9:39 Saul. The writer has now established the identity, order, and territory of the people of God by lists and genealogies. His next task, occupying many chapters, is to give a portrait of the united monarchy. The united monarchy is presented as an ideal for the community of returned exiles engaged in restoring the kingdom in their own day. Unlike the lengthy record of Saul’s rise and fall in the books of Samuel, Chronicles simply reports Saul’s genealogy (9:35–44) and the transfer of power from Saul to David (10:1–14) before turning to the history of David (chs. 11–29) and Solomon (2 Chr. 1–9).