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- Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
- Kategorie: Religion und Spiritualität
- Serie: Blackwell Bible Commentaries
- Sprache: Englisch
Offers a history of the interpretation of Chronicles in theology, worship, music, literature and art from the ancient period to the present day, demonstrating its foundational importance within the Old Testament * Explores important differences between the same topics and stories that occur in Chronicles and other biblical books such as Genesis and Kings, including the pious depiction of David, the clear correlation between moral behavior and divine reward, and the elevation of music in worship * Examines the reception of Chronicles among its interpreters, including rabbis of the Talmud, Jerome, Martin Luther, Johann Sebastian Bach, Cotton Mather, and others, * Features broad yet comprehensive coverage that considers Jewish and Christian, ancient and modern, and secular and pop cultural interpretations * Organizes discussions by verse to illuminate each one's changing meaning across the ages
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Seitenzahl: 461
Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2016
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Table of Contents
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Chronicles as a Work of Reception
The Significance of Chronicles’ History
Chronicles’ Jostling for Authority Within the Canon
The Scope and Organization of this Commentary
Part I: The Genealogies
Chapter 1: The Genealogies
David’s Genealogy and the Christian Messiah
David’s Genealogy and the Jewish Messiah
David as the Seventh Son of Jesse
Solomon’s Place in the Davidic Line
Reuben’s Genealogy
The Ephraimites’ Early Exodus
Jabez
The Genealogies – Inside or Outside of History?
Part II: The Reign of David
Chapter 2: David’s Reign from Election to Dynastic Promise
David’s Election
David’s Transfer of the Ark in Chronicles
David’s Psalm of Thanksgiving
God’s Dynastic Promise and David’s Response
Chapter 3: David’s Reign from the Census to the Selection of the Temple Site
Satan and the Census
The Destroying Angel
David’s Altar as the Site of the Temple and Mount Moriah
Fire From Heaven
Chapter 4: David’s Reign from His Preparations for the Temple to His Death
David’s Disqualification as Temple Builder
David and the Temple Musicians
David’s Advice to Solomon
David’s Blessing of God
David’s Death
Part III: The Reigns of Solomon and the Kings of Judah
Chapter 5: The Reigns of Solomon, Rehoboam, Abijah, and Asa
Solomon
Rehoboam
Abijah
Asa
Asa’s demotion of the queen mother, Maacah
Chapter 6: The Reigns of Jehoshaphat, Joash, Uzziah, and Ahaz
Jehoshaphat
Joash
Uzziah
Ahaz
Chapter 7: The Reigns of Hezekiah, Josiah, Jehoiakim, and Zedekiah
Hezekiah
Manasseh (See Chapter Eight)
Josiah
Jehoiakim
Zedekiah
Chapter 8: The Reign of Manasseh
Manasseh in Chronicles and Kings
Chronicles’ Manasseh in the Septuagint
Qumran’s Prayer of Manasseh
Josephus’s Manasseh
Manasseh in The Ascension of Isaiah and 2 Baruch
Chronicles’ Manasseh in Early Rabbinic Literature
The Early Church Fathers’ Reception of Chronicles’ Manasseh
“The Prayer of Manasseh”
Later Reception of Chronicles’ Manasseh in Jewish Interpretation
Later Reception of Chronicles’ Manasseh in Christian Interpretation
Coda A
Coda B
Glossary of Names and Terms
Abbreviations
Bibliography
Early Jewish Writings
Other Rabbinic Works
Pseudepigrapha and Anonymous Works
Early Christian Writings
Primary and Secondary Sources
Author Index
Scriptural Index
Subject Index
End User License Agreement
List of Illustrations
Chapter 01
Figure 1.1 Illuminated (gold lettering on blue) ADAM in Hebrew at the beginning of Chronicles. From a Hebrew Bible of 1448 or 1449, the “Duke of Sussex’s Italian Bible” (British Library Add MS 15251, f 313v).
Figure 1.2 David anointed by Samuel with six brothers looking on. Top: Wall painting (tempera over plaster) in the Dura‐Europos synagogue, Syria, third century,
CE.
. Bottom: From an illuminated manuscript, the “Winchester Psalter,” England, twelfth century (British Library Cotton MS Nero C IV, f 7r).
Chapter 02
Figure 2.1 David dancing before the ark. Terra‐cotta relief, Rome,
c.
1660–1665.
Figure 2.2 David dancing before the ark (2 Sm 6).
Chapter 03
Figure 3.1 The destroying angel over Jerusalem. Top: David’s numbering of the people punished by the plague (2 Sm 24) by Otto Elliger. Bottom: David praying the plague is stayed (1 Chronicles 21) by Isaac Taylor, Jr.
Figure 3.2 The destroying angel appearing to David (1 Chr 21) from
The Christian's Complete Family Bible
(“Fowler’s Family Bible”).
Figure 3.3 King David purchasing the threshing floor (2 Sm 24) by William Hole.
Figure 3.4 David in penitence. A miniature by Flemish artist Gerard Horenbout from an illuminated manuscript, the “Sforza Hours,” Milan, Ghent, and Brussels (British Library Add MS 34294, f 212v).
Figure 3.5 David’s sacrifice in the field of Araunah (2 Sm 24 and 1 Chr 21). Top left: From an ivory panel, the front cover of a twelfth‐century psalter from Jerusalem, the “Melisende Psalter.” Top right: From Christoph Weigel’s
Biblia Ectypa
. Bottom: After a design by Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld.
Chapter 04
Figure 4.1 “All our days on earth are like a shadow and there is no hope” (1 Chr 29:15). Sundial affixed to St. Mary’s Basilica in Krakow, Poland. Mid‐twentieth century.
Chapter 05
Figure 5.1 Miraculous fire consuming Solomon’s sacrifice (2 Chr 7).
Figure 5.2 Solomon’s sacrifice (1 Kgs 8) with fire from heaven (2 Chr 7).
Figure 5.3 Solomon’s sacrifice with fire from heaven. Top: Illustration of 1 Kings 8 by Jan Luyken. Bottom: Solomon dedicates the temple to the Lord.
Chapter 08
Figure 8.1 The martyrdom of Isaiah. From an illuminated manuscript,
La Bible historiale complétée
, France, 1357(British Library Royal 17 E VII, Part 2, f 36v).
