Vetus Testamentum (2019) 1-24 Vetus Testamentum brill.com/vt Form and Content in the Story of Asa in 2 Chr 13:23b-16:14: A Diachronic-Synchronic Reading Itzhak Amar Hemdat Ha’darom Academic Collage
[email protected] Abstract In contrast to the brief and positive Deuteronomistic description of Asa’s reign (1 Kgs 9-24), the Chronicler provides us with a complex, lengthy account (2 Chr 13:23b- 16:14). The first part of his rule is depicted as good, the second as bad. This formu- lation creating various thematic, chronological, linguistic, and theological problems. Analyzing these both diachronically and synchronically, the complementary approach adopted herein reveals the unit’s constitutive components, together with the central themes shaping it. Hereby, we gain a broader and deeper picture of the way in which Asa is portrayed, particularly in comparison with of his predecessors, Rehoboam and Abijah on the one hand and Jehoshaphat on the other. Keywords Asa – 2 Chronicles 14-16 – diachronic analysis – synchronic analysis 1 Introduction An initial glance at the account of Asa’s reign in 2 Chr 13:23b-16:14 immedi- ately reveals that it is much more elaborate than the Vorlage in 1 Kgs 15:9-24.1 The events described appear to derive from two different timeframes, the first (the 34 verses in 13:23b-15:19) being characterized by a positive, the second (2 Chr 16) by a negative perspective. The seam is clearly evinced by two verses 1 The passage in 2 Chronicles comprises 48 verses in contrast to the 15 in 1 Kings.