1 Chronicles

I started reading this book, and it was startling. It was, for the longest time, just a list of names. Talk about boring!. However, even the names mentioned in it carried some (very likely unintended) information to me. The fact that the writer knew of the Babylonian exile shows that it was authored quite late in Jewish history. Thus, when it starts off listing Adam and the other characters from Genesis, I wasn't much surprised to see that this is the only place in the Old Testament that mentions them outside of Genesis. It actually is another bit of evidence that the creation story from Genesis was most likely a set of myths copied during the Jewish exile. This book is very instructive - but not in the way originally meant.

1 Chr 4:4 - ... and Penuel was the father of Gedor, and Ezer the father of Hushah. These were the sons of Hur, the firstborn of Ephrathah, the father of Bethlehem.
Well, here's a cute way to start looking at this book! If you'll recall, there's a verse in Micah (5:2) predicting that a king will be born "from Bethlehem Ephrathah." It looks here like that verse was a prophecy of a descendant for a person named Bethlehem, and not of the birthplace for a messiah. By the way, in this book, there are 2 people mentioned as having this name (unless the one person, Bethlehem, had 2 different fathers, like Joseph in the New Testament!)

1 Chr 5:18-22 - The Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh had valiant warriors, who carried shield and sword, and drew the bow, expert in war, forty-four thousand seven hundred sixty, ready for service. They made war on the Hagrites, Jetur, Naphish, and Nodab; and when they received help against them, the Hagrites and all who were with them were given into their hands, for they cried to God in the battle, and he granted their entreaty because they trusted in him. They captured their livestock: fifty thousand of their camels, two hundred fifty thousand sheep, two thousand donkeys, and one hundred thousand captives. Many fell slain, because the war was of God. And they lived in their territory until the exile.
We see here that the writer mostly thought of God as a deity concerned with war and helping warriors win the battles that fit in with his will. Of course, this was the belief of many different peoples in the ancient world, and each group had victories that they could point to and say "This is evidence that OUR god is the greatest!"

1 Chr 5:25,26 - But they transgressed against the God of their ancestors, and prostituted themselves to the gods of the peoples of the land, whom God had destroyed before them. So the God of Israel stirred up the spirit of King Pul of Assyria, the spirit of King Tilgath-pilneser of Assyria, and he carried them away, namely, the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, and brought them to Halah, Habor, Hara, and the river Gozan, to this day.
When defeat came, the priests had their answer to the thought that maybe the God who was supposed to be mightiest had been conquered by a neighboring deity's people: the Jews' war god was angry and had caused the defeat, rather than the gods of the enemies. When the priests are free to make up any story they want to support their view, this sort of thing will result. There are few rules they really need to follow, and certainly no one to gainsay them.

1 Chr 6:1-3 - The sons of Levi: Gershom, Kohath, and Merari. The sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel. The children of Amram: Aaron, Moses, and Miriam. The sons of Aaron: Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.
Here, we see that Moses was born into the 3rd generation following the moving of Jacob's family into Egypt. If we go back to Exodus, we'll see that there, these 4 generations supposedly had a population explosion, growing from 70 people to a nation large enough to worry the military might of the height of the Egyptian Empire. Obviously, there's something dreadfully wrong with this, numerically.

1 Chr 6:49 - But Aaron and his sons made offerings on the altar of burnt offering and on the altar of incense, doing all the work of the most holy place, to make atonement for Israel, according to all that Moses the servant of God had commanded.
Again, this writer did not think this through logically. Aaron and his sons totaled all of 5 people. The census reported in the book of Exodus gave a total population of nearly a million people. Just imagine how busy these 5 guys would have been, seeing as they were the only accepted priests, just with handling the burnt offering ceremonies.

