1 and 2 Chronicles

Volume 1: 1 Chronicles 1-2 Chronicles 9: Israel's Place among Nations

William Johnstone

• Publisher: Sheffield Academic Press
• Year: 1998
• Print ISBN: 9781850756934
• eBook ISBN: 9780826441300
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Biblical Studies

This two-part commentary argues that Chronicles, placed as it is among the 'historical books' in the traditional Old Testament of the Christian church, is much misunderstood. Restored to its proper position as the final book in the canon as arranged in the order of the Hebrew Bible, it is rather to be understood as a work of theology essentially directed towards the future. The Chronicler begins his work with the problem facing the whole human race in Adam-the forfeiture of the ideal of perfect oneness with God's purpose. He explores the possibility of the restoration of that ideal through Israel's place at the centre of the world of the nations. This portrayal reaches its climax in an idealized presentation of the reign of Solomon, in which all the rulers of the earth, including most famously the Queen of Sheba, bring their tribute in acknowledgment of Israel's status (Volume 1). As subsequent history only too clearly shows, however, the Chronicler argues (Volume 2), that Israel itself, through unfaithfulness to Torah, has forfeited its right to possession of its land and is cast adrift among these same nations of the world. But the Chronicler's message is one of hope. By a radical transformation of the chronology of Israel's past into theological terms, the generation whom the Chronicler addresses becomes the fiftieth since Adam. It is the generation to whom the jubilee of return to the land through a perfectly enabled obedience to Torah, and thus the restoration of the primal ideal of the human race, is announced.

Table of contents

• Contents
• Abbreviations
• Introduction
• 1 Chronicles 1: Israel's Place within the Human Family
• 1 Chronicles 2.1-2: Preview of 1 Chronicles 2–8
• 1 Chronicles 2.3–4.23: Judah and the House of David
• 1 Chronicles 4.24–5.2: Simeon
• 1 Chronicles 5.3-26: The East Bank Tribes: Reuben, Gad and Half-Manasseh
• 1 Chronicles 6: Levi
• 1 Chronicles 7–9: The West Bank Tribes and Jerusalem
• 1 Chronicles 7.1-5: Issachar
• 1 Chronicles 7.6-13: Benjamin (1) with Naphtali
• 1 Chronicles 7.14-19: Manasseh
• 1 Chronicles 7.20-29: Ephraim
• 1 Chronicles 7.30-40: Asher
• 1 Chronicles 8: Benjamin (2)
• 1 Chronicles 9.1-34: The Population of Jerusalem
• 1 Chronicles 9.35–10.14: The Reign of Saul
• 1 Chronicles 11.1–29.30: David: Enabler of Israel's Destiny among the Nations of the World?
• 1 Chronicles 11.1-9: David, king of 'All Israel'; Jerusalem, City of David
• 1 Chronicles 11.10–12.40: The Roll of Warriors who Joined Forces with King David
• 1 Chronicles 13: David's Initiative to Fetch the Ark of God is Cut Short
• 1 Chronicles 14.1–16.43: The Installation of the Ark in Jerusalem
• 1 Chronicles 17: David's Proposal to Build a Temple is Rejected
• 1 Chronicles 18–20: The Fulfilment of the LORD's Promise to Subdue David's Enemies
• 1 Chronicles 21.1–22.4: The Census: Pivotal Event of David's Reign
• 1 Chronicles 22.5-19: David Commissions Solomon to Build the Temple
• 1 Chronicles 23–27: The Personnel of Temple and Community
• 1 Chronicles 28–29: David's Reign Fulfilled
• 2 Chronicles 1–9: The Reign of Solomon
• 2 Chronicles 1.1-13: The Sacral Assembly Is Convened at the Tabernacle at Gibeon. The Theological Basis of Solomon's Rule
• 2 Chronicles 2.3-16: Solomon's Correspondence with Huram of Tyre
• 2 Chronicles 2.17–5.1: Solomon Builds the Temple
• 2 Chronicles 5.2–7.22: The Dedication of the Temple
• 2 Chronicles 8.1–9.31: The Universal Recognition of Solomon's Reign
• Bibliography
• Index of References
• Index of Selected Key Terms