1 Chronicles 2 gives a family tree for Judah. The following chapter focuses in on the royal family of David. The overall structure is chiastic:
A. Sons born in Hebron.
B. List of six sons born in Hebron, with mothers.
C. He reigned in Hebron for seven years and six months.
C’. He reigned in Jerusalem for 33 years.
B’. List of four sons born of Bath-shua, and nine more whose mothers are not listed.
A’. All the sons of David.
Two things stand out. First, the entire list of Hebron sons are identified by reference to their mothers. Each of the six sons has a different mother, while the only mother listed for Jerusalem is Bath-shua (Bathsheba). There is a hint of the later prophetic image of Zion as a mother of children, as the sole mother of Israel.
Second, the numerology is significant in several ways. David has a half-Israel of sons (6) in Hebron, but has 13 sons in Jerusalem. Jerusalem is an Israel + 1, or an Israel with the full 13 tribes (2 Joseph tribes). The fact that the Jerusalem sons begin with son #7 suggests a sabbatical theme for the Jerusalem sons. David is enthroned in Hebron, but he enters his rest when he makes Jerusalem his capital, at the same time he brings the ark of the covenant into the city. David and Yahweh both enter Sabbath rest in Jerusalem.
Solomon is, importantly, the tenth son, the fourth of those born in Jerusalem. As tenth son, he matches the “tenth generation” theme already indicated in the first chapter of 1 Chronicles: Noah is ten generations from Adam, Abraham ten generations from Noah, each a “new Adam.” Solomon is only one generation from David, but he is the tenth son overall, a hint of the new-Adam theme. The fact that he is the fourth son links him with his ancestor Judah, who was the fourth son of Jacob but became the preeminent one. Solomon is a new Judah, the founder of the royal tribe of Israel.
Dear Reader,
Can I be direct with you?
War abroad. Socialists on the rise. AI upending human life. Endless uproar online. The modern attention economy doesn’t want readers — it wants users enslaved to the tyranny of the present.
First Things is the antidote: literary excellence, timeless truths, and a fixed point of reference in a culture that has lost its bearings.
But we can’t do it without readers like you.
Our goal: Raise $150,000 by November 1 to sustain First Things in the year ahead.
Your gift anchors readers in the permanent things.
Make your Fall Campaign gift now using the button below.
If you have any questions or would like more information, please contact Giovanni Del Piero, Director of the Editor’s Circle, at gdelpiero@firstthings.com or 212-627-1985.
The Church in the Age of Therapy
In 1966, Philip Rieff wrote in The Triumph of the Therapeutic that “Religious man was born to…
Canada’s Deadliest Blind Spot
On September 20, the Daily Mail ran a story with the provocative headline, “Our 83-year-old Christian grandmother…
The Faithful Joy of Dolly Parton and Fulton Sheen
Dolly Parton and Fulton Sheen seem to have had little in common. She favored rhinestones; he wore…