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1 Chronicles -- the Life of King David

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1 Chronicles -- the Life of King David YOU CAN UNDERSTAND THE BIBLE 1 Chronicles: the Life of King David BOB UTLEY PROFESSOR OF HERMENEUTICS (BIBLE INTERPRETATION) STUDY GUIDE COMMENTARY SERIES OLD TESTAMENT VOL. 7 BIBLE LESSONS INTERNATIONAL MARSHALL, TEXAS 2015 INTRODUCTION TO 1 AND 2 CHRONICLES I. NAME OF THE BOOK A. The name of the book in Hebrew is “the words (events) of the days (years).” This is used in the sense of “a chronicle of the years.” These same words occur in the title of several books mentioned as written sources in 1 Kings 14:19,29; 15:7,23,31; 16:5,14,20,27; 22:46. The phrase itself is used over thirty times in 1 and 2 Kings and is usually translated “chronicles.” B. The LXX entitled it “the things omitted (concerning the Kings of Judah).” This implies that Chronicles is to Samuel and Kings what the Gospel of John is to the Synoptic Gospels. See How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth, by Gordon Fee and Douglas Stuart, pp. 127-148. As the Gospel writers under inspiration (see Special Topic: Inspiration) had the right to select, adapt, and arrange the life of Jesus (not invent actions or words), so too, the inspired authors of OT narratives (see Expository Hermeneutics: An Introduction, by Elliott E. Johnson, p. 169). This selection, adaptation, and chronological/thematic arrangement of words/events was to convey theological truth. History is used as a servant of theology. Chronicles has suffered, much as the Gospel of Mark did. They were both seen as “Readers Digest” summaries and not “a full history.” This is unfortunate! Both have an inspired message. We, as readers committed to inspiration, must ask, “Why include this?” “Why choose not to record this?” C. Jerome, in his “Prologus Galeatus,” entitled it “Chronicle of the whole sacred history” because its genealogy goes back to Adam and the companion books of Ezra/Nehemiah relate to the post- exilic Period (i.e., Cyrus II – Darius II). See Special Topic: Kings of Persia. The concluding nature of Chronicles can be illustrated by a quote from Jesus in Matt. 23:35 and Luke 11:51, where He mentions Abel (cf. Gen. 4:8) and Zechariah (cf. 2 Chr. 24:20-21). This clearly demonstrates the canonical MT position that Chronicles was written last. D. 1 and 2 Chronicles were originally one book in Hebrew, which was divided by the LXX, as were Samuel and Kings. This artificial division was contextually done poorly. It was only for the reason of length, not historical context. II. CANONIZATION A. 1 and 2 Chronicles are the last books of “the Writings” section of the Hebrew canon, which means 2 Chronicles is the last book of the Hebrew Bible. B. Its position in the Hebrew canon implies: 1. its late composition 2. its summary nature 3. its having been seen as an appendix 4. its being accepted in the canon late, see Special Topic: Canon (Hebrew) C. The LXX placed it after Kings and before Ezra. It is surprising that Ezra/Nehemiah are put before Chronicles, possibly because 1. of the summary nature of Chronicles 2. it ends on a positive note 1 III. GENRE A. Chronicles is historical narrative but in a special selective theological sense. See several Special Topics at the beginning of the Table of Contents. Also see the valuable summary section on OT narrative in How To Read the Bible for All Its Worth by Gordon Fee and Douglas Stuart, pp. 89- 106. B. It removes most of the negative aspects of the reigns of: 1. David (1 Chronicles) 2. Solomon 3. the “godly” Judean Kings a. Asa b. Jehoshaphat c. Uzziah d. Hezekiah e. Josiah C. It is attempting to affirm to the post-exilic community of Judah that YHWH is still their covenant God and can be trusted. IV. AUTHORSHIP A. The Bible is silent on authorship. B. Baba Bathra 15a says Ezra wrote the genealogy of Chronicles unto himself. This has been interpreted in two ways. 1. Ezra wrote Chronicles 2. Ezra (or a later common editor) finished the history started in Chronicles up to his own day C. Ezra 1:1-4 and 2 Chr. 36:22-23 are similar in Hebrew. Both E. J. Young and R. K. Harrison say Chronicles was written first. This is partly confirmed by a scribal technique used by Babylonian scribes of linking two works together by means of a “catch-line” or colophon. The technique is not seen in the rabbinical