The books of Chronicles
Date: 2023-10-05T00:00:00+00:00
Keywords: Bible. Chronicles -- Commentaries

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Title: The books of Chronicles

With maps, notes and introduction

Author: W. A. L. Elmslie

Editor: A. F. Kirkpatrick

Release date: October 5, 2023 [eBook #71811]

Language: English

Original publication: Cambridge: University Press, 1916

Credits: Richard Hulse, MFR and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive)

*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BOOKS OF CHRONICLES ***

The Books of Chronicles

Transcriber’s Notes

The cover image was provided by the transcriber and is placed in the public domain.

Punctuation has been standardized.

Most of the non-common abbreviations used to save space in printing have been expanded to the non-abbreviated form for easier reading.

This book was written in a period when many words had not become standardized in their spelling. Words may have multiple spelling variations or inconsistent hyphenation in the text. These have been left unchanged unless indicated with a Transcriber’s Note.

Index references have not been checked for accuracy.

The symbol ‘‡’ indicates the description in parenthesis has been added to an illustration. This may be needed if there is no caption or if the caption does not describe the image adequately.

Footnotes are identified in the text with a superscript number and are shown immediately below the paragraph in which they appear.

THE CAMBRIDGE BIBLE FOR SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES

General Editor for the Old Testament:—

A. F. KIRKPATRICK, D.D.

DEAN OF ELY

THE BOOKS OF
CHRONICLES

CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS

C. F. CLAY, Manager

London: FETTER LANE, E.C.

Edinburgh: 100 PRINCES STREET

New York: G. P. PUTNAM’S SONS

Bombay, Calcutta and Madras: MACMILLAN AND CO., Ltd.

Toronto: J. M. DENT AND SONS, Ltd.

Tokyo: THE MARUZEN-KABUSHIKI-KAISHA

All rights reserved

THE BOOKS OF
CHRONICLES

With Maps, Notes and Introduction
by

W. A. L. ELMSLIE, M.A.

Fellow of Christ’s College, Cambridge

Cambridge:
at the University Press
1916

First Edition 1899
Second Edition 1916

PREFACE
BY THE
GENERAL EDITOR FOR THE OLD TESTAMENT

The present General Editor for the Old Testament in the Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges desires to say that, in accordance with the policy of his predecessor the Bishop of Worcester, he does not hold himself responsible for the particular interpretations adopted or for the opinions expressed by the editors of the several Books, nor has he endeavoured to bring them into agreement with one another. It is inevitable that there should be differences of opinion in regard to many questions of criticism and interpretation, and it seems best that these differences should find free expression in different volumes. He has endeavoured to secure, as far as possible, that the general scope and character of the series should be observed, and that views which have a reasonable claim to consideration should not be ignored, but he has felt it best that the final responsibility should, in general, rest with the individual contributors.

A. F. KIRKPATRICK.

Cambridge.

Stand ye still and see the salvation of the Lord with you, O Judah and Jerusalem.

2 Chronicles xx. 17.

CONTENTS

I. | Introduction
| § 1. | Characteristics of Ancient Historical Writings
| § 2. | Relation to Ezra and Nehemiah
| § 3. | Date and Authorship
| § 4. | Contents
| § 5. | The Sources
| § 6. | The Purpose and Method of the Chronicler
| § 7. | The Historical Value of Chronicles
| § 8. | The Religious Value of Chronicles
| § 9. | Name and Position in the Canon
| § 10. | Text and Versions of Chronicles
| § 11. | Literature
II. | Text and Notes
| Index
| Maps
| | Western Asia (Early Times)
| | Palestine
| | The Environs of Jerusalem
| | Jerusalem (Ancient)

PREFATORY NOTE

The author desires to acknowledge with gratitude his indebtedness to Mr S. A. Cook for his kindness in reading the first proofs and in making many most valuable suggestions and criticisms, and to the General Editor of the Series, the Dean of Ely, for his very helpful revision of the proofs. His obligation to Professor W. E. Barnes is referred to on p. lx.

W. A. L. E.

INTRODUCTION

§ 1: Characteristics of Ancient Historical Writings

Until recent times the study of the historical records of Israel and of other nations of antiquity has suffered from insufficient recognition of the principles and procedure of ancient historians. It is obvious that a great contrast exists between any modern historical work and those books of the Old Testament which relate the fortunes of Israel; and unless there is a clear perception of the main facts to which this contrast is due, the nature and value of the Books of Chronicles cannot readily be understood and certainly will not be properly appreciated. It is desirable therefore to deal with this matter at the outset, before proceeding to consider the special characteristics of Chronicles.

(1) Standpoint. According to the modern point of view, a perfect history would seem to be a complete and impartial statement of events. This ideal is unattainable, for even the fullest account must fall far short of the richness of actual life. Moreover, it is imperative that the trivial be distinguished from the important, and the facts be presented according to their relative values. A historian is therefore necessary to arrange the material so that the events are seen in their proper relationship. Thereby, however, a subjective element is introduced into our histories. Life is so complex that two men considering the same facts may reach very different conclusions concerning them. We cannot wholly escape this danger, but we do claim that the historian shall consciously seek to present the truth and nothing but the truth. He must not deliberately suppress or distort facts to favour (say) the Protestant or the Roman Catholic view of the Reformation. A modern historian may be convinced that sin leads to disaster, but he must not therefore write that a certain wicked monarch perished dethroned and in misery, if he knows that he died peacefully in his royal bed. If he wishes to enforce the doctrine that “the wages of sin is death,” either he may turn to history and select incidents which support that view, or he may invent characters and weave them into a tale which points his moral, or he may discuss the belief generally; but he ought not to publish as serious history a work in which, irrespective of facts, every wicked king is punished or involves his land in ruin. We should count such a work an illegitimate use of historical material, unless the author gave some clear indication of its real nature. We draw a sharp distinction between history and fiction, and in the serious historian we demand fidelity to the truth as he sees it.

This modern standpoint is in reality the outcome of that more scientific habit of mind which insists above all things on accurate observation of phenomena and on the subordination of theory to fact. But the duty of scientific thinking has not so very long been recognised by the human mind, and in former days many things were legitimate and natural which would not be so now. The moment we make allowance for our mental environment, we can conceive that there might be other ideas than our own as to what constitutes the use and abuse of historical records. To us the facts are primary, and the lessons they seem to teach must be accepted, whether they suit our wishes or not. But an ancient writer was not dominated by that maxim. Supposing he desired to teach that “Virtue is rewarded,” he might consider that an excellent way of enforcing his theory was not only to use the narratives of the past, but to mould and modify them as best suited his object. History might be made the tool of his conviction, and the tool be shaped to assist his purpose. If it is hard for us to realise that such a procedure was legitimate for him, that is simply due to the difficulty we have in being anything except the children of our own age.

The earliest historical records of Israel were not attempts to write a continuous history of the people, but popular tales and songs commemorating such deeds of the people or its heroes as had made a profound impression on the popular imagination. An excellent example is the famous Song of Deborah in Judges v. Records of this type were long transmitted orally, but eventually were gathered together into written collections, such as the Book of Jashar, referred to by the canonical writers (see Joshua x. 13, 2 Samuel i. 18). As national history lengthened out and State records accumulated in connection with palace and temple, the idea would finally arise of combining these with the popular memories so as to form a connected historical narrative. But the motive which prompted the formation of such accounts was not scientific interest nor even perhaps curiosity to ascertain the exact course of events, but the desire to interest, to instruct, and above all to edify contemporary thought and life. Broadly, we may distinguish two types of ancient historical writing; first, the descriptive narrative in which events were recorded on account of their intense human interest, and, secondly, the didactic, where the older descriptive tales and any other available material were selected, related, and built into a unity in such fashion as might best serve to bring out the religious, moral, or political lessons which they seem to teach or which the writer was anxious to impress upon his generation. The books of Samuel‒Kings and of Chronicles both belong to the didactic type¹. Thus, they contain many stories (e.g. the details of Jehu’s revolution in Kings) which teach no special lesson but are recorded for their intrinsic interest; and also much annalistic record of fact. But this material has been welded together by a writer or writers who were supremely interested in the religious condition of their people, who believed that the character and purpose of God were manifest in the vicissitudes of their national history, and who desired to make the ethical and spiritual import of that history clear to their fellow-men. Hence in their present form their works are not scientific records but rather what may be termed “history with a motive.” For instance, the space given to the tales about Elisha the prophet compared with the brief allusion to Omri King of Israel is entirely disproportionate to their respective values in the political sphere. The books of Samuel and Kings are practical and powerful appeals to history in the interests of religious faith. The same is true of Chronicles, and to an even greater degree, because Chronicles belongs to a later period than Samuel‒Kings (see § 3), when the religious convictions of Israel were felt with extraordinary intensity, and could be expressed in accordance with certain precise theological beliefs.

¹ That both Samuel‒Kings and Chronicles can be classed as didactic does not imply that they do not differ greatly in character: the former books are “prophetic” and national, relating God’s dealings with the nation as a whole, whilst Chronicles gives an essentially priestly and ecclesiastical view of the history.

(2) Method: the treatment of “sources.” It is of no less importance to realise something of the difference of method between ancient and modern historians, particularly as regards their treatment of “sources.”

For all that lies beyond his personal experience the historian is, of course, dependent on sources, documentary or otherwise. The modern writer recognises the duty of testing and verifying the accuracy of the sources he uses for his narrative, and in producing his own account of affairs he is expected, where desirable, to state the sources upon which he has relied. The ancient historian also made use of sources, but (1) he used them uncritically, with little or no anxiety concerning their accuracy, and (2) it was his custom simply to select from the available material any passages, long or short, even words or phrases, which served his purpose, and to incorporate these in his work, frequently without any indication of the borrowing. Only in certain instances was the source precisely referred to. Moreover (3) the utmost freedom was exercised in dealing with the passages thus chosen. Sometimes they were reproduced word for word; at other times they were partially or wholly transformed to suit the new context. This may seem an unwarrantable procedure to us, but one has only to examine the actual instances of these adaptations or transformations of unnamed sources to perceive that the ancient¹ writer has acted in perfect good faith, with no suspicion that the manipulation was in any way blameworthy. How indeed could it have been otherwise? The science of literary criticism was unknown, “notions of literary propriety and plagiarism had not been thought of, and writers who advanced no pretensions to originality for themselves were guilty of no imposture when they borrowed without acknowledgement from their predecessors” (Skinner, Kings, p. 7).

¹ Nor need one go back to antiquity for an instance. Most instructive examples of composite narrative compiled uncritically but quite innocently by mediaeval chroniclers from earlier sources may be found in Chapman’s Introduction to the Pentateuch (in this series), pp. 260 ff. Compare also an illustration from Arabic historical writings given by A. A. Bevan in Cambridge Biblical Essays, pp. 12 ff.

For us there is both gain and loss in these methods of the ancient writers, (a) Loss—because the continual adaptation of old tradition has sometimes produced changes so great that it is difficult or even impossible to discover now what was the actual course of events. By the exercise of care and by the diligent application of the principles of literary research the loss thus occasioned can be greatly diminished, particularly where different accounts of the same period have survived—e.g. in the parallel history of Judah in Samuel‒Kings and in Chronicles. Not only do the two versions facilitate the task of recovering the actual history, but each version throws light upon the origin and nature of the other. (b) On the other hand, the practice of incorporating passages of older narratives in the text is a great gain. It is, of course, unfortunate that the writers did not more carefully indicate the various sources they happened to be using; but constantly—thanks to idiosyncrasies of style, language, and thought—we are able to analyse the composite whole into its component parts. From the study of the separate sources thus revealed we gain invaluable information which would have been lost to us had the later writer (or rather, compiler and editor) given his version of the history entirely in his own words.

(3) The absence of the idea of Development. One other feature of the ancient writers, at least of the chroniclers of Israel, is of singular interest, and deserves special attention: it might be described as a feature of their temperament or of their mental environment. The idea of growth has become familiar to us, and we recognise that there has been a process of development in our religious and social institutions. We are content to trace the seeds of the present in the past. But the feeling of antiquity was apparently different. In Israel, at least, there was a tendency to suppose that the cherished system and organisations of the present had sprung into existence, as it were, full-grown at some great moment of the past. For example, by the Chronicler’s time, the whole body of law and ritual embodied in the final form of the Pentateuch had come to be ascribed in its entirety to Moses, whereas historical and literary evidence demonstrates beyond all question that the system of Jewish worship and law was a gradual growth of which the stages can be traced with considerable clearness. Similarly, many features in the organisation of the Temple ministrants—the Priests, Levites, etc.—came into existence only in post-exilic days; but the whole system as it appeared in the Chronicler’s time was believed by him, and doubtless also by his contemporaries, to have originated with King David. Indeed, it is very probable that the ancients felt it so natural and so necessary to justify important customs and institutions by giving them the sanction of an ancient and honourable origin, that occasionally the very ideals of the present were represented as facts of the past. The converse of this tendency was also in force. As the present sought the support of the authority of the past, so the past could only continue to be deemed important provided it conformed to some extent with the beliefs and ideals of the present. Ideas change and expand. Thus it was quite impossible in the Chronicler’s time to represent the age of David and Solomon as great and glorious unless the moderate figures given in Kings were altered to correspond with the ideas of men accustomed to think of the mighty armies of the Persian monarchs or of Alexander the Great. As Kuenen says, “In ancient times, and specifically in Israel, the sense of historic continuity could only be preserved by the constant compliance on the part of the past with the requirements of the present, that is to say by the constant renovation and transformation of the past. This may be called the Law of religious historiography” (The Modern Review, vol. i. [1880], p. 705).

One consequence of the first importance follows from this fact. An ancient historical writing often records unconsciously far more than the history of the period it purports to describe. Since much in it which is ascribed to a past age in reality reflects the conditions of the present, it follows that the work as a whole may be an invaluable commentary on the author’s own period. By taking into account this law of religious historiography, by studying the writer’s method of compilation, his use and manipulation of sources and the additions he has himself made to the story, we shall find in the completed book a mirror of the thoughts, the ideals, and the conditions of the age when it was produced.

Justification for these remarks can be drawn not only from the writings of the Old Testament but also from the study of ancient literature in general. Nowhere, however, are the principles and characteristics which we have outlined more clearly exemplified than in the books of Chronicles. They are the key to the comprehension of Chronicles; and, if they are borne in mind, what is generally considered a somewhat dull book of the Bible will be seen to be one of the most instructive pieces of ancient literature. At the same time, we shall be in a position to perceive and appreciate the religious enthusiasm which animated the Chronicler.

§ 2. Relation to Ezra and Nehemiah

It is well known that the books of Ezra and Nehemiah were originally one book; but further it is certain that Chronicles has been artificially separated from them, and that the three books, Chronicles-Ezra-Nehemiah, were once a continuous work. The reasons upon which this conclusion is based are as follows:

(1) The ending of Chronicles and the beginning of Ezra are the same (2 Chronicles xxxvi. 22 f. = Ezra i. 1‒3a), i.e. after the separation was made between Chronicles and Ezra‒Nehemiah the opening verses of Ezra (recording the proclamation of Cyrus permitting the Jews to return) were retained, or perhaps one should say, were added by someone who was aware of the original continuity of Chronicles with Ezra‒Nehemiah and who was anxious that Chronicles should end in a hopeful strain (see note on 2 Chronicles xxxvi. 23). The desirability of securing a hopeful conclusion is much more obvious in the Hebrew than in the English Bible, for, whereas in the English order Ezra immediately follows Chronicles, in the Hebrew Canon Ezra and Nehemiah are made to precede Chronicles, and Chronicles is actually the last book of the Hebrew Bible. (On the reason for this order in the Hebrew, and generally on the separation of Chronicles from Ezra‒Nehemiah, see § 9, Position in the Canon, ad fin.)

(2) The same general standpoint and the same special interests are found both in Chronicles and Ezra‒Nehemiah to a remarkable degree. In particular, attention may be called to the following points:

(a) The same fondness for lists and genealogies is shown in both works; compare e.g. 1 Chronicles xii. with Ezra ii. or Nehemiah iii.; and 2 Chronicles xxxi. 16‒19 with Nehemiah vii. 63‒65.

(b) The same intense interest in religious festivals and institutions; compare 1 Chronicles xv., xvi.; 2 Chronicles v.‒vii., xxix., xxx., xxxv. 1‒19, with Ezra iii., vi. 16‒22; Nehemiah viii.

(c) Three classes of Temple attendants, viz. Levites, singers, and porters, which are barely mentioned in the rest of the Old Testament, receive a great deal of notice both in Chronicles and in Ezra‒Nehemiah.

(3) The same style and diction are found in both works (excepting of course in such sentences and passages as are transcribed from older sources). Characteristic phrases are the following:

(a) “Fathers’ houses”; compare 1 Chronicles vii. 2, note.

(b) “The house of God,” very frequently in Chronicles‒Ezra‒Nehemiah in place of the usual “house of the Lord” (Jehovah). With this compare the avoidance of the use of the name Jehovah (Jahveh) in such places as 2 Chronicles xvii. 4 (compare Authorized Version with Revised Version), xx. 12, 30; Ezra viii. 18, 21.

(c) “genealogy” (“reckon by genealogy”); compare 1 Chronicles v. 17, note; Ezra ii. 62.

(d) “to oversee”; 1 Chronicles xxiii. 4; 2 Chronicles ii. 2 [ii. 1 Hebrew]; Ezra iii. 8 (Revised Version “to have the oversight”).

(e) “willingly offer”; 1 Chronicles xxix. 14; Ezra i. 6.

These are merely a few instances out of very many which might be given. This similarity of style and language is far more striking in the Hebrew (compare § 3, C, and for full particulars the long list in Curtis, Chronicles, pp. 27 ff.).

When fully stated, the evidence indicated under (2) and (3) above is of a convincing character, and the conclusion that Chronicles‒Ezra‒Nehemiah were at one time a single work should be unhesitatingly adopted.

§ 3. Date and Authorship

(1) Date and Unity. The scope of our inquiry in this section requires to be defined with some care. In dealing with any work which is chiefly a compilation of older material, it is necessary clearly to distinguish between the dates of the various sources which can be recognised or surmised and the dates of the writer or writers who have effected the compilation. When we examine the structure of Chronicles its composite nature is at once evident. Many long and important passages have been taken, with or without adaptation, directly from the existing books of Scripture. The date of all such passages, of course, falls to be considered in the commentaries on Samuel or Kings or wherever their original setting may be. The remainder of Chronicles presents an intricate but interesting problem. It has been held that there are no sources involved in this remaining portion but that the whole is the free composition of the writer who quoted or adapted the passages from earlier books of Scripture referred to above. According to the view taken in this volume, sources other than these “canonical” books were utilised in the formation of Chronicles, although for reasons suggested in § 5 (q.v., pp. xxxvi f.) such sources are not easy to distinguish from the work of the compiler himself. The little which can be said regarding the origin and history of these supposed sources may conveniently be reserved for the section dealing with the Sources (§ 5). The question, therefore, which is before us in this section is the date of the editorial process to which we owe the present form of Chronicles. Fortunately the answer is simplified by one important fact, namely the remarkable homogeneity of Chronicles‒Ezra‒Nehemiah. To such a degree are these books characterised by unity of style, vocabulary, standpoint and purpose (see below; also § 2 and § 6), that we may safely conclude they are essentially the product of one mind: they have reached substantially their present form in the course of a single editorial process. Conceivably the work was achieved by a small body of Levites (see below under Authorship), contemporaries, sharing the same training and outlook; but it is much more reasonable to infer the activity of a single writer—the Chronicler. It is his date which we proceed to consider. The evidence may be grouped under three heads, of which the last two (B, C) are of chief importance.

(A) (1) In 1 Chronicles xxix. 7 a sum of money is reckoned in darics, a Persian coinage introduced by Darius I (521‒486 B.C.).

(2) In 1 Chronicles iii. 19b‒24 (see note ad loc.) according to the Hebrew the line of David’s family is traced to the sixth generation after Zerubbabel (circa 520 B.C.). Hence, reckoning a generation as about 20 to 30 years, this passage would indicate a date not earlier than 400 B.C. or 340 B.C. The Greek, Syriac, and Latin Versions, however, differ from the Hebrew by extending the line to the eleventh generation after Zerubbabel. That would imply a date possibly as late as 200 B.C. and not earlier than about 300 B.C., but it is very doubtful whether we can here rely upon the text of these Versions, and obviously it was easy for a translator or scribe to carry the list on to his own date. This piece of evidence, therefore, for the later date cannot be pressed, although it is worthy of notice.

Since, as we have said (§ 2), Ezra‒Nehemiah formed originally one book with Chronicles, evidence for the date of Chronicles is also furnished by any indications of date which occur in Ezra‒Nehemiah.

(3) In Nehemiah xii. 22 we find the significant phrase “to the reign of Darius, the Persian.” Now as long as the Persian empire stood such a description would have no point when written by a Jewish writer. For two hundred years down to 332 B.C., when Syria and Phoenicia fell into the hands of Alexander the Great, the rulers of Judea were all “Persians.” But from 332 B.C. onward Greek monarchs were the rulers of Palestine, and nothing is more natural than that a Jewish chronicler writing under their rule should refer to a king of the older régime as “the Persian.”

(4) Further, in Nehemiah xii. 26, 47 the phrase “in the days of Nehemiah” occurs, implying that for the writer Nehemiah belonged to the past, but, as one cannot say how near or how distant a past, the point carries little weight.

(5) Again, in Nehemiah xii. 10, 11 and 22, 23, a list of high-priests is given, concluding with the name of Jaddua, whom the Chronicler evidently (and correctly, compare Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews xi. 7, 8) knew to have been the high-priest about 332 B.C., at the end of the reign of Darius (Darius III, Codomannus), when the Persian Empire collapsed before the attack of Alexander the Great.

These details, indicative of the date of composition, are as numerous as we have any right to expect in a work of the nature of Chronicles, which deals with past history. Their evidential value can of course be criticised by supposing that the passages in question are late interpolations and have therefore no bearing on the date of the main body of the work. But no solid grounds are adduced for this objection, and the burden of proof lies upon the objector. The supposition is extremely improbable, and may be dismissed in view of the fact that (B) the general character, and (C) the linguistic peculiarities of Chronicles alike demand a date considerably later than the period of Ezra‒Nehemiah.

(B) The character of Chronicles has already been referred to, but in a different connection (§ 2, pp. xvi f.). Here the point to notice is that throughout the entire work the whole system of law and ritual found in the Pentateuch is presupposed as existing in its final form. This system, which may conveniently be described as Priestly (P) in distinction from the earlier system to which the name Deuteronomic (D) is applied, and the still earlier standpoint represented by the Jahvistic and Elohistic writers (J and E), may have been of slow growth, and no doubt embodies features of law and ritual which are of relatively high antiquity. But there is overwhelming evidence to prove that, as an organised and completed system, it cannot be dated earlier than the period of Nehemiah (circa 425 B.C.). Now in Chronicles not only is this final code in force; it has evidently been so long and so firmly established that the Chronicler did not know, or at least did not believe, that any other earlier system had once ruled the practice of Israel. He belonged to a period when the development of the Pentateuch was no more remembered, and when its origin—in all completeness—had come to be ascribed with absolute confidence to the remote past, in accordance with that religious instinct which we have described above on p. xiv. Manifestly, a considerable lapse of time after Nehemiah’s period must be allowed for that conviction to have become established.

Another consideration is found in the attitude of the Chronicler towards the kingdom of Israel. For the apostate Northern Kingdom the Chronicler has only contempt and hatred and displays no interest whatever in its fortunes, except that he takes pains occasionally to indicate the corruption of the North, thus emphasising by contrast the virtue of the Judeans. His absorption in the affairs of Jerusalem and his bitter antagonism to the North in all likelihood reflect the anger felt by the post-exilic Jews of Jerusalem against the Samaritans after the famous schism between the two communities. Indeed it is possible, § 6 (1), that his work was directly inspired by the necessity of combating the religious pretensions of the Samaritans with their Temple on Mt Gerizim, rivalling Jerusalem. The Samaritan schism is generally supposed to date from 432 B.C., but there are grounds for thinking that it was not so early, and possibly the Temple on Mt Gerizim may have been built, not in 432, but in 332 B.C. If the later date be correct, we have strong evidence for dating Chronicles not earlier than the last half of the fourth century B.C.

(C) The late date of Chronicles is finally put beyond all doubt by the linguistic peculiarities of the book. Excluding, of course, the passages drawn from earlier Scriptures, the Hebrew of Chronicles is of such a character that it is impossible to assign anything but a late post-exilic date for its composition. In every aspect of language—grammar and syntax and vocabulary—the diction exhibits the unmistakable characteristics of late Hebrew. It lies beyond the scope of the present volume to give details of the Hebrew, and reference may be made to the edition of Chronicles by Curtis and Madsen (International Critical Commentary), pp. 27 ff., where a list of 136 such peculiarities is given.

The style of Chronicles is disappointing. The Chronicler had some praiseworthy qualities as a narrator: he displays force and imagination in the treatment of the material, he knew how to add a graphic touch, and he was able to revise a story thoroughly while preserving its internal coherence (e.g. 1 Chronicles xxi.). But he had not the gift of choice language. In so late a work we could not hope to find the strength and purity which characterised Hebrew prose of the “golden age.” It must, however, be confessed that, judged even by the standard of its own age, the Hebrew of Chronicles is clumsy and displeasing in many ways.

From this cumulative evidence we infer that the Chronicler was certainly a post-exilic writer later than the period of Ezra‒Nehemiah and in all probability not earlier than about 300‒250 B.C. This is a valuable and definite conclusion, but it is important to observe that it does not fully answer the problem of the date of the present form of Chronicles. It remains to ask whether the text as it has reached us (the Masoretic Hebrew) is precisely the text which left the Chronicler’s hands, and, if not, what changes have been introduced. It is safe to say that the Hebrew text has been almost unchanged since about 150 A.D., but between that date and the time of the Chronicler is a long and sometimes stormy period. The subject, though in many ways important, is too intricate to be discussed here at length: a few remarks must suffice. (1) Like all other books of the Old Testament, Chronicles has suffered from the usual accidents of scribal errors in the course of transmission; but the changes due to this cause, being unintentional, are as a rule unimportant and can often be detected and corrected (see § 10, Text). (2) More serious are alterations made by revisers or scribes who were anxious to bring the narrative of Chronicles into conformity with that of Samuel and Kings. In the last two chapters of 2 Chronicles the Hebrew text can be compared with an old Greek Version (1 Esdras—see § 10, Greek Versions), and the comparison indicates that changes of text (see notes on 2 Chronicles xxxv. 8, 15) and a harmonisation of Chronicles with Kings (see note on 2 Chronicles xxxvi. 5; compare also verse 15) have occurred in that brief section.

Except in these two chapters the old Greek Version has unfortunately perished, and for all the rest of Chronicles comparison can only be made with a much later Greek Version, which is a translation of a Hebrew text almost identical with the present, Masoretic, form. Even so, differences are found, notably a substantial passage deleted from the Hebrew in 2 Chronicles xxxv. 19 (where see note). It is a legitimate conjecture that, if the old Greek Version were extant throughout Chronicles, considerable variations between the earlier and the present text might be disclosed. (3) Finally, internal evidence suggests that a few passages are of a secondary character; i.e. interpolations by a writer later than the Chronicler: such perhaps are 1 Chronicles vi. 50‒53; viii. 29‒38; xxiv. 20‒31; 2 Chronicles xv. 16‒19 (see note verse 17); xx. 33 (see note xvii. 6); xxxi. 17‒19.

Interpolations on a large scale are not likely to have been made. Yet it must be borne in mind that Chronicles‒Ezra‒Nehemiah were once a continuous work, and study of Ezra‒Nehemiah shows that those writings have undergone a complex literary process, involving serious omissions and transpositions. This heightens the possibility that Chronicles also, before or after its separation from Ezra‒Nehemiah, was treated with freedom. Thus “the recurrence of 1 Chronicles ix., Nehemiah xi. [both giving a list of inhabitants of Jerusalem] in a single work hardly looks like an original feature; like the more remarkable repetition of Ezra ii., Nehemiah vii., the feature seems to point to the combination of sources which were primarily distinct” (Cook, 1 Esdras, in Charles’ Apocrypha, p. 19, but see note on ix. 17). On the other hand the homogeneity of style and purpose in Chronicles tells strongly against the probability of large interpolations, and it is reasonable to believe that in the present text we have substantially the work produced by the Chronicler.

(II) Authorship. Chronicles‒Ezra‒Nehemiah contain no hint whatsoever of the name of their author, and external evidence fails us equally. From the contents and tone of the work we can infer with comparative certainty that he belonged to the Levitical order, and in all probability was a member of one of the Levitical guilds of musicians and singers (see, e.g. 2 Chronicles xxxiv. 12, note). His character and conceptions can also be discerned from the nature of his work. That he was a man of strong intellect and vivid imagination is shown by his qualities as a narrator (see p. xxi) and by the consistency and power with which the whole work has been designed and carried through (see below, §§ 5, 6, 8). Beyond this it is futile to conjecture.

§ 4. Contents

The books of Chronicles‒Ezra‒Nehemiah give a history of Israel and its ancestors from Adam down to the conclusion of Nehemiah’s activity on behalf of the post-exilic community in Jerusalem, circa 432 B.C. Of this history the two books of Chronicles cover the period from Adam to the fall of Jerusalem in 586 B.C.¹ Before giving a detailed analysis, it may be of advantage to call attention to certain outstanding features. Remark that (1) the traditions of the period from Adam to Saul’s death have been compressed into a series of genealogical lists which occupy chapters i.‒ix.; (2) the rest of the two books gives an account of the history of Judah from the death of Saul down to the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians in 586, the fortunes of North Israel being ignored, except for some scornful allusions to its degeneracy in comparison with Judah and Jerusalem; (3) the keenest interest is displayed by the writer in all matters connected with the Levites, the Temple, and its worship, so that an extraordinary amount of space is allotted to those subjects—note especially 1 Chronicles vi., xxii.‒xxix.; 2 Chronicles iii.‒vii., xxix.‒xxxi., xxxiv. 8‒xxxv. 19.

¹ Actually Chronicles concludes with the first three verses of Ezra i., which relate the famous edict of Cyrus, permitting the Jews to return to Jerusalem: see § 2 (1).

The following Table gives a general survey of the contents of 1 and 2 Chronicles¹.

¹ The sign “=” in the Table means that the passage in Chronicles is a transcription, with little or no change, of the passage given in brackets; the sign “compare” is used where the account in Chronicles differs considerably from or has only a faint connection with that of the passage in brackets.

(A) | 1 Chronicles i.‒ix. Introductory Genealogies.
| i. | 1‒4 | (compare Genesis v. 3‒32). Genealogy from Adam to the sons of Noah.
| | 5‒23 | (= Genesis x. 2‒29). The descendants of Japheth, Ham, and Shem.
| | 24‒28 | Genealogy from Shem to Ishmael.
| | 29‒31 | (= Genesis xxv. 12‒16). Ishmaelite descendants of Abraham.
| | 32, 33 | (= Genesis xxv. 1‒4). Arabian descendants of Abraham.
| | 34‒37 | (compare Genesis xxxvi. 10‒14). Edomite descendants of Abraham.
| | 38‒42 | (compare Genesis xxxvi. 20‒28). Genealogy of the Horite inhabitants of Seir.
| | 43‒51a | (compare Genesis xxxvi. 31‒39). The early kings of Edom.
| | 51b‒54 | (compare Genesis xxxvi. 40‒43). The “dukes” of Edom.
| ii. | 1, 2 | (compare Genesis xxxv. 22b‒26). The sons of Israel.
| | 3‒iv. 23 | Genealogies of the tribe of Judah:
| | ii. | 3‒17 | Descent of the sons of Jesse.
| | | 18‒55 | Caleb. Jerahmeel. Caleb.
| | iii. | 1‒9 | (= 2 Samuel iii. 2‒5; v. 14‒16). David’s sons.
| | | 10‒24 | The Davidic Line before and after the Captivity.
| | iv. | 1‒23 | Additional genealogies of Judah.
| iv. | 24‒v. 26 | Genealogies of Simeon, Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh.
| vi. | 1‒81 | The tribe of Levi:
| | | 1‒3 | Genealogy from Levi to Eleazar.
| | | 4‒15 | The line of the high-priests to the Captivity.
| | | 16‒30 | The three clans of the Levites.
| | | 31‒47 | The singers.
| | | 48‒53 | Distinction between the sons of Aaron and the rest of the Levites.
| | | 54‒81 | The cities of the Levites.
| vii. | 1‒40 | Genealogies of Issachar, Zebulun (see note on vii. 6), Naphtali, Manasseh, Ephraim, and Asher.
| viii. | 1‒40 | Genealogies of Benjamin:
| | | 1‒28 | Various Benjamite families.
| | | 29‒40 | (compare ix. 35‒44). The genealogy of the house of Saul.
| ix. | 1‒17 | The heads of the families of Judah, Benjamin, and Levi, which dwelt in Jerusalem.
| | 18‒34 | The duties of porters and Levites.
| | 35‒44 | (= viii. 29‒38). The genealogy of the house of Saul.
(B) | x.‒xxix. David.
| x. | 1‒14 | (= 1 Samuel xxxi. 1‒13). The death of Saul at the battle of Gilboa.
| xi. | 1‒9 | (= 2 Samuel v. 1‒10). Coronation of David and capture of Jebus.
| | 10‒47 | (compare 2 Samuel xxiii. 8‒39). David’s mighty men.
| xii. | 1‒40 | David’s adherents who brought him to the kingdom.
| xiii. | 1‒14 | (= 2 Samuel vi. 1‒11). The removal of the Ark from Kiriath-jearim. Death of Uzza.
| xiv. | 1‒7 | (compare 2 Samuel v. 11‒16). David’s sons born in Jerusalem.
| | 8‒17 | (= 2 Samuel v. 17‒25). Two Philistine attacks repulsed.
| xv. | 1‒24. | Preparations for bringing home the Ark.
| | 25‒xvi. 6 | (compare 2 Samuel vi. 12‒20). The Ark brought into the city of David.
| xvi. | 7‒36 | (= Psalms cv. 1‒15; xcvi. 1‒13; cvi. 1, 47, 48). David’s psalm of praise.
| | 37‒43 | Arrangements for daily worship.
| xvii. | 1‒27 | (= 2 Samuel vii. 1‒29). Permission to build a Temple refused to David.
| xviii. | 1‒17 | (= 2 Samuel viii. 1‒18). David’s foreign wars. His officials.
| xix. | 1‒xx. 8 | (= 2 Samuel x. 1‒19; xi. 1; xii. 26‒31; xxi. 18‒22). Wars with Ammon, Syria, and the Philistines.
| xxi. | 1‒30 | (= 2 Samuel xxiv. 1‒25). The census and the plague.
| xxii. | 1‒xxix. 20. | David’s preparations for the building of the Temple and for the establishment of its services:
| | xxii. | | The choice of the Temple site. The charge to Solomon.
| | xxiii. | | The organisation of the Levites.
| | xxiv. | | The divisions (“courses”) of the Priests.
| | xxv. | | The divisions of the singers.
| | xxvi. | | The divisions of the doorkeepers.
| | xxvii. | | Various officers of David.
| | xxviii. | 1‒xxix. 20 | David’s charge to Solomon and to all Israel.
| xxix. | 21‒30 | The Epilogue: The Great Rejoicing; the Anointing of Solomon; Summary of David’s reign.
(C) | 2 Chronicles i.‒ix. Solomon.
| i. | 1‒6 | (compare 1 Kings iii. 4). Solomon’s sacrifice at Gibeon.
| | 7‒13 | (= 1 Kings iii. 5‒15). The Vision and the prayer for wisdom.
| | 14‒17 | (= 1 Kings x. 26‒29). Chariots and horses.
| ii. | 1, 2, 17, 18 | (compare 1 Kings v. 15, 16). Bearers of burdens and hewers of wood and stone.
| | 3‒16 | (compare 1 Kings v. 2‒11). Negotiations with Huram (Hiram) king of Tyre.
| iii. | 1‒v. 1 | (compare 1 Kings vi. 1‒vii. 50) The building and furnishing of the Temple.
| v. | 2‒14 | (= 1 Kings viii. 1‒11). The bringing in of the Ark and the descent of the cloud.
| vi. | 1‒11 | (= 1 Kings viii. 12‒21). Solomon’s blessing.
| | 12‒42 | (= 1 Kings viii. 22‒50). Solomon’s prayer.
| vii. | 1‒3 | The descent of the fire upon the sacrifices.
| | 4‒10 | (= 1 Kings viii. 62‒66). The final rejoicings.
| | 11‒22 | (= 1 Kings ix. 1‒9). The second Vision and the acceptance of Solomon’s prayer.
| viii. | 1‒13, 17, 18 | (compare 1 Kings ix. 10‒28). Various Acts of Solomon.
| | 14‒16 | Organisation of the Priests and Levites in the Temple.
| ix. | 1‒28 | (= 1 Kings x. 1‒27). The Visit of the Queen of Sheba. Solomon’s greatness.
| | 29‒31 | (= 1 Kings xi. 41‒43). The Epilogue.
(D) | 2 Chronicles x.‒xxxvi. The Acts of the Kings of Judah.
| x. | 1‒xi. 4 | (= 1 Kings xii. 1‒24). The Revolt of the Ten Tribes.
| xi. | 5‒xii. 16 | (compare 1 Kings xiv. 21‒31). The Acts of Rehoboam.
| xiii. | 1‒22 | (compare 1 Kings xv. 1‒8). The Acts of Abijah (Abijam).
| xiv. | 1‒xvi. 14 | (compare 1 Kings xv. 9‒24). The Acts of Asa.
| xvii. | 1‒19 | Jehoshaphat’s religious measures. His captains.
| xviii. | 1‒34 | (= 1 Kings xxii. 1‒37). Jehoshaphat with Ahab at Ramoth-Gilead.
| xix. | 1‒xx. 30 | Jehoshaphat’s judges. His victory in the wilderness of Tekoa.
| xx. | 31‒37 | (= 1 Kings xxii. 41‒49). The rest of the Acts of Jehoshaphat.
| xxi. | 1‒20 | (= 1 Kings xxii. 50; compare 2 Kings viii. 17‒24). Jehoram.
| xxii. | 1‒9 | (= 2 Kings viii. 25‒29; compare ix. 27, 28). Ahaziah.
| | 10‒xxiii. 21 | (= 2 Kings xi. 1‒20). The rise and fall of Athaliah.
| xxiv. | 1‒14 | (= 2 Kings xii. 1‒16). Restoration of the Temple under Joash.
| | 15‒22 | Apostasy of the princes. Assassination of the prophet Zechariah.
| | 23‒27 | (compare 2 Kings xii. 17‒21). The Syrian War and the end of Joash.
| xxv. | 1‒13 | (compare 2 Kings xiv. 1‒7). Amaziah. The Edomite War. The Ephraimite ravages.
| | 14‒16 | Apostasy of Amaziah.
| | 17‒28 | (= 2 Kings xiv. 8‒20). Capture of Jerusalem. Death of Amaziah.
| xxvi. | 1‒23 | (compare 2 Kings xv. 1‒7). Uzziah (Azariah).
| xxvii. | 1‒9 | (compare 2 Kings xv. 32‒38). Jotham.
| xxviii. | 1‒27 | (compare 2 Kings xvi. 1‒20). Ahaz.
| xxix. | 1‒xxxi. 21 | Hezekiah. Cleansing of the Temple. The Great Passover. Care for the priesthood.
| xxxii. | 1‒23 | (compare 2 Kings xviii., xix.). The deliverance from Sennacherib.
| | 24‒33 | (compare 2 Kings xx. 1‒21). Hezekiah’s sickness. His death.
| xxxiii. | 1‒20 | (compare 2 Kings xxi. 1‒18). Manasseh. His captivity and repentance.
| | 21‒25 | (= 2 Kings xxi. 19‒26). Amon.
| xxxiv. | 1‒7 | (compare 2 Kings xxii. 1, 2; xxiii. 4‒20). Josiah. Removal of the emblems of idolatry.
| | 8‒28 | (= 2 Kings xxii. 3‒20). Repair of the Temple. Discovery of the Book of the Law.
| | 29‒33 | (= 2 Kings xxiii. 1‒3). Renewal of the Covenant.
| xxxv. | 1‒19 | (compare 2 Kings xxiii. 21‒23). Josiah’s Great Passover.
| | 20‒27 | (compare 2 Kings xxiii. 28‒30a). The death of Josiah.
| xxxvi. | 1‒4 | (compare 2 Kings xxiii. 30b‒34). Jehoahaz.
| | 5‒8 | (compare 2 Kings xxiii. 36‒xxiv. 6). Jehoiakim.
| | 9, 10 | (compare 2 Kings xxiv. 8‒17). Jehoiachin.
| | 11‒21 | (compare 2 Kings xxiv. 18‒xxv. 21). Zedekiah. The Captivity of Judah.
| | 22, 23 | (= Ezra i. 1‒3a). The decree of Cyrus.

It will be seen at a glance that large portions of earlier canonical Scripture have been reproduced in Chronicles exactly or very closely: viz.

Genesis x. 2‒29; xxv. 1‒4, 10‒16; xxxvi., passim.

1 Samuel xxxi.

2 Samuel v.‒viii.; x.; xxiii. 8‒xxiv. 25.

1 Kings iii. 4‒14; v.‒vii. (in part); viii.‒x.; xi. 41‒xii. 24; xiv. 21‒xv. 24 (in part); xxii. (in part).

2 Kings viii. 17‒29; xi., xii.; xiv. 1‒22; xv., xvi. (in part); xxi.‒xxiv. (in part).

Ezra i. 1‒3.

As the foregoing list shows, Chronicles by no means includes all the narrative of Samuel and Kings. In particular may be noted the omission of any account of the early life of David (1 Samuel passim), the Court History of David (2 Samuel xi.‒xx.), the history of Elijah and Elisha (1 Kings xvii.‒xxi.; 2 Kings i. 1‒viii. 15), and the affairs of the Northern Kingdom with a few exceptions.

On the other hand, Chronicles contains a great deal which is either independent of or not immediately dependent on earlier books of the Old Testament: note especially the opening nine chapters of genealogies, the last seven chapters of 1 Chronicles, and many passages, long and short, in 2 Chronicles x.‒xxxvi. The origin and significance of this new material will be discussed in the section on the Sources, § 5.

§ 5. The Sources

From what has been said in § 1 regarding the nature of ancient historical writings it will be realised that a careful examination of the material used in the compilation of Chronicles is a necessary preliminary to the task of estimating the purpose and value of the work in its final form. Only when the extent of the sources has been determined can we say whether contributions made by the writer who combined those sources into the existing work are so great or so small that we ought to reckon him in the one case a narrator whose personality must be seriously considered, or in the other a mere copyist and compiler.

(1) In considering the material of Chronicles, it is convenient to begin with those passages which seem to be copied or adapted from earlier books of the Old Testament. That such passages are numerous, and constitute a very large amount of 1 and 2 Chronicles will be seen by a glance at the table of contents given in § 4. Occasionally the Chronicler reproduced the canonical text verbatim, but generally he introduced alterations, which were sometimes both numerous and important. The discrepancies thus produced between Chronicles and other parts of canonical Scripture presented a grave difficulty to the older commentators, and the theory was put forward that the Chronicler used, not the canonical books, but the still older sources from which the canonical books themselves were built up and to which they frequently refer. It was hoped thus to minimise the divergences by supposing that the Chronicler had copied somewhat different portions of these old sources, and had approached them from a different standpoint. Not only was this hypothesis in the highest degree improbable, but the reconciliation it was supposed to effect is now recognised to be for the most part untenable. The theory is finally discredited by the fact that these sources of the canonical books always appear in Chronicles combined together in precisely the same manner in which they are found combined in the canonical books; i.e. they appear always ‘edited,’ and never in their original, independent, form. It may be definitely asserted therefore that for all the passages which are common to Chronicles and other canonical works the Chronicler was indebted solely to the text of the canonical books as it appeared in his time.

As for the divergences, real and apparent, between Chronicles and other canonical Scriptures, it is now recognised that, whilst they are properly a subject for historical investigation, they do not involve a religious problem. The old “religious” difficulty is answered by a deeper comprehension of the nature of Inspiration. The real inspiration of the Scriptures does not, as was once thought, rest upon points of historical accuracy: see the article Inspiration by A. E. Garvie in the Encyclopedia Britannica¹¹, vol. xiv., especially pp. 647 ad fin., 648, with the references there given.

(2) More important and difficult is the problem of the source of the new material in Chronicles. Nearly one-half of the two books of Chronicles is material otherwise unknown to us, and not to be regarded as mere ornamental amplification of the passages drawn from canonical sources. Rather it is precisely these new parts which give colour to the whole work, and there can be no doubt that the Chronicler must have dwelt with special fondness on just these passages. The question is, Can we discern or infer sources from which these independent chapters and paragraphs have been derived, or is the Chronicler himself their only source and origin?

In attempting to answer that question, our first task is to note and discuss a long list of works to which the Chronicler appeals, either as authorities for what he says or as sources where fuller information might (presumably) be expected. They are as follows:

A. Those with specific prophetic titles.

[For the reigns of David and Solomon.]

(1) The history (literally words, or acts) of Samuel the seer (1 Chronicles xxix. 29).

(2) The history of Nathan the prophet (1 Chronicles xxix. 29; 2 Chronicles ix. 29).

(3) The history of Gad the seer (1 Chronicles xxix. 29).

(4) The last acts of David (1 Chronicles xxiii. 27). [Perhaps the same as (5).]

(5) The chronicles (literally acts of the days) of king David (1 Chronicles xxvii. 24).

(6) The prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite (2 Chronicles ix. 29).

(7) The visions of Iddo the seer (2 Chronicles ix. 29).

[For the kings of Judah (excepting Jehoram, Ahaziah, Athaliah, Amon, Jehoahaz, Jehoiachin, and Zedekiah).]

(8) The histories of Shemaiah the prophet and of Iddo the seer (2 Chronicles xii. 15).

(9) The commentary (literally Midrash¹) of the prophet Iddo (2 Chronicles xiii. 22).

(10) The history of Jehu the son of Hanani which is inserted in the books of the kings of Israel (2 Chronicles xx. 34).

(11) A writing of Isaiah the prophet (2 Chronicles xxvi. 22).

(12) The vision of Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz in the books of the kings of Judah and Israel (2 Chronicles xxxii. 34).

(13) ? The history of Hozai (literally the seers) (2 Chronicles xxxiii. 19).

(14) ? A genealogical register compiled in the time of Jotham and Jeroboam II (1 Chronicles v. 17).

(15) A collection of “lamentations” (2 Chronicles xxxv. 25).

B. Those with general titles.

(1) A Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel (cited for the reigns of Asa, Amaziah, Ahaz, and Hezekiah; 2 Chronicles xvi. 11, xxv. 26, xxviii. 26, xxxii. 32). Compare (12) above.

(2) A Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah (cited for Jotham, Josiah, and Jehoiakim; 2 Chronicles xxvii. 7, xxxv. 27, xxxvi. 8).

(3) A Book of the Kings of Israel (cited for genealogies, 1 Chronicles xix. 1; for the reign of Jehoshaphat, 2 Chronicles xx. 24; and for Manasseh, 2 Chronicles xxxiii. 18).

(4) A Midrash¹ of the Book of Kings (for the reign of Joash, 2 Chronicles xxiv. 27).

¹ The noun Midrash is derived from a verb meaning to search out, explore. The word occurs only in 2 Chronicles xiii. 22, xxiv. 27 in the Old Testament but is very common as a description of many works of later Jewish literature. A Midrash may be defined as an imaginative adaptation of an idea suggested by Scripture, especially a homiletic exposition or an edifying religious story. In midrashic writings “numbers are multiplied, all the details assume huger and more exalted proportions, right is always richly rewarded and wickedness signally punished, miracles are common, and prophets and kings deliver majestic, spiritual addresses, embodying the best doctrines of later Judaism” (Kent, Student’s O.T. II. p. 20). Several of the narratives in Chronicles partake of this character. For later and more obvious examples, compare the stories of Tobit and Susanna in the Apocrypha.

This great array of authorities dwindles to small proportions on inspection. Of the fifteen given under A, numbers 13, 14 are uncertain but of very small importance, whilst number 15 is also unknown: it is not the canonical book of Lamentations (see the note on 2 Chronicles xxxv. 25). The rest, numbers 1‒12, almost certainly were not independent works, but simply sections of some comprehensive work (see especially numbers 10 and 12), it being the custom among the Jews to refer to the sections of a large work by means of distinctive titles—compare Romans xi. 2, “Know ye not what the Scripture saith in Elijah.” Thus some of these titles, e.g. 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, may refer simply to passages in the canonical books of Samuel and Kings, numbers 11 and 12 to Isaiah xxxvi.‒xxxix. = 2 Kings xviii. 13‒xx. 19. But the others (and perhaps some also of those just mentioned) in all probability denote sections of a large history of a more or less midrashic character; and it is this work apparently which is meant by the titles given under B. To these we now turn. It is generally admitted that all four titles mentioned in B denote one and the same work, a comprehensive history of the Kingdoms of Judah and Israel. This work was not our canonical books of Kings, for it is quoted as containing material not found in those books. Still less was it any of the sources referred to in Kings: there is not the faintest probability that any of the new material in Chronicles was derived directly from those very old sources. The question therefore is whether in this general work to which the Chronicler appeals he had a source independent or semi-independent of Kings. Opinion is divided. Some scholars think that it was essentially dependent on the canonical Kings, merely “a reconstructed history, embellished with marvellous tales of divine interposition and prophetic activity.” Others maintain that this midrashic history had its roots not only in canonical Kings but also in traditions partly or wholly independent of Kings. The latter opinion is here preferred, but the reasons for adopting it will be best seen if we first state and consider two sharply opposing views put forward by recent writers.

On the one side is Torrey (Ezra Studies, 1910) who argues that the Chronicler had no source at all other than the canonical books—all else was the product of his imaginative skill. He describes this supposed midrashic history of Judah and Israel as “a phantom source, of which the internal evidence is absolutely lacking, and the external evidence is limited to the Chronicler’s transparent parading of authorities.” The strength of Torrey’s contention lies in the fact that almost all the additional matter in Chronicles is written in one and the same distinctive style. That style has certain unmistakable peculiarities. Thus Driver in the Encyclopedia Britannica s.v. Chronicles, col. 772, writes, “It is not merely that the style of the Chronicler presents characteristically late linguistic novelties ... but it has also a number of special mannerisms.... So constant are [these marks] that there is hardly a single sentence, not excerpted from Samuel or Kings, in which they are not discernible.” On the other side we have to consider the attitude adopted in the commentaries of Benzinger (1901) and Kittel (1902), following up a suggestion made by Büchler in 1899. These scholars not only believe that non-canonical sources supplied much of the new material of Chronicles, but they have attempted to analyse that material minutely into various contributory elements. According to their view the Chronicler was essentially a compiler, following his sources closely and showing such little independence as he exercised chiefly in those verses and passages where the affairs and interests of the Levites are set forth. In the opinion of the present writer that is not a satisfactory account of the part played by the Chronicler. It does not make sufficient allowance for the singular homogeneity of style and purpose throughout the book. Torrey’s work is of value as a warning against the danger and difficulty of the analysis which Benzinger and Kittel have essayed. Frequently the points which are adduced as evidence for distinction of sources are too few or too subjective to provide adequate ground for the analysis—see the detailed examination of the Hebrew provided in the edition by Curtis. But, whilst it should be admitted that this uniformity of style carries great weight and must receive careful consideration, it does not, we think, follow that Torrey’s sweeping conclusion is correct, and that behind the non-canonical passages there is nothing save the imagination of the Chronicler. To begin with, if that were true, the Chronicler would be unparalleled amongst ancient historians. The originality of ancient chroniclers was shown in the manner in which they combined, modified, and embellished the nucleus given by tradition, but they did not invent de novo to the extent required by this theory. Even if that be an over-statement, we can at least assert that they did not shut themselves up to their own imagination, if any traditions relating to their subject were current. On the contrary, they made use of all such available material, good or bad. And it is quite incredible that historical interest in Jerusalem regarding the old days of the Kingdom was confined to the compilation of Kings until suddenly the Chronicler produced this startlingly different account. There is very strong probability that the version given in Chronicles has a long chain of antecedents behind it. For consider, further, the general situation. The vicissitudes of time and fortune had caused great changes in the population of Jerusalem, but none that made absolutely impossible the continuance of traditions not represented or only partially represented by the narratives crystallised in Kings. Thus “we may safely assume that the overthrow of Edom (2 Chronicles xxv. 5‒13) and the leprosy of Uzziah (2 Chronicles xxvi. 16‒23) were once told more fully than in the brief verses of 2 Kings xiv. 7, xv. 5. We may surely allow links between the impression left upon tradition by these events and the stories that have been preserved by Chronicles” (S. A. Cook, in the Journal of Theological Studies, xii. 470). It is now generally recognised that the depopulation of Jerusalem in 586 B.C. was not nearly so complete as was once thought, and considerable continuity of tradition may have been maintained. Moreover, the influx of South Judean families in the exilic and post-exilic times must have meant an extension of popular tales concerning Judean affairs. It is therefore significant that the South Judean “strain” is a marked feature in the Chronicler’s history. Again, it is practically certain that Levitical predecessors of the Chronicler felt somewhat the same interest as he displays in the origins of their order and institutions. Are we to suppose that they made no attempts to gratify their curiosity, or to find historical grounds for their claims? Surely they would seize with interest on any and all current traditions, and would be constantly collating them with the well-known version in Kings, adding whatever they could to the total, and no doubt tending to retell the whole—at least the popular and edifying portions of the narrative—in terms more agreeable to the ideas and practices of their own time. We cannot suppose that the Chronicler was the first and only Levite who attempted to satisfy the obvious need (§ 6) for an orthodox ecclesiastical version of Judean history. Features of the genealogies, and in particular the Levitical data, suggest the existence of statistical records, if of nothing more. One further small but interesting point deserves mention. In 1 Chronicles iv. 9, vii. 23, xii. 18 there are sayings which cannot possibly originate with the Chronicler, for they are written in an archaic style utterly foreign to his manner of speech. Of these xii. 18 is poetical in form, while the other two are sentences of a type made familiar to us by early passages in Genesis. These verses, then, are certainly not the invention of the Chronicler, and, even if they are only isolated fragments, their existence is at least significant. In fine, the natural supposition is that in post-exilic Jerusalem there were various traditions which were drawn partly, but not exclusively, from the particular recension of history preserved in Kings, and which continued to develop in form and perhaps in content after the “Kings” recension was relatively fixed. Whether these developments of traditions, canonical and otherwise, preserve any genuine history or not (§ 7), their existence in popular and priestly circles of the Chronicler’s time is, we think, almost certain; and it is quite certain that, if they were in existence, the Chronicler would utilise them. On this view, then, the sources of the Chronicler were:

(a) The canonical books.

(b) Variant forms of a few narratives in Kings; traditions of South Judean origin, recording movements of population and hostilities with southern tribes; popular midrashic tales; family statistics and genealogies, particularly of the Priests and Levites; records or traditions relating to the Temple, the fortifications of Jerusalem, and the repair of certain Judean towns—some of this material being really independent of the traditions in Kings.

The problem raised by the stylistic uniformity of the new passages in Chronicles must now be considered. Probably the material indicated in (b) above may at times have crystallised into definite midrashic writings. (Thus, when the Chronicler speaks of the “History of the Kings of Judah and Israel,” we may believe that he refers to some such document, one that was either extant in his own age or was generally known to have existed.) Probably, however, it was also to a large extent in a fluid oral condition—matter of common knowledge and of common talk in Levitical circles. Certainly it is legitimate to think that with this material, written or oral or both, the Chronicler was intensely familiar; and that he could easily have related it in his own words. We may surmise that his procedure was somewhat as follows: He made the well-known narrative of Samuel‒Kings the basis of his version, altering its words as little as possible, yet, if necessary, exercising great freedom, so as to make it fully orthodox in accordance with the ecclesiastical standards of his time. Into this groundwork he wove with admirable skill new material of fact and narrative, drawn from the sources set forth in (b) above; and all this new material he selected, revised, and related in such a fashion as might best serve the very definite religious, moral, and ecclesiastical ends (§ 6) which his history was designed to meet. It passed, in fact, freely and effectively through the medium of his mind; so that it appears, if not wholly in his own words, at least coloured by his distinctive turns of speech. A second way in which we can explain the uniform style of the new matter in Chronicles and escape the conclusion that it has all been derived from the imagination of the Chronicler is to suppose that for some time past it had been transmitted through the talk or writing of Levites like-minded with the Chronicler and sharing the same ecclesiastical fashion of speech; that, in fact, much of Chronicles was built up by chroniclers before the Chronicler. There may be some truth in this argument; for, as was said above, the Chronicler was surely not the first Levite to feel the need for an “orthodox” history. The two explanations can be regarded as supplementary rather than alternative; but the present writer considers that stress should be laid chiefly upon the first.

This investigation of the structure of Chronicles yields the following general result. The position here taken is opposed to the theory that the whole of the new material was the product of the Chronicler’s imagination and literary skill. It leaves open the valuable possibility that the new material may preserve historical facts and traditions independent of those in Kings. On the other hand it admits that the Chronicler has had an important share in shaping the material and that (a) the consequent uniformity of style renders any attempt to analyse the new matter into its proximate sources precarious (observe, however, that the immediate history of the sources behind the new material is not of such primary importance to us as is the fundamental conclusion that there were such sources): and (b) whilst each part of the new matter is entitled to a thorough examination on its merits, great care must be exercised to determine exactly what part the Chronicler has played. Thus it is probable that some features of the narratives in Chronicles may originate with the Chronicler: that is only what we should expect from a man able to plan and carry through a work so clearly intentioned and on such a large scale as Chronicles‒Ezra‒Nehemiah. He may have told his tale not only in his own words, but in his own way. We must be on our guard therefore to make allowance for the strength of his convictions, for his conception of the course of history and for the intentions with which he wrote. How far these considerations affect the historical value of his work will be dealt with below (§ 7).

This discussion of the sources may conclude by emphasising the remarkable skill of the composition. The passages taken direct from the earlier Scriptures have been so admirably combined with the new material that the component parts have been wrought into a real unity. It is evident we are dealing with an author of strong personality. What the aim and purpose of this writer were we may now proceed to consider.

§ 6. The Purpose and Method of the Chronicler

(1) In the time of the Chronicler the position of the orthodox party in Jerusalem, whose interests, civil and ecclesiastical, were bound up with the worship at the Temple on Mt Zion, was one of considerable difficulty. During the Greek period (from 330 B.C.) the mental horizon of the Jews in Jerusalem had expanded even more than under the Persian rule (538‒330 B.C.). They were now able to realise their isolation and political insignificance, whilst at the same time the communities of Jews scattered in all the leading countries of the ancient world were rapidly growing in size, influence, and in cosmopolitan outlook. Even the religious supremacy of Jerusalem was threatened. We now know that there was an important Jewish Temple at Elephantine in Egypt, which the Jewish community there was eager to maintain. But far more serious was the Samaritan schism and the Temple to Jehovah erected by them on Mt Gerizim. We can well imagine that a rival Temple on Palestinian soil claiming, no doubt with some show of justice, that there were true Levitical families among its priests, that its ritual was correct and its observance of the Law every whit as sound as that in Jerusalem, was a matter of vital importance to the ecclesiastical orders at Jerusalem. Undoubtedly the feud was bitter in the Chronicler’s time; and there are strong grounds for holding that Chronicles‒Ezra‒Nehemiah were written with the immediate object of confuting the ecclesiastical pretensions of the Samaritans and of showing that in Jerusalem only ought men to worship. Certainly Chronicles is well adapted for that end. A virulent polemic would have been discounted as a party document. The Chronicler instead has skilfully retold the story of the past, so as to leave two main impressions. In the first place, by ignoring the affairs of the Northern Kingdom, save where he intimates that its people were religiously degenerate from the start (see 2 Chronicles xiii. 5‒12), that they were grievously decimated by a great disaster (2 Chronicles xiii. 13‒17), and that in general their attitude on the subject of mixed marriages was scandalously lax (see Ezra and Nehemiah), he has subtly but forcibly created the impression that the Samaritans were little better than “a heterogeneous mob of heathen.” Secondly and chiefly, his history was intended to show that Jerusalem, with its Temple on Mt Zion, is the one place which Jehovah has chosen, and where He has set His Name. There alone was His worship properly and legitimately established, and there alone can it still be carried on. Jerusalem too, like Samaria, had suffered for its sins, but the disaster of the exile, the break in the succession, was repaired, he argues, through the return from Babylonia of that company of Israelites of pure descent whom Ezra led back: the genealogies which are so noticeable a feature of Chronicles‒Ezra‒Nehemiah are given as irrefutable proof that the Jerusalem community of the Chronicler’s day—Levites and laymen—were the true and only descendants of the nation of old. It followed that by them alone could the worship of Jehovah be lawfully conducted.

It seems very probable that the Chronicler’s work was directed specifically against the Samaritans. But in any case it is undoubtedly true that the essential purpose of the book was to vindicate the religious supremacy of Jerusalem, and to exalt the honour and the privileges of its priesthood and its Temple.

(2) In seeking to achieve this aim, the Chronicler inevitably dwelt upon those aspects of life and thought in which he specially believed. Thus we may distinguish various features of his work which subserve the main purpose:

(a) He was anxious, for instance, to uphold the political supremacy of Jerusalem, no easy matter in his time. To Jews of the Greek period, fully aware of the pomp and power of heathen states, the achievements of even such national heroes as David or Solomon probably seemed pale and insignificant, as they are related in Samuel or Kings. In order to create a due sense of their importance, and to mitigate the depressing effects of Jerusalem’s present impotence, the Chronicler retold the glories of the past in terms commensurate with the notions of the present. To this end he idealised the great men of Israel. Thus the life of David is related by him as a career of almost unbroken success and of consistent piety. Thus also the sacrifices offered by Solomon at the dedication of the Temple are said to have been on a scale that might well have astonished Alexander the Great.

(b) Chiefly, however, the Chronicler was concerned with the religious pre-eminence of Jerusalem. He delights therefore in magnifying to the full the glories of the Temple, its ritual and its officers. It is quite clear that his interest in this theme is far wider than any immediate polemical aim, and the subject deserves careful attention. When he describes the Temple of Solomon in terms of surpassing splendour, he is not merely seeking to cast down the pride of Samaritan rivals, he is also gratifying the longings of his own heart—how poor in comparison the outward form of the Temple he himself served so faithfully! Perhaps also he hoped thereby to excite his own love for its well-being among the less ardent of his brethren. More important was the question of ritual and the Law. We have already said (p. xx) that the Chronicler lived at a time when the Pentateuch had for a long while existed in its final form, when the ritual and Law of Israel were regulated in accordance with its fully elaborated precepts; the whole complex system being supposed to have been imparted to Israel by Moses. Now, when the Chronicler and others like him turned to the historical records of their people, the books of Samuel and Kings, they found many things which must have sorely puzzled them. For those records constantly relate events in ways which run counter to the provisions of the completed Pentateuch, sometimes ignoring, sometimes contradicting and breaking, its laws and practices. It is utterly unlikely that he and his fellows were aware that those books reflect the customs of an earlier period; so that in altering their narrative (as he does) he was not conscious of falsifying history. Even if he was, we must not judge his conduct by the opinions of our own time, but remember that “he lived in an age when certain accepted theories were regarded as more authentic than recorded facts” (Kent, Student’s O.T. vol. ii. 23). It is fair, however, to believe that in the inconsistencies of the older histories with the observances of his own day he saw only an astonishing ignorance or carelessness in matters of the Law on the part of the older writers—a state of affairs which called loudly for correction. For the good name of David and Solomon, for the honour of the pious Kings of Judah, as well as for the edification of his contemporaries (and, maybe, for the confusion of the Samaritans), such flagrant blemishes had to be removed. And in Chronicles he has produced a thorough revision of the history of Judah in accordance with the principles and provisions of the completed Pentateuch. Throughout the entire work this aim is consistently pursued. It must be therefore considered a main feature of the Chronicler’s purpose. The alterations of the text of Samuel‒Kings which he has made on this account will be so frequently pointed out in the notes that here one simple example will suffice. In 2 Samuel viii. 18 it is said, “And the sons of David were priests.” Since in the Chronicler’s time it was unthinkable that any could be priests save members of Levitical families, this statement was corrected to read, “And the sons of David were chief about the king” (1 Chronicles xviii. 17). Finally, in the officials of the Temple—Priests and Levites—the Chronicler manifests the deepest interest. Throughout his narrative he is vigilant to exalt the honour and privileges of those classes. In particular, he brings the guilds of Levitical singers into prominence so frequently that it is generally supposed he was himself a member of that order of Levites.

These remarks on the principal features of the book indicate in general the purpose and method of the Chronicler. Yet in a sense they do so externally, and behind all else, as the animating force, there lies the Chronicler’s religious faith, his zeal for God. That truly is his ultimate motive; but it will be convenient to reserve what may be said concerning it until a later stage (§ 8).

§ 7. The Historical Value of Chronicles

Until recent times the burning question in the exposition of Chronicles has been the problem of reconciling its statements with those in Samuel‒Kings, finding explanations for the inconsistencies, and combining the additional matter given in Chronicles so as to form one harmonious narrative. So baffling was the task that even the Talmudists, masters in the arts of subtle exegesis, doubted the accuracy of Chronicles, and were inclined to treat it, not as an authority for the history, but as a book for homiletic interpretation (see references in the Jewish Encyclopedia iv. 60). As soon as the character and purpose of the book, the circumstances and opinions of the writer, are understood, the demand for harmonising the variant accounts at all costs is seen to be mistaken, and the exposition of Chronicles is thereby freed from a burden by which it has been sorely hampered. The question of the historical value of its narratives remains one of great importance, but on literary and scientific, not on religious, grounds (compare p. xxx).

It will make for clearness if we approach the subject by considering first (A) the direct historical value of Chronicles, i.e. its worth as a history of Judah; and secondly (B) its indirect historical value as a work of the period to which we have assigned its composition, 300‒250 B.C. Under (A) our discussion may conveniently be divided into a consideration of: (I) those parts which reproduce or are apparently based on Samuel‒Kings; (II) the material wholly or apparently independent of canonical Scripture.

A.

Direct Value.

(I) If the Chronicler’s version of the history was to gain acceptance at all, it was necessary to make the older well-known histories the basis of his work. And indeed he himself no doubt conceived his version not as contradictory of the older narratives but only as a more careful account of the history of Judah, paying adequate attention to the religious affairs in which he was specially interested. Hence, wherever the text of Samuel and Kings was suitable for his purpose he reproduced it exactly¹: an example is 2 Chronicles xviii. 3‒34 = 1 Kings xviii. 4‒35. The historical value of passages which are merely transcriptions must be discussed not here but in their original setting: obviously their value is that which they possess there—neither more nor less. We proceed therefore to consider the changes introduced by the Chronicler in using canonical sources. They are of various kinds:

¹ It must not be assumed that where the text of Chronicles and Samuel‒Kings now coincides, it has done so always. That conclusion is only generally true. Sometimes, it seems, the original text of Chronicles was altered to conform more closely with Kings, and vice versa the present text of Kings is sometimes the result of assimilation to Chronicles Unfortunately the evidence of the extant Greek versions (§ 10) is quite insufficient to tell us how far the present text of Chronicles has been modified by this assimilating tendency, except in the last two chapters of 2 Chronicles where the evidence of the Greek is peculiarly full. It is clear, however, that some by no means unimportant changes have taken place in the course of transmission: see § 10, and the remarks on p. xxii.

(i) A great number of minor alterations have been made, conforming the older material to the Chronicler’s point of view. A few instances may be given: 2 Samuel v. 21, “And [the Philistines] left their images there, and David and his men took them away” = 1 Chronicles xiv. 12, “And [the Philistines] left their gods there, and David gave commandment, and they were burned with fire.” Again, 2 Samuel xxiv. 1, “And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he moved David against them, saying, Go, number Israel” = 1 Chronicles xxi. 1, “And Satan stood up against Israel and moved David to number Israel.” Again, 1 Kings ix. 12, “The cities which Solomon had given him (Huram)” = 2 Chronicles viii. 2, “The cities which Huram had given to Solomon.” Compare further 2 Samuel viii. 18 = 1 Chronicles xviii. 17 (quoted above, p. xli f.); 2 Samuel vi. 12 = 1 Chronicles xiii. 13; 2 Samuel xxiv. 24 = 1 Chronicles xxi. 25.

(ii) In some instances the alterations are so many or of so radical a nature that the whole tenour of the passage has been transformed—e.g. the conspiracy against Athaliah which resulted in the coronation of the youthful king Joash (2 Kings xi.) is rewritten (2 Chronicles xxiii.) to agree with the usages of the Temple in the Chronicler’s time. Similarly in the passage which follows (2 Chronicles xxiv. 4‒14), which is certainly based on 2 Kings xii. 4‒16, only some 30 words of the original have been kept, so freely has it been revised. Again, the account of the destruction of Jehoshaphat’s fleet (1 Kings xxii. 48 f.) is remarkably altered in 2 Chronicles xx. 35‒37. Compare further 1 Chronicles xv. 25‒28 = 2 Samuel vi. 12‒15; 2 Chronicles xxii. 7‒9 = 2 Kings ix. 27, 28; 2 Chronicles xxxii. 1‒23 = 2 Kings xviii. 13‒xix. 37 (a free abridgment).

(iii) Another noteworthy feature in the Chronicler’s treatment of the canonical sources is his omissions. These call for mention here because they are not only significant of his feelings and principles, but they also have an immense effect on the impression conveyed by his narrative as compared with that of his source. Not a word, for instance, is said that would detract from the picture of David as the man after God’s heart and the ideal monarch of Israel. The perils of his youth, Saul’s enmity and the long struggle against Ishbosheth are omitted¹. His murder of Uriah and the disastrous rebellion of Absalom are ignored; but the result is a David very different from the great yet sometimes erring monarch depicted in Samuel (see the head-note to 1 Chronicles xxviii.). Another significant omission is 2 Kings xviii. 14‒16, Hezekiah’s payment of tribute to Babylonia, a tradition which doubtless seemed to the Chronicler a sign of weakness and lack of faith incredible in a king so pious and successful. Above all, we notice the omission of the affairs of the Northern Kingdom, except for a few derogatory notices. The consequence is that if Chronicles stood alone, our conception of the relative importance of Judah as compared with Israel would be very far removed from the actual facts. It is a simple matter to see how imperative it is that the impression given by Chronicles should here be corrected by the records in Kings, and the student will find it instructive to consider the point with some care.

¹ Such omissions are very skilfully managed by the Chronicler. Even so, they generally entail some abrupt transition or obscurity, as in the present instance for which see the note on 1 Chronicles xi. 1. Here the cause of the obscurity can be shown by direct comparison of the earlier history in Samuel. Mark how usefully Chronicles thus demonstrates the legitimacy of the argument that similar difficulties elsewhere in the Old Testament are perhaps due to a similar cause, although the earlier source may not be extant to prove that the conjecture is correct.

The conclusions to be drawn from the above are clear. First, in passages of the type instanced in (ii) above, where the differences between Kings and Chronicles are considerable and not confined to changes made on transparently religious grounds, the possibility that we have to do with a variant form of the tradition in Kings should be carefully considered. If there be any such distinct traditions, even though they are few or in a late stage of development, they are of high value, for they may be as worthy of consideration as the form in Kings. Moreover a slight variation in a tradition may occasionally suffice to indicate the existence of a different standpoint towards an important topic or period in the history. But in the majority of all cases included under this heading (I) it appears that the changes in the narratives were arbitrarily made in consequence of the standpoint, beliefs, and purpose (§§ 1 and 6) of the Chronicler, and they can make no claim to rest on historical facts. For the detailed arguments upon which this general conclusion is based, the reader is referred to the notes on the text.

(II) The additional matter of Chronicles includes a variety of subjects. These may be roughly but conveniently summarised under the following headings—(1) genealogical lists (1 Chronicles ii.‒ix., xxiii.‒xxvii., etc.); (2) topographical and other archaeological notices (e.g. 1 Chronicles xi. 41‒47; 2 Chronicles xvii. 7‒10, xix. 4‒11, xxvi. 6, 49, xxxii. 30, xxxiii. 14, and notably the organisation of the Levites, 1 Chronicles xxiii., xxiv., and details regarding the building of Solomon’s Temple, e.g. 2 Chronicles ii.‒iv., passim); (3) letters and speeches (1 Chronicles xvi. 8‒36, xxii. 6‒19, xxviii. 2‒10, xxix. 1‒20; 2 Chronicles xv. 1‒7, xvi. 7‒10, xxi. 12‒15); (4) national events, especially religious affairs and wars (e.g. 1 Chronicles iv. 34‒43, v. 6, xxiii. ff.; 2 Chronicles xvii. 7‒10, xix. 4‒11, xxix. 3‒xxx. 27), such topics being sometimes related in the style of (5) Midrashim—i.e. edifying tales describing marvellous deliverances from foes and splendid religious ceremonies (2 Chronicles xiii. 3‒20, xiv. 9‒15, xxx. 13‒27, and especially xx. 1‒30¹). If, as Torrey contends, the whole of this is simply the product of the Chronicler’s imagination working upon the canonical sources only and freely interpreting events in accordance with his own convictions, then, we must frankly admit, its historical value as a record of the past it purports to describe is nil. If, however, according to the view taken in this volume (see § 5), much of this material is drawn from a body of tradition, oral and written, current in the Jerusalem of the Chronicler’s day, and not represented in canonical writings, the question of historical value is still open. Our task, then, is to consider whether among the extra-canonical traditions some genuine historical facts may have been preserved. The problem is not easy, and, as yet, it does not admit of so exact and definite a reply as we should like to give. Obviously the answer requires a thorough consideration of each item of the new material, a task which would far exceed the scope of this introduction. There are, however, some general observations which throw light upon the problem. These we shall give here, reserving the discussion of individual passages for the notes. Taking the subjects enumerated above in order, we have:

¹ The subjects thus classified are not, of course, mutually exclusive—thus a letter or speech and statements of alleged historical events will frequently be a part of the contents of some midrashic passage.

(1) The new genealogical lists, which are so prominent a feature of Chronicles. Some of these lists are certainly not trustworthy records of pre-exilic times¹. But others, e.g. parts of the Calebite and Levitical genealogies, probably embody facts concerning the kinships and distribution of various South Judean families in pre-exilic and exilic times, and furnish valuable evidence of a northward movement (see S. A. Cook, 1 Esdras, p. 12 in Charles’s Apocrypha, or his articles on Caleb, Judah, Levites in Encyclopedia Britannica¹¹). It is certain that in post-exilic Jerusalem a considerable part of the population were descendants of these south Judean clans. Surely it would be surprising if no valid traditions of their relationships, their movements and fortunes, had been preserved amongst them. There is therefore good reason for holding that some historical information (e.g. 1 Chronicles iv. 34‒43) may be found in these lists, and it is possible that a close study of certain of the genealogies will yield most valuable light on some of the main questions of Old Testament history and literature. Unfortunately the study of the intricate problems involved is not yet sufficiently advanced to permit conclusions which meet with general acceptance.

¹ On the other hand they may have historical value as regards the families of Judah and Jerusalem in or about the Chronicler’s own generation—a point, however, which properly falls to be discussed under B below.

(2) Much of the topographical and archaeological information scattered here and there in the books of Chronicles does not inspire confidence, but part may rest on old tradition; compare the headnote to 1 Chronicles xii. 1‒22. Many of the references in chapters i.‒ix. (e.g. vii. 24, viii. 12, etc.) to Judean townships, whether explicitly mentioned (e.g. 1 Chronicles vi. 54 ff.), or lightly disguised in the genealogical tables (e.g. 1 Chronicles ii. 18 ff., 50 ff.), are valuable not only for information regarding the relationship of Jewish families and movements of southern peoples, Edomites and Arabians (see (1) above, and the note on 1 Chronicles ii. 42), but also as evidence of the extent (small indeed!) of the territory occupied by the post-exilic Jewish community (compare Hölscher, Palästina, pp. 18‒23, 26‒31). It is further plausibly suggested that notices of certain tribes of the Northern Kingdom (e.g. Ephraim and Manasseh) may be regarded as indications of the extension of Judaism in Samaria and Galilee about the Chronicler’s period (see note on 2 Chronicles xv. 9). The Chronicler was singularly interested in building operations (see, e.g. 2 Chronicles xxvi. 9, xxxii. 30, xxxiii. 14) and some of his references to the building of fortified townships in Judea (2 Chronicles xi. 5 ff., xiv. 6, xvi. 1‒6, xvii. 12) and to the origin of buildings and gates in Jerusalem may be correct (see 2 Chronicles xxvi. 5‒10, note).

(3) As regards the letters and speeches which are ascribed by the Chronicler to various kings and prophets—e.g. David, Elijah, Azariah, etc.—these cannot be deemed authentic. For example, the great song of praise attributed to David in 1 Chronicles xvi. 7 ff. is wholly composed of quotations from Psalms of late date. Such speeches or letters are examples of a device constantly and legitimately employed by ancient historians as a method of imparting vividness and spirit to their narrative. The letters and speeches represent simply what ought in the historian’s opinion to have been written or spoken. The Greek historian, Thucydides, carefully states the practice: “I have,” he writes, “put into the mouth of each speaker the sentiments proper to the occasion, expressed as I thought he would be likely to express them....” (Thucydides i. 22)¹.

¹ The practice is not peculiar to Chronicles, and these remarks are generally true of the correspondence between Solomon and Hiram and the long prayer of Solomon, found in 1 Kings v. 2‒9, viii. 22‒50, and transcribed (with some expansions) in 2 Chronicles ii. 3‒16, vi. 12‒42.

(4) National events, such as religious ceremonies (e.g. Hezekiah’s Passover, 2 Chronicles xxix.‒xxxi.) and wars (e.g. 2 Chronicles xx. 1‒30) constitute as a rule the subject-matter of (5) the pious midrashic passages; so that (4) and (5) may conveniently be treated together. Midrash is not serious history, and very probably was not intended to be regarded as such even by its author. It is earnest moral and religious teaching presented in a quasi-historical dress. In all these passages the form of the tale is unhistorical, and all midrashic features, such as the incredibly and often impossibly large numbers given in Chronicles, must without hesitation be set aside; but it does not follow that the tale has no historical foundation whatever, that the events around which it was written were originally unreliable. In an ancient writing mythical features do not afford a proper ground for rejecting a tale as historically worthless—a fact which requires to be emphasised. An interesting example is found in the extraordinary legends which attached themselves to the life of Alexander the Great and rapidly spread throughout Europe and Asia (see Encyclopedia Britannica¹¹ vol. i. pp. 550 f.).

Perhaps the most striking instance in Chronicles is the amazing and bloodless victory vouchsafed to Jehoshaphat over certain Bedouin tribes who invaded Judah from the desert by the southern end of the Dead Sea (2 Chronicles xx. 1‒30, where see notes). As told in Chronicles, the story is a Midrash, preaching the duty of trust in God and of obedience to His will at all hazards; but it is evident that the moral and religious form of the story has been built on and around a tradition of a desert raid on Judah. Now this nucleus of the tale may easily rest on historical fact. Fierce but undisciplined invaders, advancing from the desert through the difficult country of south Judah, a land of cliffs ravines and caves, might be sorely harassed by the guerilla attacks of the shepherd population of that region, and finally broken up by the outbreak of internal dissensions, before the main Judean army from Jerusalem had arrived to oppose their advance in force. Such an event would quickly fade from the military recollections of Jerusalem, but might be long perpetuated as a local tradition among the shepherd class of the district where the victory was won. Thus we should have, on the one hand, a reason for its non-appearance in the earlier strata of memories embodied in Kings. On the other hand, when the South Judean families had moved northward to Jerusalem in the exilic and post-exilic days, the story would gain currency, and one can easily see how suitable it was for development into just such a religious narrative as we find in Chronicles. The raid, then, is probably a genuine tradition, but, even so, a word of caution is required. It is necessary still to consider the question whether the story is correctly associated with the time of Jehoshaphat. Perhaps, yes; but possibly several such raids took place, and the memories of them may have been confused and combined into one; or, again, the names of the original foes may have been changed into those of more recent opponents. Other important passages of this type are discussed in the notes on 2 Chronicles xiii. 3‒20, xiv. 9‒15, xxxiii. 11‒13.

One point calls for special mention. In the later chapters of 2 Chronicles the Chronicler’s account of the history, particularly as regards the relations of the Judean kingdom with the Edomites and Arabians to the south, is characterised by a freshness and independence which suggests that he was here relying on definite and valuable traditions (see notes pp. 257 f., 262, 280 f., 286 f., 292).

These results do not provide the complete material for an estimate of the historical value of Chronicles. To them must first be added the conclusions noted below, under B.

B.

Indirect Value.

Although the Chronicler says not one word directly of his own times, indirectly his work gives us much useful information concerning that obscure period. In very many ways Chronicles is a mirror reflecting the thoughts, hopes, and circumstances of the orthodox community in Jerusalem, circa 300‒250 B.C. Indirect and unconscious though the evidence may be, it is still precious, for our knowledge of the period is so slight that all fragments of information are most welcome.

Some of the genealogical lists yield information regarding the post-exilic population of Judah and Jerusalem. Certain references (see p. xlviii) perhaps imply the extension of Judaism in Palestine. From the descriptions of the Temple and its organisation, facts can be gleaned regarding the Temple of the Chronicler’s own age. Thus in 1 Chronicles xxiii ff. where the Chronicler ascribes to David (unhistorically, see notes pp. 51 f., 136, 145) the origination of the Levitical arrangements in the Temple, he gives an elaborate description of their organisation; and therein we can see a picture of the complex system and duties of the Priests and the Levites (with the subordinate classes of doorkeepers and singers) as these were finally determined in the late post-exilic Temple. Some interesting inferences can be drawn from Chronicles regarding the instruction of the people in matters of religion. When in 2 Chronicles xvii. 7‒9 arrangements for teaching the Law throughout Judah are said to have been instituted by Jehoshaphat, we may be sure that some such system was in vogue in the Chronicler’s day, or, at the very least, that the Chronicler and his fellow-Levites were anxious to see it fully carried out. Perhaps schools for instructing the people had already been established in Jerusalem, and it was desired to extend them throughout the countryside as well. Significant in the same connection is the remark ascribed to Azariah the prophet (2 Chronicles xv. 3): “Now for long seasons Israel hath been without the true God and without a teaching priest and without law” (compare 2 Chronicles xxxv. 3). Similarly from 2 Chronicles xix. 4‒11 we may infer the existence of, or the desire to establish, a careful system of courts of justice under the control of the Levitical order. Again, Chronicles contributes to our knowledge of the evolution of public worship. The subject is so obscure, the details so unknown, that we may be grateful for anything which helps us to discern even broad stages in the development. Undoubtedly those flagrant abuses of worship which called forth the denunciations of Isaiah and Jeremiah had passed away. One gathers that public worship in the Temple had become an affair of truly religious significance. The prayer of Solomon is repeated from Kings, but in addition the Chronicler ascribes similar utterances of praise, supplication, and thanksgiving to David and Hezekiah, and the good kings (especially Hezekiah and Josiah) are represented as zealously active in ordering and arranging for great services of worship which the people were to attend. All this, of course, is related of the past, but from it we may infer facts of the Chroniclers present. We infer, then, a community accustomed to gather constantly at the Temple for the worship of their God. The main elements of public worship can be traced. There was, of course, the ancient ritual of animal sacrifice, hallowed for the Jews by its vast antiquity, and grown the more impressive in proportion as the literalism of the past was forgotten and men felt more vividly that the offering was symbolic of things of the spirit—of the mystery of life, of forgiveness, and of recognition that all things are the gift of God. Undoubtedly there was public prayer. It is hardly possible to read the prayers of the great kings in Chronicles and not feel that they echo a liturgy of prayer—for the individual and for the nation. There was a great and impressive service of song and of music, compare 2 Chronicles v. 12, 13: that is writ large indeed on the pages of Chronicles; and 1 Chronicles xvi. 8 ff. is enough to tell us that the Psalter was the book of praise. We have a sufficient hint, too, that to the songs at least, if not to the prayers also, the people were expected to respond—“And all the people said, Amen, and praised the Lord” (2 Chronicles xvi. 36). Probably arrangements were in vogue for regular reading of the Law, although Chronicles alone would hardly suffice to establish the point (2 Chronicles xxxiv. 31 is insufficient evidence). Even if it be thought that this picture represents rather the ideals of the Levites than the actual attainments of the community, it is still important that such a standard of worship was conceived by the priests and set before the people. One recalls the words of the great prophet of exilic or post-exilic times who wrote: “for mine house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples” (Isaiah lvi. 7). His was a vision of the Temple as the centre of the whole world’s worship. To the Chronicler it had at least become a true “house of prayer” for Israel. Other details might be mentioned, but these will suffice to indicate the light which Chronicles throws upon the conditions of the post-exilic community.

Much more important, however, is the insight we gain into the methods and principles, the ideals and the ideas which prevailed in Temple circles in Jerusalem during the third century B.C. Chronicles, like all distinctive books, is necessarily eloquent of its author’s mind and character. Now the Chronicler was a Levite of the Levites, and no doubt typical of his class at this period. But we know that this period was of the highest importance in the formation of the Old Testament, and it was precisely at the hands of the orthodox Levitical circles that many books of the Jewish Scriptures, especially the Laws, the Histories, and the Psalms, underwent the revision which brought them approximately to their present form. It is therefore extremely valuable that we should be able to study the psychological characteristics of a typical Levite of that age. From this point of view hardly any part of Chronicles is without significance. Thus the midrashic stories, whatever their value otherwise, at least reveal a great deal regarding the mental and moral outlook of the writer and his contemporaries.

“Chronicles,” it has been said (Bennett, Expositor’s Bible, p. 20), “is an object-lesson in ancient historical composition.” But it ought also to teach us that history is something more than the record of occurrences. Facts are fundamental, but of profound importance also is the attitude in which we approach them.

To sum up the whole matter of this section. Compared with Samuel‒Kings, Chronicles is of little or no value as a record of the history of the Judean kingdom. Where it differs from those books, in almost all cases the earlier account is the more accurate and trustworthy. In what Chronicles adds, there may sometimes be found traditional developments of genuine historical facts. Even if they should prove to be few, it is possible that there may be among them some points of high importance for our understanding of the Old Testament records. Finally, as a product of the Greek period, Chronicles is very valuable in illustrating the methods, ideals, and temperament of the Levitical classes of Jerusalem about that time.

These results are disappointing only if we insist on treating Chronicles as a manual of early Judean history instead of as a remarkable and in some ways unique religious work.

§ 8. The Religious Value of Chronicles

Chronicles has suffered by comparison with the fresher, more human, history in Samuel and Kings. It has seemed to modern taste somewhat dry and uninspiring. To the superficial reader any religious feeling in the book is devoted to the concerns of a ritual that has long since passed away, and with which we might in any case have little sympathy. And, of course, the contrast is still more unfavourable if it be made with the books which contain the noblest utterances of Jewish faith. Job in his anguish crying “though He slay me yet will I trust Him”; the Psalmist fearless of all ill since God is with him; Hosea who wrote of God “I desire mercy and not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings”—these stand on a higher spiritual level than the Chronicler. None the less, there is virtue, and even great virtue, in Chronicles, and failure to perceive it only argues lack of insight on our part.

In the first place, if Temple ritual and observance of the precepts of the Law bulk too largely in the Chronicler’s conception of the religious life, he had much excuse for his attitude. In his day and generation, faithfulness to Jehovah and to that moral and spiritual interpretation of life for which the worship of Jehovah stood, inevitably involved participation in the organised services which centred in the Temple. Whatever its imperfections, the Temple at Jerusalem in his time was performing a great religious work in keeping alive zeal for Jehovah and His Law in the face of much degenerate heathenism. Moreover it is an unfair and a false assumption to suppose that his manifest devotion to the ritual necessarily or probably meant that his religion was mere formalism or his creed poorly conceived. Behind the parade of the formalities of worship burns a living faith. The freedom with which the Chronicler has retold the history to conform with his religious views is indeed the measure of the force of his beliefs. We have already noted (p. xlix) as regards one midrashic passage that it is essentially a sermon on the need for trust in God. The Chronicler was passionately convinced that virtue is rewarded and vice is punished. He believed in a God supremely just yet merciful, One who rules directly and personally in human life, destroying evil, guiding and fostering all that is true and good. “The might of nations counted as nothing before Him. Obedience and faith in Jehovah were more effective instruments in the hands of Israel’s kings than powerful armies and strong alliances.” It is easy to smile at the Chronicler’s belief that piety is necessarily rewarded by worldly prosperity, and sin by worldly misfortune. But, if the life and teaching of Jesus Christ have led us to a deeper interpretation of life, that does not lessen the virtue of the Chronicler in maintaining his faith in God’s justice and vigilance, despite all the cruel evidences of the prosperity of the wicked. His doctrine of reward and punishment was crude, but after all he was striving, as best he knew how, to maintain the great central conviction of religion that “all things work together for good to them that love God.” Everywhere his work is dominated by the sense of right and wrong, and a clear-eyed perception of the absolute distinction between them. He brings all men and all things to a moral and religious test. The imperishable worth of Chronicles will ever be that it is the record of a man’s endeavour to present, in terms of national experience, the eternal laws of the spiritual realm.

Finally, since the Chronicler was retelling the past in terms of the present, we know that these beliefs of his were not rules applied in theory to history and ignored in present practice. They were the convictions by which his own soul lived. No one can afford to despise a man who was prepared to walk by the light of such a faith amid the difficulties and the perils which surrounded the enfeebled Jerusalem of that age. As Curtis says, “it was under the tutelage of men like the Chronicler that the Maccabees were nourished and the heroic age of Judaism began.” We must not allow any distaste for legalism in religion to blind us to the virtues of the post-exilic Jews. The very rigidity of the ritual and the doctrine was essential to the preservation of the nobler elements in the faith. In the memorable words of Wellhausen (Prolegomena, pp. 497 f.), “At a time when all nationalities, and at the same time all bonds of religion and national customs were beginning to be broken up in the seeming cosmos and real chaos of the Graeco-Roman Empire, the Jews stood out like a rock in the midst of the ocean. When the natural conditions of independent nationality all failed them, they nevertheless artificially maintained it with an energy truly marvellous, and thereby preserved for themselves, and at the same time for the whole world, an eternal good.” Chronicles may justly claim to have played a part in that extraordinary triumph.

§ 9. Name and Position in the Canon

Name. The Hebrew title is Dibhrē Hayyāmīm, literally The Acts (or Sayings) of the Days. In the Greek Version (the Septuagint) Chronicles was regarded as supplementary to Samuel and Kings, and so received the title “[Books of] the Omitted Acts” παραλειπομένων or “the Omitted Acts of the Kings (or Reigns) of Judah.” This name, moreover, passed into the Latin Vulgate, “(Libri) Paralipomenōn.” The title Chronicles seems to be due to a remark made by St Jerome, who, in commenting on the Hebrew title, wrote that the book might more appropriately be styled the “Chronicle of the whole of sacred history” (Prologus in Libros Regum, edited by Vallarsi, ix. 458). The use of the phrase is also suggested by a similar expression (literally “the book of the Acts of the Days of...”) found some twenty times in Kings, and commonly rendered “the book of the chronicles of...” e.g. 1 Kings xiv. 19. On the whole, Chronicles is a satisfactory title¹.

¹ It is, however, open to the objection that an inexperienced reader may make the mistake of supposing that these references in Kings to “the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel [Judah]” are references to the canonical Chronicles.

Division. The division of Chronicles into two books (as in the English Versions) probably originated in the Septuagint (LXX.); the MSS. A and B both mark the division. It entered the English Version through the Latin Vulgate. On the other hand, Rabbinical evidence (Talmud, Baba Bathra 15a; and the Masōrah) and the Christian Fathers testify that among the Hebrews the book was undivided: so Origen (apud Eusebius Church History vi. 25, 2) and Jerome (Domnioni et Rogatiano).

Position in Canon. In the English Version Chronicles stands next after Kings, the Historical Books being grouped together. This arrangement was derived from the Septuagint through the Latin Vulgate. The order of the Hebrew Bible is different. There the books are arranged in three sections, of which the first contains the Books of the Pentateuch, the second includes the Historical Books from Joshua to Kings, while the third (Hebrew “Kĕthūbhīm”) contains Chronicles. The books of this third section seem to have been the last to receive Canonical Authority among the Jews. Kings thus appears to have been taken into the Canon before Chronicles.

In the Hebrew Bible the “Kĕthūbhīm” (Hagiographa) are usually arranged thus:—first the Poetical Books (Psalms, Proverbs, Job), next the Five Rolls or Megillōth (Canticles, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, Esther), and lastly the three books Daniel, Ezra‒Nehemiah, and Chronicles. This is the usual Hebrew tradition, though it is surprising to find Ezra (which begins with the closing verses of Chronicles) put before Chronicles. The wording of Matthew xxiii. 35, however, “From the blood of Abel the righteous (see Genesis iv. 10 f.) unto the blood of Zachariah (see 2 Chronicles xxiv. 20 ff.)” suggests that as early as our Lord’s day Chronicles was regarded as the last, just as Genesis was the first, book of the Hebrew Canon. It is probable, therefore, that Chronicles found its way into the Canon after Ezra‒Nehemiah, the latter book being needed to represent the post-exilic period of the history, whereas Chronicles covered ground already occupied by the books of Samuel and Kings.

§ 10. Text and Versions of Chronicles

Text. The Hebrew (Masoretic) text in Chronicles is, on the whole, well preserved, although by no means free from textual errors (compare 1 Chronicles vi. 28). Many of these occur, as one would expect, in the lists of proper names. Olstead (in the American Journal of Semitic Languages, October 1913) has given reasons for holding that occasionally the original text of Chronicles may have suffered from assimilation to the text of Samuel‒Kings. Further, we note a few phrases and passages which seem to be scribal additions (see § 3, p. xxii). An interesting scribal omission of late date is noted on 2 Chronicles xxviii. 20. In passages which are parallel to the older canonical books Chronicles has occasionally preserved a superior reading, e.g. 1 Chronicles xx. 4, Hebrew and LXX. “there arose war at Gezer” = 2 Samuel xxi. 18, “there was again war ... at Gob”; or again, 1 Chronicles viii. 53, “Eshbaal” = 2 Samuel ii. 8 “Ishbosheth”; or compare 1 Chronicles xiv. 14, note on go not up.

Versions. (1) Greek Versions. What is commonly called the Septuagint (LXX.) of Chronicles is now recognised to be not the original LXX., but a later Greek translation, which most scholars (especially Torrey, Ezra Studies) consider to be the rendering of Theodotion. [For criticism of the view that it is Theodotion’s rendering see the article by Olstead mentioned above.] In the main this rendering is a close reproduction of the Masoretic text, and of little value except for determining the official Hebrew text of the second century. The old LXX., unfortunately, no longer exists for 1 Chronicles i.‒2 Chronicles xxxiv.; but for 2 Chronicles xxxv., xxxvi. it has been preserved in 1 Esdras i.—a fact of great good fortune, not merely for the textual criticism of that passage, but for the light it sheds on the relations and characteristics of the Greek Versions.

(2) The Old Latin Version was made from the old LXX. which is now lost except for the last two chapters of Chronicles, as stated above. It would therefore be of great value for criticism, but alas! only a few fragments survive.

The later Latin Version, the Vulgate, made by Jerome, is of small value, as it represents only the official Hebrew text.

(3) The Syriac Version, known as the Peshitṭa, is of even smaller value for textual criticism. Unlike the close rendering of other books in the Peshitṭa, Chronicles constantly has the characteristics of a paraphrase rather than a translation. One example will suffice. For “Joel the chief and Shaphat the second,” 1 Chronicles v. 12, the Peshitṭa has “And Joel went forth at their head and judged them and taught them the scriptures well.” The Peshitṭa is further noteworthy for curious omissions (and substitutions), e.g. 2 Chronicles iv. 10‒22; xi. 5‒xii. 12 (for which 1 Kings xii. 25‒30, followed by 1 Kings xiv. 1‒9, is substituted).

For further information regarding the text and versions of Chronicles, see the edition by Curtis, pp. 35 ff.

§ 11. Literature

Of the more recent literature on Chronicles the following is a list of the principal works which have been consulted in the preparation of this volume.

J. Wellhausen, Prolegomena (1885), especially chapter vi.

W. H. Bennett, The Books of Chronicles in the Expositor’s Bible (1894).

F. Brown, Chronicles in Hastings’ Dictionary of the Bible (1898).

W. R. Smith and S. R. Driver, Chronicles in the Encyclopaedia Biblica (1899).

I. Benzinger, Die Bücher der Chronik (1901).

R. Kittel, Die Bücher der Chronik (1902).

C. F. Kent, Israel’s Historical and Biographical Narratives (Student’s Old Testament, 1905).

W. R. Harvie-Jellie, Chronicles in the Century Bible (1906).

E. L. Curtis and A. A. Madsen, Chronicles (the International Critical Commentary, 1910).

S. R. Driver, Literature of the Old Testament, pp. 517‒540 (8th edition 1909).

W. R. Smith and S. A. Cook, Chronicles in the Encyclopaedia Britannica (1910).

C. C. Torrey, Ezra Studies (1910).

A. T. Olstead, Source Study and the Biblical Text in the American Journal of Semitic Languages (October, 1913).

Students interested in the Hebrew text should consult Kittel’s edition of the Old Testament in Hebrew; Kittel’s Chronicles in Hebrew in The Sacred Books of the Old Testament (edited by P. Haupt); Torrey’s Ezra Studies, and the commentary by Curtis and Madsen mentioned above; also Arno Kropat, “Die Syntax des Autors der Chronik,” in the Zeitschrift für Alttestamentliche Wissenschaft (Beihefte) xvi. (1909).

N.B. The commentary on Chronicles according to the text of the Authorised Version was edited in this series by the Rev. Professor W. E. Barnes, D.D., in 1899. For this new edition which is based on the Revised Version the present writer is entirely responsible. He desires here to acknowledge the courtesy of Professor Barnes who has kindly permitted the retention of notes from the first edition.

W. A. L. E.

September 1st, 1915.

THE FIRST BOOK OF
THE CHRONICLES

Chapters I.‒IX. GENEALOGIES.

Chapter I.

The Genealogies of the Peoples.

The historical narrative of the books of Chronicles commences in chapter x. with the record of the defeat and death of King Saul on Mt Gilboa.

The first nine chapters are occupied almost entirely by a series of genealogical lists. Starting from the primeval age, the line is traced from Adam to the origin of Israel, showing its place among the nations of the ancient world. Attention is then confined to the descendants of Israel, amongst whom the genealogies of Judah (particularly, the line of David), of Levi, and of Benjamin, are given prominence. Finally the ancestry of Saul, and a list of inhabitants of Jerusalem is recorded.

The modern reader is inclined to regard these statistics as the least important section of the book, but the fact that the bare lists of names are so foreign to our taste should serve at least as a valuable warning of the difference between our outlook and that of the Chronicler. It is in the highest degree important to understand the motives which caused the Chronicler to give these lists of names as the fitting introduction to the history, since the same motives operate throughout the book and determine the standpoint from which the entire history is considered.

(1) In the first place the genealogies were not recorded by the Chronicler simply for the archaeological interest they possess. They served a most practical purpose, in that they helped to determine for the Jewish community of the Chronicler’s time what families were of proper Levitical descent and might claim a share in the privileges pertaining thereto, and—on a wider scale—what families might justly be considered to be the pure blood of Israel. How serious the consequences entailed by the absence of a name from such lists might be is well illustrated by Ezra ii. 61‒63 (= Nehemiah vii. 63‒65), “the children of Habaiah, the children of Hakkoz ... sought their register among those that were reckoned by genealogy, but they were not found: therefore were they deemed polluted and put away from the priesthood.” On the other hand the Jew who could successfully trace his ancestry in the great lists knew himself indubitably a member of the chosen people and was confident of his part in the covenantal grace and in all those hopes which the faith of Israel inspired and sustained.

(2) The practical aspect of these lists was thus essentially connected with high religious sentiment. They were an expression of the continuity of Israel, a declaration that the Present was one with the Past, a witness and an assurance of the unfailing grace of Israel’s God. The genealogies therefore are in perfect harmony with the spirit and purpose of the Chronicler’s work—see the Introduction § 6.

(3) Finally, in the lists of place-names and genealogies of inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem, various facts of great historical interest are preserved—see Introduction § 7, pp. xlvii f. and (e.g.) ii. 42 note.

Chapter i. contains the genealogies of the earliest age, showing the origin of the nations. It concludes with a list of the chiefs of Edom. The names are those given in the genealogies of Genesis i.‒xxxvi., but the lists are abbreviated to the utmost by the omission of statements of relationship. Evidently the Chronicler was able to assume that the connection between the names was a matter of common knowledge.

1‒4 (compare Genesis v. 3‒32).
A Genealogy from Adam to the Sons of Noah.

¹ADAM, Seth, Enosh; ²Kenan, Mahalalel, Jared;

1. Seth ... Noah] This genealogy of ten antediluvian patriarchs follows Genesis v. 3‒32 (P), the “Sethite” line as compared with Genesis iv. 17‒24 (J) where the descent is traced through Cain. There is some ancient connection between the list and the Babylonian tradition of ten kings before the Flood (see Ryle, Genesis, pp. 88 ff. in this series). For the symbols J and P, see the Introduction p. xx.

Enosh] A poetical word which, like Adam in prose writings, was used as a generic term for “man.”

³Enoch, Methuselah, Lamech; ⁴Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

3. Enoch] Hebrew Ḥanôkh. In verse 33 the same name is more correctly rendered Hanoch, but the Revised Version not unwisely has here retained the famous name in the form (derived through the Vulgate from the LXX.) with which the Authorized Version has made us familiar; compare Genesis iv. 17, and v. 21.

5‒23.
The Genealogy of the Nations.

The table which follows is taken from Genesis x. 2‒29. It is geographical rather than ethnological, i.e. neighbouring nations are regarded as having the same descent. The world as then known is divided into three areas of which that in the north and west is assigned to the Sons of Japheth (5‒7), the southern to the Sons of Ham, and the middle and eastern to the Sons of Shem (17‒23). Had the arrangement been according to actual descent the Semitic Zidonians, for instance, would not be described as the offspring of Ham (verse 13).

The passage, when analysed, divides as follows: 5‒9 (a general table of the descendants of Japheth and Ham), 10‒16 (an appendix to the descendants of Ham), 17 (a general table of the descendants of Shem), 18‒23 (an appendix to the descendants of Shem). Of these four sections, the general tables, verses 5‒9 and 17, belong to the “Priestly” narrative of the Hexateuch, whilst the two appendices, verses 10‒16, 18‒23, are from the earlier narrative known as J. For a full examination of the many interesting questions raised by this account of the origin of the nations known to the Israelites the reader must be referred to the commentaries on Genesis where such discussion is appropriate (see Ryle, Genesis, in this series; or more fully Skinner, Genesis, pp. 188 ff.). Here a few remarks of a general character must suffice.

With the exception of Nimrod the names are those of nations and tribes (e.g. Madai [Medes], Javan [Greeks]) or countries (e.g. Mizraim [Egypt]) or cities (Zidon). The names are eponymous: that is to say “each nation is represented by an imaginary personage bearing its name, who is called into existence for the purpose of expressing its unity, but is at the same time conceived as its real progenitor”; and the relations existing or supposed to exist between the various races and ethnic groups are then set forth under the scheme of a family relationship between the eponymous ancestors. This procedure may seem strange to us but it was both natural and convenient for a period when men had not at their disposal our scientific methods of classification. It must have been specially easy for Semites, like Israel, who in everyday life were accustomed to call a population the “sons of” the district or town which they inhabited. But in truth the practice was widespread in antiquity, and, if a parallel is desired, an excellent one may be found in the Greek traditions respecting the origins of the several branches of the Hellenic race. Whether the ancients believed that these eponymous ancestors really had lived is somewhat uncertain. Probably they did, although such names as Rodanim (verse 7) and Ludim (verse 11) where the name is actually left in a plural form (as we might say “Londoners”) makes it difficult to doubt that in some cases the convention was conscious and deliberate. The notion that the chief nations of antiquity were differentiated from one another within some three generations of descent from a common ancestor, Noah, is plainly inaccurate. Equally untenable is the primary conception assumed in this table that the great races of mankind have come into being simply through the expansion and subdivision of single families.

It must not be imagined that these facts in any way destroy the value of the table. Historically, it is a document of great importance as a systematic record of the racial and geographical beliefs of the Hebrews. Its value would be increased could we determine precisely the period when it was originally drawn up, but unfortunately it is not possible to do so with certainty. Arguments based on the resemblance between this table and the nations mentioned in the books of Ezekiel and Jeremiah are inconclusive; nor does the fact that the general tables (verses 5‒9, 17) now form part of P, the “Priestly” document, help us greatly, for we cannot argue from the date of the document as a whole to the date of its component laws or traditions, which of course may be much earlier. Religiously, the worth of this table is to be seen in the conviction of the fundamental unity of the human race, which is here expressed. The significance of this may best be felt if we contrast the Greek traditions which display a keen interest in the origins of their own peoples but none at all in that of the barbarians. Ancient society in general was vitiated by failure to recognise the moral obligation involved in our common humanity. Even Israel did not wholly transcend this danger, and its sense of spiritual pre-eminence may have taken an unworthy form in Jewish particularism; but at least, as we here see, there lay beneath the surface the instinct that ultimately the families of the earth are one, and their God one.

5‒7 (= Genesis x. 2‒4).
The Sons of Japheth.

⁵The sons of Japheth; Gomer, and Magog, and Madai, and Javan, and Tubal, and Meshech, and Tiras.

5. The sons of Japheth] The writer begins with the northern peoples.

Gomer] to be identified with the Gimirrai of the Assyrian monuments, the Κιμμέριοι of the Greeks, who migrated from South Russia into Asia Minor (Pontus and Cappadocia) under the pressure of the Scythians (Herodotus I. 103; IV. 11, 12; compare Ezekiel xxxviii. 6, Revised Version).

Magog] In Ezekiel xxxviii. 2 (Revised Version) judgement is denounced on “Gog, of the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal” who is represented as accompanied in his migration by the “hordes” of Gomer and Togarmah (verse 6), “all of them riding upon horses” (verse 15). Magog represents therefore one of several tribes of northern nomads, possibly the Scythians.

Madai] i.e. Media or the Medes. Of the many allusions in the Old Testament to this famous people, the first is found in 2 Kings xvii. 6; compare also Isaiah xiii. 17; Jeremiah xxv. 25; Esther i. 3; Daniel i. 9. The Median Empire dates from the 7th century B.C., but the Medes are referred to by Assyrian inscriptions of the 9th century, at which time they seem to occupy the mountainous regions to the south and south-west of the Caspian Sea. They were the first Aryan race to play an important part in Semitic history.

Javan] the Ionians, a branch of the Greek peoples. They were already settled in the Aegean islands and on the west coast of Asia Minor at the dawn of Greek history. Being a seafaring nation and having a slave-trade with Tyre (Ezekiel xxvii. 13; Joel iii. 6 [Hebrew iv. 6 “Grecians”]), they became known to Israel at an early date. In some late passages of the Old Testament (e.g. Zechariah ix. 13; Daniel viii. 21, xi. 2) Javan denotes the world-power of the Greeks, established by the conquests of Alexander the Great and maintained in part by his successors, in particular the Seleucid kings of Syria.

Tubal, and Meshech] compare Isaiah lxvi. 19; Psalms cxx. 5. They are mentioned together Ezekiel xxvii. 13, xxxii. 26, xxxviii. 2, 3, xxxix. 1; and are to be identified with the Τιβαρηνοί and Μοσχοί of Herodotus III. 94, who are the “Tabali” and “Muski” of the monuments. In the time of the later Assyrian Empire they lived as neighbours in the country north-east of Cilicia, but at a later period the Τιβαρηνοί (Tubal) lived in Pontus, and the Μοσχοί (Meshech) further East towards the Caspian. (The Meshech of this verse is to be distinguished from the Meshech son of Shem mentioned in verse 17.)

Tiras] Not the Thracians (so Josephus Antiquities of the Jews I. 6), but most probably the Tyrseni, a piratical people frequenting the coasts and islands of the north Aegean. They are mentioned among the seafarers who assailed Egypt in the reign of Merenptah.

⁶And the sons of Gomer; Ashkenaz, and Diphath¹, and Togarmah.

¹ In Genesis x. 3, Riphath.

6. Ashkenaz] In Jeremiah li. 27 “the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz” are to be summoned against Babylon. The home of the Ashkenaz is therefore somewhere in the neighbourhood of Ararat (Armenia); and they are apparently the Asguza of the monuments, and perhaps may be identified with the Scythians.

Diphath] The LXX., Vulgate and some Hebrew MSS. have Riphath (so also Genesis x. 3), which is to be preferred. The identity of the place or people is not yet ascertained.

Togarmah] Perhaps in Armenia, but the evidence is inconclusive. That it was a neighbour of Gomer, Tubal, and Meshech appears probable from Ezekiel xxvii. 14, where Togarmah is mentioned as trading with Tyre in horses and mules. Compare also Ezekiel xxxviii. 6, and the note above on Magog.

⁷And the sons of Javan; Elishah, and Tarshish, Kittim, and Rodanim¹.

¹ In Genesis x. 4, Dodanim.

7. Elishah] Ezekiel (xxvii. 7) addressing Tyre, “Blue and purple from the isles of Elishah was thine awning.” Elishah has not been identified with certainty. It has been supposed to be Carthage. Another suggestion is Alashiya (of the Tell el-Amarna Letters) which may be a Cilician district, or perhaps rather Cyprus; compare the note on Kittim below.

Tarshish] generally now identified with Tartessus, a Phoenician town in the south of Spain. This is supported by the various references to Tarshish as a Tyrian colony rich in minerals and far from Palestine (see, e.g. Ezekiel xxvii. 12; Jonah i. 3; Psalms lxxii. 10; 2 Chronicles ix. 21). To identify it with Tarsus, the famous town in Cilicia, is in some ways attractive, but is on the whole less probable.

Kittim] The inhabitants of Cyprus are meant, “Kittim” being derived from Kition (modern Larnaca), the name of one of its oldest towns. In later times Kittim (Chittim) is used vaguely of Western islands (Jeremiah ii. 10; Ezekiel xxvii. 6) or nations; “the ships of Kittim” (Daniel xi. 30) are the Roman ships; “the land of Chittim” (Χεττιείμ, 1 Maccabees i. 1) is Macedonia (1 Maccabees viii. 5).

Rodanim] No doubt the Rhodians are meant; their island was celebrated even in the days of Homer. On the spelling Dodanim (Revised Version margin; Genesis x. 4), compare the note on Diphath above. The Hebrew letters r (ר) and d (ד) are easily confused.

8, 9 (= Genesis x. 6, 7).
The Sons of Ham.

⁸The sons of Ham; Cush, and Mizraim, Put, and Canaan.

8. The sons of Ham] The southern peoples are next enumerated.

Cush] The Hebrew name here transliterated Cush is several times translated “Ethiopia” (e.g. 2 Kings xix. 9; Isaiah xviii. 1) no doubt rightly. On the inscriptions of Asshur-bani-pal frequent mention is made of Ku-su (Ku-u-su) “Ethiopia” in connection with Mu-ṣur “Egypt.” The Cushites were not Negroes but a brown race like the modern Nubians (Soudanese). The “sons of Cush,” however, seem to be tribes located mostly on the Arabian side of the Red Sea, verse 9 below.

Mizraim] is without doubt Egypt. In form the word may be dual, and it is generally said to mean the two Egypts, Upper and Lower.

Put] This people is mentioned among the helpers of Egypt in Jeremiah, in Ezekiel (twice), and in Nahum. In Ezekiel xxvii. 10 it appears among the auxiliary troops of Tyre. Put used therefore to be identified with the Libyans of the north coast of Africa, but more probably it denotes the Punt of the Egyptian monuments, i.e. the African coast of the Red Sea.

Canaan] the eponym of the pre-Israelitish population of Palestine west of Jordan. Actual racial affinities are here disregarded or unperceived, for the Canaanites (except the Philistines and Phoenicians on the strip of coastland) were Semites and spoke a language closely resembling Hebrew. That they are here reckoned as Hamites and made a “brother” of Egypt is due perhaps in part to the frequent dominations of Palestine by Egypt, but more probably to the political and religious antagonism between Israel and the Canaanites, which suggested that they ought to be most closely associated with Egypt, Israel’s traditional oppressor. Note that in Genesis ix. 25‒27 (where hostile feeling against Canaan is prominent) “Canaan” is not said to be the son of Ham, but takes Ham’s place as a son of Noah (Ryle, Genesis, p. 127).

⁹And the sons of Cush; Seba, and Havilah, and Sabta, and Raama, and Sabteca. And the sons of Raamah; Sheba, and Dedan.

9. the sons of Cush] According to some authorities Seba and Havilah were tribes or districts on the African coast of the Red Sea, whilst Sabta and Raama and Sabteca were in Arabia. It is somewhat more probable that all (except Seba) were located on the Arabian side of the Red Sea.

Seba] In Isaiah xliii. 3 and xlv. 14 Seba (the Sabeans) is mentioned along with Egypt and Cush, and in Psalms lxxii. 10 along with Sheba. Probably a district on the African side of the Red Sea is meant.

Sheba, and Dedan] Also in verse 32, where see note. Sheba is frequently mentioned in the Old Testament (e.g. Jeremiah vi. 20; 1 Kings x. 1 ff. = 2 Chronicles ix. 1 ff.; Isaiah lx. 6) as a distant land, rich in gold, frankincense, and precious stones. It was a flourishing and wealthy state, at one period (circa 700 B.C.) the centre of power and civilisation in south Arabia. Dedan was probably a merchant tribe, specially associated with Sheba (compare Ezekiel xxxviii. 13).

10‒16 (= Genesis x. 8‒18b).
Appendix. Other Descendants of Ham.

¹⁰And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one in the earth.

10. And Cush begat Nimrod] From the parallel passages in Genesis (x. 10, 11) it is apparent that Nimrod is the name of an individual, the traditional founder of the Babylonian-Assyrian Empire. As Cush is here called the father of Nimrod and in verse 8 is the son of Ham, Hebrew tradition would appear to have regarded Hamites as the founders of the Babylonian power. Possibly the Redactor of Genesis who combined these verses which belong to the tradition of J with verses 5‒9 which are from “P” may have thought so. But in the independent “J” narrative it is very probable that Cush, father of Nimrod, represents the third or Kassite dynasty (Κοσσαῖοι) which held sway in Babylon from about 1750‒1200 B.C. Even so, the identification of Nimrod himself remains a puzzle, and it is not yet possible to say whether he is a legendary or an historical character, or partly both.

began to be a mighty one in the earth] i.e. was the first grand monarch (for the idiom, compare Genesis ix. 20). In Genesis x. 9, he is further and quaintly described as “a mighty hunter before the Lord.”

¹¹And Mizraim begat Ludim, and Anamim, and Lehabim, and Naphtuhim,

11. Ludim] reckoned in Jeremiah xlvi. 9 and Ezekiel xxx. 5 (Revised Version “Lud”) among the auxiliary troops of Egypt (Mizraim). Probably not the Lydians of Asia Minor are meant, but a people of north Africa not yet known. Both this word and Lehabim may be variants for the Libyans, tribes west of Cyrene (compare 2 Chronicles xii. 3, xvi. 8). See also verse 17, note on Lud. Of the Anamim, Naphtuhim, nothing is certainly known.

¹²and Pathrusim, and Casluhim (from whence came the Philistines¹), and Caphtorim.

¹ Hebrew Pelishtim.

12. Pathrusim] the inhabitants of Pathros (Isaiah xi. 11), i.e. Upper Egypt.

Casluhim] not identified.

from whence came the Philistines] Elsewhere (Jeremiah xlvii. 4; Amos ix. 7; compare Deuteronomy ii. 23) the Philistines are said to have come from Caphtor. It is natural therefore to think that an accidental transposition has taken place, and that this clause, whence ... Philistines, originally followed Caphtorim. Note, however, that the same order is found in Genesis x. 14.

Caphtorim] i.e. the inhabitants of Caphtor, which has usually been taken to mean the island of Crete, but is also plausibly identified with “Keftiu,” the south-west coastlands of Asia Minor. Compare Macalister, The Philistines, pp. 4 ff.

¹³And Canaan begat Zidon his firstborn, and Heth;

13. Canaan begat] Of the four sons of Ham—viz. Cush, Mizraim, Put, Canaan—note that the sons of Put are omitted. After the sons of Cush (verse 9), and of Mizraim (verse 11), we here pass to the sons of Canaan.

Zidon his firstborn] From the time of David downwards Tyre takes precedence of Zidon in any mention of the Phoenician cities in the Old Testament, but Zidon was the older of the two cities, as is here implied and as the Roman historian Justin (XVIII. 3) asserts. So we find the Phoenicians in the earlier books of the Old Testament called Zidonians, not Tyrians (e.g. Judges iii. 3; 1 Kings v. 6). Homer also refers not to Tyre but to Zidon.

Heth] i.e. the Hittites, a northern non-Semitic race, who from about 1800‒700 B.C. were a great power, extending over part of Asia Minor and northern Syria from the Orontes to the Euphrates. The references to them in the Old Testament make it probable that Hittite settlements were to be found in various parts of Palestine. This fact and their dominant influence, circa 1300 B.C., throughout Canaan and Phoenicia probably accounts for their inclusion as a “son” of Canaan.

¹⁴and the Jebusite, and the Amorite, and the Girgashite;

14. the Jebusite] the ancient population of Jerusalem, compare Judges i. 21; 2 Samuel v. 6.

the Amorite] compare Numbers xiii. 29, xxi. 21; Judges i. 35. The name (probably a racial one) was frequently used of the pre-Israelitish inhabitants of Canaan (“Canaanites” being the geographical description). In a more restricted sense it was used to denote the people of Sihon, east of the Jordan.

¹⁵and the Hivite, and the Arkite, and the Sinite; ¹⁶and the Arvadite, and the Zemarite, and the Hamathite.

15. the Hivite] In Joshua xi. 3, the Hivites are placed in the extreme north of the land, “the Hivite under Hermon,” but the word may be an error for Hittite (see above verse 13). In Joshua ix. 7 and Genesis xxxiv. 2 they are located at Gibeon and Shechem. The Arkite and Sinite lived in Lebanon, the Arvadite (compare Ezekiel xxvii. 8) on the sea-coast north of Gebal (Byblus), the Zemarite a little to the south of the Arvadite, and the Hamathite furthest to the north on the Orontes.

17 (= Genesis x. 22, 23).
The Sons of Shem.

¹⁷The sons of Shem; Elam, and Asshur, and Arpachshad, and Lud, and Aram, and Uz, and Hul, and Gether, and Meshech¹.

¹ In Genesis x. 23, Mash.

17. The sons of Shem] These occupied the middle geographical “zone.”

Elam] is the name of a land and nation north of the Persian Gulf and east of Babylonia, and is often referred to in the Old Testament. Though settled by Semites at a very early date, it was subsequently, circa 2280 B.C., possessed by a non-Semitic race, who even extended their power over Babylonia itself. The inclusion of Elam among the Semites is doubtless due to its proximity to Asshur, and, though not strictly correct, is very natural.

Asshur] The Assyrians, who are so frequently referred to in the Old Testament, were mainly, if not entirely Semitic: a martial and ruthless people whose conquests in the 14th‒7th centuries have made them world-famous.

