Hezekiah and the Dialogue of Memory

By Son-Mi Suzie Park

Hezekiah is a critical figure in the Hebrew Bible, which credits him with major political, social, and religious reforms in Judahs history and the weathering of a major crisis in the invasion of the Assyrians under their emperor, Sennacherib. Examining the different accounts of Hezekiahs reign in 2 Kings, 2 Chronicles, and Isaiah, Song-Mi Suzie Park describes a Hezekiah complex that developed over a long time, in which the figure of Hezekiah served as a symbol for the vicissitudes of Judahs history. The king could be understood as a positive reformer of the pagan ways of the country, or as a sinner, at least partly responsible for the threats and disasters that befell Judah, from Sennacheribs invasion through the Babylonian exile more than a century later. By showing how the stories about Hezekiah developed over time through a process of response and counterresponse, forming at the end a dialogue of memory, Park elucidates the ways in which biblical stories in general function as loci of continual dialogue, dispute, and discussion.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1451485220
• ISBN13: 9781451485226
• Release Date: March 2015
• Publisher: Augsburg Fortress Publishing
• Length: 332 Pages
• Weight: 1.12 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 7.2" x 8.8"