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.

        These notes (which are not necessary in the genealogical lists) emphasize, first and foremost, the importance of Jerusalem’s Temple in the eyes of the author. The notes stress also the Chronicler’s special attitude towards the Temple builder, Solomon (subjects that are well stated in the narrative section of his writing). Nevertheless, since the fact that King Solomon built the Temple in Jerusalem is a well-known case, it is unnecessary to mention it repeatedly (5,36; 6,17). The Chronicler chose to do so twice in a short paragraph, probably on purpose in order to highlight the holiness as well as the significance of his own small town of Jerusalem. As already stated above concerning 1 Chr 3, it should be kept in mind once again that just shortly prior to the Chronicler’s time, Nehemiah made extraordinary efforts to re-populate Jerusalem (see below, the next section).

III. The Inhabitants of Jerusalem

        The Chronicler deals with Jerusalem also in the last chapter of this part of his work (1 Chr 9) regarding the families who moved to the town. The first section of the list (verses 2-17) is a parallel to Neh 11,3-19. Though there are several differences between the texts¹³, they are not two versions of a common Vorlage (J. Goettsberger)¹⁴, nor are the texts based on two different, independent, archival sources (M. Noth, H. Schneider, J.M. Meyers)¹⁵, nor are they "various genealogical lists... present in the archives; each author made use of it in his own way" (F.C. Fensham)¹⁶. It is also not the case that the author of the list in Nehemiah took it from Chronicles as assumed by G. Hölscher¹⁷. By contrast, it seems that the list in Chronicles depends on Nehemiah¹⁸, and on an additional list (verses 18-34), which has no parallel to any other known source¹⁹.