King David, We Hardly Knew Ye

Chronicles 9-29

     So, there is not much to add to the historical information around Chronicles that we didn't get from the Book of Kings because now all we have done is gone back to the beginning of the Monarchy. What we can take note of, however, is the subtle differences between the histories of the Books of Kings compared to the Books of Chronicles. The Book of Kings is believed to have been fleshed out during the reforms of Josiah and maybe the generations after, during the Babylonian occupation. The fall of Judah would have been fresh in the minds of the editors and authors of the writings. The Book of Chronicles is believed to have been constructed after the return of the exiles from Babylon and so the history of David and the messianic promises of the prophets would have been in the minds of those authors and editors.
      The first major difference between the two texts are the events of King David. He is definitely portrayed in a much more positive light. There is no mention of his adultery or some of the other questionable decisions. I don’t remember the Book of Kings mentioning the special warriors known as the Three and the Thirty, but that was fun. It reminded me of a comic book series or something. Also, there is no mention of David's childhood or the situation with Goliath. These chapters are mostly the military victories and accomplishments of the first King of united Israel. This book is also more heavy on the religious side than the political. There is much more detail in these writings about how David prepares for the building of the Temple and the inner workings of the priesthood.

      The final chapters of this first book of Chronicles are all about the duties and positions within the Temple. These would have been the major references for the returning exiles who began the process of rebuilding Solomon’s Temple. The children of Abraham would never reach the height of power or prosperity that they enjoyed during the period of Kings and Chronicles, but the stories would be dutifully recorded and retold in hopes of one day achieving greatness in the name of Yahweh.

Back to the Start

I Chronicles 1-8

        The first eight chapters are a quick recap of the genealogies of the Israelites from Adam down to the first King of Israel, Saul. The book of Chronicles lists many sources available to the Jews of that day including public records, registers and genealogical lists that were kept by the Israelites. The Deuteronomical History (Genesis- Kings) is thought to be another source for this book. Genealogical records were very important as they were the basis for land ownership of the various tribes and the families within those tribes.
        Wow, we have come a long way. So far we have finished the first collection of writings known as the Torah (instruction) which is Genesis - Deuteronomy. The second collection of works within the Tanakh is known as the Nevi’im (Prophets) and is broken into two subgroups. First we have the Nevi’im Rishonim (Former Prophets) which is what we just finished; the books of Joshua-Kings, also referred to by some as the Deuteronomical History. The second part of the Nevi’im is known as the Nevi’im Aharonim (Latter Prophets) and are the collection of writings attributed to the prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekial, and the Twelve Minor Prophets. They have a fascinating history of their own, but all in due time. Interestingly enough the books of the Latter Prophets are actually thought to be older than the narratives of the Former Prophets.
       Stuck in between the works of the Nevi’im Rishonim and Nevi’im Aharonim is the third collection of writings within the Tanakh known as the Ketuvim (writings). The Ketuvim is made up of the three Poetic Books (Sifrei Emet) Psalms, Proverbs, and Job; The Five Scrolls (Hamesh Megillot) of the books of Ruth, Song of Songs, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes (my favorite), and Esther; the Other Books (of which there is no formal grouping or name) which are the books of Daniel, Ezra-Nehemiah (two prophets in one book, but later split into two books by the Christians), and finally the book we are starting; Chronicles. Another ridiculously large book of the ancient world that had to be split into two scrolls, I and II Chronicles.
       In Hebrew this book is called Divrei Hayyamim (The Matters [of] the Days) and at one time it was believed that these writings were what the author of Samuel and Kings based their work off of. Some even believed the author to be one of the authors of portions of the book Ezra-Nehemiah. However, most modern scholars have dismissed this theory. The earliest possible date for this book would be around 539 BCE because the book mentions the actions of Cyrus the Great, the Persian king who conquered Babylon and allowed the Jews to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the Temple. It is believed that the works of the prophets (former and latter) were completed after the Babylonian exile and inducted into the Jewish canon around the 2nd century B.C.E. Yet, the Ketuvim as a whole did not become an accepted book of the Jewish Tanakh till the 2nd century A.D. There is evidence, though, that many Israelites were adding some of the other works to their already canonized books of the prophets as early as 132 B.C.E. even though there was no official title for the collection.
        I will try to move us through I and II Chronicles as quickly as possible since most of it is just a retelling of the books of Kings. I would like to point out that there is a different tone to this book than that of the books of Kings. Chronicles was probably written after the return of the exiles from Babylon and the author was a little more favorable towards the previous monarchies than that of the author/s of Kings who were most likely recent exiles into Babylon and still bitter about the rulers that were in power at the time.

