KJCKorea
Journal Central

This study examines the theological and socio-historical background of the book of Chronicles by exploring the tension of continuity and discontinuity experienced by the post-exilic Yehud community. In particular, it focuses on how the Chronicler reinterprets Israel’s past through the concept of “All Israel” as a means of identity negotiation in a new imperial context. The purpose of this study is to demonstrate that the Chronicler’s vision was not merely a historical recollection but a theological strategy to reconfigure Israel’s collective identity under Persian rule. Methodologically, this research employs literary-critical analysis of the genealogies in 1 Chronicles 1–9 and their function within the overall narrative of Chronicles. At the same time, it draws on socio-historical and archaeological data to reconstruct the late Persian context in which the Chronicler and his community lived. By integrating these approaches, the study situates the Chronicler’s work within the political, cultic, communal, and theological spheres of Yehud. The study reveals that the Chronicler used “All Israel” not only as a unifying term for all twelve tribes, but also as a theological response to the fragmented reality of the post-exilic period. Issues such as the returnee–remainee conflict, the authority of cultic personnel, and Yehud’s subjection to imperial power are reframed through the Chronicler’s inclusive historiography. In doing so, the Chronicler offers a reinterpretation of Israel’s identity—one that both honors tradition and addresses the challenges of a new age. Ultimately, the research concludes that Chronicles should be read as a theologically motivated narrative that engages in identity reconstruction through the interplay of memory, tradition, and present reality within the post-exilic world.

This study aims to examine the literary and theological significance of the Old Greek version of Susanna (hereafter OG-Susanna) by comparing it with the Theodotion version (hereafter Th-Susanna), both of which are included in the Septuagint Daniel. Although recent years have witnessed growing international interest in the Septuagint, as seen in the publication of numerous scholarly handbooks, research on the Old Greek version of Daniel—especially OG-Susanna—remains relatively neglected. Despite OG-Susanna’s notable influence on early Christian doctrine and ethical teaching, it has received little attention in Korean scholarship, and no complete Korean translation currently exists. This study seeks to bring renewed scholarly attention to OG-Susanna by offering a fresh interpretation of its literary form and theological message. The central questions of this research are as follows: How does OG-Susanna differ literarily from Th-Susanna, and what do these differences reveal about the narrative's purpose and message? In particular, how does OG-Susanna’s more explicit and direct criticism of the elders’ greed and corruption function within the narrative? To address these questions, the study engages the concept of paideia as developed during the Hellenistic period and adapted within Second Temple Judaism. Chapter 2 provides an overview of the Susanna narrative, including its genre, structure, textual position, dating, and the relationship between the OG and Th versions. Chapter 3 conducts a comparative literary analysis of the two versions, focusing especially on how OG-Susanna portrays the moral failure and hypocrisy of the elders with greater narrative emphasis. Chapter 4 explores the Hellenistic and Jewish notions of paideia, and based on that framework, analyzes OG-Susanna’s educational purpose and literary function. Notably, OG-Susanna concludes with a didactic epilogue that explicitly emphasizes the moral instruction of the youth, thereby highlighting its intention to contribute to the ethical formation and communal integrity of the next generation. Ultimately, this study argues that OG-Susanna should not be viewed merely as a moral tale or apocryphal appendix, but rather as a literary embodiment of Jewish paideia, promoting the formation of ideal individuals who embody justice, piety, wisdom, and communal responsibility grounded in the Torah.

This paper aims to study the structure of Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi, which deal with the message of restoration after the Babylonian captivity, and the common themes that they use to compose their messages. To this end, Haggai and Zechariah 1-8 were divided into documents before the rebuilding of the temple, and Malachi and Zechariah 9-14 were divided into documents after the rebuilding of the temple, and the structure, content, and expression of each prophetic book were investigated. Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi have the same structure (two structures) and compose their messages based on the same themes (temple and leaders/people, temple and nations, temple and holiness). First, Haggai emphasizes the issues of leaders/people, the role of the nations, and the importance of holiness in relation to the rebuilding of the temple through two structures: temple rebuilding (Haggai 1:1-2:19) and supplementary explanation (Haggai 2:20-23). Second, Zechariah 1-8 emphasizes the role of leaders in rebuilding the temple and restoring the community, Yahweh’s judgment of the nations and the nations’ worship of Yahweh, and the need for holiness through two structures: eight visions (Zech. 1-6) and supplementary explanations (Zech. 7-8), which were not covered in Haggai. Third, Malachi points out the issues of holiness in relation to the nations, Yahweh’s community love and the issues of priests, the issues of leaders and people in relation to tithes and offerings, and the issues of mixed marriages and divorce through two structures: six arguments (Mal. 1-3) and supplementary explanations (Mal. 4). Fourth, Zechariah 9-14 emphasizes Yahweh’s judgment of the nations and their worship of Yahweh, the issues of leaders, and the holiness of the community through the spirit, the spring, and the fire through paragraphs that use that day (Zech. 9-13) and paragraphs that use “Yahweh’s day” (Zech. 14). In this respect, the three prophetic books can be seen as gradually describing the process of restoration of the returned community before and after the rebuilding of the temple, centered on two structures and three themes, respectively.