Angelika Berlejung and Aren M. Maeir (eds.), Research on Israel and Aram: Autonomy, Independence and Related Issues (Research on Israel and Aram in Biblical Times I), Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2019, 91-104, 2019
This paper examines the various appearances of “Aram” and “Arameans” in
the book of Chronicles, i... more This paper examines the various appearances of “Aram” and “Arameans” in
the book of Chronicles, in an attempt to understand what meaning this ethnonym had to the Chronicler and to his audience. These are compared to the many more appearances in the Chronicler’s earlier biblical “sources.” This comparison is significant in our understanding of the Chronicler’s historiographical methods, as well as in better understanding the ongoing relationship between Jews and Arameans in the Second Temple Period. In the Chronicler’s Second Temple Period world, there was no such “nation” as “Aram,” but “Arameans,” that is speakers of Aramaic, were everywhere. “Aram” is first and foremost a major ethnic-linguistic component of the world. So the ancestor “Aram” was near the top of the genealogy of humanity. In the Chronicler’s world, Aram and Israel do not share a common legacy. But in the Chronicler’s picture of the past, there had been a kingdom of Aram, a fierce enemy of Israel. Geographically, this “Aram” was limited to the region of Damascus, the Chronicler’s contemporary “Darmascus.” To the Chronicler and to his late Persian-Period contemporaries, “Aram” was, in the past, a hostile kingdom beyond the borders of Israel, centered in “Darmascus,” and like all foreign kingdoms, a tool with which God could be able to punish Israel if he so wishes.
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Books by Yigal Levin
The Library of Second temple Studies (LStS) is a premier book series that offers cutting-edge work for a readership of scholars, teachers in the field of Second temple studies, postgraduate students and advanced undergraduates. All the many and diverse aspects of Second temple study are represented and promoted, including innovative work from historical perspectives, studies using social-scientific and literary theory, and developing theological, cultural and contextual approaches.
In The Chronicles of the Kings of Judah, Yigal Levin does the same for the modern reader. He offers a brand-new translation and commentary on 2 Chronicles chapters 10-36, tracing the “sacred history” of the monarchy from the division of Solomon's kingdom to the final exile and return. Each chapter is translated from the original Hebrew into an English that is both faithful to the original and easy for the modern reader to follow. Extensive footnotes provide full explanations of the translator's choices and of linguistic and literary issues, taking note of alternative versions offered by a wide array of ancient and modern versions and translations. The comprehensive commentary on each section provides historical background and explains the text both on a literary and a historical level, making full use of the most up-to-date research on the text, literature, history, geography and on the archaeological background of the biblical world.
The Chronicles of the Kings of Judah is to be followed by The Chronicles of David and Solomon on 1 Chronicles 10 – 2 Chronicles 9, and then by The Chronicles of All Israel on the genealogies of 1 Chronicles 1-9 and including comprehensive essays on the book of Chronicles, its time, purposes, methods and meanings. - See more at: http://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/the-chronicles-of-the-kings-of-judah-9780567671714/#sthash.OLxdXhZG.dpuf
accompanied the Jewish people since biblical times. However, the ways
in which both concepts are understood have changed many times over the
ages, and both have different implications for an independent nation
in its own land than they do for a community of exiles living as a
minority in foreign countries.
This book explores the concepts of war and peace throughout the
history of Judaism. Combining three branches of learning - classical Jewish sources, from the Bible to modern times; related academic disciplines of Jewish studies, humanities, social and political sciences; and public discussion of these issues on political, military, ideological and moral levels - contributors from Israel and the USA open new vistas of investigation for the future as well as an awareness of the past. Chapters touch on personal and collective morality in warfare, survival though a long and often violent history, and creation of some of the world’s great cultural assets, in literature, philosophy and religion, as well as in the fields of community life and social autonomy.
An important addition to the current literature on Jewish thought and philosophy, this book will be of considerable interest to scholars working in the areas of Jewish Studies, theology, modern politics, the Middle East and biblical studies.
