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1 Chronicles 28

PARAGRAPH DIVISIONS OF MODERN TRANSLATIONS

READING CYCLE THREE (see "Bible Interpretation Seminar")

FOLLOWING THE ORIGINAL AUTHOR'S INTENT AT THE PARAGRAPH LEVEL

This is a study guide commentary, which means that you are responsible for your own interpretation of the Bible. Each of us must walk in the light we have. You, the Bible, and the Holy Spirit are priority in interpretation. You must not relinquish this to a commentator.

Read the chapter in one sitting. Identify the subjects. Compare your subject divisions with the five translations above. Paragraphing is not inspired, but it is the key to following the original author's intent, which is the heart of interpretation. Every paragraph has one and only one subject.

1. First paragraph
2. Second paragraph
3. Etc.

WORD AND PHRASE STUDY

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 28:1-8
  ¹Now David assembled at Jerusalem all the officials of Israel, the princes of the tribes, and the commanders of the divisions that served the king, and the commanders of thousands, and the commanders of hundreds, and the overseers of all the property and livestock belonging to the king and his sons, with the officials and the mighty men, even all the valiant men. ²Then King David rose to his feet and said, "Listen to me, my brethren and my people; I had intended to build a permanent home for the ark of the covenant of the Lord and for the footstool of our God. So I had made preparations to build it. ³But God said to me, 'You shall not build a house for My name because you are a man of war and have shed blood.' ⁴Yet, the Lord, the God of Israel, chose me from all the house of my father to be king over Israel forever. For He has chosen Judah to be a leader; and in the house of Judah, my father's house, and among the sons of my father He took pleasure in me to make me king over all Israel. ⁵Of all my sons (for the Lord has given me many sons), He has chosen my son Solomon to sit on the throne of the kingdom of the Lord over Israel. ⁶He said to me, 'Your son Solomon is the one who shall build My house and My courts; for I have chosen him to be a son to Me, and I will be a father to him. ⁷I will establish his kingdom forever if he resolutely performs My commandments and My ordinances, as is done now.' ⁸So now, in the sight of all Israel, the assembly of the Lord, and in the hearing of our God, observe and seek after all the commandments of the Lord your God so that you may possess the good land and bequeath it to your sons after you forever.

28:1 This verse lists the same leaders as chapter 27 (the assembling is mentioned in 1 Chr. 23:2):

1. tribal leaders
2. military leaders
3. stewards
4. two general terms
   1. all the officials of Israel
   2. the mighty men, even all the valiant men

Surprisingly the role of the priests and Levites is not emphasized here, as in other places in 1 Chronicles.

The MT has "eunuchs" (BDB 710). The term originally referred to castrated males who guarded and administrated the king's harem. Later it became the common designation for a royal attendant (i.e., Potiphar, who was married, Gen. 39:1 or Pharaoh's two servants in Gen. 40:2,7). For a good brief discussion see NIDOTTE, vol. 3, pp. 288-294.

28:2 "David rose to his feet" In the 1 King's parallel, David is old and in bed. He sent others to anoint Solomon (cf. 1 Kgs. 1:32-35). In many ways the Chronicler removes all the negative aspects of succession and idealizes David's involvement.

▣ "Listen to me" David addresses the covenant people (Qal IMPERATIVE).

1. my brethren
2. my people
3. all Israel, 1 Chr. 28:4,8
4. the assembly of the Lord, 1 Chr. 28:8

This imagery goes back to ancient promises.

1. Num. 10:33; 2 Chr. 6:41 ‒ a place for the ark to rest
2. Deut. 12:9; Ps. 95:11 ‒ the Promised Land
3. 1 Kgs. 8:56 ‒ Solomon's Temple as a place of rest for all nations (i.e., 1 Kgs. 8:43)
4. Isa. 11:10 ‒ eschatological hope for rest for Israel and the nations

David did not simply want a temple but the actuality of the ancient promises, not only for Abraham's seed but for the world.

