9:1 The statement that all Israel was listed in the genealogical records reveals the crux of the Chronicler’s thought, that all Israel was represented by the community of Judea in the time of the Chronicler, which had continuity with Israel’s past. • The Book of the Kings of Israel is a source document that the authors of both Kings and Chronicles used but has now been lost (see also study note on 1 Kgs 14:19-20). • The people of Judah were exiled for unfaithfulness, as the other tribes had been (1 Chr 5:25-26; 6:15; see 2 Chr 36:20-21).

9:1-34 The Chronicler shows how people and institutions who returned from the Exile had continuity with the past. The Levites and the priests are prominent in this summary of Israel, expressing the Chronicler’s view that they were central to the organization of the nation. They were crucial to Israel’s function and success as a nation where God was the King. The Chronicler drew upon the records of ancient times as far back as Moses and David (9:19-22) to describe each group’s homeland and rank.