Texts in Conversation
1 Chronicles 28 says the Temple plan is a “pattern” God gives to David which follows the Tabernacle pattern in Exodus. Samuel and Kings don't mention this pattern, so the Chronicler creates a direct link between David and Moses that earlier stories lack.
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Exodus 25:9
Hebrew Bible
8 Let them make for me a sanctuary, so that I may live among them. 9 According to all that I am showing you—the pattern of the tabernacle and the pattern of all its furnishings—you must make it exactly so. 10 “They are to make an ark of acacia wood—its length is to be 45 inches, its width 27 inches, and its height 27 inches. 11 You are to overlay it with pure gold—both inside and outside you must overlay it, and you are to make a surrounding border of gold over it.
Date: 5th Century B.C.E. (Final composition) (based on scholarly estimates)
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1 Chronicles 28:19
Hebrew Bible
17 for the pure gold used for the meat forks, bowls, and jars; for the small gold bowls, including the weight for each bowl; for the small silver bowls, including the weight for each bowl; 18 and for the refined gold of the incense altar.He gave him the blueprint for the seat of the gold cherubim that spread their wings and provide shelter for the ark of the Lord’s covenant. 19 David said, “All this I put in writing as the Lord directed me and gave me insight regarding the details of the blueprints.” 20 David said to his son Solomon: “Be strong and brave! Do it! Don’t be afraid and don’t panic! For the Lord God, my God, is with you. He will not leave you or abandon you before all the work for the service of the Lord’s temple is finished. 21 Here are the divisions of the priests and Levites who will perform all the service of God’s temple. All the willing and skilled men are ready to assist you in all the work and perform their service. The officials and all the people are ready to follow your instructions.”
Date: 4th Century B.C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... Like the Tabernacle in the wilderness, whose plans, dimensions, and vessels were dictated in detail by the Lord himself (Exodus 25–30), so too all the detailed plans of Solomon’s Temple and its vessels were delivered by the hand of the Lord to David who passed them on to Solomon, as previously mentioned (1 Chronicles 28:11–19). No such claim is made in Samuel-Kings, while the Chronicler uses the same word (“pattern”) for the plan of the Temple (1 Chronicles 28:11, 12, 18, 19) that is used in Exodus 25:9 (twice), and in 25:40, regarding the Tabernacle. This word refers specifically to the plan of the Tabernacle or the Temple only in these two contexts in the entire Hebrew Bible. Moreover, 2 Chronicles 2:13 and Exodus 31:4; 35:32, 33, 35 both use the same word (“design”) ..."
Kalimi, Isaac
Writing and Rewriting the Story of Solomon in Ancient Israel
(pp. 282-283) Cambridge University Press, 2019
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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