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303 Kingdoms, Northern and Southern 304 of and Kings. In the past scholars from cultic centralization that Jerboam violated was not Wellhausen (1871) to McCarter (1980) found nu- instituted until the composition of Deuteronomy in merous instances where a corrupt or edited reading the late seventh century, some 300 years after Jero- of the HB could be emended with the LXX. More boam. Still, it provides the explanation for Israel’s recently, attention has been paid to the possibility fall in 722 BCE and for Judah’s survival until 586 of using the LXX, including its Latin witnesses, as BCE. A prophecy – fulfillment scheme further sup- documented evidence in literary and redaction criti- ports the etiology. The promise to of an en- cal studies on Samuel-Kings (Trebolle; Schenker; during house (dynasty) explains Judah’s continua- Hugo). tion under Davidid rule despite ’s (1 Kgs 14 : 29–39) and evil kings (1 Kgs 15 : 2–3; Bibliography: ■ Hugo, P., Les deux visages d’Élie (Fribourg/ Göttingen 2006). ■ McCarter, P. K., I Samuel (AB 8; New 2 Kgs 8 : 19). In contrast, the overthrow of each of York 1980). ■ McCarter, P. K., II Samuel (AB 9; New York Israel’s royal houses is foretold by prophets in ora- 1984). ■ Trebolle, J., Centena in libros Samuelis et Regum cles that use the same language to predict the (Madrid 1989). ■ Schenker, A., Älteste Textgeschichte der Kö- slaughter of the potential male heirs and their non- nigsbücher (Fribourg/Göttingen 2004). ■ Wellhausen, J., Der burial (1 Kgs 14 : 7–18; 16 : 1–4; 21 : 20–24; 2 Kgs Text der Bücher Samuelis untersucht (Göttingen 1871). 9 : 7–10). Tuukka Kauhanen The third main section dealing with the remain- See also /Kings (Books); /Samuel (Books and ing kings of Judah follows the order of their reigns: Person) , Manasseh, Amon, , Jehoahaz, Je- hoiakim, Jehoiachin, Zedekiah. The accounts for Hezekiah and Josiah are the longest, reflecting the Kingdoms, Northern and Southern author’s interest in their religious reforms. Second /Israel, People of; /Kingdoms of Israel and Ju- Kings ends with Jerusalem’s destruction and the ex- dah ile of Judah in 587/586 BCE followed by notices about ’s brief tenure as governor and Je- hoiachin’s release from Babylonian prison in ca. Kings (Books) 562 BCE. I. Hebrew / 2. Date and Composition. The book of Kings has II. been the main theater for debates on the date and III. composition of the Deuteronomistic History. Noth IV. dated the Dtr History to 562 BCE. European schol- V. Literature ars have tended to maintain this as the primary edi- VI. Visual Arts tion (DtrG[Grundschrift]) of Kings, while perceiv- VII. Music ing, with Smend, a series of subsequent Dtr layers VIII. Film focused on prophecy (DtrP) and law (DtrN). North Americans have generally followed Cross in posit- I. /Old Testament ing an earlier, Josianic edition (Dtr1) – or an even 1. Content and Structure. A single work in two earlier Hezekian one – as predecessors of the exilic parts, 1–2 Kings has three sections: the reign of Sol- work (Dtr2). Some recent scholars have begun to omon (1 Kgs 1–11), the divided kingdom (1 Kgs 12– question the thesis of a Dtr History, arguing that 2 Kgs 17), and the alone after Is- its constituent books had independent origins. But rael’s fall (2 Kgs 18–25). Each section has its own a revised Dtr History theory yields a more cogent structure. Solomon’s reign is built around the picture (Römer). building and dedication of the temple (1 Kgs 5–8). Official archives and prophetic tales seem to be The division of the kingdom after Solomon is ex- the two main sources behind Kings. The regnal for- plained as punishment for serving other gods intro- mulas that provide the book’s structure refer to duced by his many foreign wives. “Book of the Annals of the Kings of Israel/Kings of For the divided kingdom, the account alternates Judah,” and annals are well attested for other an- between Israel and Judah with each king dated by cient Near Eastern kings. Still, no annals have been the regnal years of his counterpart in the other found for any king of Israel or Judah. Religious kingdom. The opening and closing regnal formulas evaluations in the regnal formulas would not derive for each king furnish a framework for any narrative from annals but are the work of the Dtr author of set during that king’s reign. The kings are evalu- Kings. Thus, while Dtr may well have used official ated religiously. The kings of Judah are all de- sources of some kind, their exact nature remains scended from David and judged by his standard; unclear. eight out of nineteen are righteous. The kings of The prophetic stories do not all appear at the Israel are all judged evil for perpetuating the “sin same level of writing. The antidynastic oracles are of ” by maintaining the royal shrines that well integrated into the Dtr framework. Thus, in he established at Dan and Bethel. The principle of 1 Kgs 14 : 1–13, the answer to the inquiry of Jero-

