The Book of Chronicles

The Books of 1 and 2 Chronicles

I. INTRODUCTION

The two books of Chronicles are in reality one. The division was first made in the Septuagint and thence in the Latin Vulgate. Hence, it was adopted in other translations and by the sixteenth century also in printed Hebrew Bibles.[1]

The first book of Chronicles provides an ethnic-geographic framework over nine chapters, followed by the story of David. The second book in its first nine chapters recounts the history of the reign of Solomon, and then tells the whole history of the kingdom of Judah up to its destruction, without considering the northern kingdom.[2]

II. BODY

A. Nature of Composition

1. Title

The Hebrew title of the Books of Chronicles is dibre hayyāmîm or dibre yāmîm which literally means “the book of the words of the days”. Idiomatically, it is equivalent to “happenings of the times” or chronicles (record of events in chronological order).[3]

In Greek, the title given is pralipomenon or paraleipomena understood as designating the book’s content[4]. The title means “things omitted or passed over [in Samuel and Kings]”.[5] The Books of Chronicles, however, are more than a supplement to Samuel and Kings. A comparison of two histories discloses striking differences in scope and purpose.[6]

On the other hand, the modern name Chronicles goes back to St. Jerome’s Prolugus Galeatus in which he writes that these books “form a chronicle of the whole divine history”. In his translation of the Bible, Martin Luther took up the term and called the books “Die Chronika” and the name thus popularized, is now generally accepted by modern versions.[7]

2. Author

The Chronicler is the name given to the Biblical author who produced the historical corpus comprising the books of 1 and 2 Chronicles. [8]

There is a general agreement that the Chronicler is a Levite cantor or a post exilic priest[9]. Generally speaking, the unique text...