The two Books of Chronicles.
The two Books of Chronicles.
§ 130. The two Books of Chronicles. Among the Hebrews there is only one book, which is called 
, “The Words of the Days,” because in them are described individually the deeds and activities of the kings of the people of Israel. Munsterus renders this as “The Books of Annals.” That is not bad, for they are indeed annals, as Gellius witnesses (N. A., bk. 5, c. 18): “… when the history of so many years is set down, observing the order of each year so as to all but demonstrate what took place in each year.” The Greeks and Latins divide this book into two books, and the Greeks call this the book of 
, as if to say, “of things passed over.” You see, it explains in summary what was omitted from or not fully described in the Pentateuch, the Books of Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings. The Latins, on the other hand, call it the Book of Chronicles, as if to say, “The Chronology.” Luther kept this name in his German translation of the Bible.
Concerning the author of these books, nothing certain is known. Rabbi Salomon and Rabbi D. Kimchi, whose Perushim on these books are extant, declare in the beginning thereof that “they were written by Ezra the lawyer.” This they confirm with the argument that the same words that are at the conclusion of Chronicles occur at the beginning of the Book of Ezra. The same Rabbi Salomon writes in his commentary, c. 7: “Ezra had found three books of genealogies from which he assembled this.” Jerome (Epistle ad Paulin.) calls him “the epitome of the Old Testament” and says, “He was so great a man, a man of such quality, that were anyone to wish to take for himself a knowledge of Scripture without him, he would be mocking himself.” He also writes, Prolog. galeatus: “He is the chronicler of all divine history.” The Hebrews place it after the Books of Ezra because they think that Ezra wrote it at the time when the Jewish people had returned to Jerusalem after the Babylonian captivity, something they conclude from the end of his second book. Some think that this is the book mentioned in 1 Kings 15:23; on the other hand, some claim more accurately that it is not that book itself but only an epitome of it.
First Chronicles consists of twenty-nine chapters and discusses especially the history before the division of the kingdom of Israel. It contains an account of 2,985 years: from the creation of the world to the kingdom of Solomon. It can be divided into two main parts, the first of which treats genealogies and the latter, the history of Saul and David.
Second Chronicles consists of thirty-six chapters and describes the history from the beginning of Solomon’s rule to the return from the captivity, which occurred in the first year of King Cyrus of Persia. It contains an account of 472 years: from Solomon’s rule to the liberation from the Babylonian captivity. It can be divided into two main parts, the first of which treats the growth and flowering of the kingdom of Israel under Solomon; the latter, its development and ruin under the kings of Israel and Judah. Now if we were to consider the Books of Samuel, Kings, and Chronicles together, they contain the historical narrative of how the kingdom of Israel began under Samuel, advanced under David, flourished under Solomon, and failed under Zedekiah, thus lasting almost 565 years.