§ 2. Relation to Ezra and Nehemiah

It is well known that the books of Ezra and Nehemiah were originally one book; but further it is certain that Chronicles has been artificially separated from them, and that the three books, Chronicles-Ezra-Nehemiah, were once a continuous work. The reasons upon which this conclusion is based are as follows:

(1) The ending of Chronicles and the beginning of Ezra are the same (2 Chronicles xxxvi. 22 f. = Ezra i. 1–3a), i.e. after the separation was made between Chronicles and Ezra–Nehemiah the opening verses of Ezra (recording the proclamation of Cyrus permitting the Jews to return) were retained, or perhaps one should say, were added by someone who was aware of the original continuity of Chronicles with Ezra–Nehemiah and who was anxious that Chronicles should end in a hopeful strain (see [note] on 2 Chronicles xxxvi. 23). The desirability of securing a hopeful conclusion is much more obvious in the Hebrew than in the English Bible, for, whereas in the English order Ezra immediately follows Chronicles, in the Hebrew Canon Ezra and Nehemiah are made to precede Chronicles, and Chronicles is actually the last book of the Hebrew Bible. (On the reason for this order in the Hebrew, and generally on the separation of Chronicles from Ezra–Nehemiah, see [§ 9], Position in the Canon, ad fin.)

(2) The same general standpoint and the same special interests are found both in Chronicles and Ezra–Nehemiah to a remarkable degree. In particular, attention may be called to the following points:

(a) The same fondness for lists and genealogies is shown in both works; compare e.g. 1 Chronicles xii. with Ezra ii. or Nehemiah iii.; and 2 Chronicles xxxi. 16–19 with Nehemiah vii. 63–65.

(b) The same intense interest in religious festivals and institutions; compare 1 Chronicles xv., xvi.; 2 Chronicles v.–vii., xxix., xxx., xxxv. 1–19, with Ezra iii., vi. 16–22; Nehemiah viii.

(c) Three classes of Temple attendants, viz. Levites, singers, and porters, which are barely mentioned in the rest of the Old Testament, receive a great deal of notice both in Chronicles and in Ezra–Nehemiah.

(3) The same style and diction are found in both works (excepting of course in such sentences and passages as are transcribed from older sources). Characteristic phrases are the following:

(a) “Fathers’ houses”; compare 1 Chronicles vii. 2, note.

(b) “The house of God,” very frequently in Chronicles–Ezra–Nehemiah in place of the usual “house of the Lord” (Jehovah). With this compare the avoidance of the use of the name Jehovah (Jahveh) in such places as 2 Chronicles xvii. 4 (compare Authorized Version with Revised Version), xx. 12, 30; Ezra viii. 18, 21.

(d) “to oversee”; 1 Chronicles xxiii. 4; 2 Chronicles ii. 2 [ii. 1 Hebrew]; Ezra iii. 8 (Revised Version “to have the oversight”).

(e) “willingly offer”; 1 Chronicles xxix. 14; Ezra i. 6.

These are merely a few instances out of very many which might be given. This similarity of style and language is far more striking in the Hebrew (compare [§ 3, C], and for full particulars the long list in Curtis, Chronicles, pp. 27 ff.).

When fully stated, the evidence indicated under (2) and (3) above is of a convincing character, and the conclusion that Chronicles–Ezra–Nehemiah were at one time a single work should be unhesitatingly adopted.