Culture & Context: 1 & 2 Chronicles

Welcome to Culture and Context, a blog that will flesh out the context of the PATH journal and other content that we study here at True North.

Culture and Context: 1 & 2 Chronicles, PATH Year 2, Quarter 3

As I have been working through all of the genealogies at the beginning of 1 Chronicles, I found myself asking, “Why is this in the Scripture? What am I going to learn from all of these genealogies?” I queried my computer program, so stay tuned, because I’ll give you a few answers to why and what.

Tyndale’s Bible Dictionary has an interesting take on the Chronicles: “Chronicles is not so much a history as a metaphysical interpretation of events in Israelite life in light of covenantal values. It was not sufficient for the Chronicler that kings rose and fell; the events were interpreted from a special religious standpoint.”

The ESV Expository Commentary tells us that 1 & 2 Chronicles were originally one book that narrated the past for the Jews who were in exile and trying to structure their lives as a nation under foreign domination. The stories in Chronicles parallel those in 2 Samuel and 1 & 2 Kings, but there is a lot of additional material on the history of that time.

The author of Chronicles, known as The Chronicler,  is unknown. The book was written after 538 BC, when the people of Judah (the southern kingdom) returned from exile in Babylon. Scholars speculate that the author of Chronicles also wrote Ezra and Nehemiah, because of similarities in language and style (lists, genealogies, concerns for the temple). Interestingly, Ezra and Nehemiah are a single book in the Hebrew Bible.

The Chronicler is believed to have lived in Jerusalem. He mentions Jerusalem 240 times and Judah more than 225 times. He does not have a great opinion of the northern tribes of Israel because of their refusal to be ruled by a descendant of David- 2 Chr. 10:19 “So Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day.” and 2 Chr. 13:15 “Then the men of Judah raised the battle shout. And when the men of Judah shouted, God defeated Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah.” (Bold emphasis added)

Here is a rough timeline of the exililic period. The “exile” was a series of deportations, not a single event, from 605 BC to 539 BC. Nebuchadnezzar attacked Jerusalem in 605 BC and sent prime candidates like Daniel and his friends to Babylon. King Jehoiachin, his military and his household were sent to Babylon in 596-597 BC. Most of the population was exiled after the destruction of the temple and Jerusalem in 587-586 BC. In 559 BC, Cyrus II became emperor of the Medes and Persia, and in 539 his armies captured Babylon. The Bible Guide states that Cyrus believed in religious freedom and that he quickly decreed that the Jews and other subjects be freed to return home.

Chronicles emphasizes that the Jew were to live in a theocracy- a government led by God’s appointed officials. David is quoted in 1 Chr. 29:11-12 “Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and you are exalted as head above all. ¹² Both riches and honor come from you, and you rule over all. In your hand are power and might, and in your hand it is to make great and to give strength to all.” The Chronicler also wanted the people to have a strong faith in the Lord and His messengers- that would give them hope and drive to succeed as a nation.

1 Chronicles spends 9 chapters on genealogies and 5 chapters on the organization of people, priests, musicians, gatekeepers and the military. Why? The people of Judah had been in exile and needed a way to remember their identity- 12 tribes descended from Judah, with emphasis on the lines of David and of Levi and the priesthood. Here in the West, genealogies are not all that important. They help us know our past and might help us with our current identity, but many of us cannot name our ancestry past our great-grandparents. Genealogies are important to people in the East because they answer the questions: Where do we come from? How has our identity been shaped? How does our past affect how we live today?

Fourteen of 29 chapters- just under half- are devoted to lists. It is so tempting to skim through those lists; I know I’ve wanted to! But if you do that you will miss some nuggets. The writer of 1 & 2 Chronicles, often designated as the Chronicler, tells us about a man whose time on earth was divided. He tells us about the kings who reigned in Edom before any Israelite king (1 Chr. 1:43). We learn about a man who is so wicked that God puts him to death. And that’s just in the first two chapters!

The other 15 chapters of 1 Chronicles cover the reign of David and his preparations to build the temple. That honor would ultimately fall to his son Solomon, and the story of the Solomon and the temple are told in the first 9 chapters of 2 Chronicles.

2 Chronicles covers the reign of Solomon (chapters 1-9), the kings of Judah (chapters 10- 36:21) and an epilogue about the exile and return to Jerusalem (Chapter 36:22-23).

Chronicles teaches us about humanity’s free will. There are stories about people who chose to obey God (and succeeded!) along with those who chose to defy God, leading to failure. Sometimes a single person was at first obedient but then fell into sin and God’s anger. Jehoshaphat, Hezekia and Josiah all started out as reformers who incurred God’s wrath after sinning.

The books of Chronicles can be challenging to read. As you journal, look for these themes: God’s greatness and power, God’s uniqueness- there is none like Him. Look for evidence of God’s hand in history, as He ordains certain things. God always decided the outcome of battles and kept His covenant. The temple was the place where the people were to meet God and worship Him in community. These themes will help ground your journaling.

Citations

Elwell, W. A., & Comfort, P. W. (2001). In Tyndale Bible dictionary. Tyndale House Publishers.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2025). Crossway Bibles.

Knowles, A. (2001). The Bible guide (1st Augsburg books ed.). Augsburg.

Krijgsman, M. (2016). Exile, Babylonian. In J. D. Barry, D. Bomar, D. R. Brown, R. Klippenstein, D. Mangum, C. Sinclair Wolcott, L. Wentz, E. Ritzema, & W. Widder (Eds.), The Lexham Bible Dictionary. Lexham Press.

Mackay, J. L., Millar, J. G., & Olley, J. W. (2019). 1 Samuel–2 Chronicles: Vol. III (I. M. Duguid, J. M. Hamilton Jr., & J. Sklar, Eds.). Crossway.

Olley, J. W. (2019). 1-2 Chronicles. In I. M. Duguid, J. M. Hamilton Jr., & J. Sklar (Eds.), 1 Samuel–2 Chronicles: Vol. III (pp. 899–1294). Crossway.