Second Book of Chronicles 11-36, Book of Ezra 1-10

Second Chronicles features plenty of references to what are apparently lost books Hebrews at the time included in their tradition.  Rehoboam's story is supposed to continue in the chronicles of Shemaiah and Iddo (who appears to be a fairly significant lost figure, considering this is his second mention in the Chronicles; it's just as if only the Kings references to Jonah and Jeremiah, for instance, were all we knew of them, besides their separate books and Jeremiah's expanded role in Chronicles).  Abijah's career is also expanded by the lost Iddo as well as the first mention of the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel, which I needed to confirm was not a reference back to First and Second Kings, much as Kings themselves kept referencing Chronicles.

Arabs are referenced as such.

Micaiah appears, a prophet of the apocalyptic persuasion.

The longer Second Chronicles continues, the clearer its portrait of simply uninspired kings becomes.  These people are simply not relevant to the Jewish tradition, which may be a way of saying that not every generation or significant figure can actually be significant, considering the previous books in the Bible have all featured almost exclusively names that actively contributed to the tradition.

Jehoshaphat's further exploits can be found in the chronicles of Jehu, which is referenced in tandem with the Book of the Kings of Israel, which is probably the same as the above lost book of similar title.

Elijah appears, in a far less significant role, though he sends a letter, which is a form of communication far more prevalent in the New Testament (most of which is composed of such addresses).

Chronicles seems to feature more work done on the temple than in Kings.  There's a restoration effort before Josiah's, for instance.  Perhaps I'm misremembering, but the intended earlier effort in Kings was aborted after the money was collected and everyone decided to just hold onto the funds for a while, like a biblical banking operation.

There's apparently another account of this period in the Commentary on the Book of Kings, which again may be another way of phrasing something referenced above.  Amaziah's story continues in the Book of Kings of Judah and Israel, at any rate.

I thought it was amusing to see the term "muster" used so frequently in Second Chronicles.  To give you another Tolkien reference, the "muster of Rohan" certainly seems like something that could easily have featured in this book of the Bible.

Isaiah wrote the further adventures of Uzziah.  I guess I'll find out if it's in Book of Isaiah, or if we're talking about another lost book.

There's one bad king who seems like he was definitely written that way at the end of his reign just to justify another bad turn on the part of Hebrew history.  It's incredibly tempting to interpret this whole period that way.  It might also explain the disconnect between the reign of Solomon as described in Kings and Chronicles.

Jotham comes off well.  He can be found in the lost Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel.  So can Ahaz.

Another indication of how faith can sometimes form is the phrase, "for the commandment was from the Lord through his prophets."  One of the thorny issues of the Bible and faith in general is the belief that if someone says you have to believe someone because God inspired them, you have to assume that's exactly what happened.  This appears to be a far harder thing to verify in the modern world than in biblical times.  Again, I'm not say faith is invalidated if you question things like this, but it's also maybe a good thing if you question whether or not all the specific details that clearly helped build a culture as much as a religious should still be considered unquestionably valid today.

Hezekiah also gets a good write-up.  I realize I may be duplicating observations between Kings and Chronicles on some of these individuals, but there are subtle variations.  Sometimes even someone who was spoken of favorably got one of those famous bad ends, to the effect of "he still wasn't absolutely perfect and so God was displeased with him."  That happens less frequently in Chronicles than in Kings.  The other thing about Hezekiah is that he gets to deliver a speech before some troops that would not at all be out of place in a Hollywood action movie.  Mel Gibson was at one point thinking of making a movie out of the adventures of the Maccabees.  He could easily do that with any number of earlier books.  It would look exactly like Braveheart.

Somehow even though a number of kings have been cycled through (and some eight paragraphs later here), Elijah makes another appearance.  There is apparently a vision of Elijah in the lost Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel.  Manasseh, who was a bad king, can be found in the lost Chronicles of the Kings of Israel.

We finally reach Josiah again!  As before, he sets about rebuilding the temple.  The book of the law, and Moses, and the ark are all referenced, links not specifically established in Kings.  There is a Huldah the prophetess who appears.  She's the latest obscure female prophet in the Old Testament, but they do in fact exist!  Josiah's arc (as opposed to Moses's ark) is much better in Chronicles.  His dedication to rededicating the Hebrews to the practice of the law distinguishes him from other religious revivals, which makes sense because most of what we know about him is that he's the guy who thought to actually read the old rules found in the ark again.  Of course, this also makes him to blame for any number of things, if you're interested in looking at it that way.  Josiah's subsequent observation of the passover meal is said to be the greatest since the days of Samuel.  Jeremiah offers a lament upon the death of Josiah, whose career can also be found in the lost Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel.  Jehoiakim can be found there, too.  Zedekiah "did not humble himself before Jeremiah the prophet."

