VII

THE TWO HISTORIES

T

HE two books of Samuel are one book, divided

in the middle for convenience. In ancient times books were written on long strips of papyrus. These were rolled on sticks. When the strip could not all be rolled around one stick without making it too bulky for easy handling and reading, it was cut and the remainder was made into another roll. The word "volume," which means a roll, is derived from this arrangement. Thus Samuel was made into two rolls, or volumes. The same was done with the two books of Kings, where the division comes in the midst of the account of the reign of Ahaziah. In the Septuagint these four books,-I and II Samuel and I and II Kings,―appear as the four volumes in one history.

The two books of Chronicles were divided, like Samuel and Kings, for convenience in reading. Ezra and Nehemiah, which follow them, appear in the Hebrew Bible as one book. The repetition of the last two verses of II Chronicles to make the first two verses of Ezra joins these books together. The four books,— I and II Chronicles, Ezra and Nehemiah,-are four volumes of one history.

After nine chapters of genealogical tables, and a tenth which records the defeat and death of Saul, the second history begins with the taking of Jerusalem by David. He made the place his capital, and "built the city round about." This event appears in the fifth chapter of II Samuel. Starting thus together at the building of Jerusalem, the two histories proceed side by side till the first history ends with the destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, in 586; the second history includes the restoration of Jerusalem under Artaxerxes, king of Persia, in 445.

These cardinal dates do not definitely determine when these two histories were written. In the days when books were multiplied by the process of writing them out with pen and ink, the copyists sometimes served as editors also, and made notes in the margin or in the text according to their later knowledge. It is the opinion of good scholars that the chapters which describe the fall of Jerusalem were added to the first history, which would thus be dated about 600. It is also the opinion of good scholars that the second history, which includes the name of Jaddua, who was high priest when Alexander invaded Palestine and took Jerusalem in 332, and which often speaks of Cyrus, Darius and Artaxerxes as kings "of Persia," as if the Persian rule had long since given place to that of the Greeks, is thereby dated about 300, or later. The reckoning is important in that it separates the time of writing of the second history from the time of writing of the first by a space of three centuries.

I

The two histories are singularly alike. In chapter after chapter, the second repeats the first, word for word. Thus at the place where the parallel begins, the first history reads:—

Then came all the tribes of Israel to David unto Hebron, and spake, saying:-"Behold, we are thy bone and thy flesh. Also in time past, when Saul was king over us, thou wast he that leddest out and broughtest in Israel: and the Lord said to thee, Thou shalt feed my people Israel, and thou shalt be a captain over Israel." So all the elders of Israel came to the king to Hebron; and king David made a league with them in Hebron before the Lord and they anointed David king over Israel.

David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years. In Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and six months: and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty and three years over all Israel and Judah. And the king and his men went to Jerusalem unto the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land: which spake unto David, saying:-"Except thou take away the blind and the lame, thou shalt not come in hither;" thinking, David cannot come in hither. Nevertheless David took the strong hold of Zion: the same is the city of David. And David said on that day:-"Whosoever smiteth the Jebusites, let him get up to the watercourse, and as for the lame and the blind that are hated of David's soul—” Wherefore they said:-"The blind and the lame shall not come into the house." So David dwelt in the fort, and called it the city of David. And David built round about from Millo and inward. And David went on, and grew great, and the Lord God of hosts was with him. (II Sam. 5:3-10.)

The second history reads

Then all Israel gathered themselves to David unto Hebron, saying:-"Behold, we are thy bone and thy flesh. And moreover in time past, even when Saul was king, thou wast he that leddest out and broughtest in Israel: and the Lord thy God said unto thee, Thou shalt feed my people Israel, and thou shalt be ruler over my people Israel." Therefore came all the elders of Israel to the king to Hebron; and David made a covenant with them in Hebron before the Lord; and they anointed David king over Israel, according to the word of the Lord by Samuel.

And David and all Israel went to Jerusalem, which is Jebus; where the Jebusites were, the inhabitants of the land. And the inhabitants of Jebus said to David:"Thou shalt not come hither." Nevertheless David took the castle of Zion, which is the city of David. And David said: "Whosoever smiteth the Jebusites first shall be chief and captain." So Joab the son of Zeruiah went first up, and was chief. And David dwelt in the castle; therefore they called it the city of David. And he built the city round about, even from Millo round about: and Joab repaired the rest of the city. So David waxed greater and greater: for the Lord of hosts was with him. (I Chron. 11:3-9.)

Here the second history inserts a list of David's mighty men, with an account of their chief exploits, but this is taken from the first history later on, where it occurs in an appendix to II Samuel (23:8f). A following chapter adds new names and adventures of David's heroes, and gives the numbers of the fighting men who assembled to make David king,-more than three hundred thousand. The first history (II Sam. 6:1) had known of only thirty thousand. The second history then follows the first again, giving an account of the

tragedy of Uzza, who put out his hand to keep the ark from falling, recounting David's dealings with Hiram, king of Tyre, giving the names of David's children, and describing a decisive victory gained by David over the Philistines,-the words the same, but the order a little changed. Then says the first history:

And it was told king David, saying:-"The Lord hath blessed the house of Obed-edom, and all that pertaineth unto him, because of the ark of God." So David went and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obededom into the city of David with gladness. And it was so, that when they that bare the ark of the Lord had gone six paces, he sacrificed an ox and a fatling. And David danced before the Lord with all his might; and David was girded with a linen ephod. So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the Lord with shouting, and with the sound of the trumpet.

But this the second history enlarges, with names of priests and singers:

And David made him houses in the city of David, and prepared a place for the ark of God, and pitched for it a tent. Then David said :-"None ought to carry the ark of God but the Levites: for them hath the Lord chosen to carry the ark of God, and to minister unto him for ever." And David gathered all Israel together to Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the Lord unto its place, which he had prepared for it. And David assembled the children of Aaron, and the Levites: of the sons of Kohath; Uriel the chief, and his brethren an hundred and twenty: of the sons of Merari; Asaiah the chief, and his brethren two hundred and twenty: of the sons of Gershom; Joel the chief, and his brethren an hundred and thirty of the sons of Elizaphan; Shemaiah the chief, and his brethren two hundred: of the sons of Hebron; Eliel the chief, and his brethren fourscore: of the sons of Uzziel; Ammina