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After tracing the history of humankind from Adam to David, 1 & 2 Chronicles focus on the kingdom of David as God's chosen people-and the responsibilities incumbent on them.The Chronicler's prevailing emphases are where and how the people of Israel worship and the exclusivity of worshiping God alone.Even so, rites themselves are not sufficient. God deserves not only our worship and adoration but also our obedience. Moreover, for the author of 1 & 2 Chronicles, the God-appointed kings, priests, and prophets (plus soldiers and several wives) serve as both positive and negative examples of how fidelity to God affects later individuals and nations-and, in particular, the people of postexilic Judah. Through this ancient text, Christians can learn valuable lessons about authentic worship and heartfelt obedience.

Ezra-Nehemiah describes events that occurred between 539 and 432 BCE, but the book itself was written between that latter date and about 200 BCE. Though it describes early events and perhaps incorporates authentic "memoirs" of Nehemiah, it also contains later lists, narratives, and thinking about that crucial century in the life of post-exilic Judah (or Yehud) and its neighbors. Ezra-Nehemiah dutifully records both the successes and the excesses of three waves of returnees. It opens with the efforts of early returnees to rebuild the altar at the site of the Jerusalemite temple in 538/7 and the rebuilding and dedication of the temple in 520 BCE. It records a second return under Ezra perhaps in 458, and it reaches its saddest moment in Ezra 9-10, when Ezra himself demands the divorce of returned exiles who had married local Yehudite women. Nehemiah completes the narrative of the reestablishment of exiled Jews with its discussion of the rebuilding of the wall of Jerusalem and other actions in 445/4 and 432 by the returnees to solidify their control over the temple, Jerusalem, and post-exilic Yehud.Written by accomplished scholars with all students of Scripture in mind, this innovative new commentary series is designed to make quality Bible study more accessible. Pastors, professors and students of Scripture are discovering that this commentary is a wonderful new tool for enhancing interpretation.

The book of Ezekiel reflects a degree of literary coherence unmatched in the canon of biblical prophets. Organized around three major visions of God, Ezekiel tells the story of God's final attempt as their only legitimate king to claim the loyalty of his subjects, the rebellious and recalcitrant house of Israel. The prophet Ezekiel plays a key role in this campaign. In both vision and symbolic act, Ezekiel is so closely identified with divine judgment that his life becomes a mirror of the judgment itself. His first vision gives him a glimpse of the cosmos under the rule of God and inaugurates him into his role as a prophet, a visible sign of the power of God. As the book unfolds, the prophet will see visions, the people will see the prophet, and both spectacles will demonstrate without a doubt that Yahweh is the God of Israel. Margaret S. Odell has been described by Walter Brueggemann as "among the most important members of the new wave of Ezekiel scholars who take full account of the peculiarity of the book of Ezekiel." As with each volume in the Smyth & Helwys Bible Commentary series, Odell's groundbreaking new commentary on the prophetic book of Ezekiel connects the insights of biblical scholarship to the larger world of faith.Written by accomplished scholars with all students of Scripture in mind, this innovative new commentary series is designed to make quality Bible study more accessible. Pastors, professors and students of Scripture are discovering that this commentary is a wonderful new tool for enhancing interpretation.

There's nothing minor about these prophets.Over the last thirty years, scholars have begun to explore the implications of an ancient Jewish and Christian tradition that referred to the "Minor Prophets" as "the Twelve," "the Twelve Prophets," or the "Book of the Twelve." Scholarly work on the Book of the Twelve in the last quarter century has focused on two issues: (1) examining how the Book of the Twelve came to be recorded on a single scroll and (2) isolating unifying elements that transcend the individual writings and take on new significance when the Book of the Twelve becomes a single collection. Nogalski's comprehensive commentary offers an overview of the ancient traditions concerning the Book of the Twelve that lays the foundation for understanding these recent developments.Written by accomplished scholars with all students of Scripture in mind, this innovative new commentary series is designed to make quality Bible study more accessible. Pastors, professors and students of Scripture are discovering that this commentary is a wonderful new tool for enhancing interpretation.