1 Chr 9:1 - So all Israel was enrolled by genealogies; and these are written in the Book of the Kings of Israel. And Judah was taken into exile in Babylon because of their unfaithfulness.
This verse is helpful in figuring out a date for when this book was written. The writer considered the Babylonian exile to be history, and is one of the latest events mentioned in the book. Therefore, it's a pretty good bet that the writer grew up in a culture that was quite familiar with the myths and legends of the nations the Jews had been captives of. This supports the idea that the first 11 chapters of Genesis, which are nearly copies of the myths of Babylon and Persia, weren't written until about this period, over a thousand years after the time of Moses.

1 Chr 10:4-6 - Then Saul said to his armor-bearer, "Draw your sword, and thrust me through with it, so that these uncircumcised may not come and make sport of me." But his armor-bearer was unwilling, for he was terrified. So Saul took his own sword and fell on it. When his armor-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he also fell on his sword and died. Thus Saul died; he and his three sons and all his house died together.
I'm quite sure that the writer of 2 Samuel would be quite surprised to have read this! It says that David handed over a group of Saul's sons to be impaled in order to pay a blood debt owed because of Saul's evil deeds, averting a famine that was ravaging the land.

1 Chr 11:4,5 - David and all Israel marched to Jerusalem, that is Jebus, where the Jebusites were, the inhabitants of the land. The inhabitants of Jebus said to David, "You will not come in here." Nevertheless David took the stronghold of Zion, now the city of David.
Now, this is interesting! All this time, I thought that Bethlehem was supposed to be the "city of David," and all along, it's been Jerusalem! That puts a rather interesting spin on things, doesn't it?

1 Chr 12:16-18 - Some Benjaminites and Judahites came to the stronghold to David. David went out to meet them and said to them, "If you have come to me in friendship, to help me, then my heart will be knit to you; but if you have come to betray me to my adversaries, though my hands have done no wrong, then may the God of our ancestors see and give judgment." Then the spirit came upon Amasai, chief of the Thirty, and he said, "We are yours, O David; and with you, O son of Jesse! Peace, peace to you, and peace to the one who helps you! For your God is the one who helps you." Then David received them, and made them officers of his troops.
Here's a concept that was sort of late coming into the Jewish theology! Amasai appears to have been just standing there with nothing on his mind (oddly enough) when "the spirit" came over him and he proceeded to give his allegiance to David. It seems to be a rather silly thing to consider, this idea that some outside spirit makes people think or say things, but there you are!

1 Chr 13:5,6 - So David assembled all Israel from the Shihor of Egypt to Lebo-hamath, to bring the ark of God from Kiriath-jearim. And David and all Israel went up to Baalah, that is, to Kiriath-jearim, which belongs to Judah, to bring up from there the ark of God, the Lord, who is enthroned on the cherubim, which is called by his name.
It really seems here that the writer (supposedly inspired divinely) thought that God was personally associated with the actual ark, which had statues of cherubim (a type of angel) on its lid!

1 Chr 13:9-11 - When they came to the threshing floor of Chidon, Uzzah put out his hand to hold the ark, for the oxen shook it. The anger of the Lord was kindled against Uzzah; he struck him down because he put out his hand to the ark; and he died there before God. David was angry because the Lord had burst out against Uzzah; so that place is called Perez-uzzah to this day.
It looks here like God wasn't much on thinking about options or alternatives here. This poor dope, Uzzah, was only trying to keep the ark from falling. I'd think that having the ark bounce in the mud would have upset God a whole lot more than just having someone put his hand on the side of the holy box. Of course, an alternate view of this incident might be that the "wrath of God" took the form of priests who killed Uzzah in God's name, thinking they were responsibility-free tools of God. In my opinion, though, this is most likely a cautionary story to warn the priests against touching the "holy" items without going through the proper "purification" rituals.

1 Chr 14:13-17 - Once again the Philistines made a raid in the valley. When David again inquired of God, God said to him, "You shall not go up after them; go around and come on them opposite the balsam trees. When you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the balsam trees, then go out to battle; for God has gone out before you to strike down the army of the Philistines." David did as God had commanded him, and they struck down the Philistine army from Gibeon to Gezer. The fame of David went out into all lands, and the Lord brought the fear of him on all nations.
Well, you'd rather expect this sort of thing from a war god, I would think. That is, you'd expect to win battles with God's help, but I think it's just a little strange that God here stoops to giving tactical orders to David. Not only that, but directing David to set up an ambush, instead of just making the enemy easy to kill.

