The Second Book of Paralipomenon (2 Chronicles)

The Second Book of Paralipomenon begins with Solomon offering sacrifice on the high place of Gabaon and ends with a Persian king ordering the Temple to be rebuilt. Between lie nearly four centuries of the kingdom of Juda: the Temple filled with glory, the ten tribes torn away, reform and relapse, and at last the fire that consumed Jerusalem. Most English Bibles call it 2 Chronicles; the Douay-Rheims and the Vulgate keep the name Paralipomenon. On this page you can read its thirty-six chapters with the Vulgate beside the Douay-Rheims, beginning with chapter 1.

Why is 2 Chronicles called 2 Paralipomenon?

The Hebrews call the work Dibre Haijamim, "the words of the days," that is, the annals; hence "Chronicles." The Greek translators of the Septuagint named it Paralipomena, "things left out," and divided it into two books. Challoner's preface explains: "they are a kind of a supplement of such things as were passed over in the books of the Kings." St Jerome, who kept the Greek title in the Vulgate, valued it far above a supplement.

In his letter to Paulinus (Ep. 53) he calls it "the book of things omitted or epitome of the old dispensation," so important "that without it any one who should claim to himself a knowledge of the scriptures would make himself a laughing stock in his own eyes." The two books were one work in the Hebrew: 1 Paralipomenon runs from Adam to David's death, and the second carries the story on.

Author: Esdras and the older records

The book names no author. The ancient answer is Esdras (Ezra), the priest and scribe of the return from Babylon. The Talmud (Baba Bathra 15a) says that Ezra wrote his own book "and the genealogies of the Book of Chronicles up to his own time." Challoner names "Esdras or some other sacred writer," and the Catholic Encyclopedia (1911) records that "the older writers generally attributed the authorship to Esdras," as most Catholic authors of its day still did.

The edict of Cyrus that closes the book (36:22–23) is repeated almost word for word at the opening of 1 Esdras, and the two works share one style and one love for the Temple and the Law. The author names the older records he used: the words of Nathan, Ahias and Addo (9:29), of Semeias (12:15) and of Jehu son of Hanani (20:34), and the acts of Ozias "written by Isaias the son of Amos, the prophet" (26:22).

Many modern scholars assign it to an unknown later writer. The Church has defined no author, but the Pontifical Biblical Commission (23 June 1905) taught that the historical books are to be received as true history, unless it is proved by solid arguments that the sacred writer did not intend to write history properly so called; the Church has always read Paralipomenon in that light.

Date and first readers

It was written after the exile: it ends with the decree of Cyrus (538 B.C.), and the line of David in 1 Paralipomenon 3 is traced beyond Zorobabel. The Catholic Encyclopedia gives the Catholic view of its day: the work of Esdras, at the end of the fifth or the beginning of the fourth century before Christ.

It was written for the community restored to Jerusalem, poor and without a king, to show from its history what had brought blessing and what had brought ruin. Hence what it leaves out: the northern kingdom appears only where it touches Juda, and the faults of David and Solomon told in 2 Kings and 3 Kings are passed over. The Catholic Encyclopedia calls it "correct as far as it goes, only it is not complete."

Summary of 2 Chronicles

The book has two parts, Solomon (chapters 1–9) and the kings of Juda (10–36), and the measure of every king is whether he "sought the Lord."

Solomon and the Temple (chapters 1–9)

In chapters 1–9 God says to Solomon at Gabaon, "Ask what thou wilt that I should give thee" (1:7); he asks "wisdom and knowledge" and receives riches and glory besides. He builds the house of the Lord "in mount Moria... in the thrashingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite" (3:1). When the Ark is brought in, "the house of God was filled with a cloud" (chapter 5). Solomon's prayer of dedication follows (chapter 6); fire falls from heaven on the sacrifices, and the Lord answers him by night (chapter 7). The section closes with the visit of the queen of Saba and Solomon's death (chapter 9).