Arpachshad] a somewhat obscure name. In the last part (chshad) the same consonants occur as in the name “Chasdim,” the “Chaldees” of the Old Testament. Possibly two names have been run together, the second being that of the Chaldees or Chaldeans, a Semitic race who from circa 900 B.C. dominated Babylonia, assimilating with the earlier Semitic inhabitants. This conjecture has some support in the surprising fact that the Chaldeans are not otherwise mentioned in the table; it is opposed by the fact that Arpachshad occurs elsewhere, verse 24; Genesis x. 24, xi. 10 ff.

Lud] the name suggests the Lydians, but how this non-Semitic people situated on the west coast of Asia Minor comes to be included with Asshur and Aram as a son of Shem is a mystery. Possibly therefore a Semitic region, called Lubdu, between Tigris and Euphrates is meant.

Aram] the “Syrians” of the Authorized Version; better called Arameans. They were widely settled in the lands to the north and north-east of Palestine, with important centres in Damascus (Syria proper) and the north of the Euphrates valley (the Aram-Naharaim of the Old Testament). So great and lasting was their influence on Israel that the Aramean dialect eventually superseded Hebrew and was the ordinary language of Palestine in the time of Christ.

Uz] From Genesis x. 23 it appears that in Chronicles the words “And the children of Aram¹” have dropped out, so that “Uz” etc. appear as the immediate descendants of Shem.

¹ The Alexandrine MS. (A) of the LXX. has the words.

Neither Uz nor the three following names have been satisfactorily identified. For “Meshech” Genesis x. 23 (Hebrew but not LXX.) reads “Mash.”

18‒23 (= Genesis x. 24‒29).
Appendix to the Sons of Shem.
South Arabian Tribes.

¹⁸And Arpachshad begat Shelah, and Shelah begat Eber.

18. Eber] The Hebrew word usually means “the land beyond” and may have originated as a personification of the population beyond the Euphrates. It is further possible that Eber is an eponym, not merely of the Hebrews, but of the Habiri, a much wider stock of Semitic nomads, of whom the Hebrews formed an element, and who overran and harassed the settled peoples of Palestine in the fifteenth century B.C.

¹⁹And unto Eber were born two sons: the name of the one was Peleg; for in his days the earth was divided; and his brother’s name was Joktan.

19. two sons] one (Peleg) representing, roughly speaking, the northern or Mesopotamian Semites; the other (Joktan), the south Arabian tribes.

Peleg] see below on verse 25.

²⁰And Joktan begat Almodad, and Sheleph, and Hazarmaveth, and Jerah; ²¹and Hadoram, and Uzal, and Diklah; ²²and Ebal¹, and Abimael, and Sheba; ²³and Ophir, and Havilah, and Jobab. All these were the sons of Joktan.

¹ In Genesis x. 28, Obal.

20. Joktan begat Almodad] All the names of the sons of Joktan here given, so far as they have been identified, represent peoples situated in south Arabia or on the west coast of the Red Sea lying over against south Arabia. The only familiar name is that of the unidentified Ophir, which possibly but not certainly may be the “El Dorado” to which Solomon sent his fleet for gold.

24‒27.
The Descent of Abraham from Shem.

These verses are compressed within the smallest limits from Genesis xi. 10‒26. For another example of this extreme abbreviation compare verses 1‒4 (= Genesis v. 3‒32).

²⁴Shem, Arpachshad, Shelah; ²⁵Eber, Peleg, Reu; ²⁶Serug, Nahor, Terah; ²⁷Abram (the same is Abraham).

25. Peleg] the name perhaps signifies “Division” (see verse 19), and may refer to some great period of migration among the Semitic tribes.

28‒31 (= Genesis xxv. 12‒16).
The Descent of the Ishmaelite Tribes from Abraham

²⁸The sons of Abraham; Isaac, and Ishmael.

²⁹These are their generations: the firstborn of Ishmael, Nebaioth; then Kedar, and Adbeel, and Mibsam,

29. Nebaioth] Compare Isaiah lx. 7.

Kedar] Isaiah xxi. 13‒17.

³⁰Mishma, and Dumah, Massa; Hadad, and Tema,

30. Dumah] Isaiah xxi. 11.

Massa] Proverbs xxxi. 1 (Revised Version margin).

Hadad] The name begins with the Hebrew letter Ḥēth and therefore differs from the Hadad of verse 46 and of verse 50 and of 2 Chronicles xvi. 2 in which the first letter is Hē, a softer guttural than Ḥeth.

Tema] Isaiah xxi. 14.

³¹Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah. These are the sons of Ishmael.

31. Jetur, Naphish] compare v. 18‒22.

32, 33 (= Genesis xxv. 1‒4).
The Descent of Arabian Tribes from Abraham through Keturah

³²And the sons of Keturah, Abraham’s concubine: she bare Zimran, and Jokshan, and Medan, and Midian, and Ishbak, and Shuah. And the sons of Jokshan; Sheba, and Dedan.

32. Keturah] called a wife of Abraham in Genesis xxv. 1. The Chronicler by calling her a concubine may imply that he considered that the tribes descended from her were not so closely akin to Israel as the Ishmaelites, or possibly he held that Sarah ought to be the only wife of Abraham, and “corrects” his source accordingly.

Medan, Midian] Kindred tribes often bore names only slightly differing in form.

Midian] In Judges viii. 14 the Midianites are reckoned as Ishmaelites.

Sheba, and Dedan] Sheba and Dedan in verse 9 (which belongs to the same source P) are included among the Hamitic peoples. Doubtless the names in the present passage, which comes from J, refer to the same tribes; but J follows a different tradition as to their origin. Possibly there is truth in both views, and the people of Sheba were of mixed African and Arabian descent.

³³And the sons of Midian; Ephah, and Epher, and Hanoch, and Abida, and Eldaah. All these were the sons of Keturah.

33. Ephah] Isaiah lx. 6.

Hanoch] as Genesis xxv. 4. Compare verse 3.

34‒37 (compare Genesis xxxvi. 10‒14).
The Descent of the Tribes of Edom from Abraham.

³⁴And Abraham begat Isaac. The sons of Isaac; Esau, and Israel.

³⁵The sons of Esau; Eliphaz, Reuel, and Jeush, and Jalam, and Korah.

34. Esau] “Esau is Edom,” Genesis xxxvi. 1, 8.

³⁶The sons of Eliphaz; Teman, and Omar, Zephi¹, and Gatam, Kenaz, and Timna, and Amalek. ³⁷The sons of Reuel; Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah.

¹ In Genesis xxxvi. 11, Zepho.

36. Teman] Amos i. 11, 12; Habakkuk iii. 13. The word means South, and is applied in the first passage to Edom itself, in the second to the wilderness of Edom, both being south of Canaan.

Kenaz] Other references (Judges i. 13, iii. 9, 11) show a close connection with Caleb, which in turn implies that the Calebites were closely related to the Edomites (compare iv. 13).

Amalek] the eponymous ancestor of the Amalekites who lived in the south and south-east of Palestine, see iv. 42 f.

38‒42 (compare Genesis xxxvi. 20‒28).
The Genealogy of the Horite Inhabitants of Seir.

³⁸And the sons of Seir; Lotan and Shobal and Zibeon and Anah, and Dishon and Ezer and Dishan. ³⁹And the sons of Lotan; Hori and Homam¹: and Timna was Lotan’s sister.

¹ In Genesis xxxvi. 22, Hemam.

38. The sons of Seir] Chronicles omits the further description given in Genesis “the Horite, the inhabitants of the land,” words which show clearly that these “sons of Seir” were not descendants of Esau, but aboriginal inhabitants of the land.

Lotan] perhaps to be connected with Lot, a name anciently associated with the land or people dwelling east of the Jordan (compare Genesis xix. 30).

⁴⁰The sons of Shobal; Alian¹ and Manahath and Ebal, Shephi² and Onam. And the sons of Zibeon; Aiah and Anah. ⁴¹The sons of Anah; Dishon. And the sons of Dishon; Hamran³ and Eshban and Ithran and Cheran. ⁴²The sons of Ezer; Bilhan and Zaavan, Jaakan⁴. The sons of Dishan; Uz and Aran.

¹ In Genesis xxxvi. 23, Alvan.

² In Genesis xxxvi. 23, Shepho.

³ In Genesis xxxvi. 26, Hemdan.

⁴ In Genesis xxxvi. 27, and Akan.

40. Aiah and Anah] See Genesis xxxvi. 24.

43‒51a (compare Genesis xxxvi. 31‒39).
The early Kings of Edom.

⁴³Now these are the kings that reigned in the land of Edom, before there reigned any king over the children of Israel: Bela the son of Beor; and the name of his city was Dinhabah. ⁴⁴And Bela died, and Jobab the son of Zerah of Bozrah reigned in his stead. ⁴⁵And Jobab died, and Husham of the land of the Temanites reigned in his stead.

43. kings] Note that the kings are of different families and localities. They may be compared with the “judges” of early Israel.

in the land of Edom] In early times the mountainous region of Seir, extending from the south-east of the Dead Sea to the Gulf of Akaba, but the precise territory of the Edomites is uncertain and of course must have varied from time to time. In the post-exilic period Edomites (Idumeans) pressed up into the south of Judah (compare ii. 42), and Edom (Idumea) continued to play an important and often sinister part in the history of Israel till long after the Chronicler’s lifetime. See (e.g.) 1 Maccabees v. 65; 2 Maccabees x. 14‒17. The Herods were of Edomite descent.

before ... Israel] i.e. before Saul; or possibly “before David,” if the phrase means before the reign of the first Israelitish king over Edom. For the use made of this statement in the discussion of the date of the Hexateuch, see Chapman, Introduction to the Pentateuch, p. 40, in this series.

Bela the son of Beor] possibly the same as the familiar Balaam son of Beor, the consonants of the names differing in Hebrew only by the final m. See, however, Gray, Numbers (International Critical Commentary), pp. 315, 324.

⁴⁶And Husham died, and Hadad the son of Bedad, which smote Midian in the field of Moab, reigned in his stead: and the name of his city was Avith. ⁴⁷And Hadad died, and Samlah of Masrekah reigned in his stead.

46. smote Midian in the field of Moab] An isolated historical notice, interesting as showing the power of Edom at some period. The Midianites centred round the lands east of the Gulf of Akaba, but bands of them were constantly pushing northwards and harassing the territories of Edom, Moab, and Israel (compare Numbers xxii. 4; Judges vi.; etc.).

⁴⁸And Samlah died, and Shaul of Rehoboth by the River reigned in his stead. ⁴⁹And Shaul died, and Baal-hanan the son of Achbor reigned in his stead.

48. Rehoboth by the River] not “the River,” par excellence (i.e. the Euphrates), as the Revised Version translators supposed; but either the Wady el-Arish, the stream on the boundary of Egypt or Palestine; or else a river in north Edom, Rehoboth being distinguished from other places of the same name by being the city on its banks.

⁵⁰And Baal-hanan died, and Hadad¹ reigned in his stead; and the name of his city was Pai²: and his wife’s name was Mehetabel, the daughter of Matred, the daughter of Me-zahab.

¹ In Genesis xxxvi. 39, Hadar.

² In Genesis xxxvi. 39, Pau.

50. Hadad] As in verse 46; in Genesis xxxvi. 39, “Hadar.” Possibly the king whom David overthrew, 2 Samuel viii. 14, compare 1 Kings xi. 14 (perhaps a son of this Hadad).

⁵¹And Hadad died.

51a. And Hadad died] repeated by a copyist’s error from verse 47; the words are not found in Genesis.

51b‒54 (compare Genesis xxxvi. 40‒43).
The “Dukes” of Edom.

And the dukes of Edom were; duke Timna, duke Aliah¹, duke Jetheth; ⁵²duke Oholibamah, duke Elah, duke Pinon; ⁵³duke Kenaz, duke Teman, duke Mibzar; ⁵⁴duke Magdiel, duke Iram. These are the dukes of Edom.

¹ In Genesis xxxvi. 40, Alvah.

51b. dukes] The word means “leader of a thousand.” The list which follows is probably topographical, not chronological. It seems to give the names of the districts into which Edom was divided at the time when the list was drawn up.

duke Timna, etc.] Render, the duke of Timna, etc.

Aliah] In Genesis xxxvi. 40, “Alvah.”

Chapters II.‒VIII.
The Genealogies of the Tribes of Israel.

Attention is now narrowed down to those in the true line of descent, from Abraham through Isaac (“in Isaac shall thy seed be called,” Genesis xxi. 12) and from Isaac through Jacob = Israel, Genesis xxxii. 28 (compare Genesis xxvi. 2‒4).

The Chronicler deals very unequally with the tribes in their genealogies; as the following table shows:

ii. 1‒iv. 23. Judah (102 verses).

iv. 24‒43. Simeon (20 verses).

v. 1‒26. Reuben, Gad, and Eastern Manasseh (26 verses).

vi. 1‒81. Levi (81 verses).

vii. 1‒40. Issachar, Zebulun, and Dan (according to a correction of the text, vii. 6‒11, and 12), Naphtali, Eastern Manasseh (again), Ephraim, and Asher (40 verses).

viii. 1‒40. Benjamin (40 verses).

It may easily be seen that the tribes in which the Chronicler is really interested are the three southern tribes, Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin, together with the priestly tribe, Levi.

The order in which the tribes are mentioned is geographical, Judah and Simeon the southern tribes first, then the eastern tribes, Reuben, Gad, Manasseh; then (conveniently) Levi, and then the northern tribes of western Palestine, ending with Benjamin (viii., ix. 35‒44) and the list of inhabitants of Jerusalem (in ix. 1‒34).

Chapter II.

1, 2 (compare Genesis xxxv. 22b‒26).
The Sons of Israel.

¹These are the sons of Israel; Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah, Issachar and Zebulun; ²Dan, Joseph and Benjamin, Naphtali, Gad and Asher.

II. 3‒IV. 23.
Genealogies of Judah.

3‒17.
Descendants of Judah to the Sons of Jesse.

³The sons of Judah; Er, and Onan, and Shelah: which three were born unto him of Bath-shua the Canaanitess. And Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the Lord; and he slew him. ⁴And Tamar his daughter in law bare him Perez and Zerah. All the sons of Judah were five. ⁵The sons of Perez; Hezron and Hamul.

5. The sons of Perez; Hezron and Hamul] So Genesis xlvi. 12. The only reference in the Old Testament to Hamulites is Numbers xxvi. 21. On the other hand Hezron, a south Judean tribe (Joshua xv. 3), is a clan of the first importance in the genealogies. From Hezron are descended not only the family of David (verse 15), but also the great Calebite and Jerahmeelite clans (verses 18‒24, 25‒33, etc.). The name Hezron might bear the significance “an enclosed place” as opposed to movable encampments, and Atarah (verse 26) who is said to be the mother of certain Jerahmeelite families has much the same meaning. Both names therefore may not be eponymous either of individuals or places, but may originate in the desire to preserve the fact that the families named as their sons were nomads who had abandoned wandering for settled life. If so, it might help to explain the fact that Hezron (compare Carmi, ii. 7, iv. 1, v. 3) is also mentioned as a son of Reuben (v. 3; Genesis xlvi. 9, etc.).

⁶And the sons of Zerah; Zimri¹, and Ethan, and Heman, and Calcol, and Dara²: five of them in all.

¹ In Joshua vii. 1, Zabdi.

² Many ancient authorities read, Darda. See 1 Kings iv. 31.

6. the sons of Zerah] This genealogy appears only in Chronicles.

Zimri] LXX. (B) Ζαμβρεί (β being merely euphonic) here and also Joshua vii. 1 where Hebrew has “Zabdi.” LXX. is probably right in identifying the two. Either form might arise from the other by easy textual corruption.

Ethan ... Dara] Read, Darda with Vulgate, Targum, Peshitṭa The same four names in the same order occur 1 Kings iv. 31 as the names of wise men whom Solomon surpassed in wisdom. They are there called sons of “Mahol” who may have been either a nearer or remoter ancestor than Zerah. Ethan however is there called the Ezrahite (= probably “son of Zerah”). [Psalms lxxxviii., lxxxix. bear respectively the names “Heman the Ezrahite,” “Ethan the Ezrahite,” but these (it seems) were Levites (compare xv. 17, 19, where see note).]

⁷And the sons of Carmi; Achar¹, the troubler of Israel, who committed a trespass in the devoted thing. ⁸And the sons of Ethan; Azariah.

¹ In Joshua vii. 1, Achan.

7. the sons of Carmi] Carmi is probably to be taken as the son of Zimri (= Zabdi, Joshua vii. 1). Targum however has “Carmi who is Zimri.” See note on Zimri, verse 6.

Achar] This form of the name (instead of “Achan,” Joshua vii. 1) is used by the Chronicler to bring out better the play on the Hebrew word for “troubler.” The Hebrew runs, “Achar ocher Israel.”

⁹The sons also of Hezron, that were born unto him; Jerahmeel, and Ram, and Chelubai.

9. Jerahmeel] For his descendants see verses 25‒41. The descendants of his younger brother Ram are given first. They purport to be the ancestry of David and his family.

Chelubai] Another form of “Caleb”; see note on verse 42.

¹⁰And Ram begat Amminadab; and Amminadab begat Nahshon, prince of the children of Judah; ¹¹and Nahshon begat Salma, and Salma begat Boaz; ¹²and Boaz begat Obed, and Obed begat Jesse;

10. Ram] The descent of David from Judah is given also in Ruth iv. 18‒22 and Matthew i. 3‒6. Ram as a clan parallel with the great clans of Caleb and Jerahmeel is strange; for it is not known otherwise in the Old Testament Further, as the descendants of Ram given in verses 10‒12 are the family tree of David (contrast the clans and cities in the lines of Caleb and Jerahmeel) it may be supposed that Ram owes his position here simply to the Chronicler’s desire to incorporate Ruth iv. 19, where also this pedigree of David is given. Note also that in verse 25 a Ram is mentioned as a son of Jerahmeel and grandson of Hezron.

Nahshon, prince, etc.] See Numbers i. 4, 7, ii. 3.

¹³and Jesse begat his firstborn Eliab, and Abinadab the second, and Shimea the third;

13. Shimea] so also xx. 7; but “Shammah” 1 Samuel xvi. 9.

¹⁴Nethanel the fourth, Raddai the fifth;

14. Nethanel] the same name as Nathanael (John i. 45). The fourth, fifth and sixth brothers are not elsewhere named.

¹⁵Ozem the sixth, David the seventh:

15. David the seventh] Jesse had eight sons (1 Samuel xvii. 12; compare xvi. 10, 11). Here one seems deliberately passed over, perhaps because he had no children. (The Elihu “one of David’s brethren” of 1 Chronicles xxvii. 18 is probably to be identified with Eliab and not to be regarded as an eighth brother.)

¹⁶and their sisters were Zeruiah and Abigail. And the sons of Zeruiah; Abishai¹, and Joab, and Asahel, three.

¹ Hebrew Abshai.

16. sons of Zeruiah] Joab and his brothers are always thus named after their mother; perhaps their father died while they were young, or we may have a relic here of the ancient method of tracing kinship through the mother.

¹⁷And Abigail bare Amasa: and the father of Amasa was Jether the Ishmaelite.

17. the Ishmaelite] 2 Samuel xvii. 25, “the Israelite,” an error yielding no satisfactory sense.

18‒24 (compare verses 42‒55.)
Descendants of Caleb.

¹⁸And Caleb the son of Hezron begat children of Azubah his wife, and of Jerioth: and these were her sons; Jesher, and Shobab, and Ardon. ¹⁹And Azubah died, and Caleb took unto him Ephrath, which bare him Hur.

18. Caleb] a clan dwelling in southern Judea, and probably distinct from Judah in the time of David (1 Samuel xxv. 3, xxx. 14). Other references to them or rather their reputed founder Caleb ben Jephunneh the Kenizzite (Numbers xxxii. 12; Joshua xiv. 6, 14; 1 Chronicles i. 36, where see note on Kenaz) point to an original connection with the Edomites. Their importance in these lists is explained by the fact that they were incorporated in Judah, and, after the exile, occupied townships close to Jerusalem (verses 50‒55) “forming possibly the bulk of the tribe in post-exilic Judah, since the Chronicler knows so few other families” (Curtis, Chronicles p. 89). See also W. R. Smith, Old Testament in the Jewish Church, p. 279 ad fin.

begat children of Azubah his wife, and of Jerioth] the Hebrew seems to be corrupt. Read perhaps begat children of Azubah, his wife, daughter of Jerioth; or took Azubah the wife of Jerioth. The name Azubah = forsaken is significant: see the note on verse 42, Caleb, ad fin.

²⁰And Hur begat Uri, and Uri begat Bezalel.

20. Bezalel] the Chronicler is naturally pleased to give prominence in his list to Bezalel, who in Exodus xxx. (P) is mentioned as the artificer of the Tabernacle.

²¹And afterward Hezron went in to the daughter of Machir the father of Gilead; whom he took to wife when he was threescore years old; and she bare him Segub.

21. The table of Caleb is broken off at this point to introduce verses 21‒23 a statement of further descendants of Hezron (verse 9) by another wife, the daughter of Machir. The interruption is not unnatural, for it is convenient to refer to Hezron’s “son of old age” immediately before the notice of his death (verse 24).

Machir] the most important clan of Manasseh (compare Numbers xxvi. 29; Judges v. 14). The affinity of Judean Hezronites with members of the tribe of Manasseh, implied by this verse, is surprising. Whether the tradition has a basis in fact, or arose through some genealogical confusion, cannot as yet be determined. There is however considerable evidence in favour of the view that the relationship between Machir and Caleb is at least “no isolated detail, still less is it the invention of the Chronicler’s age,” and there may be real historical ground for a tradition that besides the northern movement of the Hezronites upwards to Judah there was also at some time a movement across the northern end of Edom into the lands east of Jordan, ending in the settlements of Machir and Jair in Gilead here recorded; compare Numbers xxxii. 39, and for discussion of the problem see Cook, Notes on Old Testament History, pp. 92, 93, etc.

²²And Segub begat Jair, who had three and twenty cities in the land of Gilead.

22. Jair] one of the Judges (Judges x. 3, 4 where thirty cities, not twenty-three, are assigned him).

the land of Gilead] This name is sometimes restricted to that part of the land east of Jordan which lies south of the wady Yarmuk. Here, as often, it is applied to all the land east of Jordan occupied by Israel.

²³And Geshur and Aram took the towns¹ of Jair from them, with Kenath, and the villages² thereof, even threescore cities. All these were the sons of Machir the father of Gilead.

¹ Or, Havvoth-jair.

² Hebrew daughters.

23. And Geshur and Aram] Geshur was an Aramean kingdom east of Jordan on the north-east border of Manasseh. Aram, commonly translated “Syria” or “the Syrians,” probably here signifies the kingdom of which Damascus was the capital. The conquest of Manassite territory by the Arameans (“Syrians”) here described probably took place before the days of Ahab, for in his reign they were already established as far south as Ramoth-gilead (1 Kings xxii. 3).

the towns of Jair] note margin Havvoth-jair, compare Deuteronomy iii. 14; Judges x. 4. The name perhaps means “the tent-villages of Jair” (Arabic Ḥĭvâ = “a collection of tents near together”).

²⁴And after that Hezron was dead in Caleb-ephrathah, then Abijah Hezron’s wife bare him Ashhur the father of Tekoa.

24. And after that Hezron was dead in Caleb-ephrathah] The Hebrew is certainly corrupt, but can easily be emended with the help of the LXX. Read And after Hezron was dead Caleb went in to Ephrath (verse 19) his father Hezron’s wife and she bare him, etc. Ephrath (= Ephrathah, verse 50, iv. 4) is a name of Bethlehem (Ruth iv. 11; Micah v. 2). “The taking of a father’s wife signified a claim to inherit the father’s possessions (compare 2 Samuel xvi. 22), and the phrase here expresses the legitimacy of Caleb’s residence in northern Judea” (see note on verse 42).

Ashhur] compare iv. 4, 5. Ashhur might be a younger brother of Hur (verses 19, 50); but quite possibly they are one and the same (compare the contraction of Jehoahaz into Ahaz); see also iv. 5.

the father of Tekoa] i.e. the founder of the town or the eponymous ancestor of its inhabitants. For Tekoa see 2 Chronicles xx. 20, note.

25‒41.
The Genealogy of the Jerahmeelites.

²⁵And the sons of Jerahmeel the firstborn of Hezron were Ram the firstborn, and Bunah, and Oren, and Ozem, Ahijah.

25. Jerahmeel] In David’s time they were, like Caleb, a semi-nomadic clan in the south of Judah; compare 1 Samuel xxvii. 10; xxx. 29. They shared in the northern movements of Caleb (see note on verse 42), and eventually formed part of the post-exilic Jewish community; hence their records do not appear in earlier parts of the Old Testament, but are known to the Chronicler.

Ozem, Ahijah] By a slight change in the Hebrew we get Ozem his brother (so LXX.); compare xxvi. 20 for a similar confusion of reading.

²⁶And Jerahmeel had another wife, whose name was Atarah; she was the mother of Onam. ²⁷And the sons of Ram the firstborn of Jerahmeel were Maaz, and Jamin, and Eker. ²⁸And the sons of Onam were Shammai, and Jada: and the sons of Shammai; Nadab, and Abishur. ²⁹And the name of the wife of Abishur was Abihail; and she bare him Ahban, and Molid. ³⁰And the sons of Nadab; Seled, and Appaim: but Seled died without children¹.

¹ Or, sons.

26. Atarah] see note on Hezron, verse 5.

³¹And the sons of Appaim; Ishi. And the sons of Ishi; Sheshan. And the sons of Sheshan; Ahlai. ³²And the sons of Jada the brother of Shammai; Jether, and Jonathan: and Jether died without children¹. ³³And the sons of Jonathan; Peleth, and Zaza. These were the sons of Jerahmeel.

¹ Or, sons.

31. the sons of Sheshan; Ahlai] Ahlai is perhaps a gentilic name, not the name of an individual, since in verse 34 Sheshan is said to have had “no sons, but daughters.” More probably however the Chronicler is using a different source for verses 34‒41.

³⁴Now Sheshan had no sons, but daughters. And Sheshan had a servant, an Egyptian, whose name was Jarha.

34. an Egyptian] Hebrew Miṣri. Render probably a Muṣrite, i.e. inhabitant of the north Arabian district to the south of Palestine, known as Muṣri and apparently confused at times with Miṣraim (Egypt). For some suggestive conjectures regarding this table of Jarha’s descendants see S. A. Cook, Encyclopedia Biblica II. 2364.

³⁵And Sheshan gave his daughter to Jarha his servant to wife; and she bare him Attai. ³⁶And Attai begat Nathan, and Nathan begat Zabad; ³⁷and Zabad begat Ephlal, and Ephlal begat Obed; ³⁸and Obed begat Jehu, and Jehu begat Azariah; ³⁹and Azariah begat Helez, and Helez begat Eleasah; ⁴⁰and Eleasah begat Sismai, and Sismai begat Shallum; ⁴¹and Shallum begat Jekamiah, and Jekamiah begat Elishama.

35. Sheshan gave his daughter to Jarha] This was equivalent to making his servant his heir. Thus Abraham at first (Genesis xv. 2, 3) regarded Eliezer his steward as his heir. The list of thirteen descendants of Jarha ending with Elishama (verse 41) is perhaps a proper genealogy: at least the names may be those of individuals, although it is impossible to say why this pedigree of Elishama should have been so carefully preserved (so Curtis). On the other hand Cook (see previous note) regards Jarha as perhaps an eponym of Jerahmeel, and, connecting Sheshan with the Hebronite Sheshai, thinks the genealogy may signify a northward movement of Jerahmeel from Muṣri to the district of Hebron.

42‒49 (compare verses 18‒24).
The Descendants of Caleb.

⁴²And the sons of Caleb the brother of Jerahmeel were Mesha his firstborn, which was the father of Ziph; and the sons of Mareshah the father of Hebron. ⁴³And the sons of Hebron; Korah, and Tappuah, and Rekem, and Shema. ⁴⁴And Shema begat Raham, the father of Jorkeam; and Rekem begat Shammai.

42. Caleb the brother of Jerahmeel] Called Chelubai (verse 9) and Caleb the son of Hezron (verse 18). As eponym of the tribe Caleb is described as “son” of Hezron “son” of Judah, and of course is not to be distinguished from the Caleb son of Jephunneh who is classed as a Kenizzite in various passages (iv. 15; Numbers xiii. 6; Joshua xiv. 6).

Important features of the fortunes of the Caleb clan can be discerned from the lists in this chapter, verses 18‒24, 42‒50. It appears that at first their seats were in the southern parts of Judah—witness verses 42‒49, in which several of the names, viz. Ziph (Joshua xv. 24 or 25), Mareshah (2 Chronicles xi. 8), Hebron, Tappuah (Joshua xv. 34), Maon (Joshua xv. 55), and Beth-zur (Joshua xv. 58) are names of towns in the south or south-west of Judah. From these, their pre-exilic homes, they were driven northwards, and during the exilic period and afterwards they occupied many of the townships not far from Jerusalem, e.g. Bethlehem (see verses 50‒55). Apart from the names in verses 50‒55, we have a testimony to this northward movement in verse 24 (where see note), and probably also in verse 18, where the names Jerioth (tents) and Azubah (forsaken) hint at the abandonment first of nomadic life and then of the south Judean settlements. This movement was largely no doubt compulsory, under pressure from the Edomites to the south (compare above i. 43, note) who in their turn were being forced north by a strong and fairly constant encroachment of Arab tribes (see Wellhausen, De Gentibus, and more recently Hölscher, Palästina, pp. 22, 30, on the importance of such evidence as this notice in Chronicles for determining the composition and conditions of Palestine in the post-exilic period).

Mesha] The Moabite king whose deeds are recorded on the Moabite Stone bore this name. LXX. reads Mareshah (Μαρεισά) as in the latter part of the verse.

⁴⁵And the son of Shammai was Maon; and Maon was the father of Beth-zur. ⁴⁶And Ephah, Caleb’s concubine, bare Haran, and Moza, and Gazez: and Haran begat Gazez. ⁴⁷And the sons of Jahdai; Regem, and Jotham, and Geshan, and Pelet, and Ephah, and Shaaph. ⁴⁸Maacah, Caleb’s concubine, bare Sheber and Tirhanah.

45. Maon] Nabal who was a Calebite lived at the town of Maon (1 Samuel xxv. 2, 3). It is improbable that Maon was ever used as the name of a person; compare Buchanan Gray, Hebrew Proper Names, pp. 127 f. See note on verse 42.

⁴⁹She bare also Shaaph the father of Madmannah, Sheva the father of Machbena, and the father of Gibea; and the daughter of Caleb was Achsah.

49. the daughter of Caleb was Achsah] Compare Judges i. 12.

50‒55. These verses give the post-exilic settlements of the Calebites in the townships of northern Judea, not far from Jerusalem: see verse 42, note.

⁵⁰These were the sons of Caleb; the son¹ of Hur, the firstborn of Ephrathah, Shobal the father of Kiriath-jearim; ⁵¹Salma the father of Beth-lehem, Hareph the father of Beth-gader.

¹ The Septuagint has, sons.

50. the son of Hur] Read with the LXX., the sons of Hur. Hur was the son of Caleb (verse 19).

the firstborn of Ephrathah] see note verse 24.

⁵²And Shobal the father of Kiriath-jearim had sons; Haroeh, half of the Menuhoth.

52. Haroeh, half of the Menuhoth] The Hebrew is quite obscure, but may perhaps be rendered, who provided for half the resting-places, the description applying to Shobal, i.e. his work was to supervise some of the halting stations of the caravans which passed through the territory of Judah. Compare similar details in iv. 21‒23, and the title Prince of the resting-places (margin quarter-master) given to Seraiah in Jeremiah li. 59. Almost certainly, however, the text in the present passage is corrupt, and, following iv. 2 and verse 54, we may read Reaiah and half of the Manahathites. For the latter see below, verse 54.

⁵³And the families of Kiriath-jearim; the Ithrites, and the Puthites, and the Shumathites, and the Mishraites; of them came the Zorathites and the Eshtaolites.

53. Zorathites, Eshtaolites] for Zorah (modern Surah) and Eshtaol (modern Eshua), compare Judges xiii. 25.

⁵⁴The sons of Salma; Beth-lehem, and the Netophathites, Atrothbeth-Joab, and half of the Manahathites, the Zorites.

54. Manahathites, the Zorites] The Manahathites of Zorah must be associated with Manoah, the father of Samson, according to the tradition of Judges xiii. 2, 25, and an inhabitant of Zorah (see Cooke, Judges, pp. 131, 138, in this series).

⁵⁵And the families of scribes which dwelt at Jabez; the Tirathites, the Shimeathites, the Sucathites. These are the Kenites that came of Hammath, the father of the house of Rechab.

55. families of scribes] an indication of post-exilic date.

the Kenites that came of Hammath] or perhaps, the Kenites who came in (i.e. who attached themselves to Israel), who were from Hammath.

father of the house of Rechab] The verse is somewhat obscure, but it is most probable that the Chronicler preserves a correct tradition in the connection here alleged between the Rechabites and the Kenites. On the ancient zeal for Jehovah displayed by the Rechabites, see 2 Kings x. 15 ff.; and for their distinctive standpoint, Jeremiah xxxv.

Chapter III.

1‒24.
The Genealogy of the House of David.

1‒4 (= 2 Samuel iii. 2‒5).
The Sons born to David in Hebron.

¹Now these were the sons of David, which were born unto him in Hebron: the firstborn, Amnon, of Ahinoam the Jezreelitess; the second, Daniel, of Abigail the Carmelitess;

1. Daniel] LXX. (B) Δαμνιήλ, (A) Δαλουιά. In 2 Samuel iii. 3 Chileab, but LXX. Δαλουιά. The real name of David’s second son remains therefore uncertain.

²the third, Absalom the son of Maacah the daughter of Talmai king of Geshur; the fourth, Adonijah the son of Haggith;

2. Geshur] Compare ii. 23, note.

³the fifth, Shephatiah of Abital; the sixth, Ithream by Eglah his wife. ⁴Six were born unto him in Hebron; and there he reigned seven years and six months: and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty and three years.

3. Eglah his wife] In 2 Samuel iii. 5 “Eglah David’s wife,” where however David is probably a wrong reading for the name of a previous husband of Eglah.

5‒9 (= chapter xiv. 4‒7 and 2 Samuel v. 14‒16).
The Sons born to David in Jerusalem.

⁵And these were born unto him in Jerusalem: Shimea, and Shobab, and Nathan, and Solomon, four, of Bath-shua the daughter of Ammiel:

5. Shimea] in xiv. 4 and 2 Samuel v. 14 (Revised Version) Shammua.

Nathan] Through him our Lord’s descent is traced in Luke iii. 31.

Solomon] Only here are other sons besides Solomon attributed to Bath-sheba.

Bath-shua] is a slight variation in pronunciation of Bath-sheba.

the daughter of Ammiel] of Eliam (perhaps a by-form of Ammiel) in 2 Samuel xi. 3. An Eliam son of Ahithophel, David’s counsellor, is mentioned in 2 Samuel xxiii. 34; Bath-sheba may therefore have been grand-daughter to Ahithophel. Notice that the Chronicler does not call Bath-sheba the wife of Uriah the Hittite; he nowhere refers to David’s great sin; compare xx. 1‒3, where the silence of Chronicles on this matter is specially to be noted.

⁶and Ibhar, and Elishama, and Eliphelet; ⁷and Nogah, and Nepheg, and Japhia;

6. Elishama] in xiv. 5 and 2 Samuel v. 15 Elishua, no doubt the right reading, for otherwise (compare verse 8) we have two sons of David named Elishama.

Eliphelet] in xiv. 5 Elpelet. Eliphelet cannot be right, for it occurs again as the name of the thirteenth son in verse 8. Elpelet may be right here and Eliphelet in verse 8, for according to Hebrew custom two brothers might bear names of similar sound and significance. But both Eliphelet and Nogah, the following word, are lacking in 2 Samuel v. 15; and are probably only textual errors due to dittography.

⁸and Elishama, and Eliada, and Eliphelet, nine. ⁹All these were the sons of David, beside the sons of the concubines; and Tamar was their sister.

8. Eliada] so in 2 Samuel v. 16, but in 1 Chronicles xiv. 7 Beeliada (i.e. Baaliada, “The Lord—the Baal—knows”). This seems to have been changed to Eliada (i.e. God knows), when the title Baal had come to have only heathen associations, and was accordingly repudiated by the Jews: see the note on viii. 33.

10‒16.
The Line of Davidic Kings.

¹⁰And Solomon’s son was Rehoboam, Abijah his son, Asa his son, Jehoshaphat his son; ¹¹Joram his son, Ahaziah his son, Joash his son;

Two things are to be noted in this list: (1) Johanan’s name is given in verse 15, though he was never king, (2) Zedekiah’s name appears to be twice given, once among the sons of Josiah (verse 15) and again in his place according to the succession (verse 16).

10. Abijah] called Abijam in 1 Kings xiv. 31, xv. 1 ff. Abia is the Greek form of the name; Matthew i. 7 (Authorized Version).

¹²Amaziah his son, Azariah his son, Jotham his son; ¹³Ahaz his son, Hezekiah his son, Manasseh his son; ¹⁴Amon his son, Josiah his son.

12. Azariah] This king is usually called Uzziah, compare Isaiah vi. 1; see note on 2 Chronicles xxvi. 1.

¹⁵And the sons of Josiah; the firstborn Johanan, the second Jehoiakim, the third Zedekiah, the fourth Shallum.

15. the firstborn Johanan] This son of Josiah never came to the throne, nor is anything known of him except from this passage.

Zedekiah] Though reckoned third here, he was younger than Shallum (= Jehoahaz); compare 2 Chronicles xxxvi. 2 (= 2 Kings xxiii. 31) with 2 Chronicles xxxvi. 11 (= 2 Kings xxiv. 18).

Shallum] To be identified with Jehoahaz; compare 2 Chronicles xxxvi. 1 with Jeremiah xxii. 11.

¹⁶And the sons of Jehoiakim: Jeconiah his son, Zedekiah his son.

16. Jeconiah] This name is sometimes shortened to Coniah (Jeremiah xxii. 24) and written (with a slight change of meaning) Jehoiachin (2 Chronicles xxxvi. 8, 9; 2 Kings xxiv. 6 ff.).

Zedekiah his son] Zedekiah was heir, not son, to Jeconiah, whom he succeeded in the kingdom. His relationship to Jeconiah was that of uncle.

17‒19a.
The Davidic Line from Jeconiah to Zerubbabel.

Note that whereas Zerubbabel is here represented apparently as the son of Pedaiah and consequently nephew of Shealtiel (= Salathiel), he is elsewhere called the son of Shealtiel (Ezra iii. 2; Haggai i. 1, ii. 2; compare Luke iii. 27‒31). The LXX. solves the difficulty by reading Salathiel (= Shealtiel) in verse 19. The view that the names given in verse 18 (including Pedaiah) are the names of the sons of Shealtiel is not probable. Another suggestion is that Zerubbabel was grand-son both to Shealtiel and Pedaiah, according to such a scheme as the following:

Pedaiah Shealtiel
| |
a daughter = a son
|
Zerubbabel.

A minor difficulty that Shealtiel (= Salathiel) is here connected with David through Solomon, whereas in Luke iii. 27‒31 his descent is traced through Solomon’s brother Nathan, could be explained by an intermarriage at some point in the genealogy between the two Davidic families.

¹⁷And the sons of Jeconiah, the captive¹; Shealtiel his son, ¹⁸and Malchiram, and Pedaiah, and Shenazzar, Jekamiah, Hoshama, and Nedabiah.

¹ Or, Assir.

17. the sons of Jeconiah] That Jeconiah had sons is not at variance with Jeremiah’s denunciation of him (Jeremiah xxii. 30). That passage gives the answer to Jeconiah’s expectation of a speedy return to his kingdom (Jeremiah xxii. verse 27); Jeremiah says that neither he nor any of his seed shall recover the lost throne: “Reckon him childless, for no son of his shall succeed him on his throne.”

the captive] Hebrew assir, which the Revised Version margin (= Authorized Version), following the ancient Versions, has wrongly taken to be a proper name. The Revised Version margin is here only a survival of Authorized Version. The rendering of the text (the captive) no doubt expresses the real judgment of the Revisers.

Shealtiel] the Greek form Salathiel (Authorized Version) occurs in Luke iii. 27 (Authorized Version).

¹⁹And the sons of Pedaiah; Zerubbabel, and Shimei: and the sons¹ of Zerubbabel;

¹ Hebrew son.

19. the sons of Zerubbabel] so the LXX. The Hebrew has son, as Revised Version margin.

19b‒24.
The Davidic Line from Zerubbabel.

The text of these verses is very uncertain. In verse 20 the names of five sons are given, but their father’s name (perhaps Meshullam) is wanting. In verses 21, 22 the LXX. differs from the Hebrew in such a way as to affect the number of steps in the genealogy; the Hebrew seems to reckon but one generation between Hananiah and Shemaiah, the LXX. on the contrary reckons six; the result on the whole genealogy being that the LXX. counts eleven generations after Zerubbabel as against six in the Hebrew In verse 22 again the sons of Shemaiah are reckoned to be six, but only five names are given in both Hebrew and LXX. For the bearing of these verses upon the date of Chronicles, see the Introduction § 3.

Meshullam, and Hananiah; and Shelomith was their sister: ²⁰and Hashubah, and Ohel, and Berechiah, and Hasadiah, Jushab-hesed, five.

20. and Hashubah] Perhaps we should read “The sons of Meshullam: Hashubah.” See above.

Jushab-hesed] The name means “Mercy is restored.” Many such significant names are found in the present list, and, in general, are characteristic of the exilic and later periods.

²¹And the sons¹ of Hananiah; Pelatiah, and Jeshaiah: the sons of Rephaiah, the sons of Arnan, the sons of Obadiah, the sons of Shecaniah. ²²And the sons of Shecaniah; Shemaiah: and the sons of Shemaiah; Hattush, and Igal, and Bariah, and Neariah, and Shaphat, six.

¹ Hebrew son.

21. and Jeshaiah ... Shecaniah] The LXX. reads (with some blunders in reproducing the names), “and Jeshaiah his son, Rephaiah his son, Arnan his son, Obadiah his son, Shecaniah his son,” thus adding five steps to the genealogy. The difference of reading in the Hebrew text thus suggested is very slight. It is quite uncertain whether the Hebrew or the reading of the LXX. is to be preferred: see the Introduction § 3, A 2.

²³And the sons¹ of Neariah; Elioenai, and Hizkiah, and Azrikam, three. ²⁴And the sons of Elioenai; Hodaviah, and Eliashib, and Pelaiah, and Akkub, and Johanan, and Delaiah, and Anani, seven.

¹ Hebrew son.

23. Elioenai] A name meaning, “Mine eyes are towards Jehovah,” compare Psalms xxv. 15; compare Jushab-hesed (verse 20) and Hodaviah (“Give thanks to Jehovah” = Hoduiah), verse 24.

Chapter IV.

1‒23 (compare ii. 3 ff.)
Genealogies of the Tribes of Judah.

The material contained in these verses gives rise to no little perplexity, not only in itself but also when considered along with the genealogies of Judah in ii. 3 ff. Whether the Chronicler himself could have thrown any light on the points which puzzle us may well be doubted: he was more concerned to preserve all available genealogical matter than to consider or attempt to reconcile conflicting elements. Both the date and relationship of these notices must be confessed to be as yet uncertain, opinion being divided even on the question whether the list represents pre-exilic or post-exilic conditions. Remark that the list is essentially a Calebite one.

¹The sons of Judah; Perez, Hezron, and Carmi, and Hur, and Shobal.

1. As Hezron was the son of Perez (chapter ii. 5) and (if the LXX. be right) Shobal was the son of Hur (ii. 50, note), we have in this verse five, if not six, generations.

Carmi] for the name, compare ii. 7, and v. 3. Here, however, Carmi is certainly an error for Caleb: see ii. 4, 5, 9, 50 and also the structure of the present chapter. Thus in accord with the usual practice of the Chronicler the chief ancestors are first named (verse 1), and then, in reverse order, their descendants—sons of Shobal and Hur (verses 2‒10), and sons of Chelub (= Caleb) (verses 11‒15).

²And Reaiah the son of Shobal begat Jahath; and Jahath begat Ahumai and Lahad. These are the families of the Zorathites.

2. Reaiah] Compare note on ii. 52.

the Zorathites] Compare note on ii. 53.

³And these were the sons of the father of Etam; Jezreel, and Ishma, and Idbash: and the name of their sister was Hazzelelponi:

3. these were the sons of the father of Etam] The Hebrew has not got the words the sons of, and is certainly corrupt. The LXX. reads, These were the sons of Etam. Correction is difficult, largely owing to the obscurity of Etam. If Etam had been named as a son of Shobal in verse 2, we might follow the LXX. It is perhaps best to suppose that Etam begins the list of descendants of Hur, and to read “these were the sons of Hur the father of Etam.” Etam was a place, but whether near Bethlehem (the Etam of 2 Chronicles xi. 6) or in southern Judah (the Simeonite Etam of verse 32) is uncertain.

⁴and Penuel the father of Gedor, and Ezer the father of Hushah. These are the sons of Hur, the firstborn of Ephrathah, the father of Beth-lehem.

4. Hur] the first born of Ephrathah (= Ephrath) one of the wives of Caleb (ii. 19). Hur was father of Bethlehem through his son Salma (ii. 50, 51, LXX.). For the name of the city compare Genesis xxxv. 19 (Ephrath the same is Bethlehem) and Micah v. 2 (Revised Version Thou, Bethlehem Ephrathah).

⁵And Ashhur the father of Tekoa had two wives, Helah and Naarah. ⁶And Naarah bare him Ahuzzam, and Hepher, and Temeni, and Haahashtari. These were the sons of Naarah. ⁷And the sons of Helah were Zereth, Izhar¹, and Ethnan.

¹ Another reading is, and Zohar.

5. Ashhur the father of Tekoa] Ashhur is probably only a variant of Hur (see note ii. 24). Hur then is the exilic or post-exilic “father” (founder) of the Calebite population of Tekoa (5 miles from Bethlehem), and of Bethlehem, etc., through his sons (ii. 50‒52).

Helah and Naarah] Neither the names of the wives nor those of the children yield any certain information.

⁸And Hakkoz begat Anub, and Zobebah, and the families of Aharhel the son of Harum.

8. And Hakkoz] But Hebrew Koz. The absence of connection with the preceding verse is striking. Perhaps Koz was properly one of the sons of Helah (verse 7), and a motive for the severance of his name may be found in the wish to make less obvious his Calebite (i.e. non-Levitical) origin, in case he were identified with the priestly Hakkoz of xxiv. 10; Ezekiel ii. 61, a family who were unable to prove an untainted pedigree.

⁹And Jabez was more honourable than his brethren: and his mother called his name Jabez, saying. Because I bare him with sorrow.

9. The connection of this verse also does not appear. According to Targum (on verse 13) Jabez = Othniel, the nephew or brother of Caleb.

And Jabez, etc.] Render, And Jabez came to be honoured above his brethren, but his mother had called his name Jabez, saying, Because I bare him with pain. Jabez suggests a somewhat similar word spelt with the same consonants but in a different order, and meaning “he giveth pain.” The stylistic similarity between this verse and many passages in Genesis (e.g. Genesis xxx.) cannot fail to be noticed, and it is important to observe that a tradition of this popular character was current in the style of the patriarchal narratives of Genesis in the Chronicler’s time. Compare also vii. 23. The man with the ill-omened name staved off ill-fortune by his prayer which is given in the following verse.

¹⁰And Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, Oh that thou wouldest bless me indeed, and enlarge my border, and that thine hand might be with me, and that thou wouldest keep me from evil, that it be not to my sorrow! And God granted him that which he requested.

10. that thou wouldest keep me from evil] Literally that thou wouldest make ... from evil. The Hebrew is therefore strange, though not indefensible. Perhaps some words have fallen out, and it may originally have read somewhat as follows, that thou wouldest make [room (merḥābh) for me, and wouldest redeem (phādīthā) me] from evil.

that it be not to my sorrow] or so that no pain befell me.

11‒15 for Chelub (verse 11) = Caleb (see on ii. 9, 42).
Sons of Caleb.

¹¹And Chelub the brother of Shuhah begat Mehir, which was the father of Eshton. ¹²And Eshton begat Beth-rapha, and Paseah, and Tehinnah the father of Ir-nahash¹. These are the men of Recah.

¹ Or, the city of Nahash.

12. These are the men of Recah] Recah is unknown. Perhaps the true reading is that of the LXX. (B), the men of Rechab, i.e. Rechabite families; compare ii. 55, note.

¹³And the sons of Kenaz; Othniel, and Seraiah: and the sons of Othniel; Hathath.

13. Othniel] Eponym of a Kenizzite clan, closely connected with the Calebites. Compare note on i. 36, and Judges i. 13 and iii. 9‒11.

¹⁴And Meonothai begat Ophrah: and Seraiah begat Joab the father of Ge-harashim¹; for they were craftsmen.

¹ Or, the valley of craftsmen.

14. Meonothai] perhaps a son of Othniel.

Ge-harashim] or, as margin, the valley of craftsmen. It is mentioned Nehemiah xi. 35 along with Lod (the Lydda of Acts ix. 32) and therefore was probably near Lydda.

¹⁵And the sons of Caleb the son of Jephunneh; Iru, Elah, and Naam: and the sons of Elah; and Kenaz.

15. Caleb the son of Jephunneh] Compare ii. 42, note.

the sons of Elah; and Kenaz] The sons of Elah and Kenaz seem to be co-ordinated, as each represented a family descended from Caleb; but perhaps the text is faulty.

¹⁶And the sons of Jehallelel; Ziph, and Ziphah, Tiria, and Asarel.

16‒20. The connection of these names with Judah does not appear. In accordance with the structure of this section (see note on Carmi, verse 1) we might expect here to find “the sons of Hezron or Perez”; and, since the relationship between Jehallelel (16) and Ezrah (17) is not indicated, it has been suggested that we should insert in verse 16 “And the sons of Perez and Jehallelel and Ezrah.” No certainty can be felt in the matter.

Ziph] in south Judah, 1 Samuel xxiii. 15. Ziphah, a feminine form of the same name.

¹⁷And the sons of Ezrah; Jether, and Mered, and Epher, and Jalon: and she bare Miriam, and Shammai, and Ishbah the father of Eshtemoa.

17. and Jalon: and she bare Miriam] As the text stands she has no antecedent. It has therefore been proposed to transfer from verse 18 the words And these are the sons of Bithiah the daughter of Pharaoh, which Mered took, and put them after Jalon. Bithiah then appears as the mother of Miriam, Shammai, and Ishbah, and the difficulty of the absence of her sons’ names from verse 18 disappears. For father of Eshtemoa see ii. 24 note, and for Eshtemoa see Joshua xxi. 14.

¹⁸And his wife the Jewess¹ bare Jered the father of Gedor, and Heber the father of Soco, and Jekuthiel the father of Zanoah. And these are the sons of Bithiah the daughter of Pharaoh, which Mered took.

¹ Or, Hajehudijah.

18. his wife] the wife of Mered, if the transposition mentioned in the last note be accepted.

his wife the Jewess] so called in contrast to his Egyptian wife.

Gedor] compare verse 4, where a different person is perhaps by a different tradition called father of Gedor. Gedor is to be identified with the ruins of Jedur on the road between Jerusalem and Hebron, compare verse 39.

Soco ... Zanoah] The Soco (Joshua xv. 48) and Zanoah (Joshua xv. 56) here mentioned were situated to the south-west of Hebron. They are to be distinguished from a Soco near the valley of Elah (Joshua xv. 35, 2 Chronicles xi. 7, xxviii. 18) and Zanoah near Beth-shemesh (Joshua xv. 34).

these are the sons of Bithiah] See note on verse 17. A “daughter of Pharaoh” is somewhat strange in such surroundings. For an interesting emendation and interpretation, see Macalister, Palestine Exploration Fund, Quarterly Statement, 1905, p. 252.

¹⁹And the sons of the wife of Hodiah, the sister of Naham, were the father of Keilah the Garmite, and Eshtemoa the Maacathite. ²⁰And the sons of Shimon; Amnon, and Rinnah, Ben-hanan, and Tilon. And the sons of Ishi; Zoheth, and Ben-zoheth.

19. Keilah] a town of the Shephelah (Joshua xv. 44), the scene of one of David’s exploits (1 Samuel xxiii. 1‒5).

Eshtemoa the Maacathite] The epithet distinguishes this Eshtemoa from that of verse 17. The Maacathite may mean the descendant of Maacah (ii. 48), the concubine of Caleb the brother of Jerahmeel.

21‒23. These verses purport to give some fragmentary information of the descendants of Shelah. It must be owned that they are most obscure, and much more difficult than they appear at first. In the Palestine Exploration Fund Statement, 1905, pp. 243 ff., 328 ff., R. A. S. Macalister gives a highly ingenious reinterpretation of this passage in the light of certain jar handles inscribed with names similar to those mentioned here and in certain other passages of the Chronicler’s genealogies; and conjectures that throughout the chapter we have a (mutilated) genealogy of a family of craftsmen, tracing descent from two individuals, a Jerahmeel and a Caleb. In a text so obscure it is no objection that the theory involves several textual emendations, and is too intricate for further treatment here. It is rejected by Driver, Modern Research, p. 77.

²¹The sons of Shelah the son of Judah; Er the father of Lecah, and Laadah the father of Mareshah, and the families of the house of them that wrought fine linen, of the house of Ashbea;

21. Shelah] mentioned in ii. 3 as a son of Judah. As there is no reference to him in iv. 1, perhaps these difficult verses are an addition. For other references to his descendants, see ix. 5, Nehemiah xi. 5.

Mareshah] ii. 42; 2 Chronicles xi. 8; Joshua xv. 44 (mentioned with Keilah). A town in the south of Judah.

the house of Ashbea] Nothing is known of such a family. Render perhaps Beth-Ashbea, but the place is otherwise unknown.

²²and Jokim, and the men of Cozeba, and Joash, and Saraph, who had dominion in Moab, and Jashubi-lehem. And the records¹ are ancient.

¹ Hebrew words.

22. and Joash, and Saraph, who, etc.] We find no other trace of these two as rulers of Moab. The Targum fancifully identified them with Mahlon and Chilion of Ruth i. 2, 4. For a conjecture as to the cause of their presence in Moab, see Macalister, Palestine Exploration Fund, Quarterly Statement, 1905, p. 340.

and Jashubi-lehem] render, with Vulgate, who returned to Bethlehem, a translation which requires only an easy emendation of the present Hebrew text.

²³These were the potters, and the inhabitants¹ of Netaim and Gederah: there they dwelt with the king for his work.

¹ Or, those that dwelt among plantations and hedges.

23. there they dwelt with the king for his work] In the days of the kingdom the families were clients of the king and did his work; compare 1 Kings vii. 46. The simplicity of this statement seems to have been a stumbling-block to the early translators who paraphrase; LXX., They were strong in his kingdom and dwelt there; Targum, They made their dwelling there with the Shekinah of the King of the World for the practice of the Law.

24‒27.
The Genealogy of Simeon.

²⁴The sons of Simeon; Nemuel¹, and Jamin, Jarib², Zerah³, Shaul: ²⁵Shallum his son, Mibsam his son, Mishma his son. ²⁶And the sons of Mishma; Hammuel his son, Zaccur his son, Shimei his son. ²⁷And Shimei had sixteen sons and six daughters; but his brethren had not many children, neither did all their family multiply, like to the children of Judah.

¹ In Genesis xlvi. 10, Exodus vi. 15, Jemuel.

² In Genesis xlvi. 10, Jachin.

³ Genesis xlvi. 10, Zohar.

24‒27. The sons of Simeon] With unimportant variations in the names, the five sons of Simeon are mentioned also in Genesis xlvi. 10, Exodus vi. 15, and Numbers xxvi. 12, 13. A sixth son, Ohad, is given by the list in Genesis. As the mother of one, Shaul, was a Canaanitess (Genesis xlvi. 10) and Mibsam and Mishma are also reckoned Ishmaelites (i. 29, 30), the tribe of Simeon contained marked non-Israelite elements. This is the more natural by reason of its location in the extreme south of Palestine.

27. six daughters] LXX. three daughters.

28‒33 (= Joshua xix. 2‒8).
The Territory of Simeon.

²⁸And they dwelt at Beer-sheba, and Moladah, and Hazar-shual;

28. Beer-sheba] at the southern extremity of Palestine, as Dan was at the northern (1 Samuel iii. 20).

²⁹and at Bilhah, and at Ezem, and at Tolad;

29. Tolad] In Joshua xix. 4 Eltolad.

³⁰and at Bethuel, and at Hormah, and at Ziklag;

30. Bethuel] compare Genesis xxii. 22. In Joshua xix. 4 Bethul. In 1 Samuel xxx. 27 Bethel (not the famous Bethel near Jerusalem).

Hormah] Numbers xiv. 45, xxi. 3; Judges i. 17.

Ziklag] 1 Samuel xxvii. 6. The site is not certainly identified.

³¹and at Beth-marcaboth, and Hazar-susim, and at Beth-biri, and at Shaaraim. These were their cities unto the reign of David.

31. Beth-marcaboth ... Hazar-susim] perhaps royal chariot-cities, 1 Kings ix. 19. The names mean House of chariots and Court of horses.

Shaaraim] 1 Samuel xvii. 52.

These were their cities unto the reign of David] either a reference to David’s census; or else it is implied that these cities ceased to belong to Simeon after David’s day. The clause breaks the connection of verses 31, 32; and is perhaps a late gloss.

³²And their villages were Etam, and Ain, Rimmon, and Tochen, and Ashan, five cities:

32. And their villages were Etam] more probably and their villages (end of verse 31). Etam, etc. (continuing the list of cities as in verse 31). By villages (Ḥăṣērīm) are meant small hamlets dependent on larger towns and generally unwalled (Leviticus xxv. 31).

Ain, Rimmon] so also in the parallel passage, Joshua xix. 7; but certainly only one place is meant, Ain-Rimmon (see the commentaries on Joshua xv. 42 and xix. 7). The number of the cities here ought therefore to be reckoned four, not five.

³³and all their villages that were round about the same cities, unto Baal. These were their habitations, and they have their genealogy.

33. unto Baal] Baal (“lord”) standing by itself is an unlikely name for a town. Read Baalath-beer, Ramah of the South (“the mistress of the well, the high place of the South”), as in Joshua xix. 8.

34‒43.
The Heroes of Simeon and their Exploits.

It seems probable that the exploits mentioned in these verses are derived from some old, though obscure, tradition, and are therefore of historical value for the movements of the tribe of Simeon. Apparently we are to understand that in the time of Hezekiah a band of the wild semi-nomadic tribe of Simeon made a successful raid upon a fertile valley near Gerar (a correction for Gedor, see verse 39), a township on the Philistine border, taking by surprise its peaceful population who were partly Canaanites, partly settlers who had come originally from a place Maon (see verse 41). Gedor, the reading of the Hebrew text, was a town just north of Hebron. A raid by Simeonites on such a town is a startling, but not incredible, episode in Hezekiah’s time; but see also note on verse 40. Finally verses 42, 43 record a further assault by Simeonites, this time against Edomite territory. For full discussion see Hogg in Encyclopedia Biblia iv. 4527 ff.; also Macalister, Palestine Exploration Fund Statement, 1905, 335 ff.

³⁴And Meshobab, and Jamlech, and Joshah the son of Amaziah; ³⁵and Joel, and Jehu the son of Joshibiah, the son of Seraiah, the son of Asiel; ³⁶and Elioenai, and Jaakobah, and Jeshohaiah, and Asaiah, and Adiel, and Jesimiel, and Benaiah; ³⁷and Ziza the son of Shiphi, the son of Allon, the son of Jedaiah, the son of Shimri, the son of Shemaiah; ³⁸these mentioned by name were princes in their families: and their fathers’ houses increased greatly.

38. their fathers’ houses] See note on chapter v. 13.

³⁹And they went to the entering in of Gedor, even unto the east side of the valley, to seek pasture for their flocks.

39. the entering in of Gedor] Compare verse 18. The Gedor of Joshua xv. 58 is identified with Jedur, Ijdur (north of Hebron, Bädeker, Palestine⁵, p. 112). See Macalister, Palestine Exploration Fund, Quarterly Statement, 1905, 335. LXX. has Gerar (compare Genesis xx. 1; xxvi. 1), on the Philistine border.

⁴⁰And they found fat pasture and good, and the land was wide, and quiet, and peaceable; for they that dwelt there aforetime were of Ham.

40. they ... of Ham] i.e. Canaanites, who had long been settled in the district (compare the security felt by the people of Laish, Judges xviii. 27). Their presence would seem natural in Gerar on the Philistine border but strange in Gedor near Hebron. If therefore the reading Gedor be preferred above, there is something to be said for the suggestion of Macalister (p. 335) that we should here read “of Menahem” (a change of one letter in Hebrew), some unwarlike Hebrew family, perhaps potters.

⁴¹And these written by name came in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah, and smote their tents, and the Meunim that were found there, and destroyed¹ them utterly, unto this day, and dwelt in their stead: because there was pasture there for their flocks. ⁴²And some of them, even of the sons of Simeon, five hundred men, went to mount Seir, having for their captains Pelatiah, and Neariah, and Rephaiah, and Uzziel, the sons of Ishi.

¹ Hebrew devoted them.

41. written by name] Apparently those mentioned in verses 34‒37; but the names there are of a late character, and have perhaps been artificially connected with the old tradition of the raiders in verses 41 ff.

in the days of Hezekiah] The Hebrew is ambiguous, but the clause should probably be connected with the verb “came,” not with “written”: the raid, not the record, was made in the days of Hezekiah.

and the Meunim] Here, and in 2 Chronicles xx. 1 (see note), xxvi. 7, the LXX. has Minaeans, an Arabian people who from the 8th or 9th century B.C. or perhaps much earlier exercised great authority in South Arabia (see Encyclopedia Britannica¹¹ II. 264). The Meunim of the present passage are to be connected with an Edomitic city or tribe not far from Petra, south of the Dead Sea; or (so Macalister, p. 336) are simply the people of Maon, a township near Hebron in Judah. 2 Chronicles xx. 1 (note) and xxvi. 7, Revised Version.

destroyed them utterly] or, as margin, devoted them (compare Joshua vi. 18, 21, Revised Version). See note 2 Chronicles xx. 23.

⁴³And they smote the remnant of the Amalekites that escaped, and dwelt there, unto this day.

43. the remnant of the Amalekites] i.e. the descendants of those who had escaped the attacks of Saul and David (1 Samuel xiv. 48, xv. 3 ff.). They had apparently found refuge in some part of the Edomite territory, for mount Seir is a synonym for the land of Edom.

Chapter V.

1‒10.
The Genealogy of Reuben.

¹And the sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel, (for he was the firstborn; but, forasmuch as he defiled his father’s couch, his birthright was given unto the sons of Joseph the son of Israel; and the genealogy is not to be reckoned after the birthright.

1. he defiled] Genesis xxxv. 22, xlix. 4.

his birthright was given unto the sons of Joseph] Compare Genesis xlviii. 5, “Ephraim and Manasseh, even as Reuben and Simeon, shall be mine,” words of Jacob which might be interpreted to mean that the rights of the firstborn were to pass from Reuben and Simeon to Ephraim and Manasseh, the sons of Joseph.

the genealogy is not to be reckoned after the birthright] i.e. though the birthright of Reuben has been given to Joseph, yet the genealogy of Joseph is not to be given before that of Reuben. Verse 2 intimates that, though Joseph possessed the birthright, Judah had a primacy as supplying the royal family. In this confusion of claims the natural order is followed and the genealogy of Reuben is given first.

²For Judah prevailed above his brethren, and of him came the prince¹; but the birthright was Joseph’s:)

¹ Or, leader.

2. Judah prevailed above his brethren] Compare Genesis xlix. 8 (Jacob to Judah) “Thy father’s children shall bow down before thee.”

the prince] The Hebrew word is nāgīd. The immediate reference is to David (Saul being virtually ignored by the Chronicler).

³the sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel; Hanoch, and Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi.

3. the sons of Reuben] The same four names (with one unimportant variation in spelling in Authorized Version) appear Genesis xlvi. 9; Exodus vi. 14.

Hanoch] the correct spelling of the familiar name Enoch; compare i. 3.

Hezron, and Carmi] also given as sons of Judah: for Hezron, compare ii. 5 (note); for Carmi ii. 7, iv. 1.

⁴The sons of Joel; Shemaiah his son, Gog his son, Shimei his son; ⁵Micah his son, Reaiah his son, Baal his son;

4. sons of Joel] the connection, if any, with the preceding verse is not known.

⁶Beerah his son, whom Tilgath-pilneser² king of Assyria carried away captive: he was prince of the Reubenites. ⁷And his brethren by their families, when the genealogy of their generations was reckoned; the chief, Jeiel, and Zechariah,

² In 2 Kings xv. 29, xvi. 7, Tiglath-pileser.

6. Beerah ... captive] The deportation of Beerah is recorded only here, but there is no reason why the tradition should not be historical. The information is of very slight importance in itself, but since there is absolutely no motive to make the Chronicler invent the statement, this is precisely the kind of notice which implies that he had some sources oral or traditional at his command outside the canonical material (see Introduction. § 5).

Tilgath-pilneser] called Tiglath-pileser (2 Kings xv. 29), and no doubt identical with Pul (see below, verse 26).

⁸and Bela the son of Azaz, the son of Shema, the son of Joel, who dwelt in Aroer, even unto Nebo and Baal-meon: ⁹and eastward he dwelt even unto the entering in of the wilderness from the river Euphrates: because their cattle were multiplied in the land of Gilead.

8. Aroer] now ‘Ar‘āir, a heap of ruins near the wādy Mojib, i.e. the Arnon (Joshua xii. 2). According to Joshua xiii. 9‒16 it passed from Sihon king of the Amorites into the hands of the Reubenites. See Bädeker, Palestine⁵, p. 153.

Nebo and Baal-meon] A line drawn due north from Aroer (see last note) passes close first to Ma‘in (which may be Baal-meon) and then to Jebel Nebā, which evidently preserves the name of Mount Nebo.

Baal-meon] called more correctly Beth-baal-meon Joshua xiii. 17.

¹⁰And in the days of Saul they made war with the Hagrites, who fell by their hand: and they dwelt in their tents throughout all the land east of Gilead.

10. in the days of Saul] Saul’s victory over the Ammonites (1 Samuel xi.) may have paved the way for the expansion of Israel east of Jordan, but see also the note on verse 19.

the Hagrites] compare Psalms lxxxiii. 6 (Revised Version margin). They were an Arab people. See further the note on verse 19.

the land east of Gilead] i.e. the land between Gilead and the Euphrates (compare verse 9). On Gilead, see note, ii. 22.

11‒17.
The Genealogy and Settlements of Gad.

¹¹And the sons of Gad dwelt over against them, in the land of Bashan unto Salecah:

11. Bashan] the wide district extending from the Jabbok on the south to Hermon in the north and from the Sea of Galilee on the west to the mountains of Hauran on the east (compare verse 23). Remark that in Numbers xxxii. 33; Deuteronomy iii. 12; Joshua xiii. 25, Gad is located in Gilead (south of Bashan) where the Chronicler has placed Reuben.

Salecah] is probably represented at the present day by the ruins of Salkhad due south of the Jebel Hauran and almost due east of Boṣra.

¹²Joel the chief, and Shapham the second, and Janai, and Shaphat in Bashan: ¹³and their brethren of their fathers’ houses; Michael, and Meshullam, and Sheba, and Jorai, and Jacan, and Zia, and Eber, seven. ¹⁴These were the sons of Abihail the son of Huri, the son of Jaroah, the son of Gilead, the son of Michael, the son of Jeshishai, the son of Jahdo, the son of Buz; ¹⁵Ahi the son of Abdiel, the son of Guni, chief of their fathers’ houses.

12. and Janai, and Shaphat] LXX. “Janin the scribe”; Targum, “Janai the judge.”

of their fathers’ houses] This rather awkward phrase means clans or patriarchal families (πατριαί). Sometimes it is used to denote the whole tribe, compare Numbers xvii. 17.

¹⁶And they dwelt in Gilead in Bashan, and in her towns¹, and in all the suburbs² of Sharon, as far as their borders³.

¹ Hebrew daughters.

² Or, pasture lands

³ Hebrew goings forth.

16. in Gilead in Bashan] a contradictory phrase, since Gilead means the southern and Bashan the northern part of Israel’s trans-Jordanic territory. Perhaps in Bashan is here an addition made by the Chronicler or a later hand to harmonise in Gilead (the territory usually assigned to Gad—see note on verse 11 above) with verses 11 and 23. The emendation “in Gilead in Jabesh” has been suggested.

Sharon] some place, unidentified, to the east of Jordan. LXX. (B) has Sirion. (The well-known Sharon lay in the maritime plain between Joppa and Caesarea.)

¹⁷All these were reckoned by genealogies in the days of Jotham king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam king of Israel.

17. reckoned by genealogies ... and in the days of Jeroboam] “Reckoning by genealogy” is a phrase used only in the writings of the Chronicler (Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah), but the practice probably resembled what is called in other books “numbering the people”: see the example in Nehemiah vii. 5‒65. The object however was different and corresponded with the circumstances of the returned exiles, who found themselves in the midst of a Gentile population in Judea. The people were “reckoned by genealogy” not so much to take a census of them, as to inquire into the purity of their Israelite descent. The ancient term “numbering” would be a more suitable description of a transaction belonging to the days of Jotham. For Jotham see 2 Chronicles xxvii. and for Jeroboam 2 Kings xiv. 23‒29. The last years of the reign of Jeroboam II probably synchronized with part of the reign of Jotham.

18‒22.
The War of the Trans-Jordanic Tribes against Arabian Tribes.

¹⁸The sons of Reuben, and the Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasseh, of valiant men, men able to bear buckler and sword, and to shoot with bow, and skilful in war, were forty and four thousand seven hundred and threescore, that were able to go forth to war.

18. skilful in war] compare xii. 8, 21.

forty and four thousand] According to Joshua iv. 13 “about forty thousand” from these tribes crossed the Jordan with Joshua.

¹⁹And they made war with the Hagrites, with Jetur, and Naphish, and Nodab.

19. made war with the Hagrites...] Possibly this war described in verses 18‒22 is only a midrashic variation of the war briefly noted in verse 10; possibly we have traditions of separate conflicts. That fighting against Arabian tribes took place in the time of Saul (verse 10) is quite probable, and perhaps there is here a definite recollection of the fact. Yet conflicts on the eastern borders were no doubt frequent, and the ancient fights may have been overlaid with the memories and details of more recent struggles, and especially the names assigned may be those of later foes. Though the Hagrites are mentioned in inscriptions of Sennacherib, they seem to have grown more prominent and powerful in later days (compare Psalms lxxxiii. 7), and their name in the Chronicler’s time may have been somewhat loosely and generally applied to the Arabian tribes near Palestine.

Jetur, and Naphish, and Nodab] Other Bedouin tribes, Jetur, Naphish, Kedemah are given as sons of Ishmael in i. 31.

²⁰And they were helped against them, and the Hagrites were delivered into their hand, and all that were with them: for they cried to God in the battle, and he was intreated of them; because they put their trust in him. ²¹And they took away their cattle; of their camels fifty thousand, and of sheep two hundred and fifty thousand, and of asses two thousand, and of men¹ an hundred thousand.

¹ Hebrew souls of men.

20. they were helped] with Divine assistance; compare xv. 26.

²²For there fell many slain, because the war was of God. And they dwelt in their stead until the captivity.

22. was of God] i.e. was prompted by God; compare 1 Samuel xv. 2, 3.

23, 24.
The Half Tribe of Manasseh.

²³And the children of the half tribe of Manasseh dwelt in the land: they increased from Bashan unto Baal-hermon and Senir and mount Hermon. ²⁴And these were the heads of their fathers’ houses; even Epher, and Ishi, and Eliel, and Azriel, and Jeremiah, and Hodaviah, and Jahdiel, mighty men of valour, famous men, heads of their fathers’ houses.

23. For the genealogy of Manasseh, see vii. 14 ff.

Baal-hermon] In Judges iii. 3 a mount Baal-hermon is mentioned. Here probably a city is meant, possibly Banias, on the eastern slope of Hermon.

Senir] an Amorite name for Mt Hermon or a peak of the range (Deuteronomy iii. 9).

25, 26.
The Captivity of the Trans-Jordanic Tribes.

²⁵And they trespassed against the God of their fathers, and went a whoring after the gods of the peoples of the land, whom God destroyed before them.

25. they trespassed] The Hebrew verb has a special reference to unlawful or idolatrous worship and also to the violation of a consecrated thing; compare Joshua xxii. 16, 20, 31.

²⁶And the God of Israel stirred up the spirit of Pul king of Assyria, and the spirit of Tilgath-pilneser king of Assyria, and he carried them away, even the Reubenites, and the Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasseh, and brought them unto Halah, and Habor, and Hara, and to the river of Gozan, unto this day.

26. stirred up the spirit] Compare 2 Chronicles xxi. 16, where see note; xxxvi. 22.

Pul ... and ... Tilgath-pilneser] Both here and in 2 Kings xv. 19, 29 (Pul ... Tiglath-pileser) the two names are used as though two different persons were meant, but there is no doubt that Pul is the earlier and Tiglath-pileser the royal name of the same king; compare verse 6.

unto Halah, etc.] In 2 Kings xv. 29 it is said only, to Assyria; in 2 Kings xvii. 6 it is said that the Western tribes (“Samaria”) were carried away and placed in Halah and in Habor by the river of Gozan and in the cities of the Medes.

Halah] probably a district of Mesopotamia, but it has not yet been convincingly identified.

Habor] a river flowing into the Euphrates from the east, known to the Greeks as Χαβώρας or Ἀβόρρας.

and Hara] No place of this name is known and the word is omitted in LXX. The reading may be corrupt for and in the cities of the Medes (2 Kings xvii. 6, compare LXX.; xviii. 11).

the river of Gozan] Gozan was a district of Mesopotamia.

Chapter VI.

1‒81 (= v. 27‒vi. 66 according to the Hebrew division).
Genealogies and Settlements of Levi.

1‒15.
The Sons of Levi, and the High-Priests to the Captivity.

The identity of interests and standpoint between the Chronicler and the Levitical order has been noted in the Introduction § 6 ad fin. It follows that the contents of the present chapter were to him of primary importance, and doubtless these lists represent not his own view only but the developed and accepted opinion of the Levitical and priestly classes as a whole, who believed that their institution, duties, and privileges generally were of Mosaic origin, whilst to David they ascribed the particular arrangements in connection with the Temple and especially the development of the choral services. The attempt to express their faith in concrete genealogical form was inevitable and indeed commendable. But the actual facts regarding the growth of the Levitical system (see the Additional Note at the end of this chapter, pp. 51 f.) were so very different from this theory that the artificiality of the lists is apparent to modern analysis, despite the zeal and ingenuity with which they have been compiled. Some points which indicate the unhistorical nature of the genealogies, together with questions raised by the internal structure of the chapter, will be indicated in the head-notes to the several sections. It must not be thought that such inconsistencies were equally (if at all) present to the mind of the Chronicler. For him the actual existence of the pedigree uniting the priests and Levites of his day with Aaron and finally with Levi was an axiom of thought; the one problem was to trace it out: and he was not restrained in his search by the spirit of scientific caution which is second nature to us. Thus in the ancestry of the singers (verses 34‒47), where the lack of information to supply the necessary links in the genealogy was acutely felt, Curtis (p. 135) points out that current genealogical matter seems to have been naïvely pressed into this particular service on the ground of the identity of even a single name! Great allowance must be made for the Chronicler and his contemporaries. Even if part of the lists was consciously fabricated, that proves no more than that he was a man of his age and under the dominance of a theory. As Torrey remarks (Ezra Studies, p. 65), “he was not writing history for us but for the good of his people.” There is no case for a charge of religious insincerity. Rather the opposite is true, and his failings as a historian constantly reveal the measure of his faith as a religious man. He was so profoundly sure of the truth of the doctrine that its presuppositions, if not discoverable in historical records, might (he felt) legitimately be conjectured. For further information showing how natural and how free was the manipulation of genealogies in ancient times reference may be made to the Encyclopedia Britannica¹¹, s.v. Genealogy, or to MᶜLennan, Studies in Ancient History (2nd series, 1896), chapter ix.

1‒15. In the finished system of the Jewish hierarchy, the Levitical order is found to be in three main divisions, “families,” who in the prevailing fashion, believed themselves to be descended from the sons of Levi; Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. In verses 1‒3 this view is expressed, and the connection is traced from Levi to Aaron, the first of the traditional line of high-priests, which in verses 4‒15 is given through Zadok down to the time of the Captivity. (1) The intention of the list in verses 4‒15 is clear. It is given to declare the legitimacy of Jehozadak the high-priest who went into exile at the fall of Jerusalem and was accounted the father of Jeshua the high-priest of the Return (see Ezra iii. 2, etc.; Nehemiah xii. 26; Haggai i. 1; Zechariah vi. 11). Thus upon Jehozadak’s legitimacy depended the legitimacy of the post-exilic priesthood of Jerusalem. (2) The mechanical nature of the list is very evident when it is considered chronologically. Allowing the standard 40 years for each of the twenty-three priests in the list we get 40 × 12 + 40 × 11 = 920 years. This is in agreement with the unhistorical but beautifully regular chronology of the Priestly conception of the history, which allowed 480 years from the Exodus (Aaron) to Solomon’s Temple, and again 480 years to the foundation of the second Temple (Jeshua)—the Captivity (Jehozadak) being reckoned as taking place in the eleventh generation of the second period. (3) The list presents some noteworthy features. The line of high-priests from Eli to Abiathar is ignored, but this is natural, since the ascendancy of the Zadokite line was ascribed to the Divine anger against the house of Eli (1 Samuel iii. 12‒14; 1 Kings ii. 27). It is curious, however, that this list of the high-priests omits Jehoiada (mentioned in 2 Kings xi. 9; 2 Chronicles xxii. 11) and Urijah (2 Kings xvi. 11 ff.) and an Azariah in the reign of Uzziah (2 Chronicles xxvi. 20) who should come between Amariah of Jehoshaphat’s reign and Hilkiah in the time of Josiah. (4) Finally note that the list of high-priests as far as the reign of David is repeated in verses 50‒53. It is a very difficult problem to determine the relation between the two lists (see the head-note to verse 50).

¹The sons of Levi; Gershon¹, Kohath, and Merari.

¹ In verse 16, Gershom.

1. The sons of Levi] So Genesis xlvi. 11; Exodus vi. 16; Numbers iii. 17, xxvi. 57—all from P.

²And the sons of Kohath; Amram, Izhar, and Hebron, and Uzziel.

2. the sons of Kohath] So Exodus vi. 18; Numbers iii. 19.

³And the children of Amram; Aaron, and Moses, and Miriam. And the sons of Aaron; Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar.

3. Aaron, and Moses] The same order in Exodus vi. 20. Aaron was the elder (Exodus vii. 7).

And the sons of Aaron] So Exodus vi. 23. Nadab and Abihu perished childless; Leviticus x. 1 ff.

⁴Eleazar begat Phinehas, Phinehas begat Abishua; ⁵and Abishua begat Bukki, and Bukki begat Uzzi; ⁶and Uzzi begat Zerahiah, and Zerahiah begat Meraioth; ⁷Meraioth begat Amariah, and Amariah begat Ahitub;

4. Phinehas] Numbers xxv. 7 ff., xxxi. 6; Joshua xxii. 13 ff.

⁸and Ahitub begat Zadok, and Zadok begat Ahimaaz;

8. Ahitub begat Zadok] So also xviii. 16, but wrongly. The assertion that Ahitub was father of Zadok was derived by the Chronicler from 2 Samuel viii. 17, but the text of that passage has undoubtedly been altered (see Commentaries ad loc.) and it read originally “and Zadok, and Abiathar the son of Ahimelech the son of Ahitub.” Actually there were two leading priestly families in David’s day represented respectively by Zadok and Abiathar. Of these Solomon deposed Abiathar (thus fulfilling the curse which was laid on the house of Eli, from whom Abiathar was descended—see 1 Kings ii. 27), and thereafter the line of Zadok became the sole representatives of the supreme priestly office. See also the note on xv. 11.

Ahimaaz] 2 Samuel xv. 27, xvii. 17‒21, xviii. 19 ff.

⁹and Ahimaaz begat Azariah, and Azariah begat Johanan; ¹⁰and Johanan begat Azariah, (he it is that executed the priest’s office in the house that Solomon built in Jerusalem:)

9. Azariah] This Azariah rather than the Azariah of verse 10 would have been contemporary with Solomon, and therefore the notice attached to the name Azariah in verse 10 (he it is that executed the priest’s office in the house that Solomon built in Jerusalem) belongs to verse 9. Compare 1 Kings iv. 2.

¹¹and Azariah begat Amariah, and Amariah begat Ahitub; ¹²and Ahitub begat Zadok, and Zadok begat Shallum¹;

¹ In chapter ix. 11, Meshullam.

11. Amariah] apparently the contemporary of Jehoshaphat mentioned in 2 Chronicles xix. 11.

¹³and Shallum begat Hilkiah, and Hilkiah begat Azariah;

13. Hilkiah] The high-priest in Josiah’s reign; 2 Kings xxii. 8; 2 Chronicles xxxiv. 14.

¹⁴and Azariah begat Seraiah, and Seraiah begat Jehozadak; ¹⁵and Jehozadak went into captivity, when the Lord carried away Judah and Jerusalem by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar.

14. Seraiah] slain soon after the capture of Jerusalem in 586 B.C.; 2 Kings xxv. 18‒21; Jeremiah lii. 24‒27.

Jehozadak] Jozadak in Ezra iii. 2, v. 2. His son Jeshua was the first high-priest after the exile; Haggai i. 1, etc.

16‒30 (= vi. 1‒15 according to the Hebrew division).
The three Sons of Levi and their clans.

16‒19.
The Sons of Levi.

¹⁶The sons of Levi; Gershom¹, Kohath, and Merari.

¹ In verse 1, Gershon.

16. Gershom] elsewhere Gershon. Gershom was the name of Moses’ son; Exodus ii. 22.

¹⁷And these be the names of the sons of Gershom; Libni and Shimei.

17. Libni and Shimei] Exodus vi. 17; Libni is called Ladan in xxiii. 7, xxvi. 21, and is to be connected with the Judean town Libnah.

¹⁸And the sons of Kohath were Amram, and Izhar, and Hebron, and Uzziel.

18. Amram] through whom the line of high-priests is traced above, verse 2 ff.

¹⁹The sons of Merari; Mahli and Mushi. And these are the families of the Levites according to their fathers’ houses.

19. Mahli and Mushi] xxiii. 21, xxiv. 26; Exodus vi. 19. Mushi is probably a derivative of Moses. For discussion of this point and of other evidence (compare verses 16, 17) indicating a relationship between the Levites and clans from south Judah, see Encyclopedia Britannica¹¹, s.v. Levites, vol. xvi. p. 513.

20, 21.
A Pedigree from Gershom.

²⁰Of Gershom; Libni his son, Jahath his son, Zimmah his son; ²¹Joah¹ his son, Iddo² his son, Zerah his son, Jeatherai³ his son.

¹ In verse 42, Ethan.

² In verse 41, Adaiah.

³ In verse 41, Ethni.

20, 21. See notes on verses 39‒43.

22‒28.
The Sons of Kohath to Samuel.

22‒28. See notes on verses 33‒38.

²²The sons of Kohath; Amminadab¹ his son, Korah his son, Assir his son;

¹ In verse 2, 18, 38, Izhar.

22. Amminadab] In Exodus vi. 23, the father-in-law of Aaron. Perhaps an error here for Izhar (LXX.ᴬ), through whom the line is traced in verse 38, as in Numbers xvi. 1.

²³Elkanah his son, and Ebiasaph his son, and Assir his son;

23. Assir his son; Elkanah] perhaps redundant here, or omitted in verse 37, where Ebiasaph is the son of Korah.

²⁴Tahath his son, Uriel¹ his son, Uzziah his son, and Shaul his son. ²⁵And the sons of Elkanah; Amasai, and Ahimoth.

¹ In verse 36, Zephaniah, Azariah, Joel.

24. Shaul] apparently corresponds with Joel, verse 36. The difference in Hebrew is slight, and might easily arise in transcription. Shaul is to be taken as father of Elkanah (compare verse 36), although the connection is strangely omitted.

²⁶As for Elkanah: the sons of Elkanah; Zophai¹ his son, and Nahath² his son;

¹ In verse 35, Zuph.

² In verse 34, Toah.

26. As for Elkanah: the sons of Elkanah; Zophai his son] Read simply, following LXX., Elkanah his son; Zophai his son.

Zophai] From Zophai to Samuel’s sons the list can be compared not only with verses 33‒35 but with 1 Samuel i. 1 and with viii. 2. Such differences as appear in corresponding names are doubtless due to transcriptional errors.

²⁷Eliab¹ his son, Jeroham his son, Elkanah his son.

¹ In verse 34, Eliel.

27. Elkanah his son] add probably, Samuel his son.

²⁸And the sons of Samuel; the firstborn Joel¹, and the second Abijah.

¹ So the Syriac. See verse 33, and 1 Samuel viii. 2. The Hebrew text has, Vashni, and Abiah.

28. the firstborn Joel, and the second Abijah] See the marginal note above. In the Hebrew text the name Joel has been accidentally omitted, and Vashni is merely a corruption of the Hebrew for and the second: an interesting example of error in textual transmission.

29, 30.
Sons of Merari.

²⁹The sons of Merari; Mahli, Libni his son, Shimei his son, Uzzah his son; ³⁰Shimea his son, Haggiah his son, Asaiah his son.

29, 30. See notes on verses 44‒47.

29. Libni and Shimei are given above (verse 17) as sons of Gershom.

31‒47 (= 16‒32 in the Hebrew division).
The Singers appointed by David, and their ancestry.

31‒47. The three singers, Heman, Asaph, and Ethan (= Jeduthun elsewhere except xv. 17 ff.) were the reputed founders of the three choral guilds of the post-exilic period. That these guilds were very gradually formed and in the form known to the Chronicler were a late post-exilic development is certain, but the precise stages of their growth are obscure, see Hastings’ Dictionary of the Bible IV. 36 end‒37. Possibly the singers for a considerable time were not necessarily Levites, but eventually they all claimed Levitical origin, and the pedigrees here given are the supposed justification of the claim. As the elaborated system of the Temple service (xxiii. ff.) was thought to have been instituted by David, the genealogies of the three singers are so arranged as to make them contemporaries of David. Comparing these verses with verses 4‒15, it is evident that the genealogy from Korah has been used for constructing the pedigree of Heman (33‒38), that of Gershom (20‒22) for Asaph (39‒43), and to a less extent that of Merari (29, 30) for Ethan (44‒47). But in the line of Gershom and in that of Merari further names were required, five in the former and eight in the latter case, in order to make the genealogies sufficiently long to reach down to the time of David and thus make Asaph and Ethan his contemporaries. When these further names are examined they are found to be of a definitely post-exilic character; and it is evident that the Chronicler or whoever constructed the pedigrees utilised recent genealogies of the singers, which for some reason seemed to him suitable. The identity of a single name in the two lists was apparently deemed sufficient cause for making the connection (see note on verses 44‒47).

³¹And these are they whom David set over the service of song in the house of the Lord, after that the ark had rest.

31. the ark had rest] i.e. was brought into the city of David for a permanent resting-place, compare Psalms cxxxii. 8, 14.

³²And they ministered with song before the tabernacle of the tent of meeting, until Solomon had built the house of the Lord in Jerusalem: and they waited¹ on their office according to their order.

¹ Hebrew stood.

32. they waited ... order] a phrase characteristic of the Chronicler. For waited render rather, as margin, stood (compare Psalms cxxxv. 2): i.e. Heman the leader stood in the central position, Asaph on his right hand (verse 39) and Ethan on his left (verse 44).

33‒38.
The descent of Heman, David’s singer, through Kohath from Levi.

³³And these are they that waited¹, and their sons. Of the sons of the Kohathites: Heman the singer, the son of Joel, the son of Samuel; ³⁴the son of Elkanah, the son of Jeroham, the son of Eliel, the son of Toah²; ³⁵the son of Zuph³, the son of Elkanah, the son of Mahath, the son of Amasai; ³⁶the son of Elkanah, the son of Joel⁴, the son of Azariah, the son of Zephaniah;

¹ Hebrew stood.

² In verse 26, Nahath.

³ In verse 26, Zophai.

⁴ In verse 24, Shaul, Uzziah, Uriel.

33. Heman] the guild of Heman, as the present pedigree indicates, is reckoned (with what measure of historical ground is uncertain) to be of Levitical descent and of the Kohathite family: see also Korah below, verse 37.

³⁷the son of Tahath, the son of Assir, the son of Ebiasaph, the son of Korah;

37. Korah] the sons of Korah figure in the titles of various Psalms (e.g. Psalms 44‒49, 84, 85) and probably represent an earlier stage in the development of choral worship of the Temple. With this Korahite guild the guild of Heman evidently was associated, though whether by a process of development or of amalgamation it is impossible to say. It is noteworthy that other references to Korah (compare Genesis xxxvi. 5; 1 Chronicles ii. 43) indicate that the clan was originally of Edomite (Calebite) blood.

³⁸the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, the son of Israel.

38. Izhar] see note on Amminadab, verse 22.

39‒43.
The descent of Asaph, David’s singer, through Gershom from Levi.

³⁹And his brother Asaph, who stood on his right hand, even Asaph the son of Berechiah, the son of Shimea; ⁴⁰the son of Michael, the son of Baaseiah, the son of Malchijah;

39, 40. Berechiah ... Shimea ... Michael ... Baaseiah ... Malchijah] these are the five additional names inserted to lengthen the pedigree and so make Asaph contemporary with David (see head-note above).

40. Baaseiah] Read, as LXX., Maaseiah.

⁴¹the son of Ethni, the son of Zerah, the son of Adaiah; ⁴²the son of Ethan, the son of Zimmah, the son of Shimei; ⁴³the son of Jahath, the son of Gershom, the son of Levi.

41. Ethni] = Jeatherai, verse 21. Here, and in the following names, the divergences from the corresponding names in verses 20, 21 are not nearly so great in Hebrew and can be easily accounted for. The correspondence fails in the case of the son and father of Jahath (compare verse 20 with 43). This however may be due simply to the omission of the names in question, Shimei in 20, Libni in 43; and other explanations could be given.

44‒47.
The descent of Ethan, David’s singer, through Merari from Levi.

⁴⁴And on the left hand their brethren the sons of Merari: Ethan¹ the son of Kishi², the son of Abdi, the son of Malluch; ⁴⁵the son of Hashabiah, the son of Amaziah, the son of Hilkiah; ⁴⁶the son of Amzi, the son of Bani, the son of Shemer;

¹ In chapter ix. 16, Jeduthun.

² In chapter xv. 17, Kushaiah.

44‒47. Only the first three names of the table of Merari in verse 29 are used by the compiler of Ethan’s pedigree. In place of the last four names he utilised a late list of nine names, the point of connection being found in the first, Shemer (verse 46), which was identified with the Shimei of verse 29.

Ethan] = Jeduthun: see note on xvi. 41.

⁴⁷the son of Mahli, the son of Mushi, the son of Merari, the son of Levi.

47. Mahli, the son of Mushi] According to xxiii. 23, xxiv. 30, Mushi had a son Mahli, named after Mahli, his brother (verse 19); and the natural conclusion is that the names in these verses (44‒47) are the line of descent from Merari through Mushi, as those in verses 29, 30 are through Mahli. Against this simple explanation is the late character of several names from Kishi to Bani (44‒46), and therefore the more complex statement made in the previous note may be correct.

48, 49 (= 33, 34 according to the Hebrew division).
The distinction between Levites and Aaronites.

⁴⁸And their brethren the Levites were appointed¹ for all the service of the tabernacle of the house of God.

¹ Hebrew given. See Numbers iii. 9.

48. their brethren the Levites] i.e. other Levites, who were neither singers nor priests.

appointed] Hebrew, as margin, given, in allusion to Numbers iii. 9, xviii. 6.

⁴⁹But Aaron and his sons offered¹ upon the altar of burnt offering, and upon the altar of incense, for all the work of the most holy place, and to make atonement for Israel, according to all that Moses the servant of God had commanded.

¹ Or, burnt incense.

49. Aaron and his sons] i.e. the priests as opposed to the Levites, in accordance with the distinction characteristic of the later legislation. See the Additional Note, pp. 51, 52.

the altar of burnt offering] Exodus xxvii. 1‒8.

the altar of incense] Exodus xxx. 1‒10.

to make atonement] compare Leviticus iv. 31, xvi.; 2 Chronicles xxix. 24.

50‒53 (= 35‒38 according to the Hebrew division).
The Line of Aaron to Ahimaaz.

⁵⁰And these are the sons of Aaron; Eleazar his son, Phinehas his son, Abishua his son; ⁵¹Bukki his son, Uzzi his son, Zerahiah his son; ⁵²Meraioth his son, Amariah his son, Ahitub his son; ⁵³Zadok his son, Ahimaaz his son.

This is a fragment, slightly changed in wording, of the genealogy given in verses 4‒14. It goes as far as the reign of David. Some writers maintain that verses 4‒14 are an interpolation in the text of Chronicles, and that the present passage is the primary list of high-priests. But the arguments in favour of that view seem to the present writer outweighed by the two considerations adduced by Curtis, Chronicles, p. 127: (1) “that a list of high-priests thus inserted between verse 49 (the duties of all the sons of Aaron) and verses 54 ff. (the cities of all the Aaronidae), seems out of place,” as it breaks the thread of the Chronicler’s arrangement of the material; and (2) that its insertion might well be due to a scribe who “expected a list of the sons of Aaron after the verse describing their duties—just as the list of Levites precedes the verse detailing their duties.”

54‒81 (= 39‒66 according to the Hebrew division).
The forty-eight Levitic cities.

This section has been adopted with some rearrangement from the parallel passage in Joshua. In Joshua the number of cities taken from each group of tribes and given to its respective division of the Levites is first stated, no city being named; and next the names of the cities are given under each division of the Levites and under the name of the tribe from which the cities were taken. In Chronicles the cities given to the Aaronites are first mentioned by name and reckoned to be thirteen in number (verses 55‒60); next the cities given to each remaining division of the Levites are reckoned shortly by number only (verses 61‒63); lastly, these cities are separately reckoned at length by name only (verses 66‒81). This rearrangement is not happy; perhaps the Chronicler originally intended to give the Aaronite cities only by name as well as number, and so verses 66‒81 (containing the names of the non-Aaronite cities) may be a supplement to the original text. Notice that no names of cities taken from Simeon are given; but this apparently arises through the Chronicler’s rearrangement of the parallel passage in Joshua; for verse 65, which here follows the list of Aaronite cities, mentions Simeon, and in the original context (Joshua xxi. 9) it precedes the list.

(Critical Note on 54‒81.)

The text of the passage has suffered in transcription. In verses 55‒60 eleven names are given, but thirteen are reckoned (verse 60), the explanation being that the names Juttah and Gibeon (Joshua xxi. 16, 17) have fallen out. In verse 61, after or before Manasseh, the names of Ephraim and Dan have fallen out (compare verse 66 and Joshua xxi. 5); Manasseh contributed only two out of the ten cities. Before verse 69 we must restore from Joshua xxi. 23 the words, And out of the tribe of Dan, Eltekeh with her suburbs, Gibbethon with her suburbs. In verse 77 or immediately before verse 78 two names of cities of Zebulun have fallen out; compare verse 63 (“twelve cities”) with verses 77‒81 (ten cities only are named).

54‒60 (= Joshua xxi. 10‒19).
The [thirteen] cities of the Aaronites.

⁵⁴Now these are their dwelling places according to their encampments in their borders: to the sons of Aaron, of the families of the Kohathites, for theirs was the first lot,

54. Now these ... borders] the words are supplied by the Chronicler. Owing to his rearrangement of the material, the original introduction (i.e. Joshua xxi. 9) appears in this chapter as verse 65 (where see note).

encampments] Properly, the circular encampments of a nomadic tribe; here used more freely = habitations.

⁵⁵to them they gave Hebron in the land of Judah, and the suburbs thereof round about it;

55. suburbs] compare xiii. 2, note.

⁵⁶but the fields of the city, and the villages thereof, they gave to Caleb the son of Jephunneh.

56. to Caleb] Joshua xxi. 12; Judges i. 20.

⁵⁷And to the sons of Aaron they gave the cities of refuge, Hebron; Libnah also with her suburbs, and Jattir, and Eshtemoa with her suburbs;

57. the cities of refuge, Hebron] Read, the city of refuge, Hebron (compare Joshua xxi. 13), Hebron being the only city of refuge here mentioned (Joshua xx. 7).

Libnah] in the south-west of Judah, Joshua x. 29; 2 Kings viii. 22, xix. 8.

Eshtemoa] the modern es-Semu‘a, south of Hebron. Compare iv. 17.

⁵⁸and Hilen¹ with her suburbs, Debir with her suburbs;

¹ In Joshua xxi. 15, Holon.

58. Hilen] In Joshua xxi. 15, Holon.

Debir] identified with modern Dāharījeh, south-west of Hebron. It is called Kiriath-sepher (Judges i. 11) and Kiriath-sannah (Joshua xv. 49).

⁵⁹and Ashan¹ with her suburbs, and Beth-shemesh with her suburbs:

¹ In Joshua xxi. 16, Ain.

59. Ashan with her suburbs] Joshua xxi. 16 has Ain for Ashan, and adds, and Juttah with her suburbs. Compare the Critical Note above.

Beth-shemesh] Joshua xv. 10; 1 Samuel vi. 9; 2 Kings xiv. 11, 13 (= 2 Chronicles xxv. 21, 23). A town in the north-west of Judah, now ‘Ain Shems, situated at the point at which the hill-country of Judah begins, as one goes by the railway from Jaffa to Jerusalem (Bädeker, Palestine⁵, p. 14).

⁶⁰and out of the tribe of Benjamin; Geba with her suburbs, and Allemeth³ with her suburbs, and Anathoth with her suburbs. All their cities throughout their families were thirteen cities.

³ In Joshua xxi. 18, Almon.

60. of Benjamin; Geba] In Joshua xxi. 17 Gibeon and her suburbs is inserted before Geba. Compare the Critical Note above. Geba was situated by the pass of Michmash, some six miles from Jerusalem; compare 1 Samuel vi. 9 ff.

Allemeth] In Joshua xxi. 18, Almon.

thirteen cities] Compare the Critical Note above.

61‒65 (compare Joshua xxi. 26, 33, 40).
Distribution of thirty-five other cities to the rest of the Levites.

⁶¹And unto the rest of the sons of Kohath were given by lot, out of the family of the tribe, out of the half tribe, the half of Manasseh, ten cities.

61. the rest of the sons of Kohath] i.e. the Kohathites who were not sons of Aaron (verse 54).

out of the family ... Manasseh] read out of the families of the tribe of Ephraim and out of the tribe of Dan and out of the half tribe of Manasseh. See the Critical Note on verses 54‒81.

⁶²And to the sons of Gershom, according to their families, out of the tribe of Issachar, and out of the tribe of Asher, and out of the tribe of Naphtali, and out of the tribe of Manasseh in Bashan, thirteen cities.

62. the tribe of Manasseh in Bashan] i.e. the half tribe of Manasseh beyond Jordan.

⁶³Unto the sons of Merari were given by lot, according to their families, out of the tribe of Reuben, and out of the tribe of Gad, and out of the tribe of Zebulun, twelve cities. ⁶⁴And the children of Israel gave to the Levites the cities with their suburbs.

63. twelve cities] The total number of Levitic cities (verse 60 thirteen, verse 61 ten, verse 62 thirteen, verse 63 twelve) was forty-eight (so Joshua xxi. 41), of which the Kohathites, as the largest division (compare xv. 5, note), received twenty-three or nearly half.

⁶⁵And they gave by lot out of the tribe of the children of Judah, and out of the tribe of the children of Simeon, and out of the tribe of the children of Benjamin, these cities which are mentioned by name.

65. by lot] as a means of gaining Divine sanction for the assignment of cities. This verse (= Joshua xxi. 9) is plainly unsuitable in its present context. In Joshua it is the introduction to the list of Aaronic cities (here verses 54‒60). The Chronicler, having rearranged the material of his source, nevertheless preferred to transcribe this verse, despite the lack of harmony with the context; or possibly, if verses 66‒81 are an addition to the original text of Chronicles (see the head-note on verses 54‒81), verse 65 may also be a later insertion intended to help as a connecting link between verses 64 and 66 ff.

66‒81.
Cities of the Levites.

66‒70 (= Joshua xxi. 20‒25).
The [ten] cities of the non-Aaronite Kohathites.

⁶⁶And some of the families of the sons of Kohath had cities of their borders out of the tribe of Ephraim.

66. of their borders] rather, as Joshua xxi. 20, of their lot (the difference in Hebrew is very slight).

⁶⁷And they gave unto them the cities of refuge, Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim with her suburbs; Gezer also with her suburbs;

67. the cities of refuge, Shechem] Read (a slight change in Hebrew) the city of refuge, Shechem. Compare verse 57, note.

Shechem] Genesis xii. 6, xxxiii. 18; Joshua xxiv. 1; Judges ix. 1; 1 Kings xii. 1. Shechem is the modern Nabulus, situated almost in the middle of Palestine.

Gezer] Joshua xvi. 3; Judges i. 29; 1 Kings ix. 16. It is the modern Tell Jezer about 18 miles north-west of Jerusalem. The site has recently been excavated with excellent results—see Macalister, The Excavation of Gezer, or Driver, Modern Research Illustrating the Bible (Schweich Lectures, 1908).

⁶⁸and¹ Jokmeam with her suburbs, and Beth-horon with her suburbs;

¹ See Joshua xxi. 22‒39, where some of the names are different.

68. Jokmeam] In Joshua xxi. 22, Kibzaim. The two words resemble one another more closely in Hebrew, and are to be taken as various readings of the same name. Nothing is known of a Kibzaim in Ephraim. A Jokmeam is mentioned 1 Kings iv. 12.

Beth-horon] Joshua x. 10, 11, xvi. 3, 5; 1 Maccabees iii. 24. There were two cities, a lower and an upper Beth-horon, the modern Beitur, “near the head and the foot respectively of the ascent from the Maritime Plain to the plateau of Benjamin.”

⁶⁹and Aijalon with her suburbs, and Gath-rimmon with her suburbs:

69. and Aijalon] Aijalon and Gath-rimmon were in Dan near the Jaffa road some 13 miles from Jerusalem; compare Joshua xxi. 23, 24. See also the Critical Note on verses 54‒81.

⁷⁰and out of the half tribe of Manasseh; Aner with her suburbs, and Bileam with her suburbs, for the rest of the family of the sons of Kohath.

70. the half tribe of Manasseh] the western half tribe; the eastern is mentioned verse 71.

Aner] Read probably Taanach, as in vii. 29; Joshua xxi. 25; Judges v. 19. Taanach was situated in the plain of Esdraelon, some four miles south of Megiddo.

Bileam] read Ibleam, compare Judges i. 27; 2 Kings ix. 27. In Joshua xxi. 25, Gath-rimmon, an error of dittography.

for the rest ... Kohath] a fragment of Joshua xxi. 26.

71‒76 (= Joshua xxi. 27‒32).
The thirteen cities of the sons of Gershom.

⁷¹Unto the sons of Gershom were given, out of the family of the half tribe of Manasseh, Golan in Bashan with her suburbs, and Ashtaroth with her suburbs:

71. Golan] a city of refuge, Joshua xxi. 27. The name of this city is still preserved in Jolan (Jaulan), the name of a district east of Jordan extending from Hermon to the Jarmuk.

Ashtaroth] mentioned with Edrei in Joshua ix. 10 as the capital of Og, king of Bashan. The name testifies to the worship of Ashtoreth.

⁷²and out of the tribe of Issachar; Kedesh with her suburbs, Daberath with her suburbs;

72. Kedesh] Read Kishion with Joshua xxi. 28 (so Joshua xix. 20).

Daberath] the modern Dabūriyeh at the foot of Mount Tabor.

⁷³and Ramoth with her suburbs, and Anem with her suburbs:

73. Ramoth] Jarmuth, Joshua xxi. 29; or perhaps Remeth, Joshua xix. 21.

Anem] Read En-gannim with Joshua xxi. 29. Probably the modern large village of Jenîn on the edge of the plain of Esdraelon.

⁷⁴and out of the tribe of Asher; Mashal with her suburbs, and Abdon with her suburbs;

74. Mashal] Mishal, Joshua xxi. 30 (compare Joshua xix. 26, Revised Version).

⁷⁵and Hukok with her suburbs, and Rehob with her suburbs:

75. Hukok] Read Helkath with Joshua xxi. 31 (compare Joshua xix. 25).

⁷⁶and out of the tribe of Naphtali; Kedesh in Galilee with her suburbs, and Hammon with her suburbs, and Kiriathaim with her suburbs.

76. Kedesh in Galilee] called Kedesh-naphtali in Judges iv. 6; it is the modern Kedes, situated on a lofty plateau overlooking the waters of Ḥūleh (Merom). It was a city of refuge, Joshua xxi. 32.

Hammon ... Kiriathaim] In Joshua xxi. 32, Hammoth-dor ... Kartan.

77‒81 (= Joshua xxi. 34‒39).
The [twelve] cities of the sons of Merari.

⁷⁷Unto the rest of the Levites, the sons of Merari, were given, out of the tribe of Zebulun, Rimmono with her suburbs, Tabor with her suburbs:

77. Rimmono ... Tabor] Read Rimmon or Rimmonah. Against these two names there are four in Joshua xxi. 34, 35; Jokneam, Kartah, Dimnah and Nahalal. As regards the number of the cities the text of Joshua is certainly right. See Critical Note on verses 54‒81.

Tabor] No city, but only a mountain named Tabor is known to us, as having certainly existed in Old Testament times. A city however named Tabor existed on the mountain as early as 218 B.C., and it may have been as old as the times of the Chronicler. Mount Tabor was in Issachar near the border of Zebulun. For Nahalal, the reading in Joshua, compare Joshua xix. 15; Judges i. 30. Compare Bädeker, Palestine⁵, p. 250.

⁷⁸and beyond the Jordan at Jericho, on the east side of Jordan, were given them, out of the tribe of Reuben, Bezer in the wilderness with her suburbs, and Jahzah with her suburbs, ⁷⁹and Kedemoth with her suburbs, and Mephaath with her suburbs:

78. at Jericho] The crossing-place of the Jordan nearest to Reuben was at Jericho. For the phrase Jordan at Jericho compare Joshua xvi. 1.

in the wilderness] further defined by the addition in the table-land (Deuteronomy iv. 43, Revised Version margin). Bezer was among the high pasture lands of Reuben. It was a city of refuge.

Jahzah] also called Jahaz. Compare Judges xi. 20; Isaiah xv. 4.

⁸⁰and out of the tribe of Gad; Ramoth in Gilead with her suburbs, and Mahanaim with her suburbs,

80. Ramoth in Gilead] a city of refuge, Joshua xxi. 38. See 1 Kings xxii. 3; 2 Kings ix. 1.

Mahanaim] Genesis xxxii. 2.

⁸¹and Heshbon with her suburbs, and Jazer with her suburbs.

81. Heshbon] Numbers xxi. 25, 26; Isaiah xv. 4.

Jazer] Numbers xxi. 32 (Revised Version); Isaiah xvi. 8.

Note on the Levites.

The priestly organisation known to the Chronicler represents the latest stage of a system, the development of which can to some extent be traced in the Old Testament records. (1) It appears from the earliest sources that the great “priestly” duty of sacrifice at one period did not require a priest for its due performance but might be, and was, undertaken by any responsible male. For example in Exodus xxiv. 5, an occasion of the deepest solemnity, sacrifices are spoken of as offered by “young men of the children of Israel.” In Exodus xxxiii. 7‒11 it is clear that the other great function of early religion, charge of the responses given by the Divine oracle, is regarded as being under the control of Moses. In fact it would seem that in the earlier period there were neither priests nor Levites as a religious order; at any rate, as an order exercising a monopoly in the religious functions which they afterwards claimed the sole right of discharging. (2) In course of time those who administered the oracle and offered sacrifices at the manifold shrines and high places of Palestine gained importance and were recognised as a distinct religious class, priests; and persons claiming descent from Levi were numerous or prominent among them. But the right of offering sacrifices was still by no means confined to these priests of the shrines. The priesthood of the various shrines was often hereditary, passing on from father to son; and, even apart from that fact, it was most natural that members of this religious order, or perhaps one should say “profession,” should be thought of as connected by blood-relationship. Eventually they were all reckoned descendants of Levi. (3) After the exile and the suppression of the local shrines of Judah, the pre-eminence of the priests or Levites of Jerusalem was definitely established, and (as Ezekiel had suggested) such priests of the local shrines as were satisfied to migrate to Jerusalem became subordinate to the original ministers of the Temple there. All were accounted sons of Levi; but only the original Jerusalem priests, who traced their descent through the Levitical family of Aaron, were entitled to rank as priests: the rest were Levites but not priests. Thus there arose a distinction in the ranks of the religious officials. (4) Finally, the functions and privileges of priests as distinct from Levites were carefully discriminated, and the tradition that their origin as a religious order was due to Moses became firmly established, whilst the complex system of their organisation, in particular the subdivisions of the Levites as singers and doorkeepers, was confidently ascribed to David. Chronicles consistently represents this latest stage of development. For a concise statement of the facts see MᶜNeile, Numbers, pp. xiv ff. in the present series; and for further discussion the appropriate articles in the Dictionaries; especially Cook in Encyclopedia Britannica¹¹, s.v. Levites.

Chapter VII.

1‒40.
Genealogies of Six Remaining Tribes.

The treatment of the several tribes in this chapter is very unequal. In the case of Issachar (1‒5), Zebulun (6‒12, see note verse 6), and Asher (30‒40), genealogies are given and the number of fighting-men of each tribe is stated. To Naphtali is devoted a single verse (13), giving only the names of his sons. For Manasseh and Ephraim (14‒29) genealogies are given and their possessions are shortly enumerated. The mention of Dan is obliterated, owing to the state of the text of verse 12.

1‒5.
The Genealogy of Issachar.

¹And of the sons of Issachar; Tola, and Puah¹, Jashub, and Shimron, four.

¹ In Genesis xlvi. 13, Puvah, and Iob.

1. the sons of Issachar] Genesis xlvi. 13; Numbers xxvi. 23, 24. verses 2‒5 are from an unknown source, or from the Chronicler himself.

Tola] the name of one of the minor Judges (Judges x. 1). He is there described as “Tola the son of Puah, dwelling [Hebrew josheb] in Shamir.” No descendants are mentioned from Puah, Jashub, and Shimron, but only from Tola; and it has been suggested that these four sons of Issachar are imaginary, being simply deduced from the statement in Judges—Jashub = josheb, and Shimron = Shamir. This is very ingenious but by no means convincing.

Puah] In Genesis and Numbers Puvah (Revised Version).

Jashub] So in Numbers, but in Genesis Iob.

²And the sons of Tola; Uzzi, and Rephaiah, and Jeriel, and Jahmai, and Ibsam, and Shemuel, heads of their fathers’ houses, to wit, of Tola; mighty men of valour in their generations: their number in the days of David was two and twenty thousand and six hundred.

2. of their fathers’ houses] i.e. clans or families; see note on v. 13.

in their generations] Render, after (or according to) their generations, the rendering given to the same phrase in Genesis x. 32, xxv. 13.

their number] i.e. of the divisions which claimed Tola as ancestor.

in the days of David] xxi. 1 ff. (= 2 Samuel xxiv. 1 ff.).

³And the sons of Uzzi; Izrahiah: and the sons of Izrahiah; Michael, and Obadiah, and Joel, Isshiah, five: all of them chief men.

3. five] i.e. reckoning the four grandsons as sons.

⁴And with them, by their generations, after their fathers’ houses, were bands of the host for war, six and thirty thousand: for they had many wives and sons.

4. by their generations] i.e. according to descent. Each head commanded men that were his kinsfolk.

⁵And their brethren among all the families of Issachar, mighty men of valour, reckoned in all by genealogy, were fourscore and seven thousand.

5. fourscore and seven thousand] In Numbers ii. 6 Issachar is reckoned at 54,400, and in Numbers xxvi. 25 at 64,300.

6‒12.
The Genealogy of Zebulun.

6‒12. According to the existing text these verses are a genealogy of Benjamin; but, as such, they present most serious difficulties. Notice (1) that the customary “sons of” is lacking in the Hebrew text before Benjamin: (2) that the sons of Benjamin here number three, whereas in Numbers xxvi. 38, 39, they are five (five also in 1 Chronicles viii. 2!), and in Genesis xlii. 21 ten; and further that one of the sons here mentioned, Jediael, is nowhere else referred to as a Benjamite: (3) that the sons of Bela (verse 7) are entirely different in viii. 3: and (4) that in general the names in the list (with only three certain exceptions and two of them place-names) are not elsewhere found in lists of Benjamite names—a startling fact. (5) Finally and most important of all, a genealogy of Benjamin is given in chapter viii., exactly where we might expect to find it according to the order in which the Chronicler describes the tribes.

The first of these points could be (and has usually been) explained by the elision of some letters; for the words “the sons of” (Bᵉnê) in Hebrew writing most closely resemble “Ben” the first syllable of Benjamin. For a few other minor difficulties tentative suggestions have been put forward, but are very unsatisfying, whilst for most of the features noted above, and especially for the most important of them, no proper explanation can be given on the supposition that the list really is a genealogy of Benjamin. It is therefore most probable that the view urged by Curtis, Chronicles, p. 127, should be adopted. He finds in these verses the genealogy of Zebulun, the absence of which otherwise is a striking feature of the genealogies in these chapters. The letters which are now taken to be the first part of the word Benjamin should be read Bᵉnê (i.e. the sons of), and the following letters are a corruption of Zebulun, which was originally followed by the names of Zebulun’s three sons, Sered and Elon and Jahleel, as given in Genesis xlvi. 14. The changes involved by this suggestion may seem violent in English, but they are by no means so in the Hebrew, and moreover it must be understood that they all follow inevitably or at least most naturally upon the slight initial error whereby “the sons of Zebulun” was corrupted into “Benjamin.” The development and details of Curtis’ reasoning cannot be set forth except in connection with the Hebrew text, and it must therefore suffice here to indicate the one essential point, and to remark that the convincing feature of his hypothesis is that it furnishes a clear and natural explanation of all the difficulties noted above.

⁶The sons of Benjamin; Bela, and Becher, and Jediael, three.

6. Bela, and Becher, and Jediael] Contrast viii. 2. Read, following Genesis xlvi. 14, Sered and Elon and Jahleel.

⁷And the sons of Bela; Ezbon, and Uzzi, and Uzziel, and Jerimoth, and Iri, five; heads of fathers’ houses, mighty men of valour; and they were reckoned by genealogy twenty and two thousand and thirty and four.

7. the sons of Bela] Contrast viii. 3; and read instead the sons of Sered. These are differently stated in viii. 3‒5.

⁸And the sons of Becher; Zemirah, and Joash, and Eliezer, and Elioenai, and Omri, and Jeremoth, and Abijah, and Anathoth, and Alemeth. All these were the sons of Becher. ⁹And they were reckoned by genealogy, after their generations, heads of their fathers’ houses, mighty men of valour, twenty thousand and two hundred.

8. Becher] Read Elon.

Anathoth, and Alemeth] both names of places in Benjamin; vi. 60 (45, Hebrew, “Allemeth”); Jeremiah i. 1. These are the only place-names in the list, and they are admittedly Benjamite: as to the significance of this fact see note on Ehud, verse 10.

¹⁰And the sons of Jediael; Bilhan: and the sons of Bilhan; Jeush, and Benjamin, and Ehud, and Chenaanah, and Zethan, and Tarshish, and Ahishahar.

10. Jediael] or rather Jahleel.

Benjamin, and Ehud] The error in verse 6 by which this Zebulunite list becomes ostensibly Benjamite must have been very early. When once it had arisen, the tendency to introduce names which were to be expected in a Benjamite genealogy was inevitably strong. This is the ground on which the names Anathoth and Alemeth (verse 8) are to be explained, as also Shuppim and Huppim (verse 12). Most clearly, however, is the tendency illustrated by the present verse, where the reading Benjamin and Ehud most probably has its origin in a marginal addition “and Ehud the Benjamite” (from Judges iii. 15) which was later inserted in the text as two separate names.

Tarshish] It is said of Zebulun in Genesis xlix. 13 that he shall be “a haven for ships,” and Tarshish, absolutely unknown as a Hebrew personal name, is regularly used in the Old Testament in connection with ships and commerce by sea. It would be astonishingly out of place in a genealogy of Benjamin, but is appropriate in one of Zebulun (compare Genesis xlix. 13 “Zebulun shall dwell at the haven of the sea”).

¹¹All these were sons of Jediael, according to the heads of their fathers’ houses, mighty men of valour, seventeen thousand and two hundred, that were able to go forth in the host for war.

11. able to go forth] the total number of warriors is here 59,434; compare 50,000 in xii. 33; and compare Numbers i. 37, xxvi. 41.

¹²Shuppim¹ also, and Huppim, the sons of Ir², Hushim, the sons of Aher³.

¹ In Numbers xxvi. 39, Shephupham and Hupham.

² In verse 7, Iri.

³ In Numbers xxvi. 38, Ahiram.

12. Shuppim also, and Huppim] for the spelling compare viii. 5, Numbers xxvi. 39, and Genesis xlvi. 21. These Benjamite names are an addition, and illustrate the tendency referred to above in the note on Benjamin and Ehud, verse 10.

12b.
The Genealogy of Dan.

Ir] compare verse 7, Iri. But see following note.

Hushim, the sons of Aher] In Aher (literally “another”) some commentators find the word Dan. More probably Ir is a corruption for Dan, and the word Aher an error for “one” (the differences are small in Hebrew). Following the indication of Genesis xlvi. 23 and the LXX., read therefore the sons of Dan, Hushim his son, one.

13. (= Genesis xlvi. 24).
The Genealogy of Naphtali.

¹³The sons of Naphtali; Jahziel¹, and Guni, and Jezer, and Shallum², the sons of Bilhah.

¹ In Genesis xlvi. 24, Jahzeel.

² In Genesis xlvi. 24, Shillem.

13. Jahziel ... Shallum] In Genesis Jahzeel ... Shillem.

14‒19.
The Genealogy of Manasseh.

A difficult section. The text is much disturbed in verses 14, 15; and there is hardly any material available for the illustration of verses 16, 17.

¹⁴The sons of Manasseh; Asriel, whom¹ his wife bare: (his concubine the Aramitess bare Machir the father of Gilead:

¹ Or, according to the Septuagint, whom his concubine the Aramitess bare; she bare &c.

14. Asriel, whom his wife bare: (his concubine the Aramitess bare] Compare Numbers xxvi. 31. Probably, however, the name is due to an error of dittography. Read simply as margin, following LXX., whom his concubine the Aramitess bare; she bare, etc.

his concubine the Aramitess] The inhabitants of Gilead were thus in part Arameans (Syrians) by descent. A different tradition is preserved in Genesis 1. 23.

¹⁵and Machir took a wife of¹ Huppim and Shuppim, whose² sister’s name was Maacah;) and the name of the second was Zelophehad: and Zelophehad had daughters.

¹ Or, for.

² Or, and his.

15. took a wife of Huppim and Shuppim] i.e. allied himself by marriage to these two families.

whose sister’s name] Render, and his (Machir’s) sister’s name. The statement regarding Maacah is ethnographical, and means that the people of Maacah (a district at the foot of Hermon) were related by blood to Machir (the Eastern Manassites).

