Right Words

There are six places in this book where the time-specific phrase “unto this day” or a similar variant is used, spanning nearly the entire book (5:9, 8:8, 10:19, 20:26, 21:10, 35:25). By studying these uses sequentially, I think that we’re able to determine when the book likely was written, that part of the book was a postscript, and what part was the postscript.

5:9. This verse states that the temple is still standing at time of the book’s writing and the staves of the ark of the covenant are still visible as removed. Unless the book was written serially, it was likely composed sometime before invaders first removed articles from the temple (2 Chron. 36:7), or at latest just before the temple was destroyed, if the ark remained there that long.

8:8. This verse mentions Solomon’s tribute on the remnant of the Amorite nations as continuing “unto this day.” My assumption is that Rehoboam and the succeeding Judean kings continued this practice until the Babylonian captivity.

10:19. The northern tribes are never reunited with the southern tribes before the Babylonian captivity. That occurs post-captivity, as seen in references to the northern tribes in the gospels and Revelation (e.g., Anna was of the tribe of Aser/Asher; cf. Luke 2:36).

20:26. The valley in Judah is referred to as Berachah from the reign of Jehoshaphat until the Babylonian captivity.

21:10. The Edomites rebel against Judah at this point and remain unsubdued through the Babylonian captivity. See Obadiah where they actively oppose the Judeans following the destruction of Jerusalem.

35:25. The latest use of “to this day” in the book, with the shortest duration, since Judah crumbles within 23 years of Josiah’s death. So the lamentation for him lasted for quite some time after his death, but before the destruction of Jerusalem, helping us estimate the time that the main body of 2 Chronicles was written, if it was not written serially.

Since the book includes material on the destruction of the temple and Jerusalem, that had to be added after the main composition, which refers to the temple still standing, tribute being collected from the Amorites, etc. So it looks like 2 Chronicles is written in at least two parts, if not serially over a period of about 400 years.