Although the Chronicler says not one word directly of his own times, indirectly his work gives us much useful information concerning that obscure period. In very many ways Chronicles is a mirror reflecting the thoughts, hopes, and circumstances of the orthodox community in Jerusalem, _circa_ 300‒250 B.C. Indirect and unconscious though the evidence may be, it is still precious, for our knowledge of the period is so slight that all fragments of information are most welcome. Some of the genealogical lists yield information regarding the post-exilic population of Judah and Jerusalem. Certain references (see p. xlviii) perhaps imply the extension of Judaism in Palestine. From the descriptions of the Temple and its organisation, facts can be gleaned regarding the Temple of the Chronicler’s own age. Thus in 1 Chronicles xxiii ff. where the Chronicler ascribes to David (unhistorically, see notes pp. 51 f., 136, 145) the origination of the Levitical arrangements in the Temple, he gives an elaborate description of their organisation; and therein we can see a picture of the complex system and duties of the Priests and the Levites (with the subordinate classes of doorkeepers and singers) as these were finally determined in the late post-exilic Temple. Some interesting inferences can be drawn from Chronicles regarding the instruction of the people in matters of religion. When in 2 Chronicles xvii. 7‒9 arrangements for teaching the Law throughout Judah are said to have been instituted by Jehoshaphat, we may be sure that some such system was in vogue in the Chronicler’s day, or, at the very least, that the Chronicler and his fellow-Levites were anxious to see it fully carried out. Perhaps schools for instructing the people had already been established in Jerusalem, and it was desired to extend them throughout the countryside as well. Significant in the same connection is the remark ascribed to Azariah the prophet (2 Chronicles xv. 3): “Now for long seasons Israel hath been without the true God and _without a teaching priest_ and without law” (compare 2 Chronicles xxxv. 3). Similarly from 2 Chronicles xix. 4‒11 we may infer the existence of, or the desire to establish, a careful system of courts of justice under the control of the Levitical order. Again, Chronicles contributes to our knowledge of the evolution of public worship. The subject is so obscure, the details so unknown, that we may be grateful for anything which helps us to discern even broad stages in the development. Undoubtedly those flagrant abuses of worship which called forth the denunciations of Isaiah and Jeremiah had passed away. One gathers that public worship in the Temple had become an affair of truly religious significance. The prayer of Solomon is repeated from Kings, but in addition the Chronicler ascribes similar utterances of praise, supplication, and thanksgiving to David and Hezekiah, and the good kings (especially Hezekiah and Josiah) are