CHRONICLES. BOOKS OF. In Hebrew the Books of the Chronicles are called Dibhre hay-mitnint, " affairs of the days " or events of the times. In the Septuagint the title is Paraleipomena, " things omitted " (in the older historical books). The English title was suggested by the name (Chronicon) which Jerome gave to the books. It would seem that originally the books of Chronicles, Ezra and Nehemiah were one work. They all have the same peculiarities of language and thought. The narra tive which closes abruptly in Chronicles is resumed and continued in the Book of Ezra (see CANON OF THE OLD TESTAMENT). The Chronicler rewrites the his tory contained in the other books of the Old Testament from Genesis to II. Kings from a new standpoint, and takes hardly any account of the history of the Northern Kingdom. In I. Chronicles i.-ix. he gives the history from Adam to the end of the reign of Saul in the form of genealogies and statistics. In I. Chronicles s. to II. Chronicles xxxvi. the history runs parallel to that which is given in the books of Samuel and Kings from I. Sam. xxxi. to II. Kings xxv. 21. From the point at which David ascends the throne the history becomes more elaborate. The treatment of the Northern Kingdom snggests that it " had long ceased to possess any living interest." There are other indications, in addition to the Aramaic colouring of the books, that the Chronicles were separated from the fall of the Northern Kingdom by a long interval. In TI. Chron. xxxvi. 23 Cyrus is given the title King of Persia. But the titles given to the Persian kings at the time were as a matter of fact " the King," the " Great King," the " King of Kings," the " King of the Lands." This suggests that the Chronicler wrote much later than the period of the Per sian Empire. Again, in I. Chron. xxix. 7, in reference to the time of David, a sum of money is reckoned in (taxies, whereas this Persian coin was not introduced until the time of Darius I. (521-486 B.C.). Lastly, in I. Chron. iii. 19-24. Rix generations seem to be assigned to the descendants of Zerubhabel (c. 520 B.C.) in the Hebrew text and eleven in the Septuagint. This would give us either 400 or 300 B.C. A number of scholars favour the latter date for the compilation of Chronicles. The Chronicler seems to have made use of the earlier his torian books. On his own admission be also used a number of works not included in the Canon of the Old Testament. Such works were : the " Words of Nathan.
the prophet " (1. Citron. xxix. 29), the " Prophecy of Ahijah, the Shilonite " (IT. Chrou. ix. 29), the " Visions of Iddo. the seer " (IT. Chron. ix. 29), the " Words of Iddo, the seer " (II. Chron. xii. 15). the " Andras]) of the prophet Iddo " (IL Citron. xiii. 22), the " Words of Shemaiah, the prophet " (II. Chron. xii. 15), the " Words of Jelin, the son of Hamill " Ill. Chron. xx. 34), the "• Rest of the acts of Uzziah, first and last " (written by Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amok; H. Citron. xxvi. 22). the " Vision of Isaiah, the prophet, the son of Amoz " (IL Chron. xxxii. 32), the " Words of Hozai " (II. Chron. xxxiii. 19), the " Words of Samuel, the seer " (I. Chron. xxix. 29), the " Words of Gad, the seer " (I. Citron. xxix. 29), the " Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel " (II. Citron. xvi. 11 etc.), the " Acts (or affairs) of the Kings of Israel " (TI. Chron. xxxiii. IS), the " Midrash of the Book of Kings " (II. Chron. xxiv. 27). All this material has been treated in such a way as to enforce and Mus t rate a special point of view. " The Chronicler's survey is rather in the nature of a church history of Israel from the point of view of post-Exilic Jewish orthodoxy, than a mere narrative of events " (G. 11. Box). He is parti cularly Interested in the worship and music of the Temple. When material found in the books of Samuel and Kings. is not calculated to further his purpose, he rejects it. Again, "there are many cases in which the chronicler modifies the material in Samuel and Kings in some degree, sometimes condensing a narrative greatly, some times expanding; at other times changing the significance• of an event, or magnifying the size of an army, or dis regarding historical fact " (W. R. Harper). The matter' which is added to supplement that of the other canonical books is for the most part of the nature of moralistic romance; hut occasionally it seems to he based upon historical facts. For instance, in II. Kings there is only a brief account of the very prosperous reign of Tizziah. IT. Chronicles xxvi. 645 supplements this by giving in formation about this prosperity, and Curtis and Madsen contend that this information is in substance historical. See Eneyel. Inbl.; W. R. Harper, The Priestly Element in the 01(1 Testament, 1905; C. Condit, Intr.; G. H. Box; 0. C. Whitehouse; E. L. Curtis and A. A. Madsen, Chronicles in the /.C.C.. 1910.