Part 37

Of these documents one of the best defined is the vivid picture of David's court at Jerusalem (2 Sam. ix.-xx.) from which the first two chapters of 1 Kings manifestly cannot be separated. As it would be unreasonable to suppose that the editor of the history of David closed his work abruptly before the death of the king, breaking off in the middle of a valuable memoir which lay before him, this observation leads us to conclude that the books of Samuel and Kings are not independent histories. They have at least one source in common, and a single editorial hand was at work on both. From an historical point of view, however, the division which makes the beginning of Solomon's reign the beginning of a new book is very convenient. The conquest of Palestine by the Israelite tribes, recounted in the book of Joshua, leads up to the era of the "judges" (Judg. ii. 6-23; iii. sqq.), and the books of Samuel follow with the institution of the monarchy and the first kings. The books of Kings bring to a close the life of David (c. 975 B.C.), which forms the introduction to the reign of Solomon (1 Kings ii. 12-xi.), the troubles in whose time prepared the way for the separation into the two distinct kingdoms, viz. Judah and the northern tribes of Israel (xii. sqq.). After the fall of Samaria, the history of these Israelites is rounded off with a review (2 Kings xvii.-xviii. 12). The history of the surviving kingdom of Judah is then carried down to the destruction of Jerusalem and the exile (5 and 6), and, after an account of the Chaldean governorship, concludes with the release of the captive king Jehoiachin (561 B.C.) and with an allusion to his kind treatment during the rest of his lifetime.

The most noticeable feature in the book is the recurring interest in the centralization of worship in the Temple at Jerusalem as prescribed in Deuteronomy and enforced by Josiah. Amidst the great variety in style and manner which marks the several parts of the history, features which are imbued with the teaching of Deuteronomy recur regularly in similar stereotyped forms. They point in fact to a specific redaction, and thus it would seem that the editor who treated the foundation of the Temple, the central event of Solomon's life, as a religious epoch of the first importance, regarded this as the beginning of a new era--the history of Israel under the one sanctuary.

Successive Redactions.

When we assume that the book of Kings was thrown into its present form by a Deuteronomistic redactor we do not affirm that he was the first who digested the sources of the history into a continuous work, nor must we ascribe absolute finality to his work. He gave the book a definite shape and character, but the recognized methods of Hebrew literature left it open to additions and modifications by later hands. Even the redaction in the spirit of Deuteronomy seems itself to have had more than one stage, as Ewald long ago recognized.

The evidence to be detailed presently shows that there was a certain want of definiteness about the redaction. The mass of disjointed materials, not always free from inconsistencies, which lay before the editor in separate documents or in excerpts already partially arranged by an earlier hand, could not have been reduced to real unity without critical sifting, and an entire recasting of the narrative in a way foreign to the ideas and literary habits of the Hebrews. The unity which the editor aimed at was limited to (a) chronological continuity in the events recorded and (b) a certain uniformity in the treatment of the religious meaning of the narrative. Even this could not be perfectly attained in the circumstances, and the links of the history were not firmly enough riveted to prevent disarrangement or rearrangement of details by later scribes.

(a) The continued efforts of successive redactors can be traced in the chronology of the book. The chronological method of the narrative appears most clearly in the history after Solomon, where the events of each king's reign are thrown into a kind of stereotyped framework on this type: "In the twentieth year of Jeroboam, king of Israel, Asa began to reign over Judah, and reigned in Jerusalem forty-one years." ... "In the third year of Asa, king of Judah, Baasha began to reign over Israel in Tirzah twenty-four years." The history moves between Judah and Israel according to the date of each accession; as soon as a new king has been introduced, everything that happened in his reign is discussed, and wound up by another stereotyped formula as to the death and burial of the sovereign; and to this mechanical arrangement the natural connexion of events is often sacrificed. In this scheme the elaborate synchronisms between contemporary monarchs of the north and south give an aspect of great precision to the chronology. But in reality the data for Judah and Israel do not agree, and remarkable deviations are sometimes found. The key to the chronology is 1 Kings vi. 1, which, as Wellhausen has shown, was not found in the original Septuagint, and contains internal evidence of post-Chaldean date. In fact the system as a whole is necessarily later than 535 B.C., the fixed point from which it counts back, and although the numbers for the duration of the reigns may be based upon early sources, the synchronisms appear to have been inserted at a much later stage in the history of the text.

