Worthy of note are the references to other sources given
here by the Chronicler. The Chronicler credits three documents that do not now
exist: the “history of the prophet Nathan,” the “prophecy of Ahijah the
Shilonite,” and the “visions of the seer Iddo concerning Jeroboam son of
Nebat.” All three are significant. Nathan was the court prophet to David; it
was through his intrigues in 1 Kings 1 that Solomon achieved the throne rather
than his brother Adonijah. Ahijah the Shilonite is the prophet in 1 Kings 11:26–40
who encourages Jeroboam, then an officer in Solomon’s forced labor operations,
to revolt against the king. Iddo, identified here as a “seer” but perhaps also
a prophetic figure, is unknown outside of Chronicles. However, the Chronicler
identifies the content of his visions as “concerning Jeroboam son of Nebat”;
that is, having to do with the Jeroboam revolt that led to the separation of
the northern and southern kingdoms. By mentioning these names, the Chronicler
signals his awareness that his account of Solomon’s reign has not told the
whole story. As in his presentation of David, the Chronicler has narrowed his
focus to Solomon’s central act and its ramifications. For the Chronicler,
Solomon reigns in fulfillment of God’s promise to David and so that Solomon
might build the Temple in obedience to the law. As both a means of enabling
that obedience and a reward of it, Solomon receives great wisdom, vast wealth,
and overwhelming international prestige.
The story of 2 Chronicles 1–9, then, is the story of the
Temple. The Chronicler understands the attention and care lavished upon it by
David, then Solomon, and finally all Israel, as the appropriate expression of
faith in God and gratitude for God’s goodness.
The Chronicler’s message, of course, is not antiquarian
but contemporary for his own people. He wants to build in postexilic Israel the
same loyalty and adoration for the reconstructed Temple that now sits on the
site of the former, grander Temple of Solomon. His account of Solomon’s Temple
is thus more theological than architectural: It is the expression of God’s
intent as told to Moses regarding the place where God is to be worshiped. The
Chronicler has adhered to the vision of the tabernacle in Exodus, Leviticus,
and Numbers, writing that vision into stone and precious metal here. Solomon’s
Temple in the Chronicler’s eyes is more rooted in Israel’s theological memory
than in its physical memory. (Paul K. Hooker, First and Second Chronicles
[Louisville, Ky.: Westminster John Knox Press, 2001], 158–159)
To Support this Blog: