an autonomous hierocracy. According to the Law the current money
dues fell to the priests; no king had the right to take them away
and dispose of them at his pleasure. How was it possible that
Jehoiada should waive his divine right and suffer such a
sacrilegious invasion of sacred privileges? how was it possible
that he should be blamed for his (at first) passive resistance of
the illegal invasion; how was it possible at all that the priest
in his own proper department should be called to account by the
king? Chronicles knows better than that. The wicked Athaliah had
wasted and plundered the temple; Joash determined to restore it,
and for this purpose to cause money to be collected throughout
all Israel by the agency of the Levites. But as these last were
in no hurry, he made a chest and set it outside in the doorway of
the sanctuary; there the people streamed past, and gentle and simple
with joyful heart cast in their gifts until the chest was full.
This being announced by the keepers of the door, the king's scribe
and the delegate of the high priest came to remove the money;
with it the king and the high priest paid the workmen, and what
remained over was made into costly vessels (2Chronicles xxiv. 5-14).
According to this account Joash makes no arrangement whatever
about the sacred dues, but sets on foot an extraordinary collection,
as had once been done by Moses for the building of the tabernacle
(xxiv. 6, 9); following upon this, everything else also which in
2Kings xii. is a permanent arrangement, here figures as an isolated
occurrence; instead of necessary repairs of the temple constantly
recurring, only one extraordinary restoration of it is mentioned,
and for this occasional purpose only is the treasure chest set up,--
not, however, beside the altar, but only at the doorway (xxiv. 8;
comp. 2Kings xii. 10). The clergy, the Levites, are charged
only with making the collection, not with maintaining the building
out of the sacred revenues; consequently they are not
reproached with keeping the money to themselves, but only with
not being heartily enough disposed towards the collection. It
appears, however, that they were perfectly justified in this
backwardness, for the king has only to set up the "treasury of
God," when forthwith it overflows with the voluntary offerings of
the people who flock to it, so that out of the proceeds something
remains over (ver. 14) for certain other purposes--which according
to 2Kings xii. 14 [13] were expressly excluded. Joash imposes
no demands at all upon the priests, and Jehoiada in particular
stands over against him as invested with perfectly equal rights;
if the king sends his scribe, the high priest also does not appear
personally, but causes himself to be represented by a delegate
(xxiv. 11; comp. 2Kings xii. 11 [10]). Here also many a new piece
does not come well into the old garment, as De Wette (i. 10O) shows.
Chronicles itself tacitly gives the honour to the older narrative
by making Joash at last apostatise from Mosaism and refuse the
grateful deference which he owed to the high priest; this is the
consequence of the unpleasant impression, derived not from its
own story, but from that of the Book of Kings, with regard to the
undue interference of the otherwise pious king in the affairs of
the sanctuary and of the priests.
Chronicles reaps the fruits of its perversion of 2Kings xii. in
its reproduction of the nearly related and closely connected
section 2Kings xxii. 3-IO. It is worth while once more to bring
the passages together.
2Kings xxii.
3. And in the eighteenth year
of king Josiah the king sent
Shaphan the son of Azaliah,
the son of Meshullam, the scribe,
to the house of Jehovah, saying,
2Chronicles xxxiv.
8. And in the eighteenth year
of his reign, to cleanse the
land and the house, he sent
Shaphan the son of Azaliah,
and Maaseiah the governor of
the city, and Joah the son of
Joahaz the recorder, to repair
the house of Jehovah his God.
2Kings xxii.
4. Go up to Hilkiah the high
priest, that he may empty the
money which hath been brought
into the house of Jehovah
which the keepers of the
threshold have gathered of
the people.
2Chronicles xxxiv.
9. And they came to Hilkiah
the high priest, and they
delivered the money that had
been brought into the house
of God which the Levites that
kept the threshold had gathered
from Ephraim and Manasseh and
all the remnant of Israel and
from all Judah and Benjamin,
and had returned therewith
to Jerusalem.
2Kings xxii.
5. And let them deliver it into
the hand of the doers of the
work that have the oversight
of the house of Jehovah, and
let them give it to the doers
of the work who are in the
house of Jehovah to repair
the breaches of the house.
2Chronicles xxxiv.
10. And they gave it into the
hand of the workmen that had the
oversight of the house of Jehovah,
and of the workmen that wrought in
the house of Jehovah to repair
and amend the house.
2Kings xxii.
6. Unto carpenters, and builders,
and masons, and to buy timber
and hewn stones to repair the
house.
7. But let no reckoning be
made with them as to the money
that is delivered into their
hand, because they deal faithfully.
2Chronicles xxxiv.
11. They gave it to the artificers
and to the builders to buy
hewn stone and timber for roofs
and beams of the houses which
the kings of Judah had destroyed.
12. And the men did the work
faithfully. And the overseers of
them were Jahath and Obadiah,
the Levites, of the sons of
Merari; and Zechariah and
Meshullam, of the Kohathites,
to preside; and all the Levites
that had skill in instruments
of music
13. Were over the bearers of
burdens and overseers of all
that wrought the work in any
manner of service; and others
of the Levites were scribes
and officers and porters.
14. And when they brought out
the money that had been brought
into the house of Jehovah,
Hilkiah the priest found the book
of the law of Jehovah by the hand
of Moses.
2Kings xxii.
8. And Hilkiah the high priest
said unto Shaphan the scribe:
I have found the book of the
law in the house of Jehovah.
And Hilkiah gave the book to
Shaphan, and he read it.
2Chronicles xxxiv.
15. And Hilkiah answered and
said to Shaphan the scribe:
I have found the book of the law
in the house of Jehovah. And
Hilkiah delivered the book
to Shaphan.
2Kings xxii.
9. And Shaphan the scribe came
to the king and brought the king
word again, and said: Thy
servants have emptied out the
money that was found in the
house and have delivered it
into the hand of them that
do the work, that have the
oversight of the house of
Jehovah.
2Chronicles xxxiv.
16. And Shaphan carried the book
to the king, and besides brought
word back to the king, saying:
All that was committed to thy
servants they are doing.
17. And they have emptied out
the money that was found in the
house of Jehovah, and have
delivered it into the hand
of the overseers and into
the hand of the workmen.
2Kings xxii.
10. And Shaphan the scribe
told the king, saying: Hilkiah
the priest hath delivered
to me a book. And Shaphan
read it before the king.
2Chronicles xxxiv.
18. And Shaphan the scribe
told the king, saying: Hilkiah
the priest hath given me a book.
And Shaphan read out of it
before the king.
The occasion on which the priest introduces the Book of the Law
to the notice of Shaphan has presuppositions in the arrangement
made by Joash which Chronicles has destroyed, substituting others
in its place,--that the temple had been destroyed under the
predecessors of Josiah, but that under the latter money was raised
by the agency of peripatetic Levites throughout all Israel for the
restoration, and in the first instance deposited in the treasure-chest.
At the emptying of this chest the priest is then alleged to have
found the book (ver. 14, after Deuteronomy xxxi. 26), notwithstanding
that on this occasion Shaphan also and the two accountants added
in ver. 8 were present, and ought therefore to have had a share
in the discovery which, however, is excluded by ver. 15 (= 2Kings
xxii. 8). There are other misunderstandings besides; in particular,
the superintendents of the works (_muphkadim_), to whom, according
to the original narrative, the money is handed over for payment,
are degraded to the rank of simple workmen, from whom, nevertheless,
they are again afterwards distinguished; and while in 2Kings xxii.
7 they are represented as dealing faithfully _in paying out the money_,
in 2Chronicles xxxiv. 12 they deal faithfully in their work.
Perhaps, however, this is no mere misunderstanding, but is
connected with the endeavour to keep profane hands as far off as
possible from that which is holy, and, in particular, to give the
management of the work to the Levites (vers. 12,13). To what
length the anxiety of later ages went in this matter is seen in
the statement of Josephus (Ant., xv. 11, 2), that Herod caused one
thousand priests to be trained as masons and carpenters for the
building of his temple. The two most interesting alterations in
Chronicles are easily overlooked. In ver. 1 8 the words: "He
read the book to the king," are changed into "He read out of the
book to the king;" and after "Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan"
(ver. 15) the words "and he read it" are omitted. In 2Kings the
book appears as of very moderate size, but the author of
Chronicles figures to himself the whole Pentateuch under that
name.
In the sequel 2Kings xxii. 11-xxiii.3 is indeed repeated verbatim
in 2Chronicles xxxiv. 19-32, but the incomparably more important
section connected with it (xxiii. 4-10), giving a detailed
account of Josiah's vigorous reformation, is omitted, and its
place taken by the meagre remark that the king removed all
abominations out of Israel (xxxiv. 33); in compensation his
passover feast is described all the more fully (chap. xxxv.).
