Temple Renovation in Neo-Assyrian Records and the Book of Kings

This chapter examines Neo-Assyrian accounts of temple renovations, especially those of Esarhaddon, and then turns to comparable examples from the DH, namely, the renovations undertaken by Jehoash (2 Kgs 12:5–17), Ahaz (2 Kgs 16:10–18), and finally Josiah (2 Kgs 22–23). Both sets of temple renovation texts employ a similar rhetoric of discontinuity by which Esarhaddon and Josiah use their recent predecessors as foils for their rebuilding efforts. At the same time, both kings employ a rhetoric of continuity to associate their reign with older and more illustrious past traditions.

The Renovations of Dan and Bethel

This chapter argues that the story of Jeroboam I’s placement of calves at Dan and Bethel (1 Kgs 12:25–33) is a temple renovation text from the eighth-century BCE reigns of Joash and Jeroboam II. Employing the rhetoric of such texts, the story associates the Nimshide kings with symbols of their kingdom’s illustrious past, namely, the long-standing cult sites themselves and also Jeroboam I, their renowned predecessor and the kingdom’s founder. This rhetoric of renovation is consistent with the kings' recovery of territory that had been lost by the predecessors.

Introduction to Temple Renovation in the Ancient Near East and Beyond

This chapter introduces the idea of temple renovation as a distinct literary topos and shows its close association with royal ideology. Both points are made with evidence drawn from a variety of historical and cultural contexts, ranging from ancient to modern. Next, the chapter surveys previous studies of temple renovation in ancient Near Eastern contexts and previews the contents of the chapters that follow. Finally, it discusses some methodological issues related to the present study, especially issues around the production and promulgation of royal inscriptions and biblical texts.

Temple Renovation in Later Periods

This chapter looks briefly at the rhetoric of temple renovation in texts from the Hellenistic and Roman periods, namely, the Hanukkah story in 2 Maccabees, Josephus’s account of Herod’s renovation of the Jerusalem temple, and the Gospel accounts of Jesus’s prediction of destroying and rebuilding the temple. Although they are not examined at great depth, these examples suggest that the rhetoric of temple renovation persisted in the ancient Levant well into later periods.

Persian Temple Renovations and the Rebuilding of the Jerusalem Temple

This chapter shows how Persian kings used temple renovation to distance themselves from recent turmoil and to associate their reigns with more illustrious past traditions. The renovation was also the beginning of a larger program of cultic and/or economic restoration. This rhetoric of renovation sheds light on texts relating to the rebuilding of the Jerusalem temple, especially Ezra 5:7–6:12, which employs similar rhetoric. For the Jewish elders in this passage, the renovation of the Jerusalem temple is the symbol through which they express religious continuity as well as discontinuity.