Isaac Kalimi, «The View of Jerusalem in the Ethnographical Introduction of Chronicles (1 Chr 1–9)», Vol. 83 (2002) 556-562

All the appearances of Jerusalem in the ethnographical prologue of Chronicles are prior to David’s capture of it. Equally, the mentioning of the Jerusalem Temple is prior to its building by Solomon. These appearances are early allusions to the importance of the city and its functions in the narrative sections of the book. The Chronicler stresses that all the chosen dynasty’s kings were born in Jerusalem. The repetitive mentioning that the Temple was constructed in Jerusalem may be intended to point out the exclusive holiness of the Chronicler’s own Jerusalem. The list of Jerusalem’s residents relies on those in Nehemiah and on an additional one that has no parallel in other sources. This list is used as a climax of the entire section (1 Chr 1-9). According to the Chronicler all the Israelites settled in Jerusalem freely, and the city was used as a center for the entire nation during the whole kingdom era.

in Hebron, no one had been chosen to inherit David’s throne. Solomon, who was born in Jerusalem, had been chosen to be king over all Israel.

        Though according to the book of Samuel, Solomon was the only surviving son of David’s beloved wife, Bath-Sheba, while the first one died shortly after his birth (2 Sam 12,13b-25), the Chronicler invented, most probably, a list of four sons born to her⁴, all of them in Jerusalem. The list is formed according to the literary-numerical pattern of ‘three-four’, and Solomon is located in the final — and therefore also the essential — place. It means, that the three older sons of Bath-Sheba are disqualified for kingship, while Solomon, the fourth one and the youngest, is chosen to be king of Israel⁵, and accordingly also to build the House of the Lord in Jerusalem (1 Chr 22,9-11; 28,4-7)⁶. Thus, the Chronicler glorifies Solomon as the one who was born in the proper place and was the best among all his brethren.

        The Chronicler introduces the fact that the whole Davidic dynasty was established in Jerusalem, that is, Solomon of the united kingdom of Judah and Israel as well as twenty kings of Judah had the privilege to be born in the God’s chosen Temple city, to reign and be buried in it (1 Chr 3,10-18). Moreover, Jerusalem housed the Davidic descendants not only in the whole monarchic period but also in the post-exilic period (1 Chr 3,19-24) ⁷. In other words, the Chronicler describes Jerusalem as the place David’s sons lived in, almost uninterruptedly, since the capture of the city by David until, presumably, the Chronicler’s own time in the Persian period⁸.

        The Chronicler listed David’s sons twice in his book: once here in chapter 3, and another time in the original context of the list in 1 Chr 14,4-7 that