Best 1-2 Chronicles Commentaries for Bible Study, Preaching, and Teaching

The best 1-2 Chronicles commentaries are listed below. There are exegetical commentaries, scholarly and technical commentaries, as well as commentaries that are easy to understand. The “Top 10” list is based on aggregate reviews.

This list of commentaries is intended to help the reader understand and apply the author’s message in the books of 1-2 Chronicles. They are not suggested as a replacement for prayer, the Holy Spirit, and the reader’s own diligent study of Scripture.

It is hoped that these books will aid the Christian pastor, preacher, teacher, student, as well as any Bible reader that wants to understand more about 1-2 Chronicles.

May each reader’s aim be to glorify God in Jesus Christ; to strengthen Christ’s bride, the Church; and to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ to the lost.

After browsing the commentaries below, see Best Bible Commentaries: Top 50. Based on aggregate reviews.

10 Best 1-2 Chronicles Commentaries

Please read: The “Top 10” list below is a starting point for learning about 1-2 Chronicles commentaries. It is not intended to be the “final word” because of its limitations.

Nevertheless, a list based on aggregate reviews is likely to point many people in the right direction to find the right resource for their purposes.

#1

1 Chronicles
Word Biblical Commentary
by Roddy Braun

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Chronicles commentary Roddy Braun

Reviews and Accolades:

• Desiring God: #1 recommended commentary on 1 Chronicles

• John H. Walton and Andrew E. Hill: “Useful discussion of the theological themes, with extensive bibliographies.”

• Keith Mathison: #1 ranked commentary on 1 Chronicles, “indispensable for serious study of the text… offers helpful theological insight, sometimes missing from technical commentaries”

Approach to Scripture: Evangelical

Best for:  expository preachers, Bible college and seminary students, church elders and teachers, experienced Bible readers

Purpose: From the publisher: “WBC series delivers the best in biblical scholarship, from the leading scholars who share a commitment to Scripture as divine revelation.” 

See more about the Word Biblical Commentary series.

Also see the best one-volume bible commentaries, based on aggregate reviews.

#2

2 Chronicles
Word Biblical Commentary
by Raymond B. Dillard

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Chronicles commentary Dillard

Reviews and Accolades:

• Desiring God: #1 recommended commentary on 2 Chronicles

• Tremper Longman: 5 out of 5 stars, “this commentary makes 2 Chronicles come alive… superb in its analysis of the theological message”

• John H. Walton and Andrew E. Hill: “Useful discussion of theological themes, with extensive bibliographies.”

• Keith Mathison: #1 ranked commentary on 2 Chronicles, “indispensable for serious study of the text… offers helpful theological insight, sometimes missing from technical commentaries”

Approach to Scripture: Evangelical

Best for:  expository preachers, Bible college and seminary students, church elders and teachers, experienced Bible readers

Purpose: From the publisher: “WBC series delivers the best in biblical scholarship, from the leading scholars who share a commitment to Scripture as divine revelation.” 

See more about the Word Biblical Commentary series.

#3

1 Chronicles
Tyndale Old Testament Commentary
by Martin J. Selman

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Chronicles commentary Martin Selman

Reviews and Accolades:

• Tremper Longman: 4 out of 5 stars, “the introduction is lengthy and helpful”

• John H. Walton and Andrew E. Hill: “Informative introductory sections on the chronicler as an interpreter and the chronicler’s message.”

• Keith Mathison: #3 ranked commentary on 1 Chronicles, “Selman’s work is clear and concise without being simplistic”

Approach to Scripture: Evangelical

Best for:  expository preachers, Bible college and seminary students, church elders and teachers, experienced Bible readers

Purpose: From the publisher: This series is “designed to help readers understand what the Bible actually says and what it means… [each commentary] examines the text section by section, drawing out its main themes.

It also comments on individual verses and deals with problems of interpretation. The aim throughout is to get at the true meaning of the Bible and to make its message plain to readers today.”

See more about the Tyndale Old Testament Commentary series.