Final Kings and the Genesis of the Tanakh

II Kings 21-25

       According to the book of Kings after Hezekiah died his son, Manasseh age 15 at his coronation, and grandson, Amon 22 at the age of coronation, backslid into the idolatrous patterns of the previous kings. According to Assyrian records Manasseh was actually a respected ruler of Judah because he was such a loyal vassal of Assyria in the eyes of king Sennacherib, who had an awful time with Hezekiah. This relationship carried over to Sennacherib’s son who became the Assyrian King after his father died. Despite the criticism in the text of Kings regarding Manasseh’s religious policy archeological evidence shows that there was relative peace and prosperity during the reign of Manasseh. In fact he is credited with reviving the Judean economy. Because he had to gain the trust of the Assyrians as well as some of the more affluent countrymen Manasseh relaxed some of the reforms of his father, Hezekiah, and allowed the high places to come back along with other pagan practices. This is not the last we will see of this King. There is nothing outside of the Biblical Account for the reign of Amon. He only ruled Judah for two years before being assassinated. Since he followed in the ways of his father he probably was not a thorn in the side of the Assyrians and therefore not worth mentioning in their records.
      Which brings us to the king that is credited with the origin of the Old Testament, Josiah. Josiah is the great grandson of the great reformer Hezekiah. He is eight years old when his father, Amon, was assassinated. From the beginning, according to the Book, he was a devoted follower of Yahweh and did what was right in His eyes just as King David had done. He even went so far as to tear down the shrines created by the first king of Israel, Jeroboam, after the split of Kingdom. In his eighteenth year as king, when he was 26, he ordered the Temple to be cleaned up and restored. He told his servants to give the priest, Hilkiah, as much money as was needed for the project. According to the Book, as well as other scrolls that have been found with the seal of Josiah stamped into it, during the renovation a very old collection of writings was discovered.
       The name used to describe these writings that were discovered are called The Book of the Torah in II Kings 22:8 which is the same title given to the writings given to Joshua by Moses in the Book of Joshua 1:8 and 8:34. It is this text that was discovered in the reign of Josiah that is the source for the Deuteronomic Reform of Josiah and later used as the source for the Deuteronomical Historian who took the history of Judah and Israel and combined it with the warnings given in the Book of the Torah by Moses.
Josiah is portrayed as an even greater king than Hezekiah and turned to Yahweh with all his heart and soul and strength, just as his ancestor David had done. Unfortunately, it is too little too late. The sins of the previous kings and the people they ruled are too numerous for Yahweh and destruction is still imminent according to the words of II Kings. During this period the ancient world is in flux. The Assyrian Empire was in decline and the Babylonians were not yet at a powerful position to be a superpower. Egypt had just thrown off Assyrian rule, but were not a powerful nation by any means. This allowed the small kingdom of Judah to flourish without any disturbances.
        But, all good things must come to an end and in the year 609 B.C. Egypt joined the Assyrians in a campaign to take over the region, including Judah. Josiah went to battle these forces and was killed. His successor, Jehoiakim, was only power for a few months, but he followed in the evil ways of the previous kings. He was imprisoned by the Pharaoh of Egypt who installed his uncle as the new King. It was this king that had the first dealings with the Babylonian invaders and his son Jehoiachin was the king of Judah when the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar invaded and ransacked Jersualem and the Temple of Yahweh. Another puppet king was put in place by the Babylonians, Zedekiah, who later rebelled against the Babylonians and brought their anger down on the Kingdom.
        The events of the destruction of Jerusalem at the hands of Nebuchadnezzar is not only recorded in the Bible, but has also been chronicled by the Babylonians themselves. Judah becomes just another city state within the Babylonian Empire. It will be a good long while that the children of Israel will be imprisoned in Babylon. However, when the Persian Empire takes over and they are allowed to return to Jerusalem one of the things they return with are the scriptures discovered during Josiah’s reign and around 520 B.C. the foundation for the first nine books of the Old Testament begins.