In recording also the finding and publication of the Law,
Chronicles fails to realise that this document begins now for the
first time to be historically operative, and acquires its great
importance quite suddenly. On the contrary, it had been from the
days of Moses the basis on which the community rested, and had
been in force and validity at all normal times; only
temporarily could this life-principle of the theocracy be
repressed by wicked kings, forthwith to become vigorous and
active again as soon as the pressure was removed. As soon as Ahaz
has closed his eyes, Hezekiah, in the first month of his first
year, again restores the Mosaic cultus; and as soon as Josiah
reaches years of discretion he makes good the sins of his fathers.
Being at his accession still too young, the eighth year of his
reign is, as a tribute to propriety, selected instead of the
eighth year of his life, and the great reformation assigned
to that period which in point of fact he undertook at a much
later date (xxxiv. 3-7 = 2Kings xxiii. 4-20> Thus the movement
happily becomes separated from its historical occasion, and
in character the innovation appears rather as a simple recovery
of the spring after the pressure on it has been removed. The mist
disappears before the sun of the Law, which appears in its old
strength; its light passes through no phases, but shines from
the beginning with uniform brightness. What Josiah did had also
been done before him already by Asa, then by Jehoshaphat, then
by Hezekiah; the reforms are not steps in a progressive development,
but have all the same unchanging contents. Such is the influence
upon historical vision of that transcendental Mosaism raised far
above all growth and process of becoming, which can be traced even
in the Book of Kings, but is so much more palpable in the Book
of Chronicles.
VI.II.3. Apart from the fact that it represents the abiding tradition
of the legitimate cultus at Jerusalem, the history of Judah in the
Book of Chronicles has yet another instructive purpose. In the
kingdom of Judah it is not a natural and human, but a divine
pragmatism that is operative. To give expression to this is what
the prophets exist for in unbroken succession side by side with
high priests and kings; they connect the deeds of men with the
events of the course of the world, and utilise the sacred history
as a theme for their preaching, as a collection of examples
illustrative of the promptest operation of the righteousness of
Jehovah. In doing so they do not preach what is new or free, but
have at their command, like Jehovah Himself, only the Law of
Moses, setting before their hearers prosperity and adversity in
conformity with the stencil pattern, just as the law is
faithfully fulfilled or neglected. Of course their prophecies
always come exactly true, and in this way is seen an astonishing
harmony between inward worth and outward circumstance. Never
does sin miss its punishment, and never where misfortune occurs is
guilt wanting.
In the fifth year of Rehoboam Judah and Jerusalem were ravaged by
Pharaoh Shishak (1Kings xiv. 25). The explanation is that three
years they walked in the ways of David and Solomon, because for
three years they were strengthened and reinforced by the priests
and Levites and other pious persons who had immigrated from the
northern kingdom (2Chronicles xi. 17); but thereafter in the fourth
year, after the kingdom of Rehoboam had been strengthened and
confirmed, he forsook the Law and all Israel with him (xii. 1)--
and in the fifth year followed the invasion of Shishak. A prophet
announces this, and in consequence the king humbles himself
along with his people and escapes with comparatively trifling
punishment, being thought worthy to reign yet other twelve years.
Asa in his old age was diseased in his feet (1Kings xv. 23).
According to 2Chronicles xvi. 12, he died of this illness, which is
described as extremely dangerous, in the forty-first year of his
reign, after having already been otherwise unfortunate in his
later years. And why? He had invoked foreign aid, instead of
the divine, against Baasha of Israel. Now, as Baasha survived only
to the twenty-sixth year of Asa, the wickedness must have been
perpetrated before that date. But in that case its connection
with the punishment which overtook the king only towards the
close of his life would not be clear. Baasha's expedition against
Jerusalem, accordingly, and the Syrian invasion of Israel
occasioned by Asa on that account are brought down in Chronicles
to the thirty-sixth year of the latter (xvi. 1). It has been
properly observed that Baasha was at that date long dead, and the
proposal has accordingly been made to change the number
thirty-six into sixteen,--without considering that the first half
of the reign of Asa is expressly characterised as having been
prosperous, that the thirty-fifth year is already reached in
chap. xv. 19, and that the correction destroys the connection of
the passage with what follows (xvi. 7 seq.). For it is in
connection with that flagitious appeal for aid to the Syrians that
the usual prophet makes his appearance (xvi. 7), and makes the
usual announcement of impending punishment. It is Hanani, a man
of Northern Israel (1Kings xvi. 7), but Asa treats him as if he
were one of his own subjects, handles him severely, and shuts him
in prison. By this he hastens and increases his punishment,
under which he falls in the forty-first year of his reign.
Jehoshaphat, the pious king, according to 1Kings xxii., took part
in the expedition of the godless Ahab of Israel against the
Damascenes. Chronicles cannot allow this to pass unrebuked,
and accordingly when the king returns in peace, the same Hanani
announces his punishment, albeit a gracious one (2Chronicles xix.
I-3). And gracious indeed it is; the Moabites and Ammonites
invade the land, but Jehoshaphat without any effort on his part
wins a glorious victory, and inexhaustible plunder (xx. 1 seq.).
One cannot blame him, therefore, for once more entering into an
alliance with Ahab's successor for a naval expedition to be
undertaken in common, which is to sail from a port of the Red Sea,
probably round Africa, to Tarshish (Spain, 2Chronicles ix. 21).
But this time he is punished more seriously as Eliezer the son of
Dodavah had prophesied, the ships are wrecked. Compare on the
other hand 1Kings xxii. 48, 49:
"Jehoshaphat made ships of Tarshish to go to Ophir for gold,
but they went not, for the ships were wrecked in the harbour
on the Red Sea. At that time Ahaziah the son of Ahab had said
to Jehoshaphat: Let my servants go with thy servants in the ships;
but Jehoshaphat would not."
So the original statement. But in Chronicles a moral ground must
be found for the misfortune, and Jehoshaphat therefore makes with
the king of Samaria a sinful alliance, which in point of fact he
had declined, not indeed from religious motives.
Joram, the son of Jehoshaphat, conducted himself very ill, it is
said in 2Kings viii. 18; Chronicles enhances his offence, and
above all adds the merited reward (xxi. 4, seq.). Elijah,
although he had quitted this earth long before (2Kings iii. 11
seq.), must write to the offender a letter, the threats of which
are duly put into execution by Jehovah. The Philistines and
Arabians having previously pressed him hard, he falls into an
incurable sickness of the bowels, which afflicts him for years,
and finally brings him to his end in a most frightful manner
(xxi. 12, seq.). In concurrence with the judgment of God, the
people withhold from the dead king the honours of royalty, and he
is not buried beside his fathers, notwithstanding 2Kings viii. 24.
Joash, according to 2Kings xii., was a pious ruler, but met with
misfortune; he was compelled to buy off Hazael, who had laid
siege to Jerusalem, at a heavy price, and finally he died by
the assassin's hand. Chronicles is able to tell how he deserved
this fate. In the sentence: "He did what was right in the sight
of the Lord all his days, because Jehoiada the high priest had
instructed him " (2Kings xii. 3 [2]), it alters the last
expression into "all the days of Jehoiada the priest," (xxiv. 2).
After the death of his benefactor he fell away, and showed his
family the basest ingratitude; at the end of that very year the
Syrians invade him; after their departure his misfortunes are
increased by a dreadful illness, under which he is murdered
(xxiv. 17 seq.).
Amaziah was defeated, made prisoner, and severely punished by
Jehoash, king of Samaria, whom he had audaciously challenged
(2Kings xiv. 8 seq.). Why? because he had set up in Jerusalem
idols which had been carried off from Edom, and served them
(2Chronicles xxv. 1 4). He prefers the plundered gods of a
vanquished people to Jehovah at the very moment when the latter
has proved victorious over them! From the time of this apostasy--
a crime for which no punishment could be too great--his own servants
are also stated to have conspired against him and put him to death
(xxv. 27), and yet we are assured in ver. 25 (after 2Kings xiv.
I;) that Amaziah survived his adversary by fifteen years.
Uzziah, one of the best kings of Judah, became a leper, and was
compelled to hand over the regency to his son Jotham (2Kings xv.
