Diana Vikander Edelman

A sustained close reading of 1 Samuel 8 to 2 Samuel 1 from the perspective of the intended ancient audience. A conscious effort is made here to read and understand the text 'through the eyes of an ancient Israelite', to the extent that the world-view and idioms of late seventh-century Judah can be reconstructed. The study reveals a coherent, carefully developed narrative of Saul's career as the first king of Israel.

King Saul in the Historiography of Judah

Ehud Ben Zvi

"This volume highlights and advances new developments in the study of Edom and Idumea in eighteen essays written by researchers from different disciplines"--

Recent Research and Approaches from Archaeology, Hebrew Bible Studies and Ancient Near Eastern Studies

About Edom and Idumea in the Persian Period

Gösta Werner Ahlström

Gary Orin Rollefson

The History of Ancient Palestine from the Palaeolithic Period to Alexander's Conquest

Edom and Seir in History and Tradition

You Shall Not Abhor an Edomite for He is Your Brother

Darius I, King of Persia, claims to have accomplished many deeds in the early years of his reign, but was one of them the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem? The editor who added the date to the books of Haggai and Zechariah thought so, and the author of Ezra 1-6 then relied on his dates when writing his account of the rebuilding process. The genealogical information contained in the book of Nehemiah, however, suggests otherwise; it indicates that Zerubbabel and Nehemiah were either contemporaries, or a generation apart in age, not some 65 years apart. Thus, either Zerubabbel and the temple rebuilding needs to be moved to the reign of Artaxerxes I, or Nehemiah and the rebuilding of the city walls needs to be moved to the reign of Darius I. In this ground-breaking volume, the argument is made that the temple was built during the reign of Artaxerxes I. The editor of Haggai and Zechariah mistakenly set the event under Darius I because he was influenced by both a desire to show the fulfillment of inherited prophecy and by Darius widely circulated autobiography of his rise to power. In light of the settlement patterns in Yehud during the Persian period, it is proposed that Artaxerxes I instituted a master plan to incorporate Yehud into the Persian road, postal, and military systems. The rebuilding of the temple was a minor part of the larger plan that provided soldiers stationed in the fortress in Jerusalem and civilians living in the new provincial seat with a place to worship their native god while also providing a place to store taxes and monies collected on behalf of the Persian administration.

Persion Imperial Policy and the Rebuilding of Jerusalem

The Origins of the Second Temple

The Persian and Hellenistic periods saw the production and use of a variety of authoritative texts in Israel. 'The Production of Prophecy' brings together a range of influential biblical scholars to examine the construction of prophecy and prophetic books during the Persian period. Drawing on methodological and comparative research and studies of particular biblical texts, the volume explores biblical prophecy as a written phenomenon, examining the prophets of the past, setting this within the general history of Yehud. The relationship between prophetic and other authoritative, written texts is explored, as well as the general social and ideological setting in which the prophetic books emerged.

Diana Vikander Edelman

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