1 Kings 1-11: A Theological Exposition of Sacred Scripture (Concordia Commentary | CC)

Praise for the Print Edition

Like the rest of the Concordia Commentary series, Walter Maier’s commentary on 1 Kings 1–11 signals a heartening trend in biblical scholarship. Sometime in the past century, historical and devotional readings, academic and ecclesial commentary, went their separate ways. 1 Kings 1–11 is an effective sign that the rupture is being healed. To call it “magisterial” is to undersell. Maier addresses historical, textual, philological, and interpretive questions with all the zeal of the most attentive critical scholar. Yet this is manifestly a commentary for the church, a thorough and judicious guide for pastors who want to sustain their flocks with a healthy diet of God’s living Word.

—Dr. Peter J. Leithart, President, Theopolis Institute, Birmingham, Alabama

For anybody wishing a very well-done, detailed, thought-provoking analysis of the life of King Solomon in 1 Kings 1–11 and one reflective of the best in conservative biblical scholarship, this is the commentary to which one should turn. Maier leaves no stone unturned and no interpretive issue sidestepped. Those reading these eleven chapters in their Hebrew Bible will find his copious notes at the start of each pericope on the Hebrew text helpful and stimulating. In a day when it is often fashionable in the biblical academy to demonize Solomon, along with his father, David, it is refreshing to make one’s way through a study that clearly shows that this father-son combination was part of the God-ordained plan and chain that eventually would produce Jesus the Messiah as its climax and fulfillment. To Walter I say, ‘Get the remainder of your work on 1 Kings and 2 Kings to the rest of us ASAP.’

—Dr. Victor P. Hamilton, Old Testament Professor, Emeritus, Asbury University, Wilmore, Kentucky

The name of Walter A. Maier III has long been rightly associated with excellence in biblical scholarship, and the present volume can only serve to strengthen and enhance that conviction. This commentary intends to interpret the entire message found in 1 Kings 1–11 and in a comprehensive manner. Yet, despite that, the format of Maier’s work is exceptionally easy to follow and use. That format breaks down the biblical text—block by block, paragraph by paragraph, verse by verse, and many times even word by word. Each block is translated, given a full textual treatment, followed by a commentary analysis. One also finds a rather wide array of exegetical, theological, and historical excursuses sprinkled throughout the commentary, between blocks of text, that helpfully explicate a related word/phrase used by the biblical writer or a particular concept employed by Maier in that block of analysis. He also gives due attention to the compositional process that brought the book of Kings into existence. His extensive and thoughtful use of secondary literature is quite robust, including both biblically related sources and sources from secular writings. The volume will be an astonishingly rich resource for anyone wishing to learn more of Israel’s united monarchy—a period very much at the forefront of contemporary biblical scholarship! And the material is presented with balanced and reasoned argumentation.

—Dr. Barry J. Beitzel, Professor Emeritus of Old Testament and Semitic Languages, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Deerfield, Illinois