Berit Olam

Jerome T. Walsh held advanced degrees in theology from the University of Louvain, in Sacred Scripture from the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome, and a PhD in Near Eastern languages and literature from the University of Michigan. He has contributed to such reference works as The New Jerome Biblical Commentary and The Anchor Bible Dictionary, and he frequently published articles and reviews in professional journals of biblical studies. He was a member of the Catholic Biblical Association of America, where he was collaborating on the second edition of the New American Bible translation of the Old Testament. He was a priest of the Archdiocese of Detroit.

CONTENTS
Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . ix
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . .xi

Part One - The Story of Solomon: 1 Kings 1-11
  1. Solomon /Succeeds to the Throne of David: 
        1 Kings 1:1-2:12a . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
  2. Solomon's Throne Is Secure: 1 Kings 2:12b-46 . . . . . . . . 45
  3. The Early Promise of Solomon's Reign: 1 Kings 3:1-15 . . 69
  4. Solomon Uses His Gifts: 1 Kings 3:16-4:34 . . . . . . . . . . . 78
  5. Before Building the Temple: 1 Kings 5:1-18 . . . . . . . . . . . 93
  6. The Construction and Dedication of the Temple
        1 Kings 6:1-9:10 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  102
  7. Solomonic Splendor: 1 Kings 9:10-10:29 . . . . . . . . . . . .  120
  8. The End of the Story: 1 Kings 11:1-43 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
  9. The Whole Solomon Story: 1 Kings 1-11 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150

Part Two - The Story of Jeroboam: 1 Kings 11:26-14:20
 10. The Separation of the Kingdoms: 1 Kings 11:26-12:25 . . 159
 11. The Sin of Jeroboam: 1 Kings 12:26-13:10 . . . . . . . . . . . 171
 12. The Wages of Sin: 1 Kings 13:11-14:20 . . . . . . . . . . . . .  182
 13. The Whole Jeroboam Story: 1 Kings 11-26-14:20 . . . . .  202
 14. Kings of Judah and Israel: 1 Kings 14:21-16:34  . . . . . .  206

Part Three - The Story of Elijah: 1 Kings 17-19
 15. Elijah Announces a Drought: 1 Kings 17 . . . . . . . . . . . . .  225
 16. Elijah Ends the Drought: 1 Kings 18 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  236
 17. Elijah at Mount Horeb: 1 Kings 19 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264
 18. The Whole Elijah Story: 1 Kings 17-19 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  283

Part Four - The Story of Ahab: 1 Kings 20:1-22:40
 19. War with Aram: Ahab's Victories: 1 Kings 20 . . . . . . . . . . 293
 20. Naboth's Vineyard: 1 Kings 21 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  316
 21. War with Aram: Ahab's Defeat and Death
          1 Kings 22:1-40 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  342
 22. The Whole Ahab Story: 1 Kings 16:29-22:40;
           More Kings of Judah and Israel: 1 Kings 22:42-53 . . . 361
 23. The Whole of 1 Kings and Larger Units . . . . . . . . . . . . .  368

For Further Reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 376
General Index  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  380
Index of Scriptural References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  387