Getting Biblical in Daily Life
The Bible is a book that tries to give us answers. But it also brings up a whole lot of questions in the process. 1 Chronicles is no different. Who wrote it? What was he trying to say about God? And why was he so concerned with making sure there were enough lyre players in the Temple? Shmoop will explain all.
Author, Author
Let's start out with a simple question—who wrote this book?
Well, unfortunately this simple question doesn't have a simple answer because scholars just don't know. Like a lot of books of the Bible, this one was written anonymously. It probably started out with one writer, but then the story was added to and changed over the years to become the Chronicles we know and love.
Remember, 1 Chronicles and 2 Chronicles were originally written as one book, so they have the same unknown author (and probably got the same editing treatment over the years). For a long time, Bible scholars thought that Ezra and Nehemiah might have been written by the same person (maybe Ezra the Scribe himself) who wrote Chronicles. The Book of Ezra picks up right where Chronicles leaves off. In fact, the last verses of 2 Chronicles are identical to the first verses of Ezra. But Ezra and Nehemiah have a pretty different focus than Chronicles. They're really freaked out about foreigners and Samarians and they don't spend much time on King David, which is our author's favorite topic.
Why'd He Do It?
Why did our anonymous author write this book? All this stuff about genealogies had been done elsewhere in the Bible. And King David's reign gets the full treatment in the books of Samuel and Kings. Why do we need a rehash of all this?
The Bible has never been reluctant to tell the same story twice. Deuteronomy, which means "second law" in Greek, is a recap of what happened in the four books that came before it. And the gospels tell the same story about Jesus four different times. Getting two versions of David's story seems charmingly minimalist in comparison.
The Chronicler knows that we already read about these people and stories in Genesis through 2 Kings, but he has a reason for repeating them. The author's likely living in post-exile Jerusalem. The Jews are starting to return to the city from Babylon and they're looking at the ruins of the city and the Temple, destroyed by said Babylonians. What better time to retell a whole bunch of stories about when David established Jerusalem and started on plans for the original Temple and everyone was happy? The community's at a pretty vulnerable point—their last contact with God, around 70 years earlier, involved annihilation, starvation, destruction of Jerusalem, and eviction from their land. No doubt, they're wondering what's going to happen next. Does God still want any part of this nation? Has he calmed down? What can they expect with this fresh start? What kind of society will they have?
Chronicles idealizes David and Solomon's reigns, but that's probably because he wants to inspire and reassure. He reminds the people how God's protection was promised to be eternal. In his opinion, the only way they can move forward is looking to the past. They have to embrace the land, rebuild the Temple, and reinstate obedience to God's laws. So Chronicles can be seen as kind of Judaism 101 for the returned exiles, a crash course on the laws of Moses, the importance of strong leaders, how to organize Temple worship, and how to create an orderly society. And this will be on the exam.
It's Yahweh or the Highway
So how exactly does our author view God?
Well, he created the world and everyone in it, so obviously we owe him our existence. He's had a covenant with Israel since way back in the day and he's going to keep that agreement forever. Some restrictions do apply though. God will love and bless the Jewish people if, and only if, they stay loyal to him. That means trusting in him, seeking his guidance, praising him, and obeying his commandments. Just look what happens to anyone who crosses God:
Saul died for his unfaithfulness; he was unfaithful to the Lord in that he did not keep the command of the Lord; moreover, he had consulted a medium, seeking guidance, and did not seek guidance from the Lord. Therefore the Lord put him to death and turned the kingdom over to David son of Jesse. (10:13-14)
When they came to the threshing floor of Chidon, Uzzah put out his hand to hold the ark, for the oxen shook it. The anger of the Lord was kindled against Uzzah; he struck him down because he put out his hand to the ark; and he died there before God. (13:9-10)
Satan stood up against Israel, and incited David to count the people of Israel. So David said to Joab and the commanders of the army, "Go, number Israel, from Beer-sheba to Dan, and bring me a report, so that I may know their number." […] But God was displeased with this thing, and he struck Israel. (21:1-2, 7)
Solomon, know the God of your father, and serve him with single mind and willing heart; for the Lord searches every mind, and understands every plan and thought. If you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will abandon you forever. (28:9)
This is a pretty simplistic view of life. If you do good things, you'll be rewarded. If you do bad things, God's wrath will rain down on you. The fact that David had a long and prosperous reign was proof that he was devoted to God. But Saul's unfortunate demise was evidence of how far he had strayed from the Almighty.
Real life rarely works like this, but the Chronicler goes to great lengths to prove that it does. Everyone who succeeds in life or battle is portrayed as being devoted and obedient to God. The bad guys? Not so much. Even when David makes a mistake (ordering that census), he quickly repents and God backs off. Well, first God kills 70,000 people, but then he backs off. The point of this simple moral formula for success was to impress upon the returned exiles in the Chronicler's own era how important it would be to observe all those commandments, and what could happen if they didn't.