The Second Book of Chronicles

According to the author of Chronicles, David was the true founder of the temple liturgy: he planned everything but, when he died, everything was still only planned or sketched, and it was his son who continued the work and actually built the sanctuary in Jerusalem.

This work was decisive for the religious future of Israel. It is to this fact that the Chronicler is pleased to call our attention.

He says nothing about the sins of Solomon (his love of luxury, his many wives and concubines, his despotism, his tolerance of pagan cults in his harem), because he does not want to dim the glory of a reign which he seems to identify with the entirely pure glory of the new temple. The building and dedication of the temple are the high points of Solomon’s reign, and it is upon these that future generations should meditate. And yet it was of this same prince that the author of the Book of Samuel was thinking when he drew an unflattering portrait of what a king would be (1 Sam 8:10-17). The Book of Exodus, beginning in chapter 35, also bears witness to the important place which Israel gave to its sanctuary.

From this point on, Chronicles runs parallel to the two Books of Kings, but limits itself to the Davidic kingdom of Jerusalem.

The Second Book of Chronicles may be divided as follows:

I: The Reign of Solomon (1:1—9:31)

II: The Monarchy before Hezekiah (10:1—27:9)

III: Reforms of Hezekiah and Josiah (28:1—35:27)

IV: The End of the Kingdom (36:1-23)