King and Cultus in Chronicles: Worship and the Reinterpretation of History.

• Author: Knoppers, Gary N.

This work is a revision of the author's dissertation, written in 1990 under Joseph Agius at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas in Rome. Like many recent scholars, Riley views Chronicles as a fundamentally different work from that of Ezra-Nehemiah. He dates Chronicles, which he views as a combination of history and theology, to the late Persian period. The Chronicler purportedly belonged to the cultic personnel of the Jerusalem Temple. Methodologically, Riley favors synchronic analysis (the final form of the text), but he does give some attention to diachronic issues, such as the influence of ancient Near Eastern royal ideology on the Chronicler and the Chronicler's reuse of material from Samuel-Kings, the Psalms, and Ezra-Nehemiah.

The discussion proceeds under two major rubrics. In the first section, "the Chronicler's cultic portrayal of Kings," the author argues for the priority of the cultus in the Chronicler's presentation, while in the second section, "the Chronicler's cultic reinterpretation of Israel's royal history and heritage," he discusses the Chronicler's view of kingship, the Davidic dynastic promises, and the role of the nation in the post-exilic period. According to Riley, the relationship between king and cultus provides an interpretive key to understanding the purpose of the Chronicler's work. The great concern monarchs evince for matters of cult, not only reflects ancient Near Eastern royal ideology, but also the Chronicler's appropriation and reinterpretation of the past to address current issues. The Davidic legacy, affirmed in post-exilic times through the recital of history and the practice of cult (e.g., the use of royal psalms), is thought to have posed a problem for the Chronicler. Confronted with the vitality of royal ideology, the Chronicler reinterprets the Da-vidic promises in a non-political sense. The Chronicler emphasizes the close bond between the Davidic dynasty and the Jerusalem cult to relativize the political import of the Davidic promises to the pre-exilic age. By rewriting David's legacy to focus on questions of cultic endowment, the Chronicler, no less than the authors of the royal psalms, could fully affirm the per-tinence of the Davidic covenant to his own time.

Riley is an able exponent of a purely cultic reading of Chronicles. His work is well organized and engages the views of a variety of scholars. There are, however, flaws both in the author's general presentation of the Davidic role in...