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

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

    From here to the end of 2 Chronicles this book (the evidence is that 1 and 2 Chronicles were written as one book and later divided, probably to facilitate making copies) mirrors the accounts recorded in 1 and 2 Kings. While there is overlap between these stories and those stories, the Chronicles tell some different stories, or information about the same stories not contained in the Books of Kings. As an example, of that the Books of Kings contained stories about the fighting men who followed David before and after he took the throne, but today’s passage contains some information not in those stories.

    Yesterday, I mentioned that it was curious that so many members of Saul’s clan lived in Jerusalem and suggested a couple of ideas about how that happened. In today’s passage, we are told that while David was in Ziklag under the protection of the King Achish of Gath (a Philistine), a group of warriors related to King Saul joined him there. So, while King Saul was pursuing David to kill him members of Saul’s clan went over to David’s side. In addition to these relatives of Saul, other members of Saul’s army deserted him and went to serve under David. Some even did so while David was preparing to march with the Philistine army against King Saul. Further it tells us that after Saul’s death, when David set up his capital in Hebron many warriors joined him desiring for him to become king over Israel. This suggests that one of the reasons that Abner, the commander of Saul’s army, and that of Saul’s son Ishbosheth, negotiated with David was because David’s forces were becoming progressively stronger. Basically, we are told that David did not become king over Israel by conquest. Rather he became king because the fighting men of Israel supported him as king.