Second Chronicles ends confusingly if you expect it to be exact parallel with the end of Second Kings, because when we reach Nebuchadnezzar and the exile, we're soon treated to the Persian Empire.  This is of course the fulfillment of a prophecy from Jeremiah, whose importance is roughly proportionate to Isaiah's in Kings, and vice versa.  Cyrus, meanwhile, king of Persia, is responsible for the end of the exile.  You may be confused about the exile ending so abruptly because it plays such a famous role in Jewish history.  This is because there are a number of separate books that return to this era, even though by the time we reach them it has already, in terms of biblical narrative, ended.  I would probably tend to argue, then, that the time of the bad kings, or perhaps even the time of the judges, should be greater stressed in the history than this exile, which isn't apparently nearly as dramatic, or traumatic, as the similar period of bondage in Egypt .

The Book of Ezra picks up the story right from the end of Second Chronicles.  It explains how Cyrus decides to end the exile so that he can be the latest person to rebuild the temple, although he himself won't be doing it, but rather the previously exiled Hebrews, part of an overall initiative on his part to honor a number of different gods (but it sounds better to just say he did it for the Hebrews, just as it's convenient to say Judaism is a monotheistic religion even though God himself acknowledged the existence of other gods, rather that it is intended as a worship of only him).

Nehemiah, Zechariah (son of Iddo, by the way!), Haggai, and Daniel are all referenced.  Each has their own book in the Bible.  All that and books from Jeremiah and Isaiah!  No wonder the exile period is so famous!

Besides Cyrus, Darius is referenced among the Persians.  This is a different Darius than the one Alexander defeated about a century later.  To put this period in context as far as culture goes, Alexander was very familiar with Greek myth.  He was obsessed with The Iliad.  It's no wonder that so much biblical material is comparable.  Artaxerxes, meanwhile, is the Persian king who temporarily makes it difficult for Cyrus to get his wish, because he remembers the Hebrews as bent on warfare, or as it's termed here rebellion and sedition (interesting way to describe it).  He's the son of the Xerxes who famously battled King Leonidas and the Spartans in the Battle of Thermopylae.  Context sure is fun!

Ezra himself appears very late in the Book of Ezra, funny enough.  He's a descendant of Aaron, by the way, which makes sense for him to be of priestly flavor.  His role in his own book is to revive the study of the law that Josiah has previously rediscovered.  This also makes sense.

First Book of Kings 12-22, Second Book of Kings 1-10

Solomon's son Rehoboam succeeds him.  It's the first of many names you'll have probably never heard of or at least won't remember if you have.  There are some big names ahead, but also a lot of incredibly small ones.  Mostly the degenerative nature of the Hebrew monarchy on display for the foreseeable future...

The poor dude starts out poorly by forsaking the wisdom of his elders in favor of his frat buddies, basically.  People somehow feel betrayed by this attitude.  "...Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day," thanks to poor examples like this.  Although to be fair, both David and Solomon screwed up pretty good, too, even if they actually did a bunch of positive things as well.

The splintering crown leads way to the reign of Jeroboam.  War is averted, momentarily.  Jeroboam is crazy enough to drive his people away from God in an effort to divert them from Rehoboam.    It makes no sense.  But that's also part of God's own doing, the curse he leveled against Israel thanks to once too often straying from the chosen path.  Jeroboam also breaks the Mosaic tradition of strictly Levite priests.

On the other hand, Josiah is prophesied, although he doesn't show up as of Second Kings 10.  That's someone to look forward to!

And there's Jesus, whom Josiah might be said to evoke.  The prophet who sees Josiah in the future returns home from a different way than he came, like the three wise men from the nativity story of the New Testament.

I'd name the prophet, but he isn't named in First Kings, and neither is another prophet who shows up, which doesn't help the narrative at this point be terribly memorable.  It might be symbolic, however, of their combined ineffectiveness, a little like my good friend Balaam.

The whole point of Jeroboam seems to be that God didn't forsake David so much as apparently every other member of the chosen people.  He's shrunk his commitment back to its origins, but instead of promising many descendants, only one in the future who will fulfill the abortive promise of David's destiny.  And, by the way, when someone like David, or Solomon, wins everyone does.  And that's kind of what Jesus does, isn't it?  It's the whole reason the New Testament seems like an extension and also drastic revision of the Old Testament.

The later books of Chronicles is referenced for the first time.  The first time of many.  I noted nine more instances between both books of Kings.  Clearly they were written in quick succession, or more cleverly edited together than previous books of the Bible.

Jeroboam reigned 22 years.  After a while, I stopped keeping a record of reigns and overlaps of reigns.  There was just no point.  Maybe as a chart it would have looked good, but honestly?  You don't know these names because by themselves they just aren't important.

Nadab succeeds him!  See what I mean?  Who's Nadab?  Rehoboam was 41 when he began his reign, which lasted 17 years.  People misbehaved.  He didn't exactly stop them.  Although the Egyptians are big winners.  They're suddenly very relevant again, which was something that began under Solomon.  They replace the Philistines, and of course you know all about them.  They raid Jerusalem.  War between the camps of Jeroboam and Rehoboam, and maybe a few citizens lose track of whose side they're on because of the extreme similarity of their names...

