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Introduction
to 1 Chronicles
Introduction
INTRODUCTION TO 1 CHRONICLES
This
and the following book were reckoned by the Jews as one book
as appears by the
Masoretic note at the end of the second book
and as is affirmed by OrigenF1Apud
Eusch. Eccl. Hist. l. 6. c. 25. and JeromF2Ad Dominionem
tom. 3.
fol. 7. C. ; and they were by the ancientsF3Hieron. Praefat. in lib.
Reg. tom. 3. fol. 6. B. called Chronicles
as they are by us; but they are
different from the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel and Judah
so
often mentioned in the preceding books
seeing several things there referred
to
as in them
are not to be found here; though no doubt many things here
recorded were taken from thence under a divine direction. In the Greek version
and so in the Vulgate Latin version after that
they are called
"Paralipomena"
that is
things passed over or omitted
because they
contain several anecdotes which are not to be found in the books of Samuel and
Kings. The Hebrew title of them is
"Dibre Hayamim"
words of days
day books or diaries
and what the Greeks call "Ephemerides"; though
as "yamim" sometimes signifies years
they may be named "annals";
and so the Arabic inscription is
"the
Books of Annals;'
and
because they chiefly respect the kings of Judah
the Syriac inscription is
"the
Book of the Things that were done in the Times of the Kings of Judah.'
The
Targum is
"the
Book of Genealogies
the Words of Days
which were from the Days of the World;'
because
the first ten chapters consist of genealogies beginning from Adam. The inspired
penman of these books must live after the return of the Jews from the
Babylonish captivity
since he carries down the genealogy of the kings and
princes of Judah beyond that time
1 Chronicles 3:17.
It is generally thought by the Jews and Christians that Ezra was the writer of
them
with which agrees the age in which he lived; and as it may seem
from the
last of these books ending with the same words with which that under his name
begins: so the TalmudistsF4T. Bab. Bava Bathra
fol. 15. 1. say
that Ezra wrote his own book
and the genealogy of the chronicles unto his own
or unto Velo
"and he had brethren"
2 Chronicles 21:2
and Jarchi affirms that he wrote them by the hand or means of Haggai
Zechariah
and Malachi
inspired prophets; though some Jewish writersF5Shalssalet
Hakabala
Abarbinel in Josuam
fol. 3. 3. suppose they were written partly by
him
and partly by Nehemiah; that all to 2 Chronicles 21:2
were written by Ezra
and the rest by Nehemiah. Kimchi thinks that Ezra was not
the first author and writer of these books
but that the books of Chronicles
and Annals of the kings of Judah
and of the kings of Israel
were separately
written before him; but that he only revised them
and with the men of the
great synagogue added the genealogies
and put them into the canon of the
ScripturesF6Vid. Buxtorf. de Punct. Antiqu. par. 1. p. 182. .
SpinosaF7Tract. Theolog. Politic. c. 10. p. 184. fancies they were
written after Judas Maccabaeus had restored the temple
since the historian
tells what families dwelt in Jerusalem in the times of Ezra
1 Chronicles 9:1
and speaks of the porters
1 Chronicles 9:17
two of which are mentioned
Nehemiah 11:19 as
if Ezra could not describe the families that lived when he did
or name the
porters of the temple
since it was finished and dedicated in his time
Ezra 6:15
but
however there is no doubt to be made of the authenticity of these books
since
not only they have always been acknowledged by the Jews as a part of the
canonical Scripture
and by ancient Christians
as appears by the catalogues of
MelitoF8Apud Euseb. Eccl. Hist. l. 4. c. 26. and OrigenF9Apud
ib. l. 6. c. 25. ; but there are plain references to them in the New Testament.
The genealogy of Christ
by the evangelists
is formed out of them; the
doxology in Revelation 5:12 as
some have observed
comes very near to what is used by David
1 Chronicles 29:11
and the passages in Acts 7:48 contain
the sense of what is expressed in 2 Chronicles 2:5.
