The DOI matches its Crossref record; 10 of the 10 references it cites were found in a registry or an index; none of the 45 sources its claims cite is checked for support yet.
Chronicles as the Intended Conclusion to the Hebrew Scriptures
Open accessAbstract
This paper seeks to demonstrate an intentional placement of the book of Chronicles at the end of the Hebrew Bible in order for it to function as the theological summary of the Old Testament canon. An overview of a canonical approach to Scripture is given, starting with a proposed explanation for the final shape of the Hebrew Bible, namely that it is a composed theological book. External witnesses are examined, and each option for the books placement within these witnesses are evaluated. The internal evidence within the text itself is also evaluated in order to infer the intentions of the biblical authors. It is argued that both the external and internal evidence given for the placement of Chronicles are best explained in its theological function as the conclusion to the Hebrew Bible.
Overview
CoChat Summary
TL;DR
The paper argues that Chronicles was intentionally placed at the end of the Hebrew Bible to serve as its theological summary, not merely as “things left behind” after Kings. It weighs external canonical orders and internal textual seams/themes and concludes that “meant” contextuality best explains the evidence.
Key findings
- Chronicles is witnessed in three locations: after Kings, at the head of the Writings, or at the end of the Writings; John Sailhamer notes two final Tanak shapes emerge, one ending with Ezra/Nehemiah and the other with Chronicles.
- Baba Batra (around 200 C.E.) places Chronicles last in the Writings, while the Leningrad Codex places Chronicles first; Steinberg and Stone report about 30 orders without a grouped Megillot and about 90 orders with the Megillot grouped.
- The Chronicler emphasizes David and the Davidic covenant, the temple and Jerusalem, and the universal significance of the Davidic king and temple; the book begins with Adam and ends with Cyrus, and 2 Chron 36:22–23 leaves Cyrus’s decree without historical fulfillment to invite an eschatological reading.
- Placing Chronicles at the end preserves the canonical seams Deuteronomy 34/Joshua 1 and Malachi 4/Psalm 1; placing it before Psalms disrupts the latter seam, and ending with Ezra-Nehemiah would leave the canon with covenant failure rather than Chronicles’ messianic hope.
Methods
- Design: a canonical/theological argument evaluating external textual witnesses alongside internal evidence within the Hebrew Bible to infer the biblical authors’ intentions.
- Data: external orders from Baba Batra and the Leningrad Codex, broader witness counts from Steinberg and Stone, and internal features such as canonical seams, Chronicles’ content, and its beginning/ending.
- Analysis: compares the theological implications of placing Chronicles at the beginning versus the end of the Writings and argues that the end placement is the best explanation of both external and internal evidence.
Limitations
- Stated: the author concedes that absolute certainty on Chronicles’ placement cannot be decisively stated, that the paper cannot discuss every view, that the English Bible placement after Kings is not dealt with, and that external evidence alone is inconclusive.
- Stated: the paper also notes it has not addressed the possibility of Ruth opening the Writings.
- Evident in the text: the argument is explicitly probabilistic and depends on contested theological/literary readings of internal evidence rather than new manuscript discoveries.
Model-written summary. Check it against the paper before relying on it.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Verification
Claims the paper makes
0 Valid · 3 Not valid · 40 Not checked · 57 Own results and interpretations
The paper states this without a source or data behind it here, so there is nothing to check it against. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Two witnesses to the shape of the Writings (The Leningrad Codex and Baba Batra) provide two different orders of the Writings.”
§ Chronicles as the Intended Conclusion to the Hebrew Scriptures Chronicles as the Intended Conclusion to the Hebrew Scriptures > Conclusion
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: unclear — It is unclear why the paper says it holds.
In the paper
“At the end of the book,”
- Also stated in: § The Shape of the Writings · plain
“Israel is interrelated with all the kingdoms on earth over which YHWH has given Cyrus the right to rule.”
§ Chronicles as the Intended Conclusion to the Hebrew Scriptures Chronicles as the Intended Conclusion to the Hebrew Scriptures > The Shape of the Writings
What the sources say
- Not matchedcites [45]
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
plainstates an association- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
- Also stated in: § The Shape of the Writings · plain
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“This gives the passage an eschatological reading.”
§ Chronicles as the Intended Conclusion to the Hebrew Scriptures Chronicles as the Intended Conclusion to the Hebrew Scriptures > The Shape of the Writings
plainstates a cause- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
In the paper
“There are many different orders within other textual witnesses that take a similar shape, following a theological rationale.31”
§ Chronicles as the Intended Conclusion to the Hebrew Scriptures Chronicles as the Intended Conclusion to the Hebrew Scriptures > The Shape of the Writings
What the sources say
- Not matchedcites Steinberg and Stone, "The Historical Formation of the Writings in Antiquity", 47.
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
plainstates an association- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
- Not matched
A statement the paper makes itself — it cites no source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“This distinction is important because the order of the books within the Hebrew Bible is not merely a record of reception history, but rather a move of composition. 1”
§ Chronicles as the Intended Conclusion to the Hebrew Scriptures Chronicles as the Intended Conclusion to the Hebrew Scriptures > Introduction
plainstates a cause- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: unclear — It is unclear why the paper says it holds.
