[1] Or Dagnus--perhaps to be identified with Maximinus Daza, joint
emperor (with Galerius) in the East 305-311, and sole emperor
311-313.
CHRISTOPHORUS, pope or anti-pope, elected in 903 against Leo V., whom he
threw into prison. In January 904 he was treated in the same fashion by
his competitor, Sergius III., who had him strangled.
CHRISTOPOULOS, ATHANASIOS (1772-1847), Greek poet, was born at Castoria
in Macedonia. He studied at Buda and Padua, and became teacher of the
children of the Vlach prince Mourousi. After the fall of that prince in
1811, Christopoulos was employed by Prince Caradja, who had been
appointed hospodar of Moldavia and Walachia, in drawing up a code of
laws for that country. On the removal of Caradja, he retired into
private life and devoted himself to literature. He wrote drinking songs
and love ditties which are very popular among the Greeks. He is also the
author of a tragedy, of _Politika Parallela_ (a comparison of various
systems of government), of translations of Homer and Herodotus, and of
some philological works on the connexion between ancient and modern
Greek.
His _Hellenika Archaiologemata_ (Athens, 1853) contains an account of
his life.
CHRIST'S HOSPITAL (the "Blue-coat School"), a famous English educational
and charitable foundation. It was originally one of three royal
hospitals in the city of London, founded by Edward VI., who is said to
have been inspired by a sermon of Bishop Ridley on charity. Christ's
hospital was specially devoted to fatherless and motherless children.
The buildings of the monastery of Grey Friars, Newgate Street, were
appropriated to it; liberal public subscription added to the king's
grant endowed it richly; and the mayor, commonalty and citizens of
London were nominated its governors in its charter of 1553. At first
Christ's hospital shared a common fund with the two other hospitals of
the foundation (Bridewell and St Thomas's), but the three soon became
independent. Not long after its opening Christ's was providing home and
education (or, in the case of the very young, nursing) for 400 children.
The popular name of the Blue-coat school is derived from the dress of
the boys--originally (almost from the time of the foundation) a blue
gown, with knee-breeches, yellow petticoat and stockings, neck-bands and
a blue cap. The petticoat and cap were given up in the middle of the
19th century, and thereafter no head-covering was worn. The buildings on
the Newgate Street site underwent reconstruction from time to time, and
in 1902 were vacated by the school, which was moved to extensive new
buildings at Horsham. The London buildings were subsequently taken down.
The school at Horsham is conducted on the ordinary lines of a public
school, and can accommodate over 800 boys. It includes a preparatory
school for boys, established in 1683 at Hertford, where the buildings
have been greatly enlarged for the use of the girls' school on the same
foundation. This was originally in Newgate Street, but was moved to
Hertford in 1778. In the boys' school the two highest classes retain
their ancient names of Grecians and Deputy Grecians. Children were
formerly admitted to the schools only on presentation. Admission is now
(1) by presentation of donation governors (i.e. the royal family, and
contributors of £500 or more to the funds), of the council of almoners
(which administers the endowments), or of certain of the city companies;
(2) by competition, on the nomination of a donation governor (for boys
only), or from public elementary schools in London, certain city
parishes and certain endowed schools elsewhere. The main school is
divided into two parts--the Latin school, corresponding to the classical
side in other schools, and the mathematical school or modern side. Large
pension charities are administered by the governing body, and part of
the income of the hospital (about £60,000 annually) is devoted to
apprenticing boys and girls, to leaving exhibitions from the school, &c.
CHRISTY, HENRY (1810-1865), English ethnologist, was born at
Kingston-on-Thames on the 26th of July 1810. He entered his father's
firm of hatters, in London, and later became a director of the London
Joint-Stock Bank. In 1850 he started on a series of journeys, which
interested him in ethnological studies. Encouraged by what he saw at the
Great Exhibition of 1851, Christy devoted the rest of his life to
perpetual travel and research, making extensive collections illustrating
the early history of man, now in the British Museum. He travelled in
Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Mexico, British Columbia and other countries;
but in 1858 came the opportunity which brought him fame. It was in that
year that the discoveries by Boucher de Perthes of flint-implements in
France and England were first held to have clearly proved the great
antiquity of man. Christy joined the Geological Society, and in company
with his friend Edouard Lartet explored the caves in the valley of the
Vézère, a tributary of the Dordogne in the south of France. To his task
Christy devoted money and time ungrudgingly, and an account of the
explorations appeared in _Comptes rendus_ (Feb. 29th, 1864) and
_Transactions of the Ethnological Society of London_ (June 21st, 1864).
He died, however, on the 4th of May 1865, of inflammation of the lungs
supervening on a severe cold contracted during excavation work at La
Palisse, leaving a half-finished book, entitled _Reliquiae Aquitanicae,
being contributions to the Archaeology and Palaeontology of Perigord and
the adjacent provinces of Southern France_; this was issued in parts and
completed at the expense of Christy's executors, first by Lartet and,
after his death in 1870, by Professor Rupert Jones. By his will Christy
bequeathed his magnificent archaeological collection to the nation. In
1884 it found a home in the British Museum. Christy took an earnest part
in many philanthropic movements of his time, especially identifying
himself with the efforts to relieve the sufferers from the Irish famine
of 1847.
CHROMATIC (Gr. [Greek: chrômatikos], coloured, from [Greek: chrôma],
colour), a term meaning "coloured," chiefly used in science,
particularly in the expression "chromatic aberration" or "dispersion"
(see ABERRATION). In Greek music [Greek: chrômatikê mousikê] was one of
three divisions--diatonic, chromatic and enharmonic--of the tetrachord.
Like the Latin _color_, [Greek: chrôma] was often used of ornaments and
embellishments, and particularly of the modification of the three
_genera_ of the tetrachord. The chromatic, being subject to three such
modifications, was regarded as particularly "coloured." To the Greeks
chromatic music was sweet and plaintive. From a supposed resemblance to
the notes of the chromatic tetrachord, the term is applied to a
succession of notes outside the diatonic scale, and marked by
accidentals. A "chromatic scale" is thus a series of semi-tones, and is
commonly written with sharps in ascending and flats descending. The most
correct method is to write such accidentals as do not involve a change
of key.
