1 Chronicles 20 Footnotes

20:1 The Chronicler omitted writing of David’s affair with Bathsheba and the consequent murder of her husband Uriah, a member of the Thirty Mighty Men narrated in 2Sm 11–12. Because the Chronicler wished to emphasize David’s role as the ruler of “all Israel,” many interpret his omission as an attempted cover-up of David’s failure and sin, that David was the “perfect” ruler. But this interpretation requires the assumption that the Chronicler’s readers were unaware of this event and had no access to the book of Samuel, when it is clear that the Chronicler had access to it. Instead, the more natural explanation requiring fewer assumptions is that the Chronicler assumed his readers knew about the story, but he omitted it because it contributed little or nothing to his message. There is nothing to suggest that the Chronicler was rewriting history to hide the faults and sins of David. We will see this choice again in the case of Solomon as well.