Customer Reviews

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

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

 

 

Though this volume is a rewriting of Dr. Vaughn's doctorate, it is one of the most well-written and well-researched books that has been produced in the field of biblical archaeology in recent years. Combining an in-depth analysis of the finds from the 8th cent BCE in the southern Levant, along with an astute discussion of the relevant biblical and ancient near eastern texts, Dr. Vaughn produces the most up-to-date and convincing study of the period of Hezekiah, King of Judah. As he most lucidly demonstrates, this is one of the most important and formative periods in early Judean history. He quite convincingly demonstrates that the representation of Hezekiah and his time in the book of Chronicles is to a large extent based on a strong historical basis. This book combines first-rate biblical studies with an intimate and sometimes astounding knowledge of the relevant archaeological material.

Vaughn uses the handles with LMLK stamps & especially handles with Personal stamps as evidence of a long-term economic buildup under the reign of Hezekiah, which challenges the dominant belief during the Ussishkin era that these artifacts indicate an emergency buildup of military supplies. Vaughn argues that archaeological evidence supports the account of Hezekiah's activities recorded in the Biblical books of Chronicles in spite of his presupposition regarding the Chronicler's religious/ethnic biases. In Chapter 1 he discusses the debate over the dating of Hezekiah's reign in relation to the conquest of Samaria & Sennacherib's attack. Chapter 2 analyzes excavations conducted throughout Judah, which resembles Chapter III of Welten's book, but Vaughn utilizes new surveys published by Yehudah Dagan (the Shephelah) & Avi Ofer (the Judean Hills) to supplement artifacts. Chapter 3 covers the LMLK handles; however, he emphasizes handles with Personal stamps & at times doesn't distinguish between the two classes. Appendices present corpora of both classes including unprovenanced handles & handles from provenanced excavations reported in Barkay's unpublished Hebrew dissertation. Vaughn assumes his audience (i.e., his university professors) is somewhat acquainted with an extensive bibliography, & he completely avoids the debate over the inscriptions since it's irrelevant to the historical veracity of Chronicles. By viewing all the LMLK seals as a single group, he makes questionable assumptions when dating strata that contradict his opinion of Hezekiah's reign & what happened after Sennacherib left. In spite of all my harsh-sounding critiques embedded within my own book on this subject ("LMLK--A Mystery Belonging to the King vol. 1"), I hereby applaud him for just about everything else he's written (which is a substantial amount of original & thoughtful research). This book belongs in the library of anyone interested in the historical veracity of the Bible--especially the Old Testament!

In this book, Andrew Vaughn offers that a proper place to test the historicity of the Chronicler is in comparing 2 Chronicles 29-32 with the extra-canonical archaeological and epigraphic data. Vaughn makes conclusions such as material found in Chronicles yet not found in Kings is consistent with the said data.

The debate concerning the relationship between the Hebrew Bible and history is widespread these days. No matter which side one is on, I think Vaughn offers a compelling argument. Key to his argument is the dating of the LMLK jars. However this latter analysis alone makes Vaughn a worthwhile read.