1 Chronicles: The Throne and the Temple

1 Chronicles at a Glance

First and Second Chronicles were one book in the Hebrew Bible, whose title means roughly “words of the days.” The Greek translators called it “things left out,” because it adds to Samuel and Kings. Jerome later suggested the name Chronicles, which English Bibles kept.

• Author. The book does not say. Jewish tradition names Ezra, and that fits well. The last verses of 2 Chronicles repeat the opening words of Ezra (2 Chronicles 36:22–23; Ezra 1:1–3), and the writer has the interests of a priestly scribe: lists, Levites, and the temple.
• Date. Written after the return from Babylon, about 450–430 BC. It tells of events from creation to the death of David, about 970 BC.
• Written To. The Jews who had returned to Judah, a small community living under Persian rule with a rebuilt temple but no king.
• Setting. The returned exiles were asking who they were and whether God's promises still stood. Chronicles answers by lifting up the line of David and the worship of the temple.
• Key Verse. I will settle him in mine house and in my kingdom for ever: and his throne shall be established for evermore (1 Chronicles 17:14).
• Key Word or Theme. The throne and the temple: God's promise of a king from David's house, and the worship that belongs at His house.