The Historical Books

THE HISTORICAL BOOKS INTRODUCTION and the exile of the Southern Kingdom, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, First and Second Judah, brings the sad history to a close Samuel, First and Second Kings, First and about 586 B.C. The Jews are in exile in Second Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, and Babylon. Esther are called the historical books. Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings are They contain the history of Israel from the understood as a historical work of four conquest of Canaan under Joshua to the parts that was completed during the Exile, time of Ezra. The period in history is from although much of the material in them is about 1200 to 400 B.C. Joshua, Judges, earlier. Ruth is inserted in the historical Ruth, Samuel, and Kings are set in the works because the story is connected with preexilic period. The others portray events the period of the judges. in the postexilic period. We do not know who the writers of these books were. Jewish tradition holds THE BOOKS AND THE that Joshua wrote his own book and the HISTORY books of Judges and Ruth, and that The Book of Joshua takes up the story of Jeremiah wrote the books of Kings. the people of Israel after the death of Moses Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther and before the period of the judges. The were written in the postexilic era. book tells of the conquest of the Pron1ised Chronicles is a sweeping survey of bibli Land and its division among the tribes of cal history from Adam to the return from Israel. Judges describes the period between the Exile following the edict of Cyrus Joshua and the establishment of kingship. (538 B.C.). The period of the judges extended from More than half the information in about 1200 to 1040 B.C. Chronicles appears also in Genesis, Samuel was the last of the judges. He Samuel, and Kings. But the books of was also the high priest, and in his days Chronicles do not include information Saul became the first king. First Samuel about the kings of Israel, the Northern provides a history of those days and an Kingdom, unless a particular king has a introduction to David. direct connection with the history of David's rise to the monarchy and his Judah. The writer of Chronicles wanted to accomplishments and problems are show that God had preserved the true recorded in Second Samuel. Originally covenant people in Judah. They had been First and Second Samuel were a single ruled by the legitimate kings of the work that was divided when the GTeek dynasty of David. The Chronicler also translation, the Septuagint, was made in treats David gently. His sin with the third century B.C. This is true of First Bathsheba is not even mentioned in the and Second Kings also. The first section history. of First Kings recounts the death of David No one knows who the writer of First and the reign of Solon10n. The division of and Second Chronicles was. Jewish tradi David and Solomon's kingdom into the tion holds that Ezra wrote Chronicles. kingdoms of Judah and Israel is recorded Ezra and Nehemiah were at one time a in First Kings, but the history of the two single book and probably a part of kingdoms continues into Second Kings. Chronicles. The Hebrew Bible gives verse The end of the Northern Kingdon1, Israel, counts for Ezra-Nehen1iah as if they were THE HISTORICAL BOOKS 29 one book. These works were written in the community did not have a copy of Esther late 400's B.C. The history is of the in its library, as far as we know. restoration of the people fron1 exile in Babylonia and the problems they faced in IMPORTANT IDEAS IN THE reestablishing the true worship of God in HISTORICAL BOOKS Jerusalem. Ezra contains several passages The preexilic books validate the estab written in Aramaic, a language that was lishment of the monarchy. The promise of becon1ing increasingly important in that God to David that one of his descendants period. would sit on the throne of Israel became Esther is a story set in the period of the an important idea connected with the Persian Empire, before 400 B.C. Nowhere Messiah. Another feature of these books is does it contain the name of God. So pious the word of the Lord, the revelation of additions were made to the book in the God through spokesmen, the prophets. period between the testaments. These additions are found in the Apocrypha. The preexilic writers were also interested The rabbis argued the merits of includ in the Temple and in worship. ing Esther in the Hebrew Bible. It won a The postexilic writers were more inter place because of the connection of the ested in the Temple and its rituals. The story with the establishment of the popu Chronicler was fascinated with the priests lar Jewish feast of Purim. Also, though and Levites, the Temple singers, and other God is not mentioned by name, God's functionaries. Many fine exan1ples of activity is understood to be going on prayers are included in the Chronicler's behind the scenes. The Dead Sea Scroll work. BOOKS OF THE BIBLE 30 .

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