1 Kings by Jerome Walsh
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BTR Review

An excellent ‘narrative commentary’ (but read with discernment).

Part of a Catholic series, and assumes some results of critical scholarship. However, most of this is relegated to occasional footnotes, and in main text the author is interested the final form of 1 Kings, and exposits the narrative with skill.

Solomon, for example, comes in for close scrutiny. Walsh argues that from the beginning, 1 Kings raises serious doubts about Solomon - but subtly. Time and again we are presented with ambiguous portrayals that seem positive on the surface, but raise negative doubts on closer reflection.

(This is mostly to do with what is just hinted at or left out. E.g. in Solomon’s prayer for wisdom (ch 3), his self-deprecating youthful naivety seems commendable at first glance - but jarrs with the Macchiavellian ruthlessness he has just displayed in eliminating personal enemies (ch 1–2). Also, the prayer of dedication also seems a little too focused on himself.)

Other Online Reviews

• Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society June 1999, by Gordon Wenham (‘page 323′ in pdf document)