Bible Dictionary
COMMENTARY
A commentary, in the biblical usage of 2 Chronicles, was an investigation, exposition, or edifying development of a subject. It could include a written historical or religious account used by the Chronicler as a source.
Definition
A commentary, in the older biblical sense, is an investigation, exposition, imaginative development, or edifying religious account concerning a subject. It does not necessarily mean a modern verse-by-verse explanation.
Biblical Usage
In Chronicles, the term refers to works associated with the prophet Iddo and with the book of the kings. These writings apparently related and elaborated events with a didactic or homiletic purpose.
Historical Background
The Hebrew word means investigation or inquiry. In the Chronicler’s sources, the account of Abijah’s reign was presumably developed for moral instruction rather than presented as a modern historical narrative.
Related Figures
Historical Bible Dictionaries
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE)
<p>kom'-en-ta-ri (midhrash, "an investigation," from darash, "to search," "inquire," "explore"; the King James Version "story"): "The commentary of the prophet Iddo" (2Ch 13:22), "the commentary of the book of the kings" (2Ch 24:27). In these passages the word is not used exactly in its modern sense. The Hebrew term means "an imaginative development of a thought or theme suggested by Scripture, especially a didactic or homiletic exposition, or an edifying religious story" (Driver, Introduction to the Literature of the Old Testament, 5, 497). In the commentaries (Midhrashim) mentioned by the Chronicler as among his sources, the story of Abijah's reign was presumably related and elaborated with a view to moral instruction rather than historic accuracy.</p><p>See CHRONICLES, BOOKS OF; COMMENTARIES, HEBREW.</p><p>M. O. Evans</p>