Prolegomena to the History of IsraelWellhausen, Julius
Religion
Prolegomena to the History of Israel
Wellhausen, Julius
Bible. Old Testament -- Criticism, interpretation, etc.; Jews -- History -- To 70 A.D.; Judaism -- History -- To 70 A.D.
VI.II.4. The Book of Kings then everywhere crops up as the real
foundation of the portion of Chronicles relating to Judah after
the period of Solomon. Where the narrative of the former is
detailed and minute, our author also has fuller and more
interesting material at his command; so, for example, in the
history relating to the temple and to the common and mutual
relations of Judah and Israel (2 Chr. x., xviii., xxiii., seq.,
xxv. 17-24, xxxiii. seq.). Elsewhere he is restricted to the
epitome that constitutes the framework of the Book of Kings; by
it he is guided in his verdicts as to the general character of the
successive sovereigns as well as in his chronological statements,
although, in accordance with his plan, he as a rule omits the
synchronisms (xiii. 1, xxv. 25). The positive data also, given by
the epitome with reference to the legislation in matters of
worship by the various kings, are for the most part reproduced
word for word, and float in a fragmentary and readily
distinguishable way in the mixture of festivals, sermons,
choruses, law, and prophets. For this is an important
verification of all the results already obtained; all in
Chronicles that is not derived from Samuel and Kings, has a
uniform character not only in its substance, but also in its
awkward and frequently unintelligible language--plainly belonging
to a time in which Hebrew was approaching extinction--in its
artificiality of style, deriving its vitality exclusively
from Biblical reminiscences. This is not the place for the
proof of these points, but the reader may compare Staehelin's
Einleitung (1862), p. 139 seq.; Bertheau, p. xiv. seq., and
Graf, p. 116.
VI.III.
VI.III.1. When the narrative of Chronicles runs parallel with the
older historical books of the canon, it makes no real additions, but
the tradition is merely differently coloured, under the influence
of contemporary motives. In the picture it gives the writer's own
present is reflected, not antiquity. But neither is the case very
different with the genealogical lists prefixed by way of
introduction in 1Chronicles i.-ix.; they also are in the main valid
only for the period at which they were drawn up--whether for its
actual condition or for its conceptions of the past.
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