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This volume makes use of diverse methods and approaches to offer fresh treatments of 1 Kings 16 - 2 Kings 16 both synchronically and diachronically. Among its major contributions are a detailed text-critical analysis that frequently adopts readings of the Old Greek and Old Latin and, at the same time, a reexamination of the variant chronologies for the kings of Israel and Judah that argues for the priority of the one in the Masoretic Text. The book presents a new theory of the compositional history of these chapters that ascribes them mostly to the hand of a postexilic "Prophetic Narrator" who reworked older legenda, especially about Elisha, and effectively shaped Kings into the work we have today.
The Abingdon Old Testament Commentaries provide compact, critical commentaries on the books of the Old Testament for the use of theological students and pastors. The commentaries are also useful for upper-level college or university students and for those responsible for teaching in congregational settings. In addition to providing basic information and insights into the Old Testament writings, these commentaries exemplify the tasks and procedures of careful interpretation, all to assist students of the Old Testament in coming to an informed and critical engagement with the biblical texts themselves. The present volume gives an up-to-date, readable commentary on the books of First and Second Chronicles. The commentary covers critical issues section by section while emphasizing the larger theological and literary issues in Chronicles and illustrating its relevance for modern readers.
David's story, writes McKenzie, "reads like a modern soap opera, with plenty of sex, violence, and struggles for power.""--BOOK JACKET.
McKenzie argues that to comprehend the Bible we must grasp the intentions of the biblical authors themselves--what sort of texts they thought they were writing and how they would have been understood by their intended audience. In short, we must recognize the genres to which these texts belong. McKenzie examines several genres that are typically misunderstood, offering careful readings of specific texts to show how the confusion arises, and how knowing the genre produces a correct reading. The book of Jonah, for example, offers many clues that it is meant as a humorous satire, not a straight-faced historical account of a man who was swallowed by a fish. Likewise, McKenzie explains that the v...
This volume introduces the reader to the most important methods of biblical criticism. It serves as an indispensable handbook for the work of students approaching biblical studies for the first time and for the professional interpreter of scripture who wants to understand the latest currents in biblical scholarship.
Steven McKenzie here surveys the historical books of the Old Testament — Joshua through Ezra-Nehemiah — for their historical context, contents, form, and themes, communicating them clearly and succinctly for an introductory audience. / By providing a better understanding of biblical history writing in its ancient context, McKenzie helps readers come to terms with tensions between the Bible’s account and modern historical analyses. Rather than denying the results of historical research or dismissing its practitioners as wrongly motivated, he suggests that the source of the perceived discrepancy may lie not with the Bible but with the way in which it has been read. He also calls into question whether the genre of the Bible’s historical books has been properly understood.
This single volume introduces the reader to the most important methods of Biblical criticism by covering both traditional and more current methods, giving special attention to the way in which methods of criticism are applied to specific texts. The contributors, from a diverse background, demonstrate how their own method is applied.
In this much-needed reminder for those struggling to live faithful lives today, Steven McKenzie insists that the Bible's true message leads Christians away from the evils of racism and narrowness of bigotry to God's vision of humanity and unity.
A clear and comprehensive introduction to the content, growth, context, and interpretation of the Old Testament.
This book investigates the composition of the book of Kings and its implications for the Deuteronomistic History (DH) of which it is a part. McKenzie analyses Kings on the basis of Noth's model of a single author/editor behind the original DH. He contends that the Deuteronomist (Dtr) wrote the series of oracles against the Northern royal houses without utilizing a prior, running prophetic document that some scholars have posited behind Samuel and Kings. He regards many other prophetic stories in Kings, including most of the Elijah and Elisha legends as later additions to the DH, in accord with Noth's recognition that the original DH was frequently supplemented by various writers. McKenzie il...