Journal: Journal of Dispensational Theology
Volume: JODT 12:36 (Aug 2008)
Article: King And Cultus: A Suggested Framework for a Theology of Chronicles
Author: Kenneth R. Cooper

---

JODT 12:36 (Aug 2008) p. 63

King And Cultus:
A Suggested Framework for a Theology of Chronicles

Kenneth R. Cooper, D.D.

Biblical Faith Ministries, Abilene, Texas

When William Day Crockett completed his harmony of Samuel, Kings, and Chronicles in 1884, he determined that it was, so far as he could learn, the first and only one of its kind to have been done.1 Since Crockett’s day, others have attempted a similar analysis of these books.2 Even a cursory review of each of these works indicates a great deal of material found in Samuel and Kings failed to find its way into Chronicles. So much material from these earlier works is missing from Chronicles that it is not surprising that the translators of the LXX called Chronicles Paraleipomena, “what was omitted.”3 Chronicles contains a great deal of material not found in Samuel or Kings, which may explain the reference in Kings to the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel, but it really does not fully explain the omissions and the reasons for them.4

For example, virtually all of 1 Samuel finds no parallel in Chronicles, except for the death of Saul in the last chapter of 1 Samuel which finds only an echo in 1 Chronicles 10. Many of the negative experiences of David and Solomon recorded in Samuel and Kings do not find any counterpart in Chronicles. For instance, David’s conflict with Abner and Ishbosheth in 2 Samuel 1—4 or David’s adulterous fling with Bathsheba and subsequent murder of her husband Uriah the Hittite in 2 Samuel 11—12. According to a colleague and former teacher, “Chronicles downplayed David’s sin, etc., because Israel did not need

JODT 12:36 (Aug 2008) p. 64

more guilt at [the point when Chronicles was written].”5 Furthermore, neither Solomon’s marriage to the daughter of Pharaoh (1 Kgs 3) nor his many wives and enemies (11) find a place in Chronicles.

Conversely, the Chronicler added much more material than can be found in Samuel and Kings. For example, he added the genealogies that occupy the first nine chapters of 1 Chronicles. Furthermore, the Chronicler added details of the return of the ark (1 Chron 13:1–5; 15— 16), David’s arr...

visitor : : uid: ()