Bible Commentaries

1 Chronicles 28:1-21. David's Address to the Great Ones of the Land: he Gives Solomon the Plans of the Temple.—In this chapter the thread of the narrative is taken up from where it was left at the end of ch. 22.

1 Chronicles 28:2. my brethren and my people: see Deuteronomy 17:15, where it is said that "one from among thy brethren shalt thou set king over thee." As so often elsewhere, the ideas of the Chronicler are dominated by the Law; an oriental king does not place himself on a level with his subjects in this way. 2 Samuel 19:12 f. does not contradict this, for there David is speaking in reference to the elders of the land, some of whom were his kinsmen; it was, moreover, a time of grievous stress for the king, so that there was a special reason for calling them his brethren.—the footstool of our God: either in reference to the Ark (Psalms 99:5; Psalms 132:7) or to the sanctuary itself (Lamentations 2:1, Isaiah 60:16). The "footstool" spoken of in 2 Chronicles 9:18 is a different word in Hebrew

1 Chronicles 28:5. he hath chosen Solomon my son . . .: The Chronicler represents Solomon as having been Divinely chosen as king. The history is different. Solomon usurped the throne, thanks to the machinations of Bathsheba aided by Nathan and Benaiah; the rightful heir, Adonijah, was thus ousted (see 1 Kings 1:1 to 1 Kings 2:36).

1 Chronicles 28:7 f. Note the stress laid upon keeping the commandments, i.e. the Law.

1 Chronicles 28:11-19. The Chronicler credits David with having thought out all the details of the building of the Temple and of its furniture; this is unhistorical. With the whole passage cf. Exodus 25.

1 Chronicles 28:12. by the spirit: better "in his mind"; ruach (lit. "spirit") has here the meaning which the heart (lb) ordinarily has in the OT, viz. the seat of the understanding (cf. Exodus 35:10). This use of ruach is late.

1 Chronicles 28:19. All this . . . from the hand of the Lord: it is probable that the LXX reflects a better reading here: according to it David gives "all this" in writing to Solomon by the hand of the Lord, i.e. by God's guidance.

1 Chronicles 28:20. David's address to Solomon, broken by 1 Chronicles 28:11-19, is taken up again here.