Papers by Yigal Levin
excavations led by I. Finkelstein and T. Römer. Based on their preliminary finds and on their reading of the biblical texts, they have interpreted the Iron Age IIB–C fortified compound that they have begun to expose on the summit of the site as a northern Israelite fortified compound, ‘aimed at dominating the vassal kingdom of Judah’. This paper reexamines the position of Kiriath-jearim on the border between Judah and Benjamin according to both the biblical texts and the site’s geographical location, within the context of the ongoing discussions on the biblical tribal territories, that of Benjamin in particular, the ‘ark narrative’ and other texts that mention Kiriath-jearim, and challenges the excavators’ interpretation of the character and purpose of the site during the Iron Age II.
on the biblical tribal territories, that of Benjamin in particular, the “ark narrative” and other texts that mention Kiriath-jearim, and challenges the excavators’ interpretation of the character and purpose of the site during the Iron Age II.
utilized and combined the various genealogical forms that he had at his
disposal in order to create his story. In doing so, it focuses especially on the
linear portions of the genealogies, those that serve to supply movement in time,
or chronological progression.
The Library of Second temple Studies (LStS) is a premier book series that offers cutting-edge work for a readership of scholars, teachers in the field of Second temple studies, postgraduate students and advanced undergraduates. All the many and diverse aspects of Second temple study are represented and promoted, including innovative work from historical perspectives, studies using social-scientific and literary theory, and developing theological, cultural and contextual approaches.
In The Chronicles of the Kings of Judah, Yigal Levin does the same for the modern reader. He offers a brand-new translation and commentary on 2 Chronicles chapters 10-36, tracing the “sacred history” of the monarchy from the division of Solomon's kingdom to the final exile and return. Each chapter is translated from the original Hebrew into an English that is both faithful to the original and easy for the modern reader to follow. Extensive footnotes provide full explanations of the translator's choices and of linguistic and literary issues, taking note of alternative versions offered by a wide array of ancient and modern versions and translations. The comprehensive commentary on each section provides historical background and explains the text both on a literary and a historical level, making full use of the most up-to-date research on the text, literature, history, geography and on the archaeological background of the biblical world.
The Chronicles of the Kings of Judah is to be followed by The Chronicles of David and Solomon on 1 Chronicles 10 – 2 Chronicles 9, and then by The Chronicles of All Israel on the genealogies of 1 Chronicles 1-9 and including comprehensive essays on the book of Chronicles, its time, purposes, methods and meanings. - See more at: http://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/the-chronicles-of-the-kings-of-judah-9780567671714/#sthash.OLxdXhZG.dpuf
accompanied the Jewish people since biblical times. However, the ways
in which both concepts are understood have changed many times over the
ages, and both have different implications for an independent nation
in its own land than they do for a community of exiles living as a
minority in foreign countries.
This book explores the concepts of war and peace throughout the
history of Judaism. Combining three branches of learning - classical Jewish sources, from the Bible to modern times; related academic disciplines of Jewish studies, humanities, social and political sciences; and public discussion of these issues on political, military, ideological and moral levels - contributors from Israel and the USA open new vistas of investigation for the future as well as an awareness of the past. Chapters touch on personal and collective morality in warfare, survival though a long and often violent history, and creation of some of the world’s great cultural assets, in literature, philosophy and religion, as well as in the fields of community life and social autonomy.
An important addition to the current literature on Jewish thought and philosophy, this book will be of considerable interest to scholars working in the areas of Jewish Studies, theology, modern politics, the Middle East and biblical studies.
excavations led by I. Finkelstein and T. Römer. Based on their preliminary finds and on their reading of the biblical texts, they have interpreted the Iron Age IIB–C fortified compound that they have begun to expose on the summit of the site as a northern Israelite fortified compound, ‘aimed at dominating the vassal kingdom of Judah’. This paper reexamines the position of Kiriath-jearim on the border between Judah and Benjamin according to both the biblical texts and the site’s geographical location, within the context of the ongoing discussions on the biblical tribal territories, that of Benjamin in particular, the ‘ark narrative’ and other texts that mention Kiriath-jearim, and challenges the excavators’ interpretation of the character and purpose of the site during the Iron Age II.
on the biblical tribal territories, that of Benjamin in particular, the “ark narrative” and other texts that mention Kiriath-jearim, and challenges the excavators’ interpretation of the character and purpose of the site during the Iron Age II.
utilized and combined the various genealogical forms that he had at his
disposal in order to create his story. In doing so, it focuses especially on the
linear portions of the genealogies, those that serve to supply movement in time,
or chronological progression.
in Jer. 26:18, and may be the toponym meant by 'Gath' in 2 Chr. 11:8 and by 'Mareshah' in 2 Chr. 14:9.
