Chronicles we have: For the reign of David, “the
book” (history) “of Samuel the seer, the
book of Nathan the prophet, and the book of Gad the
seer” (1 Chron. 29:29); for the reign of Solomon,
“the book of Nathan the prophet, the prophecy
of Ahijah the Shilonite,” and “the vision
of Iddo the seer against Jeroboam the son of Nebat”
(2 Chron. 9:29); for the reign of Rehoboam, “the
book of Shemaiah the prophet,” and “of
Iddo the seer concerning genealogies,” that
is, in the manner of a genealogical record (2 Chron.
12:15); for the reign of Abijah, “the story”
(commentary) “of the prophet Iddo” (2
Chron. 13:22); for the reign of Jehoshaphat, “the
book of Jehu the son of Hanani,” who is mentioned
(rather,
who is inserted,
i.e., as an
author) in the book of the kings of Israel (2 Chron.
20:34); for the reign of Uzziah, “the prophet
Isaiah” (2 Chron. 26:22); for the reign of Hezekiah
in part, “the vision of Isaiah the prophet”
(2 Chron. 32:32); for the reign of Manasseh in part,
“the sayings of the seers,” or, as many
prefer to render, “the words of Hosai”
(2 Chron. 33:18). Besides the above, reference
is made to “the book of the kings of Judah and
Israel,” “the book of the kings of Israel
and Judah,” “the story of the book of
the kings;” “the book of the kings of Israel.”
These last are probably only different titles of the
same collection of annals, embracing in its contents
the history of
both kingdoms; since the references
to the book of the kings of Israel are for the affairs
of the kingdom of Judah (2 Chron. 20:34; 33:18).
8. With regard to the above original sources,
it should be carefully noticed that the references
in the books of Kings are not to our present books
of Chronicles, which did not exist when the books of
Kings were written. Chap. 20, No. 21. Neither
can the allusions in the books of Chronicles be restricted
to our present books of Kings; for (1) they refer
to matters not recorded in those books—for
example, to the wars of Jotham, 2 Chron. 27:7; (2)
they refer to the book of the kings of Judah and Israel
for a full account of the acts of a given monarch
“first and last,” while the history of
the same monarch in our present books of Kings refers
for further information to the book of the
Chronicles of the kings of Judah. It is plain
that both writers had access to a larger collection
of original documents, which were in great part
the same. The chief difference in outward form
is that, when the books of Chronicles were written,
the annals of the two kingdoms of Judah and Israel
seem to have constituted a single collection, whereas
in the books of Kings they are always mentioned as
two separate works. In making his selections
from these annals, each writer proceeded independently.
Hence the remarkable agreements, where both used the
same materials; and the remarkable differences, where
one employed documents, or parts of documents, which
the other omitted to use.