Description
Book SynopsisMost of the essays in this volume stem from the special sessions of the Historiography Seminar of the Canadian Society for Biblical Studies, held in the late spring of 2007 (University of Saskatchewan). The papers in these focused sessions dealt with issues of self-identification, community identity, and ethnicity in Judahite and Yehudite historiography. The scholars present addressed a range of issues, such as the understanding, presentation, and delimitation of “Israel” in various biblical texts, the relationship of Israelites to Judahites in Judean historical writings, the definition of Israel over against other peoples, and the possible reasons why the ethnoreligious community (“Israel”) was the focus of Judahite/Yehudite historiography. Papers approached these matters from a variety of theoretical and disciplinary vantage points. For example, some pursued an inner-biblical perspective (pentateuchal sources/writings, Former Prophets, Latter Prophets, Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah), while others pursued a cross-cultural comparative perspective (ancient Near Eastern, ancient Greek and Hellenistic historiographies, Western and non-Western historiographic traditions). Still others attempted to relate the material remains to the question of community identity in northern Israel, monarchic Judah, and postmonarchic Yehud.
Table of Contents“Introduction” Gary Knoppers and Kenneth A. Ristau
Israel and Nomads of Ancient Palestine Kenton L. Sparks
David: Messianic King or Mercenary Ruler? John Van Seters
A Comparative Study of the Exilic Gap in Ancient Israelite, Messenian and Zionist Collective Memory Katherine M. Stott
“Are There Any Bridges Out There? How Wide Was the Conceptual Gap between the Deuteronomistic History and Chronicles?” Ehud Ben Zvi
“Characters in Stone: Royal Ideology and Yehudite Identity in the Behistun Inscription and the Book of Haggai James Bowick
The Diaspora in Zechariah 1-8 and Ezra-Nehemiah: The Role of History, Social Location, and Tradition in the Formulation of Identity John Kessler
“Ethnicity, Genealogy, Geography, and Change: The Judean Communities of Babylon and Jerusalem in the Story of Ezra” Gary N. Knoppers
“Ezra’s Mission and the Levites of Casiphia” Mark Leuchter
Textual Identities in the Books of Chronicles: The Case of Jehoram’s HIstory Louis Jonker
“Reading and Re-Reading Josiah: The Chronicler’s Representation of Josiah for the Post-Exilic Community’ Ken Ristau
Identity and Empire, Reality and Hope in the Chroncler’s Perspective Mark J. Boda
Indexes
Index of Authors
Index of Scripture
