David, the First King: After the genealogical introduction in the previous chapters, the Chronicler’s history resumes with the golden age in Israel’s history, namely, the reign of David, followed by the reign of his son Solomon (described in 2 Chron. 1–9). It is clear from the literary construction that the writer’s focus is very much on this period. Not only do the histories of David and Solomon in total take up about a third of the length of the book, but they also show indications of careful selection of source materials and deliberate construction. This is intended to portray the reigns of David and Solomon as epitomizing the manifestation of royalty at its finest.

The time of David and Solomon in the preexilic history of Israel was, of course, the period of the united kingdom (ca. 1004…