King James Version
2 Chronicles
2 Chronicles in the King James Version (1769), public domain in the United States.
Background and History
The chapters above are the King James text. This essay is the setting of 2 Chronicles: who is said to have written it, when and where, what happens in it, and how the text has been copied.
At a Glance
| Author | Ezra, in the Talmud, with Nehemiah finishing. The book is anonymous. Many scholars speak of the Chronicler. |
|---|---|
| Date | 450–425 BC in one survey. Critical scholars commonly date it about 400–300 BC. |
| Place written | Not stated. Jerusalem, in the Persian province of Yehud, is the usual inference. |
| Genre | History of Solomon and the kings of Judah, focused on the temple. |
| Chapters | 36 |
| Verses | 822 in the King James Version |
| Key verse | 2 Chronicles 7:142 Chronicles 7:14 · King James VersionIf my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.2 Chronicles 7:14 · King James VersionOpen the Source |
Who Wrote It
2 Chronicles continues 1 Chronicles. The Talmud gives the work to Ezra and Nehemiah. (2) 2 Chronicles 9:292 Chronicles 9:29 · King James VersionNow the rest of the acts of Solomon, first and last, are they not written in the book of Nathan the prophet, and in the prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite, and in the visions of Iddo the seer against Jeroboam the son of Nebat?
2 Chronicles 9:29 · King James VersionOpen the Source (1) cites the book of Nathan, the prophecy of Ahijah, and the visions of Iddo. The book ends with Cyrus’s decree in 2 Chronicles 36:22–232 Chronicles 36:22–23 · King James Version36:22 Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD spoken by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying,
36:23 Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, All the kingdoms of the earth hath the LORD God of heaven given me; and he hath charged me to build him an house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Who is there among you of all his people? The LORD his God be with him, and let him go up.
2 Chronicles 36:22–23 · King James VersionOpen the Source, which Ezra opens with.
Who It Is Not
The prophets cited as sources are not the authors.
When and Where
Bible Gateway gives 450–425 BC. (5)
Audience and Setting
The returned community in Judah. The purpose is to call them to seek God and worship rightly, as the faithful kings did.
Rulers at the Time
Solomon and the kings of Judah through Zedekiah, with Cyrus king of Persia at the end. Shishak of Egypt and Nebuchadnezzar appear. Reign dates were not checked for this essay and are omitted.
| When | What |
|---|---|
| Solomon and the temple | 2 Chronicles 1–9 |
| Kings of Judah | 2 Chronicles 10–36 |
| Exile and Cyrus’s decree | 2 Chronicles 36 |
| Composition | 450–425 BC in one survey. (5) |
Places in This Book
| Ancient name | Modern-day location | References |
|---|---|---|
| Jerusalem | The Old City of Jerusalem. | 2 Chronicles 3:12 Chronicles 3:1 · King James VersionThen Solomon began to build the house of the LORD at Jerusalem in mount Moriah, where the Lord appeared unto David his father, in the place that David had prepared in the threshingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite.2 Chronicles 3:1 · King James VersionOpen the Source |
| Babylon | Ruins near Hillah, Iraq. | 2 Chronicles 36:202 Chronicles 36:20 · King James VersionAnd them that had escaped from the sword carried he away to Babylon; where they were servants to him and his sons until the reign of the kingdom of Persia:2 Chronicles 36:20 · King James VersionOpen the Source |
What Is Happening
2 Chronicles 1–9 are Solomon’s reign and temple. 2 Chronicles 10–36 trace Judah’s kings, highlighting reforms under Asa, Jehoshaphat, Hezekiah, and Josiah, and end with the exile and Cyrus’s decree.
Key Themes
Humility and repentance in 2 Chronicles 7:142 Chronicles 7:14 · King James VersionIf my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
2 Chronicles 7:14 · King James VersionOpen the Source. Seeking God in 2 Chronicles 15:22 Chronicles 15:2 · King James VersionAnd he went out to meet Asa, and said unto him, Hear ye me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin; The LORD is with you, while ye be with him; and if ye seek him, he will be found of you; but if ye forsake him, he will forsake you.
