TromboneChat

2 Kings 10 text
2 Kings 11 text
2 Kings 12 text

Highlights

 - Jehu's reign in Israel
 - Athaliah and Joash's reigns in Judah

Summary

Ch. 10
 - Jehu has Ahab's 70 sons put to death, and puts to death the rest of Ahab's family, fulfilling Elijah's prophecy.
 - He then meets relatives of Ahaziah of Judah on their way to visit their relatives, Ahab's family. He has them killed too.
 - He then kills all supporters of Ahab and kills the priests of Ba'al by trickery.
 - Jehu though worshipped incorrectly, and Israel suffered losses of land at this time.
 - He reigned 28 years, was succeeded by his son Jehoahaz, and is further documented in Chronicles.
Ch. 11
 - When Ahaziah of Judah died after his short reign, his mother Athaliah killed the rest of his family and assumed the throne for herself. However, Ahaziah's infant son Joash was rescued by his cousin Jehosheba, Jehoram's daughter.
 - After 6 years, Joash (at age 7) was used by the priest Jehoiada to front a coup against his grandmother, who was killed, along with her supporters.
Ch. 12
 - Joash reigned 40 years.
 - He had the temple repaired, but had to struggle with Jehoiada and his priests to get them to spend the money on this rather than them keeping it for themselves.
 - Hazael of Syria campaigned successfully against Gath, but when he threatened Jerusalem Joash paid him off and he went away.
 - Joash was assassinated by his servants, but succeeded by his son Amaziah.

Questions and Observations

1) So I jumped three chapters ahead getting the chronology straight there - that's why I've covered them all here.
2) 70 sons we've heard before. Like 40 years, this also seems to be Bible for "a large number which we don't happen to recall at this precise moment".
3) Like Solomon, Jehu establishes himself as a strong king by indiscriminately slaughtering those with problematic ties.
4) It doesn't explicitly say that Israel's land losses were due to Jehu's bad faith, but it implies that that's what the author thought by placing the two things together in the text.
5) "the people continued to sacrifice and make offerings on the high places" under Joash - this I think is a reference to non-Yahweh worship? Is that right?
6) Gath was a Philistine city at this point, right?

Quote from: MoominDave on Jul 09, 2016, 03:57AM - It's quite striking to me that Elisha essentially commands Yahweh in this part of the narrative. Elisha asks for something, and it is done, to the letter. Yahweh has not been nearly so biddable before.

I don't really see the text portraying Elijah commanding God, rather God tells Elijah to do something and Elijah calls on God to help out or do his part in the action according to what God has said - so God's command is the root cause rather than Elijah's command. 

eg in 1 Kings 17 God tells Elijah to go to the widow to get fed.  E does and tells the widow that the The Lord has said that her flour and oil wouldn't run out.  We weren't told about this before but its clear that God is deciding what will happen and not Elijah

and in ch 18 with the contest against the prophets of Baal, it seems that the contest is all Elijah's idea but in v36 we read that its all done at God's word.

Quote - Jehoram of Judah was married to Ahab of Israel's daughter. While the narrative tends to present the two kingdoms in a good-vs-bad light, this detail and the described combined military campaigning suggests that things were not politically so simple.

and theologically too

QuoteIt seems a very strange coincidence that two characters called Ahaziah and Jehoram reigned with identical reign lengths to two characters of identical name reigning in the neighbouring kingdom at the same time, albeit the opposite way around. This shouts narrative confusion to me, which is a bit of a shame, because I've been liking feeling that I can rely on the historical stuff a bit more.
It does seem a coincidence, but if I was making up a story out of different sources I'd avoid those sort of coincidences unless they were what happened.

2 Kings 13 text


Highlights -

 - More bad kings.
 - Elisha devises a cunning plan to defeat the Assyrians.

Summary

 - In the 23rd year of Joash king of Judah, Jehoahaz began to reign in Israel.
 - He was a bad king and the Lord continually let the kings of Syria beat them.
 - Eventually he repented, so the Lord gave them a saviour to deliver them from the hands of the Syrians.
 - the people of Israel didn't repent though.
 - Jehoahaz died and his son Joash ruled.
 - In the 37th year of Joash the king of Judah's rule, Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz began to reign over Israel 
 - He was a bad king too.  He fought against Amaziah the king of Judah.
 - When Elisha is about to die, Jehoash (still alive at this point too) comes to see him.
 - He salutes Elisha saying the same words Elisha said when he saw Elijah ascending to heaven. "The chariots of Israel and its horsemen!"
 - Elisha tells Jehoash to take a bow and arrow. Elisha places his hands on Jehoash's as he draws the bow and Jehoash fires the bow out the window.
 - Elisha says it's an arrow of victory over Aram. They will defeat that Aramean army at Aphek.
 - Elisha tells Jehoash to strike the ground with the arrows.
 - Jehoash strikes three times and stops, but Elisha gets mad at him.
 - He says Jehoash should've struck the ground five or six times. Now, he'll only strike the Arameans down three times.
 - Elisha dies. When they're putting him in his grave, raiding Moabites come by and the corpse of another man falls into Elisha's grave with him. Miraculously, this other dead man springs back to life.
 - God has mercy on Israel. Remembering his covenant with their ancestors, he helps them defeat Aram.
 - Jehoash takes cities that the Arameans had originally captured, defeating the King of Aram: Ben-Hadad - just like Elisha said.

Questions and Observations

1) I wonder if we find out who the Saviour was.  Maybe we'll find out in Chronicles.
2) The footnote says that Joash is an alternate spelling of Jehoash, so they are the same person. It seems like the writer calls him Joash except in the paragraph where he is also talking about Joash the king of Judah.
3) The bow and arrows are supposed to be the ones mentioned in the poem "And did those feet in ancient time", which Herbert Parry set to music and is nowadays known as "Jerusalem".  This was played at the London Olympics with a starring performance by Rowan Atkinson.  Hence we can see what a cunning plan Elisha had.

Martin, you use the two words "Aramaeans" and "Assyrians" when the text says "Syrians". Is that deliberate? I must admit that I have a certain amount of confusion regarding these labels.

Quote from: drizabone on Jul 10, 2016, 11:25PM2 Kings 13 text

1) I wonder if we find out who the Saviour was.  Maybe we'll find out in Chronicles.
One does get the feeling that the whole of Samuel and Kings are basically acting as spoilers for a fuller version of the story that we'll be told in a moment...

Quote from: drizabone on Jul 10, 2016, 11:25PM2) The footnote says that Joash is an alternate spelling of Jehoash, so they are the same person. It seems like the writer calls him Joash except in the paragraph where he is also talking about Joash the king of Judah.
The formats of these names seem quite flexible. If there's a passing expert in ancient Hebrew diminutive practices, I'd be very interested to have it all explained to me.

Quote from: drizabone on Jul 10, 2016, 11:25PM3) The bow and arrows are supposed to be the ones mentioned in the poem "And did those feet in ancient time", which Herbert Parry set to music and is nowadays known as "Jerusalem".  This was played at the London Olympics with a starring performance by Rowan Atkinson.  Hence we can see what a cunning plan Elisha had.

Oddly enough, I played it with an orchestra last night. I will pass a vote of thanks to Elisha for the exceptionally fruity opening two bass trombone notes.

Quote from: drizabone on Jul 10, 2016, 12:41AMIt does seem a coincidence, but if I was making up a story out of different sources I'd avoid those sort of coincidences unless they were what happened.

I think it's likely that the compiler(s) of this stuff would have been presented with a very confusing situation documentation-wise. Imagine if there was no internet, no newspapers, no libraries, most people weren't literate, history as a discipline basically didn't exist in any modern sense. People would remember things in their heads, passing them on. Now imagine that you were trying to reconstruct today the actions of Captain Cook in that environment... Which as a comparison chronologically compares to the current point, but then consider that your mission also includes the entire reconstruction of British history prior to Cook too... Although the making of information into more memorable poetic recitations and songs was a standard tactic to help preserve it, as we see in those quoted here and in other old traditions, human memory is fallible and the transmission likely to fade and become distorted, particularly in the period between the events and the memorable version being made.

All it needs here is for there to be Israelite and Judahite versions of the history that managed over time to get different ends of the stick on this short, relatively unimportant, and quite confused period of their heritage. Perhaps Jehoram and Ahaziah ruled over the whole area (or at least claimed to - as we've seen, such claims tended to amount to as much as could be made to stick), but the Israelite and Judahite memory-keepers each claimed the kings as specifically their own some years later when the time to commit events to memory came around...

Chronology (based on Shoshenq's Canaan campaign being in 925 BC and that being the 5th year of Rehoboam's reign):

2 Kings 14 text

Highlights

 - Amaziah reigns in Judah
 - Jehoash and Jeroboam II reign in Israel

Summary

 - Amaziah comes to the throne of Judah at age 25. He is commended, but also reproved for allowing religious freedom.
 - Amaziah wins military victory over Edom, and challenges Jehoash of Israel. Jehoash warns him that he will be crushed and suggests not doing so. Amaziah insists.
 - Israel duly militarily crushes Judah, sacking Jerusalem and capturing Amaziah. See Chronicles for more.
 - Despite this, Amaziah remained king of Judah for another 15 years, until a rebellion saw him put to death and replaced by his son Azariah.
 - Another Jeroboam came to the throne of Israel, reigning for a long time (41 years), and recording stability and military expansion against traditional enemies such as Syria. But the text doesn't like him, recording theological sins to him.
 
