The Chronology of the Prophetic Narratives

CHAPTER V The Chronology of the Prophetic Narratives The brief survey of prophetic narratives in this chapter is not concerned with determining the original authorship of these stories, nor the various vicissitudes they underwent before becoming incorporated into the present compilation of the Books of Kings. 1 The chief point of interest in the comparison of the Greek and Hebrew texts is the relationship of these narratives to the regnal formulae studied in the preceding chapters. In the following survey the order of the Greek text will be followed. The Chronological Sequence of the Narratives Elijah and Ahab. The cluster of regnal formulae of Omri, Jehoshaphat and Ahab in the Old Greek text at the end of chapter 16 of I Kings is followed by the first of the stories concerning the prophet Elijah. According to the biblical accounts, his ministry was exercised prin cipally during the reign of Ahab. The first three chapters (I Kings 17-19) of stories about Elijah and his dealings with Ahab and Jezebel form a natural unit whose sequence could not be altered and hence is the same in both the Greek and Hebrew texts. The drought predicted by Elijah (chapter 17) leads to the contest with th~ prophets of Baal (chapter 18), which in turn occasions the flight of Elijah to escape the vengeance of Jezebel (chapter 19). These stories are concerned solely with the northern kingdom. They show Elijah as an influential 88 Chapter V figure in the religious and political life of Israel in the ninth century when the northern kingdom faced the threat of religious syncretism posed by the importation of the cult of the Tyrian Baai. Chapter 20 reveals the prophet as the champion of the sacral right of the Israelite to his ancestral inheritance. The story of Naboth's vineyard is completely devoid of chronological interest. This un doubtedly explains why the Hebrew text placed this story after the narrative of the anonymous prophet, reversing the order of the Greek text. The Greek arrangement is superior, however, because it keeps all the stories about Elijah and Ahab together. 2 Ahab and Other Prophets. The stories in chapter 21 involving Ahab and anonymous prophets are concerned with the war of Israel against Syria. They have a chronological reference to Ben-Hadad of Syria but no synchronism with the southern kingdom of Judah. Chapter 21 must precede chapter 22 because the campaign of Ahab against Ramoth-gilead, which is related in chapter 22, res1,Jlts in Ahab's death. Ahab and Jehoshaphat. The first forty verses in chapter 22 relate the campaign of Ahab against the Syrians at Ramoth-gilead. For the first time in these prophetic narratives a general synchronism with Judah is given because the king of Judah, Jehoshaphat, takes part in the campaign at the invitation of Ahab. The northern provenience of the story is evident because its chief religious interest lies in the vision of Micaiah ben Imlah, whose prophecy is confirmed by the death of Ahab in battle. Nevertheless the same narrative is contained in nearly identical form in II Chronicles, very likely because of the important role of Jehoshaphat, who plays such a prominent part in II Chronicles. Save for the series of regnal formulae for the kings of Judah and a few verses recounting the slaying of Joram and Ahaziah (J), the story of Ahab's campaign against Ramoth-gilead is the only material in the whole section under discussion that is common to both Kings and Chronicles. The same stereotyped elements are present in the regnal formulae for the kings of Judah which Kings and Chro nicles have in common, except that the synchronisms are lacking in Chronicles. The few verses (II Chron. 22: 7-9) recounting the assassination of Ahaziah by Jehu differ from the parallel account in Kings (II Kings 9: 27-28), and the slaying of Joram is not reported. The encounter of Ahab and Jehoshaphat is, of course, compatible .

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