Dr. David Gilad, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
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| The Bialik Institute |
A remarkable feature of the presentation of Jehu and his royal descendants in the Book of Kings is the ambivalent nature of the way they are evaluated, with the pendulum seeming to swing back and forth between praise and condemnation.
Although one might conveniently attribute this phenomenon to an intentional disparity between older source material and editorial reworking, this article will demonstrate that the complex portrayal of the Jehu dynasty can be attributed to a Josianic editor, who skillfully weaved in his perspective without deviating significantly from the direction of the source material.
The overall positive trajectory of Israel’s fate from Jehu through Jeroboam II was intended to express the idea that even in exile, there was still hope for a future restoration since God had never completely abandoned His people. In this sense, the positive affirmation in 2 Kgs 13:23b can be viewed as an antidote to the pessimistic conclusion of 2 Kgs 17:20.
The overall positive trajectory of Israel’s fate from Jehu through Jeroboam II was intended to express the idea that even in exile, there was still hope for a future restoration since God had never completely abandoned His people. In this sense, the positive affirmation in 2 Kgs 13:23b can be viewed as an antidote to the pessimistic conclusion of 2 Kgs 17:20.
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