Customer Reviews

Chronicle of the Old Testament Kings: The Reign-by-Reign Record of the Rulers of Ancient Israel (The Chronicles Series)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book is simplistic in the extreme. The overviews are cursory and often details given conflict with other scholarship.

I give it three stars for one reason -- it is a useful basic reference. In my research I use it to give me a chronology of the kings and for the maps. Other than that, it is not very worthwhile.

If you are looking for an indepth scholarly analysis or are looking for a faithful summary of what the Bible says do not buy this book.

However, if you are looking for a basic summary of current scholarship on old testament chronology, along with lots of great photos and maps, this is a great book to buy. The text is organized well and the photos really enhance the learning experience. I bought this because I needed to get a very quick summary of the kings and I was not disappointed. I also feel more confident that I would be able to follow a more scholarly treatment of the problems in old testament chronology having read this book.

In order to enjoy this book, one must expect a very basic, biographical introduction to Biblical content. To those who have already read the Bible, this is little more than a collection of artwork. However, to one who hasn't read the Bible, it would serve well as an overview of the Bible's content, and the vivid pictures on every page serve to immerse the reader in the various biblical stories. Rogerson also considers recent archaeological theories, and discusses tensions present in biblical studies.

This book is for those with open minds that are interested in the material of the ancient kings of Israel. It is not intended to be a religious or Biblical text so those who purchase it believing it is just that are going to be disappointed, offended, etc. Considering the low ratings shown here that are based on that, the potential buyer should be aware of this and that the use of the term "secular" appears to be a put down of a non-religious work that some believe should be dealt with only from a religious perspective.

I happily recommend this book.

True persons of faith should not fear history, they should embrace it!

This book is a wonderful addition to any biblical studies library for the ease of convenience reference it provides for the Kings of ancient Israel from Saul and David through Hosea and Zedekiah respectively.

Plus, it also includes pictures including Jehu prostrate. Signicantly, this is the only contemporaneous picture of a Judean or Samarian King and it appears here in this book along with the necessary history to place Jehu next to his Omride predecessors as well as his Judean betters (according, at least to Kings 1 and 2!).

Tuuly I didn't really appreciate Armegedon or the Temple Mount until after physically seeing them and in the same vein I didn't appreciate the relationship between these biblical leaders until seeing them in context with each other.

A wonderful read, an accessible read and a necessary part of a good bible studies library, this book is HIGHLY recommended!

I had expected this book just to cover those individuals in the Book of Kings; in fact it's a useful accompaniment to most of the Bible, covering as it does the Patriarchs, Exodus, Judges, kings of the united and divided monarchies before looking at the Persian, Ptolemaic, Seleucid and Hasmonean dynasties. We even enter the era of the New Testament with Roman rulers up to 70 AD.
Illustrations throughout bring the narrative to life- maps, photos of the land, reproductions of artworks from those on ancient texts to more recent works, contemporary artefacts...
Interesting and informative. NOT a book arguing for Christianity or Judaism, just a historical background to the Scriptures- you can read and make up your own mind on those!

Obviously due to the size of the book, not all the information on each ruler can be in this book. This is a good expanded overview with images and historical information. I also liked the running timeline on the bottom of pages where new Kings were introduced.

This is a major disappointment for several reasons. The overwhelming majority of the book is a secular rehash of what is in the Bible, but with liberal scholarship and scepticism. I had really purchased the book to learn about the kings of Israel which are not recorded in the Bible, but there was little information there ... just scant references and ultra brief biographies.

I would not mind the liberal scholarship if the author had been honest enough to furnish the conservative responses and evidences, but it was obviously a one sided portrayal.

Consequently, these two reasons (too little on extra-Biblical kings and too liberally biased) I cannot recommend the book although the other Chronicle series are well worth the money.

David C., Ph.D.

I certainly enjoyed Chronicles of the Pharaohs and Chronicles of the Caesars. Unfortunately, this one was a let-down. Although it covers all the kings of Israel and Judah (along with the patriarchs and Moses) this book has a very secular humanist slant.

The book basically denies the possiblity for divine intervention and revelation. It does not take the miracles of the Old Testament seriously. Besides this, whenever the author perceieves that there is a discrepency between the Old Testament and extra-Biblical pagan texts, he always sides with the extra-Biblical pagan texts.

Obviously, there are no contemporary pictures or statues of the Old Testament kings.... The author therefore makes use of Roman Catholic art from the Middle Ages to fill in the gaps. As such, many of the pictures are unrealistic and silly. One would think that the kings of Israel were actually in medieval Britain or France....

It was good as a reference to determine which kings lived when, but not much else.

The only people who would enjoy this book are college students at secular universities who want to study the Bible and at the same time justify their lack of faith.

This is definitely not something I would use at church or Sunday School. This is not even a book I would use for Christian edification. It is simply a chronology of Biblical history taken from a secular humanist or naturalistic point of view.