#4

2 Chronicles
Tyndale Old Testament Commentary
by Martin J. Selman

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Chronicles commentary Selman

Reviews and Accolades:

• Tremper Longman: 4 out of 5 stars

• John H. Walton and Andrew E. Hill: “Informative introductory sections on the chronicler as an interpreter and the chronicler’s message.”

• Keith Mathison: #3 ranked commentary on 2 Chronicles, “Selman’s work is clear and concise without being simplistic”

Approach to Scripture: Evangelical

Best for:  expository preachers, Bible college and seminary students, church elders and teachers, experienced Bible readers

Purpose: From the publisher: This series is “designed to help readers understand what the Bible actually says and what it means… [each commentary] examines the text section by section, drawing out its main themes.

It also comments on individual verses and deals with problems of interpretation. The aim throughout is to get at the true meaning of the Bible and to make its message plain to readers today.”

See more about the Tyndale Old Testament Commentary series.

#5

1 and 2 Chronicles
The Old Testament Library
by Sara Japhet

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Chronicles commentary Japhet

Reviews and Accolades:

• Tremper Longman: 5 out of 5 stars, “masterful… a must for all serious students”

• John H. Walton and Andrew E. Hill: “Comprehensive literary and historical analysis of the books. Must reading for serious students.”

• Keith Mathison: #5 ranked commentary on 1-2 Chronicles, “a must for seminary students doing in-depth study of these books”

Best for:  expository preachers, Bible college and seminary students, church elders and teachers, experienced Bible readers

Purpose: From the publisher: “The Old Testament Library provides fresh and authoritative treatments of important aspects of Old Testament study through commentaries and general surveys. The contributors are scholars of international standing.”

See more about the Old Testament Library commentary series.

#6

1 and 2 Chronicles
A Mentor Commentary
by Richard Pratt

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Chronicles commentary Richard Pratt

Reviews and Accolades:

• Keith Mathison: #2 ranked commentary on 1-2 Chronicles, “For those who have had difficulty understanding the relevance and significance of Chronicles, this will be a good place to start. It is an intermediate level commentary that should be of use to laymen, pastors, and scholars.”

Interview: See Best Bible Commentaries’ interview with Richard Pratt on this volume

Approach to Scripture: Evangelical

Best for:  expository preachers, Bible college and seminary students, church elders and teachers, experienced Bible readers

Purpose: From the publisher: “Mentor books are written at a level suitable for Bible College and seminary students, pastors, and other serious readers.” See more about the Mentor Bible Commentary series.

#7

1 and 2 Chronicles
NIV Application Commentary
by Andrew E. Hill

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Chronicles commentary Hill

Reviews and Accolades:

• Tremper Longman: “advocates understanding the book of Chronicles as a sermon”

• Keith Mathison: #4 ranked commentary on 1 and 2 Chronicles, “especially valuable for pastors and teachers”

Interview: See Best Bible Commentaries’ interview with Andrew E. Hill on this volume

Approach to Scripture: Evangelical

Best for:  expository preachers, Bible college and seminary students, church elders and teachers, experienced Bible readers

Purpose: From the General Editor: The primary goal of the NIV Application Commentary Series is to help you with the difficult but vital task of bringing an ancient message into a modern context.

The series not only focuses on application as a finished product but also helps you think through the process of moving from the original meaning of a passage to its contemporary significance. These are commentaries, not popular expositions.”

See more about the NIV Application Commentary series.

#8

The Message of Chronicles
The Bible Speaks Today
by Michael Wilcock

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Chronicles commentary Michael Wilcock

Reviews and Accolades:

• Tremper Longman: 4 out of 5 stars, “competently brings out the ancient text’s message for today”

Approach to Scripture: Evangelical

Best for:  expository preachers, Bible college and seminary students, church elders and teachers, experienced Bible readers

Purpose: From the publisher: The “the three distinctives of The Bible Speaks Today series are (1) “BST authors are committed to a serious study of the text in its own integrity,” (2) that “expositors should not be antiquarians, living only in the remote past” but suggest application for living, and (3) “each book is intended to be both readable in style and manageable in size.” 

See more about the Bible Speaks Today commentary series.

