The Tanakh Podcast

Chapter 20 re-narrates various military escapades of David and his warriors.We shall address two particular details:1. The royal crown of Ammon; why the Tanakh wants to tell us about it., and the legends that were told.2. Who killed Goliath? We shall see how Divrei Hayamim resolves a particularly thorny contradiction in the Book of Samuel.

Diplomatic insults, proxies, war cameraderie, war strategy. This chapter looks like current events!David sends an official delegation to console Hanun, King of Ammon, after the death of his father.Hannun uses this as an opportunity to shame David and ti declare war.David sends the army under Yoav's leadership.What we see next is a masterclass of how to function under testing circumstances. See the parallel chapter in 2 Samuel ch.10 and our podcast on that chapter. https://open.spotify.com/episode/2waGIgHXDfDGPiNfYCFK5d?si=6161b641a8e243ad

Today while the subject of the chapter is David's wars, we focus upon David's spiritual values:1. Not taking the masses of horses for war purposes - as instructed by the Torah2. Not amassing wealth but dedicating it to the Temple.3. Establishing a regime of Justice and Compassion. In this regard, King David is an unusual warlord.

In our chapter, David requests to build the Temple, a "house" for God.God defers the request. No David cannot build the House, says God, but "I will build YOU a house" - your son will succeed you and "He will build ME a house.Today we discuss this reciprocal relationship between the Divine and the Worldly, and we talk about the theology of Divrei Hayamim - that the Throne of David is the embodiment of God's sovereignty.See also our podcast on Shmuel Bet ch.7https://open.spotify.com/episode/0nRIHjRIXgJoiApSUPEWQV?si=4c252f35b52a42f9

David installs the Aron in Jerusalem. What type of worship will take place there? If we take our cue from Divrei Hayamim it is music, song! This is the first time that a fixed liturgy has been instituted to be recited daily. This prayer is actually in our daily siddur!

Chapter 15 depicts the (successful) procession of the Aron to Jerusalem. The account in Sefer Shmuel (Book of Samuel ch.6) is so passionate. Our chapter is so technical, filled as it is with names and roles of the Levitical families. Beyond Chronicles' seeming obsession with names, what drives our chapter differently to the narrative in Shmuel?

In this chapter, David discerns that God is with him, by means of foreign recognition of his rule, and by his victory over the Philistines.

David tries to bring the Ark to Jerusalem. But there is a tragedy which brings the celebratory national procession to an abrupt end.What is the place of this episode in the broader storyline of Sefer Divrei Hayamim?

Reading the details of this chapter we encounter some unique features of the tribes of Binyamin, Gad and Yissachar.

Divrei Hayamim is a master of rewriting history, and ch.11-12 is a masterpiece. On the backdrop of David's coronation in Hevron, Divrei Hayamim gives us the perfect unity of Israel, all rallied around David, Jerusalem - and all designated by God. In practice, history was far more messy, but there is a difference between history and collective memory.