by Stephen Rodgers
1 & 2 CHRONICLES IN 10 WORDS OR LESS
- 1 Chronicles: “King David’s reign is detailed and analyzed.”
- 2 Chronicles: “The history of Israel from Solomon to division to destruction.”
TITLE
In the early Hebrew manuscripts, 1 and 2 Chronicles were considered a single book. They were divided into separate books by the translators of the Greek version, the Septuagint (LXX), which was later copied by the Latin Vulgate (Vg.), and English translations (where they are referred to as “1 Chronicles” and “2 Chronicles”). The LXX designated 1 and 2 Chronicles as “the things omitted” (Paraleipomena) whereas the Vg. labeled them “The Chronicles of the Entire Sacred History” (which is where we get the term “chronicles”).
Like Kings, the division of 1 and 2 Chronicles has long been considered to be one of copyist convenience (allowing the work to fit on standard-sized scrolls) rather than content or theme, and so should be understood as a unified volume.
In any event, the earliest Hebrew manuscripts entitled the book “the annals of the days” (Dibre Hayyamim) after 1 Chronicles 27:24.
AUTHOR & AUDIENCE
Jewish tradition claims that Ezra the priest (Ezra 7:1-6) was the author, often alluded to in the books as “the Chronicler” but nowhere directly identified. Some modern scholarship has supported this view, but the question of authorship is heavily influenced by both ones view of the original form of the Chronicler’s work and its relationship to Ezra-Nehemiah (because Ezra begins by repeating the final verses of 2 Chronicles, some scholars believe the same author wrote both; other scholars believe this is nothing more than a scribal convention to indicate order).
Regardless, internal evidence indicates the following about the author:
- The author was a priest or a Levite with scribal training
- The author was employed in the service of the temple during the Persian period (539-332 BC)
- The author had access to temple records
That last point is especially significant, as the Chronicler (whoever he was) cites at least 20 nonbiblical sources in writing the book of Chronicles:
- Book of the Kings of Israel/Book of the Kings of Judah (1 Ch 9:1; 2 Ch 16:11; 20:34; 25:26; 27:7; 28:26; 32:32; 35:27; 36:8)
- The Chronicles of David (1 Ch 27:24)
- The Chronicles of Samuel (1 Ch 29:29)
- The Chronicles of Nathan (1 Ch 29:29; 2 Ch 9:29)
- The Chronicles of Gad (1 Ch 29:29)
- Prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite (2 Ch 9:29)
- Visions of Iddo (2 Ch 9:29)
- Records of Shemaiah (2 Ch 12:15)
- Records of Iddo (2 Ch 12:15)
- Treatise of Iddo (2 Ch 13:22)
- Annals of Jehu (2 Ch 20:34)
- Treatise of the Book of the Kings (2 Ch 24:27)
- Acts of Uzziah by Isaiah (2 Ch 26:22)
- Letters/Messages of Sennacherib (2 Ch 32:10-17)
- Vision of Isaiah (2 Ch 32:32)
- Words of the Seers (2 Ch 33:18)
- Records of the Hozai (2 Ch 33:19)
- Written Instructions of David and Solomon (2 Ch 35:4)
- The Lamentations (2 Ch 35:25)
The original audience would have been Jews returning to Israel after their exile in Babylon. At this point the monarchy, temple, and nation had all been destroyed, so Chronicles would have reestablished a sense of continuity of the past with the present.
DATE
Somewhat similar to Samuel and Kings, the book of Chronicles does not provide an exact indication as to the date of composition. However, last individual cited in the Davidic geneology is Anani (1 Ch 3:24) who was born somewhere around 450-445 BC, making that the earliest possible date of composition. Most scholars believe that it was written no later than 400 BC, giving us a likely 45-50 year window of opportunity for composition.
BACKGROUND & SETTING
Chronologically speaking, Chronicles is a recap of the entire OT. The Chronicler begins with Adam (1 Ch 1:1), gets to David by chapter 3, spends the rest of the first third of the book on various genealogies, and then focuses back on the reign of David for the final two-thirds of the book. 2 Chronicles begins with a nine-chapter recap of the reign of Solomon, and book then spends the last 27 chapters focused on the monarchy of the southern kingdom of Judah (unlike Kings, which recounted the monarchies of both Israel and Judah). Much of the information is repeated from Samuel and Kings, although the sins and indiscretions of David are conspicuous in their absence.
(For a great chart that highlights the unique and redundant narratives of Samuel/Kings/Chronicles, see the table titled “Comparison of 1-2 Chronicles with 2 Samuel and 1-2 Kings” in the ESV Study Bible).
It should also be noted that like Kings, Chronicles is interpreted history. The author clearly expected his readers to be familiar with Samuel and Kings, and wrote both to provide a corrective understanding of Israel’s history and to provoke a response to the spiritual apathy of the time.
