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The Deuteronomistic authors and editors who edited the books of Kings integrated several older sources or independent documents into their work, including the “Book of the Acts of Solomon” (1 Kings 11.41), and “the Book of the Annals of the Kings of Israel” (e.g., 1 Kings 14.19) and “the Book of the Annals of the Kings of Judah” (e.g., 1 Kings 14.29), from the courts of Samaria and Jerusalem.
(1 Kings 8), the Temple becomes a kind of “qibla,” indicating the direction in which everyone should pray, reflecting the needs of the Diaspora communities in Babylon, Egypt, and elsewhere.
The book of Kings tells the story of the Judean and Israelite monarchies from the united monarchy under Solomon (1 Kings 1–11) and its division after his death into the Northern Kingdom of I srael and the Southern Kingdom of Judah (1 Kings 12), until the end of Israel (2 Kings 17) and of Judah (2 Kings 24–25).
First Kings covers the time from Solomon until King Jehoshaphat of Judah and King Ahaziah of Israel.
The account of the divided monarchy, after the death of Solomon, is narrated (until 2 Kings 17) in a synchronistic fashion, which correlated the Northern and Southern Kingdoms. The reign of each king is framed by introductory and final formulas. The information about Judean kings is more extensive, indic...
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The book of Kings is historiography in the sense that it presents a chronologically arranged story from King Solomon until the end of the monarchy, covering roughly from 970 to 560 bce; beginning with the reign of Rehoboam, king of Judah in the late tenth century bce, many of the events and individuals in 1–2 Kings are also mentioned in nonbiblical sources.
For the authors of Kings, the God of Israel is the major actor in the history of the Judean and Israelite kings. The kings whose reigns are positively evaluated are monarchs who follow God’s will, whereas the unfaithful kings provoke God’s punishment and, in some cases, are ultimately responsible for the fall of Samaria and Jerusalem.
Kings shows no interest in an objective, comprehensive, and complete recounting of the past. Kings such as Hezekiah, whose hazardous geopolitical policies may appear strange to modern readers, are presented very positively, whereas kings with a long, apparently peaceful reign, such as Manasseh, are judged very negatively. The main interest of the authors of Kings is not the political, economic, and military achievements of kings, but their religious attitude, especially as expressed through exclusive worship of the Lord in the Jerusalem Temple.
11God said to him, “Because you have asked this, and have not asked for yourself long life or riches, or for the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern what is right, 12I now do according to your word. Indeed I give you a wise and discerning mind; no one like you has been before you and no one like you shall arise after you. 13I give you also what you have not asked, both riches and honor all your life; no other king shall compare with you. 14If you will walk in my ways, keeping my statutes and my commandments, as your father David walked, then I will
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Second Kings starts during the short reign of Ahaziah king of Israel, with a formula (“after the death of Ahab”) that recalls the openings of the preceding books of Joshua, Judges, and 2 Samuel. The book is divided thematically into two parts: chs 1–17 continue the synchronic history of the two kingdoms of Judah and Israel until the fall of Samaria in 722 bce; chs 18–25 relate the last century and a half of the Judean kingdom until the destruction of Jerusalem and its Temple and the exile of 586.
In general, while Elijah fights the royal establishment, Elisha is sympathetic toward the northern kings.
The fall of Israel related in 2 Kings 17 provides a long commentary in typical Deuteronomistic style, which indicates the reasons that led to the end of the Northern Kingdom and its transformation into an Assyrian province, but also hints ahead at the destruction of Judah (vv. 19–20).
Like the books of Samuel and Kings, Chronicles was originally one book. It was probably first divided by the Greek translators, perhaps because of its length. The break between the two books, however, comes at a natural point, with the notice of the death of King David at the end of 1 Chronicles, and the account of the reign of his successor Solomon at the beginning of 2 Chronicles.
