As I noted elsewhere, these are the two post-Moses/pre-monarchical history books, and so it makes some sense to consider them together. What’s more, I think that together they address an important question, namely how Israel would and should deal with the non-Israelites in the Promised Land, and considering them together helps illuminate that matter. Joshua … [Read more…]
Overview I suspect that there are many who, like me, find daunting the twelve books that stretch from Joshua to Esther, between the Pentateuch and the Wisdom books. And no wonder: They cover more or less sequentially a thousand years of Jewish history, from about 1400 B.C. to about 400 B.C. So perhaps an overview of … [Read more…]
Overview David’s reign as king of Israel is recounted in II Samuel and I Chronicles chapters 10-19 (there is a fair amount of duplication between the two books). David’s life before he becomes king is found in I Samuel chapters 16-31, where it is very much intertwined with Saul’s. And David continues to have a … [Read more…]
In this post I’ll be writing about I Chronicles chapters 1-10 and I Samuel. But, despite the title to this post, these texts do not correspond exactly to Saul’s biography, for a couple of reasons. First, once David is introduced in I Samuel chapter 16, his story and Saul’s are intertwined until Saul’s death in … [Read more…]
Solomon’s reign is recounted in I Kings chapters1-11 and II Chronicles chapters 1-9 (tradition holds that the author of the latter was Ezra, by the way). The accounts overlap substantially but not completely, and where they describe the same events they do so in ways that are consistent but not identical — even, disconcertingly, in … [Read more…]
At the beginning of the reign of Rehoboam, Solomon’s son and successor, the northern tribes (that is, all but Judah itself and the small tribe of Benjamin) rebelled (I Kings 12:24) because of the new king’s highhandedness, and from then through the Babylonian exile there was never again a united kingdom. The account of this … [Read more…]
I suppose the first thing to say about this book is that it is, in a sense, the last book of the Old Testament. That is, while it does not come last in the Bible, it does cover the latest historical period prior to New Testament. The book is written mostly in the first person … [Read more…]
This book falls squarely in the history genre, and it is straightforward, plausible, and well-documented history at that. The basic narrative is simply the return of Jewish exiles after the Babylonian captivity, their rebuilding the temple, and the rejection of intermarriage — nothing supernatural. A number of official decrees are quoted at length, and … [Read more…]
I’m writing something on each book of the Bible, and for some books this is easier than for others. Genesis definitely falls in the more difficult category. It’s a relatively long book (the third longest or so, there being different translations and ways to count), and can’t really be summarized, and the stories in it … [Read more…]
This book is a mixture of verse and prose, of history, poetry, and biography. Sometimes the prophecy is woven directly into the historical narrative. And speaking of historical narrative, here’s a timeline of the major prophets that might be useful: Isaiah’s ministry, 740-681 B.C. Israel (northern kingdom) falls, 722 B.C. Jeremiah’ ministry, 627-586 B.C. Judah … [Read more…]