Chronicles (originally both 1 and 2 Chronicles were one book) does not identify the author, but Jew-ish tradition has traditionally ascribed the book to Ezra. The consistency of style throughout the book indi-cates that though several sources were used in compiling the book, one editor shaped the final product. The various sources include the prophetic records by Samuel (1 Chron. 29:29), Isaiah (2 Chron. 32:32), and others (2 Chron. 9:29; 12:15; 20:34; 33:19); but particularly a source called “the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel” (2 Chron. 16:11; 25:26) . The content suggests a priestly authorship because of the strong focus on the temple, the priesthood, and the theocratic line of David and the Southern Kingdom of Judah. That Ezra is the compiler of the book is also supported by the common themes of Ezra and Chronicles as the building and dedication of the temple.
Though the books of 1 and 2 Chronicles cover the same period of Jewish history, the perspective is very different. So while the content is similar, it is not a mere repetition, but more of a spiritual editorial of the history of the people of Israel. The Kings give man’s viewpoint while the Chronicles give God’s pers-pective.
Originally one book with 2 Chronicles (until 180 B.C.), the book’s Hebrew title means “the words (affairs) of the days,” i.e., the annals of Israel from Adam to the Babylonian captivi-ty and Cyrus’s decree allowing the exiled Jews to return. In a sense it is a “miniature Old Testament,” tracing in capsule form the flow of Old Testament history.14
When producing the Septuagint, the translators divided Chronicles into two sections. At that time it was given the title, “Of Things Omitted,” referring to the things omitted from Samuel and Kings. The name “Chronicles” comes from Jerome in his Latin Vulgate Bible (A.D. 385-405): Chronicorum Liber. He meant his title in the sense of “The Chronicles of the Whole of Sacred History.”
First Chronicles begins with an outline of history from Adam through the death of King Saul. The rest of the book is about the reign of King David. The books of Chronicles seem like a repeat of Samuel and Kings, but they were written for the returned exiles to remind them that they came from the royal line of David and that they were God’s chosen people. The genealogies point out that the Davidic promises had their source in those pledged to Abraham that He would make him the father of a great nation, one through which He would bless the nations. The main theme is that God is faithful to His covenant.
Chronicles emphasizes the role of the Law, the priesthood, and the temple. Although So-lomon’s temple was gone, the second temple could be regarded as the Remnant’s link to the first. This book also taught that the past was pregnant with lessons for their present. Apostasy, idolatry, intermarriage with Gentiles, and lack of unity were the reasons for their recent ruin. It is significant that after the Exile, Israel never again worshiped foreign gods.16
The key words are David (183 times) and the Davidic Covenant.
❝ 11:1-3 T HEN all Israel gathered to David at Hebron and said, “Behold, we are your bone and your flesh. 2 In times past, even when Saul was king, you were the one who led out and brought in Israel; and the LORD your God said to you, ‘You shall shepherd My people Israel, and you shall be prince over My people Israel.’” 3 So all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron, and David made a covenant with them in Hebron before the LORD; and they anointed David king over Israel, according to the word of the LORD through Sa-muel.
❝ 17:11-14 “And it shall come about when your days are fulfilled that you must go to be with your fathers, that I will set up one of your descendants after you, who shall be of your sons; and I will establish his kingdom. 12 He shall build for Me a house, and I will establish his throne forever. 13 I will be his father, and he shall be My son; and I will not take My lovingkindness away from him, as I took it from him who was before you. 14 But I will settle him in My house and in My kingdom forever, and his throne shall be estab-lished forever.”
❝ 29:11-12 Thine, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, indeed everything that is in the heavens and the earth; Thine is the do-minion, O LORD, and Thou dost exalt Thyself as head over all. 12 Both riches and honor come from Thee, and Thou dost rule over all, and in Thy hand is power and might; and it lies in Thy hand to make great, and to strengthen everyone.
Chapter 17. Because of the importance of God’s covenant with David to all of Scripture and its ful-fillment in the person of Christ, this chapter is the pivotal and key chapter since it unfolds the Davidic Co-venant as does 1 Samuel 7.
As mentioned, it is a book about David, though others that were prominent in 1 Samuel are also im-portant here like Nathan, Bathsheba, and Uriah.
What was said in 1 and 2 Samuel regarding David as a type of Christ would naturally be prominent here also.
First Chronicles naturally divides into four sections: (1) The Genealogies or the Royal Line of David (1:1-9:44); (2) the Rise of David or His Anointing (10:1-12:40), (3) The Reign of David (13:1-29:21), and (4) The Assession of Solomon and the Death of David (29:22-30).