Encyclopedia of and Its Reception vol. 15 Authenticated | [email protected] © Walter de Gruyter, Berlin/Boston, 2017 Download Date | 12/4/18 2:03 AM 305 Kings (Books) 306 boam’s wife about her sick son is delayed by the was due to the failure to obey YHWH’s word in To- oracle against the dynasty, and in 2 Kgs 9 : 1–10, the rah and prophetic revelation. No explicit hope for prophet disobeys the order to flee after the future is expressed. It is uncertain, but also in order to deliver the oracle against the royal open. The remnant of Israel can only hope that house. In both cases, Dtr used older prophetic sto- YHWH will act again on their behalf and learn from ries as the forum for his etiological oracle against the past not to fall again into apostasy. The post- the sitting dynasty. Most of the prophetic tales in Dtr prophetic legends focus on the as Kings, though, are post-Dtr additions. This in- wonder worker independent of YHWH or with cludes the legends about , , and other YHWH’s power assumed. Elijah is a new Moses prophets in 1 Kgs 17–2 Kgs 13, except for Elijah’s (1 Kgs 19), and Elisha directs international politics. oracle in 1 Kgs 21 : 20–24* (Rofé; McKenzie: 81– Bibliography: ■ Cross, F. M., “The Structure of the Deuter- 100). onomic History,” in Perspectives in Jewish Learning (Annual of 3. History. Kings is our only ancient biblical source the College of Jewish Studies 3; Chicago, Ill. 1968) 9–24; for the ’s and Judah’s monarchy (the rev. “The Themes of the Book of Kings and the Structure author(s) of Chronicles used Kings and is therefore of the Deuteronomistic History,” in id., Canaanite Myth and not independent.) The etiological purpose of Kings Hebrew Epic: Essays in the History of the Religion of Israel (Cam- ■ and the place of prophets in it show that its interest bridge, Mass. 1973) 274–89. McKenzie, S. L., The Trouble with Kings: The Composition of the in the Deuteron- is primarily theological rather than historical. Thus, omistic History (VTSup 42; Leiden 1991). ■ Miller, J. M., despite ’s historical importance, shown in “The Omride Dynasty in the Light of Recent Literary and archaeological remains and extrabiblical sources Archaeological Research” (PhD diss., Emory University, where Israel is known as the “house of Omri,” 1964). ■ Noth, M., Überlieferungsgeschichtliche Studien (Darm- Kings devotes but a single, non-formulaic verse to stadt 31967); ET: id., The Deuteronomistic History (JSOTSup his reign (1 Kgs 16 : 24). The account of ’s reign 15; Sheffield 1991). ■ Römer, T., The So-Called Deuteronomis- (1 Kgs 16 : 29–22 : 40) is much longer, but is mostly tic History (London 2005). ■ Rofé, A., The Prophetical Studies ■ about Elijah and with little on the king’s (Jerusalem 1988). Shenkel, J. D., Chronology and Recen- sional Development in the Greek Text of Kings (HSM 1; Cam- accomplishments. Some of Kings’ historical data are bridge, Mass. 1968). ■ Smend, R., “Das Gesetz und die contradicted by other sources: (1) The battle stories Völker: Ein Beitrag zur deuteronomistischen Redaktions- in 1 Kgs 20; 22 depict Ahab as weak militarily and geschichte,” in Probleme Biblischer Theologie, FS G. v. Rad (ed. at war with Aram (Syria), while contemporary Assy- H. W. Wolff; Munich 1971) 494–509. ■ Trebolle Barrera, J., rian inscriptions portray him as a formidable ally of Centena in libros Samuelis et Regum: Variantes textuales y composi- Aram. In Kings, these two chapters are out of place ción literaria en los libros de Samuel y Reyes (Madrid 1989). and originally concerned a much later king. (2) In Steven L. McKenzie contrast to 2 Kgs 9, where Jehu assassinates the kings of both Israel and Judah, the Tel Dan inscrip- II. New Testament tion credits its author, probably King Hazael, with There are only two quotations from the books of those slayings. Did Hazael exaggerate for propa- Kings in the NT, both in Rom 11. Paul is seeking ganda effect or is Kings mistaken in its description to refute the idea that the inclusion of the Gentiles of Jehu’s religious zeal? (3) The account of Sen- implies that God has rejected his people. He begins nacherib’s invasion in 2 Kgs 18 differs from the As- by citing his own background as an “Israelite, a de- syrian version not only in outcome but also in hav- scendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Ben- ing invade twice. This is likely the jamin” (11 : 1). This sounds like Paul is citing him- result of the combination in Kings of different ver- self as evidence that God has not rejected his sions of the same event. Thus, historical informa- people; but as Dunn notes, this would be somewhat tion in Kings must be judiciously balanced against trite. It is more likely that Paul is reminding his literary and theological considerations. readers of his credentials to offer authoritative in- 4. Text and Chronology. Where the Old Greek is terpretations of Scripture and perhaps also to pave extant in LXXB (1 Kgs 2 : 12–21 : 29) or can be recon- the way for a comparison between himself and Eli- structed from the Old Latin, the text often varies jah. He begins by asking whether they know the markedly from the MT and is more coherent (Tre- Scripture where Elijah “pleads with God against Is- bolle). The variants include lengthy Greek pluses rael” (11 : 2) and then quotes from either 1 Kgs (e.g., 1 Kgs 12 : 24a–z) whose origins are intensely 19 : 10 or 14 in the form, “Lord, they have killed debated by scholars. The chronological data often your prophets, they have demolished your altars, I vary widely as a result of the MT and OG following alone am left, and they are seeking my life” (11 : 3). different systems (Miller, Shenkel). The Dead Sea This appears to be Paul’s own summary and departs scroll fragments for Kings are sparse and do not significantly from the language of the LXX. He vary much from the MT. omits the first part of Elijah’s complaint (“I have 5. . Kings’ theology resembles those of been very zealous for the LORD, the God of hosts; Deuteronomy and the Prophets. YHWH is in con- for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant”) and trol of history. The destruction of Israel and Judah the final phrase (“to take it away”), adds a vocative

Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception vol. 15 Authenticated | [email protected] © Walter de Gruyter, Berlin/Boston, 2017 Download Date | 12/4/18 2:03 AM 307 Kings (Books) 308 address “Lord” (perhaps taken from the earlier la- (“Now John was clothed with camel’s hair, with a ment in 19 : 4), and reverses the order of killing the leather belt around his waist”) is an allusion to prophets and tearing down altars. Although Eli- 2 Kgs 1 : 8, where the description, “A hairy man, jah’s words are undoubtedly a damning indictment with a leather belt around his waist” is enough to of Israel, the text does not specifically say that they tell the king that the prophecy of his death comes are aimed against (κατ) Israel and this might re- from none other than “Elijah the Tishbite.” Others flect Paul’s own situation. find the link tenuous and suggest that Mark is sim- The second quotation is a summary of 1 Kgs ply referring to John as a prophet and ascetic. 19 : 18 (“Yet I will leave seven thousand in Israel, David and Solomon are mentioned in Stephen’s all the knees that have not bowed to , and every speech concerning the building of the temple (Acts mouth that has not kissed him”), which Paul quotes 7 : 45–47), beginning with a reference to David’s de- in the form, “I have kept for myself seven thousand sire to build a house for God (1 Kgs 8 : 17) and then who have not bowed the knee to Baal” (11 : 4). His to Solomon, who actually built it. There follows a point is that at “the present time there is a rem- statement that “the Most High does not dwell in nant, chosen by grace” (11 : 5), just as there was in houses” (Acts 7 : 48) and a quotation from Isa 66 : 1, Elijah’s day, and this should give rise to hope. which could imply that Stephen thinks the whole There is debate as to whether the number 7,000 is enterprise was a mistake. Indeed, it is interesting significant for Paul, perhaps as a symbol of “all Is- that Luke traces ’ genealogy through David rael” (11 : 26), though it might simply be a detail and (Luke 3 : 31) rather than David and Sol- from the text he is quoting. As Byrne notes, this is omon (Matt 1 : 6–7); thismight suggest that he in- different from the “remnant” idea in Rom 9 : 27– tends a criticism of Solomon (see Doble: 181–207). 28, for “in the earlier passage, the existence of the However, Solomon is well aware that “even heaven ‘remnant’ (πλειμμα, v.27) served simply to indi- and the highest heaven” cannot contain God, cate the numerical diminishment of Israel accord- “much less this house that I have built” (1 Kgs ing to the flesh, here the motif stands as a pledge 8 : 27) and so it is probably a critique of what the of the continuing fidelity of God” (Byrne: 330). temple has become rather than of Solomon himself. The story of Elijah saying to Ahab that “there There are two further references to Solomon in shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by the . The first is an illustration of God’s care my word” (1 Kgs 17 : 1) is referred to three times in for the world, asserting that not even “Solomon in the NT. For James, it is an example of the principle all his glory” was clothed like the “lilies of the that the “prayer of the righteous is powerful and field” (Matt 6 : 28–29). The second is a judgement effective” (Jas 5 : 16), though this is not a feature of on the scribes and Pharisees who insist on seeing the original account. In order to apply the story to signs, whereas the “queen of the South … came his readers, James says that Elijah was “a human from the ends of the earth to listen to the wisdom being like us” ( μ ι παθς), though it is unclear if of Solomon” (Matt 12 : 42). This is a reference to the this is a reference to frailty (so NJB). Luke’s interest queen of ’s visit in 1 Kgs 10 : 1–10. is that “when the heaven was shut up three years We have already noted Elisha’s healing of Naa- and six months, and there was a severe famine over man the Syrian, and it is probable that the feeding all the land” (Luke 4 : 25), God sent Elijah to help a miracles in the Gospels have been influenced by widow who lived outside of Israel (1 Kgs 17 : 8–24); 2 Kgs 4 : 42–44, where Elisha feeds a crowd of one this is followed by a reference to Elisha healing hundred people with twenty barley loaves. Note the Naaman the Syrian (2 Kgs 5 : 1–5). In Revelation, following parallels (1) a man/boy has a small num- John records a vision of two witnesses who will ber of loaves; (2) Elisha/Jesus commands that it be prophesy for 1260 days and “if anyone wants to used to feed a large crowd; (3) the question is raised harm them, fire pours from their mouth” and they as to how such a small quantity can feed so many; “have