.For the first time in Russian!
Book of Chronicles with comments by Rashi.
Chronicles or Chronicle, in the Western tradition - Chronicles (Hebrew דִבְרֵי הַיָּמִים, Divrei ha-Yamim; al-Greek.. Παραλείπω, «to miss, miss," - literally. "About missing things";) - two (1st and 2 Chronicles) Tanakh books whose authorship is traditionally ascribed to Ezra (Ezra). Are generic chronicle of sacred biblical stories from the lineage of the chosen people, the wars of David, the construction of the Temple and ending the Babylonian Captivity. Writing a book is completed approx. 460 BC. e.
Originally Chronicles - a single book, and its division into two parts, first found in the Septuagint, where it was transferred to other translations of the Bible, from the XV century, this division is made in editions of the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh). In the Talmud, the book of Chronicles referred to as the section enclosing the Scriptures, and that it takes place in the majority of manuscripts and printed editions of the Bible. However, in some manuscripts of the book of Chronicles opens the section of Scripture. In the Septuagint Chronicles placed among the historical books after the book of Kings. This order was adopted by the Vulgate, from where he moved in some modern translations of the Bible.
The Mishnah (Yoma 1:6) says that the book of Chronicles was among those books that are read before the onset of the High Priest on Yom Kippur, that he accidentally fell asleep, no pollution with experienced and for that he was suspended from participation in temple ceremonies.
Contents of a book
Chronicles recounts the history of Israel from the time of King David (X century BC. E.) Before the fall of the kingdom of Judah during the reign of King Zedekiah (Tsidkiyahu) (VI century BC. E.). Lengthy introduction, which consists mainly of various lists, serves as the backdrop of the historical narrative of the book, which ends with an excerpt of the edict of Cyrus, taken from the book of Ezra.
Book of Chronicles can be divided into three main parts:
1. Introduction (1Par.1-9);
2. The history of Israel under the rule of David and Solomon (1Par.10 - 2Par.9);
3. History of Judah from the time of its formation as a result of the collapse of the kingdom of Solomon and until its fall (2Par.10-36).
Introduction
Chapter 1 is a collection of genealogical lists, taken from the book of Genesis, and for the most part undergone adaptation and reduction due to the exclusion of these narrative elements.
The central part of the introduction (chapters 2-8) contains genealogical lists of the Israelite tribes. Enumeration sequence tribes of Israel is different from the sequence in the other biblical lists. Chronicles begins with the tribe of Judah, which was the basis of the population of Judah, and then the Jews on their return from the captivity of the Babylonian exile. This is followed by Shimon knee, put that at the outset was incorporated into the kingdom of Judah. The next is the knee in Transjordan (from south to north): Reuben, Gad and the half tribe Menashshe. The following are the genealogy knee Levy. Then comes the tribe of Issachar, Benjamin, Dan and Naphtali. This is followed by the second half of the tribe Menashshe, Ephraim and the tribe of Asher. Zevulun knee on the list.
Along with the genealogical information lists contain information about the wars of the settlements and the movements of the knee. The material is non-uniform in quantitative and qualitative terms, part of it is borrowed from other books of the Bible, the part of soldiers drawn from the census period, the United Kingdom (I Chr. 7:1-11, 35-40), oral traditions, etc. In the 9th chapter contains lists of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Levites and the servants of the inhabitants of Givon.
List of the inhabitants of Jerusalem (I Chr. 9:2-18), called the "first inhabitants" and the parallel list in the book of Nehemiah (11:3-19) appear to date back to the time of Nehemiah, or to the following years. This list is adjacent detailed list of servants of the Levites (I Chr. 9:19-34), in which special attention is given to the Levites, the porters. Next to this list, a list of residents Givon repeats verbatim the list of I Chr. 8:29-38, which may be the result of scribal errors.
Introduction to build the broad historical background to go to the story of the kingdom of David, and to this end, I used all the relevant material, which was in his possession.
David and Shlomo
The story of the defeat and death of Saul on Mount Gilboa (I Chr. 10) precedes the presentation of the history of the United Kingdom - from the anointing of David as king over all Israel in Hebron before the death of Solomon. The main source of chapters devoted to the reign of David, is a book of Samuel, some chapters of which almost cited. However, the coincidence of the two story books only partially.