Questions and Observations

1) I notice that sometimes Chronicles is referenced as "The Book of Chronicles of the Kings of Israel", and sometimes "The Book of Chronicles of the Kings of Judah". Is this how 1 and 2 Chronicles split?
2) The bias of the text is more obvious than usual here - Amaziah seems to have been a weak, vain, and basically bad king, but is complimented. Jeroboam II seems to have been a strong king that produced good outcomes for his country without having any of the usual negative abuse-of-power type points recorded, but is knocked. Perhaps Chronicles will inform us more.

2 Kings 15 text

Highlights

 - Judah: Reigns of Azariah, Jotham
 - Israel: Reigns of Zechariah, Shallum, Menahem, Pekahiah, Pekah

Summary

 - Azariah reigned many years in Judah (52), but did not abolish the "high places". In consequence divinely made a leper, and lived in isolation. His son Jotham governed for him.
 - Zechariah reigned in Israel for 6 months, but was murdered by a plotter, Shallum.
 - Shallum took the throne, but was murdered by a plotter after 1 month, Menahem.
 - Menahem took the throne, and reigned 10 years, paying Pul, king of Assyria (who is none other than Tiglath-Pileser, mentioned below) to support him.
 - Menahem's son Pekahiah took the throne, reigned 2 years before being killed by Pekah.
 - Pekah reigned 20 years but was killed by Hoshea, who replaced him, losing much land to the Assyrian king Tiglath-Pileser.
 - Jotham reigned 16 years in Judah after Azariah's long reign, fighting campaigns against Syria and Israel.
 
Questions and Observations

1) Israel is undergoing some strife here, not least at the hands of...
2) Tiglath-Pileser is another character that we can confirm independently of the Hebrew record: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiglath-Pileser_III. Perhaps worth noting that the Wiki article calls Hoshea a "puppet-king" installed by him in place of Pekah.
3) Basically, Israel comes under the subjugation of Assyria in this chapter, a fact that is rather skated over, but is of immense significance regarding what's to come, where (spoilers) both Israel and Judah end up thoroughly under the heel of military powers from the East. We note also that there is an inscription (see Wiki link above) recording a military victory of Tiglath-Pileser/Pul over Azariah/Uzziah. These regional powers are coming to the notice of a bigger power...

2 Kings 16 text

Highlights

 - Reign of King Ahaz of Judah

Summary

 - Ahaz succeeds Jotham in Judah. He is noted to have returned to other forms of religious worship - offerings on the high places, and some kind of fire ritual for his son.
 - Syria and Israel attack Judah. Ahaz sends to Assyria for help, offering payment and servitude. Tiglath-Pileser of Assyria accepts this bargain and attacks the Syrians, taking Damascus and killing their king, Rezin.
 - Ahaz met Tiglath-Pileser in Damascus and ordered that an altar that he saw there should be duplicated and the duplicate used to replace the bronze temple altar, which he reserved for his personal use.
 - He further reconstructed his temple in accordance with Assyrian ideas.
 - Then later on died, succeeded by his son Hezekiah.
 
Questions and Observations

1) A random thought that jumped into my head just now... The Devil is an important figure in modern Christianities of various flavours. He's been largely notable by his absence thus far, which strikes me as interesting. It is suggested that the concept was adopted via contact with Babylonian ideas in the Second Temple Period.
2) In this time of political stress, Ahaz offered in other religious traditions. Perhaps he felt he could use all the help he could get.
3) And now Judah too is bound to Assyria.
4) One would not bet on Yahweh-worship winning out in any meaningful sense if one were living at this point in time.

Chronology

 - 2 Kings 16:1-2 - "In the seventeenth year of Pekah the son of Remaliah, Ahaz the son of Jotham, king of Judah, began to reign. 2 Ahaz was twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem."
 - 2 Kings 16:20 - "And Ahaz slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David, and Hezekiah his son reigned in his place."

Chronology (based on Shoshenq's Canaan campaign being in 925 BC and that being the 5th year of Rehoboam's reign):

Quote from: MoominDave on Jul 12, 2016, 08:34AM1) A random thought that jumped into my head just now... The Devil is an important figure in modern Christianities of various flavours. He's been largely notable by his absence thus far, which strikes me as interesting. It is suggested that the concept was adopted via contact with Babylonian ideas in the Second Temple Period.

There is a book that describes a shift in the vision of Satan early in the colonization of the New World, as the Puritans and other religious extremists needed an enemy. 

I thought it was the Elaine Pagels book (Origin of Satan) but that appears not to be the case. 

At this point I need to run for cover because the mere mention of Pagels or Ehrman generally brings out a rant from John the Theologian. 

2 Kings 17 text

Highlights

 - The fall of Israel and Assyrian exile

Summary

 - Hoshea reigns in Israel, paying tribute to Assyria.
 - But he attempts to switch to a different protection racket, withholding Assyrian payment and courting Egypt.
 - Assyria takes a dim view of this, invades, captures Hoshea, and besieges Samaria, which falls after 3 years.
 - This done, Assyria deports many Israelites to their heartlands.
 - This was all because of failure to adhere to Yahweh-worship properly. All the Israelite tribes are removed except for Judah, who are also condemned, but held less culpable.
 - The point is made that those deported never returned, up to the date of writing.
 - Assyria resettles Samaria with its own citizens.
 - Assyria undertakes to help those citizens religiously integrate with the remaining citizenry by returning a priest of Yahweh. But they maintain to the time of writing their practices, adding the local practices in.
 
Questions and Observations

1) "So, king of Egypt" is a character not easily identified from the Egyptian record. Could be one of several pharoahs that existed simultaneously at this time.
2) On the other hand, Shalmaneser is readily identified from the Assyrian record.
3) The Wiki page on Hoshea suggests that this attempted switch coincided with the succession of Shalmaneser after the death of Tiglath-Pileser, conventionally dated to 727 BC. Israel and Judah had both been rendering Assyria tribute for a while by then, and Hoshea may have sensed an opportunity to either improve his support or pay less.
4) The text does not equivocate - it puts the blame for this squarely on religious backsliding. I'm fairly sure we heard some promises during the Exodus period that fit this narrative quite well, but Googling isn't bringing them to hand right now.
5) The Samaritans seem to have emerged (based around Samaria) as an ethnic grouping following these events. Which helps make the enmity between Jew and Samaritan shown in the later Good Samaritan story make more sense.

Quote from: MoominDave on Jul 12, 2016, 08:34AMI've skipped ahead a couple of chapters to get date info for Hoshea and Hezekiah, at which point a big event occurs in their history, the Assyrian captivity. I note that somewhere along the line we've managed to gain 28 years over the accepted datings despite following the numbers carefully. Perhaps some co-regencies have been overlooked. Perhaps some numbers are just wrong - there have been a number of contradictions that we've resolved more or less satisfactorily. I'll compare each king to the general dating consensus, but not right now.

Just comparing dates with Wikipedia (which follows this scheme), I see that the year numbers I've derived are basically in agreement up to Amaziah, but that following him every monarch in Judah we've seen so far had a co-regency before being sole monarch, which compresses year numbers. I'll update them to match this next time I update the chronology.

Quote from: MoominDave on Jul 11, 2016, 04:15AM2 Kings 14 text

...
Questions and Observations

1) I notice that sometimes Chronicles is referenced as "The Book of Chronicles of the Kings of Israel", and sometimes "The Book of Chronicles of the Kings of Judah". Is this how 1 and 2 Chronicles split?

I don't know.

Quote2) The bias of the text is more obvious than usual here - Amaziah seems to have been a weak, vain, and basically bad king, but is complimented. Jeroboam II seems to have been a strong king that produced good outcomes for his country without having any of the usual negative abuse-of-power type points recorded, but is knocked. Perhaps Chronicles will inform us more.

Just observing that you think that assessment of a king from a theological point of view is a 'bias' that might be corrected, while it seems as though you consider your assessment according to good outcomes and abuse-of-power is not biased.  Interesting.

Quote from: MoominDave on Jul 12, 2016, 08:34AM2 Kings 16 text

...

Questions and Observations

1) A random thought that jumped into my head just now... The Devil is an important figure in modern Christianities of various flavours. He's been largely notable by his absence thus far, which strikes me as interesting. It is suggested that the concept was adopted via contact with Babylonian ideas in the Second Temple Period.

He actually doesn't appear very often in the bible, and even then is often in disguise.  Wikipedia mentions 13 references to "Satan" (which means adversary) in the OT, but some of them just mean an adversary, rather than The Adversary Satan.  There are other references that are descriptive but seem to be to Satan, but not many.

Some strands of Christianity emphasise Satan/devil more than this, I would say more than the bible does. 

So he's a feature of Christianity, and has a critical role to play, but most strands of

Quote2) In this time of political stress, Ahaz offered in other religious traditions. Perhaps he felt he could use all the help he could get.

the trombone equivalent is: I can't play as well as I want.  I need a new mouthpiece.

Quote3) And now Judah too is bound to Assyria.
4) One would not bet on Yahweh-worship winning out in any meaningful sense if one were living at this point in time.

Yahweh has got a pretty good record.  Egypt, Canaan, Philistines, Baal, Asherah.  But yeah the worshippers are the weak point.

Quote from: MoominDave on Jul 12, 2016, 10:49AM2 Kings 17 text

...

4) The text does not equivocate - it puts the blame for this squarely on religious backsliding. I'm fairly sure we heard some promises during the Exodus period that fit this narrative quite well, but Googling isn't bringing them to hand right now.
Pretty well anywhere that talks about the covenant between God and Israel, but towards the end of Deuteronomy 30:16 ... before they entered the land, covers it pretty well

Quote from: drizabone on Jul 13, 2016, 06:56PMI don't know.
Checking it out, I think we've been operating under a misapprehension which is probably my fault. The books we have as "Chronicles" are not considered to be the same as either the Judahite or Israelite king chronicle books that we've been repeatedly (as the quasi-mythical 'interested reader') been directed to for further details. These books are apparently lost, sadly. I guess what we're reading here is about as full an account as we're going to get?

