Scripture Commentaries

Introduction to the Books of Chronicles
Irene Nowell, OSB

Originally published in God’s Word Today
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Are you a storyteller? Do you ever tell a story the same way twice? Most of us shape a story to fit our audience. Israel’s history is told several times in the Bible. We know the stories from the Pentateuch and the books from Joshua through Kings. Chronicles is a reinterpretation of all that history up to the return from the Babylonian Exile (539 B.C.). The author (or authors), called for simplicity’s sake the Chronicler, told the story to encourage the postexilic audience to be faithful to God and God’s worship. Many Jews had returned from Exile and established themselves in and around Jerusalem. The Temple had been rebuilt and Temple worship begun again. But how would the people know that a disaster like the Exile would not occur again? Why had they lost God’s favor before? What must they do in order to stay in God’s good graces?

Sometime around 400 B.C. in order to deal with those questions and others, the Chronicler gathered his sources and began to write. His sources were many and varied; besides the biblical books from Genesis to Kings, he used others that we no longer have, such as the history of Nathan the prophet or the history of Gad the seer (see 1 Chr 29:29; 2 Chr 9:29). His work, eventually divided into two books, was called the Annals (Acts of Days) in Hebrew and the Leftovers, or Things Left Out (Paraleipomenon), in Greek.

The Chronicler began his work with a long genealogy from Adam to David (1 Chr 1:1-9:34). He wanted to remind the people that they stood in a continuous line of people with whom God had made covenant. Their present life was built on the many generations who had preceded them. He centered his work on David (1 Chr 9:35-29:30) and Solomon (2 Chr 1:1-9:31). God had made covenant with David and promised him a lasting dynasty (1 Chr 17:10-11). God had allowed David’s son Solomon to build the Temple in Jerusalem, the place where God’s name would dwell forever (1 Chr 17:12-14; 2 Chr 7:16). The Chronicler concludes his work with the story of Judah’s kings from Solomon’s son Rehoboam to Zechariah, the last king before the Exile (2 Chr 10:1-36:23). Over and over the story demonstrates this truth: When king and people are faithful like David, God blesses them; God also has mercy on the sinner who repents. But if king and people turn away from God, they are doomed to punishment.

Three themes appear throughout Chronicles: the importance of the Temple, its ministers, and the worship there; the inevitable consequences of sin or repentance; and the effectiveness of the prophetic word. The reader who watches for these themes will find in them a key to most of the stories in Chronicles.

The story of the Temple begins with David, who wants to build God a “house.” God, however, appoints David’s son Solomon as the one to build the Temple (1 Chr 17:1-14). David collects material for the Temple and hires workers (1 Chronicles 22). He appoints Levites to serve in the Temple as gatekeepers, musicians, and leaders of liturgy (1 Chr 23:3-6). Descendants of Aaron will function as priests (1 Chr 23:13). The details are spelled out at length (1 Chronicles 24-29). Most of the nine chapters about Solomon’s reign describe his building and dedication of the Temple (2 Chronicles 2-7). Clearly the Chronicler regards David and Solomon’s greatest achievement to be the Temple in Jerusalem.

Other kings are judged by their care for the Temple (or the lack thereof). Rehoboam abandoned God, and so Pharaoh Shishak plundered the Temple (2 Chr 12:9). Asa was considered a good king for restoring the Temple and its worship (2 Chr 15:8-19), but when he used the Temple treasury to win Syria as an ally he was punished (2 Chr 16:2-10). The young king Joash restored the Temple after Athaliah’s desecration of it (2 Chr 24:1-16), but later, when he abandoned the Temple, God abandoned him (2 Chr 24:17-22). Uzziah was struck with leprosy for presuming to offer incense, a ritual reserved to the Temple priests (2 Chr 26:16-21). Hezekiah restored the Temple and reformed the liturgy (2 Chronicles 29-31), so he was blessed (2 Chr 31:20-21). Manasseh did evil in the Lord’s sight, building altars to Baal in the Temple (2 Chr 33:4-5). Josiah cleansed the Temple and found the book of the law (2 Chr 34:8-18). Finally, during Zedekiah’s reign, the people were condemned to Exile because they had polluted the Lord’s Temple (2 Chr 36:14).

