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Commentaries and Other Bible Study Helps - Prayer Tents - Prayer Tents
1 Chron. 10:1-2 Chron. 9:31 The United Kingdom of David and Solomon. The second major section of 1-2 Chronicles concerns the reigns of David and Solomon over the whole people and land of Israel, and overlaps the division of Chronicles into two scrolls. The rule of these two kings is presented as a unity, in that David makes the essential preparations for what Solomon completes. David is the dominant personality and human subject of interest from 1 Chronicles 11 to the end of the first book. With regard to his own rule and contributions to the kingdom, four achievements stand out in particular:
10:1-12:40 David's Rise to Power over Israel. After the death of Saul, David rises to be king over all Israel. The Chronicler focuses on the unity of Israel as it acclaims David as its king, passing over most of the conflict with Saul and Ishbosheth that 2 Samuel describes.
10:1-12 Taken mainly from 1 Sam. 31:1-13. Saul's reign is significant for the Chronicler only as a failure. It ends in disaster for Israel at the hands of the Philistines (1 Chron. 10:7), against whom Saul had originally been raised up as a military savior (1 Sam. 9:16). Saul's death, together with three of his sons, also marks the end of his royal house (1 Chron. 10:6): none of his descendants (see 8:33-40) will rule in his place over Israel. temple of Dagon (10:10). Saul's humiliation after his death contrasts with the triumph of the ark over Dagon in 1 Sam. 5:1-4.
10:4 Saul took his own sword and fell upon it. See note on 2 Sam. 1:6-10 for the claim that Saul did not commit suicide but rather was killed by an Amalekite.
10:6 all his house died together. See note on 1 Sam. 31:6.
10:11-12 Saul had saved Jabesh-gilead at the beginning of his reign (1 Samuel 11), a fact that the men of the city remembered, giving a proper burial to Saul and his sons. However, David later reburied their bones "in the land of Benjamin in Zela, in the tomb of Kish his father" (2 Sam. 21:14).
10:13-14 the Lord . . .put him to death. This is the Chronicler's theological explanation for the death of Saul, caused by his breach of faith (Hb. ma‘al; see 2:7; 5:25; 9:1), and expressed especially in failing to keep the command of the Lord (see 1 Sam. 13:13), consulting the medium of En-dor (1 Samuel 28), and failing to seek the Lord, which here denotes not the search for a prophetic oracle (which Saul had sought; see 1 Sam. 28:6) but rather the deficiency of his basic spiritual condition (see 1 Chron. 28:9). Therefore the Lord . . . turned the kingdom over to David (10:14). This is the main point of this chapter. A second decisive turning point from God in the history of the kingdom occurs in 2 Chron. 10:15, when Rehoboam "did not listen to the people."
11:1-12:40 David's accession to the kingship is presented as a sequence of growing recognition, power, and popular support from "all Israel" (11:1, 4, 10; 12:38). This section is organized as an inclusio (literary "bookends"), beginning and ending with David's anointing as king at Hebron (11:1-3; 12:38-40) and incorporating material illustrating this theme from different periods of David's rise to power and his actual rule.
11:1-3 From 2 Sam. 5:1-3 (see note on 2 Sam. 5:1-5), omitting reference here to the war with Ishbosheth and David's in Hebron as king of Judah (2 Sam. 2:1-4:12; 5:4-5; contrast 1 Chron. 3:4; 29:27). David is recognized as king by all Israel and anointed as such according to the word of the Lord by Samuel (see 1 Sam. 13:14; 15:28).
11:1 your bone and flesh. Even though there was a distinct division between Judah and the rest of Israel, they still recognized each other as kin (similarly, "brothers" in 2 Sam. 2:26-27).
11:4-9 From 2 Sam. 5:6-10. The conquest of Jerusalem (see note on 2 Sam. 5:6) by David and all Israel (cf. 2 Sam. 5:6, "the king and his men") is presented as the first act of his reign, providing him with a capital and stronghold, and the tribes with a focus of national unity. With an eye to his own postexilic community, the Chronicler presents Jerusalem as the possession not just of Judah, but of "all Israel," from the beginning.
11:8 the Millo (lit., "the fill"). See note on 2 Sam. 5:9.
11:9 for the Lord of hosts was with him. A similar theme is seen in 1 Samuel, where David's successes are due not to him but to God's favor and presence in his life.
11:10-47 From 2 Sam. 23:8-39, with additional material (1 Chron. 11:41b-47). These details of David's mighty men illustrate the kind of support David received both at the beginning and at later periods of his reign. Such support is not simply of human origin but is divinely ordained (v. 10).
