The Cultic Reformation Chiastic Structure in the Book of Kings

Abstract

The Book of Kings presents religious reforms in ancient Israel and Judah in an elaborately designed pattern. Repetitive verbal and thematic parallels concerning reforms and political incidents reveal a systematic–concentric chiastic structure. A good king/bad king pattern framed within a concept of “one Israel” shows that Solomon’s/Jeroboam’s and Manasseh’s/Josiah’s reforms are placed at the opposite ends of the chiasmus, enveloping those of Asa/Ahab and Ahaz/Hezekiah and then Jehu’s/Joash’s reforms centered within the larger structure. By virtue of their positioning inside the structure, the Yahwistic reforms of Solomon, Josiah, and Jehu/Joash are emphasized as compared to other kings’ reforms. All of northern Israel’s reforms fail, while in Judah only some succeed, and even these have limitations and require further development. The Davidic heirs and their supporters may now perceive that Kings presents and pursues the pro-Yahwistic reforms as the ideal ones, based on the Davidic covenant, while rejecting the potentially problematic ones.

Keywords

• <i>The Books of Kings</i> (1–2 Kings)
• religious reformations
• good king/bad king pattern
• concentric chiasm
• pro-Yahwistic reforms
• repetition of reformations