On the one hand, the book of Chronicles omitted a significant part contained in the book of Samuel the material of David (for example, released the entire period from Samuel anointed David to Saul's death, the story of David's reign in Hebron, his struggle with his son Saul Eshbaalom (Ish-Boshetom /) details of family life of David, etc.). On the other hand, the book of Chronicles contains extensive information not in the book of Samuel, in relation to public-administrative system, preparations for the construction of the Temple and its creation (I Chr. 13-16,22-29).
The reign of David in the book of Chronicles is a pretty calm, serene period, which differs from that described in the book of Samuel and the book of Kings. Chronicles silent about the events leading up David's reign over Israel (on the reign Eshbaala about heavy periods of David's reign, for example, the revolt of his son Avshalomf, the famine in the country, etc.), and personal vices of the king.
From the book of Chronicles, it seems that David became king of Israel with no problems, it was perfect ruler, and the period of his reign was quite satisfactory.
In general, the story revolves around David administrative organizations, and religious spheres of life in the kingdom. The activities of the king in the religious sphere includes the establishment of places of worship of the God of Israel, the transfer of the Ark of the covenant of Kiryat Iearimf to Jerusalem in a specially built tent for it, establishing the order of service, the preparation for the construction of the Temple (census artisans, preparation of necessary materials, and even the floor plan) and Job organization of the temple staff (I Chr. 11:20-47), senior officials (I Chr. 18:15-17), "and of hundreds of thousands," and "chief captains of the tribes of Israel» (I Chr. 27:1-22 ) which control the king's property, the higher superiors (27:25-34), and the king's scribes, judges and officers (I Chr. 26:29-32). Author of the book of Chronicles stresses that David was king of Israel, and considers Israel's unity and power of David as two interrelated factors.
In contrast, I Kings 1-2, in the book of Chronicles, and the transfer of power from David to Solomon, represented by the will of God, who has chosen Solomon among all the sons of David, and the anointing of Solomon occurred during the life of David with the consent of the king and the people. The anointing of Solomon directly associated with the preparations for the construction of the Temple. The narrative of the reign of Solomon reveals even more than the story of the reign of David, the connection with the book of Kings. As before, the author of the book of Chronicles omits some of the material, however, in contrast to the story of David, in the story of Solomon's reign small amount of additional material, and the material for the most part extends the description, taken from the book of Kings.
As the reign of David, Solomon's reign is represented as a period of prosperity and the author of the book of Chronicles is silent as the struggle for the throne in the initial period, and the sins of the king in the last period of his reign. In the center of the story - the building of the Temple: of the nine chapters of Solomon's reign, more than six allotted details of construction of the Temple and its functional routine.
The story of Judah
In the narrative of the kings of Judah, author of the book of Chronicles is almost fully utilized the relevant chapters of the book of Kings, and also introduced extensive additional material. In contrast to the description of the reign of David and Solomon, in the story of the Jewish kings, no tendency to idealize them, and in most cases, the evaluation of the kings coincides with that in the book of Kings. Additional information mostly relates to the military, political and economic spheres, in particular, the book of Chronicles lists Rehavam built fortified towns (II Chr. 11:5-12), the list of cities captured by the Jewish king Aviey Iorovama the king of Israel (II Chr. 11:13-19) reported on wars Asa (II Chr. 14:8-14) and his son Iehoshafatf (II Chr. 20:1-2), of military, administrative and religious and legal reforms in the reign of the last (II Chr. 19:5-11), the wars of King Uzziah, to organize his troops, his economic activity and with it the prime of Judah (II Chr. 26:6-15) tells of the exploits of his son, Jotham the king in the military and economic spheres (II Chr. 27:3-5) on the measures taken to strengthen Hizkiyahu Jerusalem and the organization of its water supply during the siege of the city Sanherivjv (II Chr. 32:3-6). Additional information given in the book of Chronicles, is of great historical significance and is supported by the non-Jewish sources and the archaeological excavations.
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