(b) Another aspect in the redaction may be called theological. Its characteristic is the retrospective application to the history of a standard belonging to the later developments of Old Testament religion. Thus the redactor regards the sins of Jeroboam as the real cause of the downfall of Israel (2 Kings xvii. 21 seq.), and passes an unfavourable judgment upon all its rulers, not merely to the effect that they did evil in the sight of Yahweh but that they followed in the way of Jeroboam. But his opinion was manifestly not shared by Elijah or Elisha, nor by the original narrator of the lives of these prophets. Moreover, the redactor in 1 Kings iii. 2 seq. regards worship at the high places as sinful after the building of the Temple, although even the best kings before Hezekiah made no attempt to suppress these shrines. This feature in the redaction displays itself not only in occasional comments or homiletical excursuses, but in that part of the narrative in which all ancient historians allowed themselves free scope for the development of their reflections--the speeches placed in the mouths of actors in the history. Here also there is often textual evidence that the theological element is somewhat loosely attached to the earlier narrative and underwent successive additions.

General Structure.

Consequently it is necessary to distinguish between the older sources and the peculiar setting in which the history has been placed; between earlier records and that specific colouring which, from its affinity to Deuteronomy and to other portions of the Old Testament which appear to have been similarly treated under the influence of its teaching, may be conveniently termed "Deuteronomistic." For his sources the compiler refers chiefly to two distinct works, the "words" or "chronicles" of the kings of Israel and those of the kings of Judah. Precisely how much is copied from these works and how much has been expressed in the compiler's own language is of course uncertain. It is found on inspection that the present history consists usually of an epitome of each reign. It states the king's age at succession (so Judah only), length of reign, death and burial, with allusions to his buildings, wars, and other political events.[1] In the case of Judah, also, the name of the royal or queen-mother is specifically mentioned. The references to the respective "chronicles," made as though they were still accessible, are wanting in the case of Jehoram and Hoshea of Israel, and of Solomon, Ahaziah, Athaliah, Jehoahaz, Jehoiachin and Zedekiah of Judah. But for Solomon the authority cited, "book of the acts of Solomon" (1 Kings xi. 41), presumably presupposes Judaean chronicles, and the remaining cases preserve details of an annalistic character. Moreover, distinctive annalistic material is found for the Israelite kings Saul and Ishbosheth in 1 Sam. xiii. 1; xiv. 47-51; 2 Sam. ii. 8-10a (including even their age at accession), and for David in 2 Sam. ii. 11 and parts of v. and viii.

The use which the compiler makes of his sources shows that his aim was not the _history_ of the past but its _religious significance_. It is rare that even qualified praise is bestowed upon the kings of Israel (Jehoram, 2 Kings iii. 2; Jehu x. 30; Hoshea xvii. 2). Kings of great historical importance are treated with extreme brevity (Omri, Jeroboam (2), Uzziah), and similar meagreness of historical information is apparent when the editorial details and the religious judgments are eliminated from the accounts of Nadab, Baasha, and the successors of Jeroboam (2) in Israel or of Abijam and Manasseh in Judah.

Solomon.