11:12-13 For some reason the material about Shammah from 2 Sam. 23:9-11 is not included here. The Chronicler may have skipped over this material intentionally, in which case the plurals "they . . . their" in 1 Chron. 11:14 (see ESV footnote) indicate that others (possibly including David) were with Eleazar in this battle at Pas-dammim, a location not mentioned in 2 Samuel. Other interpreters, however, think the material in 2 Sam. 23:9b-11a was omitted from 1 Chron. 11:13 because of a later copyist's error.
11:15-19 The identity of these three mighty men is not known.
11:18 He poured it out to the Lord. David poured out the water as an offering to Yahweh and in deference to his loyal men, who risked their lives on his behalf; see note on 2 Sam. 23:16-17.
11:25-47 The original list of the thirty (vv. 26-40b = 2 Sam. 23:24-39) has been supplemented with material from a different source (1 Chron. 11:41b-47; see note on 2 Sam. 23:8-39). The places associated with these names that can be identified are all in Transjordan (1 Chron. 11:42, 44, 46), indicating a preexilic origin to this list.
12:1-22 Before his reign in Hebron, David took refuge from Saul in various strongholds in the Judean desert, then in Ziklag for , under the protection of the Philistine king Achish (1 Sam. 27:6). This section provides a literary flashback to those days and places, which are grouped within the larger unit of 1 Chron. 11:1-12:40 under the theme of growing support for David from every tribe of Israel. The catchword "help" connects this section, denoting personal commitment to and partnership with David in his task (vv. 1, 17, 18, 19, 21, 22). More specifically, "help" here signifies military support and originates in God's own support for David (v. 18).
12:1-7 These verses describe the growing support for David from Saul's own tribe of Benjamin, during his stay in Ziklag, just before Saul's death on Mount Gilboa.
12:8-15 These verses detail the support that David received from the Gadites from Transjordan, during an earlier period, possibly at Adullam (1 Sam. 22:1) or Engedi, on the shore of the Dead Sea (1 Sam. 23:29).
12:8 mighty and experienced warriors, expert with shield and spear. A frequent theme here (see vv. 2, 14, 21-22) is that the most skillful and heroic warriors in Israel are pledging allegiance to David, confirming that he is the Lord's anointed and that God's favor is on him.
12:16-18 These verses reflect the same period, when David's life is threatened by Saul, and the loyalty of those who come to him in his stronghold cannot be assumed. The prophecy by Amasai affirms and encourages loyalty to David, declaring that he enjoys God's support. Peace does not imply absence of battle but victory and "success" that attains a full and lasting peace and well-being (see note on John 14:27). The Spirit clothed is the Chronicler's characteristic idiom for prophetic inspiration (2 Chron. 15:1; 20:14; 24:20; see Judg. 6:34). David united the fractious tribes around his kingship, but that unity was shattered by his intemperate grandson Rehoboam. The northern tribes rejected Rehoboam's rule in words that ironically echoed Amasai's declaration of support: "What portion have we in David? We have no inheritance in the son of Jesse" (2 Chron. 10:16).
12:19-21 On the Philistines' relations with David, see 1 Samuel 29.
12:22 from day to day men came to David to help him. A summarizing comment on the whole chapter: from small beginnings (1 Sam. 27:2), a great army was progressively gathered to David, up to his anointing as king in Hebron. like an army of God. David did not have to seek these warriors: God was strengthening him.
12:23-37 These verses list military contingents from every tribe that defected to David in Hebron, corresponding to the elders of every tribe, who anointed him (11:3). To turn the kingdom of Saul over to him refers back to 10:14 and summarizes the overall theme of chs. 10-12. according to the word of the Lord. The tribes, like their elders (11:3), act in obedience to the prophetic word declaring David to be king. Some interpreters understand these to be the actual numbers of soldiers, since elsewhere the "tens" and "hundreds" and "thousands" add up correctly (see Num. 1:46). Others conclude that the total number of troops seems overly high for such a gathering. One possibility is that the word for "thousand" (Hb. ’elep) in a military census denotes a "unit" (of undetermined size); cf. note on Num. 1:20-46. It is also possible that the word originally had the vowels of the word for "chief" (Hb. ’allup). By this second possibility, the 6,800 in 1 Chron. 12:24 would reveal that Judah supplied
12:38-40 for there was joy in Israel. The celebrated the covenant made "before the Lord" between David and the elders of Israel (11:1-3). Religious celebrations in Chronicles are regularly characterized by joy (15:25; 29:22; 2 Chron. 7:8-10; 30:23-27). Under David's leadership, God had given the nation peace, unity, prosperity, and joy.
