Quiz #3

Michal

according to the Book of Samuel, a daughter of Saul, king of Israel, who loved and became the first wife of David 1 Samuel 18:20 that Michal loved David. It does not indicate whether this is reciprocated. It is told that she chose the welfare of David over the wishes of her father. When Saul's messengers were searching for David in order to kill him, Michal sent them away while pretending he was ill and laid up in bed. She let David down through a window and hid teraphim in his bed as a ruse.[2] J. Cheryl Exum points out that although she risked her life in helping him, after he leaves the court, he makes no attempt to contact her Whilst David was hiding for his life, Saul gave Michal as a wife to Palti, son of Laish, and David took several other wives, including Abigail. (1 Samuel 25:43-44) Later when David became king of Judah and Ish-bosheth Michal's brother (and Saul's son) was king of Israel, David demanded her return to him, in return for peace between them. This Ish-bosheth did, despite the public protests of Palti.[3] Robert Alter observes that by stressing that he had paid the requested bride price, David makes a legal argument as a political calculation to reinforce his legitimacy as a member of the Royal house. Alter notes the contrast between David's measured negotiations and Palti's public grief.[4] After Michal was returned to David, she criticised him because he danced, as he brought the Ark of the Covenant to the newly captured Jerusalem in a religious procession. (2 Samuel 6:14-22) Unlike Abigail and Bathsheba, Michal is not described as being beautiful, though Rabbinic tradition holds that she was of "entrancing beauty."[5]

Jeremiah

also called the "Weeping prophet",[2] was one of the major prophets of the Hebrew Bible (Christian Old Testament). According to religious tradition, Jeremiah authored the Book of Jeremiah, the Books of Kings and the Book of Lamentations,[3] with the assistance and under the editorship of Baruch ben Neriah, his scribe and disciple. Greater detail is known about Jeremiah's life than for that of any other prophet. However no biography of him can be written as there are so few facts available.[4]

Cyrus of Persia

figures in the Hebrew Bible as the patron and deliverer of the Jews. He is mentioned 23 times by name and alluded to several times more.[1] From these statements it appears that Cyrus the Great, king of Persia, was the monarch under whom the Babylonian captivity ended, for according to the Bible, in the first year of his reign he was prompted by God to make a decree that the Temple in Jerusalem should be rebuilt and that such Jews as cared to might return to their land for this purpose. Moreover, he showed his interest in the project by sending back with them the sacred vessels which had been taken from the First Temple and a considerable sum of money with which to buy building materials. The existence of the decree has been challenged.According to scholar R. N. Whybray, the author of Deutero-Isaiah (chapters 40-55) was mistaken for he thought that Cyrus would destroy Babylon but he did not. Cyrus made it more splendid than ever. But he did allow the Jewish exiles to return home, though not in the triumphant manner which Deutero-Isaiah expected.[11] Who roused from the east him that victory hails at every step? Who presents him with nations, subdues kings to him? His sword makes dust of them and his bow scatters them like straw. He pursues them and advances unhindered, his feet scarcely touching the road. Who is the author of this deed if not he who calls the generations from the beginning? I, the Lord, who am the first and shall be with the last. (Isaiah 41:2-4) Then the alliance between Cyrus and God is made explicit: Thus says the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus, whom he has taken by his right hand to subdue nations before him and strip the loins of kings, to force gateways before him that their gates be closed no more: I will go before you levelling the heights. I will shatter the bronze gateways, smash the iron bars. I will give you the hidden treasures, the secret hoards, that you may know that I am the Lord. (Isaiah 45:1-3)

Nathan

According to 2 Samuel, he was a court prophet who lived in the time of King David. He announced to David the covenant God was making with him (2 Samuel 7), and he came to David to reprimand him over his committing adultery with Bathsheba while she was the wife of Uriah the Hittite whose death the King had also arranged to hide his previous transgression (2 Samuel 11-12). According to Chronicles, Nathan wrote histories of the reigns of both David (1 Chronicles 29:29) and Solomon (2 Chronicles 9:29), and was involved in the music of the temple (see 2 Chronicles 29:25). In 1 Kings 1:8-45 it is Nathan who tells the dying David of the plot of Adonijah to become king, resulting in Solomon being proclaimed king instead. Nathan presides at the anointing of King Solomon, and his name appears in the coronation anthem Zadok the Priest.

Bathsheba

Bathsheba's relatively short story is packed with scandal and intrigue. Bathsheba is bathing when David first sees her. Despite her being married, David sends for Bathsheba and has sex with her. She becomes pregnant, and after other attempts to cover up his misconduct, David commands that her husband Uriah be killed in battle. Bathsheba becomes David's wife and bears his son. But Nathan the prophet confronts David about his sins, and God punishes David through the death of Bathsheba's child. Bathsheba and David have a second child, Solomon, who succeeds his father as king, though he is not the oldest living son. The lack of details in Bathsheba's story has resulted in her character being read in multiple ways.In 1Kgs 1, at Nathan's behest, Bathsheba reminds the aged David that he had promised that Solomon would be king. David then commands that Solomon be crowned king instead of Adonijah, the oldest son and rightful successor to the throne. Because David's promise is nowhere narrated, some assume that Bathsheba opportunistically invents a backstory that enables her to become the royal mother. Others assume that Nathan initiated Solomon's coronation, using Bathsheba—who does what Nathan tells her—to persuade David. Adonijah asks Bathsheba to request that Solomon give Abishag (David's former attendant) to him as a wife (1Kgs 2). She does, but Solomon interprets Adonijah's request as a bid for the throne. Solomon not only refuses but has Adonijah killed. Bathsheba could be unaware of the implications of Adonijah's request, foolishly agreeing to do what he asks. But it could also be that Bathsheba, the wise royal mother, knows that Adonijah's request would give Solomon a reason to dispatch his rival for the throne.

Temple

Beit YHWH (House of Yahweh, or Jehovah), Beit HaElohim "House of God," or simply Beiti "my house", Beitekhah "your house" etc. The term hekhal "hall" or main building is often translated "temple" in older English Bibles. In rabbinical literature the temple is Beit HaMikdash, "The Sanctified House", and only the Temple in Jerusalem is referred to by this name says that the First Temple was built in 957 BCE[1] by King Solomon.[2] According to the Book of Deuteronomy, as the sole place of Israelite sacrifice (Deuteronomy 12:2-27), the Temple replaced the Tabernacle constructed in the Sinai Desert under the auspices of Moses, as well as local sanctuaries, and altars in the hills.[3] This temple was sacked a few decades later by Shoshenq I, Pharaoh of Egypt.[citation needed] Although efforts were made at partial reconstruction, it was only in 835 BCE when Jehoash, King of Judah in the second year of his reign invested considerable sums in reconstruction, only to have it stripped again for Sennacherib, King of Assyria c. 700 BCE. The First Temple was totally destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 BCE (425 BCE according to historical Jewish sources), when they sacked the city HOUSE IMAGERY

David

Depicted as a valorous warrior of great renown, and a poet and musician credited for composing many of the psalms contained in the Book of Psalms, King David is widely viewed as a righteous and effective king in battle and civil and criminal justice. He is described as a man after God's own heart in -when god doesn't like Saul anymore he calls for Samuel to anoint David. God sents demons to Saul and David is called to soothe his headaches. bc he is young and good at lyre he becomes popular amongst the kingdom. When he is the only one who stands up to fight Goliath and wins he is named a champion. When Saul becomes jealous wid his power he plans on killing him but his son who loves David, Jonathan, warns him and he flees the city. When Saul and Jonathan have died he returns and takes the crown and takes Jerusalem and brings the ark of covenant into the city. He is a lazy king, not fighting and he is seduced ny Bathsheba and gives orders for her husband to be killed at war. His son Absalom rebels to take the thrown and they throw DOWN. When he is killed David locks himself in his room and laments.When David is old and bedridden, Adonijah, his eldest surviving son and natural heir, declares himself king.[31] Bathsheba and Nathan go to David and obtain his agreement to crown Bathsheba's son Solomon as king, according to David's earlier promise, and the revolt of Adonijah is put down.[32] David dies at the age of 70 after reigning 40 years,[33] and on his deathbed counsels Solomon to walk in the ways of God and to take revenge on his enemies.

Micah

He prophesied the future destruction of Jerusalem and Samaria, the destruction and then future restoration of the Judean state, and he rebuked the people of Judah for dishonesty and idolatry. His prophecy that the Messiah would be born in the town of Bethlehem is cited in the Gospel of Matthew. Information about the end of his life is not known His messages were directed mainly towards Jerusalem, and were a mixture of denunciations and prophecies. In his early prophecies, he predicted the destruction of both Samaria and Jerusalem for their respective sins. The people of Samaria were rebuked for worshipping idols which were bought with the income earned by prostitutes.[4] Micah was the first prophet to predict the downfall of Jerusalem. According to him, the city was doomed because its beautification was financed by dishonest business practices, which impoverished the city's citizens.[5] He also called to account the prophets of his day, whom he accused of accepting money for their oracles.[6] Micah also anticipated the destruction of the Judean state and promised its restoration more glorious than before.[7] He prophesied an era of universal peace over which the Governor will rule from Jerusalem.[8] Micah also declared that when the glory of Zion and Jacob is restored that the LORD will force the Gentiles to abandon idolatry.[9] Micah also rebuked Israel because of dishonesty in the marketplace and corruption in government. He warned the people, on behalf of God, of pending destruction if ways and hearts were not changed. He told them what the LORD requires of them: He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God? — Micah 6:8 Israel's response to Micah's charges and threats consisted of three parts: an admission of guilt,[10] a warning of adversaries that Israel will rely on the LORD for deliverance and forgiveness,[11] and a prayer for forgiveness and deliverance.[12] Another prophecy given by Micah details the future destruction of Jerusalem and the plowing of Zion (a part of Jerusalem). This passage (Micah 3:11-12), is stated again in Jeremiah 26:18, Micah's only prophecy repeated in the Old Testament. Since then Jerusalem has been destroyed three times, the first one being the fulfillment of Micah's prophecy. The Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem in 586 BC, about 150 years after Micah gave this prophecy

"high places"

High places, very simply, were places of worship on elevated pieces of ground or raised altars in low land such as a valley. High places were originally dedicated to idol worship (Numbers 33:52; Leviticus 26:30) especially among the Moabites (Isaiah 16:12). These shrines often included an altar and a sacred object such as a stone pillar or wooden pole in various shapes, identified with the object of worship (animals, constellations, goddesses, and fertility deities). The Israelites, forever turning away from God, practiced Molech worship and built high places for Baal (Jeremiah 32:35). Although Solomon built the temple of God in Jerusalem, he later established idolatrous high places for his foreign wives outside of Jerusalem and worshiped with them, causing him the loss of the kingdom (1 Kings 11:11). The people were still sacrificing at the pagan high places before the temple was built, and Solomon joined them. After the Lord appeared to him in a dream at Gibeon, the king returned to Jerusalem and sacrificed offerings; however, he continued to waver between the two places of worship Joshua set up stone pillars after crossing the Jordan (Joshua 4:20) and considered this a high place of worship because the Israelites "came up from" the Jordan onto higher ground. The high places were visited regularly by the prophet Samuel (1 Samuel 7:16). High places as sites of Canaanite idol worship (Judges 3:19) extended into the period of Elijah (1 Kings 18:16-40). God would name only one high place where sacrifice was authorized, and that was the temple in Jerusalem (2 Chronicles 3:1). God commanded that all other high places be destroyed. King Josiah destroyed them in 2 Kings 22—23.

