9/27/09 Class Notes

Chronicles

  • The name given to this material in the LXX (Septuigent), paraleipomena, means additions
  • Supplementary/Secondary History of Israel
  1. Deuteronomistic History (Joshua-2 Kings) is the primary historical account
  • 2 Kings ends with the release of Jehoiachin, but sits in the palace of Babylon (Kind of like House arrest)
  1. Optimistic because he’s released from prison, but they’re still in Babylon
  2. 2 Chronicles ends with the Edict of Cyrus, where the Jews return (forced migration) to Jerusalem.
  • Chronicles is more of a Utopian history (Steven Schweitzer)
  1. Presents a kinder portrayal of David’s rise to power
  2. Presents Israel’s history more as how they would like it to be remembered than as it truly was.
  • Martin Noth (1940’s) believed that 1 and 2 Chronicles, Ezra, and Nehemiah were written together during the Persian period of history
  1. H.G-M Williamson and Sara Japhet (1980-1990) believed that 1 and 2 Chronicles were separate from Ezra and Nehemiah and believe it to have been written later (around the 400’s B.C.)

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