Chapter 1

1:1-4, 15 - Poor old king David could get no heat. so they searched throughout Israel for a beautiful virgin. They finally found one (Abishag), and she "cherished the king, and ministered to him," but apparently he still couldn't get any heat. Shucks.

* This woman took care of David.  Incidentally, verse 5 indicates that they didn't have sexual relations.

Chapter 2

2:5-9 - In David's last words, he commands his son Solomon to murder Joab.

* David tells Solomon many things about his allies and enemies.  In this conversation, he tells Solomon that he wants him to kill Joab for what he did to him.

2:24-25 - Solomon has his brother (Adonijah) murdered.

* Adonijah is put to death because of his very inappropriate request.  His request illustrated his possible poor motives and desire to take over the kingdom.  Therefore, Solomon has him executed.  There is no evidence that Solomon was justified in this.

2:29-34 - Solomon carries out the deathbed instructions of his father David by having Joab murdered.

* Joab is executed because he had murdered Abner and Amasa and had Uriah killed.

2:33 - Solomon justifies the murder of Joab by saying that Joab also was a murderer, and that the blood of Joab's victims "shall therefore return upon the head of Joab, and upon the head of his seed for ever." So the wisest of all men (1 Kg.4:31) commands that all the children of Joab are to be murdered, and that the slaughter of his innocent descendants shall continue "forever."

* Solomon simply declares Joab and his descendants guilty for the murders that Joab committed.

2:44, 46 - But Solomon is not done murdering yet. He has Shimei murdered -- or as Solomon put it, "The Lord shall return thy wickedness upon thine own head."

* Solomon felt that Shimei was a threat to his kingdom.  He also wanted to follow David's command.  Therefore, he has Shimei executed.

Chapter 3

3:12-15 - God grants Solomon's' request and makes him the wisest of all men. (He was wiser even than Jesus.) He also promises to "lengthen Solomon's days" if he will only "walk in my ways, ... as thy father David did walk." But alas, it was only a dream.

* God and Jesus are one and part of the trinity.  Therefore, God surely wasn't telling Solomon that he would be wiser than Jesus Christ.  He was giving him a promise within a framework - a human framework.  Incidentally, Solomon "spoke 3,000 proverbs!"  These were very wise and they are some of the most repeated and well-known phrases in the entire world.  They are included in the best-selling and longest-lasting book of all time.

Chapter 4

4:26 - How many stalls did Solomon have?

* There were 40,000 stalls for chariot horses and 4,000 stalls for chariots. There are a few ways to understand this. First, in battle, there were generally 10 times the number of horses to chariots. There were 10 men and 10 horses per chariot, in the same incident, in 2 Samuel 10:18 and 1 Chronicles 19:18. The first passage indicates that David slew 700 chariots and the next passage indicates he slew 7000 chariot riders.

* An alternate translation of 2 Chronicles 9:25 reads, "Solomon had 4,000 stalls for horse chariots." 1 Kings 4:26 reads, "Solomon had 40,000 stalls of horses for his chariots." These passages harmonize perfectly.

4:29 - How could Solomon be "wiser than all men" and yet have his heart "turned away ... after other gods?" (1 Kg.11:4)

* Solomon was clearly wiser than all other men.  However, he still had a vice.  The women he married and kept (many of them for political reasons) introduced their foreign gods to him and he did not remove them.

Chapter 5

5:16 - How many temple overseers did Solomon have?

* 2 Chronicles 2:18 indicates that there were 3600 overseers.  This Hebrew word for overseers is "natsach."

* In 1 Kings 5:16, we see that there are 3300 people that "ruled over" the workers.  This Hebrew word for "ruled (over)" is "radah."  Therefore, we understand that there were 3600 overseers and 3300 of them had positions of authority over the other workers.  The other 300 simply watched and didn't rule over them.

Chapter 6

6:2, 7:1-2 - The house that "Solomon built for the Lord" was tiny compared to the one he built for himself. According to 7:1-2, God's house had less than one-quarter the floor space of Solomon's.