Prophet

In religion, a prophet is an individual who has claimed to have been contacted by the supernatural or the divine, and to speak for them, serving as an intermediary with humanity, delivering this newfound knowledge from the supernatural entity to other people.[1][2] The message that the prophet conveys is called a prophecy, which transports —at least in Judaism— a message beyond mere pagan soothsaying, augury, divination, or forecasting, and, most prominently in the neviim of the Tanakh, often comprises issues of social justice. The prophetic assignment is not always portrayed as positive in the Hebrew Bible,[19][20][21] and prophets were often the target of persecution and opposition.[22] God's personal prediction to Jeremiah, "Attack you they will, overcome you they can't,"[23] was performed many times in the biblical narrative as Jeremiah warned of destruction of those who continued to refuse repentance and accept more moderate consequences.[22][24] In return for his adherence to God's discipline and speaking God's words, Jeremiah was attacked by his own brothers,[25] beaten and put into the stocks by a priest and false prophet,[26][27] imprisoned by the king,[28] threatened with death,[29] thrown into a cistern by Judah's officials,[30] and opposed by a false prophet.[31] Likewise, Isaiah was told by his hearers who rejected his message, "Leave the way! Get off the path! Let us hear no more about the Holy One of Israel!"[20][32] The life of Moses being threatened by Pharaoh is another example

Israel/Ephraim (Northern Kingdom)

In the Hebrew Bible, the Kingdom of Israel has been referred to as the "House of Joseph".[8][9] It is also frequently referenced (particularly in poetry) as Ephraim, the tribe whose territory housed the capital cities and the royal families. It has also been referred to as "Israel in Samaria".[10] According to the Hebrew Bible, the territory of the Kingdom of Israel comprised the territories of the tribes of Zebulun, Issachar, Asher, Naphtali, Dan, Manasseh, Ephraim, Reuben and Gad. Its capital was Samaria according to the Book of Isaiah. After the death of Solomon in about 931 BCE, all the Israelite tribes except for Judah and Benjamin (called the ten northern tribes) refused to accept Rehoboam, the son and successor of Solomon, as their king.[11] The rebellion against Rehoboam arose after he refused to lighten the burden of taxation and services that his father had imposed on his subjects.[12] Jeroboam, who was not of the Davidic line, was sent for from Egypt by the malcontents.[13] The Tribe of Ephraim and all Israel raised the old cry, "Every man to his tents, O Israel".[14] Rehoboam fled to Jerusalem,[15][16] and in 930 BCE (some date it in 920 BCE), Jeroboam was proclaimed king over all Israel at Shechem. After the revolt at Shechem at first only the tribe of Judah remained loyal to the house of David. But very soon after the tribe of Benjamin joined Judah. The northern kingdom continued to be called the Kingdom of Israel or Israel, while the southern kingdom was called the kingdom of Judah. 2 Chronicles 15:9[17] also says that members of the tribes of Ephraim, Manasseh and Simeon fled to Judah during the reign of Asa of Judah. Both Eusebius and Josephus place the division in 997 BCE - lunar dates of Venus can be mistaken as 64 years later (c. 930 BCE). (Crossing of sun over Mars as Tamuz would be 10 July 997 BCE.) Shechem was the first capital of the Kingdom of Israel.[18] Afterwards it was Tirzah.[19] King Omri built his capital in Samaria (1 Kings 16:24), which continued as such until the destruction of the Kingdom by the Assyrians (2 Kings 17:5). During the three-year siege of Samaria by the Assyrians, Shalmaneser V died and was succeeded by Sargon II of Assyria, who himself records the capture of that city thus: "Samaria I looked at, I captured; 27,280 men who dwelt in it I carried away" into Assyria. Thus, around 720 BCE, after two centuries, the kingdom of the ten tribes came to an end. Today, among archaeologists, Samaria is one of the most universally accepted archaeological sites from the biblical period[20] At around 850 BCE, the Mesha Stele, written in Old Hebrew alphabet, records a victory of King Mesha of Moab against king Omri of Israel and his son Ahab

Day of YHWH

In the Hebrew bible, the meaning of the phrases refers to temporal events such as the invasion of a foreign army, the capture of a city and the suffering that befalls the inhabitants. This appears much in the second chapter of Isaiah.It is used first by Isaiah and subsequently incorporated into prophetic and apocalyptic literature texts of the Bible. It relies on military images to describe the Lord as a "divine warrior" who will conquer his enemies. In certain prophetic texts of the Old Testament, the enemies of the Lord are Israel's enemies, and in these visions the day of the Lord brings victory for the people of ancient Israel. Other prophets use the imagery as a warning to Israel or its leaders and for them, the day of the Lord will mean destruction for the biblical nations of Israel and/or Judah. This concept develops throughout Jewish and Christian Scripture into a day of divine, apocalyptic judgment at the end of the world

Oracle

In the Old Testament used in every case, except 2 Samuel 16:23, to denote the most holy place in the temple (1 Kings 6:5, 19-23; 8:6). In 2 Samuel 16:23 it means the Word of God. A man inquired "at the oracle of God" by means of the Urim and Thummim in the breastplate on the high priest's ephod. In the New Testament it is used only in the plural, and always denotes the Word of God (Romans 3:2; Hebrews 5:12, etc.). The Scriptures are called "living oracles" (Comp. Hebrews 4:12) because of their quickening power

Joab

Joab was the son of Zeruiah, a sister of king David, who made him captain of his army (2 Samuel 8:16; 20:23; 1 Chronicles 11:6; 18:15; 27:34). He had two brothers, Abishai and Asahel. Asahel was killed by Abner in combat, for which Joab took revenge by murdering Abner in an ambush against David's wishes (2 Samuel 2:13-32; 3:27). After leading the assault on the fortress of Mount Zion, he was promoted to the rank of General (1 Chronicles 11:4-6; 27:34). He led the army against Aram, Ammon, Moab and Edom. He also colluded with David in the death of Uriah (2 Samuel 11:14-25). Illustration from the Morgan Bible of a story in 2 Samuel 20 of Joab pursuing Sheba as far as Abel-beth-maachah and Sheba's head being thrown down to him. Joab played a pivotal role as the commander of David's forces during Absalom's rebellion. Absalom, one of David's sons, rallied much of Israel in rebellion against David, who was forced to flee with only his most trusted men. However, David could not bring himself to harm his son, and ordered that none of his men should kill Absalom during the ensuing battle. However, when a man reported that Absalom had been found, alive, caught in a tree, Joab and his men killed him (2 Samuel 18:1-33). Hearing of David's grief over the reported death of Absalom, Joab confronted and admonished David. The king followed Joab's advice to make a public appearance to encourage his troops (2 Samuel 19:1-8). David later replaced him as commander of the army with his nephew, Amasa (2 Samuel 19:13). Joab later killed Amasa (2 Samuel 20:8-13; 1 Kings 2:5). Joab and other commanders began questioning David's judgment (2 Samuel 24:2-4). As David neared the end of his reign, Joab offered his allegiance to David's eldest son, Adonijah rather than to the promised king, Solomon (1 Kings 1:1-27). On the brink of death, David told Solomon to have Joab killed citing Joab's past betrayals and the blood that he was guilty of, and for this Solomon ordered his death by the hand of Benaiah (1 Kings 2:29-34), who then replaced him as commander of the army. Joab was buried in 'the wilderness' (1 Kings 2:34). Joab fled to the Tent of the Tabernacle (where Adonijah had previously sought successful refuge (1 Kings 1:50-53)) and told Benaiah that he would die there. Benaiah, as ordered by King Solomon, kills Joab in the House of Yahweh.

Sennacherib

King of Assyria, son and successor of Shalmaneser, began to reign B. C. 710, and reigned but a few years. Hezekiah king of Judah having shaken off the yoke of the Assyrians, by which Ahaz his father had suffered under Tigloth-pileser, Sennacherib marched an army against him, and took all the strong cities of Judah. Hezekiah, seeing he had nothing left but Jerusalem, which he perhaps found it difficult to preserve, sent ambassadors to Sennacherib, then besieging and destroying Lachish, to make submission. Sennacherib accepted his tribute, but refused to depart, and sent Rabshakeh with an insolent message to Jerusalem. Hezekiah entreated the Lord, who sent a destroying angel against the Assyrian army, and slew in one night 185,000 men. Sennacherib returned with all speed to Nineveh, and turned his arms against the nations south of Assyria, and afterwards towards the north. But his career was not long; within two or three years from his return from Jerusalem, while he was paying adorations to his god Nisroch, in the temple, his two sons Adrammelech and Sharezer slew him and fled into Armenia. Esar-haddon his son reigned in his stead,

Tamar

Michael D. Coogan attributes the placement of the rape of Tamar narrative, coming soon after the Bathsheba narrative, as a way for the narrator to compare Amnon to David. As David wronged Bathsheba, so too will Amnon wrong Tamar, "like father like son."[1] Mark Gray, however, disagrees with this position, and argues that "the rape of Tamar is an act of such horrific defilement that it is marked off as distinct from David's encounter with Bathsheba."[2] According to 2 Samuel 13:18, Tamar had a "richly ornamented robe" (NIV). Adrien Bledstein connects this to Joseph's coat of many colors, and concludes that Tamar was a priestess, healer and "mistress of dreams According to the Bible, Amnon over time developed such strong feelings for his half-sister that he became ill over his lust for her. Amnon had a friend and counselor named Jonadab who, being said to be not only a "crafty man" but also Amnon's cousin,[4] advised that Amnon pretend to be sick. Amnon did what was suggested, pretended to be sick and asked Tamar to prepare him food. He then asked her to have intercourse with him. When Tamar desperately tried to dissuade him, requesting him as a last argument to ask their father for her hand in marriage, Amnon raped her. After the rape, Amnon was overwhelmed by hatred for Tamar and he sent her home. Tamar expressed her grief by tearing her robe and marking her forehead with ashes. She went to her full brother Absalom, who attempted to comfort her and took her into his home where she remained a "desolate woman." When King David, Tamar's father, heard of her rape, he was angered but did nothing. According to the Dead Sea Scrolls and Greek version of 2 Samuel 13:21, "... he did not punish his son Amnon, because he loved him, for he was his firstborn." Absalom, who hated his half-brother Amnon for his rape of Tamar, waited for two years and then had Amnon murdered.

