of the Masoretic text, and of little value except for determining the official Hebrew text of the second century. The old LXX., unfortunately, no longer exists for 1 Chr. i.—2 Chr. xxxiv.; but for 2 Chr. xxxv., xxxvi. it has been preserved in 1 Esdras i.—a fact of great good fortune, not merely for the textual criticism of that passage, but for the light it sheds on the relations and characteristics of the Greek Versions.
(2) The Old Latin Version was made from the old LXX. which is now lost except for the last two chapters of Chronicles, as stated above. It would therefore be of great value for criticism, but alas! only a few fragments survive.
The later Latin Version, the Vulgate, made by Jerome, is of small value, as it represents only the official Hebrew text.
(3) The Syriac Version, known as the Peshitṭa, is of even smaller value for textual criticism. Unlike the close rendering of other books in the Peshitṭa, Chronicles constantly has the characteristics of a paraphrase rather than a translation. One example will suffice. For "Joel the chief and Shaphat the second," 1 Chr. v. 12, the Peshitṭa has "And Joel went forth at their head and judged them and taught them the scriptures well." The Peshitṭa is further noteworthy for curious omissions (and substitutions), e.g. 2 Chr. iv. 10—22; xi. 5—xii. 12 (for which 1 Kin. xii. 25—30, followed by 1 Kin. xiv. 1—9, is substituted).
For further information regarding the text and versions of Chronicles, see the edition by Curtis, pp. 35 ff.
§ 11. Literature
Of the more recent literature on Chronicles the following is a list of the principal works which have been consulted in the preparation of this volume.
J. Wellhausen, Prolegomena (1885), esp. ch. vi.
W. H. Bennett, The Books of Chronicles in the Expositor's Bible (1894).
