Bible Commentaries

1 CHRONICLES CHAPTER 29

David, by his example and entreaty, 1 Chronicles 29:1-5, causes the princes and people to offer willingly, 1 Chronicles 27:6-9. David’s thanksgiving and prayer, 1 Chronicles 29:10-19. The people having blessed God and sacrificed, make Solomon king, 1 Chronicles 29:20-25. David’s reign and death, 1 Chronicles 29:26-30.

Is yet young and tender, comparatively; for he was now married, as appears by comparing 2 Chronicles 9:30 12:13.

Stones to be set; diamonds, or emeralds, or rubies, or any of those precious stones which are usually set in rings or such things.

Of mine own proper good; of that which I have reserved as a peculiar treasure to my own use, after I had separated those things which I had devoted to God.

The gold of Ophir was accounted the best and purest gold; of which see Job 22:24 28:16 Isaiah 13:12; by which it appears that those hundred thousand talents mentioned before, 1 Chronicles 22:14, were a coarser and impurer sort of gold.

To overlay the walls of the houses withal; the walls of the temple with gold, and of the rooms adjoining to it with silver beaten out into plates, and put upon the other materials here and there as it was thought fit.

To consecrate his service, Heb. to fill his hand, i.e. to offer an offering, as Exodus 32:29 Leviticus 8:33, as I have done.

The people rejoiced, because this was both an effect of God’s grace in them, and an eminent token of God’s favour and goodness to be continued to them, and a good pledge that this great and long-desired work of the building of the people would receive a certain and a speedy accomplishment.

Thine, O Lord, is the greatness and the power, i.e. thou art great and powerful, &c.

As head above all; as the sovereign Lord and Owner of all persons and things.

Thou reignest over all, i.e. thou disposest of riches and honour as thou pleasest.

To give strength unto all; even to the weakest, whom thou canst make strong; and to the strongest, who are weak without thy help.

That we should be able to offer so willingly, i.e. that thou shouldst give us both such riches out of which we should be able to make such an offering, and such a willing and free heart to offer them; both which are thy gifts, and the fruits of thy good grace and mercy to us.

Of thine own have we given thee; we return only what we have received, and therefore we do only pay a debt to thee, and do not hereby oblige thee, or deserve any thing from thee.

These words may contain a reason, either,

1. Of the first clause of 1 Chronicles 29:14, Who am I &c., i.e. what mean and contemptible creatures are we, and how unworthy of so high a favour! for, saith he here, we, I and my people, as it is 1 Chronicles 29:14, are strangers, &c, poor pilgrims, who bring nothing into the world, and pass hastily through it, and can carry nothing with us out of it. Or rather,

2. Of the last clause of that 14th verse, of thine own, &c. For the land which we possess is thine, not ours; we are not the proprietors or perpetual possessors of it, but only thy tenants: and as our fathers once were mere strangers in it, even with or before men, Psalms 105:12; so we at this day are no better with or before thee, having no absolute right and title in it, but only to travel through it, and sojourn in it for that short time that we live in the world. And this the argument seems to be borrowed from Leviticus 25:23, where this is give as a reason why the inheritances of the land of Canaan could not be sold for ever, but only till the jubilee; for, saith God, the land is mine, as to dominion and propriety, for ye were (or for, or but you are) only strangers and sojourners with me.

There is none abiding: we only give to thee what we must shortly leave, and what we cannot keep to ourselves; and therefore it is a great favour that thou wilt accept such offerings; or, and therefore we are not perpetual possessors of this land, and the fruits of it, but only pilgrims and passengers through it.

By the largeness of their offering I discern the sincerity, willingness, and generosity of their hearts towards thee; for David judged, as in reason and clarity he ought, of the tree by its fruit, and of their hearts by their actions.

Keep this for ever in the imagination of the thoughts of the heart of thy people; since it is from thy grace that thy people have such willing minds to thy service, as was before acknowledged, I beg the continuance of that grace to them, that they may persist in the same generous and pious disposition towards thee and thy worship.