To gain a more exact idea of the character of the book we may divide the history into three sections: (1) the life of Solomon, (2) the kingdoms of Ephraim (or Samaria)[2] and Judah, and (3) the separate history of Judah after the fall of Samaria. I. _Solomon_.--The events which lead up to the death of David and the accession of Solomon (1 Kings i., ii.) are closely connected with 2 Sam. ix.-xx. The unity is broken by the appendix 2 Sam. xxi. xxi.-xxiv. which is closely connected, as regards general subject-matter, with _ibid._ v.-viii.; the literary questions depend largely upon the structure of the books of Samuel (q.v.). It is evident, at least, that either the compiler drew upon other sources for the occasion and has been remarkably brief elsewhere, or that his epitomes have been supplemented by the later insertion of material not necessarily itself of late origin. At present 1 Kings i., ii. are both the close of David's life (no source is cited) and the necessary introduction to Solomon. But Lucian's recension of the Septuagint (ed. Lagarde), as also Josephus, begin the book at ii. 12, thus separating the annalistic accounts of the two. Since the contents of 1 Kings iii.-xi. do not form a continuous narrative, the compiler's authority ("Acts of S." xi. 41) can hardly have been an ordinary chronicle. The chapters comprise (a) sundry notices of the king's prosperous and peaceful career, severed by (b) a description of the Temple and other buildings; and they conclude with (c) some account of the external troubles which prove to have unsettled the whole of his reign. After an introduction (iii.), a contains generalizing statements of Solomon's might, wealth and wisdom (iv. 20 seq., 25, 29-34; x. 23-25, 27) and stories of a distinctly late and popular character (iii. 16-28, x. i-10, 13). The present lack of unity can in some cases be remedied by the Septuagint, which offers many deviations from the Hebrew text; this feature together with the present form of the parallel texts in Chronicles will exemplify the persistence of fluctuation to a late period (4th-2nd cent. B.C.).

Thus iii. 2 seq. cannot be by the same hand as v. 4, and v. 2 is probably a later Deut. gloss upon v. 3 (earlier Deut.), which represents the compiler's view and (on the analogy of the framework) comes closely after ii. 12.[3] Ch. iii. 1 can scarcely be severed from ix. 16, and in the Septuagint they appear in iv. in the order: iv. 1-19 (the officers), 27 seq. (their duties), 22-24 (the daily provision), 29-34 (Solomon's reputation), iii. 1; ix. 16-17a (alliance with Egypt); iv. 20 seq. 25 are of a generalizing character and recur in the Septuagint with much supplementary matter in ii. Ch. iv. 26 is naturally related to x. 26 (cf. 2 Chron. i. 14) and takes its place in Lucian's recension (cf. 2 Chron. ix. 25). There is considerable variation again in ix. 10-x. 29, and the order ix. 10-14, 26-28, x. 1-22 (so partly Septuagint) has the advantage of recording continuously Solomon's dealings with Hiram. The intervening verses belong to a class of floating notices (in a very unnatural order) which seem to have got stranded almost by chance at different points in the two recensions; contrast also 2 Chron. viii. Solomon's preliminary arrangements with Hiram in ch. v. have been elaborated to emphasize the importance of the Temple (vv. 3-5, cf. 2 Sam. vii.); further difficulty is caused by the relation between 13 seq. and 15 seq. (see 2 Chron. ii. 17 seq.) and between both of these and ix. 20 seq. xi. 28. The account of the royal buildings now sandwiched in between the related fragments of a is descriptive rather than narrative, and the accurate details might have been obtained by actual observation of the Temple at a date long subsequent to Solomon. It is not all due to a single hand. Ch. vi. 11-14 (with several late phrases) break the connexion and are omitted by the Septuagint; vv. 15-22, now untranslatable, appear in a simple and intelligible form in the Septuagint. The account of the dedication contains many signs of a late date; viii. 14-53, 54-61 are due to a Deuteronomic writer, and that they are an expansion of the older narrative (vv. 1-13) is suggested by the fact that the ancient fragment, vv. 12, 13 (imperfect in the Hebrew) appears in the Septuagint after v. 53 in completer form and with a reference to the book of Jashar as source ([Greek: biblion tês ôdês] [Hebrew: sefer (hashir) hayashar]). The redactional insertion displaced it in one recension and led to its mutilation in the other. With viii. 27-30, cf. generally Isa. xl.-lvi.; vv. 44-51 presuppose the exile, vv. 54-61 are wanting in Chron., and even the older parts of this chapter have also been retouched in conformity with later (even post-exilic) ritual and law. The Levites who appear at v. 4 in contrast to the priests, in a way unknown to the pre-exilic history, are not named in the Septuagint, which also omits the post-exilic term "congregation" (_'edah_) in v. 5. There is a general similarity of subject with Deut. xxviii.