* Apparently, Solomon wanted or needed a bigger house than the one he built for the Lord.

Chapter 7

7:13-14 - Which tribe was Hyram from?

* The writer of Chronicles (possibly Ezra) was giving a political statement about Hyram's origin.  Dan had fallen into idolatry and they were disliked by the devout Israelites.  Therefore, the author writes that Hyram was, "the son of a woman of the daughters of Dan."  Hyram was likely from a mixed marriage: one parent from Dan and one from Naphtali.  This was objectionable for several reasons, therefore the writer of Chronicles points it out.

7:15 - How high were the pillars of brass?

* 2 Chronicles 3:15 indicates that both pillars equaled approximately 35 cubits.  1 Kings 7:15 indicates that they were about 18 cubits high (a piece).

7:23 - In this verse we learn that God's value of Pi is exactly 3. (The actual value is approximately 3.14159.)

* There are several, good answers to this question.  I'll offer two.

* Remember, the Bible wasn't trying to give us the exact, numerical value of pi.  It wasn't giving us a mathematical equation.  It was simply illustrating the rough circumference of an ancient object, so the object could have been produced; and this is the very point of mentioning the object.

* In 2 Chronicles 4:2, this Hebrew word for circumference (the "qere" value) required the "kethiv" value, too.  Therefore, the Masoretes wrote the "qere" value in the margin of the Hebrew text.  If you take the numerical value of the "kethiv" (111) and divide it by the numerical value of the "qere" (106), and multiply it by the value of 30 X 10 (300), then you get 31.41509 cubits.  Therefore, even thousands of years ago, we actually have an extremely close number for pi (3.141509).  This is a discrepancy of less than 15 thousandths of an inch in a circumference over 46 feet!

7:26 - What was the volume of the molten sea in Solomon's temple?

* The author of 2 Chronicles 4:5 was probably recording the amount of water that was in the total water system (3000 baths), but the author of 1 Kings 7:26 was recording how much water was actually in the ceremonial bath structures (2000 baths).  This Hebrew word for "baths" refers to a division of liquid and not necessarily an actual bath structure.  Incidentally, in order to become ceremonially clean, the Israelites needed a moving or flowing water source, so the amount and type of water was important to them.

Chapter 8

8:5 - When the ark of the covenant was brought into the temple, Solomon killed more animals than could be numbered.

* The author of 1 Kings 8:5 apparently couldn't number all of the animals.  However, Solomon sacrificed them to God and this was an act of obedience to Him.

8:9 - What was in the Ark of the Covenant?

* In 1 Kings 8:9, only the ten commandments were in the ark of the covenant.  This passage doesn't say that these are the only things that were ever in the ark.  The same point is true for 2 Chronicles 5:10.

* For a time, only the stone tablets were in the Ark.  At another time, the stone tablets, plus the golden pot and Aaron's rod were in it.

8:9 - Where did Moses receive the Ten Commandments? On Mount Horeb.

* This verse doesn't say that Moses received the Ten Commandments on Mount Horeb.  It says he put the commandments in the ark on Mount Horeb and that God made a covenant with them there, when they had come out of Egypt.

8:12 - Does God dwell in darkness or in light?

* The Lord is everywhere.  Therefore, He dwells everywhere He wishes.

8:13 - Does God dwell in temples?

* God is everywhere.  In Acts 7:48, this verse could be translated: "God doesn't only dwell in temples."  This is the meaning intended.  Furthermore, Luke is indicating that God dwelled in the Old Testament temple, but this wasn't the only place to find Him, now.  The New Covenant had been made and people were able to seek and find Him anywhere.

8:35 - God creates droughts by causing "heaven to shut up" as a punishment for sin.

* This is correct.  Incidentally, this Hebrew word for "heaven" is also translated "skies."  God can make it stop raining and this was one of the judgments at His disposal.

8:46 - Are all humans sinners?

* Yes, every human has sinned.  Jesus Christ is the only person who walked the Earth and never sinned.