authority to shut the sky, so that no rain may (4) the command is reiterated and the people are fall during the days of their prophesying” (11 : 5– fed; (5) there is some left over. 6). It is interesting that all three of these passages Lastly, we might mention the reference in the refer very specifically to three and a half years, to the battle of Armageddon whereas 1 Kgs 18 : 1 speaks only of “in the third (16 : 16). There have of course been many attempts year of the drought.” It would appear that, by NT to understand this reference, but as the author tells times, this was an established tradition, perhaps us that it is a Hebrew name, our starting point drawn from the half-week of Dan 7 : 25. should probably be Mount (Har) Megiddo. This is The question of whether John the Baptist is Eli- the place where King Josiah died in battle (2 Kgs jah is both affirmed (Matt 11 : 14) and denied (John 23 : 30); it is remembered as a place of mourning 1 : 21) in the New Testament, though these passages (Zech 12 : 11). are drawing on rather than the books of Bibliography: ■ Allison Jr., D. C., The Intertextual Jesus: Scrip- Kings. However, many scholars have suggested that ture in Q (Harrisburg, Penn. 2000). [Esp. 142–56] ■ Beale, the description of John’s clothing in Mark 1 : 6 G. K./D. A. Carson (eds.), Commentary on the New Testament

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Use of the Old Testament (Grand Rapids, Mich. 2007). manuscripts of the text found in the Cairo Genizah ■ Byrne, B., Romans (Collegeville, Minn. 1996). ■ Dunn, indicate that it was valued in Jewish circles. J. D. G., Romans 9–16 (WBC 38B; Dallas, Tex. 1988). ■ Do- ble, P., “Something Greater than Solomon: An Approach to 3. Josephus. In his Antiquities Josephus retells and Stephen’s Speech,” in The Old Testament in the New Testament expands the tales of Kings aiming to show that the (ed. S. Moyise; Sheffield 2000) 181–207. scriptures are trustworthy history and are sup- Steve Moyise ported by non-Jewish evidence. Sennacherib’s movements surrounding his unsuccessful capture III. Judaism of Jerusalem are traced in non-biblical sources all the better to support the strength of Hezekiah’s 1. Chronicles. Most scholars consider the biblical prayer in holding off the Assyrian threat. Josephus’ book of Chronicles to be the first Jewish text to editorial additions to the descriptions of the kings make use of Kings as a source (for an alternative stress not only their virtues and vices but also the view see Auld who claims that Kings and Chronicles workings of divine reward and punishment. Solo- are contemporaneous and depend on a common mon, for instance, receives more than 200 para- source). Composed between the 5th and 3rd centu- graphs dedicated not only to his wisdom but to his ries BCE, Chronicles retells the story of the Judean courage, temperance, and piety as well. Jeroboam, kings by lifting many passages directly, omitting on the other hand, is portrayed as the exemplar of many others entirely, incorporating material not wickedness. Yet Josephus also complicates character found in Kings, and refocusing the narrative on Da- showing the evil king Ahab sincerely repenting and vid, Solomon, and the temple cult. If Kings places attributes the successful king ’s fall from the blame for catastrophe primarily on the sins of grace and painful leprosy to his self-righteousness the kings of Israel and Judah, Chronicles adopts the and impiety. Josephus’ treatment of the prophets prophetic view that the sins of the entire nation often downplays their miracles while underscoring brought about its ultimate downfall. While Kings the fulfillment of prophecy in real historical time. carefully alternates between the reigns of the kings So he emphasizes, for example, Elijah’s correct pre- of Israel and Judah in order to represent the simul- diction of a drought but omits the tale of his walk taneity of events in the two kingdoms, Chronicles across the and of the chariot that took abandons this scheme and deals with the breakaway him up to the sky. regime in Israel only to the extent that it affects the 4. Rabbinic Literature. In rabbinic literature legitimate kingdom of Judah. Thus the prophetic Kings as a book plays no specific role, but like the tales of Elijah and Elisha, whose confrontations other books of the Early Prophets, receives volumi- with northern monarchs constitute the heart of nous commentary in the Middle Ages from exegetes Kings, do not appear in Chronicles, and most kings such as Rashi (1040–1105), David Qimḥi (1160– of Israel are not mentioned by name. Even king 1235, (1288–1344), and Isaac Abarbanel Ahab of Israel, whose apostasy and pursuit of Elijah (1437–1508). The book’s characters and events, are a major target of Kings (1 Kgs 16 : 29–33; 18 : 1– however, are frequently cited and interpreted in 21 : 29), comes into play only in relation to his alli- both halakhic and aggadic material even if Yalqut ance with Jehoshaphat of Judah (1 Kgs 22 : 1–39; Shimoni (12th–13th cent.) is the only midrashic col- 2 Chr 18), while Jehoshaphat’s reign in Chronicles lection devoted to all of Kings. Elijah is an especial is expanded to four chapters (2 Chr 17–21). favorite of the rabbis because of his superhuman 2. Ben Sira. The early 2nd-century BCE book of