#9

1 and 2 Chronicles
New Century Bible Commentary
by H.G.M. Williamson

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Chronicles commentary Williamson

Reviews and Accolades:

• Tremper Longman: 4 out 5 stars, “a very good commentary”

Best for:  expository preachers, Bible college and seminary students, church elders and teachers, experienced Bible readers

Purpose: From the publisher: “In this commentary on the books of 1 and 2 Chronicles, Dr. Williamson brings to light the theological and spiritual richness of these historical books. Composed in the era after the Babylonian Exile, they brought a new perspective to the idea of Israel and to the story of its past.”

See more about the New Century Bible Commentary series.

#10

1 and 2 Chronicles
The Daily Study Bible Series
by J.G. McConville

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Chronicles commentary McConville

Reviews and Accolades:

• Tremper Longman: 4 out of 5 stars, a “solid exposition…sensitive to theology and application”

Best for:  expository preachers, Bible college and seminary students, church elders and teachers, experienced Bible readers

Purpose: From the publisher: “Invaluable for individual devotional study, for group discussion, and for classroom use, the Daily Study Bible provides a useful, reliable, and eminently readable way to discover what the Scriptures were saying then and what God is saying today.”

See more about The Daily Study Bible commentary series.

More Book of 1-2 Chronicles Commentaries for Christian Ministry

Please read: Why are the 1-2 Chronicles commentaries below not in the “Top 10”? It’s not because they have received poor reviews or because people haven’t found them helpful. The reasons vary:

  • Some are relatively new and haven’t been widely reviewed, read, or used yet.
  • Others haven’t been widely distributed, so it is difficult to get enough information to aggregate.
  • Still others may be outdated in relation to biblical scholarship or out of print and difficult to acquire.

The “Top 10” list is reviewed annually. Readers are encouraged to consider the volumes in this section before making a purchase. These 10 are not in any particular order.


1 and 2 Chronicles
New American Commentary
by J.A. Thompson

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Chronicles commentary Thompson

Reviews and Accolades:

• Tremper Longman: “competent, easy-to-read study of Chronicles, with an emphasis on the theological meaning of the book”

Approach to Scripture: Evangelical

Best for:  expository preachers, Bible college and seminary students, church elders and teachers, experienced Bible readers

Thompson also wrote one of the best Jeremiah commentaries based on aggregate reviews.

Purpose: From the publisher: “The New American Commentary is introduced to bridge the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.”

This “series has been designed primarily to enable pastors, teachers, and students to read the Bible with clarity and proclaim it with power.”

See more about the New American Commentary series.


1 and 2 Chronicles
Kregel Exegetical Library
by Eugene H. Merrill

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Chronicles commentary Merrill

Best for:  expository preachers, Bible college and seminary students, church elders and teachers, experienced Bible readers

Purpose: From the publisher: “This volume is helpful for the scholar but accessible and useful for the pastor. Merrill provides an exegetical study of each passage in these books, examining a number of themes… Merrill offers astute guidance to preachers and teachers in his insightful doctrinal commentary on the text.”

See more about the Kregel Exegetical Library series.


1 and 2 Chronicles
Expositor’s Bible Commentary Revised
by Frederick Mabie

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Chronicles commentary Expositor's

Best for:  expository preachers, Bible college and seminary students, church elders and teachers, experienced Bible readers

Purpose: From the publisher: “Written primarily by expositors for expositors… its stance is that of a scholarly evangelicalism committed to the divine inspiration, complete trustworthiness, and full authority of the Bible… the chief principle followed in this commentary is the grammatico-historical.”

See more about the Expositor’s Bible Commentary series.


1 and 2 Chronicles
Understanding the Bible Commentary Series
by Louis C. Jonker

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Chronicles commentary Louis Jonker

Best for:  expository preachers, Bible college and seminary students, church elders and teachers, experienced Bible readers

Purpose: From the publisher: “Each volume in the Understanding the Bible Commentary Series breaks down the barriers between the ancient and modern worlds so that the power and meaning of the biblical texts become transparent to contemporary readers.”

See more about the Understanding the Bible Commentary Series.