Then Rehoboam died.  Abijah succeeded him.  Reigned 3 years, 18 years into Jeroboam's competing reign.  He was morally compromised.  They all were.  It's great that Christians later had so many wonderful saints, because it was incredibly hard for all these biblical figures to be anything like that pure.  War between the camps of Abijah and Jeroboam.  Abijah succeeded by Asa, 20th year of Jeroboam's reign.  He lasts 41 years.  Doesn't leave any real impact.  He feuds with Baasha, Jeroboam's successor..  Then comes Jehoshaphat, a name you'll probably know.  Nadab was betrayed by Baasha, with Philistine connections (they had to show again).  That signals the end of the house of Jeroboam.  Honestly, this is like Game of Thrones...

Baasha reigned for 24 years.  He thoroughly rejected Jeroboam, but was just as bad.  Elah, the son of Baasha, comes next.  If the name sounds familiar, it's Philistine in origin, and was previously featured as the valley in which David defeated Goliath.  Zimri betrays him, ends the house of Baasha.  Israel further splinters.  New kings in new kingdoms include Tibni and Omri, although he was worse than anyone else.  But, Ahab succeeds him!

No, not the Herman Melville character, the biblical Ahab, as in Ahab and Jezebel.  How does Jezebel become an epitaph?  By being probably the worst woman in the whole Bible, Iago-like in her manipulations.  But who's that to try and save the day?  Elijah!  He kind of redeems Ahab, and that's just the start of his adventures!  He's a Christ figure, which only figures, because apparently thought Jesus was either Moses or Elijah returned to earth.

Classic episode that sees Elijah completely discredit the prophets of Baal follows, sort of like Moses and the Pharaoh's sorcerers.  It's also the first time God has been actively demonstrative since Moses, too.  Elijah undergoes a trial in the desert, like Jesus, lasts for the same prophetic 40 days.  There's also the episode where God is manifested in the most modest way possible, which evokes the way his relationship to mankind has evolved since the early books in the Old Testament.  Elisha appears, predating the apostles of the gospels but basically exactly like them.

Syria becomes the new Egypt, which was the new Philistines (who themselves remain mostly a biblical people to this day).  Israel prevails under Elijah's guidance.  The splintered nations grow less pathetic now that they have a strong figure at the center again.  Elijah, however, is the first prime figure who is not himself a prime mover.  The Syrians recognize God's strength, and so make peace.

Ahab becomes moody after a series of small sleights.  Jezebel is Jezebel.  Elijah chastises Ahab for letting Jezebel be Jezebel.  Ahab and Jezebel are basically Adam and Eve figures.  Jehoshaphat realizes Israel is stronger when united against Syria.  Prophets bicker.  Ahab dies in the Syrian wars that are somehow continuing (darn Jehoshaphat).  Ahaziah succeeds him, is less redeemable than Ahab.  Jehoram succeeds Jehoshaphat.  First Book of Kings ends.

Second Book of Kings begins much the way the last one ended.  Elijah is busy trying to get people not to worship gods before God.  Ahaziah presses the issue, tests both God and Elijah, and ends up smited for his effort.  Elijah parts waters (like Moses), the famed chariot of fire appears, and then he ascends to heaven, the way Christians find very evocative for the New Testament.

Elisha fixes the water in Jericho, which remains that way "to this day."  He was apparently bald, by the way, tormented for it like the "wisp of tow" taunt in The Brothers Karamazov.

Jehoram rejects Baal, but that doesn't mean he's a good king.  Elisha performs more wonders.  There's more warfare.  All this warfare is looking increasingly bleak for the future of Israel.  Elisha performs his classic oil miracle.  Looks like a Christ figure himself.  He even brings a child back to life.  If Jesus had had another Jesus after him, Christianity would look a lot different today.  He multiplies a little bit of food to feed many people.  He cures a leper, Naaman, who at first scoffs at Elisha's proscribed of treatment.  Naaman is a great warrior, so he hadn't exactly been treated as roughly as other lepers.  Elisha helps the Hebrew army avoids Syrian traps.  God helps him foil Syrian assassins.

Things on the whole, otherwise, remain pretty messy.  It's worth noting that Samaria is relevant in this era.  Jesus later has one of his classic parables concerning the "good Samaritan."  Elisha's prophecies, which was earlier indicated in the Bible as the only way to judge the worth of a prophet, always come true.  Philistines.  Elisha prophesies Hazael's reign in Syria and war with Israel.  Joram reigns, is no better than anyone else.  Then Ahaziah.  Wars.  Elisha has Jehu anointed.  Jehu immediately begins consolidating power.  Ends the house of Ahab.  Joram murdered.  Ahaziah murdered.  Jezebel murdered!  He also evokes Samson when he tricks followers of Baal into gathering in one space, and then killing them all.  He doesn't spare the earthly smiting one bit.  Killing, again, seems to be justifiable if you do it in the name of religion.  And so the Inquisition.  Jehu, for all this holy crusading, is not hugely more perfect than anyone, just a human purge machine, trying to clear the Hebrew cobwebs.  His reign lasts 28 years.  Jehoahaz succeeds him.  Second Kings continues...