Chronicles

The Old Testament > Chronicles

Subpages: 1 Chronicles 1-9, 1 Chronicles 10, 1 Chronicles 11-29, 2 Chronicles 1-9, 2 Chronicles 10-36

Subpages: Second Chronicles

21 31

22 32

23 33

24 34

25 35

26 36

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Summary

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Historical setting

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A broader treatment of the history of ancient Israel, including Kings, is found at Old Testament: Historical Overview.

Discussion

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Chronicles covers the same time period as 2 Samuel and Kings, but Chronicles is different. Kings is about the two kingdoms of the Israelites: the Southern Kingdom of Judah and the Northern Kingdom of Israel. Chronicles in contrast, is only about the Southern Kingdom of Judah. In fact, Chronicles treats the Northern Kingdom of Israel like a foreign non-Israelite nation. Chronicles lists every single king of Judah in chronological order, but mentions the kings of the Northern Kingdom only when they matter to the story of the Southern Kingdom. Assyria's conquest of the Northern Kingdom and carrying away of the lost Ten Tribes was an earthshaking event in the history of the House of Israel. Kings spends an entire chapter (2 Kings 17) lamenting the causes of the destruction. But Chronicles does not even mention that disaster. In fact, when Chronicles describes a particularly wicked king of Judah, it describes as being like unto the wicked kings of the Northern Kingdom of Israel. This difference may have something to do with the fact that Kings was written largely while the Northern and Southern Kingdoms still existed, while Chronicles was not written until after the destruction of the Northern Kingdom, and after the Babylonian Captivity of the Southern Kingdom which had the effect of largely purging idolatry out of Judah's public life.

Samuel talks about what makes a good or bad person. Chronicles does not. Rather Chronicles is about what makes a good or bad king. Chronicles teaches that a good king is one who observes the three commandments given by Moses to the Israelites in Deut 7:1-6. There Moses told the children of Israel to keep three commandments in particular after arriving in the promised land of Canaan: (1) no foreign alliances; (2) no intermarriage with foreigners; and (3) no tolerance for idolatry in the land. The first two chapters of Judges explain that the Israelites will be afflicted because they have broken these three commandments. These three commandments provide one framework for understanding Chronicles. In Chronicles, we are not told anything about whether good and bad kings are righteous in their private lives, whether they promote social justice, or whether they enforce most of the Ten Commandments. What we are told is: (1) whether they befriend or enter into alliances with foreign nations, or instead rely solely upon God for protection against invasion; (2) whether they intermarry with foreigners, and (3)whether they treat the temple with respect, or teach the Law of Moses and sponsor its public observances, or tolerate idolatry, or actively promote idolatry. It is interesting to note that Asa (#3) was rebuked for entering into a foreign alliance (2 Chron 16:_-14), the next king Jehosaphat (#4) befriended wicked king Ahab of the Northern Kingdom to the extent of arranging for his heir to marry Ahab's daughter, and his son Jehoram (#5) then promotes the Baal worship of his "foreign" wife Athaliah, daughter of Ahab and the Sidonian princess Jezebel.

Points to ponder

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I have a question

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Relation to other scriptures

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Related scriptures

The relationship of Chronicles to other books of the Old Testament is addressed at Old Testament: Organization. (NEED TO ADD a discussion of Kings versus Chronicles).

Joseph Smith Translation

The Joseph Smith Translation made changes to the following verses in Chronicles. This list is complete:

• 1 Chronicles 10:13

• 1 Chronicles 21:15, 20

• 2 Chronicles 2:3-5, 7-8

• 2 Chronicles 18:20-22

• 2 Chronicles 20:2, 6-7, 11, 17

• 2 Chronicles 22:2

• 2 Chronicles 24:9, 22

• 2 Chronicles 25:18

• 2 Chronicles 34:16

Complete outline and page map

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Chronicles

● Genealogies (1 Chronicles 1-9)

● Saul (ruled 1049-1009 BC) (1 Chronicles 10 / 1 Samuel 31)

● David (r. 1009-969 BC) (1 Chronicles 11-29 / 2 Samuel)

● Solomon (r. 970-931 BC) (2 Chronicles 1-9 / 1 Kings 1-11)

● Kings of Judah (2 Chronicles 10-36 / 1 Kings 12 - 2 Kings 25)
• The "S" before each king identifies him as ruler of the Southern Kingdom of Judah. Each king is numbered in chronological order. The same identifying number appears for each king on the page for Kings.

