The Last Days of Judah
 Our
goal is to look at Chronicles and the Dtr
 We have been examining how history is
different in the Bible, and today we will
expand that investigation
 Today we want to not only ask how the past
events are portrayed, but we want to ask if
the criteria for how they are portrayed can
change? If so, we must return to the
“deceptive” question.
Deuteronomy
 First
thing to notice: doublet
 Repeats the law and 10 commandments
 Setting in time of Josiah for Deuteronomistic
History (Huldah reads the law)
 Theory is that Deut was written during
Hezekiah’s or Josiah’s reign
Reforms of Hezekiah and Josiah
 Both
kings centralized the cult to Jerusalem
 These reforms were political as much as
theolgoical
 Previous to Hezekiah, worship of Yahweh
was more “pluralistic”
 People’s experience was that contact with the
nations resulted in defeats, so theology
evolves that emphasizes trusting solely in
Yahweh (see origination of kingship on
Friday.
Reforming Exodus by Deuteronomy
Ex. 20:22 The LORD said to Moses: Thus you shall say to the Israelites:
“You have seen for yourselves that I spoke with you from heaven.
Ex. 20:23 You shall not make gods of silver alongside me, nor shall you
make for yourselves gods of gold.
Ex. 20:24 You need make for me only an altar of earth and sacrifice on it
your burnt offerings and your offerings of well-being, your sheep and
your oxen; in every place where I cause my name to be
remembered I will come to you and bless you.
Ex. 20:25 But if you make for me an altar of stone, do not build it of hewn
stones; for if you use a chisel upon it you profane it.
Ex. 20:26 You shall not go up by steps to my altar, so that your nakedness
may not be exposed on it.”
Reforming Exodus by Deuteronomy
Deut. 12:20 ¶ When the LORD your God enlarges your territory, as he has promised you, and
you say, “I am going to eat some meat,” because you wish to eat meat, you may eat meat
whenever you have the desire.
Deut. 12:21 If the place where the LORD your God will choose to put his name is too far from
you, and you slaughter as I have commanded you any of your herd or flock that the LORD
has given you, then you may eat within your towns whenever you desire.
Deut. 12:22 Indeed, just as gazelle or deer is eaten, so you may eat it; the unclean and the clean
alike may eat it.
Deut. 12:23 Only be sure that you do not eat the blood; for the blood is the life, and you shall not
eat the life with the meat.
Deut. 12:24 Do not eat it; you shall pour it out on the ground like water.
Deut. 12:25 Do not eat it, so that all may go well with you and your children after you, because
you do what is right in the sight of the LORD.
Deut. 12:26 But the sacred donations that are due from you, and your votive gifts, you shall bring
to the place that the LORD will choose.
Deut. 12:27 You shall present your burnt offerings, both the meat and the blood, on the altar of
the LORD your God; the blood of your other sacrifices shall be poured out beside the altar
of the LORD your God, but the meat you may eat.
Existence of Dtr
Characteristic language not in Pentateuch
 Repetition of the law in Deut
 Unity in speeches

–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Moses’ speech in Deut
Joshua (Jos 1): how to get land
Joshua (Jos 23): how to keep land
Jud 2:11-22: Dtr summary opens period of Judges
Samuel (1 Sam 12): opens period of the monarchy
Nathan: 2 Sam 7
Solomon: 1 Kg 8: dedicates temple
Dtr summary: 2 Kg 17: prepares for fall of north
2 redactions of Dtr
Eternal maintence strange after 587
 “to this day”-- only makes sense if Judah is still
around
 Reacquisition of the north under Josiah doesn’t
make sense in Exile
 Length of narrative on Josiah-- suggests him!
 No concluding discourse on fall of Jerusalem as in 2
Kg 17
 Last 4 kings no longer rated to David

Background on Chronicles
 Written
about 300 years after Kings
 A re-interpretation of Israel’s history
 Chronicles uses Kings as its major source
 It is debated if Chronicles had other sources
 There are definitely places where Chronicles
changes the story in King to make a
theological point
The big problem:
 Did
the Chronicler invent the material about
Hezekiah?
 One option is that the Chronicler invented the
material to make a theological point
 Another option is that the Chronicler had a
source other than Kings that had material
favorable to Hezekiah
Rosenbaum’s possible solution- Kings
written in Josiah’s reign, so there was a
reason to exclude material favorable to
Hezekiah if the material was not vital to the
history in Kings
 Chronicles was written 300 years later, so the
writer did not need to exclude the material
about Hezekiah.
 Rather, Hezekiah is glorified in Chronicles
because he supported the priests and Levites
Observations about “solution”
 There
are presuppositions here:
– Kings written during Josiah’s reign
– Chronicles had another source
 Does
this “solution” mean both Kings and
Chronicles are deceptive?
Did Hezekiah Support Priests?
 Evidence
from Beersheba
 Evidence from Arad
Beersheba
Beersheba Altar
Beersheba: altar found
dismantled
Arad
Arad Temple: destroyed
in late eight century
Regions
of Israel
and
Judah
Lachish Levels II & III
establishes absolute chronology
Shephelah Settlement comparison
Late Eighth Century
tel
 residential
 farming
 fortress
 sngl structure
 isolated find

40
132
45
8
13
38
Late Seventh Century
tel
 residential
 farming
 fortress
 sngl structure
 isolated find

18
15
1
0
1
3
Graphic Comparison of centuries
in area (in dunams)
239 3
250 0
180 9
200 0
150 0
100 0
747
368
500
2
198
0
32
2
32
5
187
0
tel
resi dential
rema ins
farm ing
settlem ent
fortress
sin gle
stru ctu re
"iso late d"
fin d
Shephelah during late eighth century
Shephelah during late seventh century
Evidence for storehouses
 lmlk
[=to the king] jars indicate kingdomwide trade and infrastructure
 the distribution of these jars indicate storage
depots
 shipments seemed to have been made from
various centers in Judah
lmlk handle
Evidence for storehouses
 lmlk
[=to the king] jars indicate kingdomwide trade and infrastructure
 the distribution of these jars indicate storage
depots
 shipments seemed to have been made from
various centers in Judah