CHROMITE, a member of the spinel group of minerals; an oxide of chromium
and ferrous iron, FeCr2O4. It is also known as chromic iron or as
chrome-iron-ore, and is the chief commercial source of chromium and its
compounds. It crystallizes in regular octahedra, but is usually found as
grains or as granular to compact masses. In its iron-black colour with
submetallic lustre and absence of cleavage it resembles magnetite
(magnetic iron-ore) in appearance, but differs from this in being only
slightly if at all magnetic and in the brown colour of its powder. The
hardness is 5½; specific gravity 4.5. The theoretical formula FeCr2O4
corresponds with chromic oxide (Cr2O3) 68%, and ferrous oxide 32%; the
ferrous oxide is, however, usually partly replaced by magnesia, and the
chromic oxide by alumina and ferric oxide, so that there may be a
gradual passage to picotite or chromespinel. Much of the material mined
as ore does not contain more than 40 to 50% of chromic oxide. In the
form of isolated grains the mineral is a characteristic constituent of
ultrabasic igneous rocks, namely the peridotites and the serpentines
which have resulted from their alteration. It is also found under
similar conditions in meteoric stones and irons. Often these rocks
enclose large segregated masses of granular chromite. The earliest
worked deposits were those in the serpentine of the Bare Hills near
Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A.; it was also formerly extensively mined in
Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, and is now mined in California, as well
as in Turkey, the Urals, Dun Mountain near Nelson in New Zealand, and
Unst in the Shetlands.
Chrome-iron-ore is largely used in the preparation of chromium compounds
for use as pigments (chrome-yellow, &c.) and in calico-printing; it is
also used in the manufacture of chrome-steel. (L. J. S.)
CHROMIUM (symbol Cr. atomic weight 52.1), one of the metallic chemical
elements, the name being derived from the fine colour (Gr. [Greek:
chrôma]) of its compounds. It is a member of the sixth group in the
periodic classification of the elements, being included in the natural
family of elements containing molybdenum, tungsten and uranium. The
element is not found in the free state in nature, nor to any large
extent in combination, occurring chiefly as chrome-ironstone, Cr2O3·FeO,
and occasionally being found as crocoisite, PbCrO4, chrome-ochre, Cr2O3,
and chrome-garnet, CaO·Cr2O3·3SiO2, while it is also the cause of the
colour in serpentine, chrome-mica and the emerald. It was first
investigated in 1789 by L.N. Vauquelin and Macquart, and in 1797 by
Vauquelin, who found that the lead in crocoisite was in combination with
an acid, which he recognized as the oxide of a new metal.
The metal can be obtained by various processes. Thus Sainte Claire
Deville prepared it as a very hard substance of steel-grey colour,
capable of taking a high polish, by strong ignition of chromic oxide and
sugar charcoal in a lime crucible. F. Wöhler reduced the sesquioxide by
zinc, and obtained a shining green powder of specific gravity 6.81,
which tarnished in air and dissolved in hydrochloric acid and warm
dilute sulphuric acid, but was unacted upon by concentrated nitric acid.
H. Moissan (_Comptes rendus_, 1893, 116, p. 349; 1894, 119, p. 185)
reduces the sesquioxide with carbon, in an electric furnace; the product
so obtained (which contains carbon) is then strongly heated with lime,
whereby most of the carbon is removed as calcium carbide, and the
remainder by heating the purified product in a crucible lined with the
double oxide of calcium and chromium. An easier process is that of H.
Goldschmidt (_Annalen_, 1898, 301, p. 19) in which the oxide is reduced
by metallic aluminium; and if care is taken to have excess of the
sesquioxide of chromium present, the metal is obtained quite free from
aluminium. The metal as obtained in this process is lustrous and takes a
polish, does not melt in the oxyhydrogen flame, but liquefies in the
electric arc, and is not affected by air at ordinary temperatures.
Chromium as prepared by the Goldschmidt process is in a passive
condition as regards dilute sulphuric acid and dilute hydrochloric acid
at ordinary temperatures; but by heating the metal with the acid it
passes into the active condition, the same effect being produced by
heating the inactive form with a solution of an alkaline halide. W.
Hittorf thinks that two allotropic forms of chromium exist (_Zeit. für
phys. Chem._, 1898, 25, p. 729; 1899, 30, p. 481; 1900, 34, p. 385),
namely active and inactive chromium; while W. Ostwald (ibid., 1900, 35,
pp. 33, 204) has observed that on dissolving chromium in dilute acids,
the rate of solution as measured by the evolution of gas is not
continuous but periodic. It is largely made as ferro-chrome, an alloy
containing about 60-70% of chromium, by reducing chromite in the
electric furnace or by aluminium.
Chromium and its salts may be detected by the fact that they give a deep
green bead when heated with borax, or that on fusion with sodium
carbonate and nitre, a yellow mass of an alkaline chromate is obtained,
which, on solution in water and acidification with acetic acid, gives a
bright yellow precipitate on the addition of soluble lead salts. Sodium
and potassium hydroxide solutions precipitate green chromium hydroxide
from solutions of chromic salts; the precipitate is soluble in excess of
the cold alkali, but is completely thrown down on boiling the solution.
Chromic acid and its salts, the chromates and bichromates, can be
detected by the violet coloration which they give on addition of
hydrogen peroxide to their dilute acid solution, or by the fact that on
distillation with concentrated sulphuric acid and an alkaline chloride,
the red vapours of chromium oxychloride are produced. The yellow colour
of normal chromates changes to red on the addition of an acid, but goes
back again to yellow on making the solution alkaline. Normal chromates
on the addition of silver nitrate give a red precipitate of silver
chromate, easily soluble in ammonia, and with barium chloride a yellow
precipitate of barium chromate, insoluble in acetic acid. Reducing
agents, such as sulphurous acid and sulphuretted hydrogen, convert the
chromates into chromic salts. Chromium in the form of its salts may be
estimated quantitatively by precipitation from boiling solutions with a
slight excess of ammonia, and boiling until the free ammonia is nearly
all expelled. The precipitate obtained is filtered, well washed with hot
water, dried and then ignited until the weight is constant. In the form
of a chromate, it may be determined by precipitation, in acetic acid
solution, with lead acetate; the lead chromate precipitate collected on
a tared filter paper, well washed, dried at 100° C. and weighed; or the
chromate may be reduced by means of sulphur dioxide to the condition of
a chromic salt, the excess of sulphur dioxide expelled by boiling, and
the estimation carried out as above.
The atomic weight of chromium has been determined by S.G. Rawson, by the
conversion of pure ammonium bichromate into the trioxide (_Journal of
Chem. Soc._, 1899, 55, p. 213), the mean value obtained being 52.06; and
also by C. Meinecke, who estimated the amount of silver, chromium and
oxygen in silver chromate, the amount of oxygen in potassium bichromate,
and the amount of oxygen and chromium in ammonium bichromate (_Ann._,
1891, 261, p. 339), the mean value obtained being 51.99.
Chromium forms three series of compounds, namely the chromous salts
corresponding to CrO, chromous oxide, chromic salts, corresponding to
Cr2O3, chromium sesquioxide, and the chromates corresponding to CrO3,
chromium trioxide or chromic anhydride. Chromium sesquioxide is a
basic oxide, although like alumina it acts as an acid-forming oxide
towards strong bases, forming salts called chromites. Various other
oxides of chromium, intermediate in composition between the
sesquioxide and trioxide, have been described, namely chromium
dioxide, Cr2O3·CrO3, and the oxide CrO3·2Cr2O3.
