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Paperback
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1 Chronicles (Second Edition)
John Jarick
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The books of Chronicles have a certain fantasy quality about them. They create an imaginary world in which things happen just so, and in which any potentially untidy loose ends in their narrative of the past are tied together in a highly systematic way. This is storytelling with the didactic purpose of inculcating a particular ideology, bombarding the reader with a kaleidoscopic procession of heroes and villains and presenting a frontierland of danger and opportunity.
John Jarick’s focus on the literary world of Chronicles provides a fresh reading of the work, foregrounding the often unrecognized artistry in the telling of the tale—including at times a distinctly musical language and a careful mathematical precision. But at the same time he does not hide the dark underbelly of the writing, with its persistent note of conformity to the political and religious system advocated by the storytellers.
This edition is a reprint of the original 2002 edition with different pagination. A companion volume on 2 Chronicles is published for the first time in 2007.
John Jarick is Old Testament Tutor at St Stephen's House, Oxford. |
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Reviews
Jarick's book is striking for its insistence on reading 'Chronicles first', enabling this often neglected book to speak for itself, independent of the traditionally louder voices of Samuel and Kings. Jarick creates space for the reader to listen carefully to the skilled writers he calls the 'Annalists' ('Analysts') as they tell the community's story from their 'mythical past' to the new beginning facing them... An attractive commentary for those wishing to move beyond traditional treatments and interested in the potential of literary approaches to bring new life and meaning to a text.
Sharon Moughtin, Society for Old Testament Study Book List, 2005
It is fluently written and makes evident the literary sophistication and aesthetic beauty of the 1 Chronicles narrative.
Steven L. McKenzie, Review of Biblical Literature
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