To what are the scriptures referring when they speak of the books of the "chronicles of the kings"?

Question

In the books of 1 and 2 Kings, there are quite a few places where the author refers to "the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah" or "the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel".

"Now the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, how he made war and how he reigned, behold, they are written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel. 1 Kings 14:19 NASB

Now the rest of the acts of Rehoboam and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? 1 Kings 14:29 NASB

Immediately following the books of 1 and 2 Kings are two books referred to as 1 and 2 Chronicles. Are these the books to which 1 and 2 Kings refer or are they referring to other books that are not in the Bible and/or maybe lost to us?

Answer 1

The following books are referenced in the King James Version of the bible but are not found in that text.(source)

• book of the Wars of the Lord (Num. 21:14);

• book of Jasher (Josh. 10:13; 2 Sam. 1:18);

• book of the acts of Solomon (1 Kgs. 11:41);

• book of Samuel the seer (1 Chr. 29:29);

• book of Gad the seer (1 Chr. 29:29);

• book of Nathan the prophet (1 Chr. 29:29; 2 Chr. 9:29);

• prophecy of Ahijah (2 Chr. 9:29);

• visions of Iddo the seer (2 Chr. 9:29; 12:15; 13:22);

• book of Shemaiah (2 Chr. 12:15);

• book of Jehu (2 Chr. 20:34);

• sayings of the seers (2 Chr. 33:19);

• an epistle of Paul to the Corinthians, earlier than our present 1 Corinthians (1 Cor. 5:9);

• possibly an earlier epistle to the Ephesians (Eph. 3:3);

• an epistle to the Church at Laodicea (Col. 4:16);

• and some prophecies of Enoch, known to Jude (Jude 1:14).

_{(Though you can of course look up each scripture to verify for yourself as a link has been provided for each.)}

The Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah is believed to be a record kept by the kings of Israel but it is not considered to be the books we know as 1 and 2 Chronicles.

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_{Interestingly enough, this is pretty conclusive that our bible today isn't quite what it used to be, and that there are prophets (like Nathan and Shemaiah) that recorded the word of God, but that word has since been lost to us.}