Quote from: drizabone on Jul 13, 2016, 06:56PMJust observing that you think that assessment of a king from a theological point of view is a 'bias' that might be corrected, while it seems as though you consider your assessment according to good outcomes and abuse-of-power is not biased.  Interesting.
Well... I guess this is a POV thing. As I don't buy into the religion thing, the assessments of how a given long-dead-at-the-time-of-writing-and-known-only-to-the-writers-through-these-and-similar-works king performed against the theological criteria of their later age are interesting to me only in terms of how that strand of religious thought came to win out at the time of writing against what had been current in earlier times. To my mind it just doesn't signify very much to say "so-and-so still permitted worship in the high places, naughty man". In fact this sentence indicates a certain religious tolerance within their earlier society which is heartening to read of.
But the shape of history is the ascents and descents of worldly power, of the waxing and waning of each political entity against those around it. The point I was making was that Jeroboam II seemed (from the brief amount of text we're given) to be doing a good job in these terms - making his land secure and expanding its borders - which contrasts mightily with the capitulation to the Assyrians by his successors. Whereas Amaziah seemed not to be, so much so that his own subjects replaced him with his son and eventually killed him.

But still Amaziah is the king coming out of the chapter with the seal of approval from the writers - my point is that for the writers, reported matching of their religious inclinations trumps all in how favourable a write-up a given character got. It's an overwhelmingly strong effect to my eyes - is it less visible if you buy into the religion?

Quote from: drizabone on Jul 13, 2016, 06:56PMHe actually doesn't appear very often in the bible, and even then is often in disguise.  Wikipedia mentions 13 references to "Satan" (which means adversary) in the OT, but some of them just mean an adversary, rather than The Adversary Satan.  There are other references that are descriptive but seem to be to Satan, but not many.

Some strands of Christianity emphasise Satan/devil more than this, I would say more than the bible does. 

So he's a feature of Christianity, and has a critical role to play, but most strands of
Missing the end of your thought here...

Quote from: drizabone on Jul 13, 2016, 06:56PMthe trombone equivalent is: I can't play as well as I want.  I need a new mouthpiece.
Haha, yes, indeed. I have about 60 at home... But mostly only ever use one. I should sell some of those [s]theologies[/s]mouthpieces.

Quote from: drizabone on Jul 13, 2016, 06:56PMYahweh has got a pretty good record.  Egypt, Canaan, Philistines, Baal, Asherah.  But yeah the worshippers are the weak point.
So again this is the same POV gap. To me, Yahweh is an idea in the mind - essentially the sum total of Yahweh is the sum total of his presence in the minds of believers. So when people are not keen on him, he starts to drift. Of course if you think that there is an actual entity Yahweh and that he's been directing matters as described, then things will look different.

On a tangent, Terry Pratchett's book Small Gods (which is a fine read unlikely to offend a good Christian) deals with these fluctuations of worshipping popularity in a fictional setting - the Discworld gods are real and their powers in proportion to the amount of belief they genuinely have placed in them. At the outset of the story, the god Om is weak almost to death, as despite the large institutions raised and participated in in his name, very few truly believe. Well worth a read - as is standard with Pratchett, big questions are treated seriously in a deceptively fun and light-hearted manner.

re my incomplete ramble about Satan: I think I was going to say something like that at least IMHO he's more of a background character, not having a personal influence so much as representing evil.  But that's not something that I've actually been concerned to think through deeply to come to any solid conclusions.  As far as I'm concerned, my choices are my responsibility and I can't blame my bad choices, or personal  or natural evil on him.

I understand how you see what's going on and assess it and how POV does make the difference.  I just thought I'd mention how you were privileging yours.  And I know I do it too, so I wasn't judging you.

I like Terry Pratchett too and have noticed his hypothesis that a gods power is dependent on the number of believers they have.  David Eddings among others have the same approach.  Actually Eddings is very cheeky in having one of his gods appear as a cute young girl that likes to sit on peoples laps and get cuddles.  She liked most of all to do this to priests of the God who thought that he was the only God.  I guess this was written prior to the paedophile problems became as apparent or maybe I just missed that part of the satire.

But God aka The Lord isn't presented as being dependent on us, its we that are dependent on him for our existence.

Quote from: drizabone on Jul 14, 2016, 04:20AMre my incomplete ramble about Satan: I think I was going to say something like that at least IMHO he's more of a background character, not having a personal influence so much as representing evil. 
I did read one book that says the concept of Satan changed during the early days of the 13 colonies, when he became an enemy to unite the faithful against. 

The OT certainly does not represent him as an evil character, but just a foil to discuss different points of view (when present at all.)  The "snake" in the Garden of Evil is not Satan. 

The popular image of Satan as leading a rebellion of angels and getting kicked out of heaven is not in the Bible proper but in the book of Enoch, which did not make it into the canon. 

2 Kings 18 text
2 Kings 19 text
2 Kings 20 text

Highlights

 - Reign of Hezekiah in Judah

Summary

Ch. 18
 - Hezekiah reigned 29 years, and he suppressed various forms of non-approved worship.
 - He fought the Philistines successfully and also rebelled against Assyria.
 - The fall of Hoshea and Israel to Assyria is recounted again.
 - Later, the new Assyrian king Sennacherib attacked Judah, taking many cities. Hezekiah submitted, offering tribute. Assyrian envoys met his envoys in Jerusalem, and mocked them, calling them weak in comparison to Assyria and foolish to attempt to place trust in Egypt instead.
Ch. 19
 - Hezekiah is disheartened by this, but the prophet Isaiah reassures him.
 - Sennacherib's envoys returned to him, to find him militarily engaged. But he finds the time to send Hezekiah a disparaging message, the content of which Hezekiah forwards on to Yahweh.
 - Isaiah sends Hezekiah a message, purportedly from Yahweh, promising that Jerusalem will not fall.
 - Many in the Assyrian camp die, and Sennacherib goes home.
 - He comes to a bad end, murdered by his sons.
Ch. 20
 - Hezekiah became very ill, and Isaiah told him that he would die.
 - But then Yahweh told him differently, and offered a miracle in support, moving a shadow the wrong way.
 - The son of the king of Babylon arrived as an envoy with gifts, and Hezekiah showed him all his finest things.
 - Isaiah foretold that in the time of Hezekiah's children Babylon would overturn Judah and take its wealth and people away. But Hezekiah didn't mind, feeling that it would be after his time, so nothing to worry about for him personally.
 
Questions and Observations

1) Moses's bronze serpent is interesting, and something I'd forgotten. It seemingly direct violates the second commandment.
2) Sennacherib is another Assyrian king well attested outside the Biblical record. A feature of his reign was apparently poor relations with the vassal state of Babylon, which he ended up alienating so badly that in time it destroyed the Assyrian state.
3) We'll have a lot more to say about the prophet Isaiah in time.
4) It's not hard to find examples of military camps being pits of disease. Many more than one campaign has been turned by an outbreak.
5) The Wiki entry on Sennacherib records that the manner of his death is independently corroborated in a couple of other places, but the reasons for it are not made clear. Note that this was decades after (681 BC) his Judah campaign (~702 BC).

Chronology

 - 2 Kings 18:1-2 - In the third year of Hoshea son of Elah, king of Israel, Hezekiah the son of Ahaz, king of Judah, began to reign. He was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem.
 - 2 Kings 20:21 - And Hezekiah slept with his fathers, and Manasseh his son reigned in his place.

Chronology updated to use dates from Wikipedia (which follow Thiele/McFall). Note the various new coregencies which make the quoted reign lengths sometimes look wrong.

2 Kings 21 text

Highlights

 - Reigns of Manasseh and Amon in Judah

Summary

 - Hezekiah succeeded by his son Manasseh, who reigned for over half a century
 - Manasseh promoted religious pluralism, for which he was roundly denounced by Yahweh's prophets, foretelling doom for Jerusalem and his house
 - Manasseh succeeded by his son Amon, who reigned for only two years before being murdered by his servants
 - Amon succeeded by his son Josiah
 
Questions and Observations

1) Manasseh's 55-year reign is the longest recorded in these books. The chronology has him beginning those years with a decade of coregency with his father Hezekiah.
2) Manasseh was listed in Assyrian records as a loyal vassal of Esarhaddon, Sennacherib's son and successor, and also of Esarhaddon's son and successor, Ashurbanipal, rendering tribute regularly, and offering military assistance. The archaeological record apparently suggests his reign as a period of stability and growth, and his Wiki page offers some intriguing thoughts on trading relations with the Assyrians and the growth of influence of 'countryside centres' that serviced them, suggesting that the restoration of the 'high places' could have been a sop to their new influence.
3) But by the time Manasseh died and Amon briefly reigned, the shape of local influence was changing. Assyria was rapidly failing, with onslaughts from tribes to the East and multiple civil wars. Egypt was rising out of Assyrian vassalhood to reclaim some of its former power, but was as yet early on in this process. A certain loosening of oversight by these larger powers resulted in a period where smaller powers such as Judah could breathe more freely.

Chronology

 - 2 Kings 21:1 - Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem.
 - 2 Kings 21:19 - Amon was twenty-two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned two years in Jerusalem.

Chronology updated to use dates from Wikipedia (which follow Thiele/McFall). Note the various coregencies which make the quoted reign lengths sometimes look wrong.

