The Book Of The Chronicles Of The Kings Of Israel

[Terpsícore Deckelman]

TheChronicles of the Kings of Israel is a book that gives a more detailed account of the reigns of the kings of ancient Kingdom of Israel than that presented in the Hebrew Bible, and may have been the source from which parts of the biblical account were drawn. The book was likely compiled by or derived from the kings of Israel's own scribes, and is likely the source for the basic facts presented in the Bible.

A complementary book detailing the reigns of the kings of ancient Judah is the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah, a book which has also been lost. Another lost book dealing with the reigns of the kings of ancient Israel is the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel. This book is referred to in 2 Chronicles and may be the same as the other two Chronicles named in Kings.

References to the Chronicles appear in the Books of Kings and imply that the description of the reign of the kings of Israel presented in the Bible is only a brief summary, and that a fuller account is to be found in the Chronicles.

For example, 1 Kings 14:19 refers to the book and reads: "And the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, how he warred, and how he reigned, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel."

I searched for Jeroboam son of Joash in the books of Chronicles without success. If the bold letters are true, a detailed account of the recovery of Damascus and Hamath should be in either I Chronicles or II Chronicles.

If the "book of chronicles" in II Kings 14:28 refers to IIChronicles, the original scribes seemed to have made a mistake becauseJeroboam son of Joash does not appear in II Chronicles.Chronologically, he should be mentioned somewhere around IIChronicles 25 & 26. However, it may be that I have failed to read a passageof the books of Chronicles which actually explains II Kings14:28. But even the commentaries and cross references seemto evade this question. How come?

When the Book of Kings (1 Kings and 2 Kings were originally a single book that was eventually split because of its length) talks of the book of chronicles of the kings of Israel, it could not be referring the the Book we know as Chronicles (1 Chronicles and 2 Chronicles) because Chronicles was written centuries later.

Most critical scholars attribute the Book of Kings to an anonymous author now known as the Deuteronomist, who wrote during the seventh-century-BCE reign of King Josiah of Judah. The Book of Chronicles, along with the Books of Ezra and Nehemiah form an integrated block of text with a unity of style and content, allowing us to date Chronicles to the period following the Babylonian Exile - centuries after the Deuteronomic History was written.

The Books we know as 1 and 2 Chronicles are not the now-lost books of chronicles of the kings of Israel and Judah, to which The Book of Kings refers. Chronicles appears to make use of the earlier Books of Kings, as well as other sources, occasionally altering or omitting some material from 1 and 2 Kings. John Romer says, in Testament: the Bible and History, the difference in attitude between the Deuteronomist and the Chronicler is often seen as representing two different factions among the returning Jews.

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