1 Chronicles 22 in Hebrew & English

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Tenakh Study · Read 1 Chronicles in Hebrew and English, one chapter per page. Our Tenakh study meets every Wednesday at 7 pm (Central Time) on Zoom. Text us for the Zoom link. Our Messianic Jewish notes appear below each passage; tap Commentary above to hide them. The full commentary on this chapter is on our 1 Chronicles commentary page.

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Tenakh Study · 1 Chronicles 22:1–19

1 Chronicles, Chapter 22

דברי הימים א כב

David names the place of the house of Hashem and gathers stone, iron, bronze, cedar, gold and silver for it, then charges his son Shlomo to build it, since he himself had shed much blood, and commands the princes of Israel to help Shlomo.

22:1Then David said, “This is the house of Hashem God, and this is the altar of the burnt offering for Israel.”

אוַיֹּ֣אמֶר דָּוִ֔יד זֶ֣ה ה֔וּא בֵּ֖ית יְהוָ֣ה הָאֱלֹהִ֑ים וְזֶה־מִּזְבֵּ֥חַ לְעֹלָ֖ה לְיִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃

Commentary · 22:1

“This is the house of Hashem God”

Chapter 21 ended with fire from heaven on the threshing floor of Ornan, and chapter 22 opens with David saying what the fire meant: “This is the house of Hashem God, and this is the altar of the burnt offering for Israel.” Our notes on chapter 21 read this verse as the climax of the threshing-floor story: Ya’akov’s word house (Genesis 28:17), the sages’ chain from Adam to Avraham to David on this one spot, and Rambam’s ruling that the holiness of the place never departed.

We add one thing. The verse names not only the house but the altar, and the altar is “for Israel”: a Gentile’s threshing floor, bought by a king, becomes the one place where the whole nation is atoned for. Zeh hu, “this is it.” Everything that follows is about this ground.

Read more in the full commentary →

David prepares materials

22:2And David commanded to gather together the strangers that were in the land of Israel; and he set masons to hew wrought stones to build the house of God.

בוַיֹּ֣אמֶר דָּוִ֔יד לִכְנוֹס֙ אֶת־הַגֵּרִ֔ים אֲשֶׁ֖ר בְּאֶ֣רֶץ יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל וַיַּעֲמֵ֣ד חֹֽצְבִ֗ים לַחְצוֹב֙ אַבְנֵ֣י גָזִ֔ית לִבְנ֖וֹת בֵּ֥ית הָאֱלֹהִֽים׃

22:3And David prepared iron in abundance for the nails for the doors of the gates, and for the joinings; and bronze in abundance without weight;

גוּבַרְזֶ֣ל ׀ לָ֠רֹב לַֽמִּסְמְרִ֞ים לְדַלְת֧וֹת הַשְּׁעָרִ֛ים וְלַֽמְחַבְּר֖וֹת הֵכִ֣ין דָּוִ֑יד וּנְחֹ֥שֶׁת לָרֹ֖ב אֵ֥ין מִשְׁקָֽל׃

22:4Also cedar trees in abundance: for the Tzidonim (Zidonians) and they of Tzor (Tyre) brought much cedar wood to David.

דוַעֲצֵ֥י אֲרָזִ֖ים לְאֵ֣ין מִסְפָּ֑ר כִּֽי הֵ֠בִיאוּ הַצִּֽידֹנִ֨ים וְהַצֹּרִ֜ים עֲצֵ֧י אֲרָזִ֛ים לָרֹ֖ב לְדָוִֽיד׃

22:5And David said, “Shlomo (Solomon) my son is young and tender, and the house that is to be builded for Hashem must be exceeding magnifical, of fame and of glory throughout all countries: I will therefore now make preparation for it.” So David prepared abundantly before his death.

