How to Read the Bible

14. Revisionist History: Reading Chronicles

14 Revisionist History Reading Chronicles Primary Reading: 1 Chronicles 1, 5, 20; 2 Chronicles 7, 33, 35. An Unpropitious Beginning The Book of Chronicles opens with the dullest material imaginable, useful if you are ever having trouble falling asleep: “(1:1) Adam, Seth, Enosh; (2) Kenan, Mahalalel, Jared; (3) Enoch, Methuselah, Lamech; (4) Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.”1 Most of the first nine chapters read similarly, sometimes containing short interesting notes, but mostly just one genealogy after the next. Someone must have found this interesting, or at least important. Indeed, we know that in the period of Chronicles, most likely the fourth century B.C.E., Jews highly valued genealogies. All twenty-one biblical occurrences of the verb y-ch-s (Scy, “to be registered by genealogy”) appear either in Chronicles or in the contemporaneous book of Ezra-Nehemiah.2 Ezra 2:62 mentions certain priests who “searched for their genealogical records, but they could not be found, so they were disqualified for the priesthood.” Priesthood in ancient Israel at that point in time was considered to be hereditary. Remarkably, priests kept and updated such records in the Babylonian exile and beyond. Genealogies played a leading role in legitimating various groups or individuals , as may be seen from Chronicles. For example, we saw above (see “The Joseph Story” in chapter 7) that the narrator of Genesis displaces Jacob’s first three sons, Reuben, Simeon, and Levi, with two younger sons, Judah (ancestor of David) and Joseph (ancestor of the first line of Northern kings). By the time the Chronicler (the author of Chronicles3) was writing, this was important history , especially since the ten northern tribes were almost completely “lost,” and it was largely Judeans, eventually called Jews, who returned from the Babylonian exile.4 Thus, the genealogy of Judah precedes that of any of the other children of Jacob (1 Chron. 2:3–4:25), and it is the longest of such genealogies. As noted 129 earlier, the following introduction to the genealogy of firstborn Reuben makes it quite clear why Reuben follows Judah: (1 Chron. 5:1) The sons of Reuben the first-born of Israel. (He was the first-born; but when he defiled his father’s bed, his birthright was given to the sons of Joseph son of Israel, so he is not reckoned as first-born in the genealogy; (2) though Judah became more powerful than his brothers and a leader came from him, yet the birthright belonged to Joseph.) This is a retelling in miniature of the Joseph story in Genesis. A Made-up Genealogy The Chronicler also creates genealogies to solve problems in his sources. One problem presented by Samuel and Kings is the claim that the main Judean priest at the time of David was Zadok, yet Zadok’s genealogy is never given. Some scholars posit—for the text nowhere states this—that originally, Zadok officiated at a Canaanite shrine in Jerusalem; he was “inherited” by David who, as Israel’s king, conquered that city.5 For the Chronicler, however, the idea that a high priest had no legitimate genealogy was impossible. Given the importance of having proper priests in his period, he had to “find” a proper genealogy for Zadok, connecting him to Aaron, the first priest and brother of Moses. According to most scholars, the Chronicler accomplishes this by making up a genealogy, which asserts that Zadok is directly descended from Aaron: (5:29) The children of Amram: Aaron, Moses, and Miriam. The sons of Aaron: Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. (30) Eleazar begot Phinehas, Phinehas begot Abishua, (31) Abishua begot Bukki, Bukki begot Uzzi, (32) Uzzi begot Zerahiah, Zerahiah begot Meraioth, (33) Meraioth begot Amariah, Amariah begot Ahitub, (34) Ahitub begot Zadok . . . This fabricated genealogy “solves” the problem of the earlier books of Samuel and Kings. The Method of “Historical Probability” The notion that the Chronicler made up genealogies is paralleled by cases where he fabricated history. To many, this way of looking at Scripture may be offensive, 130 How to Read the Bible but we must remember that the recollection of historical traditions in this period was different than it is now. There was little or no interest in history for its own sake, that is, for what it taught about the real past. History mattered because of what it taught about the present, including the legitimacy of the main priestly clan. Moreover, ancient historians may...