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OT Survey I

OT Survey I. Chronicles. Author and Date of Chronicles.

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OT Survey I

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  1. OT Survey I Chronicles

  2. Author and Date of Chronicles • “Jeremiah wrote the book which bears his name, the Book of Kings, and Lamentations. Hezekiah and his colleagues wrote Isaiah, Proverbs, the Song of Songs and Ecclesiastes. The Men of the Great Assembly wrote Ezekiel, the Twelve Minor Prophets, Daniel and the Scroll of Esther. Ezra wrote the book that bears his name and the genealogies of the Book of Chronicles up to his own time. This confirms the opinion of Rab, since Rab Judah has said in the name of Rab: Ezra did not leave Babylon to go up to Eretz Yisrael until he had written his own genealogy. Who then finished it [the Book of Chronicles]? — Nehemiah the son of Hachaliah.” Baba Bathra, 15a

  3. Author and Date of Chronicles (cont…) • “As the chief architect of the spiritual and moral revival of the Second Commonwealth, he would have had every incentive to produce a historical survey of this sort. As a Levite from the priestly line, his viewpoint would have been in perfect agreement with that of the author of this work, and he would be very apt to lay the stress just where the Chronicler has.” Gleason L. Archer, Survey of OT Introduction, p. 450

  4. Author and Date of Chronicles (cont…) • 2 Chronicles 36:22-23 = Ezra 1:1-3a • Another argument for Ezra as the author? • A terminus a quo for the date of writing: 538 BC • 1 Chronicles 3:24 – Some generations after Zerubbabel (his grandsons?) 538 – Cyrus’ decree 966 – Solomon’s 4th year 1446 - Exodus 586 – Babylonian captivity Thus, the author is unknown but possibly Ezra, and the date is sometime around the 5th century BC

  5. Location of Chronicles in Canon English Hebrew • Joshua • Judges • Ruth • Samuel • Kings • Chronicles • Ezra/Neh/Est [Torah] [Historical Books] [Former Prophets] (Joshua through Kings) [Latter Prophets] (Isa, Jer, Ezek, 12) • [Writings] • Psalms/Job/Proverbs • Megilloth (The 5 Scrolls) • Daniel/Ezra-Nehemiah • Chronicles

  6. Location of Chronicles in Canon (cont…) • “Few Old Testament books are as easy to underestimate as is 1-2 Chronicles. Many readers dismiss it as a needless repetition or mere supplement to Samuel and Kings. Others are nonplussed by its extensive opening genealogies, by its length or by its supposedly simplistic view of Israelite history. Even theologians are prone to dismiss the book too lightly. For example, Gerhard . . .

  7. Location of Chronicles in Canon (cont…) • . . . von Rad says, ‘One cannot avoid the impression of a certain mental exhaustion—at least in the way the material is presented. And in theological clarity too, in consistency and inner unity, the Chronicler is not nearly the equal of the Deuteronomistic work.’ Such comments do not do justice to the breadth and vision that the book exhibits. Rather than being a repetitious, unimaginative work, . . .

  8. Location of Chronicles in Canon (cont…) • . . . this history provides an excellent conclusion to the canon by drawing together its major themes and presenting them in an effective, creative, and historically accurate manner. The book has a canonical awareness that makes it important for grasping the whole message of Old Testament theology.” Paul House, Old Testament Theology, p. 523

  9. Chronicles – A New Perspective • 1) Time period – The beginning of time until Cyrus (C) vs. the beginning of kingship until the end of it (S/K) • 2) Outlook – Positive and hopeful (C) vs. negative and uncertain (S/K). • Very little ink spent on negative things. • Extra ink spent on positive things. • Revealing differences in parallel contexts (e.g., the Davidic Covenant)

  10. Chronicles – A New Perspective (cont…) • 3) Direction – Looking forward (C) vs. looking back (S/K) • 4) Purpose – Encouragement (C) vs. Conviction (S/K). • Reading Samuel and Kings should result in tears. Reading Chronicles should result in sweat.

  11. Purpose Statement of Chronicles • The exile has ended and God has begun to fulfill the good words of the prophets. • Israel should come together as a nation and prepare for a new covenant and the restoration of their kingdom by establishing proper worship and pursuing faithful obedience with all their heart.