2 Kings 22 text
2 Kings 23 text

Highlights

 - Reign of Josiah in Judah and attendant rise of Yahweh-worship
 - Reigns of Jehoahaz and Jehoiakim

Summary

Ch. 22
 - Amon's son Josiah comes to the throne of Judah. He is praised for his devotion to Yahweh-worship.
 - In his 18th year (622 BC?) he ordered the temple to undergo extensive repair work.
 - The high priest Hilkiah made an important find while the works were underway - the "Book of the Law", which is usually taken to be Deuteronomy.
 - In result, Josiah compares the actions of his country to the prescribed actions and, worried, finds them very wanting. Yahweh sees this and undertakes not to make him personally see the full indignity that is coming.
Ch. 23
 - Josiah reads the words of the Book of the Law to his people, and they all undertake a revival of the historical covenant contained therein.
 - He undertakes a religious purge of Judah and Samaria, driving out and destroying the local worships of Baal (which may have specifically meant Hadad), Asherah, Moloch, Ashtoreth, and the Sun, including the often-mentioned but rarely-considered "male cult prostitutes". Their sacred places were systematically defiled and destroyed by him.
 - Josiah restored the Passover, long unobserved.
 - But still Yahweh wasn't satisfied, declaring that he would wipe Judah away.
 - Refer to the lost Chronicles of the Kings of Judah for more Josiah details.
 - Years later (609 BC), the Egyptian pharoah Necho II travelled to meet the Assyrians with his army. Josiah and the Judahites stood in his way, opposing him, and Necho defeated them, killing Josiah.
 - Josiah was succeeded by his son Jehoahaz, but Necho did not approve, replacing him after 3 months by his brother Eliakim, renamed Jehoiakim, and keeping Jehoahaz in Egypt for the rest of the life.

Questions and Observations

1) I finally got around to Googling the answer to a question that's been popping up in my mind regularly: What does the 'iah' suffix on these names mean? It turns up a lot - Josiah, Hilkiah, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Amaziah, Uzziah, Hezekiah, Obadiah, etc. I see that it is the same as 'Yahweh'. So these names work in the same fashion just as names such as Israel, Daniel, Ezekiel, Michael, Gabriel, etc. that reference the (older) 'El' name, or Ishbaal (or indeed Hannibal!), referencing Baal, or indeed Ashurbanipal or Esarhaddon referencing the Assyrian deity Asher that we are warned against so often in this narrative.
2) The top-deity nature of Asher to the Assyrians combined with the disaster that the Assyrians inflicted on the writers of this material I suspect shows us clearly quite why Asher came to be so hated by this group of people that in earlier times rated her so highly that she challenged Yahweh for popularity - even treated as Yahweh's consort.
3) The end of Josiah's reign is fixed by external chronology at July-August 609 BC, the date that Egyptian records note that Necho defeated him at Megiddo. This is the third of three points that I've noticed where this whole narrative of Judahite and Israelite kings can be clearly tied to the existing chronology - Shoshenq's Canaan campaign in 925 BC, the fall of Samaria in ~723 BC, and now this. These reference points make it possible to construct a coherent historical framework for the stories. Did I miss any good reference points?
4) The provenance and identity of the "Book of the Law" found by Hilkiah is a point of major interest. It seems to be felt that this marked a major spur for the state-sanctioned worship of Yahweh, and a strong hypothesis is that it was written at that time along with the following books up to the end of this present book as a coherent history. With Deuteronomy presented as the work of Moses, great validity was lent to it. I find this an appealing hypothesis, and it does offer an explanation for why Deuteronomy was simply a recap of what had gone before, which is a strange circumstance if one considers the first five books of the Bible as a unit. To consider Genesis-Numbers as one sequence, Deuteronomy-2 Kings as another, then 1 Chronicles as the start of a third makes some sense, and the recap nature of Chronicles can be considered akin to the recap nature of Deuteronomy. I note that modern consensus on dates of compilation place both Torah and Deuteronomistic History books during the Assyrian exile - a very natural moment for a group of people to sit down and take stock of their histories.
5) The "male cult prostitutes" also represent an ongoing question mark in my mind. They've persisted for a long time in this overarching historical narrative without attracting much comment beyond their existence. Some musings on them and the general existence of sacred prostitution in the ancient Middle East here. The term used to mean this here is subject to some debate, but there seems to be no plausible denial that it means what it is given as here. It is very intriguing to realise that the ancient Hebrews had religio-sanctified homosexual activity for centuries, though it wasn't Yahweh-approved, which always seems to be rather the point when it is mentioned. This wasn't a society that found male-male relations 100% revolting, despite attempts to paint it so by some.
6) Yahweh's timing is very curious. He's stood aside while generations of kings have disobeyed and forgotten his rules, but now Josiah is seized with evangelic zeal and intolerance of all other forms of worship, putting things into his desired order for the first time in centuries according to the text - that is the time that he chooses to declare that his foundation is to be destroyed. If I were Josiah, I would be dissatisfied with this turn of events.
7) Having read ahead the other day to get a feel for what's coming, I noticed that the assertion that Josiah's restoration of the Passover as having not been kept "since the days of the judges" is contradicted by 2 Chronicles 30, where Josiah's great-grandfather Hezekiah is described as celebrating it in a large event in Jerusalem. Two different sources, two different recollections of history. It is quite easy to imagine that the Deuteronomist might not have been aware of Hezekiah's event, but that the later Chronicler had other sources to hand that described it.
8) Necho was travelling to support Assyria, not oppose it, as I had imagined from reading this passage. The Wiki article on Necho states that Josiah was siding with the Babylonians, who were in revolt against Assyria, hence his opposition to Necho.

Chronology

 - 2 Kings 22:1 - Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem.
 - 2 Kings 23:31 - Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem.
 - 2 Kings 23:36 - Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem.

Chronology updated to use dates from Wikipedia (which follow Thiele/McFall). Note the various coregencies which make the quoted reign lengths sometimes look wrong.

2 Kings 24 text
2 Kings 25 text

Highlights

 - Reigns of Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, Zedekiah
 - Fall of Judah and Babylonian exile

Summary

Ch. 24
 - Jehoiakim switched allegiance from Necho to Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, but only for 3 years.
 - This displeased Nebuchadnezzar, who bloodily reclaimed the land, killing Jehoiakim.
 - Jehoiakim's son Jehoiachin succeeded, but was soon replaced by his uncle Zedekiah (formerly known as Mattaniah) at the hand of the Babylonians.
 - Zedekiah rebelled against the Babylonians. Whoops...
Ch. 25
 - The Babylonians were even more displeased than they were before. They besieged Jerusalem for 2 years, causing famine.
 - Zedekiah and his warriors escaped by night, but they were caught. Zedekiah's sons were executed, and he was blinded and taken to Babylon in chains.
 - The Babylonians sacked Jerusalem thoroughly, destroying all buildings of value including the temple and the palace, taking away all valuables such as those described created by Solomon.
 - They gathered together leaders and had them executed. The rest of the city was deported to Babylon, leaving only the poorest to tend the land.
 - Gedaliah was appointed by Nebuchadnezzar to administer their new province of Judah. He acted pragmatically, encouraging peaceful co-operation with their Babylonian overlords, but was assassinated by Ishmael.
 - Jehoiachin came out of matters pretty well in the end - released from captivity after 37 years, he was granted a pension by then king of Babylon and taken into his confidence.

Questions and Observations

1) Outside sources supply some context to Jehoiakim's actions. On his Wiki page, it talks about how the defeat of Necho at Carchemish on the Euphrates in 605 BC by the Babylonians under Nebuchadnezzar led to the initial switch of allegiance - which must have seemed quite sensible and natural, given his father Josiah's defeat in the same cause. It then talks about how a Babylonian campaign to Egypt in 601 BC was utterly defeated, prompting the switch back.
2) We have seen a similar story unfolding for Judah here as earlier unfolded for Israel - a smaller nation gradually being crushed between more powerful neighbours.
3) Jehoiachin would have been 55 by the time of his release in Babylon. A very different person to the 18-year-old who was imprisoned.
4) But matters look very bleak for Judah. Left without any guiding hand and a region in chaos, the next years will be very difficult ones.

Chronology

 - 2 Kings 24:8 - Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he became king, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem.
 - 2 Kings 24:18 - Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem.

Chronology updated to use dates from Wikipedia (which follow Thiele/McFall). Note the various coregencies which make the quoted reign lengths sometimes look wrong.

Quote from: MoominDave on Jul 04, 2016, 09:39AMIn preface, recap of the story so far:
Quote from: MoominDave on Apr 06, 2016, 02:58PMGenesis

• [li]Big picture stuff
  • [li]Creation; Adam & Eve[/li][li]Humans, take 1; Cain & Abel, Noah[/li][li]The Flood; Wash everything away, start again[/li][li]Humans, take 2[/li]
  [/li][li]Abraham; extensive travels, original covenant, Lot, not sacrificing Isaac[/li][li]Jacob; conflict with twin Esau, banishment, wives, 12 sons[/li][li]Joseph; betrayal to Egypt, rise, saving of family, supposed origins of 12 tribes[/li]

Exodus

• [li]New scene, three generations on - Israelites now of low status in Egypt[/li][li]Moses grows up, fights battle of wills with Pharoah over plagues, leads Israelites to depart[/li][li]Wandering, take 1; through the desert to Mt. Sinai, where they make a long camp and...[/li]

Leviticus

• [li]...many laws are given[/li]

Numbers

• [li]Wandering, take 2; they reach their destination, but are too weak to attempt the task, and so...[/li][li]Wandering, take 3; more pootling around, building up military prowess over the years in the preparation for invasion; new leaders emerge, and they finish on the brink of their destination again[/li]

Deuteronomy

• [li]Moses orates; recap of terms and conditions, forward planning[/li][li]Moses dies[/li]