To understand Chronicles, you have to understand the setting: the Jews had returned from their 70 years in captivity to a homeland that was both unfamiliar and uncertain. In contrast to their former status, they had no king (the monarchy was destroyed and they were under Persian governance per Ezra 5:3; 6:6), no fortified central city (Jerusalem had been sacked and the walls destroyed per Neh 1-7), no temple (the glorious temple of Solomon had been destroyed per Ezra 3), no distinct homeland (in their absence, hostile tribes had moved back into the land per Ezra 4; Neh 4), no divine blessings (aside from their return), no national wealth (the riches of the Davidic and Solomonic dynasties were long spent or stolen), and no certain divine support (God’s presence had departed per Ezekiel 8-11).
The Jews faced the difficult task of rebuilding, and so the Chronicler wrote a history and emphasized genealogies to remind them of the plan and purpose of God for their land, nation, monarchy, priests, temple, and worship.
HISTORICAL & THEOLOGICAL THEMES
There are a number of themes that are prevalent throughout Chronicles:
- The Davidic Covenant. The genealogies of 1 Chronicles 1:1-9:44 emphasize the tribes of Judah and Benjamin because the Chronicler is primarily concerned with the Davidic dynasty. God had made a promise to David regarding his descendant (1 Ch 17:7-14) and Chronicles demonstrates His faithfulness to that promise.
- Worship. There is an emphasis throughout Chronicles on worship, beginning with David’s preparation for building the temple, the building of it by Solomon, and its symbol as the presence of God among his people (2 Ch 7:12,16; 33:7)
- Blessing and Judgment. Much like the author of Kings, the Chronicler emphasized that blessings followed obedience (2 Ch 7:17-18; 15:12-15; 17:3-6; 30:15-20; 31:20-21) but that God’s judgment followed disobedience (2 Ch 12:1-2; 34:19-21).
INTERPRETIVE CHALLENGES
There are a number of challenges that are presented by Chronicles that we can deal with briefly:
- Authorship. As previously mentioned, while the author of Chronicles is never identified with certainty, the author of Ezra-Nehemiah is considered by a number of scholars to be Ezra, and some of those scholars argue that Ezra is therefore the author of Chronicles due to the repetition of material at the end of 2 Chronicles and the beginning of Ezra. Suffice to say that while this is an interesting topic to discuss, it’s hardly conclusive one way or the other, and ultimately has little to no bearing on the texts themselves.
- Multiple Sources. Some have suggested that the Chronicler’s use of a variety of contributing sources presents a problem to the doctrine of inerrancy, inspiration, or both. While there isn’t space here to exhaustively deal with that, suffice to say that whether revelation comes through primary, secondary, or tertiary means makes it no less revelatory.
- Variations in Genealogies. The short version here is that a number of genealogies in Chronicles appear to be incorrect when compared to genealogies from other Biblical sources. This can be easily explained by the fact that the Chronicler presented genealogies to make thematic points rather than to represent relationships exactly.
- Variations in Spelling and Statistics. ANE spelling and quantifications are often inexact, and most ANE documents (the Bible included) were not concerned with exact spellings. Furthermore, the differences in amounts, statistics, and quantifications can often be reconciled based on the context, or can be reasonably attributed to copyist errors.
LITERARY FEATURES
The genre of Chronicles is that of a court history.
The ESV Study Bible explains:
1 Chronicles also focuses strongly on the heroic figure of King David. Specific forms of documentary writing include genealogies, inventories, and summaries of events such as lists of David’s victories. There are also speeches or orations, prayers, and a psalm of praise (1 Chron. 16:8–36). The story of David is placed within the encompassing story of God’s dealings with his covenant nation Israel, whose identity assumes a corporate character (repeatedly called “all Israel”)…Second Chronicles is expansive in its scope, tracing the history of a nation as embodied in its kings over a span of 400 years. Because the focus is so thoroughly on individual kings, the book has the feel of an anthology of brief biographies and hero stories.
OBJECTIONS
Apart from the INTERPRETIVE CHALLENGES listed above, there are no significant OBJECTIONS to the book of Chronicles that I’m aware of. Some individuals try to make a fuss over the variations in spelling and statistics between Chronicles and Samuel/Kings, but the vast majority of those are either explainable from genre and context or are obviously copyist errors.
NOTABLE QUOTABLES
- 1 Chronicles 17:14
- 2 Chronicles 6:14
- 2 Chronicles 7:14
DID YOU KNOW?
- The NT does not directly quote 1 or 2 Chronicles
- Names are often spelled differently in Chronicles than in the earlier books. However, this is not unusual or problematic as ANE records were not concerned with standard spellings.
Other Works Referenced
