Book Review: 1 Samuel–2 Chronicles (ESV Expository Commentary, Vol. 3), Mackay, Millar, Olley

I will be teaching a few sessions on Elijah this summer at a Bible camp. I own two of the volumes in the ESV Expository series, and I really enjoy them. I thought I ought to ask for this volume on the books of Samuel, Kings, and Chronicles, but what I didn’t realize was that this volume is a whopping 1,300 pages!

The authors here are:

1. The late John Mackay (1–2 Samuel);
   1. Mackay has written numerous commentaries: Exodus, Jeremiah [my review], Lamentations, and Hosea in the Mentor commentary series, as well as on Isaiah and a few of the minor prophets.
2. J. Gary Millar (1–2 Kings); and
   1. Millar has written three books in the NSBT series: Changed Into His Likeness [], Now Choose Life, and Calling on the Name of the Lord, as well as a commentary on 2 Corinthians and a book on preaching (and keeping people awake while you do it!).
3. John Olley (1–2 Chronicles).
   1. Olley is suited to write on Chronicles having already written a commentary on Kings. He also provides plenty of tables on his portion of this volume.

The Goal and Purpose

The ESV Expository Commentary series, spanning 12 volumes, sets its sights on the words of life that are more precious than good, the Scriptures which reveal God to us. The goal of this series is “to provide a clear, crisp, and Christ-centered explanation of the biblical text” (9).

Each contributor is, of course, to be exegetically sound. Rather than focusing on grammar, syntax, and hypothetical sources, the authors stick to the final canonical text and follow its flow of thought. They do this while keeping the overarching unity of the Bible in mind with its storyline of Christ’s redemption. They are globally aware, providing a commentary that is theologically responsible “to as many people around the world as possible” (9).

Introductions

Each introduction gives an overview of the book and matters such as the title, date, and possible authorship of the book, genre and literary features, and the book’s theology. In regards to Samuel, kingship is of the Lord. He lifts up and brings low (1 Sam 2:7). The king was to be God’s covenant king, representing him on earth. Mackay shows how 1–2 Samuel fits within salvation history thus far in the Bible, such as how under David God’s promise to Abraham about possession of the land is fulfilled. He offers links to other biblical books and a table between the texts of Samuel and Psalms. He offers advice on how to preach from Samuel as well as various interpretive challenges—chronology, the poor preservation of the MT.

Millar offer basic regnal patterns for the kings of both Judah and Israel and points to Edwin Thiele’s helpful suggestions dealing with the chronology of the many kings. He offers two tables listing the kings of Judah, dates, and their northern counterparts, and then he swaps that for the second table. While there can still be discrepancies, it is important “to remember that the main goal of the writer of Kings is not to provide the definitive timeline of the succession of kings in the monarchical period (although he does reliably provide us with that data). His concern is overwhelmingly theological, which accounts for the relative lack of explanation concerning how these dates and times dovetail” (498-499).

The book of Kings revolves around the effectiveness God’s word. There is a dual perspective. The God who speaks is both transcendent—he runs “the world from his throne according to his word”—and immanent—his people should obey him according to his word. Millar lists the verses where the author of Kings explicitly mentions that something occurred “according to God’s word” (or in like manner). God orders the affairs of both individuals and world history according to his word. Millar acknowledges that we see this throughout the book, even when it is not explicitly mentioned.

To that end, Millar helps us remember some of these main ideas and questions when we come across difficult texts in Kings. In 2 Kings 9, one of Elisha’s prophets (finally) anoints Jehu as king. Millar notes that this is far removed from  Kings 19 when God commanded Elijah to anoint Jehu.

At first glance, it does seem strange that the instructions given to Elijah in 1 Kings 19 and the judgment promised to Ahab and Jezebel in 1 Kings 21 take such a long time to be fulfilled and that, even when the fulfillment does come, it seems to take a slightly different shape than envisaged (e.g., it is one of the sons of the prophets who anoints Jehu, rather than Elijah, or even Elisha himself). However, in the context of a two-volume work that is addressing questions such as “Does God keep his promises?” and “Is there a future for the people of God?” the theme of delayed fulfillment resonates strongly and goes some way to explaining why these Jehu narratives are recorded in such detail. (783)

Each major section for all three books begins with an overview before diving down deeper into smaller sections. For example, Mackay defines 1 Samuel 1:1–7:17 as being about “Samuel: The Last of the Judges.” Then he provides the biblical text of 1 Samuel 1, an overview and an outline of the section, and he offers comments on each verse. The authors all end with a Response section, highlighting theological theme and application.

