Eran Viezel

Various medieval commentaries refer to the Prophets Haggai Zechariah and Malachi as somewhat contributors to the composition of the book of Chronicles. However, researchers have failed to acknowledge this tradition. The paper aims to reveal the principles of this tradition, the polemical motivations that brought it about, its origins, the manner in which it was passed from one commentator to the next and its place in the commentaries where it is mentioned. The tradition first appears in the commentary to Chronicles attributed to a student of R. Sa'adiah Gaon, who deals with the position according to which Ezra was not the author of the genealogy of Zerubabel (1 Chr. 3:19-24). His suggestion, that the Prophets passed genealogic materials to Ezra, solves the anachronism problem created by the list of Zerubabel's descendants. From the commentary attributed to a student of Sa'adiah Gaon the tradition passed to the commentary to Chronicles attributed to Rashi, and then to a number of additional other commentaries. These commentators were not aware of the polemical motivations that brought it about, and they saw it as historical fact.