Prepare their heart unto thee, or rather, as it is in the margin, stablish or confirm, &c. Thou who hast begun a good work, confirm and carry it on by thy grace, otherwise it will languish, and this very people will prove degenerate.

By purchasing the place, 1Ch 21, and providing for the expenses of the work.

The Lord with religious, and the king with civil worship, as it is evident.

Unto the Lord; before the ark which was there.

For all Israel; either,

1. On the behalf of all Israel, to praise God in their names, to procure God’s presence and blessing for them all. Or,

2. So many, that the feasts which, after the manner, were made of the remainders of the sacrifices, were abundantly sufficient for all the Israelites which were then present and desired to partake of them; or for all the governors of Israel there assembled, who may well pass under the name of all Israel, because they represented them all.

Before the Lord, i.e. before the ark, in courts or places as near to it as they conveniently could. Or, as in God’s presence, in a solemn and religious manner, praising God for this great mercy, and begging his blessing upon this great affair.

The second time. This is called the second time in reference to the first time, which was either,

1. When he was made king during Adonijah’s conspiracy, of which see 1 Kings 1:34, &c. And so this was done after David’s death, and not upon that day, when this feasting and solemnity lasted, as the words at first view seem to insinuate, this being related in the same verse, and immediately after the relation of the feast. But there are examples of things done at distant times put together in one verse, as Acts 7:15, So Jacob went down into Egypt, and died, he, and our fathers, i.e. first he, and afterwards our fathers. So here, They did eat on that day with great gladness, and afterward they made Solomon king the second time. And this opinion seems to be confirmed by the following passages, in which it is related, that at this same time they anointed Zadok to be priest and that Solomon was king instead of David, and that all Israel, and all David’s sons, submitted to him; all which was not done till after David’s death, as may be gathered by comparing this with 1Ki 1 1Ki 2. Or,

2. In 1 Chronicles 23:1, where it is said that David made Solomon his son king over Israel, i.e. he declared him his successor. And so this second time was during David’s life. And what David had more privately declared, 1Ch 23, he now more solemnly owns in this great and general assembly, in which, by David’s order, and the consent of all that assembly, Solomon was anointed king, i.e. to be king after his father’s death. And this opinion the text seems most to favour. For it is said, And they made Solomon king, &c.: they; who? That must be fetched out of the foregoing words and verses, they who did eat and drink before the Lord on that day with great gladness, as it is here said; and then immediately it follows, and that with a copulative conjunction,

and they made Solomon king, & c., which without violence cannot be pulled away from the foregoing words. And therefore they must be David and

all the congregation, who were then present, 1 Chronicles 29:20, of whom it is said, they sacrificed, &c., 1 Chronicles 29:21, and they did eat, &c., and they made Solomon, &c. The great objection against this opinion is, that they anointed Zadok to be priest at this time, which was not done till after David’s death; for till then Abiathar was not thrust out from being priest, &c., 1 Kings 2:26,27. This indeed is a difficulty, but not insoluble. It must be remembered that the high priest had his vicegerent who might officiate in his stead, when he was hindered by sickness or other indispensable occasion; and that there seems to be something more than ordinary in Zadok’s case; for although Abiathar was properly the high priest, yet Zadok seems after a sort to be joined in commission with him, as we see 2 Samuel 15:29 19:11; and it is expressly said, Zadok and Abiathar were priests, 2 Samuel 20:25 1 Kings 4:4. And it may be further considered, that this anointing of Zadok might be occasioned by some miscarriage of Abiathar not recorded in Scripture. Possibly he was unsatisfied with this design of translating the crown to Solomon, and did now secretly favour Adonijah’s person and right, which afterward he did more openly defend; which being known to David by information, might induce him and the princes who favoured Solomon to take this course; which they might the more willingly do, in consideration of that Divine threatening, 1 Samuel 2:31, &c., of translating the priesthood from Ithamar’s and Eli’s house, of which Abiathar was, to Eleazar’s line, to which it had been promised to perpetuity, Numbers 25:13, of which line Zadok was. And they might judge this a fit season, or might be directed by God at this time, to execute that threatening to the one, and promise to the other family. And yet this action of theirs in anointing Zadok did not, as I suppose, actually constitute him high priest, but only settled the reversion of it upon him and his line after Abiathar’s death. Even as David’s making Solomon king, 1 Chronicles 23:1, and their anointing

