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Iddo
A seer whose visions and records chronicled the kings of Judah.
What we know — and how we know it
Scholarly — supported scholarly belief · 2
Life, role & deeds
ScholarlyChronicles repeatedly cites the writings of Iddo the seer as a historical source, referring to his "visions," his "story" (midrash), and his genealogical records. Modern scholars treat this as evidence for a now-lost prophetic or annalistic source rather than an extant text, so Iddo survives only as a name attached to vanished documents.
Source-critical observation on the Chronicler's citation of the records of Iddo (2 Chron 9:29; 12:15; 13:22); no manuscript of these works survives.
Name & titles
ScholarlyThe Hebrew name appears in several spellings and its meaning is genuinely uncertain, with proposals ranging from a root for "appointed time" or "timely" to "ornament." The instability of the form is itself the honest scholarly point: no confident etymology can be given.
Onomastic note; standard Hebrew lexica (HALOT, BDB) list the name as of uncertain derivation.