5); for, adds Chronicles, "when he had become strong, his heart
was lifted up, even to ruin, so that he transgressed against
Jehovah his God, and went into the temple of Jehovah, to burn
incense upon the altar of incense. And Azariah the priest went in
after him, and with him fourscore priests of Jehovah, and
withstood him and said: It is not for thee to burn incense, but
only for the sons of Aaron who are consecrated thereto. Then
Uzziah was wroth and laid not the censer aside, and the leprosy
rose up in his forehead, and the priests thrust him out from
thence" (xxvi. 16-20). The matter is now no longer a mystery.
Ahaz was a king of little worth, and yet he got fairly well out
of the difficulty into which the invasion of the allied Syrians
and Israelites had brought him by making his kingdom tributary
to the Assyrian Tiglath-Pileser (2Kings xvi. 1 seq.). But
Chronicles could not possibly let him off so cheaply. By it he
is delivered into the hand of the enemy: the Israelites alone
slaughter 120,000 men of Judah, including the king's son and his
most prominent servants, and carry off to Samaria 200,000 women
and children, along with a large quantity of other booty. The
Edomites and Philistines also fall upon Ahaz, while the Assyrians
whom he has summoned to his aid misunderstand him, and come up
against Jerusalem with hostile intent; they do not, indeed, carry
the city, but yet become possessors, without trouble, of its
treasures, which the king himself hands over to them (xxviii. 1-21).
The Book of Kings knows no worse ruler than Manasseh was; yet he
reigned undisturbed for fifty-five years--a longer period than was
enjoyed by any other king (2Kings xxi.1-18). This is a stone
of stumbling that Chronicles must remove. It tells that Manasseh
was carried in chains by the Assyrians to Babylon, but there prayed
to Jehovah, who restored him to his kingdom; he then abolished
idolatry in Judah (xxxiii. 11-20). Thus on the one hand he does
not escape punishment, while on the other hand the length of his
reign is nevertheless explained. Recently indeed it has been
sought to support the credibility of these statements by means of
an Assyrian inscription, from which it appears that Manasseh did
pay tribute to Esarhaddon. That is to say, he had been
overpowered by the Assyrians; that is again to say, that he had
been thrown into chains and carried off by them. Not so rapid,
but perhaps quite as accurate, would be the inference that as a
tributary prince he must have kept his seat on the throne of Judah,
and not have exchanged it for the prison of Babylon. In truth,
Manasseh's temporary deposition is entirely on the same plane
with Nebuchadnezzar's temporary grass-eating. The unhistorical
character of the intermezzo (the motives of which are perfectly
transparent) follows not only from the silence of the Book of
Kings (a circumstance of no small importance indeed), but also,
for example, from Jeremiah xv. 4; for when it is there said that
all Judah and Jerusalem are to be given up to destruction because
of Manasseh, it is not presupposed that his guilt has been already
borne and atoned for by himself.
To justify the fact of Josiah's defeat and death at Megiddo, there
is attached to him the blame of not having given heed to the words
of Necho from the mouth of God warning him against the struggle
(xxxv. 21, 22). Contrariwise, the punishment of the godless
Jehoiakim is magnified; he is stated to have been put in irons by
the Chaldaeans and carried to Babylon (xxxvi. 6)--an impossibility
of course before the capture of Jerusalem, which did not take place
until the third month of his successor. The last prince of
David's house, Zedekiah, having suffered more severely than all
his predecessors, must therefore have been stiff-necked and
rebellious (xxxvi.12, 13),--characteristics to which, according to
the authentic evidence of the prophet Jeremiah, he had in reality
the least possible claim.
It is thus apparent how inventions of the most circumstantial kind
have arisen out of this plan of writing history, as it is
euphemistically called. One is hardly warranted, therefore, in
taking the definiteness of statements vouched for by Chronicles
alone as proof of their accuracy. The story about Zerah the
Ethiopian (2Chronicles xiv. 9 seq.) is just as apocryphal as that
of Chushan-Rishathaim (Judges iii 10). Des Vignoles has indeed
identified the first-named with the Osorthon of Manetho, who again
occurs in the Egyptian monuments as Osorkon, son of Shishak, though
not as renewing the war against Palestine; but Osorkon was an Egyptian,
Zerah an Ethiopian, and the resemblance of the names is after all
not too obvious. But, even if Zerah were really a historical
personage, of what avail would this be for the unhistorical
connection? With a million of men the king of the Libyans and
Moors, stepping over Egypt, comes against Judah. Asa, ruler of a
land of about sixty German square miles, goes to meet the enemy
with 580,000, and defeats him on the plain to the north of Mareshah
so effectually that not a single soul survives. Shall it be said
that this story, on account of the accurate statement of locality
(although Mareshah instead of Gath is not after all suggestive of
an old source), is credible-at all events after deduction of the
incredibilities? If the incredibilities are deducted, nothing at
all is left. The invasion of Judah by Baasha of Israel, and Asa's
deportment towards him (1Kings xv. 17 seq.), are quite enough
fully to dispose of the great previous victory over the
Ethiopians claimed for Asa. The case is no better with the victory
of Jehoshaphat over the Ammonites and Moabites (2Chronicles xx.);
here we have probably an echo of 2Kings iii., where we read of
Jehoshaphat's taking part in a campaign against Moab, and where
also recurs that characteristic feature of the self-destruction of
the enemy, so that for the opposing force nothing remains but the
work of collecting the booty (iii. 23; compare 2Chronicles xx.
23). The Chronicler has enemies always at his command when
needed,--Arabians, Ethiopians (xvii. 11, xxi. 16, xxii. 1, xxvi.
7), Mehunims (xx. 1, xxvi. 1), Philistines (xvii. 11, xxi. 16,
xxvi. 6 seq., xxviii. 18), Ammonites (xx. 1, xxvi. 8, xxvii. 5),
whose very names in some cases put them out of the question
for the older time. Such statements as that the Ammonites became
subject to Kings Uzziah and Jotham, are, in the perfect silence of
the credible sources, condemned by their inherent impossibility;
for at that period the highway to Ammon was Moab, and this country
was by no means then in the possession of Judah, nor is it
anywhere said that it was. The Philistines as vindictive enemies
are rendered necessary by the plan of the history (xxi. 16,
xxviii. 18), and this of itself throws suspicion upon the previous
statements (xvii. 11, xxvi. 6 seq.) that they were laid under
tribute by Jehoshaphat, and subjugated by Uzziah; it is utterly
impossible to believe that the latter should have broken down
the walls of Ashdod (Amos i. 7), or have established fortresses
in Philistia. According to the Book of Kings, he did indeed conquer
Edom anew; Edom is according to this authority the one land to
which the descendants of David lay claim and against which they
wage war, while Moab and Philistia (the most important towns being
excepted, however, in the case of the latter) virtually belong to
the territory of Ephraim.
The triumphs given by the Chronicler to his favourites have none
of them any historical effect, but merely serve to add a
momentary splendour to their reigns. Merit is always the obverse
of success. Joram, Joash, Ahaz, who are all depicted as
reprobates, build no fortresses, command no great armies, have no
wealth of wives and children; it is only in the case of the
pious kings (to the number of whom even Rehoboam and Abijah also
belong) that the blessing of God manifests itself by such tokens.
Power is the index of piety, with which accordingly It rises and
fall. Apart from this it is of no consequence if, for example,
Jehoshaphat possesses more than 1,100.000 soldiers (xvii, 14
seq.), for they are not used for purposes of war; the victory
comes from God and from the music of the Levites (chap. xx.).
In the statements about fortress-building which regularly recur
in connection with the names of good rulers, /1/
-- Footnote
1 viii. 3-6, xi. 5-12, xiii. 19, xiv. 5, 6 [6, 7], xvii. 12,
xix. 5, xxvi. 9, 10, xxvii. 4, xxxii. 5,, xxxiii. 14.
-- Footnote
general statements, such as those of Hosea viii. 14, 2Kings
xviii. 13, are illustrated by concrete examples, a few elements
of tradition being also employed (Lachish). It is not possible,
but, indeed, neither is it necessary, to demonstrate in every case
the imaginary character of the statements; according to xix. 5
it would appear as if simply every city of any kind of
consequence was regarded as a fortress and in the list given in
chap. xi. 6 seq., we chiefly meet with names which were also
familiar in the post-exile period. That Abijah deprived Jeroboam
of Bethel amongst others, and that Jehoshaphat set governors over
the Ephraimite cities which had been taken by Asa his father
(xiii. 19, xvii. 2), would excite surprise if it stood anywhere
else than in Chronicles. In forming a judgment on its family
history of the descendants of David, the statement contained in
xiii. 21 is specially helpful both in manner and substance: "And
Abijah waxed mighty, and he married fourteen wives, and begat
twenty and two sons, and sixteen daughters." This can only be
taken as referring to the reign of Abijah, and that too after the
alleged victory over Jeroboam; but he reigned altogether for only
three years, and is it to be supposed that within this interval
one of his sons should even have attained to man's estate?