1 Chr 16:29,30 - Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; bring an offering, and come before him. Worship the Lord in holy splendor; tremble before him, all the earth. The world is firmly established; it shall never be moved.
Here's another of the many passages in the Bible that indicate that the writers believed that the world was immobile, flat and rather smaller than it eventually was found to be.

1 Chr 17:4,5 - Go and tell my servant David: Thus says the Lord: You shall not build me a house to live in. For I have not lived in a house since the day I brought out Israel to this very day, but I have lived in a tent and a tabernacle.
There you have it, folks! According to this divinely-given book, God spent a pretty long time living in a box being carried around in the desert by a bunch of itinerant ex-slaves. Pretty cool, isn't it?

1 Chr 17:7-10 - Now therefore thus you shall say to my servant David: Thus says the Lord of hosts: I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, to be ruler over my people Israel; and I have been with you wherever you went, and have cut off all your enemies before you; and I will make for you a name, like the name of the great ones of the earth. I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and will plant them, so that they may live in their own place, and be disturbed no more; and evildoers shall wear them down no more, as they did formerly, from the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel; and I will subdue all your enemies. Moreover I declare to you that the Lord will build you a house.
I think this is so nice! God is planning to make life just right for the Jews, and tells David so, unconditionally. Of course, we all know from the rest of the stories of the Bible that this was all just wishful thinking

1 Chr 20:1 - In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle, Joab led out the army, ravaged the country of the Ammonites, and came and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem. Joab attacked Rabbah, and overthrew it.
Isn't this just so prosaic!? I always thought that spring was a time for thoughts of love, life and renewal. Instead, the Bible here only mentions it as the time when kings get back into the business of running their wars. Absolutely lovely!

1 Chr 20:5 - Again there was war with the Philistines; and Elhanan son of Jair killed Lahmi the brother of Goliath the Gittite, the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver's beam.
Here's a part of an interesting controversy. In 2 Sam 21:19, we see basically the same event reported. however, in the original Hebrew text of the 2 Samuel passage, the word for "brother of" is missing, so that it says that Elhanan actually killed Goliath! It's interesting that the King James version of the bible falsely inserts the term in the text, as if to cover up the inconsistency. It strikes me as very possible that this verse is an attempt to cover up the problem by the later Jewish writers.

1 Chr 21:1 - Satan stood up against Israel, and incited David to count the people of Israel.
This is the start of a very weird story in the Bible. The same story is told in 2 Samuel 24, but with a big difference. In the earlier telling of the story, it is reported that God was the one who ordered David to hold the census!

1 Chr 21:5,6 - Joab gave the total count of the people to David. In all Israel there were one million one hundred thousand men who drew the sword, and in Judah four hundred seventy thousand who drew the sword. But he did not include Levi and Benjamin in the numbering, for the king's command was abhorrent to Joab.
There are a couple of things here that are noteworthy. First, isn't it strange that Joab would think to divide the census figures between Israel and Judah, at least two full generations before anyone even thought of making that split a political reality? Also, I wonder why, if David's command was so repellant to Joab, he left out the counts of Levi and Benjamin? Wouldn't it be more likely that he would simply refuse to count people at all? Or to just make up some numbers and merely tell David that the census had been done?

1 Chr 21:7-12 - But God was displeased with this thing, and he struck Israel. David said to God, "I have sinned greatly in that I have done this thing. But now, I pray you, take away the guilt of your servant; for I have done very foolishly." The Lord spoke to Gad, David's seer, saying, "Go and say to David, 'Thus says the Lord: Three things I offer you; choose one of them, so that I may do it to you.' " So Gad came to David and said to him, "Thus says the Lord, 'Take your choice: either three years of famine; or three months of devastation by your foes, while the sword of your enemies overtakes you; or three days of the sword of the Lord, pestilence on the land, and the angel of the Lord destroying throughout all the territory of Israel.' Now decide what answer I shall return to the one who sent me."
So what is the thinking going on here, I wonder? This passage starts off with God punishing the nation for the "horrible crime" of taking a census (committed by David), which is bad enough, I think. But when David begs for forgiveness, God responds by offering him a choice of more punishments! And notice that the choices all involve the deaths of citizens! David does not get involved personally in any of the proposed punishments. This is one ultra-strange story, if you ask me!

