PARALIPOMENA (Books of Chronicles) – Books known as the historical books of the Old Testament.
First and Second Chronicles (1st and 2nd Paralipomenen in the Orthodox Bibles) were originally one book in the Hebrew Bible and can be seen as part of a larger history including the books of Ezra and Nehemiah. These books are a theological history of the dynasty of David and of the Temple until the Fall of Jerusalem. The purpose of these books were to focus attention on Israel’s hope the dynasty of David, and on Israel’s glory the Temple of the True God on earth, in Jerusalem.
These books can be divided into four basic parts: 1) (1 Chr. 1-9) a summary of Israel’s history from Adam to David, presented by a series of genealogies; 2) (1 Chr. 10-29) David as a great Monarch and the Founder of the Temple and its ritual; 3) (2 Chr. 1-9) King Solomon and the building of the Temple; and 4) (2 Chr. 10-36) the history of the Davidic Kings and their association with the Temple.