THE BOOK OF FIRST CHRONICLES 1 CHRONICLES 1 1:1— 9:44 I. THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD (IN BRIEF) (1 CHRONICLES 1:1—9:44) ►Overview The genealogical record in Chronicles is long, detailed, and somewhat confusing. It has led many people to ignore Chronicles entirely. The genealogies seem at many points even to be repeti- tive. Those brave enough to devote close attention to them have often found themselves frustrated with the constant intertwining of the lines that fed into ancient Israel. This frustration may cause such persons to wind up, like those who ignored Chronicles in the first place, no less knowledgeable but worse for wear, having been defeated by the difficult material confronting them in 1 Chr 1—9. 43 However, the difficulty readers may have with this material should not lead them to ignore it. Close attention, by contrast, to the details reveals some interesting results. At the end of the day, the genealogies of Chronicles are part of inspired Scripture. That they were included in Scripture, of course, makes a big difference for their interpretation. Even if that were not the case, however, the fact that a historian decided they were worth mentioning is sig- nificant, since they were, after all, a key part of the story. One may, then, recall what was said above about theological history in studying this section. Perhaps more famous to most readers among biblical genealogies are those included by Matthew and Luke. Both of these serve a particular pur- pose, namely to show how Jesus Christ fit within the stream of Jewish history. Matthew 1 goes back to Abraham, the father of the faith. From there, the first Gospel puts together a stylized account of fourteen generations between Abraham and the exile and between the exile and Jesus’ birth. Taking a different approach, Luke 3:23-38 tells the genealogical story in reverse order. Not concerned as much for style as Matthew apparently was, Luke’s “orderly” account is actually closer to that found in Chronicles. While not calling Adam “the son of God” as Luke does, the Chroniclers go all the way back to the beginning to show how this version of the history fits within 1 CHRONICLES 1 the overall story of God’s people. Aside from this theological interpretation, reading Chronicles as a his- 1:1— 9:44 torical document yields a different kind of importance for the genealogies. Inclusion of a genealogical record in a historical document is not surprising at all. By contrast, that the Deuteronomistic History does not have at least some kind of genealogy—beyond the patrimony of the various kings—makes it seem quite unusual among historical writings. The way in which the story is told gives particular insight into the standpoint of the historian. In this way, the genealogies of Genesis, with their descriptions of the very long life spans of the ancestors, appear quite different from those one finds in Chronicles. The genealogies are, perhaps, more interesting for what they leave out than what they include. The genealogies in 1 Chronicles may also reveal something significant about the way in which the Chroniclers wrote. This is particularly so with regard to the use of source material. James T. Sparks comments, “If it is de- termined that the Chronicler had before him a particular written document while he completed his work, then this may help determine the origin of some of the Chronicler’s material which, although not a direct quote, has certain affinities with other Biblical material” (2008, 294). In addition to this, the way in which the Chroniclers present the gene- alogies gives great insight into the historical methodology being employed. 44 Put very simply, the Chroniclers give what is most important for their own purposes, and this often leads them to present information somewhat out of order. Sometimes, the “most important” father is presented last, as is the case with the three sons of Noah (1:4). However, at other times the most impor- tant father is presented first, as in the sons of Hezron, Ram and Jerahmeel (2:9). In addition, a great many of the names one encounters in this genea- logical prologue serve as the progenitors of the inhabitants of cities, nations, and even large portions of the world. These eponymous ancestors whom the Chroniclers name thus stand in as fulfillments of the command to “be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it” (Gen 1:28; see 9:1). A. Adam to the Sons of Israel (1:1—2:2) BEHINDa THE TEXT The Chroniclers begin, as it were, at the beginning. The history goes all CHRONICLES 1 the way back to Adam, the first human. Doing so gives an insight into philol- ogy, the relationship between language and culture. The Hebrew word ʾadam means both the proper name “Adam” and “humanity.” This situates the story being told within the overarching story not just of Israel but also of humanity in general. As such, it yields an important insight for what the Chroniclers are trying to achieve. As has been repeatedly said, this is theological history, and in the genealogies the historical dimension is probably more in focus. Howev- 1:1—2:2 er, even if this is the case, the theological dimension is by no means excluded. Sparks notes, “The Genealogies contained in 1 Chr 1 have numerous parallels to those contained in the book of Genesis, with most of the genealo- gies contained in Genesis making an appearance in the Chronicler’s opening chapter” (2008, 296). As will be seen, the Chroniclers put these genealogies to a specific purpose, and the way in which 1 Chr 1 reports the genealogical record contributes significantly to that purpose. Sparks ultimately concludes, “It is evident that copying of the Genesis material by the Chronicler took place” (2008, 297). He demonstrates this conclusion through charts detail- ing the extensive amount of parallel passages between Genesis and 1 Chr 1, including some lengthy consecutive sequences of copying of exact words. Even with a few minor spelling differences, the copying is remarkable. Sparks’s ultimate conclusion is that “the Chronicler had the text of Gen- esis before him as he wrote, and he copied much of the data contained in 1 Chr 1 from it. Although at times the Chronicler slightly modified his source, he did not substantially change any of the content which he found within Gen- esis” (2008, 319). This conclusion appears essentially correct, with respect to the genealogies. However, Genesis also includes a great deal of narrative that 45 accompanies the genealogical record. The Chroniclers omit this for the most part. By presenting the genealogies the way they do, without the accompany- ing narratives, the Chroniclers give evidence of changing the source material in Genesis by way of summarizing a great deal of material. In the commentary that follows, when divergences are noted from the text of Genesis, for the most part attention is being paid to these summaries of the accompanying historical narratives. Brief mention may be made of spelling variations between the genealo- gies in 1 Chronicles and the source material in Genesis. There are far too many of these to make mention of each one in the course of the commentary, but a few basic items can be noted. The Hebrew letters dalet and resh, transliter- ated by the English d and r, look quite similar to one another. Often, a name appears spelled with a resh in Genesis and a dalet in Chronicles, or vice versa. In addition, the letters vav and yodh, transliterated as v and y, also look simi- lar. The only difference between them is that the vav is slightly longer. The commentary that follows assumes that these spelling differences do not in any respect indicate different persons. IN THE␹ TEXT 1 CHRONICLES 1 L 1 In v 1 one notices a difference from the history reported in Genesis. Fol- 1:1 lowing the stories of the first family, including all of the events in the garden of Eden and the first murder, Gen 5:1-32 gives the genealogical record from Adam to Noah, with additional details of the ages at which the fathers had the sons. In a way, Gen 5 tells Adam’s story again, but without many of the details. Chronicles, by contrast, does not include any stories of Adam and his descendants, mentioning only their successive names until the founding of the monarchy under Saul (ch 9). Also left out is the story of the first murder. Thus the story of the first two sins—the eating of the fruit by the parents and the killing of the son by his brother—are not included. On the one hand, one might expect the line to continue through Seth—Abel being killed and Cain having moved to “the land of Nod” (Gen 4:16). This is in line with the genealogy given in Gen 5. On the other hand, leaving out the reason why it was the third son and not either of the other two is interesting. As an aside, Seth’s name is spelled in Hebrew Sheth. Such a change happens frequently when Hebrew names are translated to English, most notably with Solomon (Heb. šelomoh) later on in the narra- tive. The change is most likely due to Greek (the language of the Septuagint) not having a letter representing a sh sound. The Greek OT most often uses a simple s in such cases. 46 The reader should also notice in this verse the names of both Adam and his grandson Enosh are words for “human.” Whereas Adam’s name is also the common Hebrew word for humanity, Enosh’s name is the common Aramaic word for humanity.