- Rests on an assumption not shown here.
17 more claims
Create a free account to see all 100 claims and every source verdict.
- Probably not a substantial claim. 67
- It may state two separate claims as one. 37
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
Each contradiction between two passages listed here was confirmed by an independent check.
Rated minor: it would not touch a result — a value no result rests on, a p-value that stays on the same side of the significance level, or a conflict that is clerical, resolved elsewhere in the paper, or outside its own findings.
In the paper
§ Chronicles as the Intended Conclusion to the Hebrew Scriptures Chronicles as the Intended Conclusion to the Hebrew Scriptures > The Shape of the Writings
“Gregory Goswell."Putting the Book of Chronicles in its Place."(Journal Of The Evangelical Theological Society 60, no. 2, 2017), 283.”
§ Chronicles as the Intended Conclusion to the Hebrew Scriptures Chronicles as the Intended Conclusion to the Hebrew Scriptures > "Mere" and "Meant" Contextuality 60
“Gregory Goswell."Putting the Book of Chronicles in its Place."Journal Of The Evangelical Theological Society 60, no.2: (2015) 283.”
Rated minor: it would not touch a result — a value no result rests on, a p-value that stays on the same side of the significance level, or a conflict that is clerical, resolved elsewhere in the paper, or outside its own findings.
In the paper
§ Chronicles as the Intended Conclusion to the Hebrew Scriptures Chronicles as the Intended Conclusion to the Hebrew Scriptures > The Shape of the Writings
“The decree, although already recorded at the end of Ezra/Nehemiah, is shortened and intentionally left without a historical fulfilment (2 Chron 36:22-23).”
§ Chronicles as the Intended Conclusion to the Hebrew Scriptures Chronicles as the Intended Conclusion to the Hebrew Scriptures > The Shape of the Writings
“Beginning with Adam and ending with Cyrus, "he recalls the beginning of the canon (Genesis) in his introduction and recalls the beginning of the last book of the canon (Ezra-Nehemiah) in his conclusion.”
Citations
Cites
Genette, G., & Maclean, M. (1991) · New Literary History · doi:10.2307/469037 · Cited by 459
Introduction to Old Testament Theology: A Canonical Approach
Sailhamer, J. H. (1995) · Cited by 49
The Biblical Canon: Its Origin, Transmission, and Authority
McDonald, L. M. (2006) · Cited by 47
Tuell, S. S. (2010) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/obo/9780195393361-0021 · Cited by 8
The Torah Model as Original Macrostructure of the Hebrew Canon: a Critical Evaluation
Koorevaar, H. J. (2010) · Zeitschrift für die Alttestamentliche Wissenschaft · doi:10.1515/zaw.2010.006 · Cited by 8
Daniel in the Context of the Hebrew Bible
Shepherd, M. B. (2009) · DigitalCommons-Cedarville (Cedarville University) · Cited by 6
Toward a Canon-Conscious Reading of the Bible: Exploring the History and Hermeneutics of the Canon
Spellman, C. E. (2014) · DigitalCommons-Cedarville (Cedarville University) · Cited by 3
Freedman, D. (1993) · doi:10.3998/mpub.7831
Chronicles as the Intended Conclusion to the Old Testament Canon
Koorevaar, H. J. (2015) · The Shape of the Writings · doi:10.1515/9781575063744-012
The Historical Formation of the Writings in Antiquity
Steinberg, J., & Stone, T. J. (2015) · The Shape of the Writings · doi:10.1515/9781575063744-004
Research works printed but not linked: 6
- Scott J. Hafemann. Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press; Leicester, England: Apollos, 2002.
- Gallagher, Edmon L. "The End of the Bible? The position of Chronicles in the Canon." Tyndale Bulletin 65, 181-199.
- Goswell, Gregory. "Having the last say: the end of the OT." Journal Of The Evangelical Theological Society (2015)
- Goswell, Gregory. "Putting the Book of Chronicles in its Place." Journal Of The Evangelical Theological Society 60, no. 2: 283.
- Scott J. Hafemann. Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press; Leicester, England: Apollos, 2002.
- Spellman, Ched E. Toward a Canon-Conscious Reading of the Bible: Exploring the History and Hermeneutics of the Canon. Sheffield Phoenix Press Ltd, 2014.
Cited by
Still being checked.
Metadata
- Authors
- Shields, P. E.
- Affiliations
- Cedarville University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Shields, Peter E.
- Venue
- Channels
- Publisher
- Centennial Library
- Published
- 2019
- Volume
- 3
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 1-16
- ISSN
- 2474-2651 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2967581135
- Semantic Scholar
- 606f9593b9dcab6a6686dc4003e086fbc99e73d1
- Cited by
- 0
- References
- 7
- FWCI
- 0.00
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- cc-by
- Locations
- Channels (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- DigitalCommons-Cedarville (Cedarville University) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Religious studies › Biblical Studies and Interpretation
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Religious studies › Religion, Theology, History, Judaism, Christianity
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › History › Reformation and Early Modern Christianity
- Keywords
- Book of Chronicles, Hebrew Bible, biblical canon, canonical order, Old Testament theology, biblical composition, authorial intention
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