History Literature And Theology In The Book Of Chronicles

History, Literature and Theology in the Book of Chronicles presents a new way of approaching this key biblical text, arguing that the Book employs both multiple viewpoints and the knowledge of the past held by its intended readership to reshape social memory and reinforce the authority of God. The Book of Chronicles communicates to its intended readership a theological worldview built around multiple, partial perspectives which inform and balance each other. This is a worldview which emphasizes the limitations of all human knowledge, even of theologically "proper" knowledge. When Chronicles presents the past as explainable it also affirms that those who inhabited it could not predict the future. And, despite expanding an "explainable" past, the Book deliberately frames some of YHWH's actions - crucial events in Israel's social memory - as unexplainable in human terms. The Book serves to rationalise divinely ordained, prescriptive behaviour through its emphasis on the impossibility of adequate human understanding of a past, present and future governed by YHWH.

Old Testament texts frequently offer a theological view of history. This is very evident in the Books of Chronicles and in the final section of Ben Sira (Ecclesiasticus). Today there is renewed interest in both these works as significant theological and cultural Jewish documents from the centuries before Jesus. Both Chronicles and Ben Sira aim to recreate a national identity centered on temple piety. Some chapters in this volume consider the portrayal of Israelite kings like David, Hezekiah, and Josiah, while others deal with prophets like Samuel and Elijah.

The Old Testament Books of Chronicles contain some of the most neglected passages in all of Scripture. Understanding their message can be a difficult and daunting task for the modern reader. Patrick Reardon brings these important books to life, unfolding their powerful message for our own day. Like any family history, the story of Chronicles is told with a distinct purpose in mind. It asks the question: "What was the real and lasting significance of King David and his house?" Beginning with the long list of names of the first chapter, this heritage is revealed in cosmic significance. It has in fact become the family tree of every true believer. One volume in the Orthodox Christian Reflections series, which also includes: Creation and the Patriarchal Histories: Orthodox Christian Reflections on the Book of Genesis The Trial of Job: Orthodox Christian Reflections on the Book of Job Wise Lives: Orthodox Christian Reflections on the Wisdom of Sirach

Bestselling author and theologian Scott Hahn offers a commentary on 1 and 2 Chronicles as a liturgical and theological interpretation of Israel's history.

In Cushites in the Hebrew Bible Kevin Burrell examines theological, historical, and social aspects of identity construction in order to clarify the ways in which biblical authors understood and represented ancient Cushites—a largely “African” people in the biblical world.

The Judean monarch Hezekiah remains one of the most significant figures in biblical studies. For all of his greatness, however, there is little about him that may be stated with certainty. This study provides a detailed reexamination of this enterprising ruler. It commences with data outside the biblical text from Assyrian records and ancient Near Eastern archaeology which may be brought to bear in reconstructing the historical Hezekiah, and subsequently proceeds to augment this picture based on his portrayal in the books of Kings, First Isaiah, and Chronicles. Its focus is on those issues that either remain contentious in biblical scholarship, or else have been resolved into a general consensus that needs to be called into question.

This book was awarded the 2006 R. B. Y. Scott award, which is awarded annually by the Canadian Society of Biblical Studies in recognition of an outstanding book in the areas of Hebrew Bible and/or the Ancient Near East written by a member of the CSBS. Kalimi catalogues and categorizes the techniques by which the Israelite history in Samuel—Kings is reshaped in the biblical books of Chronicles. The chapters of this study consider the various historiographical and literary changes found in the parallel texts of Chronicles. Because about half of the material in Chronicles is available to us in other biblical sources, comparison of the literary and linguistic devices used by the Chronicler is very revealing. Kalimi considers the ways in which the Chronicler has edited the material available to him, addressing such topics as: literary-chronological proximity, historiographical revision, completions and additions, various kinds of parallelism and literary devices, and so on. A handy compendium of the ways in which the Chronicler treated his material by one of the premier scholars working in the field.

In this introduction to the first five books of the Old Testament, Victor Hamilton moves chapter by chapter--rather than verse by verse--through the Pentateuch, examining the content, structure, and theology. Each chapter deals with a major thematic unit of the Pentateuch, and Hamilton provides useful commentary on overarching themes and connections between Old Testament texts. This second edition has been substantially revised and updated. The first edition sold over sixty thousand copies.