1 Chronicles

Book summary

1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, and Nehemiah remind God’s people — who are returning from exile — of their ancestry and inspire them with a more positive view of history than the previous books tell.

1 Chronicles has the most complete genealogy in the Bible, from Adam through to the return from exile. The book then covers the reign of King David through to the end of his life, where he hands over his meticulously prepared plans for the temple to his son Solomon.

Chapters 1-9 — Genealogy from Adam to the restoration

Adam, Seth, Enosh,
Kenan, Mahalalel, Jared,
Enoch, Methuselah, Lamech, Noah.
The sons of Noah:
Shem, Ham and Japheth. (1 Chron. 1:1-4)

Chapters 10-29 — King David

Ch 10-12 — Transition from Saul to David

Ch 10 — Saul dies
  • Saul died because he was unfaithful to the Lord; he did not keep the word of the Lord and even consulted a medium for guidance, and did not inquire of the Lord. So the Lord put him to death and turned the kingdom over to David son of Jesse. (1 Chron. 10:13-14)

Ch 11:4-9 — King David conquers Jerusalem
  • David and all the Israelites marched to Jerusalem (that is, Jebus). The Jebusites who lived there said to David, “You will not get in here.” Nevertheless, David captured the fortress of Zion — which is the City of David. (1 Chron. 11:4-5)

Ch 11:10 to 12:40 — David’s mighty warriors
  • These were the chiefs of David’s mighty warriors — they, together with all Israel, gave his kingship strong support to extend it over the whole land, as the Lord had promised… (1 Chron. 11:10)

Ch 13-16 — David establishes his kingdom

Ch 14 — David defeats the Philistines
  • Now the Philistines had come and raided the Valley of Rephaim; so David inquired of God: “Shall I go and attack the Philistines? Will you deliver them into my hands?” The Lord answered him, “Go, I will deliver them into your hands.” (1 Chron. 14:9-10)

Ch 15-16 — The Ark brought to Jerusalem
  • So all Israel brought up the ark of the covenant of the Lord with shouts, with the sounding of rams’ horns and trumpets, and of cymbals, and the playing of lyres and harps. (1 Chron. 15:28)

Ch 17 — God’s covenant with David
  • The prophet Nathan receives the word of the Lord to give to David: ‘I declare to you that the Lord will build a house for you: When your days are over and you go to be with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, one of your own sons, and I will establish his kingdom. He is the one who will build a house for me, and I will establish his throne forever.’ (1 Chron 17:10-12)

Ch 18-20 — David’s military conquest
  • In the course of time, David defeated the Philistines and subdued them, and he took Gath and its surrounding villages from the control of the Philistines. David also defeated the Moabites, and they became subject to him and brought him tribute. Moreover, David defeated Hadadezer king of Zobah, in the vicinity of Hamath, when he went to set up his monument at the Euphrates River. (1 Chron 18:1-3)

Ch 21 — David’s sinful census

  • Satan rose up against Israel and incited David to take a census of Israel. So David said to Joab and the commanders of the troops, “Go and count the Israelites from Beersheba to Dan. Then report back to me so that I may know how many there are.” (1 Chron 21:1-2)

  • Then David said to God, “I have sinned greatly by doing this. Now, I beg you, take away the guilt of your servant. I have done a very foolish thing.” The Lord said to Gad, David’s seer, “Go and tell David, ‘This is what the Lord says: I am giving you three options. Choose one of them for me to carry out against you.’” (1 Chron. 21:8-10)

Ch 22-29 — David prepares for the temple

Ch 22 — Preparing to build the temple
  • Now devote your heart and soul to seeking the Lord your God. Begin to build the sanctuary of the Lord God, so that you may bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord and the sacred articles belonging to God into the temple that will be built for the Name of the Lord.” (1 Chron. 22:19)

Ch 23-26 — Preparing the Levites, priests and musicians
  • The Levites thirty years old or more were counted, and the total number of men was thirty-eight thousand. David said, “Of these, twenty-four thousand are to be in charge of the work of the temple of the Lord and six thousand are to be officials and judges. Four thousand are to be gatekeepers and four thousand are to praise the Lord with the musical instruments I have provided for that purpose.” (1 Chron 23:3-5)

Ch 27 — Organizing his army and the tribes
  • This is the list of the Israelites — heads of families, commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds, and their officers, who served the king in all that concerned the army divisions that were on duty month by month throughout the year. (1 Chron 27:1)

Ch 28-29 — David gives his temple plans to Solomon
  • Then David gave his son Solomon the plans for the portico of the temple, its buildings, its storerooms, its upper parts, its inner rooms and the place of atonement. He gave him the plans of all that the Spirit had put in his mind for the courts of the temple of the Lord and all the surrounding rooms, for the treasuries of the temple of God and for the treasuries for the dedicated things. He gave him instructions for the divisions of the priests and Levites, and for all the work of serving in the temple of the Lord, as well as for all the articles to be used in its service. (1 Chron 28:11-13)

  • He died at a good old age, having enjoyed long life, wealth and honor. His son Solomon succeeded him as king. (1 Chron. 29:28)