writings. This would imply that Ezra (or a later editor) was using Chronicles as a historical introduction to his own work which continued the history of the Jewish people. D. The author(s) of Chronicles and Ezra/Nehemiah have the same theological interest and perspective: 1. focus on the Temple (i.e., Mosaic Covenant) and priesthood (especially lists of Levites) 2. extensive use of statistical records and genealogies 3. the vocabulary and literary styles are similar 4. it must be said, they also differ: a. spell names differently b. Chronicles focuses on David’s royal line while Ezra/Nehemiah focuses on Mosaic Covenant E. William Albright attributes authorship to Ezra between 428 and 397 B.C. Ezra’s reform found in Ezra 7-10 occurred in 458-457 B.C. under Artaxerxes I (see Special Topic: Historical Allusions to Persian Kings). 2 F. Because of the focus of Chronicles on the temple and its procedures and personnel, it is probable that the author/editor was a Levite or priest working at the restored second temple in Jerusalem after the edict of Cyrus II and the returns of Nehemiah and Ezra. G. Chronicles uses many sources: 1. previously written Scriptural revelations (cf. 1 Chr. 16:40; 23:18; 2 Chr. 25:4; 31:3; 35:12,26) a. Chronicles uses about half of Samuel and Kings or at least the same sources b. I Chronicles seems to know of some OT texts specifically: (1) Gen. 35:22 – 1 Chr. 5:1 (7) Gen. 46:21 – 1 Chr. 7:6,12 (2) Gen. 38:7 – 1 Chr. 2:3 (8) Gen. 46:24 – 1 Chr. 7:13 (3) Gen. 38:30 – 1 Chr. 2:4,6 (9) Ruth 4:18-21 – 1 Chr. 2:11-13 (4) Gen. 46:10 – 1 Chr. 4:24 (10) I Sam. 27:10 – 1 Chr. 2:9, 25-26 (5) Gen. 46:11 – 1 Chr. 6:16 (11) I Sam. 31:1-6 – 1 Chr. 10:1-12 (6) Gen. 46:13 – 1 Chr. 7:1 (12) Psalm 96; 105; 106 – 1 Chr. 16 c. NIV Study Bible’s introduction to Chronicles includes as sources: (1) Pentateuch (6) Psalms (2) Judges (7) Isaiah (3) Ruth (8) Jeremiah (4) I Samuel (9) Lamentations (5) Kings (10) Zechariah d. See A Basic Guide to Interpreting the Bible by Robert H. Stein, p. 91 2. written historical documents from the divided kingdom a. possibly official court documents: (1) the chronicles of King David, 1 Chr. 27:24 (2) the book of the kings of Judah and Israel, 2 Chr. 16:11; 25:26; 28:26; 32:32 (3) the book of the kings of Israel and Judah, 2 Chr. 27:7; 35:27; 36:8 (4) the book of the kings of Israel, 1 Chr. 9:1; 2 Chr. 20:34 (5) the words of the kings of Israel, 2 Chr. 24:27; 33:18 b. prophets: (1) acts of King David, 1 Chr. 29:29: (a) Chronicles of Samuel, the seer (b) Chronicles of Nathan, the prophet (c) Chronicles of Gad, the seer. (2) acts of Solomon, 2 Chr. 9:29: (a) records of Nathan the prophet (b) prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite (3) acts of Jeroboam I in the visions of Iddo the seer, 2 Chr. 9:29 (4) acts of Rehoboam in 2 Chr. 12:15: (a) records of Shemaiah the prophet (b) Iddo the seer (5) acts of Abijah in 2 Chr. 13:22 by Iddo the prophet (6) acts of Jehu in 2 Chr. 20:34 by the son of Hanani (7) acts of Uzziah by Isaiah, son of Amoz in 2 Chr. 26:22 (8) acts of Manasseh in 2 Chr. 33:19 by Hozai (LXX “the seer”) c. tribal genealogical records: (1) Simeon, 1 Chr. 4:33 (2) Gad, 1 Chr. 5:17 (3) Benjamin, 1 Chr. 7:9 (4) Asher, 1 Chr. 7:40 3 (5) All Israel, 1 Chr. 9:1 (6) Levitical gatekeepers, 1 Chr. 9:22 (implication being each Levitical division also had records [cf. 1 Chr. 23:1ff; 28:13; 2 Chr. 35:4]). d. foreign sources: (1) Sennacherib’s letters, 2 Chr. 32:17-70 (2) Cyrus’ decree, 2 Chr. 36:22-23 H. Like Ezra-Nehemiah, Chronicles lists the genealogies of several people. Some of these extend into the future, after the traditional close of 2 Chronicles, to four to six generations. There have been two ways to deal with this: 1. these were editorial additions 2. these are contemporary families, not generations 3. see discussion below, V. A. V. DATE A. There are two texts in Chronicles that imply a period after the return of the Exile for the writing of Chronicles: 1. 1 Chronicles 3:19-21. This is a list of the descendants of Zerubbabel: a. some say to the sixth generation b. others say only to two generations, followed by a list of four Davidic families who were contemporaries of the two descendants of Zerubbabel – Pelatiah and Jeshaiah (Young & Harrison) c. the LXX extended the list of Zerubbabel’s descendants to the eleventh generation (This shows editorial updating) 2.
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