1 Chronicles

1 Chronicles

In recounting sacred history, 1 and 2 Chronicles cover the period of Israel's monarchy (ca. 1000-587 B.c.). Originally one book, they also include material and language from the Pentateuch (Genesis-Deuteronomy), the Deuteronomistic History (Deuteronomy-2 Kings, excluding Ruth), and Psalms. Writing for Jews who returned to Jerusalem following exile, the Chronicler presents the motivation for their rebuilding a life centered around a central sanctuary by focusing on the history surrounding Solomon's temple recorded in Samuel and Kings. Some scholars view Chronicles as related to Ezra and Nehemiah, which focus on the Jews' life and worship immediately following their return to Canaan.

Though the northern and southern kingdoms went into exile separately, the Chronicler views the Hebrews as a unified people and generally uses "Israel" to refer to the entire nation. The book shows an interest in the former northern kingdom only to the extent that it affected Judah, seat of the only legitimate monarchy - that of David - and home of the only legitimate central sanctuary - the temple. The Chronicler assumes readers' knowledge of the history in Samuel and Kings and therefore feels free to expand certain themes there while omitting sections that detract from his theological purpose. Numbers (of people, amounts, etc.) often differ significantly between parallel accounts in Chronicles and Samuel/Kings.

1 Chronicles

The first nine chapters of 1 Chronicles provide a summary of Israel's history from the beginning of time to the return of the Babylonian exiles to Jerusalem. From chapter 11 forward, the book concentrates on the reign of David, and much of the material parallels passages in 2 Samuel. The Chronicler omits episodes that

portray David in a bad light (e.g., his adultery with Bathsheba and arrangement of her husband Uriah's death), and expands David's plans and preparations for the temple. By the end of the book, Solomon reigns securely over a well-established kingdom built by David and is poised to build a magnificent house for God.

2 Chronicles

Much of 2 Chronicles finds parallels throughout 1-2 Kings. In chapters 1-9, the Chronicler treats Solomon's reign from the perspective of his activities in building the temple and instituting its services. The remainder of the book traces the reigns of Judah's good and bad kings and establishes the basis for God's judgment of the southern kingdom by exile in Babylon - Judah's religious adultery in pursuing foreign gods. References to the prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, and other "messengers" testify to God's compassionate nature in giving Judah every opportunity to repent.

During the period in which the events of 2 Chronicles take place, Assyria conquers the northern kingdom of Israel (alluded to but not recorded in 2 Chronicles), then Babylon overpowers Assyria, and finally Persia replaces Babylon as the region's superpower. In accordance with the Chronicler's interest in the temple, the book closes with the Persian king Cyrus's edict charging Jews to return to Jerusalem to rebuild God's house (538).

Authorship

Many scholars view Chronicles as literarily related to Ezra and Nehemiah and believe that Ezra himself wrote all three books. Ezra lived in the late 5th century, nearly loo years following the initial wave of Jewish returnees to Jerusalem under Sheshbazzar. In a number of passages Chronicles takes the return of the Babylonian exiles for granted, thereby suggesting that the earliest possible date for the work's composition could not precede 539, when the Persian king Cyrus issued his edict allowing the return (see "Exile and Return" [281-83]). If Ezra did not write Chronicles, its author remains unknown.

1 Chronicles

1-9 Historical Connections

Before starting his narrative proper, the Chronicler uses selective genealogical outlines and other lists to connect his audience of repatriated Jews to their theological history. He increasingly narrows the focus to the royal line of Judah, for the activities of David's descendants will form the basis for the Chronicler's discussion of his primary interest - the second temple as the center of Jewish worship.

Since the Jews would have been quite familiar with both the literary genre here employed and the fuller history on which these chapters draw, the author truncates his lists and assumes an amount of historical knowledge necessary for his readers' understanding of his meaning and purpose. That in biblical genealogies "father" may refer to any male ancestor and "son" to any male descendant helps explain the unusually long periods of time spanned by the relatively few individuals listed. For example, goo years separate Issachar and David (7:1-2), but these two verses mention the "sons" of only two generations between the men.

1:1-2:2 From the Beginning of Time to the Beginnings of a Nation 1 Chronicles 1:1-27 rehearses genealogical history from Genesis 1-12 beginning with Adam, through the descendants of Noah's sons, and ending with Abraham. Verses 28-42 trace Abraham's descendants through Ishmael and Isaac and Isaac's descendants through Esau and Jacob, renamed Israel.

The kings of Edom outlined in 1:43-54 represent the descendants of Esau, who settled in the northern Edomite region of Seir (Gen. 32:1-33:20). The list of Jacob's sons - ancestors of Israel's 12 tribes - lays the groundwork for the development of Judah's royal line.

2:3-55 From the Beginnings of a Nation to the Birth of a Monarchy In keeping with his primary interests, the Chronicler devotes the bulk of chapter 2 to detailing King David's ancestors, the descendants of Judah. He makes no mention of Saul, Israel's first "king" (cf. 2 Samuel 6).

Chelubai in 2:9 is another form of "Caleb," but scholars disagree on whether the name refers to Joshua's co-spy (Numbers 13-14). 1 Samuel 16-17 refer to Jesse's "eight" sons and name the oldest three plus the youngest, David; in 2:13-15 David is the last of seven. Ziph, Hebron, Kiriath-jearim, and Bethlehem (vv. 42, 50, 51) refer to towns; "father" here indicates the towns' founders.

3:1-4:23 From the Birth of a Monarchy to the Fall of a Dynasty Chapter 3 traces David's royal descendants. The list of sons born to him in Hebron repeats that in 2 Sam. 3:2-5 (Daniel here = Chileab in 2 Sam. 3:3). Verse 1o follows the dynastic line through David's and Bathsheba's son Solomon, builder of the first temple, and his son Rehoboam, whose refusal to lighten his people's workload led to the withdrawal of the io northern tribes from the kingdom. The Chronicler then names the rest of the kings of Judah in succession but makes no mention of Queen Athaliah, daughter of Ahab and Jezebel (2 Kings ll).

The book later acclaims Hezekiah and Josiah (3:13-15) as Judah's religiously reforming kings, while it focuses the blame for the ultimate fall of Judah on the thoroughly wicked Manasseh (3:13).

The individuals listed in 3:24 represent Davidic descendants contemporary with the Chronicler himself. The first half of chapter 4 offers a selectively annotated list of Judah's descendants that includes geographical, vocational, and personal information about specific individuals and groups.

4:24-43 Descendants of Simeon Simeon originally inherited territory in the midst of southern Judah (Josh. 19:1-9). The larger tribe had absorbed Simeon by the beginning of David's military career. Evidently at some point, the Philistines conquered the Simeonite city of Ziklag; 1 Samuel 27 relates that the Philistine king Achish of Gath gave Ziklag to David in exchange for his supposed raids on his fellow Hebrews. Around the time of Hezekiah (late 8th to early 7th centuries) a remnant of the Simeonites moved east of the Jordan to the mountainous region of Seir in northern Edomite territory (vv. 41-42).

5 Transjordanian Tribes Verse i remembers Jacob/Israel's firstborn son Reuben for his sexual transgression with his father's concubine (Gen. 35:22) and thereby justifies Judah's rise as father of the Hebrew royal line. Preferring Gilead's good grazing land east of the Jordan, the Reubenites and Gadites waived their land rights in Canaan proper, and half the tribe of Manasseh (descendants of Joseph's eldest son) joined them (Numbers 32). Reuben settled farthest south, Manasseh farthest north, and Gad between them.

The mention of several kings punctuates this genealogy with time markers: Tilgath-pilneser (Tiglath-pileser, vv 6, 26) ruled Assyria in the mid to late 8th century; Saul (v. 10) ruled Judah in the late 11th century; Jotham of Judah and Jeroboam II of Israel ruled during the 8th century (v. 17; cf. 2 Kings 14-15). Verses 25-26 agree with the theology of 2 Kings that the Transjordanian tribes' covenantal infidelity gave the reason for their conquest and exile by the Assyrians (ca. 733).

6 The Priestly Levites The sheer length of this chapter testifies to the Chronicler's primary interest in Israel's central sanctuary and worship. Only the verses that develop Judah's royal line take up more space in these opening chapters.

The Chronicler traces the priestly line from Levi (early 2nd millennium) to the Babylonian exile (early 6th century). He begins with Israel's high priests, descendants of Levi's son Kohath (vv. 1-15). The Kohathites performed the most sacred duties in caring for the tabernacle under their clansman Aaron, the Hebrews' first high priest. Aaron's siblings, Moses and Miriam, receive only passing mention in verse 3. The high priesthood continues through the descendants of Aaron's third son and successor Eleazar, not through Aaron's elder but errant sons Nadab and Abihu, whom God struck dead for their priestly trifling with "strange fire" (Leviticus 1o). Jerusalem's last preexilic high priest, Jehozadak, completes the list N. 15).

The families of all three of Levi's sons appear in the next 15 verses. Special mention is made of the prophet Samuel (v. 28), who performed priestly functions (cf. 1 Sam. 2:11, 18) and whose appearance in this Levitical genealogy establishes the legitimacy of those activities.

A roster of families of singers appointed by David who ministered first in the tabernacle and then in the temple appears next (vv. 31-48), followed by Aaron's descendants (vv. 49-53). Zadok (v. 53) served as high priest with the northerner Ahimelech during David's reign (2 Sam. 8:17).