* 1 John 3:6, 3:9, and 5:18 are indicating the ideal.  They state that a person who abides in God and is born of God does not sin.  This is correct and people shouldn't sin.  However, each person leaves God's side, at least once, and sins.

8:63 - When dedicating the temple, Solomon kills 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep. All this blood and gore must have made God very happy.

* This was Solomon's sacrifice to God.  He loved God and dedicated this temple to Him.

Chapter 9

9:23 - How many officers did Solomon have to rule over the people?

* This Hebrew word that was translated as "chief" can also be translated "ruler," "captain," or even "prince."  2 Chronicles 8:10 indicates 250 people were "rulers of King Solomon's officers."  1 Kings 9:23 indicates that Solomon had 550 "chief officers."  These verses are obviously talking about different, ranking officers.  The author of 2 Kings is distinguishing between their ranks and only mentioning the rulers of the officers.

9:28 - How many talents of gold did Hiram send Solomon?

* On one trip to Ophir, Solomon received 450 talents and on a different trip, he received 420 talents of gold.  The scriptures tell us that Solomon's fleet took many trips and received much gold from Ophir (and Hiram).  See 1 Kings 10:22 and 1 Chronicles 29:4.

Chapter 11

11:1-2 - "King Solomon loved many strange women. And he had 700 wives and 300 concubines." God didn't mind the number so much; it was their strangeness that he objected to. Earlier, he had commanded the Israelites not to "go in unto" such strange women, but Solomon couldn't resist. And he "clave unto these in love."

* God gives a good reason to have only one wife.  Solomon took an extremely large number of wives and concubines and fell into idolatry.  This was a serious problem for him.  Incidentally, simply because God didn't condemn polygamy for different reasons, this doesn't make his judgment here any weaker.  God indicated that Solomon's sinful decisions to take all of these wives and concubines was wrong.

11:2 - Note that Solomon is told to stay away from foreign women. Why? Because they have different ("strange") religious beliefs, and God disapproves of mixed-faith marriages.

* This is absolutely correct.  God disapproves of Christians being unequally yoked.  This brings much havoc into the relationship and tempts Christians to sin and compromise their beliefs.

11:4 - The wisest man that ever lived (1 Kg.4:31) was misled by his wives into worshipping other gods. "And his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father." See 1 Sam.18:27, 27:9, 2 Sam.4:12, 5:8 13, and 11:2-17 for examples of what a man whose heart is "perfect with the Lord" can do. It was fortunate that Solomon's heart was not so perfect.

* Even though Solomon was extremely wise, he still made some poor decisions.

* Only once can we find David deliberately rejecting God's orders.  This is why David pleased God so much.  Plus, David would constantly repent and ask God for forgiveness.  He wanted to maintain a clean and right relationship with God, even after he made errors.

* This Hebrew word that can be translated "perfect" is also translated "loyal."  David was loyal to God.

11:11-12 - God is angry with Solomon, but decides to punish Solomon's son rather than Solomon himself, because he liked Solomon's father (David) so darned much.

* God decides to punish Solomon's posterity.  He gives only one tribe to his son.  Incidentally, Solomon obviously suffered for his poor decisions.  This was merely one, specific judgment from God.  Solomon's son was not perfect either, so this judgment was surely given by God as a holistic judgment and not just a haphazard one.

11:15-16 - Joab (David's captain) spent six months killing every male in Edom. Yet a few years later Edom revolted. (2 Kg.8:22)

* Many years ago, while David reigned, his army fought and killed nearly all of the Edomite males.  Incidentally, this Hebrew word that was translated "males" in the KJV can also be translated "men."  The scriptures indicate that Hadad (a royal dignitary, yet still a child) escaped with some others and went to Egypt.  They became allies with Pharaoh and he prospered them.  When Hadad grew older, he was given an Egyptian wife.  After he grew in power and stature and discovered that David and Joab were dead, he returned to Edom.  He had plenty of time to raise an army.