King David 2.0

II Kings 18-20

      Well, it has taken us roughly five months to get through the Deuteronomical History, Genesis thru Kings. It is within these final chapters of Second Kings that we catch up, so to speak, in time with the supposed author/s of the these first nine books of the Old Testament. The theory accepted by most biblical scholars says that these books were written during the period of Josiah’s reign and probably edited over the centuries after the exile in Babylon. But, lets not get ahead of ourselves.
      The setting of these final seven chapters is after the Assyrian campaign that started with Samaria and eventually led to the total annihilation of Israel. After the destruction of Israel the surviving refugees would have scattered to the four winds. Some of them would have headed south and found a new life in Judah. They would bring with them their own stories of the heroes and Kings of their histories, helping to flesh out some more of the Deuteronomical History over time.
In chapter 18 we meet King Hezekiah. He is portrayed as one of the most loyal kings to Yahweh since David or Solomon. Remember that at this time there were no Holy Scriptures. There were only stories that had passed down over the generations and a vague understanding of the god Yahweh given by visions and messages from the prophets. The prophets were the ones that would lead the people back to the Yahweh and the Law, but usually the Kings didn’t like what they had to say and their messages fell on deaf ears. King Hezekiah restored the Kingdom back to the early days of Yahweh worship, undoing generations of pagan incorporation into Jewish life and religion.
       According to this book, II Kings, when the king of Assyria (modern day Iraq) finally decided to invade Jerusalem he captured and destroyed a city close by called Lachish. After that he sent word to Hezekiah that Jerusalem’s destruction was imminent. He called out to the king mocking the god of Judah and the Temple made to worship that god. It is said that as retribution for these words against the God of gods, Yahweh sent an angel that slew 180,000 soldiers of the Assyrian King, Sennacherib. This is also where we meet a very famous prophet of this time period, Isaiah, who has a whole book dedicated to him later in the Journey.
What is so great about this story is that its not just a tale told in a very old book. This story happens to be one of the most famous accounts in Ancient History. There are a few different accounts of this ancient battle, but one of the most intricate tellings comes from the King of Assyria himself. In the mid 1800’s a discovery was made in the city of Nineveh, the capital of Ancient Assyria and now located in Northern Iraq. What was found in one of the rooms of the palace of Sennacherib was a set of large stone panels that covered the entire space of the walls in the room. It was deemed to be a waiting room for important figureheads from other lands and the story told on these stone tablets is the story that is contained in the second book of Kings.
      The Lachish relief, as it known now, is the telling of how the King and his armies marched upon the kingdom of Judah, even naming King Hezekiah, and destroyed many important towns and cities of the region. The most important being the city of Lachish which is so close to the central power of the Judean Kingdom, Jerusalem. The relief does not mention the destruction of the troops by an Angel of Yahweh, but it is not a story about the destruction of Jerusalem, either, which would have been an extremely important and strategic victory in the land. To compare it to modern times it would be like capturing Chicago or New York instead of Washington D.C. The Lachish relief also shows that Judah would have been an important player in the region at the time of the relief’s construction, roughly 701-680 B.C.

      Also discovered in ancient Israel is the underground tunnel Hezekiah built to transport water into the city without the Assyrian forces outside of town being able to stop it. This allowed them to stay within the city and survive by growing food.
      Any other references to the events surrounding Hezekiah regarding his illness and miraculous healing are lost to time and history. The warning given to Hezekiah about the future of the country of Judah comes again from the prophet Isaiah and is a foreshadowing of the things to come. According to this book Isaiah is shown a vision of the fate of the future generations of Israel and its not pretty. Some believe this is one of the later additions added after the refugees came back from Babylon and first began recording their holy scriptures.
     Because Hezekiah was so righteous and followed in the steps of David so completely, and with even less information regarding Yahweh than that former king had, the time of the destruction is extended into the days of the next generations. However, Hezekiah is introduced to the future conquerors of Judah, the Babylonians.