Zelophehad had daughters] Numbers xxvii. 1‒11.

¹⁶And Maacah the wife of Machir bare a son, and she called his name Peresh; and the name of his brother was Sheresh; and his sons were Ulam and Rakem.

16. wife of] But in verse 15, Maacah is sister of Machir. The text of verses 15, 16 has probably suffered some disturbance.

¹⁷And the sons of Ulam; Bedan. These were the sons of Gilead the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh.

17. the sons of Ulam] Sons of Ulam are mentioned (viii. 40) among the descendants of Benjamin: a variation in the tradition of their descent.

¹⁸And his sister Hammolecheth bare Ishhod, and Abiezer¹, and Mahlah.

¹ In Numbers xxvi. 30, Iezer.

18. Abiezer] Gideon’s family; Judges vi. 11; compare Joshua xvii. 2.

¹⁹And the sons of Shemida were Ahian, and Shechem, and Likhi, and Aniam.

19. Shechem] This name represents the Israelite portion of the inhabitants of Shechem: the rest of the inhabitants were Hivites or Canaanites. See Judges ix.

20‒27.
The Line of Ephraim to Joshua.

20‒27. The section presents several difficulties, arising either from the attempt to combine various threads of traditions or possibly from textual corruption. Note that Ezer and Elead, who in verse 21 are removed by several generations from Ephraim, are in verse 22 f. treated as his immediate sons.

²⁰And the sons of Ephraim; Shuthelah, and Bered his son, and Tahath his son, and Eleadah his son, and Tahath his son,

20. Shuthelah ... Bered ... Tahath ... Eleadah] These four names appear to correspond with Shuthelah ... Becher ... Tahan ... Eran in Numbers xxvi. 35, 36.

²¹and Zabad his son, and Shuthelah his son, and Ezer, and Elead, whom the men of Gath that were born in the land slew, because they came down to take away their cattle.

21. the men of Gath that were born in the land] i.e. the Philistine population.

they came down] This phrase suits a descent from the hills of Ephraim into the Philistine lowlands. The raid presumably took place after the period of the Exodus and the settlement of Israel in Canaan. Yet it is also possible that the story should be classed with certain traditions which ignore the narrative of the Egyptian sojourn and the Exodus—see Cook, Encyclopedia Britannica¹¹, s.v. Genesis, p. 584, col. 2.

²²And Ephraim their father mourned many days, and his brethren came to comfort him.

22. And Ephraim their father] i.e. the tribe, or district, to which the clans, Ezer and Elead, belonged.

²³And he went in to his wife, and she conceived, and bare a son, and he called his name Beriah, because it went evil with his house.

23. Beriah, because it went evil] Hebrew Beri‘ah because it went berā‘ah, a play on the sound of the name. This is a feature characteristic of the patriarchal narratives in Genesis, compare Genesis xxx. 11, etc. It is interesting to find it in the tradition upon which the Chronicler here depends. Compare also iv. 9 (note).

²⁴And his daughter was Sheerah, who built Beth-horon the nether and the upper, and Uzzen-sheerah. ²⁵And Rephah was his son, and Resheph, and Telah his son, and Tahan his son; ²⁶Ladan his son, Ammihud his son, Elishama his son; ²⁷Nun¹ his son, Joshua his son.

¹ Hebrew Non.

24. Beth-horon] See vi. 68, note.

28, 29.
Settlements of the Sons of Joseph.

The writer of these verses does not intend to give a full list of the seats of Ephraim (verse 28) and Manasseh (verse 29); but apparently to indicate the area and position of their territory by the mention of towns on the borders.

²⁸And their possessions and habitations were Beth-el and the towns¹ thereof, and eastward Naaran², and westward Gezer, with the towns thereof; Shechem also and the towns thereof, unto Azzah³ and the towns thereof:

¹ Hebrew daughters.

² In Joshua xvi. 7, Naarah.

³ Many MSS. read, Ayyah.

28. Beth-el] the southern boundary. Beth-el is the modern Beitîn, ten miles north of Jerusalem (Bädeker, Palestine⁵, p. 217). The city was on the border of Ephraim and Benjamin and in Joshua xviii. 22 is assigned to Benjamin, but it was originally conquered by Ephraim (Judges i. 22), and during the division of the kingdom it belonged to the North: compare 1 Kings xii. 29, 32; 2 Chronicles xiii. 19, note.

Naaran] the eastern boundary. In Joshua xvi. 7, Naarath (Revised Version Naarah).

Gezer ... Shechem] On Gezer the western, and Shechem the northern boundary—see the note on vi. 67.

Azzah] or Ayyah, has not yet been identified. Probably, like Shechem, it serves to define the northern border between Ephraim and Manasseh.

²⁹and by the borders of the children of Manasseh, Beth-shean and her towns, Taanach and her towns, Megiddo and her towns, Dor and her towns. In these dwelt the children of Joseph the son of Israel.

29. For Manasseh four important towns are enumerated: Beth-shean on the east in the valley of the Jordan, Taanach and Megiddo in the plain of Esdraelon or Megiddo, and Dor on the Mediterranean coast, south of Mt Carmel.

Beth-shean] In 1 Samuel xxxi. 10, 12 spelt Beth-shan. It is the Greek Scythopolis, the modern Beisan.

Taanach] See vi. 70, note on Aner.

Megiddo] Judges v. 19; 2 Kings xxiii. 29; Zechariah xii. 11.

Dor] modern Tantura. Compare Joshua xvii. 11.

30‒40.
The Genealogy of Asher.

³⁰The sons of Asher; Imnah, and Ishvah, and Ishvi, and Beriah, and Serah their sister.

30. The sons of Asher] The names in verses 30, 31 are derived from Genesis xlvi. 17 (compare Numbers xxvi. 44‒46). There is no variation in the Hebrew spelling of the names, but Ishvah is missing in Numbers Either Ishvah or Ishvi must be regarded as an error of dittography.

Beriah] Beriah is mentioned above, verse 23, as a clan of Ephraim, and appears also as a family of Benjamin, viii. 13, 16.

³¹And the sons of Beriah; Heber, and Malchiel, who was the father of Birzaith. ³²And Heber begat Japhlet, and Shomer¹, and Hotham, and Shua their sister. ³³And the sons of Japhlet; Pasach, and Bimhal, and Ashvath. These are the children of Japhlet.

¹ In verse 34, Shemer.

31. Heber, and Malchiel] The antiquity of these two names seems to be attested by the mention of “Habiri and Malchiel” in the Amarna tablets (circa 1400 B.C.).

Birzaith] probably the name of a place, “The well of the olive-tree.”

³⁴And the sons of Shemer¹; Ahi, and Rohgah, Jehubbah, and Aram. ³⁵And the sons² of Helem his brother; Zophah, and Imna, and Shelesh, and Amal. ³⁶The sons of Zophah; Suah, and Harnepher, and Shual, and Beri, and Imrah; ³⁷Bezer, and Hod, and Shamma, and Shilshah, and Ithran, and Beera. ³⁸And the sons of Jether; Jephunneh, and Pispah, and Ara. ³⁹And the sons of Ulla; Arah, and Hanniel, and Rizia.

¹ In verse 32, Shomer.

² Hebrew son.

34, 35. Shemer ... Helem] Read perhaps Shomer ... Hotham, to agree with verse 32.

⁴⁰All these were the children of Asher, heads of the fathers’ houses, choice and mighty men of valour, chief of the princes. And the number of them reckoned by genealogy for service in war was twenty and six thousand men.

40. twenty and six thousand] In xii. 36 the men of war of Asher are reckoned at forty thousand (compare Numbers i. 41, xxvi. 47, where still higher reckonings are given). The numbers here and in verses 5, 7, 9, 11 (as well as in verse 2, which see) are perhaps supposed to refer to the time of David. The numbers may be based on family traditions, but no important conclusions ought to be drawn from them.

Chapter VIII.

1‒40 (compare vii. 6‒12).
The Genealogy of Benjamin.

1‒40. Various indications combine to show that the names in this list reflect post-exilic conditions. It has generally been compared with the “Benjamite” genealogy in vii. 6‒12 which was supposed to express the relationships and strength of the tribe at the time of David. If, however, according to the view adopted in this volume, the passage vii. 6‒12 is in reality a genealogy of Zebulun, comparison between it and this list is futile. Such parallels as can justly be made between the names in the two lists are due to the Benjamite colouring which has been imparted to vii. 6‒12 after the initial error in vii. 6 turned the “sons of Zebulun” into “Benjamin.”

This, the real genealogy of Benjamin, unfortunately presents not a few problems for which as yet no convincing solution can be offered. The difficulties are due in large measure to the corrupt state of the text in several verses: especially verses 6‒14.

¹And Benjamin begat Bela his firstborn, Ashbel the second, and Aharah the third;

1. Benjamin begat ...] Compare Genesis xlvi. 21.

firstborn] = Becher in Genesis xlvi. 21. In the unvocalised Hebrew text the noun and proper name are represented by the same letters, BKR.

Ashbel] literally “man of Baal.” Compare note on Eshbaal, verse 33.

²Nohah the fourth, and Rapha the fifth.

2. Nohah ... Huram] the list is assuredly based on Genesis xlvi. 21 and Numbers xxvi. 38‒40, despite the surface divergences. Several of the changes are due to textual errors, e.g. Aharah and Ahoah are probably both variants of Ahiram (Genesis xlvi. 21).

³And Bela had sons, Addar¹, and Gera, and Abihud; ⁴and Abishua, and Naaman, and Ahoah;

¹ In Genesis xlvi. 21, Ard.

3. Abihud] read perhaps (a slight change in the Hebrew) Gera, father of Ehud.

⁵and Gera, and Shephuphan¹, and Huram.

¹ In Numbers xxvi. 39, Shephupham.

5. Shephuphan, and Huram] See vii. 12, note on Shuppim.

6‒28. Apparently a list of five post-exilic families [Elpaal (verses 11, 18), Beriah (verses 13, 16), Shema (verses 13, 21), Shashak (verses 14, 25), and Jeroham (verses 14, 27)], whose genealogy seems to be traced from Ehud, and whose descendants reside in Jerusalem (so verse 28, but see note ad loc.). The uncertainty on the former point is the inevitable consequence of the corrupt state of the text in verses 6‒14.

⁶And these are the sons of Ehud; these are the heads of fathers’ houses of the inhabitants of Geba, and they carried them captive to Manahath:

6. Ehud] Ehud (the deliverer of Israel from Moab) was descended from Gera (verse 5; Judges iii. 15).

Geba] Compare vi. 60.

they carried them captive] an utterly obscure phrase, most probably due to textual error. It is a plausible suggestion that the phrase is a corruption of proper names commencing the list which we should expect to follow the preceding words: “these are the heads of,” etc. Hogg, Jewish Quarterly Review xi. 102 ff., therefore conjectured the names “Iglaam and Alemoth”; and similarly in verse 7, in place of the equally obscure words “he carried them captive; and he,” he would read “and Iglaam begat.”

⁷and Naaman, and Ahijah, and Gera, he carried them captive; and he begat Uzza and Ahihud.

7. Naaman, and Ahijah, and Gera] perhaps to be deleted, as a repetition of verse 5.

⁸And Shaharaim begat children in the field of Moab, after he had sent¹ them away; Hushim and Baara were his wives. ⁹And he begat of Hodesh his wife, Jobab, and Zibia, and Mesha, and Malcam; ¹⁰and Jeuz, and Shachia, and Mirmah. These were his sons, heads of fathers’ houses.

¹ Or, sent away Hushim and Baara his wives.

8, 9. Again the Hebrew text appears to be in disorder, and the verses in consequence are so obscure that conjectures are all precarious.

Hushim] is elsewhere the name of a man. Hence verse 11 below should perhaps read And Hushim begat....

¹¹And of Hushim he begat Abitub and Elpaal.

11. Abitub] no sons of his are recorded.

¹²And the sons of Elpaal; Eber, and Misham, and Shemed, who built Ono and Lod, with the towns thereof:

12. sons of Elpaal] Elpaal’s sons are given also and more fully in verses 17, 18; and, as the three names in the present verse appear to be transcriptional variants of three mentioned in 17, 18, it is probable that this verse is a marginal note which has crept into the text.

who built Ono and Lod] the subject is not Shemed, but Elpaal; “built,” i.e. entered into possession of. Ono and Lod (= Lydda), some seven and eleven miles respectively south of Jaffa, are referred to in Nehemiah vii. 35, xi. 35, and Ezra ii. 33. The Targum adds, which the sons of Israel laid waste and burnt with fire, when they made war in Gibeah with the tribe of Benjamin.

¹³and Beriah, and Shema, who were heads of fathers’ houses of the inhabitants of Aijalon, who put to flight the inhabitants of Gath;

13. Aijalon] compare Joshua x. 12. It was situated near the Jaffa road, about thirteen miles from Jerusalem.

who put ... Gath] an interesting remark, which should be compared with vii. 21, 23—note the name Beriah in both passages. The relation of the two passages is, however, uncertain.

¹⁴and Ahio, Shashak, and Jeremoth; ¹⁵and Zebadiah, and Arad, and Eder; ¹⁶and Michael, and Ishpah, and Joha, the sons of Beriah; ¹⁷and Zebadiah, and Meshullam, and Hizki, and Heber; ¹⁸and Ishmerai, and Izliah, and Jobab, the sons of Elpaal; ¹⁹and Jakim, and Zichri, and Zabdi;

14. And Ahio, Shashak, and Jeremoth] Read, following LXX., And their brethren Shashak and Jeremoth. The pronoun of course refers to Beriah and Shema (verse 13), and to Abitub and Elpaal (verse 11)—these four, with Shashak and Jeremoth, being sons of Hushim, if verse 11 be emended and verses 12, 13 be regarded as a marginal addition, as is suggested above.

²⁰and Elienai and Zillethai, and Eliel;

20. Elienai] Read, perhaps, Elioenai, a name meaning “My eyes look towards Jehovah,” compare iii. 23.

²¹and Adaiah, and Beraiah, and Shimrath, the sons of Shimei¹; ²²and Ishpan, and Eber, and Eliel; ²³and Abdon, and Zichri, and Hanan;

¹ In verse 13, Shema.

21. Shimei] = Shema (verse 13).

²⁴and Hananiah, and Elam, and Anthothijah; ²⁵and Iphdeiah, and Penuel, the sons of Shashak; ²⁶and Shamsherai, and Shehariah, and Athaliah;

24. Anthothijah] The name is a trace of an ancient Egyptian war-goddess ‘Anath, apparently associated with Jehovah in the Jewish temple at Elephantine (see ‘Anath-bethel in the papyri). Compare also Anathoth near Jerusalem.

²⁷and Jaareshiah, and Elijah, and Zichri, the sons of Jeroham.

27. Jeroham] = Jeremoth (verse 14).

²⁸These were heads of fathers’ houses throughout their generations, chief men: these dwelt in Jerusalem.

28. these dwelt in Jerusalem] i.e. in the writer’s day the heads of families enumerated in verses 15‒27 dwelt in Jerusalem. Compare ix. 2, 3; Nehemiah xi. 1‒8. But the words may be a gloss brought in from ix. 34 along with the following verses (see below).

29‒38 (= chapter ix. 35‒44).
The Genealogy of the house of Saul.

29‒38. These verses, which set forth the ancestors and descendants of Saul, are found also in ix. 35‒44, where they serve as the introduction to the account of Saul’s death in ch. x. The latter passage would naturally seem to be the original place of these verses, but the arguments in favour of that view are not conclusive, and the point must be allowed to be doubtful.

²⁹And in Gibeon there dwelt the father of Gibeon, Jeiel, whose wife’s name was Maacah:

29. Gibeon] some six miles north of Jerusalem, was apparently the residence in post-exilic days of families which claimed descent from the house of Saul. Compare 2 Chronicles i. 3.

Jeiel] added in accordance with ix. 35.

³⁰and his firstborn son Abdon, and Zur, and Kish, and Baal, and Nadab;

30. and Baal] Add with LXX. (A) and ix. 36 and Ner. LXX. (B) shows that a word is missing after Baal for it reads Βααλακαίμ (= Βαὰλ καὶ Ν....?).

³¹and Gedor, and Ahio, and Zecher¹.

¹ In chapter ix. 37, Zechariah.

31. and Zecher] Read with ix. 37, and Zechariah, and Mikloth.

³²And Mikloth begat Shimeah¹. And they also dwelt with their brethren in Jerusalem, over against their brethren.

¹ In chapter ix. 38, Shimeam.

32. with their brethren, etc.] i.e. with some of their brethren in Jerusalem over against other of their brethren in Gibeon and other places. “They” would seem to refer to Mikloth and Shimeah, but the clause is far from clear, and it may be noted that verse 32b looks like the heading of a list that has been lost.

³³And Ner begat Kish; and Kish begat Saul; and Saul begat Jonathan, and Malchi-shua, and Abinadab¹, and Eshbaal².

¹ In 1 Samuel xiv. 49, Ishvi.

² In 2 Samuel ii. 8, Ishbosheth.

33. begat Kish] here and in ix. 39, read begat Abner—as in 1 Samuel xiv. 51, etc.

Jonathan ... Abinadab] Slain with Saul on Mt Gilboa; x. 2; 1 Samuel xxxi. 2.

Eshbaal] In 2 Samuel ii. 8 called Ish-bosheth. In the (more generally read) Samuel text the offensive name Eshbaal, “Man (i.e. worshipper) of Baal,” has been changed to Ishbosheth, “Man of the Shameful-thing” (i.e. of the idol), but it has been left standing in the less-used text of Chronicles The title Baal (“Lord”) was applied in early days (e.g. in the days of Saul) to the national God of Israel, but in later days the prophets objected to it because of its general use in designation of the heathen gods also. Hosea (ii. 17), for example, declares that the true worshippers of Jehovah must no longer call him “My Baal” (Baali). Thus to Saul and Samuel the name Eshbaal was acceptable as meaning “Man of the Lord,” i.e. of Jehovah, but to the late reviser of the book of Samuel it was offensive as signifying “Man of Baal,” i.e. of one of the gods worshipped by the old Canaanite peoples or by the neighbouring nations. Since the text of Chronicles has retained such forms as Eshbaal (here), Ashbel (verse 1), it seems that the conscientious alterations of such forms in the books of Samuel, Kings, etc., are later than the time of the Chronicler.

³⁴And the son of Jonathan was Merib-baal¹; and Merib-baal begat Micah.

¹ In 2 Samuel iv. 4, ix. 6, 10, Mephibosheth.

34. Merib-baal] A name meaning “Baal pleadeth”; in chapter ix. 40b (Hebrew) it is written Meri-baal, i.e. “Man of Baal.” The person meant seems to be Mephibosheth (2 Samuel ix. 6, 12).

³⁵And the sons of Micah; Pithon, and Melech, and Tarea¹, and Ahaz.

¹ In chapter ix. 41, Tahrea.

35. Tarea] In ix. 41, Tahrea.

³⁶And Ahaz begat Jehoaddah¹; and Jehoaddah begat Alemeth, and Azmaveth, and Zimri; and Zimri begat Moza:

¹ In chapter ix. 42, Jarah.

36. Jehoaddah] In ix. 42, Jarah.

³⁷and Moza begat Binea; Raphah¹ was his son, Eleasah his son, Azel his son: ³⁸and Azel had six sons, whose names are these; Azrikam, Bocheru, and Ishmael, and Sheariah, and Obadiah, and Hanan. All these were the sons of Azel. ³⁹And the sons of Eshek his brother; Ulam his firstborn, Jeush the second, and Eliphelet the third. ⁴⁰And the sons of Ulam were mighty men of valour, archers, and had many sons, and sons’ sons, an hundred and fifty. All these were of the sons of Benjamin.

¹ In chapter ix. 43, Rephaiah.

37. Raphah] In ix. 43, Rephaiah.

Chapter IX.

1‒17 (compare Nehemiah xi. 1‒19).
The Heads of the Families which dwelt in Jerusalem.

Verses 2‒17 contain the lists of the heads of families of Judah (3‒6), of Benjamin (7‒9), of the priests (10‒13), of the Levites (14‒16), and of the porters (17), who dwelt in Jerusalem at some period after the Return (compare note on verse 2). A similar list (with some variations which are recorded in their places in the following notes) occurs in Nehemiah xi. 3‒19. The partial agreement coupled with the partial divergence of the two lists may be explained by supposing that both are extracts independently made from the same document, and have been inserted, one in Chronicles, the other in Nehemiah, lest the peculiarities of either list should be lost. We may conclude from Nehemiah xi. 1, 2 that both lists represent the population of Jerusalem, after Nehemiah had taken measures for increasing it. Another way of accounting for the divergences in the two lists is to suppose that the present list represents the Jerusalem of a later period than the list in Nehemiah See also verse 17.

¹So all Israel were reckoned by genealogies; and, behold, they are written in the book of the kings of Israel: and Judah was carried away captive to Babylon for their transgression.

1. in the book of the kings of Israel] See Introduction § 5, B (3). The LXX., however, reads “in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah.” With the LXX. reading, all Israel must be taken as subject of the verb was carried away, but of course the phrase must still be taken as meaning an “Israel” = Judah.

²Now the first inhabitants that dwelt in their possessions in their cities were, Israel, the priests, the Levites, and the Nethinim.

2. the first inhabitants] It has been thought that the word “first” here refers to pre-eminence (compare Nehemiah xi. 3), and that the list which follows (verses 4 ff.) is a list of chief men. It is better, however, to take “first” in a temporal sense, meaning “pre-exilic,” and to suppose that the Chronicler or whoever placed this chapter here mistakenly imagined this list to be a pre-exilic register. That it is not really pre-exilic is certain by reason of its vital connection with the post-exilic list in Nehemiah xi. 3‒19. The suggestion that the resemblances are due to the continuity of population in Jerusalem before and after the exile is utterly improbable.

in their cities] The phrase is apparently an abridgment of words in Nehemiah xi. 3, and is really meaningless in the present context. In Nehemiah it signifies “townships in Judah” where certain persons, who now elected to dwell in Jerusalem, had formerly resided.

Israel] i.e. laymen as distinguished from men of Levitical descent. According to verse 3 Israel included at least Judah, Benjamin, Ephraim, and Manasseh (compare Psalms lxxx. 2, where Judah—the speaker—associates Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh with herself in her appeal to the God of Israel, See also note on 2 Chronicles xxx. 18). This is a totally different usage from that of earlier times, when Israel meant the Northern kingdom, and Judah the Southern.

Nethinim] These were a class of Temple servants reckoned as inferior to the Levites. Perhaps they were of foreign extraction and included the Gibeonites (compare Joshua ix. 23). They are mentioned nowhere else in the Old Testament except in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah.

³And in Jerusalem dwelt of the children of Judah, and of the children of Benjamin, and of the children of Ephraim and Manasseh;

3. of Ephraim and Manasseh] See note on 2 Chronicles xxx. 18.

4‒6 (compare Nehemiah xi. 4‒6).
The Sons of Judah.

⁴Uthai the son of Ammihud, the son of Omri, the son of Imri, the son of Bani, of the children of Perez the son of Judah.

4. Uthai] In Nehemiah Athaiah. The two words are more alike in Hebrew than in English and are perhaps various readings of one name.

Perez] compare ii. 4, 5. We have here (verses 4‒6) a threefold division of the tribe of Judah into the descendants of Perez, Shelah, and Zerah, just as in Numbers xxvi. 20.

⁵And of the Shilonites; Asaiah the firstborn, and his sons.

5. Shilonites] Or Shelanites as Numbers xxvi. 20; they were descendants of Shelah, who is mentioned as a son of Judah in ii. 3. For other descendants, see iv. 21 f., and Nehemiah xi. 5.

Asaiah] In Nehemiah xi. 5 Maaseiah, a kindred name.

⁶And of the sons of Zerah; Jeuel, and their brethren, six hundred and ninety.

6. Jeuel] In Nehemiah xi. 5 the “sons of Zerah” are missing.

six hundred and ninety] Compare Nehemiah xi. 6 (four hundred threescore and eight sons of Perez) where Perez may be an error for Zerah.

7‒9 (compare Nehemiah xi. 7‒9).
The Sons of Benjamin.

⁷And of the sons of Benjamin; Sallu the son of Meshullam, the son of Hodaviah, the son of Hassenuah;

7. Sallu] His genealogy is differently stated in Nehemiah xi. 7, but see next note.

the son of Hodaviah, the son of Hassenuah] Read perhaps Judah, the son of Hassenuah (compare Nehemiah xi. 9). Hodaviah and Judah could easily be confused in Hebrew.

⁸and Ibneiah the son of Jeroham, and Elah the son of Uzzi, the son of Michri, and Meshullam the son of Shephatiah, the son of Reuel, the son of Ibnijah;

8. Ibneiah, Elah, Meshullam] Not mentioned in Nehemiah xi.

⁹and their brethren, according to their generations, nine hundred and fifty and six. All these men were heads of fathers’ houses by their fathers’ houses.

9. nine hundred and fifty and six] 928 in Nehemiah xi. 8.

10‒13 (compare Nehemiah xi. 10‒14).
The Priests.

¹⁰And of the priests; Jedaiah, and Jehoiarib, and Jachin;

10. Jehoiarib] Spelt Joiarib in Nehemiah xi. 10. Jehoiarib and Jedaiah occur as names of the first and second courses of the priests in xxiv. 7; Nehemiah xii. 6, 19. The Maccabees were of the course of Joarib (= Jehoiarib); 1 Maccabees ii. 1.

Jachin] The name of the twenty-first course; xxiv. 17.

¹¹and Azariah¹ the son of Hilkiah, the son of Meshullam, the son of Zadok, the son of Meraioth, the son of Ahitub, the ruler of the house of God;

¹ In Nehemiah xi. 11, Seraiah.

11. Azariah] In Nehemiah xi. 11, Seraiah.

the ruler of the house of God] This title could perhaps be borne by the high-priest (2 Chronicles xxxi. 10, 13), but in any case it was not confined to him (2 Chronicles xxxv. 8, where several such “rulers” are mentioned; compare also Jeremiah xx. 1; Acts iv. 1).

¹²and Adaiah the son of Jeroham, the son of Pashhur, the son of Malchijah, and Maasai the son of Adiel, the son of Jahzerah, the son of Meshullam, the son of Meshillemith, the son of Immer;

12. Malchijah] The name of the fifth course; xxiv. 9.

Maasai] The reading of Nehemiah xi. 13 Amashsai is corrupt. The form given in Chronicles is open to suspicion. Probably the true reading is lost.

Adiel] In Nehemiah Azareel.

Immer] The name of the sixteenth course; xxiv. 14.

¹³and their brethren, heads of their fathers’ houses, a thousand and seven hundred and threescore; very able men for the work of the service of the house of God.

13. a thousand and seven hundred and threescore] Only the five “courses” of priests mentioned above (viz. Jedaiah, Jehoiarib, and Jachin, verse 10, and Malchijah and Immer, verse 12) seem to be included in this reckoning. Some commentators, however, regard Azariah (= Seraiah) in verse 11 as the name of a new course, which took the place of one of the courses reckoned in xxiv. 7‒18. If this be right we have here the sum of six courses.

In Nehemiah xi. 12‒14 the number of the priests is given on a different plan; eight hundred and twenty-two “did the work of the house”; two hundred and forty-two were “chiefs of fathers’ houses”; an hundred and twenty-eight were “mighty men of valour.” The total falls far short of the thousand and seven hundred and threescore of Chronicles We have not sufficient data on which to base any explanation of the different totals.

very able men] The Hebrew is the same as in Nehemiah xi. 14 and is usually rendered mighty men of valour. The sense, however, is no doubt correctly given by Revised Version very able, or efficient. Compare 2 Chronicles xxvi. 17.

14‒16 (compare Nehemiah xi. 15‒18).
The Levites.

¹⁴And of the Levites; Shemaiah the son of Hasshub, the son of Azrikam, the son of Hashabiah, of the sons of Merari;

14. of the sons of Merari] In Nehemiah the sons of Bunni, which is probably a corruption of the reading of Chronicles Otherwise of the three great Levitical families, Merari, Asaph, and Jeduthun, mentioned here, only the last two appear in Nehemiah.

¹⁵and Bakbakkar, Heresh, and Galal, and Mattaniah the son of Mica, the son of Zichri¹, the son of Asaph;

¹ In Nehemiah xi. 17, Zabdi.

15. Bakbakkar, Heresh, and Galal] The reading appears to be corrupt, for the analogy of the latter half of the verse as well as of verses 14, 16 leads us to expect something more than bare names. Neither the LXX. nor the Vulgate gives any real help for emending the clause. The corresponding words in Nehemiah (xi. 17) are Bakbukiah the second among his brethren.

¹⁶and Obadiah² the son of Shemaiah³, the son of Galal, the son of Jeduthun, and Berechiah the son of Asa, the son of Elkanah, that dwelt in the villages of the Netophathites.

² In Nehemiah xi. 17, Abda.

³ In Nehemiah xi. 17, Shammua.

16. Obadiah the son of Shemaiah] In Nehemiah Abda the son of Shammua. Which was the reading of the original document cannot be determined.

Jeduthun] See note on xvi. 41.

Berechiah the son of Asa, the son of Elkanah] Not mentioned in Nehemiah He probably represented the Kohathite division of the singers; compare vi. 33‒38 (18‒23 Hebrew), where the name Elkanah occurs several times in the genealogy of the Kohathites.

the villages of the Netophathites] Compare Nehemiah xii. 28, 29 (Revised Version), whence it appears that these villages were close to Jerusalem. The exact site is uncertain.

17‒27 (compare Nehemiah xi. 19; 1 Chronicles xxvi. 1‒19).
Organisation and Duties of the Porters (Doorkeepers).

17‒27. The same subject is treated in xxvi. 1‒19, and this fact has been urged as an argument for the view that chapter ix. is an addition to the Chronicler’s work (see Introduction p. xxiii). But it is also reasonable to suppose that the Chronicler would here give a register of inhabitants of Jerusalem (which could not be included in the list of the separate tribes), and such a register would probably give a survey of the Levitical classes.

The verses present on analysis several confusing features, see notes on verses 17, 22, 25, 33.

¹⁷And the porters; Shallum, and Akkub, and Talmon, and Ahiman, and their brethren: Shallum was the chief;

17. And the porters] Render, doorkeepers as in xvi. 38 and xxvi. 1. In Solomon’s Temple there were “keepers of the threshold,” three in number (2 Kings xxv. 18), priests in rank (2 Kings xii. 9).

A distinction between the doorkeepers and the Levites (verse 14) seems to be implied, but in verses 19, 26 the doorkeepers, or at any rate their leaders, are called Levites (compare Nehemiah xi. 15, 19 with 1 Chronicles xxvi.). The supposed distinction may have died out before the Chronicler’s period, or perhaps earlier and later stages are reflected in the chapter (see also the note on verse 26).

Shallum...Ahiman] These two names are absent from Nehemiah xi. 19 together with the clause Shallum was the chief. This omission of all reference to Shallum must be accidental.

Shallum, and Akkub, and Talmon] The three names represent families, not individuals; compare Ezra ii. 42 = Nehemiah vii. 45, where the fuller form is given, the children of Shallum, ... the children of Talmon, the children of Akkub.... These names persist in the five lists of porters which refer to post-exilic times; Ezra ii. 42 = Nehemiah vii. 45; Nehemiah xi. 19 = 1 Chronicles ix. 17 (Shallum is to be supplied in Nehemiah from Chronicles); Nehemiah xii. 5 (Meshullam = Shallum). For the Chronicler’s traditions of Levites, singers, and doorkeepers of the Davidic period, see chapters xv., xxiv. ff.

Ahiman] Elsewhere in the Old Testament this name occurs only among the names of the sons of Anak, and it is probable that the Chronicler (or some scribe) made here an error of transcription, and that Ahiman has arisen from the word AHEIHEM “their brethren” which follows. A fourth name was probably given in the original text, for see verse 26.

¹⁸who hitherto waited in the king’s gate eastward: they were the porters for the camp of the children of Levi.

18. who] i.e. Shallum (verse 17), called Shelemiah in xxvi. 14 (= Meshelemiah, xxvi. verse 1). As mentioned above, a family is meant.

hitherto] i.e. to the time of the Chronicler.

the king’s gate eastward] That the king had an entrance into the Temple named after him appears from 2 Kings xvi. 18, and that this gate was on the east from Ezekiel xlvi. 1, 2.

for the camp of the children of Levi] i.e. the Temple; but the phrase, which is derived from Numbers ii. 17, in its original context of course signifies the Tabernacle of the Mosaic period. Doubtless it is used with the implication that the institution of the gatekeepers dated back to that age: compare verse 19 ad fin., and contrast verse 22.

¹⁹And Shallum the son of Kore, the son of Ebiasaph, the son of Korah, and his brethren, of his father’s house, the Korahites, were over the work of the service, keepers of the gates¹ of the tabernacle²: and their fathers had been over the camp of the Lord, keepers of the entry;

¹ Hebrew thresholds.

² Hebrew Tent.

19. over the camp of the Lord, keepers] We might expect the reference to the Temple or Tabernacle to be continued; but, as nothing is said in the Pentateuch of “keepers of the entry to the tabernacle,” probably the entry to the camp, not to the tabernacle, is meant in the present phrase. With this view agrees the mention of Phinehas (verse 20), for it apparently was the profanation of the camp in general, not of the tabernacle, which Phinehas avenged (Numbers xxv. 6‒8), thus earning a blessing (Numbers xxv. 11‒13).

²⁰and Phinehas the son of Eleazar was ruler over them in time past, and the Lord was with him.

20. and the Lord was with him] Render, May the Lord be with him, a pious exclamation, customary on mentioning the name of a famous and righteous person deceased. The phrase is common in later Jewish literature; but this passage seems to be the earliest instance of its use.

²¹Zechariah the son of Meshelemiah was porter of the door of the tent of meeting. All these which were chosen to be porters in the gates¹ were two hundred and twelve.

¹ Hebrew thresholds.

21. Zechariah the son of Meshelemiah] Compare xxvi. 2, 14, according to which Zechariah’s watch was on the north.

the tent of meeting] The reference would be to the Mosaic tent, if the verse be taken, as is natural, in close connection with verses 19, 20. If the verse be treated in conjunction with verse 22 it must refer to the tent of the ark in David’s time. The ambiguity is perhaps intentional.

²²These were reckoned by genealogy in their villages, whom David and Samuel the seer did ordain in their set¹ office.

¹ Or, trust.

22. All these] Compare Ezra ii. 42 (= Nehemiah vii. 45); Nehemiah xi. 19. The discrepancy in numbers between Chronicles and Nehemiah and also between Nehemiah vii. and Nehemiah xi. may be explained by supposing some difference in the manner of reckoning or some difference in the period referred to.

in their villages] Compare verses 16 and 25.

whom David ... did ordain] The Chronicler attributes to David the organisation of the priests (xxiv. 3), of the Levites (xxiii. 27; xxiv. 31), of the singers (xxv. 1 ff.), and of the doorkeepers (in this passage). It has been thought that this verse is at variance with verses 18, 19, where the Mosaic origin of the gatekeepers seems to be implied. But in answer it may be said that the Chronicler is guilty of no inconsistency in ascribing the origin of the doorkeepers to the Mosaic period and saying here that David and Samuel “ordained them in their set office,” for the phrase refers, not to their origin, but to their organisation. For another suggestion see below on verse 26.

Samuel] The association of Samuel with the organisation of the sanctuary is confined to this passage, and is a significant illustration of the working of late Jewish thought, which was little concerned with historic probability and much with edification. The tradition has probably arisen from the remark in 1 Samuel iii. 15, that Samuel “opened the doors of the house of the Lord.” As Samuel died before the reign of David, the Chronicler doubtless does not intend to represent him as contemporary with David in the organisation of the Temple, but probably supposes that Samuel’s work was done in connection with the tent, which according to the Chronicler was located in Gibeon (2 Chronicles i. 3).

the seer] For the title, xxvi. 28, xxix. 29; 1 Samuel ix. 9; and compare 2 Chronicles xvi. 7.

in their set office] or in their trust; i.e. in their responsible positions.

²³So they and their children had the oversight of the gates of the house of the Lord, even the house of the tabernacle¹, by wards.

¹ Hebrew Tent.

23. the house of the tabernacle] margin Tent. The phrase designates the period before the building of the Temple.

²⁴On¹ the four sides were the porters, toward the east, west, north, and south.

¹ Hebrew Towards the four winds.

24. On the four sides] Fuller details are given in xxvi. 14‒18.

²⁵And their brethren, in their villages, were to come in every seven days from time to time to be with them:

25. in their villages] No special villages inhabited by porters are mentioned, but perhaps porters as well as singers dwelt in the “villages of the Netophathites” (verse 16; Nehemiah xii. 28, Revised Version).

²⁶for the four chief porters, who were Levites, were in a set office, and were over the chambers and over the treasuries in the house of God. ²⁷And they lodged round about the house of God, because the charge thereof was upon them, and to them pertained the opening thereof morning by morning.

26. the four chief porters, who were Levites] It seems clear from this verse (and from the structure of the chapter, compare verses 10, 14, 17—as is pointed out in the note on verse 17) that the doorkeepers were not, as a body, Levites; and according to verse 25 they dwelt outside Jerusalem, whilst their leaders (verse 27) were within the city. Perhaps this distinction between the leaders and the rank and file could be used to explain the supposed inconsistency (if any exists—see above verse 22, note on whom David ...) between verses 19 and 22, as regards the tradition of origin: it might be said that whilst the leaders claimed that their office dated from the time of Moses (verse 19), the rank and file traced their institution to David (verse 22). (In 2 Chronicles xxxiv. 9 Levites appear exercising the duties of doorkeepers, but this does not prove that all doorkeepers were Levites.)

chambers] i.e. store-chambers in which tithes and sacred vessels were kept; compare 2 Chronicles xxxi. 5, 11, 12; Nehemiah xiii. 4‒9: in verse 33 of this chapter they seem to be in use also as rooms in which Levites could dwell. The chambers were probably built as outbuildings round the Court of the Temple; compare xxiii. 28, xxviii. 12.

28, 29.
Duties of the Levites.

²⁸And certain of them had charge of the vessels of service; for by tale were they brought in and by tale were they taken out.

28. And certain of them] The reference is to the Levites. The contents of verses 28, 29 clearly refer to Levitical duties (compare xxiii. 29), and the transition from porters to Levites is made easier by the fact that the four porters last mentioned (verses 26, 27) are Levites. Some commentators hold that the paragraph dealing with the duties of the Levites begins in verse 26 with the words “And they were over,” etc.

²⁹Some of them also were appointed over the furniture, and over all the vessels of the sanctuary, and over the fine flour, and the wine, and the oil, and the frankincense, and the spices.

29. compare xxiii. 29.

30.
A Priestly Duty.

³⁰And some of the sons of the priests prepared the confection of the spices.

30. the sons of the priests] i.e. “members of the priesthood, priests.” Compare 2 Chronicles xxv. 13, “the soldiers of the army” (literally “the sons of the troop”) and the common expression “the sons of the prophets.”

confection] (For the word, compare 1 Samuel viii. 13, Revised Version text and margin) This “ointment” was peculiarly holy (Exodus xxx. 23‒25). The Levites might have charge of the oil and spices (verse 29), but only the priests might make the confection.

31, 32.
Other Levitical Duties.

³¹And Mattithiah, one of the Levites, who was the firstborn of Shallum the Korahite, had the set office over the things that were baked in pans.

31. who was the firstborn of Shallum] In xxvi. 2 the firstborn of Meshelemiah (= Shallum) is called Zechariah. Probably Mattithiah and Zechariah represent each a household belonging to an elder branch of the great family of Shallum.

³²And some of their brethren, of the sons of the Kohathites, were over the shewbread, to prepare it every sabbath.

32. the shewbread] Literally the bread of the Row (or of the Pile), for it had to be arranged in order before the Lord (Leviticus xxiv. 6). The Chronicler prefers this term to the older “Bread of the Presence” (i.e. of Jehovah). See more fully Driver, Exodus, pp. 274, 275, in this series.

to prepare it every sabbath] “Every sabbath he shall set it in order before the Lord continually” (Leviticus xxiv. 8). In 2 Chronicles ii. 4 (= ii. 3, Hebrew) it is called the continual shewbread (literally “the continual Row”).

³³And these are the singers, heads of fathers’ houses of the Levites, who dwelt in the chambers and were free from other service: for they were employed in their work day and night. ³⁴These were heads of fathers’ houses of the Levites, throughout their generations, chief men: these dwelt at Jerusalem.

33. And these are] This verse may be intended as a conclusion to verses 15, 16, for the names there given are those of singers; compare Nehemiah xi. 17. On the other hand it may have been intended as the heading of such a list as appears in vi. 33‒47 (= 18‒32, Hebrew), the list itself having somehow been omitted.

day and night] Compare Psalms cxxxiv. 1; Revelation iv. 8.

35‒44 (= viii. 29‒38).
The Genealogy of the house of Saul.

³⁵And in Gibeon there dwelt the father of Gibeon, Jeiel, whose wife’s name was Maacah: ³⁶and his firstborn son Abdon, and Zur, and Kish, and Baal, and Ner, and Nadab; ³⁷and Gedor, and Ahio, and Zechariah, and Mikloth. ³⁸And Mikloth begat Shimeam. And they also dwelt with their brethren in Jerusalem, over against their brethren. ³⁹And Ner begat Kish; and Kish begat Saul; and Saul begat Jonathan, and Malchi-shua, and Abinadab, and Eshbaal. ⁴⁰And the son of Jonathan was Merib-baal; and Merib-baal begat Micah. ⁴¹And the sons of Micah; Pithon, and Melech, and Tahrea, and Ahaz. ⁴²And Ahaz begat Jarah; and Jarah begat Alemeth, and Azmaveth, and Zimri; and Zimri begat Moza: ⁴³and Moza begat Binea; and Rephaiah his son, Eleasah his son, Azel his son: ⁴⁴and Azel had six sons, whose names are these; Azrikam, Bocheru, and Ishmael, and Sheariah, and Obadiah, and Hanan: these were the sons of Azel.

See notes on viii. 29 ff. The passage serves here as an introduction to the story of the death of Saul. Whether it is in its original setting here or in viii. 29 ff., or possibly is original in both chapters, there is not sufficient evidence to determine (see note on viii. 29).

Chapters X.‒XXIX.
The Reign of David.

At this point the Chronicler begins his narrative of Israel’s history. It commences abruptly with an account of the defeat and death of Saul, which however is given not for its own interest, but to serve as a brief introduction to the reign of David (chapter xi. ff.). Why does the Chronicler choose to begin his narrative at this point, passing over in silence (a) the Mosaic period, (b) the stories of Judges and of 1 Samuel i.‒xxx.? As regards (a) his silence is due to the assumption that those for whom he writes are no less familiar than he is himself with the account of the Mosaic age as presented by the fully developed tradition of the Pentateuch. As for (b), his silence probably arises neither from the difficulty of retelling the narratives of Judges in accordance with his theory of the early history, nor yet from the fact that they were doubtless familiar to his readers; but, again, from a consideration of the central purpose of his work. His theme is the Divine guidance of Israel’s destiny, and, since that destiny had ultimately centred upon the fortunes of Jerusalem and the worship maintained through its Temple, all else in Israel’s history becomes of quite secondary importance. He begins therefore where (for Israel) Jerusalem and the Temple began—with David, who conquered the city and planned the Temple. The tales of the Judges, of Samuel, and of David’s early life and his magnanimity toward Saul (a tempting source for the exaltation of the character of the ideal king), all these are logically ignored, since they lie outside the scope of the Chronicler’s design.

Chapter X.

1‒12 (= 1 Samuel xxxi. 1‒13).
The Defeat, Death, and Burial of Saul.

1‒12. There are several variations between the text given here and the text of 1 Samuel, to which attention will be called in the notes below.

¹Now the Philistines fought against Israel: and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines, and fell down slain¹ in mount Gilboa.

¹ Or, wounded.

1. in mount Gilboa] In the campaign of Gilboa the Philistines showed new and skilful strategy. Instead of at once marching eastward up the ravines which lead into Judah and Benjamin—in which there was no room for their chariots (2 Samuel i. 6) to manœuvre—they first marched northward along the sea-coast and then turned eastward just before reaching Mount Carmel. This movement brought them into the great fertile plain watered by the Kishon, ground over which chariots could act with decisive effect. At the north-east end of the plain rose the heights of Gilboa. When Saul and his Benjamites advanced to meet the Philistines, the latter succeeded in interposing themselves between the Israelite army and its base in Benjamin—an easy achievement for an enemy who by his chariots possessed a high degree of mobility. Saul was therefore driven to take up his position on the north side of the plain on Mount Gilboa, where he was attacked by the Philistines, probably from the south-west on which side the slopes of the mountain are comparatively gentle. The Israelites, cut off from their homes, outmarched, outgeneralled, and probably outnumbered, were speedily routed. The battle of Gilboa was won, like that of Hastings, by cavalry (chariots) and archers (verse 3) against infantry, which was obliged to stand on the defensive, under pain of being cut to pieces if it ventured to attack. See G. A. Smith, Historical Geography of the Holy Land, pp. 400 ff.

²And the Philistines followed hard after Saul and after his sons; and the Philistines slew Jonathan, and Abinadab¹, and Malchi-shua, the sons of Saul. ³And the battle went sore against Saul, and the archers overtook him; and he was distressed by reason of the archers.

¹ In 1 Samuel xiv. 49, Ishvi.

2. Malchi-shua] This is the correct spelling, not Melchi-shua.

⁴Then said Saul unto his armourbearer, Draw thy sword, and thrust me through therewith; lest these uncircumcised come and abuse¹ me. But his armourbearer would not; for he was sore afraid. Therefore Saul took his sword, and fell upon it. ⁵And when his armourbearer saw that Saul was dead, he likewise fell upon his sword, and died.

¹ Or, make a mock of me.

4. unto his armourbearer] Compare Judges ix. 54 (the death of Abimelech). One function of an armourbearer was to give the “coup de grâce” to fallen enemies (1 Samuel xiv. 13), but sometimes the same office had to be executed for friends. Possibly the man refused from fear of blood-revenge, which would be the more certainly exacted in the case of the Lord’s Anointed, compare 1 Samuel ii. 22, xxvi. 9 (so Curtis).

and abuse me] i.e. wreak their cruel will upon me; compare Judges i. 6.

⁶So Saul died, and his three sons; and all his house died together.

6. all his house] In Samuel “his armourbearer and all his men.” The reference may be to Saul’s servants: his family was not exterminated in this battle.

⁷And when all the men of Israel that were in the valley saw that they fled, and that Saul and his sons were dead, they forsook their cities, and fled; and the Philistines came and dwelt in them.

⁸And it came to pass on the morrow, when the Philistines came to strip the slain, that they found Saul and his sons fallen in mount Gilboa.

7. that were in the valley] The “valley of Jezreel” (Hosea i. 5), called in later times the “plain of Esdrelon” (Esdraelon), is meant.

forsook their cities] Among these was no doubt Beth-shan (Beisan) “the key of Western Palestine” (see G. A. Smith, Historical Geography of the Holy Land pp. 358 f.), where Saul’s body was exposed (1 Samuel xxxi. 12).

and dwelt in them] Perhaps for a short while only, compare 2 Samuel ii. 9, “[Abner] made him (Ish-bosheth) king over ... Jezreel.” Ish-bosheth, however, may have “ruled” only in acknowledgment of a Philistine suzerainty.

⁹And they stripped him, and took his head, and his armour, and sent into the land of the Philistines round about, to carry the tidings unto their idols, and to the people.

9. to carry the tidings unto their idols] Better, as in Samuel, “to publish it in the house (or houses) of their idols”; compare the next verse. The news was published by the exhibition of trophies of the victory in the Philistine temples.

¹⁰And they put his armour in the house of their gods, and fastened his head in the house of Dagon.

10. in the house of their gods] In Samuel (more definitely) “in the house (or houses) of Ashtaroth,” Ashtaroth being the plural of Ashtoreth, a goddess, who seems here to bear a martial character. (The name Ashtoreth is an artificial formation, the proper form being Ashtarte. The vowels of the word bōshĕth, i.e. shame, were used for the last two syllables in place of the true vowels; compare note on viii. 33.) She was apparently consort of the Phoenician Baal (Judges ii. 13, x. 6).

fastened his head in the house of Dagon (literally Beth-Dagon)] In Samuel fastened his body to the wall of Beth-shan. The reading of Chronicles is probably an arbitrary alteration made by the Chronicler out of regard for 1 Samuel xxxi. 9, where it is related that the Philistines cut off Saul’s head. It is just possible that the variation points to a fuller original text containing all three statements—that Saul’s armour was placed in the temple of Ashtarte, his head in the “house of Dagon,” and his headless corpse fastened to the walls of Beth-shan. Beth-shan is north-east of Gilboa, about four miles distant from the Jordan, and about a day’s march (1 Samuel xxxi. 12) from Jabesh (verse 11), which was situated on the other side of Jordan in Gilead.

¹¹And when all Jabesh-gilead heard all that the Philistines had done to Saul,

11. Jabesh-gilead] See 1 Samuel xi. 1‒11; 2 Samuel ii. 4‒7.

¹²all the valiant men arose, and took away the body of Saul, and the bodies of his sons, and brought them to Jabesh, and buried their bones under the oak¹ in Jabesh, and fasted seven days.

¹ Or, terebinth.

12. took away] i.e. from the walls of Beth-shan (so Peshitṭa).

to Jabesh] Samuel adds “and burned them there.” The Chronicler omits this statement perhaps because he inferred that the bones were not destroyed by this burning; compare 2 Samuel xxi. 12‒14 (the bones of Saul and Jonathan brought from Jabesh in David’s reign and re-interred in the family sepulchre) or more probably because burning was not a usual funeral rite among the Jews (compare 2 Chronicles xvi. 14, note), and indeed was regarded with abhorrence (compare Amos ii. 1).

under the oak] margin, terebinth. Large trees, being rare in Palestine, frequently serve as landmarks; compare Judges iv. 5; 1 Samuel xxii. 6 (“tamarisk tree” Revised Version).

fasted seven days] Fasting involved abstinence from food during daylight. David fasted “till the evening” in mourning for Saul (2 Samuel i. 12) and for Abner (2 Samuel iii. 35). The fast of Jabesh was a sevenfold fast.

13, 14 (peculiar to Chronicles).
The Moral of the Overthrow of the House of Saul.

Such reflexions as these are characteristic of the Chronicler; compare 2 Chronicles xii. 2 (note), xxii. 7, xxiv. 24, xxv. 27. They are not so frequent in Samuel and Kings.

¹³So Saul died for¹ his trespass which he committed against the Lord, because of the word of the Lord, which he kept not; and also for that he asked counsel of one that had a familiar spirit, to inquire thereby,

¹ Or, in.

13. his trespass] compare 2 Chronicles xxvi. 16. The reference is to Saul’s sacrifice (1 Samuel xiii. 13, 14), and disobedience (1 Samuel xv. 23).

asked counsel ... spirit] i.e. of the witch of Endor, 1 Samuel xxviii. 7 ff.

¹⁴and inquired not of the Lord: therefore he slew him, and turned the kingdom unto David the son of Jesse.

14. and inquired not of the Lord] Compare xiii. 3. The Chronicler presumably does not count inquiries made too late; compare 1 Samuel xxviii. 6 (Saul inquires of the Lord, but receives no answer).

Chapter XI.

1‒3 (= 2 Samuel v. 1‒3).
David made King over all Israel.

The remaining chapters of the first book of Chronicles are occupied with the reign of David, who is represented as a king fulfilling the Chronicler’s highest ideals of piety and prosperity. For some general remarks on the difference between the picture thus given and the David of Samuel see the note on xxviii. 1.

¹Then all Israel gathered themselves to David unto Hebron, saying, Behold, we are thy bone and thy flesh.

1. Then] Render And.

all Israel] Chronicles has nothing here corresponding to 2 Samuel i.‒iv., chapters which cover a period of seven years (2 Samuel v. 5). David’s earlier coronation by the men of Judah (2 Samuel ii. 4), the reign of Ish-bosheth over Northern and Eastern Israel (2 Samuel ii. 8 ff.), and the “long war” (2 Samuel iii. 1) with the house of Saul are omitted not of course because the Chronicler was ignorant of these events (for see the references in verses 15, 17; xii. 1, 23, 29, etc.), but for the reason set forth above in the head-note to chapters x.‒xxix. The Chronicler’s account is perhaps deliberately adapted to convey an impression of the ease with which the ideal David ascends the throne of a united Israel; and, if we had not the narrative in Samuel to help us, we should be left with a conception of the period very different from the actual course of events. How strange, too, would be the sudden transition from the picture of defeat and flight of Israel in chapter x. to the calm assemblage of all Israel in chapter xi., and how obscure the various references to David’s earlier life in xi. 15 ff.!

we are thy bone and thy flesh] The phrase is not to be taken strictly as implying kinship, for only the tribe of Judah could say “The king is near of kin to us” (2 Samuel xix. 42). The other tribes mean that they will obey David as though he were their own kin.

²In times past, even when Saul was king, it was thou that leddest out and broughtest in Israel: and the Lord thy God said unto thee, Thou shalt feed my people Israel, and thou shalt be prince¹ over my people Israel.

¹ Or, leader.

2. the Lord thy God said] Compare verses 3, 10; 1 Samuel xvi. 1‒13.

prince] compare v. 2, note.

³So all the elders of Israel came to the king to Hebron; and David made a covenant with them in Hebron before the Lord; and they anointed David king over Israel, according to the word of the Lord by the hand of Samuel.

3. made a covenant] i.e. gave them a charter in which he promised to respect existing rights; compare 1 Samuel x. 25 (Samuel writes the “manner” of the kingdom).

before the Lord] One method of entering into a covenant “before the Lord” was to pass between the parts of a sacrificed animal; compare Jeremiah xxxiv. 18, 19.

Chronicles has nothing here corresponding with 2 Samuel v. 4, 5; but compare xxix. 27.

according ... Samuel] Compare 1 Samuel xv. 28, xvi. 1, 3.

4‒9 (= 2 Samuel v. 6‒10).
The “City of David” captured and made a royal residence.

⁴And David and all Israel went to Jerusalem (the same is Jebus); and the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land, were there.

4. David and all Israel] In Samuel (more accurately) “The king and his men,” i.e. his household and body-guard; compare x. 6, note. The exploit recorded in Samuel is invested by the Chronicler with the grandeur of a state campaign.

the same is Jebus] Jerusalem (or Jebus) consisted, it seems (compare verse 8; Judges i. 21), of a citadel inhabited by Jebusites and of a lower city inhabited by a mixed population of Jebusites and Benjamites. It was the citadel only which David stormed. Jerusalem is called Jebus only here and in Judges xix. 10 f. The notion that Jebus was an ancient name for the city may be only a late fancy, but it is possible that it was sometimes so called in the days of the Jebusite rule. What is certain is that the name Jerusalem is ancient, for it occurs frequently (as Urusalim) in the Amarna tablets, circa 1400 B.C. See G. A. Smith, Jerusalem.

the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land] i.e. masters of that territory before the Israelite invasion. The Jebusites have been thought to be of Hittite origin, but they were probably Semites, like the Israelites (see G. A. Smith, Jerusalem, II. 16‒18).

⁵And the inhabitants of Jebus said to David, Thou shalt not come in hither. Nevertheless David took the strong hold of Zion; the same is the city of David.

5. Thou shalt not come in hither]. Undoubtedly the Chronicler understood the resistance offered by the Jebusites to be of a military character, and the text of Samuel as translated in Authorized Version and Revised Version follows the same notion. See, however, the reinterpretation of the Samuel text by Barnes in the Expositor, January, 1914, where it is urged that the word (mᵉtsudah) rendered “strong hold” means not a well-fortified citadel but simply a natural hiding place, such as a thicket or a cavern (which in this case probably was used as a shrine by the Jebusites).

the strong hold of Zion] See the previous note. The site of this “hold” or cavern (afterwards “the city of David”) is on the south-east of the present city, on the south of the Haram (the Temple area), and on a level lower than that of the Haram (see Smith, Jerusalem, II. 39 ff.).

⁶And David said, Whosoever smiteth the Jebusites first shall be chief and captain. And Joab the son of Zeruiah went up first, and was made chief. ⁷And David dwelt in the strong hold; therefore they called it the city of David.

6. Whosoever smiteth the Jebusites] The reference here is no doubt to military violence. See, however, the article by Barnes cited above. The text in Samuel is very difficult and corrupt, and has been simplified by the Chronicler.

Joab the son of Zeruiah] Zeruiah was David’s sister (ii. 16). It is not said in Samuel that Joab first became commander-in-chief on this occasion; on the contrary he appears in command (2 Samuel ii. 13) during the civil war against the house of Saul. Perhaps he was first formally acknowledged as commander at the seizure of Jerusalem.

⁸And he built the city round about, from Millo even round about: and Joab repaired¹ the rest of the city. ⁹And David waxed greater and greater; for the Lord of hosts was with him.

¹ Hebrew revived.

8. from Millo even round about] Literally “the Millo,” meaning perhaps “The filling up,” was some part of the defences of the “city of David,” either a solid tower or perhaps an armoury, or a piece of supplementary work intended to strengthen an existing wall (LXX. 2 Chronicles xxxii. 5, ἀνάλημμα, “support”). See Smith, Jerusalem II. 40 f.

Joab] This tradition about Joab is not mentioned in Samuel.

repaired the rest of the city] literally revived, compare Nehemiah iv. 2 (= Hebrew iii. 34). Peshitṭa translates: “Joab gave his right hand to the rest of the men who were in the city”; and it has been proposed to render the clause spared or kept alive the rest of the city (i.e. the remaining people, the Benjamites who dwelt there with the Jebusites [Judges i. 21]). The rendering repaired is to be preferred.

10‒41a (compare 2 Samuel xxiii. 8‒39).
David’s Mighty Men and their Deeds.

This section seems to consist of elements drawn from different sources and brought together (probably by the author of Samuel) in order to give as complete a list as possible of the heroes who at different times in David’s career did good service to Israel.

The names of twelve of these heroes reappear in chapter xxvii. as the commanders of David’s twelve “courses.”

Verses 11‒14 (= 2 Samuel xxiii. 8‒12) deal with two (in Samuel three) heroes otherwise unknown.

Verses 15‒19 (= 2 Samuel xxiii. 13‒17) are independent of the foregoing and narrate an exploit of three unnamed heroes.

Verses 20‒25 (= 2 Samuel xxiii. 18‒23) seem in turn to be independent of 15‒19, and verses 21, 25 in particular seem to be quoted from some lost poem. These verses contain the eulogy of Abishai and Benaiah.

Verses 26‒41a (= 2 Samuel xxiii. 24‒39) contain thirty names of heroes whose exploits are not recorded. It is to be noted that Chronicles, verses 41b‒47, adds some sixteen names at the end which are not given in Samuel.

Joab is not included in the formal list because he has been already mentioned (verse 6).

Lists of names are favourite features in oriental Histories. Thus Ibn Hishām in his Life of Mohammed gives a list of the 83 Moslems who took refuge in Abyssinia from the persecution of the Koreish, of the 75 inhabitants of Medina who swore allegiance to the Prophet before the Hegira, and even of the 314 Moslems who were present at the battle of Bedr.

¹⁰Now these are the chief of the mighty men whom David had, who shewed¹ themselves strong with him in his kingdom, together with all Israel, to make him king, according to the word of the Lord concerning Israel.

¹ held strongly with him.

10. Now these] This verse is the Chronicler’s own heading which he prefixes to the list of heroes taken from Samuel, while retaining (in verse 11) the original heading given in Samuel.

who shewed themselves strong with him] Render as margin, who held strongly with him. Compare xii. 23.

to make him king] as though all the mighty men participated in the coronation at Hebron, whereas in reality many must have won their place and fame only in the later campaigns of David.

¹¹And this is the number of the mighty men whom David had: Jashobeam, the son of a Hachmonite, the chief of the thirty¹; he lifted up his spear against three hundred and² slew them at one time.

¹ Another reading is, captains.

² Hebrew slain.

11. this is the number] More suitably in Samuel, “These be the names.”

Jashobeam] Called “Jashobeam the son of Zabdiel” in xxvii. 2. The name “Jashobeam” is however uncertain. In 2 Samuel (xxiii. 8, Revised Version) it appears as “Josheb-basshebeth,” which is certainly wrong. LXX. (B) varies in reproducing the name, but it seems to have read “Ish-bosheth” in Samuel, and “Ish-baal” (Esh-baal) in both places of Chronicles. These readings are probably right. For the relation of the forms “Ish-bosheth,” “Esh-baal” see viii. 33, note.

son of a Hachmonite] Compare xxvii. 32. In Samuel (wrongly) “a Tahchemonite.”

chief of the thirty] So the Hebrew margin (Kethīb), but the Hebrew text (Ḳerī) reads chief of the captains, which the Authorized Version follows. Neither Authorized Version nor Revised Version gives satisfactory sense. In 2 Samuel xxiii. 8 the LXX. gives, chief of the third part [of the army], compare 2 Samuel xviii. 2; and this is perhaps right; the Hebrew text of Samuel (if not faulty) probably bears the same sense. Ish-baal (Jashobeam) then is one of three “mightiest of the mighty” men, the other two being Eleazar (verse 12) and Shammah (= 2 Samuel xxiii. 11; omitted in Chronicles—see note on verses 12, 13).

he lifted up his spear] Literally “he aroused his spear,” a poetic expression.

against three hundred] Samuel “against eight hundred”; so Peshitṭa (good MSS.) of Chronicles Some light is thrown on this exploit by 1 Samuel xviii. 25‒27; the two hundred Philistines slain by David and his men were carefully counted and reckoned to the credit of David personally.

12, 13. These verses answer in part to verses 9 and 11 of Samuel, but since verse 10 and parts of verses 9, 11 of Samuel have no equivalent in Chronicles, two incidents are confounded, and the name of a hero (Shammah) is omitted, his exploit being ascribed to Eleazar.

¹²And after him was Eleazar the son of Dodo, the Ahohite, who was one of the three mighty men.

12. Eleazar the son of Dodo] Probably to be identified with “Dodai the Ahohite,” the commander of the second “course”; xxvii. 4.

the three mighty men] i.e. the three who were with David on the occasion mentioned in 2 Samuel xxiii. 9.

¹³He was with David at Pas-dammim¹, and there the Philistines were gathered together to battle, where was a plot of ground full of barley; and the people fled from before the Philistines.

¹ In 1 Samuel xvii. 1, Ephes-dammim.

13. at Pas-dammim] Perhaps the same place as “Ephes-dammim” which is mentioned in 1 Samuel xvii. 1 as the gathering-place of the Philistines. It was in the south-west of Judah.

barley] Samuel “lentils.” The two words resemble each other in Hebrew and might be confused by an unwary scribe.

¹⁴And they stood in the midst of the plot, and defended it, and slew the Philistines; and the Lord saved them by a great victory¹.

¹ Hebrew salvation.

14. they stood] The subject of the verb in 2 Samuel xxiii. 12 is Shammah, here David and Eleazar together.

¹⁵And three of the thirty chief went down to the rock to David, into the cave of Adullam; and the host of the Philistines were encamped in the valley of Rephaim.

15. to the rock] Samuel “in the harvest-time.” Probably both readings are wrong, and the original form of the verse was perhaps And three of the thirty went down at the beginning of harvest to David, etc. (see Driver, Notes on Hebrew text of Samuel², p. 366).

the cave of Adullam] So also in 1 Samuel xxii. 1; 2 Samuel xxiii. 13. In verse 16 below, and in 1 Samuel xxii. 4 it is called the “hold.” Probably “the ‘hold’ was a tangle of hill and forest, in the centre of which the ‘cave of Adullam’ served as David’s headquarters” (Barnes, Expositor, January, 1914): the whole forming an admirable retreat for men acquainted with its intricacies. An identification with a commanding hill in the Shephelah, called “Aid-el-ma,” has been suggested (see G. A. Smith, Historical Geography of the Holy Land pp. 229, 230, note).

the valley of Rephaim] Probably the broad depression traversed by the road from Jerusalem to Beth-lehem. See Joshua xv. 8 (“vale of Rephaim” Revised Version; “valley of the giants” Authorized Version).

¹⁶And David was then in the hold, and the garrison of the Philistines was then in Beth-lehem. ¹⁷And David longed, and said, Oh that one would give me water to drink of the well of Beth-lehem, which is by the gate!

16. in the hold] compare note on the cave of Adullam (verse 15).

¹⁸And the three brake through the host of the Philistines, and drew water out of the well of Beth-lehem, that was by the gate, and took it, and brought it to David: but David would not drink thereof, but poured it out unto the Lord, ¹⁹and said, My God forbid it me, that I should do this: shall I drink the blood of these men that¹ have put their lives in jeopardy? for with the jeopardy of their lives they brought it. Therefore he would not drink it. These things did the three mighty men.

¹ Hebrew with their lives.

18. brake through the host] or camp. The word “host” in the Hebrew regularly means a host encamped, not a host embattled. Perhaps this exploit took place by night; compare the deed of David and Abishai (1 Samuel xxvi. 6‒12).

poured it out] i.e. as a libation-offering.

²⁰And Abishai¹, the brother of Joab, he was chief of the three: for he lifted up his spear against three hundred and² slew them, and had a name among the three. Of³ the three,

¹ Hebrew Abshai.

² Hebrew slain.

³ Or, Of the three in the second rank he was the most honourable.

20. chief of the three] In 2 Samuel xxiii. 18 (Kethīb) Abishai is called by the same title (Hebrew rōsh hasshālīshi) as Josheb-basshebeth (2 Samuel xxiii. verse 8). This title probably means chief of the third part [of the army]; compare verse 11, note. Chief of the three is a faulty reading: it certainly ought not to be taken in connection with the three mighty men—Jashobeam (Ishbaal), Eleazar and <Shammah>—referred to in verses 10 ff. Probably a reading “chief of the thirty,” for which there is some MS. authority, is correct; but the references here and in the following verse are obscure (see Driver, Samuel², pp. 367, 368).

had a name among the three] Compare verse 24, where the same thing is said of Benaiah. The three meant are either the three of verses 15‒19 or else an unknown three; compare next note.

²¹he was more honourable than the two, and was made their captain: howbeit he attained not to the first three.

21. Of the three, he was more honourable than the two] margin “Of the three in the second rank he was the most honourable.” Neither of these renderings is satisfactory, and the text is certainly corrupt (compare 2 Samuel xxiii. 19), and should be corrected. Read perhaps: He was more honourable than the three, or perhaps, than the thirty. The verse probably comes from a lost poem. What is meant by the three and by the first three cannot be determined owing to the loss of the context.

²²Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the son of a valiant man of Kabzeel, who had done mighty deeds, he slew the two sons of Ariel of Moab: he went down also and slew a lion in the midst of a pit in time of snow.

22. Benaiah] See 2 Samuel viii. 18; 1 Kings i. 8 ff., ii. 25‒35.

Kabzeel] It was in the south of Judah; Joshua xv. 21.

he slew the two sons of Ariel of Moab] So LXX. of 2 Samuel xxiii. 20. The phrase is very difficult. Some, emending the text, read “He slew two young lions, having gone down to their lair.” Another but an improbable conjecture is “he smote the two altar-pillars of Moab,” i.e. he overthrew the two high columns on which the sacred fire of the Moabites was kept (Robertson Smith, Religion of the Semites, Additional Note L). To injure or defile the sacred place of an enemy was a common practice in ancient war.

in time of snow] “The beast had strayed up the Judaean hills from Jordan, and had been caught in a sudden snowstorm. Where else than in Palestine could lions and snow thus come together?” G. A. Smith, Historical Geography of the Holy Land p. 65.

²³And he slew an Egyptian, a man of great stature, five cubits high; and in the Egyptian’s hand was a spear like a weaver’s beam; and he went down to him with a staff, and plucked the spear out of the Egyptian’s hand, and slew him with his own spear. ²⁴These things did Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and had a name among the three mighty men.

23. of great stature] Samuel has a better reading, “a goodly man” (man of presence), “goodliness” according to the Hebrews consisting in being well-built for warlike exercises.

a staff] Hebrew shēbhet, i.e. the “rod” or “club” carried by shepherds as a defence against wild-beasts; Psalms ii. 9 (“rod”); xxiii. 4 “rod”); 2 Samuel xviii. 14 (“darts”). This “rod” had a point at one end, so that it could on occasion be used as a stabbing weapon.

²⁵Behold, he was more honourable than the thirty, but he attained not to the first three: and David set him over his guard¹.

¹ Or, council.

25. more honourable than the thirty] On the phrase, see verse 21, note. The verse probably comes from some poem written in praise of Benaiah. Compare xxvii. 6.

guard] The same Hebrew word, mishma‘ath, is translated “council” in the margin here and also in 1 Samuel xxii. 14. The literal meaning is “obedience”; it seems both here and in Samuel (1 Samuel xxii. 14) to designate those who executed the king’s commands, i.e. his ministers. (Minister = “servant.”)

²⁶Also the mighty men of the armies; Asahel the brother of Joab, Elhanan the son of Dodo of Beth-lehem;

26. Asahel] Whose death at the hands of Abner, the general of Ishbosheth, was the cause of the famous feud between Abner and Joab, compare 2 Samuel ii. 18 ff., iii. 27.

Elhanan] Called here (= 2 Samuel xxiii. 24) “son of Dodo,” but perhaps to be identified with “Elhanan the son of Jair” of xx. 5 (= 2 Samuel xxi. 19, where Jaare-oregim is an error for Jair [see Driver, Samuel², pp. 367, 368]).

²⁷Shammoth¹ the Harorite, Helez the Pelonite²;

¹ In 2 Samuel xxiii. 25, Shamah the Harodite.

² In 2 Samuel xxiii. 26, Paltite.

27. the Harorite] Read, the Harodite (so Samuel). Compare Judges vi. 23, vii. 1, whence it appears that Harod was in (or near) the valley of Jezreel. Compare also 1 Chronicles xxvii. 8 (“Shamhuth the Izrahite”), where the same person seems to be meant. “Elika the Harodite” (Samuel) is not found in Chronicles.

Helez the Pelonite] Compare xxvii. 10, where he is described as a captain of the children of Ephraim. In 2 Samuel xxiii. 26 however it is Helez the Paltite, i.e. (apparently) “the inhabitant of Beth-pelet” in the south of Judah (Joshua xv. 27).

²⁸Ira the son of Ikkesh the Tekoite, Abiezer the Anathothite;

28. Ira the son of Ikkesh the Tekoite] Compare xxvii. 9. For Tekoa see 2 Chronicles xx. 20, note.

Abiezer the Anathothite] xxvii. 12 and 2 Samuel xxiii. 27. Anathoth was in Benjamin; it was Jeremiah’s village (Jeremiah i. 1, xi. 21 ff.), now Anāta, 2½ miles north-north-east of Jerusalem.

²⁹Sibbecai¹ the Hushathite, Ilai² the Ahohite;

¹ In 2 Samuel xxiii. 27, Mebunnai.

² In 2 Samuel xxiii. 28, Zalmon.

29. Sibbecai] So xxvii. 11, but in 2 Samuel xxiii. 27 “Mebunnai.”

the Hushathite] Hushah is probably the name of some place near Beth-lehem (iv. 4). Shuah (iv. verse 11) may be another form of the name.

Ilai] In 2 Samuel xxiii. 28 “Zalmon.” The two words are perhaps only various readings of the name which originally appeared in the list.

the Ahohite] He was of a Benjamite family; viii. 4 (“Ahoah”).

³⁰Maharai the Netophathite, Heled¹ the son of Baanah the Netophathite;

¹ In 2 Samuel xxiii. 29, Heleb.

30. Maharai the Netophathite] So in xxvii. 13, with “of the Zerahites” (Revised Version) added. A Netophathite might come either from Netophah (a village in Judah not far from Beth-lehem), or from the “villages of the Netophathites” (ix. 16, note).

Heled] In xxvii. 15 “Heldai,” a name found in Zechariah iv. 10. “Heleb” in 2 Samuel xxiii. 29 is probably a wrong reading.

³¹Ithai the son of Ribai of Gibeah of the children of Benjamin, Benaiah the Pirathonite;

31. Ithai] In 2 Samuel xxiii. 29 “Ittai,” the same name as in 2 Samuel xv. 19, xviii. 2, but a different person is meant.

Benaiah the Pirathonite] So in xxvii. 14; 2 Samuel xxiii. 30. Pirathon was a town in Ephraim; Judges xii. 15. Probably the place is mentioned also in 1 Maccabees ix. 50 (τὴν Θαμνάθα Φαραθών).

³²Hurai¹ of the brooks of Gaash, Abiel² the Arbathite;

¹ In 2 Samuel xxiii. 30, Hiddai.

² In 2 Samuel xxiii. 31, Abi-albon.

32. Hurai] In 2 Samuel xxiii. 30, “Hiddai.” The true form of the name is uncertain; neither form occurs elsewhere.

Gaash] A mountain in Ephraim; Judges ii. 9 (= Joshua xxiv. 30).

Abiel] In 2 Samuel xxiii. 31 “Abi-albon.” “Arbathite” means “inhabitant of Beth Arabah”; a town on the border between Judah and Benjamin, Joshua xv. 6.

³³Azmaveth the Baharumite, Eliahba the Shaalbonite;

33. Baharumite] In 2 Samuel xxiii. 31 “Barhumite.” We should read in both places, Bahurimite, i.e. “inhabitant of Bahurim,” a town of Benjamin (2 Samuel iii. 16).

Shaalbonite] i.e. “inhabitant of Shaalbim” (Judges i. 35), or “Shaalabbin” (Joshua xix. 42), a town in Dan.

³⁴the sons of Hashem¹ the Gizonite, Jonathan the son of Shage the Hararite;

¹ In 2 Samuel xxiii. 32, Jashen.

34. the sons of Hashem the Gizonite] The corresponding clause in 2 Samuel xxiii. 32 is simply “the sons of Jashen.” The text is corrupt in both places. LXX. (Chronicles) for the sons of has the proper name “Benaiah.” Read perhaps “Jashen the Gunite” (compare Numbers xxvi. 48) omitting the sons of (Hebrew bĕnē) as arising from a mistaken repetition of the last three letters of Shaalbonite (Hebrew form).

Jonathan the son of Shage] Compare 2 Samuel xxiii. 32, 33, where the right reading seems to be “Jonathan the son of Shammah.” Nothing is known of the meaning of “Hararite,” nor is the reading certain.

³⁵Ahiam the son of Sacar¹ the Hararite, Eliphal² the son of Ur; ³⁶Hepher the Mecherathite, Ahijah the Pelonite;

¹ In 2 Samuel xxiii. 33, Sharar.

² In 2 Samuel xxiii. 34, Eliphelet the son of Ahasbai.

35. Sacar] In 2 Samuel “Sharar.”

35, 36. Eliphal the son of Ur; Hepher the Mecherathite] In 2 Samuel xxiii. 34 “Eliphelet the son of Ahasbai, the son of the Maacathite.” Chronicles has two heroes against one in 2 Samuel.

36. Ahijah the Pelonite] A mutilated reading of 2 Samuel xxiii. 34, “Eliam the son of Ahithophel the Gilonite.” For “Ahithophel” see xxvii. 33, note. “Gilonite” means “inhabitant of Giloh,” a town in the hill country of Judah (Joshua xv. 51).

³⁷Hezro the Carmelite, Naarai¹ the son of Ezbai;

¹ In 2 Samuel xxiii. 35, Paarai the Arbite.

37. Hezro] So 2 Samuel xxiii. 35 (Revised Version following the Kethīb); but Hezrai (Authorized Version following the Ḳerī).

the Carmelite] i.e. inhabitant of Carmel, a town in the hill country of Judah (1 Samuel xxv. 2 ff.).

Naarai] In 2 Samuel xxiii. 35 “Paarai.” The true form is lost.

the son of Ezbai] In 2 Samuel “the Arbite” (simply), i.e. (probably) “inhabitant of Arab” (Joshua xv. 52), a town in the hill country of Judah.

³⁸Joel the brother of Nathan, Mibhar the son of Hagri;

38. Joel the brother of Nathan, Mibhar] Mibhar is a corruption of a word (“of Zobah”) belonging to the first clause of the verse; compare 2 Samuel xxiii. 39, “Igal the son of Nathan of Zobah.” For “Zobah” compare xviii. 3.

the son of Hagri] In 2 Samuel “Bani the Gadite.”

³⁹Zelek the Ammonite, Naharai the Berothite, the armourbearer of Joab the son of Zeruiah;

39. the Berothite] Spelt generally “Beerothite.” Beeroth was a Benjamite town; 2 Samuel iv. 2.

⁴⁰Ira the Ithrite, Gareb the Ithrite;

40. the Ithrite] i.e. “member of the family (or ‘clan’) of Jether.” Compare ii. 17, note.

⁴¹Uriah the Hittite, Zabad the son of Ahlai;

41. Uriah the Hittite] Compare 2 Samuel xi. 3. The list in 2 Samuel xxiii. closes with this name and with the note “thirty and seven in all.” In Chronicles the list is extended to include sixteen additional names, which are all otherwise unknown.

41b‒47 (no parallel in 2 Samuel).
Continuation of the List of David’s Mighty Men.

⁴²Adina the son of Shiza the Reubenite, a chief of the Reubenites, and thirty with him; ⁴³Hanan the son of Maacah, and Joshaphat the Mithnite;

42. and thirty with him] This clause may be a marginal note taken into the text at the wrong place. It was apparently meant to stand after the name of Uriah the Hittite (verse 41) by some scribe who followed our present text and referred “the sons of Hashem” (verse 34) to Azmaveth and Eliahba (verse 33), thus reckoning just thirty names from Asahel to Uriah. The clause should be read either “and up to him are thirty” or “and all of them are thirty” (compare 2 Samuel xxiii. 39). Another possibility is that the proper place of these verses, 42‒47, is in chapter xii., after verse 7: they describe on that view the Reubenite gathering to David, and the names in verses 43‒47 are then to be regarded as a portion of the list of the thirty with Adina (verse 42). On the characteristics of these additional names and of those in xii. 1‒22, see G. B. Gray, Hebrew Proper Names, p. 230.

⁴⁴Uzzia the Ashterathite, Shama and Jeiel the sons of Hotham the Aroerite; ⁴⁵Jediael the son of Shimri, and Joha his brother, the Tizite;

44. the Ashterathite] i.e. inhabitant of Ashtaroth (vi. 71 [56, Hebrew]), a city of Manasseh east of Jordan.

the Aroerite] i.e. inhabitant of Aroer. There were two cities of this name, both east of Jordan; compare Joshua xiii. 16, 25.

⁴⁶Eliel the Mahavite, and Jeribai, and Joshaviah, the sons of Elnaam, and Ithmah the Moabite;

46. the Mahavite] Read perhaps, “the Mahanite,” i.e. inhabitant of Mahanaim, a town east of Jordan; compare 2 Samuel xvii. 27; or “the Meonite,” i.e. of Beth Meon, a Reubenite city, Joshua xiii. 17.

⁴⁷Eliel, and Obed, and Jaasiel the Mezobaite.

47. the Mezobaite] Read perhaps, “of Zobah”; compare verse 38, note.

Chapter XII.

1‒22 (not in Samuel).
David’s Adherents in exile.

This section describes the gathering to David of helpers from Benjamin (verses 1‒7), Gad (8‒15), Benjamin and Judah (16‒18), and Manasseh (19‒22)—before the death of Saul. It is entirely natural to suppose that the men who followed David in the days of Saul’s enmity were rewarded when he became king, and their descendants might well be prominent families in the land. Whether any such survived the exilic period and continued in later Jerusalem we cannot say for certain, but it is probable that some names in this list are correct, though it is doubtful whether the Chronicler is drawing on contemporary family tradition or on written sources. The style, however, shows that the composition of the chapter is the Chronicler’s, and the impression made by the whole should be contrasted with the picture of this period of David’s life given in 1 Samuel xxii. 1 ff. In Samuel David is leader of a small band of his own immediate friends, augmented by adventurers and desperate men, and numbering in all some six hundred. In Chronicles one gathers that his followers were the choice spirits of Israel and Judah, who rallied to his support until he had “a great host like the host of God.” Beyond question the picture in Samuel is true to fact, that in Chronicles being part of the idealisation of David as the perfect king, which the Chronicler (doubtless in full accord with the temper of his age) consistently presents. Its worth lies not in its historical accuracy, but in the religious enthusiasm which has produced it.

1‒7.
Benjamite Adherents of David.

¹Now these are they that came to David to Ziklag, while¹ he yet kept himself close because of Saul the son of Kish: and they were among the mighty men, his helpers in war.

¹ Hebrew being yet shut up.

1. to Ziklag] David at Ziklag was a client of Achish, king of Gath (1 Samuel xxvii. 5, 6), so that Benjamites joining him put themselves under their hereditary enemies the Philistines.

while he yet kept himself close] Render, while he was yet shut up. David was shut in, as in a prison, and unable to move freely through the land of Israel.

²They were¹ armed with bows, and could use both the right hand and the left in slinging stones and in shooting arrows from the bow; they were of Saul’s brethren of Benjamin.

¹ Or, drew the bow.

2. both the right hand and the left] In Judges xx. the Benjamites are said to have had seven hundred men lefthanded who could sling stones at a hair and not miss (Judges xx. verse 16). Compare Judges iii. 15.

they were of Saul’s brethren of Benjamin] Brother is used in Hebrew and Arabic for fellow-tribesman; compare 2 Samuel xix. 12. The loyalty of Benjamin to Saul even after his death is attested by 2 Samuel ii. 15, 25, 31. But the importance of Benjamites in the post-exilic period would encourage such a tradition as is here recorded.

³The chief was Ahiezer, then Joash, the sons of Shemaah the Gibeathite; and Jeziel, and Pelet, the sons of Azmaveth; and Beracah, and Jehu the Anathothite;

3. The chief was A., then J.] Read (compare LXX.) A. the chief, J. the son (singular) of Shemaah.

Jehu the Anathothite] i.e. man of Anathoth. See xi. 28, note.

⁴and Ishmaiah the Gibeonite, a mighty man among the thirty, and over the thirty; and Jeremiah, and Jahaziel, and Johanan, and Jozabad the Gederathite; ⁵Eluzai, and Jerimoth, and Bealiah, and Shemariah, and Shephatiah the Haruphite;

4. among the thirty, and over the thirty] Ishmaiah’s name does not occur among the thirty (2 Samuel xxiii. 24‒39); the phrase is therefore perhaps only a kind of superlative; Ishmaiah was worthy to be ranked with the thirty or even above them. Probably however the list in chapter xi. and that in chapter xii. belong to different times.

the Gederathite] i.e. the man of Gederah. The only Gederah known was in the Judean Shephelah (Joshua xv. 36), so that it would seem that some men of Judah are reckoned along with the Benjamites in these verses. Similarly in verse 7 men of the Judean town of Gedor (iv. 4; Joshua xv. 58) are mentioned. Perhaps therefore some words introducing the names of Judean heroes have dropped out. But an identification with a Benjamite village Jedireh, North of Jerusalem, is also possible.

⁶Elkanah, and Isshiah, and Azarel, and Joezer, and Jashobeam, the Korahites; ⁷and Joelah, and Zebadiah, the sons of Jeroham of Gedor.

6. the Korahites] Probably not the Levitic but the Calebite sons of Korah (ii. 43), who belonged to Judah, are meant.

8‒15.
Gadite Adherents of David.

⁸And of the Gadites there separated themselves unto David to the hold in the wilderness, mighty men of valour, men trained for war, that could handle shield and spear; whose faces were like the faces of lions, and they were as swift as the roes upon the mountains; ⁹Ezer the chief, Obadiah the second, Eliab the third;

8. And of the Gadites] The Gadites had the name of marauders (Genesis xlix. 19), and David’s mode of life would attract them. Chronologically verse 8 should precede verse 1; David was first “in the hold” and afterwards in Ziklag. On the reference to Gad and Manasseh (verse 19) see 2 Chronicles xv. 9.

separated themselves] i.e. left their brethren east of Jordan and came west.

to the hold in the wilderness] It is uncertain whether this hold be or be not the cave of Adullam. On the latter see xi. 15, note.

shield and spear] The reference is to the manner of fighting in David’s day. At the threat of an attack an army was drawn up in close array, shield touching shield and spears carried at the charge. Only in a high state of discipline could men quickly and effectively handle shield and spear thus (1 Samuel xvii. 2, 8, 21). (The Authorized Version, “shield and buckler,” follows a mistake of several early editions of the printed Hebrew text.)

as the roes] In David’s lament (2 Samuel i.) Jonathan is compared to a lion (verse 23) and to a gazelle (verse 19 margin, the same Hebrew word as for roe here).

¹⁰Mishmannah the fourth, Jeremiah the fifth; ¹¹Attai the sixth, Eliel the seventh; ¹²Johanan the eighth, Elzabad the ninth; ¹³Jeremiah the tenth, Machbannai the eleventh.

10. Jeremiah, the fifth] Compare verse 13, Jeremiah the tenth. A very slight difference of spelling distinguishes the two words in the Hebrew.

¹⁴These of the sons of Gad were captains of the host: he that was least was equal to¹ an hundred, and the greatest to¹ a thousand.

¹ Or, over.

14. he that was least ... thousand] Compare Leviticus xxvi. 8; Isaiah xxx. 17.

¹⁵These are they that went over Jordan in the first month, when it had overflown all its banks; and they put to flight all them of the valleys, both toward the east, and toward the west.

15. in the first month] In Nisan (the month of harvest) when the snow was melting and filling all streams; compare Joshua iii. 15.

all them of the valleys] i.e. all inhabitants of the valleys who in the interest of Saul sought to bar their march westward to join David.

16‒18.
Amasai and His Companions.

16‒18. These interesting and beautiful passages are so different in style and sentiment from what precedes and what follows that they would seem to be drawn from another source. It is quite possible that they were inserted thus between Gad and Manasseh by the Chronicler himself; but that they are a later addition is probable from the fact that the adherents who came from Benjamin and perhaps Judah (verses 5‒7, see note on Gederathite) are given above, verses 1‒7.

¹⁶And there came of the children of Benjamin and Judah to the hold unto David.

16. to the hold] See verse 8, notes.

¹⁷And David went out to meet them, and answered and said unto them, If ye be come peaceably unto me to help me, mine heart shall be knit unto you: but if ye be come to betray me to mine adversaries, seeing there is no wrong¹ in mine hands, the God of our fathers look thereon, and rebuke it.

¹ Or, violence.

17. David went out to meet them] Instead of letting himself be surprised he took up a favourable position in advance from which he could hold parley with them. The south of Judah with its ravines and cliffs affords many such positions.

the God of our fathers, etc.] Compare the equally fine assertion of integrity of conduct and of faith in God made by David in 1 Samuel xxiv. 11 ff. If it be felt that in the later idealisation, which must be recognised, we lose our knowledge of the real David, it should be remembered that this very idealisation is in itself proof of the greatness of David in mind and soul. The strong but simple faith and the magnanimous bearing of David, which such a passage as the present portrays, are no doubt true to fact, for they provide precisely that historical basis without which the reverent and loving idealisation of later generations had never come into existence.

¹⁸Then the spirit came¹ upon Amasai, who was chief of the thirty², and he said, Thine are we, David, and on thy side, thou son of Jesse: peace, peace be unto thee, and peace be to thine helpers; for thy God helpeth thee. Then David received them, and made them captains of the band.

¹ Hebrew clothed.

² Another reading is, captains.

18. the spirit came upon A.] Literally a spirit (i.e. from God) clothed itself with (i.e. entered into) Amasai. Compare 2 Chronicles xxiv. 20; Judges vi. 34.

Amasai] Probably to be identified with “Amasa” (2 Samuel xvii. 25, xix. 13).

chief of the thirty] Thus the Kethīb; the Authorized Version], following the Ḳerī, has “chief of the captains”; so also xi. 11, where see note.

Thine are we, David, and on thy side] Literally “For thee, David, and with thee.” This response “Thine are we ... helpeth thee” is a fine fragment of Hebrew poetry, having an early simplicity of style, which it is peculiarly interesting to find in so late a book as Chronicles. It is assuredly not the composition of the Chronicler, but must be derived from some independent source, and is perhaps a really old traditional saying about David. See the Introduction § 5, p. xxxv.

for thy God helpeth thee] David’s frequent escapes from Saul were felt to be due to Divine protection.

19‒22.
Manassite Adherents.

¹⁹Of Manasseh also there fell away some to David, when he came with the Philistines against Saul to battle, but they helped them not: for the lords of the Philistines upon advisement sent him away, saying, He will fall away to his master Saul to the jeopardy of our heads.

19. when he came with the Philistines] See 1 Samuel xxviii. 1, 2, xxix. 1‒11.

but they helped them not] David’s men did not help the Philistines.

upon advisement] “After consideration”; literally “by counsel.” Compare xxi. 12, “advise thyself.”

to the jeopardy of our heads] Rather, at the price of our heads. David became son-in-law to Saul at the price of the lives of two hundred of the Philistines (1 Samuel xviii. 27); their lords here (in Chronicles) express their dread lest David reconcile himself to Saul by some act of treachery and slaughter done against his present Philistine patrons; compare 1 Samuel xxix. 4 (“with” = “at the price of”).

²⁰As he went to Ziklag, there fell to him of Manasseh, Adnah, and Jozabad, and Jediael, and Michael, and Jozabad, and Elihu, and Zillethai, captains of thousands that were of Manasseh.

20. As he went] i.e. As he returned (1 Samuel xxx. 1).

Jozabad] This name occurs twice; possibly in the original list different patronymics were attached to the two mentions of the name.

captains of thousands] Compare xv. 25; Micah v. 2. Tribes were divided into “thousands” which were subdivided into “hundreds.” These divisions were of civil as well as of military significance.

²¹And they helped David against the band of rovers: for they were all mighty men of valour, and were captains in the host.

21. the band of rovers] The reference is to the Amalekites who burnt Ziklag (1 Samuel xxx. 1 ff.). The Hebrew word gĕdūd, here translated “band,” is translated “troop” in 1 Samuel xxx. 8, 15.

and were captains] Render, and they became captains.

²²For from day to day there came to David to help him, until it was a great host, like the host of God.

22. the host of God] The phrase comes from Genesis xxxii. 2; compare Psalms lxviii. 15 (Revised Version) “a mountain of God.” The epithet “of God” is used to distinguish a thing as “very great.”

23‒40 (compare 2 Samuel v. 1).
The Forces which came to Hebron to make David King.

²³And these are the numbers of the heads of them that were armed for war, which came to David to Hebron, to turn the kingdom of Saul to him, according to the word of the Lord.

23. And these are, etc.] It may confidently be said that the list as it stands is the composition of the Chronicler himself, for the syntax and vocabulary of the passage are his, and there is no evidence to suggest that its statements are based on those of some ancient document. Its value in the idealistic account of David which the Chronicler furnishes is obvious, implying as it does not only that the northern as well as the southern tribes concurred whole-heartedly in the election of David, but also that the occasion was one of great military display. On the huge numbers alleged to have come from the North (Zebulun, Naphtali, Dan, and Asher being credited with 155,600 warriors) compare the following note, and, in general, on midrashic exaggeration of numbers in Chronicles see the note on 2 Chronicles xvii. 14.

²⁴The children of Judah that bare shield and spear were six thousand and eight hundred, armed for war.

24. six thousand and eight hundred] Contrast the numbers assigned to the northern tribes in verses 33 ff. It may be the idea of the Chronicler that the unanimous support of the southern tribes could be assumed, and that only chosen representatives of these tribes attended. But much more probably the multitudes of Zebulun (verse 33), etc. are simply due to his desire to magnify the share taken by the north, whilst the problem of the numerical contrast with Judah, etc. did not present itself to him as it does to us.

²⁵Of the children of Simeon, mighty men of valour for the war, seven thousand and one hundred. ²⁶Of the children of Levi four thousand and six hundred.

25. Simeon] The most southerly of the tribes (iv. 24‒31). The tribes are mentioned in order from south to north.

²⁷And Jehoiada was the leader of the house of Aaron, and with him were three thousand and seven hundred;

27. of the house of Aaron] Jehoiada was not high-priest, but leader of the warriors of the house of Aaron. He may be the same person as the father of Benaiah (xi. 22). Leader (Hebrew nagīd) is the title given to the “Ruler” of the Temple (ix. 11).

²⁸and Zadok, a young man mighty of valour, and of his father’s house twenty and two captains.

28. Zadok] In xxvii. 17 he seems to occupy the position assigned to Jehoiada in verse 27. Perhaps he succeeded him.

²⁹And of the children of Benjamin, the brethren of Saul, three thousand: for hitherto the greatest part of them had kept¹ their allegiance to the house of Saul. ³⁰And of the children of Ephraim twenty thousand and eight hundred, mighty men of valour, famous men in their fathers’ houses.

¹ Hebrew kept the charge of the house.

29. hitherto] i.e. up to the time referred to in 2 Samuel v. 1.

³¹And of the half tribe of Manasseh eighteen thousand, which were expressed by name, to come and make David king.

31. which were expressed by name] Suggesting that a census list was kept, recording however not necessarily individuals but simply households. The phrase does not mean picked representatives. Note how the Chronicler skilfully lightens his statistics by some descriptive phrase: so also in verses 32 ff.

³²And of the children of Issachar, men that had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do; the heads of them were two hundred; and all their brethren were at their commandment.

32. that had understanding of the times] Compare Esther i. 13, “which knew the times.” “Times” are “opportunities,” “vicissitudes” (compare xxix. 30), “experiences,” good or bad (compare Psalms xxxi. 15). The phrase means, therefore, “men of experience, having knowledge of the world.” Some suppose that the phrase refers to astrological skill (knowledge of auspicious “times and seasons”).

³³Of Zebulun, such as were able to go out in the host, that could set the battle in array, with all manner of instruments of war, fifty thousand; and that could order the battle array, and were not of double heart. ³⁴And of Naphtali a thousand captains, and with them with shield and spear thirty and seven thousand. ³⁵And of the Danites that could set the battle in array, twenty and eight thousand and six hundred. ³⁶And of Asher, such as were able to go out in the host, that could set the battle in array, forty thousand.

33. such as were able, etc.] This description is intended to exclude mere lads (such as David appeared to be, 1 Samuel xvii. 33) who might be in attendance on the warriors.

that could order, etc.] i.e. who moved as one man in battle array; compare verse 8, note on shield and spear. For “of double heart” compare 2 Chronicles xxx. 12, “one heart.”

³⁷And on the other side of Jordan, of the Reubenites, and the Gadites, and of the half tribe of Manasseh, with all manner of instruments of war for the battle, an hundred and twenty thousand.

37. an hundred and twenty thousand] Evidently a round number, giving 40,000 to each tribe; compare verse 36.

³⁸All these, being men of war, that could order the battle array, came with a perfect heart to Hebron, to make David king over all Israel: and all the rest also of Israel were of one heart to make David king.

38. with a perfect heart] i.e. with whole, undivided heart.

³⁹And they were there with David three days, eating and drinking: for their brethren had made preparation for them.

39. eating and drinking] The feasting probably began with the sacrificial meal by which a covenant was usually ratified; compare Genesis xxxi. 46, 54.

⁴⁰Moreover they that were nigh unto them, even as far as Issachar and Zebulun and Naphtali, brought bread on asses, and on camels, and on mules, and on oxen, victual of meal, cakes of figs, and clusters of raisins, and wine, and oil, and oxen, and sheep in abundance: for there was joy in Israel.

40. they that were nigh unto them] The relatives of the assembled warriors cared for their needs.

as far as Issachar] Even those warriors who came from the northern districts were provisioned by their kinsfolk.

Chapter XIII.

1‒14 (= 2 Samuel vi. 1‒11).
Removal of the Ark from Kiriath-jearim to the House of Obed-edom. Death of Uzza.

In harmony with his conviction that the acts of David in promoting or instituting the religious ceremonial of Israel were the supremely important events of his reign, the Chronicler represents the removal of the Ark from Kiriath-jearim as being the first concern of the new monarch and his first action subsequent to the capture of Jerusalem. David’s building of a royal residence for himself and his family in Jerusalem, and his victories over the Philistines, which in 2 Samuel precede the removal of the Ark, are relegated to the second place in Chronicles (see chapter xiv.). The transposition of order is effected by means of the introductory verses 1‒4, which are from the Chronicler’s own hand.

It is convenient to draw attention here to a matter of some importance in the narrative of Chronicles, viz. that the Chronicler believed the Tabernacle (Mishkān) of the Lord (Exodus xxxv.‒xl.) “which Moses made in the wilderness” (1 Chronicles xxi. 29) to be in existence in David’s day and to be standing at Gibeon (see xvi. 39, and 2 Chronicles i. 3). Yet when the Ark was taken into the city of David it was placed not in the Mishkān but “in the tent (Ohel) which David pitched for it” (xvi. verse 1 = 2 Samuel vi. 17). Thus in Chronicles the two holy things, the Ark and the Tabernacle, are represented as separated, and a separate daily service has to be instituted for each; Asaph and his brethren being said to minister before the Ark in the city of David (1 Chronicles xvi. 37), and Zadok and his brethren before the Tabernacle at Gibeon (xvi. verse 39). The worship at Gibeon as well as Jerusalem entailed a manifest breach of the Deuteronomic law that at one sanctuary only must worship be offered. It is hard to say what the Chronicler thought of David’s strange disregard of a stringent law which (on the Chronicler’s theory) was well known to David, and which the Chronicler used as one of the criteria distinguishing the good from the evil kings from Solomon onwards. Doubtless David’s ecclesiastical arrangements were regarded as temporary, pending the building of the Temple, but surely the Mishkān could have been removed to Jerusalem almost as easily as the Ark. Why then does the perfect king fail in this duty? The Chronicler ignores the difficulty completely, probably because he was unable to see or conjecture any adequate explanation of David’s conduct. It goes without saying that in reality the Deuteronomic law of the one sanctuary was of much later origin than the time of David, and the difficulty is an unreal one.

¹And David consulted with the captains of thousands and of hundreds, even with every leader.

1. David consulted with the captains, etc.] The Chronicler is fond of associating the people with the king in religious measures so as to minimise the appearance of arbitrary power which is suggested by the language of the books of Samuel and of Kings; compare verse 4 (the assembly said that they would do so), also 2 Chronicles xxx. 2, 4. Similarly in xxviii. 2 the king addresses the elders as My brethren. Doubtless the Chronicler had in mind Deuteronomy xvii. 20.

²And David said unto all the assembly of Israel, If it seem good unto you, and if it be of the Lord our God, let us send abroad every where unto our brethren that are left in all the land¹ of Israel, with² whom the priests and Levites are in their cities that have suburbs³, that they may gather themselves unto us: and let us bring again the ark of our God to us:

¹ Hebrew lands.

² Or, and with them to the priests and Levites which are &c.

³ Or, pasture lands.

2. let us send abroad every where] The Hebrew phrase is peculiar; let us spread, let us send, i.e. let the invitation be sent far and wide throughout the land and not limited to the southern tribes.

the priests and Levites] In Samuel no mention of the Levites is made in the account of the removal of the Ark. The Chronicler retells the story in accordance with the conviction that the complete Levitical ceremonial with which he was familiar was actually in operation in the days of David.

in their cities that have suburbs] or, as margin, ... that have pasture lands; i.e. following the provision that cities are to be assigned to the Levites with “suburbs for their cattle and for their substance, and for all their beasts” (Numbers xxxv. 2‒7; compare Joshua xiv. 4, xxi. 2).

³for we sought not unto it in the days of Saul. ⁴And all the assembly said that they would do so: for the thing was right in the eyes of all the people.

3. we sought not unto it] The meaning is to seek with care, to care for. Compare xv. 13.

⁵So David assembled all Israel together, from Shihor the brook of Egypt even unto the entering in of Hamath, to bring the ark of God from Kiriath-jearim.

5. from Shihor the brook of Egypt] Shihor was the name of the brook (now wady el-Arish) which divided Palestine from Egypt (Joshua xiii. 3, xv. 4; Jeremiah ii. 18).

the entering in of Hamath] Hamath (now Hama) is on the Orontes, see note on xviii. 5. The entering in of Hamath is to be identified with the Beḳā‘a, a broad valley between Lebanon and Anti-Libanus watered by the Orontes, Bädeker, Palestine⁵, p. 372. It is mentioned as on the northern frontier of Israel in Joshua xiii. 5; 1 Kings viii. 65, and elsewhere.

⁶And David went up, and all Israel, to Baalah, that is, to Kiriath-jearim, which belonged to Judah, to bring up from thence the ark of God, the Lord that sitteth¹ upon the cherubim, which² is called by the Name.

¹ Or, dwelleth between.

² Or, where the Name is called on.

6. to Baalah, that is, to Kiriath-jearim] A Gibeonite city, probably Ḳaryet el-‘Enab (“City of Grapes”) some 7 miles north-west of Jerusalem. Compare Joshua xv. 9; in Joshua xv. 60 Kiriath-baal.

sitteth upon the cherubim] Compare Ezekiel i. 26.

which is called by the Name] The God whose is the Ark is here distinguished from the gods of the nations as the God who bears the ineffable Name.

⁷And they carried the ark of God upon a new cart, and brought it out of the house of Abinadab: and Uzza and Ahio drave the cart.

7. a new cart] A new cart was chosen as one which had not been profaned by common work. So (Judges xvi. 11, 12) new ropes “wherewith no work hath been done” were used in the attempt to bind the consecrated man, Samson. So also (Mark xi. 2, 7) our Lord rode into Jerusalem on a colt “whereon no man ever yet sat.”

the house of Abinadab] Compare 1 Samuel vii. 1, 2; also 2 Samuel vi. 3. Here the Ark had been since the Philistines restored it to Israelite territory.

⁸And David and all Israel played before God with all their might: even with songs, and with harps, and with psalteries, and with timbrels, and with cymbals, and with trumpets.

8. played] The Hebrew word means to sport, to dance (compare xv. 29).

with all their might: even with songs] A better reading than that of 2 Samuel vi. 5, with all manner of instruments made of fir wood.

psalteries] The instrument here meant (Hebrew nēbhel) “is generally identified at the present day with an instrument called the santir still in use among the Arabs. This consists of a long box with a flat bottom covered with a somewhat convex sounding-board over which the strings are stretched.” (Nowack, Hebräische Archäologie, I. 275.) The “harp” (Hebrew kinnōr) was a simpler instrument (like the Greek Kithara), a lyre rather than a true harp.

For a full discussion of nēbhel and kinnōr see Driver, Amos, p. 234, or the articles Music in Encyclopedia Biblia or Hastings’ Dictionary of the Bible.

⁹And when they came unto the threshing-floor of Chidon, Uzza put forth his hand to hold the ark; for the oxen stumbled¹.

¹ Or, were restive Or, threw it down.

9. the threshing-floor of Chidon] LXX. (B) omits of Chidon. In 2 Samuel vi. 6, Nacon’s threshing-floor. Nacon is probably a textual blunder.

to hold the ark] The Chronicler from a feeling of reverence shrinks from saying, and took hold of it (2 Samuel vi. 6).

stumbled] margin threw it down, but the meaning is perhaps rather, let it go, i.e. let the cart on which the Ark was slip backwards. The same Hebrew word is used 2 Kings ix. 33; there Jehu in his mocking humour says not, Throw her down, but, Let her go, an ambiguous command meant to throw as much responsibility as possible upon those who obeyed it.

¹⁰And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Uzza, and he smote him, because he put forth his hand to the ark: and there he died before God.

10. before God] In 2 Samuel vi. 7, by the ark of God.

¹¹And David was displeased, because the Lord had broken forth upon Uzza: and he called that place Perez-uzza¹, unto this day. ¹²And David was afraid of God that day, saying, How shall I bring the ark of God home to me?

¹ That is, The breach of Uzza.

11. was displeased] Rather, was wroth, presumably against his advisers for not warning him that the method adopted for the removal of the Ark was wrong; compare xv. 13.

had broken forth] Literally as Authorized Version, had made a breach upon Uzza. Compare Exodus xix. 22.

Perez-uzza] The meaning of the name is given by the margin The breach of Uzza.

¹³So David removed not the ark unto him into the city of David, but carried it aside into the house of Obed-edom the Gittite.

13. Obed-edom the Gittite] As Gittite means man of Gath, Obed-edom was doubtless of Philistine origin; perhaps he attached himself to David during David’s sojourn among the Philistines. In xv. 18, 24, xvi. 38, xxvi. 4 an Obed-edom is mentioned as a Levite and a porter (doorkeeper) for the Ark, and elsewhere (xv. 21, xvi. 5) as a singer (see the notes on xv. 18, and xvi. 38).

¹⁴And the ark of God remained with the family of Obed-edom in his house three months: and the Lord blessed the house of Obed-edom, and all that he had.

14. with the family of Obed-edom in his house] Render, by (i.e. near) the house of Obed-edom in its own house. The Chronicler (regarding Obed-edom as a foreigner if not also an idolater) finds it necessary to alter the expression found in 2 Samuel vi. 11, “in the house of Obed-edom the Gittite.” (On the significance of the name—literally servant of Edom—see Driver, Samuel², pp. 268, 269.)

blessed] Targum blessed with sons and sons’ sons.

Chapter XIV.

(= 2 Samuel v. 11‒25).
David at Jerusalem. Two Philistine Attacks Repulsed.

The Chronicler derives this chapter from Samuel but gives it in a setting of his own. To agree with Samuel it should immediately follow 1 Chronicles xi. 9 and should immediately precede 1 Chronicles xiii. 1. In Samuel the two attempts to remove the Ark to the city of David, the first unsuccessful, the second successful, are related in immediate succession; the Chronicler interposes between them the double repulse of the Philistines. See the head-note to chapter xiii.

1, 2.
Hiram’s [first] Embassy to David.

The dislocation of the narrative mentioned in the last note has concealed the occasion of Hiram’s embassy. The narrative of 2 Samuel v. 9‒11 suggests that Hiram heard of the building works which David was carrying on at Jerusalem and so sent materials and workmen to assist. David accepted the welcome offer (which ultimately led to an alliance) as a sign of Divine favour.

¹And Hiram king of Tyre sent messengers to David, and cedar trees, and masons, and carpenters, to build him an house. ²And David perceived that the Lord had established him king over Israel, for his kingdom was exalted on high, for his people Israel’s sake.

1. Hiram] Other forms of this name are Huram and (1 Kings v. 10, 18) Hirom.

3‒7 (= iii. 5‒8 and 2 Samuel v. 13‒16).
David’s Family in Jerusalem.

³And David took more wives at Jerusalem: and David begat more sons and daughters.

3. more wives] In 2 Samuel v. 13 more concubines and wives. The Chronicler omits or modifies statements which tend to David’s discredit.

⁴And these are the names of the children which he had in Jerusalem; Shammua, and Shobab, Nathan, and Solomon; ⁵and Ibhar, and Elishua, and Elpelet; ⁶and Nogah, and Nepheg, and Japhia; ⁷and Elishama, and Beeliada, and Eliphelet.

4. these are the names] The names seem better preserved here than in either of the parallel passages; compare notes on iii. 5‒8.

Shammua ... Solomon] All these four are attributed to Bath-shua (= Bath-sheba) in iii. 5.

8‒17 (= 2 Samuel v. 17‒25).
The Double Repulse of the Philistines.

⁸And when the Philistines heard that David was anointed king over all Israel, all the Philistines went up to seek David: and David heard of it, and went out against¹ them.

¹ Or, before.

8. over all Israel] in 2 Samuel v. 17, over Israel. In both passages the reference is to the later anointing by the whole people (2 Samuel v. 3).

all the Philistines] David, as king of Judah, was of little or no political importance to the Philistines; as king of united Israel, he became a possible menace, and was accordingly attacked without delay.

went up] i.e. from their own low-lying territory by the sea into the hill-country of Judah.

went out against them] margin went out before them, i.e. anticipated them, did not wait for them to attack him. In 2 Samuel v. 17 went down to the hold, an expression which might refer to some part of the difficult hill-country of Judah in which he had long defied Saul, or may mean the “hold” of Jerusalem, which David had seized from the Jebusites (see note on xi. 5).

⁹Now the Philistines had come and made a raid in the valley of Rephaim.

9. the valley of Rephaim] probably the shallow valley, now called Beḳā‘a, across which runs the road from Jerusalem to Beth-lehem (Bädeker, Palestine⁵, pp. 15, 99).

¹⁰And David inquired of God, saying, Shall I go up against the Philistines? and wilt thou deliver them into mine hand? And the Lord said unto him, Go up; for I will deliver them into thine hand.

10. inquired of God] doubtless by means of the sacred lot, the Urim and Thummim (see Hastings’ Dictionary of the Bible s.v., and Kirkpatrick’s notes on 1 Samuel x. 22, xxiii. 6).

¹¹So they came up to Baal-perazim, and David smote them there; and David said, God hath broken¹ mine enemies by mine hand, like the breach of waters. Therefore they called the name of that place Baal-perazim².

¹ Or, broken forth upon mine enemies.

² That is, The place of breakings forth.

11. Baal-perazim] probably to be identified with the Mount Perazim of Isaiah xxviii. 21, but the situation is unknown.

like the breach of waters] i.e. like the breach made by waters, Probably the scene of the victory was a hill deeply scarred with watercourses. The force with which God broke through the army of the Philistines is compared with that of a torrent bursting forth from the hill-side or forcing its way through all obstacles. Baal-perazim = the Lord of breakings forth, i.e. upon the foe.

¹²And they left their gods there; and David gave commandment, and they were burned with fire.

12. David gave commandment, and they were burned] In 2 Samuel v. 21 (Revised Version) David and his men took them away. The Chronicler alters this statement so as to make David’s conduct agree with the Law (Deuteronomy vii. 5, 25) which enjoined that graven images were to be burnt with fire.

¹³And the Philistines yet again made a raid in the valley.

13. yet again] This invasion of “all the Philistines” (verse 8) was too serious to be repelled by a single defeat.

in the valley] in 2 Samuel v. 22, in the valley of Rephaim, as in verse 9 above.

¹⁴And David inquired again of God; and God said unto him, Thou shalt not go up after them: turn away from them, and come upon them over against the mulberry¹ trees.

¹ Or, balsam trees.

14. Thou shalt not go up after them] In 2 Samuel v. 23 the words after them are connected with the following verb: Thou shalt not go up: make a circuit behind them. In Samuel the command is to assail the rear of the enemy, in Chronicles to avoid the rear (which was perhaps protected by a rear-guard) and to attack (presumably) the flank. The reading in Chronicles is to be preferred as a harder reading, which yields good sense on examination.

from them] The Hebrew word suggests that David occupied a commanding position from which he would be tempted to attack.

over against the mulberry trees] Render, along, parallel to. The line of David’s attack is to be parallel to a line of mulberry trees (or to a ridge on which mulberry trees stood) situate probably at right angles to the line of the Philistine march. Thus David’s advance would be concealed from the Philistines until the very moment of the attack, which would fall on the flank of the Philistine march.

mulberry trees] or, as margin, balsam trees. Some kind of tree or shrub from which gum exudes seems to be meant.

¹⁵And it shall be, when thou hearest the sound of marching in the tops of the mulberry trees, that then thou shalt go out to battle: for God is gone out before thee to smite the host of the Philistines.

15. the sound of marching] the sound of the wind in the trees is to be taken as an omen from Jehovah, indicating the favourable moment for the assault. The Targum, characteristically, has the sound of angels coming to thy help.

thou shalt go out to battle] Samuel has a more vivid phrase, thou shalt bestir thyself.

¹⁶And David did as God commanded him: and they smote the host of the Philistines from Gibeon¹ even to Gezer. ¹⁷And the fame of David went out into all lands; and the Lord brought the fear of him upon all nations.

¹ In 2 Samuel v. 25, Geba.

16. smote the host of the Philistines from Gibeon even to Gezer] This victory was decisive; the main army of the Philistines was routed.

Gezer] compare vi. 67, note.

Chapter XV.

1‒24.
David’s Preparations for Bringing the Ark to Jerusalem.

There is no parallel in Samuel to this section.

In 2 Samuel vi. 12 the reason given for the renewal of David’s attempt to bring the Ark to Jerusalem is the report of the blessing which was said to have befallen Obed-edom, in whose house the Ark had been left. The Chronicler is not ignorant of this tradition since he refers to it incidentally in xiii. 14, but it would be very far from his sense of the fitness of things to adduce it as the motive for David’s action. On the contrary he declares in this section that David was prompted by a realisation that the ill-success of the first attempt was due to failure to observe the regulations of the Levitical Law. Full attention now being given to the prescribed ritual, David succeeds in his pious purpose.

¹And David made him houses in the city of David; and he prepared a place for the ark of God, and pitched for it a tent.

1. made him houses] Compare 2 Samuel v. 9.

a tent] a new tent, not the old tabernacle which the Chronicler believed to be at Gibeon (see xvi. 39).

²Then David said, None ought to carry the ark of God but the Levites: for them hath the Lord chosen to carry the ark of God, and to minister unto him for ever.

2. None ... but the Levites] Numbers i. 50, vii. 9. Nothing is said in the parallel place (2 Samuel vi. 13) of the Levites, but bearers (and not a cart) are spoken of with regard to this second attempt. Compare 2 Chronicles v. 4, note.

³And David assembled all Israel at Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the Lord unto its place, which he had prepared for it. ⁴And David gathered together the sons of Aaron, and the Levites:

3. assembled all Israel] It was a solemn religious assembly (Hebrew Ḳāhāl, Greek ἐκκλησία).

⁵of the sons of Kohath; Uriel the chief, and his brethren an hundred and twenty: ⁶of the sons of Merari; Asaiah the chief, and his brethren two hundred and twenty: ⁷of the sons of Gershom; Joel the chief, and his brethren an hundred and thirty: ⁸of the sons of Elizaphan; Shemaiah the chief, and his brethren two hundred: ⁹of the sons of Hebron; Eliel the chief, and his brethren fourscore: ¹⁰of the sons of Uzziel; Amminadab the chief, and his brethren an hundred and twelve.

5‒10. Remark that besides the three great Levitical divisions, Kohathites, Gershonites, and Merarites, three additional classes (sons of Elizaphan, of Hebron, and of Uzziel) are given in verses 8‒10. This unusual sixfold division, and the smallness of the numbers of Levites have been taken as indicating that the whole passage xv. 1‒15 is drawn by the Chronicler from an earlier source, but the argument is not convincing. “The text does not imply that Elizaphan, Hebron, and Uzziel were coordinated with Kohath, Gershom, and Merari”; and the small numbers are accounted for by the view that only selected Levites were chosen for the task (so Curtis, Chronicles, p. 127).

5. the sons of Kohath; Uriel] Kohath had four sons (Exodus vi. 18 = 1 Chronicles vi. 18): Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel. Here the descendants of Amram (exclusive of the priests, the Aaronites) represented by Uriel head the list (verse 5), and the descendants of Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel appear in verses 8, 9, 10 respectively. Elizaphan (verse 8) either stands for the Izhar of Exodus vi. 18, or is the name of some prominent descendant of Izhar after whom the whole family was named. He is mentioned again in 2 Chronicles xxix. 13. As regards number the Kohathites were 512 against 350 of the sons of Merari and the sons of Gershom combined. In vi. 60‒63 (45‒48, Hebrew) 23 cities are reckoned to Kohath against 25 to Merari and Gershom combined. The Kohathites formed the largest and most important of the three divisions of the Levites.

¹¹And David called for Zadok and Abiathar the priests, and for the Levites, for Uriel, Asaiah, and Joel, Shemaiah, and Eliel, and Amminadab,

11. Zadok and Abiathar] This double priesthood (2 Samuel viii. 17, xv. 29, 35, xix. 11, xx. 25) came to an end in the reign of Solomon (1 Kings ii. 27, 35). Zadok is always mentioned first as being descended from Eleazar the third son of Aaron, while Ithamar from whom Abiathar (Ahimelech) was descended through Eli (1 Kings ii. 27) was the fourth son (xxiv. 1, 3). In two of the passages quoted in this note Abiathar (probably being confused with his father) is called Ahimelech or Abimelech (2 Samuel viii. 17 = 1 Chronicles xviii. 16; 1 Chronicles xxiv. 3). Conversely in Mark ii. 26 Ahimelech is called Abiathar. In the Chronicler’s list of high-priests (vi. 4‒14) Zadok alone is mentioned, the line of Eleazar alone being given.

the priests] Only the two chief priests are mentioned here. Other priests blew with the trumpets in front of the Ark (verse 24).

¹²and said unto them, Ye are the heads of the fathers’ houses of the Levites: sanctify yourselves, both ye and your brethren, that ye may bring up the ark of the Lord, the God of Israel, unto the place that I have prepared for it.

12. sanctify yourselves] Compare 2 Chronicles xxix. 5. For the method of sanctifying compare Exodus xix. 10, 15.

¹³For because ye bare it not at the first, the Lord our God made a breach upon us, for that we sought him not according to the ordinance. ¹⁴So the priests and the Levites sanctified themselves to bring up the ark of the Lord, the God of Israel.

13. made a breach] xiii. 11, xiv. 11 (compare margin).

we sought him not] i.e. God; but a better rendering is we sought not unto it. Compare note on xiii. 3.

according to the ordinance] For its observance, see verse 15.

¹⁵And the children of the Levites bare the ark of God upon their shoulders with the staves thereon, as Moses commanded according to the word of the Lord.

15. the children of the Levites bare ... upon their shoulders] in accordance with the regulation of Numbers i. 50, vii. 9, which was not observed in the first attempt when the Ark was placed in a cart, xiii. 7.

the staves] Exodus xxv. 13, 14.

¹⁶And David spake to the chief of the Levites to appoint their brethren the singers, with instruments of music, psalteries and harps and cymbals, sounding aloud and lifting up the voice with joy.

16. psalteries] See note on xiii. 8.

¹⁷So the Levites appointed Heman the son of Joel; and of his brethren, Asaph the son of Berechiah; and of the sons of Merari their brethren, Ethan the son of Kushaiah;

17. Heman the son of Joel] a descendant of Samuel the prophet; vi. 33 (vi. 18, Hebrew). Compare Psalms lxxxviii. (title). As Heman was descended from Kohath, Asaph from Gershom, and Ethan from Merari, each division of the Levites was represented by a chief musician. Heman was king’s seer (xxv. 5).

Asaph the son of Berechiah] a descendant of Gershom; vi. 39‒43 (24‒28, Hebrew). Asaph was the chief of the musicians; xvi. 5, 7. One of the small collections of Psalms from which our Psalter was compiled was named after him; compare the titles of Psalms l., lxxiii.‒lxxxiii.

Ethan the son of Kushaiah] a descendant of Merari; vi. 44‒47. Compare Psalms lxxxix. (title). He is apparently called Jeduthun in xxv. 1‒6. See also the note on xvi. 41.

18‒24. These verses present several obscurities which can hardly be explained except by the supposition that the original text of the Chronicler has been added to by a later writer with intricate results. Several reconstructions are possible, the most plausible being that of Curtis which is followed in these notes.

¹⁸and with them their brethren of the second degree, Zechariah, Ben, and Jaaziel, and Shemiramoth, and Jehiel, and Unni, Eliab, and Benaiah, and Maaseiah, and Mattithiah, and Eliphelehu, and Mikneiah, and Obed-edom, and Jeiel, the doorkeepers.

18. their brethren of the second degree] Read rather their twelve brethren: twelve being the number of names from Zechariah to Mikneiah. The last two, Obed-edom and Jeiel, were “doorkeepers,” not “singers,” although they were mistakenly supposed to belong to the list of singers by the author of verses 19‒21 (see further regarding Obed-edom the note on xvi. 38).

Ben] This word, which means “son,” is an error. Read probably Bani.

the doorkeepers] See the notes on ix. 17.