Guide
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Wiley Blackwell Bible Commentaries
Series Editors: John Sawyer, Christopher Rowland, Judith Kovacs, David M. Gunn
John Through the CenturiesMark Edwards
Revelation Through the CenturiesJudith Kovacs & Christopher Rowland
Judges Through the CenturiesDavid M. Gunn
Exodus Through the CenturiesScott M. Langston
Ecclesiastes Through the CenturiesEric S. Christianson
Esther Through the CenturiesJo Carruthers
Psalms Through the Centuries: Volume ISusan Gillingham
Galatians Through the CenturiesJohn Riches
Pastoral Epistles Through the CenturiesJay Twomey
1 & 2 Thessalonians Through the CenturiesAnthony C. Thiselton
Six Minor Prophets Through the CenturiesRichard Coggins and Jin H. Han
Lamentations Through the CenturiesPaul M. Joyce and Diana Lipton
James Through the CenturiesDavid Gowler
Chronicles Through the CenturiesBlaire A. French
The Acts of the Apostles Through the CenturiesHeidi J. Hornik and Mikeal C. Parsons
Forthcoming
1 & 2 Samuel Through the CenturiesDavid M. Gunn
1 & 2 Kings Through the Centuries
Martin O’Kane
Psalms Through the Centuries: Volume IISusan Gillingham
Song of Songs Through the CenturiesFiona Black
Isaiah Through the CenturiesJohn F. A. Sawyer
Jeremiah Through the CenturiesMary Chilton Callaway
Ezekiel Through the CenturiesAndrew Mein
Mark Through the CenturiesChristine Joynes
Romans Through the CenturiesPaul Fiddes
1 Corinthians Through the CenturiesJorunn Okland
Genesis 1–21 Through the CenturiesChristopher Heard
Genesis 22–50 Through the CenturiesChristopher Heard
Deuteronomy Through the CenturiesJonathan Campbell
Daniel Through the CenturiesDennis Tucker
Luke Through the CenturiesMark Bilby
Matthew Through the CenturiesIan Boxall
Colossians and Philemon Through the CenturiesHarry O. Maier
Numbers Through the CenturiesRyan P. O’Dowd
Job Through the CenturiesDavid Tollerton and Stephen J. Vicchio
Chronicles Through the Centuries
Blaire A. French
This edition first published 2017© 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
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Library of Congress Cataloging‐in‐Publication Data
Names: French, Blaire A., author.Title: Chronicles through the centuries / by Blaire A. French.Description: Hoboken : Wiley, 2016. | Series: Wiley Blackwell Bible commentaries | Includes bibliographical references and index.Identifiers: LCCN 2016031602 (print) | LCCN 2016033473 (ebook) | ISBN 9781118690086 (cloth) | ISBN 9781118690062 (pdf) | ISBN 9781118690079 (epub)Subjects: LCSH: Bible. Chronicles–Criticism, interpretation, etc.Classification: LCC BS1345.52 .F74 2016 (print) | LCC BS1345.52 (ebook) | DDC 222/.606–dc23LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016031602
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Cover image: William Blake, ‘Satan going forth from the presence of the Lord, and Job’s charity’, from the Book of Job, 1825. © Fitzwilliam Museum, University of Cambridge / The Bridgeman Art Library.
For Calum Carmichael, an exemplary scholar, mentor, and friend
Acknowledgments
I should like to express my gratitude first and foremost to Calum Carmichael, whose encouragement and guidance sustained me throughout this project. I also thank Martien Halvorson‐Taylor, whose love of the Hebrew Bible inspired my own. Under her expert direction as my thesis advisor at the University of Virginia, I developed the arguments presented in this work. Judith Kovacs, who is an editor of this series and by chance a former teacher and now close friend, provided invaluable insights all along the way. John Sawyer and David Gunn, also editors of this series, meticulously edited my manuscript, and David Gunn assisted in selecting the artwork. At Wiley Blackwell, I thank Felicity Marsh for her skillful and careful copy editing, Vimali Joseph for her able assistance at the final stages of production, and Rebecca Harkin, who oversaw this book from inception to publication. Lastly, thanks go to my husband, James Ceaser, who painstakingly commented on every page, sentence, comma, and period.
Introduction
In May 1690, French soldiers and their Indian allies raided the Anglo‐American settlement in Casco Bay, Maine, brutally killing many of its inhabitants. The attack was one of many in King William’s War (1688–1697), a bitter struggle between France and England for sovereignty in the New World. Among the Abenaki Indians’ captives were Hannah Swarton, her three sons, and a daughter. Within two months, her eldest boy had been killed and the other children taken away. Swarton remained a prisoner, first of the Indians and then of the French, for five years. Following her release she provided an account of her ordeal, singling out the book of Chronicles as her main source of consolation:
And 2 Chron. 6.36, 37, 38, 39. was a precious Scripture to me,in the Day of Evil. We have Read over, and Pray’d over, thisScripture together, and Talk’d together of this Scripture, Margaret[a fellow captive] and I; How the Lord hath Promised, Though theywere Scattered for their Sins, yet there should be a Return, if they didBethink themselves, and Turn, and Pray. So we did Bethink our selvesin the Land where we were Carried Captive, did Turn, did Pray,and Endeavour to Return to God with all our Hearts: And, as theywere to Pray towards the Temple, I took it, that I should Praytowards Christ; and accordingly did so, and hoped the Lord wouldHear, and He hath Heard from Heaven, His Dwelling Place, myPrayer and Supplication, and mentained my Cause, and not Rejectedme, but Returned me.
(C. Mather 1697: 70–71)
Swarton found justification in Chronicles of her suffering as well as a roadmap for deliverance. Her testimonial circulated widely as an appendix to a published sermon by Cotton Mather (1663–1728), the leading Puritan minister of his time. In his homily, Mather also focused on Chronicles, referencing another verse that spoke of salvation through humiliation and repentance (2 Chr 12:7) (C. Mather 1697). Swarton’s account was added to reinforce a prominent theme of Chronicles: God rewards the true penitent.