knowledge. He can discover lost objects or the Ben Sira, as the rabbis later called it, limns the ma- wishes of a dead person. As well, halakhic puzzles jor figures of Kings in its hymn praising but also which cannot be solved are left “until Elijah critiquing famous ancestors (Sir 44–50) beginning comes.” Essentially Elijah becomes rabbinized. with Enoch and ending with the author’s own con- Later he speaks to individual rabbis and can dis- temporary, the high priest Simon. From Kings Ben close divine purposes and plans. In their stories of Sira includes Nathan, David, Solomon, “foolish Re- royal times, the rabbis integrate the Later Prophets hoboam,” Jeroboam, Elijah, Elisha, Hezekiah, Isa- into the history narrated in Kings even though in iah, and Josiah, but concludes his portrait of Josiah the biblical text itself only (and a single verse with the note: “Except for David and Hezekiah and referring to son of Amittai) appears out of Josiah, all of them were great sinners, for they aban- all the classical prophets. Thus the rabbis anticipate doned the law of the Most High; the kings of Judah modern critical scholarship’s interest in setting the came to an end” (49 : 4). Ben Sira relies on Kings prophets in the historical context largely provided for most of these descriptions, such as Solomon’s by Kings. wealth, wisdom, and foreign wives, but sometimes 5. Medieval Judaism. Among medieval thinkers follows Chronicles instead as in his attribution of Maimonides (1138–1204) and Isaac Abarbanel are the establishment of the temple service to David. especially concerned with kingship, and the books Though Ben Sira was preserved in Greek in the LXX of Kings play some part in their deliberations. For and thus not part of the Jewish canon, Hebrew Maimonides kingship is a central element of his fu-

Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception vol. 15 Authenticated | [email protected] © Walter de Gruyter, Berlin/Boston, 2017 Download Date | 12/4/18 2:03 AM 311 Kings (Books) 312 turistic hope. In the “Laws Concerning Kings and snippets of a select few sections. In Reform commu- Wars” in his Mishneh Maimonides takes Mo- nities, where the haftarah is not regularly read at ses and David as models of humility, which he sees services, Kings is barely known. to be the primary check on royal power. The just Bibliography: ■ Auld, A. G., Kings Without Privilege: David king, he says, is to serve his subjects and not wield and Moses in the Story of the Bible’s Kings (Edinburgh 1994). his power over them. He refers to the advice offered ■ Castelli, S., “Kings in Josephus,” in The Book of Kings: Sour- to and rejected by by the elders to be a ces, Composition, Historiography and Reception (ed. B. Halpern/ “slave (ebed)” to the people (1 Kgs 12 : 7) in favor of A. Lemaire; Leiden/Boston, Mass. 2010) 541–60. ■ Dia- the bad counsel proffered by his contemporaries. A mond, J., “Maimonides on Kingship,” JRE 34 (2006) 89– ■ legitimate king, according to Maimonides, follows 114. Fishbane, M., Haftarot: The Traditional Hebrew Text with the New JPS Translation (The JPS Bible Commentary; the Torah and fights the Lord’s battles. Here he Philadelphia, Pa. 2002). ■ Ginzberg, L., Legends of the Jews, cites the prophet Ahijah’s charge to Jeroboam upon 7 vols. (Philadelphia, Pa. 1909–38). ■ Greenspahn, F. (ed.), his appointment as king to “keep my laws and com- Scripture in the Jewish and Christian Traditions (Nashville, mandments” (1 Kgs 11 : 38). Abarbanel, on the other Tenn. 1982). ■ Lawee, E., Isaac Abarbanel’s Stance Toward Tra- hand, who lost his own position in the court of Por- dition (Albany, N.Y. 2001). ■ Levenson, J. D., tugal when the Jews were exiled, viewed kingship and the Restoration of Israel (New Haven, Conn. 2006). ■ Mai- skeptically. For him the biblical judges and pro- monides, M., The Code of Maimonides, bk. 14: The (trans. A. M. Hershman; YJS 3; New Haven, Conn./ phets were faithful to God, but the sins of the kings London 1949). ■ Millen, R., “Isaac Abravanel’s Concept of of Israel and Judah brought on the exile. In the Monarchy,” Shofar 10 (1992) 47–61. ■ Ravitzky, A., “Kings messianic age, not monarchy, but judges will pre- and Laws in Late Medieval Jewish Thought,” in Scholars and vail. Scholarship (ed. L. Landman; New York 1990) 67–90. ■ Zet- As a scholar influenced by Renaissance trends, terholm, K., “Elijah and the Books of Kings in Rabbinic Lit- Abarbanel was also concerned about questions of erature,” in The Book of Kings: Sources, Composition, Historiogra- biblical authorship, dating, and lexicography. He phy and Reception (ed. B. Halpern/A. Lemaire; Leiden/ Boston, Mass. 2010) 585–606. wondered, for instance, why the prophecies of the Robert L. Cohn Later Prophets were not incorporated into the books of the Early Prophets and instead made into IV. Christianity separate books. He followed rabbinic tradition (bBB 15ab) in attributing to the authorship of In the patristic and medieval Latin tradition, the Kings, but also insists that Jeremiah intended to books of 1–2 Kings were considered part of the Samuel–Kings sequence, commonly called 1–4 Re- create an accurate history from the diverse sources gum, or, alternatively, 1–4 Regnorum in the LXX that he used. Abarbanel contrasts Kings with tradition (see “Kingdoms, Books