Israel's Decline and Fall

II Kings 1-17

    The second half of the book of Kings starts off with more or less a continuation of the rivalries between Israel and Judah as well as their surrounding neighbors. Rather than rewrite it all here I found a great site that has many informative links about the events in this book of the Bible as well as the characters within.
http://www.vtaide.com/gleanings/Kings-of-Israel/kings.html
     This will also be helpful to come back and reference in the future when we get into the books of the prophets that were written during the reigns of these kings and will give us a more in depth look at some of them.
     I want to break at this point in Kings because it deals with the end of the Northern Kingdom of Israel. We have the records here in this book of the Bible as one version of events that took place over a thousand years ago. There is indication that the events that were put in this version of the story were filtered through the lens of the Deuteronomical Historian who quotes his sources as being from various other Royal records.
      The books of Genesis through Kings were completed roughly around 500-300 B.C.E. By this time Israel had been gone for a couple hundred years, lost to Assyrians, and Judah had been conquered by the Babylonians. The events that happened before were written in different records as well as kept through oral tradition. There are a few things that make the events in the Book a little more real in regards to history.
       There is a story in chapter 3 concerning the king of Moab, Mesha, who revolts against Israel and sacrifices his son to his god and this turns the tide and he is victorious. In 1868 a stone stele was discovered that dated back to the 800s B.C.E. and was a record of King Mesha regarding his victory over the Kings of Israel. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mesha_Stele. This stele confirms that the Moab King sacrificed his son to the god Chemosh and this he credits for his victory over Israel.
      Also, the story of the siege of Lachish when the Assyrians took control of the lands of the Philistines and many towns close to Judah, II Kings 18:13-14, is also recorded by the Assyrians themselves. The Taylor Prism, a recording of King Sennacherib of Assyria, gives us a slightly different version of these events but still indicates a similar fate for Judah. With their lands being eaten away by the superpower of the ancient world it was a choice between being conquered or keeping the land, but live under the authority of Assyria. Hezekiah, chose to be a vassal and keep the lands of Judah. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taylor_and_Sennacherib_Prisms King Hezekiah is mentioned in this stele by name. This shows that he did indeed exist, although it is not as flattering a mention as the one in 2 Kings 18:5-8.
      Unfortunately, the kingdom of Israel to the north was not so lucky. King Jehu had pretty much alienated himself from the surrounding peoples by outlawing their gods and killing their prophets. Later kings did no better to make peace with the neighbors and by the mid 700s Assyria invaded Samaria and kicked out most of the people and put in their own countrymen in hopes that the two would mix. This was how the Assyrians destroyed a culture and assimilated it into itself. This is where the animosity for the Samaritans in Roman Israel originated. These events are recorded also on a stone record of King Sargon II of Assyria, http://suite101.com/article/cuneiform-writing-from-the-palace-of-sargon-ii-a181523.
       Eventually, Assyria comes in and wipes out the kingdom and refugees from the land scatter to the winds, just as the prophets warned, but some head south with warnings of the fate that could befall Judah if they don’t shape up, too.

Here’s a site with some great little pieces I found in my snooping.

http://www.bible-history.com/assyria_archaeology/archaeology_of_ancient_assyria_archaeological_discoveries.html

