Understanding the Historical Books of the Old Testament

This book combines a careful study of the subject matter and the literary form of each of the historical books of the Old Testament and at the same time explains why this literature should be of great interest to Christian and Jewish believers today. The study is text based, carefully examining the wording of selected pericopes and following up with reflections on the theological significance of the texts. Its focus is twofold. First, it is a study of the history of Israel through a critical examination of the biblical sources attempting to see the events through the eyes of the authors/editors and to understand the religious and national filters through which they saw those events. Secondly, it is also a study of the faith of Israel expressed in these writings in an attempt to reflect on the major patterns and themes expressed and presupposed in the narratives. Special attention is given to the stories of the prophets in these books. This book examines the biblical books in four groups: 1) the Deuteronomist history extending from Joshua to 2 Kings, 2) the Chroniclers' or priestly history extending from 1 Chronicles to Nehemiah, 3) the Maccabean story looking and 1 and 2 Maccabees from the Greek Bible, and 4) the midrashic accounts including Ruth, Esther, Judith, Esther, and Tobit. Numerous maps and diagrams assist the reader to follow the geographical references in the texts as well as complicated family lines and sequences of kings. An index assists in finding specific names and events.