This context is obviously a word play on

1. 2 Samuel 7; 1 Chronicles 17, "house"
2. Hebrews 3-4, "rest"

SPECIAL TOPIC: YHWH'S ETERNAL REDEMPTIVE PLAN

▣ "the ark of the covenant" See SPECIAL TOPIC: ARK OF THE COVENANT.

▣ "the footstool of God" See Special Topic above, I. A. (cf. Ps. 99:5; 132:7; Isa. 66;1; Lam. 2:1; Ezek. 43:7). The Mercy Seat was the place where heaven and earth met; the invisible and visible, the fallen, sinful, and sacred.

SPECIAL TOPIC: MERCY SEAT

▣ "I had made preparations to build it" David was not allowed to build the temple because he was a man of war (cf. 1 Chr. 28:8; 22:8).

David prepared

1. the plans (1 Chr. 28:11)
2. the precious metals
3. the timber
4. securing of artisans

28:3 "a house for My name" See SPECIAL TOPIC: "THE NAME" OF YHWH (OT).

28:4 "chose me" Notice the number of times God's choice is emphasized by this special theological VERB (BDB 103, KB 119).

1. God chose David, 1 Chr. 28:4 (cf. 2 Samuel 7)
2. God chose Judah, 1 Chr. 28:4 (cf. Gen. 49:10)
3. God chose Solomon to succeed David, 1 Chr. 28:5,6 (cf. 1 Kgs. 2:15; 1 Chr. 22:9,10)
4. God chose Solomon to build the temple, 1 Chr. 28:10

God has a wider theological agenda (cf. 1 Kings 8).

SPECIAL TOPIC: HE CHOSE US

SPECIAL TOPIC: YHWH'S ETERNAL REDEMPTIVE PLAN

▣ "forever" This word must be interpreted in context. Notice that this is a conditional covenant in 1 Chr. 28:7,8,9.

SPECIAL TOPIC: FOREVER ('olam)

SPECIAL TOPIC: COVENANT

▣ "over all Israel" This is a repeated theme in Chronicles.

28:5 "the kingdom of the Lord" YHWH was the true King of Israel, cf 1 Sam. 8:7; 10:19; 1 Chr. 29:23).

SPECIAL TOPIC: THE KINGDOM OF GOD

28:6-7 These are God's words to David regarding Solomon (cf. 1 Chr. 28:19).

28:6 "to be a son to Me" See SPECIAL TOPIC: THE SON OF GOD.

▣ "I will be a father to him" This phrase reflects 2 Sam. 7:14; 1 Chr. 17:13; 22:10; 28:6; Ps. 89:27; from Ps. 2:7 the imagery was used of theological adoption.

SPECIAL TOPIC: THE FATHERHOOD OF GOD

28:7 "if" This marks the conditional nature of God's promises (cf. 1 Chr. 28:8,9; 1 Kgs. 2:2-4).

The conditional nature of the covenant is the focus of 1 Chr. 28:7-9. This conditional aspect was certainly known by the post-exilic leaders.

1. Ezra 7:26; 9:10-15
2. Nehemiah 1:7-9; 9:33-37

Obedience was crucial to the Mosaic covenant (cf. Leviticus 26; Deuteronomy 27-30; Joshua 23:6-13; 1 Chr. 22:12-13). Thank God there is a new covenant based on God's performance (cf. Jer. 31:31-34; Ezek. 36:22-38; the NT). The OT focused on the temple but the NT focuses on the new temple (i.e., Jesus' own body, cf. John 2:21).

SPECIAL TOPIC: COVENANT

▣ "My commandments and My ordinances" See SPECIAL TOPIC: TERMS FOR GOD'S REVELATION.

28:8-10 David addresses several commands to Solomon.

1. observe (lit. keep) ‒ BDB 1036, KB 1581, Qal IMPERATIVE, 1 Chr. 28:8
2. seek ‒ BDB 205, KB 233, Qal IMPERATIVE; 1 Chr. 28:8
3. know ‒ BDB 393, KB 390, Qal IMPERATIVE, 1 Chr. 28:9
4. serve ‒ BDB 712, KB 773, Qal IMPERATIVE, 1 Chr. 28:9
5. consider now ‒ BDB 906, KB 1157, Qal IMPERATIVE, 1 Chr. 28:10
6. be courageous ‒ BDB 304, KB 302, Qal IMPERATIVE, 1 Chr. 28:10; cf. Deut. 31:7; Jos. 1:6,7,9,18; 1 Chr. 22:13
7. act ‒ BDB 793, 889, Qal IMPERATIVE, 1 Chr. 28:10

SPECIAL TOPIC: KEEP

SPECIAL TOPIC: KNOW

28:8 "forever" See note at 1 Chr. 28:4.