Solomon to be the chief governor here, did not put him into actual possession of the kingdom, but only gave him a right to it in reversion after the present king’s death, as Samuel’s anointing of David, 1Sa 16$, had done to David before him. Hence, notwithstanding this anointing, Abiathar continued to exercise his office till Solomon thrust him out, 1 Kings 2:27; and even after he was removed from the execution of his office, yet he was reputed the priest till he died, being so called 1 Kings 4:4. And this I hope may in some sort resolve that difficulty. For the other arguments, they seem not considerable. For as for what follows, 1 Chronicles 29:23-25. Then Solomon sat on the throne, &c., that indeed seems to belong to the time after David’s death, being sufficiently separated from 1 Chronicles 29:22, and not so knit to the foregoing words as those words, and they made Solomon king, &c., are. And for the particle then, that is confessed by all to be often used at large and indefinitely for about, or after that time. To be the chief governor, i.e. to be king after David’s death. Zadok to be priest; of which the last note but one.

On the throne of the Lord, i.e. on the throne of Israel, which is called the throne of the Lord, either more generally, as all thrones are the Lord’s, by whom kings reign, Proverbs 8:15, and magistrates are ordained, Romans 13:1,2; or more specially and peculiarly; either,

1. Because the Lord himself was in a peculiar manner the King and Governor of Israel, not only in the time of the judges, but afterward, Psalms 44:4 89:18 149:2 Isaiah 33:22. Or,

2. Because it was the throne of Christ the Lord, whose vicegerents David, and Solomon, and their successors were, for whom this throne was reserved, and by whom it was to be established and enjoyed for ever, Luke 2:32,33. Or,

3. The throne of the Lord is put for the throne of the people of the Lord, by a concise and short manner of speech, which is frequent in the Hebrew language; as when the key of David is put for the key of the house of David; and the mountain of the Lord, for the mountain of the Lord’s house. Or,

4. Because this throne fell to Solomon not by right of inheritance, for he had elder brethren, but by the special appointment and gift of the Lord. And so this of the Lord is the genitive case of the efficient, as the learned call it, and signifies which the Lord gave him.

Heb. Put their hands under Solomon, i.e. they owned him for their king, and themselves for his subjects, and swore fealty to him; which possibly they now did after the ancient manner, with that ceremony of putting their hands under his thigh, which was used in swearing, Genesis 24:2 47:29; or at least the thing is signified by a phrase taken from that practice formerly used, though now neglected; it being usual in all nations and languages to signify present things by phrases taken from ancient customs.

Such royal majesty, i.e. such honour and reputation, together with power and riches, and all things which snake a king great and glorious.

Any king; either David or Saul, or any of the former governors of Israel, the word king being oft used in a large sense for any governor.

This sacred writer having mentioned the anointing of Solomon to be king, 1 Chronicles 29:22, and upon that occasion proceeded to give a further account of Solomon’s actual settlement in his kingdom, and of his prosperous and glorious management of it, 1 Chronicles 29:23-25, he now returns to his main and proper business, to give an account of the close of David’s reign and life. Thus, i.e. in manner hitherto expressed,

David—reigned, & c.

Full of days; fully satisfied with the days which God had given him, having had the happiness to see his beloved Solomon settled in his throne, being now weary of this life, and desiring to be with God.

Either in the two Books of Samuel, as they are now called, which were written part by Samuel, and part by Nathan and Gad; or in the annals or chronicles of that kingdom, which were written by Nathan and Gad, who were not only prophets, but historiographers or annalists; out of which they or some other prophets took, by the direction of God’s Spirit, such passages as were most important and useful to the church and to the world in succeeding ages.

The times that went over him, i.e. the changes which befell him, both his persecutions and manifold troubles, and his great successes and achievements; the word time or times being oft put for things done or happening in them, as Psalms 31:15 87:5.

Of the countries, Heb. of these countries, to wit, bordering upon the land of Canaan, or not far from it.