References to Josiah in the Chronicles' Narrative
The Hunt for Ancient Israel - Essays in Honour of Diana V. Edelman - Cynthia Shafer-Elliott
Lowell K. Handy [+ ]
Loyola University Chicago (retired)
Lowell K. Handy received his M.A. from the University of Iowa School of Religion and his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago Divinity School. Before retirement he taught for 15 years at Loyola University Chicago and was employed at the American Theological Library Association Religion Index Project for 28 years. He has been an active member of the Chicago Society of Biblical Research, Society of Biblical Literature, and American Schools of Oriental Research. In addition to journal articles and reference entries, Dr. Handy has published several books, including: Among the Host of Heaven: The Syro-Palestinian Pantheon as Bureaucracy; Entertaining Faith: Reading Short Stories in the Bible; Jonah's World: Social Science and the Reading of Prophetic Story; and edited volumes: The Age of Solomon: Scholarship at the Turn of the Millennium; Psalm 29 through Time and Tradition.
Description
While Kings foretells Josiah with the prophet from Judah, Chronicles makes no explicit prediction in advance of the king. However, the highly adapted narrative of Josiah from that in Kings contains several references to earlier material in Chronicles. This will include the stated genealogy in 1 Chr 3. While acknowledging the obvious rewrite of the “reform” backward from Josiah to Hezekiah and Manasseh, that will not be the focus of this essay. Instead, narrative inclusions useful for the Josiah portrayal from the earlier text will be considered. David and Solomon as temple cultus authors as well as other literary connections throughout the work will be contemplated.