2 Chronicles Introduction
Introduction
In the Hebrew Bible the First and Second Books of Chronicles occupied a single scroll or book called Chronicles, but these were split into two parts in the Greek Septuagint Bible. The Latin Vulgate Bible and the KJV followed the same practice in their time. The books of Ezra and Nehemiah, also originally combined on a single scroll, follow the two books of Chronicles in the Christian Old Testament since they carry the post-Exile history well past the decree of Cyrus the Great (the final event of 2 Chronicles) and into the events of the rebuilding phases in Jerusalem.
Second Chronicles begins where First Chronicles ended, with the death of David and the ascent of his son Solomon to the Israelite throne. This book gives great attention to Solomon's construction of the Jerusalem temple, for which his father had made the plans. It then carries the historical narrative from the kingdom's division into two following the death of Solomon, through the reigns of all the kings of the northern and southern kingdoms. In narrating this history, the Chronicler, obviously someone from the longer-surviving southern kingdom of Judah, gives most attention to those southern kings who were faithful to God, and largely ignores the history of the rebellious northern tribes. The Chronicler carries the narrative down to the fall of Jerusalem, touches briefly on the Exile in Babylonia, and concludes with an account of Babylonia's overthrow by the Persians under Cyrus the Great. Cyrus had no stake in the Babylonian policies of exile, and issued his famous decree (preserved on a cuneiform tablet now in the British Museum) allowing all exiles to return to their homelands and authorizing them to rebuild their temples and cities. See also the introduction to 1 Chronicles for further detail about the date and focus of 1 and 2 Chronicles as a whole, as well as the central aim of the Chronicler in writing them.
Outline
King Solomon and the Construction of the Jerusalem Temple (1.1—9.31)
The Israelite Monarchy Is Divided Following Solomon (10.1—28.27)
The Reforms of Kings Hezekiah and Josiah (29.1—35.27)
The Fall of Jerusalem, the Exile, and the Decree of Cyrus (36.1-23)
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2 Chronicles Introduction: KJVAAE
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King James Version 1611, spelling, punctuation and text formatting modernized by ABS in 1962; typesetting © 2010 American Bible Society.