1 Chr 22:6-12 -Then he called for his son Solomon and charged him to build a house for the Lord, the God of Israel. David said to Solomon, "My son, I had planned to build a house to the name of the Lord my God. But the word of the Lord came to me, saying, "You have shed much blood and have waged great wars; you shall not build a house to my name, because you have shed so much blood in my sight on the earth. See, a son shall be born to you; he shall be a man of peace. I will give him peace from all his enemies on every side; for his name shall be Solomon, and I will give peace and quiet to Israel in his days. He shall build a house for my name. He shall be a son to me, and I will be a father to him, and I will establish his royal throne in Israel forever.' Now, my son, the Lord be with you, so that you may succeed in building the house of the Lord your God, as he has spoken concerning you. Only, may the Lord grant you discretion and understanding, so that when he gives you charge over Israel you may keep the law of the Lord your God."
According to this, David was kept from building a temple for God because he was a killer, though why this should bother God is far from clear, considering that all the rest of the Bible portrays God as a rather ferocious deity who wants nothing better than to see blood being spilled, whether it be animal blood, or the blood of non-Jewish enemies, or Jewish law-breakers. Puzzling, isn't it?

1 Chr 22:14 - With great pains I have provided for the house of the Lord one hundred thousand talents of gold, one million talents of silver, and bronze and iron beyond weighing, for there is so much of it; timber and stone too I have provided. To these you must add more.
With supplies like these, you'd think they could have built one of the biggest churches ever seen on the Earth! However, the dimensions they arrived at were, by later (medival) standards, far from impressive, and they certainly were far over-supplied with materials.

1 Chr 23:25 - For David said, "The Lord, the God of Israel, has given rest to his people; and he resides in Jerusalem forever."
I wonder if this "forever" included all the times the city was ravaged, plundered, put under the control of invaders and so on? Note that we've already established that the writer of this book knew about the captivity of the Jews in Babylon. In 1 Kings, God mentioned something about the temple being a permanent fixture, which turned out to be far from accurate!

1 Chr 27:23,24 - David did not count those below twenty years of age, for the Lord had promised to make Israel as numerous as the stars of heaven. Joab son of Zeruiah began to count them, but did not finish; yet wrath came upon Israel for this, and the number was not entered into the account of the Annals of King David.
We're going back to the story from chapter 21 again (Jewish story-telling is far different from the stuff I grew up with!), and we have another strange statement. David didn't count teenagers in the census, but only because God promised to make these people uncountable? It makes no sense.

1 Chr 28:6-8 - He said to me, "It is your son Solomon who shall build my house and my courts, for I have chosen him to be a son to me, and I will be a father to him. I will establish his kingdom forever if he continues resolute in keeping my commandments and my ordinances, as he is today." Now therefore in the sight of all Israel, the assembly of the Lord, and in the hearing of our God, observe and search out all the commandments of the Lord your God; that you may possess this good land, and leave it for an inheritance to your children after you forever.
Isn't it interesting that David might say this? You'd think that the laws handed down to Moses from God would have been readily available to these people, considering they were supposedly engraved on the stone tablets in the ark!

1 Chr 29:8,9 - Whoever had precious stones gave them to the treasury of the house of the Lord, into the care of Jehiel the Gershonite. Then the people rejoiced because these had given willingly, for with single mind they had offered freely to the Lord; King David also rejoiced greatly.
This sounds very much like the "free will" offering taken up in Exodus in order to get the stuff to build that holy tent! My guess is that the only ones who were really happy about this were the priests who were "keeping it safe" for God!