Judah (Southern Kingdom)

According to the Hebrew Bible, the kingdom of Judah resulted from the break-up of the United kingdom of Israel (1020 to about 930 BCE) after the northern tribes refused to accept Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, as their king. At first, only the tribe of Judah remained loyal to the house of David, but soon after the tribe of Benjamin joined Judah. The two kingdoms, Judah in the south and Israel in the north, coexisted uneasily after the split until the destruction of the Kingdom of Israel by Assyria in c.722/721. The major theme of the Hebrew Bible's narrative is the loyalty of Judah, and especially its kings, to Yahweh, which it states is the God of Israel. Accordingly, all the kings of Israel and almost all the kings of Judah were "bad", which in terms of Biblical narrative means that they failed to enforce monotheism. Of the "good" kings, Hezekiah (727-698 BCE) is noted for his efforts at stamping out idolatry (in this case, the worship of Baal and Asherah, among other traditional Near Eastern divinities),[20] but his successors, Manasseh of Judah (698-642 BCE) and Amon (642-640 BCE), revived idolatry, drawing down on the kingdom the anger of Yahweh. King Josiah (640-609 BCE) returned to the worship of Yahweh alone, but his efforts were too late and Israel's unfaithfulness caused God to permit the kingdom's destruction by the Neo-Babylonian Empire in the Siege of Jerusalem (587 BC). However it is now fairly well established among academic scholars that the Biblical narrative is not an accurate reflection of religious views in either Judah or particularly Israel during this period For the first sixty years, the kings of Judah tried to re-establish their authority over the northern kingdom, and there was perpetual war between them. Israel and Judah were in a state of war throughout Rehoboam's seventeen-year reign. Rehoboam built elaborate defenses and strongholds, along with fortified cities. In the fifth year of Rehoboam's reign, Shishak, pharaoh of Egypt, brought a huge army and took many cities. In the sack of Jerusalem (10th century BC), Rehoboam gave them all of the treasures out of the temple as a tribute and Judah became a vassal state of Egypt. Rehoboam's son and successor, Abijah of Judah continued his father's efforts to bring Israel under his control. He fought the Battle of Mount Zemaraim against Jeroboam of Israel and was victorious with a heavy loss of life on the Israel side. According to the books of Chronicles, Abijah and his people defeated them with a great slaughter, so that 500,000 chosen men of Israel fell slain[22] after which Jeroboam posed little threat to Judah for the rest of his reign and the border of the tribe of Benjamin was restored to the original tribal border.[23] Abijah's son and successor, Asa of Judah, maintained peace for the first 35 years of his reign,[24] during which time he revamped and reinforced the fortresses originally built by his grandfather, Rehoboam. 2 Chronicles states that at the Battle of Zephath, the Egyptian-backed chieftain Zerah the Ethiopian and his million men and 300 chariots was defeated by Asa's 580,000 men in the Valley of Zephath near Maresha.[25] The Bible does not state whether Zerah was a pharaoh or a general of the army. The Ethiopians were pursued all the way to Gerar, in the coastal plain, where they stopped out of sheer exhaustion. The resulting peace kept Judah free from Egyptian incursions until the time of Josiah some centuries later. In his 36th year, Asa was confronted by Baasha of Israel,[24] who built a fortress at Ramah on the border, less than ten miles from Jerusalem. The result was that the capital was under pressure and the military situation was precarious. Asa took gold and silver from the Temple and sent them to Ben-Hadad I, king of Aram-Damascus, in exchange for the Damascene king canceling his peace treaty with Baasha. Ben-Hadad attacked Ijon, Dan, and many important cities of the tribe of Naphtali, and Baasha was forced to withdraw from Ramah.[26] Asa tore down the unfinished fortress and used its raw materials to fortify Geba and Mizpah in Benjamin on his side of the border.[27] Asa's successor, Jehoshaphat, changed the policy towards Israel and instead pursued alliances and co-operation with the northern kingdom. The alliance with Ahab was based on marriage. This alliance led to disaster for the kingdom with the battle of Ramoth-Gilead.[28] He then entered into an alliance with Ahaziah of Israel for the purpose of carrying on maritime commerce with Ophir. But the fleet that was then equipped at Ezion-Geber was immediately wrecked. A new fleet was fitted out without the cooperation of the king of Israel, and although it was successful, the trade was not prosecuted.[29] He subsequently joined Jehoram of Israel in a war against the Moabites, who were under tribute to Israel. This war was successful, with the Moabites being subdued. However, on seeing Mesha's act of offering his own son in a human sacrifice on the walls of Kir-haresheth filled Jehoshaphat with horror and he withdrew and returned to his own land.[30] Jehoshaphat's successor, Jehoram of Judah formed an alliance with Israel by marrying Athaliah, the daughter of Ahab. Despite this alliance with the stronger northern kingdom, Jehoram's rule of Judah was shaky. Edom revolted, and he was forced to acknowledge their independence. A raid by Philistines, Arabs and Ethiopians looted the king's house and carried off all of his family except for his youngest son, Ahaziah of Judah.

Elisha

Elisha's story is related in the Book of Kings in the Hebrew Bible (in Judaism, part of the Nevi'im). He was a prophet and a wonder-worker of the Northern Kingdom of Israel who was active during the reign of Joram, Jehu, Jehoahaz, and Jehoash (Joash).[3] Elisha was the son of Shaphat, a wealthy land-owner of Abel-meholah; he became the attendant and disciple of Elijah.[4] His name first occurs in the command given to Elijah to anoint him as his successor. After learning in the cave on Mount Horeb, that Elisha, the son of Shaphat, had been selected by Yahweh as his successor in the prophetic office, Elijah set out to find him. On his way from Sinai to Damascus, Elijah found Elisha "one of them that were ploughing with twelve yoke of oxen". Elisha delayed only long enough to kill the yoke of oxen, whose flesh he boiled with the wood of his plough. He went over to him, threw his mantle over Elisha's shoulders, and at once adopted him as a son, investing him with the prophetic office.[4] Elisha accepted this call about four years before the death of Israel's King Ahab. For the next seven or eight years Elisha became Elijah's close attendant until Elijah was taken up into heaven. During all these years we hear nothing of Elisha except in connection with the closing scenes of Elijah's life. After he had shared this farewell repast with his father, mother, and friends, the newly chosen prophet "went after Elijah, and ministered unto him."[5] He went with his master from Gilgal to Bethel, to Jericho, and thence to the eastern side of the Jordan, the waters of which, touched by the mantle, divided, so as to permit both to pass over on dry ground. Elisha then was separated from Elijah by a fiery chariot, and Elijah was taken up by a whirlwind into Heaven. Before Elijah was taken up into the whirlwind, Elisha asked to "inherit a double-portion" of Elijah's spirit. Some scholars see this as indicative of the property inheritance customs of the time, where the oldest son received twice as much of the father's inheritance as each of the younger sons. In this interpretation Elisha is asking that he may be seen as the "rightful heir" and successor to Elijah.[6] Critics of this view point out that Elisha was already appointed as Elijah's successor earlier in the narrative and that Elisha is described as performing twice as many miracles as Elijah. In this interpretation the "double-portion" isn't merely an allusion to primacy in succession, but is instead a request for greater prophetic power even than Elijah.[7] Much of this confusion comes from translations which incorrectly translate the phrase as a "double portion" while in Hebrew Elisha asks for "two thirds of a portion" of the prophetic spirit that imbued Elijah. By means of the mantle let fall from Elijah, Elisha miraculously recrossed the Jordan, and Elisha returned to Jericho, where he won the gratitude of the people by purifying the unwholesome waters of their spring and making them drinkable.[8] The Prophet Elisha curses the children who mocked him, by Willem van den Bundel Before he settled in Samaria, Elisha passed some time on Mount Carmel.[9] When the armies of Judah, Israel and Edom, then allied against Mesha, the Moabite king, were being tortured by drought in the Idumean desert, Elisha consented to intervene. His double prediction regarding relief from drought and victory over the Moabites was fulfilled on the following morning.[4] When a group of boys (or youths[10]) from Bethel taunted the prophet for his baldness, Elisha cursed them in the name of Yahweh and two female bears came out of the forest and tore forty-two of the boys.[9] He became noted in Israel, and for six decades (892-832 B.C.) held the office of "prophet in Israel". He is termed a patriot, as he was involved in helping soldiers and kings To relieve the widow importuned by a hard creditor, Elisha so multiplied a little oil as to enable her, not only to pay her debt, but to provide for her family needs. To reward the rich lady of Shunem for her hospitality, he obtained for her from Yahweh, at first the birth of a son, and subsequently the resurrection of her child, who had died. To nourish the sons of the prophets pressed by famine, Elisha changed into wholesome food the pottage made from poisonous gourds.[8] Elisha refusing the gifts of Naaman, by Pieter de Grebber 1630 Elisha cured the Syrian military commander Naaman of leprosy but punished his own servant Gehazi, who took money from Naaman.[11] Naaman, at first reluctant, obeyed Elisha, and washed seven times in the Jordan. Finding his flesh "restored like the flesh of a little child", the general was so impressed by this evidence of God's power, and by the disinterestedness of His Prophet, as to express his deep conviction that "there is no other God in all the earth, but only in Israel". In the Christian tradition, Jesus referred to this event when he said, "And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet: and none of them was cleansed but Naaman the Syrian".[12] Elisha's public political actions included repeatedly saving King Jehoram of Israel from the ambushes planned by Benhadad,[9] ordering the elders to shut the door against the messenger of Israel's ungrateful king,[13] bewildering with a strange blindness the soldiers of the Syrian king,[14] making iron float to relieve from embarrassment a son of a prophet,[15] confidently predicting the sudden flight of the enemy and the consequent cessation of the famine,[16] and unmasking the treachery of Hazael.[17] Other miracles Elisha accomplishes include multiplying the twenty loaves of new barley into a sufficient supply for a hundred men, and for a disciple of the schools of the prophets, he recovers an axe fallen into the waters of the Jordan.[8] He administered the miracle at Dothan, half-way on the road between Samaria and Jezreel, and at the siege of Samaria by the king of Syria, Elisha prophesied about the terrible sufferings of the people of Samaria and their eventual relief.[18] Elisha then journeyed to Damascus and prophesied that Hazael would be king over Syria;[17] thereafter he directs one of the sons of the prophets to anoint Jehu, the son of Jehoshaphat, king of Israel, in place of Ahab. Mindful of the order given to Elijah, Elisha delegated a son of one of the prophets to quietly anoint Jehu King of Israel, and to commission him to cut off the house of Ahab.[19] The death of Jehoram, pierced by an arrow from Jehu's bow, the ignominious end of Jezebel, the slaughter of Ahab's seventy sons, proved how faithfully executed was the Divine command.[20] After predicting to Jehoash his victory over the Syrians at Aphek, as well as three other subsequent victories, ever bold before kings, ever kindly towards the lowly, "Elisha died, and they buried him".[21] The miracle at the grave of Elisha. (Jan Nagel, 1596) While Elisha lay on his death-bed in his own house,[22] Jehoash, the grandson of Jehu, came to mourn over his approaching departure, and uttered the same words as those of Elisha when Elijah was taken away, indicating his value to him: "My father, my father! the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof." The touch of his corpse served to resuscitate a dead man. A year after Elisha's death and burial a body was placed in his grave. As soon as the body touched Elisha's remains the man "revived, and stood up on his feet".[23] It has been said, that this dead man was Shallum (son of Tikvah), keeper of the temple-wardrobe in the reign of Josiah[24] and husband of Huldah the prophetess.