While Chronicles’ distinctive offerings have attracted devoted readers like Swarton and Mather in every age, for many today the book is unfamiliar terrain. Some modern commentators go so far as to judge Chronicles to be one of the least influential and interesting books of the Bible. They cite in particular its opening nine chapters of genealogies as a major stumbling block, causing readers to give up the fight even before they begin, and further characterize its narrative as repetitious (duplicating large portions of Samuel and Kings) and overly pious. In Chronicles’ account, most of David’s wrongdoings are omitted, as are those of Solomon. Also missing are many colorful triumphs, including David’s contest with Goliath and Solomon’s legendary judgment on the baby claimed by two mothers. Rabbi Joseph Telushkin, author of the popular volume Biblical Literacy, declares that Chronicles is “the least read of the Bible’s historical books” (Telushkin 1997: 395), and the claim is not baseless. Anyone searching for selections from Chronicles in the Revised Common Lectionary – the three‐year cycle of weekly readings for Protestant churches – will seek in vain.
Yet Chronicles’ reception history demonstrates that it has commanded a highly attentive audience. Saint Jerome (c.347–420) was drawn to its succinct rendition of Israel’s past from Adam to the end of the Babylonian exile, and his admiration spawned its modern title. Jerome lauded the book for giving its readers “a chronicle of the whole of the sacred history” (Hieronymi Prologus Galeatus, NPNF2 6.490). For Jerome and countless other interpreters, up to and including the present, Chronicles’ offer of an alternative to the books of Samuel and Kings (primarily) is precisely what makes the book so significant. Its differences and deviations create interpretive opportunities for readers. In some cases, the variations can be dramatic. For instance, in Chronicles the prophet Oded admonishes his fellow Israelites of the Northern Kingdom to return their Judean prisoners, captured during Israel’s victory over King Ahaz. After clothing, feeding, and anointing their captives, the Israelites do so (2 Chr 28:8–15). This account, entirely absent from Kings, may have inspired the parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke’s Gospel (Lk 10:25–37).
Chronicles’ small and subtle shifts in tone or emphasis can be equally potent. The verses Swarton singled out (KJV 2 Chr 6:36–39) closely parallel Solomon’s dedication prayer in Kings (KJV 1 Kgs 8:46–50), but the wording is not quite identical. In Chronicles, Solomon implores God alone for relief, whereas in Kings he includes a plea for the compassion of Israel’s captors. In choosing Chronicles, Swarton kept the focus on God’s acceptance of repentance and a return from captivity, to the exclusion of everything else.
The history of Chronicles’ reception is largely shaped by interpreters who have opted to stray from the account of Israel contained in Genesis through Kings, what David Noel Freedman has well termed the “primary history” (1962). In these instances, Chronicles’ version of events takes the place of, or is read alongside, what have tended to be considered the “standard” biblical accounts of Samuel and Kings. Even when it is not obvious, Chronicles almost always stands in relation to other passages of Scripture.
Chronicles as a Work of Reception
In reception history, the reader, not the original author, is the focus of attention. Questions regarding the inception of biblical books – the historical critical concerns about who wrote what, where, when, and why – are subjects for another kind of inquiry. Chronicles, however, demands to be treated as an exception to this rule in that the Chronicler received and interpreted key texts that ultimately comprised part of the canon. Study of the reception history of Chronicles, therefore, needs to begin with consideration of the book itself as a work of reception.
Ancient and contemporary commentators agree that the Chronicler lived during the Second Temple period (530 BCE–70 CE) and that his writings postdate the Pentateuch and the Former Prophets. A saying from the tannatic period (c.70–200 CE) preserved in the Babylonian Talmud (compiled around 600 CE) ascribes the composition of the Pentateuch to Moses (with the exception of the record of his death, Dt 34:5–12), the book of Joshua (and Dt 34:5–12) to Joshua, the books of Judges and Samuel to Samuel, and the book of Kings to Jeremiah. As for Chronicles, the Babylonian Talmud holds that Ezra began the book and Nehemiah finished it (b. B. Bat. 14b‐15a). Their assumed authorship of Chronicles is most likely due to the duplicate verses relaying the edict of Cyrus that end Chronicles and open Ezra, joining one narrative to the other (2 Chr 36:22–23; cf. Ezr 1:1–3a).
Early Christian exegetes also considered Chronicles’ composition to be postexilic. Theodoret of Cyrus (393–460) explicitly classified Chronicles as a historical rather than a prophetic work and asserted that its contents proved it was written in the Second Temple era (Quaest. Reg. et Para. PG 80.857). Among modern biblical scholars, there is near universal agreement that the Chronicler drew on the Genesis–Kings narrative, and that the version he knew, whether through oral or written transmission, closely resembled what has come down to us in the Masoretic Text (MT, the standard text in Hebrew) (Kalimi 2005: 1–2; Knoppers 2003: 66; Schmid 2010: 287; Japhet 1993: 27).
The majority of the Chronicler’s material came (directly or indirectly) from Samuel and Kings, and he derived great portions from these books almost verbatim. Many of his narratives, however, have no parallel in Samuel or Kings and, as already noted, even in the parallel passages there are small but sometimes crucial differences. It is this exceptional material (Sondergut), special to Chronicles, that has drawn the attention of readers through the centuries.
Chronicles’ David
Chronicles is best known for its transformation of David from a gifted but imperfect king into a pious leader of the Temple cult. In Samuel/Kings, David has no role in the Temple’s construction or management (1 Kgs 5–8). In Chronicles, by contrast, David undertakes the preliminary work to lighten the burden on the young and inexperienced Solomon (1 Chr 22:5). He receives the building’s blueprint in writing from God (1 Chr 28:19) and arranges for the provision of the necessary materials for its construction (1 Chr 22:2–4, 14–15 29:1–5). Equally significantly, it is David who organizes the priests and assigns the Levites their functions (1 Chr 23:2–24:19; 2 Chr 8:14, 23:18, 29:25).
Another striking feature of Chronicles’ David is that he is a unifying political figure from the outset, acclaimed king by Judah and Israel, the north and the south, in one fell swoop (1 Chr 11:1–3). In Samuel, after David is anointed king in Judah, seven years pass before Israel finally accepts him (2 Sm 5:5), and even then he must contend with rebellions (2 Sm 20). His own son Absalom nearly succeeds in usurping his throne (2 Sm 15–18). In Chronicles’ account, David’s rule is steadfast and without challenge.
