Page:The Books of Chronicles (1916).djvu/232

168 Now David the son of Jesse reigned over all Israel. And the time that he reigned over Israel was forty years; seven years reigned he in Hebron, and thirty and three years reigned he in Jerusalem. And he died in a good old age, full of days, riches, and honour: and Solomon his son reigned in his stead. Now the acts of David the king, first and last, behold, they are written in the history of Samuel the seer, and in the history of Nathan the prophet, and in the history of Gad the seer; with all his reign and his might, and the times that went over him, and over Israel, and over all the kingdoms of the countries.

In Chronicles the character of Solomon is idealised somewhat in the same fashion as that of David. He is depicted as the monarch who attained the ideal of inspired wisdom and of royal splendour, and whose piety was supremely manifested in the privilege permitted him of building and dedicating the Temple. In this last fact the Chronicler doubtless felt that Solomon had a claim to the praises of posterity which completely outweighed any sinister traits of his character revealed in Kings. Elsewhere he refers to Solomon's failings in order to point a moral; "Did not Solomon, king of Israel, sin by these things? Even him did strange women cause to sin" (Neh. xiii. 26). But here, where he relates his reign as a whole, the darker aspects—his many wives and his tolerance of their idolatrous worship—are passed over and only the king's zeal for Jehovah and the glories of Israel in his day are allowed to appear.

26—30.&emsp;

27. forty years] Cp. 2 Sam. v. 4, 5; 1 Kin. ii. 11.

29. On the "histories" cited in this verse, see the Introduction, § 5, pp. xxx—xxxii. Cp. 2 Chr. ix. 29.

in the history] lit. words. The Book of Chronicles itself is called in Hebrew, The words (or the acts) of the days.

Samuel the seer] Cp. 1 Sam. ix. 9, 19.

Nathan the prophet] See 2 Sam. vii. 2 (= 1 Chr. xvii. 1; 2 Sam. xii. 1; 1 Kin. i. 8—39.

Gad the seer] See 2 Sam. xxiv. 11 (= 1 Chr. xxi. 9), Gad the prophet, David's seer.

In the Heb. Samuel is called rōeh (seer), Nathan, nābī (prophet), and Gad, ḥōzeh (gazer or seer of visions).

30. the times] i.e. the changes, vicissitudes. Cp. xii. 32, note.