Nebuchadnezzar

In biblical history, Nebuchadnezzar is most famous for the conquering of Judah and the destruction of Judah and Jerusalem in 586 BC. Judah had become a tribute state to Babylon in 605 BC but rebelled in 597 BC during the reign of Jehoiachin and then again in 588 BC during the reign of Zedekiah. Tired of the rebellions, and seeing that Judah had not learned its lesson when he invaded, conquered, and deported Judah in 597, Nebuchadnezzar and his general, Nebuzaradan, proceeded to completely destroy the temple and most of Jerusalem, deporting most of the remaining residents to Babylon. In this, Nebuchadnezzar served as God's instrument of judgment on Judah for its idolatry, unfaithfulness, and disobedience In Daniel 3, Nebuchadnezzar created a gold statue of himself and required all the people to bow down to it whenever the music played. Daniel's three friends, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, refused, and the king had them thrown into a blazing furnace. Miraculously, God protected them, and when they came out of the furnace, Nebuchadnezzar proclaimed, "Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent his angel and delivered his servants, who trusted in him, and set aside the king's command, and yielded up their bodies rather than serve and worship any god except their own God. Therefore I make a decree: Any people, nation, or language that speaks anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego shall be torn limb from limb, and their houses laid in ruins, for there is no other god who is able to rescue in this way" (Daniel 3:28-29). In Daniel chapter 4, Nebuchadnezzar is given another dream by God. Daniel interpreted the dream for Nebuchadnezzar and informed him that the dream was a warning to the king to humble himself and recognize that his power, wealth, and influence were from God, not of his own making. Nebuchadnezzar did not heed the warning of the dream, so God judged him as the dream had declared. Nebuchadnezzar was driven insane for seven years. When the king's sanity was restored, he finally humbled himself before God. In Daniel 4:3, Nebuchadnezzar declares, "How great are his signs, how mighty his wonders! His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and his dominion endures from generation to generation." Nebuchadnezzar continued in Daniel 4:34-37, "For his dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom endures from generation to generation; all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, 'What have you done?' ... "Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, for all his works are right and his ways are just; and those who walk in pride he is able to humble." The exclamations of Nebuchadnezzar recorded in the book of Daniel have led some to consider the possibility that Nebuchadnezzar became a believer in the one true God. History records Nebuchadnezzar being a follower of the Babylonian gods Nabu and Marduk. Is it possible that Nebuchadnezzar renounced these false gods and instead only worshipped the one true God? Yes, it is possible. If nothing else, Nebuchadnezzar became a henotheist, believing in many gods but worshipping only one God as supreme. Based on his words recorded in Daniel, it definitely seems like Nebuchadnezzar submitted himself to the one true God. Further evidence is the fact that God refers to Nebuchadnezzar as "my servant" three times in the book of Jeremiah (Jeremiah 25:9; 27:6; 43:10). Was Nebuchadnezzar saved? Ultimately, this is not a question that can be answered dogmatically. Whatever the case, the story of Nebuchadnezzar is an example of God's sovereignty over all men and the truth that "The king's heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord; He turns it wherever He will" (Proverbs 21:1).

call naratives

In the past, biblical passages that recounted a commissioning into the service of God, whether a prophet or leader, were usually understood to be very personal and autobiographical, a report from the prophet themselves of an inner, somewhat mystical experience with God. This reflected a concern to see the biblical material in almost exclusively historical categories, a feature of biblical study dominant since the Enlightenment. It also more likely expressed certain conceptions and theologies of how various groups thought God worked with human beings rather than reflecting the actual background of the biblical text. There may well be some "testimony" to personal experience involved in these commissioning narratives. And certainly the concern with a historical context and background for the biblical text is important and valid since the self-revelation of God in human history is an important aspect of biblical faith. 1) a situation of distress or crisis in which God confronts the person 2) the commissioning of the person for some action or message 3) objections raised by the person in the form of inadequacy for the task 4) assurance of God's help, often in the formula "I will be with you" 5) a sign to confirm the commission, often with the content of the commission First, it serves to highlight the conviction that leaders would not be able to succeed because of their own skill or knowledge. A second purpose of using this fuller form is to emphasize the role of God and his faithfulness in guiding the people, even through leaders who on the surface might be inadequate for the task (note the comment about David in 1 Kings 1 Sam 16:7).