The town if 'Mu'rasti' is mentioned in el-Amarna 335. The testimony of Eusebius and other ancient authorities has led many scholars to identify Moresheth-gath with the modern Tell el-]udeida or with other sites in the southern Shephelah. In all if the above-cited sources, however, the site is mentioned in connection with Gath, presumably the well-known Philistine city. The recently excavated site if Tel Harassim,
approximately five kilometres to the northwest if Tell es-Safi/Gath, would seem to be the best candidate to date for identification with Moresheth-gath.
the book of Chronicles, in an attempt to understand what meaning this ethnonym had to the Chronicler and to his audience. These are compared to the many more appearances in the Chronicler’s earlier biblical “sources.” This comparison is significant in our understanding of the Chronicler’s historiographical methods, as well as in better understanding the ongoing relationship between Jews and Arameans in the Second Temple Period. In the Chronicler’s Second Temple Period world, there was no such “nation” as “Aram,” but “Arameans,” that is speakers of Aramaic, were everywhere. “Aram” is first and foremost a major ethnic-linguistic component of the world. So the ancestor “Aram” was near the top of the genealogy of humanity. In the Chronicler’s world, Aram and Israel do not share a common legacy. But in the Chronicler’s picture of the past, there had been a kingdom of Aram, a fierce enemy of Israel. Geographically, this “Aram” was limited to the region of Damascus, the Chronicler’s contemporary “Darmascus.” To the Chronicler and to his late Persian-Period contemporaries, “Aram” was, in the past, a hostile kingdom beyond the borders of Israel, centered in “Darmascus,” and like all foreign kingdoms, a tool with which God could be able to punish Israel if he so wishes.
1. Who were these “adversaries”?
2. Were they or were they not identical with “the people of the land” who are mentioned in v. 4?
3. What were their motives in offering to participate in the construction of the Temple?
4. Was their offer genuine, or did they have ulterior motives?
5. Why did the returnees reject their offer out of hand?
One issue which, to the best of my knowledge, has not been dealt with is the question of the “adversaries’”
motives, not for offering to help, but for identifying themselves as foreign deportees in the first place. Why not claim to be genuine Israelites, who have always worshipped Yahweh, and are now happy to welcome their exiled brethren? So, assuming that they did wish Zerubbabel and his group to give them a role in the new temple, why emphasize their foreign origins? What were they thinking?
towards mixed marriages between Israelites and gentiles in an attempt to understand the difference in this matter between the Chronicler and the author of Ezra-Nehemiah. Of the 14 cases of mixed marriages mentioned in Chronicles, 9 are discussed, some of which have parallels in other biblical books, and some of which 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 in his own time. In this he represents an attitude that is very different than that reflected in Ezra-
Nehemiah.
ISBN 9780190690601.
Chronicler’s Agenda
Hebrew Bible Monographs 81
Sheffield: Sheffield Phoenix, 2019. Pp. xiv + 244.
Hardcover. $65.00. ISBN 9781910928561.
Boston: Academic Studies Press, 2019. 582 pp. $45.00, paper, ISBN 978-1-64469-257-8.
Reviewed by Yigal Levin (Bar Ilan University)
Published on H-Judaic (April, 2020)
The Archaeology of Israelite Society in Iron Age II
(Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 2012)
and
Judah in the Neo-Babylonian Period: The Archaeology of Desolation
(Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature,
2012).
Hebrew Studies 57 (2016), 455-458
Doak proved me wrong. While the volume does have its deficiencies, in the end it can serve as a reasonably good introduction for the beginning student to the world of the Iron Age Levant, perhaps as a complement to Victor H. Matthew’s The History of Bronze and Iron Age Israel (New York: Oxford University Press, 2018), also in the Essentials of Biblical Studies series. In fact, as I read through the introductory chapter on “Israel’s Neighbors and the Problem of the Past” (1–21), I found that its explanations of such subjects as “Nations and Identity in the Ancient World” and “How Do We Know Anything about the Past?” echo many of my own experiences in teaching these subjects in undergraduate settings. Doak manages to lay out the main issues about the study of the biblical world, especially of the problems involved in using the Bible as a source of historical information, in a way that is easy to understand without being overly didactic."