Awkward Elijah?

Commenting on Kings again, Millar admits to something that I think everyone has been: Elijah’s awkward. When he tells Obadiah to go to King Ahab and declare that Elijah has revealed himself, Obadiah is afraid that when he does this, Elijah will disappear and Ahab will kill Obadiah. Obadiah tells Elijah about how he has served God all of his days, and even how he hid 100 prophets in caves so that Jezebel wouldn’t kill them. “Yet Elijah seems unimpressed!” (663). Elijah might have been unaware of Obadiah’s rescue act, or perhaps he was “unwilling to give him any credit for his actions” (666). Millar writes, “Elijah is also either unaware or unconcerned about the possibility that Ahab might ‘shoot the messenger’ who brings news of his reappearance!” (666). Why doesn’t Elijah go to Ahab himself like he did at the beginning of chapter 17? Why ask Obadiah? Perhaps so Ahab knows which side Obadiah is on? Who knows.

Reflections

Millar’s response to this section is encouraging. The atmosphere between Obadiah and Elijah was anything but warm, and it doesn’t appear that they became “lifelong friends,” not that Elijah lived very much longer anyway (672). Elijah is blunt and Obadiah was a babbler. Elijah was bold; Obadiah fearful. Yet God used them both in important ways. They didn’t need to become best buddies, but we know God was at work among them. As Millar observes, “This underwhelming, awkward conversation between these two servants of Yahweh makes it clear that there is no fixed template for the way in which God works” (672). We don’t always need to be bold (or awkward) like Elijah to be successful.

Seeing or Fearing?

Millar also agrees with both Dale Ralph Davis and Peter Leithart that Elijah was not “afraid” of Jezebel. Rather, he “sees” that she remained unchanged despite what God did on Mt. Carmel. The issue here is that the Hebrew is very similar. But also the LXX reads “he was afraid” and the MT “he saw.” For some reason translations go with the LXX rendering. Yet Millar argues well for the “seeing” interpretation.

At the end of the commentary on 1–2 Kings are two sections titled “The Message of 1–2 Kings” and “Final Reflections.” Kings teaches us that sin is “predictable, sad, and stupid.” He writes that a life full of persistent sin ends with a reward, the reward of being excluded “from God’s unimaginably generous reign and the prospect instead of the terrifying experience of his wrath. Sin is dumb” (892). We reject the King whose word has all power and the one who is our only hope. The commentaries on Samuel and Chronicles do not end with these two sections.

Chronicles, Shekels, and Threshing Floors

While I have not written much about Chronicles, Olley writes well and is careful to focus on the Chronicler’s theological aims. As well, he gives options for various discrepancies among parallels between Chronicles and Samuel/Kings. For example, in 2 Samuel 24:24 David paid 50 shekels of silver to obtain the threshing floor. Yet the Chronicler writes that David paid “600 shekels of gold by weight” (1 Chron 21:25). Just as Abraham paid full price for Sarah’s burial site and a field, so David paid what the threshing floor was worth.

Different options for the difference in 1 Chronicles are:

• it is to be larger than Abraham’s;
• it is cover the whole property, not just the threshing floor;
• it is gold because of the place of gold in the temple;
• one suggestion made as early as the medieval Jewish commentator Rashi, it is fifty shekels for each of the twelve tribes, so affirming that the temple is for all Israel.

Regardless of the difference, this large amount demonstrates David’s commitment; his words in 24:24 “are backed by generous action” (1037).

Recommended?

This is a terrific resource which I highly recommend, certainly so if you find yourself anywhere within the Reformed camp. Though honestly, you don’t have to be Reformed to agree with what is here. I haven’t read all of these volumes, but I own three and what I have read has been sound and helpful (I reviewed the volume on Romans–Galatians). I would venture to say that all of these are faithful to Scripture and helpful in expounding God’s word. This volume doesn’t disappoint. The response sections are full of theology that leads to application. The writing styles are easy to read while still being full of content and theology. Pastors and students will benefit greatly from this volume.