of”). In his preface Chronicles, in which the characters of David and to his own translation of these books (the so-called Solomon are burnished with extra, non-historical ), points out that a better material. name for the books of Kings would be 1–2 Mala- 6. Liturgy. The most direct way in which the books chim, after the Hebrew tradition, rather than 3–4 of Kings enter into the lives of Jews in the pews is Regum. Notwithstanding, the latter nomenclature through haftarah (prophetic) readings on sabbaths prevailed throughout the Middle Ages. and festivals, which are linked on a lexical or the- The books of Kings contained descriptions of matic level to the designated Torah portion of the several historical figures, such as Solomon, Elijah week. Although the selection of haftarah texts has and Elisha, and Jezebel and Ahab, that spoke to the varied widely over time and community and be- Christian imagination, and not just to exegetes, but tween the annual and triennial cycle of Torah read- also to artists and poets. The stealing of ’s ings (see “Haftarah”), those from Kings now num- vineyard by King Ahab was the subject of a homilet- ber sixteen. Of those, six concern Solomon and the ical treatise by Ambrose of Milan (De Nabutho). Eli- Temple and five the prophets Elijah and Elisha. jah came to epitomize monastic virtue, while Jeze- While most haftarot come from the Later Prophets bel embodied evil woman. The building of the and offer consolation, those from Kings mainly Temple by Solomon received an extensive allegori- present historical or thematic parallels. Thus the cal commentary by the Anglo-Saxon scholar Bede, story of Elisha and the Shunammite woman (2 Kgs who had also commented on the building of the 4 : 1–37) accompanies the Torah portion encom- tabernacle by Moses. Following this tradition were passing Sarah’s miraculous conception and Isaac’s several medieval commentators, such as Andrew equally miraculous escape from sacrifice (Gen 18– and Richard of Saint Victor, and the Premonstraten- 22). Both portions focus on divine intervention to sian abbot Adam of Dryburgh. overcome sterility and death and thus celebrate to- While episodic, homiletic treatments of these gether the survival of the family against all odds. texts exist, no author in the patristic period wrote Unlike the Torah, which is read in sequence week a continuous historical commentary on these books. by week and repeated year by year, the narrative Isidore of Seville offered a number of allegoriza- of Kings thus enters the “synagogue Bible” only as tions of these books that became standard interpre-

Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception vol. 15 Authenticated | [email protected] © Walter de Gruyter, Berlin/Boston, 2017 Download Date | 12/4/18 2:03 AM 313 Kings (Books) 314 tations throughout the medieval period, namely the cus on Solomon’s temple and wisdom. Seder Olam Quaestiones in Vetus Testamentum. The first continu- Rabbah, the larger of the Hebrew chronologies, is ous commentaries were written in the Carolingian the basis of and key point of reference in the calen- period, by Angelomus of Luxueil, Hrabanus drical traditions of later chronologers in both the Maurus, and Claudius of Turin. Other notable com- Jewish and Christian traditions. It relays the leg- mentaries include those by Remigius of Auxerre, ends and accretions around the various monarchs, Andrew of Saint Victor, and Denys the Carthusian, while weaving in the prophetic reactions to them. the Postillae of Hugh of Saint Cher, and Nicholas of These traditions of biblical chronology did not Lyra, and, in the early modern period, Cornelius a abate, but ran through from patristic to scholastic Lapide and Jean Calvin. scholarship and on to its heyday in the 16th and One of the chief exegetical difficulties in the 17th centuries, in the detailed calculations of Jo- books of Kings involved the number of years seph Juste Scaliger’s De Emendatione Temporum reigned by the kings of Judah and Israel. The books (1583), Dionysius Petavius’ Opus de doctrina tempo- provide many chronological indications concerning rum (1627), James Ussher’s Annales veteris testamenti the reigns of these kings, as well as statements (1650), among others. For these writers, the preci- about their synchronicity. These statements do not sion of the book of Kings was a key resource in be- completely align, however, and at times they con- ing able (nominally at least), to chart the world tradict each other. Jerome was aware of these dis- from its beginning, through to and beyond. crepancies, and expressed concern about them in If it nevertheless remains the case that analysis his letter to the priest Vitalis (PL 22.676A). In the of the books of Kings has tended to be piecemeal 12th and 13th centuries, exegetes such as Andrew rather than architectonic, a remarkable exception to and Richard of Saint Victor, Peter Comestor, and this is its post-Reformation political deployment Peter John Olivi devoted exegetical treatises to solv- across the 16th and 17th century, during which ing these contradictions that are still discussed in time it took on a febrile political currency in both modern scholarship. Protestant and Catholic exegesis, which attended to Bibliography: ■ Lemaire, A. et al., The Books of