The Creation of Historical Narrative in Chronicles: The War of Jehoshaphat in II Chronicles 20

The question of the Chronicler as historian has long occupied scholarship. Views deeply critical of the value of the Chronicler's narratives for historical reconstruction were followed in the 80's and 90's by a spirited and well-grounded defence of the Chronicler as Historian by the late Anson Rainey and others. II Chron. 20, the war of Jehoshaphat against the kings of Transjordan, reflects Chronicles' dual concern for historical accuracy and contemporary relevance. In the early 20th century, most scholars cast doubt on the value of the narrative for historical reconstruction. Martin Noth then argued in 1945 that the story reflects a historical event: an invasion of Judah by elements from Transjordan in the period of Jehoshphat, and many followed his view. Since then, little has been written on the historical aspect of this story. In this talk, I show that the story is based on the events of a battle between forces from each side of the Jordan, which occurred sometime between 853 and 842 BCE. Based on Mesha and on II Kings 3, we know that during the reigns of Jehoshaphat of Judah and Mesha of Moab, Judah and Moab fought a battle for control of territory around the southern end of the Dead Sea. Judah was allied with Israel, and their forces advanced along the "way of the desert of Edom." Moab vas victorious and Jehoshaphat's forces retreated. The narrative in II Chron. 20 takes that event, which occurred where the border between Judah and Edom ran in the First Temple period, and moves its geographic location to the area of En Gedi, where the border between Judah and Edom ran in the 5th c. The location of the Judah-Edom border in the Persian period is known to us from both archaeological and textual sources. The historical reconstruction presented allows us to understand the process of composition of Chronicles, based on our knowledge of the geography of the Persian period.