Invoking YHWH in 1 Kings 1–2 argues that invocations of YHWH have a number of functions in 1 Kings 1–2, dependent on the identities of the characters speaking, their relationships, and the narrative contexts in which they participate. This book adopts narrative criticism to undertake a close reading of 1 Kings 1–2 that pays particular attention to how the characters and the narrator use invocations of YHWH and the events in the plot that prompt or result from this language. Invoking YHWH in 1 Kings 1–2 highlights the exegetical importance of invocations of YHWH, which have yet to be engaged thoroughly in the field. Aimed at students and those with an interest in the academic study of the Bible, this book’s focus on invocations of YHWH raises new interpretations of 1 Kings 1–2. This study seeks to encourage scholarly attention toward invocations of YHWH that appear outside of these chapters, with the hope that such research will generate new ways of understanding the function of this language in the Bible.
