Page:The Books of Chronicles (1916).djvu/321

Rh behold, they are written in the history of Jehu the son of Hanani, which is inserted in the book of the kings of Israel. And after this did Jehoshaphat king of Judah join himself with Ahaziah king of Israel; the same did very wickedly: and he joined himself with him to make ships to go to Tarshish: and they made the ships in Ezion-geber.

34. Jehu the son of Hanani] See xix. 2 (note).

which is inserted] Chronicles of different events were joined together to form one continuous Chronicle; i.e. the history of Jehu means a special section of the Book of the Kings of Israel—see Introd. § 5, p. xxxii.

35—37 (cp. 1 Kin. xxii. 48, 49).&emsp;

The Chronicler gives a somewhat different account of this incident from that in Kings. According to the latter, Jehoshaphat made ships of Tarshish (i.e. a particular kind of vessel) to sail to Ophir for gold, and refused the offer of Ahaziah to cooperate in the enterprise. It is then added that the enterprise failed, as the ships were wrecked at Ezion-geber. The Chronicler, on the other hand, expressly asserts that Jehoshaphat "joined himself" with the wicked Ahaziah in this naval enterprise, and interprets the wreck as a Divine punishment for the sin of the alliance (the disaster being foretold by a prophet). Further he has misunderstood the term "ships of Tarshish" (see note, ver. 36) and makes Tarshish, and not Ophir, the object of the voyage. The whole is said to constitute an instructive example of the freedom with which the narrative in Kings could be handled in the interests of religious teaching. The second divergence, "ships to Tarshish," is only an error of ignorance, but the first is important. Without, however, denying that the Chronicler has been careful to point the moral of his tale, it may be urged that his version is not obtained simply by an arbitrary alteration of Kings, but rather reflects an independent account of the affair, perhaps more reliable than that in Kings. Almost certainly Jehoshaphat was still virtually subject to Israel, and the Chronicler's tradition may be true to fact in representing him as partner with Ahaziah from the start of the enterprise. At least the possibility must not be ruled out because the story suited the Chronicler's religious predilections. Again it is quite improbable that the story of the seer of Mareshah is wholly an invention of the Chronicler (see notes on ver. 37). The passage therefore yields some evidence of access to traditions other than those in Kings; and their value deserves to be fairly considered.

36. ships to go to Tarshish] In Kings, ships of Tarshish to go to