● S-01. Rehoboam (son of Solomon) (r. 931-913 BC) (2 Chr 10:1-12:16 / 1 Kgs 12:1-24; 14:21-31)

● S-02. Abijah (2 Chr 13:1-22 / 1 Kgs 15:1-8)

● S-03. Asa (2 Chr 14:1-16:14 / 1 Kgs 15:9-24)

● S-04. Jehosaphat (2 Chr 17:1-20:37 / 1 Kgs 22:1-50)

● S-05. Jehoram (2 Chr 21:1-20 / 2 Kgs 8:16-24)

● S-06. Ahaziah (2 Chr 22:1-9 / 2 Kgs 8:25-9:29)

● S-07. Athaliah (wife of Ahaziah) (2 Chr 22:10-23:21 / 2 Kgs 11:1-16)

● S-08. Joash (grandson of Ahaziah) (r. 835-796 BC) (2 Chr 24:1-27 / 2 Kgs 11:17-12:21)

● S-09. Amaziah (2 Chr 25:1-28 / 2 Kgs 14:1-22)

● S-10. Uzziah (or Azariah) (2 Chr 26:1-23 / 2 Kgs 15:1-7)

● S-11. Jotham (2 Chr 27:1-9 / 2 Kgs 15:32-38)

● S-12. Ahaz (r. 735-716 BC) (2 Chr 28:1-27 / 2 Kgs 16:1-20)

● S-13. Hezekiah (r. 716-687 BC) (2 Chr 29:1-32:33 / 2 Kgs 18:1-20:21)

● S-14. Manasseh (r. 687-643 BC) (2 Chr 33:1-20 / 2 Kgs 21:1-18)

● S-15. Amon (2 Chr 33:21-25 / 2 Kgs 21:19-26)

● S-16. Josiah (r. 641-610 BC) (2 Chr 34:1-35:27 / 2 Kgs 22:1-23:30)

● S-17. Jehoahaz (2 Chr 36:1-4 / 2 Kgs 23:31-35)

● S-18. Jehoiakim (or Eliakim) (r. 609-598 BC) (2 Chr 36:5-8 / 2 Kgs 23:36-24:7)

● S-19. Jehoiachin (2 Chr 36:9-10 / 2 Kgs 24:8-17)

● S-20. Zedekiah (2 Chr 36:11-21 / 24:18-25:21)

● Babylonian Captivity and return to Jerusalem under king Cyrus of Persia (2 Chr 36:21-23)

Resources

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Translations

• Amplified • The Amplified Bible, 1987 update

• NASB • New American Standard Bible, 1995 update

• NIV • New International Version

• RSV • Revised Standard Version

Cited references

• Finegan, Jack. Handbook of Biblical Chronology: Principles of Time Reckoning in the Ancient World and and Problems of Chronology in the Bible, revised ed. Peabody, Massachusetts: Hendrickson Pub., 1998. (ISBN 1565631439). BS637.2 .F5 1998. One of the two standard references for assigning specific dates to Old Testament events.

• Steinmann. Andrew E. From Abraham to Paul: A Biblical Chronology. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2011. (ISBN 0758627998). BS637.3 .S74 2011.

• Thiele, Edwin. The Mysterious Numbers of the Hebrew Kings, new revised ed. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan; Grand Rapids, Michigan: Kregel Publications, 1994. (ISBN 082543825X). BS 1335.5 .T48 1994. One of the two standard references for assigning specific dates to Old Testament events.

• Wayment, Thomas A., ed. The Complete Joseph Smith Translation of the Old Testament, p. 142-46. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 2009. (ISBN 1606411314) BX8630.A2 2009

• Young, Rodger C. "Tables of Reign Lengths from the Hebrew Court Recorders." In Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society (JETS), 48 (2005):225-248. Louisville, Kentucky: The Evangelical Theological Society, 1958-present.

Notes

Footnotes are not required but are encouraged for factual assertions that average readers cannot easily evaluate for themselves, such as the date of King Solomon’s death or the nuanced definition of a Greek word. In contrast, insights rarely benefit from footnoting, and the focus of this page should always remain on the scriptures themselves rather than what someone has said about them. Links are actively encouraged on all sections of this page, and links to authoritative sources are preferable to footnotes.

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