1 Chronicles–2 Maccabees

Abstract

1 Chronicles–2 Maccabees Christopher T. Begg and Benedict Schöning 2112. [Chronicles; Ezra–Nehemiah] I. Marsh and Y. Levin, "Mixed Marriages in the Book of Chronicles—A Reflection of Social Atttudes in Persian-Period Yehud," Trans 50 (2018) 125-37. This article examines the attitude displayed in the Book of Chronicles toward mixed marriages between Israelites and gentiles in an attempt to clarify the difference on this issue between the Chronicler and the author of Ezra–Nehemiah. Of the 14 cases of mixed marriages mentioned in Chronicles, 9 are discussed in this article; some of these have parallels in other biblical books, while others are unique to Chronicles. Our conclusion is that in general the Chronicler did not consider such marriages to be problematic for the continued existence of the people of Israel or of the Yehud community of his time. In this he represents a stance regarding mixed marriages very different from that reflected in Ezra–Nehemiah. [Adapted from published abstract—C.T.B.] [End Page 699] 2113. [Chronicles] L. C. Jonker, "Anything New under the Sun? Exploring Further Avenues for Writing Another Commentary on Chronicles," AcTSup 26 (2018) 325-48 [see #2377]. Over the past two decades, there has been an explosion of new commentaries on the Books of Chronicles. Scholars might justifiably ask then whether there is anything new under the sun to be said in a new commentary on Chronicles. Having been contacted about writing a commentary on Chronicles in the OTL series as a follow-up to Sara Japhet's entry in that series, I am investigating some new avenues that such a work might explore. Here, I comment on three possibilities in this regard: utilization of Achaemenid royal inscriptions and written records for the interpretation of Chronicles, revisiting existing theories concerning the composition of Chronicles, and bringing Chronicles and pentateuchal studies into conversation with each other. [Adapted from published abstract—C.T.B.] 2114. [1 Chronicles 28–29//1 Kings 1–2] Brian Peterson, "Did the Vassal Treaties of Esarhaddon Influence the Chronicler's Succession Narrative of Solomon?" BBR 28 (2018) 554-74. The radically different perspective on Solomon's coronation scene as recorded by the Chronicler in 1 Chronicles 28–29 vis-à-vis that of 1 Kings 1–2 has often been dismissed as merely a matter of a rhetorical flourish or polemic, lacking any degree of historical veracity. Yet the question still lingers: did the Chronicler make up Solomon's coronation scene out of whole cloth, or is there some other reason for the scene's divergence from Kings' account? P. argues here that the Chronicler did not necessarily fabricate a new coronation scene that is totally out of line with the Deuteronomist's version, but rather fashioned and/or included key details concerning Solomon's second formal coronation event (cf. 1 Chr 23:1; 29:22) in order to present David and Solomon on par with other great ANE sovereigns. The Chronicler had a ready-made exemplar for his doing this in the succession scene of Esarhaddon and Ashurbanipal as recorded in the Esharhaddon vassal treaties (EVT) of 672 b.c. As a historian, the Chronicler could have had access to this well-documented ANE event through his reading of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah from the period of King Manasseh—a vassal to both Esarhaddon and Ashurbanipal—or he may simply have adopted the Gattung represented by the EVT. [Adapted from published abstract—C.T.B.] 2115. [Ezra–Nehemiah] Raik Heckl, "The Composition of Ezra–Nehemiah as a Testimony for the Competition between the Temples in Jerusalem and on Mt. Gerizim in the Early Years of the Seleucid Rule over Judah," The Bible, Qumran, and the Samaritans, 115-32 [see #2371]. H. presents a literary analysis of Ezra–Nehemiah that aims to identify the discourses that resulted in the literary history of the book. In so doing, he discusses the hermeneutical strategies that its final authors/redactors used to persuade their readers to accept their new text over against its Vorlagen. Thus, he emphasizes that the Cyrus edict, contextualized at the beginning of Ezra 1, represents the hermeneutical key to...