In reality, however, Abijah had no son at all, but was succeeded
by his brother, for the definite and doubtless authentic
statement that Maachah, the wife of Rehoboam, was the mother
both of Abijah and of Asa, and that the latter removed her from
her position at court (1Kings xv. 2, 10, 13), must override
the allegation of ver. 8, that the successor of Abijah was his
son. After Jehoshaphat's death it is said in the first place
that Jehoram slew all his brethren (2 Chr. xxi. 4), and
afterwards that the Arabians slew all Jehoram's children
with the exception of one (xxii. 1); how many of the Davidic
house in that case survive for Jehu, who nevertheless slew
forty-two of them (2Kings x. 14)? In short, the family
history of the house of David is of equal historical value with
all the other matters on which the Chronicler is more widely and
better informed than all the older canonical books. The remark
applies to names and numbers as well; about such trifles, which
produce an appearance of accuracy, the author is never in any
embarrassment.
VI.II.4. The Book of Kings then everywhere crops up as the real
foundation of the portion of Chronicles relating to Judah after
the period of Solomon. Where the narrative of the former is
detailed and minute, our author also has fuller and more
interesting material at his command; so, for example, in the
history relating to the temple and to the common and mutual
relations of Judah and Israel (2 Chr. x., xviii., xxiii., seq.,
xxv. 17-24, xxxiii. seq.). Elsewhere he is restricted to the
epitome that constitutes the framework of the Book of Kings; by
it he is guided in his verdicts as to the general character of the
successive sovereigns as well as in his chronological statements,
although, in accordance with his plan, he as a rule omits the
synchronisms (xiii. 1, xxv. 25). The positive data also, given by
the epitome with reference to the legislation in matters of
worship by the various kings, are for the most part reproduced
word for word, and float in a fragmentary and readily
distinguishable way in the mixture of festivals, sermons,
choruses, law, and prophets. For this is an important
verification of all the results already obtained; all in
Chronicles that is not derived from Samuel and Kings, has a
uniform character not only in its substance, but also in its
awkward and frequently unintelligible language--plainly belonging
to a time in which Hebrew was approaching extinction--in its
artificiality of style, deriving its vitality exclusively
from Biblical reminiscences. This is not the place for the
proof of these points, but the reader may compare Staehelin's
Einleitung (1862), p. 139 seq.; Bertheau, p. xiv. seq., and
Graf, p. 116.
VI.III.
VI.III.1. When the narrative of Chronicles runs parallel with the
older historical books of the canon, it makes no real additions, but
the tradition is merely differently coloured, under the influence
of contemporary motives. In the picture it gives the writer's own
present is reflected, not antiquity. But neither is the case very
different with the genealogical lists prefixed by way of
introduction in 1Chronicles i.-ix.; they also are in the main valid
only for the period at which they were drawn up--whether for its
actual condition or for its conceptions of the past.
The penchant for pedigrees and genealogical registers, made up from
a mixture of genealogico-historical and ethnologico-statistical
elements, is a characteristic feature of Judaism; along with the
thing the word YX# also first came into use during the later
times. Compendious histories are written in the form of TLDWT and
YWX#YN. The thread is thin and inconspicuous, and yet apparently
strong and coherent; one does not commit oneself to much, and yet
has opportunity to introduce all kinds of interesting matter.
Material comes to one's hand, given a beginning and an end, the
bridge is soon completed. Another expression of the same tendency
is the inclination to give a genealogical expression to all
connections and associations of human society whatsoever, to
create artificial families on all hands and bring them into blood
relationship, as if the whole of public life resolved itself into
a matter of cousinship,--an inclination indicative of the times of
political stagnation then prevalent. We hear of the families of
the scribes at Jabesh, of the potters and gardeners and
byssus-workers, of the sons of the goldsmiths, apothecaries, and
fullers, these corporations being placed on the same plane with
actual families. The division into classes of the persons engaged
in religious service is merely the most logical development of
this artificial system which is applied to all other social
relations as well.
Proceeding now to a fuller examination of the contents of 1 Chron
i.-ix. and other texts connected with that, we have here, apart
from the first chapter, which does not demand further attention,
an ethno-genealogical survey of the twelve tribes of Israel, which
is based mostly on the data of the Priestly Code (Genesis xlvi.;
um. <?> xxvi.), expanded now more now less. But while the statements
of the Priestly Code have to hold good for the Mosaic period only,
those of Chronicles have also to apply to the succeeding
ages,--those, for example, of Saul and David, of Tiglath-Pileser and
Hezekiah. As early as the time of the judges, however, very
important changes had taken place in the conditions. While Dan
continued to subsist with difficulty, Simeon and Levi had been
completely broken up (Genesis xlix. 7); in the Blessing of Moses
the latter name denotes something quite different from a tribe, and
the former is not even so much as named, although the enumeration
is supposed to be complete; in David's time it had already been
absorbed by families of mingled Judaic and Edomitic descent in the
district where it had once had independent footing. Eastward of
Jordan Leah's first-born had a similar fate, although somewhat
later. After it has been deposed from its primacy in Genesis xlix.
and twitted in Judges v. with its brave words unaccompanied by
corresponding deeds, the faint and desponding wish is expressed in
Deuteronomy xxxiii. 6 that "Reuben may live and not die," and King
Mesha is unaware that any other than the Gadite had ever dwelt in
the land which, properly speaking, was the heritage of Reuben.
But in Chronicles these extinct tribes again come to life--and not
Levi alone, which is a special case, but also Simeon and Reuben,
with which alone we are here to deal--and they exist as
independent integral twelfths of Israel, precisely like Ephraim
and Manasseh, throughout the whole period of the monarchy down to
the destruction of the kingdom by the Assyrians. /1/ This is
-- Footnote
1. For Reuben see (in addition to 1Chronicles v. 1-10) v. 18, xi.
42, xii. 37. xxvi. 32, xxvii. 16, for Simeon, 1Chronicles iv.
24-43, with xii. 25, and 2Chronicles xv. 9, xxxiv. 6, observing
that in the last two passages Simeon is reckoned as belonging to
the northern kingdom, so as to complete the number of the ten
tribes.
-- Footnote
diametrically opposed to all authentic tradition; for to
maintain that nothing else is intended than a continued
subsistence of individual Simeonite and Reubenite families within
other tribes is merely a desperate resort of the harmonists, and
every attempt to tone down the fact that those extinct and
half-mythical tribes are in Chronicles placed side by side with
the rest without any distinction is equally illegitimate. The
historical value thus lost by the narrative as a whole cannot be
restored by the seeming truthfulness of certain details. Or is
more significance really to be attached to the wars of the Simeonites
and Reubenites against the Arabians than to the rest of the extemporised
wars of the kings of Judah against these children of the wilderness?
If only at least the names had not been "sons of Ham, and Mehunim
and Hagarenes " (iv. 40 seq. [Heb.], v. 10)! As for the
pedigrees and genealogical lists, are they to be accepted as
historical merely because their construction is not apparent to
us, and they evade our criticism? The language affords no room
for the conjecture that we here possess extracts from documents of
high antiquity (iv. 33, 38, 4I, v. 1 seq., 7, 9 seq.), and
proper names such as Elioenai and the like (iv. 35 seq.) are not
striking for their antique originality.
Of the remaining tribes, so far as they belong to Israel and not
to Judah, the next in the series after Reuben are the
trans-Jordanic (v. 11-26). They are said to have been numbered
in the days of Jotham of Judah and Jeroboam of Israel, on which
occasion 44,760 warriors were returned; they took the field
against the Hagarenes, Ituraeans, Nephishites, and Nabataeans,
gaining the victory and carrying off much booty, "for they
cried to God in the battle, and He was entreated of them because
they put their trust in Him." But afterwards they fell away
from the God of their fathers, and as a punishment were carried off
by Pul and Tiglath-Pileser to Armenia by the Chaboras and the
river of Gozan. Apart from the language, which in its edifying
tone is that of late Judaism, and leaving out of account the
enumeration "the sons of Reuben and the Gadites and half of the
tribe of Manasseh," the astonishing and highly doubtful
combinations are eloquent: Pul and Tiglath-Pileser, the Chaboras
and the river of Gozan, are hardly distinguished from each other;
Jotham and Jeroboam, on the other hand, make so impossible a
synchronism that the partisans of Chronicles will have it that
none is intended,--forgetful, to be sure, of Hosea i. 2, and
omitting to say what in that case Jotham of Judah has to do here
at all in this connection. The Hagarenes and Ituraeans too,
instead of (say) the Moabites and Ammonites, furnish food for
reflection, as also do the geographical statements that Gad had
his seat in Bashan and Manasseh in and near Lebanon. As for the
proper names of families and their heads, they are certainly
beyond our means of judging; the phrases however of the scheme
they fill (anshe shemoth rashe l'beth abotham, migrash, jahes)
are peculiar to the Priestly Code and Chronicles, and alongside of
elements which are old and attested from other quarters, occur
others that look very recent, as for example (v. 24) Eliel,
Azriel, Jeremiah, Hodaviah, Jahdiel.
