Page:The Books of Chronicles (1916).djvu/50

xlvi suffice to indicate the existence of a different standpoint towards an important topic or period in the history. But in the majority of all cases included under this heading (I) it appears that the changes in the narratives were arbitrarily made in consequence of the standpoint, beliefs, and purpose (§§ 1 and 6) of the Chronicler, and they can make no claim to rest on historical facts. For the detailed arguments upon which this general conclusion is based, the reader is referred to the notes on the text.

(II) The additional matter of Chronicles includes a variety of subjects. These may be roughly but conveniently summarised under the following headings—(1) genealogical lists (1 Chr. ii.—ix., xxiii.—xxvii., etc.); (2) topographical and other archaeological notices (e.g. 1 Chr. xi. 41—47; 2 Chr. xvii. 7—10, xix. 4—11, xxvi. 6, 49, xxxii. 30, xxxiii. 14, and notably the organisation of the Levites, 1 Chr. xxiii., xxiv., and details regarding the building of Solomon's Temple, e.g. 2 Chr. ii.—iv., passim); (3) letters and speeches (1 Chr. xvi. 8—36, xxii. 6—19, xxviii. 2—10, xxix. 1—20; 2 Chr. xv. 1—7, xvi. 7—10, xxi. 12—15); (4) national events, esp. religious affairs and wars (e.g. 1 Chr. iv. 34—43, v. 6, xxiii. ff.; 2 Chr. xvii. 7—10, xix. 4—11, xxix. 3—xxx. 27), such topics being sometimes related in the style of (5) Midrashim—i.e. edifying tales describing marvellous deliverances from foes and splendid religious ceremonies (2 Chr. xiii. 3—20, xiv. 9—15, xxx. 13—27, and esp. xx. 1—30 ). If, as Torrey contends, the whole of this is simply the product of the Chronicler's imagination working upon the canonical sources only and freely interpreting events in accordance with his own convictions, then, we must frankly admit, its historical value as a record of the past it purports to describe is nil. If, however, according to the view taken in this volume (see § 5), much of this material is drawn from a body of tradition, oral and written, current in the Jerusalem of the Chronicler's day, and not represented in canonical writings, the question of