Donald F. Murray, «Under Yhwh’s Veto: David as Shedder of Blood in Chronicles», Vol. 82 (2001) 457-476
As grounds for Yhwh’s veto on David’s building the temple, the charge of shedding blood, in Chronicles made against David alone (1 Chr 22,8; 28,3), poses questions both about what is being referred to, and how the charge explains the veto, given that in the Hebrew Bible no other Israelite warrior incurs the charge for killing in warfare. This article explicates the charge, highlights how surprising it is, and then develops a line of argument, drawn principally from Num 31 and 35, that can explain how the Chronicler understood the charge both to be warranted, and to justify Yhwh’s veto.
The problem with this account is, however, that Chronicles does not have Yhwh charge David merely with being a ‘man of wars’. Rather, as we saw at the outset of our discussion, Yhwh notably insists still more on a concomitant fact, namely that David has shed much blood. Now, as I shall seek to demonstrate in a moment, on the biblical evidence this is an astounding and shocking charge to lay on David16. Yet, surprisingly little of this shock and astonishment seems to have registered with scholarship on Chronicles, at any rate within my cognizance17. If I am right, however, then the questions of how and why the Chronicler makes this charge against David, and moreover makes it the public ground of his disqualification from building the temple, demand further investigation18. Hence we will need to