הוַיֹּ֣אמֶר דָּוִ֗יד שְׁלֹמֹ֣ה בְנִי֮ נַ֣עַר וָרָךְ֒ וְהַבַּ֜יִת לִבְנ֣וֹת לַיהוָ֗ה לְהַגְדִּ֨יל ׀ לְמַ֜עְלָה לְשֵׁ֤ם וּלְתִפְאֶ֨רֶת֙ לְכָל־הָ֣אֲרָצ֔וֹת אָכִ֥ינָה נָּ֖א ל֑וֹ וַיָּ֧כֶן דָּוִ֛יד לָרֹ֖ב לִפְנֵ֥י מוֹתֽוֹ׃

Commentary · 22:2–5

Stone, iron, bronze and cedar

The first workers on the Temple are גֵּרִים (gerim), “strangers” (22:2). These were the non-Israelites living under Israel’s rule, not converts; the Talmud notes that converts were not accepted in the days of David and Shlomo, when no one could be sure they came for Heaven’s sake rather than for the king’s table (Yevamot 24b). Isaiah saw a sign of the end of days in it: “mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people” (Isaiah 56:7). The stranger who swings a hammer on the Temple stones is the first draft of the stranger who prays in the finished house.

The masons cut hewn stone for the house, but the Torah forbids a tool on the altar (Exodus 20:25). The Mishnah explains: “iron was created to shorten the days of man, and the altar was created to lengthen the days of man” (Middot 3:4). So David prepares iron for nails and joinings, and leaves the altar to the laws of peace. The metal of his wars becomes the nails of the house of peace.

Hebrew lesson: נַעַר וָרָךְ (na’ar va-rach), “young and tender.” On the day Avner died David called himself rach, anointed but without strength (2 Samuel 3:39). Now he uses the word for his son, by the sages’ reckoning about twelve (Seder Olam Rabbah 14). A boy cannot plan a house “of fame and of glory throughout all countries,” so the father plans and leaves the boy to build.

Read more in the full commentary →

David charges Shlomo

22:6Then he called for Shlomo his son, and charged him to build a house for Hashem God of Israel.

ווַיִּקְרָ֖א לִשְׁלֹמֹ֣ה בְנ֑וֹ וַיְצַוֵּ֨הוּ֙ לִבְנ֣וֹת בַּ֔יִת לַיהוָ֖ה אֱלֹהֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃

22:7And David said to Shlomo, “My son, as for me, it was in my mind to build a house unto the name of Hashem my God:

זוַיֹּ֥אמֶר דָּוִ֖יד לִשְׁלֹמֹ֑ה בְּנִ֕י (כתיב בנו) אֲנִי֙ הָיָ֣ה עִם־לְבָבִ֔י לִבְנ֣וֹת בַּ֔יִת לְשֵׁ֖ם יְהוָ֥ה אֱלֹהָֽי׃

22:8But the word of Hashem came to me, saying, ‘You have shed blood abundantly, and have made great wars: you shall not build a house unto My name, because you have shed much blood upon the earth in My sight.

חוַיְהִ֨י עָלַ֤י דְּבַר־יְהוָה֙ לֵאמֹ֔ר דָּ֤ם לָרֹב֙ שָׁפַ֔כְתָּ וּמִלְחָמ֥וֹת גְּדֹל֖וֹת עָשִׂ֑יתָ לֹֽא־תִבְנֶ֥ה בַ֨יִת֙ לִשְׁמִ֔י כִּ֚י דָּמִ֣ים רַבִּ֔ים שָׁפַ֥כְתָּ אַ֖רְצָה לְפָנָֽי׃

22:9Behold, a son shall be born to you, who shall be a man of rest; and I will give him rest from all his enemies round about: for his name shall be Shlomo, and I will give peace and quietness unto Israel in his days.

טהִנֵּה־בֵ֞ן נוֹלָ֣ד לָ֗ךְ ה֤וּא יִהְיֶה֙ אִ֣ישׁ מְנוּחָ֔ה וַהֲנִח֥וֹתִי ל֛וֹ מִכָּל־אוֹיְבָ֖יו מִסָּבִ֑יב כִּ֤י שְׁלֹמֹה֙ יִהְיֶ֣ה שְׁמ֔וֹ וְשָׁל֥וֹם וָשֶׁ֛קֶט אֶתֵּ֥ן עַל־יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל בְּיָמָֽיו׃

22:10He shall build a house for My name; and he shall be My son, and I will be his father; and I will establish the throne of his kingdom over Israel for ever.’

