CHAPTER NINE

HISTORICAL PERSONS OR LITERARY CHARACTERS: IN THE BOOK OF CHRONICLES1

’) is found twenty-nine‘) בא In the Book of Chronicles the noun times in total, with a remarkable concentration of seven occurrences in -to prophecy’) a simi‘) בא Chronicles 18.2 With respect of the verb 2 lar feature appears.3 These statistical data could create the impression 2 Chronicles 18 were the most obvious passage in the Chronicler’s book to find out what is his own understanding of prophet and prophecy. That, however, is absolutely not the case, since 2 Chronicles 18 with some small changes is identical to 1 Kings 22.4 In fact, 2 Chronicles 18 is the only narrative resembling the prophetic ‘biographies’ of the Deuteronomistic History, in which the prophet himself is the central figure in the story. Whereas in the Book of Kings the narratives on Ahijah, , and others commonly included miraculous elements and were concerned with efficacy of the prophetic pronouncements, is in the Book of Chronicles the ministry of the prophets nowhere described in terms of ecstasy, miracles or political dimensions, such as e.g. the exhorta- tion to rebellion by Ahija of Silo (1 Kgs 11:29–39) or the anointing of by one of Elisha’s disciples (2 Kings 9).5 The entire complex of the Elijah narratives has skipped over by the Chronicler; in stead of it

1 This Chapter is a revised version of ‘Prophets in the Book of Chronicles’, in: J.C. de Moor (ed.), The Elusive Prophet. The Prophet as a Historical Person, Literary Character and Anonymous Artist (OTS 45), Leiden 2001, 45–53. 2 1 Chr 16:22; 17:1; 29:29; 2 Chr 9:29; 12:5, 15; 13:22; 15:8; 18:5, 6, 9, 11, 12, 21, 22; 20:20; 21:12; 24:19; 25:15, 16; 26:22; 28:9; 29: 25 [2 x]; 32:20, 32; 35:18; 36:12, 16. 3 1 Chr 25:1, 2, 3; 2 Chr 18:7, 9, 11, 17; 20:37. 4 R. Micheel, Die Seher- und Prophetenüberlieferungen in der Chronik (BBET, 18), Frank- furt 1983, 23–29; K. Strübind, Tradition als Interpretation in der Chronik: König Josaphat als Paradigma chronistischer Hermeneutik und Theologie (BZAW, 201), Berlin/New York 1991, 155–164. 5 R.B. Dillard, 2 Chronicles (WBC 15), Waco 1987, 92–93; J. Kegler, ‘Propheten- gestalten im Deuteronomistischen Geschichtswerk und in den Chronik büchern. Ein Beitrag zur Kompositions- und Redaktionsgeschichte der Chronik bücher, ZAW 105 (1993), 491. 130 chapter nine only a letter by Elijah is brought to the fore (2 Chr 21:12–15). Similar interventions take place with respect of and ; they no longer are persons who make their appearance in narratives.6 They more or less coincide with or have been reduced to the books bearing their names (2 Chr 26:22; 32:32; 35:25).7 On the other hand, in the Book of Chronicles a total of eighteen prophetic addresses is found, of which no less than fourteen have no parallel in 1–2 or 1–2 Kings and can therefore be character- ized as a creation by the Chronicler himself.8 At least ten times these prophetic addresses are put into the mouth of persons who nowhere else in the Bible are known as prophet, seer, or man of God.9 In a number of instances they are expressly presented with the help of a special introductory formula of divine inspiration.10 One will hardly wonder that it is just these prophetic addresses where fundamental theological notions of 1–2 Chronicles are to be found. William Schniedewind has convincingly demonstrated that, as far as the Book of Chronicles is concerned, one has to differentiate between (אשאלם , ,רא ,בא) speeches by speakers with prophetic titles and speeches by speakers without prophetic titles, but being introduced by ‘possession formulas’ (‘the spirit of God was upon . . .’; ‘the spirit enveloped . . .’). Speakers with prophetic titles usually address themselves only to the king, whereas so-called ‘inspired messengers’ generally address themselves to the people.11 After a careful investigation Schnie- dewind reaches at the conclusion that persons with prophetic titles ‘often give explanations for past or future events, functioning as interpreters of events’.12 In the speeches of the ‘inspired messengers’, emphasis is put on another aspect, viz. ‘the inspired interpretation of authoritative texts which revitalized the word of God anew for the post-exilic community’.13 It

6 ‘. . . the literary prophets play no part in the Chronicler’s narrative’; S. Japhet, The Ideology of the Book of Chronicles and Its Place in Biblical Thought (BEATAJ, 9), Frankfurt a.M. 1989, 181. 7 See Kegler, ‘Prophetengestalten’, 487 (Table 5). 8 See R.K. Duke, The Persuasive Appeal of the Chronicler: A Rhetorical Analysis ( JSOTSS, 88), Sheffield 1990, 175–176 (‘List 8: Prophetic Speech Material’). 9 Kegler, ‘Prophetengestalten’, 487 (Table 4). 10 1 Chr 12:19; 2 Chr 15:1; 20:14; 24:20. 11 There are five ‘inspired messengers’: Amasai (1 Chr 12:19), (2 Chr 15:1), Jahaziel (2 Chr 20:14), Zechariah (2 Chr 24:20), and Neco (2 Chr 35:21). As to Jahaziel, see Chapter four. 12 W. Schniedewind, The Word of God in Transition. From Prophet to Exegete in the Second Temple Period ( JSOTSS 197), Sheffield 1995, 127 [Italics by me, PCB]. 13 Schniedewind, The Word of God, 127 [Italics by me, PCB].