Review in: Interpretation
2002 56: 84
Review door: Walter
HarrelsonGevonden op: http://int.sagepub.com/content/56/1/84.full.pdf+html
1& 2 Kings
by Walter BrueggemannSmyth & Helwys Bible Commentary. Smith & Helwys, Macon, 2000.645 pp. $65.00 (cloth). ISBN 1-57312-065-0.
PUBLISHER AND AUTHOR HERE COLLABORATE in producing an
entirely new kind of biblical commentary. The result is splendid, and both are
to be congratulated. The intention of the series, of which this volume is the
first to appear, is to provide serious, non-specialist students of scripture
what they look for in commentaries but rarely find: scholarly interpretation of
the ancient text, with some of the connections of the text to the contemporary
world spelled out, with the visual imagination of readers stimulated and fed,
and with special points and meaningful analogies from moral and political life
underscored graphically as sidebars. Such a commentary series requires space;
collaboration among writer, editors, and publishers; and the contribution of
specialists in art and book design. All of these have been provided in this
long and bulky work on the books of Kings.
Brueggemann's knowledge, theological and moral passion, and
hermeneutical skill are all in evidence and fully coordinated in this stunning
commentary. He knows the biblical text of 1-2 Kings intimately, as well as the
scholarly literature on the book, and he brings to the writing a lifetime of
experience in drawing the ancient text into conversation with contemporary
theological and moral questions. He also sets the books of 1-2 Kings into
relation with the book of Deuteronomy and its interpretive world, a world he also
knows intimately.
Brief comments on three sections of the commentary may
indicate how well the intentions of the series are being realized. At the
beginning, Brueggemann retells the story of 1-2 Kings in such a way that
analogies flood to the reader's mind: sexual politics, Saturday night
massacres, ruthless elimination of one's enemies, gains and losses in the
introduction of new forms of leadership. Artwork depicts the prophet Nathan
with David, Solomon's anointing as king, and Marlon Brando as the Godfather
plotting next steps. But Brueggemann regularly draws the analogies himself,
moving back and forth between the world of the Bible and our own world.
A second treatment, commenting on the
enormously rich chapter 22 of 1 Kings, once again lays out the scene and its
personalities with stark clarity, and shows how prophetic leadership can be
corrupted in the interests of power politics but can sometimes stand firm
against such pressure. (Missing from this excellent treatment is the impressive
way in which the chapter illustrates
the biblical tests of true prophecy: true prophets tend to say what people
don't want to hear; their words prove to be true; and they have visions that
they are ready to discuss, explain, or even re-evaluate.) Here too the artwork
is excellent: a haunting presentation of King Ahab in his chariot, bleeding to
death, but refusing to stop the conflict or withdraw for medical attention.
The commentary ends with a penetrating analysis of
King Jehoiachin's residence at the Babylonian court, showing what it meant and
means for the Jewish community in exile, and for Christians as well, to accept
exile as final. The author quotes George Steiner, who suggests that Jews in
foreign lands may be destined to be guests whose task it is to make that
society better than it is, while being ready simply to leave when the society
seems irreformable: "[M]orality must always have its bags packed."
The volume includes a
bibliography, a subject index, indexes of modern authors, the sidebars, and
biblical texts. The type is large and readable, although the colored type in
the sidebars may be difficult for persons with limited vision. Such a large book
needs a strong binding, and that too the publisher has provided. Author and
publisher have produced an extraordinarily attractive and luminous commentary
form. Let us hope that coming volumes maintain the standard set here.
Walter
Harrelson
WAKE
FOREST UNIVERSITY DIVINITY SCHOOL
WINSTON-SALEM,
NORTH CAROLINA
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