Chromous oxide, CrO, is unknown in the free state, but in the hydrated
condition as CrO·H2O or Cr(OH)2 it may be prepared by precipitating
chromous chloride by a solution of potassium hydroxide in air-free
water. The precipitate so obtained is a brown amorphous solid which
readily oxidizes on exposure, and is decomposed by heat with
liberation of hydrogen and formation of the sesquioxide. The
sesquioxide, Cr2O3, occurs native, and can be artificially obtained in
several different ways, e.g., by igniting the corresponding hydroxide,
or chromium trioxide, or ammonium bichromate, or by passing the
vapours of chromium oxychloride through a red-hot tube, or by ignition
of mercurous chromate. In the amorphous state it is a dull green,
almost infusible powder, but as obtained from chromium oxychloride it
is deposited in the form of dark green hexagonal crystals of specific
gravity 5.2. After ignition it becomes almost insoluble in acids, and
on fusion with silicates it colours them green; consequently it is
used as a pigment for colouring glass and china. By the fusion of
potassium bichromate with boric acid, and extraction of the melt with
water, a residue is left which possesses a fine green colour, and is
used as a pigment under the name of Guignet's green. In composition it
approximates to Cr2O3·H2O, but it always contains more or less boron
trioxide. Several forms of hydrated chromium sesquioxide are known;
thus on precipitation of a chromic salt, free from alkali, by ammonia,
a light blue precipitate is formed, which after drying over sulphuric
acid, has the composition Cr2O3·7H2O, and this after being heated to
200° C. in a current of hydrogen leaves a residue of composition
CrO·OH or Cr2O3·H2O which occurs naturally as chrome ochre. Other
hydrated oxides such as Cr2O3·2H2O have also been described. Chromium
trioxide, CrO3, is obtained by adding concentrated sulphuric acid to a
cold saturated solution of potassium bichromate, when it separates in
long red needles; the mother liquor is drained off and the crystals
are washed with concentrated nitric acid, the excess of which is
removed by means of a current of dry air. It is readily soluble in
water, melts at 193° C., and is decomposed at a higher temperature
into chromium sesquioxide and oxygen; it is a very powerful oxidizing
agent, acting violently on alcohol, converting it into acetaldehyde,
and in glacial acetic acid solution converting naphthalene and
anthracene into the corresponding quinones. Heated with concentrated
hydrochloric acid it liberates chlorine, and with sulphuric acid it
liberates oxygen. Gaseous ammonia passed over the oxide reduces it to
the sesquioxide with formation of nitrogen and water. Dissolved in
hydrochloric acid at -20°, it yields with solutions of the alkaline
chlorides compounds of the type MCl·CrOCl3, pointing to pentavalent
chromium. For salts of this acid-forming oxide and for perchromic acid
see BICHROMATES.
The chromites may be looked upon as salts of chromium sesquioxide with
other basic oxides, the most important being chromite (q.v.).
Chromous chloride, CrCl2, is prepared by reducing chromic chloride in
hydrogen; it forms white silky needles, which dissolve in water giving
a deep blue solution, which rapidly absorbs oxygen, forming basic
chromic salts, and acts as a very strong reducing agent. The bromide
and iodide are formed in a similar manner by heating the metal in
gaseous hydrobromic or hydriodic acids.
Chromous sulphate, CrSO4·7H2O, isomorphous with ferrous sulphate,
results on dissolving the metal in dilute sulphuric acid or, better,
by dissolving chromous acetate in dilute sulphuric acid, when it
separates in blue crystals on cooling the solution. On pouring a
solution of chromous chloride into a saturated solution of sodium
acetate, a red crystalline precipitate of chromous acetate is
produced; this is much more permanent in air than the other chromous
salts and consequently can be used for their preparation. Chromic
salts are of a blue or violet colour, and apparently the chloride and
bromide exist in a green and violet form.
Chromic chloride, CrCl3, is obtained in the anhydrous form by igniting
a mixture of the sesquioxide and carbon in a current of dry chlorine;
it forms violet laminae almost insoluble in water, but dissolves
rapidly in presence of a trace of chromous chloride; this action has
been regarded as a catalytic action, it being assumed that the
insoluble chromic chloride is first reduced by the chromous chloride
to the chromous condition and the original chromous chloride converted
into soluble chromic chloride, the newly formed chromous chloride then
reacting with the insoluble chromic chloride. Solutions of chromic
chloride in presence of excess of acid are green in colour. According
to A. Werner, four hydrated chromium chlorides exist, namely the green
and violet salts, CrCl3·6H2O, a hydrate, CrCl3·10H2O and one
CrCl3·4H2O. The violet form gives a purple solution, and all its
chlorine is precipitated by silver nitrate, the aqueous solution
containing four ions, probably Cr(OH2)6 and three chlorine ions. The
green salt appears to dissociate in aqueous solution into two ions,
namely CrCl2(OH2)4 and one chlorine ion, since practically only
one-third of the chlorine is precipitated by silver nitrate solution
at 0° C. Two of the six water molecules are easily removed in a
desiccator, and the salt formed, CrCl3·4H2O, resembles the original
salt in properties, only one-third of the chlorine being precipitated
by silver nitrate. In accordance with his theory of the constitution
of salts Werner formulates the hexahydrate as CrCl2·(OH2)4·Cl·2H2O.
Chromic bromide, CrBr3, is prepared in the anhydrous form by the same
method as the chloride, and resembles it in its properties. The iodide
is unknown.
The fluoride, CrF3, results on passing hydrofluoric acid over the
heated chloride, and sublimes in needles. The hydrated fluoride,
CrF3·9H2O, obtained by adding ammonium fluoride to cold chromic
sulphate solution, is sparingly soluble in water, and is decomposed by
heat.
Oxyhalogen derivatives of chromium are known, the oxychloride,
CrO2Cl2, resulting on heating potassium bichromate and common salt
with concentrated sulphuric acid. It distils over as a dark red liquid
of boiling point 117° C., and is to be regarded as the acid chloride
corresponding to chromic acid, CrO2(OH)2. It dissolves iodine and
absorbs chlorine, and is decomposed by water with formation of chromic
and hydrochloric acids; it takes fire in contact with sulphur,
ammonia, alcohol, &c., and explodes in contact with phosphorus; it
also acts as a powerful oxidizing agent. Heated in a closed tube at
180° C. it loses chlorine and leaves a black residue of trichromyl
chloride, Cr3O6Cl2, which deliquesces on exposure to air. Analogous
bromine and iodine compounds are unknown, since bromides and iodides
on heating with potassium bichromate and concentrated sulphuric acid
give free bromine or free iodine.