Ahab/Jezebel

Omri (Ahab's father and founder of the short-lived Omri Dynasty) seems to have been a successful military leader; he is reported in the text of the Moabite Mesha Stele to have "oppressed Moab for many days". During Ahab's reign, Moab, which had been conquered by his father, remained tributary. Ahab was allied by marriage with Jehoshaphat, who was king of Judah. Only with Aram Damascus is he believed to have had strained relations.[5] Ahab married Jezebel, the daughter of the King of Tyre. 1 Kings 16-22 tells the story of Ahab and Jezebel, and indicates that Jezebel was a dominant influence on Ahab and strove to spread idol worship of Baal in Israel.[6] Ahab was succeeded by Ahaziah and Jehoram who reigned over Israel until Jehu's revolt of 842 BC The Battle of Qarqar is mentioned in extra-biblical records, and was perhaps at Apamea, where Shalmaneser III of Assyria fought a great confederation of princes from Cilicia, Northern Syria, Israel, Ammon, and the tribes of the Syrian desert (853 BC), including Ahab the Israelite (A-ha-ab-bu matSir-'a-la-a-a)[8] and Hadadezer (Adad-'idri).[5] Ahab's contribution was estimated at 2,000 chariots and 10,000 men. In reality, however, the number of chariots in Ahab's forces was probably closer to a number in the hundreds (based upon archaeological excavations of the area and the foundations of stables that have been found).[9] If, however, the numbers are referring to allies it could possibly include forces from Tyre, Judah, Edom, and Moab. The Assyrian king claimed a victory, but his immediate return and subsequent expeditions in 849 BC and 846 BC against a similar but unspecified coalition seem to show that he met with no lasting success. According to the Tanakh, however, Ahab with 7,000 troops had previously overthrown Ben-hadad and his thirty-two kings, who had come to lay siege to Samaria, and in the following year obtained a decisive victory over him at Aphek, probably in the plain of Sharon at Antipatris (1 Kings 20). A treaty was made whereby Ben-hadad restored the cities which his father had taken from Ahab's father, and trading facilities between Damascus and Samaria were granted.[5] Jezreel has been identified as Ahab's fortified chariot and cavalry bas In the Biblical text, Ahab has five important encounters with prophets. The first encounter is with Elijah, whom Ahab refers to as "the troubler of Israel" (1 Kings 18:17), in which Elijah predicts a drought (1 Kings 17:1). This encounter ends with Elijah victorious over the official Baal prophets of Israel in a contest held for the sake of the Israelites and their king, Ahab. The contest ends when Elijah's God consumes the offering which the Baal worshipers could not induce their god to touch, after which Elijah slaughters the Baal prophets (1 Kings 18:17-40). The second encounter is between Ahab and an unnamed prophet in 1 Kings 20:22. The third is again between Ahab and an unnamed prophet who condemns Ahab for his actions in a battle that had just taken place (1 Kings 20:34-43). The fourth is when Elijah confronts Ahab over Ahab's and Jezebel's execution of Naboth and usurpation of the latter's ancestral vineyard (1 Kings 21,1-16). Upon the prophet's remonstration ("Hast thou killed and also taken possession?" (1 Kings, 21,19)), Ahab displayed sincere remorse (1 Kings 21,27). The fifth encounter is with Micaiah, the prophet who, when asked for advice on a military campaign, first assures Ahab he will be successful and ultimately gives Ahab a glimpse into God's plan for Ahab to die in battle Three years later, war broke out east of the Jordan River, and Ahab with Jehoshaphat of Judah went to recover Ramoth-Gilead.[5] During this battle Ahab disguised himself, but was mortally wounded by an unaimed arrow (1 Kings 22). The Hebrew Bible says that dogs licked his blood, according to the prophecy of Elijah. But the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Old Testament) adds that "pigs" also licked his blood, symbolically making him unclean to the Israelites, who abstained from pork. Ahab was succeeded by his sons, Ahaziah and Jehoram. The defenestration of the Biblical Queen Jezebel at Jezreel, by Gustave Doré Jezebel's death, however, was more dramatic than Ahab's. As recorded in 2 Kings 9:30-34, Jezebel was confronted by Jehu who had her servants throw her out the window, causing her death. Essentially, 1 Kings 16:29 through 22:40 is the story of Ahab's reign. This reign is one which faces opposition from several prophets of Yahweh throughout as well as various consequences because of his marriage to Jezebel, because of his worship of Baal, disobedience to prophetic warnings and words, and also because of the murder of Naboth. The murder of Naboth (see Jezebel), an act of royal encroachment, stirred up popular resentment just as the new cult aroused the opposition of the Israelite prophets, including Elijah and Micaiah. Indeed, he is referred to, for this and other things, as being "more evil than all the kings before him" (1 Kings 16:30). The followers of Yahweh found their champion in Elijah; his denunciation of the royal dynasty of Israel and his emphatic insistence on the worship of Yahweh and Yahweh alone, illustrated by the contest between Yahweh and Baal on Mount Carmel (1 Kings 18), form the keynote to a period which culminated in the accession of Jehu, an event in which Elijah's chosen disciple Elisha was the leading figure According to the Hebrew Bible, Jezebel incited her husband King Ahab to abandon the worship of Yahweh and encourage worship of the deities Baal and Asherah instead. Jezebel persecuted the prophets of Yahweh, and fabricated evidence of blasphemy against an innocent landowner who refused to sell his property to King Ahab, causing the landowner to be put to death. For these transgressions against the God and people of Israel, Jezebel met a gruesome death - thrown out of a window by members of her own court retinue, and the flesh of her corpse eaten by stray dogs. Jezebel became associated with false prophets. In some interpretations, her dressing in finery and putting on makeup[3] led to the association of the use of cosmetics with "painted women" or prostitutes This marriage was the culmination of the friendly relations existing between Israel and Phoenicia during Omri's reign, and possibly cemented important political designs of Ahab. Jezebel, like the foreign wives of Solomon, required facilities for carrying on her form of worship, so Ahab made an altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which he had built in Samaria.[6] Jezebel went so far as to require that her religion should be the national religion of Israel. She organized and maintained guilds of prophets, 450 of Baal, and 400 of Asherah. She also destroyed such prophets of Israel as she could reach. Obadiah, the faithful overseer of Ahab's house, rescued one hundred of these, hid them, and secretly fed them in a cave.[6] Bromiley points out that it was Phoenician practice to install a royal woman as a priestess of Astarte. As such she would have a more active role in temple and palace relations than was customary in the Hebrew monarchy The prophet Elijah confronted Ahab and charged him with the sin of following Baal. Elijah had two altars set up at Carmel, one dedicated to Baal, one to Yahweh, and a bull sacrificed upon each altar. The supporters of Baal called upon their god to send fire to consume the sacrifice, but nothing happened. When Elijah called on Yahweh, fire came down from heaven immediately and consumed the offering. Elijah ordered the people to seize the prophets of Baal and Asherah, and they were all slaughtered. The superiority of Elijah and of his God in the test at Carmel, and the slaughter of the 450 prophets of Baal and 400 prophets of Asherah, fired the vengeance of Jezebel. Elijah fled for his life to the wilderness, where he mourned the devotion of Israel to Baal and the lack of worshipers of Israel's God Naboth owned a vineyard near the royal palace in the city of Jezreel. Wishing to acquire Naboth's vineyard so that he could expand his own gardens, Ahab offered to purchase Naboth's vineyard or to give him a better one in exchange, but Naboth refused, saying he could not part with ancestral land. When Jezebel saw that her husband was depressed by this, she arranged for the elders to falsely accuse Naboth of blasphemy and stone him to death. When Ahab took possession of Naboth's vineyard, he was again confronted by Elijah, who prophesied that, owing to the way Ahab and Jezebel had plotted to have Naboth killed, Ahab would die, his royal line would be obliterated, and Jezebel would be eaten by dogs Three years later, Ahab died in battle. His son Ahaziah inherited the throne, but died as the result of an accident and Ahaziah was succeeded by his brother, Joram. Elisha, Elijah's successor, commanded one of his disciples to anoint Jehu, commander of Joram's army, as king, in order that he might destroy Ahab's descendants as a punishment for the way Jezebel had treated God's prophets and his people.[4] Jehu killed Joram and next went to the royal palace at Jezreel, where Jezebel was the last formal obstacle to his kingship. Knowing that he was coming, Jezebel put on make-up and a formal wig with adornments and looked out a window. Bromiley says that it should be looked at less as an attempt at seduction than the public appearance of the queen mother, invested with the authority of the royal house and cult, confronting a rebellious commander.[7] In his two-volume Guide to the Bible (1967 and 1969), Isaac Asimov describes Jezebel's last act: dressing in all her finery, make-up and jewelry, as deliberately symbolic, indicating her dignity, royal status and determination to go out of this life as a queen.[9] Jehu ordered her servants to throw her from the window. Her blood splashed on the wall and horses, and Jehu's horse trampled her corpse. He entered the palace where, after he ate and drank, he ordered Jezebel's body to be taken for burial. His servants discovered only her skull, her feet and the palms of her hands - her flesh had been eaten by stray dogs, just as the prophet Elijah had prophesied

Amnon

Rapes his half sister Tamar and does not get punished by David for it Absalom kills him in revenge for his sister.

Hosea

SLUT GOMER = MARRIES< CHEATS ON HIM, IS SLUT OF ISRAEL Chapter two describes a divorce. This divorce seems to be the end of the covenant between God and the Northern Kingdom. However, it is probable that this was again a symbolic act, in which Hosea divorced Gomer for infidelity, and used the occasion to preach the message of God's rejection of the Northern Kingdom. He ends this prophecy with the declaration that God will one day renew the covenant, and will take Israel back in love. In Chapter three, at God's command, Hosea seeks out Gomer once more. Either she has sold herself into slavery for debt, or she is with a lover who demands money in order to give her up, because Hosea has to buy her back. He takes her home, but refrains from sexual intimacy with her for many days, to symbolize the fact that Israel will be without a king for many years, but that God will take Israel back, even at a cost to Himself. Chapters 4-14 spell out the allegory at length. Chapters 1-3 speaks of Hosea's family, and the issues with Gomer. Chapters 4-10 contain a series of oracles, or prophetic sermons, showing exactly why God is rejecting the Northern Kingdom (what the grounds are for the divorce). Chapter 11 is God's lament over the necessity of giving up the Northern Kingdom, which is a large part of the people of Israel, whom God loves. God promises not to give them up entirely. Then, in Chapter 12, the prophet pleads for Israel's repentance. Chapter 13 foretells the destruction of the kingdom at the hands of Assyria, because there has been no repentance. In Chapter 14, the prophet urges Israel to seek forgiveness, and promises its restoration, while urging the utmost fidelity to God. Matthew 2:13 cites Hosea's prophecy in Hosea 11:1 that God would call His Son out of Egypt as foretelling the flight into Egypt and return to Israel of Joseph, Miryam, and the infant Ha Yeshua. The capital of the Northern Kingdom fell in 722 BCE. All the members of the upper classes and many of the ordinary people were taken captive and carried off to live as prisoners of war. First, Hosea was directed by God to marry a promiscuous woman of ill-repute, and he did so. Marriage here is symbolic of the covenantal relationship between God and Israel. However, Israel has been unfaithful to God by following other gods and breaking the commandments which are the terms of the covenant, hence Israel is symbolized by a harlot who violates the obligations of marriage to her husband. Second, Hosea and his wife, Gomer, have a son. God commands that the son be named Jezreel. This name refers to a valley in which much blood had been shed in Israel's history, especially by the kings of the Northern Kingdom. (See I Kings 21 and II Kings 9:21-35). The naming of this son was to stand as a prophecy against the reigning house of the Northern Kingdom, that they would pay for that bloodshed. Jezreel's name means God Sows. Third, the couple have a daughter. God commands that she be named Lo-ruhamah; Unloved, or, Pity or Pitied On to show Israel that, although God will still have pity on the Southern Kingdom, God will no longer have pity on the Northern Kingdom; its destruction is imminent. In the NIV translation, the omitting of the word 'him' leads to speculation as to whether Lo-Ruhamah was the daughter of Hosea or one of Gomer's lovers. James Mays, however, says that the failure to mention Hosea's paternity is "hardly an implication" of Gomer's adultery.[9] Fourth, a son is born to Gomer. It is questionable whether this child was Hosea's, for God commands that his name be Lo-ammi; Not My People, or more simply, Not Mine. The child bore this name of shame to show that the Northern Kingdom would also be shamed, for its people would no longer be known as God's People. In other words, the Northern Kingdom had been rejected by God. Also, God says that "I am not your I am"; in other words, God changes His own name in connection with his current relationship with Israel.

Solomon

The Hebrew Bible credits him as the builder of the First Temple in Jerusalem.[4] It portrays him as great in wisdom, wealth, and power beyond any of the previous kings of the country, but ultimately as a human king who sinned. His sins included idolatry and turning away from Yahweh, and led to the kingdom's being torn in two during the reign of his son Rehoboam.[6] Solomon, as instructed by David, began his reign with an extensive purge, including his father's chief general, Joab, among others, and further consolidated his position by appointing friends throughout the administration, including in religious positions as well as in civic and military posts. Solomon greatly expanded his military strength, especially the cavalry and chariot arms. He founded numerous colonies, some of which doubled as trading posts and military outposts. Trade relationships were a focus of his administration. In particular he continued his father's very profitable relationship with the Phoenician king Hiram of Tyre (see 'wealth' below); they sent out joint expeditions to the lands of Tarshish and Ophir to engage in the trade of luxury products, importing gold, silver, sandalwood, pearls, ivory, apes and peacocks. Solomon is considered the most wealthy of the Israelite kings named in the Bible. Solomon also built the First Temple, beginning in the fourth year of his reign, using the vast wealth he has accumulated. Solomon was the Biblical king most famous for his wisdom. In 1 Kings he sacrificed to God and prayed for wisdom. God personally answered his prayer, promising him great wisdom because he did not ask for self-serving rewards like long life or the death of his enemies. The judgment of Solomon, painting on ceramic, Castelli, 18th century, Lille Museum of Fine Arts Perhaps the best known story of his wisdom is the Judgment of Solomon; two women each lay claim to being the mother of the same child. Solomon easily cut through the dispute by commanding the child to be cut in half and shared between the two. One woman promptly renounced her claim, proving that she would rather give up the child than see it killed. Solomon declared the woman who showed compassion to be the true mother, entitled to the whole child. According to the Bible, Solomon had 700 wives and 300 concubines. The wives were described as foreign princesses, including Pharaoh's daughter and women of Moab, Ammon, Sidon and of the Hittites. The only wife mentioned by name is Naamah the Ammonite, mother of Solomon's successor, Rehoboam. The Biblical narrative notes with disapproval that Solomon permitted his foreign wives to import their national deities, building temples to Ashtoreth and Milcom. In a brief, unelaborated, and enigmatic passage, the Hebrew Bible describes how the fame of Solomon's wisdom and wealth spread far and wide, so much so that the queen of Sheba decided that she should meet him. The queen is described as visiting with a number of gifts including gold, spices and precious stones. When Solomon gave her "all her desire, whatsoever she asked," she left satisfied According to 1 Kings 11:4 Solomon's "wives turned his heart after other gods", their own national deities, to whom Solomon built temples, thus incurring divine anger and retribution in the form of the division of the kingdom after Solomon's death (1 Kings 11:9-13). 1 Kings 11 describes Solomon's descent into idolatry, particularly his turning after Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom, the abomination of the Ammonites. In Deuteronomy 17:16-17, a king is commanded not to multiply horses or wives, neither greatly multiply to himself gold or silver. Solomon sins in all three of these areas. Solomon collects 666 talents of gold each year (1 Kings 10:14), a huge amount of money for a small nation like Israel. Solomon gathers a large number of horses and chariots and even brings in horses from Egypt. Just as Deuteronomy 17 warns, collecting horses and chariots takes Israel back to Egypt. Finally, Solomon marries foreign women, and these women turn Solomon to other gods. Solomon sinned by acquiring many foreign wives. Solomon's descent into idolatry, Willem de Poorter, Rijksmuseum. According to 1 Kings 11:30-34, it was because of these sins that "the Lord punishes Solomon by removing 10 of the 12 Tribes of Israel from the Israelites. According to the Hebrew Bible, Solomon is the last ruler of a united Kingdom of Israel. He dies of natural causes[15] at around 80 years of age. Upon Solomon's death, his son, Rehoboam, succeeds him. However, ten of the Tribes of Israel refuse to accept him as king, splitting the United Monarchy in the northern Kingdom of Israel under Jeroboam, while Rehoboam continues to reign over the much smaller southern Kingdom of Judah. Henceforth the two kingdoms are never again united