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 28:9-10
  ⁹"As for you, my son Solomon, know the God of your father, and serve Him with a whole heart and a willing mind; for the Lord searches all hearts, and understands every intent of the thoughts. If you seek Him, He will let you find Him; but if you forsake Him, He will reject you forever. ¹⁰Consider now, for the Lord has chosen you to build a house for the sanctuary; be courageous and act."

28:9 "with a whole heart and a willing mind" This is imagery of full and complete devotion and obedience (cf. Deut. 18:13; 1 Kgs. 8:61; 15:14; 2 Kgs. 20:3; 1 Chr. 29:9,17-19; Isa. 38:3). Solomon was this kind of faithful follower at first but in his old age his young non-Israelite wives turned his heart away from YHWH (cf. 1 Kings 11); also note 2 Chr. 19:9; 25:2,14.

▣ "the Lord searches all hearts, and understands every intent of the thoughts" This is imagery of God's sovereign knowledge of all things (cf. 1 Sam. 2:3; 16:7; 1 Kgs. 8:29; 2 Chr. 6:30; Ps. 7:9; 33:15; 44:21; 139:1-4; Pro. 15:11; 21:2; 24:12; Jer. 11:20; 17:9-10; 20:12; Luke 16:15; Acts 1:24; 15:8; Rom. 8:27). No one informs YHWH about anything!

▣ "If you seek Him, He will let you find Him" What a wonderful combination of free will and Divine sovereignty (cf. Deut. 4:29; 2 Chr. 7:14; 15:2,4,15; Jer. 29:13).

For the Chronicler "seek" (BDB 205, KB 233) is a way to denote faithful followers (cf. 1 Chr. 16:10-11; Zeph. 2:3; NIDOTTE, vol. 1, p. 997).

SPECIAL TOPIC: PREDESTINATION (CALVINISM) VS. HUMAN FREE WILL (ARMINIANISM)

SPECIAL TOPIC: ELECTION/PREDESTINATION AND THE NEED FOR A THEOLOGICAL BALANCE

▣ "but if you forsake Him, He will reject you forever" What a scary verse!

SPECIAL TOPIC: APOSTASY (aphistēmi)

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 28:11-18
  ¹¹Then David gave to his son Solomon the plan of the porch of the temple, its buildings, its storehouses, its upper rooms, its inner rooms and the room for the mercy seat; ¹²and the plan of all that he had in mind, for the courts of the house of the Lord, and for all the surrounding rooms, for the storehouses of the house of God and for the storehouses of the dedicated things; ¹³also for the divisions of the priests and the Levites and for all the work of the service of the house of the Lord and for all the utensils of service in the house of the Lord; ¹⁴for the golden utensils, the weight of gold for all utensils for every kind of service; for the silver utensils, the weight of silver for all utensils for every kind of service; ¹⁵and the weight of gold for the golden lampstands and their golden lamps, with the weight of each lampstand and its lamps; and the weight of silver for the silver lampstands, with the weight of each lampstand and its lamps according to the use of each lampstand; ¹⁶and the gold by weight for the tables of showbread, for each table; and silver for the silver tables; ¹⁷and the forks, the basins, and the pitchers of pure gold; and for the golden bowls with the weight for each bowl; and for the silver bowls with the weight for each bowl; ¹⁸and for the altar of incense refined gold by weight; and gold for the model of the chariot, even the cherubim that spread out their wings and covered the ark of the covenant of the Lord.

28:11 God had revealed a plan for the temple (i.e., stated specifically in the Vulgate [Latin] and Peshitta [Syriac] but not so in the MT [Hebrew]) to David (cf. 2 Chronicles 2-4), as He did the tabernacle to Moses (cf. Exod. 25:9).

