Expert: Roy Wallen - 1/9/2012

Question
QUESTION: Hi Dr. Wallen,
   As I'm reading through the Old Testament (NIV), I continually notice the same lines over and over again throughout Kings & Chronicles: "The rest of the events in ____________'s reign are recorded in the Book of the History of the Kings of Israel (or Judah)"  I was wondering if these books have been preserved somewhere, or if they no longer exist?  While searching online briefly, I found one man who said that all of the references made in Kings that say "The Book of the History of the Kings of Israel (or Judah)" are, in fact, referring to 1 and 2 Chronicles, and that the references in Chronicles are referring to 1 and 2 Kings.  Are 1&2 Kings, and 1&2 Chronicles the books of the history of the kings?  Or are these books non-canonical books that we no longer have access to?  Thanks for your time!

Brandon

ANSWER: Dear Brandon,

First, please accept my apology for the delay in responding as I was away on business this past week and my reference materials are at home.  Second, thanks for the honorary doctorate designation but my training does not include a terminal degree.  Now, on to your question.

When I do search of this reference in the NIV (though my preference is the New King James Version as I believe it is a much better translation), I only find two references (1 Chronicles 9:1 and 2 Chronicles 20:34).  There are two thoughts about these references.  One, taken by the majority of commentaries, is that the genealogies are lists that are not part of Scripture but were available to the people at the time.  The other thought, shown in later Scripture, is that the genealogies are preserves in other books of the Bible and prove Jesus's lineage (Matthew for Joseph and Luke for Mary).  Both perspectives may be true.

Indeed, the books of 1 Chronicles is a parallel book with 2 Samuel and and 2 Chronicles with 1 and 2 Kings.

Hope this helps.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hi Mr. Wallen!  Thanks a lot for the reply, and don't worry about the delay, it seemed quick to me! I appreciate you getting back to me.  I made a mistake in my original message; I meant NLT.  I used NIV for so long that's just what my fingers type automatically.  In the NLT there are a bunch of these references in 1 and 2 Kings.  I used Biblegateway.com to find a few: 1 Kings 14:19, 1 Kings 14:29, 1 Kings 15:7 and lots more.  In your response, you say that these books of the history of the kings are, in fact, genealogies.  I'm just a little confused regarding the term "genealogy."  I thought genealogies were essentially, "John begat Steve.  Steve begat Paul.  Paul begat Dave."  Are the books of 1&2 Kings and 1&2 Chronicles considered genealogies?  Basically, what I'm curious about is this: are there books (these books of the history of the kings of Israel and Judah) that used to exist that chronicle the in-depth history of Israel that is not included in Kings?  Thanks so much for taking the time to consider my question.

Answer
Biblegateway is an excellent resource for looking up references -- I use it often, too.

Geneology is often presented in the Bible as you describe and as in Luke 3:23-38.  In the reference in 1 Chronicles 9:1, it is essentially a census.  While a geneology may appear, the books of Kings and Chronicles are history.  To my knowledge, no other records of the history of Israel exists other than what God has preserved in the Bible.  Clearly, what we have in 1 and 2 Chronicles, 1 and 2 Kings, and 2 Samuel is all God chose to preserve and is all we really need.  Other references may be avialble but that would be better answered by an historian.  These would, in that case, be secular works and not what God would have for us as inspired by Him.