Joshua 21:1-42 forms the basis for the list of cities allotted from all the tribes of Israel to the otherwise landless Levites, and josh. 20:1-9 provides the source for the Levitical cities of refuge. Hebron, originally given by Joshua to his comrade spy Caleb (Numbers 13-14; Joshua 14), reverts to the Levites, but the Calebites retain the city's surrounding pasturelands in fulfillment of Moses' original promise (vv. 5556; cf. Deut 1:36).

Priests and Levites

In the Old Testament as it has come down to us, the tribe of Levi was specially set apart by God for service at the sanctuary. While the descendants of Aaron functioned as priests, with particular responsibility for the offering or sacrifice, the rest of the tribe, the Levites," assisted them in a variety of ways. This might include menial tasks associated with the care of any large institution, but also more specialized functions, such as leading music in worship.

These roles face in two directions. On the one hand, they look toward God. Priests, and to a lesser extent Levites, are frequently said to stand in God's presence and to serve him. Such language draws on the picture of the sanctuary as God's royal court, where his ministers and servants have privileged access in order to serve the king's needs and carry out administrative tasks. On the other hand, the priests and Levites relate to the people as a whole, undertaking sacral duties on their behalf in a sphere to which the laity did not have access.

It is thus clear that the priests and Levites had an important task as mediators between God and his people, and we should keep this capacity in mind when encountering the less frequently mentioned tasks of teaching and instruction in Torah - God's revealed way of life for his people - as well as judicial arbitration in a wide variety

of contexts. Prophets and kings were other important mediators in the Old Testament period, but institutionally the priests and Levites outlasted these others by far.

Because of its importance and specialized work for Israel, the tribe of Levi as a whole did not receive any landed inheritance instead but lived dispersed throughout the country in specially designated towns. It was to be supported financially by the tithes of the people and by a share in the sacrifices that were offered at the sanctuary. Since this was frequently neglected, however, Deuteronomy in particular recognizes that the Levites were often among the poorest of the people, and it commends them, along with other disadvantaged groups, to the charitable support of the majority.

The Old Testament itself recognizes that the roles of the Levites developed with changing circumstances through time. Once the ark of the covenant had come to rest in the temple, time formerly given to attendance upon it was released for new duties. Similarly, the needs of the new temple in Jerusalem involved many new tasks. The experience of the exile (and involvement in the circumstances that led up to it) is also said to have resulted in a redistribution of duties. The division of priests and Levites into a rotation of 24 "courses" for fortnightly service at the temple throughout the year, as

known from the New Testament, the Dead Sea Scrolls, and later Jewish writings, seems to have developed at the very end of the Old Testament period at the earliest.

In a history of a thousand years or more, this is scarcely surprising, but scholars have differed widely in their chronological plotting of this process. Many have argued that the developed pattern sketched above was only its culmination, reflected historically in such late books as Chronicles, Ezra, and Nehemiah. But, because it is also attested in the "Priestly" portions of the Pentateuch (especially Leviticus, but also the closing chapters of Exodus and significant parts of Numbers), they have concluded that these, too, must reflect the end of the process and so be dated to the exile or after, not to the time of Moses and the early history of Israel. Others observe in response that our sources are selective and partial, so that it would be hazardous to detail the history of an institution that in fundamentals was certainly very ancient.

Either way, it was the developed view that became normative and that persisted with only minor changes down to New Testament times. Only with the destruction of the temple in A.D. 7o did the role of priests and Levites within Judaism undergo fundamental change.

H. G. M. WILLIAMSON

7 Tribes West of the Jordan Despite the Chronicler's omission of the non-Davidic and therefore, for him, dynastically illegitimate northern kings, he does not leave out the genealogies of the northern tribes, for he views Israel as a united kingdom, as in David's day. In comparison to the attention given the royal Judahite line, however, the genealogies here appear quite brief. Nevertheless, they do introduce a new detail - that of past tribal military strength.

Some scholars suggest that verses 6-11 rehearse not the genealogy of Benjamin but that of Zebulun, since a separate list of Benjamin's descendants appears in the next chapter, the sons of Benjamin in verse 7 do not harmonize with any other Old Testament genealogy of Benjamin, and the present chapter makes no specific mention of Zebulun or Dan. Further, they view verse 12 as representing the end of a lost genealogy of Dan. Others believe that the Chronicler purposely omitted these tribes.

The daughters of Zelophehad (v. 15) figure prominently in Numbers 27; Joshua 17. Their request of Moses that, since their father died without sons, they receive his share of land in Canaan led to the establishment of inheritance rights for unmarried women (cf. Numbers 36).

8 Benjamites and Saul The Chronicler gives the Benjamites special attention as the tribe that produced Saul, Israel's king who bridged the period of the judges and the rise of monarchy proper under David. Verses 1-28 list the families of the tribe of Benjamin, and the remainder of the chapter traces the specific line of Saul. 1 Chronicles 9:35-44 repeats Saul's genealogy as a preface to chapter 10, which relates the account of Saul's death.

9 Postexilic Resettlement of Jerusalem By skipping forward in time to describe the resettlement of Jerusalem by representatives from both northern and southern tribes following the Babylonian exile (late 6th century; v. 3), the Chronicler helps his original audience relate more personally to his account. The text continues to center on the Jerusalem sanctuary by focusing on the return and service of the priests (vv. 10-13; cf. Neh. 11:10-14), Levites (vv. 14-16; cf. Neh. 11:15-18), gatekeepers/ guards (vv. 17-27; cf. Neh. 11:19), "domestic" caretakers (vv. 28-32), and musicians N. 33; cf. 6:31-47).

10 Saul's Death as a Preface to David's Reign

Cf. 1 Samuel 31; 2 Sam. 1:1-11.

Chapter io recounts Saul's death in battle on Mount Gilboa, his disgrace at the hands of the Philistines, and the honor shown his corpse by the Jabesh-gileadites as a preface to the Davidic monarchy. Because the Chronicler wants to emphasize the annihilation of a Saulide dynasty, he claims that all heirs to Saul's throne "died together" (v. 6; cf. 1 Sam. 31:6). In fact, Saul's general, Abner, carried off to Transjordan Saul's son Ishbosheth, who "ruled" for two years as Abner's puppet-king while David led the nation from Hebron (2 Sam. 2:8-11). Saul's grandson Mephibosheth also survived him (2 Sam. 4:4).

Saul's disobedience to God (in improperly assuming the duties of a priest and in sparing the life of the Amalekite king; 1 Samuel 13; 15) and his turning to a medium (to consult the spirit of the deceased prophet Samuel; 1 Sam. 28:3-25) emerge as the reasons for his death. The statement that God himself killed Saul clearly communicates the Old Testament view of divine control over the course of human events (v. 14).

The Chronicler passes over Saul's doomed career as king much as he makes mere mention of the Babylonian exile (9:1). It is David's covenantally faithful and therefore divinely blessed reign that will provide inspiration and hope for the restored community in Jerusalem.

11-12 David Becomes King

Cf. 2 Sam. 5:1-10; 23:8-39.

Aiming to present Israel as a unified nation, the Chronicler bypasses David's initial acclamation as king over Judah alone and instead begins the history of David's reign with his public anointing at Hebron by the elders of "Israel" (for the Chronicler, Israel and Judah together). The account skips forward to relate David's capture of Jerusalem, and 11:6 reports how the king's cousin Joab earned his position as chief military commander. "Millo" (11:8) refers to the steeply sloped, terraced area of the City of David.

1 Chronicles 11:41-47 expands by 17 names 2 Samuel's list of David's elite military guard. The Chronicler's placement of this list at the beginning of the account demonstrates the strong support Israel afforded this "right kind" of king.

Chapter 12 emphasizes the defection to David of skilled Benjamite warriors - Saul's own kinsmen (esp. 12:2, 29) - in addition to trained military men from each of the remaining tribes both west and east of the Jordan. The Chronicler praises each group of tribal representatives and singles out their particular areas of expertise, both military and intellectual (e.g., 12:2, 32). Coupled with the massive size of the army gathered for David's anointing at Hebron (340 thousand - the largest muster in the Old Testament), this tack bolsters the Chronicler's characterization of David's army "like the army of God" (12:22).

Amasai's inspired speech confirming the good intentions of the joint BenjamiteJudahite contingent lends prophetic legitimacy to David's rise to the kingship (12:18). 1 Chronicles 12:19 defends David's loyalty to his fellow Hebrews during his premonarchic sojourn among the Philistines, when his army of Saulide defectors was gathering to him at Ziklag (cf. 1 Sam. 27:5-7; 29:2-9). In 12:21, the Chronicler alludes to the Amalekite raid in 1 Samuel 30.

Ruins of the Omride royal residence at Samaria; 9th century B.C. (Phoenix Data Systems, Neal and Joel Bierling)

Not only does David's army bring military skills to the battlefield, but it also embraces David as king with heartfelt sincerity and unified purpose. The group contributes generously to the festivities celebrating David's unanimous anointing (12:38-40).

13 David's Attempted Transfer of the Ark of the Covenant

Cf. 2 Samuel 6.

In bypassing for the moment the expansion of David's family and his further defeat of the Philistines (2 Sam. 5:11-25), the Chronicler reveals his eagerness to emphasize David's establishment of Jerusalem as Israel's central worship site. He contrasts David's determination to seek God's will with the religious neglect that characterized Saul's reign N. 3). Verse 5 emphasizes the "all Israel" theme by detailing national southnorth borders unsurpassed anywhere else in the Old Testament (beyond the usual designation "Beer-sheba to Dan"; cf. 21:2).

14 David Gains International Respect

Cf 2 Sam. 5:11-25.