Chronicles’ David also appears without many of the shortcomings ascribed to him in Samuel/Kings. Missing from the Chronicler’s account is any mention of David’s adulterous intrigue with Bathsheba and his orchestration of Uriah’s death (2 Sm 11–12), his problematic relationship with the northern tribes (2 Sm 2:8–10, 16:5–8), and the difficulties with his children (2 Sm 13–15; 1 Kgs 1). Other differences also redound to David’s credit. In Chronicles, David is the seventh son of Jesse (1 Chr 2:15), not the eighth, as reported in Samuel (1 Sm 16:10–11, 17:12–14). Elsewhere in the Bible, seven sons signify God’s exceptional blessing (Ru 4:15; Jb 1:2, 42:13). Lastly, Chronicles’ David arranges for the smooth succession of Solomon to the throne before his death (1 Chr 29:10–28). The palace intrigues and settling of scores that mark the end of David’s life in Kings (1 Kgs 1–2) are nowhere to be found.
Not all of David’s liabilities, however, are purged from Chronicles. As in Samuel, David conducts the census and invokes God’s wrath (though it is Satan, not God, who incites him) (1 Chr 21:1–17; cf. 2 Sm 24:1–17). It should also be noted that in at least one instance Chronicles goes beyond the other books in criticizing David. Only in Chronicles is David held to account by God for having “shed blood,” one of the most serious offenses in the Bible (1 Chr 22:8, 28:3; cf. Gn 9:6). David, like all others, is answerable for his deeds. For both good and ill, Chronicles’ David magnifies God’s watchfulness, a refrain that runs throughout the book.
The centrality of the Temple cult and Levitical service in Chronicles
The establishment of the Temple cult is a defining moment for the Chronicler. Its preservation and maintenance, according to the standards set by David, become the obligation of all subsequent kings. In setting forth these standards, Chronicles’ David expands the role of the Levites far beyond the duties ascribed to them in the Pentateuch, designating to them Temple roles as officers, gatekeepers, bakers, and musicians (1 Chr 23:4–5, 28–32; 2 Chr 17:8–9; cf. Nm 1:50–53, 3:6–9, 4:1–3; Dt 17:8–9, 21:5, 24:8, 33:10). The importance of the Levites is highlighted by Chronicles’ account of the transfer of the ark to Jerusalem. According to the book of Samuel, the first attempt fails because Uzzah touched the ark, and David only summons the courage to try again after he has evidence that God’s wrath has abated (2 Sm 6:6–12). In Chronicles, David attributes that initial failure to the fact that the ark was borne by non‐Levites. When he orders the Levites to perform their rightful task, its transfer is successful (1 Chr 15:11–15; cf. Dt 10:8).
Of the Levites’ new duties, the most extraordinary is the obligation to make music. David appointed Levitical singers and musicians to stand before the ark and invoke, thank, and praise God with cymbals, harps, and lyres (1 Chr 16:4–5, 41, 23:5, 30). According to Chronicles, God commanded David to install the Levitical musicians (2 Chr 29:25), and the regulations governing the Levitical choir put their role on the same footing as those of the other divinely sanctioned offices of judge, priest, and prophet (Dt 16:18–18:22). Moreover, the Temple musicians are themselves prophets (1 Chr 25:1), and one of them is identified as “the king’s seer” (1 Chr 25:5). Many have found in Chronicles justification for instrumental music in the sanctuary, including Johann Sebastian Bach.
Chronicles’ theology of immediate reward and retribution
In Chronicles, God is manifestly and promptly responsive to every deed and thought, and repentance in particular always meets with divine favor. When God threatens to abandon King Rehoboam and the people of Judah to King Shishak of Egypt for their sins, their penance saves them from destruction (2 Chr 12). The failure of King Asa to turn to God for deliverance, by contrast, merits divine reprisal (2 Chr 16). The seer Hanani notes God’s vigorous oversight of each individual: “For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the entire earth, to strengthen those whose heart is true to him” (2 Chr 16:9).
The actions of monarchs are subject to the greatest scrutiny, and justice is usually meted out within the ruler’s lifetime. King Uzziah is immediately afflicted with leprosy following his attempt to usurp the role of the priests (2 Chr 26:16–21). When Jehoshaphat acknowledges Israel’s total dependence on God for salvation in the face of the enemy (“We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you,” 2 Chr 20:12), God answers with a swift and positive response. By contrast, in Samuel/Kings divine punishment for bad acts may be delayed for generations. The abominations of Kings’ Manasseh result in the fall of Judah long after his death (2 Kgs 21:10–15, 24:3–4).
The piety of a monarch is more closely tied to his political fortunes in Chronicles than in Samuel/Kings. Manasseh, the longest reigning monarch in the history of Israel, remains in power despite his wickedness in Kings but because of his repentance in Chronicles (2 Kgs 21:1–18; 2 Chr 33). David also illustrates the point. In Chronicles, after the peaceful and divinely sanctioned succession of Solomon, David dies “at a good old age, full of days, riches, and honor” (1 Chr 29:28), whereas bloody and divisive struggles precede and follow his death in Kings (1 Kgs 1:1–2:12). For the Chronicler, there is always a clear correlation between civic conduct and religious devotion.
Chronicles’ prophets
Prophecy in Chronicles takes a different turn. In Samuel/Kings, the prophets are in some sense professionals, having a permanent calling and going by the title “prophet” or “prophetess” (e.g. 1 Sm 22:5; 2 Sm 7:2; 1 Kgs 11:29, 18:36; 2 Kgs 20:1, 22:14). In Samuel/Kings, there are also traveling bands of prophets (e.g. 1 Sm 10:10; 1 Kgs 20:35; 2 Kgs 4:1) and anonymous prophets (e.g. 1 Kgs 13:11, 18:4). All appear to engage in prophecy as a primary occupation.