Pagans and Prophets

I Kings 13-22

     In the previous blog we covered the events of the splitting of the Kingdom of Israel into the North and South as seen through the lens of the Book. Keeping in mind that these events were written by scribes that lived long after the events took place, writing down people and events from their historical sources as well recording the stories of their history from the perspective of the books of Moses, significantly the book of Deuteronomy. Kings and Chronicles clearly state that the kingdom of Israel to the north is a country that begins the worship of pagan idols pretty much at its inception. While the kingdom of Judah still seats an heir of Yahweh’s chosen bloodline, David, even though his descendants never live up to his standard. This perspective gives us a clear black and white view of history and the people and events therein. However, before we get to the major players and events of these histories I want to go over the kings of the early division, but from the perspective that archaeology gives.
      There is a good amount of information that we can gather about these kingdoms and it comes from the people that they fought with in the region, such as the Assyrians and Moabits. Many proclamations inscribed in stone and other such remnants confirm a lot of details within the Book, but also offer different perspectives on certain rulers and their legacies.
     For example, in I Kings chapter 16 we meet King Omri, 880 B.C.E., who is a military leader that kills the usurper Zimri and takes the throne. He establishes his capital in Samaria* and according to the book ‘does evil in the sight of the Lord’ by worshiping worthless idols. Yet, archaeological evidence paints a slightly different picture. We see a leader that almost rivals Solomon in his dynamism and expansive mentality. According to ancient records he challenged some enemies like the Moabites and made peace with others such as the Phoenicians, who were excellent builders and tradesmen and only enriched and beautified his kingdom more. He made alliances with his enemies through the marriage of his son to the princess Jezebel and made an altar to her god, Baal, in Samaria. He later made peace with Judah when he had his daughter marry Jehoram.
    There is evidence for the tolerance of other gods shown in Israel. In those days rulers honored one another by not only paying tribute to the person, but also to their god(s). However, in the south Judah struggled with this problem of existing in a hostile region while still staying true to their God. For much of their early years Judah fought with their neighbors; Israel, Moab, Philistines, etc. Because of their lack of diplomacy Judah was ransacked from all directions. Finally they recognized the need for allies and king Jehoram married the daughter of Israel’s king Ahab, which in turn brought the pagan ways of Jezebel into the country of Judah.
    While Jezebel seems to have a verifiable place in history the same can not be said for the prophet Elijah. There is no archaeological evidence for the events between Elijah and Jezebel. However, at this time in history there were those that still honored the god of king David in the lands of Israel and these ‘prophets’, as they were known, were a constant thorn in the side of the kings who sought advice from the priests and prophets of other lands and gods. These prophets were entrenched in the political workings of the time and were not hermits that secluded themselves from civilization. While the events of this prophet can not be confirmed or denied there were definitely people similar to him and his friend Elisha. People who challenged the establishment’s embrace of idolatry and paganism and warned against the consequences of their actions.
      When the books of Kings were compiled, probably in 560 B.C.E., Elijah could have been a folk hero whose story had passed through the generations. By this time the kingdom of Israel would have fallen to the Assyrians and so the warnings of Elijah to Israel in the books of Kings could have been a warning to the people of Judah that their same mistakes led to the Babylonian exile in the mid 500s B.C.E.





*The countryside of Samaria becomes a reviled land by the time Jesus takes the scene 800 years later.

A Kingdom Divided

Kings 13-16

     Solomon is my favorite character in the Book for many reasons, but one of them is his wonderful humanity. He is the epitome of what it means to be human. He is said to be the wisest man in the history of the People of Israel. It is said that the only request Solomon had of God was to give him Wisdom and Yahweh heaped it on in bucket loads. Yet, all that wisdom became a curse in Solomon's older years as his desire for knowledge and peace led him to allow foreign wives to bring their pagan practices to the Kingdom of Yahweh. Because of this transgression Yahweh's blessing is removed from the Kingdom and after Solomon's death ten tribes of the north have split leaving Judah and Jerusalem under the control of one king and the Northerners with another. According to the Book Yahweh's covenant with David remains steadfast as there is still an heir on the throne in Judah and the Temple of Yahweh remains under the control of the House of David.

Judah and Israel

The southern kingdom of Judah is comprised of the tribe of Judah as well as the remaining Benjaminites and is the home of the Temple of Yahweh built by King Solomon and remains a place of worship no matter who is on the throne. While there were few of them, there were kings that tried to be faithful to Yahweh.
The Northern Kingdom of Israel rebelled against the god of Israel under the reign of their first king Jeroboam. The Northern Kingdom is full of usurpers and power grabs and military coups. Despite the wicked rulers of the kingdom there were prophets of Yahweh that spoke on His behalf in the Northern Kingdom. 


930-913 B.C. Rehoboam was the first king of Judah and is the one that began the split after Solomon's death. When a Hebrew rebel named Jeroboam, from the tribe of Ephraim, hears of the death of the king he leaves Egypt and heads north to win the people outside of the territory of Judah. At the same time Rehoboam receives ill advice to oppress the northerners further, and who already feel like they are treated badly, which only pushes them further onto Jeroboam's side.


