Why the Cult Reforms In Judah Probably Did Not Happen (original) (raw)

The Cultic Reformation Chiastic Structure in the Book of Kings

Religions, 2023

The Book of Kings presents religious reforms in ancient Israel and Judah in an elaborately designed pattern. Repetitive verbal and thematic parallels concerning reforms and political incidents reveal a systematic–concentric chiastic structure. A good king/bad king pattern framed within a concept of “one Israel” shows that Solomon’s/Jeroboam’s and Manasseh’s/Josiah’s reforms are placed at the opposite ends of the chiasmus, enveloping those of Asa/Ahab and Ahaz/Hezekiah and then Jehu’s/Joash’s reforms centered within the larger structure. By virtue of their positioning inside the structure, the Yahwistic reforms of Solomon, Josiah, and Jehu/Joash are emphasized as compared to other kings’ reforms. All of northern Israel’s reforms fail, while in Judah only some succeed, and even these have limitations and require further development. The Davidic heirs and their supporters may now perceive that Kings presents and pursues the pro-Yahwistic reforms as the ideal ones, based on the Davidic ...

Josiah’s Reform as a Model of Leadership among the Servants in Batam based on 2 Kings 22-23:1-30

Pharos Journal of Theology

Reformist leadership is a term that refers to people who have a desire to carry out an act of change that is better than before. Reformers are defined as people who advocate reform or people who support reform. Practically reform is an action that leads to change for the better. So reformist leadership is in essence leadership towards change in accordance with God's will. In this study, an in-depth study of the explanatory and confirmatory studies of Josiah's reformist approach as a model of leadership based on 2 Kings 22-23:1-30 was carried out among the servants in Batam in order to ascertain the extent to which it is infused in leadership in Batam. Josiah’s story guides Christians to a critical dynamic in the way in which people, especially leaders lead their nations. Josiah constantly sought to do “right in the sight of God. Josiah’s enthusiasm, and determination to serve God faitfhully confirmed that it was indeed possible to do what God wills fully and his actions are ...

The Manasseh and Josiah Redactions of 2 Kings 21-25

Journal of Higher Criticism, 2022

This article outlines evidence for the existence of two major redactions of Kings that replaces the dual redaction theory of the Cross school. The oldest literary stratum, the Manasseh Redaction (DtrM), dated no earlier than the fall of Jerusalem in 585 BCE, schematically portrayed all the last kings from Manasseh to the fall of Jerusalem as uniformly wicked. The book of Jeremiah, which knew nothing of a righteous Josiah or of Deuteronomistic reforms, provides key external literary evidence for the existence of the Manasseh Redaction. The account of the last kings of Judah in 2 Kgs 21-25 in DtrM reads smoothly as a consistent negative account of the approaching divine punishment of Jerusalem for the sins of Manasseh. The Josiah Redaction (DtrJ), of even later date, inserted a new and entirely fictional portrait of Josiah as a righteous king and a Deuteronomistic reformer. The DtrJ additions contain systematic literary dependence on the older DtrM materials, while the reverse is never the case, showing the relative sequence of these contradictory traditions. • An immediate consequence is that DtrJ does not bear contemporary historical witness to events in the time of Josiah as commonly supposed. • A second consequence is to definitively remove the traditional argument that dates the introduction of the Deuteronomic law code to the time of Josiah. • A third consequence is to allow the possibility that all the materials in the Hebrew Bible attributed to the so-called Deuteronomistic School may be near-contemporary rather than a product of centuries of literary activity as commonly proposed.

The Israelite cult and its connection to the surrounding culture

The Israelite cult and its connection to the surrounding culture Introduction to the book "A Brief History of Yahweh" The kingdoms of Israel and Judah were not disconnected from the cultures of the surrounding peoples, including in the realm of worship. The biblical texts themselves attest to this reality. It is therefore understandable to observe that the deity is presented in a diverse and sometimes even contradictory manner. This diversity can be explained by the layered composition of the Bible, written at different times by various authors. This present work delves into the representation of Yahweh in the biblical texts and attempts to conduct a thorough analysis of it. It seeks to highlight the variability of the identity of the god "Yahweh" across different texts, examining the political contexts that influenced this evolution. It demonstrates that theology, philosophy, society, and politics are closely intertwined, and that events related to the worship of Yahweh are intimately associated with the composition and writing of the Hebrew Bible. It is not coincidental that this study begins with the exploration of significant events in the monarchy of Judah, particularly during the time of King Josiah, under the supervision of his scribe, Shaphan, the son of Azalia. The starting point for these changes in Judean worship is the discovery, during the restoration of the Temple in Jerusalem, of a book that this study identifies as the "Deuteronomy." This research introduces a major modification by assigning crucial importance to the character of Shaphan and his lineage, his connection to the priestly tradition of Shiloh, and his role in formulating the principles of Deuteronomy's reform. The scribes responsible for this text also compiled oral traditions and existing texts of their time, arranging them according to their judgment. This reform had a decisive influence on the final version of the biblical writings, far beyond its initial historical context.