The description of the history of the people of God ends with Jehovah's rejection and the deportation of the Jews into Babylonian captivity (around 605 to 586 BC). This decline was interrupted in Judah by several revivals of God fearing kings (especially under Jehoshaphat, Hezekiah and Josiah). The books of Kings however bear a prophetic stamp.Īs in Kings the soon progressive decline of the people is described. The Chronicles show the spiritual side of life in Judah and therefore bear a priestly character. Later on, the restoration of worship in the temple is mentioned several times (Josiah, Hezekiah). 21-29, and in 2 Chronicles 2 2 Chronicles 3 2 Chronicles 4 2 Chronicles 5 2 Chronicles 6 2 Chronicles 7 the building and inauguration of the temple under King Solomon. we see David's interest for the temple (God's dwelling-place amidst His people) in chap. The building of the temple takes up much more space in the Chronicles than in the first book of Kings. The Chronicles however contain more typical teachings in connection with the grace of God.Ī further main subject is the erection of the temple. The books of Kings give more moral teachings and stress the human responsibility.
Therefore David and Solomon's trespasses (David's adultery with Bathsheba and his murdering Uriah and Solomon's idolatry) are not mentioned. Both David and Solomon form a joint picture of Christ as rejected, suffering, glorified and reigning king. The kingdoms of David and Solomon as well as their successors are the main subject of the Chronicles. The Chronicles only mention Israel when it comes into contact with Judah. The books of Kings describe mostly the northern kingdom of the ten tribes (Israel). The Chronicles describe especially the kingdom of Judah. One would think of comparing the Chronicles with Deuteronomy, which is no repetition of the preceding books either. The books of Chronicles give a divine retrospect over Israel's history and the history of mankind as well as God's ways with men. We may see this already in the long genealogies of Israel and especially of the house of David, which commences with Adam, the first man. God pursued a special purpose with the writings of the Chronicles. The books of Chronicles are not a repetition of the books of Kings. More important is the fact that God Himself had the books written in order to admonish us ( 1 Corinthians 10:6 1 Corinthians 10:11). For the reader acknowledging the Bible as God's inspired Word these circumstances, however, are not that important. Throughout the books a number of historical accounts is mentioned upon which the writer could base his writings ( 1 Chronicles 5:17 1 Chronicles 9:1 1 Chronicles 23:27 1 Chronicles 27:24 1 Chronicles 29:29 2 Chronicles 9:29 2 Chronicles 12:15 2 Chronicles 13:22 2 Chronicles 24:27 2 Chronicles 26:22 2 Chronicles 27:7 2 Chronicles 33:19 2 Chronicles 35:25).
The time of writing would have been around 450 to 400 BC. The priestly character of these books goes well with Ezra who was a priest as well ( Ezra 7:1-5 Ezra 7:11). The genealogies were of great importance for the Jews after the exile (compare Ezra 2:62).Īs in most of the OT writings the name of the author is however not mentioned. 1-9) would also endorse Ezra's authorship. The detailed genealogies at the beginning (chap. As the last verses of 2 Chronicles and the first few verses of the book of Ezra are nearly identical and as the book of Ezra is the historical sequence of Chronicles the Jewish scholars who wrote the Talmud named Ezra as author of the Chronicles. From then on the division was taken over into the translations of the Holy Scriptures until finally it was taken over into the Hebrew Bible (firstly by Daniel Bomberg in 1517 AC).ġ Chronicles 3:19 ff 1 Chronicles 9:1-2 and 2 Chronicles 36:22-23 make it clear that the two books were only written or completed after the Babylonian captivity. The division of the books originates from the translation of the Septuagint, which is the Greek version of the OT. Originally they formed one single book as the books of Samuel and Kings. The two books of Chronicles are the very last books of the Hebrew Old Testament.
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