Hezekiah

The main account of Hezekiah's reign is found in 2 Kings 18-20, Isaiah 36-39, and 2 Chronicles 29-32 of the Hebrew Bible. Proverbs 25:1 mentions that it is a collection of King Solomon's proverbs that were "copied" "by the officials of King Hezekiah of Judah". His reign is also referred to in the books of the prophets Jeremiah, Hosea, and Micah. The books of Hosea and Micah record that their prophecies were made during Hezekiah's reign. Hezekiah purified and repaired the Temple, purged its idols, and reformed the priesthood.[7] In an effort to abolish what he considered idolatry from his kingdom, he destroyed the high places (or bamot) and "bronze serpent" (or "Nehushtan"), recorded as being made by Moses, which became objects of idolatrous worship. In place of this, he centralized the worship of God at the Jerusalem Temple. Hezekiah also resumed the Passover pilgrimage and the tradition of inviting the scattered tribes of Israel to take part in a Passover festival. He sent messengers to Ephraim and Manasseh inviting them to Jerusalem for the celebration of the Passover. The messengers, however, were not only not listened to, but were even laughed at; only a few men of Asher, Manasseh, and Zebulun came to Jerusalem. Nevertheless, the Passover was celebrated with great solemnity and such rejoicing as had not been in Jerusalem since the days of Solomon.[5] Hezekiah is portrayed by the Hebrew Bible as a great and good king. When Sargon II, the king of Assyria, died in 705 BC, states, including Judah, that were subject to Assyria saw an opportunity to throw off their subservience to the Assyrian kings.[7] Hezekiah ceased to pay the tribute imposed on his father, and entered into a league with Egypt.[8] In 703 BC Sennacherib, Sargon's son and successor, began a series of major campaigns to quash opposition to Assyrian rule. After dealing with rebels in the eastern part of the realm, in 701 BC the king turned toward those in the west. Though Hezekiah expected the Egyptians to come to his aid, they did not, and Hezekiah had to face the invasion of Judah by Sennacherib. The Assyrians recorded that Sennacherib lifted his siege of Jerusalem after Hezekiah acknowledged Sennacherib as his overlord and paid him tribute. The Hebrew Bible records that Hezekiah tried to pay off Sennacherib with three hundred talents of silver and thirty of gold as tribute, even despoiling the doors of the Temple to produce the promised amount, but, after the payment was made, Sennacherib renewed his assault on Jerusalem.[8] Sennacherib besieged Jerusalem and sent his Rabshakeh to the walls as a messenger. The Rabshakeh addressed the soldiers manning the city wall in Hebrew (Yĕhuwdiyth), asking them to distrust Yahweh and Hezekiah, pointing to Hezekiah's righteous reforms (destroying the High Places) as a sign that the people should not trust their god to be favorably disposed (2 Kings 18:17-35). 2 Kings 19:15 records that Hezekiah went to the Temple and there he prayed. The narrative of Hezekiah's sickness and miraculous recovery is found in 2 Kings 20:1, 2 Chronicles 32:24, Isaiah 38:1. Various ambassadors came to congratulate him on his recovery, among them from Merodach-baladan, the king of Babylon (2 Chronicles 32:23; 2 Kings 20:12). Hezekiah is also remembered for giving too much information to Baladan, king of Babylon (or perhaps for boasting about his wealth), for which he was confronted by Isaiah the prophet (2 Kings 20:12-19). According to the Talmud, the disease came about because of a dispute between him and Isaiah over who should pay whom a visit and over Hezekiah's refusal to marry and have children. According to Isaiah 38:5, Hezekiah lived another 15 more years of life after praying to God. Some Talmudists also considered that it might have come about as a way for Hezekiah to purge his sins or due to his arrogance in assuming his righteousness

seraphim

Tradition places seraphim in the highest rank in the Christian angelic hierarchy and in the fifth rank of ten in the Jewish angelic hierarchy. A seminal passage in the Book of Isaiah (Isaiah 6:1-8) used the term to describe six-winged beings that fly around the Throne of God crying "holy, holy, holy". This throne scene, with its triple invocation of holiness (a formula that came to be known as the Trisagion), profoundly influenced subsequent theology, literature and art. Its influence is frequently seen in works depicting angels, heaven and apotheosis. Seraphim are mentioned as celestial beings in an influential Hellenistic work, the Book of Enoch, and the Book of Revelation.

Elijah

Under Ahab's kingship, these tensions were exacerbated. Ahab built a temple for Baal, and his wife Jezebel brought a large entourage of priests and prophets of Baal and Asherah into the country. It is in this context that Elijah is introduced in 1 Kings 17:1 as Elijah "the Tishbite". He warns Ahab that there will be years of catastrophic drought so severe that not even dew will fall, because Ahab and his queen stand at the end of a line of kings of Israel who are said to have "done evil in the sight of the Lord." 1st and 2nd Kings[edit] Elijah in the wilderness, by Washington Allston. No background for the person of Elijah is given. His name in Hebrew means "My God is Yahweh", and may be a title applied to him because of his challenge to worship of Baal.[11][12][13][14][15] As told in the Hebrew Bible, Elijah's challenge is bold and direct. Baal was the Canaanite god responsible for rain, thunder, lightning, and dew. Elijah not only challenges Baal on behalf of his own God, Yahweh, he challenges Jezebel, her priests, Ahab and the people of Israel After Elijah's confrontation with Ahab, God tells him to flee out of Israel, to a hiding place by the brook Chorath, east of the Jordan, where he will be fed by ravens.[16] When the brook dries up, God sends him to a widow living in the town of Zarephatho in Phoenicia. When Elijah finds her and asks to be fed, she says that she does not have sufficient food to keep her and her own son alive. Elijah tells her that God will not allow her supply of flour or oil to run out, saying, "Don't be afraid..this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: 'The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the Lord gives rain on the land." She feeds him the last of their food, and Elijah's promise miraculously comes true; thus, by an act of faith the woman received the promised blessing. God gave her "manna" from heaven even while he was withholding food from his unfaithful people in the promised land. Some time later the widow's son dies and the widow cries, "Did you come to remind me of my sin and kill my son?" Moved by a faith like that of Abraham (Romans 4:17, Hebrews 11:19), Elijah prays that God might restore her son so that the veracity and trustworthiness of God's word might be demonstrated. 1 Kings 17:22 relates how God "heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came into him again, and he revived." This is the first instance of raising the dead recorded in Scripture. This non-Israelite widow was granted the best covenant blessing in the person of her son, the only hope for a widow in ancient society. The widow cried, "...the word of the Lord from your mouth is the truth." She made a confession that the Israelites had failed to make. After more than three years of drought and famine, God tells Elijah to return to Ahab and announce the end of the drought: not occasioned by repentance in Israel but by the command of the Lord, who had determined to reveal himself again to his people. While on his way, Elijah meets Obadiah, the head of Ahab's household, who had hidden a hundred prophets of Yahweh when Ahab and Jezebel had been killing them. Elijah sends Obadiah back to Ahab to announce his return to Israel. When Ahab confronts Elijah, he refers to him as the "troubler of Israel." Elijah responds by throwing the charge back at Ahab, saying that it is Ahab who has troubled Israel by allowing the worship of false gods. Elijah then berates both the people of Israel and Ahab for their acquiescence in Baal worship. "How long will you go limping with two different opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal then follow him" (1 Kings 18:21). And the people were silent. The Hebrew for this word, "go limping" or "waver", is the same as that used for "danced" in verse 26, where the prophets of Baal frantically dance. Elijah speaks with sharp irony: in the religious ambivalence of Israel, he is portraying here as engaging in a wild and futile religious "dance". At this point Elijah proposes a direct test of the powers of Baal and Yahweh. The people of Israel, 450 prophets of Baal, and 400 prophets of Asherah are summoned to Mount Carmel. Two altars are built, one for Baal and one for Yahweh. Wood is laid on the altars. Two oxen are slaughtered and cut into pieces; the pieces are laid on the wood. Elijah then invites the priests of Baal to pray for fire to light the sacrifice. They pray from morning to noon without success. Elijah ridicules their efforts. They respond by cutting themselves and adding their own blood to the sacrifice (such mutilation of the body was strictly forbidden in the Mosaic law). They continue praying until evening without success. Elijah now orders that the altar of Yahweh be drenched with water from "four large jars" poured three times (1 Kings 18:33-34). He asks God to accept the sacrifice. Fire falls from the sky, consuming the water, the sacrifice and the stones of the altar itself as well. Elijah then orders the death of the prophets of Baal. Elijah prays earnestly for rain to fall again on the land. Then the rains begin, signaling the end of the famine Jezebel, enraged that Elijah had ordered the deaths of her priests, threatens to kill Elijah (1 Kings 19:1-13). Later Elijah would prophesy about Jezebel's death, because of her sin. Later, Elijah flees to Beersheba in Judah, continues alone into the wilderness, and finally sits down under a Retamaine shrub, praying for death. He falls asleep under the tree; the angel of the Lord touches him and tells him to wake up and eat. When he awakens he finds bread and a jar of water. He eats, drinks, and goes back to sleep. The angel comes a second time and tells him to eat and drink because he has a long journey ahead of him. Elijah travels for forty days and forty nights to Mount Horeb, where Moses had received the Ten Commandments. Elijah is the only person described in the Bible as returning to Horeb, after Moses and his generation had left Horeb several centuries before. He seeks shelter in a cave. God again speaks to Elijah (1 Kings 19:9): "What doest thou here, Elijah?". Elijah did not give a direct answer to the Lord's question but evades and equivocates, implying that the work the Lord had begun centuries earlier had now come to nothing, and that his own work was fruitless. Unlike Moses, who tried to defend Israel when they sinned with the golden calf, Elijah bitterly complains over the Israelites' unfaithfulness and says he is the "only one left". Up until this time Elijah has only the word of God to guide him, but now he is told to go outside the cave and "stand before the Lord." A terrible wind passes, but God is not in the wind. A great earthquake shakes the mountain, but God is not in the earthquake. Then a fire passes the mountain, but God is not in the fire. Then a "still small voice" comes to Elijah and asks again, "What doest thou here, Elijah?" Elijah again evades the question and his lament is unrevised, showing that he did not understand the importance of the divine revelation he had just witnessed. God then sends him out again, this time to Damascus to anoint Hazael as king of Syria, Jehu as king of Israel, and Elisha as his replacement. God again speaks to Elijah and sends him to confront Ahab with a question and a prophecy: "Have you killed and also taken possession?" and, "In the place where dogs licked up the blood of Naboth shall dogs lick up your own blood" (1 Kings 21:19). Ahab begins the confrontation by calling Elijah his enemy. Elijah responds by throwing the charge back at him, telling him that he has made himself the enemy of God by his own actions. Elijah then goes beyond the prophecy he was given and tells Ahab that his entire kingdom will reject his authority; that Jezebel will be eaten by dogs within Jezreel; and that his family will be consumed by dogs as well (if they die in a city) or by birds (if they die in the country). When Ahab hears this he repents to such a degree that God relents in punishing Ahab but will punish Jezebel and their son—Ahaziah. Elijah continues now from Ahab to an encounter with Ahaziah. The scene opens with Ahaziah seriously injured in a fall. He sends to the priests of Baalzebub in Ekron, outside the kingdom of Israel, to know if he will recover. Elijah intercepts his messengers and sends them back to Ahaziah with a message "Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are sending to inquire of Baalzebub, the god of Ekron?"(2 Kings 1:6). Ahaziah asks the messengers to describe the person who gave them this message. They tell him he was a hairy man with a leather girt round his loin and he instantly recognizes the description as Elijah the Tishbite. Ahaziah sends out three groups of soldiers to arrest Elijah. The first two are destroyed by fire which Elijah calls down from heaven. The leader of the third group asks for mercy for himself and his men. Elijah agrees to accompany this third group to Ahaziah, where he gives his prophecy in person Elijah, in company with Elisha (Eliseus), approaches the Jordan. He rolls up his mantle and strikes the water (2 Kings 2:8). The water immediately divides and Elijah and Elisha cross on dry land. Suddenly, a chariot of fire and horses of fire appear and Elijah is lifted up in a whirlwind. As Elijah is lifted up, his mantle falls to the ground and Elisha picks it up.