David's family grows, as does his international reputation. Verses 5-6 contribute two additional names to 2 Samuel's list of David's children - Elpelet and Nogah. The Chronicler credits David with burning rather than collecting the Philistines' idols after he defeated their army at Baal-perazim (cf. 2 Sam. 5:21), and the divinely aided military exploits that result from David's obedience to God issue in divinely inspired international respect for the Israelite king (contrast Saul's religious and military failures in ch. 10).

15:1-16:3 The Ark's Successful Transfer to Jerusalem

Cf. 2 Sam. 6:12-23.

David acknowledges his failure to follow Mosaic law in his first attempt to transfer the ark and now prepares to move it according to proper procedure (cf. Exod. 25:14-15). The king calls on his southern and northern high priests, Zadok and Abiathar, and the Levites to help in the effort. The Chronicler details extensively the organized fanfare that attends the procession, with special attention to the role of music. Conscious to portray David only in a good light, he dresses the king in dignified attire and abbreviates Michal's criticism of her husband for his celebrative abandon (vv 27, 29; contrast 2 Sam. 6:16, 20). The ark comes to rest in a new tent prepared by David, while the tabernacle remains at Gibeon (16:37-42; 21:29).

16:4-43 Instruction in Praise

With the ark now in Jerusalem and the tabernacle and altar still at Gibeon, David organizes the Levites into two groups to ensure proper worship at both places. The Asaphites remain in the capital (presumably with the co-high priest Abiathar), and the families of Heman and Jeduthun accompany the Judahite high priest Zadok at Gibeon.

The poetic words of praise David assigns the Asaphites to sing before the ark recall three Psalms (compare vv. 8-22 with Ps. 105:1-15; W. 23-33 with Psalm 96; W. 34-36 with Ps. 106:1, 4748). Verses 8-22 define praise and set forth God's covenant as the reason for Israel's praising him. Verses 23-34 assert God's sovereignty over all the nations of the world and, by inference, all other gods. Verses 35-36 charge the congregation to join in the offering of praise. See "The Psalms in Worship" (348).

17 The Davidic Covenant Reaffirmed

Cf. 2 Samuel 7.

Four hundred years before the Babylonian exile, God promised David an everlasting dynasty. Because God's punishment of Judah at the hands of Babylon brought an apparent end to that dynasty, it may seem odd that the Chronicler emphasizes the Davidic covenant to his audience of postexilic Israelites, who have returned to a Jerusalem ruled by the Persian Empire. The exiles, however, understood that it was their own national disobedience that led God to invoke the covenantal curses; so rather than producing a lack of faith in God's promises, their punishment gave birth to the hope for a Davidic Messiah. By reminding the Jerusalem community of God's promise to David, then, the Chronicler encourages the returnees to renewed obedience, which will result in a renewal of the covenantal blessings.

18-20 A Summary of David's Victories

Cf. 2 Samuel 8; 10; 12:26-31; 21:18-22.

By concentrating on the divinely orchestrated military successes David realized against the Philistines (to his west), the Syrians (to his north), and the Ammonites (to his east in Transjordan), the Chronicler sets the stage for the period of national rest that will follow during Solomon's rule - a period characterized by a peacefulness appropriate for the building of the temple. The accounts of David's wars in these three chapters span 14 chapters in 2 Samuel (chs. 8-21) but leave out details concerning Saul's grandson Mephibosheth, David's adultery with Bathsheba and his arrangement to have Uriah killed (cf. 2 Samuel 11-12), and the evil and distress in David's household afterward (most of 2 Samuel 13-21).

Icon depicting the ark of the covenant, brought by David to his new capital at Jerusalem. (Richard Cleave, Pictorial Archive)

The seemingly exaggerated numbers of soldiers and chariots involved in David's battles is neither unique to the Old Testament nor to other ancient Near Eastern military accounts.

2 Samuel 8:18 indicates that David's sons served as "priests, while the Chronicler emphasizes their political role (18:17; Cf. 2 Samuel 8). In 20:5, the Chronicler preserves David's reputation as slayer of the giant Philistine Goliath (1 Sam. 17:50-51; cf. 2 Samuel 21).

21:1-22:1 God's Redemption of David's Sin

Cf. 2 Samuel 24.

It now becomes clear that the Chronicler's interest in the temple overshadows his interest in presenting David as beyond reproach. He even heightens the intensity of the king's guilt in giving in to temptation by multiplying the objections of his army-commander cousin, Joab, to taking the census, which apparently violates the covenant. Joab refrains from numbering the custodial tribes of the tabernacle, Levi and Benjamin (where the tabernacle's home at Gibeon lay).

David's repentance leads to his purchase of a threshing floor from Ornan (= Araunah in 2 Samuel), a native Canaanite inhabitant of Jerusalem. The king converts into a sacrificial site this flat, open space used for threshing and winnowing grain. By greatly increasing the price David pays (or perhaps by stating the cost of the entire area at 60o shekels of gold, rather than that of the threshing floor alone at 50 shekels of silver), the Chronicler elevates the value of this future site of the temple (22:1). The "fire from heaven" that consumes David's offering demonstrates divine approval of his action (cf. Lev. 9:24).

22:2-23:1 David Charges Solomon to Build the Temple

The Chronicler adds to the record in 1 Kings David's charge to Solomon to build the temple,

for which David has made elaborate and abundant preparations. This account ignores the shaky transfer of political power to Solomon recorded in 1 Kings 1, as well as David's dying charge that Solomon fulfill the king's last, vengeful wishes (cf. 1 Kgs. 2:5-9). Rather, the Chronicler takes Solomon's succession to the throne as accomplished fact and optimistically stresses the state of readiness for the temple project. Only David's charge that Solomon remain faithful to covenantal law to ensure his prosperity appears in both passages (22:12-13; cf. 1 Kgs. 2:3).

Not only did David wage the divinely sanctioned wars that allowed him to pass on a kingdom at peace, but he also gathered the personnel and materials necessary for his youthful successor's building of an "exceedingly magnificent;' internationally "famous and glorified" house for the Lord (22:5). David drafted non-Israelites to hew out stone (22:2), imported large quantities of the highest quality timber (v. 4), amassed a limitless amount of valuable metals (vv. 14, 16), and organized a skilled construction crew (v. 15) - all in addition to his legal purchase of the building site (21:18-25), where the Islamic shrine the Dome of the Rock sits today. Islamic tradition holds that Muhammad ascended to heaven from here, and Jewish tradition assigns Abraham's near sacrifice of Isaac to this spot ("Mount Moriah," Gen. 22:2).

23:2-32 The Levites Reorganized

David's plan to centralize Israel's worship at the temple affected the Levites, whose duties throughout the nation's history had focused on care for the portable tabernacle, now pitched permanently at Gibeon (21:29). A census of the Levites provides a basis for reorganizing their religious service. On the original duties of the descendants of Levi's sons, Gershon, Kohath, and Merari, see Num. 3:14-37.

That some verses put the beginning of a Levite's service at age 3o and others at age 20 indicates the Chronicler's drawing on traditions from different periods in Israel's history (cf. vv. 3, 24, 27; Num. 4:3). The services performed by Levites at the temple include building maintenance, administration, security, musical praise, and assistance of the special class of Levites - those priestly descendants of Aaron whose responsibilities verses 28-31 summarize. The numbers of Levites assigned to the duties outlined seem strikingly large.

24 Priestly and Levitical Divisions

The casting of lots preserves God's decisionmaking power in dividing the priests and Levites into shifts to perform the temple service. Descendants of Aaron's sons Eleazar and Ithamar make up the 24 divisions of priests.

The list of Levitical families in verses 20-30 takes the corresponding account in 23:12-23 one generation further.

25 Prophetic Musicians

Twenty-four groups of 12 musicians each served the temple in family rotations arranged according to lot without regard to members' status or seniority. The musicians' prophetic role recalls the band of prophets Saul encounters following his private anointing by Samuel (1 Sam. 10:5, io) and Elisha's summoning of minstrels to aid his prophesying in 2 Kgs. 3:15. The Psalms mention all three heads of these musical families - Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun. On the singers, see chapters 6, 15-16.

26 Guardians of the Temple and Its Treasures

Lots determine the assignments of Levites from the families of Kohath, Merari, and Obed-edom to guardianship of the temple at its gates and in its surrounding precincts. The Levites must also manage the temple's store of "dedicated gifts" (including taxes-in-kind, war spoils, and freewill offerings) dating back to the time of Samuel. Two Kohathite families receive secular and religious duties in the country at large - the Izharites, assigned to official and judicial capacities, and the Hebronites, charged with overseeing the affairs of God and king both west and east of the Jordan.

27 David's Army and Civil Servants

David chooses commanders for each of his 12 army divisions from among his special guard, the mighty men named in 11:11-47 (cf. 2 Sam. 23:8-39). These troops served in shifts, as did the Levites.

The list of tribal "princes" (v 22) leaves out Gad and Asher but includes two chiefs for Manasseh, who holds territory both east and west of the Jordan (vv. 20-21), and inserts Aaron separately from Levi (v 17). There follows a note concerning the census ordered by David and opposed (though carried out) by Joab (ch. 21). To ensure fulfillment of God's promise of an innumerable nation, Israelite males under the age of 20 were ineligible for military service and therefore did not figure in the census of fighting men (v. 23).

The naming of David's 12 senior civil servants in charge of storehouses, agriculture, and livestock and a list of his personal advisors rounds out this chapter and also the entire outline of David's religious and royal administration that began in chapter 23. The "king's friend" (v. 33) is an official title for David's trusted advisor, Hushai (cf. 2 Sam. 15:37). "Shephelah" (v. 28) is Israel's lowland region between the Mediterranean coast and the hill country of Judah.

