Double Vision

by Ben

I read 1 Chronicles 9-12.

It is interesting to go through Chronicles after having read 1 & 2 Samuel and 1 & 2 Kings. It is like a summary...a nice wrap up of all that has happened. However, I did think it odd when in chapter 11:11-47, 1 Chronicles almost word-for-word repeats 2 Samuel 23:8-39.

I've been doing a lot of reading about how the Bible was collected together and wondered if the manuscripts of one book was directly based on the other. Or if the books were recorded at the same time, making them very similar with only a few divergent details. The thing that really gets me is that the wording of sentences (not just facts) is almost exactly the same.

If one book was copied from the other, what was the purpose. This section doesn't summarize at all. It feels like a book report with a block quote that is way too long. I checked my Interpreter's Bible set and it confirmed that these two sections are the same and that the record in Chronicles is better, but it did not explain why we have two different records of the same information. (Note: These are not merely multiple copies of the same book. The connecting information is different, but the content of this particular section is nearly identical.) Any thoughts here?