1 Chronicles 29 explained: David's Last Gift and Prayer

David gives and invites (vv. 1-5)

David says young Solomon needs help because the temple is for God, not for a human ruler, so he adds his own private fortune to all he has already set aside, including gold from Ophir, a place famous for its fine gold. His closing question uses a Hebrew phrase, literally to fill the hand, that was used for ordaining priests; here it means bringing a voluntary gift.

The leaders give freely (vv. 6-9)

Clan heads, tribal officials, army commanders and royal managers follow his lead, and the gifts go to Jehiel, whose family looked after the temple treasury. The amounts are enormous, and many scholars think they were inflated or changed in copying, while the darics, a Persian coin from centuries later, suggest the writer used the money of his own day.

David's prayer of thanks (vv. 10-19)

David praises God as the owner of all things, in words echoed by the closing line Christians often add to the Lord's Prayer, and says the people have only given back what came from God's hand. Because human lives pass like a shadow, he asks God to keep the people this willing and to give Solomon a whole heart to obey and finish the building.

Worship and a new king (vv. 20-25)

The people bow low, as worship toward God and as respect toward the king, and the next day they offer huge sacrifices and share a joyful feast. Solomon is anointed king again, looking back to a rushed first anointing when his brother Adonijah tried to take the throne (1 Kings 1), and Zadok is anointed priest while everyone, including David's other sons, pledges loyalty to Solomon as ruler on God's behalf.

David's reign summed up (vv. 26-30)

David ruled forty years, seven from Hebron and thirty-three from Jerusalem, and died old, rich and honored. The writer points readers to records by Samuel, Nathan and Gad, and scholars are unsure whether these were separate writings now lost or parts of the books we now call Samuel.

Key verse: 1 Chronicles 29:14

Something to think about

When you give something away, does it feel more like giving up what is yours, or like passing on something that came to you in the first place?