It is surprising that the Jewish temple looked like temples of the same period (i.e., using Hiram's artisans). For a good brief discussion with pictures, see James M. Freeman, Manners and Customs of the Bible, pp. 151-155.

This word (BDB 170) is found only here in the OT. The basic root means "to hide," "to cover." It is very similar to "treasury" of Esther 3:9; 4:7.

▣ "mercy seat" See SPECIAL TOPIC: MERCY SEAT.

The AB, p. 190, suggests that ruah (BDB 924) is used exclusively by the Chronicler for God's Spirit (NKJV), not man's spirit (JPSOA, LXX).

These plans were YHWH's design (cf. 1 Chr. 28:19), not David's. This special revelation of the worship site also fits YHWH's instructions to Moses in Exod. 25:9,40; 26:30; 1 Kgs. 6:38; 2 Chr. 4:7; Acts 7:44; Heb. 8:2,5.

SPECIAL TOPIC: SPIRIT IN THE BIBLE

28:13 "the divisions of the priests and Levites" This is recorded in 1 Chronicles 24.

28:15 "lampstand" In Moses' tabernacle there was just one (cf. Exod. 25:31-40) in the Holy Place but Solomon (i.e., possibly David) expanded the number (cf 1 Kgs. 7:49; 2 Chr. 4:7).

SPECIAL TOPIC: LAMPSTAND

28:16 "showbread" The plans for the temple were on a grander scale than the tabernacle. It had one table of showbread but the temple had 10 (cf. 2 Chr. 4:8); the same thing for the one lampstand.

SPECIAL TOPIC: SHOW BREAD or BREAD OF THE PRESENCE

28:18 "the altar of incense" See SPECIAL TOPIC: THE ALTAR OF INCENSE.

As is obvious from the above translations, the Hebrew is ambiguous. It seems that the ark is called a "chariot," which fits Ezekiels' vision of Ezekiel 1:10, but not the ark as a throne (i.e., footstool) for YHWH. The NET Bible, p. 666, #22, suggests that the final letter of "chariot" should go with the following word, thereby spelling "seat," not "chariot."

▣ "the cherubim" There were two on the lid of the ark, but the temple had two large ones in the Holy of Holies (cf. 2 Chr. 3:10-13).

SPECIAL TOPIC: CHERUBIM

▣ "covered" This is a Qal PRESENT ACTIVE PARTICIPLE (BDB 696, KB, 754), which denotes shelter or protective covering (cf. Exod. 25:20; 37:9; 1 Kgs. 6:27; 8:7; 2 Chr. 3:13).

SPECIAL TOPIC: SHADOW AS A METAPHOR FOR PROTECTION AND CARE

▣ "the ark of the covenant" See SPECIAL TOPIC: ARK OF THE COVENANT.

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 28:19
  ¹⁹"All this," said David, "the Lord made me understand in writing by His hand upon me, all the details of this pattern."

28:19 This verse emphasizes inspiration.

SPECIAL TOPIC: INSPIRATION

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 28:20-21
  ²⁰Then David said to his son Solomon, "Be strong and courageous, and act; do not fear nor be dismayed, for the Lord God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you nor forsake you until all the work for the service of the house of the Lord is finished. ²¹Now behold, there are the divisions of the priests and the Levites for all the service of the house of God, and every willing man of any skill will be with you in all the work for all kinds of service. The officials also and all the people will be entirely at your command."

28:20 These commands are repeats of 1 Chr. 29:10 with two added JUSSIVES.

1. do not fear ‒ BDB 431, KB 432, Qal IMPERFECT used in a JUSSIVE sense
2. nor be dismayed ‒ BDB369, KB 365, Qal IMPERFECT used in a JUSSIVE sense

This reflects Moses' words to Joshua, Deut. 31:6; Jos. 1:9.

Solomon should act without fear because YHWH is with him and has promised not to forsake him (i.e., Deut. 31:6; Jos. 1:5). What a great word of encouragement!

28:21 David assures Solomon that he will have complete cooperation in building the temple.

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