Exploring the Place of the Book of Chronicles in the Jewish Tradition

Abstract

The history of interpretation and reception is a rapidly growing field in biblical studies, as witnessed by the steady flow of books and articles on the topic and the launching of a new reference work, The Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception (Berlin: De Gruyter, 2009-), and a new annual journal, Biblical Reception (Sheffield Phoenix Press, to begin publication in October 2012). The field is vast, but one of the essential topics deserving attention is the role that the various biblical books played in the history, literature, and culture of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, something that is only beginning to be addressed. Thus, the comprehensive study of Chronicles in the history of Jewish tradition and literature by Isaac Kalimi is a welcome pioneering effort, unprecedented in the sheer scope of its coverage. Chronicles has not traditionally been a very popular book for Jews to study. But in recent years, it has become an important subject of research for biblical scholars, among them, Isaac Kalimi, who has made the study of Chronicles the main focus of his scholarly career. He has written several monographs and many articles on the Chronicler and his work, dealing with the book of Chronicles in its historical context, as well as a classified bibliography of Chronicles scholarship. In the work here under review, he expands his range to deal with the history of interpretation and reception of the book in Jewish literature and tradition from the Second Temple Period