The Retelling of Chronicles in Jewish Tradition and Literature: A Historical Journey

Isaac Kalimi reveals the history of the book of Chronicles from Hellenistic times to the beginning of critical biblical scholarship at the dawn of the 17h century. This comprehensive examination focuses, first and foremost, on the use of Chronicles in Jewish societies through the generations and highlights the attitudes and biases of writers, translators, historians, artists, exegetes, theologians, and philosophers toward the book. The reader is made aware of what the biblical text has meant and what it has “accomplished” in the many contexts in which it has been presented.

Throughout the volume, Kalimi strives to describe the journey of Chronicles not only along the route of Jewish history and interpretation but also in relation to the book’s non-Jewish heritage (namely, Christianity), demonstrating the differences and distinctiveness of the former. In contrast, the majority of commentaries on Chronicles written from the mid-19th century to the present day have contained little or nothing about the application, interpretation, and reception history of Chronicles by Jews and Christians for hundreds of years.