The oxyfluoride, CrO2F2, is obtained in a similar manner to the
oxychloride by using fluorspar in place of common salt. It may be
condensed to a dark red liquid which is decomposed by moist air into
chromic acid and chromic fluoride.
The semi-acid chloride, CrO2·Cl·OH, chlorochromic acid, is only known
in the form of its salts, the chlorochromates.
Potassium chlorochromate, CrO2·Cl·OK, is produced when potassium
bichromate is heated with concentrated hydrochloric acid and a little
water, or from chromium oxychloride and saturated potassium chloride
solution, when it separates as a red crystalline salt. By suspending
it in ether and passing ammonia, potassium amidochromate, CrO2·NH2·OK,
is obtained; on evaporating the ether solution, after it has stood for
24 hours, red prisms of the amidochromate separate; it is slowly
decomposed by boiling water, and also by nitrous acid, with liberation
of nitrogen.
Chromic sulphide, Cr2S3, results on heating chromium and sulphur or on
strongly heating the trioxide in a current of sulphuretted hydrogen;
it forms a dark green crystalline powder, and on ignition gives the
sesquioxide.
Chromic sulphate, Cr2(SO4)3, is prepared by mixing the hydroxide with
concentrated sulphuric acid and allowing the mixture to stand, a green
solution is first formed which gradually changes to blue, and deposits
violet-blue crystals, which are purified by dissolving in water and
then precipitating with alcohol. It is soluble in cold water, giving a
violet solution, which turns green on boiling. If the violet solution
is allowed to evaporate slowly at ordinary temperatures the sulphate
crystallizes out as Cr2(SO4)3·15H2O, but the green solution on
evaporation leaves only an amorphous mass. Investigation has shown
that the change is due to the splitting off of sulphuric acid during
the process, and that green-coloured chrom-sulphuric acids are formed
thus--
2Cr2(SO4)3 + H2O = H2SO4 + [Cr4O·(SO4)4]SO4
(violet) (green)
since, on adding barium chloride to the green solution, only one-third
of the total sulphuric acid is precipitated as barium sulphate, whence
it follows that only one-third of the original SO4 ions are present in
the green solution. The green salt in aqueous solution, on standing,
gradually passes back to the violet form. Several other complex
chrom-sulphuric acids are known, e.g.
[Cr2(SO4)4]H2; [Cr2(SO4)5]H4; [Cr2(SO4)6]H6
(see A. Recoura, _Annales de Chimie et de Physique_, 1895 (7), 4, p.
505.)
Chromic sulphate combines with the sulphates of the alkali metals to
form double sulphates, which correspond to the alums. Chrome alum,
K2SO4·Cr2(SO4)3·24H2O, is best prepared by passing sulphur dioxide
through a solution of potassium bichromate containing the calculated
quantity of sulphuric acid,
K2Cr2O7 + 3SO2 + H2SO4 = H2O + K2SO4 + Cr2(SO4)3.
On evaporating the solution dark purple octahedra of the alum are
obtained. It is easily soluble in warm water, the solution being of a
dull blue tint, and is used in calico-printing, dyeing and tanning.
Chromium ammonium sulphate, (NH4)2SO4·Cr2(SO4)3·24H2O, results on
mixing equivalent quantities of chromic sulphate and ammonium sulphate
in aqueous solution and allowing the mixture to crystallize. It forms
red octahedra and is less soluble in water than the corresponding
potassium compound. The salt CrClSO4·8H2O has been described. By
passing ammonia over heated chromic chloride, the nitride, CrN, is
formed as a brownish powder. By the action of concentrated sulphuric
acid it is transformed into chromium ammonium sulphate.
The nitrate, Cr(NO3)3·9H2O, crystallizes in purple prisms and results
on dissolving the hydroxide in nitric acid, its solution turns green
on boiling. A phosphide, PCr, is known; it burns in oxygen forming the
phosphate. By adding sodium phosphate to an excess of chrome alum the
violet phosphate, CrPO4·6H2O, is precipitated; on heating to 100° C.
it loses water and turns green. A green precipitate, perhaps
CrPO4·3H2O, is obtained on adding an excess of sodium phosphate to
chromic chloride solution.
Carbides of chromium are known; when the metal is heated in an
electric furnace with excess of carbon, crystalline, C2Cr3, is formed;
this scratches quartz and topaz, and the crystals are very resistant
to the action of acids; CCr4 has also been described (H. Moissan,
_Comptes rendus_, 1894, 119, p. 185).
Cyanogen compounds of chromium, analogous to those of iron, have been
prepared; thus potassium chromocyanide, K4Cr(CN)6·2H2O, is formed from
potassium cyanide and chromous acetate; on exposure to air it is
converted into the chromicyanide, K3Cr(CN)6, which can also be
prepared by adding chromic acetate solution to boiling potassium
cyanide solution. Chromic thiocyanate, Cr(SCN)3, an amorphous
deliquescent mass, is formed by dissolving the hydroxide in thiocyanic
acid and drying over sulphuric acid. The double thiocyanate,
Cr(SCN)3·3KCNS·4H2O, is also known.
Chromium salts readily combine with ammonia to form complex salts in
which the ammonia molecule is in direct combination with the chromium
atom. In many of these salts one finds that the elements of water are
frequently found in combination with the metal, and further, that the
ammonia molecule may be replaced by such other molecular groups as
-NO2, &c. Of the types studied the following may be mentioned: the
diammine chromium thiocyanates, M[Cr(NH3)2·(SCN)4], the
chloraquotetrammine chromic salts, R¹2[Cr(NH3)4·H2O·Cl], the
aquopentammine or roseo-chromium salts, R¹3[Cr(NH3)5·H2O], the
chlorpentammine or purpureo-chromium salts, R¹2[Cr(NH3)5·Cl], the
nitrito pentammine or xanthochromium salts, R¹2[NO2·(NH3)5·Cr], the
luteo or hexammine chromium salts, R¹3[(NH3)6·Cr], and the
rhodochromium salts: where R¹ = a monovalent acid radical and M = a
monovalent basic radical. For the preparation and properties of these
salts and a discussion on their constitution the papers of S.F.
Jörgensen and of A. Werner in the _Zeitschrift für anorganische
Chemie_ from 1892 onwards should be consulted.
P. Pfeiffer (_Berichte_, 1904, 37, p. 4255) has shown that chromium
salts of the type [Cr{C2H4(NH2)2}2X2]X exist in two stereo-isomeric
forms, namely, the cis- and trans- forms, the
dithiocyan-diethylene-diamine-chromium salts being the trans- salts.
Their configuration was determined by their relationship to their
oxalo-derivatives; the cis-dichloro chloride, [CrC2H4(NH2)2Cl2]Cl·H2O,
compound with potassium oxalate gave a carmine red crystalline complex
salt, [Cr{C2H4(NH2)2}C2O4][CrC2H4(NH2)2·(C2O4)2]1½H2O, while from the
trans-chloride a red complex salt is obtained containing the unaltered
trans-dichloro group [CrC2H4(NH2)2·Cl2].