Absalom

describes him as the most handsome man in the kingdom. Absalom eventually rebelled against his father and was killed during the Battle of Ephraim Wood After his full sister Tamar was raped by Amnon, their half-brother and David's eldest son, Absalom waited two years and avenged her by sending his servants to murder Amnon at a feast after he was drunk, to which Absalom had invited all the king's sons (2 Samuel 13). After this deed he fled to Talmai, the king of Geshur;[8] see also Joshua 12:5 or 13:2), his maternal grandfather, and it was not until three years later that he was fully reinstated in his father's favour and finally returned to Jerusalem While at Jerusalem, Absalom built support for himself by speaking to those who came to King David for justice, saying, "See, your claims are good and right; but there is no one deputed by the king to hear you," perhaps reflecting flaws in the judicial system of the United Monarchy. "If only I were the judge of the land! Then all who had a suit or cause might come to me, and I would give them justice." He made gestures of humility by kissing those who bowed before him instead of accepting supplication. He "stole the hearts of the people of Israel."[10] After four years he declared himself king, raised a revolt at Hebron, the former capital, and slept with his father's concubines.[11] All Israel and Judah flocked to him, and David, attended only by the Cherethites and Pelethites and his former bodyguard, which had followed him from Gath, found it expedient to flee. The priests Zadok and Abiathar remained in Jerusalem, and their sons Jonathan and Ahimaaz served as David's spies. Absalom reached the capital and consulted with the renowned Ahithophel (sometimes spelled Achitophel). David took refuge from Absalom's forces beyond the Jordan River. However, he took the precaution of instructing a servant, Hushai, to infiltrate Absalom's court and subvert it. Hushai convinced Absalom to ignore Ahithophel's advice to attack his father while he was on the run, and instead to prepare his forces for a major attack. This gave David critical time to prepare his own troops for the coming battle. A fateful battle was fought in the Wood of Ephraim (the name suggests a locality west of the Jordan) and Absalom's army was completely routed.[12] Absalom's head was caught in the boughs of an oak tree as the mule he was riding ran beneath it. He was discovered there still alive by one of David's men, who reported this to Joab, the king's commander. Joab, accustomed to avenging himself, took this opportunity to even the score with Absalom.[13] Absalom once had Joab's field set on fire[14] and then made Amasa Captain of the Host instead of Joab. Killing Absalom was against David's command, "Beware that none touch the young man Absalom." Joab killed Absalom with three darts through the heart. When David heard that Absalom was killed although not how he was killed, he greatly sorrowed. "O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! Would God I had died for thee, O Absalom, my son, my son!"

Josiah

iterally meaning "healed by Yah" or "supported of Yah"; Latin: Iosias; c. 649-609 BCE) was a king of Judah (641-609 BCE), who according to the Hebrew Bible, instituted major religious changes. Josiah is credited by most historians with having established or compiled important Hebrew Scriptures during the "Deuteronomic reform" that occurred during his rule. Josiah became king of Judah at the age of eight, after the assassination of his father, King Amon, and reigned for thirty-one years, from 641/640 to 610/609 BCE.[3] He is also one of the kings mentioned in one of the two divergent genealogies of Jesus in the New Testament. Josiah is only known through biblical texts. No reference to him exists in surviving texts of the period from Egypt or Babylon, and no clear archaeological evidence, such as inscriptions bearing his name, has been found.[4] According to the Bible, Josiah was the son of King Amon and Jedidah, the daughter of Adaiah of Bozkath.[5] His grandfather Manasseh was one of the kings blamed for turning away from the worship of Yahweh. Manasseh adapted the Temple for idolatrous worship. Josiah's great-grandfather was King Hezekiah who was a noted reformer. According to the Hebrew Bible, in the eighteenth year of his rule, Josiah ordered the High Priest Hilkiah to use the tax money which had been collected over the years to renovate the temple. It was during this time that Hilkiah discovered the Book of the Law. While Hilkiah was clearing the treasure room of the Temple he discovered a scroll described as "the book of the Law"[5] or as "the book of the law of Yahweh by the hand of Moses". The phrase "the book of the Torah" (ספר התורה) in 2 Kings 22:8 is identical to the phrase used in Joshua 1:8 and 8:34 to describe the sacred writings that Joshua had received from Moses. The book is not identified in the text as the Torah and many scholars believe this was either a copy of the Book of Deuteronomy or a text that became a part of Deuteronomy.[11] A sketch of the Temple of Solomon based on descriptions in the Tanakh. However it has been noted that the story of the repairs to the Temple is based on those ordered by Joash an earlier Judean king in 2 Kings 12.[12] Hilkiah brought this scroll to Josiah's attention. Josiah consulted the prophetess Huldah, who assured him that the evil foretold in the document for nonobservance of its instructions, would come, but not in his day; "because," she said, "thine heart was tender and thou didst humble thyself before the Lord."[5] An assembly of the elders of Judah and Jerusalem and of all the people was called, and Josiah then encouraged the exclusive worship of Yahweh, forbidding all other forms of worship. The instruments and emblems of the worship of Baal and "the host of heaven,"were removed from the Jerusalem Temple. Local sanctuaries, or High Places, were destroyed, from Beer-sheba in the south to Beth-el and the cities of Samaria in the north.[5] Josiah had pagan priests executed and even had the bones of the dead priests of Bethel exhumed from their graves and burned on their altars. Josiah also reinstituted the Passover celebrations. View of the Temple of Solomon with ceiling removed as depicted in a 3-D computer model According to 1 Kings 13:1-3 an unnamed "man of God" (sometimes identified as Iddo) had prophesied to King Jeroboam of the northern Kingdom of Israel (Samaria), approximately three hundred years earlier, that "a son named Josiah will be born to the house of David" and that he would destroy the altar at Bethel. And the only exception to this destruction was for the grave of an unnamed prophet he found in Bethel (2 Kings 23:15-19), who had foretold that these religious sites Jeroboam erected would one day be destroyed (see 1 Kings 13). Josiah ordered the double grave of the "man of God" and of the Bethel prophet to be let alone as these prophecies had come true. Josiah's changes are described in two accounts in the Bible, 2 Kings 22-23, and 2 Chronicles 34-35. They began with the ending of ancient Israelite religious practices, and the astral cults that had become popular in the 8th Century, and led to centralisation of worship in Jerusalem, and the destruction of the temple at Bethel.[13] According to the later account in 2 Chronicles, Josiah destroyed altars and images of pagan deities in cities of the tribes of Manasseh, Ephraim, "and Simeon, as far as Naphtali" (2 Chronicles 34:6-7), which were outside of his kingdom, Judah, and returned the Ark of the Covenant to the Temple When Josiah became king of Judah in about 641/640 BCE, the international situation was in flux. The Assyrian Empire was beginning to disintegrate, the Neo-Babylonian Empire had not yet risen to replace it, and Egypt to the west was still recovering from Assyrian rule. In this power vacuum, Jerusalem was able to govern itself for the time being without foreign intervention. In the spring of 609 BCE, Pharaoh Necho II led a sizable army up to the Euphrates River to aid the Assyrians against the Babylonians.[15] Taking the coast route Via Maris into Syria at the head of a large army, consisting mainly of mercenaries, and supported by his Mediterranean fleet along the shore, Necho passed the low tracts of Philistia and Sharon. However, the passage over the ridge of hills which shuts in on the south of the great Jezreel Valley was blocked by the Judean army led by Josiah, who may have considered that the Assyrians and Egyptians were weakened by the death of the pharaoh Psamtik I only a year earlier (610 BCE), who had been appointed and confirmed by Assyrian kings Esarhaddon and Ashurbanipal.[15] Josiah attempted to block the advance at Megiddo, where a fierce battle was fought and Josiah was killed.[11] Necho then joined forces with the Assyrian Ashur-uballit II and together they crossed the Euphrates and lay siege to Harran. The combined forces failed to capture the city, and Necho retreated to northern Syria. There are two accounts of Josiah's death in the Bible. The Books of Kings merely state that Necho II met Josiah at Megiddo and killed him (2 Kings 23:29). The Book of Chronicles (2 Chronicles 35:20-27) gives a lengthier account and states that Josiah was fatally wounded by Egyptian archers and was brought back to Jerusalem to die. His death was a result of "not listen[ing] to what Necho had said at God's command..." when Necho stated: "What have I to do with you, king of Judah? I am not coming against you today, but against the house with which I am at war; and God has commanded me to hurry. Cease opposing God, who is with me, so that he will not destroy you." (NRSV) Josiah did not heed this warning and by both accounts his death was caused by meeting Necho at Megiddo. According to 2 Chronicles 35:25, Jeremiah wrote a lament for Josiah's death.[16] The account in Chronicles is considered unreliable by some scholars,[17] as it is based on the description of the death of Ahab in 1 Kings, and it meets the Chronicler's religious agenda to attribute the death of a righteous king to some form of sin.