In the introduction the Galilaean tribes have no prominent place,
but in the rest of the book they make a favourable appearance
(see especially 1Chronicles xii. 32-34, 40, and 2Chronicles xxx.
10, 11, 18); it readily occurs to one, especially in the
last-cited passage, to think of the later Judaising process in
Galilee. In Issachar there are stated to have been 87,000
fighting men in David's time (misparam l'toledotham l'beth
abotham, vii. 1-5); out of Zebulun and Naphtali, again, exactly
87,000 men came to David at Hebron, to anoint him and be feasted
three days,--it is carefully mentioned, however (xii. 40), that
they took their provisions up with them. The proper kernel of
Israel, Ephraim and Manasseh, is, in comparison with Simeon,
Reuben, Gad, Issachar, treated with very scant kindness (vii.
14-29),--a suspicious sign. The list of the families of Manasseh
is an artificial _rechauffe_ of elements gleaned anywhere; Maachah
passes for the wife as well as the sister of Machir, but being a
Gileaditess (Beth-Maachah), ought not to have been mentioned at
all in this place where the cis-Jordanic Manasseh is being spoken
of; to fill up blanks every contribution is thankfully
received. /1/ In the case of Ephraim a long and meagre genealogy
-- Footnote
1 Kuenen, Th. Tijdschr., 1877, pp. 484, 488; Godsdienst v.
Isr., i. 165.
-- Footnote
only is given, which, begun in vers. 20, 21, and continued in
ver. 25, constantly repeats the same names (Tahath, Tahan,
1Samuel i. 1; Eladah, Laadan, Shuthelah, Telah), and finally
reaches its end and goal in Joshua, whose father Nun alone is
known to the older sources! Into the genealogy a wonderful
account of the slaying of the children of Ephraim by the men of
Gath (1Samuel iv.?) has found its way, and (like viii. 6, 7)
according to the prevailing view must be of venerable antiquity.
But in that case the statement of iv. 9 must also be very
ancient, which yet obviously is connected with the rise of the
schools of the scribes stated in ii. 55 to have existed in Jabez.
Everywhere it is presupposed that Israel throughout the entire
period of the monarchy was organised on the basis of the twelve
tribes (ii.-ix.; xii.; xxvii.), but the assumption is certainly
utterly false, as can be seen for example from 1Kings iv.
Further, the _penchant_ of later Judaism for statistics is carried
back to the earlier time, to which surveys and censuses were
repugnant in the extreme. In spite of 2Samuel xxiv., we are told
that under David enumerations both of the spiritual and of the
secular tribes were made again and again; so also under his
successors, as may be inferred partly from express statements
and partly from the precise statistics given as to the number
of men capable of bearing arms: in these cases the most astounding
figures are set down,--always, however, as resting on original
documents and accurate enumeration. In the statistical
information of Chronicles, then, so far as it relates to
pre-exilic antiquity, we have to do with artificial compositions.
It is possible, and occasionally demonstrable, that in these
some elements derived from tradition have been used. But it
is certain that quite as many have been simply invented; and
the combination of the elements--the point of chief importance--
dates, as both form and matter show, from the very latest period.
One might as well try to hear the grass growing as attempt to
derive from such a source as this a historical knowledge of
the conditions of ancient Israel.
VI.III.2. As regards Judah and Benjamin, and to a certain extent
Levi also, the case of course is somewhat different from that
of the ten extinct tribes. It is conceivable that here a living
ethno-genealogical tradition may have kept the present connected
with the past. Nevertheless, on closer examination, it comes out
that most of what the Chronicler here relates has reference to the
post-exilic time, and that the few fragments which go up to a
higher antiquity are wrought into a connection which on the
whole is of a very recent date. Most obtrusively striking is it
that the list of the heads of the people dwelling in Jerusalem
given in ix. 4--17 is simply identical with Nehemiah xi. 3-19. In
this passage, introducing as it does the history of the kings (x.
seq.), one is by no means prepared to hear statements about the
community of the second temple; but our author is under the
impression that in going there he is letting us know about the old
Jerusalem; from David to Nehemiah is no leap for him, the times
are not distinct from one another to his mind. For chap. viii.
also, containing a full enumeration of the Benjamite families,
with special reference to those which had their seat in the
capital, Bertheau has proved the post-exilic reference; it is
interesting that in the later Jerusalem there existed a widespread
family which wished to deduce its origin from Saul and rested its
claims to this descent on a long genealogy (viii. 33-40). /1/
-- Footnote
1. Equivalent to ix. 35-44, which perhaps proves the later
interpolation of ix. 1-34.
-- Footnote
It cannot be said that this produces a very favourable impression
for the high antiquity of the other list of the Benjamites in vii.
6-11; to see how little value is to be attached to the pretensions
of the latter to be derived from original documents of hoary
antiquity, it is only necessary to notice the genuinely Jewish
phraseology of vers. 7, 9, 11, such proper names as Elioenai,
and the numbers given (22,034 + 20,200 + 17,200, making in all
59,434 fighting men).
The registers of greatest historical value are those relating
to the tribe of Judah (ii. 1-iV. 23). But in this statement
the genealogy of the descendants of David must be excepted
(chapter iii.), the interest of which begins only with Zerubbabel,
the rest being merely an exceedingly poor compilation of materials
still accessible to us in the older historical books of the canon,
and in Jeremiah. According to iii. 5, the first four of David's
sons, born in Jerusalem, were all children of Bathsheba; the
remaining seven are increased to nine by a textual error which
occurs also in the LXX version of 2Samuel v. 16. Among the sons
of Josiah (iii. 15 seq.), Johanan, i.e. Jehoahaz, is
distinguished from Shallum (Jeremiah xxii. 11), and because he
immediately succeeded his father, is represented as the
first-born, though in truth Jehoiakim was older (2Kings xxiii.
3I, 36); Zedekiah, Jehoiakim's brother, is given out to be the
son of Jeconiah, the son of Jehoiakim, because he was the
successor of Jeconiah, who succeeded Jehoiakim. Similar things
occur also in the Book of Daniel, but are usually overlooked, with
a mistaken piety. Whoever has eyes to see cannot assign any high
value except to the two great Jewish genealogies in chaps. ii.
and iv. Yet even here the most heterogeneous elements are tossed
together, and chaff is found mingled with wheat. /1/
-- Footnote
1. For further details the reader is referred to the author's
dissertation De gentibus et familiis Judaeis, Gottingen, 1870.
-- Footnote
Apart from the introduction, vers.1-8, chap. ii. is a genealogy
of the children of Hezron, a tribe which in David's time had not
yet been wholly amalgamated with Judah, but which even then
constituted the real strength of that tribe and afterwards became
completely one with it. The following scheme discloses itself
amid the accompanying matters: "The sons of Hezron are Jerahmeel
and Celubai" (Caleb) (ver. 9). "and the sons of Jerahmeel, the
first-born of Hezron, were..." (ver. 25). "These were the
sons of Jerahmeel. And the sons of Caleb the brother of Jerahmeel
were..." (ver. 42). "These were the sons of Caleb " (ver. 50 a).