2 Chronicles 15:2 · King James VersionOpen the Source. Restoration in 2 Chronicles 36:232 Chronicles 36:23 · King James VersionThus saith Cyrus king of Persia, All the kingdoms of the earth hath the LORD God of heaven given me; and he hath charged me to build him an house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Who is there among you of all his people? The LORD his God be with him, and let him go up.
2 Chronicles 36:23 · King James VersionOpen the Source.
Apologetics Questions
Manasseh’s repentance in 2 Chronicles 33:12–132 Chronicles 33:12–13 · King James Version33:12 And when he was in affliction, he besought the LORD his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers,
33:13 And prayed unto him: and he was intreated of him, and heard his supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the LORD he was God.
2 Chronicles 33:12–13 · King James VersionOpen the Source is not in Kings. Critics question it. Others note that Chronicles cites its own sources for that reign in 2 Chronicles 33:18–192 Chronicles 33:18–19 · King James Version33:18 Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh, and his prayer unto his God, and the words of the seers that spake to him in the name of the LORD God of Israel, behold, they are written in the book of the kings of Israel.
33:19 His prayer also, and how God was intreated of him, and all his sins, and his trespass, and the places wherein he built high places, and set up groves and graven images, before he was humbled: behold, they are written among the sayings of the seers.
2 Chronicles 33:18–19 · King James VersionOpen the Source. The Prayer of Manasseh, a later text, is not part of the Protestant canon.
How the Book Points to Christ
The temple where God puts his name points to Christ, who speaks of his body as the temple in John 2:19–21John 2:19–21 · King James Version2:19 Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.
2:20 Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days?
2:21 But he spake of the temple of his body.
John 2:19–21 · King James VersionOpen the Source. Jesus is God.
Text and Manuscripts
Chronicles is represented at Qumran. (6)
Canon Reception
Never disputed. Athanasius counts the two books as one. (4)
Further Reading
References
- Second Book of Chronicles, 9:29; 36:22–23
- Babylonian Talmud, Bava Batra 15a, 15a (The William Davidson English on Sefaria is copyrighted. This page paraphrases it and does not reprint it. The page continues the list of writers and the debate about it.)
- Against Apion, 1.8Josephus, Against Apion 1.8 · William Whiston
For we have not an innumerable multitude of books among us, disagreeing from, and contradicting one another: [as the Greeks have:] but only twenty two books: which contain the records of all the past times: which are justly believed to be divine. And of them five belong to Moses: which contain his laws, and the traditions of the origin of mankind, till his death.
Josephus, Against Apion 1.8 · William WhistonOpen the Source (Flavius Josephus, Against Apion 1.8, translated by William Whiston. Josephus counts twenty-two books: five of Moses, thirteen of the prophets from Moses to Artaxerxes, and four of hymns and precepts.) - Festal Letter 39, 39.4–5 (Athanasius of Alexandria, AD 367, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, second series, vol. 4, on New Advent. The letter lists twenty-two Old Testament books and the twenty-seven books of the New Testament, and places Esther among books to be read rather than in the canon.)
- When Was Each Book of the Bible Written?, 2 Chronicles (Jacob Edson, Bible Gateway, 16 September 2024. The survey gives 2 Chronicles as 450–425 BC (1 and 2 Chronicles). It is one editor’s approximation, not a manuscript date.)
- Dead Sea Scrolls, introduction, Biblical manuscriptsDead Sea Scrolls, biblical manuscripts · Israel Antiquities Authority
Among the Scrolls are partial or complete copies of every book in the Hebrew Bible (except the book of Esther).
Dead Sea Scrolls, biblical manuscripts · Israel Antiquities AuthorityOpen the Source (Israel Antiquities Authority. Biblical manuscripts from the Qumran caves date from the third century BC into the first century AD, and every book of the Hebrew Bible except Esther is represented.)
The King James Version (1769) is in the public domain in the United States.