¹⁹So the singers, Heman, Asaph, and Ethan, were appointed, with cymbals of brass to sound aloud;

19‒21. Probably an addition interpolated by someone interested in the detailed organisation of the Levitical choirs. The names are taken from verse 18, except that Ben is omitted, and a new name Azaziah is added at the end of the list. Since Obed-edom and Jeiel are included among the singers here, the reading “of the second degree” (which is regarded above as an error for an original “twelve”: a slight change in Hebrew) must have been found in the text of verse 18 which the interpolator used.

to sound aloud] The cymbals mark the time for the other instruments.

²⁰and Zechariah, and Aziel, and Shemiramoth, and Jehiel, and Unni, and Eliab, and Maaseiah, and Benaiah, with psalteries set to Alamoth;

20. set to Alamoth] an obscure phrase, its musical significance being uncertain; compare Psalms xlvi. (title), Revised Version.

²¹and Mattithiah, and Eliphelehu, and Mikneiah, and Obed-edom, and Jeiel, and Azaziah, with harps set to the Sheminith, to lead.

21. set to the Sheminith] As in the case of Alamoth, the precise musical significance of Sheminith is obscure. Compare Psalms vi. (title, Revised Version margin).

²²And Chenaniah, chief of the Levites, was over the song¹: he instructed about the song¹, because he was skilful.

¹ Or, the carrying of the ark Hebrew the lifting up.

22. was over the song] The Hebrew word (massa) here twice rendered “song” means “uplifting,” either of the voice in song, or in a physical sense = “burden”; hence margin was over the carrying of the ark.

²³And Berechiah and Elkanah were doorkeepers for the ark.

23. were doorkeepers for the ark] The same statement is made in verse 24 concerning Obed-edom and Jehiah (= Jeiel)! On Curtis’ view, this verse was added by the same writer as verses 19‒21, who, having taken Obed-edom and Jeiel as part of the list of singers in verse 18 no doubt thought that the names of the doorkeepers (the last word of verse 18) had somehow been omitted. He supplied therefore here the names Berechiah and Elkanah (taken perhaps from ix. 16). A still later writer has attempted to put matters straight by further adding at the conclusion of verse 24 “and Obed-edom and Jehiah (Jeiel) were doorkeepers for the ark.”

²⁴And Shebaniah, and Joshaphat, and Nethanel, and Amasai, and Zechariah, and Benaiah, and Eliezer, the priests, did blow with the trumpets before the ark of God: and Obed-edom and Jehiah were doorkeepers for the ark.

24. the priests] In Numbers x. 1‒10 it is enjoined to make two silver trumpets to be blown by the priests on days of joy and on feast-days. This festal trumpet was different from the “cornet” (verse 28), properly a ram’s horn, which was freely used for secular purposes. See Driver, Amos, pp. 144 ff. (with illustrations).

25‒XVI. 3 (compare 2 Samuel vi. 12‒20).
The Bringing Home of the Ark. Michal despises David.

²⁵So David, and the elders of Israel, and the captains over thousands, went to bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of the house of Obed-edom with joy: ²⁶and it came to pass, when God helped the Levites that bare the ark of the covenant of the Lord, that they sacrificed seven bullocks and seven rams.

26. when God helped the Levites] In 2 Samuel vi. 13, when they that bare the ark of the Lord had gone six paces. The Chronicler interprets the safe start as a sign of Divine assistance.

seven bullocks and seven rams] In Samuel an ox and a fatling (so Revised Version, not, oxen and fatlings as Authorized Version). The smaller sacrifice of Samuel is represented as the king’s own offering, the larger sacrifice of Chronicles as that of the king and his elders combined.

²⁷And David was clothed with a robe of fine linen, and all the Levites that bare the ark, and the singers, and Chenaniah the master of the song¹ with the singers: and David had upon him an ephod of linen.

¹ Or, the carrying of the ark Hebrew the lifting up.

27. of the song] margin, of the carrying of the ark. Compare verse 22, note.

an ephod of linen] worn exceptionally by David for the purpose of the religious procession. A linen ephod was the ordinary vestment for all priests (1 Samuel xxii. 18). The high-priest’s ephod was a more elaborate garment (Exodus xxviii. 6‒12), fitted with the means of divination (1 Samuel xxiii. 6, 9‒12).

²⁸Thus all Israel brought up the ark of the covenant of the Lord with shouting, and with sound of the cornet, and with trumpets, and with cymbals, sounding aloud with psalteries and harps.

28. with shouting] The Hebrew word (tĕrū‘ah) is technical in the sense of a blast with the festal trumpets (Numbers x. 1‒10), and in this sense it should be taken here, since the Chronicler has expanded the account given in Samuel by introducing a mention of these trumpets.

²⁹And it came to pass, as the ark of the covenant of the Lord came to the city of David, that Michal the daughter of Saul looked out at the window, and saw king David dancing and playing; and she despised him in her heart.

29. playing] a synonym of dancing, obsolete in modern English. The closest rendering is perhaps, leaping as in sport. The unrestrained joyousness of this action might easily degenerate (as in idolatrous worship) into licence. The Chronicler omits to say that the dancing was “before the Lord” (2 Samuel vi. 16). David’s subsequent interview with Michal (2 Samuel vi. verses 20‒23) is also passed over in Chronicles.

Chapter XVI.

¹And they brought in the ark of God, and set it in the midst of the tent that David had pitched for it: and they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before God.

1. the tent] Compare xv. 1, note.

they offered] In 2 Samuel vi. 17, David offered. The Chronicler associates the elders with David as in xv. 26.

burnt offerings] Compare Leviticus i. 1‒9.

peace offerings] The “peace offering” (Hebrew shelem) was a thank-offering or an offering made in expiation of a vow; compare Proverbs vii. 14.

²And when David had made an end of offering the burnt offering and the peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord.

2. blessed the people] Compare 2 Chronicles vi. 3.

³And he dealt to every one of Israel, both man and woman, to every one a loaf of bread, and a portion of flesh¹, and a cake of raisins.

¹ Or, of wine.

3. a loaf of bread] A flat round cake such as is still made in Egypt is meant.

a portion of flesh] margin “of wine.” The meaning of the Hebrew word is unknown. Of flesh is rightly in italics here as in 2 Samuel vi. 19.

a cake of raisins] Compare Isaiah xvi. 7 (Revised Version) where the same Hebrew word is used.

4‒6 (compare verses 37, 38).
David’s Arrangements for Ministration before the Ark.

⁴And he appointed certain of the Levites to minister before the ark of the Lord, and to celebrate and to thank and praise the Lord, the God of Israel:

4. to celebrate] The literal meaning is to call to mind; compare verse 12 (remember). Compare Psalms xxxviii., lxx. (titles).

⁵Asaph the chief, and second to him Zechariah, Jeiel¹, and Shemiramoth, and Jehiel, and Mattithiah, and Eliab, and Benaiah, and Obed-edom, and Jeiel, with psalteries and with harps; and Asaph with cymbals, sounding aloud;

¹ In chapter xv. 18, Jaaziel.

5. Asaph] Compare xv. 17, note.

and Obed-edom] It is possible that the names Obed-edom, and Jeiel and Asaph (in the latter part of the verse) have been inserted by the interpolator who wrote xv. 19‒21 and wished to accommodate these verses to the altered text in chapter xv.

⁶and Benaiah and Jahaziel the priests with trumpets continually, before the ark of the covenant of God.

6. Benaiah and Jahaziel] Two priests for the two trumpets.

Benaiah] In xxvii. 5, 6 a Benaiah son of Jehoiada the priest (Revised Version) is mentioned who may possibly be identified with the Benaiah who was one of the thirty heroes (xi. 24, 25). Compare also xii. 27.

7‒36.
The Psalm of Praise.

⁷Then on that day did David first ordain¹ to give thanks unto the Lord, by the hand of Asaph and his brethren.

¹ Or, make it the chief work.

The psalm which follows consists of Psalms cv. 1‒15, Psalms xcvi. 1b‒13a, Psalms cvi. 1, 47, 48. It has been compiled from the Psalms just mentioned and placed here as an utterance such as would be appropriate to the situation. For detailed criticism as to the original form and present text of these Psalms, the reader must be referred to the commentaries on the Psalter. Only such comment is here given as seems called for in their present setting.

8‒22 (= Psalms cv. 1‒15).

⁸O give thanks unto the Lord, call upon his name;

Make known his doings among the peoples.

8, 9. These verses are perhaps based upon Isaiah xii. 4, 5.

⁹Sing unto him, sing praises unto him;

Talk¹ ye of all his marvellous works.

¹⁰Glory ye in his holy name:

Let the heart of them rejoice that seek the Lord.

¹ Or, Meditate.

9. Talk ye] margin Meditate. Meditation leads to fresh proclamation.

marvellous works] (compare verse 12). i.e. works beyond man’s expectation; compare Genesis xviii. 14, Is anything too hard (wonderful, Revised Version margin) for the Lord?

¹¹Seek ye the Lord and his strength;

Seek his face evermore.

11. and his strength] Perhaps (altering only the points of the Hebrew word) and be ye strong. So LXX. καὶ ἰσχύσατε (in Psalms cv. 4 καὶ κραταιώθητε). A promise is sometimes expressed in Hebrew by the imperative.

¹²Remember his marvellous works that he hath done;

His wonders, and the judgements of his mouth;

12. His wonders] in particular, the marvels of the deliverance from Egypt; Psalms cv. 27‒36.

¹³O ye seed of Israel his servant,

Ye children of Jacob, his chosen ones.

13. of Israel] Psalms cv. 6, of Abraham.

¹⁴He is the Lord our God:

His judgements are in all the earth.

14. His judgements are in all the earth] Compare verses 20‒22.

¹⁵Remember his covenant for ever,

The word which he commanded to a thousand generations;

¹⁶The covenant which he made with Abraham,

And his oath unto Isaac;

¹⁷And confirmed the same unto Jacob for a statute,

To Israel for an everlasting covenant:

15. Remember] Read (with Psalms cv. 8) He hath remembered. Compare Exodus xxiv. 3‒8, xxxiv. 10‒27.

¹⁸Saying, Unto thee will I give the land of Canaan,

The lot¹ of your inheritance:

¹ Hebrew cord, or, line.

18. The lot] The Hebrew word (“ḥebel”) means a portion not assigned by lot but measured by line; compare margin Canaan is co-extensive with Israel’s inheritance.

inheritance] All nations receive an inheritance from God; Deuteronomy xxxii. 8.

¹⁹When ye were but a few men in number;

Yea, very few, and sojourners in it;

19. When ye were] Psalms cv. 12, When they were.

sojourners] The patriarchs were not simply strangers, but strangers who made a long sojourn in Canaan.

²⁰And they went about from nation to nation,

And from one kingdom to another people.

20. kingdom ... people] The “kingdom” is Egypt (Genesis xii.); the “people” the Canaanite and Perizzite (Genesis xiii.).

²¹He suffered no man to do them wrong;

Yea, he reproved kings for their sakes;

21. he reproved kings] Genesis xx. 3‒7.

²²Saying, Touch not mine anointed ones,

And do my prophets no harm.

22. my prophets] Genesis xx. 7.

23‒33 (= Psalms xcvi. 1‒13).

²³Sing unto the Lord, all the earth;

Shew forth his salvation from day to day.

²⁴Declare his glory among the nations,

His marvellous works among all the peoples.

23. Sing unto the Lord] In Psalms xcvi. 1, 2 this exhortation is thrice repeated; in Chronicles it is once given. Note that verse 2a of the Psalm is also omitted here.

²⁵For great is the Lord, and highly to be praised:

He also is to be feared above all gods.

25. to be feared above all gods] i.e. to be feared as being above all “that are called gods,” these being “things of nought” (verse 26, Revised Version margin). The real existence of false gods is not assumed.

²⁶For all the gods of the peoples are idols¹:

But the Lord made the heavens.

¹ Or, things of nought.

26. made the heavens] A fine epithet. Compare Jeremiah x. 11, The gods that have not made the heavens ... shall perish from the earth.

²⁷Honour and majesty are before him:

Strength and gladness are in his place.

27. are before him] i.e. are His, belong to Him as His attributes. Perhaps also before him refers to God’s abode in heaven, while the parallel expression in his place (Psalms xcvi. 6, in his sanctuary) refers to His temple on earth.

Strength and gladness] Psalms xcvi. 6, Strength and beauty. The reference seems to be to the strength and gladness (or beauty) which God bestows on Israel (Psalms lxviii. 35; Isaiah lxi. 3).

in his place] Read with Psalms xcvi. 6, in his sanctuary. Compare the two preceding notes.

²⁸Give unto the Lord, ye kindreds of the peoples,

Give unto the Lord glory and strength.

28. of the peoples] An expectation that the Gentiles will turn to the worship of the true God is expressed not rarely in the Psalms; compare Psalms xxii. 27, Psalms lxviii. 31, 32; and is, of course, one of the greatest contributions of Old Testament faith to the religious aspirations of humanity.

²⁹Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name:

Bring an offering, and come before him:

Worship the Lord in the beauty¹ of holiness.

¹ Or, in holy array.

29. before him] Psalms xcvi. 8, into his courts.

Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness] Render as margin, worship the Lord in holy attire (see Kirkpatrick on Psalms xxix. 2, Psalms xcvi. 9; and compare Exodus xxviii. 2). Compare 2 Chronicles xx. 21.

³⁰Tremble before him, all the earth:

The world also is stablished that it cannot be moved.

30. The world also is stablished, that it cannot be moved] In Psalms xcvi. 10 this clause is preceded by the words, Say among the nations, The Lord reigneth, and is followed by the words, He shall judge the peoples with equity.

³¹Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice;

And let them say among the nations, The Lord reigneth.

³²Let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof;

Let the field exult, and all that is therein;

31. And let them say] Psalms xcvi. 10, Say [ye]. The clause is displaced in Chronicles; compare note on verse 30.

The Lord reigneth] i.e. the Lord is claiming His kingdom over the earth by coming to judge the earth; compare verse 33. Contrast Habakkuk i. 14, where the prophet complains that Jehovah is not asserting Himself as the ruler of men.

³³Then shall the trees of the wood sing for joy before the Lord,

For he cometh to judge the earth.

33. to judge the earth] The joy with which the coming judgement is greeted arises from the fact that the Hebrews regarded a judge as a champion of the oppressed and not as a precise interpreter of statutes.

34‒36 (= Psalms cvi. 1, 47, 48).

³⁴O give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good:

For his mercy endureth for ever.

34. his mercy endureth for ever] Compare Exodus xx. 6, “shewing mercy unto a thousand generations of them that love me” (Revised Version margin).

³⁵And say ye, Save us, O God of our salvation,

And gather us together and deliver us from the nations,

To give thanks unto thy holy name,

And to triumph in thy praise.

35. gather us together] A phrase which shows very clearly that the standpoint of the Psalmist is post-exilic.

³⁶Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,

From everlasting even to everlasting.

And all the people said, Amen, and praised the Lord.

36. said, Amen, and praised the Lord] In the Psalms (cvi. 48) “say, Amen! Hallelujah! (i.e. Praise ye the Lord!).” This verse belongs not properly to the Psalm, but is the doxology marking the conclusion of the fourth “book” of the Psalms. Apparently then the Psalms had already been arranged in the five collections or “books,” into which they were finally divided, by the time of the Chronicler; but the argument is not conclusive since (1) the doxology may be really part of the Psalm, and (2) there is the possibility that verses 7‒36 are a later insertion in Chronicles.

37‒43.
The Service before the Ark and the Service at Gibeon.

The description of the disposition of the Priests and Levites for the worship in Jerusalem and in Gibeon which was begun in verses 4‒6 is here resumed. verses 37, 38 summarise verses 4‒6.

³⁷So he left there, before the ark of the covenant of the Lord, Asaph and his brethren, to minister before the ark continually, as every day’s work required: ³⁸and Obed-edom with their brethren, threescore and eight; Obed-edom also the son of Jeduthun and Hosah to be doorkeepers:

38. Obed-edom with their brethren] A name or names seems to be missing after Obed-edom. The LXX. cuts the knot by reading simply “and his brethren.” Probably we should insert after Obed-edom the words “and Hosah” from the last part of the verse: see the following note.

Obed-edom also the son of Jeduthun] If the view of xv. 19‒21 and xvi. 5 taken above be correct, these words also may be deleted as a harmonising gloss, added by someone who wished to insist on Obed-edom as a singer, and hence gave him a place in the line of Jeduthun, one of the three great choral guilds.

³⁹and Zadok. the priest, and his brethren the priests, before the tabernacle of the Lord in the high place that was at Gibeon,

39. Zadok the priest] As Zadok alone is here mentioned as “before the tabernacle,” the Chronicler perhaps implies that Abiathar (Ahimelech) the other high-priest was in charge of the Ark in Jerusalem. On Zadok and Abiathar, see xv. 11, note.

the tabernacle of the Lord in the high place that was at Gibeon] See prefatory note to chapter xiii.; and 2 Chronicles i. 3.

⁴⁰to offer burnt offerings unto the Lord upon the altar of burnt offering continually morning and evening, even according to all that is written in the law of the Lord, which he commanded unto Israel;

40. the altar of burnt offering] 2 Chronicles i. 5, 6.

morning and evening] Exodus xxix. 38, 39 (= Numbers xxviii. 3, 4).

⁴¹and with them Heman and Jeduthun, and the rest that were chosen, who were expressed by name, to give thanks to the Lord, because his mercy endureth for ever;

41. Jeduthun] Psalms xxxix., lxii., lxxvii. (titles). In vi. 33‒47, xv. 17, 19 the names of the leading singers are given as Heman, Asaph, and Ethan. Here and in xxv. 1 ff. however Jeduthun seems to take the place of Ethan. Probably there was a variation in the tradition as to the third name, two families competing each for the honour of its own ancestor.

⁴²and with them Heman and Jeduthun with trumpets and cymbals for those that should sound aloud, and with instruments for the songs of God: and the sons of Jeduthun to be at the gate. ⁴³And all the people departed every man to his house: and David returned to bless his house.

42. and with them, etc.] The words with them are possibly repeated in error from verse 41. Render perhaps, And Heman and Jeduthun had trumpets and cymbals. For trumpets compare xv. 24 (note).

sons of Jeduthun] Perhaps a gloss connected with the statement in verse 38, where see note on Obed-edom also the son of Jeduthun.

to be at the gate] David’s organisation of the doorkeepers is given in xxvi. 1‒19.

Chapter XVII.

1‒27 (= 2 Samuel vii. 1‒29).
God’s Answer to David’s expressed desire to build a Temple. David’s Thanksgiving.

This passage is a reproduction with some omissions and variations of 2 Samuel vii. The text is generally smoother in Chronicles, and in some cases (e.g. in verse 6) we cannot doubt that the Chronicler has preserved an older and better reading than the present text of Samuel, whilst in other instances the Chronicler has consciously emended his text of Samuel.

¹And it came to pass, when David dwelt in his house, that David said to Nathan the prophet, Lo, I dwell in an house of cedar, but the ark of the covenant of the Lord dwelleth under curtains.

1. in his house] Samuel adds, and the Lord had given him rest from all his enemies round about. The Chronicler omits these words probably because his next three chapters (xviii.‒xx.) are devoted to wars (compare 2 Samuel viii. and x.).

Nathan] The prophet of the court in the reign of David: see e.g. 2 Samuel xii.; 1 Kings i.

the ark of the covenant] So called because it contained the two tables of the covenant, 1 Kings viii. 9.

²And Nathan said unto David, Do all that is in thine heart; for God is with thee.

2. in thine heart] The heart according to Hebrew thought is the seat of intention and purpose.

³And it came to pass the same night, that the word of God came to Nathan, saying, ⁴Go and tell David my servant, Thus saith the Lord, Thou shalt not build me an house to dwell in:

3. the same night] Genesis xx. 3; 1 Samuel iii. 2, 3; 1 Kings iii. 5; Job iv. 12, 13.

⁵for I have not dwelt in an house since the day that I brought up Israel, unto this day; but have gone¹ from tent to tent, and from one tabernacle to another.

¹ Hebrew have been.

5. I brought up Israel] i.e. out of Egypt (so Samuel).

but have gone from tent to tent, and from one tabernacle to another] Samuel but have walked in a tent and in a tabernacle. The Hebrew text of Chronicles defies translation; that of Samuel is better.

⁶In all places wherein I have walked with all Israel, spake I a word with any of the judges of Israel, whom I commanded to feed my people, saying, Why have ye not built me an house of cedar?

6. the judges] A better reading than the tribes (Samuel).

⁷Now therefore thus shalt thou say unto my servant David, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, I took thee from the sheepcote¹, from following the sheep, that thou shouldest be prince² over my people Israel: ⁸and I have been with thee whithersoever thou wentest, and have cut off all thine enemies from before thee; and I will make thee a name, like unto the name of the great ones that are in the earth.

¹ Or, pasture.

² Or, leader.

7. sheepcote] Better as margin pasture.

⁹And I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in their own place, and be moved no more; neither shall the children of wickedness waste them any more, as at the first,

9. I will appoint, etc.] i.e. will establish them in Canaan with complete ascendancy over their enemies.

waste them] Samuel afflict them.

¹⁰and as from the day that I commanded judges to be over my people Israel; and I will¹ subdue all thine enemies. Moreover I tell thee that the Lord will build thee an house.

¹ Or, have subdued.

10. build thee an house] Samuel make thee an house, the house meant being a dynasty, and not a building.

¹¹And it shall come to pass, when thy days be fulfilled that thou must go to be with thy fathers, that I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall be of thy sons; and I will establish his kingdom.

11. that thou must go to be with] Samuel and thou shalt sleep with, the usual euphemism for “to die.”

¹²He shall build me an house, and I will establish his throne for ever.

12. me an house] Samuel an house for my name.

¹³I will be his father, and he shall be my son: and I will not take my mercy away from him, as I took it from him that was before thee:

13. my son] Here Samuel adds, If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men and with the stripes of the children of men: this the Chronicler omits in order that not even a suggestion of the coming evil days might at this stage rest on David and his line.

from him that was before thee] Samuel from Saul whom I put away before thee. The reading in Chronicles is to be preferred.

¹⁴but I will settle him in mine house and in my kingdom for ever: and his throne shall be established for ever. ¹⁵According to all these words, and according to all this vision, so did Nathan speak unto David.

14. I will settle him in mine house and in my kingdom for ever] Samuel And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee (but read before me). The reading in Samuel is no doubt the original. The change made in Chronicles neatly expresses the Chronicler’s conviction that the kingdom of Israel was not a human but a Divine institution, its true ruler being God Himself.

in mine house] Numbers xii. 7; compare 1 Timothy iii. 15.

¹⁶Then David the king went in, and sat before the Lord; and he said, Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my house, that thou hast brought me thus far?

16. went in] i.e. into the tent which he had pitched for the Ark; xvi. 1.

sat before the Lord] So LXX. and 2 Samuel vii. 18. The Targum rightly paraphrases, “and tarried in prayer before Jehovah.”

¹⁷And this was a small thing in thine eyes, O God; but thou hast spoken of thy servant’s house for a great while to come, and hast regarded me according to the estate of a man of high degree, O Lord God.

17. and hast regarded me according to the estate of a man of high degree] In 2 Samuel vii. 19, and this too after the manner of men, or rather and this is the law for men (an exclamation), but the text both in Samuel and Chronicles is certainly corrupt. The Hebrew phrase is not quite the same in the two passages, and there is nothing in Samuel corresponding with the words of high degree, but the text of Chronicles seems to be derived from that of Samuel An emendation “and hast let me see the generations of men for ever,” i.e. the fortunes of my distant descendants, has met with some approval, but no really satisfactory translation or explanation has yet been given of the Hebrew.

¹⁸What can David say yet more unto thee concerning the honour which is done to thy servant? for thou knowest thy servant.

18. concerning the honour which is done to thy servant] Again an obscure text. Following Samuel we should probably omit these words.

thou knowest] Approvest, acceptest; compare Psalms i. 6, Psalms ci. 4; Jeremiah i. 5.

¹⁹O Lord, for thy servant’s sake, and according to thine own heart, hast thou wrought all this greatness, to make known all these great things. ²⁰O Lord, there is none like thee, neither is there any God beside thee, according to all that we have heard with our ears.

19. for thy servant’s sake] 2 Samuel vii. 21, for thy word’s sake, but the LXX. of 2 Samuel agrees with the text of Chronicles.

²¹And¹ what one nation in the earth is like thy people Israel, whom God went to redeem unto himself for a people, to make thee a name by great and terrible things, in driving out nations from before thy people, which thou redeemedst out of Egypt? ²²For thy people Israel didst thou make thine own people for ever; and thou, Lord, becamest their God.

¹ Or, And who is like thy people Israel, a nation that is alone in the earth &c.

21. what one nation in the earth is like thy people Israel] Better as margin, who is like thy people Israel, a nation that is alone in the earth. Compare Targum a people unique and chosen in the earth.

²³And now, O Lord, let the word that thou hast spoken concerning thy servant, and concerning his house, be established for ever, and do as thou hast spoken.

23. be established] Literally be made Amen (i.e. “sure”).

²⁴And¹ let thy name be established and magnified for ever, saying, The Lord of hosts is the God of Israel, even a God to Israel: and the house of David thy servant is established before thee.

¹ Or, Yea, let it be established, and let thy name be magnified &c.

24. And let thy name ... magnified] Better, as margin, Yea, let it be established, and let thy name be magnified.

even a God to Israel] delete as a dittography.

²⁵For thou, O my God, hast revealed to thy servant that thou wilt build him an house: therefore hath thy servant found in his heart to pray before thee. ²⁶And now, O Lord, thou art God, and hast promised this good thing unto thy servant:

25. hath ... found ... to pray] i.e. hath found words and courage to pray.

²⁷and now it hath pleased thee to bless the house of thy servant, that it may continue for ever before thee: for thou, O Lord, hast blessed, and it is blessed for ever.

27. hast blessed, and it is blessed for ever] 2 Samuel vii. 29, thou, O Lord God, hast spoken it; and with thy blessing let the house of thy servant be blessed for ever.

Chapter XVIII.

1‒17 (= 2 Samuel viii. 1‒18).
A Summary of David’s Foreign Wars. David’s Officials.

This chapter like the last is taken from 2 Samuel with a few omissions and variations. The Chronicler paraphrases (verses 1, 17), omits (verse 2), has a different reading (verses 4, 8, 10, 12). In some cases the better reading is in Chronicles.

The campaigns (except perhaps that against Moab) seem to be narrated in chronological order. David first makes sure of his most pressing enemy the Philistines (verse 1); then feeling safe towards the south-west he turns towards the north-east secure on the Euphrates (but see note verse 3) a station (valuable for trade) held by the Syrians of Zobah (verse 3); the Syrians of Damascus fearing to be excluded from the River by David’s success come to the help of their kinsmen (verse 5); lastly the Edomites, urged perhaps by the Syrians to make a diversion in their favour and thinking it safe to attack Judah during the absence of David, join in the war, but are signally defeated by a detachment under Joab and Abishai (verse 12).

The war with Moab (verse 2) is surprising, if it took place at an early date in David’s reign, for he seems to have been on specially friendly terms with the king of Moab during his exile; compare 1 Samuel xxii. 3, 4 and Kirkpatrick on 2 Samuel viii. 2.

1‒13 (= 2 Samuel viii. 1‒14).
A Summary of David’s Foreign Wars.

¹And after this it came to pass, that David smote the Philistines, and subdued them, and took Gath and her towns out of the hand of the Philistines.

1. after this] The phrase is adopted from 2 Samuel viii. 1 and probably came originally from a still earlier book of annals, in which the context may have been different. We cannot therefore say at what period of David’s reign the conquest of Gath took place.

took Gath and her towns] It is impossible to say for certain whether this is the original text or only an interpretation of the obscure reading in 2 Samuel viii. 1, took the bridle of the mother city (Revised Version).

²And he smote Moab; and the Moabites became servants to David, and brought presents.

2. smote Moab] The Chronicler at this point omits, as he often omits, some difficult words of Samuel. 2 Samuel viii. 2 seems to say that David put two-thirds of the Moabites (presumably the warriors) to death, but the meaning of the verse is uncertain.

brought presents] i.e. tribute, in acknowledgment of David’s superiority. The same Hebrew phrase (translated “bring an offering”) is used Psalms xcvi. 8 of sacrificing to Jehovah.

³And David smote Hadarezer king of Zobah unto¹ Hamath, as he went to stablish his dominion by the river Euphrates.

¹ Or, by.

3. Hadarezer] So spelt in 2 Samuel x. 16‒19, but in 2 Samuel viii. 3‒12, Hadadezer, the right form (as inscriptions show).

Zobah unto Hamath] Render as margin Zobah by Hamath, the position of Zobah being fixed by the note that it was near Hamath.

Hamath] The modern Hama on the Orontes, midway between Antioch and Damascus, but somewhat further to the east than either. See below verse 9; also xiii. 5 and 2 Chronicles viii. 3.

as he went to stablish his dominion] He may refer to Hadarezer or to David; the latter, probably, is the Chronicler’s intention. The reading in 2 Samuel viii. 3 (“to recover his dominion”—Revised Version) should be emended to the text in Chronicles.

by the river Euphrates] The utter improbability that David exercised any authority in regions so far north throws no doubt upon the reading, for the Chronicler and the author of Samuel may easily have believed that he did so.

⁴And David took from him a thousand chariots, and seven thousand horsemen, and twenty thousand footmen: and David houghed all the chariot horses, but reserved of them for an hundred chariots.

4. a thousand chariots, and seven thousand horsemen] Samuel a thousand and seven hundred horsemen (so Hebrew but LXX. of Samuel agrees with Chronicles). Houghed = “hamstrung.”

⁵And when the Syrians¹ of Damascus² came to succour Hadarezer king of Zobah, David smote of the Syrians¹ two and twenty thousand men.

¹ Hebrew Aram.

² Hebrew Darmesek.

5. Damascus] The name is variously written in Hebrew, Darmesek (Chronicles), Dammesek (Genesis, 1 Kings), Dummesek (2 Kings xvi. 10). See G. A. Smith, Damascus in Encyclopedia Biblia.

came to succour] By interposing between David and his own land and so threatening his rear.

⁶Then David put garrisons in Syria¹ of Damascus²; and the Syrians¹ became servants to David, and brought presents. And the Lord gave victory³ to David whithersoever he went.

¹ Hebrew Aram.

² Hebrew Darmesek.

³ Or, saved David.

6. put garrisons in Syria of Damascus] margin in Aram of Darmesek, i.e. in the Aramean kingdom of which Damascus was the capital. David’s purpose of course was to secure his rear in any future operations towards Hamath or towards the Euphrates.

⁷And David took the shields of gold that were on the servants of Hadarezer, and brought them to Jerusalem.

7. shields of gold] “shields” = Hebrew shĕlātim. The meaning of the Hebrew word is doubtful; most probably it does not mean “shield,” for (1) a shield would not be described as “upon” the person to whom it belonged, (2) the early authorities, i.e. the LXX. translators, the Targum, and the Peshitṭa (on 2 Samuel viii. 7; 2 Kings xi. 10; Jeremiah li. 11; Ezekiel xxvii. 11) never give “shield,” but either leave the word untranslated or give various conjectural renderings. A later authority (Targum on 1 Chronicles xviii. 7; 2 Chronicles xxiii. 9) gives “shield,” while LXX. gives “collars” (κλοιούς) here, and “arms” or “shields” (τὰ ὅπλα) in 2 Chronicles.

The most probable rendering of the word is “suits of armour” (see Barnes, Expository Times, x. 43 ff.).

and brought them to Jerusalem] So Hebrew LXX. Targum, but the Peshitṭa (all important MSS.) omits the words, and they may be a gloss introduced from 2 Samuel viii. 7.

⁸And from Tibhath and from Cun, cities of Hadarezer, David took very much brass, wherewith Solomon made the brasen sea, and the pillars, and the vessels of brass.

8. Tibhath] compare Tebah, the name of an Aramean family, Genesis xxii. 24. Nothing is known certainly of the position of the city. In 2 Samuel viii. 8 Betah (= Tebah).

Cun] 2 Samuel viii. 8, “Berothai.” Nothing is certainly known of a city of either name; but “Berothai” may be the same as “Berothah” (Ezekiel xlvii. 16).

very much brass] Compare xxi. 14, xxix. 2.

brass] Not the metal generally so called. Revised Version (margin note to Genesis iv. 22) gives copper as an alternative rendering. The “brass” of the ancients (χαλκός, LXX.) corresponds rather to bronze.

the brasen sea, etc.] Compare 2 Chronicles iv. 11‒18.

⁹And when Tou king of Hamath heard that David had smitten all the host of Hadarezer king of Zobah,

9. Tou] In 2 Samuel viii. 9 “Toi” (so Hebrew, but LXX. “Tou”).

Hamath] see above verse 3. Hamath is sometimes referred to as the northern boundary of Israel, compare 1 Kings viii. 65; 2 Kings xiv. 25, 28.

¹⁰he sent Hadoram his son to king David, to salute him, and to bless him, because he had fought against Hadarezer and smitten him; for Hadarezer had wars with Tou; and he had with him all manner of vessels of gold and silver and brass.

10. Hadoram] In 2 Samuel viii. 10, “Joram.” Both these forms are probably Hebrew adaptations of the real name.

he had with him all manner of vessels] Such informal tribute was an acknowledgment of David’s suzerainty made in order to claim David’s protection in war. Compare the action of Asa (1 Kings xv. 18, 19) and of Ahaz (2 Kings xvi. 7, 8). In all three cases the policy was the same, i.e. to acknowledge a distant suzerain and so gain the benefit of a valuable alliance while losing the minimum of independence.

¹¹These also did king David dedicate unto the Lord, with the silver and the gold that he carried away from all the nations; from Edom, and from Moab, and from the children of Ammon, and from the Philistines, and from Amalek.

11. from Amalek] So 2 Samuel viii. 12, but we have no record of any war of David with Amalek except the account in 1 Samuel xxx.

¹²Moreover Abishai¹ the son of Zeruiah smote of the Edomites in the Valley of Salt eighteen thousand. ¹³And he put garrisons in Edom; and all the Edomites became servants to David. And the Lord gave victory² to David whithersoever he went.

¹ Hebrew Abshai.

² Or, saved David.

12. Abishai the son of Zeruiah] In 2 Samuel viii. 13 David, and in Psalms lx. (title) Joab, receives the credit of this victory. Abishai might have commanded in the battle, while Joab (compare 1 Kings xi. 16) completed the conquest of the country; but it is highly probable that the reading Abishai the son of Zeruiah has arisen here through a copyist’s mistake and that the true reading is And when he (David) returned he smote Edom, etc.

of the Edomites] Literally “of Edom,” so Psalms lx. (title), but in 2 Samuel “of the Syrians,” literally “Aram.” The two words “Edom” and “Aram” when written in Hebrew are very much alike and are easily confused. The reading “Edom” is right here.

the Valley of Salt] Probably the marshy flat (Bädeker, Palestine⁵, p. 174) at the south end of the Dead Sea. This valley is dominated by the Jebel Usdum, a hill consisting “almost entirely of pure crystallised salt” (Bädeker, Palestine⁵, p. 174).

eighteen thousand] Psalms lx. (title), “twelve thousand,” not an important variation.

14‒17 (= 2 Samuel viii. 15‒18; compare 2 Samuel xx. 23‒26).
David’s Officials.

¹⁴And David reigned over all Israel; and he executed judgement and justice unto all his people.

14. unto all his people] David was his own chief justice, but probably the work was too much for one man; compare 2 Samuel xv. 2‒4.

¹⁵And Joab the son of Zeruiah was over the host; and Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was recorder¹.

¹ Or, chronicler.

15. recorder] margin, chronicler; LXX., ὑπομνηματογράφος. His business was probably to remind the king of his various duties of state.

¹⁶And Zadok the son of Ahitub, and Abimelech the son of Abiathar, were priests; and Shavsha was scribe¹;

¹ Or, secretary.

16. Abimelech the son of Abiathar] In 2 Samuel viii. 17, Ahimelech the son of Abiathar, but read Abiathar son of Ahimelech in both passages. Compare xv. 11, xxiv. 3, notes; and Kirkpatrick on 2 Samuel viii. 17.

Shavsha] 2 Samuel viii. 17, Seraiah; 2 Samuel xx. 25, Sheva; and 1 Kings iv. 3 (perhaps), Shisha. Shisha and Shavsha probably represent two different attempts to pronounce a foreign name, perhaps Shamsha; Seraiah and Sheva are mere errors of transcription. Foreigners were admitted to posts of authority in the empire of David and Solomon; Ittai the Gittite and Uriah the Hittite are instances.

scribe] margin, secretary. See 2 Kings xii. 10, xviii. 18, xxii. 3; compare 2 Kings xxv. 19, a passage which suggests that there was a second scribe with military duties. The first, the king’s scribe, would formulate the king’s orders and conduct his correspondence with foreign powers. Shavsha’s sons held the office in the reign of Solomon, 1 Kings iv. 3.

¹⁷and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the Cherethites and the Pelethites; and the sons of David were chief about the king.

17. Benaiah] Compare xi. 22‒25.

the Cherethites and the Pelethites] David’s bodyguard. The Cherethites were almost certainly Philistines (1 Samuel xxx. 14; Ezekiel xxv. 16; Zephaniah ii. 5), the Pelethites were probably also Philistines (2 Samuel xv. 18). Foreign bodyguards are well-known in history.

chief about the king] Literally, the chief at the kings hand, i.e. formed the executive to carry out his commands; compare Nehemiah xi. 24. In 2 Samuel viii. 18 (Revised Version) David’s sons are described as priests, a statement which is in all probability correct, but which the Chronicler, following the later theory of the priesthood, could not accept (see Introduction, pp. xli. f.).

Chapter XIX.

1‒19 (= 2 Samuel x. 1‒19).
War with the Ammonites and their Aramean Allies.

Chronicles here omits the story of David’s kindness in seeking out and befriending Mephibosheth (Merib-baal) the son of Jonathan (2 Samuel ix.), because he has ignored the story of David’s relations with Saul. Further the Court History of David which occupies an important place in 2 Samuel is passed over altogether in Chronicles Consequently the shameful episode of Bath-sheba, and the rebellion of Absalom vanish from the account of David. It is obvious how greatly the presentation of David’s life and character is affected by these omissions. Yet from his point of view the Chronicler is right in passing these matters by in silence. He was concerned to present David essentially as the founder of the religious life of Israel as a kingdom and of the Temple as an institution of religion.

There are several variations in text between 2 Samuel x. and 1 Chronicles xix., e.g. verses 6, 7 (addition in Chronicles), 16 (omission from Chronicles), 18 (variation in reckoning).

¹And it came to pass after this, that Nahash the king of the children of Ammon died, and his son reigned in his stead.

1. after this] The war with Ammon has already been referred to by anticipation in xviii. 11.

Nahash] Probably the Nahash mentioned in 1 Samuel xi. 1.

Ammon] The Ammonites were a kindred race to the Hebrews, being descended according to tradition from Lot, the nephew of Abraham; compare Deuteronomy ii. 19. The two Ammonite names here given are pure Hebrew, Nahash (= “Serpent”) and Hanun (= “Favoured, Fortunatus”); the Ammonite language, like the Moabite, was doubtless very similar to Hebrew.

²And David said, I will shew kindness unto Hanun the son of Nahash, because his father shewed kindness to me. So David sent messengers to comfort him concerning his father. And David’s servants came into the land of the children of Ammon to Hanun, to comfort him.

2. sent messengers to comfort him] A customary act of international courtesy; compare 2 Kings xx. 12. Its breach was resented. Thus in the Tell el-Amarna letters (x. 16) the king of Kardunias writes, “Should not my brother (i.e. the king of Egypt) have heard that I am sick? Why has he not comforted me? Why has he not sent his messenger, not looked into it?” (editor H. Winckler, p. 23).

³But the princes of the children of Ammon said to Hanun, Thinkest thou that David doth honour thy father, that he hath sent comforters unto thee? are not his servants come unto thee for to search, and to overthrow, and to spy out the land?

3. the land] 2 Samuel x. 3, the city, i.e. Rabbah (see xx. 1).

⁴So Hanun took David’s servants, and shaved them, and cut off their garments in the middle, even to their buttocks, and sent them away.

4. shaved them] 2 Samuel x. 4, shaved off the one half of their beards. Of course a great insult; compare Isaiah l. 6.

cut off their garments] Jewish ambassadors are represented on the Black Obelisk (a monument of Shalmaneser II, king of Assyria, now preserved in the British Museum) as wearing robes reaching to the feet; Hanun reduced ambassadors to the level of captives; compare Isaiah xx. 4.

⁵Then there went certain, and told David how the men were served. And he sent to meet them; for the men were greatly ashamed. And the king said, Tarry at Jericho until your beards be grown, and then return.

5. Tarry at Jericho] Thus (1) the feelings of the ambassadors would be spared, (2) the insult would be less widely known until it had been avenged.

⁶And when the children of Ammon saw that they had made themselves odious to David, Hanun and the children of Ammon sent a thousand talents of silver to hire them chariots and horsemen out of Mesopotamia, and out of Aram-maacah, and out of Zobah.

6. a thousand talents of silver] A very large sum; for a hundred talents Amaziah hired a hundred thousand men (2 Chronicles xxv. 6).

chariots and horsemen] The Israelite armies on the contrary consisted chiefly of infantry, the country being for the most part unsuitable for horses.

Mesopotamia] Hebrew “Aram (Syria) of the two rivers” (compare Genesis xxiv. 10, Revised Version margin), i.e. probably the land between the Euphrates and the Chaboras. The Greeks used the term Mesopotamia of a wider district, i.e. of the country between the Euphrates and the Tigris. This mention of Mesopotamia is probably premature, for in verse 16 the summons of Syrians from beyond the Euphrates is spoken of as a new thing. The corresponding expression in 2 Samuel x. 6 is Beth-rehob, a district which has not yet been identified.

Aram-maacah] compare vii. 15, note; Deuteronomy iii. 14; Joshua xii. 5, xiii. 11.

Zobah]. compare xviii. 3, note.

⁷So they hired them thirty and two thousand chariots, and the king of Maacah and his people; who came and pitched before Medeba. And the children of Ammon gathered themselves together from their cities, and came to battle.

7. thirty and two thousand chariots] Compare 2 Samuel x. 6, which reckons the army (including Maacah) at 33,000, of whom 20,000 are expressly described as footmen. The word “chariots” may have slipped in from verse 6 instead of “men” or may be an intentional alteration, magnifying the war.

Medeba] In the territory of Reuben; Joshua xiii. 26. The country round is a table-land suited for the manœuvres of chariots. The place of the rendezvous of the allies is not mentioned in 2 Samuel x., some words having probably fallen out of the text.

⁸And when David heard of it, he sent Joab, and all the host of the mighty men. ⁹And the children of Ammon came out, and put the battle in array at the gate of the city: and the kings that were come were by themselves in the field.

8. David ... sent Joab] Why in such a crisis did he not go himself? Perhaps because he could watch the gathering of the more serious storm described in verses 16‒19 better from Jerusalem.

¹⁰Now when Joab saw that the battle¹ was set against him before and behind, he chose of all the choice men of Israel, and put ¹¹them in array against the Syrians. And the rest of the people he committed into the hand of Abishai² his brother, and they put themselves in array against the children of Ammon. ¹²And he said, If the Syrians be too strong for me, then thou shalt help me: but if the children of Ammon be too strong for thee, then I will help thee.

¹ Hebrew the face of the battle was against.

² Hebrew Abshai.

10. he chose of all the choice men] The Syrians were the more formidable because of the chariots they had; Joab therefore opposed to them the flower of his army.

¹³Be of good courage, and let us play the men for our people, and for the cities of our God: and the Lord do that which seemeth him good.

13. the cities of our God] The cities which our God has given us and in which He is worshipped. If these were captured by the enemy, false gods would be worshipped in them. Religious feeling often supplies the place of patriotism in the East.

¹⁴So Joab and the people that were with him drew nigh before the Syrians unto the battle; and they fled before him.

14. drew nigh before the Syrians] Without fear for their own rear advanced against the Syrian front.

¹⁵And when the children of Ammon saw that the Syrians were fled, they likewise fled before Abishai his brother, and entered into the city. Then Joab came to Jerusalem.

15. Joab came to Jerusalem] Probably because he was wanted for the new danger gathering in the North.

16‒19.
The End of the Aramean War.

Three stages are apparent in the war with Zobah as related in Chronicles, (a) that in which David secured a position on the Euphrates, xviii. 3‒8, (b) the stage during which troops from Zobah acted as auxiliaries to the Ammonites, xix. 6‒15, (c) the final stage which ended in the conclusion of a formal peace, xix. 16‒19. The actual facts of David’s activities against the Arameans are by no means easy to ascertain, as may be seen in the commentaries on the more complex account which is given in Samuel.

¹⁶And when the Syrians saw that they were put to the worse before Israel, they sent messengers, and drew forth the Syrians that were beyond the River, with Shophach the captain of the host of Hadarezer at their head.

16. the Syrians that were beyond the River] i.e. the Syrians of “Mesopotamia”; compare verse 6, note. 2 Samuel x. 16 adds, and they came to Helam; the position of Helam however is unknown.

Shophach] In 2 Samuel x. 16 called “Shobach.” The whole allied army was united under one general.

¹⁷And it was told David; and he gathered all Israel together, and passed over Jordan, and came upon them, and set the battle in array against them. So when David had put the battle in array against the Syrians, they fought with him.

17. came upon them] or possibly read, as 2 Samuel x. 17, came to Helam. According to 2 Samuel x. the Syrian army assembled at Helam, and was there attacked by David.

¹⁸And the Syrians fled before Israel; and David slew of the Syrians the men of seven thousand chariots, and forty thousand footmen, and killed Shophach the captain of the host.

18. seven thousand] 2 Samuel x. 18, seven hundred: an intentional change made by the Chronicler to enhance the achievement of David.

forty thousand footmen] 2 Samuel x. 18, forty thousand horsemen. Swarms of horsemen have usually formed the strength of armies raised on the eastern bank of the Euphrates; but the reading in Chronicles may well be correct.

¹⁹And when the servants of Hadarezer saw that they were put to the worse before Israel, they made peace with David, and served him: neither would the Syrians help the children of Ammon any more.

19. the servants] i.e. his vassals and tributaries; in 2 Samuel “all the kings that were servants to Hadarezer.” We are not told what course Hadarezer himself took; possibly, being deserted by his allies, he ceased from hostilities without making any treaty with David.

Chapter XX.

1‒3 (= 2 Samuel xi. 1, xii. 26‒31).
The Subjugation of Ammon.

The account of the siege of Rabbah is given more shortly in Chronicles than in 2 Samuel From the latter we learn that the Ark was in the besiegers’ camp (xi. 11), that the city was defended with spirit (xi. 17), and finally taken piecemeal (xii. 26‒29).

¹And it came to pass, at the time of the return of the year, at the time when kings go out to battle, that Joab led forth the power of the army, and wasted the country of the children of Ammon, and came and besieged Rabbah. But David tarried at Jerusalem. And Joab smote Rabbah, and overthrew it.

1. at the time of the return of the year] i.e. in the spring, 2 Samuel xi. 1; 1 Kings xx. 22.

the power of the army] The Hebrew phrase is quite general in meaning: the host of war, the military forces.

Rabbah] the capital of the Ammonites; Jeremiah xlix. 2; Ezekiel xxi. 20 (25, Hebrew). Its site, now called ‘Ammān, is covered with important ruins of the Roman and Byzantine periods. The town lies in a fertile basin, its citadel on a hill on the north side.

David tarried at Jerusalem] In 2 Samuel these words introduce the story of David’s adultery with Bath-sheba, which is omitted from Chronicles.

Joab smote Rabbah] In 2 Samuel xii. 27 Joab reports to David the capture of the city of waters (i.e. the lower city), and invites him to come and complete the conquest (presumably by capturing the citadel) in person. Probably the citadel was dependent for water on the river which flows through the town.

²And David took the crown of their king¹ from off his head, and found it to weigh a talent of gold, and there were precious stones in it; and it was set upon David’s head: and he brought forth the spoil of the city, exceeding much.

¹ Or, Malcam See Zephaniah i. 5.

2. of their king] So also Authorized Version, perhaps rightly, but many scholars prefer to treat the word as a proper name, rendering, as margin, of Malcam (compare Zephaniah i. 5), i.e. Milcom, the national god of the Ammonites (1 Kings xi. 5). LXX. has a double translation of the one Hebrew word: Molchol (Molchom) their king. The name of the god, whether the right form be Molech (1 Kings xi. 7) or more probably Milcom or Malcam, means either “king” or, less probably, “counsellor.” In the former case his image would in all probability wear a crown.

it was set upon David’s head] A symbolic action implying that David completely annexed the Ammonite territory; other conquered nations retained a partial independence on condition of the payment of tribute.

he brought forth the spoil of the city, exceeding much] doubtless a triumphal procession of captives and spoil, such as an Assyrian relief in the British Museum represents passing before Sennacherib at the capture of Lachish.

³And he brought forth the people that were therein, and cut them with saws, and with harrows of iron, and with axes. And thus did David unto all the cities of the children of Ammon. And David and all the people returned to Jerusalem.

3. and cut them with saws] Read probably (compare 2 Samuel xii. 31, Revised Version margin) and put them with saws, i.e. put them to work with saws, etc. Compare 2 Chronicles ii. 17, 18; Joshua ix. 21‒23. The implements mentioned here and in the parallel passage of 2 Samuel suggest task-work, not massacre. The Ammonites were reduced to bondage like that of Israel in Egypt. The exceptionally harsh treatment of the Ammonites was doubtless due to the exceptional insults which David’s ambassadors had received from them. A very different spirit towards Ammon is shown in Deuteronomy ii. 19.

4‒8 (= 2 Samuel xxi. 18‒22).
Philistine champions slain.

This section is the last in which the Chronicler notices David’s wars. It is taken from 2 Samuel xxi., where, however, it is preceded by an account (verses 15‒17) of David’s narrow escape in an encounter with a Philistine.

Between the two sections of this chapter the Chronicler omits the account of the rebellions of Absalom and of Sheba, and the story of the Gibeonite vengeance on the house of Saul (2 Samuel xiii. i‒xxi. 14).

⁴And it came to pass after this, that there arose war at Gezer¹ with the Philistines: then Sibbecai the Hushathite slew Sippai, of the sons of the giant²: and they were subdued.

¹ In 2 Samuel xxi. 18, Gob.

² Hebrew Rapha. According to another reading, giants; Hebrew Rephaim.

4. at Gezer] See vi. 67, note. In 2 Samuel at Gob, but no place called Gob is known. In 2 Samuel v. 25 it is said that David smote the Philistines “from Geba until thou come to Gezer.”

Sippai] In 2 Samuel “Saph.”

giant] Hebrew “Rapha”; the same Hebrew word in the plural “Rephaim” is translated “giants” in Deuteronomy ii. 11, Authorized Version These “Rephaim” dwelt east of Jordan.

⁵And there was again war with the Philistines; and Elhanan the son of Jair slew Lahmi the brother of Goliath the Gittite, the staff of whose spear was like a weaver’s beam.

5. Elhanan ... slew Lahmi the brother of Goliath] In 2 Samuel xxi. 19, Elhanan ... the Beth-lehemite slew Goliath (Revised Version). The difference between the two sentences in Hebrew is very small, and is due, no doubt, to the Chronicler, or a copyist, who felt that he was making a certain emendation in substituting the brother of Goliath for Goliath himself, since, according to 1 Samuel xvii., Goliath was slain by David before he became king.

slew Lahmi] read the Beth-lehemite slew, etc.

⁶And there was again war at Gath, where was a man of great stature, whose fingers and toes were four and twenty, six on each hand, and six on each foot; and he also was born unto the giant¹.

¹ Hebrew Rapha.

6. a man of great stature] In 2 Samuel xxi. 20 (Hebrew) a man of contention, i.e. a challenger or champion.

⁷And when he defied⁴ Israel, Jonathan the son of Shimea David’s brother slew him.

⁴ Or, reproached.

7. Shimea] See iii. 5, note.

⁸These were born unto the giant¹ in Gath; and they fell by the hand of David, and by the hand of his servants.

¹ Hebrew Rapha.

8. These were born unto the giant in Gath] Again “giant” is the Hebrew “Rapha” as in verses 4, 6. The meaning is that these belonged to a branch of the Rephaim which was settled in Gath.

Chapter XXI.

1‒27 (= 2 Samuel xxiv. 1‒25).
The Numbering and the Plague.

Comparison of these verses with the account given in Samuel discloses not a few interesting divergences, the more important of which are pointed out in the notes below (see especially the notes on verses 1, 6, 25). In general it may be said that the account in Chronicles curtails any features reflecting discredit on David and expands such as do him honour. Some scholars consider that the changes are of such a character that they may all be due directly to the Chronicler, but others see in them motives so various as to suggest the opinion that the Chronicler’s source is not Samuel but an intermediate source. There may be a measure of truth in both contentions. So famous a tale may well have been recounted with modifications in the telling to suit the later idealisation of David. The Chronicler may therefore have been working from the text of Samuel, but some of the changes he introduced may have been generally current, and for these he is in a sense not immediately responsible, although of course all were more or less in accordance with his taste.

The subject of the present section (David’s numbering of the people and the plague which followed) is interesting in itself, quite apart from the comparison with Samuel Why was the census considered a sin? Various replies may be made. (1) Because the pride of David and the ambitions which the census might promote revealed a transference of trust from God to self, from spirit to numbers, from justice to power. This view accords with our modern moralistic standpoint, but other considerations call for mention. (2) Because, unlike the two numberings in the wilderness (Numbers i. 1‒16, iii. 39, xxvi. 1‒65), it was not made by Divine command (compare verse 1, note). This thought may well have been present in the mind of the Chronicler. To it we may add (3) the popular dread of the census as a sinister and unlucky act. The ground of this dread was no doubt mainly practical, being due to the fear that the records might be used for purposes of fresh taxation or more stringent war-levies, but it may have its roots in an instinct, handed down from the thoughts of primitive ages, when written records were an uncanny mystery. Thus S. I. Curtiss, Primitive Semitic Religion To-day, p. 69, remarks that the persistence of this fear among modern Semites is partially chargeable for the lack of correct statistics as to the population of Oriental towns. Frazer (in Anthropological Essays to E. B. Tylor, p. 174) refers to the dread of enumeration felt by the Lapps and by a West African tribe.

¹And Satan¹ stood up against Israel, and moved David to number Israel.

¹ Or, an adversary.

1. And Satan stood up against Israel] In 2 Samuel “And again (a former occasion being at the time of the famine, 2 Samuel xxi. 1) the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he moved David against them.” The change is significant of the late date of Chronicles In an earlier stage of Hebrew thought human sin and folly are at times naïvely ascribed to the agency of God, e.g. “He hardens Pharaoh’s heart” (Exodus x. 1, etc.): “quem Deus vult perdere prius dementat.” At a later date the instigation of some subordinate “evil” spirit was adduced, e.g. 1 Kings xxii. 20‒24; and eventually this spirit of temptation was expressly termed “The Satan” or “Satan,” i.e. “The Adversary.” He was then regarded as a hostile spiritual being, the opposite of a guardian angel such as the Michael of Daniel x. 13, 21, xii. 1. In the book of Job the Satan is very definitely said to act under the guidance and will of God. Here nothing is said of the Satan having been directed by Jehovah.

to number] Only those of military age (verse 5), over twenty years of age (xxvii. 23, 24), were included in the census.

²And David said to Joab and to the princes of the people, Go, number Israel from Beer-sheba even to Dan; and bring me word, that I may know the sum of them.

2. to Joab] The object being to number “those who drew sword,” the captain of the host was the most suitable person to entrust with the business.

from Beer-sheba even to Dan] From the extreme south to the extreme north of the land.

Dan] The modern Tell el-Kādī, about forty minutes distance from Bāniās (Paneas), north of Lake Huleh (Waters of Merom). For its original name Laish, see Judges xviii. 28.

that I may know] Either with a view to imposing a tax or to undertaking some fresh great military expedition.

³And Joab said, The Lord make his people an hundred times so many more as they be: but, my lord the king, are they not all my lord’s servants? why doth my lord require this thing? why will he be a cause of guilt unto Israel?

3. The Lord make ... are they not all my lord’s servants?] Counting will not increase their numbers, only Jehovah’s gracious favour can secure that. What more then can David desire than to know, as Joab now assures him, that one and all his subjects are loyal?

why will he be a cause of guilt unto Israel?] Compare Leviticus iv. 3, “if the anointed priest shall sin so as to bring guilt on the people” (Revised Version). The community is a unit, and the guilt of one falls on all.

⁴Nevertheless the king’s word prevailed against Joab. Wherefore Joab departed, and went throughout all Israel, and came to Jerusalem.

4. came to Jerusalem] In 2 Samuel xxiv. 4‒8 the route is described and the time taken in the numbering is stated, nine months and twenty days.

⁵And Joab gave up the sum of the numbering of the people unto David. And all they of Israel were a thousand thousand and an hundred thousand men that drew sword: and Judah was four hundred threescore and ten thousand men that drew sword.

5. they of Israel] Chronicles gives Israel as 1,100,000 and Judah as 470,000; 2 Samuel gives Israel as 800,000 and Judah as 500,000. It is difficult to correlate these figures. There are, however, reasons for thinking that the last part of the verse and Judah was 470,000, etc., may be a gloss. If so, then the 200,000 less in Chronicles (1,300,000 in Samuel; 1,100,000 in Chronicles, where Israel would as so often denote both Israel and Judah) might well be explained as an allowance for the exclusion of Levi and Benjamin (see verse 6).

that drew sword] All males over twenty years of age; compare Numbers i. 20.

⁶But Levi and Benjamin counted he not among them: for the king’s word was abominable to Joab.

6. Levi] In Numbers i. 49 it is ordained that Levi is not to be numbered among the children of Israel, i.e. treated as liable to military service. The Levites were, however, numbered separately: Numbers iii. 15, xxvi. 57. In 2 Samuel there is nothing to correspond with this verse, Levi and Benjamin being there reckoned in the census. Why the Chronicler excludes Benjamin as well as Levi it is not easy to see.

⁷And God was displeased with this thing; therefore he smote Israel.

7. he smote Israel] with the plague.

⁸And David said unto God, I have sinned greatly, in that I have done this thing: but now, put away, I beseech thee, the iniquity of thy servant; for I have done very foolishly.

8. put away ... the iniquity] Render perhaps, remove the punishment; compare Genesis iv. 13, Revised Version with margin: also 1 Samuel xxviii. 10.

⁹And the Lord spake unto Gad, David’s seer, saying,

9. And the Lord spake] The historian now retraces his steps to describe the circumstances which heralded the approach of the plague.

Gad] He is three times mentioned in Chronicles, each time as a “seer,” viz. xxi. 9 (= 2 Samuel xxiv. 11); xxix. 29; 2 Chronicles xxix. 25. He was perhaps an older contemporary of Nathan, who bears the more modern title of “prophet” (compare 1 Samuel ix. 9).

¹⁰Go and speak unto David, saying, Thus saith the Lord, I offer¹ thee three things; choose thee one of them, that I may do it unto thee. ¹¹So Gad came to David, and said unto him, Thus saith the Lord, Take which thou wilt;

¹ Hebrew stretch out unto.

10. I offer thee three things] The offer is a test of David’s character, just as God’s different offer in 2 Chronicles i. 7 was a test of Solomon’s.

¹²either three years of famine; or three months to be consumed before thy foes, while that the sword of thine enemies overtaketh thee; or else three days the sword of the Lord, even¹ pestilence in the land, and the angel of the Lord destroying throughout all the coasts of Israel. Now therefore consider what answer I shall return to him that sent me.

¹ Or, and.

12. three years of famine] 2 Samuel, seven years of famine (LXX. however three, as Chronicles).

three months to be consumed] The correct text, however, is probably that found in 2 Samuel xxiv. 13, or wilt thou flee three months?

the angel of the Lord] Compare 2 Kings xix. 35; Acts xii. 23.

coasts] Render, borders, i.e. through the whole land.

¹³And David said unto Gad, I am in a great strait: let me fall now into the hand of the Lord; for very great¹ are his mercies: and let me not fall into the hand of man.

¹ Or, many.

13. into the hand of the Lord] The answer reveals the sincerity and efficacy of David’s penitence: a right spirit is renewed within him. He now chooses to trust in God.

¹⁴So the Lord sent a pestilence upon Israel: and there fell of Israel seventy thousand men.

14. there fell of Israel] 2 Samuel adds, from Dan even to Beer-sheba. The pestilence was throughout the whole land.

¹⁵And God sent an angel unto Jerusalem to destroy it: and as he was about to destroy, the Lord beheld, and he repented him of the evil, and said to the destroying angel, It is enough; now stay thine hand. And the angel of the Lord stood by the threshing-floor of Ornan¹ the Jebusite.

¹ In 2 Samuel xxiv. 16, &c., Araunah.

15. unto Jerusalem] The peril of the plague extends until Jerusalem itself is threatened.

he repented him] Compare Genesis vi. 6; 1 Samuel xv. 11, 35; Jonah iii. 10, etc.

It is enough] The sudden cessation of this pestilence has numerous parallels in the history of epidemics.

the threshing-floor of Ornan] The Chronicler makes this threshing-floor the site of the Temple. The author of Samuel is silent on the point. Compare notes on verses 25, 28, and especially xxii. 1.

Ornan] This is the form of the name throughout this chapter, but in 2 Samuel xxiv. the Ḳerī gives everywhere Araunah. The Kethīb of Samuel, however, offers various forms, one of which (to be read Ornah, verse 16) approximates to the form given in Chronicles Variation in reproducing foreign names is common; see note on xviii. 5 (Damascus), and on 2 Chronicles xxxvi. 6 (Nebuchadnezzar).

¹⁶And David lifted up his eyes, and saw the angel of the Lord stand between the earth and the heaven, having a drawn sword in his hand stretched out over Jerusalem. Then David and the elders, clothed in sackcloth, fell upon their faces.

16. saw the angel] The full description of the vision is peculiar to Chronicles; compare 2 Samuel xxiv. 17.

and the elders, clothed in sackcloth] The wearing of sackcloth was doubtless accompanied by fasting; compare Jonah iii. 5.

¹⁷And David said unto God, Is it not I that commanded the people to be numbered? even I it is that have sinned and done very wickedly; but these sheep, what have they done? let thine hand, I pray thee, O Lord my God, be against me, and against my father’s house; but not against thy people, that they should be plagued. ¹⁸Then the angel of the Lord commanded Gad to say to David, that David should go up, and rear an altar unto the Lord in the threshing-floor of Ornan the Jebusite. ¹⁹And David went up at the saying of Gad, which he spake in the name of the Lord.

17. let thine hand ... be against me] Compare Moses’ intercession in Exodus xxxii. 32; but Moses was innocent, David guilty.

²⁰And Ornan turned back, and saw the angel; and his four sons that were with him hid themselves. Now Ornan was threshing wheat.

20. hid themselves] in fear, lest they too should see the angel of Jehovah and their lives be thereby imperilled, compare Judges vi. 22, xiii. 22.

²¹And as David came to Ornan, Ornan looked and saw David, and went out of the threshing-floor, and bowed himself to David with his face to the ground.

21. was threshing wheat] By driving oxen over it; compare verse 23.

²²Then David said to Ornan, Give me the place of this threshing-floor, that I may build thereon an altar unto the Lord: for the full price shalt thou give it me: that the plague may be stayed from the people.

22. the place of this threshing-floor] The expression implies perhaps that David bought more than the mere area of the threshing-floor.

for the full price] Genesis xxiii. 9 (Revised Version).

²³And Ornan said unto David, Take it to thee, and let my lord the king do that which is good in his eyes: lo, I give thee the oxen for burnt offerings, and the threshing instruments for wood, and the wheat for the meal offering; I give it all. ²⁴And king David said to Ornan, Nay; but I will verily buy it for the full price: for I will not take that which is thine for the Lord, nor offer a burnt offering without cost.

23. the meal offering] Compare Leviticus ii. 1‒16.

²⁵So David gave to Ornan for the place six hundred shekels of gold by weight.

25. gave ... for the place six hundred shekels of gold by weight] In 2 Samuel xxiv. 24, bought the threshing-floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver. The huge discrepancy here between Chronicles and Samuel is noteworthy. If the price in Samuel, 50 shekels of silver for threshing-floor and oxen, seems somewhat small (compared with the 400 shekels paid by Abraham for the cave of Machpelah, Genesis xxiii. 15‒17), the 600 shekels of gold in Chronicles is extravagantly large. It is accounted for by the fact that the Chronicler regarded the transaction, not as the acquisition merely of the site for the altar but of the area on which the Temple was afterwards built (see verse 22). No sum could well seem too large for the purchase of ground destined to be so holy. The figure 600 may have been chosen on the ground that it was equal to a payment of 50 shekels for each tribe.

²⁶And David built there an altar unto the Lord, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings, and called upon the Lord; and he answered him from heaven by fire upon the altar of burnt offering. ²⁷And the Lord commanded the angel; and he put up his sword again into the sheath thereof.

26. peace offerings] See xvi. 1, note. At the end of the verse LXX. (compare Peshitṭa) adds, and consumed the burnt offering. Compare Leviticus ix. 24; 1 Kings xviii. 38. The fire is not mentioned in 2 Samuel.

Chapter XXI. 28‒Chapter XXII. 1.
The Selection of the Site of the Temple.

²⁸At that time, when David saw that the Lord had answered him in the threshing-floor of Ornan the Jebusite, then he sacrificed there.

28. At that time, etc.] The construction of this section must be carefully noted. chapter xxi. 28 is continued by chapter xxii. i, verses 29, 30 of chapter xxi. being a parenthesis. The division of chapters here is unfortunate.

At that time] The phrase is taken up by “Then” of xxii. 1. The Chronicler wishes us to note that David regarded the success of his intercession at the floor of Ornan as an indication that this floor was God’s approved site for the Temple.

²⁹For the tabernacle of the Lord, which Moses made in the wilderness, and the altar of burnt offering, were at that time in the high place at Gibeon.

29. For] The beginning of a parenthesis.

the tabernacle of the Lord] See the prefatory note to chapter xiii.; also compare xvi. 1, 39, and 2 Chronicles i. 3.

³⁰But David could not go before it to inquire of God: for he was afraid because of the sword of the angel of the Lord.

30. he was afraid] Or, he was terrified. The Hebrew word is unusual.

Chapter XXII.

¹Then David said, This is the house of the Lord God, and this is the altar of burnt offering for Israel.

1. Then] The word refers back to xxi. 28, At that time.

David said] The king acts in conformity with the law contained in Deuteronomy xii. 5, 6.

This is the house of the Lord, etc.] Hence the necessity for relating the story of David’s sinful action in taking the census. The Chronicler’s desire to show only the idealistic aspect of David’s life has frequently been pointed out. The present section, then, is notable as showing very clearly how even this desire was made to yield to the supreme object of relating the Divinely-guided origin and growth of the Temple and its worship.

2‒19.
David’s Preparations for Building the Temple. His charge to Solomon and to the Princes.

It is of course quite probable that preparations for a Temple were begun in David’s time, but the picture given in this chapter must not be taken as historically true, the material being of a general character such as the imagination could readily supply, and the figures mentioned in verse 14 being impossibly exaggerated. The chapter in fact is the outcome of the Chronicler’s zealous but uncritical mind working in the belief that, not Solomon, but the pious David was the “moving spirit in the great enterprise.” As Moses led Israel to Jordan’s brink, so David (he thought) must stop short only at the actual building of the Temple.

²And David commanded to gather together the strangers that were in the land of Israel; and he set masons to hew wrought stones to build the house of God. ³And David prepared iron in abundance for the nails for the doors of the gates, and for the couplings; and brass in abundance without weight;

2. the strangers] Compare 2 Chronicles ii. 17; viii. 7‒9. Hewing of stone was regarded as task-work unfit for free men. This verse is simply an anticipation of the preparations recorded in Solomon’s reign: see 2 Chronicles ii. 1, 17.

wrought stones] All the stone used for the building of the Temple was previously cut to the right size; compare 1 Kings vi. 7.

⁴and cedar trees without number: for the Zidonians and they of Tyre brought cedar trees in abundance to David.

4. Zidonians and they of Tyre] Compare 1 Kings v. 1‒6 (15‒20, Hebrew).

⁵And David said, Solomon my son is young and tender, and the house that is to be builded for the Lord must be exceeding magnifical, of fame and of glory throughout all countries: I will therefore make preparation for it. So David prepared abundantly before his death.

⁶Then he called for Solomon his son, and charged him to build an house for the Lord, the God of Israel.

5. exceeding magnifical] The Temple took seven years in building, and it was richly overlaid with gold, but its proportions were small, viz., about 90 ft. × 45 ft. × 30 ft. These small proportions, are not surprising, for the Temple itself required only to be big enough to hold its furniture. The courts, however, were of large extent, that they might afford room for worshippers at the times of the great feasts.

Note the archaic magnifical = splendid, stately (magnificent). It is found of course in the Authorized Version (1611), and also in the Geneva Bible (1560); compare Starkey, England, ii. i. 176 (1538), “Gudly cytes and townys wyth magnyfycal and gudly housys.”

⁷And David said to Solomon his son¹, As for me, it was in my heart to build an house unto the name of the Lord my God.

¹ According to another reading, My son, as for me &c.

7. said to Solomon his son] So Kethīb; the margin, said to Solomon, My son, follows the Ḳerī.

unto the name] Compare Deuteronomy xii. 5; 2 Samuel vii. 13.

⁸But the word of the Lord came to me, saying, Thou hast shed blood abundantly, and hast made great wars: thou shalt not build an house unto my name, because thou hast shed much blood upon the earth in my sight:

8. Thou hast shed blood abundantly] Compare xxviii. 3; in 1 Kings v. 3 Solomon tells Hiram that David wished to build a temple, but was hindered from his design by war.

⁹behold, a son shall be born to thee, who shall be a man of rest; and I will give him rest from all his enemies round about: for his name shall be Solomon¹, and I will give peace and quietness unto Israel in his days:

¹ That is, Peaceful.

9. I will give him rest] Compare 1 Kings v. 4. The promise here made is of a period of peace sufficiently long for the work of Temple-building. Solomon’s reign was not wholly peaceful; compare 1 Kings xi. 14, 23, 26.

¹⁰he shall build an house for my name; and he shall be my son, and I will be his father; and I will establish the throne of his kingdom over Israel for ever. ¹¹Now, my son, the Lord be with thee; and prosper thou, and build the house of the Lord thy God, as he hath spoken concerning thee. ¹²Only the Lord give thee discretion and understanding, and give thee charge concerning Israel; that so thou mayest keep the law of the Lord thy God.

10. for ever] Compare 2 Samuel vii. 13‒16.

¹³Then shalt thou prosper, if thou observe to do the statutes and the judgements which the Lord charged Moses with concerning Israel: be strong, and of good courage; fear not, neither be dismayed.

13. be strong, and of good courage] Compare Joshua i. 9.

¹⁴Now, behold, in my affliction¹ I have prepared for the house of the Lord an hundred thousand talents of gold, and a thousand thousand talents of silver; and of brass and iron without weight; for it is in abundance: timber also and stone have I prepared; and thou mayest add thereto.

¹ Or, low estate.

14. in my affliction] LXX. κατὰ τὴν πτωχείαν μου, and so margin in my low estate. The exact meaning of the phrase is not quite certain. Does it refer to the comparative slenderness of David’s resources (in my poverty), or to the difficulties of the wars and rebellions which marked his reign, or does it cover both ideas? Render perhaps in my straitened circumstances. Some translate by my strenuous labour (compare xxix. 2), but there is insufficient evidence for rendering the Hebrew word by labour.

an hundred thousand talents of gold, and a thousand thousand talents of silver] This sum is incredibly large. In 1 Kings x. 14 it is told in illustration of the riches of Solomon—a wealthier king than David—that he received in one year 666 talents of gold, but even at this rate David would have amassed only 26,640 talents in forty years, and further the sum assigned to Solomon as his yearly revenue is fantastically large, see note 2 Chronicles ix. 13. The passage illustrates the exaggeration which is so characteristic of midrashic style; compare xxix. 4, and the note on 2 Chronicles xvii. 14.

¹⁵Moreover there are workmen with thee in abundance, hewers and workers of stone and timber, and all men that are cunning in any manner of work; ¹⁶of the gold, the silver, and the brass, and the iron, there is no number; arise and be doing, and the Lord be with thee. ¹⁷David also commanded all the princes of Israel to help Solomon his son, saying,

15, 16. any manner of work; of the gold ... there is no number] Render in every work of gold ... without number; i.e. the two verses are to be read in close connection.

¹⁸Is not the Lord your God with you? and hath he not given you rest on every side? for he hath delivered the inhabitants of the land into mine hand; and the land is subdued before the Lord, and before his people.

18. the inhabitants of the land] Compare xi. 4, the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land. The remnant of the earlier inhabitants of Canaan is meant.

¹⁹Now set your heart and your soul to seek after the Lord your God; arise therefore, and build ye the sanctuary of the Lord God, to bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and the holy vessels of God, into the house that is to be built to the name of the Lord.

19. and the holy vessels of God] Compare 1 Kings viii. 4.

Chapters XXIII.‒XXIX.
The Conclusion of David’s Reign.

Chapter XXIII.

1.
Solomon made King.

¹Now David was old and full of days; and he made Solomon his son king over Israel.

The Chronicler unhistorically ignores the struggle between the parties of Solomon and of Adonijah for the throne (compare xxix. 22 f.; 1 Kings i. 5 ff.), and makes the reign of David culminate in the appointment of Solomon as David’s successor and in a grand organisation of the ecclesiastical and other authorities of the realm. chapter xxiii. 1 intimates the appointment of Solomon and the assembling by royal command of the princes, priests, and Levites of Israel. The topics thus suggested are then, after the prevailing fashion of Chronicles, treated in the reverse order; first the Levites, chapter xxiii.; then the priests, xxiv. (followed by the singers, xxv.; and the doorkeepers, xxvi.); then the civil and military orders. chapters xxviii., xxix. are occupied with the concluding exhortations of King David. Compare xxix. 22‒24; 1 Kings i. 5‒53.

2‒23.
Organisation of the Levites (first account).

²And he gathered together all the princes of Israel, with the priests and the Levites. ³And the Levites were numbered from thirty years old and upward: and their number by their polls, man by man, was thirty and eight thousand.

3. the Levites were numbered from thirty years] Two accounts are here given of the organisation of the Levites. According to the first the Levites were admitted to service at thirty years of age; verse 3; compare Numbers iv. 3, 23, 30, where the period from thirty to fifty is fixed as the period for service. According to the second account (verses 24‒27) the Levites were taken from twenty years old and upwards; this was apparently the later custom; compare 2 Chronicles xxxi. 17; Ezra iii. 8. The discrepancy probably arises from an actual variation in practice. The original age of admission for Levites was probably thirty, but owing to the scarcity of their numbers it seems to have been necessary to reduce the limit of age to twenty. But see also the note on pp. 51 f.

by their polls] Literally by their skulls. “Poll” is an almost obsolete word for “head,” retained in the compound word, “poll-tax.”

thirty and eight thousand] Numbers iii. 39 gives 22,000, and Numbers xxvi. 62, 23,000, as the number of male Levites from a month old and upwards in the time of Moses.

⁴Of these, twenty and four thousand were to oversee the work of the house of the Lord; and six thousand were officers and judges:

4. twenty and four thousand] These were divided into courses (verse 6), serving by turn, apparently twenty-four in number, consisting each of a thousand men. See, however, the note on verses 6‒23 below.

to oversee the work] It is true that there were some Temple servants subordinate to the Levites—see note on the Nethinim, ix. 2. But the duty of the Levites was to perform the work of the Temple (as is said e.g. in verses 24, 28), not to act as overseers of the work of others. It is therefore to be inferred that the “work” spoken of here and in verse 5 is not the routine duties of the Temple but the work of its construction. Adding the Levites of verse 4 to the officers, doorkeepers, and musicians of verse 5, we have a total of 38,000 overseers: that the number is incredibly large is no objection in Chronicles.

officers and judges] Compare 2 Chronicles xix. 8, 11. According to Deuteronomy xvii. 9 (compare Deuteronomy xvi. 18) the harder causes were reserved for “the priests the Levites,” ordinary causes being decided by judges who were not Levites.

⁵and four thousand were doorkeepers; and four thousand praised the Lord with the instruments which I made, said David, to praise therewith.

5. doorkeepers] The courses and duties of these are given in xxvi. 1‒19.

four thousand praised the Lord] Compare xxv. 1‒31, which tells of a picked choir consisting of 288 persons, divided into twenty-four courses, whose special duty was psalmody.

the instruments which I made] Compare 2 Chronicles xxix. 26.

6‒23. It is natural to expect that twenty-four heads of fathers’ houses will appear in this list (compare note on verse 4), in harmony with the twenty-four courses of priests, of musicians, and of doorkeepers referred to in the chapters following. The present text, however, appears to yield but twenty-two, and the various emendations suggested in order to obtain twenty-four are all precarious. The best suggestion is that of Curtis, for which see note on verse 22.

⁶And David divided them into courses¹ according to the sons of Levi; Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.

¹ Hebrew divisions.

6. the sons of Levi] Compare vi. 1, 16.

⁷Of the Gershonites; Ladan¹ and Shimei. ⁸The sons of Ladan; Jehiel the chief, and Zetham, and Joel, three.

¹ In chapter vi. 17, Libni.

7. Ladan and Shimei] For “Ladan” here and in xxvi. 21 we have in vi. 17 and Exodus vi. 17 “Libni.”

⁹The sons of Shimei; Shelomoth, and Haziel, and Haran, three. These were the heads of the fathers’ houses of Ladan.

9. The sons of Shimei] This Shimei in distinction from the Shimei of verses 7, 10 might conceivably be a descendant of Ladan, although the relationship is not indicated; but it is more probable that some confusion has come into the text of verses 8, 9, 10—as e.g. that verse 9b “These were ... of Ladan” is a gloss, and that for Shimei in verse 10 we should read Shelomoth.

¹⁰And the sons of Shimei; Jahath, Zina¹, and Jeush, and Beriah. These four were the sons of Shimei. ¹¹And Jahath was the chief, and Zizah the second: but Jeush and Beriah had not many sons; therefore they became a fathers’ house in one reckoning.

¹ In verse 11, Zizah.

10. Zina] Better, as in verse 11, Zizah; the two words are readily confused in Hebrew writing.

¹²The sons of Kohath; Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel, four.

12. The sons of Kohath] Compare vi. 2; Exodus vi. 18.

¹³The sons of Amram; Aaron and Moses: and Aaron was separated, that he should sanctify¹ the most holy things, he and his sons, for ever, to burn incense before the Lord, to minister unto him, and to bless in his name, for ever.

¹ Or, to sanctify as most holy him &c.

13. separated] i.e. set apart, sometimes with the additional meaning of making a distinction between sacred and common. Compare Romans i. 1, where St Paul describes himself as separated unto the gospel of God; Acts xiii. 2; Galatians i. 15.

the most holy things] Such for instance as the altar of incense (Exodus xxx. 1‒10), or again the shewbread (Leviticus xxiv. 5‒9).

to bless] compare Numbers vi. 23‒27.

¹⁴But as for Moses the man of God, his sons were named among the tribe of Levi.

14. among the tribe of Levi] The descendants of Moses as distinguished from those of Aaron had the standing, not of priests but of Levites.

¹⁵The sons of Moses; Gershom and Eliezer.

15. Gershom and Eliezer] Compare Exodus xviii. 3, 4.

¹⁶The sons of Gershom; Shebuel¹ the chief.

¹ In chapter xxiv. 20, Shubael.

16. The sons] compare the following verse; also ii. 31, where the plural, The sons, is thrice followed by a single name only.

Shebuel] rather, as in xxiv. 20, Shubael; so LXX. here.

¹⁷And the sons of Eliezer were, Rehabiah the chief. And Eliezer had none other sons; but the sons of Rehabiah were very many.

17. Rehabiah] Compare xxiv. 21.

¹⁸The sons of Izhar; Shelomith¹ the chief.

¹ In chapter xxiv. 22, Shelomoth.

18. Shelomith] In xxiv. 22, Shelomoth.

¹⁹The sons of Hebron; Jeriah the chief, Amariah the second, Jahaziel the third, and Jekameam the fourth.

19. The sons of Hebron] Compare xxiv. 23.

²⁰The sons of Uzziel; Micah the chief, and Isshiah the second.

20. The sons of Uzziel] Compare xxiv. 24. Nine Kohathite families seem to be here reckoned.

²¹The sons of Merari; Mahli and Mushi. The sons of Mahli; Eleazar and Kish.

21. The sons of Merari] Compare xxiv. 26.

The sons of Mahli] Compare xxiv. 28, 29.

²²And Eleazar died, and had no sons, but daughters only: and their brethren the sons of Kish took them to wife.

22. their brethren] Their kinsmen.

took them to wife] i.e. in accordance with the law stated in Numbers xxvii. 4, compare Numbers xxxvi. 6, whereby daughters had a right of inheritance in hope of perpetuating the name of him who died without male heirs. Thus Eleazar, by his family through the female line, may be reckoned one of the heads of fathers’ houses. If this view be correct, the list contains not twenty-two but twenty-three “heads”; and it may be conjectured that the one name more required to make up the desired total of twenty-four has been lost in the transmission of the text.

²³The sons of Mushi; Mahli, and Eder, and Jeremoth, three.

23. The sons of Mushi] Compare xxiv. 30.

24‒27.
Organisation of the Levites (second account).

²⁴These were the sons of Levi after their fathers’ houses, even the heads of the fathers’ houses of those of them that were counted, in the number of names by their polls, who did the work for the service of the house of the Lord, from twenty years old and upward. ²⁵For David said, The Lord, the God of Israel, hath given rest unto his people; and he dwelleth in Jerusalem for ever: ²⁶and also the Levites shall no more have need to carry the tabernacle and all the vessels of it for the service thereof. ²⁷For by the last words¹ of David the sons of Levi were numbered, from twenty years old and upward.

¹ Or, in the last acts.

24. from twenty years old and upward] The striking divergence between this verse and verse 3, where thirty is given as the minimum age for service as a Levite, has given rise to much discussion—see the note to verse 3. No doubt the concluding remarks of that note are true historically: a change in the inferior age limit of the Levites did take place at some time on account of the need for larger numbers in office. But neither that fact, nor the theory (which is hardly borne out by other considerations) that the Chronicler has used varying traditions from two different sources, suffices to explain why he left the evident contradiction in his narrative. The desirability of explaining this circumstance strongly favours the view urged by Curtis, that in verses 3 ff. the Chronicler meant to describe the Levitical organisation during and for the purpose of the preparation and erection of the Temple, whilst verses 24 ff. relate to the period when the Temple was completed and the duties of the Levites, being both more numerous and at the same time of a more mechanical nature, might well seem to call for an increase in the number of those officiating. When the reduction of the age limit to twenty actually took place is of course immaterial; but it is quite in keeping with the manner of the Chronicler that he should thus carry both arrangements back to the time of David.

28‒32.
Duties of the Levites.

²⁸For their office¹ was to wait on the sons of Aaron for the service of the house of the Lord, in the courts, and in the chambers, and in the purifying of all holy things, even the work of the service of the house of God;

¹ Hebrew their station was at the hand of the sons of Aaron. See Nehemiah xi. 24.

28. their office was to wait on] Literally, as margin, their station was at the hand of. For the phrase at the hand of compare Psalms cxxiii. 2, as the eyes of servants look unto the hand of their master.

the chambers] compare ix. 26, note.

²⁹for the shewbread also, and for the fine flour for a meal offering, whether of unleavened wafers, or of that which is baked in the pan, or of that which is soaked, and for all manner of measure and size;

29. for the shewbread] i.e. for the preparation of the shewbread (compare ix. 32).

that which is soaked] Compare Leviticus vi. 21 [14, Hebrew].

for all manner of measure and size] i.e. for measuring the component parts of the meal-offering, etc.

³⁰and to stand every morning to thank and praise the Lord, and likewise at even;

30. every morning ... and likewise at even] Corresponding with the daily morning and evening sacrifice; compare Exodus xxix. 38, 39.

³¹and to offer all burnt offerings unto the Lord, in the sabbaths, in the new moons, and on the set feasts, in number according to the ordinance concerning them, continually before the Lord:

31. to offer all burnt offerings] This was the duty not of the Levites, who were to stand near-by praising Jehovah (verse 30), but of the priests. The apparent difficulty is due to a mistranslation: render and (to stand, i.e. assist) at every offering of burnt offerings.

the set feasts] i.e. the yearly feasts; Exodus xxiii. 14‒17.

³²and that they should keep the charge of the tent of meeting, and the charge of the holy place, and the charge of the sons of Aaron their brethren, for the service of the house of the Lord.

32. the charge of the holy place] This duty is assigned to Levites in Numbers iii. 28, 32; is restricted and confined to such Levites as were sons of Kohath in Numbers iv. 15; and according to a variant tradition in Numbers xviii. 5 is assigned to the priests.

the charge of the sons of Aaron] Compare Numbers xviii. 1‒7.

Chapter XXIV.

1‒19.
David’s Organisation of the Priests by courses.

¹And the courses of the sons of Aaron were these. The sons of Aaron; Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar.

1. the sons of Aaron] So vi. 3; Exodus vi. 23.

²But Nadab and Abihu died before their father, and had no children: therefore Eleazar and Ithamar executed the priest’s office.

2. Nadab and Abihu died] by fire from heaven as a punishment for sacrilege—so Leviticus x. 1, 2; Numbers iii. 4.

³And David¹ with Zadok of the sons of Eleazar, and Ahimelech of the sons of Ithamar, divided them according to their ordering in their service.

¹ Or, And David divided them, even Zadok &c.

3. Ahimelech of the sons of Ithamar] The colleague of Zadok in the priesthood is variously named in different passages:—

1 Chronicles xxiv. 3. Ahimelech of the sons of Ithamar.

1 Chronicles xxiv. 6. Ahimelech the son of Abiathar.

1 Chronicles xviii. 16. Abimelech the son of Abiathar.

Probably the same person is meant throughout, the confusion springing from a false reading in 2 Samuel viii. 17, Ahimelech the son of Abiathar for Abiathar the son of Ahimelech; see the notes on xv. 11, xviii. 16.

according to their ordering] i.e. according to the arrangement which follows; compare verse 19.

⁴And there were more chief men found of the sons of Eleazar than of the sons of Ithamar; and thus were they divided: of the sons of Eleazar there were sixteen, heads of fathers’ houses; and of the sons of Ithamar, according to their fathers’ houses, eight.

4. more chief men found of the sons of Eleazar than ... of Ithamar] The superiority of the Zadokites (sons of Eleazar) in the post-exilic period is read back into the days of David, and construed in the terms of a right of primogeniture: thus the proportion assigned here is sixteen to eight, i.e. Eleazar’s descendants have a double portion, besides the right of the High-priesthood.

⁵Thus were they divided by lot, one sort with another; for there were princes of the sanctuary, and princes of God, both of the sons of Eleazar, and of the sons of Ithamar.

5. one sort with another] i.e. sons of Eleazar with sons of Ithamar.

there were princes of the sanctuary, and princes of God, both of the sons, etc.] The princes of the sanctuary (Isaiah xliii. 28) are probably the same as the princes of God and as the chiefs of the priests (2 Chronicles xxxvi. 14). The Hebrew expression in 2 Chronicles xxxv. 8 is different (rulers of the house of God).

⁶And Shemaiah the son of Nethanel the scribe, who was of the Levites, wrote them in the presence of the king, and the princes, and Zadok the priest, and Ahimelech the son of Abiathar, and the heads of the fathers’ houses of the priests and of the Levites: one fathers’ house being taken for Eleazar, and one taken¹ for Ithamar.

¹ The Hebrew text has, taken, taken.

6. the scribe, who was of the Levites] so designated in order to distinguish him from the king’s scribe (compare 2 Chronicles xxiv. 11).

one taken] This rendering involves a simple and entirely probable correction of the Hebrew The alternate drawing here described could have lasted only for the first sixteen lots; in the last eight drawings the descendants of Eleazar must have drawn against each other only; compare verse 4, and the similar procedure described in xxv. 9‒31.

⁷Now the first lot came forth to Jehoiarib, the second to Jedaiah;

7. Jehoiarib] Lists of the priestly families occur also Nehemiah x. 2‒8, xii. 1‒7, 12‒21. Compare Ryle (on Nehemiah xii. 1) for a discussion of the names. For Jehoiarib see ix. 10, note.

⁸the third to Harim, the fourth to Seorim;

8. Harim] So Nehemiah x. 5, xii. 15, but in Nehemiah xii. 3, “Rehum.” The confusion of form is easy in Hebrew writing.

⁹the fifth to Malchijah, the sixth to Mijamin;

9. Mijamin] So Nehemiah x. 7, xii. 5; but xii. 17, “Miniamin.”

¹⁰the seventh to Hakkoz, the eighth to Abijah;

10. Hakkoz] Called “Koz” in Ezra ii. 61; Nehemiah iii. 4, 21 (Revised Version “Hakkoz” in all three places; so also in 1 Chronicles iv. 8 where a Calebite Koz is mentioned). Unable to trace their genealogy in the records after the Return, this family is stated in Ezra (ii. 61) to have been deprived of their right to the priesthood.

Abijah] So Nehemiah x. 7, xii. 4, 17. Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist, was of the course of Abiah (Revised Version Abijah); Luke i. 5.

¹¹the ninth to Jeshua, the tenth to Shecaniah;

11. Jeshua] This is the Hebrew name expressed by Ἰησοῦς in Greek, and by “Jesus” in English. The high-priest under whom the second Temple was built bore this name according to Ezra iii. 2, v. 2.

Shecaniah] So Nehemiah xii. 3; but Nehemiah x. 4, xii. 14, “Shebaniah.” The Hebrew letters transliterated b and c are easily confused.

¹²the eleventh to Eliashib, the twelfth to Jakim; ¹³the thirteenth to Huppah, the fourteenth to Jeshebeab;

12. Eliashib] A priest of this name is mentioned Nehemiah xiii. 4‒7.

¹⁴the fifteenth to Bilgah, the sixteenth to Immer; ¹⁵the seventeenth to Hezir, the eighteenth to Happizzez;

14. Bilgah] “Bilgah” (Nehemiah xii. 5) appears as a priest or priestly family in the time of the Return, and (under the form “Bilgai,” Nehemiah x. 8) in the time of Nehemiah.

Immer] compare ix. 12; Ezra ii. 37; Jeremiah xx. 1.

¹⁶the nineteenth to Pethahiah, the twentieth to Jehezkel;

16. Jehezkel] a more correct form of “Ezekiel,” the name of the priest-prophet of the Captivity.

¹⁷the one and twentieth to Jachin, the two and twentieth to Gamul;

17. Jachin] Compare ix. 10 (= Nehemiah xi. 10).

¹⁸the three and twentieth to Delaiah, the four and twentieth to Maaziah. ¹⁹This was the ordering of them in their service, to come into the house of the Lord according to the ordinance given unto them by the hand of Aaron their father, as the Lord, the God of Israel, had commanded him.

18. Maaziah] Nehemiah x. 8 (x. 9, Hebrew).

20‒31 (compare xxiii. 13‒23).
Families of the Levites.

These verses repeat the list of Levitic families given in xxiii. 6‒23 with the important omission of the whole of the Gershonites (xxiii. 6‒11), but with some additions to the Kohathite and Merarite families. Further, six “heads” of classes mentioned in xxiii. are here replaced by new names. These features, together with several details, point to the conclusion that the present list is the work of a later writer than the Chronicler.

²⁰And of the rest of the sons of Levi: of the sons of Amram, Shubael¹; of the sons of Shubael, Jehdeiah.

¹ In chapter xxiii. 16, Shebuel.

20 And of the rest of the sons of Levi: of, etc.] These are probably the words of the glossator, introducing the list which follows and which he intended as a corrective to the list in xxiii. 6‒23.

Amram] The four Kohathite families are now noticed in order, viz. Amram, Izhar (verse 22), Hebron (verse 23), Uzziel (verse 24).

Shubael] Called “Shebuel” in xxiii. 16, xxvi. 24.

²¹Of Rehabiah: of the sons of Rehabiah, Isshiah the chief.

21. Of Rahabiah] He (like Shubael) was descended from Moses; xxiii. 15‒17.

²²Of the Izharites, Shelomoth¹; of the sons of Shelomoth, Jahath.

¹ In chapter xxiii. 18, Shelomith.

22. Shelomoth] Called “Shelomith” in xxiii. 18.

²³And the sons of Hebron; Jeriah the chief, Amariah the second, Jahaziel the third, Jekameam the fourth. ²⁴The sons of Uzziel, Micah; of the sons of Micah, Shamir. ²⁵The brother of Micah, Isshiah: of the sons of Isshiah, Zechariah.

23. And the sons of Hebron; Jeriah the chief] The words of Hebron and the chief which are printed in italics in the text above have been omitted in the Hebrew by some error of transmission. They are rightly restored in accordance with xxiii. 19.

²⁶The sons of Merari; Mahli and Mushi: the sons of Jaaziah; Beno. ²⁷The sons of Merari; of Jaaziah, Beno, and Shoham, and Zaccur, and Ibri.

26. The sons of Merari] In xxiii. 21 only two families of Merari are mentioned, viz., Mahli and Mushi. Here however a third family “the sons of Jaaziah” is mentioned. Probably the fuller text is right to this extent that there was a family tracing their ancestry to Jaaziah and claiming that this Jaaziah was of Merarite descent; but is wrong in making Jaaziah an immediate son of Merari, parallel with the famous Mahli and Mushi. Hence the following word Beno (literally his son) should probably be struck out as an erroneous gloss (see also verse 27).

of Jaaziah; Beno] Either delete Beno (see previous note) or perhaps read Bani.

²⁸Of Mahli; Eleazar, who had no sons. ²⁹Of Kish; the sons of Kish, Jerahmeel.

28. Eleazar] Compare xxiii. 22.

³⁰And the sons of Mushi; Mahli, and Eder, and Jerimoth. These were the sons of the Levites after their fathers’ houses.

30. Jerimoth] Spelt “Jeremoth” in xxiii. 23.

These were ... houses] = xxiii. 24a.

³¹These likewise cast lots even as their brethren the sons of Aaron in the presence of David the king, and Zadok, and Ahimelech, and the heads of the fathers’ houses of the priests and of the Levites; the fathers’ houses of the chief even as those of his younger brother.

31. and Ahimelech] We expect and Abiathar; compare verse 3, xv. 11, xviii. 16, with the notes.

Chapter XXV.

1‒7.
The Families of the Singers.

The Chronicler displays so much interest in the liturgical worship of the Temple that it is very probable that he was himself a member of the musical guilds. There is no reason to question the importance of the musicians in the Temple worship of the late post-exilic period. But the development of their organisation and duties was certainly a gradual process, and did not, as the Chronicler here represents, spring into being, full-grown, in the days of David. Three classes—the sons of Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun (= Ethan) had come to be clearly recognised. They are here regarded as divided into twenty-four courses (like the Levites and Priests), but that this even in the Chronicler’s time represents not an actuality but an ideal is suggested by the artificial character of the names which conclude the list—see verse 4, note on Hananiah.

¹Moreover David and the captains of the host separated for the service certain of the sons of Asaph, and of Heman, and of Jeduthun, who should prophesy with harps, with psalteries, and with cymbals: and the number of them that did the work according to their service was:

1. Moreover David] Render, And David.

separated] compare xxiii. 13, note.

who should prophesy] i.e. sing and praise in the manner of the prophets, compare 1 Samuel x. 5. There is no reference to the predictive power or the higher spiritual activities of the great prophets. Nevertheless the term serves, and is intended, to invest the office of the musicians with a greater honour than that of the ministrant Levites.

psalteries] See xiii. 8, note.

²of the sons of Asaph; Zaccur, and Joseph, and Nethaniah, and Asharelah¹, the sons of Asaph; under the hand of Asaph, who prophesied after the order² of the king.

¹ In verse 14, Jesharelah.

² Hebrew by the hands of the king.

2. Asaph] See xv. 17, note.

Asharelah] In verse 14, “Jesharelah.”

after the order] All was done according to the order established by king David.

³Of Jeduthun: the sons of Jeduthun; Gedaliah, and Zeri¹, and Jeshaiah, Hashabiah, and Mattithiah, six²; under the hands of their father Jeduthun with the harp, who prophesied in giving thanks and praising the Lord.

¹ In verse 11, Izri.

² With Shimei, mentioned in verse 17.

3. Jeduthun] See xvi. 41, note.

Zeri] read as in verse 11, Izri.

Jeshaiah] After Jeshaiah LXX. B inserts the name “Shimei” (Σεμεεὶ), no doubt rightly for (1) six sons are reckoned in this verse, (2) the “Shimei” of verse 17 is otherwise unmentioned in verses 2‒4, though his twenty-three companions are named.

⁴Of Heman: the sons of Heman; Bukkiah, Mattaniah, Uzziel¹, Shebuel², and Jerimoth, Hananiah, Hanani, Eliathah, Giddalti, and Romamti-ezer, Joshbekashah, Mallothi, Hothir, Mahazioth:

¹ In verse 18, Azarel.

² In verse 20, Shubael.

4. Heman] See xv. 17, note.

Uzziel] In verse 18, “Azarel.” The variation between the two words when written with Hebrew consonants is small. Compare note on 2 Chronicles xxvi. 1 (“Uzziah” and “Azariah”).

Shebuel] In verse 20, “Shubael.”

Jerimoth] In verse 22, “Jeremoth.”

Hananiah, Hanani] Hananiah, which signifies “Jehovah (Jah) is gracious,” and Hanani (probably a contraction of Hananiah) are names found not infrequently in the Old Testament; but the following seven words are practically impossible as proper names, and the nine words together, with some easy alterations, actually form a poetical petition, which may be rendered thus:

“Be gracious unto me, O God; be gracious unto me!

Thou art my God.

Thou hast magnified and exalted help for him that sat in distress.

Thou hast given visions abundantly.”

What explanation can be offered of this startling fact? It may be that the names are wholly artificial, invented by the Chronicler to fill out the desired twenty-four courses (see the head-note above), but the device is clumsy and the Chronicler was not likely to be bankrupt for names. Perhaps by a curious chance the original names bore some slight resemblance to a sentence such as the above, and the resemblance has at some time been perfected by a fanciful scribe.

⁵all these were the sons of Heman the king’s seer in the words of God, to lift up the horn. And God gave to Heman fourteen sons and three daughters. ⁶All these were under the hands of their father for song in the house of the Lord, with cymbals, psalteries, and harps, for the service of the house of God; Asaph¹, Jeduthun, and Heman being under the order of the king.

¹ Or, after the order of the king, even Asaph &c.

5. the king’s seer] This title is given to Gad in xxi. 9, and to Asaph, Heman and Jeduthun, all three in 2 Chronicles xxxv. 15 (LXX. not Hebrew).

in the words of God] The exact meaning of this is uncertain; it may either mean “in Divine things” (i.e. arrangements for worship), or “by Divine appointment” (compare 2 Chronicles xxix. 15 “by the words of the Lord”).

to lift up the horn] i.e. to make loud blasts upon the horn; but a slightly different division of the Hebrew consonants should probably be made and the phrase connected with the following verse. Render therefore, To lift up the horn (i.e. to increase his power) God gave to Heman, etc.

fourteen sons] Corresponding with the fourteen names given in verse 4.

⁷And the number of them, with their brethren that were instructed in singing unto the Lord, even all that were skilful, was two hundred fourscore and eight.

7. two hundred fourscore and eight] The number corresponds with the twenty-four courses of twelve members each about to be enumerated.

8‒31.
The Allotment of the Courses.

⁸And they cast lots for their charges¹, all alike, as well the small as the great, the teacher as the scholar.

¹ Or, ward against ward, as well &c.

8. for their charges, all alike] charges, i.e. duties. The Hebrew text is faulty, but the Revised Version rendering probably represents the right reading.

the teacher as the scholar] LXX. τελείων καὶ μανθανόντων (i.e. the initiated and the learners). For a similar inclusive phrase compare the Arabic “he that giveth to hear and he that heareth,” and see further references in Driver, Deuteronomy (International Crititcal Commentary), p. 376. Instead of “the teacher” we may render “the skilful” as in verse 7; the Hebrew word is the same. It is to be noted that we have here twenty-four courses of singers corresponding with the twenty-four courses of the priests.

⁹Now the first lot came forth for Asaph to Joseph: the second to Gedaliah; he and his brethren and sons were twelve: ¹⁰the third to Zaccur, his sons and his brethren, twelve:

9. for Asaph] A comparison of verses 9‒31 with verses 2‒4 shows that the first, third, fifth and seventh lots fell to Asaph, the second, fourth, eighth, tenth, twelfth and fourteenth to Jeduthun, and the rest (fourteen in number) to Heman.

¹¹the fourth to Izri, his sons and his brethren, twelve: ¹²the fifth to Nethaniah, his sons and his brethren, twelve: ¹³the sixth to Bukkiah, his sons and his brethren, twelve:

11. Izri] See note on Zeri, verse 3.

¹⁴the seventh to Jesharelah, his sons and his brethren, twelve: ¹⁵the eighth to Jeshaiah, his sons and his brethren, twelve: ¹⁶the ninth to Mattaniah, his sons and his brethren, twelve:

14. Jesharelah] Compare verse 2.

¹⁷the tenth to Shimei, his sons and his brethren, twelve:

17. Shimei] Not mentioned in the present text of verses 2‒4; see note on Jeshaiah, verse 3.

¹⁸the eleventh to Azarel, his sons and his brethren, twelve: ¹⁹the twelfth to Hashabiah, his sons and his brethren, twelve:

18. Azarel] Called Uzziel, verse 4.

²⁰for the thirteenth, Shubael, his sons and his brethren, twelve: ²¹for the fourteenth, Mattithiah, his sons and his brethren, twelve:

20. Shubael] Called Shebuel, verse 4.

²²for the fifteenth to Jeremoth, his sons and his brethren, twelve: ²³for the sixteenth to Hananiah, his sons and his brethren, twelve: ²⁴for the seventeenth to Joshbekashah, his sons and his brethren, twelve: ²⁵for the eighteenth to Hanani, his sons and his brethren, twelve: ²⁶for the nineteenth to Mallothi, his sons and his brethren, twelve: ²⁷for the twentieth to Eliathah, his sons and his brethren, twelve: ²⁸for the one and twentieth to Hothir, his sons and his brethren, twelve: ²⁹for the two and twentieth to Giddalti, his sons and his brethren, twelve: ³⁰for the three and twentieth to Mahazioth, his sons and his brethren, twelve: ³¹for the four and twentieth to Romamti-ezer, his sons and his brethren, twelve.

22. Jeremoth] Called Jerimoth, verse 4.

Chapter XXVI.

1‒12 (compare ix. 17‒27).
The Courses of the Doorkeepers.

¹For the courses of the doorkeepers: of the Korahites; Meshelemiah¹ the son of Kore, of the sons of Asaph². ²And Meshelemiah had sons; Zechariah the firstborn, Jediael the second, Zebadiah the third, Jathniel the fourth;

¹ In verse 14, Shelemiah.

² In chapter ix. 19, Ebiasaph.

1. Meshelemiah, etc.] For the names of the doorkeepers see notes on ix. 17 ff.

of the sons of Asaph] For Asaph read Ebiasaph, as in ix. 19.

³Elam the fifth, Jehohanan the sixth, Eliehoenai the seventh.

3. Eliehoenai] The form differs from that in iii. 23, but has the same meaning, viz., “Mine eyes are towards Jehovah.”

⁴And Obed-edom had sons; Shemaiah the firstborn, Jehozabad the second, Joah the third, and Sacar the fourth, and Nethanel the fifth;

4. Obed-edom] For Obed-edom see xiii. 13, note.

⁵Ammiel the sixth, Issachar the seventh, Peullethai the eighth: for God blessed him. ⁶Also unto Shemaiah his son were sons born, that ruled over the house of their father: for they were mighty men of valour.

5. for God blessed him] “him” refers to “Obed-edom” (verse 4), who was blessed with eight sons. It seems likely that the phrase “God blessed him” is intended to be a reminiscence of xiii. 14 and indicates that the Levitical Obed-edom was strangely identified by tradition with Obed-edom the Gittite in whose house the Ark was temporarily left by David (xiii. 13). For other references to Obed-edom as one of the doorkeepers, see xv. 18, 24, xvi. 38. On the other hand he is classed as a singer in xv. 21, xvi. 5, passages which are probably additions to the original text of Chronicles, or at any rate represent later or divergent tradition.

⁷The sons of Shemaiah; Othni, and Rephael, and Obed, Elzabad, whose brethren were valiant men, Elihu, and Semachiah. ⁸All these were of the sons of Obed-edom: they and their sons and their brethren, able men in strength for the service; threescore and two of Obed-edom.

7. whose brethren] The pronoun refers to Elzabad.

⁹And Meshelemiah had sons and brethren, valiant men, eighteen.

9. Meshelemiah] Compare verses 1‒3 to which verse 9 is a supplement.

¹⁰Also Hosah, of the children of Merari, had sons; Shimri the chief, (for though he was not the firstborn, yet his father made him chief;) ¹¹Hilkiah the second, Tebaliah the third, Zechariah the fourth: all the sons and brethren of Hosah were thirteen.

10. Hosah] He is mentioned as a doorkeeper along with Obed-edom in xvi. 38.

¹²Of these were the courses of the doorkeepers, even of the chief men, having charges¹ like as their brethren, to minister in the house of the Lord.

¹ Or, wards over against their brethren.

12. Of these ... even of the chief men] In verses 8, 9, 11 taken together ninety-three doorkeepers are enumerated, who are presumably the heads of the four thousand mentioned in xxiii. 5. In ix. 22 again the total number (as it seems) of doorkeepers is given as two hundred and twelve. The discrepancy may be due to the Chronicler having used different documents belonging to different dates: for other possibilities see note on ix. 22.

13‒19 (compare ix. 23‒26).
The Stations of the Doorkeepers.

Remark how naïvely the Chronicler names various parts of the Temple as if it had been already in existence at this time.

¹³And they cast lots, as well the small as the great, according to their fathers’ houses, for every gate. ¹⁴And the lot eastward fell to Shelemiah¹. Then for Zechariah his son, a discreet counsellor, they cast lots; and his lot came out northward. ¹⁵To Obed-edom southward; and to his sons the storehouse.

¹ In verse 1, Meshelemiah.

14. Shelemiah] i.e. Meshelemiah, verses 1, 2.

¹⁶To Shuppim and Hosah westward, by the gate of Shallecheth¹, at the causeway that goeth up, ward against ward. ¹⁷Eastward were six Levites, northward four a day, southward four a day, and for the storehouse two and two.

¹ That is, Casting forth.

16. To Shuppim and Hosah] Read, To Hosah. The word “Shuppim” should be omitted from the text. It is merely an accidental repetition (in a corrupt form) of the last word in verse 15, namely “Asuppim,” rendered storehouse.

by the gate of Shallecheth] There is no other mention in the Bible of a gate “Shallecheth,” but it is perhaps to be identified with “the entering in of the house of the Lord ... which was in the precincts” (“Parvārim” Hebrew) mentioned 2 Kings xxiii. 11; compare note on verse 18. Possibly the text should be corrected and we should read, following the LXX., “by the gate of the chamber.”

at the causeway that goeth up] “The causeway” led up to the Temple either from Ophel (on the south) or from the Western City (across the Tyropœon Valley). Traces of two causeways have been discovered by excavation, viz., “Wilson’s Arch” (Bädeker, Palestine⁵, p. 65) and “Robinson’s Arch” (Palestine⁵ p. 66). The second of these arches probably marks the site of a causeway belonging to the period of the Kings.

¹⁸For Parbar¹ westward, four at the causeway, and two at Parbar¹. ¹⁹These were the courses of the doorkeepers; of the sons of the Korahites, and of the sons of Merari.

¹ Or, the Precinct.

18. Parbar] This word, apparently the same as parvarim, 2 Kings xxiii. 11 (Revised Version “precincts”; compare margin here), seems to denote some building built on the Temple area on the west side. It may have been a colonnade. The word is Persian and means “lighted [by the sun].”

20‒32.
Various Officers.

²⁰And of the Levites¹, Ahijah was over the treasuries of the house of God, and over the treasuries of the dedicated² things.

¹ According to the Septuagint, And the Levites their brethren were over &c.

² Hebrew holy things.

20. And of the Levites, Ahijah was over] Read (with LXX.; compare margin), And the Levites their brethren were over. The confusion of readings is easy in Hebrew; compare ii. 25 for a similar case.

the dedicated things] Compare verses 26‒28.

²¹The sons of Ladan¹; the sons of the Gershonites belonging to Ladan, the heads of the fathers’ houses belonging to Ladan the Gershonite; Jehieli².

¹ In chapter vi. 17, Libni.

² In chapter xxiii. 8, Jehiel.

21. Ladan] compare xxiii. 7; called Libni in vi. 17 [2, Hebrew].

Jehieli] Read Jehiel as in xxiii. 8, xxix. 8; and probably delete the following “The sons of Jehieli,” compare xxiii. 8.

²²The sons of Jehieli; Zetham, and Joel his brother, over the treasuries of the house of the Lord.

22. Zetham, and Joel] These appear as brethren of Jehiel in xxiii. 8; but since families, not individuals, are spoken of, the discrepancy is not important.

²³Of the Amramites, of the Izharites, of the Hebronites, of the Uzzielites:

23. the Amramites, etc.] Compare xxiii. 12.

²⁴and Shebuel the son of Gershom, the son of Moses, was ruler over the treasuries.

24. Shebuel] rather Shubael, as in xxiv. 20; compare xxiii. 16.

²⁵And his brethren; of Eliezer came Rehabiah his son, and Jeshaiah his son, and Joram his son, and Zichri his son, and Shelomoth his son.

25. of Eliezer came Rehabiah] Compare xxiii. 15‒17, xxiv. 21.

Shelomoth] (so Kethīb); Authorized Version Shelomith follows Ḳerī; compare verse 28 (margin).

²⁶This Shelomoth and his brethren were over all the treasuries of the dedicated things, which David the king, and the heads of the fathers’ houses, the captains over thousands and hundreds, and the captains of the host, had dedicated. ²⁷Out of the spoil¹ won in battles did they dedicate to repair the house of the Lord. ²⁸And all that Samuel the seer, and Saul the son of Kish, and Abner the son of Ner, and Joab the son of Zeruiah, had dedicated; whosoever had dedicated any thing, it was under the hand of Shelomoth², and of his brethren.

¹ Hebrew Out of the battles and the spoil.

² Hebrew Shelomith.

26. David the king] Compare xviii. 11.

²⁹Of the Izharites, Chenaniah and his sons were for the outward business over Israel, for officers and judges.

29. Izharites] Compare xxiii. 12.

the outward business] This business is here expressly defined as work “for officers and judges,” as compared with the duties of maintaining the worship of the Temple and the construction or repair of the fabric (compare xxiii. 4; 2 Chronicles xix. 11; Nehemiah xi. 16).

³⁰Of the Hebronites, Hashabiah and his brethren, men of valour, a thousand and seven hundred, had the oversight of Israel beyond Jordan westward; for all the business of the Lord, and for the service of the king.

30. the Hebronites] Compare xxiii. 12.

had the oversight of Israel] How their duties were related to those of Chenaniah and his sons (verse 29) is not made clear.

beyond Jordan westward] Compare Joshua xxii. 7, Revised Version Western Palestine is meant.

³¹Of the Hebronites was Jerijah the chief, even of the Hebronites, according to their generations by fathers’ houses. In the fortieth year of the reign of David they were sought for, and there were found among them mighty men of valour at Jazer of Gilead.

31. Jerijah] called Jeriah (Hebrew Jerijahu) in xxiii. 19.

at Jazer] compare vi. 81 (vi. 66, Hebrew); Numbers xxi. 32, Revised Version The Eastern Hebronites were given office east of Jordan; compare verse 32.

³²And his brethren, men of valour, were two thousand and seven hundred, heads of fathers’ houses, whom king David made overseers over the Reubenites, and the Gadites, and the half tribe of the Manassites, for every matter pertaining to God, and for the affairs of the king.

32. his brethren] i.e. the brethren of Jerijah. It is remarkable that their number should be given as 2700 for the two and a half tribes, whereas the overseers for the nine and a half tribes west of Jordan are said to number only 1700. Curtis sees in this a hint of the importance of Gilead in the Chronicler’s period (compare 1 Maccabees v. 45).

Chapter XXVII.
The Organisation of the Military and Civil Officials.

1‒15.
The divisions of the Army by Courses.

It is in keeping with the plan and spirit of the Chronicler that he should not fail to ascribe to David, who for all his piety was preeminently the warrior-king, the organisation on an immense scale of the military and civil forces of the land. In monthly “courses” the king is here said to be attended by officers and soldiers totalling 288,000 men! The enumeration of David’s “mighty men” in chapter xi. 10 ff. is an utterly insufficient reason for supposing that the present chapter cannot also come from the Chronicler. It is suitable to his narrative, characteristic of his style, and, if further evidence be needed, it may be found in the tone of the references to the civil and military authorities in xxii. 17; xxiii. 2; xxviii. 1 ff., 21; xxix. 6 ff.

¹Now the children of Israel after their number, to wit, the heads of fathers’ houses and the captains of thousands and of hundreds, and their officers that served the king, in any matter of the courses which came in and went out month by month throughout all the months of the year, of every course were twenty and four thousand.

1. came in and went out] Came on duty and went off duty; compare 2 Chronicles xxiii. 8.

²Over the first course for the first month was Jashobeam the son of Zabdiel: and in his course were twenty and four thousand.

2. Jashobeam] Compare xi. 11, note.

³He was of the children of Perez, the chief of all the captains of the host for the first month.

3. Perez] For Perez, see ii. 4, 5.

⁴And over the course of the second month was Dodai the Ahohite, and his course; and Mikloth the ruler: and in his course were twenty and four thousand.

4. Dodai the Ahohite] Read probably (compare xi. 12), “Eleazar the son of Dodo, the Ahohite.”

and his course; and Mikloth the ruler] The words are corrupt and are omitted in the LXX. The original text is quite uncertain. A Benjamite called Mikloth is mentioned in viii. 32.

⁵The third captain of the host for the third month was Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada the priest¹, chief: and in his course were twenty and four thousand.

¹ Or, chief minister See 2 Samuel viii. 18.

5. Benaiah] Compare xi. 22 ff., xviii. 17.

Jehoiada the priest, chief] “chief” refers to Benaiah.

⁶This is that Benaiah, who was the mighty man of the thirty, and over the thirty: and of his course was Ammizabad his son.

6. the mighty man of the thirty, and over the thirty] Compare xi. 25.

⁷The fourth captain for the fourth month was Asahel the brother of Joab, and Zebadiah his son after him: and in his course were twenty and four thousand.

7. Asahel] compare xi. 26, note.

⁸The fifth captain for the fifth month was Shamhuth the Izrahite: and in his course were twenty and four thousand.

8. Shamhuth the Izrahite] Perhaps to be identified with “Shammoth the Harorite” of xi. 27; see note there.

⁹The sixth captain for the sixth month was Ira the son of Ikkesh the Tekoite: and in his course were twenty and four thousand.

9. Ira] compare xi. 28.

¹⁰The seventh captain for the seventh month was Helez the Pelonite, of the children of Ephraim: and in his course were twenty and four thousand.

10. Helez the Pelonite] Compare xi. 27, note.

¹¹The eighth captain for the eighth month was Sibbecai the Hushathite, of the Zerahites: and in his course were twenty and four thousand.

11. Sibbecai the Hushathite] Compare xi. 29, notes.

Zerahites] (also verse 13). Descendants of Zerah, son of Judah; ii. 4.

¹²The ninth captain for the ninth month was Abiezer the Anathothite, of the Benjamites: and in his course were twenty and four thousand.

12. Abiezer the Anathothite] Compare xi. 28.

¹³The tenth captain for the tenth month was Maharai the Netophathite, of the Zerahites: and in his course were twenty and four thousand.

13. Maharai the Netophathite] Compare xi. 30.

¹⁴The eleventh captain for the eleventh month was Benaiah the Pirathonite, of the children of Ephraim: and in his course were twenty and four thousand.

14. Benaiah the Pirathonite] Compare xi. 31.

¹⁵The twelfth captain for the twelfth month was Heldai¹ the Netophathite, of Othniel: and in his course were twenty and four thousand.

¹ In chapter xi. 30, Heled.

15. Heldai] Called Heled in xi. 30.

of Othniel] compare Judges i. 13, iii. 9. Thus Heldai was not of pure Israelite descent, but belonged to the Kenizzites (Kenaz), a younger branch of the Calebites, an independent tribe which settled primarily in southern Judah and was later incorporated in the tribe of Judah. Genealogically this fact was expressed by calling Caleb a son of Hezron, the son of Judah. See the article Caleb in Encyclopedia Britannica¹¹.

16‒24.
The Princes of the Tribes of Israel.

Six tribes which were accounted “sons” of Leah are given first, then six “sons,” actual or legal, of Rachel; whilst Zadok as chief of the priestly caste may be reckoned as standing in a category by himself, representative of the nation as a whole. Gad and Asher are omitted, for some reason not easy to discern, perhaps accidentally or because the traditional number of “twelve” tribes was complete in this list without them.

¹⁶Furthermore over the tribes of Israel: of the Reubenites was Eliezer the son of Zichri the ruler: of the Simeonites, Shephatiah the son of Maacah: ¹⁷of Levi, Hashabiah the son of Kemuel: of Aaron, Zadok:

17. Hashabiah] Perhaps the person mentioned in xxvi. 30. The name is common among Levites.

of Aaron, Zadok] compare xii. 27, 28.

¹⁸of Judah, Elihu¹, one of the brethren of David: of Issachar, Omri the son of Michael: ¹⁹of Zebulun, Ishmaiah the son of Obadiah: of Naphtali, Jeremoth the son of Azriel: ²⁰of the children of Ephraim, Hoshea the son of Azaziah: of the half tribe of Manasseh, Joel the son of Pedaiah:

¹ In 1 Samuel xvi. 6, Eliab.

18. Elihu] Perhaps the “Eliab” of 1 Samuel xvi. 6; compare margin.

²¹of the half tribe of Manasseh in Gilead, Iddo the son of Zechariah: of Benjamin, Jaasiel the son of Abner: ²²of Dan, Azarel the son of Jeroham. These were the captains of the tribes of Israel.

21. Gilead] “Gilead” is strictly speaking the name of the district between the Jabbok and Moab, in which the tribes of Gad and Reuben dwelt. Here it is used less precisely to include Bashan, the district north-east of Jordan in which the half tribe of Manasseh lived: compare ii. 22, note.

Iddo] Spelt quite differently in Hebrew from the name of the father of the prophet Zechariah (Zechariah i. 1).

Abner] 1 Samuel xiv. 50, 51.

²³But David took not the number of them from twenty years old and under: because the Lord had said he would increase Israel like to the stars of heaven.

23. took not the number] In Numbers i. 3 ff. it is said that in the census which God commanded Moses to take in the wilderness only those above twenty years old were to be numbered, and a chief from each tribe was appointed to assist Moses in the task of numeration. The Chronicler in this section wishes to say that, though David erred in taking the census unbidden by Jehovah, he at least conformed to the principles of the Law in carrying out his project: those under 20 years of age were not counted, and the princes just enumerated may be supposed to correspond to the chiefs who assisted Moses.

²⁴Joab the son of Zeruiah began to number, but finished not; and there came wrath for this upon Israel; neither was the number put into the account in the chronicles of king David.

