After a litany of genealogies, Chronicles retells the narrative of Samuel and Kings, with a few key differences. The Chronicler is focused on establishing a solid kingship - one not founded in the blood of Uriah the Hittite and the struggle for succession of Solomon. The Chronicler avoids these through clever editing, but still must contend with David's census.
The Chronicler glorifies David. With one apparent instance of wrongdoing during his entire reign, David serves as a model king, a king par excellence. His rise and rule flow smoothly, without the problems of adultery or a disloyal son to disrupt them. This extends even to the rise of Solomon, his son. The Chronicler delivers not a tale of intrigue - like the one in Kings - but rather a straightforward and uncontested transfer of power.
The Power of God
The Chronicler is very much concerned with the proper attribution of God's power and humankind's folly, and makes a point of inserting editorial opinions in a number of places. The first comes in Chronicles 10, following Saul's suicide:
So Saul died for his unfaithfulness; he was unfaithful to the Lord in that he did not keep the command of the Lord; moreover, he had consulted a medium, seeking guidance, and did not seek guidance from the Lord. Therefore the Lord put him to death and turned the kingdom over to David son of Jesse.Saul's wrongdoing gives us a clear framework for what a king should do and in fact stands in sharp contrast to what David, his succesor, does do. A king is to be faithful to the Lord, to keep his commands and seek his guidance. A king is to acknowledge, respect, and rely on the Lord's power in battle.
(1 Chronicles 10.13-14)
The Importance of David
David does all this. Or, rather, the Chronicler has David do all this by editing the source text that comprises Samuel and Kings to remove incidents that reflect negatively on the David's reign, such as the Bathsheba incident. David's lone sin in Chronicles is to misplace his trust in the Lord by taking a census of the people. This is considered apostasy because a census is tailored to count the men able to fight for Israel. A census would call into question the efficacy of God's holy power over war. It is not the earthly army that win's wars for Israel, but God's divine army. So why worry about the number of men you have to fight when the Lord ensures your victory anyway?
Even the sin of taking a census is mitigated somewhat by the Chronicler, who assigns the blame to a third character: Satan. David is incited by a supernatural force - and who would not be! This tactic also exonerates God of any wrongdoing. In 2 Samuel 24 God explicitly incites David to take the census in what might be a test of faithfulness like the one God gives to Abraham. This brings up the sticky question of why God would do this. The text of Samuel tells us he is angry with the people of Israel, but there is no textual material to back it up. David seems to do a fairly good job of ruling, and the people are not shown to act wickedly. God's actions therefore seem a bit peculiar. By attributing the temptation to Satan, the Chronicler exonerates God, somewhat exonerates David, and creates an entirely different sticky question: Who is this Satan character? That is a post for another day.
Fallout
The aftermath of God's rage against David - enacted, peculiarly, against Israel itself (or perhaps not peculiarly at all, when we consider that the cause of this in Samuel is God's anger against Israel) varies greatly from Samuel to Chronicles. The differences between the two tellings reveal each author's intention.
The Samuel story goes like this:
David realizes his wrongdoing. He confesses his sin to the Lord and asks that his built be removed. The word of the Lord, delivered through the prophet Gad, is thus that David has three options: three years of famine, three months of fleeing before Israel's enemies, and three days of pestilence in the land at the hand of the Lord. David responds, "I am in great distress; let us fall into the hand of the Lord, for his mercy is great; but let me not fall into human hands." The Lord sends pestilence and 70,000 die. The angel of the Lord nearly destroys Jerusalem before the Lord commands it to relent. David sees this angel of God standing by the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite and beseeches the Lord, "I alone have sinned, and I alone have done wickedly; but these sheep, what have they done? Let your hand, I pray, be against me and against my father's house." God instructs David to build an altar Araunah's threshing floor. David buys the man's floor and cattle, erects an altar, and makes sacrifices. These offerings cause the Lord to avert the plague from Israel.
