VOLUME 10 OLD TESTAMENT NEW COLLEGEVILLE THE BIBLE COMMENTARY FIRST AND SECOND CHRONICLES John C. Endres, S.J. SERIES EDITOR Daniel Durken, O.S.B. LITURGICAL PRESS Collegeville, Minnesota www.litpress.org Nihil Obstat: Reverend Robert C. Harren, J.C.L. Imprimatur: Most Reverend John F. Kinney, J.C.D., D.D., Bishop of Saint Cloud, Minnesota, December 12, 2011. Design by Ann Blattner. Cover illustration: Solomon’s Temple by Donald Jackson. Copyright 2010 The Saint John’s Bible, Order of Saint Benedict, Collegeville, Minnesota USA. Used by permis- sion. All rights reserved. Photos: pages 12, 38, 74, 119, 130, Wikimedia Commons; page 53, Thinkstock.com. Maps created by Robert Cronan of Lucidity Design, LLC. Scripture texts used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washing- ton, DC. All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmit- ted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner. © 2012 by Order of Saint Benedict, Collegeville, Minnesota. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, by print, microfilm, microfiche, mechanical recording, photocopying, translation, or by any other means, known or yet unknown, for any purpose except brief quotations in reviews, without the previous written permission of Liturgical Press, Saint John’s Abbey, PO Box 7500, Collegeville, Minnesota 56321-7500. Printed in the United States of America. 123456789 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Endres, John C., 1946– First and Second Chronicles / John C. Endres. p. cm. — (New Collegeville Bible commentary. Old Testament ; v. 10) ISBN 978-0-8146-2844-7 1. Bible. O.T. Chronicles—Commentaries. I. Bible. O.T. Chronicles. English. New American. 2011. II. Title. BS1345.53.E53 2011 222'.6077—dc23 2011046899 CONTENTS Abbreviations 4 Introduction 5 THE BOOK OF FIRST CHRONICLES Text and Commentary 7 Genealogies (1 Chronicles 1–9) 7 The Reign of David Begins (1 Chronicles 10–14) 28 Liturgy for Installing the Ark (1 Chronicles 15–16) 37 God’s Covenant with David and his Resulting Success (1 Chronicles 17–21) 43 Preparing for the Temple (1 Chronicles 22–29) 54 THE BOOK OF SECOND CHRONICLES Text and Commentary 69 Solomon (2 Chronicles 1–9) 69 The Divided Monarchy (2 Chronicles 10–28) 88 Hezekiah (2 Chronicles 29–32) 120 The Fall of Judah (2 Chronicles 33–36) 131 Review Aids and Discussion Topics 144 Index of Citations from the Catechism of the Catholic Church 147 Maps 148 ABBREVIATIONS Books of the Bible Acts—Acts of the Apostles 2 Kgs—2 Kings Amos—Amos Lam—Lamentations Bar—Baruch Lev—Leviticus 1 Chr—1 Chronicles Luke—Luke 2 Chr—2 Chronicles 1 Macc—1 Maccabees Col—Colossians 2 Macc—2 Maccabees 1 Cor—1 Corinthians Mal—Malachi 2 Cor—2 Corinthians Mark—Mark Dan—Daniel Matt—Matthew Deut—Deuteronomy Mic—Micah Eccl (or Qoh)—Ecclesiastes Nah—Nahum Eph—Ephesians Neh—Nehemiah Esth—Esther Num—Numbers Exod—Exodus Obad—Obadiah Ezek—Ezekiel 1 Pet—1 Peter Ezra—Ezra 2 Pet—2 Peter Gal—Galatians Phil—Philippians Gen—Genesis Phlm—Philemon Hab—Habakkuk Prov—Proverbs Hag—Haggai Ps(s)—Psalms Heb—Hebrews Rev—Revelation Hos—Hosea Rom—Romans Isa—Isaiah Ruth—Ruth Jas—James 1 Sam—1 Samuel Jdt—Judith 2 Sam—2 Samuel Jer—Jeremiah Sir—Sirach Job—Job Song—Song of Songs Joel—Joel 1 Thess—1 Thessalonians John—John 2 Thess—2 Thessalonians 1 John—1 John 1 Tim—1 Timothy 2 John—2 John 2 Tim—2 Timothy 3 John—3 John Titus—Titus Jonah—Jonah Tob—Tobit Josh—Joshua Wis—Wisdom Jude—Jude Zech—Zechariah Judg—Judges Zeph—Zephaniah 1 Kgs—1 Kings 4 INTRODUCTION The Books of First and Second Chronicles During the era of Persian rule (539–332 b.c.), when the land of Israel was known as the province of Yehud, a Jewish writer with close connections to the Jerusalem temple authored a new version of Israel’s sacred story. Crafted for the Jewish people of his time, Chronicles spans the time from the creation of the world through the end of the Babylonian exile and Cyrus’ permission for Jews to return home in 538 b.c. These books tell the story from a special perspective. They emphasize the relationship with God centered at the temple and focus on Israel’s monarchs as leaders in political and religious matters, cooperating with Levites, priests, and prophets. For example, in Chronicles there is little concern for the split between the northern and southern king- doms after Solomon. Jerusalem is God’s chosen city, the temple is God’s special place of presence, and public worship and song are critical aspects of Israel’s public life. God appears as mighty power, transcendent divinity, creator and sustainer of the world. There are no other gods as rivals. These views come from the same storyline as that in the books of Deuter- onomy through 2 