THE WISDOM OF CHRONICLES

In 1 and 2 Chronicles, commentators have long noted a pattern of retributive justice whereby kings who comply with Yahweh’s will are rewarded with long life and honourable burial, whereas those who do not are disgraced. However, another pattern significantly emerges from a group of kings whose careers display an unexpected reversal. No convincing consensus has emerged on the significance of this reversal pattern yet. By exploring and adopting the insights of narrative film theory, particularly of cognitive film semiotics, into the effects of macro-repetition, this thesis seeks to elucidate what the implications of these unexpected reversals may have been for the ancient audience’s comprehension of the Chronicler’s communicative intent. As the reversal pattern is interwoven with the retributive pattern, the narrative may emerge as a falsifying narration, provoking a deep scepticism as to the conventional view of retribution theology. Deleuzian film theory offers a crucial insight into how this falsifying narration works. Specifically, the destabilizing effects of the reversal pattern lead to the simplistic view on ‘seeking the Lord’, taking on a deeper existential implication, which can be related to the Chronicler’s wisdom of the theological tension in the life of faith and to his theo-anthropology. Moreover, this view of the Chronicler’s theology as distinct from Samuel-Kings is rendered more plausible when considered in the light of the canonical context of Chronicles in the Hebrew Bible, where the book belongs to Ketuvim. The particular need for theological and ontological reorientation of the post-exilic Jewish community who likely formed the Chronicler’s intended audience is also a supporting factor. Thus, this study advances not only the understanding of the practical and theological effects of the Chronicler’s reversal pattern in the audience’s perception of the narrative, but also the interpretation of 1-2 Chronicles regarding its divergent theology from Samuel-Kings.