McKenzie, Steven L. 1953–

PERSONAL: Born October 9, 1953, in Denver, CO; married Vilma Elena Salas, December 24, 1975 (marriage ended); married Aimee McCarley, June 10, 2004; children: Christine Denise Willenbrock, Bonnie Lynn.

Education: Abilene Christian College (now Abilene Christian University), B.A., 1975, M.Div., 1978; Harvard University, Th.D., 1983.

ADDRESSES: Office—Rhodes College, 2000 N. Parkway, Memphis, TN 38112; fax: 901-843-3727. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER: Rhodes College, Memphis, TN, from associate professor to professor of the Hebrew Bible, 1983–.

MEMBER: Society of Biblical Literature, Catholic Biblical Association.

WRITINGS:

The Chronicler's Use of the Deuteronomistic History, Scholars/Harvard Semitic Monographs (Atlanta, GA), 1985, reprinted, Eisenbrauns (Winona Lake, IN), 2006.

The Trouble with Kings: The Composition of the Book of Kings in the Deuteronomistic History, E.J. Brill (New York, NY), 1991.

All God's Children: A Biblical Critique of Racism, Westminster/John Knox (Louisville, KY), 1997.

Covenant, Chalice (St. Louis, MO), 2000.

King David: A Biography, Oxford University Press (New York, NY), 2000.

1-2 Chronicles: Abingdon Old Testament Commentaries, Abingdon Press (Nashville, TN), 2004.

How to Read the Bible: History, Prophecy, Literature—Why Modern Readers Need to Know the Difference, and What It Means for Faith Today, Oxford University Press (New York, NY), 2005.

EDITOR

(With Stephen R. Haynes) To Each Its Own Meaning: An Introduction to Biblical Criticisms and Their Application, Westminster/John Knox (Louisville, KY), 1993.

(With M. Patrick Graham) The History of Israel's Traditions: The Heritage of Martin Noth, Sheffield Academic Press (Sheffield, England), 1994.

(With M. Patrick Graham and Kenneth G. Hoglund) The Chronicler as Historian, Sheffield Academic Press (Sheffield, England), 1997.

(With M. Patrick Graham) The Hebrew Bible Today: An Introduction to Critical Issues, Westminster/John Knox (Louisville, KY), 1998.

(With Linda S. Schearing) Those Elusive Deuteronomists: The Phenomenon of Pan-Deuteronomism, Sheffield Academic Press (Sheffield, England), 1999.

(With M. Patrick Graham) The Chronicler as Author: Studies in Text and Texture, Sheffield Academic Press (Sheffield, England), 1999.

(With Thomas Römer and Hans Heinrich Schmid) Rethinking the Foundations; Historiography in the Ancient World and in the Bible: Essays in Honour of John Van Seters, Walter De Gruyter (New York, NY), 2000.

(With John Kaltner) Beyond Babel: A Handbook for Biblical Hebrew and Related Languages, Brill (Boston, MA), 2002.

(With M. Patrick Graham and Gary N. Knoppers) The Chronicler as Theologian: Essays in Honor of Ralph W. Klein, T & T Clark International (New York, NY), 2003.

SIDELIGHTS: Steven L. McKenzie has scholarly interests in Hebrew language and literature, the history of ancient Israel, Biblical interpretation, and archeology. He has written and edited several books on these subjects, including one of his best-known works, King David: A Biography. In this book McKenzie sets out to write an objective, factual biography of the biblical king. The author uses the Bible skeptically, looking for correlations between the biblical David and information about David in other historical sources and in the archaeological record. McKenzie gives credence to the evidence for an historical David who was the ruler of an actual kingdom, unlike some other scholars. However, he questions the biblical description of David's character, seeing King David instead as a ruthless, power-hungry tyrant who had much in common with many of today's Middle Eastern monarchs. America critic Daniel J. Harrington commended McKenzie's writing as "uncluttered and easy to follow," while Eugene O. Bowser, in a review for Library Journal, praised McKenzie as "a careful and accomplished scholar."

