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Introduction
to 2 Chronicles
Introduction
INTRODUCTION TO 2 CHRONICLES
This,
and the preceding, were but one book originally, but divided into two because
of the size of it, so that this is only a continuation of the former history;
that ends at the death of David; this begins with the reign of Solomon, goes
through that, and the reigns of all the kings of the house of David; of the
kings of Judah only, after the separation of the ten tribes, quite down to the
captivity of Judah in Babylon, and reaches to the deliverance of the Jews from
thence by Cyrus, and contains an history of four hundred and seventy nine
years. It treats not at all of the kings of Israel, after the separation, only
of the kings of Judah, through whom the line of the Messiah was drawn; and
though it omits several things recorded of them in the book of Kings, yet it
gives abundance of anecdotes not to be met with there, which are of great use
and advantage in history to know.
Commentator
John Gill (November 23, 1697-October 14,
1771) was an English Baptist, a biblical scholar, and a staunch Calvinist.
Gill's relationship with hyper-Calvinism is a matter of academic debate.
He was born in Kettering, Northamptonshire.
In his youth, he attended Kettering Grammar School, mastering the Latin
classics and learning Greek by age eleven. The young scholar continued
self-study in everything from logic to Hebrew. His love for Hebrew would follow
Gill throughout his life.
At the age of about twelve, Gill heard a
sermon from his pastor, William Wallis, on the text, "And the Lord called
unto Adam, and said unto him, where art thou?" (Genesis 3:9). The message
stayed with Gill and eventually led to his conversion. It was not until seven
years later that young John made a public profession when he was almost
nineteen years of age.
His first pastoral work was as an intern
assisting John Davis at Higham Ferrers in 1718 at age twenty one. He was subsequently
called to pastor the Strict Baptist church at Goat Yard Chapel, Horsleydown,
Southwark in 1719. In 1757, his congregation needed larger premises and moved
to a Carter Lane, St. Olave's Street, Southwark. His pastorate lasted 51 years.
This Baptist Church was once pastored by Benjamin Keach and would later become
the New Park Street Chapel and then the Metropolitan Tabernacle pastored by
Charles Spurgeon.
During Gill's ministry the church strongly
supported the preaching of George Whitefield at nearby Kennington Common.
In 1748, Gill was awarded the honorary degree
of Doctor of Divinity by the University of Aberdeen. He was a profound scholar
and a prolific author. His most important works are:
John Gill is the first major writing Baptist
theologian. His work retains its influence into the twenty-first century.
Gill's relationship with hyper-Calvinism in English Baptist life is a matter of
debate. Peter Toon has argued that Gill was himself a hyper-Calvinist, which
would make Gill the father of Baptist hyper-Calvinism. Tom Nettles has argued
that Gill was not a hyper-Calvinist himself, which would make him merely a
precursor and hero to Baptist hyper-Calvinists.
──《John Gill’s
Exposition of the Bible》
New King James Version Bible, NKJV
The
NKJV was commissioned in 1975 by Thomas Nelson Publishers.
One-hundred-and-thirty respected Bible scholars, church leaders, and lay
Christians worked for seven years with the goal of updating the vocabulary and
grammar of the King James Version, while preserving the classic style of the of
the 1611 version.
The
task of updating the English of the KJV involved many changes in word order,
grammar, vocabulary, and spelling. One of the most significant features of the
NKJV was its removal of the second person pronouns "thou",
"thee", "ye," "thy," and "thine." Verb
forms were also modernized in the NKJV (for example, "speaks" rather
than "speaketh").
Young’s
Literal Translation was completed in 1898 by Robert Young, who also compiled
Young’s Analytical Concordance. It is an extremely literal translation that
attempts to preserve the tense and word usage as found in the original Greek
and Hebrew writings. The online text is from a reprint of the 1898 edition as
published by Baker Book House, Grand Rapids, Michigan. Obvious errors in
spelling or inconsistent spellings of the same word were corrected in the
online edition of the text. This text is Public Domain in the United States.