CHROMOSPHERE (from Gr. [Greek: chrôma], colour, and [Greek: sphaira], a
sphere), in astronomy, the red-coloured envelope of the sun, outside of
the photosphere. It can be seen with the eye at the beginning or ending
of a total eclipse of the sun, and with a suitable spectroscope at any
time under favourable conditions. (See SUN and ECLIPSE.)
CHRONICLE (from Gr. [Greek: chronos], time). The historical works
written in the middle ages are variously designated by the terms
"histories," "annals," or "chronicles"; it is difficult, however, to
give an exact definition of each of these terms, since they do not
correspond to determinate classes of writings. The definitions proposed
by A. Giry (in _La Grande Encyclopédie_), by Ch. V. Langlois (in the
_Manuel de bibliographie historique_), and by E. Bernheim (in the
_Lehrbuch der historischen Methode_), are manifestly insufficient.
Perhaps the most reasonable is that propounded by H.F. Delaborde at the
École des Chartes, that chronicles are accounts of a universal
character, while annals relate either to a locality, or to a religious
community, or even to a whole people, but without attempting to treat of
all periods or all peoples. The primitive type, he says, was furnished
by Eusebius of Caesarea, who wrote (c. 303) a chronicle in Greek, which
was soon translated into Latin and frequently recopied throughout the
middle ages; in the form of synoptic and synchronistic tables it
embraced the history of the world, both Jewish and Christian, since the
Creation. This ingenious opinion, however, is only partially exact, for
it is certain that the medieval authors or scribes were not conscious of
any well-marked distinction between annals and chronicles; indeed, they
often apparently employed the terms indiscriminately.
Whether or not a distinction can be made, chronicles and annals (q.v.)
have points of great similarity. Chronicles are accounts generally of an
impersonal character, and often anonymous, composed in varying
proportions of passages reproduced textually from sources which the
chronicler is seldom at pains to indicate, and of personal recollections
the veracity of which remains to be determined. Some of them are written
with so little intelligence and spirit that one is led to regard the
work of composition as a piece of drudgery imposed on the clergy and
monks by their superiors. To distinguish what is original from what is
borrowed, to separate fact from falsehood, and to establish the value of
each piece of evidence, are in such circumstances a difficult
undertaking, and one which has exercised the sagacity of scholars,
especially since the 17th century. The work, moreover, is immense, by
reason of the enormous number of medieval chronicles, both Christian and
Mahommedan.
The Christian chronicles were first written in the two learned
languages, Greek and Latin. At an early stage we have proof of the
employment of national languages, the most famous instances being found
at the two extremities of Europe, the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (q.v.), the
most ancient form of which goes back to the 10th century, and the
so-called Chronicle of Nestor, in Palaeo-Slavonic, written in the 11th
and 12th centuries. In the 13th and 14th centuries the number of
chronicles written in the vulgar tongue continued to increase, at least
in continental Europe, which far outpaced England in this respect. From
the 15th century, with the revived study of Greek and Roman literature,
the traditional form of chronicles, as well as of annals, tended to
disappear and to be replaced by another and more scientific form, based
on the models of antiquity--that of the historical composition combining
skilful arrangement with elegance of literary style. The transition,
however, was very gradual, and it was not until the 17th century that
the traditional form became practically extinct.
See E. Bernheim, _Lehrbuch der historischcn Methode_ (4th ed., 1903);
H. Bloch, "Geschichte der deutschen Geschichtsschreibung im
Mittelalter" in the _Handbuch_ of G. von Below and F. Meinecke
(Munich, 1903 seq.); Max Jansen, "Historiographie und Quellen der
deutschen Geschichte bis 1500," in Aloïs Meister's _Grundris_
(Leipzig, 1906); and the Introduction (1904) to A. Molinier's _Les
Sources de l'histoire de France_. (C.B.*)
CHRONICLES, BOOKS OF, two Old Testament books of the Bible.
Position and date.
The name is derived from _Chronicon_, first suggested by Jerome as a
rendering of the title which they bear in the Hebrew Canon, viz. _Events
of the Times_. The full Hebrew title would be _Book of Events of the
Times_, and this again appears to have been a designation commonly
applied to special histories in the more definite shape--_Events of the
Times of King David_, or the like (1 Chron. xxvii. 24; Esth. x. 2, &c.).
The Greek translators divided the long book into two, and adopted the
title [Greek: Paraleipomena], _Things omitted_ [scil. in the other
historical books].
The book of Chronicles begins with Adam and ends abruptly in the middle
of Cyrus's decree of restoration, which reappears complete at the
beginning of Ezra. A closer examination of those parts of _Ezra_ and
_Nehemiah_ which are not extracted from earlier documents or original
memoirs leads to the conclusion that _Chronicles-Ezra-Nehemiah_ was
originally one work, displaying throughout the peculiarities of language
and thought of a single editor, who, however, cannot be Ezra himself as
tradition would have it. Thus the fragmentary close of 2 Chronicles
marks the disruption of a previously-existing continuity,--due,
presumably, to the fact that in the gradual compilation of the Canon the
necessity for incorporating in the Holy Writings an account of the
establishment of the post-Exile theocracy was felt, before it was
thought desirable to supplement _Samuel_ and _Kings_ by adding a second
history of the period before the Exile. Hence _Chronicles_ is the last
book of the Hebrew Bible, following the book of _Ezra-Nehemiah_, which
properly is nothing else than the sequel of _Chronicles_.
Of the authorship of _Chronicles_ we know only what can be determined by
internal evidence. The style of the language, and also the position of
the book in the Jewish Canon, stamp the book as one of the latest in the
Old Testament, but lead to no exact determination of the date.[1] In 1
Chron. xxix. 7, which refers to the time of David, a sum of money is
reckoned by _darics_, which certainly implies that the author wrote
after this Persian coin had been long current in Judaea. In 1 Chron.
iii. 19 sqq. the descendants of Zerubbabel seem to be reckoned to six
generations (the Septuagint reads it so as to give as many as eleven
generations), and this agrees with the suggestion that Hattush (verse
22), who belongs to the fourth generation from Zerubbabel, was a
contemporary of Ezra (Ezra viii. 2). Thus the compiler lived at least
two generations after Ezra. With this it accords that in Nehemiah five
generations of high priests are enumerated from Joshua (xii. 10 seq.),
and that the last name is that of Jaddua, who, according to Josephus,
was a contemporary of Alexander the Great (333 B.C.). That the compiler
wrote after the fall of the Persian monarchy has been argued by Ewald
and others from the use of the title king of Persia (2 Chron. xxxvi.