Chronicles mentions nearly all the prophets named in Samuel/Kings (the exception is Elisha), but, along with the Levites, introduces a new kind of medium. The spirit temporarily seizes (literally, “clothes”) these individuals, whom Yairah Amit aptly terms “pro tem” prophets (Amit 2006: 93), in a manner akin to the spirit’s possession of the judges in premonarchic Israel (e.g. Jgs 6:34, 14:19) and of King Saul (1 Sm 10:9–13). Examples include the military leader Amasai (1 Chr 12:18 (MT 1 Chr 12:19)), Azariah son of Oded (2 Chr 15:1), the Levite Jahaziel (2 Chr 20:14), and Zechariah, the son of a priest (2 Chr 24:20).
Even more striking is that the role of the prophet changes. Unlike some of their counterparts in Samuel/Kings, Chronicles’ prophets neither perform miracles nor act as intercessors. Their purpose is strictly to relay messages between God and the king or Israel as a whole. In Kings, Elijah resurrects a widow’s child (1 Kgs 17:17–24) and Isaiah makes the shadow of the sundial move backwards as a sign to Hezekiah that God will heal him (2 Kgs 20:8–11). In Chronicles, Isaiah’s role is limited to praying with Hezekiah for the defeat of Sennacherib (2 Chr 32:20). As for Elijah, he does not even appear in person in Chronicles. He delivers his single prophecy of doom via a letter (2 Chr 21:12–15). The ordinariness of these interactions, combined with the character of Chronicles’ “pro tem” prophets, emphasized for many readers that anyone was capable of being a conduit of God’s will (Knoppers 2010).
Chronicles goes so far as to extend the role of divine mediator to a non‐Israelite monarch, proclaiming that “the Lord stirred the spirit of King Cyrus of Persia” (2 Chr 36:22). In Chronicles’ closing verse, Cyrus declares that God has charged him to rebuild the Temple, and he urges exiled Israelites to return home (2 Chr 36:23). Chronicles states that his edict is a prophetic fulfillment, demonstrating that God rules over all, even foreign kings, and directs the course of world events (2 Chr 36:22).
Chronicles’ consistency and completeness
Chronicles gives a synopsis of history from Adam to the end of exile that unfolds without interruption and in a consistent voice. It avoids or smooths over contradictions that arise elsewhere in the canon. Whereas in Samuel the monarchy is first condemned (1 Sm 8:7–18) and then endorsed (9:15–17), Chronicles’ support of the office is unequivocal. Chronicles also harmonizes the conflicting directions for the preparation of the Passover sacrifice in Exodus and Deuteronomy (2 Chr 35:13; Ex 12:8–9; Dt 16:7). Most importantly, Chronicles recasts Genesis through Kings as a unified whole. Chronicles’ comprehensive and synthetic retelling has provided others with a platform and a template for articulating their own summation of the past.
David’s religious leadership, the elevation of music and the Levites, concern for the Temple cult, God’s immediate attentiveness, the spontaneous and democratic spirit of prophesy, and the book’s sense of its own completeness are the primary spurs to Chronicles’ reception. These elements are the ones that present readers with unique exegetical openings for adapting the Bible to their own time.
The Significance of Chronicles’ History
To the extent that modern biblical scholars consider Samuel/Kings to reflect real events, they usually consider Chronicles to be less trustworthy. The reason is that Chronicles is seen to follow a more deliberate theological design. They therefore debate whether the Chronicler was a historian.
From the perspective of reception history, however, the veracity of Chronicles as a work of history is beside the point. What matters is how the Chronicler sought to derive meaning from the record of Israel’s past. Through selective recollection and strategic forgetting, the Chronicler reconfigured events and brought to the fore elements that lay in the background of Samuel and Kings. Chronicles’ David is the most important case. Its Torah‐observant king is very different from the flawed warrior who commits adultery and worse in Samuel. Nevertheless, as in Chronicles, Samuel’s David also sometimes displays great piety. In a poetic section at the end of 2 Samuel, David says, “The Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands he recompensed me … I was blameless before him, and I kept myself from guilt” (2 Sm 22:21, 24a; cf. Ps 18:20, 23 (MT Ps 18:21, 24)). It is this David whom the Chronicler retrieves and brings to life.
The Chronicler’s account adapted and carried forward the traditions he inherited. In his national saga, David, Solomon, the Levites, and prophets – all different but still familiar – hold center stage, while the patriarchs, Moses, and the exodus recede far into the background. The Chronicler’s motivation for muting events that occurred before David’s reign remains a matter of dispute. There is one constant, however. Even though the Chronicler presents a new version of the past, his account, no less than that of Genesis or Samuel or Kings, continues to bear out the same theme: God’s involvement in the salvation of Israel.
Chronicles’ Jostling for Authority Within the Canon
Chronicles’ standing within the canon was challenged almost from the start. For some, Chronicles’ perceived “lateness” may have detracted from its authority. In the Hebrew Bible,the book appears in the category of the Writings, two removes from the Torah (Genesis–Deuteronomy) and one remove from the Prophets (which include Samuel and Kings). If the ordering of the books represents a spectrum of sanctity, with the Pentateuch at the pinnacle, then Chronicles’ position implies it had lesser status than Samuel and Kings. It is perhaps for this reason that the first translators of the Bible into Syriac excluded Chronicles from the canon (Ben Zvi 1988: 77).
Chronicles’ title, however, demonstrated that others during this same period valued Chronicles highly. Its name in Hebrew, “the events of the days” – a name given sometime before the second century CE (the Mishnah uses it in m. Yoma 1:6) – has strong positive connotations. A book with the same title plays a crucial role in Esther. When Mordecai foils a plot to kill King Ahasuerus, the incident is inscribed in “the book of the events of the days” (Est 2:23). Later, during a sleepless night, the king has the written account of the affair read back to him (Est 6:1). What he recalls sets in motion the story’s critical events to the great benefit of the Jews.
Chronicles’ Greek designation in the Septuagint, “Things Omitted” – a name it acquired sometime in the first few centuries of the Common Era (if not before)1 – implies that Chronicles is a repository of information that is missing from the other historical books. Elsewhere the Septuagint indicates the importance of preserving and transmitting the full record of sacred history. Ezra the scribe is praised because he omits nothing of the Torah from his instruction of Israel (1 Esd 8:7).
