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1 Chronicles 29

KJV · Chapter 29/29

1Furthermore David the king said unto all the congregation, Solomon my son, whom alone God hath chosen, is yet young and tender, and the work is great: for the palace is not for man, but for the Lord God.

2Now I have prepared with all my might for the house of my God the gold for things to be made of gold, and the silver for things of silver, and the brass for things of brass, the iron for things of iron, and wood for things of wood; onyx stones, and stones to be set, glistering stones, and of divers colours, and all manner of precious stones, and marble stones in abundance.

3Moreover, because I have set my affection to the house of my God, I have of mine own proper good, of gold and silver, which I have given to the house of my God, over and above all that I have prepared for the holy house,

4Even three thousand talents of gold, of the gold of Ophir, and seven thousand talents of refined silver, to overlay the walls of the houses withal:

5The gold for things of gold, and the silver for things of silver, and for all manner of work to be made by the hands of artificers. And who then is willing to consecrate his service this day unto the Lord?

6Then the chief of the fathers and princes of the tribes of Israel, and the captains of thousands and of hundreds, with the rulers of the king’s work, offered willingly,

7And gave for the service of the house of God of gold five thousand talents and ten thousand drams, and of silver ten thousand talents, and of brass eighteen thousand talents, and one hundred thousand talents of iron.

8And they with whom precious stones were found gave them to the treasure of the house of the Lord, by the hand of Jehiel the Gershonite.

9Then the people rejoiced, for that they offered willingly, because with perfect heart they offered willingly to the Lord: and David the king also rejoiced with great joy.

10Wherefore David blessed the Lord before all the congregation: and David said, Blessed be thou, Lord God of Israel our father, for ever and ever.

11Thine, O Lord, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine; thine is the kingdom, O Lord, and thou art exalted as head above all.

12Both riches and honour come of thee, and thou reignest over all; and in thine hand is power and might; and in thine hand it is to make great, and to give strength unto all.

13Now therefore, our God, we thank thee, and praise thy glorious name.

14But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able to offer so willingly after this sort? for all things come of thee, and of thine own have we given thee.

15For we are strangers before thee, and sojourners, as were all our fathers: our days on the earth are as a shadow, and there is none abiding.

16O Lord our God, all this store that we have prepared to build thee an house for thine holy name cometh of thine hand, and is all thine own.

17I know also, my God, that thou triest the heart, and hast pleasure in uprightness. As for me, in the uprightness of mine heart I have willingly offered all these things: and now have I seen with joy thy people, which are present here, to offer willingly unto thee.

18O Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, our fathers, keep this for ever in the imagination of the thoughts of the heart of thy people, and prepare their heart unto thee:

19And give unto Solomon my son a perfect heart, to keep thy commandments, thy testimonies, and thy statutes, and to do all these things, and to build the palace, for the which I have made provision.

20And David said to all the congregation, Now bless the Lord your God. And all the congregation blessed the Lord God of their fathers, and bowed down their heads, and worshipped the Lord, and the king.

21And they sacrificed sacrifices unto the Lord, and offered burnt offerings unto the Lord, on the morrow after that day, even a thousand bullocks, a thousand rams, and a thousand lambs, with their drink offerings, and sacrifices in abundance for all Israel:

22And did eat and drink before the Lord on that day with great gladness. And they made Solomon the son of David king the second time, and anointed him unto the Lord to be the chief governor, and Zadok to be priest.

23Then Solomon sat on the throne of the Lord as king instead of David his father, and prospered; and all Israel obeyed him.

24And all the princes, and the mighty men, and all the sons likewise of king David, submitted themselves unto Solomon the king.

25And the Lord magnified Solomon exceedingly in the sight of all Israel, and bestowed upon him such royal majesty as had not been on any king before him in Israel.

26Thus David the son of Jesse reigned over all Israel.

27And the time that he reigned over Israel was forty years; seven years reigned he in Hebron, and thirty and three years reigned he in Jerusalem.