Chapter 13

13:2 - King Josiah is prophesied to sacrifice the priests of the "high places" on their altars. And he does so in 2 Kg.23:20. Note that this is a guy who "did what was right in the eyes of the Lord" (2 Kg.22:2). So God must approve of at least some human sacrifices.

* These verses do not indicate that God requested a human sacrifice.  Furthermore, in 1 Kings 13:2, this word for "offer" simply means "kill" or "slay."  If there was an implication of a "sacrifice," it was ironic because these, evil priests were sacrificing to false gods and they were going to be killed on their own altars.  This was their judgment for rejecting God and worshiping false gods.

13:4 - God withers the hand of king Jeroboam.

* God withers his hand because he tried to do evil to God's prophet.  However, Jeroboam repented from his wickedness and God restored his hand.

Chapter 14

14:10-12 - God promises to "bring evil upon the house of Jerobaom" and says he will "cut off" anyone "that pisseth against the wall." God further explains that after he kills them, their dead bodies will be eaten by dogs (if they are city dwellers) or fowls (if they are country folk).

* The KJV phrase "pisseth against the wall" is simply an idiom for the male gender.  God is talking about his judgment on the evil house of Jeroboam.

14:24 - God shows his homophobia by calling gay people "sodomites" and their sexual relations "abominations."

* These evil people were practicing sodomy and prostitution in religious rituals.  Their actions were detestable to God.

Chapter 15

15:1-2 - How were Abijam and Asa related? Abijam was Asa's brother. (They both had the same mother, Maachah.)

* According to verse 10, Maachah was Asa's grandmother.  Asa was Abijam's son.

15:2 - Who was the maternal grandmother of Abajam?

* Abijah's maternal grandfather was Absalom (the grandmother isn't mentioned).  See 2 Chronicles 11:20.  In 1 Kings 15:2, his name is given as Abishalom.  However, in 2 Chronicles 13:1 and 2, Abijah's grandfather's name was given as Uriel.  The writer of 2 Chronicles 13 probably did this to dishonor Absalom and credit Uriel.

15:3 - "And his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father." See 1 Sam.18:27, 27:9, 2 Sam.4:12, 5:8 13, and 11:2-17 for examples of what a man whose heart is "perfect with the Lord" can do. It was fortunate that Jeroboam's heart was not so perfect.

* This Hebrew word that was translated "perfect" is also translated "loyal."  He wasn't as loyal to God as David was.  This doesn't mean that David was sinless, though.

15:5 - David never sinned, "save only in the matter of Uriah the Hittite." But didn't David sin by numbering the people? (2 Sam.24:10)

* 1 Kings 15:5 simply indicates that the situation with Uriah was the one act of flagrant disobedience where David did not do what God commanded him to do.  This verse never says that David was otherwise perfect.

15:8 - How were Abijam and Asa related? Abijam was Asa's father.

* Asa was Abijam's son.  This is why he ruled after him.

15:9-10 - How were Abijam and Asa related? Abijam was Asa's brother. (They both had the same mother, Maachah.)

* According to verse 10, Maachah was Asa's grandmother.  Asa was Abijam's son.

15:11-12 - Asa "did that which was right in the eyes of the LORD" by expelling homosexuals (or "sodomites", as the good book calls them).

* Homosexuals practice sodomy.  This is why they are called sodomites.  This behavior was and is an abomination to God.

15:14 - Did Asa remove the high places?

* Yes, Asa removed the high places.  The scriptures indicate that he loved God and possessed some desirable qualities.  However, the people rebuilt some of these high places and Asa did not destroy them, again (see 2 Chronicles 15:17).

15:14 - Was Asa perfect? This verse says so, but many others say that no one is or has been perfect.

* This Hebrew word for "perfect" is also translated "friendly" and "loyal."  This verse isn't indicating that he was morally perfect - like God.  It is simply indicating that he loved God and was loyal to Him.

15:29 - Baasha kills "all of the house of Jeroboam" leaving none "to breath." This slaughter was done "according to the word of the Lord."