That which is thus formally defined and kept by itself apart
(compare in this connection "Jerahmeel the first-born of Hezron,"
"Caleb the brother of Jerahmeel") is materially also distinguished
from all else. It is the kernel of the whole, and refers to the
pre-exilian time. Even the unusual _et fuerunt_ (vers. 25, 33,
50) points to this conclusion, as well as, in the case of Caleb,
the positive fact that the towns named in ver. 42-49 are all
situated near Hebron and in the Negeb of Judah, where after the
exile the Idumaeans were settled, and, in the case of Jerahmeel,
the negative circumstance that here no towns at all are mentioned
among the families, Molid, ver. 29, being perhaps a single
exception, and thus the extreme south is indicated. But this
kernel is amplified by a number of post-exilian additions. In
the first place, in connection with Jerahmeel, an appendix
(vers. 34-41) is given which is not ethnological but purely
genealogical, and brings a pedigree of fifteen members manifestly
down to near the age of the Chronicler, and which moreover is only
in apparent connection with what precedes it (comp. ver. 34 with
ver. 31), and invariably uses the hiphil form _holid_, a form
which occurs in vers. 25-33 never, and in vers. 42-50 only
sporadically in three places open to the suspicion of later
redaction (comp. especially ver. 47). Much more important,
however, are the additions under Caleb; of these the one is
prefixed (vers. 18-24), the other, more appropriately, brought in
at the close (vers. 50-55, beginning with "and the sons of Hur,
the firstborn of Ephrath," Caleb's second wife, ver. 19). Here
Caleb no longer presents himself in the extreme south of Judah and
the vicinity of Jerahmeel (1Samuel xxv. 3, xxvii. 10, xxx. 14,
29), where he had his settlement prior to the exile, but his
families, which are all of them descended from his son Hur,
inhabit Bethlehem, Kirjath-jearim, Zorah, Esthaol, and other towns
in the north, frequently mentioned in Ezra and Nehemiah. Thus
the Calebites in consequence of the exile have forsaken their old
seats and have taken up new ones on their return; this fact is
expressed in ver. 18 to the effect that Caleb's first wife Azubah
bath Jerioth (Deserta filia Nomadum) had died, and that he had then
married a second, Ephrath, by whom he became the father of Hur:
Ephrath is the name of the district in which Bethlehem and Kirjath-
jearim are situated, and properly speaking is merely another
form of Ephraim, as is shown by the word Ephrathite. In addition
to these appendices to Jerahmeel and Caleb, we have also the
genealogy of David (vers. 10-17). The Book of Samuel knows only
of his father Jesse; on the other hand, Saul's genealogy is
carried further back, and there was no reason for not doing so in
David's case also if the materials had existed. But here, as in
Ruth, the pedigree is traced backwards through Jesse, Obed, Boaz,
up to Salma. Salma is the father of Bethlehem (ii. 54), and hence
the father of David. But Salma is the father of Bethlehem and the
neighbouring towns or fractions of towns AFTER THE EXILE; he belongs
to Kaleb Abi Hur. /1/
-- Footnote
I In the Targum, Caleb's kindred the Kenites are designated as
Salmaeans; the name also occurs in Canticles (i. 5, the tents of
Kedar, the curtains of Salmah), and also as the name of a
Nabataean tribe in Pliny. Among the families of the Nethinim
enumerated in Nehemiah vii. 46-60 the B'ne Salmah also occur,
along with several other names which enable us distinctly to
recognise (Ezekiel xliv.) the non-Israelite and foreign origin
of these temple slaves; see, for example, vers. 48, 52, 55, 57.
-- Footnote
But if anything at all is certain, it is this, that in ancient times
the Calebites lived in the south and not in the north of Judah, and
in particular that David by his nativity belonged not to them but
rather to the older portion of Judah which gravitated towards
Israel properly so called, and stood in most intimate relations
with Benjamin. Of the first three members of the genealogy,
Nahshon and Amminadab occur as princes of Judah in the Priestly
Code, and are fitly regarded as the ancestors of those who come
after them; Ram is the first-born of Hezron's first-born (ver.
25), and by the meaning of his name also (Ram = the high one),
is, like Abram, qualified to stand at the head of the princely
line.
While in chap ii. we thus in point of fact fall in with an old
kernel, and one that necessarily goes back to sound tradition
(apparently preserved indeed, however, merely for the sake of
the later additions), the quite independent and parallel list,
on the other hand, contained in iv. 1-23 is shown by many
unmistakable indications to be a later composition having its
reference only to post-exilian conditions, perhaps incorporating
a few older elements, which, however, it is impossible with any
certainty to detect. /2/
-- Footnote
I Pharez, Hezron, Carmi, Hur, Shobal (iv. 1), is a genealogically
descending series; Chelubai must therefore of necessity be read
instead of Carmi, all the more because Chelub and not Carmi appears
in the third place in the subsequent expansion; for this, ascending
from below, begins with Shobal (ver. 2), then goes on to Hur
(vers. 5-10), who stands in the same relation to Ash-hur as Tob
to Ish-tob, and finally deals with Chelub or Caleb (vers. 11-15).
-- Footnote
Levi of course receives the fullest treatment (1Chronicles v. 27
[vi. 1]-vi. 66 [81], ix. 10 seq., xv., xvi., xxiii.-xxvii.,
&c.). We know that this clerical tribe is an artificial
production, and that its hierarchical subdivision, as worked out in
the Priestly Code, was the result of the centralisation of the
cultus in Jerusalem. Further, it has been already shown that in
the history as recorded in Chronicles the effort is most
conspicuous to represent the sons of Aaron and the Levites, in all
cases where they are absent from the older historical books of
the canon, as playing the part to which they are entitled according
to the Priestly Code. How immediate is the connection with the
last-named document, how in a certain sense that code is even
carried further by Chronicles, can be seen for example from this
circumstance, that in the former Moses in a novel reduces the
period of beginning public service in the case of a Levite from
thirty years of age to twenty-five (Numbers iv. 3 seq., viii. 23
seq.), while in the latter David (1Chronicles xxiii. 3, 24 seq.)
brings it down still further to the age of twenty; matters are
still to some extent in a state of flux, and the ordering of the
temple worship is a continuation of the beginning made with the
tabernacle service by Moses. Now, in so far as the statistics of
the clergy have a real basis at all, that basis is post-exilian.
It has long ago been remarked how many of the individuals
figuring under David and his successors (e.g., Asaph, Heman,
Jeduthun) bear names identical with families or guilds of a later
time, how the two indeed are constantly becoming confluent, and
difficulty is felt in determining whether by the expression
"head" a person or a family ought to be understood. But,
inasmuch as the Chronicler nevertheless desires to depict the
older time and not his own, he by no means adheres closely to
contemporary statistics, but gives free play at the same time to
his idealising imagination; whence it comes that in spite of the
numerous and apparently precise data afforded, the reader still
finds himself unable to form any clear picture of the
organisation of the clergy,--the ordering of the families and
tribes, the distribution of the offices,--nay, rather, is
involved in a maze of contradictions. Obededom, Jeduthun, Shelomith,
Korah, occur in the most different connections, belong now to one,
now to another section of the Levites, and discharge at one time
this function, at another, that. Naturally the commentators are
prompt with their help by distinguishing names that are alike,
and identifying names that are different.
Some characteristic details may still be mentioned here. The
names of the six Levitical classes according to 1Chronicles xxv. 4,
Giddalti, V'romamti-Ezer, Joshbekashah, Mallothi, Hothir,
Mahazioth, are simply the fragments of a consecutive sentence
which runs: I have magnified | and exalted the help | of him who
sat in need: | I have spoken | abundance of | prophecies. The
watchman or singer Obededom who is alleged to have discharged his
functions in the days of David and Amaziah, is no other than the
captain to whom David intrusted for three months the custody of
the ark, a Philistine of Gath. The composition of the singers'
pedigrees is very transparent, especially in the case of Heman
(1Chronicles vi. 7-l2 [22-27] = ver 18-23, [33-37]). Apart from
Exodus vi. 16-l9, use is chiefly made of what is said about the
family of Samuel (1Samuel i. 1, viii. 2), who must of course have
been of Levitical descent, because his mother consecrated him
to the service of the sanctuary. Heman is the son of Joel
b. Samuel b. Elkanah b. Jeroham b. Eliab b. Tahath b. Zuph,
only the line does not terminate with Ephraim as in 1Samuel
i. 1 (LXX) because it is Levi who is the goal; Zuph. <sic> however,
is an Ephraitic district, and Tahath (Tohu, Toah, Tahan, Nahath)
is an Ephraimite family (vii. 20). Further back the same elements
are individually repeated more than once, Elkanah four times
in all; he occurs once as early as in Exodus vi. 24, where also
he is doubtless borrowed from 1Samuel i. The best of it is that,
contrary to the scope of the genealogies recorded in1 Chronicles
vi., which is to provide a Levitical origin for the guilds of singers,
there is found in close contiguity the statement (ii. 6) that Heman
and Ethan were descendants of Zerah b. Pharez, b. JUDAH. The
commentators are indeed assisted in their efforts to differentiate
the homonyms by their ignorance of the fact that even as late as
Nehemiah's time the singers did not yet pass for Levites, but their
endeavours are wrecked by the circumstance that the names of
fathers as well as of sons are identical (Psalm lxxxviii. 1,
lxxxix. 1; Ewald, iii. 380 seq.). In point of history these
musicians of the second temple are descended of course neither
from Levi nor from the sons of Mahol (1Kings v. 11 [iv. 31), but
they have at least derived their names from the latter. On all
hands we meet with such artificial names in the case of Levites.
