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This paper, as well as other papers presented at the same interdisciplinary colloquium 1 form part of the theoretical reflection of a research project with the title "Utilising hermeneutics in the move from multiculturality to interculturality: Intercultural Bible reading as case study."2 In the present contribution the problem that is investigated is identified, and the possible contribution of biblical hermeneutics is indicated. A preliminary discussion of key concepts such as "culture", "multiculturality" and "interculturality" is also presented here.

Different views have been expressed in past scholarship about the nature of the Books of Chronicles. Some regard the Chronicler to be an exegete, others see the Chronicler as theologian, and still others see the Chronicler as a historian. The opinion expressed in this article is that Chronicles could be characterized as "reforming history". The ambiguity of this designation is intentional. The Books of Chronicles are an attempt to reformulate and sanitize the past. It is, however, simultaneously an attempt to reformulate the identity of God's people during the Second Temple period. Such a "reforming history" forms a unique bridge between past and present. The focus of this article is therefore on the hermeneutical significance of the Books of Chronicles.

Scholars generally agree that the Books of Chronicles are the products of certain Israelite (Levitical) groups in the Persian province of Jehud who struggled with the dissonance between their older historical and theological traditions on the one hand, and their present reality on the other hand. Within the totally different conditions under Persian rule (a multi-religious and multi-ethnic society) they had to find a new identity. The primary focus of this article is to examine the rhetorics of the intense struggle for a new identity presented to the reader in the Books of Chronicles. It is argued that this new identity represented a shift from a historically-defined identity that lasted from the monarchical period to the early post-exilic phase, to a cultic identity during the Persian era. The article also endeavours to relate the identity forming discourse of these biblical books to the present processes in post-apartheid South African society. The question is asked whether a similar shift can be observed in this modern situation.