24. but finished not] Compare xxi. 6.

into the account in] A summary of the numbers of David’s census is given in xxi. 5 and also (with divergences) in 2 Samuel xxiv. 9. The Chronicler probably means in the present passage that the details of the census were not entered in the official records.

the chronicles] Literally the acts of the days; compare Introduction, § 5.

25‒31.
Various Officers of the King.

Twelve different officers are named here who acted as stewards of king David’s property.

²⁵And over the king’s treasuries was Azmaveth the son of Adiel: and over the treasuries in the fields, in the cities, and in the villages, and in the castles, was Jonathan the son of Uzziah: ²⁶and over them that did the work of the field for tillage of the ground was Ezri the son of Chelub:

25. castles] Literally towers; compare 2 Chronicles xxvi. 10, xxvii. 4.

²⁷and over the vineyards was Shimei the Ramathite: and over the increase of the vineyards for the wine cellars was Zabdi the Shiphmite:

27. the Ramathite] The well-known Ramah was in Benjamin, but there was also a Ramah (or Ramoth) of the South (Joshua xix. 8; 1 Samuel xxx. 27) from which the epithet “Ramathite” might be derived.

the Shiphmite] The adjective is probably derived from “Siphmoth” (1 Samuel xxx. 28), the name of a place in the south of Judah. If so, we should read either “Siphmite” here, or “Shiphmoth” in 1 Samuel.

²⁸and over the olive trees and the sycomore trees that were in the lowland was Baal-hanan the Gederite: and over the cellars of oil was Joash:

28. sycomore] The fig-mulberry, a tree having leaves like mulberry-leaves, and bearing a fruit resembling figs. Compare 2 Chronicles i. 15; Amos, vii. 14.

in the lowland] Hebrew Shephelah. See note on 2 Chronicles i. 15 (“vale”).

Gederite] i.e. inhabitant of “Geder” (Joshua xii. 13), perhaps another form of “Gederah” (Joshua xv. 36). A place in the south of Judah is intended in any case. See note on xii. 4.

²⁹and over the herds that fed in Sharon was Shitrai the Sharonite: and over the herds that were in the valleys was Shaphat the son of Adlai:

29. Sharon] The great maritime plain bounded on the east by the “lowland” (Shephelah). “The valleys” would probably be the depressions among the hills of the Shephelah which open out into Sharon; compare Canticles ii. 1.

³⁰and over the camels was Obil the Ishmaelite: and over the asses was Jehdeiah the Meronothite:

30. Obil] The name is a form of the Arabic word ābil, “one who feeds camels.”

the Meronothite] Meronoth was perhaps near Gibeon and Mizpah; compare Nehemiah iii. 7.

³¹and over the flocks was Jaziz the Hagrite. All these were the rulers of the substance which was king David’s.

31. Hagrite] Compare v. 10.

32‒34 (compare xviii. 15‒17 = 2 Samuel viii. 16‒18; compare 2 Samuel xx. 23‒26).
David’s Officers at Court.

³²Also Jonathan David’s uncle¹ was a counsellor, a man of understanding, and a scribe: and Jehiel the son of Hachmoni was with the king’s sons:

¹ Or, brother’s son.

32. Jonathan David’s uncle] The name Jonathan is common in Hebrew, but no uncle of David is elsewhere mentioned. A “Jonathan, son of Shimea,” David’s brother, is referred to in xx. 7 (= 2 Samuel xxi. 21), and many scholars in consequence prefer to follow the margin and render Jonathan, David’s brother’s son. Curtis renders David’s lover, taking the reference to be to Jonathan, Saul’s son, who as the friend of David’s youth might be spoken of as his first “counsellor.” This view seems improbable but is not impossible, despite the phrase “and a scribe” which could not possibly be said of Saul’s warrior son. There is some evidence that those words are a gloss, and it is true that the list is not one of living men only (compare Ahithophel), whilst finally the Chronicler might well be tempted to drag in an allusion to a relationship so well-known and so creditable to David.

a scribe] Not the chief scribe; compare xviii. 16, note.

with the king’s sons] As tutor; compare 2 Kings x. 6.

³³and Ahithophel was the king’s counsellor: and Hushai the Archite was the king’s friend:

33. Ahithophel] See 2 Samuel xv. 31; xvi. 20‒xvii. 23.

Hushai] See 2 Samuel xv. 32‒37, xvi. 16‒19, xvii. 5‒16.

Archite] The “border of the Archites” was near Bethel (Joshua xvi. 2). The word has no connection with the “Arkite” of i. 15.

king’s friend] compare 2 Samuel xvi. 16. “Special titles served to signify the degree of rank the great men held with respect to the king [of Egypt]. In old times the most important were the friend and the well-beloved friend of the king” (Erman, Ancient Egypt, English translation p. 72). The Greek kings of Syria granted similar titles to their chief dependents; compare 1 Maccabees ii. 18 (Revised Version with margin), “thou and thy house shall be in the number of the king’s Friends.”

³⁴and after Ahithophel was Jehoiada the son of Benaiah, and Abiathar: and the captain of the king’s host was Joab.

34. after Ahithophel] Compare verse 33.

Jehoiada the son of Benaiah] Either we must read, “Benaiah the son of Jehoiada” (compare xviii. 17), or we must assume that a person known only from this passage is meant.

and Abiathar] Possibly such a phrase as “And Zadok and Abiathar were priests” (compare 2 Samuel xx. 25) originally stood here.

Chapters XXVIII, XXIX.
David’s farewell Speech.

Chapter XXVIII.

1‒8 (compare xxii. 17‒19).
His charge to the chief men of Israel concerning the building of the Temple.

The glorious reign now reaches a fitting climax. David summons the assembly of all the princes and commanders of Israel, and, in the presence of the heir to the throne, addresses them in a final oration. He recounts his Divine election and rule over Israel and the promise that the same Divine Power will be with Solomon his son (xxviii. 1‒10). Then, handing over to Solomon the inspired plans for the Temple (11‒21), and briefly describing the treasures he has amassed for its enrichment (xxix. 1‒5) he appeals to the liberality of the people and is met by a magnificent response (6‒9). Finally, in a prayer of fine humility and faith (10‒20), he commends his son and his people to the eternal and all-powerful God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel. How immense the contrast between this and the pathetically real picture of the closing days of David portrayed in 1 Kings i., ii. 1‒11! There the dying monarch is seen, exhausted in mind and body, surrounded by the intrigues of an Eastern palace. With a last flicker of his strength, he rouses himself to secure the succession of Solomon by firm but ruthless orders against the leaders of the opposing faction. Whilst the narrative in Kings is indispensable to us in preserving some record of the actual history of the last days of David, Chronicles is also of great value in its own way as a religious interpretation of history (Introduction pp. liii, lv). Rightly understood, this farewell speech is in many respects a noble and inspiring passage of Scripture: so ought a perfect reign to end. Here David dies, leaving his country peaceful, powerful, and contented. He dies believing that his people’s true prosperity is in its zeal for the worship of God; and for that end, with the popular approval, he has made marvellous preparation. And lastly he dies, in no vain-glorious spirit, but conscious of the littleness of man and the majesty of God, and in humble dependence on the continuance of Grace.

¹And David assembled all the princes of Israel, the princes of the tribes, and the captains of the companies that served the king by course, and the captains of thousands, and the captains of hundreds, and the rulers over all the substance and possessions¹ of the king and of his sons, with the officers², and the mighty men, even all the mighty men of valour, unto Jerusalem.

¹ Or, cattle.

² Or, eunuchs.

1. the princes of the tribes] Compare xxvii. 16‒22.

the captains of the companies] See xxvii. 1‒15.

the rulers] See xxvii. 25‒31.

officers] margin eunuchs; the earlier authorities however for David’s reign (in the books of Samuel) do not mention such persons; and they were perhaps introduced into the Israelite court at a later time. Yet compare 1 Samuel viii. 15.

²Then David the king stood up upon his feet, and said, Hear me, my brethren, and my people: as for me, it was in mine heart to build an house of rest for the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and for the footstool of our God; and I had made ready for the building.

2. stood up upon his feet] Kings sometimes made orations sitting; compare Acts xii. 21. Here the king stands to mark the greatness of the occasion.

my brethren] The king is the brother of his subjects; Deuteronomy xvii. 15, 20; compare Psalms xlv. 7.

it was in mine heart] See xvii. 1; 2 Samuel vii. 2.

an house of rest] Compare xvii. 5; 2 Samuel vii. 6.

the footstool] compare Isaiah lx. 13.

³But God said unto me, Thou shalt not build an house for my name, because thou art a man of war, and hast shed blood.

3. thou art a man of war] See note on xxii. 8.

⁴Howbeit the Lord, the God of Israel, chose me out of all the house of my father to be king over Israel for ever: for he hath chosen Judah to be prince¹; and in the house of Judah, the house of my father; and among the sons of my father he took pleasure in me to make me king over all Israel:

¹ Or, leader.

4. out of all the house] See 1 Samuel xvi. 1‒13.

king ... for ever] i.e. the kingdom is to abide with David and his descendants. That the promise, however, was not to be interpreted as independent of moral conditions, see below verse 9 ad fin.

⁵and of all my sons, (for the Lord hath given me many sons,) he hath chosen Solomon my son to sit upon the throne of the kingdom of the Lord over Israel.

5. many sons] compare iii. 1‒9.

he hath chosen Solomon] The earlier histories (Samuel‒Kings) do not thus speak of God choosing Solomon as David’s successor; but compare 2 Samuel xii. 24, 25; 1 Kings i. 11‒14.

the throne of the kingdom of the Lord] Compare xxix. 23, the throne of the Lord. The Chronicler regards the king as the deputy of Jehovah.

⁶And he said unto me, Solomon thy son, he shall build my house and my courts: for I have chosen him to be my son, and I will be his father.

6. he shall build my house] Compare xxii. 10.

⁷And I will establish his kingdom for ever, if he be constant to do my commandments and my judgements, as at this day.

7. And I will establish] Compare xvii. 11.

if he be constant] Literally if he be strong; compare verses 10, 20, be strong (same word in Hebrew). Compare 1 Kings ix. 4, 5.

⁸Now therefore, in the sight of all Israel, the congregation of the Lord, and in the audience of our God, observe and seek out all the commandments of the Lord your God: that ye may possess this good land, and leave it for an inheritance to your children after you for ever.

8. and seek out] The same Hebrew word is used in xiii. 3, we sought not unto it (i.e. the Ark) in the days of Saul.

that ye may possess this good land] possess = inherit. The Hebrew word connotes three different ideas, which may all have been present to the mind of the speaker, viz. (1) continued holding of the land by passing it from father to son (compare Exodus xx. 12), (2) completion of the work of conquest left unfinished by Joshua (compare Genesis xxiv. 60), (3) enjoyment of the fruits of the land (compare Psalms xxv. 13).

9‒21.
David’s Charge to Solomon.

⁹And thou, Solomon my son, know thou the God of thy father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind: for the Lord searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts: if thou seek him, he will be found of thee; but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off for ever.

9. know thou the God of thy father] For this use of know compare Exodus v. 2; Isaiah i. 3; Jeremiah xxxi. 34.

with a perfect heart] i.e. with a single, undivided heart; compare xii. 33 “they were not of double heart.” In 2 Chronicles xv. 17 the heart of king Asa is described as perfect, because he took no part in the idolatrous practices which prevailed in his day. Faithfulness to Jehovah, not moral perfection, is implied in phrases of this kind.

the Lord searcheth] Compare Ezekiel’s vision of the Lord’s detection of secret idolatry (Ezekiel viii.).

¹⁰Take heed now; for the Lord hath chosen thee to build an house for the sanctuary: be strong, and do it.

10. hath chosen thee] See on verse 5.

¹¹Then David gave to Solomon his son the pattern of the porch of the temple, and of the houses thereof, and of the treasuries thereof, and of the upper rooms thereof, and of the inner chambers thereof, and of the place¹ of the mercy-seat:

¹ Hebrew house.

11. the pattern] Compare verse 12; Exodus xxv. 9. The Temple, like the tabernacle, was to be constructed according to a pattern or model communicated by inspiration (see verse 19). A verbal description rather than a drawing is meant.

the porch] compare 2 Chronicles iii. 4; 1 Kings vi. 3.

the houses thereof] Compare 2 Chronicles xxxiv. 11. “Thereof” of course refers to the Temple as a whole, and by “houses” we must understand the various portions of the building.

the treasuries] A different Hebrew word from that used in verse 12. The inner treasuries mentioned here were for treasure; the outer treasuries (verse 11) were perhaps rather store-chambers.

upper rooms] compare 2 Chronicles iii. 9; and 1 Kings vi. 6 (where however the Hebrew word is different).

the place of the mercy-seat] The Holy of Holies.

¹²and the pattern of all that he had by¹ the spirit, for the courts of the house of the Lord, and for all the chambers round about, for the treasuries of the house of God, and for the treasuries of the dedicated things:

¹ Or, in his spirit.

12. that he had by the spirit] i.e. that had come to him by revelation and rested with him waiting for realisation. Margin, that he had in his spirit (i.e. in his mind) is a less likely translation.

for the courts] The last verse dealt with the Temple itself; this one with the courts and detached buildings.

chambers] compare ix. 26, note.

the treasuries] The same Hebrew word as in xxvi. 20; Nehemiah xiii. 12, 15. See note on verse 11.

dedicated things] xxvi. 26‒28; 2 Chronicles xv. 18.

¹³also for the courses of the priests and the Levites, and for all the work of the service of the house of the Lord, and for all the vessels of service in the house of the Lord:

13. also for the courses] The verse is best taken in adjectival connection with the phrase the chambers round about in the preceding verse: these were used for the treasuries..., and “also for the courses,” etc. It is possible, however, to take it in the sense “he gave the pattern also for the courses,” etc.; i.e. the scheme of rotation set forth in previous chapters.

of the priests and the Levites] Compare xxiv. 1‒31.

¹⁴of gold by weight for the vessels of gold, for all vessels of every kind of service; of silver for all the vessels of silver by weight, for all vessels of every kind of service: ¹⁵by weight also for the candlesticks of gold, and for the lamps thereof, of gold, by weight for every candlestick and for the lamps thereof: and for the candlesticks of silver, silver by weight for every candlestick and for the lamps thereof, according to the use of every candlestick:

14. of gold by weight] sc. he gave the pattern or account of gold, etc.

¹⁶and the gold by weight for the tables of shewbread, for every table; and silver for the tables of silver:

16. tables of shewbread] Elsewhere, except 2 Chronicles iv. 19 (see note on 2 Chronicles iv. 8), only one table for the shewbread is mentioned; compare 2 Chronicles xxix. 18; Exodus xxxv. 13, xxxvii. 10, xl. 22.

and silver] Neither the silver tables of this verse, nor the silver candlesticks of verse 15 are mentioned elsewhere; perhaps they stood in some of the chambers (verse 12) of the Temple courts for the use of the Levites in their work.

¹⁷and the fleshhooks, and the basons, and the cups, of pure gold: and for the golden bowls by weight for every bowl; and for the silver bowls by weight for every bowl:

17. fleshhooks] Exodus xxvii. 3; 1 Samuel ii. 13.

basons] These were used for dashing the blood of a victim against the altar. Compare 2 Chronicles xxix. 22.

the cups] Probably the same as the flagons (Revised Version) of Exodus xxv. 29 which were used for pouring out the drink offering.

¹⁸and for the altar of incense refined gold by weight; and gold for the pattern of the chariot, even the cherubim, that spread out their wings, and covered the ark of the covenant of the Lord.

18. the altar of incense] 2 Chronicles xxvi. 16; Exodus xxx. 1‒10.

the chariot, even the cherubim] Compare Ezekiel i. 5‒10, 15‒17. The Cherubim were poetically conceived as the chariot of Jehovah. The phrase has its origin in the language of Psalms xviii. 10.

¹⁹All this, said David, have I been made to understand in writing¹ from the hand of the Lord, even all the works of this pattern.

¹ Or, the Lord made me understand in writing by his hand upon me, even &c.

19. All this, said David, have I been made to understand in writing from the hand of the Lord, even all the works of this pattern] Compare verse 11, note. As in the case of Moses and the tabernacle (Exodus xxv. 9, 40), so David’s plans for the Temple are said to be of Divine origin.

²⁰And David said to Solomon his son, Be strong and of good courage, and do it: fear not, nor be dismayed: for the Lord God, even my God, is with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee, until all the work for the service of the house of the Lord be finished.

20. Be strong] God’s help in the planning is a pledge of God’s help in the accomplishment. Compare verse 10, which finds its continuation at this point. The work was great, and Solomon young; xxii. 5.

be finished] The LXX. shows that a passage which was present in the Hebrew text of the second century has been later accidentally omitted from the Hebrew at this point. Add therefore Now behold the pattern of the porch of the temple and of the houses thereof, and of the treasuries thereof, and of the upper rooms thereof, and of the inner chambers thereof, and of the house of the mercy-seat, even the pattern of the house of the Lord. Torrey, Ezra Studies, pp. 73, 87.

²¹And, behold, there are the courses of the priests and the Levites, for all the service of the house of God: and there shall be with thee in all manner of work every willing man that hath skill, for any manner of service: also the captains and all the people will be wholly at thy commandment.

21. every willing man that hath skill] Compare Exodus xxxv. 5, 10 ff.

Chapter XXIX.

1‒5.
David’s Challenge to Liberality.

¹And David the king said unto all the congregation, Solomon my son, whom alone God hath chosen, is yet young and tender, and the work is great: for the palace is not for man, but for the Lord God.

1. congregation] or, assembly; the Hebrew word is cognate to the verb translated assembled in xxviii. 1.

whom alone God hath chosen] Compare xxviii. 5.

the palace] Hebrew bīrāh, a late word in Hebrew, perhaps derived from Assyrian bīrtu. Ordinarily it denoted a palace or fortress (compare Nehemiah i. 1; Esther i. 2), and is applied to the Temple only here and verse 19. In Nehemiah ii. 8 (compare Ryle in loco) the building which afterwards became the Tower of Antonia (ἡ παρεμβολή, the castle, Acts xxi. 37, xxii. 24) which overlooked the Temple is called the castle (bīrāh) which appertaineth to the house. In Nehemiah i. 1 Shushan is described as a bīrāh, probably as being a fortress as well as a royal city. See G. A. Smith, Jerusalem, II. 347.

The Temple is frequently called hēykāl (palace, great house) in the Old Testament, but the normal appellation is simply kabbayith (the house) or such a phrase as the house of the Lord, or again qǒdshěkhā (Thy sanctuary).

²Now I have prepared with all my might for the house of my God the gold for the things of gold, and the silver for the things of silver, and the brass for the things of brass, the iron for the things of iron, and wood for the things of wood; onyx¹ stones, and stones to be set, stones for inlaid work, and of divers colours, and all manner of precious stones, and marble stones in abundance.

¹ Or, beryl.

2. onyx] or, as margin, beryl. Compare Genesis ii. 12 (margin beryl).

stones for inlaid work] Compare Isaiah liv. 11, I will lay thy stones with fair colours (the same word is used in Hebrew).

³Moreover also, because I have set my affection to the house of my God, seeing that I have a treasure of mine own of gold and silver, I give it unto the house of my God, over and above all that I have prepared for the holy house;

3. I give it] not all his private fortune, but the splendid offering announced in verses 4, 5. David then challenges the leaders to display a like generosity (verse 5).

even three thousand talents of gold, etc.] i.e. about £20,000,000 or £10,000,000 (light standard). The amount is impossibly vast, and may be compared with the exaggeration noted in xxii. 14.

⁴even three thousand talents of gold, of the gold of Ophir, and seven thousand talents of refined silver, to overlay the walls of the houses withal:

4. gold of Ophir] Ophir is probably to be identified with some part of the south-east coast of Arabia; see note on 2 Chronicles viii. 18. The reference here is no doubt an anachronism, for it is clear that Israelite tradition regarded this trade with Ophir as an innovation of Solomon’s reign (see 2 Chronicles viii. 18, ix. 10 = 1 Kings ix. 28, x. 11).

to overlay] compare 2 Chronicles iii. 4‒8.

the houses] i.e. the porch, the greater house, and the most holy house; 2 Chronicles iii. 4, 5, 8.

⁵of gold for the things of gold, and of silver for the things of silver, and for all manner of work to be made by the hands of artificers. Who then offereth willingly to consecrate himself¹ this day unto the Lord?

¹ Hebrew to fill his hand.

5. offereth willingly to consecrate himself] The phrase to consecrate himself (Hebrew, to fill his hand) means properly to make himself a priest, and is here used metaphorically. The sense is “Who will give these gifts for the sacred Temple in the same willing spirit which is required of a priest in his self-dedication to priestly service?”

6‒9.
The Offerings of the Chiefs of Israel.

⁶Then the princes of the fathers’ houses, and the princes of the tribes of Israel, and the captains of thousands and of hundreds, with the rulers over the king’s work, offered willingly;

6. over the king’s work] See xxvii. 25‒31.

⁷and they gave for the service of the house of God of gold five thousand talents and ten thousand darics, and of silver ten thousand talents, and of brass eighteen thousand talents, and of iron a hundred thousand talents.

7. five thousand talents] i.e. of uncoined gold by weight, an immense sum, compare verse 3.

ten thousand darics] A daric was a Persian gold coin worth about 22 shillings. Used thus in connection with the reign of David, the word is of course a curious anachronism. The translation of Authorized Version drams (i.e. drachmæ) may possibly be right. The value of a gold drachma was about 9s. 5d.

⁸And they with whom precious stones were found gave them to the treasure of the house of the Lord, under the hand of Jehiel the Gershonite.

8. Jehiel the Gershonite] Compare xxiii. 8, xxvi. 21, 22.

⁹Then the people rejoiced, for that they offered willingly, because with a perfect heart they offered willingly to the Lord: and David the king also rejoiced with great joy.

9. with a perfect heart] i.e. with a single heart, ungrudgingly. Compare xxviii. 9, note.

10‒19.
The Blessing of David.

¹⁰Wherefore David blessed the Lord before all the congregation: and David said, Blessed be thou, O Lord, the God of Israel our father, for ever and ever. ¹¹Thine, O Lord, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine; thine is the kingdom, O Lord, and thou art exalted as head above all. ¹²Both riches and honour come of thee, and thou rulest over all; and in thine hand is power and might; and in thine hand it is to make great, and to give strength unto all. ¹³Now therefore, our God, we thank thee, and praise thy glorious name.

11. thou art exalted as head above all] Better thine it is to be exalted as head over all.

¹⁴But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able¹ to offer so willingly after this sort? for all things come of thee, and of thine own² have we given thee.

¹ Hebrew retain strength.

² Hebrew of thine hand.

14. be able] Literally retain strength. David praises God for the great success of the efforts of so transitory a creature as man.

of thine own] Literally out of thine hand, compare margin.

¹⁵For we are strangers before thee, and sojourners, as all our fathers were: our days on the earth are as a shadow, and there is no abiding¹. ¹⁶O Lord our God, all this store that we have prepared to build thee an house for thine holy name cometh of thine hand, and is all thine own. ¹⁷I know also, my God, that thou triest the heart, and hast pleasure in uprightness. As for me, in the uprightness of mine heart I have willingly offered all these things: and now have I seen with joy thy people, which are present here, to offer willingly unto thee.

¹ Hebrew hope.

15. strangers before thee, and sojourners] David describes himself and his people not as strangers to God, but as strangers dwelling before God. In ancient states foreigners were sometimes allowed to reside in the capital under the immediate protection of the king or of the heads of the state; compare 1 Samuel xxii. 3, 4, xxvii. 3; 2 Samuel xv. 19; compare also the position of the aliens at Athens. David appeals to God on the ground that Israel is immediately under God’s protection. Compare Psalms xxxix. 12.

no abiding] Or, as margin, hope; i.e. no continuance, no hopeful expectation, apart from the favour of Jehovah.

¹⁸O Lord, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Israel, our fathers, keep this for ever in the imagination of the thoughts of the heart of thy people, and prepare¹ their heart unto thee:

¹ Or, establish.

18. in the imagination] Render, as the imagination. Imagination here means not the faculty, but the result of the exercise of the faculty, a mental image or impression.

prepare] Better, as margin, establish. David prays that the people may continue in their present mind.

¹⁹and give unto Solomon my son a perfect heart, to keep thy commandments, thy testimonies, and thy statutes, and to do all these things, and to build the palace, for the which I have made provision.

19. a perfect heart] See xxviii. 9, note.

the palace] See verse 1, note.

20‒22.
The Great Rejoicing.

²⁰And David said to all the congregation, Now bless the Lord your God. And all the congregation blessed the Lord, the God of their fathers, and bowed down their heads, and worshipped the Lord, and the king.

20. worshipped] i.e. prostrated themselves.

²¹And they sacrificed sacrifices unto the Lord, and offered burnt offerings unto the Lord, on the morrow after that day, even a thousand bullocks, a thousand rams, and a thousand lambs, with their drink offerings, and sacrifices in abundance for all Israel;

21. And they sacrificed] Compare xvi. 1‒3.

²²and did eat and drink before the Lord on that day with great gladness. And they made Solomon the son of David king the second time, and anointed him unto the Lord to be prince¹, and Zadok to be priest.

¹ Or, leader.

22. the second time] Compare xxiii. 1. The first time which is described in 1 Kings i. 39 (Solomon hastily anointed in order to assert his claim to the throne against his brother Adonijah) is omitted in Chronicles, unless perhaps the vague phrase of xxiii. 1 “Now David ... made Solomon his son king over Israel” is intended to refer to it.

Zadok] One of Solomon’s earliest acts seems to have been to put an end to the double priesthood by deposing Abiathar; compare 1 Kings ii. 27, 35. The Chronicler appears to have this in mind, but he avoids narrating anything so derogatory to the high-priesthood.

23‒25.
The Beginning of Solomon’s Reign.

²³Then Solomon sat on the throne of the Lord as king instead of David his father, and prospered; and all Israel obeyed him.

23. the throne of the Lord] See xxviii. 5, note.

²⁴And all the princes, and the mighty men, and all the sons likewise of king David, submitted themselves¹ unto Solomon the king.

¹ Hebrew gave the hand under Solomon.

24. the mighty men] Compare 1 Kings i. 10, 38, from which it is clear that the faithfulness of Benaiah and the Cherethites and Pelethites was the main factor in the elevation of Solomon to the throne.

all the sons] The Chronicler here glances at the submission of Adonijah (1 Kings i. 53).

²⁵And the Lord magnified Solomon exceedingly in the sight of all Israel, and bestowed upon him such royal majesty as had not been on any king before him in Israel.

25. such royal majesty as had not been on any king before him in Israel] Strictly speaking, the comparison is limited to Solomon on the one side, and his predecessors, David and Saul (Ishbosheth is ignored in Chronicles) on the other, but we may suppose that the Chronicler is writing somewhat loosely from his own standpoint, and really means to say that Solomon was surpassed in glory by no king of Israel. It is just possible (compare Job xxxiv. 19) to render the Hebrew royal majesty which was not on any king more than on him in Israel.

In Chronicles the character of Solomon is idealised somewhat in the same fashion as that of David. He is depicted as the monarch who attained the ideal of inspired wisdom and of royal splendour, and whose piety was supremely manifested in the privilege permitted him of building and dedicating the Temple. In this last fact the Chronicler doubtless felt that Solomon had a claim to the praises of posterity which completely outweighed any sinister traits of his character revealed in Kings. Elsewhere he refers to Solomon’s failings in order to point a moral; “Did not Solomon, king of Israel, sin by these things?... Even him did strange women cause to sin” (Nehemiah xiii. 26). But here, where he relates his reign as a whole, the darker aspects—his many wives and his tolerance of their idolatrous worship—are passed over and only the king’s zeal for Jehovah and the glories of Israel in his day are allowed to appear.

26‒30.
A Summary of David’s Reign.

²⁶Now David the son of Jesse reigned over all Israel. ²⁷And the time that he reigned over Israel was forty years; seven years reigned he in Hebron, and thirty and three years reigned he in Jerusalem. ²⁸And he died in a good old age, full of days, riches, and honour: and Solomon his son reigned in his stead.

27. forty years] Compare 2 Samuel v. 4, 5; 1 Kings ii. 11.

²⁹Now the acts of David the king, first and last, behold, they are written in the history¹ of Samuel the seer, and in the history¹ of Nathan the prophet, and in the history¹ of Gad the seer;

¹ Hebrew words.

29. On the “histories” cited in this verse, see the Introduction, § 5, pp. xxx‒xxxii. Compare 2 Chronicles ix. 29.

in the history] literally words. The Book of Chronicles itself is called in Hebrew, The words (or the acts) of the days.

Samuel the seer] Compare 1 Samuel ix. 9, 19.

Nathan the prophet] See 2 Samuel vii. 2 (= 1 Chronicles xvii. 1); 2 Samuel xii. 1; 1 Kings i. 8‒39.

Gad the seer] See 2 Samuel xxiv. 11 (= 1 Chronicles xxi. 9), Gad the prophet, David’s seer.

In the Hebrew Samuel is called rōeh (seer), Nathan, nābī (prophet), and Gad, ḥōzeh (gazer or seer of visions).

³⁰with all his reign and his might, and the times that went over him, and over Israel, and over all the kingdoms of the countries.

30. the times] i.e. the changes, vicissitudes. Compare xii. 32, note.

THE SECOND BOOK OF
THE CHRONICLES

Chapters I.‒IX.
Solomon.

Chapter I.

1‒6.
Solomon’s great Sacrifice at Gibeon.

Verses 1‒5 are the composition of the Chronicler; for verse 6 compare 1 Kings iii. 4.

¹AND Solomon the son of David was strengthened in his kingdom, and the Lord his God was with him, and magnified him exceedingly.

1. was strengthened] or, strengthened himself, a favourite expression of the Chronicler; compare xii. 13, xiii. 21 (waxed mighty), xvii. 1, xxiii. 1, etc.

magnified] compare 1 Chronicles xxix. 25.

²And Solomon spake unto all Israel, to the captains of thousands and of hundreds, and to the judges, and to every prince in all Israel, the heads of the fathers’ houses.

2. unto all Israel] The impression, conveyed in the preceding chapter, that Solomon’s accession was marred by no internal discord in the nation, is again emphasised.

³So Solomon, and all the congregation with him, went to the high place that was at Gibeon; for there was the tent of meeting of God, which Moses the servant of the Lord had made in the wilderness.

3. the high place ... at Gibeon] Compare 1 Chronicles xvi. 39, xxi. 29; 1 Kings iii. 4. The passage in Kings naïvely states that Solomon offered his sacrifice at Gibeon (6 miles north-west of Jerusalem) because that was the great high place. The Chronicler regarded the worship of the high-places as an illegal act, and sought to justify Solomon’s action in this undeniable instance by the theory that the tent of meeting and the brasen altar (verse 5) were at the high-place of Gibeon (see the head-note to 1 Chronicles xiii.). Without doubt the high-place at Gibeon had been used by the Canaanites for worship from a very early date.

in the wilderness] See Exodus xxv. 1 ff., xxxv. 4 ff.

⁴But the ark of God had David brought up from Kiriath-jearim to the place that David had prepared for it: for he had pitched a tent for it at Jerusalem.

4. Kiriath-jearim] Compare 1 Chronicles xiii. 5.

pitched a tent] compare 1 Chronicles xv. 1.

⁵Moreover the brasen altar, that Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, had made, was there¹ before the tabernacle of the Lord: and Solomon and the congregation sought unto it.

¹ Or, as otherwise read, he had put.

5. Bezalel] See Exodus xxxi. 2, xxxviii. 1‒7, and compare 1 Chronicles ii. 20.

was there] margin he had put. In the Hebrew the position of a point makes the difference between these two translations.

sought unto it] See 1 Chronicles xxviii. 8, note.

⁶And Solomon went¹ up thither to the brasen altar before the Lord, which was at the tent of meeting, and offered a thousand burnt offerings upon it.

¹ Or, offered there, upon ... yea, he offered.

6. went up thither] or, as margin, offered there, upon. It is to be noted that the Chronicler does not ignore the exercise of priestly functions by Solomon, although such exercise must have seemed wrong in his eyes, but follows his authority (1 Kings iii. 4) without adding any explanation.

7‒13 (= 1 Kings iii. 5‒15).
Solomon’s Vision, and Return to Jerusalem.

⁷In that night did God appear unto Solomon, and said unto him, Ask what I shall give thee. ⁸And Solomon said unto God, Thou hast shewed great kindness unto David my father, and hast made me king in his stead.

7. did God appear] In Kings, the Lord appeared in a dream.

⁹Now, O Lord God, let thy promise unto David my father be established: for thou hast made me king over a people like the dust of the earth in multitude.

9. thy promise] i.e. that Solomon would be king after David, that he would build the Temple, and that his house would reign over Israel for ever (1 Chronicles xxii. 9 ff.). Part of this promise had come true, and Solomon now prays for the fulfilment of the remainder. It is, however, possible that the particular reference is to the first words of 1 Chronicles xxii. 12, which may be translated as a promise, Surely the Lord will give thee wisdom and understanding.

¹⁰Give me now wisdom and knowledge, that I may go out and come in before this people: for who can judge this thy people, that is so great? ¹¹And God said to Solomon, Because this was in thine heart, and thou hast not asked riches, wealth, or honour, nor the life of them that hate thee, neither yet hast asked long life; but hast asked wisdom and knowledge for thyself, that thou mayest judge my people, over whom I have made thee king:

10. go out and come in] The phrase denotes the transaction of business of all kinds.

judge] Although every village by its headmen dispensed its own justice to its inhabitants, yet enough cases too hard for local decision remained over to make the king’s judicial functions of very great importance; compare 2 Samuel xiv. 4 ff., xv. 2‒4.

¹²wisdom and knowledge is granted unto thee; and I will give thee riches, and wealth, and honour, such as none of the kings have had that have been before thee, neither shall there any after thee have the like.

12. wisdom and knowledge is granted unto thee] The incident illustrates the truth that To him that hath shall be given; Solomon had wisdom enough to offer a wise prayer; increase of wisdom followed as the answer to the prayer.

¹³So Solomon came from his journey¹ to the high place that was at Gibeon, from before the tent of meeting, unto Jerusalem; and he reigned over Israel.

¹ The Septuagint and Vulgate have, came from the high place.

13. from his journey to the high place that was at Gibeon] This clause yields no sense in the Hebrew and is probably a misplaced gloss. Read simply, Then Solomon came to Jerusalem (compare 1 Kings iii. 15), or, as margin following LXX., came from the high place....

14‒17 (= 1 Kings x. 26‒29).
Solomon’s Horses and Chariots.

¹⁴And Solomon gathered chariots and horsemen: and he had a thousand and four hundred chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen, which he placed in the chariot cities, and with the king at Jerusalem.

14. a thousand and four hundred chariots] See note on ix. 25.

the chariot cities] The greater part of Palestine is unsuitable for the evolutions of chariots, but flat country is found along the coast of the Mediterranean, in the plain of Esdraelon, and east of Jordan, and in these three districts the chariot cities were probably situated. Compare G. A. Smith, Historical Geography of the Holy Land, p. 667, Appendix v.

¹⁵And the king made silver and gold to be in Jerusalem as stones, and cedars made he to be as the sycomore trees that are in the lowland, for abundance.

15. to be in Jerusalem as stones] In Kings this is asserted of silver only. Jerusalem is one of the stoniest places in the world. See Kelman, Holy Land, pp. 9‒11.

the sycomore trees] See 1 Chronicles xxvii. 28, note.

lowland] Literally the Shephelah; i.e. essentially the stretch of low hills separating the maritime plain from the hill country of Judah, yet perhaps also including the Philistine plain. See Hastings, Dictionary of the Bible III. 893‒894.

¹⁶And the horses which Solomon had were brought out of Egypt; the king’s merchants received them in droves, each drove at a price.

16. And the horses which Solomon had were brought out of Egypt] Egypt is an agricultural not a pastoral country; it lacks the broad plains suitable for the rearing of large numbers of horses. But the Arabs of the Sinai peninsula stood in close political and mercantile relations with Egypt, and it may be that though the horses were raised in Arabia and Central Asia they passed through Egyptian hands (Barnes on 1 Kings x. 28). It is possible, however, that the reading Egypt is a mistake—see the following note.

in droves, each drove at a price] The word “droves” is incorrectly translated “linen yarn” in the Authorized Version The rendering droves is just possible; but it is probable that, on the basis of some versions, we should read from Ku‘i (or Kuë) at a price. Kuë is a district mentioned in Assyrian inscriptions and generally identified with Cilicia. It is further proposed that, instead of Egypt (Hebrew Miṣraim), we should read Muṣri, a name applied (1) to Egypt, and (2) extended beyond it to the area south of Palestine, and (3) also denoting a district in north Syria, south of the Taurus, and named in Assyrian inscriptions. In this case, in connection with Kuë, we should identify it with the last mentioned.

¹⁷And they fetched up, and brought out of Egypt a chariot for six hundred shekels of silver, and an horse for an hundred and fifty: and so for all the kings of the Hittites, and the kings of Syria, did they bring them out by their means.

17. out of Egypt] Hebrew Miṣraim. If the suggestion mentioned in the previous note be adopted, then here also read Muṣri, the north Syrian district.

and so ... by their means] i.e. by means of Solomon’s merchants horses were exported for the kings of the Hittites and of Syria.

Hittites] Settlements of Hittites seem to have existed here and there in Canaan, but in the regions north-east of Syria they formed a powerful state, able for many centuries to contend on equal terms with the Assyrians and Egyptians. Their chief cities were Carchemish on the Euphrates and Kadesh on the Orontes. They were subdued in the eighth century by the Assyrians.

Chapter II.
Solomon’s Preparations for Building the Temple.

1, 2 [i. 18, ii. 1, Hebrew] (= verses 17, 18 below; 1 Kings v. 15).
Bearers and Hewers.

¹Now Solomon purposed to build an house for the name of the Lord, and an house for his kingdom.

1. for the name] compare 1 Chronicles xxii. 7, 10, 19, xxviii. 3, xxix. 16.

an house for his kingdom] See 1 Kings vii. 1‒8.

²And Solomon told out threescore and ten thousand men to bear burdens, and fourscore thousand men that were hewers in the mountains, and three thousand and six hundred to oversee them.

2. told out] i.e. counted. The 150,000 bearers and hewers mentioned here are said to have been aliens (verse 17). This agrees with 1 Kings v. 15, which distinguishes them from a levy of 30,000 hewers raised out of all Israel (1 Kings v. verse 13). The 30,000 Israelites were subject to a corvée of one month in every three, the 150,000 aliens were presumably supposed to have been continuously engaged on the work. The Chronicler makes no mention of the levy of 30,000 Israelites, recorded in Kings, for no doubt he thought it unfitting that compulsory labour should be laid on the Israelites themselves. On the other hand he holds that the 150,000 were all aliens (see verses 17, 18), whereas the writer in Kings, not having that scruple before his mind, does not make any such sweeping assertion (compare, however, 1 Kings ix. 20).

3‒10 (compare 1 Kings v. 2‒6).
Solomon’s Message to Huram.

This passage is much fuller in Chronicles than in 1 Kings, which offers no parallel to Solomon’s language with regard to the Temple; verses 4‒6. Again, verse 7 (the request for a “cunning man”) has no nearer parallel than 1 Kings vii. 13. For verse 10 also there is no strict parallel in 1 Kings.

³And Solomon sent to Huram¹ the king of Tyre, saying, As thou didst deal with David my father, and didst send him cedars to build him an house to dwell therein, even so deal with me.

¹ In 1 Kings v. 1, Hiram.

3. Huram] Another form of Hiram (1 Kings v. 1 [15, Hebrew]) which is a shortened form of Ahiram (Hebrew Āḥ, “brother” and rām, “exalted”). Yet another form is Hirom (1 Kings v. 10; see Revised Version margin). The Phoenician language is written with even fewer vowel signs than are found in ancient Hebrew; hence the uncertainty in the form of this name.

didst send him cedars] See 1 Chronicles xiv. 1 = 2 Samuel v. 11.

⁴Behold, I build an house for the name of the Lord my God, to dedicate it to him, and to burn before him incense of sweet spices, and for the continual shewbread, and for the burnt offerings morning and evening, on the sabbaths, and on the new moons, and on the set feasts of the Lord our God. This is an ordinance for ever to Israel. ⁵And the house which I build is great; for great is our God above all gods.

4. the continual shewbread] See 1 Chronicles ix. 32, notes; Leviticus xxiv. 5‒9.

on the set feasts] Compare 1 Chronicles xxiii. 31, note.

⁶But who is able¹ to build him an house, seeing the heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain him? who am I then, that I should build him an house, save only to burn incense before him?

¹ Hebrew retaineth strength.

6. is able] Literally retaineth strength] 1 Chronicles xxix. 14.

cannot contain him] verses 4‒6 are carefully framed to guard against the careless imagination that the Temple is God’s dwelling: to the Chronicler it is only the spot where worship is offered. Compare vi. 2, 18.

⁷Now therefore send me a man cunning to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass, and in iron, and in purple, and crimson, and blue, and that can skill to grave all manner of gravings, to be with the cunning men that are with me in Judah and in Jerusalem, whom David my father did provide.

7. can skill to grave] Literally knoweth how to grave. To “grave” is to “carve”; compare 1 Kings vi. 29.

my father did provide] See 1 Chronicles xxii. 15.

⁸Send me also cedar trees, fir¹ trees, and algum² trees, out of Lebanon: for I know that thy servants can skill to cut timber in Lebanon; and, behold, my servants shall be with thy servants, ⁹even to prepare me timber in abundance: for the house which I am about to build shall be wonderful great.

¹ Or, cypress.

² In 1 Kings x. 11, almug trees.

8. cedar trees] See 1 Chronicles xxii. 4.

fir trees] margin, cypress trees (which however are not now indigenous on Lebanon).

algum trees] called almug trees in 1 Kings x. 11, 12 and there described as coming from Ophir. According to 1 Kings v. 8 Solomon asked for cedar and “fir” only; so that the mention of algum trees here is probably incorrect. Algum is perhaps sandal-wood.

¹⁰And, behold, I will give to thy servants, the hewers that cut timber, twenty thousand measures¹ of beaten wheat, and twenty thousand measures¹ of barley, and twenty thousand baths of wine, and twenty thousand baths of oil.

¹ Hebrew cors.

10. measures] Hebrew cors. A cor was the same as a homer = about 11 bushels.

beaten wheat] 1 Kings v. 11, wheat for food. The text is doubtful, and the phrase beaten wheat occurs nowhere else and is uncertain in meaning.

of barley] The barley and wine are not mentioned in 1 Kings v. 11; there wheat and oil only are mentioned.

twenty thousand baths of oil] In 1 Kings v. 11 (Hebrew) twenty cors of pure oil. In liquid measure the bath = about 8¼ gallons. As ten baths went to a cor, the amount stated in Chronicles is a hundred times as much as the amount given in 1 Kings.

11‒16 [10‒15, Hebrew] (compare 1 Kings v. 7‒9).
Huram’s Answer to Solomon.

Like the preceding verses 3‒10, these verses show considerable variations from the parallel in Kings.

¹¹Then Huram the king of Tyre answered in writing, which he sent to Solomon, Because the Lord loveth his people, he hath made thee king over them. ¹²Huram said moreover, Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, that made heaven and earth, who hath given to David the king a wise son, endued with discretion and understanding, that should build an house for the Lord, and an house for his kingdom.

12. The sequence is greatly improved if this verse is read before verse 11. Probably the transposition should be made.

God of Israel] The Chronicler feels no incongruity in making Huram use the language of a worshipper of Jehovah.

¹³And now I have sent a cunning man, endued with understanding, of Huram¹ my father’s,

¹ Or, even Huram my father See chapter iv. 16.

13. I have sent] According to 1 Kings vii. 13 Solomon himself sent and fetched Hiram the artificer.

of Huram my father’s] Render either literally as margin, even Huram my father, or better, even Huram my trusted counsellor. Huram the king calls Huram the artificer my father as a title of honour. Compare iv. 16.

¹⁴the son of a woman of the daughters of Dan, and his father was a man of Tyre, skilful to work in gold, and in silver, in brass, in iron, in stone, and in timber, in purple, in blue, and in fine linen, and in crimson; also to grave any manner of graving, and to devise any device: that there may be a place appointed unto him with thy cunning men, and with the cunning men of my lord David thy father. ¹⁵Now therefore the wheat and the barley, the oil and the wine, which my lord hath spoken of, let him send unto his servants:

14. of Dan] in 1 Kings vii. 14, of Naphtali. The reading of Chronicles may have arisen from Exodus xxxi. 6 (Oholiab one of the artificers of the tabernacle was of the tribe of Dan).

¹⁶and we will cut wood out of Lebanon, as much as thou shalt need: and we will bring it to thee in floats by sea to Joppa¹; and thou shalt carry it up to Jerusalem.

¹ Hebrew Japho.

16. Joppa] Hebrew Japho, modern Jaffa (Yāfā).

17, 18 [16, 17, Hebrew] (compare verse 2 above).
Bearers and Hewers.

¹⁷And Solomon numbered all the strangers that were in the land of Israel, after the numbering wherewith David his father had numbered them; and they were found an hundred and fifty thousand and three thousand and six hundred.

17. David his father] See 1 Chronicles xxii. 2.

¹⁸And he set threescore and ten thousand of them to bear burdens, and fourscore thousand that were hewers in the mountains, and three thousand and six hundred overseers to set the people awork.

18. As the separate numbers given in this verse equal the total (150,000) given in verse 17, evidently the Chronicler thought that all the aliens in the land were forced to take part in the work!

three thousand and six hundred overseers] In 1 Kings v. 16, three thousand and three hundred. Three in Hebrew (which may be represented in English by the letters SLS) is easily corrupted into six (= SS in English letters). Compare also viii. 10 (= 1 Kings ix. 23).

awork] i.e. on work, to work.

Chapter III.

1, 2.
The Temple Begun.

Verse 1 has no parallel in Kings; for verse 2 compare 1 Kings vi. 1.

¹Then Solomon began to build the house of the Lord at Jerusalem in mount Moriah, where the Lord appeared unto David his father, which he made ready¹ in the place that David² had appointed, in the threshing-floor of Ornan³ the Jebusite.

¹ The Septuagint and Vulgate have, in the place which David had prepared, in the threshing-floor &c.

² Hebrew in the place of David.

³ In 2 Samuel xxiv. 16, &c., Araunah.

1. in mount Moriah] Genesis xxii. 2.

which he made ready in the place that David had appointed] Read rather, as margin, in the place which David had prepared (so LXX.).

Ornan the Jebusite] See 1 Chronicles xxi. 15 ff.

²And he began to build in the second day of the second month, in the fourth year of his reign.

2. in the second day] The words are absent from 1 Kings and should probably be omitted here. The year according to 1 Kings was the four hundred and eightieth after the Exodus.

3 (= 1 Kings vi. 2).
The Measurements of the Temple.

³Now these are the foundations which Solomon laid for¹ the building of the house of God. The length by cubits after the first measure was threescore cubits, and the breadth twenty cubits.

¹ Or, these are the things wherein Solomon was instructed for &c.

3. these are the foundations] i.e. the measurements which follow state the ground-plan of the Temple.

cubits after the first measure] The cubit was the length of the forearm from the elbow to the extremity of the middle finger, about 17½ inches. A difficult verse in Ezekiel (xl. 5) seems to have given rise to the idea that in early times the cubit was a somewhat longer measure, and that may be what the Chronicler intended by the present phrase “cubits after the first (or former) measure.” Exact measurements on the site of the Temple have now demonstrated that about 17½ inches was at all times the standard length of the cubit (see Palestine Exploration Fund Statement October, 1915, pp. 186 f.).

4 (= 1 Kings vi. 3).
The Porch.

⁴And the porch that was before the house, the length of it, according to the breadth of the house, was twenty cubits, and the height an hundred and twenty: and he overlaid it within with pure gold.

4. And the porch that was before the house] The Hebrew text is corrupt, but the sense of the original reading has probably been correctly guessed by the Revised Version.

the height an hundred and twenty] So also LXX. As the Temple was only 30 cubits in height, this building was rather a tower than a porch. In 1 Kings nothing is said about height. Most probably the true reading was “twenty,” not “an hundred and twenty”; the “hundred” being a marginal gloss added by someone who was thinking of Herod’s Temple of which the porch was 100 cubits in height.

5‒7 (compare 1 Kings vi. 15, 21, 29, 30).
The Temple.

⁵And the greater house he cieled with fir¹ tree, which he overlaid with fine gold, and wrought thereon palm trees and chains.

¹ Or, cypress.

5. the greater house] i.e. the holy place. It was forty cubits long (1 Kings vi. 17), whereas the shrine was twenty (1 Kings vi. 16, 20).

he cieled] i.e. lined or boarded. The same Hebrew word is translated overlaid in this same verse.

wrought thereon] perhaps in the form of reliefs.

palm trees and chains] The “chains” perhaps connected one palm tree with another. In 1 Kings vi. 29, “cherubim and palm trees and open flowers.”

⁶And he garnished the house with precious stones for beauty: and the gold was gold of Parvaim.

6. precious stones] Not mentioned in the parallel account, but according to 1 Kings v. 17 costly stones (the same expression in Hebrew) were used for the foundations of the house, their costliness being due presumably to their immense size. Here, however, the phrase “for beauty” suggests that the Chronicler is thinking of rare and precious stones to be set in the walls—an exaggeration not out of keeping with the references to “pure gold” in verses 4, 7, etc.

Parvaim] Apparently the name of a place, but nothing certain is known about it.

⁷He overlaid also the house, the beams, the thresholds, and the walls thereof, and the doors thereof, with gold; and graved cherubim on the walls.

7. cherubim] The cherubim (plural of cherub) were the Hebrew adaptation of the winged bulls which are so striking a figure in Babylonian and Assyrian art. Nothing, however, can be ascertained as to the exact form in which they were depicted in the Temple. In the Old Testament they appear as guardians of sacred things (Genesis iii. 24; Ezekiel xxviii.) and as sustainers of the Deity (e.g. Psalms lxxx. 1 “Thou that sittest upon the cherubim”; compare Psalms xviii. 10). The figures were therefore emblematic of the presence of Jehovah.

The graving of the cherubim was not felt to be a breach of the Second Commandment, for they were not put up to “bow down to” or to “serve.”

8, 9 (compare 1 Kings vi. 16‒20).
The Holy of Holies.

⁸And he made the most holy house; the length thereof, according to the breadth of the house, was twenty cubits, and the breadth thereof twenty cubits: and he overlaid it with fine gold, amounting to six hundred talents. ⁹And the weight of the nails was fifty shekels of gold. And he overlaid the upper chambers with gold.

8. the most holy house] Called the oracle in 1 Kings vi. 16, 19, etc., Hebrew dĕbīr, which means rather the hinder part. The Lord “dwells” in the inmost recess of the house.

amounting to six hundred talents] This detail is not found elsewhere. The weight of gold would be over 64,000 lbs., or, on a less probable reckoning, 27,000 lbs.; incredible quantities in either case, but in keeping with the vast amounts stated in 1 Chronicles xxix. 4.

10‒13 (compare 1 Kings vi. 23‒28).
The Cherubim.

¹⁰And in the most holy house he made two cherubim of image work; and they overlaid them with gold. ¹¹And the wings of the cherubim were twenty cubits long: the wing of the one cherub was five cubits, reaching to the wall of the house; and the other wing was likewise five cubits, reaching to the wing of the other cherub. ¹²And the wing of the other cherub was five cubits, reaching to the wall of the house: and the other wing was five cubits also, joining to the wing of the other cherub.

10. of image work; and they overlaid] The phrase “of image work” is meaningless. Following the LXX. ἔρηον ἐκ ξύλων καὶ ἐχρύσωσεν, render woodwork, and he overlaid.

¹³The wings of these cherubim spread themselves forth twenty cubits: and they stood on their feet, and their faces were toward the house¹.

¹ Or, inward.

13. twenty cubits] Extending across the width of the whole house.

on their feet] Not “couchant” nor “rampant” but standing, as the winged bulls of Assyria stand.

toward the house] as though to protect the Holiest Place from violation by anyone advancing through the house.

14 (compare Exodus xxvi. 31, 32).
The Veil.

¹⁴And he made the veil of blue, and purple, and crimson, and fine linen, and wrought cherubim thereon.

No veil for Solomon’s Temple is mentioned in 1 Kings, but (1 Kings vi. 31, 32) doors of olive wood with cherubim carved upon them stood at the entrance of the Holy of Holies. The description of the veil seems to have been borrowed by the Chronicler from the account of the tabernacle given in Exodus.

15‒17 (compare 1 Kings vii. 15‒22).
The Pillars Jachin and Boaz.

¹⁵Also he made before the house two pillars of thirty and five cubits high, and the chapiter that was on the top of each of them was five cubits.

15. before the house two pillars] Compare 1 Kings vii. 21, he set up the pillars at the porch of the temple, and Jeremiah lii. 17 (translate, the pillars ... that belonged to the house). These pillars were immediately in front of the porch, but (it seems) detached from it. They were cast in brass (iv. 11‒17), were hollow (Jeremiah lii. 21), and were crowned with “chapiters” (capitals) in shape like bowls (1 Kings vii. 41). A pair of lofty frontal pillars, detached from the main building, was a not uncommon feature of temples in Western Asia and Egypt—e.g. at the Temple of Hercules (Melkart) at Tyre (Herodotus II. 44), the Temple of Paphos in Cyprus (see W. R. Smith, Religion of the Semites², p. 488), at Karnak in Egypt (compare Perrot and Chipiez, Egyptian Art, II. 170). In Solomon’s Temple these twin columns may have been conventional imitations of the prevailing type of temple building, but it is rather to be supposed that there also they were considered to be symbolic of the presence of God, and were developments of the ancient stone pillars (maṣṣeboth) which were a constant feature at Semitic shrines and had originally been regarded as the abode of the Deity.

thirty and five cubits high] 35 is also given in the LXX. of Jeremiah lii. 21; but is almost certainly an error. Read eighteen, as in 1 Kings vii. 15; Jeremiah lii. 21 (Hebrew).

¹⁶And he made chains in the oracle, and put them on the tops of the pillars; and he made an hundred pomegranates, and put them on the chains.

16. he made chains in the oracle] The words, in the oracle, though found in LXX., are a gloss introduced from 1 Kings vi. 21 (chains ... before the oracle), or, more probably, a corruption of a word meaning “like a necklace.” The Chronicler is here speaking of the outside of the Temple, having already described the “oracle,” i.e. the Holy of Holies, in verses 8‒14. The Hebrew word dĕbīr was translated “oracle” because it was supposed to be derived from a word meaning “to speak.” It means, however, simply “the hindermost part” of the house (compare iv. 20, v. 7, 9).

¹⁷And he set up the pillars before the temple, one on the right hand, and the other on the left; and called the name of that on the right hand Jachin¹, and the name of that on the left Boaz².

¹ That is, He shall establish.

² That is, perhaps, In it is strength.

17. Jachin ... Boaz] Margin translates the two words; Jachin “He shall establish,” Boaz perhaps “In it is strength.” LXX. gives Κατόρθωσις “setting up”) and Ἰσχύς (“strength”). The meaning of Boaz is uncertain. It may be only a pious correction of an original Baal. (For the avoidance of the word Baal, see the notes on xvii. 3, 1 Chronicles viii. 33; and for further comments on “Jachin” and “Boaz” see Encyclopedia Biblia II. 2. 304, and Barnes in Journal of Theological Studies, v. 447 ff.)

Chapter IV.

1.
The Altar of Brass.

¹Moreover he made an altar of brass, twenty cubits the length thereof, and twenty cubits the breadth thereof, and ten cubits the height thereof.

1. an altar of brass, twenty cubits] The brasen altar is referred to in 1 Kings viii. 64; 2 Kings xvi. 14 ff., but it is (strangely) not mentioned among the furnishings of the Temple described in the present text of 1 Kings vii. It is impossible therefore to say whether the Chronicler derives the measurements he here gives from a text of Kings which did contain a description of the brasen altar, or from the altar of the Temple of his own period. The latter is more probable. Some scholars consider it possible that at first Solomon’s Temple contained no artificial altar, the sacrifices being offered on the great natural rock which is now covered by the famous building popularly known as the Mosque of Omar (properly “The Dome of the Rock”).

The great altar was probably a flat oblong expanse, the highest of a series of terraces, of which the base measurement is given by the Chronicler—compare the description of Ezekiel’s altar (Ezekiel xliii. 13 ff.).

2‒5 (= 1 Kings vii. 23‒26).
The Molten Sea.

²Also he made the molten sea of ten cubits from brim to brim, round in compass, and the height thereof was five cubits; and a line of thirty cubits compassed it round about.

2. he made the molten sea] Render, he made the sea of molten metal. The “sea” or great laver was a well-known feature in temples (compare Revelation iv. 6), and, originally at least, is likely to have had religious significance, as a symbol of Jehovah’s power over the seas and the rain, or over the primeval Deep upon which His might was exercised in the creation of the world (Genesis i.; Psalms xxiv. 2). For the Chronicler’s view of its purpose, see verse 6.

ten cubits from brim to brim ... and a line of thirty cubits compassed it] The mathematical inaccuracy in the measurements here given—10 in diameter, 30 in circumference—has often been pointed out. But the literal Hebrew is “ten with the cubit ... and thirty with the cubit,” and F. C. Burkitt in a communication to the Cambridge Review for May 13, 1914 offers an interesting vindication of the phrase. He writes “... What the verse says about the circumference of the ‘sea’ is that they stretched a string round it, and when they laid the string out flat they had to go thirty times with the cubit, i.e. a man had to put his elbow down thirty times before he got to the end.” [The distance from the point of the elbow to the tip of the longest finger is 1 cubit.] “No doubt the last time he put his elbow down the string came short: in other words, the ‘sea’ was nine-and-a-bittock across and twenty-nine-and-a-bittock round. As a matter of fact, if a circle be 9 ft. 6 in. across, it is just over 29 ft. 10 in. round. Such a circle I think would be described in Hebrew as ‘ten with the foot-rule’ across and ‘thirty with the foot-rule’ in circumference.”

a line of thirty cubits compassed it] i.e. it was thirty cubits in circumference.

³And under it was the similitude of oxen¹, which did compass it round about, for ten cubits², compassing the sea round about. The oxen¹ were in two rows, cast when it was cast.

¹ In 1 Kings vii. 24, knops.

² Or, ten in a cubit.

3. under it was the similitude of oxen] This reading has the support of the LXX., but can hardly be correct. Read (compare 1 Kings vii. 24), under it there were knops, “knops” being embossed ornaments, imitating probably the fruit or the flowers of the gourd.

for ten cubits] Obviously an error, for the “knops” encircle the sea, and its circumference was thirty not ten cubits. The rendering of the margin “ten in a cubit” gives good sense, but is not a fair translation. Whatever the mistake in the Hebrew may be, it appears in 1 Kings vii. 24 also.

The oxen were in two rows, cast when it was cast] Correct the reading as before and render, The knops were in two rows, cast when it was cast. It is mentioned as a triumph of the founder’s art that the laver was cast complete, with its ornaments, from the first.

⁴It stood upon twelve oxen, three looking toward the north, and three looking toward the west, and three looking toward the south, and three looking toward the east: and the sea was set upon them above, and all their hinder parts were inward.

4. three ... and three ... and three ... and three] Thus the base stood “foursquare,” satisfying the Hebrew idea of completeness; compare Revelation xxi. 12‒16.

⁵And it was an handbreadth thick; and the brim thereof was wrought like the brim of a cup, like the flower of a lily: it received and held three thousand baths.

5. three thousand baths] In 1 Kings vii. 26, two thousand baths. Whether the textual corruption is to be attributed to 1 Kings or to Chronicles cannot be determined, and further even two thousand baths is an amount exceeding the capacity of a vessel with the measurements given for the sea above. The bath was a measure for liquids equal to about 8¼ gallons.

6 (compare verse 14 and 1 Kings vii. 38, 39).
The Lavers.

⁶He made also ten lavers, and put five on the right hand, and five on the left, to wash in them; such things as belonged to the burnt offering they washed in them: but the sea was for the priests to wash in.

6. the sea was for the priests to wash in] See, however, the note on verse 2 above regarding its probable significance in early times. For this, the Chronicler’s view of its purpose (as also that of the lavers), compare Exodus xxx. 18‒21. The sea in particular would be singularly awkward as a vessel for cleansing purposes, unless all that is meant is that it was used as the receptacle from which water for purification was drawn.

7 (= 1 Kings vii. 49).
The Golden Candlesticks.

⁷And he made the ten candlesticks of gold according to the ordinance concerning them; and he set them in the temple, five on the right hand, and five on the left.

7. ten candlesticks] Rather, the ten lamp-stands. Allusion to ten lamp-stands or candlesticks is found elsewhere only in 1 Kings vii. 49, a late passage. In view of the frequent references to one candlestick with seven lamps (compare Zechariah iv.; Exodus xxv. 31 ff.), the question arises whether the ten ever had historical reality, or were simply a fiction of tradition. The reference to candlesticks of gold and of silver in 1 Chronicles xxviii. 15 does not help us, for it depends on the same evidence, sound or unsound, which the Chronicler had for the present passage. Some scholars feel that there must be some ground for the statement; but no positive conclusion is yet possible.

according to the ordinance] Compare Exodus xxv. 31‒37, xl. 4.

in the temple] In 1 Kings vii. 49 more precisely, before the oracle, i.e. before the Holy of Holies.

8.
The Tables and Basons.

⁸He made also ten tables, and placed them in the temple, five on the right side, and five on the left. And he made an hundred basons of gold.

8. ten tables] In verse 19 “the tables (plural) whereon was the shewbread” are mentioned (compare 1 Chronicles xxviii. 16), but the parallel passage (1 Kings vii. 48) has “the table” (singular), and elsewhere both in Chronicles and in the rest of the Old Testament one table only is assigned to the shewbread (2 Chronicles xiii. 11, xxix. 18). Probably therefore the ten tables here mentioned were not for the shewbread, although the Chronicler may have thought so. The same uncertainty attaches to this tradition of ten tables as to that of the ten candlesticks (see previous note); and it is held by some that these tables were for the support of the candlesticks.

basons] These were used for dashing the blood of the sacrifices against the altar.

9, 10.
The Two Courts.

⁹Furthermore he made the court of the priests, and the great court, and doors for the court, and overlaid the doors of them with brass.

9. the court of the priests, and the great court] The phrases reflect the conditions of the second Temple with which the Chronicler was familiar, when the inner court was confined to the use of the priests, the outer one being for the people. Solomon’s Temple, strictly speaking, had only one court, for in “the other court” stood Solomon’s house (1 Kings vii. 8). This “other court” seems to be called the “middle court” (2 Kings xx. 4, margin), and the “upper court” (Jeremiah xxxvi. 10). The “great court” (1 Kings vii. 12) was perhaps a third court containing not only the king’s house, but all the royal buildings as well. The Hebrew word for “court” in all the above passages is ḥāṣēr, but here the “court (ḥāṣēr) of the priests” is distinguished from a court called the “great court” (Hebrew “great ‘azārāh”). Perhaps the Chronicler wishes to make the same distinction when he says that Solomon’s great prayer was offered (vi. 13) in “the court” (Hebrew ’azārāh). Compare xx. 5 (note).

¹⁰And he set the sea on the right side of the house eastward, toward the south.

10. the sea] See verses 2‒5. Its position is stated in accordance with 1 Kings vii. 39.

11‒18 (= 1 Kings vii. 40‒47).
The Works of Huram.

This section is taken from the parallel passage of 1 Kings. The variations are few.

¹¹And Huram made the pots, and the shovels, and the basons. So Huram made an end of doing the work that he wrought for king Solomon in the house of God:

11. Huram] For the form of the name see note on ii. 3.

¹²the two pillars, and the bowls, and the two chapiters which were on the top of the pillars; and the two networks to cover the two bowls of the chapiters that were on the top of the pillars; ¹³and the four hundred pomegranates for the two networks; two rows of pomegranates for each network, to cover the two bowls of the chapiters that were upon¹ the pillars.

¹ Hebrew upon the face of the pillars.

12. two pillars] See iii. 15‒17.

the bowls] i.e. the bowl-shaped part of the capital of a pillar.

the chapiters] In modern English “capitals.”

¹⁴He made also the bases, and the lavers made he upon the bases; ¹⁵one sea, and the twelve oxen under it.

14. He made also the bases, and the lavers made he upon the bases] A simple correction of the Hebrew text gives, And the ten bases and the ten lavers on the bases, as in 1 Kings vii. 43.

¹⁶The pots also, and the shovels, and the fleshhooks, and all the vessels thereof, did Huram his father make for king Solomon for the house of the Lord of bright brass.

16. the fleshhooks] Hebrew mizlāgōth. In verse 11 and 1 Kings vii. 45 (the parallel passages) the basons (Hebrew mizrāḳōth).

Huram his father] See note on ii. 13.

¹⁷In the plain of Jordan did the king cast them, in the clay ground between Succoth and Zeredah.

17. in the clay ground] G. A. Smith (Historical Geography, p. 488) speaks of traces of old brick-fields found by Sir C. Warren in the Jordan valley. It is possible, however, that the Hebrew is defective and that the true reading is at the ford of Adamah, but on the whole it is best to keep the reading in the text (see Barnes on 1 Kings vii. 46).

Succoth] Succoth is probably Tell Deir ‘Alla, east of Jordan, about one mile north of the Jabbok.

Zeredah] (1 Kings xi. 26); but in 1 Kings vii. 46 (Revised Version) Zarethan (compare Joshua iii. 6, Revised Version). Its site is not known, beyond the obvious inference that it was near the Jordan and not very far from Succoth. Joshua iii. 16 states that it was near Adam (the modern el Damieh).

¹⁸Thus Solomon made all these vessels in great abundance: for the weight of the brass could not be found out¹.

¹ Or, was not searched out.

18. Thus Solomon made all these vessels in great abundance] In 1 Kings vii. 47, And Solomon left all the vessels unweighed, because they were exceeding many.

19‒V. 1 (= 1 Kings vii. 48‒51).
The Vessels of Gold.

The Completion of the Work.

¹⁹And Solomon made all the vessels that were in the house of God, the golden altar also, and the tables whereon was the shewbread;

19. the golden altar] This was the altar of incense (compare 1 Maccabees i. 21 ff.), which according to Exodus xxx. 1 ff. stood within the tabernacle and was made of acacia wood (compare however, Exodus xxxix. 38). Both passages in Exodus are of late, post-exilic, date, and as no mention of this altar is made by Ezekiel, it was probably a feature not of the first but of the second Temple.

the tables whereon was the shewbread] In 1 Kings vii. 48 (parallel passage), the table (singular); a reading probably to be accepted here also; compare note on verse 8.

²⁰and the candlesticks with their lamps, that they should burn according to the ordinance before the oracle, of pure gold;

20. the oracle] See note on iii. 16.

²¹and the flowers, and the lamps, and the tongs, of gold, and that perfect gold;

21. the flowers] These were ornaments on the golden candlesticks; compare Exodus xxxvii. 19.

²²and the snuffers, and the basons, and the spoons, and the firepans, of pure gold: and as for the entry of the house, the inner doors thereof for the most holy place, and the doors of the house, to wit, of the temple, were of gold.

22. the firepans] in which fire was carried to and from the altar.

the doors of the house, to wit, of the temple] The “[greater] house” or “temple” is here distinguished from the “most holy place” or “shrine.” Compare iii. 5, 8.

were of gold] According to the more probable reading of 1 Kings vii. 50 the hinges were of gold; the doors themselves were of olive wood overlaid with gold (1 Kings vi. 31, 32).

¹Thus all the work that Solomon wrought for the house of the Lord was finished. And Solomon brought in the things that David his father had dedicated; even the silver, and the gold, and all the vessels, and put them in the treasuries of the house of God.

Chapter V. 1. all the vessels] the word may be taken to include weapons, spoils of war, compare 2 Samuel viii. 7 ff.; 1 Chronicles xviii. 11.

V. 2‒VIII. 10.
The Dedication of the Temple.

Chapter V.

2‒10 (= 1 Kings viii. 1‒9).
The Ark brought into the Sanctuary.

This section is taken almost verbatim from 1 Kings.

²Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel, and all the heads of the tribes, the princes of the fathers’ houses of the children of Israel, unto Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of the city of David, which is Zion.

2. Then Solomon assembled] The same verb in the Hebrew as in 1 Chronicles xv. 3 (see note there) and in 1 Chronicles xxviii. 1.

the city of David] See 1 Chronicles xi. 5, note on the strong hold of Zion.

³And all the men of Israel assembled themselves unto the king at the feast, which was in the seventh month.

3. the feast] i.e. the Feast of Tabernacles, i.e. after the fruit harvest.

in the seventh month] In 1 Kings the name of the month is given as Ethanim, but this word was perhaps obsolete when the Chronicler wrote; at any rate we know that in post-biblical times the seventh month was regularly called Tisri.

⁴And all the elders of Israel came, and the Levites took up the ark.

4. the Levites took up the ark] According to 1 Kings the priests performed this duty. In the days of David and Solomon all Levites were possible priests, Levi being the name of the priestly clan and not of a lower order of priests. At a later period the Levites were regarded as a class subordinate to the priests, having duties distinct from those of the priests—e.g. the task of bearing the tabernacle and all its furniture (see Numbers i. 50, etc.). The Chronicler believing that this distinction had been in force from the time of Moses onwards “corrects” the text of Kings by changing “priests” into “Levites”: compare 1 Chronicles xv. 2, 12, 13. See the special note on 1 Chronicles vi., pp. 51 f.

⁵And they brought up the ark, and the tent of meeting, and all the holy vessels that were in the Tent; these did the priests the Levites bring up. ⁶And king Solomon and all the congregation of Israel, that were assembled unto him, were before the ark, sacrificing sheep and oxen, that could not be told nor numbered for multitude.

5. the tent of meeting] i.e. the Mosaic tabernacle, which the Chronicler believed to have been in existence in the time of David and Solomon, and to have been at Gibeon (i. 3 f.). The parallel statement in Kings comes not from the early sources but from the hand of a late reviser.

the priests the Levites] here the older phrase, which does not indicate a distinction between Priests and Levites, has been allowed to stand, perhaps “because certain utensils might well have been borne by the priests” (so Curtis), or possibly through slight carelessness on the Chronicler’s part. The parallel in Kings has “the priests and the Levites.”

⁷And the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the Lord unto its place, into the oracle of the house, to the most holy place, even under the wings of the cherubim. ⁸For the cherubim spread forth their wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubim covered the ark and the staves thereof above.

7. the priests brought in the ark] Only the priests might lawfully place the Ark within the Holy of Holies (compare Numbers iv. 5 ff.). The Chronicler therefore had no cause for changing priests into Levites here.

into the oracle] See iii. 16, note.

⁹And the staves¹ were so long that the ends of the staves were seen from the ark before the oracle; but they were not seen without: and there it is, unto this day.

¹ Or, they drew out the staves, so that &c.

9. from the ark] Read (with LXX. and 1 Kings viii. 8) from the holy place. One standing in the Holy Place and looking towards the Holy of Holies could see the heads of the staves.

and there it is, unto this day] These words are taken over with the loss of one letter (which here makes the difference between singular and plural) from 1 Kings viii. 8, but they are out of place in Chronicles, for when the Chronicler wrote the Ark had long ago disappeared. The vessels which were brought back from the Babylonian captivity are specified in Ezra i. 9, 10, but the Ark of the covenant is not reckoned among them.

¹⁰There was nothing in the ark save the two tables which Moses put there at Horeb, when¹ the Lord made a covenant with the children of Israel, when they came out of Egypt.

¹ Or, where.

10. which Moses put there] Exodus xl. 20.

at Horeb] Deuteronomy v. 2.

11‒14 (= 1 Kings viii. 10, 11).
The Descent of the Glory of the Lord.

¹¹And it came to pass, when the priests were come out of the holy place, (for all the priests that were present had sanctified themselves, and did not keep their courses;

11. out of the holy place] The priests could remain neither in the Holy of Holies where they had deposited the Ark, nor even in the Holy Place, but were driven altogether out of the Temple building into the Temple court (compare verse 14).

11‒13a. for all ... his mercy endureth for ever] a long parenthesis added by the Chronicler to intimate that the whole body and not merely the monthly “course” of priests and of Levitical singers were present (verses 11b‒12); and to suggest the grandeur of the musical service (verse 13a).

11. their courses] Compare 1 Chronicles xxiv. 1‒19.

¹²also the Levites which were the singers, all of them, even Asaph, Heman, Jeduthun, and their sons and their brethren, arrayed in fine linen, with cymbals and psalteries and harps, stood at the east end of the altar, and with them an hundred and twenty priests sounding with trumpets:)

12. Asaph, Heman, Jeduthun, and their sons] Compare 1 Chronicles xxv. 1‒7.

psalteries ... harps] See 1 Chronicles xiii. 8, notes.

at the east end of the altar] Looking westward, facing the Holy of Holies. To face the east was to turn the back upon the sanctuary; Ezekiel viii. 16.

trumpets] See 1 Chronicles xv. 24, note.

¹³it came even to pass, when the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the Lord; and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of music¹, and praised the Lord, saying, For he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever: that then the house was filled with a cloud, even the house of the Lord, ¹⁴so that the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud: for the glory of the Lord filled the house of God.

¹ Or, for song.

13. of music] Rather, as margin, for song.

for his mercy endureth for ever] 1 Chronicles xvi. 41.

was filled with a cloud] Exodus xl. 34, 35.

Chapter VI.

1‒11 (= 1 Kings viii. 12‒21).
Solomon’s Blessing.

¹Then spake Solomon, The Lord hath said that he would dwell in the thick darkness. ²But I have built thee an house of habitation, and a place for thee to dwell in for ever. ³And the king turned his face, and blessed all the congregation of Israel: and all the congregation of Israel stood. ⁴And he said, Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, which spake with his mouth unto David my father, and hath with his hands fulfilled it, saying,

1, 2. These somewhat obscure verses come from 1 Kings, the only important variation being, But I have built (Chronicles), for I have surely built (1 Kings). They seem to have been taken originally from some old source of a poetical character, possibly the Book of Jashar (see Burney, Notes on Hebrew Text of 1 Kings, pp. 111 f.).

1. Then] i.e. at the moment when Solomon perceived that the cloud had filled the House.

that he would dwell in the thick darkness] No Divine declaration corresponding verbally with this occurs in the Old Testament, but compare Exodus xx. 21, Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was, and Exodus xix. 9, the Lord said unto Moses, Lo, I come unto thee in a thick cloud.

2. But I have built] The adversative but is awkward, and the text in Kings (see above) is more suitable: Solomon has built a house in which the dark shrine seems a fitting abode for Him who wills to dwell in the “thick darkness.”

⁵Since the day that I brought forth my people out of the land of Egypt, I chose no city out of all the tribes of Israel to build an house in, that my name might be there; neither chose I any man to be prince¹ over my people Israel: ⁶but I have chosen Jerusalem, that my name might be there; and have chosen David to be over my people Israel.

¹ Or, leader.

5. neither chose I any man to be prince over my people Israel] The Chronicler regards Saul as rejected rather than chosen; 1 Chronicles x. 13, 14.

that my name might be there] “Name” is used, as regularly in this connection, to signify the Divine character—God conceived as that which He has revealed Himself to be.

⁷Now it was in the heart of David my father to build an house for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel. ⁸But the Lord said unto David my father, Whereas it was in thine heart to build an house for my name, thou didst well that it was in thine heart:

7. in the heart of David] Compare 1 Chronicles xvii. 1, 2, xxii. 7.

⁹nevertheless thou shall not build the house; but thy son that shall come forth out of thy loins, he shall build the house for my name. ¹⁰And the Lord hath performed his word that he spake; for I am risen up in the room of David my father, and sit on the throne of Israel, as the Lord promised, and have built the house for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel.

9. thou shalt not build] Compare 1 Chronicles xxii. 8, note.

¹¹And there have I set the ark, wherein is the covenant of the Lord, which he made with the children of Israel.

11. the covenant] i.e. the two tables of stone, compare v. 10.

with the children of Israel] In 1 Kings viii. 21, with our fathers, when he brought them out of the land of Egypt.

12‒39 (= 1 Kings viii. 22‒50).
Solomon’s Prayer.

The prayer is reproduced from 1 Kings with a few verbal changes and with the omission of verses 50b‒53. It is mainly a petition that future prayers made “in” or “toward this house” may be heard. The subjects of the different parts of the prayer are as follows:—

verses 14‒17. | The promise made to David.
18‒21. | Prayer made toward this place.
22, 23. | The oath of ordeal taken in this place.
24, 25. | Prayer under defeat.
26, 27. | Prayer for rain.
28‒31. | Prayer under divers afflictions.
32, 33. | The stranger’s prayer.
34, 35. | The prayer of the army at war abroad.
36‒39. | The prayer of Israel in captivity.

¹²And he stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands: ¹³(for Solomon had made a brasen scaffold, of five cubits long, and five cubits broad, and three cubits high, and had set it in the midst of the court; and upon it he stood, and kneeled down upon his knees before all the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands toward heaven:) ¹⁴and he said, O Lord, the God of Israel, there is no God like thee, in the heaven, or in the earth; who keepest covenant and mercy with¹ thy servants, that walk before thee with all their heart: ¹⁵who hast kept with thy servant David my father that which thou didst promise him: yea, thou spakest with thy mouth, and hast fulfilled it with thine hand, as it is this day.

¹ Or, for.

13. Solomon had made a brasen scaffold] This “scaffold” is not mentioned in 1 Kings. The word used (kiyyōr) properly means a “laver” (so iv. 6), and perhaps the simple emendation kiyyūn = “platform” should be adopted.

¹⁶Now therefore, O Lord, the God of Israel, keep with thy servant David my father that which thou hast promised him, saying, There shall not fail thee¹ a man in my sight to sit on the throne of Israel; if only thy children take heed to their way, to walk in my law as thou hast walked before me. ¹⁷Now therefore, O Lord, the God of Israel, let thy word be verified, which thou spakest unto thy servant David.

¹ Hebrew There shall not be cut off unto thee a man from my sight.

16. walk in my law] In 1 Kings viii. 25, walk before me. The Chronicler characteristically introduces a reference to the Law of the Lord (the tōrah). In Samuel and Kings neither David nor Solomon ever mentions this.

¹⁸But will God in very deed dwell with men on the earth? behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house which I have builded!

18. dwell with men] The words, with men, are absent from the Hebrew text of 1 Kings, but appear in LXX. (A and B). Their presence helps to spiritualize the idea of God “dwelling on the earth.” The Peshitṭa (the Syriac translation of the Bible) still further limits the sense and translates: cause his Shekinah to dwell with (al. rest upon) his people Israel.

¹⁹Yet have thou respect unto the prayer of thy servant, and to his supplication, O Lord my God, to hearken unto the cry and to the prayer which thy servant prayeth before thee:

19. prayer ... and ... supplication] “Supplication” as distinguished from “prayer” is prayer for favour.

²⁰that thine eyes may be open toward this house day and night, even toward the place whereof thou hast said that thou wouldest put thy name there; to hearken unto the prayer which thy servant shall pray toward this place.

20. which thy servant shall pray] Solomon refers in this verse to future prayers, not (as in verse 19) to the prayer he is now praying.

²¹And hearken thou to the supplications of thy servant, and of thy people Israel, when they shall pray toward this place: yea, hear thou from thy dwelling place, even from heaven; and when thou hearest, forgive.

21. from thy dwelling place, even from heaven] Here, as in verse 18, Solomon refuses to regard the Temple as Jehovah’s “dwelling place.” Compare ii. 6.

²²If a man sin¹ against his neighbour, and an oath be laid upon him to cause him to swear, and he come and swear before thine altar in this house: ²³then hear thou from heaven, and do, and judge thy servants, requiting the wicked, to bring his way upon his own head; and justifying the righteous, to give him according to his righteousness.

¹ Or, Whereinsoever a man shall sin.

22. and an oath be laid upon him] Compare Exodus xxii. 11. When an accused man attests his innocence before the altar of the Temple either by invoking on himself a curse (the oath of ordeal) or by allowing the priest to invoke one upon him, then may Jehovah judge the matter, allowing the innocent to escape unharmed from the ordeal, and fulfilling the curse against the guilty!

²⁴And if thy people Israel be smitten down before the enemy, because they have sinned against thee; and shall turn again and confess thy name, and pray and make supplication before thee in this house: ²⁵then hear thou from heaven, and forgive the sin of thy people Israel, and bring them again unto the land which thou gavest to them and to their fathers. ²⁶When the heaven is shut up, and there is no rain, because they have sinned against thee; if they pray toward this place, and confess thy name, and turn from their sin, when¹ thou dost afflict² them: ²⁷then hear thou in heaven, and forgive the sin of thy servants, and of thy people Israel, when² thou teachest them the good way wherein they should walk; and send rain upon thy land, which thou hast given to thy people for an inheritance.

¹ Or, because.

² Or, answerest.

24. and shall turn again] i.e. repent.

²⁸If there be in the land famine, if there be pestilence, if there be blasting or mildew, locust or caterpiller; if their enemies besiege them in the land of their cities¹; whatsoever plague or whatsoever sickness there be; ²⁹what prayer and supplication soever be made by any man, or by all thy people Israel, which shall know every man his own plague and his own sorrow, and shall spread forth his hands toward this house: ³⁰then hear thou from heaven thy dwelling place, and forgive, and render unto every man according to all his ways, whose heart thou knowest; (for thou, even thou only, knowest the hearts of the children of men;) ³¹that they may fear thee, to walk in thy ways, so long as they live in the land which thou gavest unto our fathers.

¹ Hebrew gates.

28. blasting] The phrase applies to the damage to vegetation in Palestine which is caused by the winds that blow in from the deserts to the east and south (see Smith, Historical Geography of the Holy Land p. 67). Such winds are spoken of as coming from the east (Genesis xli. 6; Hosea xiii. 15) or from the south (Luke xii. 55).

caterpiller] Rather some kind of locust; see Driver on Joel i. 4.

in the land of their cities] literally in the land of their gates. The text is probably corrupt: read either, in any one of their cities (compare LXX.), or, by making a breach in their gates (Hebrew biphĕrōṣ for b’ereṣ).

whatsoever plague] “Plague” is used here in the general sense of calamity, as in the phrase, “The Ten Plagues of Egypt.”

³²Moreover concerning the stranger, that is not of thy people Israel, when he shall come from a far country for thy great name’s sake, and thy mighty hand, and thy stretched out arm; when they shall come and pray toward this house: ³³then hear thou from heaven, even from thy dwelling place, and do according to all that the stranger calleth to thee for; that all the peoples of the earth may know thy name, and fear thee, as doth thy people Israel, and that they may know that this house¹ which I have built is called by thy name. ³⁴If thy people go out to battle against their enemies, by whatsoever way thou shalt send them, and they pray unto thee toward this city which thou hast chosen, and the house which I have built for thy name:

¹ Or, thy name is called upon this house &c.

32, 33. Compare Isaiah lvi. 6 f. (also a post-exilic passage) where it is also said that the stranger must “keep the sabbath from profaning it and hold fast by my covenant” before he can hope to be heard by Jehovah.

³⁵then hear thou from heaven their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause¹.

¹ Or, right.

35. maintain their cause] Render with margin, maintain their right.

³⁶If they sin against thee, (for there is no man that sinneth not,) and thou be angry with them, and deliver them to the enemy, so that they carry them away captive¹ unto a land far off or near; ³⁷yet if they shall bethink themselves in the land whither they are carried captive, and turn again, and make supplication unto thee in the land of their captivity, saying, We have sinned, we have done perversely, and have dealt wickedly;

¹ Hebrew they that take them captive carry them away.

36. there is no man that sinneth not] Compare Ecclesiastes vii. 20.

³⁸if they return unto thee with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their captivity, whither they have carried them captive, and pray toward their land, which thou gavest unto their fathers, and the city which thou hast chosen, and toward the house which I have built for thy name:

38. if they return] Compare Leviticus xxvi. 39‒41; Deuteronomy xxx. 1, 2 (passages anticipating captivity and also repentance in captivity).

³⁹then hear thou from heaven, even from thy dwelling place, their prayer and their supplications, and maintain their cause¹; and forgive thy people which have sinned against thee.

¹ Or, right.

39. their cause] Render with margin, their right (as in verse 35).

40‒42 (no parallel in 1 Kings).
The Invocation.

The end of the prayer in 1 Kings viii. 51‒53 is quite different, and less effective.

⁴⁰Now, O my God, let, I beseech thee, thine eyes be open; and let thine ears be attent, unto the prayer that is made in this place.

40. attent] i.e. attentive. Compare vii. 15 (the same English word for the same Hebrew word).

⁴¹Now therefore arise, O Lord God, into thy resting place, thou, and the ark of thy strength: let thy priests, O Lord God, be clothed with salvation, and let thy saints rejoice in goodness¹.

¹ Or, good.

41. Now therefore arise] This whole verse corresponds (with some variation of reading) with verses 8, 9 of Psalm cxxxii. For the invocation to arise, compare Numbers x. 35, the ancient chant of the Ark.

the ark of thy strength] This appellation of the Ark refers to its use in war; compare 1 Samuel iv. 3, 6, 7.

with salvation] i.e. with victory. In Psalms cxxxii. 9, with righteousness. The thought in Chronicles and in Psalms cxxxii. is the same, for through victory the human victor receives salvation (i.e. deliverance from the enemy), and the Divine Giver of victory asserts His righteousness (i.e. by giving victory to the right).

thy saints] i.e. thy people Israel regarded as faithful worshippers of Jehovah; compare Psalms lxxix. 2, Psalms cxlix. 5. So in the New Testament the Christians as a body are spoken of as “saints” and “sanctified.”

rejoice in goodness] Render (with margin), rejoice in good, i.e. in prosperity. In Psalms cxxxii. 9, shout for joy.

⁴²O Lord God, turn not away the face of thine anointed; remember the mercies¹ of David thy servant.

¹ Or, good deeds See chapter xxxii. 32.

42. turn not away] Compare Psalms cxxxii. 10.

remember the mercies of David] i.e. either show David’s son the mercies thou didst show to David himself (Isaiah lv. 3), or (as margin), remember the good deeds, or “mercies” (so also xxxii. 32), which David did, and reward his son.

Chapter VII.

1‒3 (not in 1 Kings).
The Sacrifices consumed by Fire from Heaven.

¹Now when Solomon had made an end of praying, the fire came down from heaven, and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices; and the glory of the Lord filled the house.

1. the fire came down from heaven] As the discovery of the spot, approved by Jehovah, for the site of the Temple was ratified by the sign of fire from heaven (see 1 Chronicles xxi. 26, note), so tradition or the Chronicler thought that the conclusion of the dedication must have been marked by the same sign of Divine favour.

consumed the burnt offering] Compare Leviticus ix. 24; 1 Kings xviii. 38.

²And the priests could not enter into the house of the Lord, because the glory of the Lord filled the Lord’s house. ³And all the children of Israel looked on, when the fire came down, and the glory of the Lord was upon the house; and they bowed themselves with their faces to the ground upon the pavement, and worshipped, and gave thanks unto the Lord, saying, For he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever.

2. the priests could not enter] Compare v. 14.

4‒10 (= 1 Kings viii. 62‒66).
The Great Feast of Dedication.

⁴Then the king and all the people offered sacrifice before the Lord. ⁵And king Solomon offered a sacrifice of twenty and two thousand oxen, and an hundred and twenty thousand sheep. So the king and all the people dedicated the house of God.

5. twenty and two thousand oxen, and an hundred and twenty thousand sheep] These high numbers appear also in 1 Kings.

⁶And the priests stood, according to their offices; the Levites also with instruments of music¹ of the Lord, which David the king had made to give thanks unto the Lord, for his mercy endureth for ever, when David praised by their ministry: and the priests sounded trumpets before them; and all Israel stood.

¹ Or, for the song of the Lord.

6. This verse, which is characteristic of the Chronicler, does not appear in 1 Kings.

instruments of music of the Lord] margin, instruments for the song of the Lord. Compare 1 Chronicles xxiii. 5; Amos vi. 5.

the priests sounded trumpets] Compare v. 12.

⁷Moreover Solomon hallowed the middle of the court that was before the house of the Lord; for there he offered the burnt offerings, and the fat of the peace offerings: because the brasen altar which Solomon had made was not able to receive the burnt offering, and the meal offering, and the fat.

7. the fat] Specially mentioned as the choice part of the sacrificial victim, a part never to be eaten but always to be burnt. Leviticus iii. 16, 17.

peace offerings] See note on 1 Chronicles xvi. 1.

the brasen altar which Solomon had made] Compare iv. 1; 1 Kings ix. 25.

meal offering] an offering consisting of fine flour mixed with oil and frankincense. Compare Leviticus ii. 1‒7.

⁸So Solomon held the feast at that time seven days, and all Israel with him, a very great congregation, from the entering in of Hamath unto the brook of Egypt.

8. the feast] i.e. the Feast of Tabernacles (see note below on seven days..., verse 9).

from the entering in of Hamath] See note on 1 Chronicles xiii. 5.

the brook of Egypt] i.e. not the Nile, but the stream called Shihor of Egypt in 1 Chronicles xiii. 5 (see note).

⁹And on the eighth day they held a solemn assembly¹: for they kept the dedication of the altar seven days, and the feast seven days.

¹ Or, closing festival.

9. a solemn assembly] margin, a closing festival. In the later stage of ritual, which is represented in the Priestly Code, an eighth day, to be observed as an holy assembly, was added to the Feast of Tabernacles (Leviticus xxiii. 36; Numbers xxix. 35). The earlier custom terminated the festival on the seventh day, and the people went away on the eighth (Deuteronomy xvi. 13, 15).

seven days, and ... seven days] Compare 1 Kings viii. 65, 66. The original text in Kings agreed with the earlier custom referred to in the previous note, the people being dismissed on the eighth day after observing the seven days Feast of Tabernacles. The evidence of the LXX. and also the opening words of verse 66 put it beyond doubt that in the present text of Kings the words and seven days, even fourteen days are a late addition due probably to the influence of the statement in Chronicles The Chronicler, or the tradition he follows, did not deem it fitting that there should be no special festival for the dedication of the Temple. His statement of events is therefore: a seven days Dedication Feast (from the 8th to the 14th of the month), followed by the Feast of Tabernacles, seven days plus one day of holy assembly (from the 15th to the 22nd); and finally on the 23rd of the month the dismissal of the people to their homes (see verse 10).

¹⁰And on the three and twentieth day of the seventh month he sent the people away unto their tents, joyful and glad of heart for the goodness that the Lord had shewed unto David, and to Solomon, and to Israel his people.

10. unto their tents] The Hebrew word (ōhel) here approaches in meaning the corresponding Arabic word (ahl), which denotes household or one’s own people, e.g. in the phrase ahlu ’linjil, “the household of the Gospel,” i.e. “the Christians,” a phrase found in the Koran. Compare x. 16, xxv. 22.

11‒22 (= 1 Kings ix. 1‒9).
The Night Vision in answer to Solomon’s Prayer.

¹¹Thus Solomon finished the house of the Lord, and the king’s house: and all that came into Solomon’s heart to make in the house of the Lord, and in his own house, he prosperously effected. ¹²And the Lord appeared to Solomon by night, and said unto him, I have heard thy prayer, and have chosen this place to myself for an house of sacrifice.

12. appeared ... by night] Compare i. 7.

an house of sacrifice] Compare ii. 6.

¹³If I shut up heaven that there be no rain, or if I command the locust to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among my people; ¹⁴if my people, which are called by my name¹, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. ¹⁵Now mine eyes shall be open, and mine ears attent, unto the prayer that is made in this place.

¹ Hebrew upon whom my name is called.

13‒15. These verses have no parallel in 1 Kings ix. 1‒9, but are closely modelled upon the language of Solomon’s prayer in vi. 26‒28, 40.

13. to devour the land] LXX. to devour the trees; compare Exodus x. 15; Joel i. 6, 7.

15. Now ... in this place] Compare vi. 40.

¹⁶For now have I chosen and hallowed this house, that my name may be there for ever: and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually. ¹⁷And as for thee, if thou wilt walk before me as David thy father walked, and do according to all that I have commanded thee, and wilt keep my statutes and my judgements; ¹⁸then I will establish the throne of thy kingdom, according as I covenanted with David thy father, saying, There shall not fail thee a man to be ruler in Israel. ¹⁹But if ye turn away, and forsake my statutes and my commandments which I have set before you, and shall go and serve other gods, and worship them: ²⁰then will I pluck them up by the roots out of my land which I have given them; and this house, which I have hallowed for my name, will I cast out of my sight, and I will make it a proverb and a byword among all peoples.

16. for ever] Compare xxx. 8.

²¹And this house, which is so high, every one that passeth by it shall be astonished, and shall say, Why hath the Lord done thus unto this land, and to this house?

21. which is so high] The Hebrew must be rendered by a past tense, which was high—as though the speaker spoke from a later standpoint than the age of Solomon. That interpretation, however, is clumsy; and in all probability the reading in Chronicles is simply an attempt to improve an erroneous text in Kings. There the original reading probably was “and this house shall become ruins; every one who passes by,” etc.

²²And they shall answer, Because they forsook the Lord, the God of their fathers, which brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, and laid hold on other gods, and worshipped them, and served them: therefore hath he brought all this evil upon them.

22. they shall answer] Render, men shall say.

Chapter VIII.

1‒6 (compare 1 Kings ix. 10, 11, 17‒19).
Solomon’s Cities.

¹And it came to pass at the end of twenty years, wherein Solomon had built the house of the Lord, and his own house,

1. twenty years] Compare 1 Kings vi. 38, vii. 1.

²that the cities which Huram had given to Solomon, Solomon built them, and caused the children of Israel to dwell there.

2. the cities which Huram had given to Solomon] According to 1 Kings ix. 12, 13 it was Solomon who gave Huram cities. Huram however was not pleased with them (1 Kings ix. 12, 13), and from this fact the English translators of 1611 concluded that Huram rejected them and “restored” them. No reconciliation of these different versions is tenable; and it is to be supposed that the Chronicler’s tradition is unhistorical—the idea that the wealthy Solomon could not or did not purchase what he required from Huram except by parting with a portion of the territories of Israel was repugnant, if not incredible, in the Chronicler’s day.

built them] i.e. fortified them.

³And Solomon went to Hamath-zobah, and prevailed against it.

3. Hamath-zobah] The two kingdoms of Hamath and Zobah are distinguished from one another (1 Chronicles xviii. 3, 9 = 2 Samuel viii. 3, 9), Hamath apparently being north of Zobah. It is probable however that Hamath as the name of a city belonged to more than one place, and Hamath-zobah may be a southern namesake of the well-known Hamath the great (Amos vi. 2).

prevailed against it] No mention of this campaign is made elsewhere. It may be a genuine tradition preserved only in Chronicles. On the other hand, this statement and the reference to the store-cities built in Hamath (verse 4) may be due to nothing except the mention of Tadmor in the wilderness (itself an error, see following note). If Solomon built far-off Tadmor, then (the Chronicler thinks) he must also have subdued the region of Hamath.

⁴And he built Tadmor in the wilderness, and all the store cities, which he built in Hamath.

4. Tadmor in the wilderness] Palmyra (Bädeker, Palestine⁵, p. 344) is meant, a city on an oasis north-east of Damascus half-way between Damascus and the Euphrates. Apart from this passage of Chronicles it first appears in history in B.C. 34, when it was threatened with attack by Mark Antony. This silence of history for a thousand years casts a doubt on the belief that Tadmor (Palmyra) is as old as the time of Solomon, and the doubt is strengthened by a reference to the parallel passage (1 Kings ix. 18), for there (1) the text (Kethīb) has “Tamar,” with “Tadmor” as marginal reading (Ḳerī), and (2) Tamar (Tadmor) is associated with Gezer, Beth-horon, and Baalath, cities either in Judah or on its borders. Probably therefore the marginal reading “Tadmor” in 1 Kings is due to the influence of 2 Chronicles, and the text of 1 Kings (“Tamar”) is correct. The city built by Solomon was a Tamar in the south of Judah.

⁵Also he built Beth-horon the upper, and Beth-horon the nether, fenced cities, with walls, gates, and bars;

5. Beth-horon the upper] Not mentioned in the parallel passage (1 Kings ix. 17) which however has Gezer. The site of Gezer has recently been explored with extremely interesting results (see e.g. Macalister, Bible Side-lights from the Mound of Gezer). The Chronicler probably omits the name of Gezer, because he had no liking for the tradition that Solomon married a daughter of Pharaoh (a heinous sin in the eyes of the Chronicler’s contemporaries), and according to 1 Kings ix. 16 Gezer was presented to Solomon by the Pharaoh as the dowry of his daughter.

⁶and Baalath, and all the store cities that Solomon had, and all the cities for his chariots, and the cities for his horsemen, and all that Solomon desired to build for his pleasure in Jerusalem, and in Lebanon, and in all the land of his dominion.

6. Baalath] A city in the tribe of (the southern) Dan not far from Gezer and Beth-horon (1 Kings ix. 18).

cities for his chariots] See note on i. 14.

7‒10 (= 1 Kings ix. 20‒23).
Solomon’s Task-workers.

⁷As for all the people that were left of the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, which were not of Israel;

7. Hittites ... Jebusites] See notes on 1 Chronicles i. 13‒15.

⁸of their children that were left after them in the land, whom the children of Israel consumed not, of them did Solomon raise a levy of bondservants, unto this day.

8. consumed not] But in Kings, were not able to consume, a displeasing remark, which the Chronicler therefore softened down.

a levy of bondservants] Compare the notes on ii. 2, 17.

⁹But of the children of Israel did Solomon make no servants for his work; but they were men of war, and chief of his captains, and rulers of his chariots and of his horsemen.

9. and chief of his captains] Read (with 1 Kings ix. 22) and his princes and his captains. The statements of this verse must be read in connection with 1 Kings v. 13 ff., xii. 4 ff., whence it appears that, though Solomon did not actually reduce any Israelite to permanent slavery, yet he imposed upon his own people a corvée which was felt to be very burdensome.

¹⁰And these were the chief officers of king Solomon, even two hundred and fifty, that bare rule over the people.

10. And these were the chief] After this preface (compare 1 Kings ix. 23) we expect both here and in 1 Kings a list of these persons; compare 1 Chronicles xi. 10 ff., xii. 1 ff. Possibly the text of 1 Kings suffered at an early date, and the list was missing when the Chronicler wrote.

two hundred and fifty] According to 1 Kings ix. 23, five hundred and fifty. On the other hand the under-overseers are reckoned at three thousand six hundred in 2 Chronicles ii. 18 as against three thousand three hundred in 1 Kings v. 16. The total number therefore of overseers of all kinds is given both in 1 Kings and 2 Chronicles as 3850.

11 (= 1 Kings ix. 24).
The House of Pharaoh’s Daughter.

¹¹And Solomon brought up the daughter of Pharaoh out of the city of David unto the house that he had built for her: for he said, My wife shall not dwell in the house of David king of Israel, because the places¹ are holy, whereunto the ark of the Lord hath come.

¹ Hebrew they are.

11. for he said, My wife, etc.] These words are an addition by the Chronicler. In 1 Kings iii. 1 it is said simply that Solomon brought Pharaoh’s daughter into the city of David until his own house was finished.

My wife shall not dwell] Render, No wife of mine shall dwell.

12‒16 (compare 1 Kings ix. 25).
Solomon’s arrangements for the Temple Worship.

This paragraph is in the main an expansion of 1 Kings ix. 25.

¹²Then Solomon offered burnt offerings unto the Lord on the altar of the Lord, which he had built before the porch,

12. on the altar of the Lord, which he had built before the porch] This refers to the great brasen altar of burnt-offering (iv. 1). In 1 Kings the statement is that Solomon burnt incense upon the altar that was before the Lord (referring to the altar of incense; compare Exodus xxx. 1‒10). Such an act, according to the Chronicler, was of the nature of trespass, being punished in the case of Uzziah with leprosy (xxvi. 16), and was therefore not to be attributed to so great a king as Solomon.

¹³even as the duty of every day required, offering according to the commandment of Moses, on the sabbaths, and on the new moons, and on the set feasts, three times in the year, even in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles.

13. on the sabbaths, and on the new moons] The writer in Kings confines Solomon’s sacrificial duties to three times in the year, i.e. on the three great feasts specified at the end of this verse. The Chronicler adds the weekly and monthly festivals, in conformity with the developed ritual of the Priestly Code.

¹⁴And he appointed, according to the ordinance of David his father, the courses of the priests to their service, and the Levites to their charges, to praise, and to minister before the priests, as the duty of every day required: the doorkeepers also by their courses at every gate: for so had David the man of God commanded. ¹⁵And they departed not from the commandment of the king unto the priests and Levites concerning any matter, or concerning the treasures.

14. of David] Compare 1 Chronicles xxiv.‒xxvi.

to praise, and to minister before the priests] Compare 1 Chronicles xxiii. 28.

David the man of God] Targum David the prophet of the Lord (a correct paraphrase). Compare Nehemiah xii. 36.

¹⁶Now all the work of Solomon was prepared unto the day of the foundation of the house of the Lord, and until it was finished. So the house of the Lord was perfected.

16. Now all the work of Solomon was prepared] Render, So all the work of Solomon was established.

unto the day ... was perfected] LXX. offers a much shorter and smoother text, from the day on which it was founded until Solomon perfected the house of the Lord. This reading is probably right.

17, 18 (= 1 Kings ix. 26‒28).
Solomon’s Fleet.

¹⁷Then went Solomon to Ezion-geber, and to Eloth, on the sea shore in the land of Edom.

17. to Ezion-geber, and to Eloth] In 1 Kings Ezion-geber which is beside Eloth on the shore of the Red Sea. Strictly speaking it was at the head of the Gulf of Akaba, the eastern arm of the Red Sea. Compare xx. 36 and Deuteronomy ii. 8.

¹⁸And Huram sent him by the hands of his servants ships, and servants that had knowledge of the sea; and they came with the servants of Solomon to Ophir, and fetched from thence four hundred and fifty talents of gold, and brought them to king Solomon.

18. sent him by the hands of his servants ships] The words would seem to imply that Huram had ships transported overland from the Phoenician coast to the Gulf of Akaba! Either the Chronicler has phrased the matter carelessly, or perhaps the text should be altered to conform with Kings, where it is merely said that Solomon built ships in Ezion-geber—probably with the help of Huram—and that Huram helped to man them.

Ophir] The situation of this oft-mentioned place is not known. It has been identified with some part of the coast (a) of India, (b) of Africa, (c) of Arabia. The last identification is the most probable; Ophir appears as the name of an Arabian tribe (Genesis x. 29). The name is variously written in the LXX. but usually with an initial “S,” Sophir(a), which has been supposed to refer to India.

four hundred and fifty talents] So LXX., but in 1 Kings “four hundred and twenty” (so Hebrew, in LXX. B “a hundred and twenty”).

Chapter IX.

1‒12 (= 1 Kings x. 1‒13).
The Visit of the Queen of Sheba.

¹And when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon, she came to prove Solomon with hard questions at Jerusalem, with a very great train, and camels that bare spices, and gold in abundance, and precious stones: and when she was come to Solomon, she communed with him of all that was in her heart. ²And Solomon told her all her questions: and there was not any thing hid from Solomon which he told her not. ³And when the queen of Sheba had seen the wisdom of Solomon, and the house that he had built,

1. Sheba] An important district in Arabia Felix, the seat of a kingdom. See notes on 1 Chronicles i. 9, 32; also Barnes on 1 Kings x. 1.

hard questions] Hebrew ḥidoth, “dark sayings” (Proverbs i. 6); the singular is translated “riddle” (Judges xiv. 12‒18).

⁴and the meat of his table, and the sitting of his servants, and the attendance¹ of his ministers, and their apparel; his cupbearers also, and their apparel; and his ascent by which he went up unto the house of the Lord; there was no more spirit in her.

¹ Hebrew standing.

4. and their apparel] The phrase is repeated probably through an error of transcription; it occurs once only in the parallel place in 1 Kings.

his ascent by which he went up] Render (if the text be sound), his manner of going up, i.e. the pomp with which he went up (so Targum); but it is better, with LXX. and Peshitṭa, to read the burnt offerings which he used to offer, a rendering which is right in 1 Kings x. 5 (compare Revised Version margin). The difference of reading between Chronicles and 1 Kings in the Hebrew is slight.

⁵And she said to the king, It was a true report that I heard in mine own land of thine acts¹, and of thy wisdom.

¹ Or, sayings.

5. of thine acts] Literally of thy matters; the reference is quite general.

⁶Howbeit I believed not their words, until I came, and mine eyes had seen it: and, behold, the half of the greatness of thy wisdom was not told me: thou exceeded the fame that I heard. ⁷Happy are thy men, and happy are these thy servants, which stand continually before thee, and hear thy wisdom.

6. the greatness of thy wisdom] Compare 1 Kings x. 7, “thy wisdom and prosperity.”

⁸Blessed be the Lord thy God, which delighted in thee, to set thee on his throne, to be king for the Lord thy God: because thy God loved Israel, to establish them for ever, therefore made he thee king over them, to do judgement and justice.

8. on his throne] To the Chronicler the Israelite throne belongs to God; the visible king occupies it only as a deputy. Compare 1 Chronicles xxviii. 5, “the throne of the kingdom of the Lord”; 1 Chronicles xxix. 23, “Solomon sat on the throne of the Lord.” Contrast 1 Kings x. 9.

⁹And she gave the king an hundred and twenty talents of gold, and spices in great abundance, and precious stones: neither was there any such spice as the queen of Sheba gave to king Solomon.

9. an hundred and twenty talents of gold] A sum so large must be regarded rather as tribute than as a complimentary gift.

any such spice] i.e. as in 1 Kings “such abundance of spices.”

¹⁰And the servants also of Huram, and the servants of Solomon, which brought gold from Ophir, brought algum trees¹ and precious stones. ¹¹And the king made of the algum trees terraces for the house of the Lord, and for the king’s house, and harps and psalteries for the singers: and there were none such seen before in the land of Judah.

¹ In 1 Kings x. 11, almug trees.

10, 11. These verses interrupt the connection in Kings as in Chronicles They are an interpolation. Verse 12 concludes the account of the visit of the Queen of Sheba.

10. algum trees] In 1 Kings “almug trees.” Compare ii. 8 (note).

11. terraces] Perhaps “raised paths.” In 1 Kings x. 12 a different Hebrew word is used, which may mean “railings” (“pillars,” Authorized Version).

psalteries] compare 1 Chronicles xiii. 8 (note).

in the land of Judah] Here the Chronicler speaks as a man of his own age. We should expect, land of Israel.

¹²And king Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all her desire, whatsoever she asked, beside that which she had brought unto the king. So she turned, and went to her own land, she and her servants.

12. beside that which she had brought unto the king] This means that the king beside returning the queen the value of her present to him, also gave her additional gifts; compare 1 Kings x. 13.

13‒28 (= 1 Kings x. 14‒27).
Solomon’s Greatness.

¹³Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred and threescore and six talents of gold;

13. six hundred and threescore and six] This may be called a “round” number, for a system of counting based on the number six was known in ancient times, e.g. among the Assyrians. Taken literally, the amount, which would be equal to about £4,000,000 and of course of vastly greater purchasing power than the same sum to-day, is fantastically large. For similar high figures, compare 1 Chronicles xxii. 14 (note).

¹⁴beside that which the chapmen and merchants brought: and all the kings of Arabia and the governors of the country brought gold and silver to Solomon.

14. chapmen] The English word means “merchant”; compare the verb, “to chaffer” and the German “Kaufmann.” The Hebrew word means literally “those who go about” as merchants.

governors] Hebrew paḥoth (plural of peḥah; compare “Pasha”), a word applied specially to governors of provinces of the Assyrian, Babylonian, and Persian empires. Presumably governors outside the land of Israel are here meant.

¹⁵And king Solomon made two hundred targets of beaten gold: six hundred shekels of beaten gold went to one target.

15. targets] Hebrew ṣinnah, a word meaning a large shield; compare 1 Samuel xvii. 7. On the other hand in verse 16 (Hebrew māgēn) small shields are meant. The English renderings should be transposed so as to read “shields” in verse 15 and “targets” in verse 16.

six hundred shekels] About 21 lbs. avoirdupois.

went to one target] Render (also in verse 16) were spread upon one target.

¹⁶And he made three hundred shields of beaten gold; three hundred shekels of gold went to one shield: and the king put them in the house of the forest of Lebanon. ¹⁷Moreover the king made a great throne of ivory, and overlaid it with pure gold.

16. shields] See note on verse 15.

the house of the forest of Lebanon] So called probably because it was built of cedar of Lebanon (1 Kings vii. 2). It was in Jerusalem and seems to have existed as late as the time of Isaiah (Isaiah xxii. 8) when it was in use as an armoury.

¹⁸And there were six steps to the throne, with a footstool of gold, which were fastened to the throne, and stays¹ on either side by the place of the seat, and two lions standing beside the stays. ¹⁹And twelve lions stood there on the one side and on the other upon the six steps: there was not the like made in any kingdom. ²⁰And all king Solomon’s drinking vessels were of gold, and all the vessels of the house of the forest of Lebanon were of pure gold: silver was nothing accounted of in the days of Solomon.

¹ Or, arms Hebrew hands.

18. with a footstool of gold, which were fastened to the throne] A quite different detail takes the place of this in 1 Kings x. 19, and the top of the throne was round behind. Perhaps both details were found in the original text of Kings.

²¹For the king had ships that went to Tarshish with the servants of Huram: once every three years came the ships of Tarshish, bringing gold, and silver, ivory, and apes, and peacocks. ²²So king Solomon exceeded all the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom. ²³And all the kings of the earth sought the presence of Solomon, to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart.

21. For the king had ships that went to Tarshish] Here the Chronicler misunderstands the parallel passage (1 Kings x. 22, “For the king had at sea a navy of Tarshish”). “Navy (or ‘ships’) of Tarshish” (compare Psalms xlviii. 7) is a phrase meaning large ships fit for long voyages; i.e. such as were the vessels used by the Phoenicians in trading with Tarshish (i.e. Tartessus in Spain). We may well compare the use of the title “Indiaman,” for that term came to be used generally of large trading vessels besides those actually trading with India. The merchandise mentioned in this verse doubtless came from the East and not from Tarshish.

apes] These animals were much sought after; they appear pictured in relief on the Black Obelisk (in the British Museum; among the tribute received by Shalmaneser II of Assyria.

²⁴And they brought every man his present, vessels of silver, and vessels of gold, and raiment, armour, and spices, horses, and mules, a rate year by year.

24. his present] i.e. his tribute.

armour] A less probable rendering is στακτὴ (“oil of myrrh”) LXX. (here and in Kings); also “myrrh,” Peshitṭa of 2 Chronicles.

25‒28. Compare i. 14‒17.

²⁵And Solomon had four thousand stalls for horses and chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen, which he bestowed in the chariot cities, and with the king at Jerusalem.

25. four thousand stalls for horses and chariots] In the parallel passage (1 Kings iv. 26 = v. 6, Hebrew), forty thousand stalls of horses for his chariots. Compare also i. 14 (= 1 Kings x. 26) where 1400 stalls of horses for chariots are ascribed to Solomon. This number is much more likely to correspond with fact, but that does not affect the probability that the Chronicler would find no difficulty in crediting Solomon with possessing 4000 or even 40,000, especially at the close of his reign. The meaning of the word rendered “stalls” is quite uncertain: it may mean “pair.”

twelve thousand horsemen] So 1 Kings iv. 26 (v. 6, Hebrew); and 2 Chronicles i. 14 (= 1 Kings x. 26).

chariot cities] See note on i. 14.

²⁶And he ruled over all the kings from the River even unto the land of the Philistines, and to the border of Egypt.

26. from the River] i.e. the Euphrates.

even unto the land of the Philistines] The Philistines, it is implied, were able to maintain their independence.

²⁷And the king made silver to be in Jerusalem as stones, and cedars made he to be as the sycomore trees that are in the lowland, for abundance.

27. cedars] Rather, cedar wood.

sycomore] i.e. the fig-mulberry, not now a common tree in Palestine; compare 1 Chronicles xxvii. 28, note.

the lowland] (Hebrew Shephelah). See G. A. Smith, Historical Geography of the Holy Land, chapter x. “The Shephelah,” and the note on i. 15.

²⁸And they brought horses for Solomon out of Egypt, and out of all lands.

28. And they brought, etc.] Compare i. 16, 17.

29‒31 (= 1 Kings xi. 41‒43).
The Epilogue.

An important section of 1 Kings (xi. 1‒40) giving an account of Solomon’s patronage of idolatry and of the troubles of his reign is significantly omitted by the Chronicler: see the note on 1 Chronicles xxix. 25, p. 168. For the authorities to which the Chronicler appeals in these verses, see Introduction § 5.

²⁹Now the rest of the acts of Solomon, first and last, are they not written in the history¹ of Nathan the prophet, and in the prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite, and in the visions of Iddo² the seer concerning Jeroboam the son of Nebat?

¹ Hebrew words.

² Hebrew Jedai, or, Jedo.

29. the history of Nathan] Compare 1 Chronicles xxix. 29.

Ahijah the Shilonite] 1 Kings xi. 29, xiv. 2 ff.

Iddo] Hebrew Jedai or Jedo (probably a misspelling); compare xii. 15.

³⁰And Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel forty years.

30. forty years] The number is a round number; compare Judges iii. 30, v. 31, viii. 28, xiii. 1.

³¹And Solomon slept with his fathers, and he was buried in the city of David his father: and Rehoboam his son reigned in his stead.

31. slept with his fathers] This formula is not used of David (1 Chronicles xxix. 28), doubtless because David’s father was not a king!

in the city of David] 1 Chronicles xi. 7.

Chapters X.‒XXXVI.
The History of Judah from Rehoboam to the Exile.

Chapter X.

1‒15 (= 1 Kings xii. 1‒15).
The Conference at Shechem.

¹And Rehoboam went to Shechem: for all Israel were come to Shechem to make him king.

1. Shechem] Chosen by Rehoboam for its central position, for it is in the heart of Western Palestine between Mt Ebal and Mt Gerizim.

²And it came to pass, when Jeroboam the son of Nebat heard of it, (for he was in Egypt, whither he had fled from the presence of king Solomon,) that Jeroboam returned out of Egypt. ³And they sent and called him; and Jeroboam and all Israel came, and they spake to Rehoboam, saying,

2. Jeroboam] For his antecedents (which are not given by the Chronicler) see 1 Kings xi. 26 ff.

that Jeroboam returned out of Egypt] So we should read also in 1 Kings xii. 2 for “and Jeroboam dwelt in Egypt.” The difference in Hebrew between the two readings when written without the vowels is confined to one letter, מ instead of ב.

⁴Thy father made our yoke grievous: now therefore make thou the grievous service of thy father, and his heavy yoke which he put upon us, lighter, and we will serve thee. ⁵And he said unto them, Come again unto me after three days. And the people departed.

4. the grievous service of thy father] The “service” complained of is described (in part) in 1 Kings v. 13, 14 (no parallel in Chronicles). Compare viii. 9 (= 1 Kings ix. 22), note.

and we will serve thee] The people claim their ancient right to a voice in the appointment of a king; compare 1 Samuel xi. 14, 15 (Saul) and 2 Samuel v. 1‒3 (David).

⁶And king Rehoboam took counsel with the old men, that had stood before Solomon his father while he yet lived, saying, What counsel give ye me to return answer to this people?

6. stood before] Compare Deuteronomy i. 38; 1 Kings xvii. 1. The phrase is used to express service, whether rendered to God or to man.

⁷And they spake unto him, saying, If thou be kind to this people, and please them, and speak good words to them, then they will be thy servants forever. ⁸But he forsook the counsel of the old men which they had given him, and took counsel with the young men that were grown up with him, that stood before him. ⁹And he said unto them, What counsel give ye, that we may return answer to this people, who have spoken to me, saying, Make the yoke that thy father did put upon us lighter? ¹⁰And the young men that were grown up with him spake unto him, saying, Thus shalt thou say unto the people that spake unto thee, saying, Thy father made our yoke heavy, but make thou it lighter unto us; thus shalt thou say unto them, My little finger is thicker than my father’s loins.

7. If thou be kind to this people, and please them] The Chronicler has softened the forcible words of the parallel passage (1 Kings xii. 7), “If thou wilt be a servant unto this people this day, and wilt serve them.” The words which were too blunt for Rehoboam were also too blunt for the Chronicler.

¹¹And now whereas my father did lade you with a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke: my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions. ¹²So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam the third day, as the king bade, saying, Come to me again the third day.

11. with whips] A whip or flail was among the insignia of an Egyptian (and perhaps also of an Israelite) king. Compare Erman, Ancient Egypt, English Translation p. 60 (where an illustration is given) and p. 63.

with scorpions] The expression may be proverbial and metaphorical, but some authorities (e.g. Peshitṭa) take “scorpion” to be the name of a particular kind of scourge, the lash of which was provided with thorns or hooks.

¹³And the king answered them roughly; and king Rehoboam forsook the counsel of the old men, and spake to them after the counsel of the young men, saying, My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add thereto: my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.

13. answered them roughly] It was difficult for the son of so powerful a king as Solomon to realise that there was any necessity for a soft answer. Solomon had put down Israelite discontent by driving Jeroboam into exile in Egypt, and David had put down somewhat easily the movement under Sheba son of Bichri (2 Samuel xx. 1‒22). Could the good fortune of the house of David fail at this third crisis?

¹⁵So the king hearkened not unto the people; for it was brought about of God, that the Lord might establish his word, which he spake by the hand of Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat.

15. Ahijah] Compare 1 Kings xi. 29‒39. The incident referred to is not narrated in Chronicles, being assumed to be known.

16‒19 (= 1 Kings xii. 16‒19).
The Revolt.

¹⁶And when all Israel saw that the king hearkened not unto them, the people answered the king, saying, What portion have we in David? neither have we inheritance in the son of Jesse: every man to your tents, O Israel: now see to thine own house, David. So all Israel departed unto their tents.

16. What portion have we in David ... the son of Jesse] The same protest was voiced by Sheba in his brief rebellion against David (1 Samuel xx. 1). Contrast the language of the ten tribes after the collapse of Absalom’s rebellion: We have ten parts in the king (2 Samuel xix. 43).

to your tents] See note on vii. 10.

¹⁷But as for the children of Israel that dwelt in the cities of Judah, Rehoboam reigned over them.

17. The order is much improved if this verse be read after verse 19.

¹⁸Then king Rehoboam sent Hadoram, who was over the levy; and the children of Israel stoned him with stones, that he died. And king Rehoboam made speed to get him up to his chariot, to flee to Jerusalem. ¹⁹So Israel rebelled against the house of David, unto this day.

18. Hadoram] Called “Adoram” in the parallel passage (1 Kings xii. 18) and “Adoniram” (1 Kings iv. 6, v. 14 [28, Hebrew]).

Chapter XI.

1‒4 (= 1 Kings xii. 21‒24).
Shemaiah forbids Civil War.

The Chronicler here omits the elevation of Jeroboam to be king over Israel (1 Kings xii. 20).

¹And when Rehoboam was come to Jerusalem, he assembled the house of Judah and Benjamin, an hundred and fourscore thousand chosen men, which were warriors, to fight against Israel, to bring the kingdom again to Rehoboam.

1. an hundred and fourscore thousand] The number is small compared with the Judean armies mentioned in xiii. 3, xiv. 7, xvii. 14; yet it is far greater than is credible. The word rendered thousand may originally have been used to denote a tribal division, thus including women and children and old men. If so, the actual warriors represented by 180 such “thousands” would be about 30,000, a very large number for so small a state, yet not impossible. But, however that may be for the early days, there is little or no doubt that the Chronicler understood the word in its strict sense: a literal thousand. See the note on xvii. 14.