One is called Issachar; it would not be surprising to meet with a
Naphtali Cebi, or Judah b. Jacob. Jeduthun is, properly
speaking, the name of a tune or musical mode (Psalm xxxix. 1,
lxii. 1, [xxvii. 1), whence also of a choir trained in that.
Particularly interesting are a few pagan names, as for example
Henadad, Bakbuk, and some others, which, originally borne by the
temple servitors (Nehemiah vii. 46 seq.), were doubtless transferred
along with these to the Levites.
With the priests, of whom so many are named at all periods of the
history of Israel, matters are no better than with the inferior
Levites, so far as the Books of Samuel and Kings are not drawn
upon. In particular, the twenty-four priestly courses or orders
are an institution, not of King David, but of the post-exilic period.
When Hitzig, annotating Ezekiel viii. 16, remarks that the
five-and-twenty men standing between the temple and the altar
worshipping the sun toward the east are the heads of the twenty-four
priestly courses with the high priest at their head (because no one
else had the right to stand in the inner court between temple and
altar), he reveals a trait that is characteristic, not only of
himself, but also of the entire so-called historico-critical school,
who exert their whole subtlety on case after case, but never give
themselves time to think matters over in their connection with each
other; nay, rather simply retain the traditional view as a whole,
only allowing themselves by way of gratification a number of
heresies. It is almost impossible to believe that Hitzig, when he
annotated Ezekiel viii., could have read those passages Ezekiel
xliii. 7 seq., xliv. 6 seq, from which it is most unambiguously
clear that the later exclusion of the laity from the sanctuary
was quite unknown in the pre-exilic period. The extent of the
Chronicler's knowledge about the pre-exilic priesthood is revealed
most clearly in the list of the twenty-two high priests in
1Chronicles v. 29-41 (vi. 3-15). From the ninth to the eighteenth
the series runs--Amariah, Ahitub, Zadok, Ahimaaz, Azariah,
Johanan, Azariah, Amariah, Ahitub, Zadok. As for the first five,
Azariah was not the son, but the brother of Ahimaaz, and the
latter apparently not a priest (1Kings iv. 2); but Ahitub, the
alleged father of Zadok, was, on the contrary, the grandfather of
Zadok's rival, Abiathar, of the family of Eli (1Samuel xiv. 3,
xxii. 20); the whole of the old and famous line--Eli, Phinehas,
Ahitub; Ahimelech, Abiathar--which held the priesthood of the ark
from thc time of the judges down into the days of David, is passed
over in absolute silence, and the line of Zadok, by which it was
not superseded until Solomon (1Kings ii. 35), is represented as
having held the leadership of the priesthood since Moses. As for
the last four in the above-cited list, they simply repeat the
earlier. In the Book of Kings, Azariah II., Amariah, Ahitub,
Zadok, do not occur, but, on the contrary, other contemporary high
priests, Jehoiada and Urijah, omitted from the enumeration in
Chronicles. At the same time this enumeration cannot be asserted
to be defective; for, according to Jewish chronology, the ancient
history is divided into two periods, each of 480 years, the one
extending from the exodus to the building of the temple, the other
from that epoch down to the establishment of the second theocracy.
Now, 480 years are twelve generations of forty years, and in
1Chronicles v. there are twelve high priests reckoned to the period
during which there was no temple (ver. 36b to come after ver. 35a),
and thence eleven down to the exile; that is to say, twelve generations,
when the exile is included. The historical value of the genealogy
in 1Chronicles v. 26-41 is thus inevitably condemned. But if
Chronicles knew nothing about the priestly princes of the olden
time, its statements about ordinary priests are obviously little
to be relied on.
VI.III.3. To speak of a tradition handed down from pre-exilic times
as being found in Chronicles, either in 1Chronicles i.-ix. or in
1Chronicles x.-2Chronicles xxxvi., is thus manifestly out of the
question. As early as 1806 this had been conclusively shown by
the youthful De Wette (then twenty-six years of age). But since
that date many a theological Sisyphus has toiled to roll the
stone again wholly or half-way up the hill--Movers especially, in
genius it might seem the superior of the sober Protestant
critic--with peculiar results. This scholar mixed up the inquiry
into the historical value of those statements in Chronicles which
we are able to control, with the other question as to the probable
sources of its variations from the older historical books of the
canon. In vain had De Wette, at the outset, protested against
such a procedure, contending that it was not only possible, but
conceded that Chronicles, where at variance or in contradiction,
was following older authority, but that the problem still really
was, as before, how to explain the complete difference of general
conception and the multitude of discrepancies in details; that
the hypothesis of "sources," as held before Movers by Eichhorn,
was of no service in dealing with this question, and that in the
critical comparison of the two narratives, and in testing their
historical character, it was after all incumbent to stick to what
lay before one (Beitr., i. pp. 24, 29, 38). For so ingenious
an age such principles were too obvious; Movers produced a great
impression, especially as he was not so simple as to treat the
letters of Hiram and Elijah as authentic documents, but was by way
of being very critical. At present even Dillmann also
unfortunately perceives "that the Chronicler everywhere has
worked according to sources, and that in his case deliberate
invention or distortion of the history are not for a moment to be
spoken of" (Herzog, Realencyk., ii. p. 693, 1st edit.; iii.
223, 2d edit.). And from the lofty heights of science the author
of Part V. of the Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament
looks compassionately down upon K. H. Graf, "who has loitered
so far behind the march of Old Testament research, as to have
thought of resuscitating the views of De Wette;" in fact,
that Chronicles may be established on an independent footing and
placed on a level with the Books of Samuel and Kings, he utterly
denies any indebtedness at all, on its part, to these, and in
cases where the transcription is word for word, maintains that
separate independent sources were made use of,--a needless
exaggeration of the scientific spirit, for the author of the Book
of Kings himself wrote the prayer of Solomon and the epitome, at
least, without borrowing from another source; the Chronicler
therefore can have derived it, directly or indirectly, only from
him.
In reply to all this, one can only repeat what has already been
said by De Wette. It may be that the Chronicler has produced
this picture of old Israel, so different in outline and colour
from the genuine tradition, not of his own suggestion and on his
own responsibility, but on the ground of documents that lay
before him. But the historical character of the work is not
hereby altered in the smallest degree, it is merely shared by
the so-called "sources." 2Maccabees and a multitude of other
compositions have also made use of "sources," but how does this
enhance the value of their statements? That value must in the
long run be estimated according to their contents, which, again,
must be judged, not by means of the primary sources which have
been lost, but by means of the secondary literary products
which have survived. The whole question ultimately resolves
itself into that of historical credibility; and to what
conclusions this ]eads we have already seen. The alterations and
additions of Chronicles are all traceable to the same
fountain-head--the Judaising of the past, in which otherwise the
people of that day would have been unable to recognise their
ideal. It was not because tradition gave the Law and the
hierocracy and the _Deus ex Machina_ as sole efficient factor in
the sacred narrative, but because these elements were felt to be
missing, that they were thus introduced. If we are to explain
the _omissions_ by reference to the "author's plan," why may we
not apply the same principle to the _additions_? The passion
displayed by Ewald ( Jahrbb. x. 261) when, in speaking of the
view that Manasseh's captivity has its basis in Jewish dogmatic,
he calls it "an absurdly infelicitous idea, and a gross injustice
besides to the Book of Chronicles," recalls B. Schaefer's
suggestive remark about the Preacher of Solomon, that God would
not use a liar to write a canonical book. What then does Ewald
say to the narratives of Daniel or Jonah? Why must the new turn
given to history in the case of Manasseh be judged by a different
standard than in the equally gross case of Ahaz, and in the numerous
analogous instances enumerated in preceding pages (p. 203 seq.).
With what show of justice can the Chronicler, after his statements
have over and over again been shown to be incredible, be held at
discretion to pass for an unimpeachable narrator? In those cases
at least where its connection with his "plan" is obvious, one ought
surely to exercise some scepticism in regard to his testimony;
but it ought at the same time to be considered that such
connections may occur much oftener than is discernible by us,
or at least by the less sharp-sighted of us. It is indeed possible
that occasionally a grain of good corn may occur among the chaff,
but to be conscientious one must neglect this possibility of
exceptions, and give due honour to the probability of the rule.
