Review of Ehud Ben Zvi,History, Literature and Theology in the Book of Chronicles

Over the past 15 years, Ehud Ben Zvi has produced a stream of essays and articles on Chronicles. This volume collects 11 of these previously-published essays and adds two new pieces and an introduction. The previously-published pieces have been slightly modified from their original publication, mainly through updates to the references and the addition of footnote material. As such, the volume demonstrates both the development of Ben Zvi’s thought on Chronicles and the cumulative effect of that thought. Ben Zvi’s is a significant body of work on Chronicles, and having these pieces together in one volume (along with the two new pieces) will greatly facilitate the appreciation and use of this work. Reviewing a collection of essays is often difficult, but in this case, I see it as an opportunity to also read the changes in the field over the period of time spanned by these essays. The book is organised thematically rather than chronologically. That is, the chapters are not presented in the order they were published or written, but rather in four groupings. The first section, entitled ‘Introductory Essays’, contains two chapters: an introduction to the collection as a whole, and a general essay, ‘The Book of Chronicles: Another Look’ (originally published in 2002). The second section, entitled ‘Chronicles and the Rereading and Writing of a Didactic, Socializing History’, contains five chapters: ‘Observations on Ancient Modes of Reading of Chronicles and their Implications, with an Illustration of their Explanatory Power for the Study of the Account of Amaziah (2 Chronicles 25’ (new essay), ‘Shifting the Gaze: Historiographic Constraints in Chronicles and their Implications’ (2001), ‘The Chronicler as a Historian: Building Texts’ (1997), ‘The Secession of the Northern Kingdom in Chronicles: Accepted “Facts” and New Meanings’ (Ben Zvi 2003), and ‘About Time: Observations about the Construction of Time in the Book of Chronicles’ (Ben Zvi 2000). The third section, entitled ‘Chronicles and Theology as Communicated and Recreated through the Rereading of a Historiographical, Literary Writing’ contains five chapters: ‘A Sense of Proportion: An Aspect of the Theology of the Chronicler’ BOOK REVIEWS