Fall and Rise of Jerusalem: Judah Under Babylonian Rule, The

Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, Dec 2006 by Phillips, Elaine A

A summary chapter reviews and synthesizes the evidence in the previous chapters. This is followed by multiple categories of additional questions that need to be addressed, many of which do not really seem to be answerable. This part of the final chapter could best be described as an appendix. The bibliography is followed by indices of authors, Scripture passages, and ancient places and sites.

The Fall and Rise of Jerusalem prompts the reader to review 2 Kings 24-25 and Jeremiah 37-44 with greater sensitivity to the way the text presents "those who remained" along with the exiles who later returned. In the end, however, it appears that some of the most significant conclusions in this regard are founded on an approach to both the historical and prophetic texts that presumes it is necessary to dissect them rather than read them as a whole. The author seems to spend a good deal of time and space stating that manifold differences of opinion exist and that there is much we do not know. This very detailed work is painstaking in its analysis of every angle of the relevant issues. The book is slow reading and does seem to be exceptionally repetitious, perhaps because the author chose to address each issue from a range of perspectives. Because he is knitting together a synthetic treatment, there are numerous references to what is yet forthcoming and what has already been presented. Each reference binds the presentation together, but it is a tedious approach. It is a typical published dissertation with exhaustive and comprehensive citation of secondary sources and volumes of important details in the footnotes. Those most drawn to this text would clearly be historical geographers and graduate students in related disciplines.

Elaine A. Phillips

Gordon College, Wenham, MA