²But the word of the Lord came to Shemaiah the man of God, saying,

2. Shemaiah] See xii. 5, 15.

³Speak unto Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to all Israel in Judah and Benjamin, saying, ⁴Thus saith the Lord, Ye shall not go up, nor fight against your brethren: return every man to his house; for this thing is of me. So they hearkened unto the words of the Lord, and returned from going against Jeroboam.

3. to all Israel in Judah and Benjamin] The Chronicler does not hesitate to use the term “Israel” in speaking of Judah. Thus the princes of the Southern Kingdom are called “the princes of Israel” (xii. 6, xxi. 4), the populace as a whole is called “Israel” (xii. 1, xv. 17), Jehoshaphat and Ahaz are each called “king of Israel” (xxi. 2, xxviii. 19), and the sepulchres of the kings at Jerusalem are called the “sepulchres of the kings of Israel” (xxviii. 27). Israel in Chronicles then = the covenant-people. In Kings, on the contrary, Israel generally means the Northern Kingdom.

5‒23.
The Prosperity of Rehoboam.

These verses have no corresponding section in 1 Kings On the other hand, the Chronicler omits three important sections of 1 Kings, viz. xii. 25‒33 (the setting up of the golden calves), xiii. 1‒32 (the episode of the prophet who cried against the altar in Beth-el) and xiv. 1‒18 (the death of the son of Jeroboam).

⁵And Rehoboam dwelt in Jerusalem, and built cities for defence in Judah.

5. built cities for defence] This does not mean that all these cities were then built for the first time; certainly Beth-lehem, Tekoa, and Hebron were ancient places. Rebuilding, strengthening, and fortifying are included in the meaning of the Hebrew verb bānāh = build. The cities mentioned were situated some in the hill country of Judah, some in the Shephelah. It is probable that they were strengthened as a measure of defence against Egypt. Less likely is the suggestion that they were fortified chiefly to prevent or suppress insurrection against Rehoboam in Judah. See also Introduction § 7, p. xlviii.

⁶He built even Beth-lehem, and Etam, and Tekoa,

6. Etam] Probably represented by some ruins a little to the south-west of Beth-lehem, by which is a spring called Ain ‘Atān. Compare 1 Chronicles iv. 3. Bädeker, Palestine⁵, p. 109.

⁷and Beth-zur, and Soco, and Adullam,

7. Beth-zur] Represented by the ruin Burj Ṣūr to the north of Hebron. Compare Joshua xv. 58. Bädeker, Palestine⁵, p. 112.

Soco] The cities hitherto mentioned were situated in the hill country, but the position of the Soco here mentioned and Adullam is uncertain. Two places bore the name Soco or Socoh, one situated in the Shephelah (Joshua xv. 35; 1 Samuel xvii. 1, Revised Version), and one in the hill country (“the mountains,” Joshua xv. 48)—see note 1 Chronicles iv. 18. For Adullam compare Joshua xv. 35; 1 Chronicles xi. 15 (note on the cave of Adullam).

⁸and Gath, and Mareshah, and Ziph,

8. Gath] compare 1 Chronicles xviii. 1.

Mareshah] In the Shephelah south of the modern Beit Jibrin. Compare xiv. 9, xx. 37.

Ziph] Probably Tell Zif south of Hebron.

⁹and Adoraim, and Lachish, and Azekah,

9. Adoraim] The modern Dora west of Hebron.

Azekah] In the Shephelah, mentioned along with Socoh in Joshua xv. 35.

¹⁰and Zorah, and Aijalon, and Hebron, which are in Judah and in Benjamin, fenced cities. ¹¹And he fortified the strong holds, and put captains in them, and store of victual, and oil and wine.

10. Zorah] Joshua xv. 33 (Revised Version). It was situated in the Shephelah.

Aijalon] The modern Yalo, a little north of the Jaffa road about midway between Ramleh and Jerusalem. It is an ancient place mentioned in the Tell el-Amarna letters. Compare xxviii. 18 and 1 Chronicles vi. 69; also Smith, Historical Geography of the Holy Land pp. 210‒213.

and in Benjamin] None of the fifteen cities seems to have been in Benjamin. Zorah and Aijalon were in Dan (Joshua xix. 41, 42, Revised Version), while the remaining thirteen were in Judah. Compare verse 5.

Benjamin, in reality, belonged to the Northern Kingdom until, after the fall of Samaria, its territory was included in the Judean kingdom (see 1 Kings xii. 20). Later, the idea prevailed that it had been one with the Southern Kingdom from the beginning—as appears here, and apparently in 1 Kings xi. 31. At any rate the phrase, Judah and Benjamin, came to be used as a general expression denoting the Southern Kingdom. How long any sense of its partial inaccuracy remained is uncertain.

¹²And in every several city he put shields and spears, and made them exceeding strong. And Judah and Benjamin belonged to him.

12. And Judah and Benjamin belonged to him] If the view, discussed in the note on verse 5, that Rehoboam’s military precautions were carried through to suppress or prevent rebellion in Judah, then this phrase should be rendered And so Judah and Benjamin became his.

¹³And the priests and the Levites that were in all Israel resorted to him out of all their border.

13. resorted to him] Literally took their stand by him.

¹⁴For the Levites left their suburbs and their possession, and came to Judah and Jerusalem: for Jeroboam and his sons cast them off, that they should not execute the priest’s office unto the Lord:

14. suburbs] See note on 1 Chronicles v. 16.

cast them off, that they should not execute the priest’s office unto the Lord] The point is in the concluding words “unto the Lord” (i.e. Jehovah). Jeroboam did not abandon the worship of Jehovah, although later generations thought so and could not conceive that the famous “calves wherewith he made Israel to sin” were images symbolic of Jehovah. The Chronicler regards him as having lapsed into gross idolatry (see verse 15) and as having ejected all the Levites from his kingdom. A less stringent opinion as to his treatment of the priests of Jehovah is expressed in 1 Kings xii. 31, xiii. 33 where it is not said that Jeroboam rejected the tribe of Levi, but only that he allowed men of any tribe to become priests; “he ... made priests from among all the people” (Revised Version). Comparison of Kings and Chronicles is here very valuable as an illustration of the care with which the history in Chronicles has been adapted to indicate that the Northern Kingdom was wholly wicked and apostate from the start. The Chronicler’s hostility to the North is really directed against the Samaritans: see Introduction § 6.

¹⁵and he appointed him priests for the high places, and for the he-goats¹, and for the calves which he had made. ¹⁶And after them, out of all the tribes of Israel, such as set their hearts to seek the Lord, the God of Israel, came to Jerusalem to sacrifice unto the Lord, the God of their fathers.

¹ Or, satyrs See Leviticus xvii. 7.

15. the he-goats] The heathen Arabs believed in the existence of demons (called jinn) having various animal forms and inhabiting deserted places, and this belief was shared by the Hebrews (compare Isaiah xiii. 21). In this verse and in Leviticus xvii. 7, the writers seem to identify the gods worshipped by the heathen with these demons. (Compare W. R. Smith, Religion of the Semites², pp. 120 ff.)

the calves] Not previously mentioned in Chronicles; 1 Kings xii. 28.

¹⁷So they strengthened the kingdom of Judah, and made Rehoboam the son of Solomon strong, three years: for they walked three years in the way of David and Solomon.

17. three years] There were three years of prosperity, in the fourth year Judah fell away into idolatry, and in the fifth year chastisement overtook them by the hand of Shishak (xii. 1‒3). For the significance of this, see the note on xii. 14.

of David and Solomon] The Chronicler here as elsewhere ignores the fall of Solomon. In 1 Kings xi. 4‒6 an express distinction is made between the way of David and the way of Solomon.

¹⁸And Rehoboam took him a wife, Mahalath the daughter of Jerimoth the son of David, and of Abihail¹ the daughter of Eliab the son of Jesse; ¹⁹and she bare him sons; Jeush, and Shemariah, and Zaham.

¹ Or, and Abihail.

18. Jerimoth] Nothing is known regarding a son of David of this name. He may have been the son of a concubine (1 Chronicles iii. 9).

and of Abihail] i.e. Mahalath’s father was Jerimoth, her mother Abihail. The Authorized Version “and Abihail” wrongly implies that Abihail was, like Mahalath, a wife of Rehoboam.

Eliab] David’s eldest brother; 1 Samuel xvi. 6, xvii. 13.

²⁰And after her he took Maacah¹ the daughter of Absalom; and she bare him Abijah, and Attai, and Ziza, and Shelomith. ²¹And Rehoboam loved Maacah the daughter of Absalom above all his wives and his concubines: (for he took eighteen wives, and threescore concubines, and begat twenty and eight sons and threescore daughters.) ²²And Rehoboam appointed Abijah the son of Maacah to be chief, even the prince among his brethren: for he was minded to make him king.

¹ In chapter xiii. 2, Micaiah the daughter of Uriel.

20. Maacah] Perhaps the grand-daughter of Absalom, since she is called the daughter of Uriel of Gibeah in xiii. 2 (where, with LXX., read “Maacah” for “Michaiah”; and see the note there). According to 2 Samuel xviii. 18 Absalom had “no son to keep his name in remembrance” but he may have had a daughter who married Uriel and became the mother of this Maacah; and further in 2 Samuel xiv. 27 it is said that Absalom had three sons and a daughter named Tamar. These sons may all have died young, but perhaps xiv. 27 is another tradition differing from xviii. 18.

Abijah] Called “Abijam” 1 Kings xv. 1.

²³And he dealt wisely, and dispersed of all his sons throughout all the lands of Judah and Benjamin, unto every fenced city: and he gave them victual in abundance. And he sought for them many wives¹.

¹ Or, sought a multitude of wives.

23. all the lands] i.e. the territory of Judah; compare 1 Chronicles xiii. 2 (margin).

And he sought for them many wives] More exactly, as margin, And he sought a multitude of wives. It is difficult to say whether or not the Chronicler has Deuteronomy xvii. 17 in his mind and is implicitly blaming the king. In any case he goes on in the next verse to say that Rehoboam forsook the law of the Lord. It is however probable that there is a slight error in the Hebrew and that the text ran originally thus, And he took for them (i.e. for his sons) a multitude of wives. Rehoboam’s own conjugal affairs have been already described in verse 21.

Chapter XII.

1‒12 (compare 1 Kings xiv. 22, 25‒28).
The Invasion of Shishak.

¹And it came to pass, when the kingdom of Rehoboam was established, and he was strong, that he forsook the law of the Lord, and all Israel with him.

1. all Israel] i.e. all the Southern Kingdom; compare note on xi. 3. The details of Judah’s apostasy are given in 1 Kings xiv. 22‒24.

²And it came to pass in the fifth year of king Rehoboam, that Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, because they had trespassed against the Lord,

2. Shishak] The Egyptian king has commemorated this expedition in a pictorial inscription on the wall of the temple of Karnak. It appears that the Northern Kingdom suffered as well as the Southern; much spoil was carried off, but no permanent conquest of Canaan was attempted. (Breasted, History of Egypt, pp. 529 f.)

because they had trespassed] A touch characteristic of the Chronicler; compare xiii. 18, xxi. 10, xxiv. 24, xxv. 20, xxvii. 6, xxviii. 19; and 1 Chronicles x. 13, 14. The Chronicler sees the working of temporal rewards and of temporal punishments everywhere.

³with twelve hundred chariots, and threescore thousand horsemen: and the people were without number that came with him out of Egypt; the Lubim, the Sukkiim, and the Ethiopians.

3. with twelve hundred chariots] The details given in this verse are absent from 1 Kings.

Lubim] i.e. the Libyans of North Africa. Shishak was a leader of Libyan mercenaries. He made himself master of Egypt circa 950 B.C., and is known as the founder of the XXIInd dynasty.

Sukkiim] LXX. Τρωγλοδύται, i.e. the cave dwellers of the mountains which fringe the west coast of the Red Sea. But whether these are really meant here is doubtful.

⁴And he took the fenced cities which pertained to Judah, and came unto Jerusalem.

4. the fenced cities] Compare xi. 5.

⁵Now Shemaiah the prophet came to Rehoboam, and to the princes of Judah, that were gathered together to Jerusalem because of Shishak, and said unto them, Thus saith the Lord, Ye have forsaken me, therefore have I also left you in the hand of Shishak.

5. Now Shemaiah the prophet came] This intervention of Shemaiah is not mentioned in 1 Kings For an earlier appearance of the prophet see xi. 2 ff. = 1 Kings xii. 22 ff.

have I also left you in the hand] Rather, I also have forsaken you and delivered you into the hand.

⁶Then the princes of Israel and the king humbled themselves; and they said, The Lord is righteous.

6. princes of Israel] Called “princes of Judah” in verse 5; compare note on xi. 3.

humbled themselves] i.e. they fasted and put on sackcloth; compare 1 Kings xxi. 27, 29.

The Lord is righteous] Compare Pharaoh’s confession (Exodus ix. 27), and the Psalmist’s address to God, “That thou mayest be justified (literally ‘mayest be righteous’) when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest” (Psalms li. 4). The “righteousness” of God is made known to man in His judgement, whether the judgement be of condemnation (as here) or of acquittal (as 1 John i. 9, Revised Version).

⁷And when the Lord saw that they humbled themselves, the word of the Lord came to Shemaiah, saying, They have humbled themselves; I will not destroy them: but I will grant them some deliverance¹, and my wrath shall not be poured out upon Jerusalem by the hand of Shishak.

¹ Or, deliverance within a little while Or, a few that shall escape.

7. some deliverance] Render, as margin, deliverance within a little while.

⁸Nevertheless they shall be his servants; that they may know my service, and the service of the kingdoms of the countries.

8. that they may know my service, etc.] i.e. that they may learn the difference between my service and other service.

⁹So Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, and took away the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king’s house; he took all away: he took away also the shields of gold which Solomon had made.

9. he took all away] Shishak was bought off with a heavy present from attacking Jerusalem; compare the case of Sennacherib (2 Kings xviii. 13‒16).

shields] Rather, targets, i.e. small shields; compare note on ix. 15.

¹⁰And king Rehoboam made in their stead shields of brass, and committed them to the hands of the captains of the guard¹, that kept the door of the king’s house. ¹¹And it was so, that as oft as the king entered into the house of the Lord, the guard came and bare them, and brought them back into the guard chamber.

¹ Hebrew runners.

10. the guard] margin (more literally) the runners. These derived their name from the duty of running before the king’s chariot to clear the way for him; compare 2 Samuel xv. 1; 1 Kings i. 5.

¹²And when he humbled himself, the wrath of the Lord turned from him, that he would not destroy him altogether: and moreover in Judah there were good things found.

12. in Judah were good things found] i.e. piety, compare xix. 3. This is said as giving an additional reason for the mercy which God had showed (verse 7). Doubtless it is also intended to emphasise the religious superiority of the South over the North; compare the note on xi. 20.

13‒16 (compare 1 Kings xiv. 21, 29‒31).
Summary of Rehoboam’s Reign.

¹³So king Rehoboam strengthened himself in Jerusalem, and reigned: for Rehoboam was forty and one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which the Lord had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, to put his name there: and his mother’s name was Naamah the Ammonitess.

13. strengthened himself] See note on i. 1. The immediate reference is to a recovery of strength after the departure of Shishak; the further reference is to xi. 5.

forty and one years old ... and he reigned seventeen years] So read both the Hebrew and LXX. here and in 1 Kings xiv. 21, but in the additional passage which follows 1 Kings xii. 24 in LXX. (B, not A) we read, sixteen years old ... and twelve years he reigned. No importance however can be attached to this variation, for the passage which contains it is plainly midrashic in character.

the city which the Lord had chosen] Though the Ten Tribes were lost to the house of David, the Lord kept his oath to David by securing to his seed the possession of the one holy city of Israel.

¹⁴And he did that which was evil, because he set not his heart to seek the Lord.

14. he set not his heart] The phrase implies steady purpose. The Chronicler concludes that Rehoboam must be classed as a king who was good but not entirely so. The considerations which chiefly influenced him in determining the character of this reign were perhaps two: on the one hand the invasion of Shishak was felt to be a fixed point, a disaster only to be accounted for in the Chronicler’s view by some falling away from assiduous worship of Jehovah; and on the other hand it seemed incredible that the second direct descendant of David on the throne of Israel should have been seriously corrupt. The situation was met by representing Rehoboam as having been three years faithful (and therefore prosperous), and one year faithless (and therefore assailed by Shishak in the fifth year). The favourable aspect of his reign was further emphasised by the statement of verse 16, and by the suppression of the three damaging passages in Kings, referred to in the head-note to xi. 5‒23. It is very obvious that the resultant picture of the king is much less true to historical reality than the account in Kings; but it serves excellently to illustrate the Chronicler’s contention that virtue prospers and vice is punished. And once more we may insist that the value of this writer for us lies supremely in the energy and the conviction with which he seeks to drive home this great moral and spiritual belief.

¹⁵Now the acts of Rehoboam, first and last, are they not written in the histories¹ of Shemaiah the prophet and of Iddo the seer, after the manner of genealogies²? And there were wars between Rehoboam and Jeroboam continually. ¹⁶And Rehoboam slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David: and Abijah his son reigned in his stead.

¹ Hebrew words.

² Or, in reckoning the genealogies.

15. in the histories of ...] See Introduction § 5.

Iddo] compare xiii. 22, and see note on ix. 29.

after the manner of genealogies] margin in reckoning the genealogies; but literally “to enrol themselves.” This most obscure phrase is perhaps a meaningless fragment due to textual corruption. Another suggestion is that it has been misplaced and should be read at the end of xi. 16.

Chapter XIII.

1, 2 (= 1 Kings xv. 1, 2).
Abijah succeeds.

¹In the eighteenth year of king Jeroboam began Abijah to reign over Judah.

1. Abijah] Called Abijam in 1 Kings (LXX. Ἀβιού, i.e. Abijahu).

²Three years reigned he in Jerusalem: and his mother’s name was Micaiah the daughter of Uriel of Gibeah. And there was war between Abijah and Jeroboam.

2. Micaiah] Read with LXX., Maacah; compare note on xi. 20. Torrey, however, (Ezra Studies, p. 217) suggests that some words have fallen out of the text through similarity of ending. He would read “And his mother’s name was Maacah <daughter of Absalom, and he took to wife> Maacah the daughter of Uriel of Gibeah”: the inconsistency as to Maacah’s parentage between this verse and xi. 20 would disappear, and the suggestion that Maacah was grand-daughter of Absalom (see xi. 20, note) would be unnecessary.

3‒20 (no parallel in 1 Kings).
The Battle of Zemaraim.

The account of Abijah’s astonishing triumph over the host of Jeroboam should be compared with xiv. 9‒15 (Asa’s victory) and xx. 1‒30 (Jehoshaphat’s victory; see Introduction pp. xlix f.), passages which like the present are nowhere else recorded, and are essentially unhistorical. No reliance can be placed on the high numbers of the opposing armies (verse 3), on the pious speech ascribed to king Abijah which neatly and forcibly expresses the ecclesiastical view of schismatic Israel held by the Chronicler and his school (verses 4‒12), or on the appalling carnage wrought in the Israelite army (verse 17). The tale, in fact, is of a markedly midrashic character, i.e. a narrative intended to edify and not to be treated as serious history. But in all such cases it is fair to distinguish between the form and the substance: at least the bare substance of the tale. Thus in the present instance the judgement stated above does not preclude the possibility that war took place between Abijah and Jeroboam, and that the former gained a useful success over the more powerful Northern Kingdom. The absence from Kings of any mention of such victory is a serious objection; but it is not fatal, unless we take the view—objected to in the Introduction § 5—that the Chronicler had absolutely no sources, oral or written, of the faintest value for pre-exilic days apart from the canonical writings. Yet it must be admitted that it would be not unnatural to the workings of the Chronicler’s mind to infer that some signal success must have rewarded so near a descendant of David if only to compensate in part for Rehoboam’s disastrous reign and at any rate to punish the glaring iniquity of a schismatic and idolatrous Israel. Judging from the brief account of Abijah in 1 Kings xv. 1‒7, we may conclude that the continued hostility between North and South was a fact, but that it is extremely improbable there was a reliable tradition (if any at all) regarding a great Judean victory in his reign: see note on Zemaraim below.

³And Abijah joined battle with an army of valiant men of war, even four hundred thousand chosen men: and Jeroboam set the battle in array against him with eight hundred thousand chosen men, who were mighty men of valour.

3. four hundred thousand ... eight hundred thousand] The numbers are of course vastly in excess of any historic possibility; compare the notes on xi. 1, xiv. 8, and especially that on xvii. 14.

⁴And Abijah stood up upon mount Zemaraim, which is in the hill country of Ephraim, and said, Hear me, O Jeroboam and all Israel;

4. Abijah stood up] Abijah attempts conference before beginning civil war, not simply because his was the weaker side numerically but because he had a telling appeal to make to the revolted tribes (verses 8, 12). Jeroboam breaks off the conference after using it to cover his stratagem (verse 13).

Zemaraim] A Zemaraim is mentioned in Joshua xviii. 22 as one of the cities of Benjamin, whereas here Mount Zemaraim is assigned to Ephraim. The natural inference is that the battle took place on the border of the two kingdoms. The tradition that a battle took place here between North and South, and perhaps between Abijah and Jeroboam, may be correct.

⁵ought ye not to know that the Lord, the God of Israel, gave the kingdom over Israel to David for ever, even to him and to his sons by a covenant of salt? ⁶Yet Jeroboam the son of Nebat, the servant of Solomon the son of David, rose up, and rebelled against his lord.

5. a covenant of salt] Salt was necessary for the efficacy of a sacrifice (Leviticus ii. 13), so that Covenant of salt became a phrase for a sure covenant (Numbers xviii. 19). The sacredness of the bond which is acknowledged among the Arabs between two persons who have “eaten salt” together as host and guest is common knowledge. It is not, however, necessary that salt should be taken; any food, e.g. milk, will serve (W. R. Smith, Religion of the Semites, p. 270).

⁷And there were gathered unto him vain men, sons of Belial¹, which strengthened themselves against Rehoboam the son of Solomon, when Rehoboam was young and tenderhearted, and could not withstand them. ⁸And now ye think to withstand the kingdom of the Lord in the hand of the sons of David; and ye be a great multitude, and there are with you the golden calves which Jeroboam made you for gods.

¹ That is, worthlessness.

7. sons of Belial] margin sons of worthlessness. The general sense “worthless persons” or rather “vile scoundrels” (for gross wickedness is implied) is clear, but the precise meaning of Belial has not yet been determined. The etymology of the word is quite obscure, see Encyclopedia Biblia I. 525 f.

young] Literally a child. If this word is to be literally understood, the statement made is inconsistent with xii. 13, where it is said that Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he began to reign. It is possible, however, that the word is used metaphorically to describe one who was young (as indeed his conduct showed) in experience of government; so Solomon (1 Kings iii. 7) calls himself a little child, by which he meant simply to express his consciousness of the smallness of his own ability when compared with the greatness of the task which lay before him, compare 1 Chronicles xxix. 1. A similar difficulty arises in regard to the age of Solomon, see Encyclopedia Britannica s.v. Solomon.

tenderhearted] i.e., according to Hebrew phraseology, weak in understanding, the heart being considered to be the seat of the mind. Or we may translate the Hebrew phrase as in Deuteronomy xx. 8, fainthearted.

⁹Have ye not driven out the priests of the Lord, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites, and have made you priests after the manner of the peoples of other lands? so that whosoever cometh to consecrate himself with a young bullock and seven rams, the same may be a priest of them that are no gods.

9. driven out] see note on xi. 14.

after the manner of the peoples of other lands] i.e. who, unlike Israel, had no special class from which alone their priests were taken. Possibly, following the LXX., we should read from the people of the land (i.e. anyone who chose to apply, whether a Levite or not), compare 1 Kings xii. 31, xiii. 33.

to consecrate himself] Literally to fill his hand. Moses is directed (Exodus xxix. 1 ff.) to ordain Aaron and his sons priests by three ceremonies: (1) by anointing them, (2) by filling their hands, i.e. by presenting them with victims upon which they laid their hands, (3) by hallowing them, i.e. by sprinkling some of the blood of the victim upon them.

a young bullock and seven rams] Aaronic priests were consecrated with a young bullock and two rams (Exodus xxix. 1).

¹⁰But as for us, the Lord is our God, and we have not forsaken him; and we have priests ministering unto the Lord, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites in their work:

10. in their work] sc. ministering unto the Lord, as above. Part of the ideal of the Priestly Code was that the Levites should be restricted to the duty of helping the priests, and should be prevented from executing priestly functions themselves. With this ideal the Chronicler plainly sympathised, but it could not always be realised.

¹¹and they burn unto the Lord every morning and every evening burnt offerings and sweet incense: the shewbread also set they in order upon the pure table; and the candlestick of gold with the lamps thereof, to burn every evening: for we keep the charge of the Lord our God; but ye have forsaken him.

11. every morning and every evening] Exodus xxix. 38‒42.

sweet incense] Exodus xxx. 7.

the shewbread also set they in order] Literally and an ordering of bread [they set in order]. The Hebrew phrase used here for “shewbread” signifies bread arranged as for an offering. Another term is “bread of the presence,” i.e. bread set forth continually before the Lord (Exodus xxv. 30). See 1 Chronicles ix. 32 (note).

the candlestick] Exodus xxv. 31 ff., xl. 24, 25.

¹²And, behold, God is with us at our head, and his priests with the trumpets of alarm to sound an alarm against you. O children of Israel, fight ye not against the Lord, the God of your fathers; for ye shall not prosper.

12. the trumpets of alarm] (Numbers x. 9). Abijah here threatens his opponents with a jihād or holy war.

¹³But Jeroboam caused an ambushment to come about behind them: so they were before Judah, and the ambushment was behind them. ¹⁴And when Judah looked back, behold, the battle was before and behind them: and they cried unto the Lord, and the priests sounded with the trumpets.

13. Jeroboam caused an ambushment] While Abijah was endeavouring to shake the fidelity of the Northern army, the Northern leader secures a tactical advantage. The greater the advantages of the Israelites and the more disastrous the position ascribed to the army of Judah, so much the more glorious is the victory which Judah achieves by its reliance on Jehovah.

¹⁵Then the men of Judah gave a shout: and as the men of Judah shouted, it came to pass, that God smote Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah. ¹⁶And the children of Israel fled before Judah: and God delivered them into their hand.

15. gave a shout] This shout had the character of a religious function; compare Joshua vi. 10, 16; Judges vii. 20, where the same Hebrew word is used.

God smote Jeroboam] Compare xiv. 12. Supernatural aid secures the victory.

¹⁷And Abijah and his people slew them with a great slaughter: so there fell down slain of Israel five hundred thousand chosen men.

17. The Chronicler has little or no interest in military matters as such, and is heedless of probability so far as the numbers he mentions are concerned. They must be sufficiently immense to enhance the power of Jehovah and to convey the impression that the days of old were mighty days. Comparison has been made with the phrase “a hundred and twenty thousand in one day” (xxviii. 6), and from the absence of the words “in one day,” it has been argued that the present passage refers to the losses of the whole campaign. Even so the figure, 500,000, is an immense exaggeration.

¹⁸Thus the children of Israel were brought under at that time, and the children of Judah prevailed, because they relied upon the Lord, the God of their fathers.

18. because they relied] Compare note on xii. 2.

¹⁹And Abijah pursued after Jeroboam, and took cities from him, Beth-el with the towns thereof, and Jeshanah with the towns thereof,

19. Beth-el] Beth-el was apparently subsequently recovered by the Northern Kingdom; compare 2 Kings x. 29. But, as it is very doubtful whether this section has any historical basis (see the head-note, xiii. 3), Beth-el may never have come under the rule of Abijah as is here stated. Nothing is said, be it noted, of the capture of the golden calf.

Jeshanah] Nothing is certainly known of this place, which is mentioned here only. It has been identified with Ain Sīnia, a little to the north of Beth-el.

Ephron] so the Kethīb, whereas the Authorized Version following the Ḳerī has Ephrain. Ephrain is a later form of the name Ephron, as Shamrain (Ezra iv. 10, 17) is of Shomron (Samaria). The place has been identified with eṭ-Ṭaiyebeh, a place south-east of Ain Sīnia and north-east of Beitin (Beth-el). It was probably the city called Ephraim, to which our Lord retired after the raising of Lazarus (John xi. 54).

²⁰and Ephron¹ with the towns thereof. Neither did Jeroboam recover strength again in the days of Abijah: and the Lord smote him, and he died.

¹ Another reading is, Ephrain.

20. the Lord smote him, and he died] The same phrase is used of the death of Nabal (1 Samuel xxv. 38); it implies suddenness or some other unusual circumstance (compare Acts xii. 23, the death of Herod Agrippa). 1 Kings xiv. 20 says simply Jeroboam ... slept with his fathers.

21, 22.
The Epilogue of Abijah’s Reign.

²¹But Abijah waxed mighty, and took unto himself fourteen wives, and begat twenty and two sons, and sixteen daughters.

21. fourteen wives] The many wives are mentioned here as a symbol of the wealth and state of Abijah.

²²And the rest of the acts of Abijah, and his ways, and his sayings, are written in the commentary of the prophet Iddo.

22. his ways] The Chronicler takes a much more favourable view of Abijah than Kings, where it is said of him that “he walked in all the sins of his father...” (1 Kings xv. 3), and received favour from Jehovah only on account of the merits of David. Evidently the Chronicler deemed it fitting to fasten on the fact of the favour, perhaps because he felt it imperative that Jeroboam should receive from the next king of Judah the punishment for his sins which Rehoboam could not inflict.

in the commentary] Hebrew Midrash. See Introduction, § 5, p. xxxi.

Iddo] See note on ix. 29.

Chapter XIV.

1‒5 (compare 1 Kings xv. 9‒15).
The Religious Policy of Asa.

In Kings the reign of Asa is reviewed with entire approval, according to Chronicles his conduct was marred only by the lack of faith manifested in his reliance on the king of Syria (see xvi. 1‒10), and in his recourse to physicians at the close of his reign (xvi. 12).

¹So Abijah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David, and Asa his son reigned in his stead: in his days the land was quiet ten years. ²And Asa did that which was good and right in the eyes of the Lord his God:

1. ten years] These ten years of rest are naturally to be assigned to the beginning of Asa’s reign; later on there was a rest of twenty years (compare xv. 10 with xv. 19). The number ten here makes a discrepancy with 1 Kings, for Baasha became king of Israel in the third year of Asa (1 Kings xv. 28, 33), and “there was war between Asa and Baasha all their days” (1 Kings xv. verse 32). If, however, we allow some latitude to the language both of 1 Kings and of Chronicles, the discrepancy becomes unimportant.

³for he took away the strange altars, and the high places, and brake down the pillars¹, and hewed down the Asherim; ⁴and commanded Judah to seek the Lord, the God of their fathers, and to do the law and the commandment.

¹ Or, obelisks.

3. he took away] In 1 Kings xv. 12, 13 he is said to have put away the sodomites, and all the idols that his fathers had made; and also “the abominable image” which Maacah, his mother, had made. These remarks are here ignored by the Chronicler, probably because they would be out of harmony with the comparatively pious character he has ascribed to Asa’s predecessors, Rehoboam and Abijah. They are given, however, in xv. 16, 17, where see note.

the strange altars] i.e. altars belonging to gods other than Jehovah.

and the high places] a direct contradiction of 1 Kings xv. 14, where it is said “But the high places were not taken away: nevertheless the heart of Asa was perfect with the Lord all his days.” This remarkable contrast affords a vivid illustration of the different standpoints of Kings and Chronicles In Kings the removal of the high-places is the great reform of later days effected by Hezekiah (1 Kings xviii. 4, 22), by Josiah (2 Kings xxiii. 8). To the Chronicler, who believed that the law centralising the worship of Jehovah in Jerusalem was in force from the Mosaic age, the abolition of the high-places was felt to be a minimum of reform and must surely have been carried out by any king with a claim to piety. See also the note on xv. 17.

the pillars] LXX. τὰς στήλας. The “pillar” or “obelisk,” Hebrew Maṣṣēbāh, was a monolith standing by an altar as a symbol of the god worshipped at the altar. In later days an image took the place of the pillar, i.e. the mere symbol was succeeded by the likeness of the god. (W. R. Smith, Religion of the Semites², pp. 203 ff., and for illustrations of those recently discovered at Gezer see Macalister, Bible Side-lights, or Driver, Modern Research as illustrating the Bible, p. 63.)

and hewed down the Asherim] An Ashērah (plural Ashērim and Ashēroth) was a wooden pole planted beside an altar as the symbol of a deity. It appears to have been a survival of tree-worship, as the Maṣṣēbāh was a survival of stone-worship. The Ashērah of itself did not represent any particular deity, but it could be carved to bear the symbol of any special god or goddess, e.g. of Ashtarte. (W. R. Smith, Religion of the Semites², pp. 186 ff.) Probably the term Ashērah was used in reference to the living sacred trees, which are still common in Palestine: see the present writer’s edition of the Mishna tractate, ‘Aboda Zara, pp. 60 f.

⁵Also he took away out of all the cities of Judah the high places and the sun-images: and the kingdom was quiet before him.

5. the sun-images] Compare xxxiv. 4; Isaiah xvii. 8, xxvii. 9. The Hebrew word (“ḥamman”) is of uncertain meaning and the supposed connection with heat or the sun is unsatisfactory. On the whole the evidence points to the conclusion that the “ḥamman” was a stone pillar associated with the altar, and much the same as the “Maṣṣēbāh,” the difference perhaps being that the former was artificially shaped, the latter was of natural stone (see article Baal in Hastings’ Dictionary of Religion and Ethics, pp. 287, 288).

6‒8.
Defensive Measures of Asa.

From xvi. 1‒6 = 1 Kings xv. 17‒22, it appears that there was a strong and probably a reliable tradition ascribing to Asa activity in building defensive townships in Judah. It is likely that the present verses with their vague reference to strongly built cities with no mention of their number or names are only an expansion of the more precise references in xvi. 6. The Chronicler has assigned the narrative given in xvi. 1‒6 (the war with Baasha) to the close of Asa’s reign (for reasons noted under xvi. 1), and he obviously wanted something to occupy the ten years of peace with which—according to his story—the reign of Asa opened. This is conveniently found in a general allusion to building and fortification.

⁶And he built fenced cities in Judah: for the land was quiet, and he had no war in those years; because the Lord had given him rest. ⁷For he said unto Judah, Let us build these cities, and make about them walls, and towers, gates, and bars; the land is yet before us, because we have sought the Lord our God; we have sought him, and he hath given us rest on every side. So they built and prospered. ⁸And Asa had an army that bare bucklers and spears, out of Judah three hundred thousand; and out of Benjamin, that bare shields and drew bows, two hundred and fourscore thousand: all these were mighty men of valour.

8. that bare bucklers and spears ... that bare shields and drew bows] LXX., δύναμις ὁπλοφόρων (= ὁπλιτῶν) αἰρόντων θυρεοὺς καὶ δόρατα ... πελτασταὶ καὶ τοξόται. The Chronicler divides Asa’s army into the heavy-armed men belonging to Judah and the light-armed bowmen belonging to Benjamin. Asa apparently had no chariots. “Bucklers” and “shields” should be transposed as in ix. 15.

of Judah three hundred thousand ... of Benjamin ... two hundred and fourscore thousand] The total is 580,000. Under Asa’s successor, Jehoshaphat, the numbers are (xvii. 14‒18), Judah 780,000, Benjamin 380,000, making a total of 1,160,000, i.e. twice the total given above. The moral which the Chronicler would enforce by these figures seems to be that Judah was strong in the early days of Asa, while Asa showed faith in God, and that it became still stronger under his really religious successor, Jehoshaphat. Regarding the exaggeration of these figures, see the notes on xi. 1, and xvii. 14.

9‒15 (no parallel in Kings).
Asa’s victory over Zerah: the Battle of Mareshah.

The present passage has much the same midrashic character as the account of Abijah’s victory related in the previous chapter, and some scholars consider that the story of the raid and defeat of Zerah has no basis in fact. It is, however, more probable that it originates in a genuine tradition of the repulse of some Egyptian, or rather Arabian (see note, verse 9), inroad, not necessarily, however, in the time of Asa: compare the Introduction § 7, p. l.

⁹And there came out against them Zerah the Ethiopian with an army of a thousand thousand, and three hundred chariots; and he came unto Mareshah.

9. against them] We should expect either against him (i.e. Asa) or against Judah. Perhaps this account has been torn out from some older document without regard to the context, so that the reference of them is lost. Compare notes on verses 12, 13, 14.

Zerah the Ethiopian] Rather, Zerah the Cushite (“man of Cush”). Cush (Genesis x. 7) was the ancestor of certain Arabian tribes, including Saba, see 1 Chronicles i. 9; and Arabians and Cushites (“Ethiopians” Authorized Version, also Revised Version) are mentioned as neighbours (2 Chronicles xxi. 16). It is therefore highly probable that the leader of the inroad was an Arabian (Sabean) and not an Ethiopian. (Compare S. A. Cook in Expository Times June, 1906, p. 541, against Petrie, History of Egypt.) Zerah perhaps represents Dhirrīh (Zirrīh), a title (meaning “the magnificent”) of several of the oldest princes of Saba. The tradition may therefore be brought into connection with the many indications in Chronicles of Arabian incursions on the southern borders of Judah. Mareshah, where the battle was fought (verse 9), was one of the ancient seats of the Calebites from which they were driven northwards (compare 1 Chronicles ii.). Those who prefer to regard Cushite as = Ethiopian—see 1 Chronicles i. 8—and Zerah as an Egyptian king, have to suppose that “Ethiopian” is applied to him loosely and somewhat ignorantly; and further, as no king of Egypt is so named, that Zerah must denote Osorkon I or II, or perhaps be the name of a general of Osorkon. From xvi. 8 (see the note on Lubim) it would seem probable that the Chronicler believed Zerah’s host to be an Egyptian force.

a thousand thousand] An inroad of the “children of the East” was formidable from sheer weight of numbers. We may gather from xvi. 8 that the original assailants were joined by other hordes as they drew near the border of Judah. The number a thousand thousand is probably meant to signify that the host was too great to number; it is, of course, not to be taken literally.

three hundred chariots] The chariots, though comparatively few, are mentioned, (1) perhaps because Asa himself had none, (2) perhaps also because they represent an Egyptian contingent. This suggestion receives support from xvi. 8, where the Lubim (compare xii. 3) are associated with the Cushites in the invasion. The cowardly foreign policy of Egypt may have led her on this occasion to defend her own borders from the barbarian hordes by encouraging them to invade her neighbour’s territories.

The reading three hundred is supported by the LXX. and is probably right. The reading of the Peshitṭa, “thirty thousand,” and the wording of xvi. 8, “with exceeding many chariots and horsemen,” seem like a retouching of the narrative to make the number of the chariots and horsemen correspond with the number of the whole host.

Mareshah] See note on xi. 8.

¹⁰Then Asa went out to meet him, and they set the battle in array in the valley of Zephathah at Mareshah. ¹¹And Asa cried unto the Lord his God, and said, Lord, there is none¹ beside² thee to help, between the mighty and him that hath no strength: help us, O Lord our God; for we rely on thee, and in thy name are we come against this multitude. O Lord, thou art our God; let not man prevail against thee.

¹ Or, there is no difference with thee to help, whether the mighty or him &c.

² Or, like.

10. in the valley] Probably the valley in which Beit-Jibrin now stands, one of several valleys giving access from the Shephelah into central Judah (G. A. Smith, Historical Geography of the Holy Land, pp. 230‒233). In such a place a large force might easily be discomfited by a few resolute men (compare 2 Samuel xvii. 9, 10).

of Zephathah at Mareshah] Render with LXX., north of Mareshah (reading Ṣaphonah for Zephathah). No valley or town called “Zephathah” is known.

¹²So the Lord smote the Ethiopians before Asa, and before Judah; and the Ethiopians fled.

12. the Lord smote] Compare xiii. 15. The use of The Name, Jehovah (translated The Lord), instead of the general word “God” here and in verses 13, 14 is in favour of the view that the Chronicler took this account from some earlier document, perhaps a midrashic history of Judah (Introduction § 5, p. xxxvi).

the Ethiopians] Rather, the Cushites.

¹³And Asa and the people that were with him pursued them unto Gerar: and there fell of the Ethiopians so many¹ that they could not recover themselves; for they were destroyed² before the Lord, and before his host; and they carried away very much booty.

¹ Or, so that none remained alive.

² Hebrew broken.

13. Gerar] Identified with Jerār, ruins three hours south of Gaza; compare 1 Chronicles iv. 39 (read “Gerar,” LXX. Γέραρα),
so many that they could not recover themselves] Or perhaps, as margin, so that none remained alive.

very much booty] The phrase used belongs to a style earlier than that of the Chronicler. Compare note on verse 9 (against them).

¹⁴And they smote all the cities round about Gerar; for the fear of the Lord¹ came upon them: and they spoiled all the cities; for there was much spoil in them.

¹ Or, a terror from the Lord.

14. the fear of the Lord] The Chroniclers own phrase is “the fear of God” (xx. 29).

much spoil] Again we miss a favourite expression of the Chronicler: “exceeding (lārōbh) much spoil.”

¹⁵They smote also the tents of cattle, and carried away sheep in abundance and camels, and returned to Jerusalem.

15. the tents of cattle] These words are so strange an expression that it is probable the text is corrupt. If so, the original reading is unknown, for the LXX. has the same reading as the Hebrew It adds a proper name, evidently intended as the name of an Arabian tribe, but this addition appears to be a gloss derived from a reading of the LXX. in xxii. 1.

Chapter XV.

1‒15 (no parallel in Kings).
The Prophecy of Azariah the Son of Oded and its Sequel.

¹And the spirit of God came upon Azariah the son of Oded:

1. Azariah the son of Oded] is mentioned only in this passage. Compare xvi. 7, where a prophet (Hanani), also known to us only through Chronicles, delivers a rebuke to Asa.

²and he went out to meet Asa, and said unto him, Hear ye me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin: the Lord is with you, while ye be with him; and if ye seek him, he will be found of you; but if ye forsake him, he will forsake you.

2. went out to meet] Compare xix. 2.

if ye seek him] compare 1 Chronicles xxviii. 9.

Verses 3‒6 contain the reflections of the Chronicler himself or a glossator on the whole course of Israelite history. The wording is too vague and there are periods in the history too obscure to make it possible to determine the reference definitely.

³Now for long seasons¹ Israel hath been without the true God, and without a teaching priest, and without law: ⁴but when in their distress they turned unto the Lord, the God of Israel, and sought him, he was found of them.

¹ Or, a long season.

3. without a teaching priest, and without law] The connection between these two is closer than the English suggests. “Law” (Hebrew tōrah) is properly “teaching, guidance.” A “teaching” priest (Hebrew mōreh) is one who gives “tōrah” or “guidance” on doubtful points of morality or ritual. Compare Malachi ii. 7.

⁵And in those times there was no peace to him that went out, nor to him that came in, but great vexations were upon all the inhabitants of the lands.

5. vexations] Rather, afflictions; compare Acts xii. 1, “to vex (Revised Version ‘to afflict’) certain of the church.”

of the lands] The reference is probably to the Israelite territory only; compare xi. 23, xxxiv. 33; and 1 Chronicles xiii. 2 (margin).

⁶And they were broken in pieces, nation against nation, and city against city: for God did vex them with all adversity.

6. nation against nation] Apparently Israel is meant. In the civil strife of the days of the Judges, and again in the contentions of the Northern and Southern Kingdoms, Israel seemed at times to be a collection of related but hostile tribes: compare Judges viii. 13‒17, ix. 26 ff., xii. 1 ff., xx. 12 ff.

vex] Rather, afflict; see verse 5.

⁷But be ye strong, and let not your hands be slack: for your work shall be rewarded.

7. be ye strong, etc.] The prophet’s warning is continued in this verse.

⁸And when Asa heard these words, and¹ the prophecy of Oded the prophet, he took courage, and put away the abominations out of all the land of Judah and Benjamin, and out of the cities which he had taken from the hill country of Ephraim; and he renewed the altar of the Lord, that was before the porch of the Lord.

¹ Or, even.

8. and the prophecy of Oded the prophet] Some words have fallen out of the text. Read, even the prophecy which Azariah the son of Oded prophesied.

the abominations] compare 1 Kings xiv. 23, 24, xv. 12, 13.

the cities which he had taken) A loose reference to those said to have been captured by Abijah (xiii. 19). There is no record of any taken by Asa himself.

the hill country of Ephraim] The term describes the hilly country between the plain of Esdraelon and the territory of Benjamin.

that was before the porch] Compare vii. 7, viii. 12.

⁹And he gathered all Judah and Benjamin, and them that sojourned with them out of Ephraim and Manasseh, and out of Simeon: for they fell to him out of Israel in abundance, when they saw that the Lord his God was with him.

9. them that sojourned with them] Compare x. 17, xi. 16, 17, xvi. 1.

out of Ephraim and Manasseh, and out of Simeon] In view of the evidence of Kings and the special character of Chronicles this statement cannot be regarded as having historical value for the time of Asa. Taking it in connection with similar notices in 1 Chronicles ix. 3 (Ephraim and Manasseh), xii. 8, 19 (Gad and Manasseh), 2 Chronicles xxx. 1, 10, 11, 18, xxxiv. 9 (Ephraim and Manasseh; also Zebulun, Issachar, and perhaps Asher) we may infer that these references have significance for the time of the Chronicler (or his source) and were inserted either (a) to gratify the wishes of certain orthodox families in Jerusalem who counted themselves descendants of North Israelite families, especially of Ephraim and Manasseh, and were eager to think that their ancestors had associated themselves with the fortunes of the true Israel at an early date after the separation of the kingdoms or at least in pre-exilic days. Or (b)—an interesting suggestion first advanced by Stade and recently developed by Hölscher (Palästina in der persischen und hellenistischen Zeit, 1903, pp. 30‒37)—we may suppose that the reference is not to families resident in Jerusalem but to persons living in the territories once occupied by Ephraim, Manasseh, etc., and loyal to the faith of the orthodox community in Jerusalem. The former view seems favoured by 1 Chronicles ix. 3, the latter by 2 Chronicles xxx. 25 (despite the last words); and on general grounds the latter view seems preferable to the present writer. If so, we have in Chronicles the first traces of the extension of Judaism northwards from Judea into Samaria and Galilee. Hölscher thinks that the evidence of Chronicles can be supported from the late chapters Zechariah ix.‒xiv., and from passages in Judith.

Simeon] The territory of this tribe lay in the South (1 Chronicles iv. 28‒43; Joshua xix. 1‒9), and it is natural to think that at the disruption Simeon followed Judah in allegiance to the house of David. Here, however, and in xxxiv. 6 it is reckoned as one of the ten tribes forming the Northern Kingdom, for what reason it is hard to say. The traditions relating to the tribe are far from clear (see Encyclopedia Britannica s.v. Simeon).

¹⁰So they gathered themselves together at Jerusalem in the third month, in the fifteenth year of the reign of Asa.

10. in the third month] In this month the Feast of Weeks (i.e. of wheat harvest) was held; Deuteronomy xvi. 9.

¹¹And they sacrificed unto the Lord in that day, of the spoil which they had brought, seven hundred oxen and seven thousand sheep.

11. the spoil] Compare xiv. 13‒15.

¹²And they entered into the covenant to seek the Lord, the God of their fathers, with all their heart and with all their soul;

12. they entered into the covenant] Compare xxix. 10; 2 Kings xxiii. 3.

¹³and that whosoever would not seek the Lord, the God of Israel, should be put to death, whether small or great, whether man or woman.

13. should be put to death] According to the Law; Deuteronomy xvii. 2‒7.

¹⁴And they sware unto the Lord with a loud voice, and with shouting, and with trumpets, and with cornets.

14. shouting] The word (terū‘āh) is used to denote a blast with the festal trumpets; see next note.

trumpets] The word (hăṣōṣĕrāh) means a special kind of trumpet used only for religious purposes; Numbers x. 1‒10; 1 Chronicles xv. 24 (note). Driver, Amos, pp. 144‒6, gives an illustration derived from the Arch of Titus.

¹⁵And all Judah rejoiced at the oath: for they had sworn with all their heart, and sought him with their whole desire; and he was found of them: and the Lord gave them rest round about.

15. he was found of them] A fulfilment of the promise given in verse 2.

16‒19 (1 Kings xv. 13‒15).
Other Religious Measures of Asa.

¹⁶And also Maacah the mother of Asa the king, he removed her from being queen¹, because she had made an abominable image for an Asherah²; and Asa cut down her image, and made dust of it, and burnt it at the brook Kidron.

¹ Or, queen mother.

² Or, for Asherah.

16. And also Maacah] “Maacah the daughter of Abishalom” is described as the mother of Abijam (Abijah) in 1 Kings xv. 2 and as the mother of Asa in 1 Kings xv. 10, although Asa is described as the son of Abijam (Abijah) in 1 Kings xv. 8. Most probably Maacah was the grandmother of Asa but retained her position as queen mother during two reigns, i.e. until removed by Asa.

from being queen] Or, as margin, from being queen mother.

an abominable image] Exactly what is meant by this phrase is uncertain. The image was one of peculiarly repulsive appearance, or perhaps of specially degrading significance.

for an Asherah] Revised Version margin (rightly, as representing the meaning of the Chronicler) for Asherah, since Asherah here and in a few other passages (1 Kings xviii. 19; 2 Kings xxi. 7, xxiii. 4, 7) is to be translated as the name of a goddess, about whom however very little is known. Excavations at Ta‘anach have revealed that a goddess named Ashirat (= Asherah) was worshipped in Palestine from an early period. The references here and in the passages cited above would therefore seem to be to this goddess. That conclusion, if sound, disposes of the opinion that the Chronicler was mistaken in imagining that “Ashērah” was anything more than a common noun denoting the wooden symbol of a deity. We must of course translate according to the meaning of the Chronicler whether he has fallen into an error or not. See also the note on xiv. 3, p. 224.

the brook Kidron] On the east of Jerusalem, an unclean place; compare 2 Kings xxiii. 4, “in the fields of Kidron.” Bädeker, Palestine⁵, p. 80.

¹⁷But the high places were not taken away out of Israel: nevertheless the heart of Asa was perfect all his days.

17. the high places] Hebrew bāmōth. These were not necessarily places of idolatrous worship, but they were sanctuaries rigorously forbidden by the Law from the Deuteronomic period onwards, which in the opinion of the Chronicler of course meant from the time of Moses. Failure to “remove” the high places was therefore reckoned by him as a sin in any of the kings, no matter how early in the period of the monarchy.

were not taken away ... days] So also 1 Kings xv. 14, but a direct contradiction of the Chronicler’s statement in xiv. 3! Two explanations seem possible; either, “Israel” (contrary to the frequent usage of the word in Chronicles, see xi. 3) here denotes the Northern Kingdom as distinct from Judah, in which case xiv. 3 is to be taken as referring only to Judah, or perhaps these verses 16‒19 are an addition to Chronicles inserted by someone who thought the Chronicler had wrongfully neglected 1 Kings xv. 13‒15.

perfect] i.e. “whole, undivided in its allegiance.”

¹⁸And he brought into the house of God the things that his father had dedicated, and that he himself had dedicated, silver, and gold, and vessels.

18. the things that his father had dedicated] Probably spoils of war; compare 1 Chronicles xviii. 11. It is implied that Abijah had vowed a portion of his spoils, but that Asa first actually presented them in the Temple. The verse is quoted verbatim from 1 Kings xv. 15, and is most obscure, so that there is probability in the view that it is only a misplaced repetition of 1 Kings vii. 51b. No stress can therefore be laid on the suggestion that we may see in this statement an indirect confirmation of Abijah’s victory recorded in 2 Chronicles xiii.

¹⁹And there was no more war unto the five and thirtieth year of the reign of Asa.

19. there was no more war] This statement can be reconciled with 1 Kings xv. 16, 32 only by interpreting it broadly to mean that nothing serious occurred until the war with Baasha had been going on for several years: a forced interpretation. Perhaps the Chronicler deliberately contradicts Kings “there was war between Asa and Baasha all their days,” assigning to Asa’s reign a time of peace which seemed appropriate to his piety.

Chapter XVI.

1‒6 (= 1 Kings xv. 17‒22).
Asa asks help of Ben-hadad.

¹In the six and thirtieth year of the reign of Asa, Baasha king of Israel went up against Judah, and built Ramah, that he might not suffer any to go out or come in to Asa king of Judah.

1. the six and thirtieth year] According to 1 Kings xvi. 8 Baasha was succeeded by his son Elah in the six-and-twentieth year of Asa. The number thirty-six may therefore be wrong. It should be noticed however that the thirty-sixth year of the separate kingdom of Judah corresponds with the sixteenth year of Asa, so that possibly two different reckonings are here confused and we should read, In the six and thirtieth year, that is, in the sixteenth year of Asa. So in xv. 19 we should read, in the five and thirtieth, that is, in the fifteenth year of the reign of Asa. This scheme of Asa’s reign, however, agrees badly with the dominant ideas of the Chronicler, for the religious reform and covenant in the fifteenth year (verse 10) ought not to have been immediately followed by war in the sixteenth year, but rather by a period of peace and prosperity. Hence thirty-six may after all be the original text, and we must suppose that the Chronicler either ignored or overlooked 1 Kings xvi. 8; or perhaps that he quoted from a midrashic source, having a different system of chronology from that in Kings.

Ramah] The modern er-Rām, situated on a commanding hill about two hours north of Jerusalem. Bädeker, Palestine⁵, p. 216.

²Then Asa brought out silver and gold out of the treasures of the house of the Lord and of the king’s house, and sent to Ben-hadad king of Syria, that dwelt at Damascus¹, saying, ³There is² a league between me and thee, as there was between my father and thy father: behold, I have sent thee silver and gold; go, break thy league with Baasha king of Israel, that he may depart from me.

¹ Hebrew Darmesek.

² Or, Let there be.

2. silver and gold] In 1 Kings, “all the silver and the gold that were left.”

Ben-hadad] At least three kings of Syria bore this name, the two others being severally (1) a contemporary of Ahab (1 Kings xx. 1 ff.), (2) a contemporary of Jehoash the grandson of Jehu, 2 Kings xiii. 25.

that dwelt at Damascus] The epithet distinguishes the king of Damascus from other kings of Syria, e.g. from the king of Hamath.

Damascus] Hebrew “Darmesek”; see note on 1 Chronicles xviii. 5.

⁴And Ben-hadad hearkened unto king Asa, and sent the captains of his armies against the cities of Israel; and they smote Ijon, and Dan, and Abel-maim, and all the store cities¹ of Naphtali.

¹ Hebrew storehouses of the cities.

4. and they smote] The places smitten were all in the extreme north of Israel.

Ijon] The city cannot be identified, but the name is preserved in Merj ‘Iyūn, a table-land north of the Jordan valley. Bädeker, Palestine⁵, p. 291.

Abel-maim] In 1 Kings, “Abel-beth-maacah”; compare 2 Samuel xx. 14, 15. No doubt the two names designate one place.

all the store cities] In 1 Kings, “all Chinneroth ” (i.e. the district west of the Sea of Galilee). As this was a very fruitful district, the “store cities” of the Chronicler may be only another name for it.

⁵And it came to pass, when Baasha heard thereof, that he left off building of Ramah, and let his work cease.

5. and let his work cease] In 1 Kings and dwelt in Tirzah (Hebrew), and returned to Tirzah (LXX.). Baasha (like Jeroboam; 1 Kings xiv. 17) fixed his seat of government at Tirzah in the centre of the Northern Kingdom in order to be able to watch Syria as well as Judah. The Chronicler takes no interest in the home of Baasha.

⁶Then Asa the king took all Judah; and they carried away the stones of Ramah, and the timber thereof, wherewith Baasha had builded; and he built therewith Geba and Mizpah.

6. took all Judah] In 1 Kings summoned all Judah (so translate); none was exempted.

Geba and Mizpah] The names signify, “the hill and the watch-tower.” Geba is mentioned in 2 Kings xxiii. 8, evidently as being on the northern boundary of Judah. Yet, be it noted, it was only 7 miles north of Jerusalem, whilst Mizpah was about 5 miles north-west of the capital. For Mizpah see Jeremiah xli. 1‒9. See also note on xiv. 6‒8.

7‒10 (not in 1 Kings).
The Intervention of Hanani.

The Chronicler stands alone both in recording the condemnation of Asa in this passage and in himself condemning him in verse 12. In 1 Kings no blame is passed on Asa.

⁷And at that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah, and said unto him, Because thou hast relied on the king of Syria, and hast not relied on the Lord thy God, therefore is the host of the king of Syria escaped out of thine hand.

7. Hanani the seer] Hanani as a seer is known to us from this passage only; but in xix. 2 and xx. 34 (also 1 Kings xvi. 1) Jehu the prophet is called son of Hanani.

the seer] an ancient title, elsewhere applied only to Samuel. Compare 1 Samuel ix. 9 “he that is now called a Prophet was beforetime called a Seer.” In consequence of this phrase it has been supposed that the story of Hanani is a genuinely old tradition. This is possible, but the evidence of this one phrase is not sufficient to be convincing. The term may be a deliberate archaism of the Chronicler.

therefore is the host of the king of Syria escaped] The prophet declares that if Asa had not detached Syria by his presents, he might have smitten Israel and Syria combined.

⁸Were not the Ethiopians and the Lubim a huge host, with chariots and horsemen exceeding many? yet, because thou didst rely on the Lord, he delivered them into thine hand.

8. and the Lubim] The Lubim are not mentioned in xiv. 9‒13, but as they were auxiliaries of the Egyptians (xii. 3) it is quite possible that they represent the help given by Egypt to the Arabian Cushites as they passed the Egyptian border on their way to invade Judah. Compare note on xiv. 9 (three hundred chariots).

⁹For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him. Herein thou hast done foolishly; for from henceforth thou shalt have wars.

9. run to and fro] i.e. no event escapes the Divine vigilance, compare Zechariah iv. 10.

¹⁰Then Asa was wroth with the seer, and put him in the prison house¹; for he was in a rage with him because of this thing. And Asa oppressed some of the people the same time.

¹ Hebrew house of the stocks.

10. in the prison house] Render, in the stocks (literally in the house of the stocks). Compare xviii. 26; Jeremiah xx. 2.

oppressed] literally brake in pieces, an expression which when applied to things would mean made spoil of, when applied to persons treated outrageously, tortured, ἐλυμήνατο LXX.

11‒14 (= 1 Kings xv. 23, 24).
The Epilogue of Asa’s Reign.

¹¹And, behold, the acts of Asa, first and last, lo, they are written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel. ¹²And in the thirty and ninth year of his reign Asa was diseased in his feet; his disease was exceeding great: yet in his disease he sought not to the Lord, but to the physicians.

11. the book of the kings of Judah and Israel] In 1 Kings the appeal is to “the book of chronicles of the kings of Judah.” See Introduction § 5.

he sought not to the Lord, but to the physicians] Physicians (Hebrew rōph’īm) are condemned by implication here, perhaps as using incantations and adjurations. Contrast Ecclesiasticus (Ben Sira) xxxviii. 9‒15, especially verse 15 (Hebrew text), He that sinneth against his Maker will behave himself proudly against a physician. Curtis notes the connection of the art of healing with the prophets; compare 1 Kings xvii. 17 ff. (Elijah); 2 Kings iv. 19 ff. (Elisha); 2 Kings xx. 7 (Isaiah).

¹³And Asa slept with his fathers, and died in the one and fortieth year of his reign.

13. in the one and fortieth year] Compare 1 Kings xv. 10.

¹⁴And they buried him in his own sepulchres, which he had hewn out for himself in the city of David, and laid him in the bed which was filled with sweet odours and divers kinds of spices prepared by the apothecaries’ art: and they made a very great burning for him.

14. in his own sepulchres] In 1 Kings with his fathers.

which he had hewn out for himself] This clause is absent from 1 Kings.

divers kinds of spices] Mark xvi. 1; John xii. 3, 7, xix. 39, 40.

a very great burning] Compare xxi. 19. What is here meant is not cremation of the body, but only a burning of spices; Jeremiah xxxiv. 5.

Chapters XVII.‒XX.
The Reign of Jehoshaphat.

Chapter XVII.

1‒6.
The character of the reign.

The reign of Jehoshaphat is one of the most interesting sections of Chronicles If these chapters, xvii.‒xx., be compared with the references to Jehoshaphat in Kings (viz. 1 Kings xxii. 1‒35, 41‒50), it will be seen that much new material appears in Chronicles (chapter xvii., and xix. 1‒xx. 30), with the result that the prosperity and piety of this king are greatly enhanced. As to the historical value of the Chronicler’s account, see the head-notes to the various sections below.

¹And Jehoshaphat his son reigned in his stead, and strengthened himself against Israel.

1. And Jehoshaphat his son reigned in his stead] These words are from 1 Kings xv. 24. All the rest of this chapter is without any parallel in Kings.

²And he placed forces in all the fenced cities of Judah, and set garrisons in the land of Judah, and in the cities of Ephraim, which Asa his father had taken.

2. the cities of Ephraim] Compare xv. 8.

³And the Lord was with Jehoshaphat, because he walked in the first ways of his father David, and sought not unto the Baalim;

3. in the first ways of his father David] Omit David (so LXX.), the person referred to being Asa (1 Kings xxii. 43). Asa’s first ways (chapters xiv., xv.) were good, his latter ways (chapter xvi.), according to the Chronicler, were evil.

unto the Baalim] Baal is not a proper name, but a title meaning “Lord,” which was given to false gods generally. Israel might not call Jehovah, “My Baal” (Baali), Hosea ii. 16, 17. See the note on 1 Chronicles viii. 33.

⁴but sought to the God of his father, and walked in his commandments, and not after the doings of Israel.

4. after the doings of Israel] Compare xiii. 8, 9.

⁵Therefore the Lord stablished the kingdom in his hand; and all Judah brought to Jehoshaphat presents; and he had riches and honour in abundance.

5. brought ... presents] Probably congratulatory gifts at his accession; compare 1 Samuel x. 27.

riches and honour] Compare xviii. 1.

⁶And his heart was lifted up in the ways of the Lord: and furthermore he took away the high places and the Asherim out of Judah.

6. furthermore he took away] But in xx. 33 = 1 Kings xxii. 43 it is said that the high places were not taken away. It is remarkable that the contradiction finds an exact parallel in what is said of Asa (see xiv. 3 and xv. 17 = 1 Kings xv. 14). How can the presence of these curious contradictions be explained? It is held by some that the Chronicler in both cases has incorporated contradictory traditions, and that “such discrepancies did not trouble the Hebrew historian.” To the present writer it seems more probable to suppose that only xiv. 3 and xvii. 6 (the statements that the high places were removed), are from the Chronicler himself; the passages which assert the contrary, viz. xv. 17 (= 1 Kings xv. 14) and xx. 33 (= 1 Kings xxii. 43) being later additions. They were added by someone who, troubled by the divergence between Kings and Chronicles, judged it desirable to supplement or correct the Chronicler’s words by adding a more or less exact transcription of the summaries of the reigns of Asa and Jehoshaphat as recorded in Kings. If xv. 17 and xx. 33 are later additions, it is evident that the Chronicler asserts the same reform to have been made in two successive reigns. But this is not a serious difficulty. He may easily have supposed that the removal of the high places (i.e. the discontinuance of worship at these local sanctuaries) was but a partial success, an official rather than an actual reform; and one suspects also that the phrase for the Chronicler was largely conventional: a reform with which all “good” kings should presumably be credited.

the Asherim] See note on xiv. 3.

7‒9 (no parallel in 1 Kings).
Jehoshaphat’s Provision for Teaching the Law.

⁷Also in the third year of his reign he sent his princes, even Benhail, and Obadiah, and Zechariah, and Nethanel, and Micaiah, to teach in the cities of Judah; ⁸and with them the Levites, even Shemaiah, and Nethaniah, and Zebadiah, and Asahel, and Shemiramoth, and Jehonathan, and Adonijah, and Tobijah, and Tobadonijah, the Levites; and with them Elishama and Jehoram, the priests. ⁹And they taught in Judah, having the book of the law of the Lord with them; and they went about throughout all the cities of Judah, and taught among the people.

7‒9. These verses state that Jehoshaphat was not content with the usual reforming measures of a pious king (verse 6) but proceeded to confirm his people in loyalty to Jehovah by sending leading laymen, Levites, and priests, to teach the Law throughout the land. If verses 7‒9 be compared with xix. 4‒11 the two passages will at once be seen to be so closely similar that they may well be variations of the same tradition. Still the description in xix. 4‒11 is fuller and suggests arrangements of a permanent character; and, whilst xvii. 7‒9 deals with teachers of the Law, xix. 4‒11 deals with administrators of it (judges). It is argued with force that this single or dual tradition is entirely unhistorical (so Wellhausen and Torrey). Certainly the arrangements for the judiciary and for instruction in the Law correspond with conditions circa 100 B.C. (see Schürer, Geschichte³, II. 176‒179), conditions which probably in the Chronicler’s day were partly existent and which he may have hoped to see more fully realised. That he should wish to ascribe the institution of such a system of instruction and justice to an early date is also agreeable to his habit of thought; and for such a purpose Jehoshaphat was obviously most suitable: a good king, whose name denoted “Jehovah is judge.” Mark further the similarity of the conclusion of each reform: “And the fear of the Lord was on all the kingdoms of the lands ...” (xvii. 10 and xx. 29) and the remarkable prosperity which properly rewarded such pious action (xvii. 11 ff. and xx. 1‒28). Yet the possibility that the Chronicler in these passages has incorporated a really old tradition associating Jehoshaphat with some reform or development of judicial affairs in Judah remains open. Some see an old trait in the conjunction of laymen (princes, xvii. 7) with the priests and Levites. Again the judicial system indicated in xix. 4‒11 has no little resemblance to that set forth in Deuteronomy xvi. 18‒20, xvii. 8, “and might have been derived from that source.” On this theory, xvii. 7‒9 and xix. 4‒11 would in all likelihood be derived by the Chronicler from some “source” or rather perhaps from two “sources” giving slightly different accounts of Jehoshaphat’s procedure; and this is the view of some commentators (so Kittel and Benzinger). But close examination of the language of both passages reveals strong characteristics of the Chronicler’s style and spirit; and it seems safer to conclude that, while there may possibly have been some tradition connecting Jehoshaphat with such reforms, this account in Chronicles is essentially due to the Chronicler and reflects the situation of his own times.

9. the book of the law of the Lord] The Chronicler of course meant by this the Pentateuch as we have it. If, however, these verses are drawn from an old source (see the previous note) then the reference in the original may have been to one of the earlier codes embedded in the present Pentateuch.

10‒13 (no parallel in 1 Kings).
The Greatness of Jehoshaphat.

¹⁰And the fear of the Lord¹ fell upon all the kingdoms of the lands that were round about Judah, so that they made no war against Jehoshaphat.

¹ Or, a terror from the Lord.

10. the fear of the Lord] Compare xx. 29; Genesis xxxxv. 5.

¹¹And some of the Philistines brought Jehoshaphat presents, and silver for tribute; the Arabians also brought him flocks, seven thousand and seven hundred rams, and seven thousand and seven hundred he-goats.

11. some of the Philistines] See the following note, and also xxvi. 6 (note).

the Arabians] compare xxi. 16. The term is here used to signify the desert tribes, in particular those on the south and south-west of Judah. It would be specially impressive to the contemporaries of the Chronicler, because by that period an Arabian people, the Nabateans, had established a powerful state to the south of Judah. On the other hand the Philistines would of course be familiar from the references to them in Samuel and Kings. The tradition that tribute was received from them and from some desert tribes may possibly be correct, especially if Zerah’s army was Arabian (xiv. 8, note) and if Asa’s victory over him is historical.

flocks] compare 2 Kings iii. 4.

¹²And Jehoshaphat waxed great exceedingly; and he built in Judah castles and cities of store. ¹³And he had many works in the cities of Judah; and men of war, mighty men of valour, in Jerusalem.

12. castles] Hebrew bīrāniyyōth; compare xxvii. 4 (same word); and xxvi. 10 (“towers”). Such small castles or towers lie scattered along the pilgrim-road from Damascus to Mecca at the present day to make the way safe. See Introduction § 7, p. xlviii.

cities of store] compare xi. 11, 12.

14‒19 (no parallel in 1 Kings).
The Number of Jehoshaphat’s Army.

In these verses Jehoshaphat is credited with an army of 1,160,000 men; and the passage may be noted as the most extreme instance of the midrashic exaggeration of numbers which is a well-marked feature of the Chronicler’s writing. If the possible proportions between the total numbers of a population and the men capable of military service at a given time be considered, it is easy to realise how monstrous an exaggeration are the figures here stated. They serve two purposes: (1) compared with the somewhat smaller numbers assigned to Abijah (xiii. 3) and to Asa (xiv. 8), they indicate that Jehoshaphat’s reign was even more prosperous; and (2) generally, they suggested to the men of the Chronicler’s own generation that in the eyes of all right-thinking men Jerusalem of old in its prosperous hours was not one whit less important and glorious than any huge and much-vaunted city of their own days.

For further examples of midrashic exaggeration, besides the passages named above, compare xi. 1; 1 Chronicles xii. 23, 24; and (as regards sums of money) 1 Chronicles xxii. 14; 2 Chronicles ix. 13.

¹⁴And this was the numbering of them according to their fathers’ houses: of Judah, the captains of thousands; Adnah the captain, and with him mighty men of valour three hundred thousand: ¹⁵and next to him Jehohanan the captain, and with him two hundred and fourscore thousand:

15. next to him] Literally at his hand; the same phrase is used in Nehemiah iii. 2, 4, 5, etc.

Jehohanan] Sometimes spelt Johanan.

¹⁶and next to him Amasiah the son of Zichri, who willingly offered himself unto the Lord; and with him two hundred thousand mighty men of valour:

16. who willingly offered himself] Compare Judges v. 9.

¹⁷and of Benjamin; Eliada a mighty man of valour, and with him two hundred thousand armed with bow and shield: ¹⁸and next to him Jehozabad, and with him an hundred and fourscore thousand ready prepared for war. ¹⁹These were they that waited on the king, beside those whom the king put in the fenced cities throughout all Judah.

17. armed with bow and shield] i.e. light-armed troops; compare note on xiv. 8.

Chapter XVIII.

1‒3 (compare 1 Kings xxii. 1‒4).
The Alliance between Jehoshaphat and Ahab.

¹Now Jehoshaphat had riches and honour in abundance; and he joined affinity with Ahab.

1. joined affinity] Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat married Athaliah the daughter of Ahab (2 Kings viii. 16, 18, 26). Athaliah though called “daughter” of Omri in 2 Kings viii. 26 was really his grand-daughter.

²And after certain years he went down to Ahab to Samaria. And Ahab killed sheep and oxen for him in abundance, and for the people that were with him, and moved him to go up with him to Ramoth-gilead.

2. killed sheep and oxen] This phrase implies a feast, for flesh is eaten in the East only on festal occasions. The phrase used for supplying necessary food is to set bread and water before one.

Ramoth-gilead] Deuteronomy iv. 43; 1 Kings iv. 13, xxii. 3; 2 Kings viii. 28, ix. 1 and 14. Ramoth was a city of refuge and (under Solomon) the seat of the governor of a province. Probably it was the most important Israelite city east of Jordan. Its site has not been certainly identified (see Barnes’ note on 1 Kings iv. 13). Probably it was on the Yarmuk near Edrei. In 1 Chronicles vi. 80 it is mentioned as a city assigned to the sons of Merari. Apparently it was captured from Israel by the Syrians in the time of Baasha or of Omri, and was not restored in accordance with the treaty referred to in 1 Kings xx. 34.

³And Ahab king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat king of Judah, Wilt thou go with me to Ramoth-gilead? And he answered him, I am as thou art, and my people as thy people; and we will be with thee in the war.

3. and we will be with thee in the war] In 1 Kings the corresponding phrase is, my horses as thy horses. The phrases in 1 Kings need not be more than the expression of oriental politeness. At the present day the Arab says to his guest, My house is thy house, but he generally means very little by the words. The Chronicler, however, interpreting by the event, turns the vaguer phrase of Kings into a definite promise.

4‒27 (= 1 Kings xxii. 5‒28).
The Prophecy of Micaiah.

This narrative, apart from its intrinsic interest, is of great value for the welcome light it throws upon the prophets in Israel. The direct references of the later Prophets have accustomed us to the thought that they had to contend with unworthy representatives of their calling. Here we are made to realise with peculiar vividness that even in the early stages of the national history the false prophet was a menace to Israel’s spiritual enlightenment. Micaiah spake few words, yet he deserves to rank with the great Prophets. He resembles them at least in his overmastering conviction of the truth and in his resolution to proclaim it, whatever cost of personal suffering it may entail. His opponents were professedly servants of Jehovah, and it is noteworthy that Micaiah does not accuse them of deliberate intent to deceive Ahab but rather of self-deception and ignorance of the truth (verse 21). Their ignorance of course was blameworthy, for it was due to their willingness to prophesy smooth things: they lacked that utter integrity of heart and entire devotion to his prophetic calling which Micaiah possessed.

⁴And Jehoshaphat said unto the king of Israel, Inquire, I pray thee, at the word of the Lord to-day.

4. Jehoshaphat] Compare 1 Kings iii. 11.

Inquire ... at the word] Compare Daniel ii. 10 (Authorized Version), “no king ... asked such things at any magician.” The use of “at” after verbs of asking is obsolete.

⁵Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together, four hundred men, and said unto them, Shall we go to Ramoth-gilead to battle, or shall I forbear? And they said, Go up; for God shall deliver it into the hand of the king.

5. the prophets] These no doubt were prophets of Jehovah (not of Baal); compare verse 4 and note on verse 6.

Shall we go ... or shall I forbear?] In 1 Kings, “Shall I go ... or shall I forbear?” (so LXX., but not Peshitṭa, of Chronicles).

⁶But Jehoshaphat said, Is there not here besides a prophet of the Lord, that we might inquire of him? ⁷And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, There is yet one man by whom we may inquire of the Lord: but I hate him; for he never prophesieth good concerning me, but always evil: the same is Micaiah the son of Imla. And Jehoshaphat said, Let not the king say so.

6. But Jehoshaphat said] The insertion of this lengthy account of an event which principally concerns the Northern Kingdom is remarkable, seeing that the Chronicler nowhere else inserts a narrative dealing with the affairs of north Israel. Some commentators find the chief motive for its insertion in this verse which credits Jehoshaphat with an honourable desire to ascertain Jehovah’s real will. A secondary motive may be that the story shows very clearly the obstinate wickedness of Ahab, as the Chronicler would regard it, and so lends point to the censure which is subsequently passed on Jehoshaphat (xix. 2) for his alliance with the northern king.

Is there not here besides a prophet of the Lord] Or, Hath not the Lord here yet another prophet. The unanimity of the four hundred prophets aroused the suspicion of Jehoshaphat.

⁸Then the king of Israel called an officer¹, and said, Fetch quickly Micaiah the son of Imla.

¹ Or, eunuch.

8. called an officer] The Hebrew word means “eunuch.” From 1 Samuel viii. 15 we may perhaps conclude that such officers were known in Israel from the very beginning of the monarchy. Compare 1 Chronicles xxviii. 1, note.

⁹Now the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah sat each on his throne, arrayed in their robes, and they sat in an open place¹ at the entrance of the gate of Samaria; and all the prophets prophesied before them.

¹ Hebrew a threshing-floor.

9. in an open place] Render, in a threshing-floor. The threshing-floor was convenient as being a large flat open space; compare Genesis l. 10; 1 Chronicles xiii. 9, xxi. 18 ff.

¹⁰And Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah made him horns of iron, and said, Thus saith the Lord, With these shalt thou push the Syrians, until they be consumed. ¹¹And all the prophets prophesied so, saying, Go up to Ramoth-gilead, and prosper: for the Lord shall deliver it into the hand of the king. ¹²And the messenger that went to call Micaiah spake to him, saying, Behold, the words of the prophets declare good to the king with one mouth: let thy word therefore, I pray thee, be like one of theirs, and speak thou good.

10. made him horns of iron] For a similar use of symbolic action by a prophet compare Jeremiah xxvii. 2 (also xxviii. 10). For the meaning of the phrase compare Amos vi. 13, “Have we not taken to us horns?” i.e. “Have we not acquired military power?”

shalt thou push] Compare Deuteronomy xxxiii. 17. So Rameses II is described in an Egyptian psalm as “the strong bull against the Ethiopians; his horn pushes them.” (Erman, Ancient Egypt, English Translation, p. 57.)

¹³And Micaiah said, As the Lord liveth, what my God saith, that will I speak.

13. what my God saith] Render, surely, what my God shall say. The Divine message has not yet come to the prophet.

¹⁴And when he was come to the king, the king said unto him, Micaiah¹, shall we go to Ramoth-gilead to battle, or shall I forbear? And he said, Go ye up, and prosper; and they shall be delivered into your hand.

¹ Hebrew Micah.

14. Go ye up ... into your hand] Micaiah addresses both kings. In 1 Kings Ahab only is addressed, Go and prosper, for the Lord shall deliver it into the hand of the king. Micaiah repeats in mocking tones the utterance of the other prophets.

¹⁵And the king said to him, How many times shall I adjure thee that thou speak unto me nothing but the truth in the name of the Lord?

15. that thou speak unto me nothing but the truth] The scorn in Micaiah’s voice was noticed by the king.

¹⁶And he said, I saw all Israel scattered upon the mountains, as sheep that have no shepherd: and the Lord said, These have no master; let them return every man to his house in peace. ¹⁷And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, Did I not tell thee that he would not prophesy good concerning me, but evil?

16. as sheep that have no shepherd] Compare Matthew ix. 36.

the Lord said, These have no master; let them return, etc.] The prophet has had a vision of Israel’s army, defeated and scattered, like a flock of sheep wandering shepherdless upon the mountains. God, he means, proclaims that in the coming battle their king will fall and they will be beaten and dispersed.

¹⁸And he said, Therefore hear ye the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord sitting upon his throne, and all the host of heaven standing on his right hand and on his left.

18. And he said] There are three stages in the prophet’s dealings with the king, (1) irony in verse 14, (2) serious advice in verse 16, (3) denunciation of death in verses 18‒22.

the host of heaven] angelic beings are meant, as in Psalms ciii. 21, and probably also in Nehemiah ix. 6; Daniel iv. 35, etc., but in these passages the usual meaning “the stars” is possible. The parallel verse in Kings (1 Kings xxii. 19) is apparently the earliest clear instance of the phrase in the significance “angelic beings.”

¹⁹And the Lord said, Who shall entice¹ Ahab king of Israel, that he may go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead? And one spake saying after this manner, and another saying after that manner.

¹ Or, deceive.

19. Who shall entice Ahab] So 1 Kings (Revised Version). The same Hebrew word is used in Jeremiah xx. 7, “thou hast deceived (margin ‘enticed’) me,” where Jeremiah complains that he has been called to the fruitless labour of a hated prophet. For the underlying thought that delusion is sometimes a preliminary part of Divine punishment compare 2 Thessalonians ii. 11 (compare 2 Thessalonians ii. 9) and the famous saying, “quem Deus vult perdere prius dementat.” It should be noted however that the “lying spirit” in the mouth of the 400 prophets played only a subordinate part in Ahab’s fall, and indeed could have played no part at all, but for the fact that the king was more than willing to be enticed. Ahab had already made up his mind; he consulted the 400 only as an afterthought to satisfy Jehoshaphat (verse 4), he excluded the plain-speaking Micaiah until Jehoshaphat insisted on his presence (verses 6, 7), and he scorned the true prophet’s warning of the falseness of the 400 (verse 26). Delusion as a Divine punishment comes only upon the man who is willing to be deluded.

²⁰And there came forth a spirit¹, and stood before the Lord, and said, I will entice him. And the Lord said unto him, Wherewith? ²¹And he said, I will go forth, and will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And he said, Thou shalt entice him, and shalt prevail also: go forth, and do so.

¹ Hebrew the spirit.

20. a spirit] Hebrew the spirit, but the definite article simply singles out one spirit from the rest. The Evil Spirit (Hebrew “the Satan”) is not meant here but simply a superhuman being, such as was generally conceived to be the cause of the ecstatic condition manifested by prophets of this type (compare 1 Samuel x. 5, 6).

²²Now therefore, behold, the Lord hath put a lying spirit in the mouth of these thy prophets; and the Lord hath spoken evil concerning thee.

22. the Lord hath put a lying spirit...] This and the preceding verse are singularly interesting for the frankness with which they apparently regard Jehovah as causing moral evil. Of course the passage is not to be regarded as a philosophical pronouncement on the origin of moral evil. Rather is it to be treated as a naïve expression regarding a great fact of human life—see the conclusion of the note on verse 19, who shall entice Ahab. Physical evils are constantly declared in the Old Testament to originate in Jehovah’s will; they are often sent by Him as punishments for sin. Here too it is only as the penalty of previous sinfulness (verse 8 “I hate him”) that the evil moral condition of the prophets who are deluded by the lying spirit from Jehovah is imposed. A parallel may be found in Ezekiel xiv. 1‒11. It is, however, a higher plane of thought when Jeremiah expresses the conviction that the false prophets of his day are not inspired at all by Jehovah, but speak solely out of their own hearts (Jeremiah xxiii. 16, 21).

²³Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah came near, and smote Micaiah upon the cheek, and said, Which way went the spirit of the Lord from me to speak unto thee?

23. Zedekiah] He takes the lead as in verse 10.

smote ... upon the cheek] This phrase is tantamount to “gave an insulting blow”; compare Micah v. 1; Matthew v. 39.

²⁴And Micaiah said, Behold, thou shalt see on that day, when thou shalt go into an inner chamber¹ to hide thyself.

¹ Or, from chamber to chamber.

24. Behold, thou shalt see] Micaiah answers Zedekiah’s gibe with the verb “see” (rather than “know”) because of its double meaning, “Behold, thou shalt be a seer, thou shalt possess the power of vision,” when it is too late.

go into an inner chamber] i.e. seek safety in hiding from enemies; compare 1 Kings xx. 30 (same Hebrew phrase).

²⁵And the king of Israel said, Take ye Micaiah, and carry him back unto Amon the governor of the city, and to Joash the king’s son;

25. carry him back] Micaiah is not to accompany the expedition, having foretold its failure.

²⁶and say, Thus saith the king, Put this fellow in the prison, and feed him with bread of affliction and with water of affliction, until I return in peace.

26. bread of affliction ... water of affliction] Compare Ezekiel iv. 9‒11.

²⁷And Micaiah said, If thou return at all in peace, the Lord hath not spoken by me. And he said, Hear, ye peoples, all of you.

27. ye peoples, all of you] The “peoples” represented at this gathering were probably, Israel, Judah, Edom, and Moab. The clause occurs in Micah i. 2, and in all probability has been added to the text of Kings (which the Chronicler here copies) by a glossator, who perhaps thought that Micaiah and Micah were one and the same person.

28‒34 (= 1 Kings xxii. 29‒37).
The Death of Ahab at Ramoth-gilead.

²⁸So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth-gilead. ²⁹And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, I will disguise myself, and go into the battle; but put thou on thy robes. So the king of Israel disguised himself; and they went into the battle.

29. I will disguise myself] Despite the warning uttered by Micaiah the two kings decide to seek battle, and Ahab, whose failing was not the lack of courage, resolved to take part in the fighting. To avert the fulfilment of the prophecy, he suggests that he should not wear his royal insignia, whilst Jehoshaphat, whose life had not been threatened, should wear his robes and be the obvious leader of the allied army.

and they went into the battle] 1 Kings (more correctly) and he (Ahab) went into the battle (so LXX. here).

³⁰Now the king of Syria had commanded the captains of his chariots, saying, Fight neither with small nor great, save only with the king of Israel.

30. the captains of his chariots] Thirty-two in number (1 Kings). While the rest of the Syrian army met the Israelite attack, the chariots were to act as an independent force, whose primary task should be to kill or capture Ahab. The king of Syria felt himself overmatched and thought that the only chance of victory lay in the fall of the Israelite commander. Compare 2 Kings iii. 26 (the king of Moab tries to break through to the king of Edom).

³¹And it came to pass, when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, that they said, It is the king of Israel. Therefore they turned about to fight against him: but Jehoshaphat cried out, and the Lord helped him; and God moved them to depart from him. ³²And it came to pass, when the captains of the chariots saw that it was not the king of Israel, that they turned back from pursuing him.

31. saw Jehoshaphat ... to fight] The captains of the chariots who had been instructed to direct all their efforts towards slaying the king of Israel, at length perceived Jehoshaphat conspicuous in his royal robes. The various chariots turned aside from lesser enemies, and then, discovering their mistake and obeying their orders, left him to continue their search for Ahab.

and God moved them to depart from him] These words anticipate verse 32 and are not found in 1 Kings Jehoshaphat’s cry was to his soldiers for aid, but the Chronicler apparently took it to be a cry to Jehovah, and accordingly added these words.

³³And a certain man drew his bow at a venture¹, and smote the king of Israel between the joints of the harness²: wherefore he said to the driver of the chariot, Turn thine hand, and carry me out of the host; for I am sore wounded.

¹ Hebrew in his simplicity.

² Or, the lower armour and the breastplate.

33. And a certain man drew a bow] Render, But a certain man had drawn a bow. God had already brought about that which the Syrians were labouring to perform.

at a venture] literally in his innocence, i.e. without knowing that he was aiming at Ahab. Compare 2 Samuel xv. 11.

between the joints of the harness] Probably between the breastplate (or coat of mail) and the appendages to it; the wound would be in the lower part of the body.

³⁴And the battle increased that day: howbeit the king of Israel stayed himself up in his chariot against the Syrians until the even: and about the time of the going down of the sun he died.

34. stayed himself up in his chariot] 1 Kings was stayed up. Ahab sustained his reputation as a good soldier (compare 1 Kings xx. 14, xxii. 31) to the last; his death caused the failure of the attack on Ramoth (1 Kings xxii. 36).

Chapter XIX.

1‒3 (no parallel in Kings).
The Reproof of Jehu the Prophet.

¹And Jehoshaphat the king of Judah returned to his house in peace to Jerusalem.

1. in peace] i.e. in safety. LXX. (B) omitted the phrase.

²And Jehu the son of Hanani the seer went out to meet him, and said to king Jehoshaphat, Shouldest thou help the wicked, and love them that hate the Lord? for this thing wrath is upon thee from before the Lord.

2. Jehu the son of Hanani] He must have been an old man at this time, for he had prophesied against Baasha (1 Kings xvi. 1), since whose reign two kings had ruled in Israel, viz., Omri (12 years) and Ahab (22 years). It appears, however, as if the Chronicler ignored or overlooked 1 Kings xvi. 1, for in 2 Chronicles xvi. 7 Hanani, Jehu’s father, is mentioned rebuking Asa, Jehoshaphat’s father. The two passages, in Kings and Chronicles, are not hopelessly irreconcilable, but together they yield a very odd and improbable sequence: the son active in Baasha’s reign, the father in Asa’s, and again after some 40 years the son in Jehoshaphat’s time!

and love them that hate the Lord] Compare Psalms cxxxix. 21, 22. Actually, of course, Ahab even in this narrative appears as an adherent of Jehovah, whose prophets he consults. The phrase “them that hate the Lord” reflects the Chronicler’s view of north Israel.

for this thing] Israel (in the Chronicler’s eyes) being wholly and utterly bad, apostate from Jehovah, Jehoshaphat’s alliance with Ahab had to be construed as a most serious sin which should meet with severe punishment.

wrath is upon thee] the impending visitation of anger comes to pass in the invasion of the Moabite and Ammonite tribes described in chapter xx. For “wrath” (Hebrew ḳeṣeph) compare 2 Kings iii. 27, Revised Version margin.

³Nevertheless there are good things found in thee, in that thou hast put away the Asheroth out of the land, and hast set thine heart to seek God.

3. good things] Compare xii. 12 (note).

the Asheroth] plural of “Asherah”; compare notes on xiv. 3, and xv. 16.

4‒11 (no parallel in Kings).
Jehoshaphat’s Home Policy for Instruction in the Law and Administration of Justice.

4‒11. This section has already been discussed in connection with xvii. 7‒9, where see the head-note. Compare also the Introduction § 7, p. li.

⁴And Jehoshaphat dwelt at Jerusalem: and he went out again among the people from Beer-sheba to the hill country of Ephraim, and brought them back unto the Lord, the God of their fathers.

4. Beer-sheba] Compare note on 1 Chronicles iv. 28.

brought them back] Some further measures against idolatry seem to be meant.

⁵And he set judges in the land throughout all the fenced cities of Judah, city by city, ⁶and said to the judges, Consider what ye do: for ye judge not for man, but for the Lord; and he is with you in the judgement¹. ⁷Now therefore let the fear of the Lord be upon you; take heed and do it: for there is no iniquity with the Lord our God, nor respect of persons, nor taking of gifts.

¹ Or, in giving judgement Hebrew in the matter of judgement.

5. And he set judges] Compare verse 11 “also the Levites shall be officers”; and Deuteronomy xvi. 18 “judges and officers shalt thou make thee in all thy gates.”

In the earliest days justice was administered in Israel, as among the Bedouin of to-day, probably by all heads of families and (in difficult cases) by the one head who was distinguished above the rest for impartiality and for knowledge of tribal custom. In later days when Israel was settled in Canaan the “elders of the cities” and the “elders of the priests” exercised the same functions. The priests also at the great shrines, by their responses in matters brought for the decision of the Divine oracle, exercised an important part in the development and administration of law in Israel. In the monarchic period the King acted as a judge before whom difficult and important disputes seem to have been brought. His willingness to hear such cases (2 Samuel viii. 15, xv. 3 ff.) and his wisdom in deciding them (1 Kings iii. 9, etc.) evidently affected his authority and popularity to no small extent. In the present passage it is noteworthy that the King delegates this authority even in Jerusalem.

Jehoshaphat’s measures, as here described, are twofold, (1) to establish judges throughout the cities of Judah (compare Deuteronomy xvi. 18), (2) to establish (in accordance with Deuteronomy xvii. 8 ff.) a kind of court of appeal in Jerusalem itself.

⁸Moreover in Jerusalem did Jehoshaphat set of the Levites and the priests, and of the heads of the fathers’ houses of Israel, for the judgement of the Lord, and for controversies. And they returned to Jerusalem.

8. for the judgement of the Lord, and for controversies] By the first expression the Chronicler refers to religious as contrasted with civil cases (controversies), or perhaps more generally to matters regarding which some decision could be found in the Law of the Lord (i.e. in the Pentateuch, according to the Chronicler’s belief). The second phrase (“controversies”) probably means civil disputes for which arbitration, rather than a strictly legal decision, was suitable.

And they returned to Jerusalem] These words are certainly a textual mistake. Read either, And they (the judges appointed by Jehoshaphat) dwelt in Jerusalem: i.e. the most difficult cases could always be decided in Jerusalem, because the judges were always there. Or read, and for the controversies of the inhabitants of Jerusalem (compare LXX.). In either case the change in Hebrew is very slight.

⁹And he charged them, saying, Thus shall ye do in the fear of the Lord, faithfully, and with a perfect heart.

9. a perfect heart] i.e. a heart undivided in its allegiance; compare 1 Chronicles xii. 38. The judges were not to attempt to combine the service of God with the taking of bribes.

¹⁰And whensoever any controversy shall come to you from your brethren that dwell in their cities, between blood and blood, between law and commandment, statutes and judgements, ye shall warn them, that they be not guilty towards the Lord, and so wrath come upon you and upon your brethren: this do, and ye shall not be guilty.

10. between blood and blood] To decide between one kind of blood-shedding and another, i.e. between manslaughter and murder. Deuteronomy xvii. 8.

between law and commandment] To decide what particular ordinance applies to a particular case.

ye shall warn them] Compare Ezekiel iii. 17‒21.

wrath] Hebrew ḳeṣeph; see note on verse 2.

¹¹And, behold, Amariah the chief priest is over you in all matters of the Lord; and Zebadiah the son of Ishmael, the ruler of the house of Judah, in all the king’s matters: also the Levites shall be officers before you. Deal courageously¹, and the Lord be with the good.

¹ Hebrew Be strong and do.

11. Amariah] Perhaps the one mentioned in 1 Chronicles vi. 11 [v. 37, Hebrew].

matters of the Lord] i.e. in all religious and ritual questions. Contrast the king’s matters, i.e. civil cases, such probably as questions of taxation, military service, and so forth.

officers before you] i.e. waiting to execute your instructions.

Chapter XX.

1‒4 (no parallel in Kings).
The Invasion of the Moabites and their Allies.

Verses 1‒30 of this chapter present an edifying tale of a miraculous victory gained by Jehoshaphat over an invading horde of desert tribes, a victory gained solely through prayer to Jehovah and without a single blow being struck by a Judean soldier. The whole narrative is an admirable example of midrashic narrative, and should be compared with xiv. 9‒15 and xiii. 3‒20, where see notes. Regarding the possibility of an historical foundation for the tale, see the Introduction § 7, xlix, l, and compare G. A. Smith, Historical Geography of the Holy Land, pp. 272, 273.

¹And it came to pass after this, that the children of Moab, and the children of Ammon, and with them some of the Ammonites¹, came against Jehoshaphat to battle.

¹ Perhaps an error for Meunim. So the Septuagint See chapter xxvi. 7.

1. some of the Ammonites] Read, some of the Meunim. They were an Arabian people whose name seems to be preserved in that of Ma‘īn, an Edomitic village (south-east of Petra) on the pilgrim route between Damascus and Mecca. The LXX. here, as also in xxvi. 7; 1 Chronicles iv. 41, has Μειναῖοι (Μιναῖοι), and probably intended thereby the Minaeans, a people who established a powerful kingdom in South Arabia (see the note on 1 Chronicles iv. 41).

²Then there came some that told Jehoshaphat, saying, There cometh a great multitude against thee from beyond the sea from Syria; and, behold, they be in Hazazon-tamar (the same is En-gedi).

2. from Syria] So also LXX., but undoubtedly the correct reading is from Edom. Confusion of two letters of almost identical shape in Hebrew (a ר for a ד) accounts for the difference.

Hazazon-tamar] Genesis xiv. 7. The name seems to describe the place as stony and as containing palm-trees. It is in fact an oasis.

the same is En-gedi] Compare G. A. Smith, Historical Geography of the Holy Land as quoted above, and Bädeker, Palestine⁵, p. 171. En-gedi is on the west coast of the Dead Sea at a point where a rugged pass leads up into the hill country of Judah.

³And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek unto the Lord; and he proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. ⁴And Judah gathered themselves together, to seek help of the Lord: even out of all the cities of Judah they came to seek the Lord.

3. proclaimed a fast] A fast involved the assembling of the people; 1 Kings xxi. 9, 12; Jeremiah xxxvi. 6, 9; Joel ii. 15. Special fasts were proclaimed for war, famine, or any other calamity or serious event.

5‒13 (no parallel in Kings).
The Prayer of Jehoshaphat.

This prayer should be compared with Solomon’s (vi. 14 ff.).

⁵And Jehoshaphat stood in the congregation of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the Lord, before the new court;

5. stood] Rather, rose up.

before the new court] The Temple of Solomon, strictly speaking, had only one court, but the Chronicler speaks of it in terms which seem more appropriate to the post-exilic Temple with its inner and outer courts (see the note on iv. 9). The terms he uses, however, are unhappily vague and it is not quite easy to determine the precise meaning. Thus here, the word used for “court” is ḥāṣēr, which according to iv. 9 ought to mean the inner court, the court of the priests, as distinguished from the outer court of the people, the “‘azārāh.” On this view, the phrase means that Jehoshaphat was in the ‘azārāh, standing not in but before the ḥāṣēr of the priests. But the inner court must be the old original court, and it seems quite impossible that the Chronicler, as he does here, should describe it as new: that adjective can be applicable only to a secondary, outer, court. We must therefore suppose that he here uses the word ḥāṣēr for the court he elsewhere designates by the special term ‘azārāh. The correct interpretation then is that Jehoshaphat stood before the new, the outer court, i.e. he stood at the inner side of the outer court with his back towards the inner court and looking out towards the containing wall and the entrances where the people were grouped. Both interpretations come to much the same thing, but the point of language deserves attention.

⁶and he said, O Lord, the God of our fathers, art not thou God in heaven? and art not thou ruler over all the kingdoms of the nations? and in thine hand is power and might, so that none is able to withstand thee.

6. art not thou God] Compare Joshua ii. 11.

ruler over all the kingdoms] Compare Psalms xxii. 28.

is power] compare xiv. 11 (Asa’s prayer).

⁷Didst not thou, O our God, drive out the inhabitants of this land before thy people Israel, and gavest it to the seed of Abraham thy friend for ever? ⁸And they dwelt therein, and have built thee a sanctuary therein for thy name, saying,

7. drive out] compare Deuteronomy ix. 5.

thy friend] compare Isaiah xli. 8.

⁹If evil come upon us, the sword¹, judgement, or pestilence, or famine, we will stand before this house, and before thee, (for thy name is in this house,) and cry unto thee in our affliction, and thou wilt hear and save.

¹ Or, the sword of judgement.

9. the sword, judgement] Render with margin the sword of judgement (compare Ezekiel xiv. 17).

¹⁰And now, behold, the children of Ammon and Moab and mount Seir, whom thou wouldest not let Israel invade, when they came out of the land of Egypt, but they turned aside from them, and destroyed them not;

10. mount Seir] Here, and in verse 23 in the enumeration of the allied peoples, “Mount Seir” which was situated in the Edomite territory takes the place of the “Meunim” of verse 1. It is clear, however, that the same contingent is meant, and no difficulty arises if Meunim denotes people from the Edomite district near the town Ma‘īn: see note on verse 1. Even if the south Arabian Minaeans were meant, it might be said that the two peoples were cognate and that Minaean invaders in passing through Mount Seir would probably bring along with them Edomite kinsmen. The region loosely denoted by Mount Seir was practically synonymous with Edom, extending from the south of the Dead Sea to the head of the Gulf of Akaba.

whom thou wouldest not, etc.] Compare Deuteronomy ii. 4, 5, 9, 19; see also Numbers xx. 14‒21.

¹¹behold, how they reward us, to come to cast us out of thy possession, which thou hast given us to inherit.

11. thy possession] A “possession” means that which one takes possession of by the sword. Canaan is God’s “possession” because it was conquered by His arm (Psalms xliv. 3).

¹²O our God, wilt thou not judge them? for we have no might against this great company that cometh against us; neither know we what to do: but our eyes are upon thee.

12. our eyes are upon thee] Compare xiv. 11.

¹³And all Judah stood before the Lord, with their little ones, their wives, and their children.

13. their little ones ... and their children] Compare xxxi. 18, “their little ones ... and their sons and their daughters.” “Little ones” (Hebrew ṭaph) seems always to mean quite small children.

14‒19 (no parallel in Kings).
The Prophecy of Jahaziel.

¹⁴Then upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, the Levite, of the sons of Asaph, came the spirit of the Lord in the midst of the congregation;

14. Jahaziel] Nothing is known of him beyond what is recorded in this chapter. His name is significant (“God giveth visions”).

¹⁵and he said, Hearken ye, all Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou king Jehoshaphat: thus saith the Lord unto you, Fear not ye, neither be dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God’s.

15. the battle is not yours, but God’s] Jahaziel gives a special turn to the general truth, “The battle is the Lord’s” (David to Goliath, 1 Samuel xvii. 47).

¹⁶To-morrow go ye down against them: behold, they come up by the ascent of Ziz; and ye shall find them at the end of the valley, before the wilderness of Jeruel.

16. the ascent of Ziz] The exact positions of this and of the “valley” and of the “wilderness” mentioned in this verse are uncertain, but probably the invaders followed not the direct road from En-gedi to Beth-lehem, but one a little to the left of this.

the valley] (Hebrew naḥal), strictly “ravine” or “water-course.”

¹⁷Ye shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the Lord with you, O Judah and Jerusalem: fear not, nor be dismayed: to-morrow go out against them; for the Lord is with you. ¹⁸And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground: and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell down before the Lord, worshipping the Lord.

17. stand ye still, and see the salvation of the Lord] This saying magnificently expresses the very essence of this story of deliverance won by faith. And further it reveals the deepest aspect of the Chronicler’s attitude to life. It is the living heart of the whole history as he tells it. We are impatient of the mechanical and grandiose elements in his work, because the taste for such exaggeration has passed away and the necessity for laying stress on the ritual of religion has little relevance for our times. But all criticism of the books of Chronicles is superficial which fails to see that the writer is inspired by a splendid faith in God and a grand determination to maintain the religious attitude as the one ultimate key to life’s meaning. The present story is intended to assert the value of reliance upon God, in the midst of overwhelming peril still “trust in God and do the right”; and to assert this in the strongest conceivable terms. Thus it is related that the victory was gained without any need for Jehoshaphat’s grande armée of 1,160,000 men! Turn from the tale to the circumstances of the post-exilic Jewish community, and the heroism of such teaching leaps to light. It is when we are surrounded by unscrupulous and powerful foes and have not 1000 soldiers, far less 1,000,000, that the reality of our trust in God and goodness is put to the test. “Aye,” says the Chronicler, “but, if like Jehoshaphat you had 1,000,000, it is still the supreme duty of man to rely on God.” Great teaching, and greatly followed by the enfeebled yet indomitable Jews. While they were thus helpless, Jehovah wrought for Israel, even as the Chronicler relates that He destroyed the enemies of Jehoshaphat in the wilderness of Jeruel. “The Jews stood still and saw the working out of their deliverance; great Empires wrestled together—Babylonian, Persian, Greek, and Roman—like Moab, Ammon, and Edom, in the agony of the death struggle: and over all the tumult of battle Israel heard the voice of Jehovah, ‘The battle is not yours, but God’s; ... set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the deliverance of Jehovah with you, O Judah and Jerusalem’” (Bennett, Chronicles, p. 387). Certainly the post-exilic Jews were so weak that trust in their own armed power was at almost all times manifestly absurd, yet this does not mean that they were thereby driven to the policy of quiet faith. There was an alternative ever before them—despair and unbelief: that they resolutely refused. Such were the stern realities which ought to be weighed when we seek to realise the moral and spiritual worth of the Chronicler and his doctrines.

¹⁹And the Levites, of the children of the Kohathites and of the children of the Korahites, stood up to praise the Lord, the God of Israel, with an exceeding loud voice.

19. the Korahites] The Korahites were a branch of the Kohathites (1 Chronicles vi. 22 [7, Hebrew], 37, 38 [22, 23, Hebrew]); the Chronicler simply defines his first statement; those who stood up to praise were Kohathites by clan, Korahites by family.

20‒25 (no parallel in Kings).
The Deliverance.

²⁰And they rose early in the morning, and went forth into the wilderness of Tekoa: and as they went forth, Jehoshaphat stood and said, Hear me, O Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem; believe in the Lord your God, so shall ye be established; believe his prophets,

20. Tekoa] The modern Teḳu‘a, a ruin on a hill 2790 feet above the sea, about six miles south of Beth-lehem. It was an ancient place; xi. 6; 1 Chronicles ii. 24; 2 Samuel xiv. 2; Amos i. 1. The “wilderness of Tekoa” means that part of the “wilderness of Judah” which was near Tekoa.

believe ... so shall ye be established] Compare Isaiah vii. 9, “If ye will not believe, surely ye shall not be established.” In both places there is a play on the words in the Hebrew; “believe” and “be established” representing two voices of the same verb ha’amīnū ... tē’āmēnū.

²¹so shall ye prosper. And when he had taken counsel with the people, he appointed them that should sing unto the Lord, and praise the beauty¹ of holiness, as they went out before the army, and say, Give thanks unto the Lord; for his mercy endureth for ever.

¹ Or, in the beauty of holiness.

21. them that should sing unto the Lord, and praise] Compare the preliminaries of the Battle of the Standard fought between the Scots and English in 1138.

the beauty of holiness] Render in holy attire, i.e. in priestly garments. Compare 1 Chronicles xvi. 29 (note).

before the army] Contrast Joshua vi. 7, 9 (the armed men precede the Ark).

Give thanks] compare 1 Chronicles xvi. 41.

²²And when they began to sing and to praise, the Lord set liers in wait against the children of Ammon, Moab, and mount Seir, which were come against Judah; and they were smitten.

22. the Lord set liers in wait] Comparing Joshua viii. 2, where Joshua is bidden by God to set an ambush, we might suppose that the present phrase implies simply that the Lord suggested to Jehoshaphat the plan of setting an ambush. Such a view, however, seems antagonistic to verse 17, where the Judeans are told only to stand still and see the salvation wrought by God; and indeed it would detract immensely from the value of the tale as an awe-inspiring marvel. It is preferable to suppose that certain supernatural Divine agents were meant by the Chronicler. If the tradition has an historical basis, some sudden assault was probably made by the inhabitants of the invaded district before the main army from Jerusalem arrived (see the Introduction pp. xlix, l). G. A. Smith (Historical Geography of the Holy Land, p. 272) points out that the country between En-gedi and Tekoa is well suited for attack by surprise.

²³For the children of Ammon and Moab stood up against the inhabitants of mount Seir, utterly to slay and destroy them: and when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, every one helped to destroy another.

23. For the children of Ammon] Render, And the children of Ammon. The sudden attack of the “liers in wait” caused a panic and a suspicion of treachery among the allies; so at Gideon’s surprise of Midian every man turned his sword against his fellow (Judges vii. 22).

utterly to slay] Literally to devote, or put to the ban (Hebrew ḥerem); i.e. to undertake the partial or total destruction of the foe and his possessions as a sacred duty to be performed in honour of God—compare Leviticus xxvii. 28, 29, and Driver’s note on Exodus xxii. 20 in this series. Compare 1 Chronicles iv. 41.

²⁴And when Judah came to the watch-tower of the wilderness, they looked upon the multitude; and, behold, they were dead bodies fallen to the earth, and there were none that escaped.

24. to the watch-tower] Rather “to the outlook-point,” i.e. some spot from which they were able to survey the scene of the disaster in the valley by which the enemy were advancing.

²⁵And when Jehoshaphat and his people came to take the spoil of them, they found among them in abundance both riches and dead bodies¹, and precious jewels, which they stripped off for themselves, more than they could carry away: and they were three days in taking of the spoil, it was so much.

¹ According to some ancient authorities, garments.

25. they found among them in abundance both riches and dead bodies] The Hebrew text is faulty. Following the LXX. εὖρον κτήνη πολλὰ καὶ ἀποσκευὴν καὶ σκῦλα, read probably they found much cattle and goods and garments.

26‒30 (no parallel in Kings).
The Sequel of the Deliverance.

²⁶And on the fourth day they assembled themselves in the valley of Beracah¹; for there they blessed the Lord: therefore the name of that place was called The valley of Beracah, unto this day. ²⁷Then they returned, every man of Judah and Jerusalem, and Jehoshaphat in the forefront of them, to go again to Jerusalem with joy; for the Lord had made them to rejoice over their enemies. ²⁸And they came to Jerusalem with psalteries and harps and trumpets unto the house of the Lord.

¹ That is, Blessing.

26. valley of Beracah] A deserted village Bereikūt (south of Tekoa) where there are some very ancient ruins seems to preserve the name. It is possible that the “valley of Jehoshaphat” mentioned by Joel (iii. [iv., Hebrew] 2) is to be identified with the scene of Jehoshaphat’s deliverance.

²⁹And the fear of God was on all the kingdoms of the countries, when they heard that the Lord fought against the enemies of Israel. ³⁰So the realm of Jehoshaphat was quiet: for his God gave him rest round about.

29. was on all] Rather, came upon all; compare xiv. 14, xvii. 10.

the kingdoms of the countries] a characteristic phrase with the Chronicler; compare xii. 8, xvii. 10 and 1 Chronicles xxix. 30.

31‒34 (= 1 Kings xxii. 41‒45).
The Summary of Jehoshaphat’s Reign.

There are several variations of text between Kings and Chronicles here; and in particular the Chronicler omits the statement that Jehoshaphat made peace with Israel.

³¹And Jehoshaphat reigned over Judah: he was thirty and five years old when he began to reign; and he reigned twenty and five years in Jerusalem: and his mother’s name was Azubah the daughter of Shilhi.

31. reigned over Judah] In Kings, began to reign over Judah in the fourth year of Ahab king of Israel. The Chronicler will not date the accession of a southern king by the year of an ungodly northern king.

³²And he walked in the way of Asa his father, and turned not aside from it, doing that which was right in the eyes of the Lord.

32. of Asa his father] compare xvii. 3 (note).

³³Howbeit the high places were not taken away; neither as yet had the people set their hearts unto the God of their fathers.

33. the high places] Precisely the contrary is asserted in xvii. 6, where see note. On the meaning of “high place” see the note on xv. 17.

neither as yet had the people set their hearts] compare xii. 14. In Kings it is said particularly that the people sacrificed and burnt incense at the high places.

³⁴Now the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, first and last, behold, they are written in the history¹ of Jehu the son of Hanani, which is inserted² in the book of the kings of Israel.

¹ Hebrew words.

² Or, who is mentioned.

34. Jehu the son of Hanani] See xix. 2 (note).

which is inserted] Chronicles of different events were joined together to form one continuous Chronicle; i.e. the history of Jehu means a special section of the Book of the Kings of Israel—see Introduction § 5, p. xxxii.

35‒37 (compare 1 Kings xxii. 48, 49).
The Destruction of Jehoshaphat’s Fleet.

The Chronicler gives a somewhat different account of this incident from that in Kings. According to the latter, Jehoshaphat made ships of Tarshish (i.e. a particular kind of vessel) to sail to Ophir for gold, and refused the offer of Ahaziah to cooperate in the enterprise. It is then added that the enterprise failed, as the ships were wrecked at Ezion-geber. The Chronicler, on the other hand, expressly asserts that Jehoshaphat “joined himself” with the wicked Ahaziah in this naval enterprise, and interprets the wreck as a Divine punishment for the sin of the alliance (the disaster being foretold by a prophet). Further he has misunderstood the term “ships of Tarshish” (see note, verse 36) and makes Tarshish, and not Ophir, the object of the voyage. The whole is said to constitute an instructive example of the freedom with which the narrative in Kings could be handled in the interests of religious teaching. The second divergence, “ships to Tarshish,” is only an error of ignorance, but the first is important. Without, however, denying that the Chronicler has been careful to point the moral of his tale, it may be urged that his version is not obtained simply by an arbitrary alteration of Kings, but rather reflects an independent account of the affair, perhaps more reliable than that in Kings. Almost certainly Jehoshaphat was still virtually subject to Israel, and the Chronicler’s tradition may be true to fact in representing him as partner with Ahaziah from the start of the enterprise. At least the possibility must not be ruled out because the story suited the Chronicler’s religious predilections. Again it is quite improbable that the story of the seer of Mareshah is wholly an invention of the Chronicler (see notes on verse 37). The passage therefore yields some evidence of access to traditions other than those in Kings; and their value deserves to be fairly considered.

³⁵And after this did Jehoshaphat king of Judah join himself with Ahaziah king of Israel; the same did very wickedly: ³⁶and he joined himself with him to make ships to go to Tarshish: and they made the ships in Ezion-geber.

36. ships to go to Tarshish] In Kings, ships of Tarshish to go to Ophir: compare ix. 21 (= 1 Kings x. 22), note. In both passages the reading of Kings, “ships (or ‘navy’) of Tarshish,” i.e. large sea-going ships (compare Psalms xlviii. 7), is correct, because (1) Ezion-geber was a port for vessels sailing eastward, while Tarshish was in the west, (2) gold, the object of the voyage (compare 1 Kings xxii. 48), came from Ophir (viii. 18; 1 Kings ix. 28, x. 11; Psalms xlv. 9).

Tarshish] compare 1 Chronicles i. 7 (note).

Ezion-geber] compare viii. 17 (note).

³⁷Then Eliezer the son of Dodavahu of Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, Because thou hast joined thyself with Ahaziah, the Lord hath destroyed¹ thy works. And the ships were broken, that they were not able to go to Tarshish.

¹ Or, made a breach in.

37. Then Eliezer ... of Mareshah prophesied] Cook (Expository Times, August, 1906, p. 191) points out how suitable Mareshah is as the home of a prophet antagonistic to Jehoshaphat. The town was situated in the Shephelah (see xi. 8, note; and also Peters and Thiersch, Painted Tombs in the Necropolis of Marissa); and would be in close touch with the Philistine and Edomite (Arabian) districts, which were “stirred up” to revolt in the time of Jehoram, Jehoshaphat’s son. Note also the association of Mareshah in the tradition of Zerah’s invasion in Asa’s reign (xiv. 10). It is unlikely that the Chronicler would have “invented” Mareshah as the home of Eliezer; rather is it reasonable to infer that he is utilising an old tradition, independent of Kings and at least noteworthy for its consistency.

Dodavahu] The LXX. (Lucian), Δουδίου, indicates that the original form of the name was Dodiah דודיה, signifying probably “kinsman of Jehovah”; for euphemistic reasons this was softened to Dodavahu. The name therefore is almost certainly characteristic of an early period, and is not such as would naturally occur to the Chronicler’s imagination. Here again then we find reason for thinking that the Chronicler was relying on the current form of an old tradition (see G. B. Gray, Hebrew Proper Names, pp. 62, 232).

Chapter XXI.

1 (= 1 Kings xxii. 50).
Jehoshaphat succeeded by Jehoram.

2‒4 (no parallel in Kings).
The Names and the Fate of the other Sons of Jehoshaphat.

2‒4. Presumably the Chronicler has drawn the information given in these verses from traditional sources. The details of the names of the brethren, their possessions, and their massacre by Jehoram are not likely to be the product of the Chronicler’s unaided imagination.

¹And Jehoshaphat slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David; and Jehoram his son reigned in his stead. ²And he had brethren the sons of Jehoshaphat, Azariah, and Jehiel, and Zechariah, and Azariah, and Michael, and Shephatiah: all these were the sons of Jehoshaphat king of Israel.

2. brethren the sons of Jehoshaphat] It was necessary to define brethren, for the word by itself means no more than “kinsmen”; compare 1 Chronicles xii. 3 (note).

Azariah] Since this name (with a slight variation of spelling) is repeated in the list it is probable that the text is corrupt. Yet the error may be no more than the omission of some epithet which distinguished one Azariah from the other in the original text of the verse. The LXX. gives no help.

king of Israel] Compare xi. 3, note.

³And their father gave them great gifts, of silver, and of gold, and of precious things, with fenced cities in Judah: but the kingdom gave he to Jehoram, because he was the firstborn.

3. their father gave them] Rehoboam did the same; xi. 23.

precious things] Hebrew migdānōth; compare xxxii. 23.

⁴Now when Jehoram was risen up over the kingdom of his father, and had strengthened himself, he slew all his brethren with the sword, and divers also of the princes of Israel.

4. strengthened himself] Compare i. 1 (note).

5‒7 (= 2 Kings viii. 17‒19).
The Evil Character of Jehoram’s Reign.

⁵Jehoram was thirty and two years old when he began to reign; and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. ⁶And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, as did the house of Ahab: for he had the daughter of Ahab to wife: and he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord.

6. of Ahab] Compare xviii. 1 (note).

⁷Howbeit the Lord would not destroy the house of David, because of the covenant that he had made with David, and as he promised to give a lamp to him and to his children alway.

7. the house of David] In 2 Kings Judah, a term sparingly used in Chronicles; compare xi. 3 (note).

a lamp] Thus figuratively applied the Hebrew word is written nīr; ordinarily “lamp” is nēr in Hebrew.

8‒10 (= 2 Kings viii. 20‒22).
The Revolt of Edom.

⁸In his days Edom revolted from under the hand of Judah, and made a king over themselves.

8. In his days Edom revolted] From 1 Chronicles xviii. 11‒13 (compare 2 Samuel viii. 13 f.) it appears that Edom was subjugated in the reign of David, and it seems to have remained so until Jehoram’s reign. If, as is probable, the Meunim are to be reckoned an Edomitic tribe (see the notes on xx. 1, 10), Edom may have made a vain attempt to throw off the Judean suzerainty in Jehoshaphat’s time, and this would suit the remark in 1 Kings xxii. 47 “And there was no king in Edom: a deputy was king”—i.e. a nominee of Jehoshaphat. Moreover the tradition of Jehoshaphat’s shipbuilding at Ezion-geber on the Gulf of Akaba implies the maintenance of his hold over Edom.

⁹Then Jehoram passed over with his captains, and all his chariots with him: and he rose up by night, and smote the Edomites which compassed him about, and the captains of the chariots.

9. Then Jehoram passed over] In Kings “passed over to Zair” (the place is not otherwise known; for a suggestion that the Moabite Zoar should be read, see Encyclopedia Britannica s.v. Moab, p. 631 ad fin.). Without the addition of a place name the verb “passed over” in Chronicles is somewhat awkward. It is possible that the Chronicler used it in the meaning that Jehoram with a vanguard of chariots passed by his main body of “the people” to take the lead. Although the text in 1 Kings viii. 21 appears to have suffered some corruption, it is fairly clear that Jehoram pushed on with his chariots as a vanguard, was hemmed in by the Edomites, and, though he succeeded in cutting his way out by a night attack, his main army had dispersed in the belief that the king and the chariots were cut off and lost.

and the captains of the chariots] The clause is governed by the verb “compassed” (read perhaps el for eth in the Hebrew).

¹⁰So Edom revolted from under the hand of Judah, unto this day: then did Libnah revolt at the same time from under his hand: because he had forsaken the Lord, the God of his fathers.

10. then did Libnah revolt at the same time] The exact position of Libnah is not known, but it was in the south of Judah, probably not far from Lachish (Tell el-Hesi) and the Edomite territory. The active hostility of the Edomitic (Arabian) and Philistine districts about this period afforded an opportunity to any elements of discontent in the townships of southern Judah; see the note on xxvi. 7. Probably the population of Libnah included many Edomite and Philistine families, compare the Peshitṭa rendering of this clause, viz. “Then did the Edomites who dwell in Libnah revolt.”

became he had forsaken, etc.] Not in Kings; a moralistic comment by the Chronicler.

11‒15 (not in Kings).
Jehoram’s Sins and Elijah’s written Denunciation.

¹¹Moreover he made high places in the mountains¹ of Judah, and made the inhabitants of Jerusalem to go a whoring, and led² Judah astray.

¹ According to some ancient authorities, cities.

² Or, compelled Judah thereto.

11. in the mountains] So Peshitṭa, but LXX., in the cities. The difference between the two readings in Hebrew is very small.

made ... to go a whoring] a much used metaphor of Scripture, meaning led ... into idolatry.

led Judah astray] Literally, drew or thrust away Judah, i.e. from the presence of Jehovah.

¹²And there came a writing to him from Elijah the prophet, saying, Thus saith the Lord, the God of David thy father, Because thou hast not walked in the ways of Jehoshaphat thy father, nor in the ways of Asa king of Judah; ¹³but hast walked in the way of the kings of Israel, and hast made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to go a whoring, like as the house of Ahab did¹; and also hast slain thy brethren of thy father’s house, which were better than thyself:

¹ Hebrew made to go a whoring.