28-29 David Passes the Baton to Solomon

These last two chapters resume the account of kingly succession briefly introduced in 23:1. David formally and publicly charges Solomon with building the temple according to the plans David has received from God, which parallel those for the tabernacle (28:11-19; cf. Exodus 25-27), and using the materials David has gathered for the project (29:2-9). David emphasizes God's choice of Solomon as successor to the throne and builder of the temple (28:5-6).

The king also charges his son to sincere covenantal faithfulness and warns that disobedience will lead to divine rejection - a point surely not lost on the Chronicler's audience of returned exiles. This is the first clear appearance of the reward-punishment theme emphasized in 2 Chronicles 10-36 (28:9; contrast the language of Deut. 10:12). David's warning that Solomon act courageously and without fear recalls Moses' speech to his successor, Joshua (28:20; cf. Deut. 31:7). That Solomon can expect to enjoy the backing of both David's officials and the nation's population at large with regard to the temple project should bolster his confidence despite his youth and inexperience (28:21-29:1).

David sets an example of generous giving to God by donating vast stores of his personal wealth toward constructing and furnishing the temple. His officers and administration follow suit, and the Chronicler stresses their wholehearted willingness in doing so. The land of Ophir (29:4), source of David's gold, probably lay in South Arabia or East Africa. Unlike the talent, a measurement of weight, the daric (29:7) was a gold coin of the Persian Empire, which rose some 400 years after David's and Solomon's day. The daric's mention here provides evidence for dating the Chronicler's account.

David's deeply moving prayer of response at the people's generosity weaves together characteristics of three major types of psalms - hymns, psalms of thanksgiving, and petitions. The prayer acknowledges God as supreme and the sole source of earthly wealth and honor (29:10-19). It contrasts human unworthiness to receive God's good gifts (29:14-15). The king's closing petition that God grant his son a "perfect heart" to remain obedient to God's laws precedes Solomon's official anointing as king and the accompanying two-day festival of celebration.

2 Chronicles

1 Solomon Blessed with Wisdom, Wealth, and Honor

Cf. 1 Kings 3; 10:26-29.

The Chronicler portrays Solomon as the religiously righteous image of his father, David. While David built the kingdom, Solomon will build the temple and thus emerge as David's perfect kingly complement. Taken together, the reigns of father and son produce Israel's "golden age" geographically, economically, socially, and - most important for the Chronicler - religiously.

The Chronicler omits any negative commentary concerning Solomon's frequenting the "high places" (cf. 1 Kgs. 3:3) and takes care to legitimize the king's offering at Gibeon by emphasizing his use of the altar made in Moses' day by God's appointed craftsman, Bezalel N. 5). Solomon's humble request for wisdom and knowledge from God earns the additional blessings of unequalled wealth and honor.

The Chronicler presents David, Israel's ideal king, as voluntarily handing over the kingdom from a position of personal physical strength (contrast 1 Kgs. 1:1, 15, 47-48). The ease of Solomon's succession also contrasts with the account in 1 Kings, which details his older brother Adonijah's effort to take the throne (contrast 29:24 with 1 Kings 1). The passing reference to Solomon's "second" coronation alludes to Solomon's hasty first anointing in response to Adonijah's surprise bid for the kingship (29:22).

A note concerning Solomon's prosperity and his unopposed rule precedes a final summary of David's reign and death.

2 Solomon Solicits Hiram's Help

Cf. 1 Kings 5; 2 Sam. 5:11-12.

By adding verses 4-6 to the account in 1 Kings 5, the Chronicler underscores Solomon's piety and humility before God. "Huram" is a variant form of "Hiram," used in Kings. Chronicles distinguishes between the two Tyrian Hirams - the king and the craftsman (vv. 3,13). The long form of the craftsman's name, Huramabi, means "Hiram is my father."

3:1-5:1 Building and Furnishing the Temple

Cf. 1 Kings 6-7.

The Chronicler offers only a summary account of the building and furnishing of Solomon's temple. That he omits any mention of the palace complex reveals his singular interest in the religious sphere represented by this central sanctuary.

2 Chronicles 3:1 links Mount Moriah, the site of Isaac's near sacrifice, with the threshing floor David bought as a place of sacrifice (1 Chr. 21:18-26). A cloth veil reminiscent of that in the tabernacle separates the temple's holy and most holy places (v. 14; cf. Exod. 26:31; cf.1 Kgs. 6:31-32: wooden doors).

Solomon's "molten sea' (4:2) holds some 14,500 gallons of water necessary for ritual washing by the temple priests (cf. 1 Kgs. 7:26). Solomon and the Tyrian craftsman Hiram collaborate on the temple project much as Moses and Bezalel did regarding the tabernacle (cf. Exod 38:21-22).

5:214 Solomon Installs the Ark in the Temple

Cf. 1 Kgs. 8:1-11.

The temple complete, Israel's elite gather to celebrate the installation of the ark of the covenant in its new house. The ceremony occurs in the "seventh month," around the time of the Feast of Tabernacles. The Levites transport the ark from its shelter south of the Temple Mount, and bring the portable tabernacle (= "tent of meeting;" v. 5) from Gibeon (1:3) for permanent storage in the new sanctuary. Verses 11-13 correlate Solomon's installation of the ark in the temple with David's transport of the ark to Jerusalem (1 Chronicles 15-16). God signifies his acceptance of the new dwelling place for his name (6:6) by filling it with the cloud of his glory (v. 14; cf. Exod. 40:34-35).

6 Solomon's Prayer

Cf. 1 Kgs. 8:12-53.

Solomon's prayer for his people recognizes the absolute faithfulness of God in keeping his covenantal promises. The king recognizes God's standard of righteousness by publicly kneeling to ask for the forgiveness of covenantal transgressors who repent sincerely. The reference to Israelite captivity in exile (vv 36-39) surely held special meaning for the postexilic returnees to Jerusalem, along with Solomon's particular call on God to continue fulfilling his promise of a Davidic dynasty in their now Persian-ruled kingdom (vv. 16, 42). Verse 5 contains a rare mention of the Exodus by the Chronicler. Verses 41-42 quote Psalm 132:8-10.

7 God Answers

Cf. 1 Kgs. 8:54-9:9.

God answers Solomon's prayer in a dramatic, publicly observable act followed by a personal word to the king. He demonstrates his acceptance of the people's worship by sending fire from heaven to consume the burnt offering and sacrifices (cf. 1 Chr. 21:26; Lev. 9:24). After their seven-day celebration, God confirms to Solomon privately his commitment to the forgiveness and restoration of his people, as well as to a permanent Davidic dynasty. Two requirements applied, however: God's errant people must repent, and the king must keep the covenant, particularly by worshipping only God. Otherwise, the temple would serve only as a public testimony to Israel's foolish unfaithfulness. The lesson was surely not lost on the Chronicler's postexilic audience, for whom the site of the destroyed temple presented a visual reminder of God's commitment to fulfilling the covenantal curses, but for whom the realized restoration to the promised land provided an immediate reason to trust in God's faithfulness to the promised blessings.

Dome of the Rock on the site of Solomon's temple, with the surviving Western Wall in foreground. (Richard Cleave, Pictorial Archive)

8:1-16 Solomon's Building Activities

Cf. 1 Kgs. 9:10-25.

King Hiram (= Huram) of Tyre apparently returns to Solomon the shabby Galilean cities the Israelite king gave him as security against a loan for his material contributions to the temple and palace complex (cf. 9:13-14). The Chronicler's account contradicts 1 Kings 9:11, perhaps to avoid portraying Solomon as giving away parts of Israel's covenantally promised inheritance.

In order to preserve the ark's sanctity, Solomon moves his Egyptian wife out of the City of David, which lay next to the Temple Mount at its southern end (v. 11). Other than the apparent pagan influence of the Pharaoh's daughter, the Chronicler makes no mention of Solomon's foreign wives (contrast 1 Kgs. 11:1-13). Solomon carefully follows the requirements of Moses and David. His own orders are carried out concern ing the building of the temple, and thus he emerges as the third in a succession of three great leaders of Israel (vv. 13-16).

City gate at Megiddo, part of Solomon's extensive building projects. (www.HolyLandPhotos.org)

8:17-9:31 Solomon's International Activities and Fame

Cf. 1 Kgs. 9:26-10:26; 11:41-43.

The Chronicler reports that Solomon's kingdom extends from the "Euphrates River to the ... border of Egypt" (9:26; cf. 1 Kgs. 4:21), the northern and southern boundaries of the land God promised to Abraham (Gen. 15:18). This addition to the Kings account elevates Solomon as the king worthy to enjoy the fulfillment of this divine promise.

The Queen of Sheba provides impartial testimony to the grandeur of Solomon's kingdom and the limitlessness of his wisdom, both of which exemplify the unbridled blessing God bestows on the covenantally faithful. Whether Solomon's Tyrian-staffed ships actually sailed as far as Tarshish in Spain remains unclear (v 21). "Ships of Tarshish" may identify them simply as oceangoing vessels (cf.1 Kgs. 10:22).

To preserve Solomon's righteous image as the builder of the temple, the Chronicler omits negative evaluations of the king, including accounts of his religious waywardness, God's determination to punish him by wresting all but one tribe from his Davidic successors, and the external and internal opposition God raises to split the kingdom (1 Kgs. 11:1-40; cf. 1 Chronicles' similar omission of David's misdeeds and family problems). Thus in Chronicles Solomon dies a covenantally obedient and therefore divinely blessed monarch.