The kingdom divided: Roboam, Abia and Asa (chapters 10–16)

Roboam answers the people harshly and ten tribes break away: "We have no part in David" (10:16). For his sins Sesac of Egypt plunders the Temple (chapter 12). Abia defeats Jeroboam after recalling the "covenant of salt" made with David (chapter 13). Asa defeats Zara the Ethiopian and, at the word of the prophet Azarias, renews the covenant (chapters 14–15); but in his last years he leans on the king of Syria instead of God and is rebuked by Hanani the seer (chapter 16).

Josaphat (chapters 17–20)

Josaphat sends Levites through the cities "having with them the book of the law of the Lord" (17:9). He joins Achab at Ramoth Galaad against the warning of Micheas (chapter 18), then charges his judges: "you exercise not the judgment of man, but of the Lord" (19:6). When Moab and Ammon invade, he proclaims a fast, and the Lord gives victory without a battle (chapter 20).

Apostasy and partial reform: Joram to Achaz (chapters 21–28)

Chapters 21–28 are a darker stretch. Joram and Ochozias follow the house of Achab; Athalia murders the royal seed, but the child Joas is hidden in the Temple and crowned by the high priest Joiada (chapter 23). Joas reigns well while Joiada lives, then falls into idolatry and has the priest's son Zacharias stoned in the court of the Temple (chapter 24). Ozias, grown proud, burns incense in the sanctuary and is struck with leprosy (chapter 26). Achaz shuts the doors of the Temple and sacrifices to the gods of Damascus (chapter 28).

Ezechias (chapters 29–32)

In chapters 29–32 Ezechias cleanses the Temple and invites even the remnant of the northern tribes to a Passover, "a great solemnity in Jerusalem, such as had not been in that city since the time of Solomon" (chapter 30). When Sennacherib besieges Jerusalem, the king and the prophet Isaias pray, and "the Lord sent an angel" who cut down the Assyrian army (chapter 32).

Manasses, Josias and the fall of Jerusalem (chapters 33–36)

Manasses fills Jerusalem with idols, is carried in chains to Babylon, repents and is restored (chapter 33). Under Josias the priest Helcias finds in the Temple "the book of the law of the Lord, by the hand of Moses"; the king weeps, renews the covenant (chapter 34) and keeps a solemn Passover before falling at Mageddo (chapter 35). The last kings scorn the prophets; Nabuchodonosor burns the Temple and carries the people to Babylon "till the seventy years were expired," foretold by Jeremias, and the book ends with Cyrus bidding the exiles "go up" (chapter 36).

2 Chronicles 7:14: meaning and context

After the dedication "the Lord appeared to him by night, and said: I have heard thy prayer" (7:12). The speaker is God, the hearer Solomon, and the Lord answers the petitions of chapter 6: if He shuts up the heavens or sends locusts or pestilence, "and my people, upon whom my name is called, being converted, shall make supplication to me, and seek out my face, and do penance for their most wicked ways: then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sins and will heal their land" (2 Paralipomenon 7:14).

"Do penance" renders the Vulgate egerit poenitentiam a viis suis pessimis, where the King James Version has "turn from their wicked ways." The promise was bound to the Temple, which would become "a byword" if Israel forsook the Lord (7:20). Does it apply today? Its pattern does: the people "upon whom my name is called" are now the baptized, and conversion, prayer and penance remain the way to pardon, as the Church teaches in the Sacrament of Penance (What is Confession?) and in her call to prayer in every public calamity.

2 Chronicles 20: themes of Josaphat's victory

Faced with the armies of Moab, Ammon and Mount Seir, "Josaphat being seized with fear betook himself wholly to pray to the Lord, and he proclaimed a fast for all Juda" (20:3). Fear becomes prayer and fasting, not despair: "as for us we have not strength enough... But as we know not what to do, we can only turn our eyes to thee" (20:12).