12. a writing] This is the only place in which any writing of Elijah is mentioned. Even in Jehoshaphat’s reign Elijah seems to have been no longer among the living; compare 2 Kings iii. 11 (where Elisha seems already to have taken Elijah’s place). That the writing was a prophecy of Elijah denouncing Jehoram in anticipation of his reign is not only utterly improbable, but the plain words of the Chronicler do not seem even to suggest it. It is possible to suppose that some adaptation of words of Elijah to suit Jehoram’s case was placarded by an unknown hand outside Jehoram’s palace; but again the explanation seems more elaborate than the simple statement warrants. It is more probable therefore that the Chronicler means plainly a letter from Elijah, and ignores the anachronism involved in supposing the prophet to have been alive in Jehoram’s reign. So great wickedness seemed to him to require a rebuke from a well-known prophet, and it is put into the mouth of Elijah, who, as the great opponent of the idolatry of Ahab and Jezebel, seemed to be the most proper person to pronounce the denunciation. The style of the letter requires a late date, and the author is perhaps the Chronicler himself. See further the Introduction § 7, p. xlviii.

¹⁴behold, the Lord will smite with a great plague¹ thy people, and thy children, and thy wives, and all thy substance:

¹ Hebrew stroke.

14. a great plague] For “plague” compare xvi. 28, 29. Jehoram’s “plague” is described in verses 16, 17.

thy substance] Genesis xii. 5; the Hebrew word includes both “goods” and “chattels” (i.e. live stock).

¹⁵and thou shalt have great sickness by disease of thy bowels, until thy bowels fall out by reason of the sickness, day by day¹.

¹ Or, year after year.

15. day by day] margin, year after year; a prolonged sickness.

16, 17 (no parallel in Kings).
The Invasion of the Philistines and Arabians.

The Chronicler’s theory of life demanded that disasters should mark the close of this wicked reign, and in view of the licence which marks the Chronicler’s reconstruction of the history, it must be allowed that a raid by the very peoples who had paid tribute to Jehoshaphat (xvii. 11) may be only a conjecture to suit the requirements of his religious conviction. But neither the absence of the story from Kings, nor yet the religious appropriateness of the attack entails its rejection as unhistorical. The comparative fulness and vigour of the Chronicler’s account of these reigns yields many suggestive indications (some of which have already been noted) favouring the view that he had before him valuable independent traditions of Edomite and Philistine hostilities against Judah which were referred to this period. That being so, the possible historicity of this tradition in verses 16, 17 must be admitted; and it should be noted that such a raid would be a most natural sequel to Jehoram’s loss of control over Edom recorded in verse 8.

¹⁶And the Lord stirred up against Jehoram the spirit of the Philistines, and of the Arabians which are beside the Ethiopians:

16. stirred up ... the spirit] Perhaps not without the instigation of a prophetical party, of which Eliezer of Mareshah may have been a leading representative (see xx. 37). For the phrase “stirred up,” compare xxxvi. 22 and 1 Chronicles v. 26.

which are beside the Ethiopians] Hebrew Cushites—probably certain Arabian tribes, though it seems likely that the Chronicler understood the name to mean the Ethiopians of Africa (see the note on Zerah the Ethiopian, xiv. 9). Ancient geographical ideas were very inexact. Herodotus regarded all the land east of the Nile as part of Arabia. Distant lands are apt to be conceived of as all more or less “beside” one another. Thus the present writer has heard a Tyrolese peasant woman remark that she supposed “Russia and Japan were both beside England.” We may assume that in the Chronicler’s source Arabian Cushites were meant.

¹⁷and they came up against Judah, and brake into it, and carried away all the substance that was found in¹ the king’s house, and his sons also, and his wives; so that there was never a son left him, save Jehoahaz², the youngest of his sons.

¹ Or, belonging to.

² In chapter xxii. 1, Ahaziah.

17. and brake into it] The proper meaning of the Hebrew verb is “to make a breach in a city-wall [and so take the city]”; compare xxxii, 1. Here and in Isaiah vii. 6 the word is applied to a whole country.

in the king’s house] It is most unlikely that the invaders (if the raid be historical) actually entered Jerusalem, and almost certain that the Chronicler did not mean to imply that they did. Probably therefore we should translate, as the margin, belonging to the king’s house. Part of the royal possessions and the royal household might well have been in the camp; see below, the note on xxii. 1.

Jehoahaz] In xxii. 1 he is called Ahaziah, which is only another form of the name, the prefix Jeho- of the one, and the ending -iah of the other being each the representative of the Divine name Jehovah. The name in either form means “Jehovah hath taken” (or “grasped”). Parallel instances are the names Jehoshaphat and Shephatiah (verse 2) and Jehonathan and Nethaniah in xvii. 8.

18‒20 (compare 2 Kings viii. 24).
Death and Burial of Jehoram.

¹⁸And after all this the Lord smote him in his bowels with an incurable disease. ¹⁹And it came to pass, in process of time, at the end of two years, that his bowels fell out by reason of his sickness, and he died of sore diseases. And his people made no burning for him, like the burning of his fathers.

19. by reason of his sickness] LXX. μετὰ τῆς νόσου, i.e. in the course of his sickness.

no burning] compare xvi. 14 (note).

²⁰Thirty and two years old was he when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem eight years: and he departed without being desired; and they buried him in the city of David, but not in the sepulchres of the kings.

20. he departed without being desired] literally without desire: i.e. he lived so that none desired him, or he lived as no one desired. Compare LXX., ἐπορεύθη οὐκ ἐν ἐπαίνῳ, literally “he walked without praise.”

but not in the sepulchres of the kings] According to Kings he “was buried with his fathers.” Compare xxiv. 25, xxviii. 27.

Chapter XXII.

1‒4 (= 2 Kings viii. 25‒27).
The Reign of Ahaziah.

¹And the inhabitants of Jerusalem made Ahaziah¹ his youngest son king in his stead: for the band of men that came with the Arabians to the camp had slain all the eldest. So Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah reigned.

¹ In chapter xxi. 17, Jehoahaz.

1. the inhabitants of Jerusalem, etc.] In consequence of the great disaster to the royal house, the people play a more prominent part than usual in deciding the succession to the throne; compare 2 Kings xxiii. 30.

to the camp] or to the host. The sense seems to be that the princes of the royal house were with the army in the field and were slain by a surprise attack of a party from the Philistine and Arabian forces (xxi. 16). The LXX. reads, Ἄραβες οἱ Ἀλειμαζονεϊς, i.e. apparently “the Arabians of Mazin”; but in all probability this reading is a mere error derived from a transliteration of the Hebrew word rendered “to the camp” (see Torrey, Ezra Studies, p. 74).

²Forty and two¹ years old was Ahaziah when he began to reign; and he reigned one year in Jerusalem: and his mother’s name was Athaliah the daughter² of Omri. ³He also walked in the ways of the house of Ahab: for his mother was his counsellor to do wickedly.

¹ In 2 Kings viii. 26, Two and twenty.

² Or, granddaughter.

2. Forty and two years old] The LXX. “twenty years old” is preferable, agreeing nearly with 2 Kings viii. 26, “two and twenty years old” (Hebrew and LXX.).

daughter of Omri] So 2 Kings viii. 26, but more correctly “daughter of Ahab” (2 Kings viii. verse 18).

⁴And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, as did the house of Ahab: for they were his counsellors after the death of his father, to his destruction.

4. after the death of his father] This phrase suggests that he acted as regent in his father’s lifetime during his father’s two years’ illness.

5, 6 (= 2 Kings viii. 28, 29).
The Alliance with Jehoram of Israel.

⁵He walked also after their counsel, and went with Jehoram the son of Ahab king of Israel to war against Hazael king of Syria at Ramoth-gilead: and the Syrians wounded Joram.

5. Joram] or Jehoram. The variation is unimportant.

⁶And he returned to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds¹ which they had given him at Ramah, when he fought against Hazael king of Syria. And Azariah² the son of Jehoram king of Judah went down to see Jehoram the son of Ahab in Jezreel, because he was sick.

¹ 2 Kings viii. 29, and in the Septuagint and Syriac versions. The text has, because the wounds which &c.

² In verse 1, Ahaziah.

6. Jezreel] A city some distance to the north of Samaria, giving its name to the plain of Jezreel (Esdraelon). Ahab had a house there (1 Kings xxi. 1), probably a country house judging from the incident of Naboth’s vineyard. It is the modern Zer‘in, a town situated on a hill commanding a wide view towards the west and the east, Bädeker, Palestine⁵, p. 244.

Ramah] i.e. Ramoth-gilead (see xviii. 2, note).

Azariah] Read, as margin, Ahaziah.

7‒9 (compare 2 Kings ix. 16‒26, 27, 28, x. 11‒14).
The Death of Ahaziah.

7‒9. These verses give a hasty summary of the passages in Kings The Chronicler’s version differs in some particulars from Kings The divergences may largely be due to the extreme brevity of Chronicles, and they do not absolutely require a variant form of the tradition for their explanation (so Torrey, Ezra Studies, p. 74), particularly if Samaria here in Chronicles denotes not the city but simply the province. Verse 7 is a brief but sufficient abridgment of 2 Kings ix. 16‒26 from the point of view of Ahaziah’s concern in the affair. On the other hand there is great probability in the view that the Chronicler’s account goes back to a version of the tradition independent of that in Kings; see the notes on verses 8, 9; and compare Cook in the Jewish Quarterly Review for 1908, p. 612.

⁷Now the destruction¹ of Ahaziah was of God, in that he went unto Joram: for when he was come, he went out with Jehoram against Jehu the son of Nimshi, whom the Lord had anointed to cut off the house of Ahab.

¹ Hebrew treading down.

7. destruction] Rather, ruin, or downfall, LXX., καταστροφή). Ahaziah’s brethren fell with him (verse 8).

had anointed] compare 2 Kings ix. 1‒10.

⁸And it came to pass, when Jehu was executing judgement upon the house of Ahab, that he found the princes of Judah, and the sons of the brethren of Ahaziah, ministering to Ahaziah, and slew them.

8. the sons of the brethren of Ahaziah] LXX. “the brethren (i.e. the kinsmen) of Ahaziah”: so also 2 Kings x. 13. The brethren (in the strict sense of the word) of Ahaziah had already been killed (verse 1).

ministering] According to 2 Kings they were going to “salute the children of the king and the children of the queen” (probably a courtly expression for “salute the king and the queen”). Their murder in Kings is clearly regarded as subsequent to Ahaziah’s death, whereas in Chronicles the attack on Ahaziah (verse 9) apparently is placed after the murder of the brethren as recorded in the present verse. It is possible, however, to suppose that verses 8 and 9 are not meant to be related to each other in a time sequence, and that verses 7, 8, 9 are all relatively independent statements.

⁹And he sought Ahaziah, and they caught him, (now he was hiding in Samaria,) and they brought him to Jehu, and slew him; and they buried him, for they said, He is the son of Jehoshaphat, who sought the Lord with all his heart. And the house of Ahaziah had no power¹ to hold the kingdom.

¹ Or, And there was none of the house of Ahaziah that had power &c.

9. now he was hiding in Samaria] If Samaria means the city, then according to Chronicles Ahaziah fled southward from Jezreel; while according to 2 Kings his flight was westward to Megiddo (to be identified with Khan el-Lejjun, Bädeker, Palestine⁵, p. 228). Perhaps however Samaria means the province (as in xxv. 13; Ezekiel iv. 10). Even so this account of Ahaziah’s wounding and death differs markedly from that in Kings, where nothing is said of his hiding, but simply that he went out with Joram when Jehu encountered Joram (so here verse 7), was wounded, fled to Megiddo, and died there, but was carried back by his servants to Jerusalem and there buried. Here it is stated that he was captured, brought to Jehu, and slain (?before him). The place of his burial is unnamed, but it would readily be supposed that he was buried by Jehu’s servants and not at Jerusalem. These divergences in verses 8, 9 are curious and are most naturally explained as originating in a variant form of the tradition.

10‒12 (= 2 Kings xi. 1‒3).
The Reign of Athaliah.

¹⁰Now when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the seed royal of the house of Judah.

10. destroyed] This is the reading of Kings and of the LXX. of Chronicles The Hebrew reads spake with, which is perhaps a euphemism; compare the English “deal with.”

¹¹But Jehoshabeath¹, the daughter of the king, took Joash the son of Ahaziah, and stole him away from among the king’s sons that were slain, and put him and his nurse in the bedchamber². So Jehoshabeath, the daughter of king Jehoram, the wife of Jehoiada the priest, (for she was the sister of Ahaziah,) hid him from Athaliah, so that she slew him not.

¹ In 2 Kings xi. 2, Jehosheba.

² Or, chamber for the beds.

11. Jehoshabeath] In Kings “Jehosheba.” The two are forms of the same name; compare “Elisabeth” (Luke i. 7) and “Elisheba” (Exodus vi. 23), a similar pair.

in the bedchamber] margin, in the chamber for the beds, i.e. perhaps in a store room in which bed furniture was kept: a convenient but an uncertain interpretation.

the wife of Jehoiada the priest] Compare xxiii. 1. This relationship is not given in Kings.

¹²And he was with them hid in the house of God six years: and Athaliah reigned over the land.

12. with them] i.e. with Jehoiada and Jehoshabeath. In Kings “with her.”

in the house of God] “The chamber for beds” (which was perhaps in the palace) was only a temporary hiding-place.

Chapter XXIII.

1‒11 (compare 2 Kings xi. 4‒12).
The Conspiracy against Athaliah.

The account in Kings of the famous conspiracy which resulted in the downfall and death of Athaliah the queen mother and the coronation of the child Joash has the marks of a graphic and accurate narrative. The Chronicler evidently desired to reproduce it word for word, but in one point he was obliged to alter it in accordance with his ideas. In Kings the plot is engineered by the high-priest Jehoiada with the help of the officers (“captains of hundreds”) and men of the Carites and the guard, (i.e. the royal body-guard), who were foreign mercenaries. But the statement in 2 Kings xi. 4, 11, that these men who were both laymen and foreigners were permitted by the high-priest to be within the court of the Temple, though no doubt correct in point of fact (see Ezekiel xliv. 6 f.), was inconceivable to the Chronicler. In his account therefore the soldiers of the guard vanish, and the “captains of hundreds” are prominent Levites, who organise the conspiracy by gathering the Levites and chief men throughout Judah (verse 2); and, further, careful directions are given (verse 6) that none shall enter the Temple save priests and Levites “for they are holy.” The passage is an interesting example of the Chronicler’s procedure in the interests of the ecclesiastical order to which he belonged and in which he believed so firmly.

¹And in the seventh year Jehoiada strengthened himself, and took the captains of hundreds, Azariah the son of Jeroham, and Ishmael the son of Jehohanan, and Azariah the son of Obed, and Maaseiah the son of Adaiah, and Elishaphat the son of Zichri, into covenant with him.

1. strengthened himself] Compare i. 1 (note); the phrase does not occur in the parallel passage of Kings.

Azariah, etc.] The names of course are not in Kings (see previous note). The individual names add to the naturalness of the Chronicler’s account. It is unlikely that the Levitical contemporaries of the Chronicler had any reliable traditions enabling them to say who probably were the leading Priests or Levites of Jerusalem in the time of Athaliah and Joash. Perhaps the Chronicler has simply chosen names which were suitable for Levites to bear.

captains of hundreds] In 2 Kings “captains over hundreds of the Carites (i.e. Cherethites) and of the guard.” The Chronicler takes the captains to be captains of Levites.

²And they went about in Judah, and gathered the Levites out of all the cities of Judah, and the heads of fathers’ houses of Israel, and they came to Jerusalem.

2. gathered the Levites] This statement is not found in Kings—see the head-note.

Israel] See xi. 3 (note).

³And all the congregation made a covenant with the king in the house of God. And he said unto them, Behold, the king’s son shall reign, as the Lord hath spoken concerning the sons of David.

3. all the congregation] Contrast 2 Kings xi. 4, where the “covenant” is a secret agreement between Jehoiada and the officers of the guard.

hath spoken concerning] Compare 2 Samuel vii. 16; 1 Chronicles xvii. 17.

⁴This is the thing that ye shall do: a third part of you, that come in on the sabbath, of the priests and of the Levites, shall be porters of the doors¹;

¹ Hebrew thresholds.

4. This is the thing that ye shall do] The arrangements as given here and in 2 Kings are not entirely clear owing to our ignorance regarding some of the places referred to. The Chronicler did not clearly understand the scheme in Kings, but he was not troubled thereby. He was concerned only to see that in his account the Levites replaced the soldiers of the guard and that no unlawful person entered the precincts of the Temple. According to Kings, it would appear that it was the custom on the Sabbath for two-thirds of the royal guards to be free and for one-third to be on duty at the palace. In order to avoid arousing suspicion this last third was, according to Jehoiada’s directions, to be at the palace as usual, but it was to be subdivided into thirds and so distributed as to close the various means of communication between the palace and the rest of the city. Thus Athaliah was to be held as in a trap by her own guards (2 Kings xi. 5, 6). The two-thirds who were free from duty on the Sabbath were to be stationed in the Temple about the young king to guard him at his coronation.

The arrangements are differently and no doubt less correctly stated in Chronicles In the first place Levitical Temple guards take the place of the royal guards; secondly, the only division of the guards recognised is a simple division into thirds; finally, the stations of the different divisions are differently given, viz., one-third in the Temple, one-third in the palace, and one-third at “the gate of the foundation.”

Using the modern terms “battalion” and “company” for the divisions and subdivisions given in Kings, the arrangements may be stated in a form which allows easy comparison between Kings and Chronicles, as follows:—

(i) 2 Kings xi. 5‒7.

(Royal guards in three battalions.)

1st battalion on duty at the king’s house (palace).

A company within the palace (verse 5),

B company at the gate of Sur,

C company at another gate (“behind the guard,” verse 6).

2nd and 3rd battalions off duty, but brought into the house of the Lord (the Temple) by Jehoiada (verse 7).

(ii) 2 Chronicles xxiii. 4, 5.

(Levites in three bands.)

Band I (= 1st battalion C company of 2 Kings) in the house of God, the Chronicler supposing that “the house” (2 Kings xi. 6) means the house of the Lord. More probably it means “the house of the king” (2 Kings xi. verse 5).

Band II (= 1st battalion A company of 2 Kings) at the king’s house (so 2 Kings).

Band III (= 1st battalion B company of 2 Kings) at the gate of “the foundation.”

(The Chronicler passes over the 2nd and 3rd battalions, because he has already assigned their duty to 1st battalion C company.).

of the priests and of the Levites] Not in Kings. The words are a mistaken but intentional gloss of the Chronicler, for it is clear that in Kings lay guards are meant.

porters of the doors] margin, of the thresholds, i.e. of the Temple according to the Chronicler, for the word for “doors” (or “thresholds,” sippim in Hebrew) is always used for the thresholds of some sanctuary, e.g. of the Tabernacle (1 Chronicles ix. 19, 22), of the Temple of Solomon (2 Chronicles iii. 7), of (apparently) some Israelite shrine (Amos ix. 1). In the parallel passage (2 Kings xi. 6) however “the watch of the house” clearly means “the watch of the king’s house” (2 Kings xi. verse 5).

⁵and a third part shall be at the king’s house; and a third part at the gate of the foundation: and all the people shall be in the courts of the house of the Lord.

5. a third part shall be at the king’s house; and a third part at the gate of the foundation] These two-thirds according to the scheme given above were both stationed about the palace, but they are not to be reckoned as two-thirds of the whole guard.

the gate of the foundation] “Gate of JSVD” (Hebrew). This is certainly the “Gate of Sur” (SVR in Hebrew) of 2 Kings xi. 6. Possibly however we should read “Gate of SVS (or SVSIM)” i.e. “Horse Gate” (verse 15; compare 2 Kings xi. 16) both here and in Kings.

⁶But let none come into the house of the Lord, save the priests, and they that minister of the Levites; they shall come in, for they are holy: but all the people shall keep the watch of the Lord.

6. let none come into the house of the Lord] It is clear on the contrary from Kings (verse 11) that the royal guards (who were laymen) were brought into the Temple itself under Jehoiada’s directions. The Chronicler is evidently at pains to guard against the notion that such a breach of ritual took place.

all the people] Not mentioned in Kings; but compare 1 Kings xi. 14.

⁷And the Levites shall compass the king round about, every man with his weapons in his hand; and whosoever cometh into the house, let him be slain: and be ye with the king when he cometh in, and when he goeth out.

7. into the house] 2 Kings “within the ranks.” Any one who should attempt to break through the ranks of the guard to get near to the king was to be killed. According to the Chronicler Jehoiada’s precaution would protect the sanctity of the Temple as well as the person of the young king.

⁸So the Levites and all Judah did according to all that Jehoiada the priest commanded: and they took every man his men, those that were to come in on the sabbath, with those that were to go out on the sabbath; for Jehoiada the priest dismissed not the courses.

8. the Levites and all Judah] In 2 Kings “the captains over hundreds.” See notes on verse 4.

for Jehoiada the priest dismissed not the courses] Not in Kings. The Levites (1 Chronicles xxiii. 6), the priests (1 Chronicles xxiv. 1), and the king’s army (1 Chronicles xxvii. 1 ff.) were each divided into “courses,” but it is clear from the context that courses of Levites are meant here.

⁹And Jehoiada the priest delivered to the captains of hundreds the spears, and bucklers, and shields, that had been king David’s, which were in the house of God.

9. shields] Hebrew shĕlāṭīm; see note on 1 Chronicles xviii. 7.

¹⁰And he set all the people, every man with his weapon in his hand, from the right side¹ of the house to the left side of the house, along by the altar and the house, by the king round about.

¹ Hebrew shoulder.

10. with his weapon] The Hebrew word (shelaḥ) means a “missile weapon.”

¹¹Then they brought out the king’s son, and put the crown upon him¹, and gave him the testimony, and made him king: and Jehoiada and his sons anointed him; and they said, God save the king².

¹ Or, put upon him the crown and the testimony.

² Hebrew Let the king live.

11. put the crown upon him, and gave him the testimony] So LXX. and Hebrew both here and in 2 Kings xi. 12. Note that the words “gave him” are not in the Hebrew What then is the meaning of “put the crown ... the testimony”? It is supposed that by “the testimony” some document inscribed with laws, a charter binding king and people to live according to its precepts, is meant, and that this document was placed in the hands or on the head of Joash along with the crown. The wearing of an inscription or of a document on a solemn occasion, though strange to Western thought, is not alien from Eastern methods; compare Exodus xxviii. 36 ff.; Deuteronomy vi. 6‒8; Job xxxi. 35, 36; but evidence of such a ceremony at the coronation of a monarch is lacking. Hence it is tempting to think that we should read as the true text of Kings “put upon him the crown and the bracelets”—a brilliant conjecture made by Wellhausen, which involves in Hebrew only the addition of one consonant to the present text, but again there is no satisfactory evidence that bracelets were put on the king at his coronation: Wellhausen relied on 2 Samuel i. 10. Further, it is very probable that the error (if it is one) was present in the text of Kings which lay before the Chronicler, and therefore in Chronicles “the testimony” may be the original reading.

Jehoiada and his sons] In Kings, “they anointed him” (without specifying the actors).

God save the king] Literally, Let the king live!

12‒15 (= 2 Kings xi. 13‒16).
Death of Athaliah.

¹²And when Athaliah heard the noise of the people running and praising the king¹, she came to the people into the house of the Lord:

¹ Or, of the people, of the guard, and of those who praised the king.

12. running] The word might mean “the guard” (literally runners)—see the margin It has that meaning in Kings, but the Chronicler interprets it literally as the participle of the verb.

praising the king] Perhaps verses were extemporised in praise of a king at his coronation, just as over a maiden at her marriage; compare Psalms lxxviii. 63.

she came] Athaliah was allowed to pass the palace guard, but now it was too late for her to save her crown.

¹³and she looked, and, behold, the king stood by his pillar at the entrance, and the captains and the trumpets by the king; and all the people of the land rejoiced, and blew with trumpets; the singers also played on instruments of music, and led the singing of praise. Then Athaliah rent her clothes, and said, Treason, treason.

13. by his pillar] compare 2 Kings xxiii. 3 (= 2 Chronicles xxxiv. 31, “in his place”). Although “pillar” is attested by 2 Kings xxiii. 3, the phrase is curious. Perhaps we should here read “in his place,” as in xxxiv. 31: the difference in Hebrew is very slight.

at the entrance] In 2 Kings as the manner was.

¹⁴And Jehoiada the priest brought out the captains of hundreds that were set over the host, and said unto them, Have her forth between the ranks; and whoso followeth her, let him be slain with the sword: for the priest said, Slay her not in the house of the Lord.

14. brought out] Read (as 2 Kings) commanded.

between the ranks] i.e. she was to be taken out between two lines of guards.

¹⁵So they made way for her; and she went to the entry of the horse gate to the king’s house: and they slew her there.

15. the horse gate] Compare the note on the “gate of the foundation” (verse 5).

16‒21 (= 2 Kings xi. 17‒20).
The Secret of the Fall of Athaliah.

¹⁶And Jehoiada made a covenant between himself, and all the people, and the king, that they should be the Lord’s people.

16. between himself, and all the people, and the king] Jehoiada puts himself first as regent. In 2 Kings “between the Lord and the king and the people.”

that they should be the Lord’s people] Compare xxix. 10, xxxiv. 31; Exodus xxiv. 1‒11; Deuteronomy xxvi. 17, 18; Nehemiah ix. 36‒38.

¹⁷And all the people went to the house of Baal, and brake it down, and brake his altars and his images in pieces, and slew Mattan the priest of Baal before the altars.

17. the house of Baal] When this was erected is not known, perhaps under Jehoram (xxi. 6) or Ahaziah (xxii. 3), but it was doubtless intended for the worship of the Tyrian Baal, for Athaliah was probably grand-daughter of a Tyrian king (compare 2 Kings viii. 18 with 1 Kings xvi. 31). It is interesting to see that the revolt against Athaliah in Jerusalem, like the revolution led by Jehu against her parents, Ahab and Jezebel, in the Northern Kingdom, was fostered, if not indeed caused, by religious antipathy. At least these passages are of high value in showing the hold which the worship of Jehovah had already obtained upon the loyalty of Israel. Court influences, always powerful in such small states, when cast against the worship of Jehovah, were unable for long to maintain the struggle against the national “jealousy” for Him.

¹⁸And Jehoiada appointed the offices of the house of the Lord under the hand of the priests the Levites, whom David had distributed in the house of the Lord, to offer the burnt offerings of the Lord, as it is written in the law of Moses, with rejoicing and with singing, according to the order of David¹.

¹ Hebrew by the hands of David.

18. And Jehoiada appointed, etc.] This whole verse is represented in Kings simply by the words, “And the priest appointed officers (‘offices,’ margin) over the house of the Lord” (i.e. officers for the care of the Temple, e.g. to see to cleaning and repairing it).

the priests the Levites] Read probably the priests and the Levites, and see the note on the same phrase in xxx. 27.

according to the order of David] Note that the Chronicler ascribes all sacrificial arrangements to the law of Moses, but all musical arrangements to David, compare 1 Chronicles xxv.

¹⁹And he set the porters at the gates of the house of the Lord, that none which was unclean in any thing should enter in.

19. he set the porters] Compare 1 Chronicles xxvi. 1 ff., 13 ff. Jehoiada is regarded as re-establishing a Davidic arrangement which had fallen into disuse.

²⁰And he took the captains of hundreds, and the nobles, and the governors of the people, and all the people of the land, and brought down the king from the house of the Lord: and they came through the upper gate unto the king’s house, and set the king upon the throne of the kingdom. ²¹So all the people of the land rejoiced, and the city was quiet: and they slew Athaliah with the sword.

20. the nobles] Hebrew addīrīm; compare Nehemiah iii. 5 (with Ryle’s note). In 2 Kings, “the Carites”; compare verse 1 (note).

the upper gate] compare xxvii. 3, “the upper gate of the house of the Lord.” In 2 Kings, “by the way of the gate of the guard” (doubtless one of the gates of the palace). The Chronicler, writing at a time when the palace had ceased to exist, naturally fixes localities by reference to the Temple. The gate in question was probably one in the north wall of the Temple court, referred to in Jeremiah xx. 2 as “the upper gate of Benjamin.”

Chapter XXIV.

1‒3 (compare 2 Kings xi. 21‒xii. 3).
Joash begins to Reign.

¹Joash was seven years old when he began to reign; and he reigned forty years in Jerusalem: and his mother’s name was Zibiah of Beer-sheba. ²And Joash did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord all the days of Jehoiada the priest.

2. After this verse Kings adds “Howbeit the high places were not taken away: the people sacrificed and burnt incense in the high places.” This the Chronicler omits, for it was quite irreconcilable with his notion of the religious reformation which marks the opening years of the reign of Joash.

³And Jehoiada took for him two wives; and he begat sons and daughters.

3. And Jehoiada, etc.] This verse is not in Kings. It was the duty of a Jewish father to provide his son with a wife; Jehoiada standing in loco parentis does this for Joash.

4‒14 (= 2 Kings xii. 4‒16).
The Restoration of the Temple.

⁴And it came to pass after this, that Joash was minded to restore the house of the Lord. ⁵And he gathered together the priests and the Levites, and said to them, Go out unto the cities of Judah, and gather of all Israel money to repair the house of your God from year to year, and see that ye hasten the matter. Howbeit the Levites hastened it not.

5. and the Levites] Not in Kings; compare xxiii. 2 (note).

Go out unto the cities of Judah] According to Kings, the restoration fund was to consist of a poll-tax (paid at the Temple at the Great Feasts, Exodus xxiii. 14‒17) and of free-will offerings paid in money, and nothing is said there about collecting money outside Jerusalem.

hastened it not] In Kings, “in the three and twentieth year of king Jehoash the priests had not repaired the breaches of the house.” Such protracted neglect of the repairs of the Temple appears the more reprehensible (in Kings) since the money was paid at the Temple, and therefore was actually in the hands of the priests. At the same time, to the Chronicler, the royal command to use money from the poll-tax and free-will offerings for the purpose of repairs was an infringement of the priests’ prerogatives. He therefore relieves the situation, partly by representing that the money was to be obtained by a special collection throughout the land, and also by softening the twenty-three years of inaction into “hastened it not.”

⁶And the king called for Jehoiada the chief, and said unto him, Why hast thou not required of the Levites to bring in out of Judah and out of Jerusalem the tax of Moses the servant of the Lord, and of the congregation of¹ Israel, for the tent of the testimony?

¹ Or, for Israel.

6. of the Levites] See note on verse 5.

the tax of Moses] i.e. the half-shekel due from each male for support of the sanctuary, according to Exodus xxx. 14‒16, xxxviii. 25, 26.

the tent of the testimony] “The testimony” refers to the Ten Commandments, which contained the substance of God’s testimony (protestation) to Israel. To illustrate the use of the phrase, note that the two tables of stone were called “tables of the testimony” (Exodus xxxi. 18, Revised Version); the ark which contained them was called the “ark of the testimony” (Exodus xxv. 22); the veil which hung before the ark was the “veil of the testimony” (Leviticus xxiv. 3); the tent which contained the ark was either the “tabernacle (Hebrew mishkān) of the testimony” (Exodus xxxviii. 21, Revised Version) or the “tent (Hebrew ōhel) of the testimony” (Numbers ix. 15). The tabernacle, with all its contents, was to be a standing protest to Israel that Jehovah was with His people according to covenant, and that every breach of the covenant would call forth punishment. Compare Deuteronomy iv. 25, 26, viii. 19, etc.

⁷For the sons of Athaliah, that wicked woman, had broken up the house of God; and also all the dedicated things of the house of the Lord did they bestow upon the Baalim. ⁸So the king commanded, and they made a chest, and set it without at the gate of the house of the Lord.

7. the sons of Athaliah] To be understood figuratively, “the adherents of Athaliah.” So “a son of the apothecaries” (Nehemiah iii. 8; compare Authorized Version with Revised Version) is “a member of the apothecaries’ guild” and “the sons of the prophets” (2 Kings ii. 15, etc.) are “the adherents (or ‘scholars’) of the prophets.”

had broken up] Rather, had broken into.

all the dedicated things] Compare xv. 18; 1 Chronicles xviii. 10, 11. Probably gold, silver and brass.

did they bestow upon the Baalim] Or, did they make into images of Baal. Compare Hosea ii. 8, Revised Version margin.

⁹And they made a proclamation through Judah and Jerusalem, to bring in for the Lord the tax that Moses the servant of God laid upon Israel in the wilderness. ¹⁰And all the princes and all the people rejoiced, and brought in, and cast into the chest, until they had made an end.

9. Kings has nothing corresponding to this verse; compare verse 5 (note).

¹¹And it was so, that at what time the chest was brought unto the king’s office¹ by the hand² of the Levites, and when they saw that there was much money, the king’s scribe³ and the chief priest’s officer came and emptied the chest, and took it, and carried it to its place again. Thus they did day by day, and gathered money in abundance. ¹²And the king and Jehoiada gave it to such as did the work of the service of the house of the Lord; and they hired masons and carpenters to restore the house of the Lord, and also such as wrought iron and brass to repair the house of the Lord.

¹ Or, officers.

² Or, which was under the hand.

³ Or, secretary.

11. at what time ... by the hand of the Levites] This clause is not in Kings.

the chief priest’s officer] According to Kings the high-priest was present himself. It would seem as if the Chronicler was concerned for the dignity of the high-priest, and desired to equate it with that of the king; if the latter was to be represented only by an officer, the former must be also.

¹³So the workmen wrought, and the work was perfected¹ by them, and they set up the house of God in its state², and strengthened it.

¹ Hebrew healing went up upon the work.

² Or, according to the proportion thereof.

13. in its state] i.e. according to its former state.

¹⁴And when they had made an end, they brought the rest of the money before the king and Jehoiada, whereof were made vessels for the house of the Lord, even vessels to minister, and to offer withal¹, and spoons, and vessels of gold and silver. And they offered burnt offerings in the house of the Lord continually all the days of Jehoiada.

¹ Or, pestles.

14. the rest of the money ... whereof were made vessels for the house of the Lord] This verse conflicts with 2 Kings xii. 13, 14, which states that the money gathered was not spent on gold and silver vessels for the Temple but was given to the workmen who repaired the house. The lack of such utensils and the paucity of money implied in Kings was evidently not credited by the Chronicler.

continually] Perhaps primarily in allusion to the morning and evening daily sacrifice (Numbers xxviii. 3‒6), but having also a wider reference to the whole round of sacrifices.

15‒19 (no parallel in 2 Kings).
The Apostasy of Joash.

¹⁵But Jehoiada waxed old and was full of days, and he died; an hundred and thirty years old was he when he died.

15. an hundred and thirty years] The age ascribed to Jacob in Genesis xlvii. 9. Its incongruity here is well pointed out by Curtis who notes that, were the figure correct, Jehoiada’s wife must have been about 25 years old and he about 100 at the time of Athaliah’s assassination. The ascription of so great length of life and the honours of his burial (verse 16) are suitable to the respect which the Chronicler felt Jehoiada to have merited.

¹⁶And they buried him in the city of David among the kings, because he had done good in Israel, and toward God and his house.

16. among the kings] Compare verse 25 and xxi. 20.

¹⁷Now after the death of Jehoiada came the princes of Judah, and made obeisance to the king. Then the king hearkened unto them.

17. made obeisance] Obeisance foreshadowed a request; compare 1 Kings i. 16.

¹⁸And they forsook the house of the Lord, the God of their fathers, and served the Asherim and the idols: and wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this their guiltiness.

18. they forsook the house of the Lord] Compare xxix. 6, “[they] have turned away their faces from the habitation of the Lord.” These phrases are a euphemism meaning “to commit apostasy.”

the Asherim and the idols] Compare xiv. 3 (note).

wrath] Hebrew qec̣eph; compare xix. 2 (note). The calamities in question are narrated in verses 23 ff.

¹⁹Yet he sent prophets to them, to bring them again unto the Lord; and they testified against them: but they would not give ear.

19. he sent prophets] Compare xxxvi. 15.

to them] Rather, among them.

20‒22 (no parallel in 2 Kings).
The Martyrdom of Zechariah son of Jehoiada.

This martyrdom is referred to by our Lord in Luke xi. 51, “from the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zachariah who perished between the altar and the house,” i.e. “the temple” (compare Matthew xxiii. 35). As Chronicles is the last book in the Jewish Canon, “From Abel to Zachariah” practically includes the whole Old Testament. In the text of Matthew Zachariah is called “son of Barachiah” either by a confusion with Zechariah the prophet contemporary with Haggai, or, possibly, owing to confusion with a certain Zechariah, son of Berachiah, mentioned in Josephus (War of the Jews IV. v. 4) as having been murdered in the Temple by the Zealots, circa 67, 68 A.D. (see e.g. Weiss, Schriften des N.T., pp. 376, 377).

²⁰And the spirit of God came upon¹ Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest; and he stood above the people, and said unto them, Thus saith God, Why transgress ye the commandments of the Lord, that ye cannot prosper? because ye have forsaken the Lord, he hath also forsaken you.

¹ Hebrew clothed itself with.

20. came upon] Hebrew “clothed itself with”; compare Judges vi. 34; 1 Chronicles xii. 18.

stood above the people] Compare Jeremiah xxxvi. 10 (Baruch reads Jeremiah’s words from the window of an upper chamber to the people assembled in the court below); Nehemiah viii. 4 (Ezra reads the Law from a pulpit of wood).

²¹And they conspired against him, and stoned him with stones at the commandment of the king in the court of the house of the Lord.

21. in the court) An aggravation of the murder; compare xxiii. 14. The altar of burnt-offering stood in the court (compare viii. 12) and the execution (Luke xi. 51) took place between this altar and the Temple itself.

²²Thus Joash the king remembered not the kindness which Jehoiada his father had done to him, but slew his son. And when he died, he said, The Lord look upon it, and require it.

22. The Lord look upon it, and require it] Compare 2 Maccabees xiv. 45, 46, and contrast Acts vii. 60.

23, 24 (compare 2 Kings xii. 17, 18).
The Syrian Invasion.

In 2 Kings the invasion is not represented as a judgement on Joash, for no sin is mentioned for which this could be the punishment.

As regards the campaign itself 2 Kings says that the Syrians were bought off with a heavy bribe from attacking Jerusalem; nothing is said of the amount of damage done during the invasion. The Chronicler on the contrary says nothing of the cause of the withdrawal of the Syrians, but simply says that a small force of them inflicted great loss and took much spoil.

²³And it came to pass at the end¹ of the year, that the army of the Syrians came up against him: and they came to Judah and Jerusalem, and destroyed all the princes of the people from among the people, and sent all the spoil of them unto the king of Damascus.

¹ Hebrew revolution.

23. at the end of the year] Rather, in the course of a year, i.e. when the same time of the year had come round again.

the princes] Who had been leaders in the apostasy (verse 17).

from among the people] The reading of the Hebrew is doubtful; the words should perhaps be expunged.

²⁴For the army of the Syrians came with a small company of men; and the Lord delivered a very great host into their hand, because they had forsaken the Lord, the God of their fathers. So they executed judgement¹ upon Joash.

¹ Hebrew judgements.

24. because they had forsaken the Lord] Mark the Chronicler’s insistent enforcement of a religious meaning in history.

25‒27 (compare 2 Kings xii. 19‒21).
The End of Joash.

²⁵And when they were departed from him, (for they left him in great diseases,) his own servants conspired against him for the blood of the sons¹ of Jehoiada the priest, and slew him on his bed, and he died: and they buried him in the city of David, but they buried him not in the sepulchres of the kings.

¹ The Septuagint and Vulgate read, son.

25. for the blood of the sons of Jehoiada] No reason is alleged for the conspiracy in Kings.

sons] LXX. and Vulgate “son”; compare verse 20.

on his bed] In Kings it is simply “smote Joash at the house of Millo, on the way that goeth down to Silla.”

²⁶And these are they that conspired against him; Zabad¹ the son of Shimeath the Ammonitess, and Jehozabad the son of Shimrith² the Moabitess.

¹ In 2 Kings xii. 12, Jozacar.

² In 2 Kings xii. 21, Shomer.

26. Zabad] In 2 Kings “Jozacar.” The difference between the names is not great in Hebrew.

Shimeath the Ammonitess ... Shimrith the Moabitess] In 2 Kings simply Shimeath and Shomer (no mention of their nationality being added). In Kings the names are masculines, Shimeath and Shomer being the fathers of the murderers. The Chronicler makes them out to be the mothers by altering Shomer to Shimrith (Shimeath already has a feminine termination); and by calling them respectively women of Ammon and Moab he casts increased obloquy upon the apostate Joash, the victim (so we are to surmise) of half-breed men whom presumably his foreign idolatries had encouraged to dwell in Jerusalem. At the same time the evil of foreign marriages is emphasised by the story.

²⁷Now concerning his sons, and the greatness of the burdens laid upon¹ him, and the rebuilding² of the house of God, behold, they are written in the commentary of the book of the kings. And Amaziah his son reigned in his stead.

¹ Or, uttered against.

² Hebrew founding.

27. the burdens laid upon him] Render (with margin), the burdens (i.e. the prophetic rebukes) uttered against him. Compare verse 19. The Hebrew text of the first half of the verse is uncertain.

the commentary] Hebrew midrash. Compare Introduction, § 5.

Chapter XXV.

1‒4 (= 2 Kings xiv. 1‒6).
Amaziah Succeeds.

¹Amaziah was twenty and five years old when he began to reign; and he reigned twenty and nine years in Jerusalem: and his mother’s name was Jehoaddan of Jerusalem. ²And he did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord, but not with a perfect heart.

2. not with a perfect heart] In Kings, “yet not like David his father” (because “the high places were not taken away”). The Chronicler has something more serious in his mind; compare verses 14‒16.

³Now it came to pass, when the kingdom was established unto him, that he slew his servants which had killed the king his father.

3. unto him] LXX., ἐν χειρὶ αὐτοῦ “in his hand,” as in Kings.

⁴But he put not their children to death, but did according to that which is written in the law in the book of Moses, as the Lord commanded, saying, The fathers shall not die for the children, neither shall the children die for the fathers: but every man shall die for his own sin.

4. he put not their children to death] Contrast Joshua vii. 24 ff.; 2 Kings ix. 26. Clearly the sparing of the children is here mentioned as being a practice unknown or still very unusual at the time.

according to that which is written] i.e. in Deuteronomy xxiv. 16 (compare Ezekiel xviii. 20).

5‒10 (not in Kings).
Amaziah prepares for War.

⁵Moreover Amaziah gathered Judah together, and ordered them according to their fathers’ houses, under captains of thousands and captains of hundreds, even all Judah and Benjamin: and he numbered them from twenty years old and upward, and found them three hundred thousand chosen men, able to go forth to war, that could handle spear and shield.

5. three hundred thousand] Compare the much larger numbers recorded for Asa (xiv. 8) and Jehoshaphat (xvii. 14 ff.).

⁶He hired also an hundred thousand mighty men of valour out of Israel for an hundred talents of silver.

6. He hired also ... out of Israel] The sequel to the hiring of these mercenaries is given in verses 10 and 13. The episode, which is entirely unknown apart from the present passage, is most interesting. It agrees most admirably with the Chronicler’s way of thinking; for the sin of seeking Israelite help is punished through the damage inflicted by the disappointed soldiers after their dismissal, whilst the virtue of dismissing them in obedience to the prophet’s command is rewarded by the victory gained by Amaziah over Edom. The story seems too subtle to be wholly an invention, and several scholars consider it probable that the hiring of the Israelites and their subsequent plundering has a basis in some old tradition.

⁷But there came a man of God to him, saying, O king, let not the army of Israel go with thee; for the Lord is not with Israel, to wit, with all the children of Ephraim.

7. the Lord is not with Israel] Compare xiii. 8‒12.

all the children of Ephraim] the phrase is added to show that here the writer has used “Israel” in the sense of the Northern Kingdom.

⁸But if thou wilt go¹, do valiantly, be strong for the battle: God shall cast thee down before the enemy; for God hath power to help, and to cast down.

¹ Or, go thou.

8. God shall cast thee down] i.e. If despite the warning he persists in his purpose, God will cause his effort to fail, no matter how well he fights.

⁹And Amaziah said to the man of God, But what shall we do for the hundred talents which I have given to the army of Israel¹? And the man of God answered, The Lord is able to give thee much more than this. ¹⁰Then Amaziah separated them, to wit, the army¹ that was come to him out of Ephraim, to go home again: wherefore their anger was greatly kindled against Judah, and they returned home in fierce anger.

¹ Hebrew troop.

9. The Lord is able to give thee much more than this] An utterance worthy to be placed in the mouth of a prophet.

11, 12 (compare 2 Kings xiv. 7).
Victory over Edom.

¹¹And Amaziah took courage, and led forth his people, and went to the Valley of Salt, and smote of the children of Seir ten thousand.

11. the Valley of Salt] The scene of one of David’s victories (1 Chronicles xviii. 12; see note there).

children of Seir] The Edomites were so called because “Mount Seir” was part of their territory; Deuteronomy ii. 5, and see note on xx. 10. Originally subdued in David’s reign, they had revolted in the time of Jehoram (see xxi. 10).

¹²And other ten thousand did the children of Judah carry away alive, and brought them unto the top of the rock¹, and cast them down from the top of the rock¹, that they all were broken in pieces.

¹ Or, Sela.

12. other ten thousand ... carry away alive) Neither this capture nor the subsequent massacre is mentioned in Kings The huge scale of the victory may be only a product of the Chronicler’s free imagination. On the other hand, if any real information were available outside the canonical books this is the sort of tradition we might expect to survive, full allowance of course being made for great exaggeration in the numbers given. Further, it accords with the sequence of events given in Chronicles, see note on xxvi. 7.

13 (no parallel in Kings).
Outrages of the Ephraimite Mercenaries.

¹³But the men of the army¹ which Amaziah sent back, that they should not go with him to battle, fell upon the cities of Judah, from Samaria even unto Beth-horon, and smote of them three thousand, and took much spoil.

¹ Hebrew the sons of the troop.

13. the cities of Judah, from Samaria even unto Beth-horon] We might have expected the two names given to be names of cities belonging to the Southern Kingdom. But Samaria is given apparently as the base from which the marauders started.

14‒16 (not in Kings).
Amaziah’s Idolatry and the Prophet’s Rebuke.

14‒16. The great disaster which befell Amaziah at the hands of Joash king of Israel and which is about to be narrated in verses 17‒24 seemed to require some heinous transgression for its cause. This the Chronicler supplies in the assertion that, after the defeat of Edom, Amaziah actually brought back Edomite images and set them up in Jerusalem for worship (verses 14‒16): a truly horrible result of a victory which had resulted from obedience to Jehovah’s word by His prophet!

¹⁴Now it came to pass, after that Amaziah was come from the slaughter of the Edomites, that he brought the gods of the children of Seir, and set them up to be his gods, and bowed down himself before them, and burned incense unto them.

14. bowed down ... and burned incense] The tenses in the Hebrew are imperfects and imply that this became Amaziah’s practice. The act was according to a policy frequently pursued in ancient times. Solomon affords an instance of it (1 Kings xi. 7).

¹⁵Wherefore the anger of the Lord was kindled against Amaziah, and he sent unto him a prophet, which said unto him, Why hast thou sought after the gods of the people, which have not delivered their own people out of thine hand?

15. which have not delivered] Such deliverance being in popular thought the proof of a deity’s power; compare Isaiah xxxvi. 18 ff., xxxvii. 18 ff.

¹⁶And it came to pass, as he talked with him, that the king said unto him, Have we made thee of the king’s counsel? forbear; why shouldest thou be smitten? Then the prophet forbare, and said, I know that God hath determined to destroy thee, because thou hast done this, and hast not hearkened unto my counsel.

16. of the king’s counsel] Literally, “counsellor to the king.”

hath determined] Literally, “hath counselled” (with a play on the king’s word).

17‒24 (= 2 Kings xiv. 8‒14).
Amaziah Conquered by Joash.

The overwhelming defeat of Amaziah by Joash of Israel, involving the destruction of part of the defences of Jerusalem and the plundering of the Temple, must have been an affair of the highest importance in Judean history. The relative weakness of Judah compared with Israel is still less apparent in Chronicles than in Kings. For a discussion of the evidence see Cook in Encyclopedia Britannica, s.v. Jews, p. 379.

¹⁷Then Amaziah king of Judah took advice, and sent to Joash, the son of Jehoahaz the son of Jehu, king of Israel, saying, Come, let us look one another in the face.

17. took advice] Took counsel, presumably (according to the Chronicler’s narrative) with a view to demanding satisfaction from Joash for the ravages of the Israelite mercenaries (verse 13). The sequel suggests that Joash refused to give satisfaction.

let us look one another in the face] The proposal may be either to fight or (better) to discuss Amaziah’s claims, the two kings meeting as equals. The latter is probably the right alternative, for the answer of Joash draws a scoffing parallel between Amaziah’s proposition and a thorn’s proposal of alliance with a cedar. Had Amaziah’s words been a challenge to fight, Joash’s answer might rather have taken the form of the parable in Judges ix. 15, “The thorn said, Fire shall come out of the thorn and devour the cedars of Lebanon,” etc.

¹⁸And Joash king of Israel sent to Amaziah, king of Judah, saying, The thistle¹ that was in Lebanon sent to the cedar that was in Lebanon, saying, Give thy daughter to my son to wife: and there passed by a wild beast that was in Lebanon, and trode down the thistle.

¹ Or, thorn.

18. the thistle] margin, thorn; compare Proverbs xxvi. 9 (same Hebrew word).

¹⁹Thou sayest, Lo, thou hast smitten Edom; and thine heart lifteth thee up to boast: abide now at home; why shouldest thou meddle to thy hurt¹, that thou shouldest fall, even thou, and Judah with thee?

¹ Or, provoke calamity.

19. Thou sayest] i.e. to thyself.

meddle to thy hurt] margin, provoke calamity, i.e. by making claims which he could not enforce.

²⁰But Amaziah would not hear; for it was of God, that he might deliver them into the hand of their enemies, because they had sought after the gods of Edom.

20. for it was of God] Not in Kings. This turn is characteristic of the Chronicler; compare x. 15, xxii. 7.

²¹So Joash king of Israel went up; and he and Amaziah king of Judah looked one another in the face at Beth-shemesh, which belongeth to Judah.

21. he and Amaziah ... looked one another in the face] The historian by a kind of irony takes up Amaziah’s phrase (verse 17) and gives it a fresh application. Compare the double application (by a similar irony) of the phrase, “lift up the head” in Genesis xl. 13, 19.

at Beth-shemesh] Compare 1 Chronicles vi. 59 [44, Hebrew] (note).

²²And Judah was put to the worse before Israel; and they fled every man to his tent.

22. to his tent] Compare vii. 10 (note).

²³And Joash king of Israel took Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Joash the son of Jehoahaz, at Beth-shemesh, and brought him to Jerusalem, and brake down the wall of Jerusalem from the gate of Ephraim unto the corner gate¹, four hundred cubits.

¹ So in 2 Kings xiv. 13. The text has, the gate that looketh.

23. the son of Jehoahaz] i.e. the son of Ahaziah, Jehoahaz and Ahaziah being varying forms of the same name; compare xxi. 17 (note).

brake down the wall] Rather, made a breach (or breaches) in the wall. The same verb is used in Nehemiah i. 3 (“broken down”) and Nehemiah iv. 7 (“the breaches”).

the gate of Ephraim] Its precise position is not known, but it was no doubt in the north or north-west wall of the city, on the road to Ephraim. Compare Nehemiah viii. 16.

the corner gate] Hebrew text doubtful, but LXX. ἕως πύλης γωνίας. Compare xxvi. 9; Jeremiah xxxi. 38; Zechariah xiv. 10. Most probably this gate also was near the north-west angle of the walls, but nothing certain is known of its position.

four hundred cubits] About 600 feet according to the ancient cubit, and 700 according to the later standard; compare iii. 3 (note).

²⁴And he took all the gold and silver, and all the vessels that were found in the house of God with Obed-edom, and the treasures of the king’s house, the hostages also, and returned to Samaria.

24. And he took] The verb is missing in Chronicles, and is supplied from Kings.

with Obed-edom] i.e. with the family of Obed-edom which (1 Chronicles xxvi. 4‒8, 15) served as doorkeepers in the House of God. The words are an addition of the Chronicler.

25‒28 (= 2 Kings xiv. 17‒20).
The End of Amaziah.

²⁵And Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah lived after the death of Joash son of Jehoahaz king of Israel fifteen years. ²⁶Now the rest of the acts of Amaziah, first and last, behold, are they not written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel? ²⁷Now from the time that Amaziah did turn away from following the Lord they made a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem; and he fled to Lachish: but they sent after him to Lachish, and slew him there.

27. from the time] The Chronicler characteristically connects the conspiracy with Amaziah’s apostasy; in Kings the only fact of the conspiracy is stated.

a conspiracy] Athaliah, Joash, Amaziah each fell one after the other before a conspiracy. Jehoiada’s example had far-reaching results.

to Lachish] Perhaps he was trying to reach Egypt.

²⁸And they brought him upon horses, and buried him with his fathers in the city of Judah¹.

¹ In 2 Kings xiv. 20, the city of David.

28. upon horses] Render, upon the horses; i.e. upon the horses of some of his pursuers.

the city of Judah] Read, with the margin, the Versions and 2 Kings, the city of David.

Chapter XXVI.

1‒4 (= 2 Kings xiv. 21, 22, xv. 2, 3).
Uzziah’s Reign.

¹And all the people of Judah took Uzziah¹, who was sixteen years old, and made him king in the room of his father Amaziah.

¹ In 2 Kings xiv. 21, Azariah.

1. all the people of Judah] Popular choice does not seem to have determined the succession to the throne, except when the reigning king had perished by a violent or untimely death, compare xxii. 1.

Uzziah] Called “Azariah” in 1 Chronicles iii. 12 and in 2 Kings (eight times), but “Uzziah” in 2 Kings xv. 13, 32, 34; Isaiah i. 1, vi. 1; Hosea i. 1; Amos i. 1; Zechariah xiv. 5. The two forms of the name when written in Hebrew consonants closely resemble each other; moreover the meanings of the two are similar, “Jah is my strength” and “Jah hath given help.” Perhaps the king bore both names; compare “Abram” and “Abraham”—“Eliakim” and “Jehoiakim” (xxxvi. 4).

²He built Eloth, and restored it to Judah, after that the king slept with his fathers.

2. Eloth] So spelt in viii. 17 (= 1 Kings ix. 26), but “Elath” in Deuteronomy ii. 8; 2 Kings xiv. 22. In 2 Kings xvi. 6 the two forms are found side by side in one verse.

after that the king, etc.] The meaning seems to be it was after king Amaziah slept with his fathers that Uzziah his son restored Elath to Judah; and it is a natural inference that Uzziah was ruling in Jerusalem for some while before the death of Amaziah at Lachish left him sole and undisputed king. A considerable time may have elapsed between Amaziah’s flight and his capture as related in xxv. 27. Yet this is not very likely, and from the position of the present verse in Kings it would seem as though the statement in its original context should be interpreted thus: “he, Amaziah, built Eloth,” etc.; and the king referred to in the clause “after that the king slept with his fathers” is probably Jeroboam king of Israel (so Barnes on 2 Kings xiv. 22).

³Sixteen years old was Uzziah when he began to reign; and he reigned fifty and two years in Jerusalem: and his mother’s name was Jechiliah of Jerusalem.

3. Jechiliah] so the Kethīb; the Ḳerī Jecoliah agrees with the parallel passage of Kings.

⁴And he did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord, according to all that his father Amaziah had done.

4. his father Amaziah] This verse suits its original context in Kings, for Kings records nothing against Amaziah; it is out of place in Chronicles, for according to xxv. 14 Amaziah was an idolater.

5‒10 (not in Kings).
The Prosperity of Uzziah.

5‒10. It is probable that the Chronicler had old and genuine tradition to rely on for the account which he here gives of Uzziah’s prosperity—his wars against neighbouring tribes (verses 6‒8), and his building activity (verses 8‒10). Doubtless in the earlier years of Uzziah’s reign Judah was still suffering from the effects of the defeat inflicted by Joash of Israel. But the general accuracy of the picture of the reign is assured by such facts as (1) the stout resistance offered by Jerusalem to the Assyrians in Hezekiah’s time as contrasted with its capture by the Israelites in Amaziah’s reign (xxv. 23); (2) the frequency of metaphors from building implements and materials in the pages of the prophets of this period (e.g. Amos vii. 7 ff.); (3) the commercial activity and luxury of Jerusalem in the reign of Uzziah’s successor Ahaz—witness the writings of Isaiah, passim.

⁵And he set himself to seek God in the days of Zechariah, who had understanding¹ in the vision² of God: and as long as he sought the Lord, God made him to prosper.

¹ Or, gave instruction.

² Hebrew the seeing. Many ancient authorities have, the fear.

5. Zechariah] Nothing is known (apart from this passage) of this Zechariah.

who had understanding] margin, “who gave instruction Hebrew mēbhīn, a word applied to a leader of song (1 Chronicles xv. 22, “skilful”; 1 Chronicles xxv. 7, “cunning”; 1 Chronicles xxv. verse 8, “teacher”).

in the vision of God] Read, in the fear of God (so LXX., Targum Peshitṭa), making a slight correction of the Hebrew text.

⁶And he went forth and warred against the Philistines, and brake down the wall of Gath, and the wall of Jabneh, and the wall of Ashdod; and he built cities in the country of Ashdod, and among the Philistines.

6. the Philistines] Compare xvii. 11, xxi. 16, xxviii. 18; 2 Kings xviii. 8; 1 Maccabees v. 66‒68, xiv. 34.

brake down the wall] See note on xxv. 23.

Jabneh] Mentioned only here in the Old Testament, but probably to be identified with “Jabneel” (Joshua xv. 11). At a later date it was called “Jamnia” (2 Maccabees xii. 8), and, after the fall of Jerusalem in 70 A.D., it became for a while the chief centre of Jewish intellectual and religious activities. Its ruins are to be seen about 10 miles south of Jaffa (Joppa) on the coast. The modern Yebna is a few miles inland. Bädeker, Palestine⁵, p. 122.

Ashdod] compare 1 Samuel v. 1 ff.; Isaiah xx. 1; Zephaniah ii. 4; Nehemiah iv. 7, xxiii. 23; Acts viii, 40 (Ἄζωτος). Ashdod (modern Esdūd) was situated between Gaza and Joppa, some three miles from the sea.

in the country of Ashdod] (literally “in Ashdod”). Perhaps the name has been repeated through an early scribal error and we should read simply “and built cities among the Philistines.”

⁷And God helped him against the Philistines, and against the Arabians that dwelt in Gur-baal, and the Meunim.

7. against the Philistines, and against the Arabians] “Conditions in the comparatively small and half-desert land of Judah depended essentially on its relations with the Edomite and Arabian tribes on the south-east and with the Philistines on the west”: note how this comes out in the traditions of the period as narrated in Chronicles Jehoshaphat dominated both Philistines and Arabians (Edomites) (xvii. 11); but Libnah (near Lachish) and Edom revolted successfully against his son Jehoram (xxi. 10). After the reigns of Ahaziah and Joash, Amaziah found himself able to assail Edom and gained a great victory (xxv. 11, 12). Later in his reign Amaziah suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of Joash of Israel, and it is reasonable to suppose that Edom would seize the opportunity to reassert its independence, though Chronicles is silent on the point. It is therefore in harmony with the sequence of events as narrated by the Chronicler, when in the present verse (compare verse 2) we are told that Amaziah’s successor, Uzziah, reestablished the Judean power over Edom, and that later, against Ahaz, Edom and the Philistine cities gained the upper hand (xxviii. 17, 18).

Gur-baal] An unidentified place; a “Gur” is mentioned in 2 Kings ix. 27. A slight correction of the Hebrew would give “in Gerar (compare Genesis xx. 1) and against the Meunim.”

Meunim] compare xx. 1 (note).

⁸And the Ammonites gave gifts to Uzziah: and his name spread abroad even to the entering in of Egypt; for he waxed exceeding strong.

8. gave gifts] i.e. tribute. Compare 1 Chronicles xviii. 2 (note).

⁹Moreover Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at the corner gate, and at the valley gate, and at the turning of the wall, and fortified them.

9. towers in Jerusalem, etc.] The Chronicler is evidently fond of recording such traditions; compare xxxii. 30, xxxiii. 14; and the Introduction § 7, p. xlviii.

the corner gate] At the north-west corner of the walls. Compare xxv. 23 (note).

the valley gate] Nehemiah ii. 13, iii. 13. Probably near the south-west corner of the walls.

the turning of the wall] Mentioned Nehemiah iii. 19, 24. See G. A. Smith, Jerusalem, II. 120.

¹⁰And he built towers in the wilderness, and hewed out many cisterns, for he had much cattle; in the lowland also, and in the plain¹: and he had husbandmen and vinedressers in the mountains and in the fruitful fields²; for he loved husbandry.

¹ Or, table land.

² Or, Carmel See 1 Samuel xxv. 2.

10. the wilderness] i.e. the southern pasture land of Judah. Compare Psalms lxv. 12. Fortified towers have always proved effective for controlling the Bedouin and keeping the desert roads open.

in the lowland also, and in the plain] For the “lowland” (Hebrew Shephēlah) see i. 15 (note). The “plain” (margin table land; Hebrew Mishōr) is the name of the high pasture lands east of Jordan; apparently the part occupied by the Ammonites whom Uzziah had subdued is meant here. (For a different view see Smith, Jerusalem, II. 119, note.)

11‒15 (no parallel in Kings).
Uzziah’s Army.

¹¹Moreover Uzziah had an army of fighting men, that went out to war by bands, according to the number of their reckoning made by Jeiel the scribe and Maaseiah the officer, under the hand of Hananiah, one of the king’s captains. ¹²The whole number of the heads of fathers’ houses, even the mighty men of valour, was two thousand and six hundred. ¹³And under their hand was a trained army¹, three hundred thousand and seven thousand and five hundred, that made war with mighty power, to help the king against the enemy.

¹ Or, the power of an army.

13. three hundred thousand and seven thousand and five hundred] Compare xxv. 5 (Amaziah’s army), and the notes on xiv. 8 and xvii. 14 (the forces of Asa and of Jehoshaphat).

¹⁴And Uzziah prepared for them, even for all the host, shields, and spears, and helmets, and coats of mail, and bows, and stones for slinging.

14. stones for slinging] Such stones needed to be carefully chosen, for they had to be smooth and of a suitable size, compare 1 Samuel xvii. 40. Bows and slings appear to have been favourite weapons in Benjamin, compare 1 Chronicles xii. 2; Judges xx. 16.

¹⁵And he made in Jerusalem engines, invented by cunning men, to be on the towers and upon the battlements¹, to shoot arrows and great stones withal. And his name spread far abroad; for he was marvellously helped, till he was strong.

¹ Or, corner towers.

15. engines] Doubtless contrivances similar to the Roman catapulta and balista. It is questionable whether such engines of war were really in use as early as the time of Uzziah, at least among the Israelites (see Smith, Jerusalem, ii. 121, 122; and the Encyclopedia Biblia s.v. siege, especially col. 4510). The next reference to similar instruments of war is in 1 Maccabees vi. 51, 52.

helped] compare verse 7.

16‒20 (not in Kings).
Uzziah’s Presumption.

16‒20. Uzziah died from leprosy, as is related in verses 21‒23 (= 2 Kings xv. 5‒7). That terrible disease was always regarded as a manifestation of Divine anger against the sufferer (compare Numbers xii. 9 ff.; 2 Kings v. 27), but no special cause is assigned in Kings why the disaster befell Uzziah. In the present verses an adequate reason is brought forward—Uzziah, blinded by the pride of his success, infringed the privileges of the priesthood and was guilty of sacrilege. The motive for some such tale is so strong and the actual sin alleged so akin to the Chronicler’s prejudices that it may well be that the tale originated with him or his immediate circle. Yet it is possible that there may be behind the present form of the tale a valid tradition of a dispute at this period between the hierarchy and the authority of the king.

¹⁶But when he was strong, his heart was lifted up so that he did corruptly¹, and he trespassed against the Lord his God; for he went into the temple of the Lord to burn incense upon the altar of incense.

¹ Or, to his destruction.

16. did corruptly] Compare xxvii. 2.

he trespassed] compare xii. 2; Joshua vii. 1, xxii. 16. The Hebrew word implies presumptuous dealing with holy things.

the altar of incense] Compare Exodus xxx. 1‒10. Not only the altar, but the incense itself was “most holy”; Exodus xxx. verses 34‒38.

¹⁷And Azariah the priest went in after him, and with him fourscore priests of the Lord, that were valiant men:

17. Azariah the priest] i.e. the high-priest (verse 20). He cannot be identified with any priest in the list given 1 Chronicles vi. 4‒15 (v. 30‒41, Hebrew).

¹⁸and they withstood Uzziah the king, and said unto him, It pertaineth not unto thee, Uzziah, to burn incense unto the Lord, but to the priests the sons of Aaron, that are consecrated to burn incense: go out of the sanctuary; for thou hast trespassed; neither shall it be for thine honour from the Lord God. ¹⁹Then Uzziah was wroth; and he had a censer in his hand to burn incense; and while he was wroth with the priests, the leprosy brake forth¹ in his forehead before the priests in the house of the Lord, beside the altar of incense.

¹ Hebrew rose (as the sun).

18. the priests the sons of Aaron] Compare xiii. 10, 11 and Numbers xvi. 40.

neither shall it be for thine honour] A euphemism covering a threat of danger and disgrace.

²⁰And Azariah the chief priest, and all the priests, looked upon him, and, behold, he was leprous in his forehead, and they thrust him out quickly from thence; yea, himself hasted also to go out, because the Lord had smitten him.

20. the Lord had smitten him] So 2 Kings xv. 5.

21‒23 (= 2 Kings xv. 5‒7).
The End of Uzziah.

²¹And Uzziah the king was a leper unto the day of his death, and dwelt in a several house¹, being a leper; for he was cut off from the house of the Lord: and Jotham his son was over the king’s house, judging the people of the land.

¹ Or, lazar house.

21. a several house] i.e. separate, special; compare Numbers xxviii. 13; Matthew xxv. 15. The same Hebrew word is used in Psalms lxxxviii. 5, “free (Revised Version ‘cast off’) among the dead.”

cut off] The same Hebrew word is translated in the same way in Isaiah liii. 8.

²²Now the rest of the acts of Uzziah, first and last, did Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, write.

22. did Isaiah ... write] This statement is not in Kings. Uzziah is mentioned in Isaiah vi. 1, and this fact may be all that lies behind the present statement. It is utterly improbable that the reference is to some writing of Isaiah which has not been preserved. Possibly some section of the midrashic Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel is meant, presuming that such a work was known to the Chronicler actually or by tradition (see Introduction § 5, pp. xxxii, xxxvi).

²³So Uzziah slept with his fathers; and they buried him with his fathers in the field of burial which belonged to the kings; for they said, He is a leper: and Jotham his son reigned in his stead.

23. the field of burial] i.e. not actually in the tombs of the kings, lest they should be defiled, but in ground adjoining the royal tombs. Kings has simply “in the city of David.” Compare xxi. 20, xxiv. 25, xxviii. 27.

Chapter XXVII.

1‒6 (compare 2 Kings xv. 32‒35).
Jotham Succeeds.

¹Jotham was twenty and five years old when he began to reign; and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem: and his mother’s name was Jerushah the daughter of Zadok.

1. he reigned sixteen years] The years during which he acted as regent in place of his father (see above xxvi. 21) are included in the sixteen. Jotham’s independent reign was probably very brief.

²And he did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord, according to all that his father Uzziah had done: howbeit he entered not into the temple of the Lord. And the people did yet corruptly.

2. according to all that ... howbeit he entered not into the temple of the Lord] i.e. he imitated Uzziah in all his virtues, but not in his sin against the ritual of the Temple (xxvi. 16 ff.). The clause howbeit, etc., is not in Kings, since Kings makes no reference to Uzziah’s transgression.

did yet corruptly] In Kings, “Howbeit the high places were not taken away; the people still sacrificed and burned incense in the high places.”

³He built the upper gate of the house of the Lord, and on the wall of Ophel he built much.

3. the upper gate] Compare the note on xxiii. 20.

and on the wall of Ophel he built much] The statement is made only in Chronicles Like similar notices of building activity, etc.—a subject of great interest to the Chronicler—it may possibly have some basis in fact; compare xxvi. 9 f., xxxii. 30, xxxiii. 14.

Ophel] compare xxxiii. 14; Nehemiah iii. 26, 27. It was a southern spur of the Temple Hill. Bädeker, Palestine⁵, p. 31; and Smith, Jerusalem, i. 152 ff.

⁴Moreover he built cities in the hill country of Judah, and in the forests he built castles and towers.

4. castles] compare xvii. 12 (note).

⁵He fought also with the king of the children of Ammon, and prevailed against them. And the children of Ammon gave him the same year an hundred talents of silver, and ten thousand measures¹ of wheat, and ten thousand of barley. So much did the children of Ammon render unto him, in the second year also, and in the third.

¹ Hebrew cors.

5. the children of Ammon] Compare xx. 1 ff., xxvi. 8.

an hundred talents of silver] Compare 2 Kings xxiii. 33.

measures] Hebrew kōrīm. A kōr (= a ḥōmer, Ezekiel xlv. 14, Revised Version) was a dry measure holding about 11 bushels.

⁶So Jotham became mighty, because he ordered his ways before the Lord his God.

6. became mighty] The same Hebrew word as in i. 1 (see note).

7‒9 (= 2 Kings xv. 36‒38).
The Summary of Jotham’s Reign.

⁷Now the rest of the acts of Jotham, and all his wars, and his ways, behold, they are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah. ⁸He was five and twenty years old when he began to reign, and reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. ⁹And Jotham slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David: and Ahaz his son reigned in his stead.

7. all his wars] Only a war with Ammon is mentioned above, but according to 2 Kings xv. 37 the Syro-Ephraimite war also began in Jotham’s reign. The notices in Kings and Chronicles may be regarded as supplementary. Ammon was a natural ally of the Syrians, and perhaps the wording of verse 5 (end) hints that after the third year Ammon was able to refuse to pay tribute. The information of Chronicles is therefore plausible; but it is curious that Chronicles preserves the one incident and Kings the other. The point is highly significant. Not only does it illustrate very forcibly the comparative independence of the Chronicler’s narrative, which is so marked a feature in these later reigns; but also it adds to the evidence in favour of the view that the Chronicler had traditions before him other than those of Kings. Clearly he had no motive for suppressing the statement of Kings and inventing instead a war with Ammon. We must suppose that he followed some authority independent of Kings.

the book of the kings, etc.] Compare xxv. 26, and see Introduction, § 5.

Chapter XXVIII.

1‒4 (= 2 Kings xvi. 1‒4).
Ahaz succeeds and practises Idolatry.

The reign of Ahaz is a specially interesting section of Chronicles, showing in a remarkable degree the freedom with which the older accounts in 2 Kings xvi. and Isaiah vii. 1 ff. have been handled. A tale of a prophet is introduced (verses 9‒15). Otherwise only one new point is added—viz. an Edomite and a Philistine invasion (verses 16‒18); but all the incidents of the older tradition are altered and given new settings in such a way as may best serve what is plainly the Chronicler’s main object, namely by heightening the disasters to show the exceeding sinfulness of sin. For details of the changes, see the notes on verses 5‒7, 16‒21, 23, 24.

¹Ahaz was twenty years old when he began to reign; and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem: and he did not that which was right in the eyes of the Lord, like David his father: ²but he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, and made also molten images for the Baalim.

1. Ahaz] The full form of the name is Jehoahaz, the “Ja-u-ḥa-zi” of an inscription of Tiglath-pileser IV.

twenty years old] As he died sixteen years later leaving a son of twenty-five (Hezekiah, xxix. 1), Ahaz would have been only ten years old when Hezekiah was born. The numeral here or in xxix. 1 must therefore be incorrect. The Peshitṭa in this verse reads “twenty-five years old,” which is more suitable and may be right, but the coincidence would be strange if three kings in succession ascended the throne at twenty-five years of age (compare xxvii. 1 and xxix. 1).

he did not that which was right] It is not said of Ahaz as of Manasseh, the worst of all the Judean kings, that “he did that which was evil” (xxxiii. 2).

³Moreover he burnt incense in the valley of the son of Hinnom, and burnt his children in the fire, according to the abominations of the heathen, whom the Lord cast out before the children of Israel.

3. the valley of the son of Hinnom] The name in Hebrew Gē-ben-hinnōm or Gē-hinnōm is more familiar in the Greek form Gehenna (Matthew v. 22, Revised Version margin). The valley was south and south-west of Jerusalem. The evil reputation of the place perhaps was due originally to some connection with the worship of Molech (Jeremiah vii. 31, 32). Later it appears that the refuse of Jerusalem and the corpses of criminals were deposited in this valley, and as the verse Isaiah lxvi. 24 “they shall go forth, and look upon the carcases of the men that have transgressed against me: for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched ...” was associated with this valley, the name Gehenna was eventually used to signify the place of eternal punishment (compare Mark ix. 43).

burnt his children in the fire] There is no doubt that actual sacrifice of the child’s life by fire is implied in this formula and in parallel phrases such as “made his son to pass through the fire” (2 Kings xvi. 3). Unfortunately the gruesome evidence regarding child-sacrifice among the ancients—Greeks and Romans as well as Semites—is far too strong to allow the theory that always or even generally branding or some symbolical dedication by fire was employed (see Barnes on 1 Kings xi. 5). It seems that the horrible custom, which was common with the early Canaanites and Phoenicians, was very rare among the early Israelites and the kindred people of Moab (see Judges xi. 31 and 39; 2 Kings iii. 27), and was called forth only by the pressure of extreme need. Evidently in the break-up of the national faith which attended the imminent downfall of the State of Judah the evil authority of Ahaz and Manasseh made the practice common (see xxxiii. 6; 2 Kings xxi. 6; Micah vi. 7; Jeremiah vii. 31; Psalms cvi. 37 f.). Genesis xxii. 1‒18 may be regarded as a magnificent repudiation of the rite in the worship of Jehovah, and the practice is expressly forbidden in the Law, Leviticus xviii. 21; Deuteronomy xviii. 10.

his children] In Kings, “his son” (singular), a better reading. It is possible that the sacrifice was intended to avert the danger threatened by the Syro-Ephraimite alliance.

⁴And he sacrificed and burnt incense in the high places, and on the hills, and under every green tree.

4. under every green tree] The Hebrew word here used for “green” (ra‘anān) means rather “flourishing,” the reference being not so much to colour as to condition and size. Large fine trees (which are rarer in the East than in the West) are important landmarks; compare 1 Chronicles x. 12; Genesis xii. 6, xxxv. 4. In different ways such trees acquired a sacred or semi-sacred character (Genesis xviii. 1, xxi. 33; Judges vi. 11); in some cases because they were associated with theophanies, in others perhaps because the flourishing state of the tree was regarded as the sign of the presence of some local deity. “No one can imagine how many voices a tree has who has not come up to it from the silence of the great desert,” G. A. Smith, Historical Geography of the Holy Land, p. 88; compare the same writer’s Early Poetry of Israel, pp. 32, 33.

5‒7 (compare 2 Kings xvi. 5‒9; Isaiah vii. 1‒9).
The Syro-Ephraimite War.

The Chronicler’s account of the war conveys a very different impression from the corresponding narrative in 2 Kings. In Kings an invasion by the united forces of Israel and Syria is related. Chronicles records two separate invasions, each resulting in disaster for Ahaz. In Kings the failure of the allies to take Jerusalem is the chief feature in the account, while in Chronicles the damage and loss inflicted on Judah takes the first place, and the magnitude of the disaster is heightened in characteristically midrashic fashion: see the notes below on verses 5, 6.

⁵Wherefore the Lord his God delivered him into the hand of the king of Syria; and they smote him, and carried away of his a great multitude of captives, and brought them to Damascus. And he was also delivered into the hand of the king of Israel, who smote him with a great slaughter.

5. the king of Syria] i.e. Rezin.

smote him] From 2 Kings it appears that the Syrian king, (1) helped to shut up Ahaz in Jerusalem, (2) seized the port of Elath (Eloth) on the Red Sea which had belonged to Judah. Some of the “captives” taken to Damascus were presumably brought from Elath.

carried away of his a great multitude of captives] No doubt captives were taken, some probably from Elath; but the “great multitude” is midrashic exaggeration: compare the number of slain stated in verse 6.

And he was also delivered into the hand of the king of Israel] 2 Kings records but a single invasion, the forces of Syria and Israel being confederate. The Chronicler’s phrase implies that two separate invasions and disasters befell Ahaz—“he was also delivered.”

⁶For Pekah the son of Remaliah slew in Judah an hundred and twenty thousand in one day, all of them valiant men; because they had forsaken the Lord, the God of their fathers.

6. an hundred and twenty thousand in one day] i.e. more than a third of the host as reckoned in xxvi. 13.

⁷And Zichri, a mighty man of Ephraim, slew Maaseiah the king’s son, and Azrikam the ruler of the house, and Elkanah that was next¹ to the king.

¹ Hebrew second.

7. the ruler of the house] Hebrew nāgīd. Probably the head of the king’s household is meant, his “chancellor”; but compare Nehemiah xi. 11, “the ruler (nāgīd) of the house of God.”

next to the king] compare 1 Samuel xxiii. 17.

8‒15 (not in Kings).
Israel sends back the Jewish Captives.

The tale of the intervention of Oded, his appeal, the response of the people and the army to the call of conscience, with the consequent outburst of pity for the unhappy captives, who are first tended and then restored to their kinsfolk in Judah, is something far better than literal history: it is the product of a moral and religious conviction worthy of high admiration. We have, in fact, in these verses a most clear instance of that inculcation of great religious principles which was the primary object of the writer of Chronicles. A modern ethical teacher, desirous of driving home the eternal verities, may clothe them in a story which has no basis whatsoever in actual events but is the pure product of the writer’s imagination. His ancient counterpart among the Jews started with a nucleus of historical events, which however he handled freely in whatever fashion might best serve to emphasise the moral or religious lesson he desired to teach.

The deep ethical and spiritual value of this example of how to treat the fallen foe hardly requires comment—Israel must forgive, if it would be forgiven (verse 10); the captives are—not “the enemy” but—“your brethren” (verse 11); and, when conscience is at last awakened, how great is the revulsion, and how nobly do the generous qualities of human nature appear, when the captives, laden not with the chains of bondage (verse 10) but with clothing and with food, are restored to their homes in peace.

It is very evident that the writer of this fine story had in mind the no less effective and beautiful narrative of Elisha’s dealing with the captured Syrian army (2 Kings vi. 21‒23).

⁸And the children of Israel carried away captive of their brethren two hundred thousand, women, sons, and daughters, and took also away much spoil from them, and brought the spoil to Samaria.

8. of their brethren] Compare xi. 4, “ye shall not ... fight against your brethren.”

⁹But a prophet of the Lord was there, whose name was Oded: and he went out to meet the host that came to Samaria, and said unto them, Behold, because the Lord, the God of your fathers, was wroth with Judah, he hath delivered them into your hand, and ye have slain them in a rage which hath reached up unto heaven.

9. a prophet of the Lord was there] Nothing further is known of Oded. For similar instances of prophetic activity narrated only in Chronicles see xv. 1 ff., xvi. 7 ff., xxiv. 20 f., and especially xxv. 7 ff.

the Lord ... was wroth ... and ye have slain them in a rage which hath reached up unto heaven] Compare Zechariah i. 15, “I am very sore displeased with the nations that are at ease; for I was but a little displeased, and they helped forward the affliction.”

heaven] There is a tendency in some later books of the Bible to write “heaven” for “God”; compare xxxii. 20, “prayed and cried to heaven,” also Daniel iv. 23; and similarly in the New Testament, Luke xv. 18, 21; John iii. 27: for further references see Grimm and Thayer, Lexicon of the N.T., s.v. οὐρανός ad fin. From a like feeling of reverence the Chronicler is sparing in his use of the name “Jehovah”; compare xvii. 4.

¹⁰And now ye purpose to keep under the children of Judah and Jerusalem for bondmen and bondwomen unto you: but are there not even with you trespasses¹ of your own against the Lord your God? ¹¹Now hear me therefore, and send back the captives, which ye have taken captive of your brethren: for the fierce wrath of the Lord is upon you. ¹²Then certain of the heads of the children of Ephraim, Azariah the son of Johanan, Berechiah the son of Meshillemoth, and Jehizkiah the son of Shallum, and Amasa the son of Hadlai, stood up against them that came from the war, ¹³and said unto them, Ye shall not bring in the captives hither: for ye purpose that which will bring upon us a trespass² against the Lord, to add unto our sins and to our trespass²: for our trespass² is great, and there is fierce wrath against Israel. ¹⁴So the armed men left the captives and the spoil before the princes and all the congregation.

¹ Hebrew guiltinesses.

² Or, guilt.

10. keep under] In Nehemiah v. 5, the same Hebrew word is translated, “bring into bondage”; compare Ryle’s note on Hebrew slavery in loco. One Hebrew might hold another Hebrew as a slave for a limited period, but in the present passage the case is of one part of the people taking advantage of the fortune of war to reduce to slavery thousands of their fellow-countrymen.

¹⁵And the men which have been expressed by name rose up, and took the captives, and with the spoil clothed all that were naked among them, and arrayed them, and shod them, and gave them to eat and to drink, and anointed them, and carried all the feeble of them upon asses, and brought them to Jericho, the city of palm trees, unto their brethren: then they returned to Samaria.

15. have been expressed] The phrase is characteristic of the Chronicler; compare xxxi. 19; 1 Chronicles xii. 31, xvi. 41; Ezra viii. 20.

took the captives] Render, took hold of the captives; i.e. succoured them; LXX. ἀντελάβοντο, compare Hebrew ii. 16 ἐπιλαμβάνεται = “he taketh hold of.”

to eat and to drink] Compare 2 Kings vi. 23.

anointed them] Part of the host’s duty; compare Luke vii. 44‒46.

to Jericho] Jericho perhaps belonged to the Northern Kingdom; compare 1 Kings xvi. 34; 2 Kings ii. 4. A road led to it from Mount Ephraim past ‘Ain ed-Duk. G. A. Smith, Historical Geography of the Holy Land, pp. 266 ff.

the city of palm trees] Compare Deuteronomy xxxiv. 3. The phrase is an alternative name of Jericho; compare Judges i. 16, iii. 13. Date palms were common in Jericho down to the seventh century of the Christian era. Bädeker, Palestine⁵, pp. 128 f.

16‒21 (= 2 Kings xvi. 7‒9).
Ahaz invokes Assyrian aid.

There is an important variation here between Chronicles and Kings. According to Chronicles (verse 21) Ahaz gained nothing by his tribute to the king of Assyria; according to Kings the Assyrian accepted the offering and marched against Syria, capturing Damascus and slaying Rezin. Further in Chronicles it is said that the help of Assyria was invoked, not against the kings of Syria and Israel as in 2 Kings, but against Edomites and Philistines. Some alteration was required in consequence of the insertion in Chronicles of the midrashic narrative of verses 8‒15, according to which Ahaz was delivered from his disaster at the hands of Israel not by the king of Assyria (so Kings) but simply through the awakening of Israel’s conscience and the consequent release of the captives and the spoil. If therefore the Chronicler was to introduce the story of Ahaz’ appeal to Assyria, he could only do so by supplying new enemies for Ahaz to combat. These, however, were appropriately found in the Philistines and Edomites, regarding whom the Chronicler seems to have had various traditions (see notes on xxi. 8, 16, xxvi. 6).

¹⁶At that time did king Ahaz send unto the kings¹ of Assyria to help him. ¹⁷For again the Edomites had come and smitten Judah, and carried away captives².

¹ Many ancient authorities read, king.

² Hebrew a captivity.

16. the kings] LXX. “king” (singular). This monarch was Tiglath-pileser IV; compare 1 Kings xvi. 7.

¹⁸The Philistines also had invaded the cities of the lowland, and of the South of Judah, and had taken Beth-shemesh, and Aijalon, and Gederoth, and Soco with the towns¹ thereof, and Timnah with the towns¹ thereof, Gimzo also and the towns¹ thereof: and they dwelt there.

¹ Hebrew daughters.

18. had invaded] Rather, raided.

the lowland] Hebrew Shephēlāh. Compare i. 15 (note).

Beth-shemesh] compare 1 Chronicles vi. 59 [44, Hebrew], note.

Aijalon] compare xi. 10.

Gederoth] Joshua xv. 41.

Soco] compare xi. 7.

Timnah] Joshua xv. 10; Judges xiv. 1 ff.

Gimzo] The modern Jimzu south-east of Lydda, Bädeker, Palestine⁵, p. 18. The place is not mentioned elsewhere in the Old Testament.

¹⁹For the Lord brought Judah low because of Ahaz king of Israel; for he had dealt wantonly¹ in Judah, and trespassed sore against the Lord.

¹ Or, cast away restraint.

19. king of Israel] Compare xi. 3 (note).

he had dealt wantonly] margin “cast away restraint.” Compare Exodus xxxii. 25 (Authorized Version and Revised Version) where the same Hebrew verb is twice used.

²⁰And Tilgath-pilneser king of Assyria came unto¹ him, and distressed him, but strengthened him not². ²¹For Ahaz took away a portion out of the house of the Lord, and out of the house of the king and of the princes, and gave it unto the king of Assyria: but it helped him not.

¹ Or, against.

² Or, prevailed not against him.

20. Tilgath-pilneser] i.e. Tiglath-pileser IV. Compare 1 Chronicles v. 6 (note).

came ... him not] Tiglath-pileser, invoked as an ally, is here represented as having come as an unscrupulous oppressor, accepting the bribe and not fulfilling the task for which he was paid by Ahaz (verse 21). But neither 2 Kings nor the Assyrian records relate that Tiglath-pileser thus came into Judah; and it must be remarked that the Hebrew text in this verse does not inspire confidence. Any interpretation is accordingly rendered uncertain.

22‒25 (compare 2 Kings xvi. 10‒18).
Apostasy of Ahaz.

²²And in the time of his distress¹ did he trespass yet more against the Lord, this same king Ahaz. ²³For he sacrificed unto the gods of Damascus², which smote him: and he said, Because the gods of the kings of Syria helped them, therefore will I sacrifice to them, that they may help me. But they were the ruin of him, and of all Israel.

¹ Or, that he distressed him.

² Hebrew Darmesek.

23. the gods of Damascus] In 2 Kings the statement is merely that Ahaz made a copy of an altar which he saw at Damascus, and sacrificed upon it. The altar at Damascus was probably the one used by Tiglath-pileser and therefore an Assyrian rather than a Damascene altar. The use of such an altar was an act of apostasy from Jehovah, for a foreign altar implied a foreign god; compare 2 Kings v. 17.

the gods ... which smote him] Early passages of the Old Testament show that the Israelites for long believed the gods of other peoples to be no less real than Jehovah. Later, when the teaching of the great prophets had impressed on the people the sense of Jehovah’s supreme majesty, the alien deities, though still conceived as real Beings holding sway over the nations worshipping them, were felt to be incomparable with Jehovah, hardly deserving therefore the title of God. Still later, in certain circles, all reality whatever was denied to the gods of the heathen; they were nothing at all (compare Isaiah xl.‒xlviii., passim). Almost certainly the last opinion would be the belief of the Chronicler and of most orthodox Jews of his time; so that it is unnecessary to suppose that the present phrase “which smote him” is more than a convenient way of speaking. It does not indicate that the Chronicler, or even his source in Kings, believed in the existence of these gods of Damascus. On the other hand the Chronicler (and his source) does imply in this verse that Ahaz had a lively belief in the efficacy and reality of the gods of his foes; and therein no doubt he correctly represents the condition of thought in that period.

the gods of the kings of Syria helped them] At this time the Syrians of Damascus had been conquered by the Assyrians under Tiglath-pileser (2 Kings xvi. 9), so that either we must suppose a confusion in the Chronicler’s mind, or else the statement needs to be corrected by reading “kings of Assyria (Asshur)” for “kings of Syria (Aram).” The reading “Syria” might be due to some writer or scribe, who lived at a time when one Empire extended from Babylon to the Mediterranean and included both Syria and Assyria. Such was the case under the Persians and under the successors of Alexander down to the time of the Maccabees. The Romans similarly failed at first to distinguish the ancient empire east of the Euphrates, i.e. Assyria (= Asshur), from the peoples west of the Euphrates, the Arameans, whom they mistakenly called “Syrians” (a shortened form of “Assyrians”), whose chief cities were Antioch, Hamath, and Damascus. This use of “Syrian” has passed over into English, but the more accurate designation is “Aramean”; compare Genesis xxviii. 5 (Revised Version).

helped them] Render “help them.”

²⁴And Ahaz gathered together the vessels of the house of God, and cut in pieces the vessels of the house of God, and shut up the doors of the house of the Lord; and he made him altars in every corner of Jerusalem.

24. cut in pieces the vessels] Presumably in order to smelt them and put the metal to other uses; compare 2 Kings xxiv. 13. According to 2 Kings xvi. 17 Ahaz merely “cut off the borders (‘panels’ Revised Version margin) of the bases and removed the laver from off them, and took down the sea from off the brasen oxen that were under it, and put it upon a pavement of stone.” In Chronicles something more than this is intended, for “the vessels” would naturally mean such vessels as are mentioned in 2 Kings xxiv. 13.

shut up the doors] The Chronicler possibly derives his statement from the difficult passage 2 Kings xvi. 18 (vide Authorized Version and Revised Version). That passage, however, speaks merely of an alteration carried out by Ahaz on one of the entrances to the Temple, but says nothing of a complete closing of the Temple; indeed it may be gathered from 2 Kings xvi. 14‒16 that the Temple was not closed and that the daily service went on, with the great change that the king’s new altar was used instead of the brasen altar. The Chronicler, unwilling to suppose so horrible a desecration of the Temple as the performance of Ahaz’ idolatries within its precincts would involve, placed these rites outside the area of the Temple and expressly asserts that the Temple was closed.

²⁵And in every several city of Judah he made high places to burn incense unto other gods, and provoked to anger the Lord, the God of his fathers.

25. in every several city] Compare Jeremiah ii. 28.

26, 27 (= 2 Kings xvi. 19, 20).
The End of Ahaz.

²⁶Now the rest of his acts, and all his ways, first and last, behold, they are written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel. ²⁷And Ahaz slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city, even in Jerusalem; for they brought him not into the sepulchres of the kings of Israel: and Hezekiah his son reigned in his stead.

27. they brought him not into the sepulchres of the kings of Israel] An alteration of 2 Kings which says that Ahaz “was buried with his fathers.” Compare xxi. 20, xxiv. 25, xxvi. 23.

Chapter XXIX.

1, 2 (= 2 Kings xviii. 1‒3).
The Reign of Hezekiah.

The reign of Hezekiah is related in chapters xxix.‒xxxii. Of this section chapters xxix., xxx., and xxxi. furnish new material with the exception of only three verses, xxix. 1, 2; xxx. 1. This new material describes first, the reopening and cleansing of the Temple and the restoration of worship therein (xxix.); secondly, a solemn and magnificent celebration of the Passover (xxx.); and thirdly, a crusade against idolatrous shrines and images, followed by a reorganisation of the arrangements for the support of the priests and Levites—all ecclesiastical topics dear to the heart of the Chronicler. These chapters throughout are in the spirit of the Chronicler, the incidents are generally conceived after the fashion of the ideas of his period, the language bears frequent marks of his characteristic style; and altogether there is no adequate reason to suppose that these incidents are historically true, or even are derived by the Chronicler from old tradition. They are probably his own free composition. Minor considerations point to the same conclusion (see note on xxix. 3 below); and the favourable verdict which in Kings is passed upon Hezekiah may be reckoned a satisfactory motive and a sufficient source for the Chronicler’s narrative. According to Kings (2 Kings xviii. 3‒6) Hezekiah “removed the high places ... and cut down the Asherah, and brake in pieces the brasen serpent that Moses had made.... He trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel; so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor among them that were before him”; a eulogy sufficiently glowing to warrant the assumption that Hezekiah must also have done all those other things which seemed to the Chronicler natural for so pious a monarch to do, and which accordingly are here related.

¹Hezekiah began to reign when he was five and twenty years old; and he reigned nine and twenty years in Jerusalem: and his mother’s name was Abijah the daughter of Zechariah. ²And he did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord, according to all that David his father had done.

1. Hezekiah] Hebrew “Yehizkiah” (so usually in the Hebrew text of Chronicles). “Hezekiah” (Hebrew “Hizkiah”), the form of the name in Kings, is conveniently used in the English versions of Chronicles in place of the less familiar “Yehizkiah.”

Abijah] In 2 Kings “Abi” which is probably only a shortened form of the name.

3‒11 (not in 2 Kings).
Hezekiah commands to Cleanse the Temple.

³He in the first year of his reign, in the first month, opened the doors of the house of the Lord, and repaired them.

3. in the first month] i.e. in Nisan; compare xxx. 2, 3.

opened the doors] The reopening was a necessary sequel to the Chronicler’s assertion (xxviii. 24) that Ahaz closed the Temple. If therefore the supposed closing was unhistorical (see note, xxviii. 24) the reopening must be equally so. The notion, however, served the Chronicler admirably, enabling him to enhance the piety of Hezekiah by a full description of the restoration of the Temple services.

⁴And he brought in the priests and the Levites, and gathered them together into the broad place on the east,

4. into the broad place on the east] The place meant was part of the Temple area, the space before the water-gate; compare Ezra x. 9, “the broad place before the house of God” (Revised Version).

⁵and said unto them, Hear me, ye Levites; now sanctify yourselves, and sanctify the house of the Lord, the God of your fathers, and carry forth the filthiness out of the holy place.

5. now sanctify yourselves] Compare Exodus xix. 10‒15.

⁶For our fathers have trespassed, and done that which was evil in the sight of the Lord our God, and have forsaken him, and have turned away their faces from the habitation of the Lord, and turned their backs.

6. from the habitation of the Lord] Compare xxiv. 18 “they forsook the house of the Lord” (see note).

habitation] Hebrew “tabernacle,” as in Exodus xxv. 9, al.

⁷Also they have shut up the doors of the porch, and put out the lamps, and have not burned incense nor offered burnt offerings in the holy place unto the God of Israel.

7. Contrast 2 Kings xvi. 10‒16, where Ahaz appears as an innovator in ritual but also as a zealous advocate of worship in the Temple.

the lamps] compare xiii. 11; Exodus xxv. 31 ff.

⁸Wherefore the wrath of the Lord was upon Judah and Jerusalem, and he hath delivered them to be tossed to and fro¹, to be an astonishment, and an hissing, as ye see with your eyes.

¹ Or, a terror.

8. to be tossed to and fro] Better, as margin, to be a terror (or “cause of trembling”). The judgement on Israel fills the surrounding nations with trembling for themselves. The rendering of the text “tossed to and fro” is inferior because the Hebrew word describes “trembling” and not “motion from place to place.”

⁹For, lo, our fathers have fallen by the sword, and our sons and our daughters and our wives are in captivity for this. ¹⁰Now it is in mine heart to make a covenant with the Lord, the God of Israel, that his fierce anger may turn away from us.

10. a covenant] Compare xv. 12.

¹¹My sons, be not now negligent: for the Lord hath chosen you to stand before him, to minister unto him, and that ye should be his ministers, and burn incense.

11. to stand before him] Deuteronomy x. 8.

12‒19 (not in 2 Kings).
The Cleansing of the Temple.

With this passage compare 1 Maccabees iv. 36‒51 (the cleansing of the Temple by Judas Maccabeus).

¹²Then the Levites arose, Mahath the son of Amasai, and Joel the son of Azariah, of the sons of the Kohathites: and of the sons of Merari, Kish the son of Abdi, and Azariah the son of Jehallelel: and of the Gershonites, Joah the son of Zimmah, and Eden the son of Joah: ¹³and of the sons of Elizaphan, Shimri and Jeuel: and of the sons of Asaph, Zechariah and Mattaniah: ¹⁴and of the sons of Heman, Jehuel and Shimei: and of the sons of Jeduthun, Shemaiah and Uzziel.

12. the Levites] The fourteen persons mentioned in these three verses comprise (a) two representatives each of the three great branches of Levi, namely, Kohath, Merari, and Gershon, (b) two representatives of the great Kohathite family of Elizaphan (compare Numbers iii. 30 and 1 Chronicles xv. 8), (c) two representatives each of the three divisions of the singers, Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun (1 Chronicles xxv. 1).

¹⁵And they gathered their brethren, and sanctified themselves, and went in, according to the commandment of the king by the words of the Lord, to cleanse the house of the Lord.

15. by the words of the Lord] i.e. the king’s command was recognised to be in accordance with the Divine will. Read by the word; the plural words is probably only a textual error.

¹⁶And the priests went in unto the inner part of the house of the Lord, to cleanse it, and brought out all the uncleanness that they found in the temple of the Lord into the court of the house of the Lord. And the Levites took it, to carry it out abroad to the brook Kidron.

16. the priests] The work was so divided between priests and Levites that only the priests went into the house.

unto the inner part of the house] Render, within the house. The reference is not to the Holy of Holies specially, but to the whole interior of the house.

uncleanness] compare verse 5; Isaiah xxx. 22.

to the brook Kidron] The brook Kidron is the deep valley on the east of Jerusalem separating it from the Mount of Olives; 2 Samuel xv. 23; John xviii. 1. It was treated as an unclean spot, compare xv. 16.

¹⁷Now they began on the first day of the first month to sanctify, and on the eighth day of the month came they to the porch of the Lord; and they sanctified the house of the Lord in eight days: and on the sixteenth day of the first month they made an end.

17. to sanctify ... and they sanctified] Two periods of eight days each were spent in “sanctifying,” the courts apparently requiring eight days and the house itself eight days.

¹⁸Then they went in to Hezekiah the king within the palace, and said, We have cleansed all the house of the Lord, and the altar of burnt offering, with all the vessels thereof, and the table of shewbread, with all the vessels thereof.

18. the table of shewbread] Compare iv. 8 (note), 19; 1 Chronicles xxviii. 16—“the tables of shewbread.”

¹⁹Moreover all the vessels, which king Ahaz in his reign did cast away when he trespassed, have we prepared and sanctified; and, behold, they are before the altar of the Lord.

19. cast away] According to xxviii. 24, “cut in pieces”; compare 2 Kings xvi. 17. The reference is probably to the “bases” and the “sea.”

have we prepared] Render, have we set up. Ahaz had taken away the supports both of the laver and of the sea (2 Kings xvi. 17).

20‒24 (not in 2 Kings).
The Sevenfold Sacrifice for the Reconciliation of the People.

The ritual of the sin offering is fully given in Leviticus iv. Ahaz had broken the covenant, and Hezekiah’s sin offering was intended to atone for the breach.

²⁰Then Hezekiah the king arose early, and gathered the princes of the city, and went up to the house of the Lord. ²¹And they brought seven bullocks, and seven rams, and seven lambs, and seven he-goats, for a sin offering for the kingdom and for the sanctuary and for Judah. And he commanded the priests the sons of Aaron to offer them on the altar of the Lord.

21. they brought] As the sacrifice was not for an individual but for a whole people the offering on this occasion consisted of seven of each of four different sacrificial animals, the bullocks, rams, and lambs being used for the burnt offering (verses 22 and 24), and the he-goats for the special sin offering (verse 23).

for the kingdom] i.e. for the kingly house.

for the sanctuary] i.e. for the Temple (compare Leviticus xvi. 16), but probably inclusive of the personnel of the Temple, i.e. the priests and Levites, since otherwise they would have been passed over in the great sin offering.

on the altar of the Lord] Not on the altar of Ahaz (2 Kings xvi. 11).

²²So they killed the bullocks, and the priests received the blood, and sprinkled it on the altar: and they killed the rams, and sprinkled the blood upon the altar: they killed also the lambs, and sprinkled the blood upon the altar.

22. received the blood] In basons with which they dashed (not as the text “sprinkled”) the blood against the altar. This dashing was different from the sprinkling with the finger.

²³And they brought near the he-goats for the sin offering before the king and the congregation; and they laid their hands upon them: ²⁴and the priests killed them, and they made a sin offering with their blood upon the altar, to make atonement for all Israel: for the king commanded that the burnt offering and the sin offering should be made for all Israel.

23. brought near] i.e. to the king and the people.

and they laid their hands] “they” = the representatives of the people, for whom the sacrifice was to be offered, compare Leviticus iv. 15.

25‒30.
The Levitical Service of Music.

²⁵And he set the Levites in the house of the Lord with cymbals, with psalteries, and with harps, according to the commandment of David, and of Gad the king’s seer, and Nathan the prophet: for the commandment was of the Lord by his prophets.

25. and of Gad ... and Nathan] Neither of these prophets is elsewhere said to have had a part in inciting David to the organisation of the Temple music with which the Chronicler credits him. Their names are introduced in order to emphasise the value of the musicians of the Temple, whose service is thus declared to have arisen through the inspiration of prophets; compare 1 Chronicles xxviii. 19.

²⁶And the Levites stood with the instruments of David, and the priests with the trumpets.

26. with the instruments] LXX. ἐν ὀργάνοις. Compare 1 Chronicles xxiii. 5.

²⁷And Hezekiah commanded to offer the burnt offering upon the altar. And when the burnt offering began, the song of the Lord began also, and the trumpets, together with the instruments of David king of Israel. ²⁸And all the congregation worshipped, and the singers sang, and the trumpeters sounded; all this continued until the burnt offering was finished.

27. and the trumpets] Compare 1 Chronicles xv. 24 (note).

together with the instruments of David] Render perhaps, even according to the guidance of the instrument of David, i.e. led (or “accompanied”) by them.

²⁹And when they had made an end of offering, the king and all that were present with him bowed themselves and worshipped.

29. bowed themselves and worshipped] i.e. first bowed down (on their knees) and then completely prostrated themselves.

³⁰Moreover Hezekiah the king and the princes commanded the Levites to sing praises unto the Lord with the words of David, and of Asaph the seer. And they sang praises with gladness, and they bowed their heads and worshipped.

30. to sing praises] Since (1) the Hebrew word for “Psalms” means “Praises,” and (2) the words of David and Asaph are specially mentioned in this verse, it is clear that the Chronicler by this phrase means “to sing Psalms.”

31‒36 (not in Kings).
A Great Sacrifice of Burnt Offerings and Thank Offerings.

³¹Then Hezekiah answered and said, Now ye have consecrated yourselves¹ unto the Lord, come near and bring sacrifices and thank offerings into the house of the Lord. And the congregation brought in sacrifices and thank offerings; and as many as were of a willing heart brought burnt offerings. ³²And the number of the burnt offerings, which the congregation brought, was threescore and ten bullocks, an hundred rams, and two hundred lambs: all these were for a burnt offering to the Lord.

¹ Hebrew filled your hand.

31. answered and said] i.e. answered the thoughts or expectation of the people as expressed by the Sacrifices and the Songs; compare Job iii. 2 (Revised Version).

ye have consecrated yourselves] Hebrew “filled your hand”; compare xiii. 9; Exodus xxviii. 41.

sacrifices and thank offerings] The phrase means simply the special type of sacrifices which were termed “thank offerings.” The fat of such offerings was burnt on the altar, the breast and right thigh were reserved for the priests, but the remainder belonged to the offerer and was used for a joyous meal (Leviticus vii. 12 ff.). The burnt offering was entirely consumed on the altar, no portion being kept by priests or offerer (Leviticus i. 1‒13): hence such sacrifices represented a greater cost and are accordingly said to be given by those who were “of willing heart,” i.e. conspicuously pious and generous.

³³And the consecrated things were six hundred oxen and three thousand sheep.

33. the consecrated things] The term was applied (1) to gold and other valuables offered in the Temple; compare xv. 18; 1 Chronicles xviii. 8‒11; (2) to those parts of the various sacrifices which were assigned to be eaten by the priests; Leviticus xxi. 22 (“the holy [bread]”), xxii. 2, 3, 15 (“the holy things”). Here the reference is more general, i.e. to the thank offerings (verse 35) themselves.

³⁴But the priests were too few, so that they could not flay all the burnt offerings: wherefore their brethren the Levites did help them, till the work was ended, and until the priests had sanctified themselves: for the Levites were more upright in heart to sanctify themselves than the priests.

34. the priests] According to Leviticus i. 5 f. the task of flaying the sacrifice was to be performed by the offerer. Either this passage marks a later stage in the customary ritual, or perhaps this occasion was regarded by the Chronicler as exceptional because the offerings were brought on behalf of the “congregation” in general. The verse presents other difficult features. Who were the priests who had not yet sanctified themselves? What is the significance of the evident contrast between the attitude of the priests and that of the Levites, to the disadvantage of the former? It would seem that there were priests who had deliberately or slackly failed to comply with Hezekiah’s injunction (verses 4, 5) and were therefore still ritually unclean from the pollution of the previous reign. In general we infer that the Levites had either been less deeply involved in the idolatries of Ahaz or at least were more zealous than the priests for the restoration of the worship of Jehovah alone. Possibly this tradition may truly represent the historical facts; or it may be an inference derived from 2 Kings xvi. 16 where the subservience of the high-priest Urijah to king Ahaz is mentioned (so Kittel). Less probable is the view of Benzinger that this verse has been added by the Chronicler to the midrashic source upon which he is here depending, and that it represents merely the Chronicler’s personal predilection for the Levites as distinct from the priests.

³⁵And also the burnt offerings were in abundance, with the fat of the peace offerings, and with the drink offerings for every burnt offering. So the service of the house of the Lord was set in order.

35. with the fat] Compare vii. 7; Leviticus iii. 3, 17.

the peace offerings] i.e. the thank offerings (verse 31).

drink offerings] compare Numbers xv. 5, 7, 10. The offering was to be of wine, and the quantity used was to correspond with the size of the animal sacrificed.

was set in order] i.e. was re-established.

³⁶And Hezekiah rejoiced, and all the people, because of that which God had prepared for the people: for the thing was done suddenly.

36. that which God had prepared for the people] It was God, not Hezekiah, who had done it all.

suddenly] In the very first year of Hezekiah’s reign (verse 3).

Chapter XXX.

1‒12 (not in 2 Kings).
Hezekiah Invites all Israel to keep the Passover.

From verse 2 it appears that this Passover took place in the first year of Hezekiah while the Northern Kingdom was still standing. The invitation to share in it at Jerusalem which Hezekiah is here (verse 1) said to have sent to north Israel is opposed to all historic probability. The Chronicler, however, was little likely to be troubled by that difficulty, even if he had observed it (see note, verse 5). Furthermore it is a plausible suggestion that the references to Ephraim, Manasseh, etc. in verses 1, 10, 11, 18 really reflect conditions of the Chronicler’s own circumstances, regarding which see the note on xv. 9. It is therefore a mistake to suggest that the date may be wrong and that the Passover really took place in the sixth year of Hezekiah after the fall of Samaria on the ground that the invitation would then be more credible.

¹And Hezekiah sent to all Israel and Judah, and wrote letters also to Ephraim and Manasseh, that they should come to the house of the Lord at Jerusalem, to keep the passover unto the Lord, the God of Israel. ²For the king had taken counsel, and his princes, and all the congregation in Jerusalem, to keep the passover in the second month.

2. in the second month] The Law allowed such a postponement; compare Numbers ix. 10, 11.

³For they could not keep it at that time, because the priests had not sanctified themselves in sufficient number, neither had the people gathered themselves together to Jerusalem. ⁴And the thing was right in the eyes of the king and of all the congregation.

3. at that time] In the first month.

⁵So they established a decree to make proclamation throughout all Israel, from Beer-sheba even to Dan, that they should come to keep the passover unto the Lord, the God of Israel, at Jerusalem: for they had not kept it in great numbers¹ in such sort as it is written.

¹ Or, of a long time.

5. to make proclamation] A phrase characteristic of the Chronicler.

from Beer-sheba even to Dan] i.e. the extreme points of the undivided kingdom of David and Solomon. “The existence of the North Kingdom is either ignored or more probably the writer assumed that it had already fallen” (Curtis). On the origin of the phrase and the order in Chronicles (Beer-sheba to Dan not Dan to Beer-sheba, as in 2 Samuel xxiv. 2, etc.) see Hogg in the Expositor, 1898, pp. 411‒421.

they had not kept it in great numbers in such sort as it is written] The statement applies to Israel, not to Judah; for the first time an attempt is made to draw Israel en masse to a regular Passover at Jerusalem.

⁶So the posts went with the letters from the king and his princes throughout all Israel and Judah, and according to the commandment of the king, saying, Ye children of Israel, turn again unto the Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, that he may return to the remnant that are escaped of you out of the hand of the kings of Assyria.

6. the posts] Literally “the runners.”

the remnant that are escaped of you out of the hand of the kings of Assyria] The phrase applies most naturally to the final downfall of Samaria through Shalmaneser and Sargon (722‒721 B.C.), but it is possible of course to interpret it of the repeated disasters at the hands of the Assyrians in the time of Tiglath-pileser some ten years earlier.

⁷And be not ye like your fathers, and like your brethren, which trespassed against the Lord, the God of their fathers, so that he gave them up to desolation¹, as ye see.

¹ Or, to be an astonishment.

7. to desolation] Render, as margin, to be an astonishment; compare xxix. 8 (same Hebrew word).

⁸Now be ye not stiffnecked, as your fathers were; but yield yourselves¹ unto the Lord, and enter into his sanctuary, which he hath sanctified for ever, and serve the Lord your God, that his fierce anger may turn away from you.

¹ Hebrew give the hand.

8. yield yourselves] Literally “give the hand”; compare 1 Chronicles xxix. 24 “submitted themselves”).

sanctified for ever] Compare vii. 16.

⁹For if ye turn again unto the Lord, your brethren and your children shall find compassion before them that led them captive, and shall come again into this land: for the Lord your God is gracious and merciful, and will not turn away his face from you, if ye return unto him. ¹⁰So the posts passed from city to city through the country of Ephraim and Manasseh, even unto Zebulun: but they laughed them to scorn, and mocked them.

9. shall find compassion] Compare Psalms cvi. 46 (a similar phrase in Hebrew).

¹¹Nevertheless divers of Asher and Manasseh and of Zebulun humbled themselves, and came to Jerusalem.

11. of Asher] Asher is somewhat strange. The parallel with verse 10 alone suggests that we should read of Ephraim; and this is the more probable if the real significance of the reference is for the Chronicler’s period (see the head-note, and xv. 9). It is not likely that Judaism at that time could claim many adherents in the old territory of Asher (see Hölscher, Palästina, p. 32).

humbled themselves] So xxxiii. 12.

¹²Also in Judah was the hand of God to give them one heart, to do the commandment of the king and of the princes by the word of the Lord.

12. Also in Judah was the hand of God] i.e. the mighty working of God, which brought some penitents from far parts of Israel, manifested itself in Judah also.

the commandment of the king ... by the word of the Lord] The king’s command was according to God’s command in the Law.

13‒27 (not in 2 Kings).
Hezekiah’s Great Passover.

It seems clear that the story of Hezekiah’s Passover has been composed by the Chronicler on the analogy of Josiah’s grand celebration of that feast (see xxxv. 1‒19), which the present festival even surpasses in some respects—viz. in its scope (for all Israel and strangers, whereas Josiah’s was for Judeans only) and in its duration (for two weeks, Josiah’s for one). Josiah’s Passover was famous because of the account of it in Kings. Doubtless the Chronicler felt that a celebration of that feast was incumbent upon a great reforming monarch, and he has therefore credited Hezekiah with observing it.

¹³And there assembled at Jerusalem much people to keep the feast of unleavened bread in the second month, a very great congregation.

13. the feast of unleavened bread] In the “Passover” were united two separate “feasts,” (1) the eating of the lamb on the fourteenth of Nisan, (2) the eating of unleavened bread from the fourteenth to the twenty-first of Nisan. The combined Feast was sometimes called “the Passover” and sometimes (as here) “the feast of unleavened bread”; compare Exodus xii. 1‒14 and 17‒20, and note that the intervening verses, 15, 16, bind the two feasts into one celebration.

¹⁴And they arose and took away the altars that were in Jerusalem, and all the altars for incense¹ took they away, and cast them into the brook Kidron.

¹ Or, vessels.

14. the altars] Compare xxviii. 24.

¹⁵Then they killed the passover on the fourteenth day of the second month: and the priests and the Levites were ashamed, and sanctified themselves, and brought burnt offerings into the house of the Lord. ¹⁶And they stood in their place after their order, according to the law of Moses the man of God: the priests sprinkled the blood, which they received of the hand of the Levites.

15. the second month] Compare verses 2, 3.

were ashamed] Of their former backwardness; compare verse 3, xxix. 34.

¹⁷For there were many in the congregation that had not sanctified themselves: therefore the Levites had the charge of killing the passovers for every one that was not clean, to sanctify them unto the Lord.

17. of killing the passovers] “Passovers” (plural rare) = “Paschal victims”; compare verse 15, xxxv. 8 (“passover offerings”).

¹⁸For a multitude of the people, even many of Ephraim and Manasseh, Issachar and Zebulun, had not cleansed themselves, yet did they eat the passover otherwise than it is written. For Hezekiah had prayed for them, saying, The good Lord pardon every one¹

¹ Or, him that setteth his whole heart.

18. of Ephraim, etc.] The list of tribes given here does not agree with the list in verse 11, but in both cases it may be that the Chronicler merely wished by his list to designate men of the Northern Kingdom as opposed to those of the Southern. He could not make the distinction by using the term “Israel” here, for in Chronicles “Israel” as a rule is not used in opposition to “Judah”; compare xi. 3 (note). (For a somewhat different view, see the head-note on verses 1‒12 and xv. 9.)

otherwise than it is written] i.e. they were allowed to partake of the Passover meal, although not purified according to the regulations of the Law.

¹⁹that setteth his heart to seek God, the Lord, the God of his fathers, though he be not cleansed according to the purification of the sanctuary.

18, 19. The good Lord pardon every one that, etc.] In Hebrew verse 18 ends abruptly with the word “pardon.” Probably the Revised Version is correct in disregarding the Hebrew division. The phrase “the good Lord” is not found elsewhere, and another suggestion is to transpose the adjective and read (verse 18) ... “The Lord pardon the good: (verse 19) even every one that,” etc. The LXX., however, supports the order of the Hebrew text.

²⁰And the Lord hearkened to Hezekiah, and healed the people.

20. healed the people] By prevention; no plague was allowed to break out among them, although uncleanness in the sanctuary had been threatened with death; Leviticus xv. 31.

²¹And the children of Israel that were present at Jerusalem kept the feast of unleavened bread seven days with great gladness: and the Levites and the priests praised the Lord day by day, singing with loud instruments unto the Lord.

21. with loud instruments] Literally “with instruments of strength.” It is better to read “with all their might” (as 1 Chronicles xiii. 8). The change in Hebrew amounts only to the dropping of the smallest letter (yōd).

²²And Hezekiah spake comfortably unto all the Levites that were well skilled in the service of the Lord. So they did eat throughout the feast for the seven days, offering sacrifices of peace offerings, and making confession¹ to the Lord, the God of their fathers.

¹ Or, giving thanks.

22. spake comfortably] i.e. with kindly and appreciative words. For the phrase compare Isaiah xl. 2.

making confession] Or, as margin, “giving thanks.”

²³And the whole congregation took counsel to keep other seven days: and they kept other seven days with gladness.

23. other seven days] Compare vii. 9 (Solomon’s Dedication Feast).

²⁴For Hezekiah king of Judah did give to the congregation for offerings a thousand bullocks and seven thousand sheep; and the princes gave to the congregation a thousand bullocks and ten thousand sheep: and a great number of priests sanctified themselves.

24. sanctified themselves] Compare xxix. 34.

²⁵And all the congregation of Judah, with the priests and the Levites, and all the congregation that came out of Israel, and the strangers that came out of the land of Israel, and that dwelt in Judah, rejoiced.

25. the strangers] i.e. men of alien descent dwelling in Israel with certain conceded, not inherited, rights, and with most of the obligations of the native Israelite. LXX. οἱ προσήλυτοι Compare ii. 17; 1 Chronicles xxii. 2 for the unfavourable side of a “stranger’s” position.

²⁶So there was great joy in Jerusalem: for since the time of Solomon the son of David king of Israel there was not the like in Jerusalem.

26. since the time of Solomon] For Solomon’s great festival, see v. 2 ff.

there was not the like] Compare what is said of Josiah’s Passover; xxxv. 18 (note).

²⁷Then the priests the Levites arose and blessed the people: and their voice was heard, and their prayer came up to his holy habitation, even unto heaven.

27. the priests the Levites] So in xxiii. 18, but only in these two places in Chronicles The phrase is Deuteronomic, and implies that at the stage of ritual development represented in Deuteronomy all Levites were potentially priests. Such was not in any case the view of the Chronicler, and perhaps we ought to read “the priests and the Levites” both here and in xxiii. 18.

Chapter XXXI.

1 (compare 2 Kings xviii. 4).
Destruction of Idolatrous Symbols.

¹Now when all this was finished, all Israel that were present went out to the cities of Judah, and brake in pieces the pillars¹, and hewed down the Asherim, and brake down the high places and the altars out of all Judah and Benjamin, in Ephraim also and Manasseh, until they had destroyed them all. Then all the children of Israel returned, every man to his possession, into their own cities.

¹ Or, obelisks.

1. the pillars ... the Asherim] Compare xiv. 3 (note).

in Ephraim also] It is obviously assumed that the Northern Kingdom had come to an end; compare xxx. 6, 9.

2‒21 (not in 2 Kings).
Organisation of the Priests. Tithe.

If the Temple had been desecrated and closed by Ahaz, it would follow that the organisation of its Priests and Levites had fallen into confusion. The Chronicler therefore makes Hezekiah the restorer of the system inaugurated by David, and treats this edifying topic at some length.

²And Hezekiah appointed the courses of the priests and the Levites after their courses, every man according to his service, both the priests and the Levites, for burnt offerings and for peace offerings, to minister, and to give thanks, and to praise in the gates of the camp of the Lord.

2. the courses] Compare 1 Chronicles xxiv. 1 ff.

to minister, and to give thanks, and to praise in the gates] Better, as LXX., altering the order, to give thanks and to praise and to minister in the gates. “To minister in the gates,” i.e. to be doorkeepers, compare 1 Chronicles xxvi. 1.

the camp of the Lord] i.e. (in the language of Deuteronomy) “the place which the Lord chose,” Jerusalem or, more exactly, the Temple area. Compare 1 Chronicles ix. 18, note.

³He appointed also the king’s portion of his substance for the burnt offerings, to wit, for the morning and evening burnt offerings, and the burnt offerings for the sabbaths, and for the new moons, and for the set feasts, as it is written in the law of the Lord. ⁴Moreover he commanded the people that dwelt in Jerusalem to give the portion of the priests and the Levites, that they might give themselves¹ to the law of the Lord.

¹ Hebrew be strong in.

3. the burnt offerings] Compare viii. 12, 13.

⁵And as soon as the commandment came abroad, the children of Israel gave in abundance the firstfruits of corn, wine, and oil, and honey, and of all the increase of the field; and the tithe of all things brought they in abundantly.

5. and honey] Honey (Hebrew dĕbhash) is not elsewhere mentioned as subject to tithe; perhaps grape syrup (modern Arabic dibs) is meant here, as in Genesis xliii. 11 and Ezekiel xxvii. 17 (according to some commentators). Honey (like leaven) was forbidden for sacrificial use (Leviticus ii. 11).

⁶And the children of Israel and Judah, that dwelt in the cities of Judah, they also brought in the tithe of oxen and sheep, and the tithe of dedicated things which were consecrated unto the Lord their God, and laid them by heaps.

6. And the children of Israel] Compare xi. 16.

the tithe of dedicated things] a strange phrase without parallel. Read probably the dedicated things.

⁷In the third month they began to lay the foundation of the heaps, and finished them in the seventh month. ⁸And when Hezekiah and the princes came and saw the heaps, they blessed the Lord, and his people Israel. ⁹Then Hezekiah questioned with the priests and the Levites concerning the heaps.

7. the third month] The Feast of Harvest took place at the beginning of this month and seven weeks later the Feast of Ingathering followed.

