CHRONICLES, Books of. The books of Chronicles were originally one book in the Hebrew, which is also true of Ezra and Nehe miah. Further, it is now a generally accepted conclusion that these two books, Chronicles, and Ezra and Nehemiah, were written by the same author and were, when composed, a sin gle work. The reasons for this conclusion are the following: Ezra is the direct historical continuation of Chronicles. Further, two verses at the end of Chronicles are repeated at the beginning of Ezra, a duplication which is supposed to have occurred when the division was made. Also, the characteristics of both works are the same. These are particularly a fondness for genealo gies and also for the treatment of religious matters, especially those things which pertain to the temple and the work of the priests and Levites. Again, both are marked•by the same unusual late linguistic peculiarities.
In Chronicles the passage which apparently indicates the latest date is 1 Chron. in, 19-24, where the sixth generation after Zerubbabel in the line of David is mentioned, which would be about 350 n.c. The text of the passage is, however, somewhat doubtful; the Septuagint reading indicates the 11th generation. Nehe miah contains clearer evidence of a late date. The high' priest Jaddua, of the time of Alex ander the Great, is mentioned, Nehemiah xii, 10f; 22f. Further, the description of Darius as the Persian, Nehemiah xii, 22, would be unnecessary and unnatural while the Persian empire was in existence, and implies that at the time of the writer that empire belonged to the past. Hence the writer lived probably about 300 but possibly later than that.
1 Chronicles contains the history of the Hebrews from Adam to Saul; x 2 Chron. ix, the history from the death of Saul to the death of Solomon; 2 Chron. x-xxxvi, the history of Judah only, without Israel, to the end of the Babylonian captivity in 537. When this history is compared with the paral lel accounts in the books of Samuel and Kings it shows many omissions and also many addi tions. The omission of the entire history of the northern kingdom, Israel, is specially no table. The whole of the material of 2 Sam. ito-xx, except the account of the wars with the Ammonites, is omitted. This is particularly significant because the omitted portion gives an account of the failings of David and the un favorable side of his court and family life. The additions arc concerned chiefly with the activity of the Levites and the prominence of the temple and ritual matters. An example of
a long addition is 1 Chron. 2-xxxix, 30, of which only xxix. 23a, 2'7, is from a known source, from 1 Kings. The additions show an idealized view of the history, representing the P code as in force in the time of David.
It is evident, that the sources used by the writer included some of the canonical books, principally the books of Samuei and Kings, with the Pentateuch and Joshua employed less extensively. The material from these canon ical books is largely in the form of verbatim extracts, with omissions and additions, but not rewritten. The author also refers to Other sources• under at least 15 titles, such as: The Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel, 2 Chron. xvi, 11; The Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah, 2 Chron. xxvii, 7; The Mid rash of the Book of the Kings, 2 Chron. xxiv, 27, etc, It is obvious that several of the titles refer to the sani t work, and that is possibly the case with all. The principal source used by the writer, then, aside from the canonical books, is a work covering the history of Israel and Judah; -whether any other sources are referred to is uncertain. It is probable that the material from the extra-canonical source or sources is rewritten. At any rate, the portions not drawn from the canonical books all have the same peculiar late style.
The historical value of the portions of Chronicles not derived from the canonical books is uncertain. Much of the material is distinctly improbable, some being quite out of harmony with the earlier material from the canonical books. On the other hand, it cannot be asserted that there is no historical element in this added material. The evidence is not sufficient to afford a positive judgment in every case. The religious standpoint of the book is that of the time of the writer, and he puts that standpoint into the earlier time. The historical value of the book is largely that of showing the religious standpoint of about 300 B.C.
W. E., Book of Chronicles'• ('Cambridge Bible,' Cambridge 1900); Bennett, W. H., 'The Books of Chronic des' ('ExpOsitor's Bible,' New York 1894); Curtis, E. L., and Madsen, A. A., 'The Books of Chronicles' Critical Com mentary,' New York 1910); Harvey-Jellie, W. R., 'Chronicles' ((Century Bible,' Edinburgh 1906); Torrey, C..C., 'Ezra Studies' (Chicago 1910).
GEoticE R. BERRY, Professor of Old Testament Intertretation and Semitic Languages, Colgate University.