930-909 B.C. Jeroboam wins the northern people to his side and they push out the monarchy of Judah to the edge of their territory. Jeroboam is now the ruler of ten tribes of the twelve tribes of Israel. Ten different tribes all full of their own internal issues and problems. Now that Judah is a separate entity Jeroboam worries that the people will travel to Jerusalem to worship at the Temple and slowly loose their affection for the Northern Monarchy. To avert this Jeroboam commits the act that leads all of his successors to their demise. He builds golden calves to be worshiped in his Kingdom so the people have a place to sacrifice at. This angers Yahweh and the prophet Ahijah delivers a condemnation upon the house of Jeroboam beginning with the death of his child Abijah.


913-910 B.C. Abijam, the son of Rehoboam, takes the throne. He goes to war with the Northern kingdom of Jeroboam, and just before battle Abijam stands on a Mt. Zemaraim and calls out to Jeroboam condemning him for his idolatry and turning away from Yahweh. When Jeroboam out maneuvers him and ambushes him Abijam calls out to Yahweh for deliverance and is given victory. He gains more power, but only reigns for three years before dying in 910 B.C.


909-908 B.C. After the death of Jeroboam, allegedly by Yahweh in human form, his son Nadab takes the throne. Nadab reigns for one year and while he was besieging a city in the territory of Dan under Philistine occupation a man Baasha from the tribe of Issachar conspired to overthrow him. Baasha murders Nadab and the entire house of Jeroboam, fulfilling the prophecy of Ahijah.


910-869 B.C. The grandson of Rehoboam takes the throne, but his grandmother Maachah is still known as Queen Mother to the people. Furthermore she is a foreigner who has introduced the worship of the goddess of her people to the people of Judah. However, Asa is faithful to Yahweh and remembers the covenant of his Fathers. He begins to enact reforms into the land to bring people back to the ways of the Law. In his 15th year as king Judah was invaded by the Cushites, but with the help of Yahweh and the faith of Asa the enemy is defeated despite overwhelming odds. Asa gathers the people of Judah and Benjamin and declares a festival in honor of Yahweh and reaffirms the covenant made with King David. He also takes away the title of Queen Mother from Maachah because of a Asherah pole she had made. He cuts it down and burns it. Despite his reform and dedication to Yahweh he is still unsuccessful at fully removing the pagan idols from the lands. Then, a few months later when confronted with war with Baasha, Asa lacks faith in Yahweh and relies on a treaty with the king of Syria to achieve victory. Because of this lack of faith Yahweh uses the prophet Hanani to warn Asa that his lack of faith has ended the peace time of his land. In 872 B.C. his feet become diseased and he names his son Jehoshaphat as successor.


908-885 B.C. After murdering king Nadab and wiping out the house of Jeroboam Baasha continued in the ways of his predecessors and encouraged the worshiping of the false idols made by Jeroboam. Because of this Yahweh sends a prophet named Jehu to tell Baasha that although Yahweh gave him a chance he had failed. He would suffer the same fate as the family of Jeroboam. In 894 B.C. Baasha enters into war with the southern king, Asa, and takes control of territory close to Jerusalem. He doesn't know that his ally the king of Syria has just switched allegiance to his enemy, Asa, and when confronted by Syrian soldiers Baasha retreats.


885-884 B.C. In fulfillment of Jehu's prophecy the son of Baasha doesn't last long. When Baasha dies his son Elah takes the throne, but it doesn't take long for another conspiracy to develop. in 884 military leader named Zimri confronts Elah while he's drunk in the home of his steward and kills him. He destroys the entire family of Baasha in fulfillment of Jehu's prophecy. However, his reign doesn't last long. When the troops of Israel hear about the murder of their king they stop what their doing, select a leader among them named Omri as the true king, and set out to take the throne from Zimri. After seven days of being king Zimri sees the troops coming for him and kills himself by setting the palace on fire and burning with it.


884-874 B.C. After these events there is confusion and mayhem in the land of Israel. Half the territory is allied with the military leader, Omri, while the other half allied with a man named Tibni. In the end the followers of Omri prevailed and in the 31st year of king Asa's rule in Judah Omri became king of the North, Israel. He established Israeli rule over the land of Samaria and took over the territory of the Moabites forcing them to pay heavy tribute that lasted for forty years. Omri continued down the same path as his predecessors worshiping idols and foreign gods until his death in 874.