יהֽוּא־יִבְנֶ֥ה בַ֨יִת֙ לִשְׁמִ֔י וְהוּא֙ יִהְיֶה־לִּ֣י לְבֵ֔ן וַאֲנִי־ל֖וֹ לְאָ֑ב וַהֲכִ֨ינוֹתִ֜י כִּסֵּ֧א מַלְכוּת֛וֹ עַל־יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל עַד־עוֹלָֽם׃

Commentary · 22:6–10

“You have shed blood abundantly… his name shall be Shlomo”

Here David tells us why he did not build; Kings speaks only of “the wars which were about him” (1 Kings 5:3). The wars were commanded, so what was the fault? The Midrash has David ask exactly that, and Hashem answers that all the blood David shed was before Him like the blood of deer and gazelles, which the Torah permits; and still, “you shall not build” (Midrash Tehillim 62). The point is not guilt but fitness. A house whose whole purpose is atonement and peace is not to be raised by hands famous for the sword, even a righteous sword. Radak adds that among so much bloodshed there may also have been innocent blood, as David confessed over the priests of Nov (1 Samuel 22:22).

Hebrew lesson: אִישׁ מְנוּחָה (ish menuchah), “a man of rest,” and שְׁלֹמֹה (Shlomo), from שָׁלוֹם (shalom), “peace.” The Torah tied the Temple to rest: “when he giveth you rest from all your enemies round about… then there shall be a place which Hashem your God shall choose” (Deuteronomy 12:10–11). David had rest for a season; Shlomo’s rest would be complete, so the house would be his.

Verse 10 is Natan’s promise in David’s own mouth, and the Chronicler leaves out the warning of 2 Samuel 7:14 about chastening. The promise stands alone: a son, a house, a throne forever. Hebrews opens with this line (Hebrews 1:5).

Messianic reading. The father fights, is refused as the builder, and gathers everything; the son of peace builds. Yeshua came first in the pattern of Mashiach ben Yosef, refused by the builders. He will come again in the pattern of Mashiach ben David, in whose days the house will stand: the Branch who “shall build the temple of Hashem” (Zechariah 6:12). David preparing is where we live; Shlomo building is what we wait for.

Read more in the full commentary →

22:11Now, my son, Hashem be with you; and prosper, and build the house of Hashem your God, as He has said of you.

יאעַתָּ֣ה בְנִ֔י יְהִ֥י יְהוָ֖ה עִמָּ֑ךְ וְהִצְלַחְתָּ֗ וּבָנִ֨יתָ֙ בֵּ֚ית יְהוָ֣ה אֱלֹהֶ֔יךָ כַּאֲשֶׁ֖ר דִּבֶּ֥ר עָלֶֽיךָ׃

22:12Only Hashem give you wisdom and understanding, and give you charge concerning Israel, that you may keep the Torah of Hashem your God.

יבאַ֣ךְ יִֽתֶּן־לְּךָ֤ יְהוָה֙ שֵׂ֣כֶל וּבִינָ֔ה וִֽיצַוְּךָ֖ עַל־יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל וְלִשְׁמ֕וֹר אֶת־תּוֹרַ֖ת יְהוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֶֽיךָ׃

22:13Then shall you prosper, if you take heed to fulfil the statutes and judgments which Hashem charged Moshe (Moses) with concerning Israel: be strong, and of good courage; dread not, nor be dismayed.

יגאָ֣ז תַּצְלִ֔יחַ אִם־תִּשְׁמ֗וֹר לַעֲשׂוֹת֙ אֶת־הַֽחֻקִּ֣ים וְאֶת־הַמִּשְׁפָּטִ֔ים אֲשֶׁ֨ר צִוָּ֧ה יְהוָ֛ה אֶת־מֹשֶׁ֖ה עַל־יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל חֲזַ֣ק וֶאֱמָ֔ץ אַל־תִּירָ֖א וְאַל־תֵּחָֽת׃

Commentary · 22:11–13

“Be strong, and of good courage”

David is quoting. “Be strong, and of good courage; dread not, nor be dismayed” is what Moshe and then Hashem said to Yehoshua (Deuteronomy 31:7–8; Joshua 1:6–9). Shlomo is a new Yehoshua, who completes what his master began and is told that success depends on the Torah. “This book of the Torah shall not depart out of thy mouth… for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous” (Joshua 1:8) becomes “then shall you prosper, if you take heed to fulfil the statutes and judgments which Hashem charged Moshe with” (22:13). Behind both stands the law of the king (Deuteronomy 17:18–20).