10:1-11:4 The Kingdom Divides

Cf. 1 Kgs.12:1-24.

Since the Chronicler has omitted material that taints Solomon's image as a righteous king, he has not yet had reason to introduce Jeroboam or his coming role in God's punishment (cf. 9:29; 1 Kgs. 11:26-40). Now that the kingdom is about to split, Jeroboam enters unannounced as the popularly acclaimed spokesman for the drafted Israelite laborers.

Rehoboam's rejection of the wise counsel of his father's elders represents an example of God's working behind the scenes to accomplish his purposes for deliverance and for punishment (v 15). Through the prophet Shemaiah God confirms his orchestration of the national split and so avoids civil war (11:4). Ahijah's prophecy concerning Jeroboam N. 15) appears in 1 Kgs. 11:30-39.

In this section, the Chronicler uses "Israel" to refer to the northern tribes apart from Judah. Normally, he uses the term to encompass the entire Hebrew nation.

11:5-12:16 Rehoboam's Successes and Failures

Cf. 1 Kgs. 14:21-31.

Free from the responsibility of reuniting the nation, Rehoboam focuses on fortifying Judah by building up a number of cities surrounding the capital, Jerusalem. Of all the sites listed, only Aijalon lies north of Jerusalem, well into Benjamite territory, with Zorah lying almost due west of the capital and the rest scattered around the southern hill country and lowland region. Rehoboam appears to be watching for attacks by his southern neighbor Egypt, not his northern sister Israel (but cf. 12:15).

The Chronicler pictures the northern priests and Levites flocking to Judah because Jeroboam has replaced them with illegitimate priests who would serve the high places - rivals to the only legitimate sanctuary, the temple. On Jeroboam's "calves;" see 1 Kgs. 12:28-32.

For the first three years of his reign Rehobo am "walked in the way of David and Solomon" (11:17) - which for the Chronicler means covenantal faithfulness. As a result, God blesses both his kingdom and his family, as evidenced by Rehoboam's fathering many children. Rehoboam passes over his firstborn son in favor of Abijah (= Abijam in Kings), the eldest of his favorite wife, as successor to the throne (13:1). For now, Rehoboam appears to have inherited some of his father's capacity for wisdom (11:23).

After a productive three-year reign, Rehoboam and his strengthened southern kingdom become overconfident, and they forsake the covenant. As punishment, God sends Pharaoh Shishak, who reunited Egypt and founded her 22nd Dynasty, on a successful invasion of Judah. Shishak's own records list upwards of 150 towns captured. Shemaiah's prophecy brings a national repentance not mentioned in Kings. The people's contrition curbs God's wrath, and rather than conquering the capital Shishak merely plunders it (12:9). The invasion's aftereffects will include Egyptian domination of Judah for many years.

Ezion-geber at the northern end of the Gulf of Aqabah, where Solomon maintained a fleet of ships for his farreaching commerce. (Richard Cleave, Pictorial Archive)

In these two chapters, the Chronicler provides a concise case study in how the covenant works. Obedience results in blessing; disobedience leads to punishment; repentance brings restoration. The pattern repeats itself throughout the rest of 2 Chronicles.

13 Abijah Battles Jeroboam

Cf. 1 Kgs. 15:1-8.

While Kings paints Abijah in a totally negative light, Chronicles pictures him as waging a holy war with the just goal of reestablishing Davidic rule over a united Hebrew kingdom. Abijah blames Rehoboam's failure to enforce the perpetual "covenant of salt" on the former king's youth and timidity (but see 11:1-4). The ancients used the preservative to symbolize the eternal nature of a covenant in treaty ratification ceremonies.

Here Abijah defends Judah's proper worship of God (contrast the kingdom's lapse in his father's reign, ch. 12), and he criticizes Jeroboam's continued disobedience (vv. 8-9; cf. 1 Kgs.12:25 33). The Davidic king portrays the northern tribes' military resistance as a fight not against humans but against God, and he predicts their inevitable defeat (v. 12). Even Jeroboam's larger army and superior military strategy cannot produce a victory over the army of the faithful, on whose side God fights (vv. 13-15). Though Abijah wins the battle decidedly, the kingdom remains split.

Jeroboam's permanently weakened kingdom and divinely effected death contrast with the righteous Abijah's growth in power and offspring.

14 Asa's Righteous Reign

Cf. 1 Kgs. 15:9-24.

That Abijah's successor, Asa, must purge Judah of Canaanite religious trappings paints a far different picture of Abijah's reign than does chapter 13. The initial decade of peace God grants Asa's kingdom constitutes God's blessing for the king's righteous actions (vv. 1, 6). In contrast to Kings, however, Chronicles will also criticize Asa for his later lack of faith (16:7-10).

Like his father, Asa emerges as a military underdog whose outnumbered army faces an intimidating fighting force, this time from the south. Again, God produces overwhelming victory for the faith-filled Judahites and irrecoverable defeat for the opponent, Zerah of Ethiopia, probably an Egyptian or Arabian chieftain.

15 Asa's Further Reforms

Inspired and emboldened by the prophet Azariah, Asa pursues further religious reforms. Azariah's description of an unspecified period in Israel's history may recall the time of the judges (w 3-4).

Asa follows up his destruction of Judah's high places and foreign altars with the removal of "abominable idols" and the restoration of the proper temple altar. His reforms extend into Ephraimite cities over which he has gained control. Northern defectors from Ephraim and Manasseh recognize God's presence with Asa and cast their lot with the southern king. Long before Asa's time, Judah absorbed Simeon, whose territorial inheritance lay in the midst of the larger tribe's (Joshua 19).

Around the time of the Feast of Weeks, the faithful rededicate themselves to pursuing the Lord wholeheartedly (vv. 12-13; cf. Deut 4:29). They resolve to impose the death penalty on any fellow Hebrews who refuse to seek God.

Regarding Maacah's deposition (v. 16), see 1 Kgs. 15:13. Verse 17 clarifies that Asa's dismantling of the high places in 14:3-5 did not extend to the northern kingdom.

16 Asa Seeks Human Help

Cf. 1 Kgs. 15:17-24.

While Kings simply reports the events surrounding Asa's appeal for Syrian help in defending Judah from the invading northern kingdom, Chronicles uses the episode to pronounce judgment on Asa for seeking human help rather than divine intervention late in his reign. Not only does the prophet Hanani's message fail to humble the king, but it also triggers Asa's persecution of the prophet and his oppression of innocent bystanders (v. 1o). The Chronicler further criticizes Asa for seeking medical treatment rather than divine healing for a severe ailment, probably venereal disease ("diseased feet"; V. 12).

17 Jehoshaphat Blessed for Obedience

Asa's successor, Jehoshaphat, maintains the military strength of the southern kingdom. More importantly for the Chronicler, this king continues religious reforms in Judah and expands them to include door-to-door Levitical instruction in Mosaic law. The "book of the law of the Lord" (v. 9) probably refers to the Pentateuch (Genesis-Deuteronomy) or parts of it.

In the Chronicler's scheme, Jehoshaphat's international respect constitutes divine blessing for the king's covenantal obedience. Chapters 17, 19, and 20 contain mostly new material about Jehoshaphat not in Kings.

18 Jehoshaphat's Alliance with Ahab

Cf. 1 Kings 22.

Chapter 18 repeats almost verbatim the account in 1 Kings 22, but the Chronicler's introductory commentary in verses 1-2 highlights Jehoshaphat as the account's central figure rather than Ahab. The northern and southern kings sealed an alliance (v. 1) through the marriage of Jehoshaphat's son Jehoram to Athaliah, the daughter of Ahab and Jezebel who later seizes the throne and executes all but one rescued heir to the Davidic dynasty (21:6; 22:10-12).

19 Jehoshaphat Concentrates on Domestic Matters

Jehoshaphat's safe return to Jerusalem contrasts with Ahab's slow death beside the battlefield (18:34). After Jehoshaphat has unadvisedly participated in the alliance with the faithless northern king, a second prophet, Jehu, appears to scold him (v 2). Jehu's father Hanani prophesied against Jehoshaphat's father Asa in 16:7; it was probably his grandfather Jehu who prophesied against Israel's king Baasha in 1 Kgs. 16:1-7. Neither Jehu represents the northern king of that name.

The prophet also commends the king for what he has done right, namely, seeking God, and Jehoshaphat responds by personally engaging in missionary efforts throughout his territory (contrast Asa in 16:10). He also appoints lay judges to settle civil disputes (v. 11) both in Jerusalem and outlying areas, and he assigns judicial duties to Levites, priests, and tribal heads in Jerusalem to hear cases addressed by Mosaic law (vv 8,11).1he chief priest and leader of the Judahite tribe preside over Jerusalem's dual religious and civil supreme court (cf. Deut. 17:8-13).

20 God Fights for Judah

Facing invasion from almost all of Transjordan, Jehoshaphat turns to God, and his people follow suit. The Meunites hail from Edom, near Mount Seir, south and east of the Dead Sea (v. 1; cf. Deut. 2:1). In verse 2, some ancient manuscripts read "Syria" as the origin of the invaders from "beyond the sea, while others read "Edom." The attackers' current position at En-gedi, halfway up the western side of the Dead Sea, makes the best sense with a southern, or Edomite, invader in view.

The king's prayer at the temple reminds the all-powerful God of his work in clearing the way for the chosen people to settle in the promised land before asking that God protect the covenantal inheritance he has granted his people, who stand powerless apart from him (v. 12; cf. Deut. 20:2-4). An oracle from one of Israel's Asaphite singers promises God's deliverance of Judah without her army's even needing to fight. The Judahites gather some 1o miles south of Jerusalem near Tekoa, home of the shepherdprophet Amos, where Jehoshaphat urges his people to trust the Lord for success. It takes the Judahites three days to collect all the spoils from their dead enemies, and the deliverance discourages other nations from attacking Judah for fear of her invincible God.

