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13. “For Israel Tore Away from the House of David”: Reading Kings
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13 “For Israel Tore Away from the House of David” Reading Kings Primary Reading: 1 Kings 1–12, 16; 2 Kings 17–25. History Is Too Important to Leave to Chance1 Thus far I have emphasized that much of what looks like history in the Bible is really mythological. That is, biblical texts are interested in expressing or promoting particular views about issues of collective importance (see “Genesis 1–3 as Myth” in chapter 6). The issues that these texts explore are sometimes political and sometimes theological; often they are a combination of both. At times, these stories incorporate earlier historical traditions, but rarely, if ever, are those traditions present for their own sake—for what is called “antiquarian interest.”2 At first glance, the Book of Kings looks different from the rest of this material. We will return to Samuel one more time to underline these differences. In one of Samuel’s most central texts, Nathan offers David a divine promise concerning his son: (2 Sam. 7:14) I will be a father to him, and he shall be a son to Me. When he does wrong, I will chastise him with the rod of men and the affliction of mortals; (15) but I will never withdraw My favor from him as I withdrew it from Saul, whom I removed to make room for you. (16) Your house and your kingship shall ever be secure before you; your throne shall be established forever. Although Kings shares some of these same ideas, it narrates them in a very different manner. Instead of long, well-styled3 character studies, most of the accounts in Kings are short. They also contain different types of details than 117 Samuel—details of chronology, of tribute paid, of royal building projects, etc. In other words, the structure and style of the book are unlike the books of the early prophets that precede it. This raises the question of whether we should give the traditions it contains the benefit of the doubt, and if we should treat Kings as history, in our modern sense. The answer is that Kings is like the other books of the Bible we have examined: it presents historical information for the sake of other agendas. The following sections will explain why. The Chronology of Kings In discussing why Judges is not history, I noted that whereas chronology is the “backbone” of history, Judges is out of chronological order (see “Judges as History” in chapter 12). The same critique applies to Kings. Although it supplies chronological notes more often—and in more detail—if we look carefully we will see that Kings too is out of chronological order. We need look no farther than the first long unit in Kings, which concerns Solomon, a son of David who followed him as king. Near that unit’s end we read: “When Hadad heard in Egypt that David had been laid to rest with his fathers and that Joab the army commander was dead, Hadad said to Pharaoh, ‘Give me leave to go to my own country’” (1 Kings 11:21). Clearly, this must have transpired very early in Solomon’s reign, not at the end of it. This suggests that the text is doing something other than recalling the reign of Solomon as it actually happened in correct chronological order. Even the detailed chronological notes themselves sometimes provide problems . In the following excerpt from 1 Kings 16, note the years when different reigns begin and end. How well do they fit together?4 (15) During the twenty-seventh year of King Asa of Judah, Zimri reigned in Tirzah for seven days. At the time, the troops were encamped at Gibbethon of the Philistines. (16) When the troops who were encamped there learned that Zimri had committed treason and had struck down the king, that very day, in the camp, all Israel acclaimed the army commander Omri king over Israel. (17) Omri and all Israel then withdrew from Gibbethon and laid siege to Tirzah. (18) When Zimri saw that the town was taken, he went into the citadel of the royal palace and burned down the royal palace over himself. And so he died— (19) because of the sins which he committed and caused Israel to commit, doing what was displeasing to the LORD and following the ways of Jeroboam. (20) The other events of Zimri’s reign, and the treason which he committed, are recorded in the Annals of the Kings of 118 How...