Kings, often referred to as the Deuteronomistic History. The Chronicler, however, paints this picture with different shades and accents. Often, such differences can be easily traced when the Chronicler follows the story in the Deuteronomistic History rather closely. In fact, one can read 1–2 Chronicles synoptically, comparing it with Samuel and Kings, much as one reads Matthew, Mark, and Luke in synoptic fashion. In this commentary we will attend to the Chronicler’s alterations of the older text as he rewrites Israel’s history. As we observe his changes to the story, some very obvious, many very subtle, we will notice how his theological perspective differs greatly from the earlier history. One difference is striking: the Deuteronomistic His- tory views the era of the monarchy as a downward spiral leading to the Baby- lonian exile, and blames the regression on sinful actions of the kings. The Chronicler, on the other hand, presents a far more positive view of kings, especially those of Judah. He implies that their ways of conduct, especially 5 Introduction to the Books of First and Second Chronicles their faith and their attention to God through worship, can lead to bountiful blessings for Israel. For the Chronicler, “Israel” is the Jewish people in Judah in the postexilic era, so the message to his audience is that they can enjoy more blessings if they wholeheartedly dedicate themselves to their God. Israel’s early history is recounted in these books quite differently than in the Pentateuch. 1 Chronicles 1–9 consist of a series of genealogies, which cover time from the creation of the world up to the reign of Saul. While many connections exist between people in the genealogies and persons known from stories elsewhere, Chronicles does not entirely depend on nar- ratives. Rather the story is carried through the genealogical connections. King David’s reign constitutes the second part of this book (1 Chr 10–29). Here, the Chronicler repeats much of the material in the books of Samuel and describes David’s plans for the temple and its personnel in much greater detail (1 Chr 22–29). Solomon’s reign (2 Chr 1–9) was a wonderful time for later Israel to remember and to emulate; it includes his building and dedi- cation of the temple and lacks the negative evaluation of him found in 1 Kings 11:10–22. 2 Chronicles 10–36 narrates the history of the kingdom of Judah, with special focus on the exemplary rule of kings Jehoshaphat, He- zekiah, and Josiah. Chronicles generally omits criticism of kings in the north- ern kingdom of Israel, so the Chronicler may be seen to favor a reunion of the northern and southern kingdoms. In short, we can say that the Chronicler rewrites the Pentateuch by way of genealogies, and the books of Joshua through 2 Kings by a new version of the history emphasizing David’s line. It is very helpful to keep a copy of the books of Samuel and Kings handy while reading this text, since Chronicles clearly uses these sources. The differences between them will catch our attention and suggest to us impor- tant emphases for the Chronicler. In particular, the Chronicler rewrites Kings with subtle and substantial differences (e.g., the story of Solomon, 2 Chr 1–9) and completely omits stories well known from Kings (e.g., the narratives about the prophets Elijah and Elisha, 1 Kgs 17–2 Kgs 9). The Chronicler almost ignores the kings of the North, whereas the author of Kings had evaluated them as consistently evil and guilty of idolatry. Along these lines, the Chronicler omits 2 Kings 17 and 18:9-12, a detailed examina- tion of Israel’s various offenses against God and how they fulfill God’s word through the prophets. This commentary will focus on some special themes and expressions in Chronicles that differ from the Deuteronomistic History. The Chronicler’s idiosyncrasies show a great interest in how Israel (i.e., Judah in postexilic times) should pray and worship, and ultimately what religious practices can help the divided sectors of Israel come together in unity. 6 TEXT AND COMMENTARY The Book of First Chronicles I. Genealogical Tables From Adam to Abraham. 1Adam, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras. 1 Seth, Enosh, 2Kenan, Mahalalel, 6The sons of Gomer were Ashkenaz, Jared, 3Enoch, Methuselah, Lamech, Riphath, and Togarmah. 7The sons of 4Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. 5The Javan were Elishah, Tarshish, the Kittim, sons of Japheth were Gomer, Magog, and the Rodanim. GENEALOGIES 1 Chronicles 1–9 Genealogies offer people a sense of their identity by linking them to their past, giving them a type of connection to those who gave birth to them and to their ancestors.