Channels, Spring 2019

Channels • 2019 • Volume 3 • Number 2 Page 1 Chronicles as the Intended Conclusions to the Hebrew Scriptures Peter Shields Biblical and Theological Studies Introduction he book of Chronicles is placed after the book of Kings in the English Bible. This placement follows the tradition of the Septuagint, the Greek Translation of the Old Testament. Many ancient and present-day readers have found the content of the book to be redundant; a collection of events that were appended to the book of Samuel and Kings because of their similarity in content. In the Septuagint, the title of the book is παραλειπομένων (the things left behind), which explains its position after Kings in this tradition. Because of its perceived insignificance, concluding that this book is simply “things left behind” is detrimental to the reader in attaining a proper understanding of the book of Chronicles. There are theological and eschatological themes within this book; themes that are not identified as being developed by an author if they are merely left over from Kings. They stand out with a proper understanding of the book’s rightful place at the end of the Hebrew Bible. The function and theological significance of a book within the canon of Scripture is connected to its proximity to other books and their combined compositional structure and message. This is not suggesting that there is added significance to a book based on its position that was not intended by the author. Rather, an author is aware of his position in the canon and is writing in light of what was written before. This distinction is important because the order of the books within the Hebrew Bible is not merely a record of reception history, but rather a move of composition. 1 This paper seeks to demonstrate that the unique content of the book of Chronicles and its theological message, along with the external evidence of its position found in textual witnesses, are best explained by its intentional placement at the end of the Hebrew Scriptures. It is important to lay the ground work for this thesis by overviewing the work that has already been done on this topic. This paper will provide an overview and brief history of the composition of the Hebrew Bible, a discussion of the shape of the Writings, an explanation for the two different placements of Chronicles within the Writings, a discussion of “mere” and “meant” contextuality, and a proposition in favor of “meant” contextuality. 2 The limits of this paper will prohibit a full discussion of every view on this subject. It is also pertinent to say that this paper is presenting an argument that is proposed to be most likely. I conceded that absolute certainty on the placement of Chronicles at the end of the Hebrew Bible cannot be decisively stated (which accounts for the many 1 Within what is called reception history, faith communities would take the text of the Hebrew Bible and redact or shape the text in a way that highlighted the theology of the faith community. This paper will argue that this does not fully explain why there are many “final forms” of the Hebrew Bible. The text itself bears witness to intentional composition above the book level, making the canon a whole composition. The authors of the Bible were shaping the text. More on this below. 2 The view of this paper is that the Hebrew Bible has a tripartite structure. This includes the Law, the Prophets, and the Writings. This tripartite structure will be further explained below. T