Transforming Authority: Concepts of Leadership in Prophetic and Chronistic Literature

Description

Human leadership is a multifaceted topic in the Hebrew Bible from a synchronic as well as diachronic perspective. A large range of distributions emerges from the successive sharpening or modification of different aspects of leadership. While some of them are combined to a complex figuration of leadership, others remain reserved for certain individuals. Furthermore, it can be considered a consensus within scholarly debate, that concepts of leadership have a certain connection to the history of ancient Israel which is, though, hard to ascertain. Following a previous volume that focused on the Pentateuch and the Former Prophets (BZAW 507), this volume deals with different concepts of leadership in selected Prophetic (Hag/Zech; Jer) and Chronistic literature Ezr/Neh; Chr). They are examined in a literary, (religious-/tradition-) historical and theological perspective. Special emphasis is given to phenomena of transforming authority and leadership claims in exilic/post-exilic times. Hence, the volume contributes to biblical theology and sheds new light on the redaction/reception history of the texts. Not least, it provides valuable insights into the history of religious and/or political "authorities" in Israel and Early Judaism(s). Preface and Acknowledgements Contents I: Introduction Introduction II: Concepts of Leadership in Selected Prophetic Literature Why Judean Monarchy Failed: A Discourse on Leadership in Jer 21:1–23:8 Prophetic Leadership as Resistance: The Case of Baruch and Ebed-melech (Jeremiah 36–38) Kingship and Priesthood – Reloaded (Jer 33:14–26) The Leadership of the Judean Community according to the Book of Haggai Messianism in Transition: Zech 9:9–10 between First and Second Zechariah Zechariah 9–14 and the Transformations of Judean Royal Ideology during the Early Hellenistic Period III: Concepts of Leadership in Chronistic Literature Conflicting Roles of Leadership in the Temple Building Account of Ezra 1–6 Was Ezra a Persian or a Yehudite Leader? Leadership in the World of Memories Evoked by Chronicles in the Context of the Late Persian/Early Hellenistic Period Reflections on Leadership in Achaemenid Yehud: Case Studies from the Chronicler’s Imperial, Provincial, Tribal, and Cultic Rhetoric Judges, Elders, and Officers in Chronicles Diseased Leadership IV: Comprehensive Aspects of Leadership in Prophetic and Chronistic Literature Zerubbabel, Joshua and the Restoration of the Temple – A Comparative Approach to the Concepts of Leadership in Haggai/ Zech 1–8 and Ezra 1–6 Concepts of Prophetic Leadership in Chronicles and Their Relation to Prophetic Literature List of Contributors Index of Biblical References