Qualified Continuity

The account of the fall of Jerusalem in Chronicles mentions the despoliation of the temple vessels. In contrast to its Vorlage (2 Kgs 24–25), Chronicles is filled with a sense of forward-looking continuity; the cultic paraphernalia serve as a symbol of the postexilic restoration. Yet, according to 2 Chr 36, that continuity does not extend backward; the vessels taken to Babylon were not those produced under Solomon. To explain the discrepancy with 2 Kgs 24–25, the article discusses the Chronicler’s understanding of idolatry and studies its effects. The comparison between the accounts of the reforms of Jehoash and Hezekiah shows that, for the Chronicler, the misuse of the temple vessels in the ritual worship of foreign deities demands their substitution. Probing the reason for this, the article proposes that the Chronicler could have been influenced by an exegetical tradition that promoted a more stringent interpretation of Deut 7:25.