For it is only too easy to deceive oneself in thinking that one
has come upon some sound particular in a tainted whole. To what
is said in 2Samuel v. 9, "So David dwelt in the stronghold (Jebus),
and he called it the city of David, and he built round about from
the rampart and inward," there is added in 1Chronicles xi. 8, the
statement that "Joab restored the rest of the city (Jerusalem)."
This looks innocent enough, and is generally accepted as a fact.
But the word XYH for BNH shows the comparatively modern date of
the statement, and on closer consideration one remembers also that
the town of Jebus at the time of its conquest by David consisted
only of the citadel, and the new town did not come into existence
at all until later, and therefore could not have been repaired by
Joab; in what interest the statement was made can be gathered from
Nehemiah vii. 11. In many cases it is usual to regard such
additions as having had their origin in a better text of Samuel
and Kings which lay before the Chronicler; and this certainly
is the most likely way in which good additions could have got in.
But the textual critics of the _Exegetical Handbook_ are only too
like-minded with the Chronicler, and are always eagerly seizing
with both hands his paste pearls and the similar gifts of the
Septuagint.
It must be allowed that Chronicles owes its origin, not to the
arbitrary caprice of an individual, but to a general tendency of
its period. It is the inevitable product of the conviction that
the Mosaic law is the starting-point of Israel's history, and
that in it these is operative a play of sacred forces such as
finds no other analogy; this conviction could not but lead to
a complete transformation of the ancient tradition.
Starting from a similar assumption, such an author as C. F. Keil
could even at the present day write a book of Chronicles, if this
were not already in existence. Now, in this aspect, for the
purpose of appraising Chronicles as the type of that conception of
history which the scribes cherished, the inquiry into its "sources"
is really important and interesting. References to other writings,
from which further particulars can be learned, are appended as a rule,
to the account of each sovereign's reign, the exceptions being in
the cases of Joram, Ahaziah, Athaliah, Amon, Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim,
Zedekiah. The titles referred to in this way may be classed under
two groups:
(1.) The Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah, or of Judah and Israel
(in the cases of Asa, Amaziah, Jotham; Ahaz, Josiah, and Jehoiakim),
with which the Book of the Kings of Israel (in the cases of Jehoshaphat
and Manasseh; comp. 1Chronicles ix. 1) is identical, for the kingdom
of the ten tribes is not reckoned by the Chronicler.
(2.) The Words of Samuel the Seer, Nathan the Prophet, and Gad the Seer
(for David; 1Chronicles xxix. 29; comp. xxvii. 24; Ecclus. xlvi. 13,
xlvii. 1); the Words of Nathan the Prophet, the Prophecy of Ahijah
of Shiloh and the Vision of Iddo the Seer concerning Jeroboam
ben Nebat (for Solomon; 2Chronicles ix. 29); the Words of Shemaiah
the Prophet and Iddo the Seer (for Rehoboam; xii. 15); the words
of Jehu ben Hanani, which are taken over into the Book of the Kings
of Israel (Jehoshaphat; xx. 34); a writing of Isaiah the prophet
(Uzziah; xxvi. 22), more precisely cited as the Vision of Isaiah
the Prophet, the son of Amoz, in the Book of the Kings of Judah
and Israel (Hezekiah; xxxii. 32); the Words of the Seer in the Book
of the Kings of Israel (Manasseh; xxxiii. 18; comp. also ver. 19).
Following in the footsteps of Movers, Bertheau and others have shown
that under these different citations it is always one and the same
book that is intended, whether by its collective title, or by the
conventional sub-titles of its separate sections. /1/ Bertheau calls
-- Footnote
1. In Ezra and Nehemiah also the Chronicler has not used so many
sources as are usually supposed. There is no reason for refusing
to identify the "lamentations" of 2Chronicles xxxv. 25, with our
Lamentations of Jeremiah: at least the reference to the death of
Josiah (Jos., Ant. x. 5, 1), erroneously attributed to them,
ought not in candour to be regarded as such.
-- Footnote
attention to the fact that ordinarily it is either the one or the
other title that is given, and when, as is less usual, there are
two, then for the most part the prophetic writing is designated as
a portion of the Book of the Kings of Israel (xx. 34, xxxii. 32;
and, quite vaguely, xxxiii. 18). The peculiar mode of naming the
individual section-/1/-at a time when chapters and verses were
-- Footnote
1 Romans xi. 2: )EN (HLLLA| TI LEGEI )H GRAFH i.e., How stands it
written in the section relating to Elijah?
-- Footnote
unknown--has its origin in the idea that each period of the sacred
history has its leading prophet [)AXRIBHS TWN PROFHTWN DIADOXH;
Jos., c. Ap. i. 8), but also at the same time involves (according
to xxvi. 22, in spite of ix. 29, xii. 15, xiii. 22; 1Chronicles xxix.
29) the notion that each prophet has himself written the history
of his own period. Obviously, this is the explanation of the title
_prophetae priores_ borne by the Books of Joshua, Judges, Samuel,
and Kings in the Jewish canon, and of the view which led to the
introduction of 2Kings xviii. 18 seq. into the Book of Isaiah.
The claims of history being slight, it was easy to find the needful
_propheta eponymus_ for each section. Jehu ben Hanani, a northern
Israelite of Baasha's time, has to do duty for Asa, and also for
Jehoshaphat as well. Iddo the seer, who prophesied against Jeroboam
ben Nebat, is the anonymous prophet of 1Kings xiii. (Jos., Ant.
viii. 8, 5; Jer. on Zechariah i. 1); by this time it was possible,
also, to give the names of the wives of Cain, and of the patriarchs.
As regards a more definite determination of the date of the "Book
of Kings" which lies at the foundation of Chronicles, a
co-ordination of the two series of the Kings of Israel and Judah
can only have been made after both had been brought to a close;
in other words, not before the Babylonian exile. And in the
Babylonian exile it was that the canonical Book of Kings actually
came into existence, and the "Chronicles" of Israel and those of
Judah were for the first time worked together by its author; at
least he refers only to the separate works and knows of no
previous combination of them. It would seem, therefore, very
natural to identify the work alluded to in Chronicles with our
present canonical book, which is similar in title and has
corresponding contents. But this we cannot do, for in the former
there were matters of which there are in the latter no trace; for
example, according to 1Chronicles ix. 1, it contained family and
numerical statistics for the whole of Israel after the manner of
1Chronicles i.-ix. (chapters for the most part borrowed from it)
and according to 1Chronicles xxxiii 19, the Prayer of Manasseh.
From these two data, as well as from the character of the items
of information which may have been conjectured to have been derived
from this source, the conclusion is forced upon us that the Book
of Kings cited by the Chronicler is a late compilation far removed
from actual tradition, and in relation to the canonical Book of
Kings it can only be explained as an apocryphal amplification after
the manner in which the scribes treated the sacred history. This
conclusion, derived from the contents themselves, is supported by
an important positive datum, namely, the citation in 2Chronicles
xxiv. 27 of the Midrash [A.V. "Story"] of the Book of Kings, and
in xiii. 22 of the Midrash of the prophet Iddo. Ewald is undoubtedly
right when he recognises here the true title of the writing elsewhere
named simply the Book of Kings. Of course the commentators assert
that the word Midrash, which occurs in the Bible only in these two
passages, there means something quite different from what it means
everywhere else; but the natural sense suits admirably well and
in Chronicles we find ourselves fully within the period of the
scribes. Midrash is the consequence of the conservation of all
the relics of antiquity, a wholly peculiar artificial reawakening
of dry bones, especially by literary means, as is shown by
the preference for lists of names and numbers. Like ivy it
overspreads the dead trunk with extraneous life, blending old and
new in a strange combination. It is a high estimate of tradition
that leads to its being thus modernised; but in the process it is
twisted and perverted, and set off with foreign accretions in the
most arbitrary way. Jonah as well as Daniel and a multitude of
apocryphal writings (2Maccabees ii. 13) are connected with this
tendency to cast the reflection of the present back into the past;
the Prayer of Manasseh, which now survives only in Greek,
appears, as Ewald has conjectured, actually to have been taken
direct from the book quoted in 2Chronicles xxxiii. 19. Within this
sphere, wherein all Judaism moves, Chronicles also has had its
rise. Thus whether one says Chromcles or Midrash of the Book of
Kings is on the whole a matter of perfect indifference; they are
children of the same mother, and indistinguishable in spirit and
language, while on the other hand the portions which have been
retained verbatim from the canonical Book of Kings at once betray
themselves in both respects.