Chronicles’ doctrines were particularly attractive to ancient Christians interested in theology. The church fathers overwhelmingly favored Chronicles’ contrite King Manasseh over the unrepentant Manasseh in the book of Kings. God’s forgiveness of Chronicles’ Manasseh was a dramatic illustration of the central church teaching that even the most wicked can find redemption if they repent.
Also telling is the book’s place in the canon. In two important manuscripts of the Hebrew Bible – the Aleppo codex (tenth century CE) and the Leningrad codex (1009) – Chronicles comes at the beginning of the Writings, immediately preceding the Psalms. This arrangement may reflect a desire to closely link Chronicles’ David, with his intense interest in sacred music, to the Psalter, which, according to tradition, he authored (b. B. Bat. 14b). These codices conclude with the books of Ezra and Nehemiah.
In the Talmud, in the majority of medieval biblical manuscripts, and in the finalized form of the Hebrew Bible, however, Chronicles comes last within the Writings. This arrangement defies the natural order by making Chronicles follow, rather than precede, the books of Ezra and Nehemiah, suggesting that it was more important to end the Jewish canon with Chronicles than to honor the logic of the narrative flow.
The significance of being last becomes clear when one compares the Jewish and Christian Bibles. The Christian Bible ends with The Revelation to John and its vision of a future apocalypse presided over by Christ. In the broad scheme of Christian soteriology, Chronicles is part of a greater history of events that culminates in this salvific moment. In concluding with Chronicles, by contrast, the Jewish Bible anchors its lengthy epic of Israel with a recapitulation of that history. The arrangement indicates that for the community that canonized Jewish Scripture, past events – not those of the future – hold the interpretive key to the present. Also, the final scene of Chronicles appears to parallel the ending of the Pentateuch. Like Deuteronomy, Chronicles closes with the people of Israel on the cusp of return to the land, perpetually poised to reclaim God’s covenantal promise.
The Scope and Organization of this Commentary
If one were to describe the reception of Chronicles through the ages in musical terms, its rhythm would be staccato rather than legato. Whereas the books of Samuel and Kings have the sustained attention of readers, Chronicles’ audience comes and goes, depending on the times and circumstances. Accordingly, many different interpreters appear in the following pages, some repeatedly (such as the Geneva Bible glossators) and some only once (Hannah Swarton).
Like left‐hand accompaniment on the piano, Chronicles is usually in a supportive role, adding background and texture to Samuel and Kings. Occasionally, however, its narrative dominates. The ancient period was particularly propitious for engaging Chronicles, as early Jewish and Christian readers explicated Chronicles in light of their emerging religions. Their exegesis was foundational for those who followed, and their interpretations figure prominently in these pages. The Reformation – particularly the production of vernacular Bibles and the succession crises in England – also proved favorable for those who plumbed Chronicles for relevancy. As old religious and political orders became transformed, Chronicles’ moral yardstick for rulers offered lay leaders and clerics alike biblical warrant to sanction or oppose church and state. Yet even when Chronicles’ readership appears to be largely quiescent, the book is never entirely out of view. The immense popularity of Bruce Wilkinson’s The Prayer of Jabez (2000), a book based on 1 Chronicles 4:10, shows that, in an age of widespread scriptural illiteracy, Chronicles is still capable of speaking to millions.
The material special to Chronicles (its Sondergut) drives its reception. This volume therefore deals almost exclusively with verses and passages that are either unique to Chronicles or differ from their parallels elsewhere in Scripture, primarily Samuel/Kings and is divided into three parts: “The Genealogies,” “David,” and “Solomon and the Kings of Judah.” Each part begins with a brief overview before presenting the chapter(s) in the section. The chapters set forth specific Chronicles verses in successive order and highlight their significance for interpreters against the backdrop of the primary history. Two brief codas appear at the end. One coda describes the reception of Chronicles’ concluding verses, while the other outlines Julius Wellhausen’s treatment of Chronicles and its impact on modern readers.
The receptions that follow are selected because they are deemed to reveal something important and interesting about an individual, a moment in history, or the practice of interpretation. One caveat: not all the kings of Judah are represented. Jehoram, Ahaziah, Amaziah, Jotham, Jehoahaz, and Jehoiachin are omitted. Also, because of the tremendous attention Chronicles’ Manasseh commanded, this volume devotes an entire chapter to him.
Note
1
No one knows for sure when Septuagint Chronicles acquired its name. The translation of Chronicles into Greek occurred sometime before the middle of the second century
BCE
, but our earliest copies of the Septuagint, complete with book titles, date to the third and fourth century
CE
. (The Septuagint is also the earliest witness to the division of Chronicles into two books.) Chronicles retained the name “Things Omitted” in the Latin translation of the Bible, the Vulgate, and in the first English Bibles (e.g. the fourteenth-century Wyclif Bible). When Luther named the historical books in his 1524 translation, he was inspired by Jerome to abandon the Greek title in favor of “Die Chronika.” Miles Coverdale, following Luther, called the book “Chronicles” in his 1525 English translation. This is now its title in all translations of the Bible, including the Jewish Publication Society’s English translation of the Tanakh.
Part IThe Genealogies
Chapter 1The Genealogies
In all of Scripture, there is nothing quite like the opening nine chapters of Chronicles. Starting with Adam, the first man, a series of genealogies records Israel’s various bloodlines before terminating with the residents of Judah in the late‐fifth century BCE. The Chronicler begins his tale of the Judahite monarchy only when this recitation is complete. His interest in lineages was not unusual for a member of an ancient Mediterranean society. Prefacing an extended historical narrative with a catalog of descendants, however, sets Chronicles apart not only from the rest of the Bible but also from other ancient Near Eastern works (Knoppers 2003: 260).
For many modern readers, religious and secular, the unbroken cascade of unfamiliar names poses a near‐impassable hurdle. It is difficult to grasp the genealogies’ relevance in an age in which, upon making another’s acquaintance, one asks, “How (or what) do you do?” but never “From whom do you spring?” Patrick Henry Reardon, an Antiochian Orthodox priest and editor of Touchstone Magazine: A Journal of Mere Christianity, describes a believer’s encounter today with Chronicles’ genealogies in these terms:
Aware that the page in front of him is the Word of God, [the reader] is understandably hesitant to call it boring. Nonetheless, what is he to make of all these interminable names with no discernible narrative? He finds himself plodding through a primitive phone book, as it were, published long before the telephone was invented. This view would at least explain why the numbers are missing. (2006: 7)
The reception history of the genealogies reveals, however, that they are anything but dull. Interpreters through the ages have brought the genealogies to bear on timeless concerns as well as on the most pressing questions of their day. These include the identity of the messiah, the scope of salvation, the standing of Jews in the world, and the divine right of kings. Here, as elsewhere, Chronicles’ exceptional verses provide exegetical purchase. The verses in the birthlists that differ from or are perceived to be in tension with other biblical books are those that have exploded with significance through interpretation.
