d not avail to stay the progress of national degeneracy, and the
kingdom of Judah was, in its turn, overthrown by the Chaldeans, and the
people carried captive to Babylon.

19. The _chronology_ of certain parts of the history embraced in the
books of Kings is perplexed and uncertain. But the beginning of the
Babylonish captivity is generally placed B.C. 588, three hundred and
eighty-seven years after the beginning of Rehoboam's reign, and one
hundred and thirty-three years after the extinction of the kingdom of
Israel. Reckoning in the forty years of Solomon's reign, we have for the
period included in the books of Kings to the beginning of the captivity
four hundred and twenty-seven years. To this must be added twenty-six
more years for the thirty-seventh year of Jehoiachin's captivity (2
Kings 25:27), the last date given by the sacred historian. The _author_
of the books of Kings is unknown. Jewish tradition ascribes them to
Jeremiah, perhaps on the ground that the last chapter of Jeremiah is
mostly a repetition of 2 Kings from chap. 24:18 to the end of the book.
But Jeremiah and the author of these books may both have made use of
common documents. We only know that the writer lived after the accession
of Evil-merodach to the throne of Babylon (2 Kings 25:27), and during
the full pressure of the Babylonish captivity, since he nowhere gives
any intimation of its approaching close.

V. THE BOOKS OF CHRONICLES.

20. These books, which originally constituted a single work, are called
by the Hebrews: _Words of the Days_; that is, _History of the Events of
the Times_, or _Chronicles_, as they were first called by Jerome. The
Greek name _Paraleipomena_, _things omitted_, has its ground in the
false supposition that they were designed to be supplementary to the
books of Kings, whereas they constitute an independent work having its
own plan and end. The author of the books of Kings doubtless looked
forward to the future restoration of his nation; but the time for that
joyous event was yet distant, and he could have no immediate reference
to the wants of the returning exiles. His aim was simply to set forth
the course of events under the Theocracy from Solomon to the captivity
as an illustration of God's faithfulness in the fulfilment of both his
promises and his threatenings. But the author of the books of Chronicles
wrote, as all agree, during the process of the restoration. In addition
to the common aim of all the histori