1 Kings 16 - 2 Kings 16

Steve McKenzie, Walter Dietrich, David M. Carr, Adele Berlin, Erhard Blum, Irmtraud Fischer, Shimon Gesundheit, Walter Groß, Gary N. Knoppers, Bernard M. Levinson, Ed Noort, Helmut Utzschneider, Beate Ego

• Publisher: Kohlhammer Verlag
• Year: 2018
• ISBN:
  9783170340428
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Théologie et religion
• Subtopic: Commentaire biblique

This volume makes use of diverse methods and approaches to offer fresh treatments of 1 Kings 16 - 2 Kings 16 both synchronically and diachronically. Among its major contributions are a detailed text-critical analysis that frequently adopts readings of the Old Greek and Old Latin and, at the same time, a reexamination of the variant chronologies for the kings of Israel and Judah that argues for the priority of the one in the Masoretic Text. The book presents a new theory of the compositional history of these chapters that ascribes them mostly to the hand of a postexilic "Prophetic Narrator" who reworked older legenda, especially about Elisha, and effectively shaped Kings into the work we have today.

The Reign of Baasha (1 Kings 15:33–16:7)

Text

[DtrH’s sources; DtrH; Additions to DtrH; Additions to additions]

³³ In the third year of Asa king of Judah, Baasha son of Ahijah became king over Israel in Tirzah, reigning for twenty-four years. ³⁴ He did what Yhwh considered evil, following Jeroboam and his sin which he made Israel commit. ^16:1 Yhwh’s word came to Jehu son of Hanani against Baasha, ² “Because I raised you up from the dust and made you king designate over my people Israel but you have followed Jeroboam, causing my people Israel to sin, provoking me with their idols, ³ I am going to incinerate Baasha and his house, leaving his house like the house of Jeroboam son of Nebat; ⁴ anyone belonging to Baasha who dies in the city the dogs will eat, and anyone of his who dies in the country the birds of the sky will eat.” ⁵ The rest of Baasha’s affairs, including what he accomplished and his power, are of course written on the scroll of the chronicles of the kings of Israel. ⁶ Baasha lay down with his forebears and was buried in Tirzah, and his son Elah reigned in his stead. ⁷ Moreover, Yhwh‘s word came through Jehu son of Hanani against Baasha and his house because of all the evil which he had done in Yhwh’s view, provoking him with the work of his hands, to become like Jeroboam’s house, and because he had destroyed it.

Textual Notes

15:33 Baasha: An abbreviated form (hypocoristicon) of a theophoric personal name with Baal as the first element. The second element is uncertain; the longer form of the name may have meant “Baal hears” (שמע בעל) or “Baal acts” (עשה בעל). The name appears in Neo-Punic and might be of Phoenician origin.¹ “Baal,” meaning “lord, master,” could also be used as an epithet of Yhwh, so the name does not necessarily mean that Baasha was not a Yahwist.

Israel: So G^BL. MT: all Israel.

Tirzah: Identified with Tell el-Far‛ah, north (vs. Tell el-Far‛ah, south, in the Negeb), Tirzah was an attractive site for a capital because of its scenery (the name means “beauty, pleasure,” Song 6:4) and its strategic location.² It sat eleven km north of Shechem, between it and Beth Shan on a major route from the central hill country to the Jordan Valley. It was, therefore, more or less centrally located on a north-south axis and represented a good site from which to rule the Northern kingdom. “Foundations of unfinished structures built over a level with burned debris have been interpreted to mean that Omri started to rebuild the city after its destruction but then aborted the plan, presumably when he turned attention to Samaria.”³ It is listed as one of the cities whose king was killed by Joshua and the invading Israelites (Josh 12:24) and as one of the clans referred to as the daughters of Zelophehad in the territory of Manasseh (Josh 17:3-13; cf. Num 26:33; 27:1; 36:11). The mention of Tirzah in 1 Kgs 14:17 suggests that it served as Jeroboam’s capital in lieu of or in addition to Shechem (1 Kgs 12:25). Baasha, though, is the first king explicitly stated to have reigned in Tirzah.

34 sin: So MT. G, Syr: sins. With Stade⁴ I take the singular as more primitive, referring to a specific sin of Jeroboam, and reconstruct it throughout Kings.

which he made Israel commit: אשר refers to Jeroboam’s sin, not to Jeroboam. See Joüon 139a, 158i.

16:1 to: So MT (אל), G^L (πρὸς); G^B: ἐν χειρὶ = ביד, by the hand of. Either is possible, though ביד may reflect harmonization with v. 7. OL lacks the reference to Jehu ben Hanani as the result of haplography in its Vorlage (ל[ע]א…אל).

Jehu: A sentence name meaning “Yhwh is he,” i.e., “Yhwh (alone) is god.”⁵ Jehu ben Hanani is mentioned elsewhere only in 2 Chr 19:2-3; 2 Chr 20:34.

