Theology, History, and Archaeology in the Chronicler's Account of Hezekiah

by Andrew G Vaughn

Overview

In a doctoral dissertation completed in 1995 (no institution noted), Vaughn takes the treatment of Hezekiah in 2 Chronicles 29-32 as an opportunity to test the relationship between extra-biblical historical data and an interpretation of Chronicles. He combines archaeological and epigraphic evidence with a focused reading of the verses to argue that traditions or remembrances that were historically accurate were used to construct the ideological message for the post-exile community.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780788505942
Publisher:	Society of Biblical Literature
Publication date:	01/01/1999
Series:	Archaeology and Biblical Studies , #4
Pages:	260
Product dimensions:	6.36(w) x 8.98(h) x 0.61(d)

Table of Contents

	List of Tables	xi
	Acknowledgments	xiii
	Abbreviations	xvii
	Introduction: Background and Statement of Thesis	1
A.	Background	1
B.	Statement of Thesis	3
C.	Method	3
Chapter 1.	Presuppositional Issues	7
A.	Presuppositions About Chronology	7
1.	Background	7
2.	The Chronology Problem	7
3.	Approaches to the Chronology Problem	8
a.	Preference for 2 Kgs 18:13 and 2 Kgs 19:9	8
[alpha].	The Ethiopian Tirhaka	8
[beta].	The Two-Campaign Theory	9
b.	The Emendation Approach	10
c.	The Co-Regency Approach	10
d.	Preference for 2 Kgs 18:10	12
4.	Summary: Relevance of the Chronology Problem	14
B.	Presuppositions About Dating of the Book of Chronicles	15
C.	Presuppositions About the Paleographic Dating of the Siloam Tunnel Inscription	17
Chapter 2.	An Archaeological Assessment of the Economic Buildup of Hezekiah and Josiah	19
A.	Introduction	19
B.	Settlement and Economic Buildup During the Reigns of Hezekiah and Josiah	22
1.	The Judean Shephelah	22
a.	General Discussion	22
b.	Mareshah	27
c.	Tell Beit Mirsim	27
d.	Beth Shemesh	29
e.	Lachish	31
2.	Judean Hills and Towns Surrounding Jerusalem	32
a.	General Discussion	32
b.	Mizpah (Tell en-Nasbeh)	34
c.	Gibeon (el-Jib)	37
d.	Ramat Rahel	39
e.	Khirbet Rabud	40
f.	Beth Zur (Khirbet et-Tubeiqa)	41
	Summary	44
3.	The Negeb	45
a.	General Discussion	45
b.	Beersheba	46
c.	Arad	48
d.	So-called "new" 7th century BCE Settlements	50
[alpha].	Aroer	50
[beta].	Horvat `Uza	53
[gamma].	Horvat Radum	53
[delta].	Tel `Ira	54
[varepsilon].	Tel Masos	56
e.	Horvat Qitmit	57
	Summary	57
4.	Jerusalem	59
a.	Introduction	59
b.	Minimalist/Maximalist Debate Before Avigad's Excavations	59
c.	Avigad's Excavations in the Jewish Quarter	61
d.	Comparision of Economic Development by Hezekiah and Josiah	63
e.	Date of First Settlement on the Western Hill	64
f.	Extent of Extramural Settlements Around Jerusalem	69
	Summary	70
5.	The Judean Desert	71
a.	Introduction	71
b.	Horvat Shilha	71
c.	Tel Goren (Ein Gedi)	72
d.	Jericho (Tell es-Sultan)	74
e.	Buqe`ah Sites	75
	Summary	78
C.	Conclusions	79
Chapter 3.	The lmlk Jars: Their Bearing on the Reign of Hezekiah	81
A.	Preliminary Issues and History of Research	81
1.	Introduction	81
2.	Previous Arguments for the Dating of the lmlk Jars	82
3.	Previous Arguments for the Function of the lmlk Jars	87
4.	Relationship Between Official and lmlk Seal Impressions	90
B.	Date of the lmlk and Official Seal Impressions Revisited	93
1.	Introduction: Possibilities Raised by Tushingham and A. Mazar	93
2.	Role of Official Impressions in Evaluating the Chronology of the lmlk Jars	95
3.	Refutation of the Possible 7th Century-Use of lmlk Impressions in Jerusalem	98
4.	Refutation of the Possible 7th Century-Use of lmlk Impressions at Ramat Rahel	102
5.	Ramifications of These Finds for Tushingham's Proposal	106
6.	Discussion of the So-Called secondary 7th-Century Use of lmlk Jars	106
a.	Arad	106
b.	Smaller Sites Mentioned by A. Mazar	108
7.	The Earliest Use of lmlk Jars	109
C.	Conclusions Drawn From the lmlk Data	110
1.	Identification of the Owners of the Impressions with PNN as Royal Officials	110
a.	Previous Proposals	111
b.	Method of Application of the Impressions	112
c.	Fabric and Makeup of the Seals	117
d.	Multiple Seals Belonging to the Same Individual	121
e.	A Conservative Estimate of the Number of Engravers Used	123
f.	Titles on the Impressions with PNN on Royal Jar Handles	126
	Summary	135
2.	Evidence for Non-Military Uses of the lmlk Jars	136
a.	Introduction and History of Discussion	136
b.	Typological Overview of the lmlk Jars	138
c.	Unfortified Sites with lmlk Impressions	141
[alpha].	Tell ej-Judeideh	141
[beta].	Beth Zur	143
[gamma].	Khirbet El-Burj	143
[delta].	Agricultural Sites Around Jerusalem	144
[varepsilon].	Agricultural Sites in the Shephelah	145
d.	Sites With lmlk Impressions Not Destroyed by Sennacherib	146
[alpha].	Gezer	147
[beta].	Mizpah (Tell en-Nasbeh)	150
[gamma].	Gibeon (Tell el-Jib)	151
[delta].	Gibea (Tell el-Ful)	151
	Summary	152
3.	Distribution of the lmlk Jars as a Kingdomwide Phenomenon	157
a.	Introduction	157
b.	Garfinkel's Proposals	158
c.	Official Seal Impressions as Pointers to Kingdomwide Political Organization	161
D.	Summary of lmlk Conclusions	165
	Conclusion: Significance of this Study for 2 Chronicles 29-32	170
Appendices	lmlk Jars: New Data on an Old Phenomenon	183
Appendix I	A New corpus of the lmlk impressions	185
Appendix II	New corpus of the official seal impressions	198
	Bibliography	221

Editorial Reviews

In a doctoral dissertation completed in 1995 (no institution noted), Vaughn takes the treatment of Hezekiah in 2 Chronicles 29-32 as an opportunity to test the relationship between extra-biblical historical data and an interpretation of Chronicles. He combines archaeological and epigraphic evidence with a focused reading of the verses to argue that traditions or remembrances that were historically accurate were used to construct the ideological message for the post-exile community. He has not indexed his work. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Booknews