Era 9 · Restoration2 Chronicles
How 2 Chronicles Came to Us
The last book of the Hebrew Bible, its named sources, a disputed Qumran fragment, and the Greek and 1 Esdras
Jewish Bibles normally end with Chronicles (the Aleppo and Leningrad codices place it first among the Writings instead, so Psalms follows). Christian Bibles follow the Greek order, placing it after Kings and before Ezra, so that 2 Chronicles' last verses lead directly into Ezra 1, which repeats them.
Witnesses and related texts
| Witness | Kind | Date | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4Q118 | Hebrew fragment | 1st c. BC (reported) | One column ≈ 2 Chronicles 28:27–29:3; the other has no known parallel; status as a copy of Chronicles disputed |
| Greek 2 Paraleipomena (Vaticanus, Alexandrinus) | Greek translation | 2nd c. BC translation; 4th–5th c. AD copies | Close to the Hebrew, with additions (35:19a–d; 36:2a, 4a, 5a–d) |
| 1 Esdras | Greek book | 2nd c. BC (debated) | Retells 2 Chronicles 35–36, Ezra and Nehemiah 8, with the story of the three bodyguards |
| Prayer of Manasseh | Greek prayer | 2nd–1st c. BC? (debated) | Written in Manasseh's name; in the Odes, Vulgate appendix, Apocrypha |
| Targum to Chronicles | Aramaic | Late antiquity | Late and expansive |
| Leningrad Codex | Hebrew | AD 1008 | The library's Hebrew |
The library's Greek
The library's Greek is Giguet's French. Where it differs ("twenty" in 22:2, "Meunim" in 20:1, 300,000 in 28:8, the additions in chapters 35–36), the site labels the reading as known only through translation. Exact Greek wording should be checked in Rahlfs or Göttingen before certification.
What the evidence shows
- Chronicles ends most Jewish Bibles.
- 4Q118 is a copy of Chronicles.Source: M. Parchem, "The Books of Chronicles in Qumran," Collectanea Theologica 89/4 (2019) ↗
- 1 Esdras retells 2 Chronicles 35–36.
- The prophetic records Chronicles cites survive.
Then and Later
2 Chronicles, then and later
- 10th–6th c. BCThe events Solomon to the exile.
- 539/538 BCCyrus The proclamation.
- 4th c. BCChronicles Composed in Yehud.
- 2nd c. BCGreek and 1 Esdras Paraleipomena; a retelling.
- 1st c. ADMatthew 23:35 "From Abel to Zacharias."
- AD 1008Leningrad Codex The complete Hebrew text.
Continue the journey
Journey of a Passage2 Chronicles 35:20–25 and 2 Kings 23:29–30: How Josiah diedKings: Necho killed Josiah at Megiddo "when he had seen him." Chronicles: Necho warned Josiah in God's name; Josiah disguised himself, fought, was shot by archers and died in Jerusalem.More from this lesson
Why this matters to the rest of Scripture
- The repeated decree.
- The Greek retelling.
Sources to explore
- M. Parchem, "The Books of Chronicles in Qumran," Collectanea Theologica 89/4 (2019) ↗
- NETS (New English Translation of the Septuagint) ↗
- Encyclopaedia Iranica, "Cyrus Cylinder" ↗
Overviews are a starting point. Each links onward to the primary sources and specialist studies behind it.