  12. Major Themes* • Unity of All Israel • “All Israel” anoints David at Hebron, not just Judah (1 Chr 11:1) • Emphasis on all twelve tribes supporting David in unison, whereas in Samuel there is seemingly constant friction (1 Chr 12:23-38) • Several texts show residents of northern Israel recognizing the legitimacy of Judah and defecting (2 Chr 11:13-14; 15:8-9) • Several texts show reforms of Judah reaching north (2 Chr 19:4, 8; 30:1, 6, 10, 11, 18; 31:1; 34:6-7, 9) *Cf. David M. Howard Jr., Intro to OT Historical Books

  13. “All Israel” • “The term all Israel occurs at least 105 times in biblical Hebrew. Almost 40 percent of these references occur in 1 & 2 Chronicles: forty times! This statistic alone shows the prominence of this idea in the two books. . . . An even more revealing statistic comes from noticing that in only six cases does the Chronicler use the phrase exactly as it appears in his sources. In twelve cases the Chronicler, in using the phrase ‘all Israel,’ changes his underlying source slightly. The underlying phrase usually is something such as ‘Israel’ or ‘all the tribes of Israel,’ which the Chronicler has changed to . . .

  14. “All Israel” (cont…) • . . . the more standardized ‘all Israel.’ In twenty-two cases, the Chronicler uses the phrase on his own, so to speak; it comes in material he has added, that is not found in 2 Samuel or 1 & 2 Kings. Sometimes, it is only a small insertion (of a verse or even a phrase), and the phrase ‘all Israel’ is found within the insertion. . . . Strikingly, fourteen of the references to ‘all Israel’ come in 2 Chronicles 10-36, after the death of Solomon, when ‘Israel’ was no longer a unified entity. Even more strikingly, five references come in chaps. 29-36, after the fall of the northern kingdom, when there was no political . . .

  15. “All Israel” (cont…) • “. . . entity called ‘Israel’ at all. This shows that the term’s use is more than merely accidental in referring to the united kingdom; it is an integral part of the Chronicler’s vision of things. He conceived of ‘Israel’ as an indivisible unity, which was God’s people in its entirety, and one that still had a place in God’s plans for the future. David M. Howard, Jr., Introduction to the OT Historical Books, pp. 255-256

  16. Major Themes (continued…) • The tribes of Judah and Levi • Davidic Kingship • Especially David’s relationship to the temple and Israel’s system of worship • Temple and Worship • Constantly the centerpiece of the book’s units • David’s and Solomon’s participation • All good kings focus on this • Asa repaired the altar (2 Chr 15:8) • Joash restored the temple (2 Chr 24:4-14) • Jotham built its upper gate (2 Chr 27:3) • Hezekiah did extensive repairs (2 Chr 29-31) • Josiah repaired it and celebrated Passover (2 Chr 34-35) • Note Abijah’s speech in 2 Chr 13:10-12

  17. Major Themes (continued…) • Reward and Punishment • 1 Chronicles 28:9 As for you, my son Solomon, know the God of your father, and serve Him with a whole heart and a willing mind; for the LORD searches all hearts, and understands every intent of the thoughts. If you seek Him, He will let you find Him; but if you forsake Him, He will reject you forever. • Reiterated in 2 Chr 12:5; 15:2; 24:20 • See also 2 Chr 7:14 and examples listed in Howard, p. 263.

  18. Major Themes (continued…) • The Heart • “‘With a perfect heart’ or ‘with all the heart’ occurs 21 times, only three of which come from a parallel in 1 & 2 Kings” (Howard, p. 264). • “[In Hezekiah’s reign,] the term heart occurs eleven times in 2 Chronicles 29-32. In none of these occurences in chapters 29-32 is the reference to the heart found in the parallel in 2 Kings” (Howard, p. 265).

  19. Especially end of 2 Chronicles (4 references to Jeremiah) “All Israel” Davidic Kingship The Heart Reward and Punishment Temple and worship Purpose Statement of Chronicles • The exile has ended and God has begun to fulfill the good words of the prophets. • Israel should come together as a nation and prepare for a new covenant and the restoration of their kingdom by establishing proper worship and pursuing faithful obedience with all their heart.

  20. Good Resources on Chronicles • David M. Howard, Jr., An Introduction to the Old Testament Historical Books (Moody Press, 1993). {Very good on the themes of Chronicles} • David A. Dorsey, The Literary Stucture of the Old Testament: A Commentary on Genesis-Malachi (Baker Books, 1999). {Very good on the structure of Chronicles} • Paul House, Old Testament Theology (InterVarsity Press, 1998). {Very good on the canonical location of Chronicles}

  21. Next Week Ezra/Nehemiah

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