Verse 33 contradicts the claim in 17:6 that Jehoshaphat tore down the Judahite "high places," local shrines where Canaanite practices often entered into Israelite worship. Jehoshaphat may well have tried his best to remove them, but his subjects evidently persisted in using them (cf. 1 Kgs. 22:43).

The negative lesson of Asas failed attempt at alliance with Ahab (ch. 16) and Jehoshaphat's positive lesson of God's accomplishing for Judah a victory without military engagement do not prevent the king from later allying himself with Israel's King Ahaziah. The wickedness of this act is the lack of faith in God that it demonstrates. Chronicles thus regards as punishment the failure of the kings' joint effort to revive seafaring trade, initiated by Solomon (v 37).

21 Jehoram of Judah

Cf. 2 Kgs. 8:16-24.

Here for the first time Chronicles portrays a Judahite king as thoroughly evil. Jehoram's wife Athaliah, the daughter of Ahab and Jezebel, is blamed for her husband's wickedness. Only God's faithfulness to his covenant with David protects this religiously weak link in the dynastic chain.

By listing Jehoram's younger brothers and mentioning their father Jehoshaphat's generosity toward them, the Chronicler suggests that Jehoshaphat may have appointed Jehoram to the throne only because he was the eldest (vv. 2-3). Previous kings had chosen successors other than their firstborn (David chose Solomon, Rehoboam chose Abijah). Jehoram's brothers soon become casualties of their father's unwise decision, for the new king slays all potential rivals to the throne - a bad omen for what lies ahead. The revolts of the Edomites, Libnites, Philistines, and Arabs all represent divine punishment for Jehoram's leading Judah away from God.

The credit to Elijah of a prophetic letter to Jehoram seems somewhat curious, for 2 Kgs. 3:11 indicates that Elisha has already replaced Elijah during the reign of Jehoram's father Jehoshaphat. Also, Elijah's career focused on the northern kingdom, not Judah. Some scholars suggest that the Chronicler penned the prophecy in Elijah's name to create a parallel between the great prophet's railings against Israelite disobedience, epitomized by Ahab, and the divine judgments against Judah for adopting a distinctively northern brand of apostasy, perpetrated by Ahab's daughter Athaliah.

God's punishment of Jehoram leaves the king with only one son to inherit the Davidic throne. Deprived of almost all of his family, the unfaithful Jehoram dies a lonely, painful, humiliating death. Consistently with the Chronicler's interpretation, the king's punishment continues through his dead body's banishment from the royal tombs. The people of Judah neither honor Jehoram formally with a funerary fire (cf. 16:14; Jer 34:5) nor show regret for his demise (v 20). The Chronicler provides no further sources for information about this wicked king (contrast 13:22; 16:11; 20:34).

22:1-9 Friendship with Israel Earns Ahaziah the Death Sentence

Cf. 2 Kgs. 8:25-29.

Under the influence of his northern-born mother, Athaliah, Ahaziah performs just as wickedly as his father, Judah's Jehoram (not the northern King Jehoram/Joram of V. 5). The Chronicler's likening of Ahaziah's behavior to the wicked, northern house of Ahab's conduct intensifies the portrayal of Ahaziah's disobedience.

Verses 7-9 summarize the events surrounding "Jehu's purge" in 2 Kgs. 9:14-28. That Ahaziah's divinely ordained death coincides with God's destruction of the northern "house of Omri" puts the extent of Judah's wickedness during this time on par with Israel's.

22:10-23:21 Athaliah's Rise and Fall

Cf. 2 Kings ii.

The Chronicler adds several details and his own emphasis to the account in Kings. He makes explicit the marriage of Jehoshabeath (= Josheba in Kings) to the priest Jehoiada, who leads the conspiracy against Athaliah (22:11). The Chronicler dismisses the illegitimate queen's six-year reign in one phrase (22:12b) and devotes all of chapter 23 to the day of her death. He emphasizes the role of the priests and Levites in restoring the Davidic descendant, Joash, to Judah's throne and in reestablishing proper Levitical supervision of the temple activities (23:4-8, 18). As elsewhere, the Chronicler highlights the role of musicians, here in Joash's acclamation ceremony and in the temple service (23:13,18).

While Kings mentions religious and civil covenants made at Joash's ascension to the throne, Chronicles focuses on the religious covenant only (23:16; cf. 2 Kgs. 11:17). Through Jehoiada, the military and civil leadership has already promised support for the new king and has garnered it kingdomwide (23:1, 3, 8).

24 The Easily Influenced Joash

Cf. 2 Kgs. 11:21-12:21.

The Chronicler presents Joash's reign in two phases. During the life of the priest Jehoiada, Joash's spiritual and adoptive father (22:11-12), the king displays religiously admirable behavior, such as repairing the temple. The tax in verses 6 and 9 harks back to Exod. 30:12-16. The mention of Joash's growing family (v 3) demonstrates God's blessing on the righteous king, and it relieves the tension over the threatened Davidic dynasty - a tension created by Athaliah's murder of all potential heirs to Judah's throne save the infant Joash. The Chronicler emphasizes Jehoiada's blessedness and importance by highlighting the priest's advanced age at death (130) and his burial "among the kings" (vv. 15-16).

Judah's religiously wayward officials gain influence after the priest's demise, however, and Joash bends to their mold. Jehoiada's son Zecha riah becomes a martyr for his prophetic warning against Judah's disobedience. God punishes Judah through the Syrians, who despite their inferior numbers realize a decided victory over Joash's army. Joash dies as a result of a conspiracy against him for his own successful conspiracy to kill Zechariah. The king's blessed beginning contrasts with his dishonorable exclusion from burial in the "tombs of the kings" (v 25).

25 Amaziah's Foreign Victory and Domestic Defeat

Cf. 2 Kings 14.

Verses 5-13 contain material not present in the Kings account. They describe Amaziah's hiring of warriors from the northern kingdom to participate in Judah's invasion of Edom, an unnamed prophet's convincing of Amaziah to dismiss them, and Amaziah's subsequent victory over the Edomites while the discharged northern troops, probably angered by their lost opportunity to snatch up spoils in Edom, seize their opportunity for revenge by looting Judahite cities.

Despite Amaziah's reluctant obedience in dismissing the northern troops, the lack of faith he displayed by hiring the mercenaries in the first place indirectly occasions his defeat back home. After Amaziah's Edomite victory, the king adopts Edomite gods and thereby seals his doom, which God brings about through Amaziah's overconfident picking of a fight with the Israelite king Joash (Jehoash), presumably in retaliation for the miffed northerners' raid on Judah. Amaziah dies the victim of an internal conspiracy spawned at the outset of his flirting with the gods of Edom.

26 The Pride and Fall of Uzziah

Cf. 2 Kgs. 15:1-7.

Yet another of Judah's kings falls prey to the pride that precedes a fall. Uzziah's initial attention to the spiritual guidance of Zechariah (probably a priest, not the writing prophet by that name) results in the king's political success. Uzziah (also spelled "Azariah") reestablishes Judahite control of Solomon's former Red Sea port at Elath; realizes military victories over neighboring peoples, some of whom pay him tribute; strengthens his kingdom's defenses; boosts Judah's economy through agriculture; and develops a strong, well-prepared army.

Uzziah's pride in his great political power leads him to perform religious duties reserved for the priests, and God's punishing the king with an enduring skin disease leaves him ritually unfit for the rest of his life even to set foot in the temple. It also rules out his direct governance of Judah and necessitates his burial in a royal graveyard rather than the City of David's tombs of the kings (v 23). The year of Uzziah's death coincided with the timing of Isaiah's call as a prophet (Isaiah 6).

27 Jotham Extends Uzziah's Political Control

Cf. 2 Kgs. 15:32-38.

Jotham's reward for his personal righteousness comes in the form of intensified political control over the Ammonites and the increased security and wealth of his kingdom. Nevertheless, Jotham's subjects did not follow his good example (v 2), and the account in Kings notes the beginnings of divinely sent punishment from the north (2 Kgs. 15:37).

28 Ahaz Shuts the Temple Doors

Cf. 2 Kings 16; Isaiah 7.

If the Chronicler could find no fault in Jotham, he can find no good in Jotham's successorson Ahaz. Judah's defeat by Syria (under King Rezin; 2 Kgs. 16:5) and Israel directly results from the king's open disobedience (vv. 5-6), which includes child sacrifice in Jerusalem's Hinnom Valley N. 3).

The presence of a true prophet of God in the north (Oded, v. 9) and, even more surprisingly, the Israelites' heeding of his warning against enslaving their Judahite kinsmen present a striking reversal of the usual role played by the generally wayward northerners. After treating their captives as honored guests, the Israelites usher them to Jericho, just short of Jerusalem by a 20-mile, brutal climb. (Jericho lies ca. 1000 ft. below sea level, Jerusalem ca. 2300 ft. above sea level.)

Ahaz loses much of the ground gained for Judah by his grandfather Uzziah (vv. 17-18; cf. 26:6-7). In response to Ahaz's appeal to the Assyrians for help in defending his kingdom, Tilgath-pilneser (= Tiglath-pileser III) instead levies a heavy tribute on Judah (vv 20-21). By this time, the northern kingdom has fallen to Assyria (30:6; 2 Kings 17), but despite the foreboding omen, Ahaz does not repent. Instead, he intensifies his worship of foreign gods and even takes steps to prevent proper worship of the Lord at the temple (v 24).

