The Greek Text of Kings
THE GREEK TRANSLATION OF KINGS has a different compositional arrangement than that known in the Masoretic text (Hebrew) used in English translation. In Old Greek versions of Kings, the division between Samuel and Kings was made after the summary of David’s reign (1 Kings 2:11). This observation was first made by H. St. John Thackeray in his study of the Greek text of Kings.1 He demonstrated that 2 Samuel 11:2 to 1 Kings 2:11 are a distinct translation from the rest of Samuel and Kings. The second section in which this distinct translation is taken up with the same thoroughness is 1 Kings 22 through 2 Kings. The chapter sequence of the Greek translation has 1 Kings 21 preceding chapter 20; the story of Naboth’s vineyard follows immediately the account of Elijah in his struggle against Baal (1 Kings 17–19). The account of the Aramean wars follows (1 Kings 20), and the account of the oracle of Micaiah (1 Kings 22) is a transition to events that involve Jehoshaphat and the descendants of Ahab.
With the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, Dominique Barthélemy was able to show that these sections of Samuel and Kings were a revision of the Old Greek done in the first century before Christ.2 The first section was a logical choice for the revision (currently referred to as kaige-Theodotion), as it began with the account of the house of David and ended with a summary of his reign. The second revision dealt with the demise of the nations of Israel and Judah following the corrupting influence of Baal worship in Israel, which nearly came to be the state religion of Judah as well under the power of Athaliah, daughter of Ahab.
A second peculiarity of the Greek translation of Kings is the presence of two lengthy miscellanies in the introduction to the reign of Solomon. The first is found after 1 Kings 2:35 (enumerated 35a–k), the second after 2:46 (enumerated 46a–l). Each miscellany begins with a statement of Solomon’s wisdom, and each uses the sands of the seashore as a simile: the first for Solomon’s wisdom, and the second to describe the numbers of Israel. This seems to imply that the wisdom of Solomon equaled that of all Israel.
The first miscellany deals with Solomon in his building activities, the second with his government, administration, and supplies. They are incorporated into the main text of Kings as part of the ordering and interpretation of the book. They are collections of alternative translations, variant readings, glosses, doublets, and the like, gathered and arranged to present the wisdom of Solomon. In a number of instances the miscellanies contain information known in the Masoretic text of Kings, but otherwise unknown in the Greek text of Kings. The main goal of these miscellanies seems to be a systematic attempt to make midrashic capital out of textual variants and in so doing to present Solomon as a pious and good king.3 They appear to be the product of an alternate school of thought on certain leading figures in Kings.