The use and design of these books are chiefly to give a larger account of the
kingdom of Judah
especially after the division of it from the ten tribes
and
of the kings thereof
than what is given in the preceding books
as in the last
of these books; and particularly they ascertain the genealogy of Christ
that
it might be clear and plain of what tribe and family the Messiah came
that he
descended from the tribe of Judah
and from the kings of the house of David
as
in this first book. They both contain an history from Adam
to the deliverance
of the Jews from their captivity in Babylon. The first of these books reaches
according to HottingerF11Thesaur. Philolog. l. 2. c. 1. p. 514
515.
to A. M. 2985
and the latter is an history of four hundred and seventy two
years. According to Bishop UsherF12Annal. Vet. Test. p. 56. the
former contains a course of 2990 years
and the latter of four hundred and
seventy eight.
Commentator
John Gill (November 23
1697-October 14
1771) was an English Baptist
a biblical scholar
and a staunch Calvinist.
Gill's relationship with hyper-Calvinism is a matter of academic debate.
He was born in Kettering
Northamptonshire.
In his youth
he attended Kettering Grammar School
mastering the Latin
classics and learning Greek by age eleven. The young scholar continued
self-study in everything from logic to Hebrew. His love for Hebrew would follow
Gill throughout his life.
At the age of about twelve
Gill heard a
sermon from his pastor
William Wallis
on the text
"And the Lord called
unto Adam
and said unto him
where art thou?" (Genesis 3:9). The message
stayed with Gill and eventually led to his conversion. It was not until seven
years later that young John made a public profession when he was almost
nineteen years of age.
His first pastoral work was as an intern
assisting John Davis at Higham Ferrers in 1718 at age twenty one. He was
subsequently called to pastor the Strict Baptist church at Goat Yard Chapel
Horsleydown
Southwark in 1719. In 1757
his congregation needed larger
premises and moved to a Carter Lane
St. Olave's Street
Southwark. His
pastorate lasted 51 years. This Baptist Church was once pastored by Benjamin
Keach and would later become the New Park Street Chapel and then the
Metropolitan Tabernacle pastored by Charles Spurgeon.
During Gill's ministry the church strongly
supported the preaching of George Whitefield at nearby Kennington Common.
In 1748
Gill was awarded the honorary degree
of Doctor of Divinity by the University of Aberdeen. He was a profound scholar
and a prolific author. His most important works are:
John Gill is the first major writing Baptist
theologian. His work retains its influence into the twenty-first century.
Gill's relationship with hyper-Calvinism in English Baptist life is a matter of
debate. Peter Toon has argued that Gill was himself a hyper-Calvinist
which
would make Gill the father of Baptist hyper-Calvinism. Tom Nettles has argued
that Gill was not a hyper-Calvinist himself
which would make him merely a
precursor and hero to Baptist hyper-Calvinists.
──《John Gill’s
Exposition of the Bible》
New King James Version Bible
NKJV
The
NKJV was commissioned in 1975 by Thomas Nelson Publishers. One-hundred-and-thirty
respected Bible scholars
church leaders
and lay Christians worked for seven
years with the goal of updating the vocabulary and grammar of the King James
Version
while preserving the classic style of the of the 1611 version.
The
task of updating the English of the KJV involved many changes in word order
grammar
vocabulary
and spelling. One of the most significant features of the
NKJV was its removal of the second person pronouns "thou"
"thee"
"ye
" "thy
" and "thine." Verb
forms were also modernized in the NKJV (for example
"speaks" rather
than "speaketh").
Young’s
Literal Translation was completed in 1898 by Robert Young
who also compiled
Young’s Analytical Concordance. It is an extremely literal translation that
attempts to preserve the tense and word usage as found in the original Greek
and Hebrew writings. The online text is from a reprint of the 1898 edition as
published by Baker Book House
Grand Rapids
Michigan. Obvious errors in
spelling or inconsistent spellings of the same word were corrected in the
online edition of the text. This text is Public Domain in the United States.