The author of Samuel shows us a David whose thoughts seem to center on himself, yet whose "self-centeredness" can be expressed in a positive way." In the Samuel account, David clearly realizes that his decision affects all the kingdom: "Let us fall into the hand of the Lord, for his mercy is great." This is the ethically correct choice. However, a seemingly egocentric motive appears to follow: "Let me not fall into human hands. Later David will reverse this self-centered thinking for what would be the benefit of the Israelites: "I alone have sinned, and I alone have done wickedly; but these sheep, what have they done?" David then calls for action to be brought against him and his house, the true cause of the punishment. This reversal demonstrates that even though David has his shortcomings, overall he is still an excellent king.
The Chronicler:
The Chronicler, by contrast, has David thinking of himself the entire time - and rightly so, as he alone is the cause of the punishment. In fact, this has the effect of making David seem more righteous. David from this account acknowledges that he has done wrong and accepts total responsibility. Through careful editing, the Chronicler ensures that David is entirely:
David says to God, "I have sinned greatly in that I have done this thing. But now, I pray you, take away the guilt of your servant; for I have done very foolishly." God then offers, through the word of Gad, three options similar to those found in Samuel: three years of famine, three months of devastation by the foes of Israel, "or three days of the sword of the lord, pestilence on the land, and the angel of the Lord destroying throughout the territory of Israel." David's response? "I am in great distress; let me fall into the hand of the Lord, for his mercy is very great; but do not let me fall into human hands." The Chronicler has David entirely focused on his wrongdoing: he does not acknowledge even that his actions will affect Israel - though perhaps he doesn't want it to[?].
And in any case, it was all Satan's fault, right?
The Importance of Jerusalem
Jerusalem's importance to the Chronicler is evident in the description of David's purchase of Ornan's threshing floor for the construction of the altar (1 Chronicles 21.18-22.1). A parallel account is given in 2 Samuel 24.18-25 with the purchase of Araunah's threshing floor. The Samuel account has Araunah prostrate himself before David in a display of piety. Araunah then offers the threshing floor and oxen for free, so that David might make an offering. David, for his part, insists on paying. His supplication of the altar averts the plague.
The Chronicler tells a different story. Ornan (the parallel character to Araunah) sees the angel at his threshing floor, poised to destroy Jerusalem But the sight of a divine figure does not strike fear into him, as it does his sons, who hide. Ornan continues working until he sees David, and then goes before the king and does obeisance. The same transaction takes place, but Ornan receives six times the amount of gold as his contemporary in Samuel, which might be taken as a display of David's benevolence and/or Ornan's worthiness before the Lord. David makes a sacrifice of wellbeing, and Gods response exonerates David and proves the holiness of the site. God sends down fire to consume the burnt offering. The Lord commands the angel to sheath his sword. The place is then confirmed separate (that is, holy) by the lips of David: "Here shall be the house of the Lord God and here the altar of burnt offering for Israel." (1 Chronicles 22.1)
The tale of David given in Samuel ends here. but the Chronicler has a bit more to add in order to further glorify David.
The Temple
The king, unable to build the Lord's temple himself because of the blood he has caused to be shed, commissions his son Solomon to build the House of the Lord. Solomon will rule at a time when the Land is at rest from warfare - indeed, the Chronicler associates the words "rest" and "peace" very frequently with Solomon. A man whose reign has been characterized by international warfare, David now becomes a diplomat, arranging for the construction of the temple through the laborers of Israel and the materials of foreign lands.
The commissioning of Solomon takes part in two episodes. The first is a private conversation between David and his son. This passage touches on a number of binaries that are important in the biblical narrative: father/son, war/peace, experience/inexperience. The second episode consists of David's public oration to the people of Israel concerning the transfer of power and the temple's imminent construction [These two passages are separated by a litany of lists identifying Levitical genealogies and positions - the book is not referred to as "Chronicles" for nothing!]
Transition
David's reign comes to an end in three distinct parts:
- Praise of God (which also functions as a farewell speech)
- Transfer of power to Solomon
- The formulaic summary of David's reign
No comments:
Post a Comment