furnishings such as the golden altar, tables, lampstands, gold floral work, pure gold wick trimmers and gold doors.

Then Solomon began to build the temple on Mount Moriah on the land that his father David had bought on the the threshing floor of Araunah. He began on the 2nd day of the 2nd month of the 4th year of his reign. He built the temple twice as big as the tabernacle with the foundation measuring 27 metres long and 9 metres wide. He overlaid the inside with gold including the ceiling beams, door frames, walls and doors. He built the Most Holy Place and overlaid the inside with gold. For the Most Holy Place Solomon made a pair of sculptured cherubim and the total wingspan of the cherubim was over 9 metres. He then made the curtain of blue, purple and crimson yarn and fine linen with cherubim worked into it. For the front of the temple he made 2 pillars and he made interwoven chains which he put on top of the pillars and he made 100 pomegranates which were attached to the chains. The northern pillar he named Boaz and the southern pillar he named Jakin. 

Solomon announced the building of the temple and palace so he conscripted 70,000 men as carriers and 80,000 men stonecutters with 3,600 men as foremen. 

Then Solomon requested cedar logs from Hiram king of Tyre. He said that this was for the temple which was to be great because our God is greater than all other gods. He also requested a skilled worker in gold, silver, bronze and iron to work with his men. He proposed that their men should work together so as to provide plenty of timber, and he said he would in exchange support them with wheat, barley, wine and olive oil.

Hiram replied positively and told David he was sending skilled craftsman Huram-Abi to work with Israel’s skilled men. Huram-Abi was a specialist with gold, silver, bronze and iron. 

This chapter re-tells the story of when Solomon asked for wisdom as was told in 1 Kings 3. King Solomon offered 1,000 burnt offerings at Gibeon where the tent of meeting was. Then God appeared to Solomon telling him he could ask whatever he wanted. And Solomon asked for wisdom and knowledge so as to govern well. God was pleased with Solomon’s request so granted him what he asked for plus wealth, possessions and honour which he had not asked for. 

Solomon accumulated 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horses, and he made gold and silver more common in Jerusalem than stones! Solomon traded in horses and chariots importing from Egypt and Cilicia and exporting to the Hittites and the Arameans. 

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.