29 Hezekiah Reinstates the Temple Service

Religiously speaking, Hezekiah embodies the complete opposite of his father Ahaz, shown clearly in the new king's speedy reopening of the temple. The Chronicler devotes three chapters to Hezekiah's religious reforms, which Kings summarizes in a mere four verses (2 Kgs. 18:3-6). As in discussing David's and Solomon's reigns (1 Chronicles 11-29; 2 Chronicles 1-9), he bypasses politics and proceeds immediately to temple matters.

Hezekiah charges the priests and Levites with consecrating themselves for resuming proper worship at the temple. The Levites take i6 days to sanctify themselves and the temple and accoutrements of Yahwistic worship, which Ahaz defiled (28:24), and they finish the job two days past the date prescribed for the Passover (v 17; cf. Num. 9:1-5). Sacrifices follow to consecrate the temple for immediate and future use and to make atonement for the people's sin. Various kinds of voluntary offerings round out the temple's rededication, including burnt offerings too numerous for the priests to handle without help from the Levites.

30 The Passover Celebration Renewed

Numbers 9:6-11 allows observation of the Passover one month late, under certain circumstances. Hezekiah takes advantage of this law to initate his program of religious reforms with a Passover celebration unparalleled since Solomon's day. Royal messengers sent not only throughout Judah but also to the far reaches of the now-defunct northern kingdom (= "Beersheba to Dan," V. 5) summon the people to Jerusalem's temple to recommit themselves to serving God. Though some of the Israelites who escaped deportation by the Assyrians only laugh at the prospect, others heed Hezekiahs call.

The pilgrims gathered in Jerusalem take it upon themselves to toss the city's pagan altars (28:4, 25) into the Kidron Brook, located in the valley between Jerusalem and the Mount of Olives. Shamed by their lay countrymen's outdoing them in zeal for the restoration of pure Yahwistic worship, the priests and Levites who lagged behind finally join in by bringing sacrifices (v. 15).

Sincerity of heart trumps ritual purity as a requirement for participation in the community observance (vv. 18-19). The weeklong Feast of Unleavened Bread follows immediately, and the joyful atmosphere inspires mutual agreement to extend the celebration for an extra week (v 23).

31 Hezekiah's Reforms Take Root

Hezekiah's royally initiated religious reforms continue to see fulfillment by the grassroots populace, who enthusiastically pursue the king's policy even in parts of the old northern kingdom. The surprising generosity of the people in tithing throughout the harvest season (May/June-September/October) to support the priests and Levites reengaged in temple duties produces a budget surplus. Hezekiah establishes a task force to ensure the equitable distribution of the extra provisions among the members of the territoriless tribe of Levi living in and outside Jerusalem. The Chronicler's commendation of Hezekiah in verses 20-21 makes clear the author's regard for him as the nation's greatest king.

32:1-23 Assyria Threatens Judah

Cf. 2 Kings 18-19; Isaiah 36-37.

In the face of military threat by the Assyrian conquerors of the northern kingdom, Hezekiah fortifies Jerusalem and forestalls any besieging army's access to natural water supplies outside the city walls. The opening words of this chapter portend the doom of Sennacherib's effort in view of the Chronicler's theology that obedience leads to divine reward. The Chronicler's omission of any reference to Hezekiah's initial but withdrawn surrender to Sennacherib preserves the untarnished image of the Judahite king that Chronicles has presented thus far (cf. 2 Kgs. 18:14-16). Judah's miraculous deliverance is the reward for Hezekiah's faith. Sennacherib's humiliating defeat and eventual assassination are his punishment for belittling Judah's God.

32:24-33 Hezekiah's Repentance and Death

Cf. 2 Kings 2o; Isaiah 38-39.

Hezekiah's mortal illness and haughty ungratefulness for God's "sign" that he will recover (2 Kgs. 20:8-11) come as a surprise in the Chronicler's account. Even this heretofore exemplary king falls to the sin of pride, as have his religiously wayward predecessors (Joash, Amaziah, and Uzziah; chs. 24-26). Nevertheless, the Chronicler does greatly abbreviate his account and ends it on the high note of Hezekiah's repentance and the diverting of God's wrath. Verses 27-30 further evidence Hezekiah's divine blessedness and emphasize his accomplishments.

Verse 31 briefly notes the visit of wellwishers from the rising power Babylon (cf. Isaiah's devastating prophecy against Judah based on Hezekiah's hospitality toward these foreign guests; 2 Kgs. 20:16-18).

Overall in Chronicles, Hezekiah's reign represents a resurgence of Solomonic rule. He rededicates the temple, reestablishes its prescribed services, restores the people's religious allegiance to a central sanctuary, and reunites the northern and southern tribes around the worship of Yahweh.

33 Religious Decline under Manasseh and Amon

Cf. 2 Kings 21.

Manasseh converts the temple into a pagan shrine, revives child sacrifice in the Hinnom Valley, and takes up forbidden occult practices (v. 6; cf. Deut. 18:10-11). The king and people refuse to heed divine warnings, so God sends the Assyrians to conquer them.

While Assyrian records name Manasseh as a vassal, the Judahite king's exile in Babylon and his humble repentance as a prisoner there go unmentioned in the thoroughly negative account in Kings. According to the Chronicler,

Manasseh's repentance wins him restoration to Judah's throne, after which he rids Jerusalem and the temple of pagan paraphernalia and orders kingdom-wide fidelity to God.

Manasseh's successor, his son Amon, reinstitutes paganism and fails ever to repent. He becomes the murder victim of an internal conspiracy. That the general populace then kills the conspirators evidences Judah's intense allegiance to religious disobedience as embodied by the wicked king.

34:1-35:19 The Reforming King Josiah

Cf. 2 Kgs. 22:1-23:27.

The religious see-sawing of Judah's kings continues with Josiah, whose covenantal obedience thoroughly contrasts with that of his predecessor, Amon. The accounts of Josiah in Chronicles and Kings overlap significantly, though the order of events does not always coincide. Both books pay similar attention to Josialfs repair of the temple, his discovery of the "book of the law" (probably Deuteronomy), his consulting Huldah the prophetess, and the resulting community renewal of the covenant.

In general, the Chronicler elevates Hezekiah as the greatest of the Hebrew kings since David, while Kings gives Josiah that prominence. Kings and Chronicles emphasize different aspects of Josiah's religious activities. 2 Kings gives detailed information about the specific ways in which Josiah purged the kingdom of paganism (2 Kgs. 23:4-20), while 2 Chronicles summarizes these acts (34:3-7, 33). 2 Kings summarizes Josiah's Passover celebration (2 Kgs. 23:21-23), while 2 Chronicles carefully details this elaborate event (35:1-19). While in 2 Chronicles Hezekiah celebrates Passover as the beginning of his reforms, for Josiah the commemorative event and immediately following Feast of Unleavened Bread represent the culmination of his reforming activities. The Chronicler's mention of the prophet Samuel (35:18), whose activity bridges the gap between the period of the judges and the institution of Israel's monarchy, makes more specific 2 Kings' general reference to the judges when praising the revived magnificence of Josiah's Passover celebration (2 Kgs. 23:22).

35:20-27 Josiah's Death

Cf. 2 Kgs. 23:28-30.

Egypt's Pharaoh Neco, traveling north through Canaan on his way to help Assyria fight Babylon at the battle of Carchemish, warns Josiah not to try to stop him. The Chronicler confirms Neco's claim of divine sanction for his mission, and thus Josiah's mortal wound is attributed to his disobeying God.

Jeremiah in verse 25 is the biblical prophet, but the "lament" here is not the book of Lamentations.

36:1-4 Jehoahaz/Joahaz

Cf. 2 Kgs. 23:31-34.

Pharaoh Neco swiftly deposes Josiah's successor, Jehoahaz, after defeating the Judahite army, which Josiah commissioned to oppose the Egyptian march north.

36:5-8 Eliakim/Jehoiakim

Cf. 2 Kgs. 23:35-24:7.

Jehoiakim rules for 11 years as an Egyptian vassal before Babylon conquers the region and assumes the role of Judah's overlord. The account in Kings notes that Jehoiakim rebelled against Babylon but omits any mention that Nebuchadnezzar deported him.

36:910 Jehoiachin

Cf. 2 Kgs. 24:8-17.

The Chronicler does not relate Jehoiachin's surrender to Nebuchadnezzar's besieging army or the exile of Jerusalemites, both of which events Kings details, but both accounts record Jehoiachin's deportation to Babylon along with the temple treasures.

36:11-21 Zedekiah and the Fall of Judah

Cf. 2 Kgs. 24:18-25:30.

Rather than buckle under Babylonian pressure, as did his immediate predecessor Jehoiachin, Zedekiah invites further confrontation by resuming the rebellion begun by Jehoiakim. Zedekiah's obstinacy also extends to the religious sphere, and he refuses to humble himself in response to God's communications through the prophet Jeremiah (v. 12). Neither do Judah's leaders heed the calls to repentance that God in mercy repeatedly delivers by divine messengers (v. 16; cf. the northern remnant in 30:6-10). Thus both king and kingdom reach the point of no return. Their iniquity becomes complete, as it did for the Canaanites who preceded them in the promised land, and God will punish them similarly - by driving them out.

While the Kings account leaves the poorest of Judah's poor in the land following the Chaldean (= Babylonian) destruction of Jerusalem and the deportation that followed, Chronicles pictures Jerusalem as a virtual ghost town and the land as enjoying a 70-year rest, apparently in some measure to make up for the Hebrews' failure to observe the Sabbath Years for much of their history (v 21; cf. Jer. 25:11-13; 29:10-14; Lev. 26:34-39).