Joshua

• [li]Conquest
  • [li]Joshua appointed leader, to cross Jordan, conquer Canaan[/li][li]Spies report back that the time is ripe[/li][li]Jericho is the first city to fall. Then Ai, at the second attempt.[/li][li]The Gibeonites talk them into an alliance.[/li][li]Southern Canaan all conquered (sudden shift of narrative gear)[/li][li]Ditto the North[/li]
  [/li][li]Division of conquered land between the tribes
  • [li]The East bank land that Moses took[/li][li]West bank land[/li][li]Remaining land[/li][li]Cities of refuge and Levite cities nominated[/li]
  [/li][li]Joshua dies[/li]

Judges

• [li]Prologue: Messy details of attempted not-always-successful conquest[/li][li]An intermittent sequence of Judges leads:
  • [li]Othniel - defeated Mesopotamia[/li][li]Ehud - kills Eglon[/li][li]Shamgar - killed 600 Philistines with an ox-goad[/li][li]Deborah - defeated Jabin of Hazor[/li][li]Gideon - defeated Midian[/li][li]Tola, then Jair[/li][li]Jephthah - defeated the Ammonites[/li][li]Ibzan, then Elon, then Abdon[/li][li]Samson - killed Philistines, made trouble[/li]
  [/li][li]The Dan tribe take territory in the North[/li][li]The Benjamin tribe are defeated by the other tribes[/li]

Ruth

• [li]Intermezzo: Heartwarming tale of a family coming through hard times[/li]

1 Samuel

• [li]Samuel born and given to the church, in the care of the Judge Eli[/li][li]Philistines defeat Israel, taking the Ark of the Covenant, but they are divinely afflicted with tumours and give it back[/li][li]Israelites defeat Philistines, and Samuel becomes the leader[/li][li]Samuel ages, and his sons prove unworthy. Saul is appointed to the new role of king.[/li][li]Saul defeats the Ammonites[/li][li]Saul and Jonathan defeat the Philistines, but Saul usurps Samuel's function[/li][li]Saul defeats the Amalekites at Samuel's command, but does not obey the divine command to kill all; he is marked for failure from this point[/li][li]Samuel anoints David as a replacement king, but doesn't tell Saul[/li][li]David becomes an Israelite military hero, particularly beloved to Saul's son Jonathan, and Saul becomes jealous of him[/li][li]Saul resolves to kill David, and with Jonathan's assistance, he flees[/li][li]Saul pursues and they play a game of cat and mouse in which David finds Saul in his hands and spares him twice[/li][li]Samuel dies[/li][li]David seeks refuge with the Philistines[/li][li]Philistines and Israelites fight once again; Saul and all his sons die and the Philistines are victorious; David is sent home from the Philistine side before the battle.[/li]

2 Samuel

• [li]News of Saul's death arrives; Ish-bosheth crowned in the North, David in the South: civil war[/li][li]David wins, aided by high profile defection, and also defeats the Philistines[/li][li]David retrieves the Ark of the Covenant, receives his own covenant, and defeats all and sundry militarily, building his territory[/li][li]Ammonites rebel unsuccessfully[/li][li]David's domestic doings: takes in Mephibosheth, takes Bathsheba immorally. Incest (Amnon on Tamar) and murder (Absalom on Amnon) amongst his children[/li][li]Absalom returns, forgiven, but plots against his father, leading a rebellion, which is defeated, with Absalom dying[/li][li]Sheba rebels unsuccessfully[/li]

1 Kings

• [li]David dies, succeeded by Solomon, who consolidates his power base brutally[/li][li]Solomon gains great wealth and a reputation for great wisdom[/li][li]He builds the "first temple", and a palace, but over his long reign takes too many wives for Yahweh's taste and permits non-Yahweh worship[/li][li]After he dies, the kingdom is split into Israel (larger Northern portion) and Judah (smaller Southern portion), and the continual inference is that Judah is the legitimate one of the two[/li][li]Rehoboam, Solomon's son, becomes king in Judah, with Jeroboam seizing control in Israel[/li][li]Sons of the above succeed, but while Asa, Rehoboam's grandson, provides Judah with long and stable leadership, Israel passes through succession crises, reaching some stability under Ahab. Conflict between the two nations is regular.[/li][li]Elijah gains prominence as a prophet, foretelling doom for Ahab, who is eventually killed in battle by Asa's son Jehoshaphat[/li]

2 Kings

• [li]Long successions of kings of both Israel and Judah are described[/li][li]Elijah is succeeded as a prophet in Judah by Elisha and later Isaiah and others.[/li][li]Most kings do not prioritise Yahweh-worship - none in Israel, but some in Judah. Some Judahite kings are held up as good examples, e.g. Asa, Jehoshaphat, Uzziah, Josiah. Some Israelite kings are held up as notably bad examples, e.g. Ahab.[/li][li]Pressed between Egypt and Assyria, Israel wobbles and finally is destroyed as an entity by Assyria in the late 8th century BC, with many of the population taken into exile there.[/li][li]King Josiah of Judah is described as an extremely pious Yahweh-following ruler, but it's all too little too late, because...[/li][li]Pressed between Egypt and Babylon, Judah wobbles and finally is destroyed as an entity by Babylon in the early 6th century BC, with many of the population taken into exile there. The scene as we depart this stage is one of almost universal tragedy.[/li]

This concludes a section of the overall text, which might be delineated either the Deuteronomistic History or the Former Prophets, depending on your viewpoint. The only practical difference is that the former also contains Deuteronomy as a division; which I'll go with for a more compressed summary in a moment.

In preface, the Tetrateuch:
Quote from: MoominDave on Apr 06, 2016, 02:58PMGenesis

• [li]Big picture stuff
  • [li]Creation; Adam & Eve[/li][li]Humans, take 1; Cain & Abel, Noah[/li][li]The Flood; Wash everything away, start again[/li][li]Humans, take 2[/li]
  [/li][li]Abraham; extensive travels, original covenant, Lot, not sacrificing Isaac[/li][li]Jacob; conflict with twin Esau, banishment, wives, 12 sons[/li][li]Joseph; betrayal to Egypt, rise, saving of family, supposed origins of 12 tribes[/li]

Exodus

• [li]New scene, three generations on - Israelites now of low status in Egypt[/li][li]Moses grows up, fights battle of wills with Pharoah over plagues, leads Israelites to depart[/li][li]Wandering, take 1; through the desert to Mt. Sinai, where they make a long camp and...[/li]

Leviticus

• [li]...many laws are given[/li]

Numbers

• [li]Wandering, take 2; they reach their destination, but are too weak to attempt the task, and so...[/li][li]Wandering, take 3; more pootling around, building up military prowess over the years in the preparation for invasion; new leaders emerge, and they finish on the brink of their destination again[/li]

Shifting Deuteronomy from the first group of books to the second in accordance with the Deuteronomistic History idea:

Deuteronomy

• [li]Moses orates; recap of terms and conditions, forward planning[/li][li]Moses dies[/li]

Joshua

• [li]Conquest of Canaan under Joshua[/li][li]Division of conquered land between the tribes, East and West banks of the Jordan[/li]

Judges

• [li]Prologue: Messy details of attempted not-always-successful conquest, compare with previous book[/li][li]An intermittent sequence of Judges leads: Othniel, Ehud, Shamgar, Deborah, Gideon, Tola, Jair, Jephthah, Ibzan, Elon, Abdon, Samson[/li][li]The Dan tribe take territory in the North and the Benjamin tribe are defeated by the other tribes[/li]

Ruth

• [li]Intermezzo: Heartwarming tale of a family coming through hard times in the era of the Judges[/li]

1 Samuel

• [li]Samuel is a priestly leader in a time of Philistine conflicts who needs a worthy successor[/li][li]Saul is appointed to the new role of king and with his son Jonathan defeats the Ammonites, Philistines, Amalekites, but he falls out with Samuel, who anoints David as a replacement king secretly[/li][li]David (a military hero) and Saul vie for superiority over a long period, eventually brought to an end when the Philistines kill Saul in battle[/li]

2 Samuel

• [li]The kingdom nearly splits, but David unites it, doing many heroic deeds[/li][li]But in time he becomes morally suspect and manipulated by schemers[/li]

1 Kings

• [li]David dies, succeeded by Solomon, who consolidates his power base brutally but gains great wealth and a reputation for great wisdom, building the "first temple" and a palace; however, like David he becomes morally suspect in time[/li][li]After he dies, the kingdom is split into Israel (larger Northern portion) and Judah (smaller Southern portion), and the continual inference is that Judah is the legitimate one of the two[/li][li]Kings succeed in both Israel and Judah; Elijah gains prominence as a prophet[/li]

2 Kings

• [li]Long successions of kings of both Israel and Judah are described, and the prophet Elisha comes to prominence[/li][li]Most kings do not prioritise Yahweh-worship - none in Israel, but some in Judah.
  [/li][li]First Israel then Judah are unable to tread the difficult path of negotiation between stronger powers on either side, with both populations destroyed and exiled by 586 BC[/li]

1 Chronicles 1 text
1 Chronicles 2 text
1 Chronicles 3 text
1 Chronicles 4 text
1 Chronicles 5 text
1 Chronicles 6 text
1 Chronicles 7 text
1 Chronicles 8 text

Highlights

 - We step right back and run through genealogies from Adam to the present point

Summary

 - Descent from Adam to Abraham with various side branches
 - Abraham to Jacob ditto
 - Jacob to David ditto
 - David to the time of writing ditto
 - Judah, Simeon ditto
 - Reuben, Gad, Manasseh ditto - these described as exiled by the Assyrians
 - Levi ditto
 - Issachar, Benjamin, Naphtali, Manasseh, Ephraim, Asher ditto
 - Benjamin to Saul ditto

Questions and Observations

1) I'm reminded how many characters in early genealogies here are given the names of countries in evident attempt to explain how countries came to be
2) In the descendants of David chapter, we are taken to the 8th generation of King Jehoiachin, likely some time in the early 4th century BC, providing an earliest bound for the date of composition of Chronicles
3) Manasseh given twice?
4) There's a vast pile of genealogical information given in these two chapters. More, in all honesty, than I can be bothered to tackle. Fortunately, large numbers of people out there on the internet have attempted the task already.
5) And with this my running total of chapters summarised overtakes Martin's, for the first time in a long time. Given that Martin is off skiing this week, I had perhaps better ease back a bit from here for a little while...

