text · B0032
Divrei HaYamim דברי הימים
The Tanakh's grand retrospective — all of history retold from Adam through the return, opening with nine chapters of genealogy. The baraita of Bava Batra makes that opening the key to its authorship: Ezra wrote "the genealogy of Divrei HaYamim up to himself," the lineage-keeper writing the nation's family tree as far as his own branch — and someone else finished it. The Gemara asks who brought it the rest of the way and answers: Nechemiah ben Chachaliah. The canon's closing book, like its second one (Yehoshua), ends in a hand other than its author's.
I. Who
- Hebrew
- דברי הימים
- Also known as
- Chronicles, I–II Chronicles
- Era
- second-temple
II. When
- Traditional
- genealogies written by Ezra 'up to himself' and completed by Nechemiah ben Chachaliah, c. 3413–3448 AM, per Bava Batra 15a
- Academic
- composed in the Persian period, probably 4th c. BCE
- Duration
- ≈35 years
- Precision
- approximate
IV. What
- Language
- Biblical Hebrew
V. How do we know
| Claim | Evidence | Confidence | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| "Ezra wrote his book and the genealogy of Divrei HaYamim up to himself" (עזרא כתב ספרו ויחס של דברי הימים עד לו) — the baraita of Bava Batra; Rashi glosses "עד לו" as "until he traced his own lineage." | rabbinic | ★★★★☆ | |
| The Gemara ties this to Rav's teaching that Ezra did not go up from Bavel until he had traced his own genealogy, then asks "and who brought it up (completed it)? Nechemiah ben Chachaliah" (ומאן אסקיה? נחמיה בן חכליה) — the book was finished by Nechemiah.
The Gemara's wording is ומאן אסקיה ("who brought it up"), answered with Nechemiah — the tradition's note that the canon's final book had a finisher distinct from its writer.
|
rabbinic | ★★★★☆ | |
| Timeline placement c. 3413–3448 AM — Ezra's years in the Land through Nechemiah's completion of the work. The span is schematic. | tradition reconstruction | ★★★☆☆ |