Kingdom of Priests

H. Merrill Eugene

Description

From the origins and exodus to the restoration and new hope, Kingdom of Priests offers a comprehensive introduction to the history of Old Testament Israel. Merrill explores the history of ancient Israel not only from Old Testament texts but also from the literary and archeological sources of the ancient Near East. After selling more than 30,000 copies, the book has now been updated and revised. The second edition addresses and interacts with current debates in the history of ancient Israel, offering an up-to-date articulation of a conservative evangelical position on historical matters. The text is accented with nearly twenty maps and charts.

Sujets

• Histoire
• Israel
• History of the Middle East

Informations

• Publié par: Baker Publishing Group
• Date de parution: 01 mars 2008
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781441217073
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

Extrait

© 2008 by Eugene H. Merrill
Published by Baker Academic a division of Baker Publishing Group P.O. Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287 www.bakerpublishing.com
Ebook edition created 2011
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means for example, electronic, photocopy, recording without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.
ISBN 978-1-4412-1707-3
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC.
Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations labeled KJV are from the King James Version of the Bible.
Scripture quotations labeled RSV are from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1952 [2nd edition, 1971] by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Contents
Cover
Title Page
Copyright Page
Illustrations
Preface to the Second Edition
Preface to the First Edition
Abbreviations

1. Recalling Israel’s Past: Issues and Strategies
Preliminary Considerations
The History of Israel and Historiography
The Old Testament as Historiography
2. Origins
Israel at Moab
The Purpose of Torah
The Story of the Patriarchs
3. The Exodus: Birth of a Nation
The Meaning of the Exodus
The Historical Setting of the Exodus
The Date of the Exodus
The Dates and Length of the Egyptian Sojourn
Patriarchal Chronology
The Wilderness Wandering
4. The Conquest and Occupation of Canaan
The Land as Promise Fulfillment
The Ancient Near Eastern World
The ‘Apiru and the Conquest
The Strategy of Joshua
The Date of Joshua’s Conquest
The Campaign against the Anakim
Alternative Models of the Conquest and Occupation
The Tribal Allotments
The Second Covenant Renewal at Shechem
5. The Era of the Judges: Covenant Violation, Anarchy, and Human Authority
The Literary-Critical Problem in Judges
The Chronology of Judges
The Ancient Near Eastern World
The Judges of Israel
The Bethlehem Trilogy
6. Saul: Covenant Misunderstanding
The Demand for Kingship
The Chronology of the Eleventh Century
The Selection of Saul
The First Challenge to Saul
The Decline of Saul
Theological Considerations
The Rise of David
7. David: Covenant Kingship
The Lack of Nationhood before David
David at Hebron
Chronicles and Theological History
Jerusalem the Capital
The Establishment of David’s Power
An Introduction to a Davidic Chronology
8. David: The Years of Struggle
Egypt and Israelite Independence
The Ammonite Wars
The Beginning of David’s Domestic Troubles
Jerusalem as Cult Center
The Rebellion of Absalom
David’s Efforts at Reconciliation
Additional Troubles
David’s Plan for a Temple
The Solomonic Succession
The Davidic Bureaucracy
9. Solomon: From Pinnacle to Peril
Problems of Transition
The Failure of the Opposition to Solomon
The Conclave at Gibeon
International Relations
The Building Projects of Solomon
Cracks in the Solomonic Empire
Solomonic Statecraft
Spiritual and Moral Apostasy
Solomon and the Nature of Wisdom
10. The Divided Monarchy
The Roots of National Division
The Immediate Occasion of National Division
The Reign of Rehoboam
The Reign of Jeroboam
The Pressure of Surrounding Nations
Abijah of Judah
Asa of Judah
The Reemergence of Assyria
Nadab of Israel
The Dynasty of Baasha of Israel
Omri of Israel
Jehoshaphat of Judah
Ahab of Israel
The Threat of Assyria
Ahab’s Successors
The Anointing of Hazael of Damascus
Jehoram of Judah
The Anointing of Jehu
11. The Dynasty of Jehu and Contemporary Judah
The Reign of Jehu of Israel
Athaliah of Judah
The Role of Other Nations
Joash of Judah
Jehoahaz of Israel
The International Scene
Jehoash of Israel
Amaziah of Judah
Jeroboam II of Israel
Uzziah of Judah
The Ministry of the Prophets
12. The Rod of Yahweh: Assyria and Divine Wrath
Factors Leading to Israel’s Fall
The End of the Dynasty of Jehu
Assyria and Tiglath-pileser III
Menahem of Israel
The Last Days of Israel
The Impact of Samaria’s Fall
Judah and the Fall of Samaria
Hezekiah of Judah
The Viewpoint of the Prophets
13. Fading Hope: The Disintegration of Judah
The Legacy of Hezekiah
Manasseh of Judah
Amon of Judah
The International Scene: Assyria and Egypt
Josiah of Judah
The Fall of Jerusalem
The Prophetic Witness
14. The Exile and the First Return
An Introductory Overview
The World Situation during the Exile
The Jewish People during the Exile
The World Situation during the Period of Restoration
The First Return
Problems following the Return
Encouragement from the Prophets
15. Restoration and New Hope
The Persian Influence
Subsequent Returns: Ezra and Nehemiah
Malachi the Prophet

