Second Samuel includes some of the most well-known and theologically layered episodes in the Old Testament, such as the Lord's establishment of an eternal covenant with David, David's sin with Bathsheba, and the subsequent account of Absalom's rebellion. In this second part of an ambitious two-volume commentary on the books of Samuel, David Toshio Tsumura elucidates the rich text of 2 Samuel with special attention to literary and textual issues. Tsumura interprets the book in light of the meaning of the original composition, and he provides a fresh new translation based on careful analysis of the Hebrew text.
Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching
Author: Walter Brueggemann
Publisher: Westminster John Knox Press
ISBN:
Category: Religion
Page: 374
View: 323
With critical scholarship and theological sensitivity, Walter Brueggemann traces the people of God through the books of Samuel as they shift from marginalized tribalism to oppressive monarchy. He carefully opens the literature of the books, sketching a narrative filled with historical realism but also bursting with an awareness that more than human action is being presented.
This volume presents the Old Testament book of Samuel, with an introduction by Meir Shalev. In two parts, the book tells the story of one of the most charismatic of Old Testament characters, King David and his meteoric rise and inevitable fall.
The subject of this study is the story of the rise of David to become the king of Judah and subsequently king of all Israel, and the anything but smooth transition from a tribal confederacy to a centralized state, from the ethnic kingdom of the Israelites to the territorial kingdom of Israel that also included numerous minority groups, as presented in the Masoretic text of the Second Book of Samuel. The term story rather than history of the transition is employed to describe the subject because the biblical book is a history only in the very special sense of prophetic history, which bears little relationship to history in the modern sense of the term. The distinguishing feature of prophetic history is that it is written from a prophetic perspective with a particular purpose in mind, namely, to illustrate to later generations of the children of Israel the historical consequences of failure by its political and religious leaders to observe and comply with the terms of the divine covenant entered into between God and the children of Israel. The story related in the Second Book of Samuel is based on events that were popularly believed to have taken place, but as perceived through a prophetic prism. Accordingly, the primary focus of these prophetic narratives is on the moral implications of the decisions and actions taken by men rather than the factual historical accuracy of the details of the events described.
The power of story as God's word to the community of faith is never more clear than in the books of Samuel. Emotion, drama, complexity of character, and mystery fill the pages of these two biblical books. Eugene Peterson's commentary emphasizes the resonance and interplay between these stories of kings and prophets and the social and cultural issues that concern us today. Books in the Westminster Bible Companion series assist laity in their study of the Bible as a guide to Christian faith and practice. Each volume explains the biblical book in its original historical context and explores its significance for faithful living today. These books are ideal for individual study and for Bible study classes and groups.