23), and from the reference made in Neh. xii. 22 to Darius III. (336-332
B.C.). A date some time after 332 B.C. is now accepted by most modern
critics. See further EZRA AND NEHEMIAH.
Character of the work.
What seems to be certain and important for a right estimate of the book
is that the writer lived a considerable time after Ezra, and stood
entirely under the influence of the religious institutions of the new
theocracy. This standpoint determined the nature of his interest in the
early history of his people. The true importance of Hebrew history had
always centred in the fact that this petty nation was the people of
Yahweh, the spiritual God. The tragic interest which distinguishes the
annals of Israel from the forgotten history of Moab or Damascus lies
wholly in that long contest which finally vindicated the reality of
spiritual things and the supremacy of Yahweh's purpose, in the political
ruin of the nation which was the faithless depository of these sacred
truths. After the return from the Exile it was impossible to write the
history of Israel's fortunes otherwise than in a spirit of religious
pragmatism. But within the limits of the religious conception of the
plan and purpose of the Hebrew history more than one point of view might
be taken up. The book of Kings looks upon the history in the spirit of
the prophets--in that spirit which is still echoed by Zech. i. 5 seq.,
but which had become extinct before the Chronicler wrote. The New
Jerusalem of Ezra was organized as a municipality and a church, not as a
nation. The centre of religious life was no longer the living prophetic
word but the ordinances of the Pentateuch and the liturgical service of
the sanctuary. The religious vocation of Israel was no longer national
but ecclesiastical or municipal, and the historical continuity of the
nation was vividly realized only within the walls of Jerusalem and the
courts of the Temple, in the solemn assembly and stately ceremonial of a
feast day. These influences naturally operated most strongly on those
who were officially attached to the sanctuary. To a Levite, even more
than to other Jews, the history of Israel meant above all things the
history of Jerusalem, of the Temple, and of the Temple ordinances. Now
the writer of Chronicles betrays on every page his essentially Levitical
habit of mind. It even seems possible from a close attention to his
descriptions of sacred ordinances to conclude that his special interests
are those of a common Levite rather than of a priest, and that of all
Levitical functions he is most partial to those of the singers, a member
of whose guild he may have been. From the standpoint of the post-exilic
age, the older delineation of the history of Israel, especially in the
books of Samuel and Kings, could not but appear to be deficient in some
directions, while in other respects its narrative seemed superfluous or
open to misunderstanding, as for example by recording, and that without
condemnation, things inconsistent with the later, post-exilic law. The
history of the ordinances of worship holds a very small place in the
older record. Jerusalem and the Temple have not that central place in
the book of Kings which they occupied in the minds of the Jewish
community after the Exile. Large sections of the old history are devoted
to the religion and politics of the ten tribes, which are altogether
unintelligible and uninteresting when measured by a strictly Levitical
standard; and in general the whole problems and struggles of the
prophetic period turn on points which had ceased to be cardinal in the
life of the New Jerusalem, which was no longer called to decide between
the claims of the Word of Yahweh and the exigencies of political affairs
and social customs, and which could not comprehend that men absorbed in
deeper spiritual contests had no leisure for the niceties of Levitical
legislation. Thus there seemed to be room for a new history, which
should confine itself to matters still interesting to the theocracy of
Zion, keeping Jerusalem and the Temple in the foreground, and developing
the divine pragmatism of the history, not so much with reference to the
prophetic word as to the fixed legislation of the Pentateuch, so that
the whole narrative might be made to teach that the glory of Israel lies
in the observance of the divine law and ritual.
Contents.
For the sake of systematic completeness the book begins with Adam, as is
the custom with later Oriental writers. But there was nothing to add to
the Pentateuch, and the period from Moses to David contained little that
served the purpose. The early history is therefore contracted into a
series of tribal and priestly genealogies, which were doubtless by no
means the least interesting part of the work at a time when every
Israelite was concerned to prove the purity of his Hebrew descent (cp.
Ezra ii. 59, 62). Commencing abruptly (after some Benjamite genealogies)
with the death of Saul, the history becomes fuller and runs parallel
with the books of Samuel and Kings. The limitations of the compiler's
interest in past times appear in the omission, among other particulars,
of David's reign in Hebron, of the disorders in his family and the
revolt of Absalom, of the circumstances of Solomon's accession, and of
many details as to the wisdom and splendour of that sovereign, as well
as of his fall into idolatry. In the later history the ten tribes are
quite neglected ("Yahweh is not with Israel," 2 Chron. xxv. 7), and
political affairs in Judah receive attention, not in proportion to their
intrinsic importance, but according as they serve to exemplify God's
help to the obedient and His chastisement of the rebellious. That the
compiler is always unwilling to speak of the misfortunes of good rulers
is not necessarily to be ascribed to a deliberate suppression of truth,
but shows that the book was throughout composed not in purely historical
interests, but with a view to inculcating a single practical lesson. The
more important additions to the older narrative consist partly of
statistical lists (1 Chron. xii.), partly of full details on points
connected with the history of the sanctuary and the great feasts or the
archaeology of the Levitical ministry (1 Chron. xiii., xv., xvi.,
xxii.-xxix.; 2 Chron. xxix.-xxxi., &c.), and partly of narratives of
victories and defeats, of sins and punishments, of obedience and its
reward, which could be made to point a plain religious lesson in favour
of faithful observance of the law (2 Chron. xiii., xiv. 9 sqq.; xx.,
xxi. 11 sqq., &c.). The minor variations of _Chronicles_ from the books
of Samuel and Kings are analogous in principle to the larger additions
and omissions, so that the whole work has a consistent and well-marked
character, presenting the history in quite a different perspective from
that of the old narrative.
Sources.
The chronicler makes frequent reference to earlier histories which he
cites by a great variety of names. That the names "Book of the Kings of
Israel and Judah," "Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel," "Book of the
Kings of Israel," and "Affairs of the Kings of Israel" (2 Chron. xxxiii.
18), refer to a single work is not disputed. Under one or other title
this book is cited some ten times. Whether it is identical with the
Midrash[2] of the book of Kings (2 Chron. xxiv. 27) is not certain. That
the work so often cited is not the Biblical book of the same name is
manifest from what is said of its contents. It must have been quite an
extensive work, for among other things it contained genealogical
statistics (1 Chron. ix. 1), and it incorporated certain older prophetic
writings--in particular, the _deb[=a]r[=i]m_ ("words" or "history") of
Jehu the son of Hanani (2 Chron. xx. 34) and possibly the vision of
Isaiah (2 Chron. xxxii. 32). Where the chronicler does not cite this
comprehensive work at the close of a king's reign he generally refers to
some special authority which bears the name of a prophet or seer (2
Chron. ix. 29; xii. 15, &c.). But the book of the Kings and a special
prophetic writing are not cited for the same reign. It is therefore
probable that in other cases than those of Isaiah and Jehu the writings
of, or rather, about the prophets which are cited in _Chronicles_ were
known only as parts of the great "book of the Kings." Even the
genealogical lists may have been derived from that work (1 Chron. ix.