1 Chronicles 9 text
1 Chronicles 10 text


Highlights -

 - Some of the exiles return.
 - King Saul's genealogy and death.

Summary

 - So that was the genealogies of Israel, who were taken into captitivity in Babylon because of their unfaithfulness.
 - The first Israelites allowed to resettle in Jerusalem included priests, Levites and some from Judah, Ephraim and Manasseh. 
 - There were some who were gatekeepers, those in charge of articles used in the temples and temple musicians.
 - Saul's genealogy is given and the tale of his death is told.


Questions and Observations

1) its interesting the author introduces the details of the returning exiles and then goes back to the life and death of Saul, centuries earlier.

PS.  I came back from skiing and then got the flu, and didn't really feel like writing straight away.

Quote from: drizabone on Aug 02, 2016, 06:06PM1 Chronicles 10 text

Compare 1 Samuel 31:

These are very similar indeed, not far off a verbatim quote much of the time, with the only differences in the quoted section being minor. I have read that the Chronicler is held to have used Samuel and Kings as source material, and the content of this chapter does make that seem overwhelmingly likely. There is also a short moral appended in the Chronicles version explicitly sermonising that Saul died because of a lack of faith in Yahweh which wasn't present in Samuel. Do we start to see a Yahweh consensus building here? The shock of the exile prompting people to band together more solidly, perhaps?

Quote from: drizabone on Aug 02, 2016, 06:06PM - The first Israelites allowed to resettle in Jerusalem included priests, Levites and some from Judah, Ephraim and Manasseh. 

Just totting up dates here. I read that the exile took place in three main events, dated to 597 BC (deposition of King Jehoiachin by Nebuchadnezzar), 586 BC (the fall of the kingdom of Judah), and 581 BC respectively - so rather than being a single movement, it took place in batches over a decade and a half. This seems reasonable and consistent with the picture painted of Babylonian motives of desiring control of an expanding empire that gradually crushed Judah.

The start of the return is dated to after Babylon was toppled by Cyrus of Persia in 539 BC, so some decades later. The detail that caught my eye is that one of the returners was Azariah the son of Hilkiah. Now Hilkiah was Josiah's chief priest, so 630s-610s BC - born not later than 660-650 BC, I would say. For his son to return in the 530s BC is a bit of a puzzle - I suppose if he was born when Hilkiah was old, he could have been an old man then. It's a bit of a stretch, but not impossible. An idea supportive of it would be that it would seem natural for them to want to document and publicise any explicit links from pre- to post-exile in the name of continuity.

Quote from: drizabone on Aug 02, 2016, 06:06PM1) its interesting the author introduces the details of the returning exiles and then goes back to the life and death of Saul, centuries earlier.
Hmm, yes. There's been more than one confusion in this book thus far - but then so far it's been nothing but a massive dump of condensed extracted information, so perhaps a little sorting confusion is to be expected.

Quote from: drizabone on Aug 02, 2016, 06:06PMPS.  I came back from skiing and then got the flu, and didn't really feel like writing straight away.

Hope you're feeling better now Martin! Flu is rotten.

1 Chronicles 11 text; compare 2 Samuel 5, 2 Samuel 23

Highlights -

David becomes king after Saul's death, and conquers Jerusalem

Summary

 - David is neatly anointed king by Samuel and accepted by the people of the united kingdom
 - David conquers Jerusalem

Questions and Observations

1) This is a much reduced retelling of David's rise to power as described in Samuel. No mention that he had been previously controversially anointed during Saul's lifetime; no mention of Saul's son Ish-Bosheth / Ishbaal reigning over Israel and of being slowly defeated by David militarily. We skip over 2 Samuel 1-4 entirely. And then over the last portion of 2 Samuel 5 and 6-22 (covering large numbers of deeds) all the way to 2 Samuel 23 for the Mighty Men.
2) The Chronicles version of David's anointing omits details of reign length - I wonder if the Chronicler had similar thoughts to us on dates and lengths?
3) The Samuel version of David's taking of Jerusalem has some bizarre stuff about "the blind and the lame" which I don't entirely understand. Chronicles snips this stuff out and reads less bizarrely as a result.
4) Mighty Men section differences (Samuel - Chronicles):
 - Josheb-basshebeth - Jashobeam
 - Killed 800 - Killed 300
 - 3rd MM: Shammah - Not mentioned
 - Benaiah struck down two "ariels" of Moab, with word noted "unknown" - Struck down two "Heroes" of Moab
 - Egyptian "handsome" - Egyptian "5 cubits tall"
 - Names differ amongst the 30, and Samuel counts them to make 37.

1 Chronicles 12 text

Highlights

 - A census of men that militarily aided David against Saul

Summary

 - Many men rallied to David's cause from various tribes, but he did not trust all of them not to desert him.

Questions and Observations

1) Was Googling around for handy Samuel-Kings/Chronicles comparisons of text bits. This one is the kind of thing I was looking for, doing a more detailed job of precise comparison than we can hope to here. There doesn't seem to be an equivalent of the content of this chapter in Samuel or Kings, I think?

1 Chronicles 13 text; compare 2 Samuel 6

Highlights

 - David sends for the Ark of the Covenant

Summary

 - David and his council agree to send for the AotC
 - The AotC is transported from Kiriath-jearim by oxen
 - An ox stumbles, and Uzzah reaches out to steady the AotC, but is struck dead for his pains
 - David fears Yahweh because of this and sends it to an alternative safe place, where its guardian prospers during that time

Questions and Observations

1) 2 Samuel 6 is a more complete account of this.
2) Chronicles is skipping around relative to Kings - chapter 5 of 2 Samuel, then chapter 23, then chapter 6. Both narratives are presented more or less as if chronological - is this a problem?

1 Chronicles 14 text; compare 2 Samuel 5

Highlights

 - David has children and defeats Philistines

Summary

 - Hiram of Tyre builds David's house from cedar
 - David becomes highly polygamous, producing multiple children, of whom Solomon is the best known named here
 - The Philistines invade the valley of Rephaim; David defeats them soundly
 - They do the same again; David also

Questions and Observations

1) We've just spent a while summarising Samuel and Kings - we could have perhaps just cut-and-pasted Chronicles - the Chronicler thus far seems to have been doing exactly the same job as we are, barring the info about returnees from exile. We might find ourselves whipping through these short chapters with some speed.

1 Chronicles 15 text; compare 2 Samuel 6
1 Chronicles 16 text

Highlights

 - The AotC is brought by David to Jerusalem

Summary

Ch. 15
 - David decides it is safe to finish the AotC's journey, interrupted after Uzzah died while transporting it
 - He decrees that only Levites may carry it, and a large number of Levites are given
 - Musicians from amongst the Levites are specified to escort the procession
 - The AotC enterd Jerusalem triumphantly
 - Michal observes David and despises him for his show
Ch. 16
 - The AotC is placed in a dedicated tent and cared for by specified Levites
 - David sings a song of thanks

Questions and Observations

1) In contrast to the above, these chapters of Chronicles are an expanded version of what is found in 2 Samuel 6:12-16.
2) David's song has notable similarities with Psalm 105. The first three stanzas are identical, barring the odd word, but the rest differs.

1 Chronicles 17 text; compare 2 Samuel 7

Highlights

 - The AotC is okay in a tent

Summary

 - David feels that by living in a permanent house while the AotC lives in a tent, he is showing it disrespect
 - God clears this up for him through Nathan: It's okay because it's always been in a tent. And anyhow Solomon will build it an appropriate house later.
 - David prays his gratitude to God for this.

Questions and Observations

1) We have an unusually clear example of how prophetic foretelling in the biblical text can be not what it seems here. The first part of the chapter contains what is purportedly God's prediction to David that David will have a son who will build the first temple - a passage which is absent in Samuel. So a writer from post-exilic times (i.e. not earlier than 530s BC) is putting words into the mouth of a king some 500 years earlier about events which were ancient history when written about.

1 Chronicles 18 text; compare 2 Samuel 8

Highlights

 - David defeats all comers

Summary

 - David defeats Philistines
 - David defeats Moab
 - David defeats Zobah
 - David defeats Syria
 - David makes friends with Hamath, an enemy of Zobah
 - Edom is defeated for David
 - Some of David's officials are listed

Questions and Observations

1) This chapter is pretty much verbatim from 2 Samuel 8. Differences:
 - Chr: "Gath"; Sam: "Metheg-ammah". Gath makes more sense to us - we know where that is.
 - Chr: "1,000 chariots; Sam: omitted.
 - Chr: Bronze used by Solomon; Sam: omitted.
 - Chr: "Hadoram"; Sam: "Joram".
 - Chr: Edom campaign attributed to Abishai; Sam: To David.
 - Chr: "Shavsha was secretary"; Sam: "Seraiah was secretary". Same person, different names maybe?
 - Chr: David's sons "chief officials; Sam: David's sons "priests".