The title given to the book by the early rabbis, “the book of the events of the days” (Heb seper dibre hayyamim), suggests that the book is a historical writing, addressing past events in chronological order; the same phrase is used often in Kings (e.g., 1 Kings 14.19) for a different work, one of the sources of the books of Kings. The name of Chronicles in the ancient Greek translation of the Jewish scriptures, the Septuagint, is “Paraleipomena,” meaning “the things left out”; this name suggests that Chronicles records the events left out of earlier biblical history. These understandings of
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In printed Jewish Bibles, Chronicles is the last book in the third and final division of the canon, the Writings (“Ketubim”), although in some manuscripts it occurs earlier, either as the first of the Writings, or before Ezra‐Nehemiah, that is, in chronological order. In Christian Bibles, Chronicles is one of the Historical Books and follows the books of Kings, which it largely parallels.
Since the book of Ezra begins where Chronicles ends, with the decree of the Persian king Cyrus the Great that allowed the exiled Jews to return home from wherever they had been dispersed throughout Cyrus’s kingdom and to rebuild the Temple (538 bce), some scholars have suggested that Chronicles, and Ezra‐Nehemiah, had a single author or editor. Most other scholars think that the linguistic, thematic, and historiographic differences between Chronicles and Ezra‐Nehemiah are too great to posit a common author.
The dependence of Chronicles upon Genesis is evident in the genealogies (1 Chr 1–9); the dependence upon Samuel is clear in the narration of Saul’s demise and David’s reign (1 Chr 10–29); and the dependence upon Kings is unmistakable in the narration of Solomon and the Judahite kingdom (2 Chr 1–36).
Although a few scholars think that the authors of Samuel‐Kings and Chronicles drew from a common source, it makes more sense to hold that the Chronicler selectively drew from an earlier and shorter version of Samuel‐Kings. The Chronicler’s work is also informed by a variety of other biblical texts. Citations from or allusions to the Torah/Pentateuch and the books of Joshua, Judges, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Psalms, and Ruth all appear in Chronicles.
Scholars generally agree that the Chronicler also had access to sources that did not become part of the Bible, but their nature and extent are disputed. Given that Chronicles borrows from earlier biblical writings, most prominently an older and shorter version of Samuel‐Kings (with many additions, deletions, and changes), readers may find it helpful to read Chronicles on its own terms as a distinctive...
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It is difficult to date Chronicles precisely, beyond noting that it must be postexilic, since it ends with Cyrus’s decree. A range of over three hundred and fifty years, from the late sixth to the mid‐second century bce, has been suggested for its initial composition. A date in the late fourth century seems most plausible, because that would account for the author’s references to other biblical writings, the mention of people who likely lived in the fourth century (1 Chr 3.22–24), and the literary features within the work that anticipate similar features in Jewish Hellenistic writings. Yet,
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Chronicles has three major sections: the genealogies (1 Chr 1–9), the history of the United Monarchy (1 Chr 10– 2 Chr 9), and the history of the Judahite monarchy (2 Chr 10–36).
In traditional societies such genealogies explain and justify the place and function of various individuals, groups, and institutions.
The very scope and structure of the Chronicler’s genealogical system underscore the indivisibility of Israel. Within this larger structure, Judah, Levi, and Benjamin receive by far the most extensive genealogies, reflecting the Chronicler’s view that these three tribes are critical to preserving Israel’s distinctive legacy.
The list of those Jews who returned from exile (1 Chr 9) concludes these chapters by highlighting the continuity between earlier Israel and postexilic Judah (the Persian province of Yehud).
Because Chronicles begins with the first person (Adam) and ends with the aftermath of the Babylonian exile (2 Chr 36), it forms a parallel story of Israel’s past—albeit much shorter, more focused, and written later—to the story of Israel’s past found in Genesis through Kings.
Whereas in Kings, prophets are often a fixture of life in the Northern Kingdom (e.g., Elijah and Elisha) and are rarer in the life of the Southern Kingdom (Isaiah being a notable exception), in Chronicles prophets and prophetic figures, such as Shemaiah (2 Chr 12.5–6), Azariah (2 Chr 15.1–7), Hanani (2 Chr 16.7–9), Jehu (2 Chr 19.2–3) and Zechariah (2 Chr 24.20), appear in the reign of virtually every significant southern king.
