Difference between revisions of "Books of Chronicles" - New World Encyclopedia

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==Composition==
 
==Composition==
  
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The time of the composition of the Chronicles is believed to have been subsequent to the Babylonian Captivity, probably between [[450 B.C.E.|450]] and [[435 B.C.E.|435 B.C.E..]]. The contents of this twofold book, both as to matter and form, correspond closely with this idea. The close of the book records the proclamation of [[Cyrus the Great]] permitting the [[Jew]]s to return to their own land, and this forms the opening passage of the [[Book of Ezra]], which is viewed as a continuation of the Chronicles, together with the [[Book of Nehemiah]]. The peculiar form of the language, being Hebrew in vocabulary but Aramaean in its general character, harmonizes also with that of the other books which were written after the Exile.  The author was likely contemporary with [[Zerubbabel]], details of whose family history are given (1 Chronicles 3:19).
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The time of the composition of Chronicles is believed to have been subsequent to the [[Babylonian]] Captivity, probably between 450 and 435 B.C.E. The close of the book records the proclamation of [[Cyrus the Great]] permitting the [[Jew]]s 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]].
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According to Jewish tradition, [[Ezra]] the 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.
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In its general scope and design Chronicles is not so much historical as instructional. 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 [[Books of Samuel|Samuel]] and [[Books of Kings|Kings]]. 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.
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In addition to the books of Samuel and Kings, the sources from 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.
  
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According to Jewish tradition, [[Ezra]] the 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 this opinion. The conclusion of the one and the beginning of the other are almost identical in expression. J. N. Newsome, however, argues that the Chronicler's treatment of prophecy, "betrays a difference of theological concern between Chronicles and Ezra-Nehemiah." <ref>Newsome, J. N. "Towards a New Understanding of the Chronicler and His Purposes," ''JBL'' 94 [1975]. p. 212.</ref>
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==Updating Samuel and Kings==
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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.). Chronicles also paints a more positive picture of certain events, for example, in the lives of David and Solomon, omitting embarrassing details of David's sin with [[Bathsheba]] and Solomon's sins with his foreign wives.
  
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In its general scope and design Chronicles is not so much historical as didactic. The principal aim of the writer appears to be to present moral and religious truth. He does not give prominence to political occurrences, as is done in [[Books of Samuel|Samuel]] and [[Books of Kings|Kings]], but to religious institutions, such as the details of the temple service. The genealogies, so uninteresting to most modern readers, were really an important part of the public records of the Hebrew state. They were the basis on which not only the land was distributed and held, but the public services of the [[Temple in Jerusalem|temple]] were arranged and conducted, the [[Levite]]s and their descendants alone, as is well known, being entitled and first fruits set apart for that purpose. The Chronicles are an epitome of the sacred history from the days of [[Adam and Eve|Adam]] down to the return from Babylonian Exile, a period of about 3,500 years. The writer gathers up the threads of the old national life broken by the Captivity. In the Hebrew bible, where the book of Chronicles is usually the last book, it can be said to fulfil a role similar to the end credits of a modern movie: To mention all those also-rans without whom the preceding wouldn't have been possible.
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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 [[Kingdom of Judah|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.
  
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The sources whence the chronicler compiled his work were public records, registers, and genealogical tables belonging to the Jews. These are referred to in the course of the book (1 Chr. 27:24; 29:29; 2 Chr. 9:29; 12:15; 13:22; 20:34; 24:27; 26:22; 32:32; 33:18, 19; 27:7; 35:25). There are in Chronicles, and the books of Samuel and Kings, forty parallels, often verbal, proving that the writer of Chronicles both knew and used those other books (1 Chr. 17:18; comp. [[Books of Samuel|2 Samuel]] 7:18-20; 1 Chr. 19; comp. 2 Samuel 10, etc.).
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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.
  
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As compared with Samuel and Kings, the Book of Chronicles omits many particulars there recorded (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.). Often the Chronicles paint a somewhat more positive picture of the same events, in comparison to the (compared to other books of their time) unusually critical books of Samuel and Kings. This corresponds to their time of composition: Samuel and Kings were probably completed during the exile, at a time when the history of the freshly wiped out Hebrew kingdoms was still fresh in the mind of the writers, and it was largely considered a colossal failure. The Chronicles, on the other hand, were written much later, after the restitution of the Jewish community in Palestine, at a time when the kingdoms were beginning to be regarded as the nostalgic, rosy-coloured past, something to be at least partially imitated, not something to be avoided. Some scholars consider Samuel and Kings, which were written earlier, to provide more reliable history than Chronicles.
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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.
  
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Twenty whole chapters of the Chronicles, and twenty-four parts of chapters, are occupied with matters not found elsewhere. It also records many things in fuller detail, as (e.g.) the list of David's heroes (1 Chr. 12:1-37), the removal of the [[ark of the covenant|ark]] from Kirjath-jearim to [[Mount Zion]] (1 Chr. 13; 15:2-24; 16:4-43; comp. 2 Sam. 6), [[Uzziah]]'s ''[[tzaraas]]'' (commonly translated as "[[leprosy]]") and its cause (2 Chr. 26:16-21; comp. 2 Kings 15:5), etc.
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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 of the covenant|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.
  
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It has also been observed that 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.
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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.
  
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The Book of Chronicles is alluded to, though not directly quoted, in the [[New Testament]] ([[Epistle to Hebrews|Hebrews]] 5:4; [[Gospel of Matthew|Matthew]] 12:42; 23:35; [[Gospel of Luke|Luke]] 1:5; 11:31, 51).
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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.
  
 
==References==
 
==References==

Revision as of 16:45, 21 June 2007


Books of the

Hebrew Bible

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.[1] 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.

Contextual Division

Based on its contents, the book may be divided into 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.
  3. The beginning of II Chronicles (chapters 1-9) is a history of the reign of King Solomon, son of David.
  4. The remainder of II Chronicles (chapters 10-36) is a chronicle 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 Captivity, 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 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.

In its general scope and design Chronicles is not so much historical as instructional. 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. 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 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.). Chronicles also paints a more positive picture of certain events, for example, in the lives of David and Solomon, omitting embarrassing details of David's sin with Bathsheba and Solomon's sins with his foreign wives.

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.

References
ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

  1. ↑ Harris, Stephen L. Understanding the Bible: 2nd Edition. Mayfield: Palo Alto. 1985. p 188.

External links

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

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