The last words of David

Currents in Theology and Mission, Feb, 2004 by Ralph W. Klein

The fourth to ninth "last words of David" (in Chronicles)

Roughly two centuries after the completion of the Deuteronomistic History, the author of 1 and 2 Chronicles, known as the Chronicler, recorded his own versions of David's last words. The Chronicler sees the primary achievement of David and Solomon as the construction of the temple and the establishment of the types of clergy that were active in his day: priests, Levites, Levitical singers, and Levitical gatekeepers. He omitted from the accounts of these two kings their most serious flaws--no Bathsheba, Uriah, Amnon, Tamar, Absalom, Abishag, or Adonijah diminishes the reputation of David, and the searing indictment of Solomon's wives who led him into apostasy (1 Kings 11) is passed over in silence. The Chronicler includes none of the three farewell speeches of David from Samuel and Kings that we have been studying. Instead, in 1 Chronicles 22-29 the Chronicler presents a whole series of new farewell speeches of David, surveyed in the following paragraphs. (9)

The fourth "last words of David": 1 Chr 22:7-16

7. David said to Solomon, "My son, I had it in my heart to build a house for the name of Yahweh my God. 8. But the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, "You have shed much blood and you have carried out great wars. You shall not build a house for my name, for you have shed much blood on the ground before me. 9. See, a son shall be born for you. He will be a person of rest, and I will provide him rest from all his enemies round about, for Solomon will be his name, and peace and quietness I will give to Israel in his days. 10. He will build a house for my name, and he will be a son to me, and I will be a father to him. I will establish his royal throne over Israel forever.'

11. "Now, my son, may Yahweh be with you and may you succeed, and may you build the house of Yahweh your God just as he has spoken concerning you. 12. Only, may Yahweh give to you discretion and understanding--and may he commission you (as king) over Israel--to keep the law of Yahweh your God. 13. Then you will prosper if you are careful to do the statutes and the ordinances which Yahweh commanded Moses for Israel. Be strong and of good courage. Do not be afraid or dismayed. 14. See, with great effort I have provided for the house of Yahweh one hundred thousand talents of gold and one million talents of silver, and bronze and iron beyond weighing for they are so abundant; lumber and stone I have provided and you must add more to these. 15. With you is an abundance of workers: stone cutters, masons, carpenters, and all kinds of artisans, skilled in working 16. gold, silver, bronze, and iron--without number. Rise and get to work, and may Yahweh be with you." This first farewell speech of David in Chronicles (the fourth overall) is addressed to Solomon privately. Verses 7-10 look to the past and contain an oracle of Yahweh in vv. 8-10. They paraphrase the content of 1 Chronicles 17 // 2 Samuel 7, in which David's plans for building the temple are rejected, while he is promised a son, Solomon, who is designated as the temple builder. In chapter 22, David receives the divine oracle as if he were himself a prophet (cf. 2 Sam 23:1-3) whereas in 1 Chronicles 17 // 2 Samuel 7 the oracle came to him through the prophet Nathan. David was barred from building the temple, not because he was too busy with his wars, as in 1 Kgs 5:17-19 (EVV 3-5), but because he had shed much blood in his wars. The charge of shedding blood in this context may refer to the previous chapter where David's faulty census for military purposes led to the deaths of 70 thousand people. The transition from David to Solomon goes smoothly in Chronicles, with no other rivals among David's sons evident. Solomon is called a person of rest (v. 9), while David in v. 3 is called a person of wars. In 2 Sam 7:1, 11 David achieves "rest" for Israel, but in Chronicles such rest is only achieved by Solomon. The name Solomon is given by divine revelation (in contrast to 2 Sam 12:24, where David himself gives Solomon his name), and it is provided with an etymological etiology by connecting it to the Hebrew word shalom, or "peace." Verses 11-13 are an admonition about the future and seem to utilize a genre dealing with the induction of a leader into office or encouragement for a task, whose best parallel is in Josh 1:6-9. We note the formula of encouragement (Be strong and courageous), the description of the task to which the individual is inducted (temple building), and the formula of accompaniment: Yahweh is with you. As in 1 Kgs 2:2-4, discussed above, Solomon is promised prosperity if he is careful to do the statutes and ordinances of Yahweh. David's lavish provision of materials and workers for the temple in vv. 14-16 knows no bounds. The gold alone amounts to 3,365 tons, or, at $400 an ounce, more than $43 billion. Other material contributions are in similar amounts, and David urges Solomon to add more to these quantities! No doubt David's generosity toward the support of the temple is to serve as a model for the post-exilic community of the Chronicler's day.