Today, I am reading and commenting on  1 Chronicles 10-12.

As I understand the intentions of those who compiled this book, everything up until this point was to set the stage for the history they now begin telling.  Even their account of the death of King Saul and his sons was intended more to set the stage for David’s kingship than to relate events.  That does not mean that the account of Saul’s death is inaccurate, just that the writer glossed over details in order to get to the “important stuff”.  Even when describing the warriors who followed David, the writer counts on the reader being familiar with the story of David’s life from other sources.  I mentioned yesterday how the compiler of this account intended to show how a particular ethnic group was entitled to rule over the land of Israel.  Well, today’s passage suggests that to be a somewhat oversimplified explanation of their motives.  I find it interesting that, in today’s passage, they make it clear that David only came to rule over Israel because he had successfully inspired men from many backgrounds and nations to follow his leadership.  The account tells us how the men who followed David were extraordinary warriors who were willing to take great risks to serve David.  So, the first part of David’s success came from his ability to gain the loyalty of many great men.  The second part, which is not as clearly spelled out, came from his ability to inspire them to do even greater things in service to him.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.