1), though for these other materials may have been accessible.
The two chief sources of the canonical book of Kings were entitled
_Annals_ ("events of the times") _of the Kings of Israel_ and _Judah_
respectively (see KINGS). That the lost source of the _Chronicles_ was
not independent of these works appears probable both from the nature of
the case and from the close and often verbal parallelism between many
sections of the two Biblical narratives. But while the canonical book of
Kings refers to separate sources for the northern and southern kingdoms,
the source of _Chronicles_ was a history of the two kingdoms combined,
and so, no doubt, was a more recent work which in great measure was
doubtless based upon older annals. Yet it contained also matter not
derived from these works, for it is pretty clear from 2 Kings xxi. 17
that the _Annals of the Kings of Judah_ gave no account of Manasseh's
repentance, which, according to 2 Chron. xxxiii. 18, 19, was narrated in
the great book of the Kings of Israel. It was the opinion of Bertheau,
Keil and others, that the parallelisms of _Chronicles_ with _Samuel_ and
_Kings_ are sufficiently explained by the ultimate common source from
which both narratives drew. But most critics hold that the chronicler
also drew directly from the canonical books of Samuel and Kings as he
apparently did from the Pentateuch. This opinion is not improbable, as
the earlier books of the Old Testament cannot have been unknown in his
age; and the critical analysis of the canonical book of Kings is
advanced enough to enable us to say that in some of the parallel
passages the chronicler uses words which were not written in the annals
but by one of the compilers of _Kings_ himself. In particular,
_Chronicles_ agrees with _Kings_ in those short notes of the moral
character of individual monarchs which can hardly be ascribed to an
earlier hand than that of the redactor of the latter book.[3]
Treatment of history.
For the criticism of the book it is important to institute a careful
comparison of Chronicles with the parallel narratives in
_Samuel_-_Kings_.[4] It is found that in the cases where _Chronicles_
directly contradicts the earlier books there are few in which an
impartial historical judgment will decide in favour of the later
account, and in any point that touches difference of usage between its
time and that of the old monarchy it is of no authority. The
characteristic feature of the post-exilic age was the re-shaping of
older tradition in the interest of parenetic and practical purposes, and
for this object a certain freedom of literary form was always allowed to
ancient historians. The typical speeches in Chronicles are of little
value for the periods to which they relate, and where they are
inconsistent with the evidence from earlier writings or contain inherent
improbabilities are scarcely of historical worth. According to the
ordinary laws of research, the book, being written at a time long
posterior to the events it records, can have only a secondary value,
although that is no reason why here and there valuable material should
not have been preserved. But the general picture which it gives of life
under the old monarchy cannot have the same value for us as the records
of the book of Kings. On the other hand, it is of distinct value for the
history of its time, and presents a clear picture of the spirit of the
age. The "ecclesiastical chronicle of Jerusalem," as Reuss has aptly
called it, represents the culminating point (as far as the O.T. Canon is
concerned) of that theory of which examples recur in Judges, Samuel and
Kings, and this treatment of history in accordance with religious or
ethical doctrines finds its continuation in the didactic aims which
characterize the later non-canonical writings (cf. JUBILEES; MIDRASH).
The most prominent examples of disagreement with earlier sources may
be briefly noticed. Thus, it would appear that the book has confused
Jehoiakim and Jehoiachin (2 Chron. xxxvi. 5-8) and has statements
which directly conflict with 2 Sam. xxi. 19 (1 Chron. xx. 5; see
GOLIATH), and 1 Kings ix. 10 seq. (2 Chron. viii. 2); it has changed
Hezekiah's submission (2 Kings xviii.) into a brave resistance (2
Chron. xxxii. 1-8) and ignored the humiliating payment of tribute by
this king and by Joash (2 Kings xii. 18; 2 Chron. xxiv. 23 sqq.).[5]
That Satan, and not Yahweh incited David to number Israel (1 Chron.
xxi.; 2 Sam. xxiv. 1) accords with later theological development.
A particular tendency to arrange history according to a mechanical
rule appears in the constant endeavour to show that recompense and
retribution followed immediately on good or bad conduct, and
especially on obedience or disobedience to prophetic advice. Thus, the
invasion of Shishak (see REHOBOAM) becomes a typical romance (2 Chron.
xii.); the illness of Asa is preceded by a denunciation for relying
upon Syria, and the chronology is changed to bring the fault near the
punishment (2 Chron. xv. seq.). The ships which Jehoshaphat made were
wrecked at Ezion-geber because he had allied himself with Ahaziah of
Israel despite prophetic warning (2 Chron. xx. 35 sqq.; 1 Kings xxii.
48; cf. similarly the addition in 2 Chron. xix. 1-3), and the later
writer supposes that the "Tarshish ships" (large vessels such as were
used in trading with Spain--cf. "Indiamen") built in the Red Sea were
intended for the Mediterranean trade (cf. 2 Chron. ix. 21 with 1 Kings
x. 22). The Edomite revolt under Jehoram of Judah becomes the penalty
for the king's apostasy (2 Chron. xxi. 10-20; 2 Kings viii. 22),
Ahaziah was slain because of his friendship with Jehoram (2 Chron.
xxii. 7). The Aramaean invasion in the time of Joash of Judah was a
punishment for the murder of Jehoiada's son (2 Chron. xxiv.; 2 Kings
xii.). Amaziah, after defeating Edom (2 Chron. xxv., esp. verses
19-21; see 2 Kings xiv. 10 seq.), worshipped strange gods, for which
he was defeated by Joash of Israel, and subsequently met with his
death (2 Chron. xxv. 27; 2 Kings xiv. 19). Uzziah's leprosy is
attributed to a ritual fault (2 Chron. xxvi. 4 seq., 16 sqq.; cf. 2
Kings xv. 3-5; see UZZIAH). The defeat and death of the good king
Josiah came through disobedience to the Divine will (2 Chron. xxxv. 21
seq.; see 2 Kings xxiii. 26 sqq.).
In addition to such supplementary information, another tendency of the
chronicler is the alteration of narratives that do not agree with the
later doctrines of the uniformity of religious institutions before and
after the exile. Thus, the reformation of Josiah has been thrust back
from his eighteenth to his twelfth year (when he was nineteen years
old) apparently because it was felt that so good a king would not have
tolerated the abuses of the land for so long a period,[6] but the
result of this is to leave an interval of ten years between his
conversion and the subsequent act of repentance (2 Chron. xxxiv. 3-6;
2 Kings xxii. seq.). References to Judaean idolatry are omitted (1
Kings xiv. 22-24; see 2 Chron. xii. 14; 2 Kings xviii. 4; 2 Chron.
xxxi. 1) or abbreviated (2 Kings xxiii. 1-20; 2 Chron. xxxiv. 29-33);
and if the earlier detailed accounts of Judaean heathenism were
repulsive, so the tragic account of the fate of Jerusalem was a
painful subject upon which the chronicler's age did not care to dwell
(contrast 2 Kings xxiv. 8-xxv. with the brief 2 Chron. xxxvi. 9-21).
