CHRONICLES, 1 and 2. These books are called in Hebrew diverê ha-yāmîm, “the words [affairs] of the days,” meaning “the annals” (cf. 1Chr.27.24). Similar annals, now lost, are mentioned in 1 and 2 Kings (e.g., 1Kgs.14.19, 1Kgs.14.29); they cannot, however, consist of our present books, which were not written until a century later. The church father Jerome (a.d. 400) first entitled them “Chronicles.” Originally they formed a single composition but were divided into 1 and 2 Chronicles in the LXX, about 150 b.c. In the Hebrew they stand as the last book of the OT canon. Christ (Luke.11.51) thus spoke of all the martyrs from Abel in the first book (Gen.4.1-Gen.4.26) to Zechariah in the last (2Chr.24.1-2Chr.24.27).