1 Chronicles–2 Maccabees

Abstract

1 Chronicles–2 Maccabees Christopher T. Begg, Rhiannon Graybill, Fred W. Guyette, Eric F. Mason, and Joseph E. Jensen 1311. [Chronicles; Psalm 2] Friedhelm Hartenstein, "The King on the Throne of God: The Concept of World Dominion in Chronicles and Psalm 2," Psalmen und Chronik, 277-95 [see #1555]. H.'s essay offers a comparison between Psalm 2 and the concept of the worldwide rulership of Yhwh and his king in Chronicles. Taking Ps 2:6, which, alongside Pss 102:2 and 132:17, is the only attestation for a connection between the king/the Davidids with Mount Zion as the place of Yhwh's residence and throne, he inquires in particular about the spatial symbolism (implicit image of the world) that characterizes the above texts. In this connection, H. regards Psalm 2 as a late Persian-period text that elaborated on an old monarchical-period core text (vv. 7-9) in order to turn this into an introduction to the "Messianic Psalter" of Psalms 2–89, which alludes both to the world rulership of the Achaemenids and to the related conception of kingship in Chronicles: the Achaemenid emperors saw themselves as closely connected with the great god Ahura Mazda, who as creator of the world and link with heaven, appears as a universal God. According to T. Willi, the Chronicler traces a world-kingship that unfolds, due to a process of translatio imperii initiated by Yhwh in his capacity as creator and guide of history, from Saul, through David and Solomon, the Davidids and Nebuchadnezzar, down to the Persians (2 Chr 36:20). In this trajectory, the paradigmatic statement is made three times by the Chronicler concerning Solomon that he "sits on the throne of Yhwh" (1 Chr 28:5; 29:23; 2 Chr 9:8), a placement that, in fact, signifies the universal rulership of the anointed one at the center of the world, which the king as divine delegate exercises in close connection with Yhwh. It is striking to see how Chronicles and Psalm 2 portray rebellion/disloyalty directed against Yhwh and [End Page 443] his anointed (see, e.g., the war accounts in 2 Chronicles 13–14; 20). In both cases, no one can withstand the one enthroned in heaven (Ps 2:4; 2 Chr 20:5-6), who puts an end to rebellions, before they actually get off the ground. Seen in this way, the images of the world implicit in Psalm 2 and Chronicles are strikingly similar. In both, the Temple (as residence and place of rule) and the world under the heavens are seen as one. [Adapted from published abstract] 1312. [Chronicles] Gary N. Knoppers, "'Should You Help the Wicked and Love Those who Hate Yhwh?' Alliances, Foreign Subjugation, and Empire in Chronicles," Judah and Samaria, 37-73 [see #1558]. In this reworking of an article originally published under the title "'Yhwh Is Not with Israel': Alliances as a Topos in Chronicles," CBQ 58 (1996) 601-26, K. highlights the Chronicler's disavowal of alliances, both with the Israelite kingdom and with various foreign regimes, and argues that this opposition is part of a larger pattern in which the Chronicler rejects all pacts the independent kingdom of Judah forges with other states. The Chronicler's bold rewriting of Kings in this regard is remarkable, revealing a consistent effort to restructure the past so as to demonstrate both the illicit nature of such associations, and, paradoxically, their futility as well. But why would the Chronicler, living in the late Achaemenid/early Hellenistic period, a time in which Judeans had been subject to foreign hegemony for centuries, be so concerned with pacts the Davidic regime forged with northern Israel and other states? There is another complication, however. In the worldview of the Chronicler, humans are not the only participants in history. Yhwh also acts in human affairs. Thus, what happens if a relationship with a foreign state is something the Deity imposes on Judah as a punitive action, rather than something that Judah seeks out as an instrument of its own diplomatic policy? How Chronicles casts the condition of foreign subjugation thus merits attention. In depicting the loss of political autonomy...