Both Kings and Chronicles end by describing the Babylonian invasion and exile in the sixth century bce, but Chronicles also includes Cyrus’s decree allowing the exiles to return to Judah (2 Chr 36.22–23), offering a clearer hope for the future than the conclusion of Kings.
Chronicles, with its positive ending and emphasis on the power of repentance and rebuilding, is more optimistic than the history of Samuel‐Kings, which it has rewritten, supplemented, and corrected.
As the beginning of Chronicles introduces the people of Israel and charts their emergence in the land, the ending of the book anticipates their return.
In Chronicles the tenure of Solomon represents the apex of Israelite history, a time of unprecedented glory, prosperity, and peace. If David’s reign was highly successful because David consolidated Israel’s international position and prepared for the long‐awaited Temple, Solomon’s reign was even more successful because he brought these plans to fruition.
As the home of the ark of the covenant and the tabernacle, the Temple represents the continuation and fulfilment of earlier Israelite religious institutions.
The Chronicler’s account of the divided monarchy differs in many respects from that found in 1 and 2 Kings, even though he draws heavily from his version of Kings to write his own work. The writer ignores the independent history of the Northern Kingdom because he regards both the kingship and the sanctuaries of this new state as an affront to God (13.4–12).
The Chronicler criticizes the Northern Kingdom and its monarchs, but he still considers the northern tribes as Israelite and shows a sustained interest in their contacts with Judah.
In the latter part of its history, Judah lost ground to its enemies and was exiled from its land to Babylon (586 bce). A major concern of the Chronicler is not only to trace this decline, but to explain it and to commend the reforms aimed at reversing it. On the whole, he presents a more optimistic version of this period than do the authors of Kings.
11God answered Solomon, “Because this was in your heart, and you have not asked for possessions, wealth, honor, or the life of those who hate you, and have not even asked for long life, but have asked for wisdom and knowledge for yourself that you may rule my people over whom I have made you king, 12wisdom and knowledge are granted to you. I will also give you riches, possessions, and honor, such as none of the kings had who were before you, and none after you shall have the like.”
The book of Job is perhaps the most sustained piece of theological writing in the Hebrew Bible, and it is unique in the Bible for its sympathetic portrayal of differing theological points of view.
Among the books of the Bible, Job is highly unusual, and, unsurprisingly, its force has often been misunderstood or evaded. In the older history of interpretation, the book was commonly viewed as a repository of wise sayings, and its overall theme was little appreciated. In our own time, it is recognized as a major work of world literature, capable of diverse interpretations.
“Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return there; the Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.”
Shall we receive the good at the hand of God, and not receive the bad?”
17What are human beings, that you make so much of them, that you set your mind on them, 18visit them every morning, test them every moment?
Xref. Psalm 8:3-4, Psalm 144:3
22It is all one; therefore I say, he destroys both the blameless and the wicked.
Know then that God exacts of you less than your guilt deserves.
5Those at ease have contempt for misfortune,a but it is ready for those whose feet are unstable.
Those who aren’t suffering usually don’t understand those who are.
7Will you speak falsely for God, and speak deceitfully for him? 8Will you show partiality toward him, will you plead the case for God? 9Will it be well with you when he searches you out? Or can you deceive him, as one person deceives another?
12Your maxims are proverbs of ashes, your defenses are defenses of clay.
23How many are my iniquities and my sins? Make me know my transgression and my sin.
14 “A mortal, born of woman, few of days and full of trouble, 2comes up like a flower and withers, flees like a shadow and does not last. 3Do you fix your eyes on such a one? Do you bring me into judgment with you? 4Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean?
19Even now, in fact, my witness is in heaven, and he that vouches for me is on high.
25For I know that my Redeemera lives, and that at the last heb will stand upon the earth;c 26and after my skin has been thus destroyed, then ind my flesh I shall see God,e 27whom I shall see on my side,f and my eyes shall behold, and not another. My heart faints within me!
how small a whisper do we hear of him! But the thunder of his power who can understand?”