Kings: Sources, its chronicles as a set of tales fraught with constitu- Composition, Historiography and Reception (Leiden 2010). tional cargo. These books, it seemed to many, were ■ Liere, F. van/F. T. Harkins (eds.), Interpretation of Scripture: a devastating and sustained attack upon the institu- Practice (Victorine Texts in Translation 6; Turnhout 2015). tion of kingship, so prone to corruption and idola- ■ Sancto Victore, A. de, Expositio Hystorica in Librum Regum (CCCM 53A; Turnhout 1996). try. The ferment of the Reformation may have been Frans van Liere theological in its origins, but became endemically political and politicised. Literally hundreds of texts V. Literature in early modern England and Northern Europe ana- lyzed how the kings were relevant to contemporary Given its episodic nature, the books of Kings has more frequently been deployed and adapted in politics. By no means uniform, they range from parts than as a whole, its evocative individual sto- stoutly royalist defences of the uninterrupted suc- ries being rendered for literary, typological, and po- cession of kings, even when a dynasty was razed, litical purposes into numerous re-tellings. Theolog- to fierce exegetical republicanism which used the ically, the covenant and the monarchs’ repeated books, together with Judges and Samuel, to argue failures of fidelity are the driving force of the books. that kingship had rendered itself an illegitimate However, no part of the Bible is more political, or form of government, that brought God and his pro- comes closer to an account of statehood, albeit a phets to despair. The French Huguenot writer, theo-centric statehood. Literary adaptations and Guillaume de Saluste Du Bartas, produced a barn- quasi-literary paraphrase have often attended to the storming and much-admired pair of works, the Se- books’ unruly prophets, who prove so ready to chal- maines (1578–84), the latter of which, La Seconde Se- lenge, chastise and upbraid the kings, which, for maine (1584), retold the stories of Kings in some readers, lends the book a distinctly anti-mo- gruesome and lurid fashion across two long poems narchical tinge. Responses have frequently been en- Le Schisme and La Decadence. Du Bartas was widely tranced by Elijah the Tishbite, a half-wild “hairy admired and imitated across Europe. Scottish and man,” fed by ravens and given to rage, responding English responses inaugurated a tradition of writ- to Ahab’s idolatry and permissive court by challeng- ing paraphrases of the tales of Kings, in prose and ing, infuriating and at times destroying his pro- poetry, including Joseph Hall’s vast Contemplations phetic enemies. The most iconic story of Kings upon the Historie of the Old Testament (1612–26), who brings Elijah back from exile to court in response transposed Judean and Israelite history with sub- to the malevolence of Jezebel and Ahab, and their tlety into political morality tales. Others inflected murder of the innocent Naboth. their retellings to note quite how regularly the Among the fullest, and not unliterary, attention kings were pernicious. Hezekiah Woodward’s The to the Kings is the detailed retelling of the histories Kings Chronicle (1643), for instance, re-told the tales in Josephus’ Antiqiuties (bks. 8–9), with a major fo- as political catastrophe. However, the most fre-

Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception vol. 15 Authenticated | [email protected] © Walter de Gruyter, Berlin/Boston, 2017 Download Date | 12/4/18 2:03 AM 315 Kings (Books) 316 quent and disturbing re-readings of the books of Victorian moralistic retellings of fallen women, Kings were those many that relayed how frequently among which Wilkie Collins, Jezebel’s Daughter regicide and the destruction of kingly dynasties was (1880) is the most interesting, through to the the apparently quotidian fate of monarchs. equally moralised Hollywood Jezebel as vamp, as in Here too, the exegetical tradition, was a Europe- Bette Davis’ Warner Brothers film of 1938, and in a wide phenomenon, tracing the frequent biblical rich parallel afterlife in pulp fiction. In the retribu- acts of regicide as political precedent for the over- tive universe of such narratives, she is invariably thrown and killing of monarchs. From the radical doomed to some final comeuppance. She has in Protestant works, such as the anonymous Vindiciae, turn been appropriated to impressive feminist ends, contra Tyrannos (1579) and George Buchanan’s De as a figure of undaunted sexuality, whose tale is Jure regni apud Scotos (1579), through to the radical one of patriarchal oppression and suppression. Jesuit, Robert Persons’ A conference about the Next Suc- Given that the Victorian-Hollywood figure is some cession to the Crowne of Ingland (1595), writers discov- significant distance apart from the figure of the ered in their scriptural reading how tenuous the book of Kings, this more recent feminist manoeuver right to the crown might be. The assassinations of is, in many ways an appropriation of a misappropri- Henri III (1589) and of Henri IV (1610) in France, ation, but a powerful one nevertheless. were felt by many to be all too closely linked to The complex interaction of males – YHWH, such scriptural rhetoric. Similarly, in the English Ahab, Elijah – with the louche