Good King–Bad King Tactics in the Bible

Posted by Bronwen Manning on December 3, 2008 under Biblical Hebrew, History | Be the First to Comment

Biblically speaking the Judean King Hezekiah (along with his grandson Josiah) are the most written about Kings in biblical scholarship and referred to as the “Good King(s)” of Judah. The reason for their infamy is the bible’s account of their great religious works that spurred on the belief of one God. Sandwiched between these pillars of the religious righteous stands a man often forgotten and most definitely black-listed by the biblical writers. This man was Manasseh the “bad king”.

I wish to display in a table the difference between Manasseh and his father and allow you the reader to make your own assumptions as to whom the title “Bad King” truly belongs.

The graph demonstrates that though King Manasseh ruled over the landscape sculpted by his father- a land devastated by military campaigns; burdened with heavy taxes; displaced populations; and no major sources of food- he restored much of what was lost through hard work! This work consisted of opening up agriculture in the Negev areas to replace what was lost in the Shephelah, resettling his population in the Judean hills and opening more trade with the East trade networks.

Turning our attention now to the biblical comments of Manasseh as a bad king (2 Kings 21) we see that these are reports of Manasseh from the perspective of religion alone. He reversed the activities of his father and championed the traditional worship of the common people that involved a great mix of “Canaanite” traditions. It is this reason that he carries, perhaps undeservedly, the characterization of a “Bad King”. I think that if I had been living in Lachish during the reign of Hezekiah and Manasseh- I would have cursed the former and blessed the latter. For he truly was “the Repairer of the Breach, the Restorer of ways to dwell in” (Isaiah 58:12).

Biblical Archeology – the City of David

Posted by Naama Baumgarten on January 30, 2008 under Archaeology | Be the First to Comment

The oldest part of Israelite Jerusalem, known as the city of David, is located on a narrow ridge just south of the walls of the current old city of Jerusalem. After conquering Jerusalem from the Jebusites, David established the city as his capital and began to develop it. David’s Jerusalem was extremely small and was populated mainly by the king and his staff. David laid the groundwork for building a royal Acropolis, including a palace, administrative building, and naturally, the Jerusalem temple. It was his son, Solomon, who completed this building project, as well as the wall of the city, which was not completed by David: “Solomon built the Milo and closed the breaches [in the walls] of the city of his father David” (1 Kings 11:27).

The city of David has undergone massive excavations since the 19^th century, revealing public buildings, private houses, water systems and other archaeological findings. These excavations also reveal the slow expansion the city underwent and its extension towards the eastern hills of the area.

Of special importance among the archaeological finds is an ancient water system which enabled the inhabitants of Canaanite Jerusalem to reach a protected accumulation pool outside the city walls using an underground tunnel. This and the 8^th century water system built by king Hezekiah – the impressive Siloam tunnel – show that the need to channel the water from the sources outside the walls to the inhabitants living inside them was crucial to every-day life in Jerusalem.

In recent excavations, the archaeologist Aylat Mazar claims to have found the remnants of the palace of king David, an identification made with the aid of the biblical account.

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