The Writings, Part 1

In the Jewish tradition, the third part of the Bible is known as the "Writings." They include: Chronicles, Ruth, Psalms, Proverbs, Job, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, 1-2 Maccabees, 4 Maccabees, Jonah, and Daniel.

Chronicles
Chronicles is an interpretive history of Israel with a broad chronological scope, extending from Adam to the Persian period. This work is the final book of the Hebrew Bible, though the Chronicler barely mentions the principal events described in the first five books of the Bible (nor the books of Joshua, Judges, and 1 Samuel).
Chronicles focuses almost exclusively on the kingdom of Judah from David to the fall of Jerusalem in 586 BCE. The principal source of Chronicles is Deuteronomistic History, especially 2 Samuel and 1-2 Kings, reflecting a common practice of the time for authors to use freely from another author's work. The Chronicler was also familiar with the Pentateuch as one of his sources, as well as some other biblical sources which no longer exist. In some cases, however, the Chronicler often provides details that are not found elsewhere in the Bible. In the whole, Chronicles is a truly independent work, not just a revision of existing Deuteronomistic History.
Chronicles was likely written in the late fifth or fourth century BCE, before Hellenization made an impact. Little direct evidence in the book enables scholars to determine the social and historical context of its author, or of the events that may have impacted.

The content of Chronicles begins first with a summary of ancestral genealogies, and then shifts to relay a narrative of David and his anointing as king of all Israel. The Chronicler consistently shows David in a positive light as King and presents the perspective that Israel was always a unified entity. Thus, the Chronicler uses a bit of a revisionist history, editing his sources to support his ideological perspective of a unified Israel. His overall perspective is that Israel was best led by pious rulers who were faithful to the commandments given by God through Moses and united in worship at the Temple in Jerusalem. He takes this approach to provide a compelling model for the restored community of his day.

The Psalms
The Book of Psalms is the longest Book in the Bible with 150 chapters and five parts. Scholars believe David wrote the first 72 chapters of the Psalms, and, though the remaining 78 are attributed to him, they were likely penned by different authors -- making the work an anthology. In this way, David is the presumed author of many of the Psalms just as Moses is presented as the author of Israel's legal tradition. In their content, the Psalms are also an affirmation of David's reputation as a poet and a musician as well as his origination of the Temple's elaborate system of worship.

In their approach, the Psalms use "parallelism" as their primary poetic device. This technique is a kind of thought rhyme in which an idea is developed through the use of repetition, synonyms, or opposites. As a whole, the Psalms have been classified into several different types:
Individual laments, Communal laments, Individual songs of trust, Individual songs of thanksgiving, Communal songs of thanksgiving, Hymns of divine kinship, Creation hymns, Hymns celebrating divine actions in Israel's history, Hymns concerning the renewal of Israel's covenant with God, Liturgies, Royal Psalms, Hymns concerning the Davidic covenant, Zion hymns, Pilgrimage hymns, Torah Psalms, and Wisdom Psalms.

For the most part, the Psalms are difficult to date and lack contextual specifics, which paradoxically is part of their broad appeal. They are concerned with the fundamental aspects of the human condition and can be appropriated to prayer at different times and circumstances.