1 Chronicles–2 Maccabees

Abstract

1 Chronicles–2 Maccabees Christopher T. Begg, Thomas Hieke, and William J. Urbrock Christopher T. Begg Catholic University of America Thomas Hieke Johannes Gutenberg Universität Mainz William J. Urbrock University of Wisconsin Oshkosh 2234. [Positive Shame in Ezra–Nehemiah] Bin Kang, "The Positive Role of Shame for Post-exilic Returnees in Ezra/Nehemiah," OTE 33 (2, 2020) 250-65. While shame is often viewed in a negative light as a response accompanied by destructive behaviors in modern cultures, my article takes a different perspective and argues that shame played an important positive role for the postexilic returnees in Ezra–Nehemiah. Shame, I argue, can be a progressive and constructive phenomenon if it is oriented in the right direction. My article examines the semantics of various "shame terms" in Ezra–Nehemiah, i.e., bwš I in Ezra 8:22; bwš I and klm in Ezra 9:6-7; ḥrph in Neh 1:3; 2:17; and bwzh in Neh 3:36 (Eng. 4:4), and concludes that shame plays a positive role as a source of social control for the returnees. Shame, in each of the above texts, motivates the people of God, not for bad, but rather for good purposes: it prompted them to rebuild the temple and the wall of Jerusalem and contributed to the restoration of a holy people for the Lord in the face of fierce opposition from those among whom they lived. [Adapted from published abstract—C.T.B.] Google Scholar 2235. [Ezra 6:19-22; 2 Chronicles 30; 2 Chronicles 35] Timothy Yap, "Three Passovers and a Funeral Reading. Ezra 6:19-22 in Light of the Hezekiah and Josiah Passover Narratives," ResQ 63 (1, 2021) 31-43. In this article I have sought to demonstrate that the Passover narrative in Ezra 6:19-22 is deliberately crafted to recall the Passover celebrations during the times of Hezekiah (2 Chr 30:13-27) and Josiah (2 Chr 35:1-19). Such a recollection of preceding Passover celebrations assists us in understanding some of the vexing issues latent in Ezra 6:19-22. In my examination of Hezekiah's Passover narrative, I argue that 2 Chr 30:13-27 has a threefold bearing on Ezra 6:19-22. First, Ezra 6:19-22 fulfills Hezekiah's vision of unifying Israel as a whole. Second, it also allows us to understand the rhetorical purposes of the change of languages from Hebrew to Aramaic and then back to Hebrew in Ezra 1–6. And finally, Hezekiah's Passover narrative provides us with a context in which to understand why the enigmatic title "king of Assyria" is applied to the Persian monarch in Ezra 6:22. As for Josiah's Passover narrative and the Passover narrative of Ezra 6:12-22, both are sandwiched between passages that give attention to the word of God. The purpose of this common feature is to create a contrast between Josiah and Ezra. While Josiah in 2 Chr 35:22 chooses to ignore God's word spoken to him by the Egyptian king Necho and ends up being slain by the "destroyer" (see 2 Chr 35:22) at what turns out to be a negative Passover observance, Ezra is presented as the antithesis of Josiah in his faithful observance of the word of God as received by him. [Adapted from author's conclusion, p. 43—C.T.B.] Google Scholar 2236. [The Zoroastrian Context of the Book of Tobit] David Brodsky, "Resistance and Appropriation: The Zoroastrian Context of the Book of Tobit," From Scrolls to Traditions, 38-65 [see #2543]. The question of the cultural/geographical place of origin of the Book of Tobit has been long and inconclusively discussed in scholarship. Whereas earlier, a Persian/Median/Zoroastrian origin for the book enjoyed some currency among scholars, given, e.g., the role it accords to a dog in light of Zoroastrianism's emphasis on the anti-demonic capacities [End Page 826] of canines, today's scholars overwhelmingly advocate a "Western" context for the book's composition, whether in the Hellenistic Diaspora (Egypt) or in Judea. In making his case for Tobit's "Eastern" origins, B. notes...