Will Vaus

Today we come in our journey along Route 66 to the book of 1 Chronicles... Author   Rabbinic tradition ascribes authorship of part, but not all, of Chronicles to Ezra the scribe; medieval Jewish commentators differed over the scope of the Ezra material. Modern scholarship is divided over the book’s relationship to Ezra. There are similarities in terms of language, outlook, and theology between the books of Chronicles, Ezra, and Nehemiah. Thus, some scholars refer to the author of all three as “The Chronicler”. But most scholars now reject this position. Most scholars now use the term “The Chronicler” just to refer to the author of Chronicles. Furthermore, some scholars, like Richard Elliott Friedman, believe that the author of Chronicles was an Aaronid priest. [1]   Date   Though there is agreement that Chronicles was written during the postexilic period, the book’s more precise date of composition has been a matter of great debate. Some have dated the book as early as 50...

Author   Last week we learned that 1 and 2 Kings, like 1 and 2 Samuel, was originally one book. Ancient Jewish tradition credited Jeremiah as the author of 1 and 2 Kings. The consensus of modern scholarship is that 2 Kings is part of the Deuteronomic History that includes what are now seven books of the Old Testament: Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings. My former professor, Richard Elliott Friedman, believes that the author of the Deuteronomic History was Baruch, the scribe of the prophet Jeremiah.   In 1975, a clay bulla purportedly containing Baruch’s seal and name appeared on the antiquities market. The inscription says in Hebrew, “Belonging to Baruch, son of Neriah. In 1996, a second clay bulla emerged with an identical inscription. This bulla also was imprinted with a fingerprint. Richard Elliott Friedman thinks that in this artifact we may actually have the fingerprint of one of the authors of the Bible.   Date   Some scholars place...