The consequences of sin are clear in this story of the kings and the Temple. The Chronicler finds the theory of retribution in the story of every king. Good kings are blessed; wicked kings are punished. True repentance, however, wins forgiveness and blessing. Comparison of the stories in Chronicles with those in Samuel and Kings illustrate the Chronicler’s emphasis. In 2 Samuel 11 David sins by committing adultery with Bathsheba and arranging for the death of her husband. This story does not appear in Chronicles; David, the founder of the dynasty, is holy and blessed. Solomon’s difficulties with the worship of other gods (1 Kings 11) are also not mentioned in Chronicles. In contrast, Uzziah is portrayed in Chronicles as committing the sin of presumption and this is given as the reason for his leprosy (2 Chr 26:16-21). No sin is mentioned to justify his leprosy in Kings (2 Kgs 15:1-7). Perhaps the strongest example is that of Manasseh, who reigned fifty-five years and certainly seemed to be blessed. In Kings he is portrayed as the wickedest king Judah ever had (2 Kgs 21:1-18). He is even blamed for the Babylonian Exile, although there were six kings after him (2 Kgs 24:3-4)! In Chronicles his long reign is explained by his repentance and conversion (2 Chr 33:11-20).

Prophets bring God’s word to the kings. The Chronicler demonstrates that the prophetic word does not fail. It is the prophet Nathan who brings God’s message to David concerning his dynasty and Solomon’s call to build the Temple (1 Chr 17:1-15). The seer Gad tells David of God’s displeasure regarding his taking of a census and calls David to repentance. God’s choice of a place for the Temple also comes to David through Gad (1 Chr 21:9-13; 18-19). Shemaiah the prophet and Iddo the seer interpret Shishak’s invasion as God’s punishment for Rehoboam’s infidelity (2 Chr 12:5). When Rehoboam repents, God sends Shemaiah to bring a word of forgiveness (2 Chr 12:7-8). Azariah, son of Oded, prophesies that God would reward Asa and inspires him to begin his reform (2 Chr 15:1-8). But when Asa makes an alliance with Syria, Hanani the seer comes to inform him of God’s punishment (2 Chr 16:7-9). It is the prophets too who keep the annals of the kings (see 1 Chr 29:29; 2 Chr 9:29; 12:15; 13:22; 26:22; 32:32)

The longest description of the relationship between prophets and kings is the story of Micaiah ben Imlah. Jehoshaphat and the king of Israel have decided to attack the Arameans. They consult several prophets who all say, “God is with the kings.” But Jehoshaphat does not trust these Israelite prophets, so one more prophet is called: Micaiah ben Imlah. He advises Jehoshaphat and the king of Israel against the attack. They ignore his advice and imprison Micaiah. In the subsequent defeat the king of Israel is killed (2 Chr 18:14-34). Jehoshaphat returns home to face a rebuke from the seer Jehu (2 Chr 19:1-3). Jehoshaphat takes God’s word to heart. Later when his enemies threaten him, Jehoshaphat turns to God in prayer and is promised victory by another prophet, Jahaziel (2 Chr 20:5-17).

Prophets bring word of God’s anger to Jehoram (2 Chr 21:12-15) and Amaziah (2 Chr 25:15-16). The prophet Oded calls the Samaritan army to repentance regarding their slaughter of the Judahites and they release their captives (2 Chr 28:9-11). The prophet Isaiah brings God’s word to encourage Hezekiah against Sennacherib, the Assyrian king (2 Chr 32:20; see Isa 37:5-7). Josiah has the book of the law that was discovered in the Temple taken to the prophet Huldah in order to determine its authenticity (2 Chr 34:19-28). Zedekiah, the last king of Judah, is condemned because he did not heed the word of the prophet Jeremiah (2 Chr 36:12; see Jeremiah 34). Finally, the people are sent into Exile because they “mocked the messengers of God, despised his warnings, and scoffed at his prophets” (2 Chr 36:16).

The Chronicler’s retelling of history encourages the people of the fourth century to heed their prophets, to be faithful to God’s covenant, and to be devoted to worship in the Temple newly rebuilt in Jerusalem. He assures his people that God will not abandon them unless they turn away from God. He strengthens their faith in God’s covenant with David, brought to him by a prophet. The Chronicler teaches us how to retell our history in order to hear the word God speaks to us today.