Bibliography
Scripture Index
Subject Index
Notes
Illustrations
Chronological Tables
1. The Sequence of the Bronze Age
2. The Patriarchs
3. Twelfth Dynasty of Egypt
4. Eighteenth and Nineteenth Dynasties of Egypt
5. The Life of David
6. The Kings of the Divided Monarchy
7. The Neo-Assyrian Kings
8. The Neo-Babylonian Kings
9. The Persian Kings
Maps
1. The Middle East in Pentateuchal Times
2. Canaan in Patriarchal Times
3. The Exodus
4. Arrival in Transjordan
5. The Middle East in the Times of Joshua and the Judges
6. The Conquest of Canaan
7. The Tribal Allotments
8. Israel during the Age of the Judges
9. The Kingdom of Saul
10. The Middle East during the United Monarchy
11. The Kingdom of David
12. Jerusalem in the Days of David and Solomon
14. The Twelve Districts of Solomon’s Kingdom
15. The Divided Monarchy
16. The Assyrian Empire
17. The Babylonian Empire
18. The Persian Empire
Preface to the Second Edition
The twenty years since the initial publication of this work have witnessed a veritable explosion of new information and new methodologies in the study of the history of Old Testament Israel. New documents from the ancient Near Eastern and biblical worlds have emerged or have been newly edited and published, and new ways of assessing these texts and their meaning have come to the fore. The secondary literature has also kept pace, with new studies now available to the world of scholarship and to the general laity. The major rationale for a new edition of this work, indeed, has been the increasingly obvious recognition that what was adequate a generation ago has become insufficient for the dawn of a new millennium. Besides my own conviction that a major overhaul of the work was needed, I have been encouraged by others to take on the task of bringing the narrative up to date so that the message of the Old Testament as not only a theological but also a historical work can resonate more clearly and relevantly with a new generation of readers. Baker Academic has responded to this sense of urgency and has graciously undertaken the immense effort and cost of revising a work such as this with all its technicalities. The author is particularly grateful to Jim Kinney because early on he saw the value and wisdom of bringing a sorely needed revision to pass. At the same time, he would be first to admit, with me, that without the competent staff at Baker this work would never have come to fruition.
The human and technical resources of Dallas Theological Seminary have also contributed immeasureably to the success of the project. The administration and staff have offered great encouragement and more they have assisted in practical ways that have eased the process and made it possible to complete the work in the short time that has been devoted to it. As always, my wife, Janet, has been a tower of strength in moving me forward in the times when it seemed there was so little energy to get it done. It is to my beloved faculty colleagues at Dallas Theological Seminary, however, that I want to pay greatest tribute this time around, and I gratefully dedicate this effort to them. Many of them have used the first edition in their classrooms, and they have unfailingly reminded me of its usefulness to them. I trust that they will find even greater satisfaction in this second attempt. One might think it strange that a work on history even the history of Israel could be such a spiritually edifying and stimulating exercise for its author, but such it has been. To recognize all over again and ever more profoundly that the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ is the God of our history as well is both a sobering and exhilarating thought. To God be all glory and praise from this day in history until the eschatological day of his kingdom on earth.
Eugene H. Merrill October 2006
Preface to the First Edition
The title of this work Kingdom of Priests suggests at once the peculiar nature of a history of Israel: it cannot be done along the lines of normal historical scholarship because it relies primarily upon documents (the Old Testament) that are fundamentally ahistoriographic in character. The Old Testament is first and foremost theological and not historical literature; this means that theological and not historical approaches must be brought to bear if its underlying purpose and message are to be discerned.
Contrary to much contemporary scholarship, however, we must assert that just because the Old Testament is by definition “sacred history,” this does not nullify its claim to authentic historicity as that term is commonly used. It is indeed the record of Yahweh’s covenantal relationship with his special people Israel,