1 Chronicles 19 text; compare 2 Samuel 10

Highlights

 - Ammon rebels against David but is defeated

Summary

 - The king of the Ammonites, who had been friendly to Israel, dies and is succeeded by his son
 - His son instead offers David provocations
 - David responds with fight, and defeats both the Ammonites and those that they have persuaded to join them

Questions and Observations

1) No substantive differences from 2 Samuel 10 here, just some phrasings.
2) It is perhaps worth noting that the moral ambiguities of David as portrayed in Samuel have thus far been pretty much completely glossed over. The cumulative effect is to paint him as a more admirable figure than when he was described before.

1 Chronicles 20 text; compare 2 Samuel 11-12

Highlights

 - David sacks Ammon
 - David wins against the Philistines again

Summary

 - Joab undertakes a military campaign in Ammon for David
 - He overthrows Rabbah, sacking it; then replicates this with their other cities
 - The Philistines make trouble again, and are defeated twice

Questions and Observations

1) The selective editing to flatter David is quite noticeable in this chapter. In 2 Samuel 11 the assault on Rabbah is followed by the story of David's betrayal of Uriah in order to obtain his wife Bathsheba, which is the pivot on which the narrative of Samuel's moral judgement of David turns from positive to negative. This is simply omitted by the Chronicler, who then between this chapter and the next goes on to also omit the similarly unflattering story of Absalom, Amnon and Tamar.
2) The defeats of the Philistines are depicted as being done by proxy - decided by the fighting of champions. It's not clear whether this is a big simplification or not.
3) I pondered in Samuel whether this second occurrence of David striking down a Philistine giant might be the same thing as the original Goliath story. The Chronicler didn't mention the first instance - perhaps they too found the duplication unappealing.

1 Chronicles 21 text; compare 2 Samuel 24

Highlights

 - David annoys God by taking a census

Summary

 - David takes a census
 - But God doesn't like this and sends a plague
 - David apologises and is asked to build an altar to make amends, which he does

Questions and Observations

1) This was puzzling in Samuel, and it's still puzzling here. The Chronicler has made some alterations to try to smooth it, but it's still fundamentally an odd episode.
2) The Chronicler skips over a lengthy segment of Samuel here, containing the full account of Absalom's rebellion plus some other shorter stories, none of which show David at his finest. This is that selective editing again, with the net result making David look better than Samuel made him look.
3) This is a rewrite of 2 Samuel 24, not a copy - the Chronicler evidently wasn't satisfied with simply reproducing their source material verbatim, as they have been elsewhere. Perhaps due to the unsatisfying nature of the story here?
4) Out of sequence, but another story that it occurs to me that the Chronicler didn't include that Samuel did concerns the plausibly sexual relationship between David and Jonathan.

1 Chronicles

I've been slack so I need to catch up.

I understand that the primary audience that the chronicler wrote for were Jewish community who had resettled around Judah after having returned from exile in Babylon
- I assume that they would have been familiar with the histories of Samuel and Kings including the many bad things that David and his descendants did. 

- The chronicler significantly filters his history to :
  - link the readers to Adam, Abraham and the patriarchs.
  - ignore the Northern Tribes
  - focus on David and his descendants
  - show David and Solomon in a good light by not mentioning many of the bad things they did
  - emphasises the ark and the temple

- I think he does this to portray an idealised view of godly rule and worship.

Summary

Chapters 1 - 3
- genealogies linking Adam to Abraham, Israel (aka Jacob) to David and Solomon and their descendants.

Chapters 4 - 7
- genealogies of the tribes of Judah, Simeon, the Transjordon tribes, the Levites and the rest (Northern Kingdom)
  - Judah is included in both lists, but the relationship between the two lists are not always obvious
  - The tribe of Levi (the priests and temple servants) is emphasised

Chapters 8 - 9:34
 - Saul's genealogy
    - this is from Benjamin but differs from the list in the last chapter, probably because this covers Saul's ancestors.
 - 9:1a rounds off the previous chapters and then 1b is the discussion of the Exile.  Quite succinct
 - 9:10-34 is devoted to lising people who serve in the temple.

Chapters 9:35 - 12:40
 - this is about The King (David)
   - 9:35 - 10:14 : Saul is briefly mentioned (his genealogy and failure)
   - 11:1 - 12:22 : David is introduced: his people, his city and his warriors
   - 12:23 - 40 : David is annointed as king in a gathering of the tribal armies

Chapters 13 - 14
 - the ark is brought to Jerusalem
 - David establishes himself in Jerusalem
 - David follows God's leading, defeats the Philistines and wins fame

Chapters 15 - 17
 - more on the ark being brought to Jerusalem
 - being careful with the ark
 - David sings a song of thanks to God
 - worship of God before the ark
 - David decides to build a temple for the ark
 - God tell's Nathan to tell David that
     - he doesn't need a house and that he will build David a "house" (aka dynasty) and a place for Israel to have Rest.
     - and that David's son will build God's house
 - David thanks God for his kindness to Israel

Chapter 18
 - David defeats his enemies and reigned over Israel

Chapter 19 - 20
 - David defeats the Ammonites and some Philistine giants

Chapter 21
- David's census
  - this is the first thing in the book that David is criticised for.  I think it is included because it introduces the future site of the temple.
 

Good to have you back Martin. I'm just back from holiday yesterday myself, in fact.

I'm liking having someone else's observations on the same material to compare to again. The observation that the census episode is the first item on the Chronicler's list that isn't fully flattering to David is a valuable one, I think.

1 Chronicles 22 text; compare 2 Samuel 7, 1 Kings 5

Highlights

 - David arranges for the temple to be built

Summary

 - David resolves to build a pre-eminent temple
 - He conscripts those foreigners that live in Israel to help
 - He provides materials, preparing for the as-yet-inexperienced Solomon to do the job later
 - David charges Solomon to build it, saying that his many wars persuaded Yahweh not to let him do so

Questions and Observations

1) This account gives a significantly different emphasis to how the temple came to be built. In Samuel/Kings David aspired to build it, but then the topic is not mentioned again until Solomon performed the task early in his reign. In Chronicles it is David that puts it all in motion, including the conscription of forced labour that was previously attributed to Solomon. My suspicion is that the Chronicler is simply looking for ways to beef up David's reputation.

1 Chronicles 23 text

Highlights

 - David allocates duties to the Levites

Summary

 - David divides up the Levites, numbering 38,000,  by their sub-Levitic clans: Gershon, Kohath, Merari
 - Some work in the temple directly on religious affairs, others as officers and judges, others as musicians

Questions and Observations

1) I think there is no equivalent to this chapter in Samuel/Kings?

1 Chronicles 24 text
1 Chronicles 25 text
1 Chronicles 26 text

Highlights

 - David allocates duties to the priests, musicians, and officials

Summary

 - David organises the various subdivisions of Levites within the priesthood. They draw lots.
 - David organises the various subdivisions of Levites within the musicians. They draw lots.
 - David organises the various subdivisions of Levites within the gatekeepers.
 - David organises the various subdivisions of Levites within the treasurers.
 - David organises the various subdivisions of Levites within the judges.

Questions and Observations

1) Interesting to see how strictly hierarchical a society this is described as. Were things in reality this strictly adhered to? The Chronicler was writing centuries later.

Time flies when you're having fun, they say, and - my goodness me - it's now a year to the day since we started on this collaborative effort. Happy birthday to the thread!

Quote from: MoominDave on Aug 23, 2015, 09:58AMHere on TTF we've had a long-running general religious interest strand, attracting input from a good mix of the religious (mostly flavours of Western Christianity - but members of all other religions and denominations are welcomed with open arms) and the non-religious, and a group of us think it could be rather enjoyable to attempt the same here. Maybe we'll complete it and move on to further books... Maybe we'll get nowhere with it... We won't know unless we try.

Do get involved! Or don't. Contribute, comment, read silently, as you wish. But please feel free to volunteer to jump in and add your own summary of the next chapter at any point. An endeavour such as this always benefits from new blood, at any stage. Don't feel either under- or over-qualified for this, just read up and post away - it is whatever it turns out to be. We want a diversity of viewpoints making summaries - it'll be much more interesting that way.
We've made good progress, completing an average of almost exactly a chapter a day through the year. At this rate, there's a couple of years left in the endeavour.
It's been myself and Martin batting chapters back and forth pretty much from the start. If anyone else reading fancies taking a turn, just dive in with the next summary - you'll be very welcome.

1 Chronicles 27 text

Highlights

 - Military and civil leaders are listed

Summary

 - Leaders are listed for the army. The leader rotated on a monthly basis.
 - Leaders of each of the tribes are listed.
 - Leaders of various government departments are listed - king's treasury, national treasury, crops, vineyards, wine, olives/sycamores, oil, various kinds of flocks.
 - Miscellaneous top officials.

Questions and Observations

1) The governmental scheme has some similarities to those that we see today, but is focussed on smaller numbers of issues treated in greater breadth.

Quote from: MoominDave on Aug 22, 2016, 01:53PM1) Interesting to see how strictly hierarchical a society this is described as. Were things in reality this strictly adhered to? The Chronicler was writing centuries later.

You do know that hierarchy means temple order.  I guess you're question is rhetorical. I don't know the answer anyway.  There was a rotation of priests based on family still being used in the New Testament times, so it may have been, at least partially.

1 Chronicles 28 text
1 Chronicles 29 text


Highlights -

 - David announces Solomon as the one who will build the temple.
 - Treasures are given for the temple
 - David dies and Solomon becomes king.

Summary

 - David tells the leaders of Israel that he really wanted to build the temple, but God wouldn't let him because he was a man of war. 
 - God has chosen David's son Solomon to build the temple.
 - And God has also said that Solomon's house will rule forever if he continues to obey God.
 - David hands over the plans for the temple to Solomon and tells him to server God with his whole heart and mind and to be strong and courageous.