Returning to the ground of the highly successful first volume in the Smyth & Helwys Bible Commentary, Walter Brueggemann's 1 & 2 Kings, scholar, writer, and preacher Tony Cartledge explores the beginnings of kingship in Israel.From the counsel of Samuel through the determination of Saul to the towering figure of David, this commentary thoughtfully considers the debt that our religious and literary heritage owes to the books of 1 and 2 Samuel. Cartledge describes and analyzes the events in these books as central to the preservation of the traditions that influence the remainder of the Hebrew and Christian Bibles. Written in commentary form with the addition of numerous insights and visuals drawn from the worlds of art, archaeology, literature, history, and geography, 1 & 2 Samuel opens up the biblical text in signficant and faithful ways.Written by accomplished scholars with all students of Scripture in mind, this innovative new commentary series is designed to make quality Bible study more accessible. Pastors, professors and students of Scripture are discovering that this commentary is a wonderful new tool for enhancing interpretation.

The "Ten Commandments" stand at the center of the book of Exodus in chapter 20 and provide the key to what the book is about. The Ten Commandments refer to the story in Exodus 1-19 that tells who God is and what God has done for Israel. They refer forward to what God expects of Israel in response, as the second half of the book begins to explain in Exodus 20-40.The Ten Commandments also provide key guidance about how to read the book of Exodus. The content of the Ten Commandments that Moses recalls in Deuteronomy 5 differs in several respects from the edition that Exodus 20 records. The differences between the version that Deuteronomy recalls and the present edition of Exodus extend far beyond the Ten Commandments and concern vital matters like covenant, law, and the festivals by which Israel celebrates these institutions. Johnstone's commentary argues that these differences are not to be glossed over but provide evidence of a dialogue between two voices that runs throughout Exodus and beyond. Dialogue is central to the formation and interpretation of Scripture and is essential to the ways in which humans attempt to speak about God.Written by accomplished scholars with all students of Scripture in mind, this innovative new commentary series is designed to make quality Bible study more accessible. Pastors, professors and students of Scripture are discovering that this commentary is a wonderful new tool for enhancing interpretation.

The contrast in appreciation of Leviticus and Numbers by the synagogue on the one hand, and by the church on the other, is little short of astonishing. The former has considered it crucial to an understanding of God and of the nature of the "chosen people" (Israel). The latter has usually reduced it to allegory or as a mere historical record of Israelite religion. In this new volume of the groundbreaking Smyth & Helwys Bible Commentary series, Hebrew Bible scholar Lloyd R. Bailey examines these often overlooked or underappreciated books of Moses in the contexts of both the Jewish and Christian traditions.Written by accomplished scholars with all students of Scripture in mind, this innovative new commentary series is designed to make quality Bible study more accessible. Pastors, professors and students of Scripture are discovering that this commentary is a wonderful new tool for enhancing interpretation.

The Old Testament provides powerful ways of thinking and seeing. Preeminent Old Testament scholar Walter Brueggemann considers the artistry of 1 and 2 Kings as it mediates between history and faith.Walter Brueggemann has spent many years engaged with the composition and imagination of the Old Testament, pondering the ways of power in church and society, and he makes clear that those issues of in the ancient texts pertain to contemporary times.The chronology of the kings is complex and fractured in detail. Brueggemann reports upon the length of years of rule for each king as given in the text. At the same time, he situates each king according to a critical chronology. While the book proceeds text by text, special focus is placed upon Solomon, Elijah, Elisha, and Josiah as models of faith. Brueggemann provides a useful guide for the reader to maneuver between flat history and absolute faith. Written in commentary form, 1&2 Kings invites the reader to view fresh ways of faithful insight and wisdom.Written by accomplished scholars with all students of Scripture in mind, this innovative new commentary series is designed to make quality Bible study more accessible. Pastors, professors and students of Scripture are discovering that this commentary is a wonderful new tool for enhancing interpretation.Walter Brueggemann served as the William Marcellus McPheddeis Professor of Old Testament at Columbia Seminary in Decatur, Georgia.