David does not say the building will make Shlomo great; he says keeping the Torah will make the building prosper. Jeremiah said so in the Temple’s gate (Jeremiah 7:4), and Yeshua in its courts (Matthew 21:13). Our Statement of Faith holds that the Torah is not replaced; David’s charge is the Torah-shaped foundation under the Temple itself.

Read more in the full commentary →

22:14Now, behold, in my trouble I have prepared for the house of Hashem a hundred thousand talents of gold, and a thousand thousand talents of silver; and of bronze and iron without weight; for it is in abundance: timber also and stone have I prepared; and you may add thereto.

ידוְהִנֵּ֨ה בְעָנְיִ֜י הֲכִינ֣וֹתִי לְבֵית־יְהוָ֗ה זָהָ֞ב כִּכָּרִ֤ים מֵֽאָה־אֶ֨לֶף֙ וְכֶ֗סֶף אֶ֤לֶף אֲלָפִים֙ כִּכָּרִ֔ים וְלַנְּחֹ֤שֶׁת וְלַבַּרְזֶל֙ אֵ֣ין מִשְׁקָ֔ל כִּ֥י לָרֹ֖ב הָיָ֑ה וְעֵצִ֤ים וַאֲבָנִים֙ הֲכִינ֔וֹתִי וַעֲלֵיהֶ֖ם תּוֹסִֽיף׃

22:15Moreover there are workmen with you in abundance, hewers and workers of stone and timber, and all manner of cunning men for every manner of work.

טווְעִמְּךָ֤ לָרֹב֙ עֹשֵׂ֣י מְלָאכָ֔ה חֹצְבִ֕ים וְחָרָשֵׁ֥י אֶ֖בֶן וָעֵ֑ץ וְכָל־חָכָ֖ם בְּכָל־מְלָאכָֽה׃

22:16Of the gold, the silver, and the bronze, and the iron, there is no number. Arise therefore, and be doing, and Hashem be with you.”

טזלַזָּהָ֥ב לַכֶּ֛סֶף וְלַנְּחֹ֥שֶׁת וְלַבַּרְזֶ֖ל אֵ֣ין מִסְפָּ֑ר ק֣וּם וַעֲשֵׂ֔ה וִיהִ֥י יְהוָ֖ה עִמָּֽךְ׃

Commentary · 22:14–16

“In my trouble I have prepared”

Hebrew lesson: בְעָנְיִי (ve’onyi), “in my affliction,” or “in my poverty.” Rashi reads it as poverty freely chosen: David denied himself and set aside for the house what he might have spent on his court. Other commentators allow “by my toil.” Either way the word is a confession, not a boast; the man who could have lived like a king lived like a steward. The commentators explain the enormous figures, a hundred thousand talents of gold and a thousand thousand talents of silver, as the spoils of David’s wars, dedicated to Hashem (18:11); the gift from his own estate comes in 29:4.

“Arise therefore, and be doing, and Hashem be with you” (22:16). קוּם וַעֲשֵׂה (kum va’aseh), “arise and do.” Everything has been prepared, and now the son has to move; grace does not cancel work, it makes work possible. And “you may add thereto” (22:14) is the father’s humility: the son’s generation will have its own gift to bring.

Read more in the full commentary →

A charge to the princes

22:17David also commanded all the princes of Israel to help Shlomo his son, saying,

יזוַיְצַ֤ו דָּוִיד֙ לְכָל־שָׂרֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל לַעְזֹ֖ר לִשְׁלֹמֹ֥ה בְנֽוֹ׃

22:18“Is not Hashem your God with you? and has He not given you rest on every side? for He has given the inhabitants of the land into my hand; and the land is subdued before Hashem, and before His people.

יחהֲלֹ֨א יְהוָ֤ה אֱלֹֽהֵיכֶם֙ עִמָּכֶ֔ם וְהֵנִ֥יחַ לָכֶ֖ם מִסָּבִ֑יב כִּ֣י ׀ נָתַ֣ן בְּיָדִ֗י אֵ֚ת יֹשְׁבֵ֣י הָאָ֔רֶץ וְנִכְבְּשָׁ֥ה הָאָ֛רֶץ לִפְנֵ֥י יְהוָ֖ה וְלִפְנֵ֥י עַמּֽוֹ׃

22:19Now set your heart and your soul to seek Hashem your God; arise therefore, and build the sanctuary of Hashem God, to bring the ark of the covenant of Hashem, and the holy vessels of God, into the house that is to be built to the name of Hashem.”