The Levite Jahaziel answers: "Fear ye not, and be not dismayed at this multitude: for the battle is not yours, but God's" (20:15); "only stand with confidence, and you shall see the help of the Lord" (20:17). Josaphat exhorts the people: "believe in the Lord your God, and you shall be secure: believe his prophets, and all things shall succeed well" (20:20). He sets the singers before the army, crying, "Give glory to the Lord, for his mercy endureth for ever," and "when they began to sing praises, the Lord turned their ambushments upon themselves" (20:21–22). Its themes: humility in danger, public prayer and fast, faith in God's word, and praise offered before the victory is seen (2 Chronicles 20).

Themes and the Catholic reading

Seek the Lord. Azarias tells Asa: "The Lord is with you, because you have been with him. If you seek him, you shall find: but if you forsake him, he will forsake you" (15:2). Ozias prospered "as long as he sought the Lord" (26:5); Asa, who in sickness "did not seek the Lord" (16:12), ended badly.

The Temple and the dwelling of God. Solomon asks: "Is it credible then that God should dwell with men on the earth? If heaven and the heavens of heavens do not contain thee, how much less this house" (6:18). The Gospel answers. Our Lord says, "Destroy this temple; and in three days I will raise it up," and St John adds, "he spoke of the temple of his body" (John 2:19–21). The glory that filled Solomon's house prefigures the Word made flesh and the Presence in our tabernacles (the Holy Eucharist); the fire that fell on his sacrifice is recalled in 2 Machabees 2:10.

A greater than Solomon. Christ cites the queen of Saba against His hearers: "she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold a greater than Solomon here" (Matthew 12:42).

Pride and penance. When "his heart was lifted up to his destruction" (26:16), Ozias seized a priestly office: "It doth not belong to thee, Ozias, to burn incense to the Lord, but to the priests" (26:18). His leprosy is a lesson against pride and a witness to the distinction God set between king and priest; it was "in the year that king Ozias died" that Isaias saw the Lord enthroned (Isaias 6:1). Manasses, the worst of the kings, "did penance exceedingly" and was heard (33:12–13): no sinner is beyond mercy. The Prayer of Manasses in the appendix of the Clementine Vulgate is not part of the canon.

The blood of Zacharias. The dying priest said, "The Lord see, and require it" (24:22). Our Lord recalls "the blood of Zacharias the son of Barachias, whom you killed between the temple and the altar" (Matthew 23:35; compare Luke 11:51), and St Jerome, in his Commentary on Matthew, notes that the Gospel used by the Nazarenes read "son of Joiada" here.

Famous chapters and verses of 2 Chronicles

2 Chronicles 2:7–14. Solomon asks Hiram for "a skilful man, that knoweth how to work in gold, and in silver, in brass, and in iron" (2:7), and Hiram blesses the Lord "who made heaven and earth" (2:12) (chapter 2).

2 Chronicles 15:7. "Do you therefore take courage, and let not your hands be weakened: for there shall be a reward for your work" (chapter 15).

2 Chronicles 16:9. "For the eyes of the Lord behold all the earth, and give strength to those who with a perfect heart trust in him." It rebukes Asa, who had trusted the king of Syria: "thou hast done foolishly" (chapter 16).

2 Chronicles 36:14–17. "The Lord the God of their fathers sent to them, by the hand of his messengers, rising early, and daily admonishing them... But they mocked the messengers of God, and... misused the prophets, until the wrath of the Lord arose against his people, and there was no remedy" (36:15–16).

Its place in the canon and the liturgy

2 Paralipomenon is a protocanonical book, received by Jews, Catholics, Orthodox and Protestants alike. In the Hebrew Bible it stands last of all. The Septuagint and the Vulgate place it among the historical books, after 4 Kings and before 1 Esdras. Its first nine chapters retell the reign of Solomon found in 3 Kings (1 Kings in Protestant Bibles), and the rest runs parallel to 3 and 4 Kings, following Juda only. The Council of Trent (Sess. IV, 1546) lists "two of Paralipomenon" among the sacred books and declared the Vulgate authentic; see our articles on the Latin Vulgate and the Douay-Rheims Bible.

