In 2021 the first of four volumes presenting scholarship on the Old Testament, From Creation to Sinai: The Old Testament Through the Lens of the Restoration, was published. Later this year the second volume, From Wilderness to Monarchy, will be published, followed by volumes 3 and 4 in the next few years. The idea for the series arose from conversations between the editors, Dan Belnap and Aaron Schade. After numerous discussions in Sunday School classes and with their university students, family members, friends, and colleagues, the editors felt that Latter-day Saints could benefit from a series of volumes on texts and aspects of the Old Testament from a scholarly and believing perspective—with an emphasis on what apostles, prophets, and modern revelation have added to our understanding of the topics under study.

Since the beginning of the twentieth century, biblical scholarship has engaged in a number of exegetical methodologies to help make sense of the complexities of the Old Testament, and our authors have productively consulted and engaged many of these while working on this volume. Exegetical approaches can be extremely helpful in approaching the texts, but at times some can underutilize scripture and its spiritual value, depending on one’s interpretive approach and application of the data. While many approaches do allow for greater understanding of a given text and its place within the larger textual body, various objectives, at times, can also leave little room for divine revelation and prophetic authority as imperative or legitimate avenues for understanding. Nonetheless, we accept these and many other insights that can be gleaned from different approaches. Knowing how to implement the various conclusions while placing prophetic authority in the highest position was essential and a focus of this volume. We have found it valuable to synthesize the insights from revelation with the best of what academic exegesis can produce. The result is that we can fully engage with the scriptural canon in a way that is meaningful and uplifting and that offers greater clarity to the past, present, and future.

Thanks to the restoration of the priesthood and continuing revelation, the Old Testament patriarchs and prophets are not simply literary models of righteous behavior. They are also living figures who have interacted, and continue to interact, with the Saints in this dispensation. Their stories offer much for modern readers to glean in their individual pursuits of discipleship. By virtue of their inception via divine authority, the Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible, the Book of Mormon, and the Pearl of Great Price allow for certain insights and interpretations to biblical narratives that are not always acceptable to modern exegetical analysis. In our eyes they continue and build on those narratives in ways that may not be possible to authenticate through modern scholarship yet are realities that can be confirmed by faith and revelation. The lens through which these revealed texts situate the Old Testament thus becomes remarkable and illuminating.

The purpose of the series, then, is to provide perspectives using sound academic methodologies while simultaneously drawing on insights gained from prophets, apostles, and Restoration scripture. Like its predecessor, From Wilderness to Monarchy addresses what may be less familiar historical elements and difficult concepts that readers could be struggling with. In terms of the biblical texts, this volume covers Joshua, Judges, 1–2 Samuel, and parts of 1 Kings and 1 Chronicles, as well as the poetic texts of Psalms, Proverbs, and the Song of Songs (also known as the Song of Solomon). The title of the book references the periods associated with the Former Prophets (i.e., Joshua through 2 Kings, excluding the book of Ruth) and with King David and King Solomon.

A challenge for this section of the Bible is recognizing the role and voice of a redactor or redactors in the formation of the Old Testament. For many biblical scholars, the historical texts listed above (often associated with what is known as the Deuteronomistic History, or DtrH) appear to have been reworked or redacted by a person or group strongly influenced by the laws of Deuteronomy and who added commentary through the redaction process, similar to Mormon as he compiled and commented on episodes in the Book of Mormon. This editorial voice seems to have been affected by personal experience either with the rise and fall of Israel and Judah at the hands of the Neo-Assyrians or with the destruction and wholesale captivity of Jerusalem by the Neo-Babylonian Empire. Isolating that commentary from the original narrative can be both difficult and illuminating, and it is not always clear how to interpret the language of exposition in relation to earlier presentations of the texts. This volume attempts to offer some approaches to these issues while maintaining confidence in the Bible and its reliability as the word of God.

For example, on the one hand, the DtrH assessment of the institution of the monarchy (its origin story) described in 1 Samuel 8 (and subsequent descriptions of how the monarchy actually functioned) suggests that the wickedness of Israel’s kings became a primary reason why the people of Israel in general had done so poorly in keeping their covenantal obligations with God. On the other hand, there is no question that 1–2 Samuel and 1–2 Kings present those kings as chosen men of God, at least initially. It was only when they lost the humility and determination to keep God’s laws that kingship became a liability. Thus, both perspectives have merit and need not be viewed as contradictory. Both original background and subsequent commentary in relation to it can provide a variety of perspectives that do not invalidate but illuminate the texts.

Understandably, these various perspectives can be simultaneously confusing and enlightening, and we as readers may not always come to understand the original nuances or language of the texts, but we do our best to glean what we can from them. Addressing these nuances within this volume creates an enlightening experience that enhances appreciation for “all that God has revealed, all that He does now reveal, and . . . [all] that He will yet reveal” (Articles of Faith 1:9) through his prophets.

In sum, although the Old Testament is an ancient record, its teachings are still relevant and foundational. For example, the Old Testament theme of rejecting God for the acclaim of the world is one that may resonate with a more contemporary audience. With this efferent value of scripture in mind, the authors of this volume explore the texts and events of the turbulent period when the Israelite nation developed from a wilderness community to a powerful monarchy.