Kronikarskie dzieło historyczne jako projekt nowej przyszłości Izraela

Chronicles and Ezra-Nehemiah express a different approach to the futureof Israel to that given in the Former Prophets. First, the nature and thedating of this part of the Hebrew Bible are discussed, suggesting the endof the 5th and the very beginning of the 4th century B.C. as the time of itsorigins. Then the retrospection of the past in the two Books of Chroniclesis presented, with its very specific attitude towards the Exile. The articlefocuses its attention on the detailed analysis of Ezra 4,1-5, that represents thevery core of this book. Having in mind the identity of the delegation comingto Jerusalem as seen by the author of Ezra and the completely differentself-presentation of the delegates from the north, the serious conflict thatensues is described, this bearing analogies with the former antagonisms andtensions between the Kingdom of Judah and the Kingdom of Israel. On thebasis of this conflict a new reality emerges, namely Judaism. The religionof the pre-exilic Israel was deeply transformed, limiting itself only to thoseJudeans who came back from the Exile. As a result of this separation, thequestion of the “true Israel” started to be more crucial, giving new directionto the project of the national and religious identity of biblical Israel.