The First Book of Chronicles Purpose To instill hope—largely by appeal to the Davidic promise—among Jews who had returned to their land but were living in subjugation Author Unknown Date Likely written around 400 BC, largely recording events that occurred around 1011–971 BC Setting Judea had been resettled by Jews following the Exile, but these Jews were still living under foreign (Persian) rule; the account essentially traces the reign of David

The books of 1–2 Chronicles were written to inspire hope. Exile had robbed the people of Israel of their wealth, and their return to the land created resentment among their neighbors. Despondency and apathy threatened to destroy them entirely. The Chronicler’s task was to establish and validate the people’s links with the past. In writing this history, he organized the past in a way that provided meaning and value for the present. He believed that his community, Judea, was critically significant in representing the Kingdom of God. He knew that the community needed to retain its distinctive sense of identity in order to fulfill its purpose. Setting The Babylonians had conquered the kingdom of Judah between 605 and 586 BC. Within a generation, Babylonian power eroded because of its own internal decay (see Dan 5). Meanwhile, to the east, the Persian king Cyrus the Great (559–530 BC) established a new empire that united the Medes and the Persians. In October 539 BC, Babylon fell without resistance, and Cyrus’s empire extended westward to include Babylonia (see Dan 5:30-31). In keeping with his imperial policy, Cyrus provided for the Jewish exiles to return to Judea and establi...