Books of Chronicles

Books of the Hebrew Bible

Genesis Exodus Leviticus Numbers Deuteronomy Joshua Judges Ruth 1–2 Samuel 1–2 Kings 1–2 Chronicles Ezra Nehemiah Esther Job Psalms Proverbs Ecclesiastes Song of Solomon (Song of Songs) Isaiah Jeremiah Lamentations Ezekiel Daniel other Minor Prophets

The Book(s) of Chronicles are part of the Hebrew Bible (Jewish Tanakh and Christian Old Testament). In the masoretic text, it appears as the first or last book of the Ketuvim (the latter arrangement also making it the final book of the Jewish bible). Chronicles largely parallels the Davidic narratives in the books of Samuel and the Books of Kings. For this reason is was called "Supplements" in the Septuagint, where it appears in two parts (I & II Chronicles), immediately following 1 & 2 Samuel and 1 & 2 Kings as a supplement to them. The division of Chronicles and its place in the Christian canon of the Old Testament are based upon the Septuagint.

The author of Chronicles, termed "the Chronicler," may also have written Ezra-Nehemiah. His work is an important source of information about Israel after the Babylonian exile.

Name and placement

In the original Hebrew, the book was entitled Divrei Hayyamim, ("matters [of] the days") based on the phrase sefer divrei ha-yamim le-malkhei Yehudah ("book of the days of the kings of Judah"). In the Greek Septuagint version (LXX), Chronicles bears the title Paraleipomêna tōn basileōn Iouda ("miscellanies concerning the kings of Judah") because it contains details not found in the Books of Samuel and the Books of Kings. Jerome, in his Latin translation of the Bible (Vulgate), titled the book Chronicon, since he believed it to represent the "chronicle of the whole of sacred history."

In the Herbrew Masoretic text, Chronicles is part of the third section of the Tanakh, the Ketuvim, or "Writings." It is located as the last book in in this section, following the books of Ezra and Nehemiah). Since the books of the Prophets come before the Writings, this makes Chronicles the final book of the Hebrew Bible in most Jewish traditions.

In Christian Bibles, however I and II Chronicles are part of the "Historical" books of the Old Testament, following the Books of Kings and before the Book of Ezra. This order is based upon that found in the Septuagint, also followed by the Vulgate, and relates to the view of Chronicles as a "supplement" to Samuel and Kings.

Contents

The book represents a summary of the entire span of providential history, from the dawn of time to the time of its composition. Thus, the Chronicler's first of many genealogical tables is traced back to Adam. The division of the book into two parts is arbitrary, probably having to do with the need to separate its lengthy context into two or more scolls. Chronicles is a single book in the Jewish (masoretic) textual tradition. In the earlier Septuagint, however, the book appears in two parts. The Septuagint's division of the book was followed in the Christian textual tradition. Thus, in modern Christian bibles, Chronicles is usually published as two books: I Chronicles and II Chronicles. The two-part division began to be noted in Hebrew Bibles in the fifteenth century, for reference purposes. Despite such notation, most modern editions of the Bible in Hebrew publish the two parts together as a single book.

Outline of Content

The Books of Chronicles may be divided into the following four parts:

1. The beginning (chapters 1-10) mostly contains genealogical lists, concluding with the House of Saul and Saul's rejection by God, which sets the stage for the rise of David.
2. The remainder of I Chronicles (chapters 11-29) is a history of David's reign, concluding, with the accession of Solomon.
3. The beginning of II Chronicles (chapters 1-9) is a detailed history of the reign of King Solomon as a Godlen Age of peace and unity, including the building of the Temple of Jerusalem, Solomon's prayer, his vision, sacrifices, glory and death.
4. The remainder of II Chronicles (chapters 10-36) is an account of the kings of Judah to the time of the Babylonian exile, and concluding with the call by Cyrus the Great for the exiles to return to their land.

Composition

The time of the composition of Chronicles is believed to have been subsequent to the Babylonian Exile, probably between 450 and 435 B.C.E. The close of the book records the proclamation of Cyrus the Great permitting the Jews to return to their own land, and also this forms the opening passage of the Book of Ezra, which may be viewed as a continuation of the Chronicles, together with the Book of Nehemiah.

According to Jewish tradition, Ezra, the high priest and scribe, was regarded as the author of Chronicles. There are many points of resemblance between Chronicles and the Book of Ezra which seem to confirm that Ezra and Chronicles were written by the same person, even if this may not have been the famous priest himself.

In its general scope and design Chronicles is not so much historical as religious. The Jewish Encyclopedia characterizes it as "A history of the Temple and its priesthood, and of the house of David and the tribe of Judah, as guardians of the Temple." The principal aim of the writer is to present moral and religious truth. He gives less prominence to political occurrences than do the authors of Samuel and Kings, and treats the northern Kingdom of Israel more as an enemy nation than a member of the Covenant community, as the author of Kings does. The writer provides details of the Temple service and long lists of names of leading priests and Levites, which are absent in the earlier histories. Other genealogies also play a prominent role in the text.