At an age when the high places were regarded as idolatrous it was
considered only natural that the good kings should not have tolerated
them. So 2 Chron. xiv. 5, xvii. 6 (from unknown sources) contradict 1
Kings xv. 14, xxii. 43 (that Asa and Jehoshaphat did _not_ demolish
the high places), whereas xv. 16-18, xx. 31-34, are quoted from the
book of Kings and give the older view. The example is an illustration
of the simple methods of early compilers. Further, it is assumed that
the high place at Gibeon was a legitimate sanctuary (2 Chron. i. 3-6;
1 Kings iii. 2-4; 1 Chron. xxi. 28-30; 2 Sam. xxiv.); that the ark was
borne not by priests (1 Kings viii. 3) but by Levites (2 Chron. v. 4),
in accordance with post-exilic usage; and that the Levites, and not
the foreign bodyguard of the temple, helped to place Joash on the
throne (2 Chron. xxiii.).[7] Conversely 1 Chron. xv. 12 seq. explains
xiii. 10 (2 Sam. vi. 7) on the view that Uzza was not a Levite, hence
the catastrophe.
Throughout it is assumed that the Levitical organization had been in
existence from the days of David, to whom its foundation is ascribed.
In connexion with the installation of the ark considerable space is
devoted to the arrangements for the maintenance of the temple-service,
upon which the earlier books are silent, and elaborate notices of the
part played by the Levites and singers give expression to a view of
the history of the monarchy which the book of Kings does not share.[8]
Along with the exceptional interest taken in Levitical and priestly
lists should be noticed the characteristic preference for genealogies.
Particular prominence is given to the tribe and kings of Judah (1
Chron. ii.-iv.), and to the priests and Levites (1 Chron. vi., xv.
sq., xxiii.-xxv.; with ix. 1-34 cf. Neh. xi.). The historical value of
these lists is very unequal; a careful study of the names often proves
the lateness of the source, although an appreciation of the principles
of genealogies sometimes reveals important historical information; see
CALEB, GENEALOGY, JUDAH. But the Levitical system as it appears in its
most complete form in Chronicles is the result of the development of
earlier schemes, of which some traces are still preserved in
_Chronicles_ itself and in _Ezra-Nehemiah_. (See further LEVITES.)
The tendency of numbers to grow is one which must always be kept in
view--cf. 1 Chron. xviii. 4, xix. 18 (2 Sam. viii. 4 [but see LXX.],
x. 18), 1 Chron. xxi. 5, 25 (2 Sam. xxiv. 9, 24); consequently little
importance can be attached to details which appear to be exaggerated
(1 Chron. v. 21, xii., xxii. 14; 2 Chron. xiii. 3, 17), and are found
to be quite in accordance with similar peculiarities elsewhere (Num.
xxxi. 32 seq.; Judg. xx. 2, 21, 25).
Historical value.
But when allowance is made for all the above tendencies of the late
post-exilic age, there remains a certain amount of additional matter in
_Chronicles_ which may have been derived from relatively old sources.
These items are of purely political or personal nature and contain
several details which taken by themselves have every appearance of
genuineness. Where there can be no suspicion of such "tendency" as has
been noticed above there is less ground for scepticism, and it must be
remembered that the earlier books contain only a portion of the material
to which the compilers had access. Hence it may well happen that the
details which unfortunately cannot be checked were ultimately derived
from sources as reputable as those in the books of Samuel, Kings, &c. As
examples may be cited Rehoboam's buildings, &c. (2 Chron. xi. 5-12, 18
sqq.); Jeroboam's attack upon Abijah (2 Chron. xiii., cf. 1 Kings xv.
7); the invasion of Zerah in Asa's reign (2 Chron. xiv.; see ASA);
Jehoshaphat's wars and judicial measures (2 Chron. xvii. xx.; see 1
Kings xxii. 45); Jehoram's family (2 Chron. xxi. 2-4); relations between
Jehoiada and Joash (2 Chron. xxiv. 3, 15 sqq.); conflicts between
Ephraim and Judah (2 Chron. xxv. 6-13); wars of Uzziah and Jotham (2
Chron. xxvi. seq.); events in the reign of Ahaz (2 Chron. xxviii. 8-15,
18 seq.); reforms of Hezekiah (2 Chron. xxix. sqq., cf. Jer. xxvi. 19);
Manasseh's captivity, repentance and buildings (2 Chron. xxxiii. 10-20;
see 2 Kings xxi. and MANASSEH); the death of Josiah (2 Chron. xxxv.
20-25). In addition to this reference may be made to such tantalizing
statements as those in 1 Chron. ii. 23 (R.V.), iv. 39-41, v. 10, 18-22,
vii. 21 seq., viii. 13, xii. 15, examples of the kind of tradition,
national and private, upon which writers could draw. Although in their
present form the additional _narratives_ are in the chronicler's style,
it is not necessary to deny an older traditional element which may have
been preserved in sources now lost to us.[9]
BIBLIOGRAPHY.--Robertson Smith's article in the 9th ed. of the _Ency.
Brit._ was modified by his later views in _Old Test. in the Jewish
Church_[2], pp. 140-148. Recent literature is summarized by S.R.
Driver in his revision of Smith's article in _Ency. Bib._ and in his
_Lit. of Old Test._, and by F. Brown in Hastings' _Dict. Bib._ (a very
comprehensive article). Many parts of the book offer a very hard task
to the expositor, especially the genealogies, where to other troubles
are added the extreme corruption and many variations of the proper
names in the versions; on these see the articles in the _Ency. Bib._
Valuable contributions to the exegesis of the book will be found in
Wellhausen's _Prolegomena_ (Eng. trans.), pp. 171-227; Benzinger in
Marti's _Hand-Kommentar_ (1901); Kittel in _Sacred Books of the Old
Test._ (1895), _History of the Hebrews_, ii. 224 sqq. (1896), and in
Nowack's _Hand-Kommentar_ (1902). W.H. Bennett in _Expositor's Bible_
(1894), W.E. Barnes in _Cambridge Bible_ (1899), and Harvey-Jellie in
the _Century Bible_ (1906), are helpful. Among more recent
investigations are those of Howorth, _Proc. Soc. of Bibl. Archael._
xxvii. 267-278 (Chronicles a late translation from the Aramaic).
(W.R.S.; S.A.C.)