Among McKenzie's other books is All God's Children: A Biblical Critique of Racism, in which he explores the perspectives on racial and ethnic unity presented throughout the Bible, and Covenant, an essay on the meaning of the concept "covenant" in Jewish and Christian history. In his 1-2 Chronicles: Abingdon Old Testament Commentaries, McKenzie provides critical commentary, aimed at students and pastors, on the Abingdon Old Testament. Sections include literary, historical and theological analyses of the 1 and 2 Chronicles. Paul K. Hooker, writing in Interpretation, called the book "a significant contribution to the literature on 1-2 Chronicles."

How to Read the Bible: History, Prophecy, Literature—Why Modern Readers Need to Know the Difference, and What It Means for Faith Today delves into the literary aspects of the Bible as a basis for interpretation. The author focuses on five genres within the Bible that he identifies: historiography, biblical prophesy, wisdom literature, apocalyptic literature, and New Testament letters. The result is "thoughtfully considered and ably written," according to John Jaeger in the Library Journal. America contributor John C. Endres concluded: "McKenzie's great contribution here consists of a series of clear, concrete examples of his view of prophecy as forthtelling (speaking a divine message for the particular and the present), rather than foretelling (predicting future events, even the coming of Jesus Christ)."

McKenzie has also edited and coedited several scholarly texts, such as The Chronicler as Author: Studies in Text and Texture. In this volume, McKenzie and collaborator M. Patrick Graham present sixteen essays on the Chronicles as literature. Writing in Currents in Theology and Mission, Ralph W. Klein commented: "The editors are to be congratulated for this sterling collection." McKenzie also coedited Beyond Babel: A Handbook for Biblical Hebrew and Related Languages with John Kaltner. The scholarly essays here focus on the languages most needed to understand the Bible, such as Akkadian, Arabic, Aramaic, Hebrew, Hittite, Greek, and Phoenician. Writing again in Currents in Theology and Mission, Klein remarked: "Readers will learn much about these languages." McKenzie is also editor, with M. Patrick Graham and Gary N. Knoppers, of The Chronicler as Theologian: Essays in Honor of Ralph W. Klein. Mark J. Boda, writing in the Journal of Hebrew Scriptures, complimented "the maturity of reflection represented by the group" of contributors.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

America, March 12, 1994, Daniel J. Harrington, review of To Each Its Own Meaning: An Introduction to Biblical Criticisms and Their Application, p. 16; March 12, 2001, Daniel J. Harrington, "Books on the Bible: An Annual Roundup of Important Books on Scripture," p. 17; December 19, 2005, John C. Endres, review of How to Read the Bible: History, Prophecy, Literature—Why Modern Readers Need to Know the Difference and What It Means for Faith Today, p. 22.

Booklist, March 15, 2000, Jay Freeman, review of King David: A Biography, p. 1295.

Currents in Theology and Mission, December, 2002, Ralph W. Klein, review of The Chronicler as Author: Studies in Text and Texture, p. 476; June, 2003, Ralph W. Klein, review of Beyond Babel: A Handbook for Biblical Hebrew and Related Languages, p. 226.

Interpretation, April, 2005, Paul K. Hooker, review of 1-2 Chronicles: Abingdon Old Testament Commentaries, p. 209.

Library Journal, April 1, 2000, Eugene O. Bowser, review of King David, p. 106; August 1, 2005, John Jaeger, review of How to Read the Bible, p. 92.

New York Times Book Review, June 18, 2000, Jack Miles, review of King David, p. 11.

Publishers Weekly, March 27, 2000, review of King David, p. 76.

ONLINE

About: Agnosticism/Atheism, http://atheism.about.com/ (September 2, 2006), Austin Cline, review of How to Read the Bible.

Journal of Hebrew Scriptures Online, http://www.arts.ualberta.ca/JHS/ (September 2, 2006), Mark J. Boda review of The Chronicler as Theologian: Essays in Honour of Ralph W. Klein; Ken Ristau, review of 1-2 Chronicles.

Rhodes College Web site, http://www.rhodes.edu/ (September 2, 2006), faculty profile on Steven L. McKenzie.