I & II Chronicles (Holman Old Testament Commentary | HOTC)

Top Highlights

“In verses 26–28, we discover that the tribe of Levi, though committed to religious duties, did not see itself as above participation in David’s military conclave. The tribe of Benjamin had apparently been the last to hold out with support for David. At the last moment this tribe supplied a nominal represen-tation—though their three thousand men were less than half of what every other tribe had mustered, with the exception of Levi.” (Pages 96–97)

“In verses 50–53 the chronicler again cites a short list of high priests. This time, because he is slowly zeroing in on the time of David, he stops with Zadok and Ahimaaz, who were priests in David’s time.” (Page 58)

“The rule stipulated that there should be a ceremony in which each man would donate a token of a half shekel into the temple treasury, thereby signifying that he was not in a state of defilement, and only then should he be counted (Exod. 30:11–16). Furthermore, the penalty of not abiding by this procedure was clear: the people would bring a plague on themselves. David’s plan for his census did not include any of these provisions.” (Page 141)

“They were not idealistic supporters of David, let alone of Judah, but they knew that the time had come to join a federation that would be mutually advantageous to the entire nation. Both Zebulun and Dan, the two tribes left out of the genealogies, are mentioned with highest compliments in verses 33 and 35: to help David with undivided loyalty for one and ready for battle for the other.” (Page 97)

“Bezalel because he was the person in charge of producing all the various furnishings of the tabernacle in the wilderness. Chronicles does not put much emphasis on the tabernacle since it focuses on the temple built by Solomon, so Belazel does not get any further identification here. Nevertheless, many of Ezra’s readers would probably have recognized the name.” (Page 26)