Hanani: An abbreviated form of Hananiah, “Yhwh is gracious.”

against: MT (על); G^BL: to (πρὸς = אל). While the two prepositions are often interchangeable, the change to אל here might have come about as a result of the second-person address in v. 2.

Baasha: So MT, which continues with לאמר, which introduces a quotation and need not be translated. G^B lacks it, perhaps for Greek style. G^L + king of Israel.

2 king designate: The term nāgîd is an old passive form referring to someone who is singled out for a particular office. It may refer to one who has been designated but has not yet assumed the office or to an incumbent who holds the office, though the use of the term in the latter sense for kings is rare in the HB.⁶

with their idols: So G: ἐν τοῖς ματαίοις αὐτῶν = בהבליהם, as in vv. 13, 26; MT: with their sins (בחטאתם), under the influence of the use of ותחטא. הבל “vanity” in the sense of something empty or useless is used for idols in Deut 32:21 and Jeremiah (8:19; 10:8; 14:22). It occurs in this sense in the expression הבלי־שׁוא “false idols” in Ps 31:7 and Jonah 2:9. Outside of the present chapter it occurs in Kings only in 2 Kgs 17:15, where it refers to the ways of the surrounding nations. In 1 Kings 16, though, it is used three times (vv. 2, 13, 26) in reference to the calves at Dan and Bethel.

3 incinerate: Reading מבער vocalized as a Pi‛el participle with some Hebrew mss (cf. BHS). For the idiom with אחרי (“after”) see 1 Kgs 21:21. G^BL: ἐξεγείρω (“I will raise up”) probably = מעיר reflecting the loss of ב. Cogan defines the verb as “light, kindle, burn, consume completely” and points out that it is commonly used in the Pi‛el in Deuteronomy (13:6; 17:7, 12; 19:13, 19; 21:21, 22, 24; 24:7) for eliminating evil(doers) from Israel, hence the nuance “stamp/root/sweep out.”⁷

his house: So G^BL, OL, Syr. MT: your house influenced by the previous verse.

5 are of course written: Based on Joüon’s rendering of the rhetorical question (161c): “they are written, as is well known.” The formula consistently appears in a variant form in G as οὐκ ἰδοὺ ταῦτα γεγραμμένα [B]/γέγραπται [L], with “behold” (הלא הנם כתובים).

6 Elah: The noun means “terebinth.” But as a name it is most likely a theophoric with the divine element El.⁸ In 1 Kgs 4:18 it occurs uniquely with final א. It is not certain, though, that the two names have the same etymology, since they are shortened at the predicate.

in his stead: G^BL, OL, Syr + in the 20th year of King Asa. See on v. 8.

7 This verse is found at different places in G^B (= OG) and MT, i.e., after and before the opening line of Asa’s regnal formula in v. 8. See the Diachronic Analysis.

Yhwh’s word came: So MT (דבר יהוה היה). G^BL: ἐλάλησεν κύριος = דבר יהוה. The verb היה was lost by haplography following the divine name and then דבר was read as a verb.

Jehu son of Hanani: MT + the prophet. G^B lacks son of due to Greek haplography (Εἰοὺ – υἱοῦ).

against Baasha and his house: So G^BL (ἐπὶ … καὶ ἐπὶ = ועל … על). MT: ואל … אל = to. MT’s reading is less likely, since Jehu could not have spoken directly to all of Baasha’s house.

destroyed it: G^L + ἐν τῷ Ασα βασιλεῖ Ιουδα, a remnant of the opening of v. 8 that was disrupted by the interpolation of v. 7. See on 16:8.

Synchronic Analysis

Length of the account After eleven chapters covering Solomon’s reign and three for those of Jeroboam and Rehoboam, the narrative pace quickens to treat seven kings (or eight, depending on Tibni’s status) in the space of two chapters (15–16). This accelerated coverage is due in part to the brevity of the reigns of some of these kings—Nadab and Elah reign only two years each and Zimri a mere seven days. But Baasha’s twenty-four-year reign (compare Jeroboam’s 22 years) shows that there is not necessarily a correspondence between the length of a king’s reign and the length of the account devoted to him. Also, the total number of years covered in chs. 15–16 is more than the number covered in chs. 1–14. It is the significance of events and characters to the narrator that determines the quantity of coverage devoted to them. Baasha, therefore, is not presented as a particularly important king despite the length of his reign and the allusion to his power and accomplishments (16:5). The only event recorded for his reign, apart from his regnal formulae (15:33-34; 16:5-6) is the denunciation of him and his house by Jehu (16:1-4). This relative neglect may reflect an effort to discredit Baasha. But then there is a great amount of space devoted to Ahab, indicating that the narrative employs different techniques for disparaging wicked kings.

Pace of the narrative The quickened pace and the narrative’s “staccato” treatment of kings one after another can give a sense of incoherence.⁹ This sense is countered by the regnal formulae, which remind the reader that the kings are not the final word in determining or evaluating Israel’s history.¹⁰ For all their importance the kings are only part of a much larger whole. For all their power they are ...