Sunday, August 4, 2013

CLX - I Chronicles


The Book of First Chronicles

Author  -  Unknown  (Traditionally believed to be Ezra)
Date  -  Believed to have begun shortly after the captivity of Judah.  Finished no later than 500BC

{It is important to note that the two books of Chronicles are of the more difficult books to teach, as almost all was written in previously studied books.  When I was in Kings, I was tempted to do Kings and Chronicles as a parrelel study.  I chose not to do that because I wanted to maintain the strict order of the Bible itself.  Also a parrelel study can be so confusing.  Therefore, I will proceed with Chronicles as I went through the previous books, but of course without disregard to the fact that we have gone over most of the truths and events in recent months.  However, due to the fact that most of it will be a review, our study of Chronicles will go much more quickly than the first twelve books of the Bible.}

Both books of Chronicles were a single book until about 280 BC, at which time it was translated into Greek.  Determined to be too large for one book it was split into two books and placed in their order in the "Septuagint".  The Hebrews still consider it to be one book, which in the Hebrew language is named "The Book of Diaries".  The two books (scrolls) in the Greek language were referred to as "things that the other books left out".  The other books referred to here are the four books of Samuel and Kings.

Over 600 years later in 4th century AD, a man named Jerome translated these books into Latin.  Jerome considered these books to be a "list of events", which in Latin would be called "Chronicles".  And that name became official, still using two books rather than one.

I mentioned the Septuagint.  This translation is important to Bible students world-wide.  The Septuagint (also known as the LXX) is a translation of the Hebrew Bible into the Greek language. The name “Septuagint” comes from the Latin word for seventy. The tradition is that 70 (or 72) Jewish scholars were the translators behind the Septuagint. The Septuagint was translated in the third and second centuries B.C. in Alexandria, Egypt.  As Israel was under the authority of Greece for several centuries, the Greek language became more and more common.  By the 2nd and 1st centuries B.C., most people in Israel spoke Greek as their primary language. That is why the effort was made to translate the Hebrew Bible into Greek – so that those who did not understand Hebrew could have the Scriptures in a language they could understand. The Septuagint represents the first major effort at translating a significant religious text from one language into another.

It is interesting to note that many of the New Testament quotes from the Hebrew Bible are taken from the Septuagint. As faithfully as the Septuagint translators strived to be accurate in their rendering, some translational differences arose.  In comparing the New Testament quotations of the Hebrew Bible, it is clear that the Septuagint was often used.  This is the result of the fact that by the late 1st century B.C., and especially the 1st century A.D. – the Septuagint had “replaced” the Hebrew Bible as the Scriptures most people used. Since most people spoke and read Greek as their primary language, and the Greek authorities strongly encouraged the use of Greek, the Septuagint became much more common than the Hebrew Old Testament. The fact that the Apostles and New Testament authors felt comfortable, under the direction of the Holy Spirit, in using the Septuagint.  This should give us assurance that a translation of the original languages of the Bible is still the authoritative Word of God.

As for a more modern reference, many recent translations and paraphrasings are taken principaly from the King James Version.  This book is called a "version" because it was written using three sets of texts:  The Masoric (Hebrew), the Septuagint (Greek), and the Vulgate (Latin).  A book can be called a translation only if it was taken from a single source, using strict translation characters from one language to another.

{I truly believe that all three (Masoric, Septuagint, and Vulgate) were Holy Spirit inspired.  These, along with the King James have passed the test of time and the test of trials through fire, and were used to teach and inspire centuries of God's precious people.  And I believe they will continue to do this until the return of our Lord.}

The book of I Chronicles is not to be considered a sequel or an extension of the previous books of Samuel and Kings, but rather a book written in addition to, with no collaboration taking place.  I'm not totally convinced that Ezra wrote Chronicles, but I am convinced that Chronicles was written by a Levite, not so much because of its style, but rather by the detailed references to the priestly duties and responsibilities during the centuries from Saul to the captivity.

The first nine chapters deal with genealogy.  Details of genealogy would have been recorded by several officials just to make certain these documents were all-inclusive and that if one or more were lost, there would be others which could serve the generations to come.

I Chronicles 1-8  -  Genealogy

The very first verse of the first chapter begins with the name Adam, and immediately takes us to Noah, the second beginning of civilization.  {Note that Cain and Abel were not mentioned.}  It then takes us to Abraham in verse 28, making sure to mention Ishmael as well as Isaac.  The remainder of the first chapter gives well deserved attention to Esau and his descendants.  Chapter 2 through chapter 7 gives the early genealogy of the twelve sons of Jacob (which will represent the twelve tribes of Israel).  Note that the writer begins not with Reuben the eldest, but with Judah.  He goes on to tell small tidbits of information about each tribe, spending the most time on Judah and Levi.  {I believe this was due to the fact that Judah contained the royal lineage and the Levites were the priestly tribe, of which the author was one.}

In chapter 7 the writer stops short of his genealogy listing for the tribe of Benjamin, which confused me at first reading, but then he picks back up on Benjamin in chapter 8 when he expounds on Benjamin being the tribe out of which Israel's first king (Saul) was born.  The writer mentions locations of some of the tribes, but not all of them.  As you read these chapters, note the various comments by the writer.

Chapter 9  -  Geneology of the resettlement of Jerusalem

In the opening verse of chapter 9 mentions one of the saddest events of Israel's History:  The captivity.  This is when the nation was destroyed and all Israel's and Judah's citizens were take captive as slaves to the Assyrians and the Babylonians.  He is careful to mention in this verse at the very end of it "because of their unfaithfulness".  But then, in verse 2, he begins the genealogy that starts with the resettlement.  I will later get into the reason they were allowed by their captors to return to their homeland (the Promised Land).  I think it is important that you read this chapter 9, as it concentrates on priests and Levites with their assigned duties and responsibilities in re-establishing Israel as a nation again.  The chapter ends with the genealogy of Saul, Israel's first king.

Next post  -  Saul and David

1 comment:

  1. I really like the historical references here. Helps make it all come together. Enjoying 1 Chronicles so far. I like the geneology and the review of this in the first few chapters.

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