chronicles books of

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chronicles books of - Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary :

  Chronicles, Books of
  The two books were originally one. They bore the title in the
  Massoretic Hebrew _Dibre hayyamim_, i.e., "Acts of the Days."
  This title was rendered by Jerome in his Latin version
  "Chronicon," and hence "Chronicles." In the Septuagint version
  the book is divided into two, and bears the title Paraleipomena,
  i.e., "things omitted," or "supplements", because containing
  many things omitted in the Books of Kings.
  
    The contents of these books are comprehended under four heads.
  (1.) The first nine chapters of Book I. contain little more than
  a list of genealogies in the line of Israel down to the time of
  David. (2.) The remainder of the first book contains a history
  of the reign of David. (3.) The first nine chapters of Book II.
  contain the history of the reign of Solomon. (4.) The remaining
  chapters of the second book contain the history of the separate
  kingdom of Judah to the time of the return from Babylonian
  Exile.
  
    The time of the composition of the Chronicles was, there is
  every ground to conclude, subsequent to the Babylonian Exile,
  probably between 450 and 435 B.C. The contents of this twofold
  book, both as to matter and form, correspond closely with this
  idea. The close of the book records the proclamation of Cyrus
  permitting the Jews to return to their own land, and this forms
  the opening passage of the Book of Ezra, which must be viewed as
  a continuation of the Chronicles. The peculiar form of the
  language, being Aramaean in its general character, harmonizes
  also with that of the books which were written after the Exile.
  The author was certainly contemporary with Zerubbabel, details
  of whose family history are given (1 Chr. 3:19).
  
    The time of the composition being determined, the question of
  the authorship may be more easily decided. According to Jewish
  tradition, which was universally received down to the middle of
  the seventeenth century, Ezra was regarded as the author of the
  Chronicles. There are many points of resemblance and of contact
  between the Chronicles and the Book of Ezra which seem to
  confirm this opinion. The conclusion of the one and the
  beginning of the other are almost identical in expression. In
  their spirit and characteristics they are the same, showing thus
  also an identity of authorship.
  
    In their general scope and design these books are not so much
  historical as didactic. The principal aim of the writer appears
  to be to present moral and religious truth. He does not give
  prominence to political occurences, as is done in Samuel and
  Kings, but to ecclesiastical institutions. "The genealogies, so
  uninteresting to most modern readers, were really an important
  part of the public records of the Hebrew state. They were the
  basis on which not only the land was distributed and held, but
  the public services of the temple were arranged and conducted,
  the Levites and their descendants alone, as is well known, being
  entitled and first fruits set apart for that purpose." The
  "Chronicles" are an epitome of the sacred history from the days
  of Adam down to the return from Babylonian Exile, a period of
  about 3,500 years. The writer gathers up "the threads of the old
  national life broken by the Captivity."
  
    The sources whence the chronicler compiled his work were
  public records, registers, and genealogical tables belonging to
  the Jews. These are referred to in the course of the book (1
  Chr. 27:24; 29:29; 2 Chr. 9:29; 12:15; 13:22; 20:34; 24:27;
  26:22; 32:32; 33:18, 19; 27:7; 35:25). There are in Chronicles,
  and the books of Samuel and Kings, forty parallels, often
  verbal, proving that the writer both knew and used these records
  (1 Chr. 17:18; comp. 2 Sam. 7:18-20; 1 Chr. 19; comp. 2 Sam. 10,
  etc.).
  
    As compared with Samuel and Kings, the Book of Chronicles
  omits many particulars there recorded (2 Sam. 6:20-23; 9; 11;
  14-19, etc.), and includes many things peculiar to itself (1
  Chr. 12; 22; 23-26; 27; 28; 29, etc.). Twenty whole chapters,
  and twenty-four parts of chapters, are occupied with matter not
  found elsewhere. It also records many things in fuller detail,
  as (e.g.) the list of David's heroes (1 Chr. 12:1-37), the
  removal of the ark from Kirjath-jearim to Mount Zion (1 Chr. 13;
  15:2-24; 16:4-43; comp. 2 Sam. 6), Uzziah's leprosy and its
  cause (2 Chr. 26:16-21; comp. 2 Kings 15:5), etc.
  
    It has also been observed that another peculiarity of the book
  is that it substitutes modern and more common expressions for
  those that had then become unusual or obsolete. This is seen
  particularly in the substitution of modern names of places, such
  as were in use in the writer's day, for the old names; thus
  Gezer (1 Chr. 20:4) is used instead of Gob (2 Sam. 21:18), etc.
  
    The Books of Chronicles are ranked among the _khethubim_ or
  hagiographa. They are alluded to, though not directly quoted, in
  the New Testament (Heb. 5:4; Matt. 12:42; 23:35; Luke 1:5;
  11:31, 51).