In addition to the books of Samuel and Kings, the sources from which the chronicler compiled his work were public records, registers, and genealogical tables belonging to the Jews who returned from Babylon to Judea. These are referred to frequetnly in the course of the book. Sections of Samuel and Kings are often compied verbatim.

Updating Samuel and Kings

Many scholars believe that the author of Chronicles intended it to replace the earlier histories recorded in Samuel and Kings. Chronicles omits many particulars recorded in these early works (2 Sam. 6:20-23; 9; 11; 14-19, etc.) and includes many things peculiar to itself (1 Chr. 12; 22; 23-26; 27; 28; 29, etc.). Besides the above-mentioned emphasis on the priesthood and genealogical records, Chronicles paints a more positive picture of certain events, and a more negative one of others, than does Samuel and Kings.

For example, in the life of David Chronicles omits the embarrassing details of David's sin with Bathsheba, his murder of Uriah the Hittite, his denunciation by the prophet Nathan, and the consequent death of Bathseba's first son, the child of her and David's adultery (2 Sam. 11-12). Nor does the Chronicler see fit to mention David's civil war with Ish-bosheth, the rape of David's daughter Tamar by her half-brother Amnon (2 Sam. 3), the nearly-successful rebellion of David's son Absalom (2 Sam 15-18), or the attempt of Adonijah to usurp the throne in David's old age (1 Kings 1).

In addition, Chronicles ignores much of the history of the northern Kingdom of Israel, mentioning northern kings only insofar as they interact with the southern kings of Judah. The prophetic endorsement of Jeroboam I—the founder of the northern kingdom— is missing. Likewise, the stories of northern prophets such as Elijah and Elisha, which provide some of the most dramatic parts of the Books of Kings, are absent from Chronicles.

On the other hand, the southern King Jehoshaphat, treated lukewarmly in the Books of Kings because of his alliance with the evil King Ahab of Israel, emerges in Chronicles as a heroic reformer who did much to promote the monotheistic tradition. King Hezekiah also receives greater credit in Chronicles than in Kings, although he is lauded in both. Hezekiah's son Manasseh is an absolutely evil ruler in Kings, but in Chronicles, he repents in his later years and returns to God. On the other hand, the death of King Josiah, who does no wrong whatsoever in Kings, is explained in Chronicles as resulting from his sin in not listening to his slayer, Pharaoh Neccho II, who came north to fight the Assyrians and did not wish to engage in battle against Josiah's army.

Samuel and Kings were probably completed during the exile, at a time when the history of the Hebrew kingdoms was still fresh in the mind of the writers and the people of the northern kingdom was still considered as sharers in the covenant Moses. The Chronicles, on the other hand, were written much later. It it was indeed written by the same person as the Book of Ezra, then its author had come to believe that the inhabitants of the north—who had intermarried with Assyrian immigrants and used non-Levite priests to sacrifice to the God of Israel outside of the Temple of Jerusalem—had no part in the Jewish tradition. For him, the northern tribes were truly "lost," and recounting the details of their history was unnecessary.

Chronicles also records many things in fuller detail than the books of Samuel and Kings, such the list of David's heroes (1 Chr. 12:1-37), the removal of the ark from Kirjath-jearim to Mount Zion (1 Chr. 13; 15:2-24; 16:4-43; comp. 2 Sam. 6), King Uzziah's "leprosy" (2 Chr. 26:16-21; comp. 2 Kings 15:5), and the details of the reigns of several of Judah's kings.

Another peculiarity of the book is that it substitutes more modern and more common expressions for those that had then become unusual or obsolete. This is seen particularly in the substitution of modern names of places, such as were in use in the writer's day, for the old names; thus Gezer (1 Chr. 20:4) is used instead of Gob (2 Sam. 21:18), etc.

Finally, in keeping with his tendency to omit embarrassing details concerning the good kings of Judah, Chronicles also attempts to resolve some troubling details mentioned by earlier works. For example, where Samuel states David's sin in conducting a military census was caused by God, Chronicles states that it was motivated by Satan. And while Samuel—apparently contradicting its own earlier famous story, attributes the slaying of a giant called Goliath to a solider in David's army called Elhanan, Chronicles states that Elhanan did not kill Goliath, but another giant, who was Goliath's brother. (1 Chron. 20:5)

External links

• Jewish translations:
  • Divrei Hayamim I - Chronicles I (Judaica Press) translation with Rashi's commentary at Chabad.org
  • Divrei Hayamim II - Chronicles II (Judaica Press) translation with Rashi's commentary at Chabad.org

• Christian translations:
  • Online Bible at GospelHall.org
  • 1 Chronicles at The Great Books (New Revised Standard Version)
  • 2 Chronicles at The Great Books (New Revised Standard Version)
  • 1 Chronicles at Wikisource (Authorised King James Version)
  • 2 Chronicles at Wikisource (Authorised King James Version)

• Catholic Encyclopedia article

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This entry incorporates text from the public domain Easton's Bible Dictionary, originally published in 1897.

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