by Stephen Rodgers
Comparative Outlines of the Historical Books
Having briefly dealt with the “five books of Moses,” we now turn our attention to the second major section of the OT: the historical books. We just finished going over the Pentateuch, which was the first section, and are now moving on to the next section. Remember, the OT (as it appears in the Protestant Bible) can be broken down into four sections:
- Law (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy)
- History (Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 & 2 Samuel, 1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther)
- Wisdom (Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs)
- Prophecy (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi)
The 12 historical books were written over a period of approximately 1,000 years, and trace the history of Israel from the invasion of Canaan, through the divided kingdoms of Israel and Judah, the fall of the two kingdoms to Assyria and Babylonia, and the restoration of Judah from exile in the sixth century BC.
AUTHOR & COMPOSITION
Unlike the Pentateuch, the historical books do not have a single author. Rather, as we can see from their content (and from their structure in the Jewish canon) that each book was written at a particular time in Israel’s history, although theories vary as to exactly how the books should be grouped thematically, and to what degree they were editorially shaped after their initial composition. For example, one theory holds that Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings form a group of writings known as “Deuteronomistic History” that were completed during the Babylonian exile (albeit begun much earlier), whereas Chronicles, Ezra, and Nehemiah form a second group of writings completed during Judah’s return from exile.
Ultimately it is important to ask the question why a particular scholar (or group of scholars) is advancing a specific textual theory. Two scholars may advance similar theories in regards to the compositional elements of a particular text or set of texts, but their reasons for doing so will be radically different if one approaches their study with the presupposition that the Bible is the word of God, and the other approaches their study with the presupposition that there is no God and the Bible is no different from other ANE holy books.
It should be recognized however that while these writings are clearly a serious attempt to write an accurate history of Israel and Judah using the conventions of ANE historiography, these books are not merely historical; they are also theological. Ultimately, this is not a story about Israel from the perspective of the historian, but rather they are ultimately written from the perspective of God as they record His repeated interaction with His people through miracles, revelation, and providence.
THEMES
The ESV Study Bible highlights five major themes of the historical books:
- God’s Sovereignty – God is portrayed and presented in the historical books as sovereign over all creation, both in terms of both specific inbreakings (miracles) and a more macroscopic view of history (first the nation of Israel, but also over Assyria, Babylonia, and Persia). In fact, it is precisely his sovereign care for Israel and their place in history that form the backdrop for this section of Scripture.
- God’s Presence – God is portrayed both as near and far throughout the historical books. In many cases He is shown directly intervening in events via miracles, prophets, and even the monarchy. At other times His presence is missing, either as a result of Israel’s sin (Judges 2; 1 Sam 4:19-22; etc.) or simply due to reasons known only to Him. In either case, the presence of God (or lack thereof) is noteworthy within the narrative.
- God’s Promises – The historical books quite clearly were written on the foundation of the promises and covenants of the Pentateuch. Furthermore the historical books overall can only be understood in the context of the Abrahamic covenant in which God swore to Abraham that he would receive the land of Canaan (Gen 12:7; 17:18-21), many descendants (Gen 12:2; 15:5) , and blessings on him, and through him, on all nations (Gen 12:1-3).
- God’s Kingdom – Just as the Bible teaches that God is king over all the earth (Ex 15:18; Ps 93:1), He also chose to exercise his rule through human kings from the line of Abraham (Gen 17:6, 16; 35:11; 49:10). He prescribed that Israel’s kings should not be like the kings of other nations, but were instead to be rooted in God’s Word and allow Him to fight their battles for them (Deut 17:14-20; Judg 8:22-23; 1 Sam 8:5, 20). While some kings followed this mandate and others (to their destruction) did not, the common theme is that God is the ultimate King of Israel. The Davidic kings were “sons of God” (2 Sam 7:11-16), and this theme carries into the NT where the ultimate Son of God was also of the line of David (Matt 1:1; Rom 1:3) and His ministry ushers in a new present kingdom while also pointing to a future one as well.
- God’s Covenant – The theme of the previously mentioned “Deuteronomistic History” books could be summed up in the statement “Sin brings punishment; repentance brings restoration,” which echoes one of the great themes of Deuteronomy. Throughout the historical books a pattern emerges: reward follows obedience, whereas punishment follows disobedience. This is seen in the nation as a whole, their representative kings, and even specific individuals (1 Chron 10:13; 2 Chron 26:16-23).
GENRE
The historical books are predominantly narrative, although they also contain portions of other genres such as poetry, genealogies, lists, letters, etc.
It should be noted that the historical books do not mythologize their miracle accounts; rather they present miracles as accounts of real events in the same manner that they record other, more everyday events. Despite the fact that secular scholars question the historical reliability of the miracle passages, from a literary standpoint there is no reason to separate them from the text, or consider them to be later additions.
Other Works Referenced:
- ESV Study Bible, “Introduction to the Historical Books”
- Reformation Study Bible, “Introduction to the Historical Books”
- Driscoll, A Book You’ll Actually Read On The Old Testament
- Knight, The Layman’s Bible Handbook