28And he died in a good old age, full of days, riches, and honour: and Solomon his son reigned in his stead.

29Now the acts of David the king, first and last, behold, they are written in the book of Samuel the seer, and in the book of Nathan the prophet, and in the book of Gad the seer,

30With all his reign and his might, and the times that went over him, and over Israel, and over all the kingdoms of the countries.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

David invites the people to contribute voluntarily to the construction of the temple, and the response is generous and joyful. He offers a public prayer of gratitude, and shortly after, Solomon is crowned king while David is still alive, and David dies in peace, after 40 years of reign.

Explanation

The book ends with a scene of contagious generosity: after David donates his own personal treasures, leaders and people respond voluntarily with enormous contributions, and the text highlights that 'the people rejoiced, for that they offered willingly, because with perfect heart they offered willingly to the LORD.' David's final prayer is a profound reflection on the temporary, dependent nature of human life before the eternal greatness of God — acknowledging that everything we offer to God actually came originally from his own hand. Solomon's coronation while David is still alive ensures a peaceful transition of power, and David's death 'in a good old age, full of days, riches, and honour' closes his story with a note of fulfillment and peace, despite all the hardships and mistakes along the way.

Fun facts

  • David's famous prayer line, 'for all things come of thee, and of thine own have we given thee,' is still quoted today in many churches at the moment of receiving offerings, acknowledging that all human generosity is, in fact, a return of what already belonged to God.
  • The practice of crowning the successor while the reigning king was still alive, done here with Solomon, helped avoid violent succession disputes, a recurring problem in many ancient monarchies, including earlier attempts by other sons of David to seize the throne by force.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. 1 Chronicles 29:1David donates enormous personal resources to the temple, on top of what already came from the royal treasury, and then asks the people who else wants to contribute of their own free will. It is the picture of a voluntary giving campaign, not a mandatory tax.
  2. 1 Chronicles 29:2David takes inventory of everything he has prepared with all his strength: gold, silver, bronze, iron, wood, precious stones of various kinds, and marble in abundance — the result of years of gathering for this one project.
  3. 1 Chronicles 29:3On top of all that, David also sets aside his own personal treasure, gold and silver that belong to him alone, not to the kingdom, and gives it on top of what he had already officially prepared — a gesture that goes beyond a king’s duty.
  4. 1 Chronicles 29:4From his personal fortune alone, David donates three thousand talents of gold from Ophir — the same region famous for gold mentioned back in the genealogy of chapter 1 — and seven thousand talents of refined silver.
  5. 1 Chronicles 29:5After announcing his own donation, David issues an open invitation: “who then is willing to consecrate his service this day unto the Lord?” — moving from personal example to a collective call.
  6. 1 Chronicles 29:6The heads of families, tribal princes, army captains, and those in charge of the king’s work answer the call and contribute voluntarily — David’s generosity spreads through the entire leadership of the kingdom.
  7. 1 Chronicles 29:7The donations add up to impressive numbers: five thousand talents of gold, ten thousand talents of silver, eighteen thousand of bronze, and a hundred thousand of iron — the collective contribution even surpasses David’s personal donation.
  8. 1 Chronicles 29:8Whoever had precious stones also contributes, handing everything over to Jehiel the Gershonite — the same Levite treasurer already introduced in chapter 26.
  9. 1 Chronicles 29:9Joy fills the people, not because of the amount itself but because they gave from the heart and of their own free will — and David rejoices along with them, watching this genuine generosity spread.
  10. 1 Chronicles 29:10Before the whole congregation, David opens his mouth in a prayer of praise: “Blessed be thou, Lord God of Israel our father, for ever and ever” — the opening of one of the most beautiful prayers in the whole book.
