The Books of Chronicles contain a history that is highly selective.6 Obviously everything that had happened from the dawn of time could not be included. Nor could all of the events of each era (from the time of the Patriarchs to the kings) be contained in a single book. Ezra, as a capable historian, singled out certain events that were important to those for whom his work was intended. He was not a historian in our western sense of the word. To him Israel’s history