1 and 2 Chronicles
Believers Church Bible Commentary
by August H. Konkel

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Chronicles commentary Konkel

Approach to Scripture: Evangelical

Best for:  expository preachers, Bible college and seminary students, church elders and teachers, experienced Bible readers

Purpose: From the publisher: “The Believers Church Bible Commentary series is accessible to lay readers, useful in preaching and pastoral care, and helpful for Bible study groups and Sunday school teachers. The commentaries are academically sound and foreground an Anabaptist reading of Scripture.”


1 and 2 Chronicles
Abingdon Old Testament Commentary
by Steven L. McKenzie

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Chronicles commentary Steven Mckenzie

Best for:  expository preachers, Bible college and seminary students, church elders and teachers, experienced Bible readers

Purpose: From the publisher: “The Abingdon Old Testament Commentaries series offers compact, critical commentaries on all the books of the Old Testament.” See more about the Abingdon commentaries.


1 and 2 Chronicles
New Interpreter’s Bible Commentary
by Leander E. Keck

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Chronicles commentary Interpreter's

Best for:  expository preachers, Bible college and seminary students, church elders and teachers, experienced Bible readers

Purpose: From the publisher: “The New Interpreter’s Bible Commentary offers critically sound biblical interpretations.

Guided by scholars, pastors and laity representing diverse traditions and academic experience, this collection of commentary meets the needs of preachers, teachers, and all students of the Bible.”

See more about New Interpreter’s commentaries.


1 Chronicles
Hermeneia
by Ralph W. Klein

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Chronicles commentary Hermeneia

Best for:  expository preachers, Bible college and seminary students, church elders and teachers, experienced Bible readers

Purpose: From the publisher: “The Hermeneia commentary series seeks to offer authoritative interpretation of the earliest texts of the biblical books…

The name Hermeneia, from the Greek, has a rich background in the history of biblical interpretation as a term for the detailed, systematic exposition of a scriptural work.”

See more about the Hermeneia Bible commentary series.


2 Chronicles
Hermeneia
by Ralph W. Klein

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Chronicles commentary Klein

Best for:  expository preachers, Bible college and seminary students, church elders and teachers, experienced Bible readers

Purpose: From the publisher: “The Hermeneia commentary series seeks to offer authoritative interpretation of the earliest texts of the biblical books…

The name Hermeneia, from the Greek, has a rich background in the history of biblical interpretation as a term for the detailed, systematic exposition of a scriptural work.”

See more about the Hermeneia Bible commentary series.


1 Chronicles
Yale Anchor Bible Commentary
by Gary Knoppers

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Chronicles commentary Gary Knoppers

Best for:  expository preachers, Bible college and seminary students, church elders and teachers, experienced Bible readers

Purpose: From the publisher: “The Anchor Yale Bible Series, previously the Anchor Bible Series, is a renowned publishing program that for more than 50 years has produced books devoted to the latest scholarship on the Bible and biblical topics.”

See more about the Anchor Bible Commentary series.


2 Chronicles
The Anchor Yale Bible Commentaries
by Jacob M. Myers

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Chronicles commentary Myers

Best for:  expository preachers, Bible college and seminary students, church elders and teachers, experienced Bible readers

Purpose: From the publisher: “The Anchor Yale Bible Series, previously the Anchor Bible Series, is a renowned publishing program that for more than 50 years has produced books devoted to the latest scholarship on the Bible and biblical topics.”

See more about the Anchor Bible Commentary series.


Classic 1-2 Chronicles Commentaries

1 and 2 Chronicles
Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture
edited by Marco Conti

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Chronicles commentary Ancient Christian

Best for:  expository preachers, Bible college and seminary students, church elders and teachers, experienced Bible readers

Purpose: From the publisher: “The vast array of writings from the church fathers — including much that is available only in the ancient languages — have been combed for their comment on Scripture.

From these results, scholars with a deep knowledge of the fathers and a heart for the church have hand selected material for each volume, shaping, annotating, and introducing it to today’s readers.”

See more about the Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture series.


Also see:

Compare 75 different commentary series on the Bible Commentary Series Comparison Chart

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