Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 04.djvu/814

* CHRONICLES. 716 CHRONICLES. entitled "Book of Kveiits of the Times." This uppears to have been a designation commonly ap- plied to special histories — such as, fur example, ■Jivents of the Times of King David." or the like. The Greek translators divided the long Hebrew book into two, and adopted the title "Things Omitted" — that is, not recorded in the other historical books. Jerome suggested the title "Chronicon," whence comes the English name. The Book of Chronicles begins with Adam and ends abruptly in the middle of Cyrus's decree of restoration. The continuation of the narrative is found in the Book of Ezra, which completes the fragment of the dociee of the Per- sian King. Chronicles, in fact, formed originally one work with Ezra and Xehemiah. displaying throughout the peculiarities of a single aiitlior. The apparent separation of Ezra and Xehemiah from Chronicles proper is due to the insertion in the former of extracts from the memoirs of Ezra and Xehemiah and from other earlier docu- ments. Of the authorship of Chronicles nothing is known except what can be determined by in- ternal evidence. The language, and more par- ticularly the syntax, implies that the book is one of the latest of the Old Testament. It is evident that the author lived a considerable time after Ezra, and stood entirely under the influence of the religious institutions of the new theocracy. This point of view determined the nature of his interest in the early history of his people. The true imi)ortance of Hebrew history centres for him in the fact that this petty nation was the people of .Tehovah. The tragic interest which distinguishes the annals of Israel from the for- gotten history of iloab or Damascus lies wholly in that long contest which finally vindicated the reality of spiritual things and the supremacy of Jehovah's purpose by the political ruin of the nation which was the faithless depositary of these sacred truths. After the captivity it was impossible to write the history of Israel's for- tunes otherwise than in a spirit of religious prag- matism. But within the limits of the religious conception of the plan and purjiose of the Hebrew history, more than one point of view might be taken. The Book of Kings looks upon history in the spirit of the prophets. But before the Clironicler wrote, prophecy had become extinct. The .Jerusalem of Ezra was organized no longer as a nation, but as a municipality and a church. The centre of religious life was no longer the prophetic word, but the ordinances of the Penta- teuch and the liturgical service of the sanctuary. The religious vocation of Israel was no longer national, bit ecclesiastical and municipal; and the historical continuity of the nation was vivid- ly realized only within the walls of .Terusalem and the courts of the Temple, in the solemn as- sembly and stately ceremonial of a feast-day. These influences naturally operated most strong- ly (m those who were onicially attached to the sanctuary. To a I.evite, even more than to other .lews, the history of Israel meant above all things the history of .Jerusalem, of the Tem- ple, and of the Temple ordinances. The author of Chronicles betrays in every ]iage his essen- tially I.evitical habit of mind. To such a mind, in the fallen condition of the .Tews as a political nation, there seemed to be room for a new his- tory, which should confine itself to matters still interesting to the theocracy of Zion, keeping Jerusalem and the Temple in the foreground, and developing the divine significance of the history in its causes and results, not so much with ref- erence to the jirophctic word as to the fixed legislation of the rentateucli, so that the whole narrative might be nuule to teacli that the glory of Israel lies in the observance of the divine law and ritual. For the sake of systematic complete- ness, the author of the Chronicles begins with Adam ; but he had nothing to add to the Penta- teuch, and the period from Jloses to David con- tained little that served his purpose. He there- fore contracted the early liisLoiy into a scries of genealogies, which were by no means the least interesting part of his work at a time when every Israelite was concerned to prove the ])urity of his Hebrew descent. From the death of Saul, the history becomes fuller, and runs parallel with the books of Samuel and Kings. The limitations of the author's interest in past times appear in the omission, among other particulars, of David's reign in Hebron : of the disorders in his family and the revolt of Absalom; of the circumstances of Solomon's accession; and of many details as to the wisdom and splendor of that sovereign, as well as of his fall into idolatry. In the latter history, the ten tribes are quite neglected, and political affairs in Judah receive attention, not in proportion to their intrinsic importance, but according as they serve to exemplify Cod's help to the obedient and His chastisement of the re- bellious. That the author is always unwilling to speak of the misfortunes of good rulers is not to be ascribed to a desire to suppress the truth, but shows that the book was throughout com- posed not in purely historic interest, but with a view to inculcate a practical lesson. The more important additions which the Chronicler makes to the old narrative consist partly of full details of points connected with the history of the sanctuary and the great feasts, or the arcli:v- ology of the Levitical ministry, and partly of narratives of victories and defeats, of sins and punishments, of obedience and its reward, which could be made to point a plain religious lesson in favor of faithful observance of the law. The minor variations of Chronicles from the books of Samuel and Kings arc analogous to the larger additions and omissions, so that the whole work has a consistent and well-marked character, pre- senting the history in quite a did'erent perspec- tive from that of the old narrative. It is still possible to determine within certain limits the nature of the sources which were employed b.v the author. He had before him the canonical books of Samuel and Kings, from which he made excerpts; but. in addition to these, had at his disposal 'Midrashic' compilations, in which the past history was no longer told in sober fashion, but, embellished with more or less fanciful de- tails, was intended as a means of illustrating religious ideas and of teaching moral lessons. He mentions such a Midrash of the Book of Kings (II. Chron. xxiv. 27). and also specifically refers to a ■Tidrash of the prophet Iddo (II. Chron. xiii. "22), which appears to have been a separate work either attriliutcd to Tddo or in which the prophet plays a ])romiiient part. There were probably other works of a similar character in existence, and it is importjint to note that these compilations were based u])on the annaU of the kings of Israel and Judah respectively, which also form the sources underlying the canonical books of Kings. The variations of