The liturgy carries its echoes. Solomon's dedication prayer, given in 3 Kings 8 and 2 Paralipomenon 6, sounds in a responsory of Matins for the Dedication of a church: "Lord, if thy people be converted and pray toward thy sanctuary." His closing words, "arise, O Lord God, into thy resting place" (6:41), are those of Psalm 131 (132), and the Temple singers' "for his mercy endureth for ever" is the refrain of Psalm 135 (136), both sung in the Divine Office, which you can pray in the Iter Fidei breviary.

How to read 2 Chronicles

Begin with the last chapters of 1 Paralipomenon, where David prepares the Temple, and keep 3 and 4 Kings open for the parallel accounts. Read chapters 6 and 7 together, since the second answers the first, and go on from chapter 36 into 1 Esdras. The prayers of the kings and the words of the prophets are the heart of the book.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who wrote 1 and 2 Chronicles?

The two books were one work in the Hebrew, divided by the Greek translators, and have one author, who does not give his name. Jewish and Christian tradition names Esdras (Ezra), the priest and scribe of the return from exile, and Challoner holds that the books were abridged from the ancient annals "by Esdras or some other sacred writer." Many modern scholars prefer an unnamed later author.

When was 2 Chronicles written?

After the Babylonian exile, since it ends with the decree of Cyrus of 538 B.C. The Catholic view recorded in the Catholic Encyclopedia places it in the time of Esdras, at the end of the fifth or the beginning of the fourth century before Christ. Many modern scholars propose a later date.

How many chapters are in 2 Chronicles?

2 Chronicles has 36 chapters and 822 verses in the Douay-Rheims, where it is called 2 Paralipomenon.

What is 2 Chronicles about?

It is the history of the kingdom of Juda from Solomon to the Babylonian exile, told from the standpoint of the Temple and the house of David. It ends with the destruction of Jerusalem and Cyrus's decree permitting the return.

What does 2 Chronicles 7:14 mean?

It is God's answer to Solomon's dedication prayer. The Lord promises that if His people "being converted, shall make supplication to me, and seek out my face, and do penance for their most wicked ways," He will hear, forgive their sins and heal their land. Its lesson holds for every age: conversion, prayer and penance obtain God's mercy.

What is the covenant of salt in 2 Chronicles 13?

King Abia reminds Jeroboam that "the Lord God of Israel gave to David the kingdom over Israel for ever, to him and to his sons by a covenant of salt" (13:5). Challoner explains: "That is, a firm and perpetual covenant," and refers to Numbers 18:19. Salt, which preserves from corruption and was added to every sacrifice, signified a pact that cannot be broken.

What are the themes of 2 Chronicles 20?

Trust in God in danger. Josaphat answers fear with prayer and a public fast, confesses "we know not what to do," and hears "the battle is not yours, but God's"; the people go out singing God's praise, and their enemies destroy one another.

What book comes after 2 Chronicles?

In the Catholic Bible, 2 Paralipomenon is followed by 1 Esdras (Ezra), which opens with the same decree of Cyrus that closes Chronicles. In the Hebrew Bible, Chronicles is the very last book.

Read the whole Second Book of Paralipomenon verse by verse, in Latin and English, in the Iter Fidei Catholic Bible app.

Sources. The Holy Bible, Douay-Rheims version with Bishop Challoner's notes and preface to Paralipomenon; the Latin Vulgate; St Jerome, Letter 53 to Paulinus, and Commentary on Matthew, on 23:35; the Talmud, Baba Bathra 15a; Council of Trent, Sess. IV (1546); Pontifical Biblical Commission, response of 23 June 1905 on the historical narratives of Scripture; F. Bechtel, "Books of Paralipomenon," Catholic Encyclopedia (1911); Roman Breviary, Common of the Dedication of a Church.