36:22-23 Cyrus Sets the Stage for Return

That the last two verses of 2 Chronicles represent almost a carbon copy of Ezra i:i-3 suggests that at some point an editor added them to link the two books. Some scholars believe the addition occurred as a result of separating Chronicles from Ezra.

In Cyrus's edict allowing the Hebrews to return to Jerusalem (538), the Persian king surprisingly claims a command from God to rebuild the temple. This mandate becomes the reason for the return of God's chosen people to the city designated as the dwelling place for his name - Jerusalem (Deut. 12:5). Thus begins the fulfillment of Jeremiah's prophecy of hope for restoration (cf. Jer. 24:4-7).

Exile and Return

Toward the end of the divided monarchy, Israel and Judah came under the domination first of the Assyrians, then the Babylonians, then the Persians. The era of kings in Israel and Judah came to an end in two stages. In the northern kingdom of Israel, King Hoshea (732-724 B.C.) tried to make some political gain by switching his allegiance to Egypt. This provoked the Assyrians to invade, led first by Shalmaneser V (d. 722) and then by his successor, Sargon II. Samaria, the capital, fell in 721 after a threeyear siege. More than 27 thousand Israelites were taken into exile, according to Sargon's records. The apocryphal book of Tobit claims to be about an exiled northerner at this time. According to 2 Kings 17, the land was repopulated with nonIsraelites. There was never formally a return to Samaria.

Deportees from Ekron with Assyrian escort; 7th-century-B.c. relief from Nineveh. (Erich Lessing /Art Resource, NY)

2 Kings 17 provides the fullest theological explanation for the exiles from both north and south: idolatry, borrowing of foreign religious practices, and the failure to keep the statutes of the Law are highlighted, but no doubt there were political and economic reasons as well, since both kingdoms found themselves as pawns in the rivalries between the great empires to the northeast and Egypt to the south. Because the traditions of Israel and Judah were both collected and spread chiefly from Jerusalem from the end of the 6th century onward, the exile of the leadership and army (8-1o thousand in 597 according to

2 Kgs. 24:14-16; 3000 according to Jer. 52:28) from Judah in the south appears to have been more significant than that from the north. The southern exile took place in two stages, first after the surrender of Jehoiachin to the Babylonians in 597, second after the defeat of the rebellious Zedekiah in 587/586. Not everyone was taken into exile; for many people much of daily life would have continued as before, though probably with a different system of taxation.

Not everyone who was in exile returned when Cyrus apparently

encouraged them to do so with Zerubbabel in 539/538 after the Persian defeat of Babylon. We cannot be certain why some Jews remained in Babylon, but it is likely that there was little economic advantage to life in Judah. Throughout the Persian period the way of life was predominantly subsistence agriculture and the returns from the land in Judah probably meager. The rebuilt Jerusalem was the only significant urban settlement in Judah until the Greek period, and that quite possibly only from the time of Ne hemiah (445)• For those who did return there was a period of social restructuring and regrouping. Those who had not gone into exile may have had lands confiscated from them by the returnees. No longer was there a court. The responses to the exile were many and various, and thus the religious expression of the early postexilic period is characterized by several different emphases.

The textual sources for the early postexilic period are very rich, but the writing of precise history from the books of Ezra-Nehemiah in particular, and from nonbiblical sources, is extremely problematic, not least because there are enormous gaps in data. Most scholars are of the opinion that much that is now found in the Old Testament was edited in its final form in the late 6th or 5th centuries. Although there are traces of royal ideology in some of these texts, the strength of Israelite identity is based on the twin foundations of the Law and the cult: those reflect the creation of a self-conscious theocracy. The temple was rebuilt by 515 (Ezra 6:15), but in quite what way is unclear(cf. Hag. 2:3-9; Ezra 3). As Israel's institutions were reformed and re-established, there was probably considerable tension between the representatives of these two pillars, the predominantly lay lawgivers and the priests. They seem to have recognized that they needed each other, however. There were other responses as well, some of which overlapped to some extent with those of the lawgivers and priests.

The Law

The place of the Law is dominant in two sets of writings. The

completion of the Deuteronomistic History at the end of the 6th century was a significant achievement. It provided what amounted to a contemporary political commentary. Earlier Israelite traditions were crafted into a chronological narrative from the time of the entry into the land under Joshua. Armed with this history, the leaders of Judah as they themselves entered the land after the return from the exile were equipped to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past. Events from Joshua to the exile were measured against the standards set in Deuteronomy, especially the statutes and ordinances of Deuteronomy 12-26. It could readily be seen that few past leaders had done what was right in the eyes of the Lord. In particular, it seemed to be recognized that there was no place in the restored community for a king; in fact, any reader of the history books would be encouraged to think that the prophets, such as Samuel and Elijah, were of more significance than most of the kings.

The Law itself was also edited into its final shape. The five books together provided a kind of constitution. From creation to the entry into the land, the Pentateuch described the restored community's special place in God's universal plan. Through the promises to Noah, the restored community could believe itself to be symbolic of humanity's fresh start; through the divine commitment made to Abraham the people could reclaim the land as their rightful inheritance; and through the revelation to Moses they had the basis for a distinctive but civilizing social ethic. As Ezra proclaimed the Law afresh

(sometime during the reign of Artaxerxes I [465-4241), it could be seen as replacing the prophets of earlier times. No longer would the word of God come through spirit-filled individuals who would act as the people's conscience; rather, it was available for all to hear, study, and apply. Moses was identified as the prophet above all others, and every member of the community was offered renewed individual responsibility.

The Temple

The rebuilding of Jerusalem was portrayed in some writings of the restoration period as primarily about the reconstruction of the temple (Haggai 1-2). Virtually no archaeological remains of the second temple survive (other than Herod the Great's 1st-century rebuilding work), but many consider that it was not such an elaborate edifice as that constructed by Solomon. The books of Chronicles, compiled at the end of the 5th century, represent some of the views of the priestly leaders of the restored community. Chronicles reworks the history of Israel and Judah with a nostalgic appeal to the times of David and Solomon; there is much in genealogies and descriptions of sacred space that asserts preeminence for the priests.

The books of Psalms continued to develop. Perhaps not many new Psalms were written, but there seems to have been a political interest in collecting together those that stressed the kingship of God (Psalms 93, 95-99). As the Dead Sea Scrolls have shown, the Psalter took various forms in the Second Temple period, but one of the forms put the Psalms together in five books as a spiritual collection to match the Law and maybe even to reclaim it for the priesthood from the lay community.

Prophecy

Although the era of the great prophetic figures of the 8th and 7th centuries was never to return, prophetic activity continued in refashioned forms in the period after the return. This refashioning can be summed up as having to do with future aspirations more than with contemporary social justice. The book of Isaiah was completed during the exile or shortly thereafter with passages that look to the glory of a restored Jerusalem beyond any that might be built by Zerubbabel or even Nehemiah. The book of Jeremiah is adjusted to fit the changed situation and published in at least two forms. (The longer one eventually made it into the Jewish canon.) Some of those whose work was eventually included among the 12 Minor Prophets were active in the early Second Temple period and concerned to speak out about the rightful place of the temple in Jewish life (Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi).

Wisdom

There was an ongoing tendency in the postexilic period to redefine the community in ways that made it inward-looking and very distinctive from the surrounding peoples. For example, Nehemiah spoke against all forms of intermarriage. Nevertheless, there was also a continuing trend among some of the educated elite of the community to interact with all that

was best of neighboring cultures. This is most clearly visible in the emerging collections of wisdom writings that contain proverbial reflection on the universals of the human condition, on wealth and poverty, on social relations, and on undeserved suffering.

Apocalyptic

Apocalyptic writing emerged during the exilic and postexilic periods as a development within prophecy. From Isaiah 24-27 (early postexilic) to Zechariah 9-14 (late 4th century), visionary material is preserved that suggests that a few influential members of the community were not satisfied with the way things had developed under the Persians. These were perhaps inspired by Persian writings they looked to for divine intervention or some form of compensation for their present circumstances.

Popular Religion

All the descriptions in this brief survey depend upon the written records that survive, mostly in the Old Testament. The beliefs and practices of those Jews in Judah who did not hold power in the two centuries of Persian dominance have not survived. Also, there is little distinctive archaeological evidence for the period, so it is difficult to gauge precisely what forms popular Jewish religious practice took.

All through the periods of exile and return, Israel is under foreign domination. Sometimes this is close at hand and domineering, but more often it seems to have been largely distant and benevolent. The various expressions of religion in Judah during the

postexilic period reflect this wider political and economic situation. A sense of realism generally prevailed, and what nationalism there was did not result in attempts to launch military campaigns to reestablish political independence until the Maccabean Revolt (167-164).

As noted, not everybody returned to Judah after the exile was officially declared over. Throughout the postexilic period, Jewish communities in the dispersion in Asia Minor, Egypt, and Babylon seem to have flourished. Sometimes local populations reacted negatively against the economic success and influence of their local Jewish communities. Nothing has survived of Jewish life in Asia Minor during this period; however, the book of Esther and parts of Daniel as well as several noncanonical writings illustrate aspects of life in the Persian Empire. The translation of first the Pentateuch and then the rest of the Scriptures into Greek from the 3rd century onward demonstrates the strength of the Jewish communities in Egypt, as do also the Elephantine papyri and other noncanonical writings usually associated with the communities there.

For Further Reading

GEORGE J. BROOKE

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