5 October 2020

"The Emergence of Monarchy in Ancient Israel" a book by Priest Andrei Vydrin, Associate Professor of the Department of Biblical Studies at the Moscow Theological Academy

The publishing house of the Moscow Theological Academy has released a book by Priest Andrei Vydrin, Associate Professor of the MThA Department of Biblical Studies at the MDA.

This study is a historical, philological and theological commentary on the First Book of Kings, dedicated to one of the most important milestones in the history of Old Testament Israel. It was a period of the emergence of a statehood and the introduction of a monarchical form of a government in the eleventh century BC. The Israelites were under the dominion one of the Greek tribes that settled in the southwest of Canaan called the Philistines.

The Introduction gives an overview of the direct and indirect evidences, which should answer the question how authentic the narratives in the First and the Second Book of Kings are. In contrary to the group of many biblical critics, it is claimed that written texts could have appeared in Israel at the times of kings David and Solomon. In the end of the eighth century, they were collected and edited by court scribes of the Jewish king Hezekiah in Jerusalem.

The section on the rise of the prophet Samuel deals with one of the darkest periods in the history of Israel. It was a natural consequence of a general chaos which we learnt about at the end of the Book of Judges. Biblical writers saw the choice of young Samuel as the beginning of a new era of monarchy. The narrative shows that Israel at that time was waiting for a king pleasing to the Lord, which later appeared in a person of a king David.

The section describing the reign of Saul tells how the Israeli people made a difficult choice, on which their whole future fate, and possibly the very existence of the nation, could have depended. Despite asking for a king was considered sinful from a religious point of view, an old political system of judges had apparently become obsolete and ineffective. Having become a deliberate violator of God's will, Saul was rejected. The Lord chose a young shepherd David as the future king. This mysterious anointing of a new king became a turning point in the history of Israel and its monarchy as it meant the transition of divine blessing and protection from Saul to David.

A fairly large part of the study is dedicated to the analysis of a duel between young David and the Philistine hero Goliath (1 Samuel 17). The commentary draws parallels between this fight and the martial arts of ancient Greek warriors, examines the main scientific hypotheses about the most likely historical and chronological context of the story and reveals its theological significance.

First of all, the book addresses to modern readers who would like to receive some necessary information about the cultural and historical context of biblical legends and get acquainted with the peculiarities of ancient traditions for a historical writing. It will also be interesting and useful for biblical scholars who are professionally engaged in the Bible study, as well as for teachers and students of theological educational institutions and theological departments.

"The Emergence of Monarchy in Ancient Israel" a book by Priest Andrei Vydrin, Associate Professor of the Department of Biblical Studies at the Moscow Theological Academy

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