Isaiah

ou can break Isaiah down into roughly three parts. The first part (Proto-Isaiah) prophesies death and destruction, but keeps lightening it up with cheery prophecies of a good and holy kingdom at the end of time. He always finds the sunny side. Sure, God might attack and annihilate people for wearing earrings, or appoint children to rule as bad kings over Israel, but he always gets to a silver-lining at some point. In the end, everyone—God included—is going to be so relaxed and peaceful, that formerly carnivorous lions will be able to eat straw with oxen in peace. A vegetarian or vegan diet will be the rule in the Animal Kingdom (Alicia Silverstone's bringing the brownies, probably). We're not suggesting that the end of days stops with a Phish and Widespread Panic Jam Band festival, but uh, maybe that's one metaphor you might want to try on. License to Ill The second part of Isaiah (part of Proto-Isaiah and most of Deutero-Isaiah—the latter of which includes chapters 40-55 or so) is much more revved up and eager to see some carnage. Nation after nation receives prophecies of gloom and doom: Assyria, Edom, Ephraim, Babylonia, Moab—you name it, it's getting the Snacktime Cabbage Patch Kid Treatment: discontinued. Promulgating the ethos of Iron Maiden's "Bring Your Daughter... to the Slaughter", God hands out beat-downs and dishes out vengeance to all the nations, Israel and Judah included. It's not quite as graphic as some other parts of the Bible, but Isaiah—despite its peaceful rep—definitely portrays a God with a license to kill (and, potentially, a "license to ill" as well). The Big Chill Finally, the third part of Isaiah (Trito-Isaiah, or chapters 56-66) seems to be coming more from a future perspective—the slaughter is (or is almost) behind us, and now everyone is getting it together, waiting for the peaceful time that the earlier part of Isaiah had prophesied. God's not only going to be the Big Kahuna, but really the only Kahuna on the block, as far as anyone can tell. The blood and guts fest comes to an end, and everyone will go to God's temple and God's holy people and pay homage and reverence to them, while the corpses of everyone who rebelled against God continue to rot ignominiously in the fields. (Despite this gory little sideshow, the cosmic Woodstock on God's Holy Mountain is really still the main event.) Also, it would be important to mention some of the Messianic prophecies scattered throughout Isaiah—everyone argues about these (as covered in the later analysis sections, like "Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory"). Is the "Suffering Servant" of Isaiah (particularly prominent in chapter 52) a personification of the righteous members of Israel? Is he Jesus of Nazareth? Is he a figment of a narrator's hopeful imagination? Is he a Messiah yet to come? Obviously, we're not going to attempt to answer any of those questions. This is just to note that those prophecies are some of the big, standout passages in Isaiah, for everyone—in addition to being the most fiercely debated

Manasseh

was a king of the Kingdom of Judah. He was the only son of Hezekiah with Hephzibah. He became king at an age of 12 and reigned for 55 years (2 Kings 21:1; 2 Chronicles 33:1). Edwin Thiele has concluded that he commenced his reign as co-regent with his father Hezekiah in 697/696 BC, with his sole reign beginning in 687/686 BC and continuing until his death in 643/642 BC.[1] William F. Albright has dated his reign from 687-642 BC.[citation needed] Manasseh was the first king of Judah who would not have had a direct experience with the Kingdom of Israel (Samaria), which had been destroyed by the Assyrians in c. 720 BC with much of its population deported. He re-instituted polytheistic worship and reversed the religious changes made by his father Hezekiah; for which he is condemned by several Biblical texts. He was married to Meshullemeth, daughter of Haruz of Jotbah, and they had a son Amon, who succeeded him as king of Judah upon his death. After a reign of 55 years (for 10 of which he was co-regent with his father), the longest in the history of Judah, he died in c. 643 BC and was buried in the garden of Uzza, the "garden of his own house" (2 Kings 21:17-18; 2 Chronicles 33:20), and not in the City of David, among his ancestors. The biblical account of Manasseh is found in II Kings 21:1-18 and II Chronicles 32:33-33:20. He is also mentioned in Jeremiah 15:4. Contents [hide] 1 Relations with Assyria 1.1 Olive oil trade 2 Religious policies 3 Chronological notes 4 In other literature 5 References 6 Sources 7 External links When Manasseh's reign began, Sennacherib was king of Assyria, who reigned until 681 BC. Manasseh is mentioned in Assyrian records as a contemporary and loyal vassal of Sennacherib's son and successor, Esarhaddon. Assyrian records list Manasseh among twenty-two kings required to provide materials for Esarhaddon's building projects. Esarhaddon died in 669 BC and was succeeded by his son, Ashurbanipal, who also names Manasseh as one of a number of vassals who assisted his campaign against Egypt.[2] The Assyrian records are consistent with archaeological evidence of demographic trends and settlement patterns suggesting a period of stability in Judah during Manasseh's reign. Despite the criticisms of his religious policies in the biblical texts, archaeologists such as Israel Finkelstein and Neil Asher Silberman credit Manasseh with reviving Judah's rural economy, arguing that a possible Assyrian grant of most favoured nation status stimulated the creation of an export market.[3] They argue that changes to the economic structure of the countryside would have required the cooperation of the 'countryside aristocracy',[4] with restoration of worship at the high places a quid pro quo for this. Apparent devastation of the fertile Shephelah, coupled with growth of the population of the highlands and the southeast of the kingdom (especially in the Beersheba valley) during Manasseh's reign point to this possibility. Olive oil production and export played a big role in the economy of the time. There's evidence in the Gaza area of entrepôt trade, and an apparently flourishing olive oil industry at Ekron.[5][6][7] The construction or reconstruction of forts at sites such as Arad and Horvat Uza, explored by Nadav Na'aman and others,[8] is also argued by Finkelstein and Silberman to be evidence in support of this thesis,[9] as they would have been needed to protect the trade routes. However, Finkelstein and Silberman argue that the trade led to great disparities between rich and poor, which in turn gave rise to civil unrest.[10] As a result, they speculate, the Deuteronomist author or editor of 2 Kings later reworked the traditions about Manasseh to portray his outward-looking involvement in trade as, effectively, apostasy There are three aspects of Manasseh's religious policy which the writer of Kings considered deplorable: the religious reaction which followed hard upon his accession; its extension by the free adoption of foreign cults; and the bitter persecution of the prophetic party. According to Kings, Manasseh reversed the centralizing reforms of his father Hezekiah, and re-established local shrines, possibly for economic reasons. He restored polytheistic worship of Baal, and Asherah (2 Kings 21) in the Temple and sponsored the Assyrian astral cult throughout Judah.[13] His reign may be described as reactionary in relation to his father's; and Kings suggests that he may have executed supporters of his father's reforms. During Manasseh's half-century the popular worship was a medley of native and foreign cults, the influence of which was slow to disappear.[14] Such a reaction involved the persecution of those who had bitterly condemned the popular syncretism. The prophets were put to the sword (Jer. ii. 30). "Innocent blood" reddened the streets of Jerusalem. For many decades those who sympathized with prophetic ideas were in constant peril.[14] According to 2 Chronicles 33:11-13, Manasseh was on one occasion brought in chains to the Assyrian king, (possibly Esarhaddon), presumably for suspected disloyalty. The verse goes on to indicate that he was later treated well and restored to his throne. However, neither Kings nor Assyrian records mention this incident.[2] The severity of Manasseh's imprisonment brought him to repentance. According to one of the two Biblical accounts (2 Kings 21 does not have the account of Manasseh's captivity or repentance), Manasseh was restored to the throne, (2 Chronicles 33:11-13) and abandoned idolatry, removing foreign idols (2 Chronicles 33:15) and enjoining the people to worship the Lord of Israel

Amos

was one of the Twelve Minor Prophets. An older contemporary of Hosea and Isaiah, Amos was active c. 750 BC during the reign of Jeroboam II, (786-746 BC). He was from the southern Kingdom of Judah but preached in the northern Kingdom of Israel. Amos wrote at a time of relative peace and prosperity but also of neglect of YHWH's laws. He spoke against an increased disparity between the very wealthy and the very poor. His major themes of social justice, God's omnipotence, and divine judgment became staples of prophecy. The Book of Amos is attributed to him. The ancient exhortation to what in modern times would be considered social justice is expressed by the voice of God in Amos' teachings. Amos is told by God that the Israelites are going to face divine intervention as institutionalized oppression was running rampant in Israel. God expressed this institutionalized oppression by saying that the Israelites were practicing religiosity without righteousness. By oppressing the poor and failing to practice justice the Israelites were behaving unrighteously; social justice was to be enacted as a core of God's message in Amos' prophetic teachings