Who is the author of Chronicles? 

Author: BibleAsk Team


The Author of Chronicles

Early Jewish writers traditionally agree that Ezra was the author of the books of Chronicles. A close study of the Hebrew text of the books of Chronicles, Ezra, and Nehemiah shows that these three books are connected to one another in their language and literary style. These similarities may suggest unity of authorship.  

A good indication of this unity is the fact that the books of Chronicles terminate in the middle of a sentence, which is completed in the first sentences of the book Ezra. This suggests that the two books constituted one literary work. Let us look at the end of the books of Chronicles and the beginning of the book of Ezra:

2 Chronicles 36:22, 23

“Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and also put it in writing, saying, thus says Cyrus king of Persia: All the kingdoms of the earth the Lord God of heaven has given me. And He has commanded me to build Him a house at Jerusalem which is in Judah. Who is among you of all His people? May the Lord his God be with him, and let him go up!”

Ezra 1:1–3

“Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and also put it in writing, saying, thus says Cyrus king of Persia:

All the kingdoms of the earth the Lord God of heaven has given me. And He has commanded me to build Him a house at Jerusalem which is in Judah. Who is among you of all His people? May his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem which is in Judah, and build the house of the Lord God of Israel (He is God), which is in Jerusalem.”

As you can see, there is no actual break in the story between 2 Chronicles 36 and Ezra 1. It may be that when a break was done, splitting the original work into two books, the ending sentences of Chronicles were repeated as the first sentences of the book of Ezra. However, some view the probability that the first few sentences of Ezra were added to Chronicles so that the book would not finish with the sad story of the destruction of Jerusalem.

In His service,
BibeAsk Team

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