  11. 1 Chronicles 29:11David declares that everything belongs to God — greatness, power, honor, victory, majesty — and that the kingdom of Israel itself is, in fact, the Lord’s kingdom, not the king’s personal possession.
  12. 1 Chronicles 29:12The prayer continues: riches and glory come from God’s hand; He rules over everything and has the power to exalt and strengthen whomever He wills — even the wealth they just donated came, in David’s view, from Him in the first place.
  13. 1 Chronicles 29:13David turns the speech into pure thanksgiving: “Now therefore, our God, we thank thee, and praise thy glorious name” — the bridge to the most famous verse of the prayer, right after.
  14. 1 Chronicles 29:14In David’s prayer, “who am I, and what is my people” and “our days on the earth are as a shadow” sum up a central idea: everything given for the temple already belonged to God before it was ever given, and human life is too short for anyone to take pride in their generosity.
  15. 1 Chronicles 29:15David reminds them that they are all just strangers and sojourners before God, with days that pass like a shadow — a reminder of humility right in the middle of the book’s greatest celebration of generosity.
  16. 1 Chronicles 29:16David repeats the central point of the prayer: all this wealth gathered to build the house for God’s name actually came from His own hand — the people only gave back what already belonged to Him.
  17. 1 Chronicles 29:17David acknowledges that God values sincerity of heart more than quantity of goods, and rejoices to see that the people, like him, gave willingly, not out of obligation.
  18. 1 Chronicles 29:18David asks that this generous spirit not be just a passing moment, but stay engraved forever in the people’s hearts, always guiding them toward God.
  19. 1 Chronicles 29:19The last part of the prayer is a specific request for Solomon: that he receive a perfect heart, able to keep God’s commandments and finish the work David has already left fully prepared.
  20. 1 Chronicles 29:20David invites the whole congregation to praise along with him, and the people respond by bowing down and prostrating themselves before the Lord and also before the king himself — a double gesture of respect, to God and to the authority He has established.
  21. 1 Chronicles 29:21The next day, an enormous number of sacrifices is offered — a thousand bulls, a thousand rams, a thousand lambs — a celebration worthy of the historic moment about to take place.
  22. 1 Chronicles 29:22Solomon is crowned “the second time” here, a solemn public coronation after another quicker, more private one told in Kings, in the middle of a succession dispute with his brother Adonijah. Chronicles prefers to skip that behind-the-scenes conflict and show only the coronation in a mood of celebration and consensus.
  23. 1 Chronicles 29:23Solomon sits on what the text calls “the throne of the Lord,” and all Israel begins to obey him — the same idea repeated from the previous chapter, that the throne belongs to God, and the king only occupies it in His name.
  24. 1 Chronicles 29:24All the princes, the warriors, and even Solomon’s own brothers submit to him as king — an important detail, since not every son of David accepted this choice without resistance before this moment.
  25. 1 Chronicles 29:25God exalts Solomon before all Israel, giving him a royal majesty that no king before him ever had — setting the stage for the fame of wealth and wisdom Solomon will gain in the books that follow.
  26. 1 Chronicles 29:26A simple summary closes David’s story: he reigned over all Israel, fulfilling the role that began with the secret anointing by Samuel, back when he was young and still tending sheep.
  27. 1 Chronicles 29:27The numbers for the whole reign: forty years in total, seven in Hebron and thirty-three in Jerusalem — the same numbers already mentioned in chapter 3, now closing the circle of the narrative.
  28. 1 Chronicles 29:28David dies at a good old age, full of days, riches, and glory — a peaceful and honored ending, very different from Saul’s violent death that opened the narrative part of the book in chapter 10.
  29. 1 Chronicles 29:29The chronicler cites his own sources: the records of Samuel, of the prophet Nathan, and of the seer Gad — proving that David’s story was not invented, but documented by contemporary witnesses.
  30. 1 Chronicles 29:30The book ends by placing David’s reign within the bigger picture: his power, the times he lived through, and how all of it relates to Israel and to the other kingdoms of the region — the backdrop that 2 Chronicles will continue with Solomon’s story.

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