1 Chronicles 29:21–30 (NIV)✞: Solomon Acknowledged as King, The Death of David
Passage
For a few chapters the book of Chronicles has been leading up to the transition from David’s reign to Solomon’s (with not a little detail devoted to preparations for the Temple), and this chapter—along with the modern book of 1 Chronicles1—ends on that transition.
In verses 21–25✞ we get the celebration of the beginning of Solomon’s reign. They offer sacrifices to God, and eat and drink “with great joy” (v. 22✞). He is then anointed—specific mention is made that along with Solomon being anointed king, a man named Zadok is also anointed as priest—and he takes the throne, with all of the military officers, not to mention Solomon’s brothers, pledging loyalty. The section ends with a foretaste of what Solomon’s reign is going to be like:
The LORD highly exalted Solomon in the sight of all Israel and bestowed on him royal splendor such as no king over Israel ever had before.
I’m sure 2 Chronicles will get into that a lot more, but we already know about Solomon’s reign from having read Kings.
The passage ends with David’s death:
26 David son of Jesse was king over all Israel. 27 He ruled over Israel forty years—seven in Hebron and thirty-three in Jerusalem. 28 He died at a good old age, having enjoyed long life, wealth and honor. His son Solomon succeeded him as king.
29 As for the events of King David’s reign, from beginning to end, they are written in the records of Samuel the seer, the records of Nathan the prophet and the records of Gad the seer, 30 together with the details of his reign and power, and the circumstances that surrounded him and Israel and the kingdoms of all the other lands.
Thoughts
Honestly, I don’t have much to say about this passage; it feels like a transition point, getting from David’s reign into Solomon’s. In our modern Bibles, it’s a transition from 1 Chronicles into 2 Chronicles, though, as I keep pointing out, it was originally one long book, not two.
I don’t know if this is shocking to modern readers, but it wasn’t even called “Chronicles!” From the ESV Study Bible notes:
The Hebrew title of the work, Dibre Hayyamim, is derived from 1 Chronicles 27:24 (ESV)✞ and may be translated “the events of the years” or “annals.” In the Septuagint (Greek translation), it is known as Paraleipomena or “the things omitted,” indicating that it was considered a supplement to the books of Samuel and Kings. The English title derives from a suggestion by Jerome, the translator of the Vulgate (a Latin translation), that a more suitable title would be “the chronicle of the whole sacred history.” Martin Luther adopted this proposal, titling his translation of the books Die Chronika, and versions ever since the Reformation have followed his practice.
ESV Study Bible, with a link thrown in
That has nothing to do with this particular passage, I’m just mentioning it since it came to mind.
It’s a pity I don’t have more thoughts on this passage, since I’m leaving Chronicles after this to go back to Romans. So I won’t be getting back into 2 Chronicles for a bit.
Footnotes
- Remember that the book of Chronicles was originally just one book; at some point in history it was split into 1 & 2 Chronicles, mostly because the entire book couldn’t fit on one scroll. ↩
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