These deviations fall into three categories. First, Chronicles gives scant information about the people it lists. Chronicles’ opening verse – “Adam, Seth, Enosh” – is the shortest in the Bible (1 Chr 1:1), and that is all we hear of these three (Figure 1.1). Similarly, Abraham, his children, and Moses appear only as names, detached from any tales of the patriarchal age and the exodus experience. In reception, the book’s terseness proved to be an irritant. Various interpreters sought to correct Chronicles’ deficiency by discovering within the birthlists references to and elaborations of these narratives. Paradoxically, the genealogies’ brevity of content generated a substantial expansion of biblical tradition.
Figure 1.1 Illuminated (gold lettering on blue) ADAM in Hebrew at the beginning of Chronicles. From a Hebrew Bible of 1448 or 1449, the “Duke of Sussex’s Italian Bible” (British Library Add MS 15251, f 313v).
Source: The British Library.
Second, the Chronicler introduces many persons otherwise unknown. Some interpreters accepted his expansion of the sacred record at face value, others rejected it, and still others understood the names to be different monikers for well‐known biblical figures. These different approaches reflected the ebb and flow of readers’ confidence in Chronicles as an authoritative historical archive.
Lastly, at various points the Chronicler’s information conflicts with what is said elsewhere in the canon. Faced with discrepancies, some readers wrestled over whether to privilege Chronicles’ version, ignore it, or somehow resolve the contradiction. The reasoning behind their decisions, when offered, also yielded meaningful insights.
The passages that were either most consequential for readers or that best display the various techniques of interpretation – or both – are the genealogy of David (1 Chr 2 and 3), the justification for Reuben’s placement in the lists (1 Chr 5:1–2), the Ephraimites’ death in Canaan at the hands of the Gaths (1 Chr 7:20–23), and the story of Jabez (1 Chr 4:9–10). The discussion that follows treats each of these cases.
David’s Genealogy and the Christian Messiah
Of all the lists in the genealogies, the Chronicler’s report on David’s origins and offspring has inspired the most important receptions. The reasons are clear. David is a key figure in Israel’s history, and both Jews and Christians identify him as the ancestor of the messiah.
Chronicles is the only book in Scripture to list David’s postexilic descendants (1 Chr 3; Kings ends with Jehoiachin in Babylon and does not indicate whether he has children (2 Kgs 25:27–30)). It is difficult to overemphasize the significance of this genealogy for Jews in the first century of the Common Era. At this time, the community began to divide into those who accepted Jesus as the messiah and those who did not. The expectation that the messiah would be a descendant of David had already taken hold (Is 11:10; Jer 23:5, 33:15), and for some Jewish Christians, it was crucial to establish that Jesus met that qualification. Paul was among the first to assert Jesus’s place in the Davidic line. Paul’s letter to the Romans opens with the declaration that Christ was “descended from David according to the flesh” (Rom 1:3). The author of the second letter to Timothy also proclaimed, in Paul’s name, his “gospel” attesting to Jesus’s resurrection from the dead and his descent from David (2 Tm 2:8).
The first verse of Matthew’s Gospel also affirmed that Jesus is “the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham” (Mt 1:1), and the Gospel’s opening genealogy drew on Chronicles for proof. It is generally agreed that the Greek version of Chronicles was a primary source for the names of Jesus’s forebears up until the return of the Judahites from exile (Albright and Mann 1971: 3; Fitzmyer 1981: 491–494). Matthew also follows LXX Chr’s identification of Zerubbabel’s father. In MT Chr, Zerubbabel is listed as the son of Pedaiah, but in LXX Chr, Zerubbabel is the son of Salathiel (Greek for Shealtiel), Pedaiah’s brother (LXX 1 Chr 3:19). Once Matthew reached Zerubbabel, however, he set aside Chronicles’ record and supplied names that have no other scriptural attestation.1
Nevertheless, it is possible to argue that the evangelist was deeply indebted to Chronicles and that his genealogy emulated the spirit and form of the book’s introductory chapters with the intent of fulfilling and expanding them. Matthew, like the Chronicler, goes out of his way to distinguish David. Of all the rulers of Judah, David alone merits the title of king (Mt 1:6). Moreover, some suggest that Matthew’s three groupings of fourteen generations (Abraham to David, David to Jeconiah, Jeconiah to Jesus) were a play on David’s name in Hebrew. The calculation of gematria assigned numeric value to letters and was a popular practice in this period. Revelation 13:18, for example, stipulates that the numeric value of the letters comprising the name of “the beast” is 666. “David,” consisting of three consonants (which may account for the three groupings), has a numerical value of fourteen (Allison 2004: 4).
Like the Chronicler, Matthew chose to preface his narrative with a genealogy. The apostle, however, altered the Chronicler’s template to suit his own purpose and injected a supernatural dimension into the beginning of his list. Jesus’s genealogy starts with the words “A book of the origin (biblos geneseos) of Jesus Christ” (Mt 1:1). The only other place biblos geneseos occurs in all of Scripture is in Genesis. There this phrase introduces not only the generations of the first man but also the generations of the heavens and the earth (LXX Gn 2:4, 5:1). Its invocation by Matthew gave cosmic coloring to Jesus’s birth.
The Chronicler emphasized the preeminence of Judah’s line within the genealogies and thus prepared his audience for his account exalting David. Matthew’s introductory genealogy also prepares his readers, but to an entirely different end. Matthew highlights four women among Jesus’s ancestors: Tamar (Judah’s daughter‐in‐law who tricked him into fathering twins), Rahab (the Canaanite prostitute who saved the Israelite spies), Ruth (the Moabite widow who contrived to spend a night in secret with her future husband Boaz), and Bathsheba (who committed adultery with David). Rahab and Ruth do not appear in Chronicles’ birthlists. Even so, it is possible that in this instance, too, Matthew emulated the Chronicler. Matthew’s listing of these women, all of whom engaged in unconventional sexual activity, set the stage for Mary and the unconventional story of Jesus’s virgin birth (Mt 1:18–24).