* Jeroboam and his house were judged for their sins.  Verse 30 lists some of them.  It reads, "Because of the sins of Jeroboam, which he had sinned and by which he had made Israel sin, because of his provocation with which he had provoked the LORD God of Israel to anger."

Chapter 16

16:4 - God says that "him that dieth of Baasha in the city shall the dogs eat; and him that dieth of his in the fields shall the fowls of the air eat."

* These people had their dead bodies eaten by animals.

16:6-8 - When did Baasha die?

* In 2 Chronicles 16:1, the phrase "the kingdom of Judah" was implied, yet omitted.  Therefore, this verse can appear a little misleading.  Here is another rendering of it: "In the 36th year (of the Kingdom of Judah), in the reign of Asa, Basha the King of Israel came up against Judah . . ."  This verse is not indicating that it was the 36th year of Asa's reign.  It tells us that it is the 36th year of the Kingdom of Judah.  Incidentally, Baasha's death is not mentioned in 2 Chronicles and after chapter 16, he is not mentioned again.

* 1 Kings 16:6-8 indicates that Baasha died in the 26th year of Asa's reign.  It also tells us about Baasha's successors and more about Asa's reign and the timing of everything.

16:11-12 - Zimri kills everyone "that pisseth against a wall ... according to the word of the Lord."

* Baasha and his house were judged for their sins.  Their lives were taken.

16:34 - When Hiel rebuilds Jericho, he lays the foundation with the body of his oldest son and sets up the gates with his youngest son's body "according to the word of the Lord."

* Hiel probably didn't literally rebuild Jericho on the body of his oldest son and he probably didn't literally set up the gates on his youngest son's body.  Here is the NKJV's translation of this verse: "In his days Hiel of Bethel built Jericho. He laid its foundation with Abiram his firstborn, and with his youngest son Segub he set up its gates, according to the word of the Lord, which He had spoken through Joshua the son of Nun."  A literal reading of this passage indicates that Hiel built the foundation with Abiram and the gates with Segub.  The curse likely referred to continual setbacks, delays and problems in the construction.  It likely took the lifetime of these people to construct these things.

Chapter 17

17:6 - Ravens bring Elijah bread and flesh for breakfast and dinner.

* God had the ravens feed Elijah with bread and meat.

17:22 - Elijah resurrects the widow's son, contrary to those verses that say that there is no resurrection from the dead.

* Elijah resurrects the widow's son.

* Acts 26:23 indicates that Jesus was the "foremost in importance" to rise from the dead.  This is another definition of this Greek word "first."

Chapter 18

18:40 - Elijah orders the people to kill all prophets of Baal.

* Baal was a false god.  Elijah offered them a chance to prove that Baal was real and almighty and worthy of praise.  Baal was silent.  The uncreated Creator proved that He was worthy and true.  Therefore, these evil prophets were executed.  They were wicked and leading people into idol worship.  This was a capital offense.

Chapter 19

19:16 - Was Jehu the son or grandson of Nimshi?

* According to 2 Kings 9:2, Jehu was the grandson of Nimshi.  This Hebrew word for "son" also means "grandson."  This is why 1 Kings 19:16 simply calls Jehu the son of Nimshi.

19:19 - When did Elisha receive the Elijah's mantle?

* The mantle was something the prophets wore.  Therefore, when Elijah threw his mantle on Elisha, this was symbolic of his calling into the prophet-hood.  He was to be Elijah's assistant.  However, Elisha either returned this mantle to Elijah or Elijah wore a different one.

* In 2 Kings 2:8, we notice that Elijah has a mantle.  Therefore, he either received his mantle from Elisha or wore a different one.  In 2 Kings 2:13, Elijah is taken into Heaven and Elisha takes his mantle.

Chapter 20

20:28-30 - God delivers the Syrians into the Israelites hands, and 100,000 were killed in one day. Of those that escaped, 27,000 were crushed by a falling wall. (It was a really big wall.)

