The Kingdom of God as Liturgical Empire

What an interesting commentary. It is neither an academic technical or critical commentary, nor is it a devotional commentary for laypersons. Instead, it is more like a monograph making a particular argument about the book of Chronicles, and written in the form of a commentary. He does go section by section through the entire books, But works hard to fit every section into his argument. His argument about the book, namely, that it is identity formation for post-exilic Israel, and painting a picture of God's kingdom after the exile as a “liturgical empire”, and reframing it in a way that the people can truly live it still, is undoubtedly correct. But it does get a little tedious when that same interpretive framework is hammered home section after section after section.

The greatest strength of Hahn's commentary–and The reason to get it despite its lack of technical or devotional examination–is his rigorous canonical and intertextual reading of the work. Treating the text and it's received form and as a whole literary work, he situates this in the life and scripture of Israel in a way I have not seen other commentaries do. The connections between this text and the rest of the Hebrew Bible are astonishing and a lumen the book in shocking ways. The parallels, continuities, contrasts, and discontinuities serve to open this book up in a way that other types of commentaries are unable to do.

The book itself is structured in a way so as to be used by all of those studying chronicles, either Christian or Jewish, so Christian interpretations are split off into a separate small section at the end of each chapter, which can be disappointing. In this way, it feels much more like a technical commentary, We're devotional or spiritual readings are generally excluded, focusing mainly on the text and context in front of it. And yet, the questions that usually consume academic commentaries, including historiography, authorship, textual criticism, and reader response are not really anywhere to be found here. There are broad mentions of the arguments that scholars throughout the book of Chronicles, but they are mainly referenced in passing in favor of a purely textual response.

And it is in this dogged commitment to both not leaving the text while also not getting bogged down in the details that really lets this commentary shine as a unique contribution. If anything, it then feels more like a commentary for the seminary-educated and trained pastor. The sustained thematic unity throughout all sections of the book often feels like a sermon series with a theme tying together the pieces. However, the citations and bibliography show that a lot of technical and academic work is underneath this accessible commentary, which is itself a feat.

In terms of formatting, the book frequently uses transliterated Hebrew in individual words or small phrases, but it does not make reference to Hebrew grammar or texts in ways that a non-academic could not follow. There is not a full author's translation of the entire text offered. One thing lacking from the formatting of the text that can make this difficult for general use is the lack of chapter and verse citations in the section headings themselves. The chapter itself covers a specific set of verses, but within that entire chapter you are on your own to find out where a particular section you want to study may be.

So on one hand, this book does work as a monograph to read from beginning to end (as I did), but it also assumes that you have the text right there in front of you, or are very familiar with the section being discussed. It can get confusing and you can lose the trees in light of the forest if not. On the other hand, if you can find the section you want to study, the themes and arguments of this commentary are repeated so frequently in every single section, that no matter which section you want to study, you can still use this in a more piecemeal fashion as needed and still get the benefits of the author's perspective.

In short, this book is an incredibly valuable contribution especially to those that have some training in biblical and theological work and are wanting to teach the text to others. It could also serve as a beautiful devotional commentary for seminarians who have done too much academic work to enjoy most devotional commentaries, but also find the tedium of technical commentaries a little soul-sucking.