Matthew never mentions Bathsheba by name. Rather, she is “the wife of Uriah” (Mt 1:6), a designation that owes nothing to Chronicles. In Chronicles, Bathsheba’s one appearance is in David’s genealogy, where she is called Bathshua and is credited with having borne David four sons (1 Chr 3:5). The Chronicler never acknowledges Bathsheba’s previous marriage to Uriah, let alone her illicit affair with David while Uriah was alive or David’s hand in Uriah’s death.
The phrase “wife of Uriah” in Matthew’s genealogy indicates that the apostle was intent not only on emphasizing David’s central importance in Jesus’s lineage but also on contrasting David’s all‐too‐human shortcomings with the perfection of Christ. The Chronicler composed his genealogy so that Abraham and Moses would stand in the shadow of David. Matthew adopts the Chronicler’s model but undermines the aim of his source. In Matthew’s new and improved version of Chronicles’ synopsis of sacred history, Jesus supersedes all, including and especially David.
A similar spirit imbued the exegesis of Jerome, one of the most influential of the ancient Christian interpreters, in resolving a major challenge to Chronicles and Matthew posed by the book of Jeremiah. At issue was the fate of Jeconiah (also known as Jehoiachin and Coniah), the last king of Judah. In Chronicles, Jeconiah fathers seven children (1 Chr 3:17–18), and Jeconiah is one of Jesus’s ancestors (Mt 1:11–12). According to Jeremiah, however, Jeconiah is a wicked king whom God punishes by denying him offspring: “Record this man as childless, a man who shall not prosper in his days, for none of his offspring shall prosper in sitting on the throne of David, and rule again in Judah” (Jer 22:30). Jerome argued, first, that the phrase “in his days” signified that Jeconiah’s offspring would reign after some significant time had passed. Second, by stating that none of Jeconiah’s seed was destined to rule, Jeremiah meant that God rather than a human descendant was destined to reoccupy David’s throne (Comm. Jer. 22:30). Jerome’s resolution by and large set the course for subsequent Christian exegetes.
Christian appropriation of Chronicles’ genealogies was taken to its logical conclusion by the British Nonconformist (Presbyterian) minister Matthew Henry (1662–1714). Henry’s verse‐by‐verse commentary of the Bible (An Exposition of the Old and New Testaments) was highly influential in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and continues to be studied today. (A new edited version was published in 2010.) In his opening exegesis of chapter one of 1 Chronicles, Henry argued that the genealogies show “that our blessed Saviour was, according to the prophecies which went before him, the son of David, the son of Judah, the son of Abraham, the son of Adam.” Henry continued,
And, now that he [Jesus] has come for whose sake these registers were preserved, the Jews since have so lost all their genealogies that even that of the priests, the most sacred of all, is forgotten, and they know not of any one man in the world that can prove himself of the house of Aaron. When the building is reared the scaffolds are removed. When the promised Seed has come the line that was to lead to him is broken off. (1998: 651)
According to Henry, the significance of the genealogies began and ended with Christ. With the Advent, all vital and enduring connections between the genealogies and the Jews ceased to exist. Henry’s remarks were repeated in other important commentaries, including that of John Wesley (1703–1791), one of the founders of Methodism.
David’s Genealogy and the Jewish Messiah
The messiah’s Davidic ancestry was also of paramount importance for Jews. From Chronicles’ genealogy of David, some key interpreters deduced the identity of Israel’s redeemer and others discovered proof of divine intercession in the continuance of the Davidic line. Both strands of interpretation affirmed God’s everlasting commitment to Israel.
Like the Christian Jerome, these Jewish interpreters found Jeremiah’s proclamation of Jeconiah’s childlessness to be a formidable stumbling block. They took an entirely different approach, however, and resolved the problem through chronology. Jeconiah was cursed, but, after he reformed, God reversed his decree. The compilers of Leviticus Rabbah (a midrash of around the fifth century CE) spelled out the sequence of events. When God exiled Jeconiah for his sins and Nebuchadnezzar confined the captive king to a cell, the men of the Great Sanhedrin feared the Davidic line had come to an end. They successfully appealed to Nebuchadnezzar’s wife for help, and the next time Nebuchadnezzar came to her bed she reproached him. Jeconiah was also a king, she said, and therefore equally deserving of sexual satisfaction. Nebuchadnezzar promptly arranged for a conjugal visit, but the couple abstained from intercourse because Jeconiah’s wife was menstruating. God saw that Jeconiah, who had violated the Law while in Jerusalem, now upheld it. God (El) therefore asked (sha’al) the Holy Court to absolve him of his vow to inflict childlessness upon the king, and the Court assented. For this reason, Jeconiah named his son Shealtiel (Lev. Rab. 19.6).
The Talmud gives another reason for Shealtiel’s name. In tractate Sanhedrin, Rabbi Johanan stated that Jeconiah successfully impregnated his wife within his prison cubicle even though the walls were too close together for copulation. “Shealtiel” testifies to the miraculous nature of the child’s conception. Because of the restricted space, God (El) took extraordinary measures to “plant” (shatal) the child in the womb (b. Sanh. 37b–38a).
A verse from the book of Haggai also helped readers within the ancient Jewish community to neutralize Jeremiah’s condemnation of Jeconiah. Here, too, the establishment of a chronology was key. In addition to proclaiming that Jeconiah would be without issue, Jeremiah declared, “As I live, says the Lord, even if King Coniah [Jeconiah] of Judah were the signet ring on my right hand, even from there I would tear you off” (Jer 22:24). Haggai, however, employed the same simile to opposite effect in reporting God’s announcement about Jeconiah’s grandson Zerubbabel: “On that day [of Apocalypse], says the Lord of hosts, I will take you, O Zerubbabel my servant, son of Shealtiel, says the Lord, and make you like a signet ring, for I have chosen you, says the Lord