* If this passage was meant to be taken literally, this was a very large wall!

20:35-36 - God sends a lion to devour a man for refusing to strike another man.

* God commanded this man to strike a prophet's descendant.  He wouldn't do it, so he lost his life.

* God was illustrating something important with this situation.  It was emblematic of Ahab and Ben-Hadad.  Ahab was going to forfeit his life because he did not smite Ben-Hadad when he had him under his power.

20:42 - The prophet tells king Ahab that he, and his people, shall be punished for releasing Ben-ha'dad: "Your life shall go for his life, and your people for his people." They say that God is merciful. But when King Ahab is merciful, he is punished for it. See 1 Sam.15:2 for a similar example of God's mercy.

* Verse 42 reads, "Then he said to him, 'Thus says the LORD: Because you have let slip out of your hand a man whom I appointed to utter destruction, therefore your life shall go for his life, and your people for his people.'"

* God has a multi-faceted character.  He is loving and kind.  However, He is also just and righteous.  His patience has an end and so does His mercy.  Furthermore, it is His right to judge His creation that rejects Him.  God wouldn't be a righteous judge if He never punished sin.

Chapter 21

21:13 - Naboth is stoned to death for blaspheming god and the king.

* After accusing him, these people stoned Naboth to death.  There is no scriptural evidence that this was a just action.  Verses 18 and 19 indicate that God called this action a murder, so He didn't sanction it, wasn't pleased about it and actually judged the people who did it.

21:19 - "Thus saith the Lord, in the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth shall dogs lick thy blood, even thine."

* This was God's judgment for murdering Naboth and stealing his vineyard.

21:21 - God promises to "bring evil upon thee" and to "cut off" all those "that pisseth against the wall." God becomes furious when he sees people urinating on walls.

* The KJV's phrase, "pisseth against the wall," is simply an idiom for the male gender.  This action doesn't necessarily make God furious.

21:23, 25 - Jezebel (Ahab's "strange" wife) "stirred up" Ahab to "work wickedness in the sight of the Lord." to punish her, God vows that "the dogs shall eat Jezebel."

* God vowed to punish the wicked Jezebel for her sinfulness.

21:24 - God says again that those that die in the city will be eaten by dogs, while those dying in the country will be eaten by fowls.

* Yes, these dead bodies would be eaten by animals.

21:29 - Since Ahab humbles himself before the Lord, God decides not to bring evil on him; he'll bring it on Ahab's son instead. Well, although that sounds fair enough, it contradicts other places in the Bible that claim that sons will not be punished for their father's sins.

* God told the Israelites not to punish children for the sins of their fathers and to avoid punishing fathers for the sins of their children.

* All people have sinned.  Therefore, God owns the right to punish any of them.  Incidentally, God doesn't indicate why He will bring "calamity" on Ahab's son.  It will surely be because of his unrighteousness, though.

Chapter 22

22:19 - "I saw the Lord sitting on his throne." But this contradicts the many Bible verses that say that no one has ever seen God.

* This verse is the introduction to a parable and not meant to be taken literally.  Micaiah explains it in verse 23.

22:22-23 - God puts a "lying spirit" in the mouth of prophets. If so, then those Bible verses saying that God doesn't lie must be lies.

* God simply allowed a lying spirit to perform His judgment.  God controls all things and even the evil spirits are subject to Him.  The preceding verses illustrate how this evil spirit approached God and asked to be a tool of His judgment.  The evil spirit surely meant it for evil, but God meant it for good - He is the righteous judge and these people deserved judgment.

22:42-43 - Did Jehoshaphat remove the high places?

* Yes, Jehoshaphat removed the high places.  However, some of them were rebuilt.

22:43, 46 - Jehoshaphat "did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord" and "took" the homosexuals (sodomites) "out of the land," or as the RSV says, "he exterminated" them.

* TLB writes, "he closed all the houses of male prostitution."  Any way you slice it, the wicked people who were sexually immoral were banished.