יטעַתָּ֗ה תְּנ֤וּ לְבַבְכֶם֙ וְנַפְשְׁכֶ֔ם לִדְר֖וֹשׁ לַיהוָ֣ה אֱלֹהֵיכֶ֑ם וְק֗וּמוּ וּבְנוּ֙ אֶת־מִקְדַּשׁ֙ יְהוָ֣ה הָֽאֱלֹהִ֔ים לְהָבִ֞יא אֶת־אֲר֣וֹן בְּרִית־יְהוָ֗ה וּכְלֵי֙ קֹ֣דֶשׁ הָֽאֱלֹהִ֔ים לַבַּ֖יִת הַנִּבְנֶ֥ה לְשֵׁם־יְהוָֽה׃

Commentary · 22:17–19

The charge to the princes

“The land is subdued before Hashem, and before His people” (22:18) is the language of the conquest (Numbers 32:22, 29). When Yehoshua achieved it, “the land was subdued before them,” Israel set up the Tabernacle at Shiloh (Joshua 18:1). David has finished Yehoshua’s work. The land is subdued a second time, and so, a second time, Hashem’s dwelling can be set up in it, now in stone.

Hebrew lesson: לִדְרוֹשׁ (lidrosh), “to seek.” “Now set your heart and your soul to seek Hashem your God” (22:19). This is the Chronicler’s favorite word for the right relationship with Hashem. Shaul died because he “inquired not of Hashem” (10:14, lo darash); David will tell Shlomo, “if you seek Him, He will be found of you” (28:9). The building is not the goal; the seeking is, and the building houses it. Its purpose is to bring in the ark: “Arise, O Hashem, into thy rest; thou, and the ark of thy strength” (Psalm 132:8).

Read more in the full commentary →

Sources & method

Hebrew text: The Masoretic text with vowels (nikkud) and cantillation marks (ta’amim), from the Westminster Leningrad Codex (public domain) as published by the Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible (CC BY 4.0). Where the written text (ketiv) differs from the reading (qere), the reading is shown and the written form follows in small type. A paragraph mark (ס or פ) inside a verse is shown in small type.
English translation: The King James Version (public domain), lightly modernized by Benei Avraham: “thee/thou/ye” become “you,” older verb forms are updated (“hath” to “has”), and archaic words are replaced only where the meaning would otherwise be unclear. People and places carry their Hebrew names, with the King James spelling in parentheses the first time on each page (e.g., Yehudah (Judah)). The Divine Name (יהוה, “the LORD” in the KJV) is written “Hashem”; “God” (Elohim) is unchanged, and “law” is “Torah” where the Hebrew is תּוֹרָה.
Verse numbers: Verse numbers follow the Hebrew Bible. In 1 Chronicles they differ from most English Bibles in chapters 5, 6 and 12; a note under the summary on those pages explains how.
Commentary: Written for our Wednesday Tenakh study from a Messianic Jewish perspective, in line with the Benei Avraham Statement of Faith. It reads the passage first in its Torah setting, then with the Sages, and then with the witness of the Brit Hadashah. Its sources include the Talmud and Midrash, Rashi, Radak, Rambam, the First Fruits of Zion End of Days lessons, and teachings of Rabbi Efraim Palvanov and Ariel Cohen Alloro. Numerical readings (gematria) are offered as hints, not proofs. The notes here are short versions of our full 1 Chronicles commentary, which is a draft for our teachers to review. They are shown by default; tap Commentary to hide them.
Quiz: Written by Benei Avraham for young readers (about 11 and up). Every answer is in the chapter on this page. Answers and scores are kept only in this browser (local storage) and can be cleared with Start over.
Hebrew font: SBL Hebrew, by the Society of Biblical Literature.

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1 Chronicles 22 (Divrei HaYamim Alef) in Hebrew and English

1 Chronicles, Chapter 22

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