The account of the end of Solomon's reign deals with (a) his religious laxity (xi. 1-13, now in a Deuteronomic form), as the punishment for which the separation of the two kingdoms is announced; and (b) the rise of the adversaries who, according to xi. 25, had troubled the whole of his reign, and therefore cannot have been related originally as the penalty for the sins of his old age. Both, however, form an introduction to subsequent events, and the life of Solomon concludes with a brief annalistic notice of his death, length of reign, successor, and place of burial. (See further SOLOMON.)

The Divided Kingdom.

II. _Ephraim and Judah._--In the history of the two kingdoms the redactor follows a fixed scheme determined, as has been seen, by the order of succession. The fluctuation of tradition concerning the circumstances of the schism is evident from a comparison with the Septuagint, and all that is related of Ahijah falls under suspicion of being foreign to the oldest history.[4] The story of the man of God from Judah (xiii.) is shown to be late by its general tone (conceptions of prophetism and revelation),[5] and by the term "cities of Samaria" (v. 32, for Samaria as a _province_, cf. 2 Kings xvii. 24, 26; for the building of the city by Omri see 1 Kings xvi. 24). It is a late Judaean narrative inserted after the Deuteronomic redaction, and breaks the connexion between xii. 31 and xiii. 33 seq. The latter describe the idolatrous worship instituted by the first king of the schismatic north, and the religious attitude occurs regularly throughout the compiler's epitome, however brief the reigns of the kings. In the account of Nadab, xv. 25 seq., 29b, 30 seq. are certainly the compiler's, and the synchronism in v. 28 must also be editorial; xv. 32 (Septuagint omit) and 16 are duplicates leading up to the Israelite and Judaean accounts of Baasha respectively. But xv. 33-xvi. 7 contains little annalistic information, and the prophecy in xvi. 1-4 is very similar to xiv. 7-11, which in turn breaks the connexion between vv. 6 and 12. Ch. xvi. 7 is a duplicate to vv. 1-4 and out of place; the Septuagint inserts it in the _middle_ of v. 8. The brief reign of Elah preserves an important entract in xvi. 9, but the date in v. 10a (LXX. omits) presupposes the late finished chronological scheme. Zimri's seven days receive the inevitable condemnation, but the older material embedded in the framework (xvi. 15b-18) is closely connected with v. 9 and is continued in the non-editorial portions of Omri's reign (xvi. 21 seq., length of reign in v. 23, and v. 24). The achievements of Omri to which the editor refers can fortunately be gathered from external sources (see OMRI). Under Omri's son Ahab the separate kingdoms converge.

Next, as to Judah: the vivid account of the accession of Rehoboam in xii. 1-16 is reminiscent of the full narratives in 2 Sam. ix.-xx.; 1 Kings i., ii. (cf. especially v. 16 with 2 Sam. xx. 1); xii. 15b refers to the prophecy of Ahijah (see above), and "unto this day," v. 19, cannot be by a contemporary author; v. 17 (LXX. omits) finds a parallel in 2 Chron. xi. 16 seq., and could represent an Ephraimite standpoint. The Judaean standpoint is prominent in vv. 21-24, where (a) the inclusion of Benjamin and (b) the cessation of war (at the command of Shemaiah) conflict with (a) xi. 32, 36, xii. 20 and (b) xiv. 30 respectively. Rehoboam's history, resumed by the redactor in xiv. 21-24, continues with a brief account of the spoiling of the Temple and palace by Sheshonk (Shishak). (The incident appears in 2 Chron. xii. in a rather different context, _before_ the details which now precede v. 21 seq.) The reign of Abijam is entirely due to the editor, whose brief statement of the war in xv. 7b is supplemented by a lengthy story in 2 Chron. xiii. (where the name is Abijah). Ch. xv. 5b (last clause) and v. 6 are omitted by the Septuagint, the former is a unique gloss (see 2 Sam. xi. seq.), the latter is a mere repetition of xiv. 30; with xv. 2 cf. v. 10. The account of Asa's long reign contains a valuable summary of his war with Baasha, xv. 16-22; the isolated v. 15 is quite obscure and is possibly related to v. 18 (but cf. vii. 51). His successor Jehoshaphat is now dealt with completely in xxii. 41-50 after the death of Ahab; but the Septuagint, which follows a different chronological scheme (placing his accession in the reign of Omri), gives the summary (with some variations) after xvi. 28. Another light is thrown upon the incomplete annalistic fragments (xxii. 44, 47-49) by 2 Chron. xx. 35-37: the friendship between Judah and Israel appears to have been displeasing to the redactor of Kings.