 - David describes the treasures that he will provide for the temple.  Likewise the leaders of Israel.
 - David praises God and asks that he will continue to bless Israel and aks him to keep Solomon true.
 - Solomon is appointed king.
 - David dies.

Questions and Observations

1) it seems that chapter 28 continues the story from chapter 22

Quote from: drizabone on Aug 23, 2016, 08:23PMYou do know that hierarchy means temple order.  I guess you're question is rhetorical. I don't know the answer anyway.  There was a rotation of priests based on family still being used in the New Testament times, so it may have been, at least partially.

So it does. Thanks for pointing that out. I was using it simply in the sense of "power structure". Whoops.

Quote from: drizabone on Aug 24, 2016, 09:49PM1 Chronicles 28 text
1 Chronicles 29 text


Highlights -

 - David announces Solomon as the one who will build the temple.
 - Treasures are given for the temple
 - David dies and Solomon becomes king.

Summary

 - David tells the leaders of Israel that he really wanted to build the temple, but God wouldn't let him because he was a man of war. 
 - God has chosen David's son Solomon to build the temple.
 - And God has also said that Solomon's house will rule forever if he continues to obey God.
 - David hands over the plans for the temple to Solomon and tells him to server God with his whole heart and mind and to be strong and courageous.

 - David describes the treasures that he will provide for the temple.  Likewise the leaders of Israel.
 - David praises God and asks that he will continue to bless Israel and aks him to keep Solomon true.
 - Solomon is appointed king.
 - David dies.

Questions and Observations

1) it seems that chapter 28 continues the story from chapter 22

After taking an intermission to specify the duties of those that would serve in it. I wonder why the content of chapters 23-27 came before 28 rather than after it?

The Chronicler(s) (writing some time after the return) take(s) quite a different line on the building of the temple to the Deuteronomist(s) (writing during the exile), who told us that Solomon was the motive force behind temple planning. Which version of events do we believe? Both were writing more than half a millennium after the fact.

We also see that the Chronicler skates over the bloody details of how Solomon established himself against the insurrection of his brother, given at the start of 1 Kings.

In preface, the Deuteronomistic History:
Quote from: MoominDave on Jul 16, 2016, 04:49AMIn preface, the Tetrateuch:
Quote from: MoominDave on Apr 06, 2016, 02:58PMGenesis

• [li]Big picture stuff
  • [li]Creation; Adam & Eve[/li][li]Humans, take 1; Cain & Abel, Noah[/li][li]The Flood; Wash everything away, start again[/li][li]Humans, take 2[/li]
  [/li][li]Abraham; extensive travels, original covenant, Lot, not sacrificing Isaac[/li][li]Jacob; conflict with twin Esau, banishment, wives, 12 sons[/li][li]Joseph; betrayal to Egypt, rise, saving of family, supposed origins of 12 tribes[/li]

Exodus

• [li]New scene, three generations on - Israelites now of low status in Egypt[/li][li]Moses grows up, fights battle of wills with Pharoah over plagues, leads Israelites to depart[/li][li]Wandering, take 1; through the desert to Mt. Sinai, where they make a long camp and...[/li]

Leviticus

• [li]...many laws are given[/li]

Numbers

• [li]Wandering, take 2; they reach their destination, but are too weak to attempt the task, and so...[/li][li]Wandering, take 3; more pootling around, building up military prowess over the years in the preparation for invasion; new leaders emerge, and they finish on the brink of their destination again[/li]

Deuteronomy

• [li]Moses orates; recap of terms and conditions, forward planning[/li][li]Moses dies[/li]

Joshua

• [li]Conquest of Canaan under Joshua[/li][li]Division of conquered land between the tribes, East and West banks of the Jordan[/li]

Judges

• [li]Prologue: Messy details of attempted not-always-successful conquest, compare with previous book[/li][li]An intermittent sequence of Judges leads: Othniel, Ehud, Shamgar, Deborah, Gideon, Tola, Jair, Jephthah, Ibzan, Elon, Abdon, Samson[/li][li]The Dan tribe take territory in the North and the Benjamin tribe are defeated by the other tribes[/li]

Ruth

• [li]Intermezzo: Heartwarming tale of a family coming through hard times in the era of the Judges[/li]

1 Samuel

• [li]Samuel is a priestly leader in a time of Philistine conflicts who needs a worthy successor[/li][li]Saul is appointed to the new role of king and with his son Jonathan defeats the Ammonites, Philistines, Amalekites, but he falls out with Samuel, who anoints David as a replacement king secretly[/li][li]David (a military hero) and Saul vie for superiority over a long period, eventually brought to an end when the Philistines kill Saul in battle[/li]

2 Samuel

• [li]The kingdom nearly splits, but David unites it, doing many heroic deeds[/li][li]But in time he becomes morally suspect and manipulated by schemers[/li]

1 Kings

• [li]David dies, succeeded by Solomon, who consolidates his power base brutally but gains great wealth and a reputation for great wisdom, building the "first temple" and a palace; however, like David he becomes morally suspect in time[/li][li]After he dies, the kingdom is split into Israel (larger Northern portion) and Judah (smaller Southern portion), and the continual inference is that Judah is the legitimate one of the two[/li][li]Kings succeed in both Israel and Judah; Elijah gains prominence as a prophet[/li]

2 Kings

• [li]Long successions of kings of both Israel and Judah are described, and the prophet Elisha comes to prominence[/li][li]Most kings do not prioritise Yahweh-worship - none in Israel, but some in Judah.
  [/li][li]First Israel then Judah are unable to tread the difficult path of negotiation between stronger powers on either side, with both populations destroyed and exiled by 586 BC[/li]

1 Chronicles

• [li]Recap of genealogy to the beginning[/li][li]Return of some exiles to Judah
  [/li][li]Recap of Samuel written to favour David more highly
  • [li]David secures the AotC[/li][li]David breeds[/li][li]David defeats enemies[/li][li]David arranges for Solomon to build the temple[/li]
  [/li]

2 Chronicles 1 text; compare 1 Kings 3 text

Highlights

 - Solomon the wise and wealthy

Summary

 - Solomon worships at the tent of meeting
 - Solomon asks God for wisdom; granted
 - Solomon grows very rich

Questions and Observations

1) This covers the same material as 1 Kings 3, but is rewritten, with parts reduced and some elaborated. Chronicles has less on Solomon establishing himself, more on worshipping at Gibeon, less on asking for wisdom.

Btw, I'm away for a couple of days now.

My 1 Chronicles Notes

I think of 1 Chronicles as really just the first half of a whole.  So my I see my sumnmary of 1 Chronicles as an incomplete summary of "Chronicles" and I expect it will be modified as a get an understanding of the second half of the book.

So here are my impressions so far:

Chronicles
- was written after the return of the Judah from exile :
- "My commentary says : "Chronicles looks to the past to give hope for the future. The postexilic Israelites were yearning for a king to rule and guide them as the people of God. They were through with kings who had a half-hearted love of God, the kind of kingship that helped land them in Babylonian exile to begin with. They wanted a new kind of king, one who fits the ideal picture of what a king of Israel should really be like. This is why the Chronicler portrays the reigns of David and Solomon the way he does: to speak to that future hope."  That seems a fair comment.
- See more at: http://biologos.org/blogs/archive/the-problem-with-literalism-chronicles-3#sthash.gBR3wakB.dpuf
- in Jewish canon it is the last book, nowhere near Samuel and Kings
- retelling of history of monarchy that claims, despite experiencing God’s punishment through exile, that the God of Israel’s ancestors (those living before the exile) is still with God’s people after the exile. Whatever else may have changed, Yahweh is still Israel’s God.
- it has a different emphasis than Samuel/Kings
  - diminish Davids sins
  - emphasis on unity among Israelites
  - emphasis on the temple and Solomon's role in building it
  - a theology of "immediate retribution" - ie only being held responsible for your own sins and not your ancestors
  - qv. 2 Sam 7 "Don't worry David, your line is safe" and 1 Chronicles 17:14 "it is my (God's) throne and I will put the right person on it in time
 - David and Solomon (esp) were ideal kings.
 - qv Chronicles has David managing an organised transition from David to Solomon with everyone supporting Solomon. Kings has messy politics and strife, a civil war and David bed-ridden and only just managing to retain control.
 - Chronicles minimizes Solomon's kingly role and focusses him being wise and on his role in Israel's worship, esp building the temple

2 Chronicles 2 text

Highlights

 - Solomon starts building the temple with help from Tyre.

Summary

 - Solomon starts the Temple project.  He asks King Hiram of Tyre for help with craftsmen and fine timber.
 - In exchange for all this, Solomon promises to take care of the workers that Hiram sends.
 - Hiram agrees and sends his blessings.
 - Once all the workers from Tyre arrive, Solomon takes a new census of the foreign workers.

Questions and Observations

1) The fact that Solomon also built his own palace is mentioned in v1, but its the temple that is emphasised.

2 Chronicles 3 text

Highlights

 - Details of the size and richness of the temple

Summary

 - Solomon began to build the temple on Mt Moriah, where David had specified.
 - The temple was large and richly appointed.
 - The Most Holy Place was covered in gold and had 2 cherubim made of wood and covered in gold.

Questions and Observations

1) I think this chapter is meant to tell us how impressive the temple was.

2 Chronicles 4 text

Highlights

 - the temple furnishings

Summary

 - a bronze alter, 9mx9m!
 - a sea (a basin) 4.5m diamater holding 66,000l
 - 10 golden lampstands
 - 100 gold basins and lots of other stuff

Questions and Observations

1) That was a big altar.  9m sq. 
  - v1 says it was made of brass, v 19 mentions a gold altar. 
  - I wonder if these were the same altar?