Bible Commentaries
1 Chronicles 22

Verse 1

1 Chronicles 21:1 to 1 Chronicles 22:1— The Numbering of the Hosts; the Punishment (see notes on 2 Samuel 24:1-25).— There are many variations from the corresponding passage in 2 S., and it is uncertain whether the Chronicler used any other source or not.

1 Chronicles 21:1. And Satan stood up: in 2 Samuel 24:1 the temptation comes from Yahweh; the Chronicler altered this as unfitting in view of the developed doctrine of God which had supervened. In the earlier literature the term “ Satan” means “ adversary” ( Numbers 22:22; Numbers 22:32); its use here as a proper name is a development due to the influence of Persian demonology on Jewish belief; cf. Job 1:6 *, Job 2:2, Zechariah 3:1 f.

1 Chronicles 21:6 . Probably added because, according to Numbers 1:49, the Levites might not be numbered for military purposes; he mentions Benjamin as not being counted because of Jerusalem, the Holy City, lying on his borders.

1 Chronicles 21:9 . God: cf. 1 Chronicles 29:29, 2 Chronicles 29:25.

1 Chronicles 21:15 . the threshing-floor of Ornan: this was on the top of Mount Zion where the Temple was built ( cf. 1 Chronicles 22:1). In 2 Samuel 24:16 and elsewhere Ornan occurs in the form Araunah.

1 Chronicles 21:16 . Not in 2 Samuel 24.— between the heaven and the earth: the Hebrew way of expressing “ in mid-air.” The description of the angel is a development due to the influence of Persian angelology; the earlier Hebrew conception pictured angels as men.

1 Chronicles 21:18 . The reference to the angel here and in 1 Chronicles 21:20 is added by the Chronicler for the purpose of enhancing the supernaturalness of the episode; in 2 Samuel 24:18 ff. there is no mention of the angel.

1 Chronicles 21:23 . wheat for the meal-offering: a characteristic addition by the Chronicler ( cf. Leviticus 2:1 ff.).

1 Chronicles 21:25 . six hundred shekels of gold: this, too, is characteristic of the Chronicler, who desires to emphasize the value of everything connected with the Temple, even down to its very site. In 2 Samuel 24:24 the price is fifty shekels of silver, including the oxen.

1 Chronicles 21:26 . from heaven by fire: another addition by the Chronicler ( cf. Leviticus 9:24).

1 Chronicles 21:28 to 1 Chronicles 22:1 . 1 Chronicles 21:29 f. forms a parenthesis; 1 Chronicles 21:28; 1 Chronicles 22:1 describe the definite choice of Oman’ s threshing-floor as the site of the Temple.

1 Chronicles 21:29 . the high place at Gibeon: cf. 1 Chronicles 16:39.

Verses 2-19

1 Chronicles 22:2 to 1 Chronicles 29:30 . The whole of this section is the work of the Chronicler, though it is probable that he utilised some earlier sources in compiling it; a good deal of OT material is woven into it, but it has no parallel in earlier books, as in the case of the chapters so far considered.

1 Chronicles 22:2-19 . David’ s Preparation for the Building of the Temple.— This is an imaginative elaboration of 2 Samuel 7:1-3; 2 Samuel 7:13.

1 Chronicles 22:3 . couplings: the word is used only here (in reference to an iron object) and in 2 Chronicles 34:11 (in reference to a wooden object). It refers probably to hinges. A word from the same root occurs in Exodus 36:17 of the “ place of joining” of curtains, and in Exodus 28:17 of the place of joining” of the shoulder-pieces of the ephod.

1 Chronicles 22:7 . Taken from 1 Kings 8:17.

1 Chronicles 22:8 . because thou hast shed much blood: cf. 1 Chronicles 28:3; the Chronicler’ s inference from 1 Kings 5:3.

1 Chronicles 22:9 . Solomon, and I will give peace: a word-play; in Hebrew “ Solomon” = Shĕ? lô mô h, and “ peace” = Shâ lô m; but the two words are not radically connected.

1 Chronicles 22:10 . Taken from 2 Samuel 7:13-14 a = 1 Chronicles 17:12-13 a.

1 Chronicles 22:12 f. This stress laid on the observance of the Law is characteristic of the Chronicler.

1 Chronicles 22:14 . in my affliction: better “ in my poverty” ; the Chronicler desires to teach that, however great the amount devoted to the building of the Temple, any contribution to such an object can at best be but a poor one; hence also the enormous exaggeration in stating the amount so bestowed.

1 Chronicles 22:16 . there is no number: the reference is not to the gold and silver, etc., which were weighed ( cf. “ without weight” in 1 Chronicles 22:14), but to the number of the workmen mentioned in 1 Chronicles 22:15. The Chronicler, with characteristic exaggeration, speaks of the metal as being without weight and the workmen without number; the quantity in each case defied enumeration.