Ephraim from Ahab to Jehu.

The history of the few years between the close of Ahab's life and the accession of Jehu covers about one-third of the entire book of Kings. This is due to the inclusion of a number of narratives which are partly of a political character, and partly are interested in the work of contemporary prophets. The climax is reached in the overthrow of Omri's dynasty by the usurper Jehu, when, after a period of close intercourse between Israel and Judah, its two kings perished. The annals of each kingdom would naturally deal independently with these events, but the present literary structure of 1 Kings xvii.-2 Kings xi. is extremely complicated by the presence of the narratives referred to. First as regards the framework, the epitome of Ahab is preserved in xvi. 29-34 and xxii. 39; it contains some unknown references (his ivory house and cities), and a stern religious judgment upon his Phoenician alliance, on which the intervening chapters throw more light. The colourless summary of his son Ahaziah (xxii. 51-53)[6] finds its conclusion in 2 Kings i. 17 seq. where v. 18 should precede the accession of his brother Jehoram (v. 17b). Jehoram is again introduced in iii. 1-3 (note the variant synchronism), but the usual conclusion is wanting. In Judah, Jehoshaphat was succeeded by his son Jehoram, who had married Athaliah the daughter of Ahab and Jezebel (viii. 16-24); to the annalistic details (vv. 20-22) 2 Chron. xxi. 11 sqq. adds a novel narrative. His son Ahaziah (viii. 25 sqq.) is similarly denounced for his relations with Israel. He is again introduced in the isolated ix. 29, while Lucian's recension adds after x. 36 a variant summary of his reign but _without_ the regular introduction. Further confusion appears in the Septuagint, which inserts after i. 18 (Jehoram of Israel) a notice corresponding to iii. 1-3, and concludes "and the anger of the Lord was kindled against the house of Ahab." This would be appropriate in a position nearer ix. seq. where the deaths of Jehoram and Ahaziah are described. These and other examples of serious disorder in the framework may be associated with the literary features of the narratives of Elijah and Elisha.

Of the more detailed narratives those that deal with the northern kingdom are scarcely Judaean (see 1 Kings xix. 3), and they do not criticize Elijah's work, as the Judaean compiler denounces the whole history of the north. But they are plainly not of one origin. To supplement the articles ELIJAH and ELISHA, it is to be noticed that the account of Naboth's death in the history of Elijah (1 Kings xxi.) differs in details from that in the history of Elisha and Jehu (2 Kings ix.), and the latter more precise narrative presupposes events recorded in the extant accounts of Elijah but not these events themselves. In 1 Kings xx., xxii. 1-28 (xxi. follows xix. in the LXX.) Ahab is viewed rather more favourably than in the Elijah-narratives (xix., xxi.) or in the compiler's summary. Ch. xxii. 6, moreover, proves that there is some exaggeration in xviii. 4, 13; the great contest between Elijah and the king, between Yahweh and Baal, has been idealized. The denunciation of Ahab in xx. 35-43 has some notable points of contact with xiii. and seems to be a supplement to the preceding incidents. Ch. xxii. is important for its ideas of prophetism (especially vv. 19-23; cf. Ezek. xiv. 9; 2 Sam. xxiv. 1 [in contrast to 1 Chron. xxi. 1]); a gloss at the end of v. 28, omitted by the Septuagint, wrongly identifies Micaiah with the well-known Micah (i. 2). Although the punishment passed upon Ahab in xxi. 20 sqq. (20b-26 betray the compiler's hand; cf. xiv. 10 seq.) is modified in v. 29, this is ignored in the account of his death, xxii. 38, which takes place at Samaria (see below).