¹⁰And Azariah the chief priest, of the house of Zadok, answered him and said, Since the people began to bring the oblations into the house of the Lord, we have eaten and had enough, and have left plenty: for the Lord hath blessed his people; and that which is left is this great store.

10. Azariah the chief priest] Not mentioned in connection with Hezekiah’s previous arrangements.

of the house of Zadok] Compare 1 Chronicles xxiv. 1‒4. Tradition spoke of two main families of priests, (1) the descendants of Eleazar the third son of Aaron, whose chief representative in David’s day was Zadok (hence they are here called “the house of Zadok”), (2) the descendants of Ithamar the fourth son of Aaron, represented in David’s time by Ahimelech (Saul’s victim) or by Abiathar (David’s protégé). The Chronicler prefers to name the descendants of Ithamar after Ahimelech (1 Chronicles xxiv. 3, where see note).

the oblations] “The Hebrew word, tĕrūmāh, denotes properly what is ‘taken off’ from a larger mass and so separated from it for sacred purposes.” The word is sometimes rendered heave offering, but this is due to a mistaken impression that a rite of elevation was involved (see the full note in Driver, Exodus, p. 263).

hath blessed his people] Compare Malachi iii. 10.

and that which is left is this great store] The Hebrew requires some correction. Read as the LXX., καὶ κατελίπομεν ἐπὶ τὸ πλῆθος τοῦτο, “we leave (‘have left’) this great store and more.”

11‒13. The offerings mentioned in verses 5‒10 were placed in charge of Conaniah, Shimei and their subordinates for storage in the Temple treasuries.

¹¹Then Hezekiah commanded to prepare chambers in the house of the Lord; and they prepared them.

11. chambers] compare 1 Chronicles ix. 26, note.

¹²And they brought in the oblations and the tithes and the dedicated things faithfully: and over them Conaniah the Levite was ruler, and Shimei his brother was second.

12. the dedicated things] Compare xxix. 33 (note on the consecrated things).

¹³And Jehiel, and Azaziah, and Nahath, and Asahel, and Jerimoth, and Jozabad, and Eliel, and Ismachiah, and Mahath, and Benaiah, were overseers under the hand of Conaniah and Shimei his brother, by the appointment of Hezekiah the king, and Azariah the ruler of the house of God.

13. the ruler of the house of God] Compare 1 Chronicles ix. 11, note.

14‒19. Distribution of the stores referred to in verses 11‒13 was the duty of Kore and his subordinates. The exact meaning and sequence of these verses is hard to follow, and probably the obscurity is due to faults in the Hebrew text. The simplest view is as follows: verse 15 states that the distribution was to be made to priestly and levitical persons resident in the priestly cities but (verse 16) not to those who were for the time being on duty at the Temple, since these no doubt would receive their share at the Temple itself. Then verses 17‒19 seem to refer to the manner of the registration of priests and Levites respectively for the purpose of the distribution; but it must be confessed that the precise sense and connection are uncertain, particularly as regards verse 19.

¹⁴And Kore the son of Imnah the Levite, the porter at the east gate, was over the freewill offerings of God, to distribute the oblations of the Lord, and the most holy things.

14. the most holy things] To this class belonged the shewbread (Leviticus xxiv. 9), the meal offering (Leviticus ii. 2, 3, vi. 14‒18 [7‒11, Hebrew]), the sin offering (Leviticus vi. 25‒30), and the trespass offering (Leviticus vii. 1‒7). These could be eaten by the priests only and in the holy place only.

¹⁵And under him were Eden, and Miniamin, and Jeshua, and Shemaiah, Amariah, and Shecaniah, in the cities of the priests, in their set office¹, to give to their brethren by courses, as well to the great as to the small:

¹ Or, trust.

15. in the cities] The priestly cities are given 1 Chronicles vi. 54‒60.

to the great as to the small] i.e. to old and to young alike.

¹⁶beside them that were reckoned by genealogy of males, from three years old and upward, even every one that entered into the house of the Lord, as the duty of every day required¹, for their service in their charges according to their courses;

¹ Or, for his daily portion.

16. beside] i.e. with the exception of.

as the duty of every day required] Or, as margin, for his daily portion.

¹⁷and them that were reckoned by genealogy of the priests by their fathers’ houses, and the Levites from twenty years old and upward, in their charges by their courses;

17. and them that] Render probably and as for the registration of the priests it was made by their families....

¹⁸and them¹ that were reckoned by genealogy of all their little ones, their wives, and their sons, and their daughters, through all the congregation: for in their set office² they sanctified themselves in holiness:

¹ Or, even to give to them &c.

² Or, trust.

18. and them that] Render, and the registration included all their little ones, etc. The connection of the last part of the verse is very obscure.

their set office] Or, as margin, their trust (so also above verse 15).

they sanctified themselves in holiness] Or, they busied themselves with the distribution of the sanctified things. No reliance can be placed on the soundness of the text.

¹⁹also for the sons of Aaron the priests, which were in the fields of the suburbs of their cities, in every several city, there were men that were expressed by name, to give portions to all the males among the priests, and to all that were reckoned by genealogy among the Levites. ²⁰And thus did Hezekiah throughout all Judah; and he wrought that which was good and right and faithful¹ before the Lord his God. ²¹And in every work that he began in the service of the house of God, and in the law, and in the commandments, to seek his God, he did it with all his heart, and prospered.

¹ Hebrew faithfulness.

19. Again a most obscure verse, apparently meaning that the priests had certain special officers, other than Kore and his subordinates, who were charged with superintending the distribution in the outlying districts. Text and interpretation are alike uncertain. Kittel regards verses 17‒19 as a late addition.

the suburbs] compare 1 Chronicles v. 16 (margin “pasture lands”), vi. 55, 57 [40, 42, Hebrew].

Chapter XXXII.

1‒8 (compare 2 Kings xviii. 13‒16).
Sennacherib’s threatened Invasion. Hezekiah’s Precautions.

The Chronicler introduces us somewhat abruptly to the Assyrian crisis. From 2 Kings we learn that Hezekiah renounced the suzerainty of Assyria (xviii. 7), which his father Ahaz had acknowledged (2 Kings xvi. 7). Thereupon Sennacherib invaded Judah, and Hezekiah was obliged to acknowledge with a heavy payment of tribute his dependence on the Assyrian king (2 Kings xviii. 13‒16). Sennacherib having discovered the weakness of Judah, next demanded an unconditional surrender, intending to transport the Jews to another country (2 Kings xviii. 31, 32). This demand Hezekiah resisted, being strengthened thereto by Isaiah. The Chronicler does not refer to the earlier invasion or to the tribute—such a humiliation of the pious and devoted king being in his belief unthinkable. That any invasion should have taken place “after these things and this faithfulness” was sufficiently astonishing, until the issue showed that the anxiety and distress were only for the greater glory of Israel’s God and for the further proof of Hezekiah’s trust in Him.

¹After these things, and this faithfulness, Sennacherib king of Assyria came, and entered into Judah, and encamped against the fenced cities, and thought to win them¹ for himself. ²And when Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib was come, and that he was purposed² to fight against Jerusalem,

¹ Hebrew to break them up.

² Hebrew his face was to fight.

1. After these things, and this faithfulness] The phrase is a hendiadys and stands for, “After these faithful dealings.”

Sennacherib] This king (Sanḥērib in Hebrew, Sin-aḥi-irib [-irba] in Assyrian, the Σαναχάριβος of Herod. II. 141) reigned 705‒681 B.C. He was the son of Sargon (Isaiah xx. 1), father of Esar-haddon (2 Kings xix. 37; Ezra iv. 3), and grandfather of Asshur-bani-pal, the well-known Σαρδανάπαλλος of Herod. II. 150, who is commonly identified with Osnappar (compare Ezra iv. 10). Under this dynasty Assyria reached the height of its power. The empire included Babylonia (which, however, was frequently in revolt), Assyria proper, Syria as far north as Cilicia (inclusive), and (under Esar-haddon and Asshur-bani-pal) Egypt. After Asshur-bani-pal’s death (about 626 B.C.) the Assyrian power was speedily destroyed. The form Sennacherib is derived from the LXX. through the Vulgate.

to win them] Literally to make breaches in them. According to 2 Kings xviii. 13 Sennacherib took these cites; and the Assyrian account on the “Prism Inscription” of Sennacherib which is preserved in the British Museum states that they were forty-six in number (compare Driver in Hogarth, Authority and Archaeology, pp. 104‒107; or Handcock, Latest Light on Bible Lands, pp. 153 ff.).

³he took counsel with his princes and his mighty men to stop the waters of the fountains which were without the city; and they helped him.

3. to stop the waters] Compare 2 Kings xx. 20 “[Hezekiah] made the pool and the conduit and brought water into the city,” and Isaiah xxii. 9, 11.

At the present day there is an underground tunnel cut through the rock leading from St Mary’s Well down to the Lower Pool of Siloam (Bädeker, Palestine⁵, pp. 25, 83). It is rudely constructed and owing to its windings is 586 yards long, though the distance in a straight line is only 368 yards. As therefore the Lower Pool was probably within the ancient walls, while St Mary’s Well was outside, this tunnel may be Hezekiah’s conduit. If the well were stopped, the besiegers would lose the water, which would collect in the Pool for the use of the besieged. An inscription in ancient Hebrew characters (“The Siloam Inscription”) discovered in situ describes briefly the digging of the tunnel, but does not enable us to fix the date of it with certainty. For the original text and an English translation see G. A. Smith, Jerusalem, I. 95 f., or Driver, Notes on Hebrew Text of Samuel, viii. ff.

⁴So there was gathered much people together, and they stopped all the fountains, and the brook that flowed through the midst of the land, saying, Why should the kings of Assyria come, and find much water?

4. the brook that flowed] The Hebrew verb means “flow with strong stream” (as a flood). We naturally look for such a brook either east of Jerusalem in the valley of Kidron or south in the valley of the son of Hinnom, but no perennial stream runs in either valley now. Possibly (owing to physical changes in the configuration of the country) the waters which fed such a brook in the Chronicler’s day now lose themselves in the soil.

⁵And he took courage, and built up all the wall that was broken down, and raised it up to the towers¹, and the other² wall without, and strengthened Millo in the city of David, and made weapons and shields in abundance.

¹ Or, heightened the towers Or, went up upon the towers The Vulgate has, built towers thereon.

² Or, another.

5. broken dozen] Compare xxv. 23 (note).

raised it up to the towers] Hebrew vayya‘al ‘al. Read and he heightened the towers, i.e. omitting the second ’al as a dittography.

the other wall] In Isaiah xxii. 9‒11 the preparations to meet the Assyrian attack are described by the prophet who speaks of a “ditch” (Revised Version “reservoir”) made at this time between “the two walls.” In Excavations at Jerusalem, 1894‒1897, Dr Bliss describes a buttressed wall (pp. 96 ff.) built without lime (see his frontispiece for an illustration of it) and enclosing the pool of Siloam on the south-east, which, he says, “may date back as far as Hezekiah” (pp. 325 f.). Dr Bliss also, following up a clue given by earlier explorers, found a second wall (running at an angle to the first) enclosing the pool on the west. This second wall was probably due to Herod, but Dr Bliss suggests that the line it follows may have been defended by a wall as early as Hezekiah’s day (p. 326). For further discussion see G. A. Smith, Jerusalem, I. 182, 207.

Millo] compare 1 Chronicles xi. 8, note.

weapons and shields] Properly, darts and shields. These were meant, not for such trained soldiers as Hezekiah could collect, but for the levy en masse with which the king proposed to man the walls. A dart to throw and a shield to protect the thrower as he threw were all that the citizen-soldier needed. The Hebrew word (shelaḥ) means “dart, missile”; the more general rendering “weapons” obscures the precise nature of Hezekiah’s preparations.

⁶And he set captains of war over the people, and gathered them together to him in the broad place at the gate of the city, and spake comfortably to them, saying, ⁷Be strong and of a good courage, be not afraid nor dismayed for the king of Assyria, nor for all the multitude that is with him: for there is a greater¹ with us than with him:

¹ Or, there be more.

6. in the broad place at the gate] Compare xxix. 4; Nehemiah viii. 16. There is nothing here to show which of the two broad places mentioned in Nehemiah is meant, or whether some third place is intended.

⁸with him is an arm of flesh; but with us is the Lord our God to help us, and to fight our battles. And the people rested themselves upon the words of Hezekiah king of Judah.

8. an arm of flesh] Compare Jeremiah xvii. 5. Contrast the frequent phrase “a mighty hand and a stretched out arm” (of Jehovah). An “arm” is an ally or helper.

with us is the Lord] Compare xv. 2, xx. 17; Isaiah viii. 10.

9‒19 (compare 2 Kings xviii. 17‒35).
Sennacherib’s Threatening Messages.

In this section Chronicles briefly and freely summarises 2 Kings.

⁹After this did Sennacherib king of Assyria send his servants to Jerusalem, (now he was before Lachish, and all his power with him,) unto Hezekiah king of Judah, and unto all Judah that were at Jerusalem, saying,

9. his servants] Three of these are specified in 2 Kings by their titles, viz. the Tartan (“Commander-in-chief”), the Rabsaris (perhaps “Chief of the Princes”), and the Rabshakeh (“Chief of the officers or cup-bearers”).

now he was before Lachish] The capture of Lachish by Sennacherib and its spoliation are shown on an Assyrian relief now in the British Museum. The king himself besieged Lachish because it was of more importance for the main object of the campaign than Jerusalem. Sennacherib’s objective was Egypt (Herodotus II. 141), and Lachish (Tell el-Ḥesi, Bädeker, Palestine⁵, p. 118) lay directly in his path (compare Handcock, Latest Light on Bible Lands, p. 151).

¹⁰Thus saith Sennacherib king of Assyria, Whereon do ye trust, that ye abide the siege¹ in Jerusalem?

¹ Or, in the strong hold.

10. in Jerusalem] Isaiah promised deliverance in Jerusalem; e.g. in Isaiah xxix. 8, xxx. 19.

¹¹Doth not Hezekiah persuade you, to give you over to die by famine and by thirst, saying, The Lord our God shall deliver us out of the hand of the king of Assyria?

11. persuade] Or “entice”; compare 1 Chronicles xxi. 1 (“provoked” for the same Hebrew word).

¹²Hath not the same Hezekiah taken away his high places and his altars, and commanded Judah and Jerusalem, saying, Ye shall worship before one altar, and upon it shall ye burn incense?

12. Hath not the same Hezekiah taken away] Besides this appeal to the religious prejudices of the people, Sennacherib’s servants employed two other arguments, according to 2 Kings—(1) the paucity of Hezekiah’s soldiers (2 Kings xviii. 23) and (2) possible reliance on Egyptian help (2 Kings xviii. 21, 25). These two arguments are passed over by the Chronicler doubtless because they seemed inconsistent both with the power and the character of a king so God-fearing as Hezekiah.

his high places] compare 2 Kings xviii. 4. The “high places” (bāmōth) were properly sanctuaries of Jehovah, and not necessarily idolatrous in themselves. But since originally all, or almost all, of these bāmōth had been sacred places of the Canaanite gods, old idolatrous symbols (e.g. the ashērah) and old idolatrous ideas and rites persisted in the worship there offered. When finally the Jews restricted sacrificial worship to Jerusalem, the odium attaching to these “high places” became greater than ever, and hostility towards them came to be regarded as the mark of any pious monarch. Hezekiah removed the bāmōth throughout the country.

¹³Know ye not what I and my fathers have done unto all the peoples of the lands? Were the gods of the nations of the lands any ways able to deliver their land out of mine hand? ¹⁴Who was there among all the gods of those nations which my fathers utterly destroyed¹, that could deliver his people out of mine hand, that your God should be able to deliver you out of mine hand? ¹⁵Now therefore let not Hezekiah deceive you, nor persuade you on this manner, neither believe ye him: for no god of any nation or kingdom was able to deliver his people out of mine hand, and out of the hand of my fathers: how much less shall your God² deliver you out of mine hand? ¹⁶And his servants spake yet more against the Lord God, and against his servant Hezekiah.

¹ Hebrew devoted.

² Or, gods.

13. the peoples of the lands] In 2 Kings xviii. 34 the lands are specified and include Samaria.

¹⁷He wrote also letters¹, to rail on the Lord, the God of Israel, and to speak against him, saying, As the gods of the nations of the lands, which have not delivered their people out of mine hand, so shall not the God of Hezekiah deliver his people out of mine hand.

¹ Or, a letter.

17. to rail on] Or, to defy (the same Hebrew word as in 2 Kings xix. 4, 16, 22, 33, and there rendered “reproach”).

¹⁸And they cried with a loud voice in the Jews’ language unto the people of Jerusalem that were on the wall, to affright them, and to trouble them; that they might take the city.

18. in the Jews’ language] i.e. in Hebrew. From the parallel passage, 2 Kings xviii. 26 ff., it is evident that the language of diplomacy at this time in Western Asia was Aramaic (“Syrian,” 2 Kings); and that, whilst understood by the Jewish leaders and officials, it was not yet intelligible to the common people. In the negotiations the Rabshakeh showed clearly that his object was not to treat with Hezekiah, but to excite a revolt among the Jews against Hezekiah and so gain possession of the city.

¹⁹And they spake of the God of Jerusalem, as of the gods of the peoples of the earth, which are the work of men’s hands.

19. the God of Jerusalem] For this designation compare Psalms cxxxv. 21.

20‒23 (compare 2 Kings xix. 1‒4, 14‒19, 35‒37).
Hezekiah and Isaiah pray. The Deliverance.

This section is a very brief summary of 2 Kings xix.

²⁰And Hezekiah the king, and Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz, prayed because of this, and cried to heaven.

20. And Hezekiah ... and Isaiah ... prayed] According to Kings, Hezekiah prayed, and was answered by God through the medium of a message delivered by Isaiah the prophet (2 Kings xix. 20‒34).

heaven] Here used reverently for “God”; compare xxviii. 9; Daniel iv. 26; Luke xv. 21.

²¹And the Lord sent an angel, which cut off all the mighty men of valour, and the leaders and captains, in the camp of the king of Assyria. So he returned with shame of face to his own land. And when he was come into the house of his god, they that came forth of his own bowels slew him¹ there with the sword.

¹ Hebrew caused him to fall.

21. all the mighty men] In number 185,000 according to 2 Kings xix. 35 and Isaiah xxxvii. 36. The agency was probably the plague, which is pictured as a destroying angel in 2 Samuel xxiv. 16.

And when he was come] The murder of Sennacherib did not occur till some 20 years after his Judean expedition (circa 701 B.C.), i.e. not till 681 B.C.

they that came forth] The Chronicler no doubt follows Isaiah xxxvii. 38, “Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons smote him”; but the accuracy of the present text of this passage of Isaiah is doubtful, for in the parallel passage (2 Kings xix. 37, Kethīb) the words his sons are missing. The only notice of Sennacherib’s death known to us at present from the inscriptions reads “Sennacherib king of Assyria was slain by his son (singular) in a revolt.” No name is given to this son. (Driver in Hogarth, Authority and Archaeology, p. 109.)

²²Thus the Lord saved Hezekiah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib the king of Assyria, and from the hand of all other, and guided them on every side.

22. guided them on every side] Read, as the LXX., gave them rest on every side; compare xx. 30.

²³And many brought gifts unto the Lord to Jerusalem, and precious things to Hezekiah king of Judah: so that he was exalted in the sight of all nations from thenceforth.

23. brought gifts] Compare Psalms lxviii. 29; Isaiah xviii. 7; Haggai ii. 7, 8.

24‒33 (compare 2 Kings xx.; Isaiah xxxviii., xxxix.).
Hezekiah’s Sickness. The Ambassadors from Babylon. Hezekiah’s Death.

²⁴In those days Hezekiah was sick even unto death: and he prayed unto the Lord; and he spake unto him, and gave him a sign¹.

¹ Or, wonder.

24. Remark that this single verse epitomises 2 Kings xx. 1‒11.

In those days] The phrase is taken over from 2 Kings xx. 1, and it cannot be determined what date is intended, though we may conclude from 2 Kings xx. 6 that it was a time at which the Assyrian danger was not yet past, and that it was about the fourteenth year of Hezekiah (compare Barnes on 2 Kings xx. 1).

he spake] The Hebrew word means, in certain connections, “to promise,” and the idea of “promise” is present here, the sense being “God made him a promise and confirmed it by a wonder”; compare 2 Kings xx. 5, 6, 8‒11.

a sign] Rather, a wonder (margin), as in verse 31.

²⁵But Hezekiah rendered not again according to the benefit done unto him; for his heart was lifted up: therefore there was wrath upon him, and upon Judah and Jerusalem.

25. his heart was lifted up] Compare verse 31; 2 Kings xx. 12‒15.

wrath] Hebrew ḳeṣeph, a visitation of Divine wrath; compare xix. 2, 10, xxiv. 18, xxix. 8.

²⁶Notwithstanding Hezekiah humbled himself for the pride¹ of his heart, both he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the wrath of the Lord came not upon them in the days of Hezekiah.

¹ Hebrew the lifting up.

26. humbled himself] Compare 2 Kings xx. 19.

²⁷And Hezekiah had exceeding much riches and honour: and he provided him treasuries for silver, and for gold, and for precious stones, and for spices, and for shields, and for all manner of goodly vessels;

27. riches and honour] Compare 2 Kings xx. 13 (= Isaiah xxxix. 2).

shields] Hebrew māginnōth, i.e. small round shields. Perhaps, like Solomon’s (ix. 15, 16), they were overlaid with gold or silver. Barnes suggested the reading migdānōth, “precious things” (as in verse 23), instead of māginnōth. LXX. ὁπλοθήκας, i.e. “armouries”; Peshitṭa (text being doubtful here) “shields” or “pearls” or “precious gifts.”

²⁸storehouses also for the increase of corn and wine and oil; and stalls for all manner of beasts, and flocks in folds.

28. flocks in folds] The “folds” were enclosures with high stone walls as a defence against robbers and wild beasts. The text is probably faulty; Peshitṭa omits the clause.

²⁹Moreover he provided him cities, and possessions of flocks and herds in abundance: for God had given him very much substance.

29. cities] The context suggests that these cities were meant chiefly as places of refuge for the flocks and herds in time of war; but again it is probable that the text is corrupt, and that this word should be omitted.

³⁰This same Hezekiah also stopped the upper spring of the waters of Gihon, and brought them straight down on the west side of the city of David. And Hezekiah prospered in all his works.

30. stopped] Compare verses 3, 4.

Gihon] The upper spring of Gihon is represented to-day by St Mary’s Well; compare Bädeker, Palestine⁵, pp. 25, 83, and note on verse 3 above.

on the west side of the city] Render, westwards to the city. The direction followed by the tunnel through which Hezekiah brought the waters from the upper spring of Gihon (St Mary’s Well outside the city) to the Pool of Siloam within the walls is roughly west or south-west; see G. A. Smith, Jerusalem, 1. 102 f.

³¹Howbeit in the business of the ambassadors¹ of the princes of Babylon, who sent unto him to inquire of the wonder that was done in the land, God left him, to try him, that he might know all that was in his heart.

¹ Hebrew interpreters.

31. who sent] Read rather, with LXX., who had been sent.

to inquire of the wonder] According to 2 Kings xx. 12; Isaiah xxxix. 1, the ostensible reason of the embassy was to congratulate Hezekiah on his recovery. The real object was to gain over Judah to an alliance against Assyria, from which Babylon was constantly seeking to revolt.

to try him, that he might know, etc.] The phrase is based on Deuteronomy viii. 2.

³²Now the rest of the acts of Hezekiah, and his good deeds, behold, they are written in the vision of Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz, in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel.

32. his good deeds] Compare xxxv. 26 (of Josiah); Nehemiah xiii. 14 (of Nehemiah).

the vision of Isaiah ... in the book of the kings] The reference is apparently to Isaiah xxxvi. 2‒xxxix. 8 = 2 Kings xviii. 17‒xx. 21.

³³And Hezekiah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the ascent of the sepulchres of the sons of David: and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem did him honour at his death. And Manasseh his son reigned in his stead.

33. in the ascent of the sepulchres of the sons of David] What is implied by “the ascent of the sepulchres,” the phrase being found only here? Some hold that it means a place outside the royal burying-ground, and that, since exclusion from the royal sepulchres was a mark of dishonour otherwise confined to the bodies of wicked kings (xxi. 20, xxiv. 25, xxvi. 23, xxviii. 27) the statement could hardly emanate from the Chronicler himself but must be derived from some old and presumably trustworthy source: an unsatisfactory view. Certainly the Chronicler cannot have understood the phrase to mean anything derogatory to Hezekiah, and there is, in fact, no necessity to interpret it as some place outside the royal sepulchres. On the contrary, it is reasonable to suppose that it means a definite part of this royal cemetery, the lower slopes (“ascent”) or possibly the higher part.

did him honour] compare xvi. 14, xxi. 19.

Chapter XXXIII.

1‒10 (compare 2 Kings xxi. 1‒16).
Manasseh’s Reign. His Apostasy.

¹Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign; and he reigned fifty and five years in Jerusalem. ²And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, after the abominations of the heathen, whom the Lord cast out before the children of Israel.

1. in Jerusalem] The Chronicler omits here the name of Manasseh’s mother, Hephzi-bah.

³For he built again the high places which Hezekiah his father had broken down; and he reared up altars for the Baalim, and made Asheroth, and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served them.

3. the Baalim] i.e. the gods—of Canaan—Baalim being the plural of the word Baal (Lord, i.e. God). See the notes on xvii. 3, and 1 Chronicles viii. 33.

Asheroth] compare xiv. 3 (note).

the host of heaven] See the note on xviii. 18. Compare 2 Kings xvii. 16; Jeremiah viii. 2.

⁴And he built altars in the house of the Lord, whereof the Lord said, In Jerusalem shall my name be for ever.

4. shall my name be for ever] Compare vii. 16.

⁵And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the Lord.

5. the two courts] Compare iv. 9 (note).

⁶He also made his children to pass through the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom: and he practised augury, and used enchantments, and practised sorcery, and dealt with them that had familiar spirits, and with wizards: he wrought much evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke him to anger.

6. He also made] In the Hebrew there is stress on the pronoun “He” (that wicked one!).

to pass through the fire] Compare xxviii. 3 (note).

in the valley of the son of Hinnom] Compare Jeremiah vii. 31, 32.

practised augury] The precise meaning of the Hebrew word (‘ōnēn) is quite uncertain, so that we cannot be sure what form of divination is meant. “Augury” among the Romans consisted chiefly in observing birds and interpreting the observations made, but auguries were also taken from other natural phenomena.

practised sorcery] The Hebrew word (kishshēph) probably means “to make a magic brew with shredded herbs.”

with them that had familiar spirits] The Hebrew word (ōb) probably means a necromancer who used ventriloquism in the practice of his art. The witch of Endor (1 Samuel xxviii.) was such a person. LXX. here has [ἐποίησεν] ἐνγαστριμύθους, i.e. “he appointed ventriloquists.”

⁷And he set the graven image of the idol, which he had made, in the house of God, of which God said to David and to Solomon his son, In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, will I put my name for ever: ⁸neither will I any more remove the foot of Israel from off the land which I have appointed for your fathers; if only they will observe to do all that I have commanded them, even all the law and the statutes and the ordinances by the hand of Moses.

7. the graven image of the idol] In 2 Kings xxi. 7, Revised Version “the graven image of Asherah.” For Asherah compare xv. 16 (note).

⁹And Manasseh made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to err, so that they did evil more than did the nations, whom the Lord destroyed before the children of Israel.

9. And Manasseh made Judah, etc.] Compare Jeremiah xv. 4, where the captivity itself is referred back for its cause to the evil deeds of Manasseh.

¹⁰And the Lord spake to Manasseh, and to his people: but they gave no heed.

10. the Lord spake] i.e. by prophets; compare 2 Kings xxi. 10‒15.

11‒13 (not in 2 Kings).
The Punishment of Manasseh, and his Repentance.

It has been urged that the tradition of Manasseh’s captivity in Babylon, his restoration to the throne of Judah, and his attempt at reformation—events related only by the Chronicler—ought not to be regarded as historically true, but are simply inventions put forward as a possible explanation of the (to the Chronicler) strange fact that the wicked king Manasseh reigned for no less than fifty and five years. The objections to the tradition are not slight—in view of the general character of the Chronicler’s work. In particular, the story of Manasseh’s penitence might easily be an assumption to justify the fact of his long reign, and it is very difficult to correlate it with Jeremiah xv. 4, where the captivity of the nation is expressly declared to be due to Manasseh’s wickedness. The evidence is not decisive, however; and a brief and perhaps half-hearted repentance towards the close of his reign might well be forgotten or deemed negligible. The evidence against the historicity of the tradition of the captivity of Manasseh is much less strong, being chiefly the silence of Kings. The facts mentioned in the following note indicate that there is nothing inherently improbable in the tradition, and it is therefore legitimate to accept it as very possibly correct, although we are not yet able to confirm it from the Assyrian records.

¹¹Wherefore the Lord brought upon them the captains of the host of the king of Assyria, which took Manasseh in chains¹, and bound him with fetters, and carried him to Babylon. ¹²And when he was in distress, he besought the Lord his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers.

¹ Or, with hooks.

11. Assyria] Manasseh is mentioned in an Assyrian list of kings tributary to Esar-haddon and Asshur-bani-pal, but no Assyrian inscription at present known speaks of his captivity. We have, however, monumental evidence that there was a great insurrection against Asshur-bani-pal, the grandson of Sennacherib, in which Western Asia (and perhaps Manasseh) was involved. The subsequent restoration of Manasseh to his kingdom is not incredible, for Neco I of Egypt was first put in fetters and afterwards sent back to Egypt. (Driver in Hogarth, Authority and Archaeology, pp. 114‒116.)

in chains] Rather, with hook (as margin); compare 2 Kings xix. 28 (= Isaiah xxxvii. 29). Assyrian kings sometimes thrust a hook or ring into the nostrils of their captives and so led them about. The practice is illustrated on many Assyrian reliefs in the British Museum (see Handcock, Latest Light on Bible Lands, p. 159).

to Babylon] Nineveh, not Babylon, was the capital of Assyria, but as Asshur-bani-pal at times resided in Babylon, there is nothing improbable in any important prisoner of his being carried thither.

¹³And he prayed unto him; and he was intreated of him, and heard his supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord he was God.

13. he prayed unto him; and he was intreated of him] It is very pleasing to notice that, for all the rigidity of the Chronicler’s theology, he allows that even an heinous sinner may repent, and that, if he does so, he will meet with Divine acceptance.

14‒17 (not in 2 Kings).
The Later Deeds of Manasseh.

¹⁴Now after this he built an outer wall to the city of David, on the west side of Gihon, in the valley, even to the entering in at the fish gate; and he compassed about Ophel, and raised it up a very great height: and he put valiant captains¹ in all the fenced cities of Judah.

¹ Or, captains of the army.

14. an outer wall ... fish gate] “This can only mean that outside the existing rampart of the citadel, on the ridge above the present Virgin’s Spring [i.e. St Mary’s Well, see note, xxxii. 3], Manasseh constructed another line of fortification which he carried northwards past the Temple Mount, and round its northern slope,” G. A. Smith, Jerusalem, 1. 208. The fish-gate was in the northern wall, probably corresponding to the modern Damascus Gate (Jerusalem 1. 202).

Ophel] compare xxvii. 3 (note).

¹⁵And he took away the strange gods, and the idol out of the house of the Lord, and all the altars that he had built in the mount of the house of the Lord, and in Jerusalem, and cast them out of the city.

15. he took away the strange gods] Compare verse 7.

¹⁶And he built up¹ the altar of the Lord, and offered thereon sacrifices of peace offerings and of thanksgiving, and commanded Judah to serve the Lord, the God of Israel.

¹ According to another reading, prepared.

16. he built up] or he rebuilt, compare xi. 5 (note).

peace offerings] compare 1 Chronicles xvi. 1 (note).

commanded Judah] compare verse 9; 2 Kings xxi. 11.

¹⁷Nevertheless the people did sacrifice still in the high places, but only unto the Lord their God.

17. but only, etc.] See note on xxxii. 12.

18‒20 (compare 2 Kings xxi. 17, 18).
The Epilogue to Manasseh’s Reign.

¹⁸Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh, and his prayer unto his God, and the words of the seers that spake to him in the name of the Lord, the God of Israel, behold, they are written among the acts of the kings of Israel.

18. his prayer] It was probably upon the ground of this remark that the so-called Prayer of Manasses, which in the English editions of the Apocrypha occurs just before 1 Maccabees, was composed. The “prayer” referred to by the Chronicler is quite certainly not to be associated even remotely with this apocryphal work, which by some is thought to have been written originally in Greek, though it has also been regarded as a Greek translation from some Hebrew midrashic source. Its date is uncertain. It is given in a collection of hymns appended to the Psalter in the Alexandrine MS. (A) of the LXX. (Swete’s edition vol. III. p. 824), and is also found in the Latin Vulgate, though the translation is not by Jerome. See the edition by Ryle in Charles’ Apocrypha, vol. 1.

the acts of the kings of Israel] See Introduction § 5, p. xxxii. Here, since canonical Kings contains no mention whatever of Manasseh’s prayer or the words of the seers to him, we see very plainly that this source to which the Chronicler so often refers cannot be identical with the canonical books of Kings.

¹⁹His prayer also, and how God was intreated of him, and all his sin and his trespass, and the places wherein he built high places, and set up the Asherim and the graven images, before he humbled himself: behold, they are written in the history of Hozai¹.

¹ Or, the seers So the Septuagint.

19. in the history of Hozai] Render, in the history of the seers; compare margin and LXX., slightly emending the Hebrew text. To take the Hebrew word (ḥōzai) as a proper name is unsuitable, since the same word occurs as a common noun (“seers”) in the preceding verse.

²⁰So Manasseh slept with his fathers, and they buried him in his own house: and Amon his son reigned in his stead.

20. in his own house] i.e. as in 2 Kings “in the garden of his own house.”

21‒25 (= 2 Kings xxi. 19‒26).
Amon’s short Reign. Josiah succeeds him.

²¹Amon was twenty and two years old when he began to reign; and he reigned two years in Jerusalem. ²²And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, as did Manasseh his father: and Amon sacrificed unto all the graven images which Manasseh his father had made, and served them.

21. in Jerusalem] The Chronicler omits here the name of Amon’s mother; compare verse 1.

²³And he humbled not himself before the Lord, as Manasseh his father had humbled himself; but this same Amon trespassed¹ more and more. ²⁴And his servants conspired against him, and put him to death in his own house.

¹ Or, became guilty.

23. And he humbled not himself] This verse is not in Kings.

trespassed] Render, became guilty (so margin); compare xix. 10, xxiv. 18, xxviii. 10, 13.

²⁵But the people of the land slew all them that had conspired against king Amon; and the people of the land made Josiah his son king in his stead.

25. slew] Render, smote. The Hebrew word suggests that there was a conflict between the people and the conspirators.

Chapter XXXIV.

1, 2 (= 2 Kings xxii. 1, 2).
Josiah’s good Reign.

Of Josiah only good is recorded in Kings: “he did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord, and walked in all the way of David his father, and turned not aside to the right hand or to the left” (2 Kings xxii. 2). In the eighteenth year of his reign he is said to have ordered a repair of the Temple in the course of which a discovery was made of a book of the Law. In consequence of its injunctions a thorough reformation was carried out by Josiah, a solemn covenant with God being entered into by the king and all the people, and attested first by a crusade against all idolatrous images and symbols throughout the land and then by a grand celebration of the Passover feast (2 Kings xxii. 3‒xxiii. 27). Obviously Josiah was a king after the Chronicler’s own heart. He makes Josiah’s reforming energy begin as early as his eighth year, causing some changes in the order of events (see the note on verse 3). On the record of the Passover feast the Chronicler has naturally fastened with special pleasure, and he expands the brief allusions to it in Kings into a detailed account occupying xxxv. 1‒19. His narrative of the death of Josiah differs considerably from that in Kings. Several other minor variations are pointed out in the notes below.

¹Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign; and he reigned thirty and one years in Jerusalem.

1. in Jerusalem] Here the Chronicler omits the name of Josiah’s mother; compare xxxiii. 1, 21.

²And he did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord, and walked in the ways of David his father, and turned not aside to the right hand or to the left.

2. turned not aside, etc.] A commendatory phrase applied to Josiah alone of the kings.

3‒7 (compare verse 33; 2 Kings xxiii. 4‒20).
Josiah destroys the Symbols of Idolatry.

³For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet young, he began to seek after the God of David his father: and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem from the high places, and the Asherim, and the graven images, and the molten images.

3. in the eighth year ... and in the twelfth] It should be noticed that the order of the events of Josiah’s reign given in Chronicles varies from that given in 2 Kings Thus we have in 2 Chronicles:

(1) Destruction of idolatrous symbols throughout Jerusalem, Judah and Israel; xxxiv. 3‒7.

(2) Repair of the Temple and Finding of the Law; xxxiv. 8‒28.

(3) Renewal of the Covenant with Jehovah; xxxiv. 29‒33.

(4) Great Passover kept; xxxv. 1‒19.

(5) Death of Josiah; xxxv. 20‒27.

In 2 Kings on the other hand (2) and (3) precede (1), and the reforming activity of the king is accordingly placed subsequent to the finding of the Law in the eighteenth year of his reign. There can be little doubt that the order in Kings is correct. The Chronicler thought it desirable that the piety of the king should be displayed earlier, and he has therefore dated its commencement from the eighth and twelfth years. [This is preferable to the suggestion that “eighth” (bishĕmōneh) and “twelfth” (bishtēym ‘esreh) may be due to a transcriptional error of “eighteenth” (bishĕmōneh ‘esreh).]

while he was yet young] There is no clause corresponding to this in 2 Kings, and the statement is probably due to the motive indicated in the previous note. There is, of course, no reason to question the piety of Josiah in his early years, for though in 2 Kings his reformation is dated in the eighteenth year of his reign, i.e. when he was 25 years of age (hardly “young” for a king), the favourable judgement passed on him (2 Kings xxii. 2) is unqualified by any suggestion that he was tardy in turning to Jehovah, and the prophetic activity of Jeremiah is dated from the thirteenth year of Josiah’s reign (Jeremiah xxv. 3).

in the twelfth year he began] The Chronicler spreads the cleansing of the land over six years, i.e. from the twelfth to the eighteenth; compare verse 8.

to purge] Josiah’s measures are more fully enumerated and described in 2 Kings xxiii.; notice e.g. the removal of the Asherah from the Temple (verse 6), the destruction of the houses of the Ḳĕdēshim (compare Deuteronomy xxiii. 17, 18) which were in the house of the Lord (verse 7), the deportation of priests from the cities of Judah into Jerusalem (verses 8, 9), and the defiling of Topheth and of Beth-el (verses 10, 15, 16). The Chronicler not unnaturally prefers to avoid these details and employs the usual general terms here, partly because he has already credited the penitent Manasseh with a reform of this character (xxxiii. 15), partly also because he may have been unwilling to suppose that such flagrant abuses in the Temple as are mentioned in Kings had continued to this date.

the Asherim] compare xiv. 3 (note).

⁴And they brake down the altars of the Baalim in his presence; and the sun-images, that were on high above them, he hewed down; and the Asherim, and the graven images, and the molten images, he brake in pieces, and made dust of them, and strowed it upon the graves of them that had sacrificed unto them.

4. the Baalim] Compare xxxiii. 3 (note).

the sun-images] See note on xiv. 5; and compare 2 Kings xxiii. 11.

⁵And he burnt the bones of the priests upon their altars, and purged Judah and Jerusalem.

5. he burnt the bones of the priests] Specially at Beth-el; 2 Kings xxiii. 15, 16.

⁶And so did he in the cities of Manasseh and Ephraim and Simeon, even unto Naphtali, in their ruins¹ round about. ⁷And he brake down the altars, and beat the Asherim and the graven images into powder, and hewed down all the sun-images throughout all the land of Israel, and returned to Jerusalem.

¹ Or, as otherwise read, with their axes. The text is probably corrupt.

6. Simeon] Here as in xv. 9 Simeon is regarded as belonging to the northern tribes, but its cities were in the south; compare the note on xv. 9, and 1 Chronicles iv. 28 ff.

in their ruins] Remark the margin, “with their axes. The text is probably corrupt.” The Versions afford no real help. A plausible conjecture is given by Curtis, who would read, he laid waste their houses.

8‒28 (= 2 Kings xxii. 3‒20).
Repair of the Temple. Discovery of the Book of the Law.

⁸Now in the eighteenth year of his reign, when he had purged the land, and the house, he sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah, and Maaseiah the governor of the city, and Joah the son of Joahaz the recorder¹, to repair the house of the Lord his God.

¹ Or, chronicler.

8. Shaphan] According to 2 Kings he was Scribe. See 1 Chronicles xviii. 16 (note).

the governor of the city] Render, a ruler of the city; compare xxix. 20.

the recorder] margin the chronicler; compare 1 Chronicles xviii. 15 (note). Neither Maaseiah nor Joah is mentioned in 2 Kings.

to repair the house of the Lord] It may be conjectured that the disrepair was not due solely to the abuses of Manasseh’s reign, but was connected with the disaster recorded in xxxiii. 11, when an Assyrian army carried off Manasseh to Babylon. Probably the capture of the king was not achieved without the conquest of Jerusalem, and the Temple may easily have suffered serious damage at that time. Note that Kings (which does not record the disaster mentioned in Chronicles) uses strong terms regarding the condition of the Temple when Josiah’s work was put in hand—“to repair the breaches of the house,” 2 Kings xxii. 5.

⁹And they came to Hilkiah the high priest, and delivered the money that was brought into the house of God, which the Levites, the keepers of the door¹, had gathered of the hand of Manasseh and Ephraim, and of all the remnant of Israel, and of all Judah and Benjamin, and of the inhabitants of Jerusalem².

¹ Hebrew threshold.

² Another reading is, and they returned to Jerusalem.

9. And they came ... and delivered] The matter is differently stated in 2 Kings according to which they are sent to Hilkiah with a message to him to “sum,” i.e. to reckon, the total of the money collected in the Temple. The Chronicler has in mind the idea which he set forth in xxiv. 6 ff.—namely, that the money was gathered by a body of Levites who went round the country collecting it.

the Levites, the keepers of the door] In 2 Kings xii. 9 the keepers of the doors are called priests; compare 2 Kings xxv. 18.

of the hand of Manasseh, etc.] In 2 Kings simply “of the people”: i.e. Kings thinks only of the Southern Kingdom; the Chronicler includes the remnant of the northern tribes. But see also the note on xv. 9.

and of the inhabitants of Jerusalem] So one reading of the Hebrew (the Kethīb), in agreement with the LXX. The margin and they returned to Jerusalem follows the other reading (the Ḳerī).

¹⁰And they delivered it into the hand of the workmen that had the oversight of the house of the Lord; and the workmen¹ that wrought in the house of the Lord gave it to amend and repair the house;

¹ Or, they gave it to the workmen &c. See 2 Kings xxii. 5.

10. and the workmen that wrought in the house of the Lord gave it] The “workmen” are distinguished from the “carpenters and builders” (verse 11); overseers of some kind are meant. To oversee the work and to do the work may be synonymous phrases here as in 1 Chronicles xxiii. 4 and 1 Chronicles xxiii. verse 24. On the other hand 2 Kings xxii. 5 favours the rendering “And they (i.e. Shaphan, etc., and Hilkiah, verses 8, 9) delivered it into the hand of the workmen that had the oversight ... and they (i.e. these overseers) gave it to the workmen that wrought....” (Compare the margin.)

¹¹even to the carpenters and to the builders gave they it, to buy hewn stone, and timber for couplings, and to make beams for the houses which the kings of Judah had destroyed.

11. the houses] Compare 1 Chronicles xxviii. 11.

¹²And the men did the work faithfully: and the overseers of them were Jahath and Obadiah, the Levites, of the sons of Merari; and Zechariah and Meshullam, of the sons of the Kohathites, to set it forward¹: and other of the Levites, all that could skill of instruments of music. ¹³Also they were over the bearers of burdens, and set forward all that did the work in every manner of service: and of the Levites there were scribes, and officers, and porters.

¹ Or, to preside over it.

12. the overseers] There is no parallel in 2 Kings for the rest of this verse and for verse 13. The addition is characteristic of the Chronicler, exemplifying (1) his habit of inserting proper names, (2) his interest in the Levites, particularly the musical class.

to set it forward] The same Hebrew word is used in 1 Chronicles xxiii. 4, and is there rendered “to oversee the work.” (Compare the margin.)

could skill] “Skill” is used as a verb also in ii. 7, 8. Skill of instruments = “play skilfully upon instruments.”

¹⁴And when they brought out the money that was brought into the house of the Lord, Hilkiah the priest found the book of the law of the Lord given by¹ Moses.

¹ Hebrew by the hand of.

14. This verse has no parallel in 2 Kings.

the book of the law] See the Additional Note at the end of the chapter, pp. 337 ff.

¹⁵And Hilkiah answered and said to Shaphan the scribe, I have found the book of the law in the house of the Lord. And Hilkiah delivered the book to Shaphan. ¹⁶And Shaphan carried the book to the king, and moreover brought the king word again, saying, All that was committed to thy servants, they do it. ¹⁷And they have emptied out¹ the money that was found in the house of the Lord, and have delivered it into the hand of the overseers, and into the hand of the workmen.

¹ Or, poured out.

15. answered and said] For the use of “answer” where no question had been asked compare xxix. 31, note.

¹⁸And Shaphan the scribe told the king, saying, Hilkiah the priest hath delivered me a book. And Shaphan read therein before the king.

18. And Shaphan read therein] Contrast 2 Kings, “And Shaphan read it,” implying that he read the whole book, which of course was a simple matter, if it consisted of the nucleus of Deuteronomy (see note, verse 14). The Chronicler, however, believing the book to have been the whole Pentateuch, could not suppose that the whole was read to the king, and accordingly he writes therein in place of it.

¹⁹And it came to pass, when the king had heard the words of the law, that he rent his clothes.

19. rent his clothes] A sign of grief. “Clothes” is in the plural because both inner and outer garments are meant. See Ezra ix. 3 (with Ryle’s note).

²⁰And the king commanded Hilkiah, and Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Abdon the son of Micah¹, and Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah the king’s servant, saying,

¹ In 2 Kings xxii. 12, Achbor the son of Micaiah.

20. Ahikam the son of Shaphan] Compare Jeremiah xxvi. 24, xl. 5.

Abdon the son of Micah] In 2 Kings “Achbor the son of Micaiah.”

²¹Go ye, inquire of the Lord for me, and for them that are left in Israel and in Judah, concerning the words of the book that is found: for great is the wrath of the Lord that is poured out upon us, because our fathers have not kept the word of the Lord, to do according unto all that is written in this book.

21. for them that are left in Israel] Not in 2 Kings The Chronicler likes to mention the remnants of the northern tribes, as in verses 6, 9.

that is poured out upon us] In 2 Kings “that is kindled against us,” so LXX. ἐκκέκαυται. Compare verse 25.

²²So Hilkiah, and they whom the king had commanded, went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tokhath¹, the son of Hasrah², keeper of the wardrobe; (now she dwelt in Jerusalem in the second quarter³;) and they spake to her to that effect. ²³And she said unto them, Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel: Tell ye the man that sent you unto me,

¹ In 2 Kings xxii. 14, Tikvah.

² In 2 Kings xxii. 14, Harhas.

³ Hebrew Mishneh.

22. had commanded] These words, which are obviously required, are not in the Hebrew: the verb āmar has fallen out of the text by some accident.

the prophetess] This title is given to Miriam (Exodus xv. 20), Deborah (Judges iv. 4), Anna (Luke ii. 36); compare also Nehemiah vi. 14; Revelation ii. 20.

Tokhath] In 2 Kings Tikvah.

Hasrah] In 2 Kings Harhas.

keeper of the wardrobe] Literally “keeper of the garments.” The Hebrew word for garments (bĕgādim]) is applied to a king’s robes (xviii. 29), to a high-priest’s vestments (Exodus xxviii. 2, 4), and to clothes in general; it is therefore not easy to say what office precisely is here referred to. Perhaps the garments here meant were ecclesiastical and not royal. There is ample evidence that ancient temples possessed a store of ceremonial garments for the use not only of the worshippers but also of the images, compare 2 Kings x. 22, and generally the Encyclopedia Britannica¹¹ s.v. costume, pp. 230a, 231b. As early as the VIth dynasty an Egyptian priest is mentioned as “master of the wardrobe.”

in the second quarter] Or, in the second division. Compare Zephaniah i. 10. The physical configuration of ancient Jerusalem was such that it might naturally be regarded as divided into two districts, the eastern and western, with the valley of the Tyropœon between. Compare Nehemiah iii. 9, 12, and also Nehemiah xi. 9 (with Ryle’s note on second over the city, which should probably be rendered over the second part of the city).

²⁴Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, and upon the inhabitants thereof, even all the curses that are written in the book which they have read before the king of Judah: ²⁵because they have forsaken me, and have burned incense unto other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the works of their hands; therefore is my wrath poured out upon this place, and it shall not be quenched.

24. all the curses] Deuteronomy xxvii. 15‒26, xxviii. 15‒68.

²⁶But unto the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the Lord, thus shall ye say to him, Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel: As touching the words which thou hast heard, ²⁷because thine heart was tender, and thou didst humble thyself before God, when thou heardest his words against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, and hast humbled thyself before me, and hast rent thy clothes, and wept before me; I also have heard thee, saith the Lord.

26. As touching the words which thou hast heard, because thine heart] Read perhaps, Inasmuch as thou hast heard my words, and thine heart. There is some slight flaw in the Hebrew text.

²⁸Behold, I will gather thee to thy fathers, and thou shalt be gathered to thy grave in peace, neither shall thine eyes see all the evil that I will bring upon this place, and upon the inhabitants thereof. And they brought the king word again.

28. thou shalt be gathered to thy grave in peace] So also in 2 Kings But in point of fact Josiah met with a violent death, being slain by Neco, king of Egypt, according both to Kings (2 Kings xxiii. 29) and Chronicles (2 Chronicles xxxv. 23 f.). From the contradiction between this prediction and the event, we may infer that in the prophecy of Huldah we have an old and reliable tradition, which obviously must have been made before the death of Josiah. That the contradiction was allowed to stand in Kings is not perhaps surprising, but it is remarkable in the Chronicler’s narrative. Not only does the idea of a genuine prophecy failing to come true run counter to his fixed principles, but (judging from many definite instances as well as from the whole tone of his history) the tradition that a king so pious from the start to the finish of his reign should meet his death in a disastrous battle must have seemed to him well-nigh incredible. The fact remains that he has allowed the tradition to stand, but it is certainly surprising.

neither shall thine eyes see] Compare the similar promise made to Ahab (1 Kings xxi. 29).

29‒33 (= 2 Kings xxiii. 1‒3).
The Renewal of the Covenant with Jehovah.

This renewal of the covenant should be compared with the passage describing Hezekiah’s great service of atonement for the breach of the covenant (xxix. 20 ff.).

²⁹Then the king sent and gathered together all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. ³⁰And the king went up to the house of the Lord, and all the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the priests, and the Levites, and all the people, both great and small: and he read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant that was found in the house of the Lord.

30. the Levites] In 2 Kings “the prophets.”

³¹And the king stood in his place, and made a covenant before the Lord, to walk after the Lord, and to keep his commandments, and his testimonies, and his statutes, with all his heart, and with all his soul, to perform the words of the covenant that were written in this book. ³²And he caused all that were found in Jerusalem and Benjamin to stand to it. And the inhabitants of Jerusalem did according to the covenant of God, the God of their fathers.

31. to walk after the Lord] Compare Deuteronomy x. 12, 13.

³³And Josiah took away all the abominations out of all the countries that pertained to the children of Israel, and made all that were found in Israel to serve, even to serve the Lord their God. All his days they departed not from following the Lord, the God of their fathers.

33. And Josiah took away] Compare verses 3‒7.

all that were found in Israel] i.e. the remnant of the northern tribes, compare verse 21.

All his days] Contrast the evil record of his son Jehoiakim, xxxvi. 5‒8.

Additional Note on verse 14.

Hilkiah the priest found the book of the law of the Lord] This remarkable statement has proved to be a fruitful subject of discussion. What precisely is meant by “the book of the law” said to have been found by Hilkiah in the Temple? It is essential to distinguish between the answer which the Chronicler would have given to this question and the conclusions reached by an independent survey of the problem. (1) Undoubtedly the Chronicler supposed “the book of the law” to be the whole Pentateuch, since he believed that the entire Law existed as it now is from the time of Moses. The argument against his view is obvious to us at the present time. Beside the practical objection of the impossibility of reading the whole Pentateuchal Law twice in succession to different persons on the same day (2 Kings xxii. 8, 10)—a difficulty which perhaps the Chronicler himself perceived and sought to avoid, see note on verse 18,—there is the overwhelming testimony of the general evidence that a large part of the Pentateuch in its final form, with which the Chronicler was familiar, is of post-exilic date. His Pentateuch was quite certainly not “the book” found by Hilkiah. (2) It is extremely interesting to observe that the first step towards the judgement of modern criticism was taken at a very early date and by certain of the Christian Fathers—Jerome, Procopius of Gaza, Chrysostom—who put forward the view that the book in question was not the whole Pentateuch but only the Book of Deuteronomy. [For the details the student must be referred to articles in the Zeitschrift für alttestamentliche Wissenschaft, 1902, pp. 170 f., 312 f., and the Journal of Biblical Literature, 1903, p. 50.] This view, first developed scientifically by De Wette, gained eventually a very wide acceptance amongst scholars. Stress is laid upon the resemblance between the reforms ascribed to Josiah and the exhortations and injunctions of Deuteronomy, particularly as regards the restriction of sacrificial worship to one sanctuary (i.e. Jerusalem; compare Deuteronomy xii. 10‒14). For the evidence the student may consult Chapman, Introduction to the Pentateuch, pp. 135‒146, especially pp. 142‒145 (in this series); or Driver, Deuteronomy (International Critical Commentaries), pp. xliv ff. (3) Further, internal consideration of the Book of Deuteronomy has led to the conclusion that it cannot all date from the time of Josiah: and thus it is now generally held that Hilkiah’s “book of the law” was not the final form of Deuteronomy, but only the nucleus of that Book—probably chapters v.‒xxvi. and xxviii., or xii.‒xxvi. and xxviii., or even certain passages from those chapters (see Chapman, Introduction to the Pentateuch, pp. 144, 145; or Driver, Deuteronomy, pp. lxv ff.). (4) Finally, there are grounds for doubting whether any part of Deuteronomy can be dated from the time of Josiah. It is suggested that the Deuteronomic code is not earlier than Jeremiah but later. Although this view does not yet command general acceptance, it is fair to insist that it rests upon evidence which cannot be so lightly set aside as is occasionally supposed. The student may conveniently refer to remarks by R. H. Kennett in the Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics, vol. VII., s.v. Israel p. 447, and to the references there given, especially the Journal of Theological Studies, VII. [1906], pp. 481 ff. If Deuteronomy be later than the time of Josiah, what then can we suppose this “book of the law” (sēpher hattōrah) to have been; for there is no reason to question the accuracy of the tradition that some impressive writing was discovered in the Temple? The answer will be—in all probability—some scroll of prophetic teaching, in which the abuses of worship (perhaps in Manasseh’s reign) and in particular the corruptions of the country “high places” were searchingly denounced and an appeal made for reform. Since at that date the term tōrah was applicable to prophetic teaching as well as to legal instruction, such a work would be known as “a book of tōrah.” It is not a very serious objection that the text here and in Kings reads “the book of the law (hattōrah),” partly because a peculiarity of Hebrew grammar would still allow the translation “a book of tōrah,” partly because the introduction of the definite article into the text would be most natural, so soon as it came to be thought that the phrase referred to Deuteronomy or the Pentateuch. We may summarise as follows:—To the Chronicler “the book of the law” signified the whole Pentateuch in its final form; to the compilers or editors of Kings (the Chronicler’s source), who probably wrote at the “Deuteronomic” stage of the history, it no doubt meant Deuteronomy; and lastly, according to modern judgement the book actually discovered was either the earliest or essential portions of Deuteronomy or possibly a pre-Deuteronomic prophetic writing demanding the purification of worship in Jerusalem and urging the abolition of the sacrifices and feasts at the local shrines.

Chapter XXXV.

1‒19 (= 1 Esdras i. 1‒22; compare 2 Kings xxiii. 21‒23).
Josiah’s Passover.

Regarding the reference to 1 Esdras i. in the heading above, see the Introduction § 10, s.v. Greek Versions, where the important fact is noted that in 1 Esdras we have an old LXX. text, earlier than the so-called LXX. of Chronicles, and representing a Hebrew text older than the present Masoretic form. For introduction and notes on the text of 1 Esdras see the edition by S. A. Cook in Charles’ Apocrypha, vol. I.

¹And Josiah kept a passover unto the Lord in Jerusalem: and they killed the passover on the fourteenth day of the first month.

1. the first month] The legal month was Nisan, or as it was called in pre-exilic times Abib; compare Exodus xii. Compare also xxx. 2 (with note).

²And he set the priests in their charges, and encouraged them to the service of the house of the Lord.

2. in their charges] i.e. at their duties.

encouraged them] As Hezekiah had done; compare xxix. 5‒11, xxx. 22.

³And he said unto the Levites that taught all Israel, which were holy unto the Lord, Put the holy ark in the house which Solomon the son of David king of Israel did build; there shall no more be a burden upon your shoulders: now serve the Lord your God, and his people Israel.

3. that taught all Israel] Compare Nehemiah viii. 7, 9.

Put the holy ark in the house] This rather curious remark seems to imply that the ark had been removed from the Temple either by Manasseh or by Josiah during the repairing of the house. The Levites are bidden to set it in its place without delay, and to devote themselves to the tasks related in verses 4 ff.

⁴And prepare yourselves after your fathers’ houses by your courses, according to the writing of David king of Israel, and according to the writing of Solomon his son.

4. the writing of David] Compare 1 Chronicles xxiii. 27, xxviii. 19‒21.

⁵And stand in the holy place according to the divisions of the fathers’ houses of your brethren the children of the people, and let there be for each a portion of a fathers’ house¹ of the Levites.

¹ Or, and according to the distribution of each fathers’ house.

5. the children of the people] i.e. the laity. The same phrase is translated in 2 Kings xxiii. 6 “the common people” (without any invidious meaning).

let there be for each a portion ... of the Levites] Each great division of the laity was to be served by a small division of the Levites.

⁶And kill the passover, and sanctify yourselves, and prepare for your brethren, to do according to the word of the Lord by the hand of Moses.

6. prepare for your brethren] Compare verses 12, 13.

⁷And Josiah gave¹ to the children of the people, of the flock, lambs and kids, all of them for the passover offerings, unto all that were present, to the number of thirty thousand, and three thousand bullocks: these were of the king’s substance.

¹ Or, gave for offerings and so in verses 8, 9. See chapter xxx. 24.

7. gave] margin gave for offerings; compare xxx. 24, where it is said that Hezekiah did the same at his great Passover.

⁸And his princes gave for¹ a freewill offering unto the people, to the priests, and to the Levites. Hilkiah and Zechariah and Jehiel, the rulers of the house of God, gave unto the priests for the passover offerings two thousand and six hundred small cattle, and three hundred oxen.

¹ Or, willingly.

8. for a freewill offering] Better, as Authorized Version and margin, willingly.

Jehiel] 1 Esdras (Ἠσύηλος) suggests a different name, probably Haziel.

rulers of the house of God] Compare 1 Chronicles ix. 11, note.

⁹Conaniah also, and Shemaiah and Nethanel, his brethren, and Hashabiah and Jeiel and Jozabad, the chiefs of the Levites, gave unto the Levites for the passover offerings five thousand small cattle, and five hundred oxen.

9. Conaniah ... and Shemaiah] Compare the “Conaniah and Shimei his brother” of xxxi. 12, and for Jozabad compare the “Jozabad” of xxxi. 13. Different persons, however, must surely be meant, or perhaps the names represent families rather than individuals; nearly sixty years separate the reigns of Hezekiah and Josiah.

¹⁰So the service was prepared, and the priests stood in their place, and the Levites by their courses, according to the king’s commandment.

10‒13. The variations in 1 Esdras i. 10‒12 are misunderstandings of the Hebrew; see Cook, Apocrypha.

¹¹And they killed the passover, and the priests sprinkled the blood, which they received of their hand, ¹²and the Levites flayed them. And they removed the burnt offerings, that they might give them according to the divisions of the fathers’ houses of the children of the people, to offer unto the Lord, as it is written in the book of Moses. And so did they with the oxen.

11. sprinkled] Compare xxix. 22, note.

the Levites flayed] Compare xxix. 34.

¹³And they roasted the passover with fire according to the ordinance: and the holy offerings sod they in pots, and in caldrons, and in pans, and carried them quickly to all the children of the people.

13. the ordinance] Exodus xii. 9.

and the holy offerings] The bullocks mentioned in verses 7, 8, 9. Possibly these were slain not on the Passover day itself, but on the days which immediately followed. The practice of later times, however, seems to have admitted the sacrifice of oxen as a thank offering along with the Passover lambs (see Mishnah, Pesachim, vi. 3, 4); and it is possible that in the Chronicler’s time oxen were thus killed and eaten on the Passover day, although they were, as this verse indicates, prepared differently from the Passover lambs.

¹⁴And afterward they prepared for themselves, and for the priests; because the priests the sons of Aaron were busied in offering the burnt offerings and the fat until night: therefore the Levites prepared for themselves, and for the priests the sons of Aaron.

14. the fat] Compare vii. 7, note; xxix. 35.

¹⁵And the singers the sons of Asaph were in their place, according to the commandment of David, and Asaph, and Heman, and Jeduthun the king’s seer; and the porters were at every gate: they needed not to depart from their service, for their brethren the Levites prepared for them.

15. the singers] Compare 1 Chronicles xxv. 1 ff.

Heman] But 1 Esdras has Zacharias, a reading which finds some support in 1 Chronicles xv. 18, xvi. 5.

¹⁶So all the service of the Lord was prepared the same day, to keep the passover, and to offer burnt offerings upon the altar of the Lord, according to the commandment of king Josiah. ¹⁷And the children of Israel that were present kept the passover at that time, and the feast of unleavened bread seven days.

16. the same day] Literally “on that day,” i.e. the fourteenth of Nisan.

¹⁸And there was no passover like to that kept in Israel from the days of Samuel the prophet; neither did any of the kings of Israel keep such a passover as Josiah kept, and the priests, and the Levites, and all Judah and Israel that were present, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

18. there was no passover like to that kept in Israel from the days of Samuel] The statement is simply a reproduction of 2 Kings xxiii. 22, where we read “there was not kept such a passover from the days of the judges that judged Israel ... but in the eighteenth year of king Josiah was this passover kept to the Lord in Jerusalem.” Actually the novelty of Josiah’s festival was (i) that it was kept in Jerusalem, whereas previously the Passover had been a household feast observed at any “high-place” throughout the country, and (ii) that it thus marked the inauguration of the system of only one legitimate sanctuary—Jerusalem—which was codified in Deuteronomy. The writer in Kings may have clearly understood that the point lay in the words “in Jerusalem.” To the Chronicler, the statement meant merely an assertion that this feast was the grandest Passover since the days of the judges (he prefers to write since Samuel, reckoning him the last of the judges).

A similar but not identical remark regarding Hezekiah’s Passover is made in xxx. 26—“since the time of Solomon there was not the like in Jerusalem.” In some points Hezekiah’s feast as described in xxx. 1 ff. may be said to have surpassed Josiah’s, but it is most unnecessary and indeed pedantic so to magnify this fact as to insist that the sweeping assertion of the present verse about Josiah’s Passover cannot be from the same source as xxx. 1‒26. Both passages may well be from the Chronicler (so Curtis, p. 471); in xxx. 1 ff. he was writing a free description of Hezekiah’s feast, and the verse (xxx. 26) quoted above was written by him to impress us duly with its magnificence; in the present verse he was naturally reproducing his source in Kings, and it is most unlikely that he would notice any slight inconsistency with xxx. 26, or that, if he did, he would have been troubled thereby.

from the days of Samuel] In 2 Kings xxiii. 22 “from the days of the judges.”

¹⁹In the eighteenth year of the reign of Josiah was this passover kept.

19. In the eighteenth year] Comparison of the later Greek version (the so-called LXX.) of this verse with the earlier Greek version (the old LXX.) preserved in 1 Esdras reveals that this passage is one of great interest for the history of the text. After verse 19 “In the eighteenth year of the reign of Josiah was this passover kept,” 1 Esdras i. 23, 24 has a remarkable addition as follows: “And the works of Josias were upright before his Lord with a heart full of godliness. Moreover the things that came to pass in his days [or ‘the things concerning him’] have been written in times past concerning ... those that sinned and did wickedly against the Lord above every people and kingdom, and how they grieved him exceedingly, so that the words of the Lord were confirmed against Israel.” Then follows verse 25 (compare Hebrew verse 20) “Now after all these acts of Josias it came to pass that Pharaoh, king of Egypt,” etc. Probably some words have been lost at the point where the dots are placed. As it stands, the passage seems to associate the reign of the godly Josiah with wicked and irreligious doings. The inference to be drawn is that this passage was originally part of the Hebrew text (from which the old LXX. was translated), but was subsequently excised on account of its apparent aspersion on the character of Josiah. The gap thus created was filled in some Hebrew MSS. by the insertion of 2 Kings xxiii. 24‒27, and from such a Hebrew text the later Greek version (the present LXX.) was made. In other Hebrew MSS., however, the gap was left unfilled, and from one of these was derived the Hebrew text which has reached us (see Torrey, Ezra Studies, pp. 87‒89). It is only by the use of the Greek versions that we are now able to perceive that an omission has been made.

20‒24 (= 1 Esdras i. 25‒31; compare 2 Kings xxiii. 29, 30a).
The Death of Josiah.

The account of Josiah’s death is very much fuller in Chronicles than in Kings. The features which are peculiar to the Chronicler are, (1) Neco’s message to dissuade Josiah from war, (2) Josiah’s disguising himself and coming to fight in the valley of Megiddo, (3) the wounding of Josiah by archers, (4) the transfer of the wounded king from a war chariot to another chariot. Thus all the details which represent the meeting at Megiddo as a battle are peculiar to Chronicles.

The account given in Kings is simply:—“King Josiah went to meet him (Neco), and he put him to death at Megiddo when he saw him. And his servants carried him in a chariot dead from Megiddo, and brought him to Jerusalem.” The Hebrew expression for “went to meet” in this passage is the same as in 1 Kings xviii. 16; 2 Kings xvi. 10; it does not suggest a hostile meeting, though it can be used in a suitable context to describe one. The phrase “when he saw him” suggests an interview rather than a battle. Thus we have two versions of Josiah’s death: according to Chronicles he was mortally wounded in battle, according to Kings he sought an interview with Neco and was assassinated by him at the town of Megiddo.

These differences may be due to two distinct traditions, but it seems more probable that the Chronicler’s account is an intentional adaptation of the Kings narrative to suit the main principles of his work. We can easily realise that the bald fact of Josiah’s death at the hands of Neco presented a distressing moral perplexity to the Chronicler’s mind. Why, when Josiah had been so diligent in the service of his God, did Jehovah abandon him to death in this fashion? The stress of the problem is reflected in the rather pathetic phrase of verse 20, “After all this ... came Neco.” The same words are used of Hezekiah (xxxii. 1), “After these things and this faithfulness, Sennacherib came ...,” but in his case the sore trial of faith proved to be for the greater glory of the God of Israel. Here the plea of a successful issue to the trouble was not available, and no doubt the story of Josiah’s end was too famous to be passed over in silence. It would seem as if the Chronicler therefore adapted the narrative so as to make it appear that Josiah made an attack on Neco in defiance of a Divine warning (verse 21), and thus deserved his fate. The somewhat similar tale of Ahab’s death (xviii. 28‒34 = 1 Kings xxii. 29‒37) was in the Chronicler’s mind, and he appears to have drawn upon it for certain details introduced into his version of Josiah’s end (see verses 22, 23).

²⁰After all this, when Josiah had prepared the temple, Neco king of Egypt went up to fight against Carchemish by Euphrates: and Josiah went out against him.

20. Neco] This was Neco II who reigned 610‒594 B.C. (Flinders Petrie, History of Egypt, III. 335). According to Herodotus (II. 159) he conquered the “Syrians” at “Magdolus,” and then captured Cadytis (Kadesh on the Orontes, or Gaza?), an important city of Syria. Herodotus no doubt refers to the same great campaign of Neco which is recorded in Kings and Chronicles, though it is not at all likely that the victory over the Syrians at Magdolus is to be identified with the encounter of Neco and Josiah at Megiddo. The account of Herodotus is obscure, ambiguous, and defective, but a comparison of 2 Kings with an inscription of Nabu-na’id king of Babylon (555‒538 B.C.) sets Neco’s action in a clearer light. The campaign (which took place about 608 B.C.) was directed “against the king of Assyria” (2 Kings xxiii. 29), i.e. against the last king Sin-šariškun (Saracos) who was at war with Nabopolassar (father of Nebuchadrezzar), king of Babylon. Nabopolassar, hard pressed, called in to his help the Umman-manda (Scythians), who destroyed Nineveh circa 607 B.C.; compare Messerschmidt, Die Inschrift der Stele Nabu-na’id’s (pp. 5‒13). Neco advanced to the Euphrates to secure some of the spoils of the Assyrian overthrow, but the crushing victory of Nebuchadrezzar over Neco at Carchemish (circa 605 B.C.) finally excluded Egypt from any share.

against Carchemish] compare Jeremiah xlvi. 2. It was a city situated near the junction of the Habor and Euphrates. In 2 Kings, “against the king of Assyria.”

²¹But he sent ambassadors to him, saying, What have I to do with thee, thou king of Judah? I come not against thee this day, but against the house wherewith I have war; and God hath commanded me to make haste¹: forbear thee from meddling with God, who is with me, that he destroy thee not.

¹ Or, hath given command to speed me.

21. against the house wherewith I have war] In 1 Esdras i. 27 there is a different reading, “my war is upon Euphrates.”

²²Nevertheless Josiah would not turn his face from him, but disguised himself, that he might fight with him, and hearkened not unto the words of Neco, from the mouth of God, and came to fight in the valley of Megiddo.

22. disguised himself] Like Ahab at Ramoth-gilead (xviii. 29), to reduce the risk. The LXX. reads ἐκραταιώθη, “was strengthened.” The Hebrew text is probably correct (see Torrey, Ezra Studies, p. 221).

the valley of Megiddo] Compare Judges v. 19; Zechariah xii. 11. In 1 Esdras i. 29, “the plain of Megiddo.” The whole (or perhaps only the western part) of the plain of Esdraelon is meant; compare 1 Chronicles x. 7, note.

²³And the archers shot at king Josiah; and the king said to his servants, Have me away; for I am sore wounded.

23. the archers shot] Compare the death of Ahab, xviii. 33. 1 Esdras i. 29, “the princes came down against king Josias,” is an inferior reading due probably to a misreading of the Hebrew.

for I am sore wounded] The very words ascribed to Ahab (xviii. 33), and further the verb rendered I am wounded is used only in these two passages: a singularly strong witness to the view that the present story has been influenced by that of Ahab’s death.

²⁴So his servants took him out of the chariot, and put him in the second chariot that he had, and brought him to Jerusalem; and he died, and was buried in the sepulchres of his fathers. And all Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah.

24. the second chariot] War chariots were small, with (apparently) only standing room for their occupants; see the illustrations of Egyptian and Assyrian chariots given in the Encyclopedia Biblia I. 724‒730. This “second chariot” was probably of a larger kind, suitable for travelling.

25 (= 1 Esdras i. 32; not in 2 Kings).
The Lamentations for Josiah.

²⁵And Jeremiah lamented for Josiah: and all the singing men and singing women spake of Josiah in their lamentations, unto this day; and they made them an ordinance in Israel: and, behold, they are written in the lamentations.

25. lamented] i.e. “composed (or uttered) an elegy.” The Hebrew word (ķōnēn) suggests formal composition, and the actual words of lamentation are often given, as in 2 Samuel i. 17 ff., iii. 33, 34; Ezekiel xxvii. 33, xxxii. 2, 16. The elegy in question is not preserved in the book of Jeremiah or elsewhere. Doubtless the Chronicler or his source had real grounds for his statement about the popular Songs of Lament for Josiah, and we may suppose that one of these, rightly or wrongly, was ascribed to Jeremiah.

an ordinance] compare 2 Samuel i. 18.

in the lamentations] In some lost work, not in our canonical book of the Lamentations, for the contents of the canonical book lend no support whatever to the view that it is referred to here (see further Encyclopedia Britannica¹¹, s.v. Lamentations, p. 128).

26, 27 (= 1 Esdras i. 33; 2 Kings xxiii. 25, 28).
The Epilogue to Josiah’s Reign.

²⁶Now the rest of the acts of Josiah, and his good deeds, according to that which is written in the law of the Lord, ²⁷and his acts, first and last, behold, they are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah.

26. according to that which is written] Compare the strong terms used in 2 Kings xxiii. 25, “like unto him was there no king before him, that turned to the Lord with all his heart ... according to all the law of Moses; neither after him arose there any like him.”

Chapter XXXVI.

1‒4 (= 1 Esdras i. 34‒38; 2 Kings xxiii. 30b‒34).
The Reign of Jehoahaz.

¹Then the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah, and made him king in his father’s stead in Jerusalem.

1. the people of the land took] Compare xxvi. 1, xxxiii. 25.

Jehoahaz] Called “Shallum” in 1 Chronicles iii. 15; Jeremiah xxii. 11. He was younger than Jehoiakim; verse 5.

²Joahaz was twenty and three years old when he began to reign; and he reigned three months in Jerusalem.

2. in Jerusalem] His mother’s name is here omitted; compare xxxiii. 1, 21, xxxiv. 1. According to 2 Kings xxiii. 32 (compare Ezekiel xix. 3, 4) Jehoahaz “did evil.”

³And the king of Egypt deposed him at Jerusalem, and amerced the land in an hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold.

3. deposed him at Jerusalem] The clause answers to 2 Kings xxiii. 33, “put him in bands at Riblah in the land of Hamath, that he might not reign in Jerusalem.” Perhaps we should read the same words in Chronicles The Hebrew words for “deposed” and “put in bands” are liable to be easily confused.

amerced] Authorized Version condemned. For “amerce” in the sense of “fine,” compare Deuteronomy xxii. 19; and for “condemn” in the same sense see Amos ii. 8 (Authorized Version, “fined” Revised Version).

an hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold] The land was poorer than in the days when Sennacherib had imposed a fine on Hezekiah of “three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold” (2 Kings xviii. 14).

⁴And the king of Egypt made Eliakim his brother king over Judah and Jerusalem, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. And Neco took Joahaz his brother, and carried him to Egypt.

4. changed his name to Jehoiakim] This name is compounded with the Divine name Jehovah. Probably Neco made the new king swear fealty by Jehovah, and then declared his official name to be Jehoiakim, in order that he and his people might have something to remind them of the oath he had taken. (Eliakim = “God establishes”; Jehoiakim = “Jehovah establishes.”) The rendering of this verse in 1 i. 38 is due to misreadings of the Hebrew.

took Joahaz ... to Egypt] He died in Egypt; 2 Kings xxiii. 34; Jeremiah xxii. 12.

5‒8 (= 1 Esdras i. 39‒42; 2 Kings xxiii. 36‒xxiv. 6).
The Reign of Jehoiakim.

⁵Jehoiakim was twenty and five years old when he began to reign; and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem: and he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord his God.

5. and he reigned eleven years] So also in Kings. The statement, however, is lacking in 1 Esdras i. 39, so that it is a highly probable inference that the text of Chronicles has here been harmonised with Kings; compare verse 15, and Introduction § 3, p. xxii.

in Jerusalem] The Chronicler omits his mother’s name (compare verse 2, note) and also the statement that he raised the indemnity imposed by Neco by means of a poll-tax (2 Kings xxiii. 35).

he did that which was evil] Compare 2 Kings xxiii. 37; Jeremiah xxii. 13‒18, xxvi. 20‒23, xxxvi. 1‒32.

⁶Against him came up Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and bound him in fetters, to carry him to Babylon.

6. Nebuchadnezzar] The correct form of his name is “Nebuchadrezzar” (so generally in Jeremiah and Ezekiel); in the inscriptions Nabu-kudurri-uṣur. The name is Assyrian and means “O Nebo, defend the crown” (or “the boundary”), Nebo being a god who was regarded as the son of Marduk, the chief god of Babylon (compare Isaiah xlvi. 1). Nebuchadrezzar reigned from 604‒561 B.C., and was succeeded by Evil-Merodach (Amil-Marduk). The only purely historical inscription relating to his reign deals with a campaign in Egypt in 568 B.C.; compare Jeremiah xliii. 11.

came up] It seems probable that Nebuchadrezzar did not in person come up against Jerusalem at the end of Jehoiakim’s reign, nor in person carry off any of the sacred vessels; it is likely moreover that Jehoiakim was not carried to Babylon. The result of Jehoiakim’s rebellion against Nebuchadrezzar was according to 2 Kings simply that “bands” of Chaldeans and their allies invaded Judah. Probably Jehoiakim’s life and reign came to an end (how we do not know; compare Jeremiah xxii. 18, 19) during this petty warfare, and then three months later, the main Chaldean army under Nebuchadrezzar having arrived, Jerusalem was taken, and Jehoiakim’s son and successor Jehoiachin was carried off with the golden vessels of the house of the Lord to Babylon. The Chronicler seems to foreshorten the history at this point.

⁷Nebuchadnezzar also carried of the vessels of the house of the Lord to Babylon, and put them in his temple¹ at Babylon.

¹ Or, palace.

7. of the vessels] There is no mention in 2 Kings of the removal of sacred vessels during Jehoiakim’s reign. Some were carried off under Jehoiachin, the rest under Zedekiah; 2 Kings xxiv. 13, xxv. 13‒17. Compare last note.

in his temple] So LXX.; 1 Esdras i. 39 [41]; Daniel i. 2. Note the margin, “in his palace.” The Hebrew word (heykāl) is a loan-word; the original (ikallu) is the ordinary word in Assyrio-Babylonian for “palace.”

⁸Now the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim, and his abominations which he did, and that which was found in¹ him, behold, they are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah: and Jehoiachin² his son reigned in his stead.

¹ Or, against.

² In 1 Chronicles iii. 16, Jeconiah. In Jeremiah xxii. 24, Coniah.

8. that which was found in him] i.e. his sin (in this context); compare 1 Kings xiv. 13.

of Israel and Judah] The LXX. (but not 1 Esdras) adds here “And Jehoiakim slept with his fathers, and was buried in the garden of Uzza with his fathers.”

9, 10 (= 1 Esdras i. 43‒45; compare 2 Kings xxiv. 8‒17).
The Reign of Jehoiachin.

The account given in 2 Kings contains much that is not given in Chronicles and, in particular, many details of the first captivity of Judah.

⁹Jehoiachin was eight¹ years old when he began to reign; and he reigned three months and ten days in Jerusalem: and he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord.

¹ In 2 Kings xxiv. 8, eighteen.

9. Jehoiachin] Called “Jeconiah,” 1 Chronicles iii. 16, where see note.

eight years] So LXX. (B) of Chronicles and Esdras (B); but the number is probably corrupt for eighteen, so LXX. (A) of Chronicles and Esdras (A) and Hebrew and LXX. of 2 Kings xxiv. 8. It is possible that the words “and ten days” in the latter part of the verse are a misplaced fragment of an original ben shĕmōneh ‘esreh shānāh, i.e. “eighteen years old.”

in Jerusalem] The Chronicler here omits the king’s mother’s name (compare verse 2, note), though she was a person of some influence; compare 2 Kings xxiv. 12; Jeremiah xxii. 24‒26; and perhaps Jeremiah xiii. 18 (Revised Version).

he did that which was evil] Compare Jeremiah xxii. 24; Ezekiel xix. 5‒9.

¹⁰And at the return of the year king Nebuchadnezzar sent, and brought him to Babylon, with the goodly vessels of the house of the Lord, and made Zedekiah his brother king over Judah and Jerusalem.

10. at the return of the year] Compare 2 Samuel xi. 1 = 1 Chronicles xx. 1, “at the return of the year, at the time when kings go out to battle.” This would be in the spring.

brought him to Babylon] Not the king only, but also certain leading men and craftsmen and smiths (in number 3023) went into captivity—so Jeremiah lii. 28; compare Jeremiah xxiv. 1, and 2 Kings xxiv. 14 (where the size of the deportation is magnified into “all Jerusalem save the poorest of the land—even ten thousand captives”).

Zedekiah] A covenant-name like “Jehoiakim”—(verse 4, note); it seems to mean “Righteousness of Jehovah”; compare the significant title in Jeremiah xxiii. 6, “The Lord is our Righteousness.” Zedekiah’s original name was “Mattaniah” (i.e. “gift of Jehovah”); 2 Kings xxiv. 17.

his brother] In 2 Kings (more accurately) “his father’s brother”; compare 1 Chronicles iii. 15, 16, notes.

11‒19 (= 1 Esdras i. 46‒56; compare 2 Kings xxiv. 18‒xxv. 21; Jeremiah xxxvii. 1‒xxxix. 8, lii. 1‒27).
Reign of Zedekiah. Destruction of Jerusalem.

¹¹Zedekiah was twenty and one years old when he began to reign; and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem:

11. in Jerusalem] The Chronicler omits, as usual, his mother’s name. She was “Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah” (2 Kings xxiv. 18), and was mother of Jehoahaz also (2 Kings xxiii. 31). Jehoiakim was by a different mother (2 Kings xxiii. verse 36).

¹²and he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord his God; he humbled not himself before Jeremiah the prophet speaking from the mouth of the Lord.

12. humbled not himself] Jeremiah consistently advised Zedekiah to submit to the Chaldeans; but the king partly through fear of his princes, partly through illusive hopes, could never bring himself to do so; compare Jeremiah xxi. 1‒7, xxxiv. 8‒22, xxxvii. 1‒10, 17, xxxviii. 17‒23.

¹³And he also rebelled against king Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear by God: but he stiffened his neck, and hardened¹ his heart from turning unto the Lord, the God of Israel.

¹ Hebrew strengthened.

13. who had made him swear by God] Compare Ezekiel xvii. 11‒19.

¹⁴Moreover all the chiefs of the priests, and the people, trespassed very greatly after all the abominations of the heathen; and they polluted the house of the Lord which he had hallowed in Jerusalem.

14. polluted the house] Jeremiah vii. 9‒11, xxiii. 11‒14; Ezekiel viii. 5‒16.

¹⁵And the Lord, the God of their fathers, sent to them by his messengers, rising up early and sending; because he had compassion on his people, and on his dwelling place:

15. rising up early and sending] The words are absent from 1 Esdras i. 50, and are perhaps a late addition to Chronicles derived from Jeremiah; compare Jeremiah xxvi. 5. See note on verse 5 above.

¹⁶but they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and scoffed at his prophets, until the wrath of the Lord arose against his people, till there was no remedy¹.

¹ Hebrew healing.

16. mocked the messengers] Jeremiah was imprisoned, beaten, and threatened with death, Urijah (Jeremiah xxvi. 20‒23) was put to death. Of the fate of Habakkuk (who probably lived during the Chaldean period, Habakkuk i. 6) nothing is known.

¹⁷Therefore he brought upon them the king of the Chaldeans, who slew their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion upon young man or maiden, old man or ancient: he gave them all into his hand.

17. Chaldeans] Their name in Hebrew is Casdim and in Assyrio-Babylonian Caldu (the change of “s” for “l” before a dental is not uncommon in the latter language). They were a people originally living south of Babylon on the sea, but Nabopolassar, father of Nebuchadrezzar, conquered Babylon and established a Chaldeo-Babylonian Empire.

in the house of their sanctuary] Compare Ezekiel’s vision of the slaughter; Ezekiel ix. 1‒11.

¹⁸And all the vessels of the house of God, great and small, and the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king, and of his princes; all these he brought to Babylon.

18. all the vessels] i.e. all the vessels which remained after the previous spoliation (verse 10). They were perhaps chiefly of brass; compare 2 Kings xxv. 13‒15.

¹⁹And they burnt the house of God, and brake down the wall of Jerusalem, and burnt all the palaces thereof with fire, and destroyed all the goodly vessels thereof.

19. brake down the wall] The Hebrew verb here used (nittēç) implies a more thorough breaking down than the pāraṣ of xxv. 23 (see note), xxvi. 6.

20, 21 (= 1 Esdras i. 57, 58).
The Captivity.

²⁰And them that had escaped from the sword carried he away to Babylon; and they were servants to him and his sons until the reign of the kingdom of Persia:

20. to him and his sons] Compare Jeremiah xxvii. 7. There were three kings of Babylon after Nebuchadrezzar before Cyrus established Persian rule, viz. Evil-Merodach (Amil-Marduk) (2 Kings xxv. 27), Neriglissar (Nergalšar-uṣur), and Nabonidus (Nabu-na’id). The last two kings were usurpers. Neriglissar was (it seems) son-in-law to Nebuchadrezzar (Hommel, Babylonia in Hastings’ Dictionary of the Bible, 1. 229a, or Sayce in Encyclopedia Britannica¹¹, III. pp. 105, 106). Whether Nabonidus was connected with the royal house is not known.

²¹to fulfil the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her sabbaths: for as long as she lay desolate she kept sabbath, to fulfil threescore and ten years.

21. by the mouth of Jeremiah] Compare Jeremiah xxv. 11, xxix. 10.

her sabbaths] i.e. years, occurring every seventh year, when the land was to be allowed a respite from cultivation; compare Leviticus xxv. 1‒7, xxvi. 34, 35.

threescore and ten years] i.e. two whole generations. It is probable that the Chronicler intended to suggest that the Sabbatical years had been neglected throughout the period (about 490 = 70 × 7 years) during which the kingdom lasted; but, if so, he treats the point somewhat loosely, not troubling about the objection that the reigns of the several God-fearing kings (David, Solomon, Jehoshaphat) would need to be subtracted from this total, and that actually the number of violated Sabbatical years would fall considerably below 70.

22, 23 (= Ezra i. 1‒3a] 1 Esdras ii. 1‒5a).
Cyrus Decrees the Rebuilding of the Temple.

These verses are obviously inappropriate as the conclusion of Chronicles, and their proper place is as the opening words of the book of Ezra, where also they are given. Their exposition properly belongs to the commentaries on Ezra or Esdras, to which accordingly the reader must be referred for fuller notes. These verses were retained here when the separation of Ezra‒Nehemiah from Chronicles was made (see Introduction, § 2), either through mere accident, or perhaps to indicate that Chronicles had originally formed one work with Ezra and Nehemiah, but most probably in order to avoid a depressing termination to the book. This last point carries no small weight in view of the fact that in the Hebrew Bible Chronicles is the last book. It is interesting to note that to avoid closing the book of Isaiah with the terrible verse (lxvi. 24) which is actually its conclusion, it was customary to repeat after verse 24 some hopeful words taken from verse 23. Compare also the last verses of 2 Kings.

²²Now in the first year of Cyrus¹ king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying,

¹ Hebrew Coresh.

22. Cyrus king of Persia] Cyrus, the Persian, was at first king of a small state in Elam, to the east of Babylonia. In 549 B.C. he conquered the king of the Medes, and so became founder of the Medo-Persian Empire. In 546 B.C. he overthrew the famous Croesus, king of Lydia, and advancing against Babylon entered it after a short and easy campaign in 538 B.C.—a career of meteoric brilliance. By his “first year” is meant 537 B.C., his first year as ruler of the Babylonian Empire.

stirred up the spirit] Compare 1 Chronicles v. 26; Haggai i. 14.

made a proclamation] compare xxx. 5. The phrase is characteristic of the Chronicler.

²³Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, All the kingdoms of the earth hath the Lord, the God of heaven, given me; and he hath charged me to build him an house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whosoever there is among you of all his people, the Lord his God be with him, and let him go up.

23. All the kingdoms of the earth] The king of Babylon bore the title of “king of the four quarters of the world.” Cyrus succeeded to this title on his conquest of Babylon.

let him go up] i.e. to Jerusalem; compare Ezra i. 3. Since Chronicles is the last book according to the order of the Hebrew Canon, these encouraging words conclude the Hebrew Bible.

INDEX

Abiathar,
39 f., 102, 120, 142, 167
Abib,
339
Abijah,
218 ff.
Abimelech (Ahimelech),
102, 120, 142
addīrīm,
273
Adullam, the cave of,
81, 88, 211
Adversary, the, see Satan

Ahab,
240 ff.
Ahaz,
292 ff.
Ahaziah (Jehoahaz),
263 ff., 284
Akaba, the Gulf of,
202
Alamoth, set to,
104
Alexander the Great,
xv, xix, xlix, 4
Algum trees,
174, 204
Aliens in Israel,
98, 120, 134, 173, 176, 312
Altar of incense, the,
139, 162, 185, 289
Altar-pillars,
83, 224, 313
Amaziah,
279 ff.
Ambushment,
223, 254
Amen,
111, 115
Amerce,
346
Ammon, Ammonites,
121, 125 f., 249, 291 f.
Amon, King of Judah,
329
Anachronisms,
164 f., 261
Anathoth,
84
Angel,
130 f.
Antonia, the Tower of,
163
Apes,
206
Arabians,
1, 238, 287;
invasion by, 226, 262 f.
Aram (= Syria),
9, 17, 119, 122
Aramaic,
9, 321
Ariel,
83
Ark, the,
94 ff., 101 ff., 186 ff., 339
Armourbearer,
74
Asa,
223 ff.
Asaph,
42 ff., 103, 107, 112, 145, 188
Ascent of the sepulchres, the,
324
Ashdod,
287
Asherim (Ashērah, Ashērim, Ashēroth),

224, 231, 237, 247, 277, 313, 320, 325 f., 331

Ashtaroth (Ashtoreth),
49, 75
Asshur-bani-pal,
6, 317, 327
Assyria, Assyrians,
8 f., 297 ff., 316 ff., 327
Assyrian monuments,
122, 206, 317, 320, 327
Athaliah,
266 ff.
Attent (= attentive),
194
Augury,
325
‘azārāh,
184, 250 f.
Azariah, another name for Uzziah,
23, 285
Azariah the prophet,
li, 228 ff.
Baal (Baalim), use and disuse of the title,
22, 31, 59, 63, 180, 236, 275;
the house of, 272;
altars of, 325, 331
Babylon,
327;
kings of, 351
Bädeker, Palestine, referred to,

32, 34, 47, 50, 57, 96, 99, 119 f., 150, 199, 211, 231 ff., 250, 264, 266, 287, 291, 297 f., 318, 320, 323

Balsam trees,
100
bāmōth,
231, 320
bānāh,
211
Barnes, W. E., referred to,
lx;
(in Expositor), 78, 81;
(in Expository Times), 118;
(on Kings), 172, 185, 240, 285, 293, 322;
(in Journal of Theological Studies), 180
Bashan,
35
Bath (a measure for liquids),
175, 182
Bearers,
173, 176
Beauty of holiness,
110, 254
Beer-sheba to Dan,
128, 308
bĕgādim,
335
Belial, sons of,
219
Ben-hadad,
233
Benzinger, I., referred to,
xxxiii, 238, 307
Beracah, valley of,
255
Beth-Dagon,
75
Beth-el,
57, 222
Beth-horon,
49, 199
Beth-shean (Beth-shan),
58, 75
Beth-shemesh,
47, 283, 298
Bezalel,
17, 170
bīrāh, bīrāniyyōth,
163, 238
Bliss, Dr, Excavations at Jerusalem,
318 f.
Boaz,
180
Book of the law, see Law

Brasen altar, the,
180 f., 196, 201
Brasen sea, the, see Sea

Brass,
118
Brook of Egypt,
196
Brother (= fellow-tribesman),
88
Burning for the dead,
235, 263
Burning of the dead,
76
Burnt offerings,
106, 141, 195, 306, 313
Cadytis, 344

Cake of raisins,
107
Caleb (Chelubai),
15 f., 19, 27
Calebites,
16 ff., 19 f., 154
Canaan,
6
Candlesticks, the golden,
183
Captivity, the,
351
Caravans, halting stations of,
21
Carchemish,
172, 344
Carites, see Cherethites

Carmel,
85, 288
Castles,
163, 238, 291
Caterpillars,
192
Causeway leading to the Temple,
150
Cedars,
173 f., 207
Census, David’s,
31, 127 f., 155 f.
Chaboras, the river,
122
Chaldees, Chaldeans,
9, 350
Chambers,
70 f., 315
Champions, Philistine,
126 f.
Chapiters (= capitals),
179, 184
Chapman. Introduction to the Pentateuch,
xiii note, 12, 338
Chapmen,
204
Chariot cities,
30, 171, 200, 206
Chariots and horsemen,
122 f., 171, 206
Cherethites (Carites),
120, 167, 267, 273
Cherubim,
162, 178 f.
Child-sacrifice,
293
Choir,
138

Chronicler, the, characteristic treatment of subjects by,
xxxviii ff., 11, 25, 37, 38, 73, 77, 87, 92, 95, 97, 98, 100, 105, 106, 114, 117, 121, 124, 127, 128, 133, 153, 167, 173, 191, 195, 200, 214, 217, 218, 222, 223, 225, 229, 237, 238, 256, 274, 275, 276, 278, 280, 283, 284, 289, 292, 297, 300, 301, 308, 326, 330, 333, 352;
facts omitted by, xliv f., 22, 33, 73, 76, 77, 106, 114, 116, 117, 121, 125, 126, 167, 173, 200, 207, 208, 209, 210, 211, 213, 223, 256, 273, 325, 329, 330, 346, 347, 348, 349

Chronicles, the, relation of,
to Ezra and Nehemiah, xvi f.;
date and authorship of, xvii ff.
contents of, xxiv ff.;
the sources of, xxix ff.;
the historical value of, xlii ff.;
the religious value of, liv ff.;
name and position of, in the Canon, lvi ff.;
text and versions of, lviii f., and see under “Text,”;
recent literature on, lix f.
Cities, fortified,
211, 215, 224
City of palm trees,
297
Commandments, the Ten,
274
Conaniah,
340
Confection,
71
Congregation,
163
Coniah, see Jeconiah

Cook, S. A.,
(on 1 Esdras), xxiii, xlvii, 339 f.;
(in Journal of Theological Studies), xxxiv;
(in Encyclopedia Britannica), xlvii, 52, 57;
Notes on Old Testament History, 17;
(in Encyclopedia Biblica), 19;
(in Expository Times), 226, 258;
(in Jewish Quarterly Review), 265
Cornet,
105
Coronation,
271
Corvée,
173
Courts, the Temple,
183 f., 325
Covenant,
77, 94, 113, 190, 219, 230, 336 f.
Crete,
7
Crown,
125, 270
Cubit,
177
Curtis, E. L.,

Chronicles, referred to, xvii, xxi, xxxiv, lvi, lix, 16, 38, 45, 53 f., 67, 74, 102, 104 f., 138, 140, 152, 157, 187, 235, 276, 308, 332, 342

Cush, Cushites,
6 f., 225 ff., 262
Cyprus,
5
Cyrus,
xvi, xxiv note;
rebuilding of the Temple decreed by, 351 f.
D, or “Deuteronomic” narrative,
xx, 338 f.
D and R easily confused in Hebrew,
6, 250
Damascus (Darmesek),
116, 118, 233, 298 f.
Daric,
xviii, 165
Daughters, inheritance of,
139
David, descent of,
14, 15;
sons of, 21 f.;
king over Israel, 76 f.;
the city of, 77 f., 186, 207, 217;
adherents of, in exile, 87 ff.;
his dealings with the Ark, 94 ff., 101 ff., 105 f., 107;

Psalm of praise of, 107 ff.;
desires to build a Temple, 112 ff.;
foreign wars of, 117 ff.;
officials of, 120;
numbers the people, 127 ff.;
prepares for building the Temple, 133;
charges of, to Solomon and to the princes, 133 ff., 158 ff.;
organises Levites, 137 ff.;
organises the priests, 141 ff.;
organises the military and civil officials, 153 ff.;
the blessing of, 165 f.
dĕbhash,
314
Debir,
47
dĕbīr,
178, 180
Demons (jinn),
213
Dhirrīh (Zirrīh),
226
dibs,
314
Dittography,
22, 49, 55, 58, 116, 318
Doorkeepers (= Porters),
xvi, 67 ff., 104 f., 137, 149 ff., 273
Drachma,
165
Drink offerings,
307
Dukes of Edom,
13
E, or “Elohistic” narrative,
xx
Edom,
11 f., 119, 260, 281
Egypt,
172
Elephantine, Jewish Temple at,
xxxviii
Eliakim, see Jehoiakim

Elijah, writing of,
261
En-gedi,
250
Ephod,
106
Ephraim,
56 f.
Ephraimite mercenaries,
281
Ephron (Ephrain),
222
Eponymous ancestors,
3
Erman, Ancient Egypt,
157, 209, 242
Esar-haddon,
317, 327
Esdrelon (Esdraelon),
74, 171, 345
Ethan,
42 f., 103, 112, 145
Ethanim,
186
Ethiopia, Ethiopians,
6, 225 ff., 262
Eunuch,
159, 241
Euphemisms,
114, 258, 266, 277, 289
Euphrates,
116 ff., 122, 206, 344
Evil-Merodach (Amil-Marduk),
347, 351
Ezekiel (Jehezkel),
143
Ezion-geber,
202, 258
Familiar spirits,
325
Fasting,
76, 250
Father (= eponymous ancestor),
18;
as a title of honour, 175
Fathers’ houses,
xvii, 34, 52
Feast of dedication, the,
195 f.
Feast of harvest, the, see Feast of weeks

Feast of tabernacles, the,
186, 196 f.
Feast of unleavened bread, the,
310
Feast of weeks, the,
230, 314
Fir trees,
174
Folds,
323
Foreigners, see Aliens

Fortresses,
211, 224
Gad the seer,
130, 168, 305
Gates of the Temple,
68, 268 f., 272 f., 291
Gehenna (Gē-ben-hinnōm, Gē-hinnōm),
293
Genealogical Table of the Nations,
2 ff.

Genealogies, a prominent feature in Chronicles,
xvi, xlvii;
the practical purpose of, 1 f.
Genealogy, reckoning by,
xvii, 35, 217

Genesis, stylistic similarity of Chronicles to,

27
Gezer,
49, 199 f., 224
Giant,
126 f.
Gibeon,
169, 171
Gihon, the spring of,
323 f.
Gilboa, campaign of,
73 f.
Gilead,
17, 34 f.
Gimirrai,
4
Goliath,
126 f.
Governor of the city,
332
Governors,
205
Habor,
37
Hadarezer (= Hadadezer),
117, 124
Hadoram (Adoram, Adoniram),
210
Hagrites,
34, 36
Hamath, entering in of,
96, 196;
(= modern Hama), 117, 119
Hamath-zobah,
199
ḥamman
224
Hanani the seer,
234
Handcock, Latest Light on Bible Lands,
317, 320, 327
Hanoch (Ḥanôkh) (= Enoch),
2, 11, 33
Harps,
96 f., 188
ḥāṣer, ḥăṣêrîm,
31, 184, 250 f.
hăṣōṣĕrāh,
230
Havvoth-Jair,
17 f.

Heart, the, considered as the seat of the mind,

113, 189, 220
Heaven,
296, 321
ḥebel,
108
He-goats (= jinn),
213
Heman,
42 f., 103, 112, 145, 188
Hercules, the temple of (Melkart),
180
Herodotus referred to,
4, 180, 317, 320, 344
Heroes, list of,
79 ff.
hēykāl,
163, 348
Hezekiah,
300 ff.;
the great Passover of, 308 ff.;
the prayer of, 321
ḥidoth,
203
High places,
169, 171, 223, 231, 236, 256, 320
High-priests, list of the,
37 ff.
Hilkiah the priest,
337 ff.
Hinnom, the valley of the son of,
293, 325
Hiram, see Huram

Hittites,
8, 172, 200
Hivites,
8
Hogarth, Authority and Archaeology,
317, 322, 327
Hogg,
(in Encyclopedia Biblica), 31;
(in Jewish Quarterly Review), 60;
(in Expositor), 308
Hölscher, Palästina,
xlviii, 20, 229, 309
Holy of Holies, the,
161, 178, 183
Holy place, the,
141, 177
ḥōmer,
175, 291
Honey,
314
Hooks, used by Assyrians,
327
Horn, lift up the,
147
Host of God, the,
91
Host of heaven, the,
243, 325
Houghed (= hamstrung),
117
House (= dynasty),
114
House of the forest of Lebanon,
205
Houses of the Temple,
161, 164, 333
ḥōzai,
329
Huldah, the prophecy of,
336
Huram (artificer),
175, 184
Huram (king),
98, 173 ff., 184, 198 f., 202
Iddo,
207, 217, 223
Idols, see Asherim

Incense,
201, 221, 289, 291
Instruments, musical,
96 f., 138, 196, 305, 311
Ionians,
4
Isaiah,
290, 320 f.
Israel,
(= laymen), 64;
(= the covenant-people), 210 f.
J, or “Jahvistic” narrative,
xx, 2
Jachin,
180
Jahaziel, the prophecy of,
252 f.
Jashar,
the Book of, xi, 189
Javan (= the Ionians),
4
Jebusites,
8, 177, 200
Jeconiah (Coniah, Jehoiachin),
23, 348 f.
Jeduthun,
42, 112, 145, 188
Jehoahaz, see Ahaziah

Jehoahaz (Shallum),
346 f.
Jehoiachin, see Jeconiah

Jehoiada,
153, 273 f.
Jehoiakim (Eliakim),
347 f.
Jehoram,
258 ff.
Jehoshaphat,
xlix ff., 235 ff.
Jehu the prophet,
246 f.
Jerahmeel, Jerahmeelites,
18 f.
Jeremiah,
345
Jericho,
297
Jeroboam,
208, 210, 218 ff.
Jerome, St,
lvi, lix, 338
Jerusalem,
78, 171, 217;
destruction of, 349 ff.
Jezreel,
264
jihād,
221
Joab,
78 f., 119, 123, 125, 128 f.
Joash, King of Israel,
282 f.
Joash, King of Judah,
273 ff.
Joppa (Jaffa),
176, 287
Josephus,
Antiquities of the Jews, xix, 5;
War of the Jews, 277
Josiah,
329 ff.;
celebration of the Passover by, 310, 330, 339 ff.;
lamentations for, 345 f.
Jotham,
291 f.
Jozabad,
340
Justice, administration of,
171, 237, 247 f.
Karnak, the temple of,
180, 214
Kassite dynasty, the,
7
ḳĕdēshim,
331
ḳeṣeph,
247, 249, 277, 323
Kidron, the brook,
231, 303
King’s friend, a title,
157
kinnōr,
97
Kinship, traced through the mother,
16
Kiriath-jearim,
94, 170
Kiriath-sepher,
47
Kirkpatrick,
(on 1 Samuel), 99;
(on Psalms), 110;
(on 2 Samuel), 116, 120
Kition,
5
Kittel, R., referred to,
xxxiii, lx, 238, 307, 316
kiyyōr,
190
Knops,
182
ḳōnēn,
345
kōr (kōrīm),
175, 291
Korah, Korahites,
43, 253 f.
Koran, the, referred to,
197
Kuë,
172
Lachish,
260, 285, 319 f.
Lamentations,
345 f.
Lavers, the,
182
Law, book of the,
discovery of the, 332, 334, 337 ff.
Leprosy,
289
Levi, sons of,
37 ff.
Levites,
xvi, 51 f., 70, 186 f., 307, 312;
the cities of the, 46 ff.;
duties of the, 71 f., 140 f.;
David’s organisation of the, 137 ff.;
families of the, 144 f.;
help to cleanse the Temple, 303
Levy,
173
Libnah,
47, 260
Libyans,
7, 215
Lots, drawing of,
143, 148
Lowland, see Shephelah

Lubim,
215, 226, 234
Lydians,
7, 9
Maacah,
56, 122
Maacah (Micaiah),
daughter of Absalom, 213 compare 218;
Queen-mother, 230
Macalister, R. A. S.,
The Philistines, 7;

Palestine Exploration Fund Quarterly Statement, 28, 31, 32;

The Excavation of Gezer, 49;

Bible Side-lights from the Mound of Gezer, 199, 224

Machir,
17
Magdolus,
344
māgēn, māginnōth,
205, 323
Magog,
4
Manasseh,
325 ff.;
the prayer of, 328
Mareshah,
225 ff., 258
maṣṣēbāh, maṣṣēbōth
180, 224
Meal-offering,
132, 141, 196
Medes (Madai), the,
4
Megiddo,
58, 266, 345
Megillōth,
lvii
Mesopotamia,
122
Meunim,
32, 249, 251, 260, 287
Micaiah, the prophecy of,
240 ff.
Michal,
105 f.
Midianites, the,
11
midrash,
xxxi and note, xlvi, xlix, 223, 279
Midrashic narrative,
characteristics of, xlix;
in sources of Chronicles, xxxii;
exemplified in Chronicles, 136, 217 f., 225, 239, 249, 294
migdānōth,
259, 323
Millo,
79, 319
mishkān,
94 f., 274
mishma‘ath,
83
Mishōr,
288
Miṣraim (= Egypt),
6, 19, 172
mizlāgōth,
184
mizrāḳōth,
184
Moab,
116 f.
Moabites, invasion by,
249 f.
Molech (Malcam, Milcom),
125, 293
Mount Gerizim,
Samaritan Temple on, xxi, xxxviii
Mount Moriah,
176
Mount Seir,
32, 251, 281
Mount Zion,
xxxviii f.
Mulberry trees,
100
Music, the Levitical service of,
lii, 305 f.
Musical guilds,
xxiii, 145, 333
Muski,
5
Muṣri,
19, 172
Nabonidus (Nabu-na’id),
344, 351
Nabopolassar,
344, 350
Nabulus,
49
nāgīd,
33, 92, 295
naḥal,
252
Names,
significant, 24, 145 f.;
lists of, in oriental Histories, 1 f., 79
Nathan the prophet,
113, 168, 207, 305
Navy,
206
nēbhel,
96 f.
Nebuchadnezzar (Nebuchadrezzar),
347 f., 351
Neco I and II,
327, 336, 343 f.
nēr (nīr),
259
Neriglissar (Nergalšar-uṣur),
351
Nethinim,
65, 137
New Testament (passages of) referred to:
Matthew i. 3‒6, 15
Matthew i. 7, 23
Matthew v. 22, 293
Matthew v. 39, 244
Matthew xxiii. 35, lviii, 277
Matthew xxv. 15, 290
Mark ii. 26, 102
Mark ix. 43, 293
Mark xi. 2, 7, 96
Mark xvi. 1, 235
Luke i. 5, 143
Luke i. 7, 266
Luke ii. 36, 335
Luke iii. 31, 22
Luke vii. 44‒46, 297
Luke xi. 51, 277
Luke xii. 55, 192
Luke xv. 18, 21, 296, 321
Luke xix. 4, 172
John i. 45, 16
John iii. 27, 296
John xi. 54, 222
John xii. 3, 7, 235
John xviii. 1, 303
John xix. 39, 40, 235
Acts vii. 60, 278
Acts viii. 40, 287
Acts ix. 32, 27
Acts xii. 1, 228
Acts xii. 21, 159
Acts xii. 23, 222
Acts xiii. 2, 138
Acts xxi. 37, 163
Acts xxii. 24, 163
Romans i. 1, 138
Romans xi. 2, xxxii
Galatians i. 15, 138
2 Thessalonians ii. 11, 243
1 Timothy iii. 15, 114
Hebrew ii. 16, 297
1 John i. 9, 215
Revelation ii. 20, 335
Revelation xxi, 12‒16, 182
Nimrod,
7
Nineveh,
327
Nisan, the first month,
89, 301, 310, 339
Nobles, the,
273
Numbering of the people, see David

Numbers high in Chronicles,
xlix, 92, 133, 135 ff., 164 f., 178, 195, 204, 210, 218 f., 221 f., 225 f., 239, 281, 294
ōb,
325
Obelisk of Shalmaneser II,
122, 206
Oblations (tᵉrūmāh)
314
Obsolete English words:
At (after verbs of asking), 241
Grave (verb = carve), 174
Magnifical, 134
Play (= dance), 96, 106
Polls (= heads), 137
Skill (verb), 174, 333
Oded,
229, 295 f.
ōhel,
197, 274
Omar, the Mosque of,
181
‘ōnēn,
325
Onyx,
164
Ophel,
291, 328
Ophir,
164, 202, 257
Oracle, the,
180, 185, 187
Ornan,
131, 177
Osorkon,
226
Overseers,
173, 176, 333
P, or “Priestly” narrative,
xx, 2 f.
paḥōth,
205
Palace, the,
163, 166
Palmyra,
199
Paphos, the temple of,
180
Parbar,
151
Parvaim,
178
Passover, the,
of Hezekiah, 308 ff.;
of Josiah, 310, 320, 339 ff.
Pelethites,
120, 167
Pentateuch, the,
xiv, xx, 238, 337 ff.
Perfect heart, a,
93, 160, 165 f., 231, 248
Pestilence,
130 f.
Petrie, W. M. Flinders,
History of Egypt, 226, 344
Philistines,
the original seats of the, 7;
war with the, 74, 99 ff., 126, 286 f., 297;
invasion by, 262 f.
Phinehas,
69
Phœnician language,
173
Physicians,
235
Pillar,
271
Pillars (Jachin and Boaz),
179 f., 184
Plague,
193
Play on words,
15, 57, 254, 282
Poll-tax,
274, 347
Porch of the Temple,
177
Porters, see Doorkeepers

Posts (= runners),
309
Precious stones,
178
Priesthood, the double,
102, 167
Priests,
51 f., 303, 307, 312 ff.;
courses of, 66;
sons of the, 71;
David’s organisation of the, 141 ff.
Princes of the sanctuary,
142
Princes of the tribes of Israel,
155
Prophetess,
335
Psaltery,
96, 103, 146, 188, 204
Psalms xcvi, cv, cvi,
107
Pul,
34, 37
Punt (Put),
6
Rabbah,
121, 125
Ramoth-gilead,
51, 240, 245
Rechabites, the,
21
Recorder (= chronicler),
120, 332
Rehoboam,
211 ff.
Rephaim,
126 f.;
valley of, 81, 99
Rhodians,
5
River, the (= the Euphrates),
13, 206
Robertson Smith, W.,
Old Testament in the Jewish Church, 16;

Religion of the Semites, 83, 180, 213, 219, 224

Robinson’s Arch,
150
Ruler of the house of God, the,
66, 315, 340
Ryle,
Genesis, referred to, 2 f., 6;

(on Ezra and Nehemiah), 143, 163, 273, 296, 334 f.;

Prayer of Manasses, 328
Sabbath,
351
Sackcloth,
131
Sacrifice,
consumed by fire from heaven, 195;
daily morning and evening, 141, 276;
sevenfold, made by Hezekiah, 304;
of thank offerings and burnt offerings, 306 f.;
of peace offerings, 106, 132, 307, 328
St Mary’s Well,
323 f., 327
Salt,
covenant of, 219;
the valley of, 119, 281
Samaria,
266, 309
Samaritan schism, the,
xxi, xxxviii
Samuel,
the descent of, 41;
the seer, 70, 168, 234
Sargon,
309, 317
Satan (= the Adversary),
128
Saul,
genealogy of, 62 f., 72;
defeat, death and burial of, 73 ff.
Saws,
126
Scorpion,
209
Scribe,
120, 142, 157
Sea of the Temple, the,
119, 181 f., 184, 300
Seer,
70, 168, 234
Sennacherib, threatened invasion by,
316 ff.
sēpher hattōrah,
338
Septuagint, the, version of Chronicles,
lviii f.
Shalmaneser,
122, 206, 309
Sharon,
35;
the great maritime plain, 156
Sheba,
6 f.;
Queen of, 202 ff.
shēbhet,
83
Shechem,
48, 56, 207
shelaḥ,
270, 319
shĕlāṭīm,
118, 270
Shemaiah,
210, 215
Sheminith,
set to the, 104
Shephēlāh,
156, 172, 207, 288, 298
Shewbread,
71 f., 139, 141, 162, 174, 221, 304
Shields of gold,
118, 205, 270, 323
Shihor, brook of,
96
Shishak, invasion by,
214 ff.
Siloam, the Lower Pool of,
318
Singers, the families of the,
xvi, xlii, 38, 42, 104, 145 ff., 341
ṣinnah,
205
sippim,
269
Slings,
288
Smith, G. A.,

Historical Geography of the Holy Land, 74 f., 81, 83, 171, 184, 192, 207, 212, 226, 249 f., 255, 294, 297;

Jerusalem, 78 f., 163, 288, 291, 318 f., 324, 327;

(in Encyclopedia Biblia), 118;
Early Poetry of Israel, 294
Sojourners,
165 f.
Solomon,
133 ff., 160 ff.;
twice crowned, 167;
great sacrifice of, 169 f.;
vision of, 170 f.;
horses and chariots of, 171 f.;
makes preparations for building the Temple, 173 ff.;
begins to build the Temple, 176 ff.;
brings the Ark into the sanctuary, 186 f.;
blessing and prayer of, 189 ff.;
the night vision of, 197 f.;
cities of, 198 ff.;
arrangements of, for the Temple worship, 201 f.;
the fleet of, 202;
the greatness of, 204 ff.
Sorcery,
325
Spices,
204, 235
Stir up the spirit,
37, 262, 352
Store cities,
233, 238
Strangers, see Aliens

Suburbs,
47, 95, 212, 316
Sun-images,
224, 331
Sycomore,
156, 172, 207
Syria, Syrians,
9, 17, 116, 124;
invasion by, 278
Syriac Version, the,
lix
Syro-Ephraimite war, the,
294 f.
Tabali,
5
Tabernacle,
70, 94, 133, 274 f.
Tabor,
50
Tadmor,
199
Tamar,
199
ṭaph,
252
Tarshish (= Tartessus),
5, 54, 205 f., 257 f.
Tarsus,
5
Task-work,
126, 134, 200
Tekoa,
18, 26, 254
Tell el-Amarna letters,
5, 58, 78, 121, 212
Teman,
11
Temple, the,
gates of, 68, 268 f., 272 f., 291;
David’s preparations for building, 133 ff.;
measurements of, 134, 177;
the pattern of, 161 ff.;
Solomon prepares to build, 173 ff.;
description of, 176 ff.;
dedication of, 186;
restoration of, 274 ff.;
cleansing of, 301 ff.;
repair of, 332 ff.;
Cyrus decrees the rebuilding of, 351 f.
Tenderhearted,
220
Tent,
69, 94, 101, 106, 186, 274
tĕrū‘ah,
106, 230
tĕrūmāh,
314
Testimony, the,
270 f., 274
Text of Chronicles, the,
xxii, lviii, 7, 13, 15, 16, 18, 21, 27, 28, 35, 41, 42, 46, 49, 54, 55, 56, 58, 59, 60, 68, 82, 85, 115, 182, 214, 217, 227, 248, 255, 259, 323, 336

Thistle (= thorn),
283
Threshing-floor,
97, 131 f., 242
Thucydides referred to,
xlviii
Tigris,
122
Tilgath-pilneser (Tiglath-pileser),
34, 37, 292, 297 ff., 309
Times (= changes, opportunities),
93, 168
Tisri, the seventh month,
186
Tithe,
313 f.
Titus, Arch of,
230
tōrah,
191, 228, 338
Torrey, C. C.,

Ezra Studies, xxxiii f., xlvi, lviii, lx, 38, 218, 237, 264 f., 343, 345

Treasuries, the,
161
Trees, large,
76, 294
Tree-worship,
224
Trumpets, silver,
105, 112, 188, 196, 221, 230, 305
Tyre,
5, 8, 134
Tyrseni,
5
Uriah,
86, 120
Urim and Thummim,
99
Uzziah,
285 ff.
Valley of salt, the,
119, 281
Veil of the Temple, the,
179
Ventriloquism,
325
Vessels of gold,
185 f.
Vulgate, the,
lix
Wardrobe, keeper of the,
335
Wellhausen, J., references to,
lvi, lix, 20, 237, 271
Wilson’s Arch,
150
Wrath,
247, 249, 277, 323
Zadok,
39 f., 92, 102, 111, 142, 155, 167, 314
Zechariah, martyrdom of,
277
Zedekiah the king,
349 f.
Zedekiah the prophet,
242, 244
Zemaraim, the battle of,
218 ff.
Zerah the Ethiopian,
225 f.
Zidon, Zidonians,
8, 134
Ziz,
252
Zobah,
116 f., 122, 124, 199

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Table of Contents

The Books of Chronicles

PREFACE BY THE GENERAL EDITOR FOR THE OLD TESTAMENT

CONTENTS

PREFATORY NOTE

INTRODUCTION

- § 1: Characteristics of Ancient Historical Writings

- § 2. Relation to Ezra and Nehemiah
- § 3. Date and Authorship
- § 4. Contents
- § 5. The Sources

- § 6. The Purpose and Method of the Chronicler

- § 7. The Historical Value of Chronicles
- § 8. The Religious Value of Chronicles
- § 9. Name and Position in the Canon
- § 10. Text and Versions of Chronicles
- § 11. Literature

THE FIRST BOOK OF THE CHRONICLES

- Chapters I.‒IX. GENEALOGIES.

- Chapter I.

- Chapters II.‒VIII. The Genealogies of the Tribes of Israel.

- Chapter II.

- Chapter III.

- Chapter IV.

- Chapter V.

- Chapter VI.

- Chapter VII.

- Chapter VIII.

- Chapter IX.

- Chapters X.‒XXIX. The Reign of David.

- Chapter X.

- Chapter XI.

- Chapter XII.

- Chapter XIII.

- Chapter XIV.

- Chapter XV.

- Chapter XVI.

- Chapter XVII.

- Chapter XVIII.

- Chapter XIX.

- Chapter XX.

- Chapter XXI.

- Chapter XXII.

- Chapters XXIII.‒XXIX. The Conclusion of David’s Reign.

- Chapter XXIII.

- Chapter XXIV.

- Chapter XXV.

- Chapter XXVI.

- Chapter XXVII. The Organisation of the Military and Civil Officials.

- Chapters XXVIII, XXIX. David’s farewell Speech.

- Chapter XXVIII.

- Chapter XXIX.

THE SECOND BOOK OF THE CHRONICLES

- Chapters I.‒IX. Solomon.

- Chapter I.

- Chapter II. Solomon’s Preparations for Building the Temple.

- Chapter III.

- Chapter IV.

- V. 2‒VIII. 10. The Dedication of the Temple.

- Chapter V.

- Chapter VI.

- Chapter VII.

- Chapter VIII.

- Chapter IX.

- Chapters X.‒XXXVI. The History of Judah from Rehoboam to the Exile.

- Chapter X.

- Chapter XI.

- Chapter XII.

- Chapter XIII.

- Chapter XIV.

- Chapter XV.

- Chapter XVI.

- Chapters XVII.‒XX. The Reign of Jehoshaphat.

- Chapter XVII.

- Chapter XVIII.

- Chapter XIX.

- Chapter XX.

- Chapter XXI.

- Chapter XXII.

- Chapter XXIII.

- Chapter XXIV.

- Chapter XXV.

- Chapter XXVI.

- Chapter XXVII.

- Chapter XXVIII.

- Chapter XXIX.

- Chapter XXX.

- Chapter XXXI.

- Chapter XXXII.

- Chapter XXXIII.

- Chapter XXXIV.

- Chapter XXXV.

- Chapter XXXVI.

INDEX
The Cambridge University Press
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