and loose figure of Civil War, biblical kingship was seen to embody all Jezebel, and the attribution of blame and malice, the tyrannous qualities that contemporaries saw in has often figured in retellings of this part of Kings, Charles I, and later in Cromwell. From John Mil- and not infrequently, Jezebel is given a better press. ton’s Tenure of Kings and Magistrates (1649), to Ed- Tom Robbins, Skinny Legs and all (1990), has its her- ward Sexby’s Killing Noe Murder: Briefly Discours’d in oine sceptically deconstructing the biblical tale on Three Quaestions (1657), the book of Kings provided which she is based and Margaret Atwood, both in the common stock of political tales and constitu- The Robber Bride (1993) and in The Handmaid’s Tale tional language, quite different to the typological (1985) produced compelling Jezebelian typologies. readings of the patristic and scholastic era, albeit The book of Kings remains among the lesser-known this kind of reading lost its lustre and its currency, portions of the Bible, but its reception is never- quite precipitously, at the dawn of the Enlighten- theless a potent and interesting one. ment. Bibliography: ■ Bodner, K., Elisha’s Profile in the Book of The book of Kings has an extensive literary leg- Kings: The Double Agent (Oxford 2013). ■ Conti, M. (ed.), 1– acy too, albeit this involves the afterlives of particu- 2 Kings, 1–2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther (ACCS 5; Down- lar tales. The European tradition is rich, including ers Grove, Ill. 2008). ■ Gaines, J. H., Music in the Old Bones: Jezebel Through the Ages (Carbondale/Edwardsville, Ill. 1999). dramas such as Miguel Venegas, Tragoedia Cui ■ Killeen, K., The Political Bible in Early Modern England (Cam- Nomen Inditum Achabus (ca. 1561), Juan Bonifacio (at- bridge 2016). trib.), Tragaedia Jezabelis and Racine, Athalie (1691). Kevin Killeen Biblically-based drama was banned from the Eng- lish stage before the heyday of Tudor and Stuart VI. Visual Arts theatrical output, but the intertwined stories of Jez- Lengthy, sequential pictorial narratives based on ebel, Ahab and Elijah nevertheless has a long his- the books of Kings (the biblical accounts of the lives tory of literary transformations, the most potent of of Samuel, Saul, David, Solomon, and the history of which, though it is primarily allusive, is Lady Mac- Israel and Judah until the ) are beth, scolding her husband into theft and murder relatively unusual. Arguably the most impressive and the subsequent unmasking of the crime. Bibli- examples are found in medieval manuscripts. These cal drama was quite strictly debarred on the English include the magnificent frontispieces devised for stage for a considerable time and Gwen Lally’s Jeze- Samuel or Kings in the grand “institutional” bel: A Play (1912), was the first such scripturally of the Middle Ages, for example the Carolingian Bi- themed drama approved by the censor, featuring a ble of San Paolo fuori le Mura (ca. 870–75, Rome, feverishly jealous Ahab. What might be noted in Basilica of San Paolo fuori le mura MS lat. 1) and many of the early modern re-imaginings of Jezebel the Bible (ca. 1160–75, Winchester, Cathe- is that the sexuality we have come to associate with dral Library MS 17; New York, Morgan Library and her is secondary. It is present, but present largely Museum MS 619). In the 13th century, elite French because of the elision with the NT figure called Jez- tastes for extensive biblical pictorial narratives gen- ebel (Rev 2 : 20) and subsequently with the whore erated the extraordinary Kings cycles in the so- of Babylon (17 : 4), and the association is only by called Moralized Bibles of the 1220s–40s (Vienna, typology and suggestion. Österreichische Nationalbibliothek cods. 1179 and Nevertheless, this central sexualised legacy of 2554; Oxford, Bodleian Library MS Bodley 270b; the book of Kings is one that has dominated inter- Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale de France MS lat. pretation and the critical reception of Jezebel, from 11560; London, British Library MSS Harley 1526–

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27; Toledo, Cathedral Treasury MSS 1-3; New York, Morgan Library and Museum MS 240) and the Mor- gan Picture Bible (ca. 1240–60, New York, Morgan Library and Museum MS 638). The above examples are exceptional. More of- ten, Kings were a component of monumental picto- rial cycles. The earliest known example comprises the Samuel and Elijah sequences interspersed in the biblical cycle of the house synagogue of Dura Euro- pos, Syria (ca. 245–56 CE). Like all of the syna- gogue’s content, these depart from scriptural order, perhaps to highlight contemporary messianic themes. Early Christian examples of material gleaned from Kings, like the 4th-century David scenes on the wooden doors of San Ambrogio, Mi- lan, are clearly governed by typological concerns, Fig. 10 Scenes from the life of David (10th/11th cent.) even if the application of such frameworks is not d’Écouen Museum, Paris) thought to reflect Henry’s systematic. This is also the case for the 1, 3, and wish to divorce his first wife. 4 Kingdoms’ content described by Prudentius. In a Owing to its attribution to David, the poem of ca. 400, he provided a list of captions for a was an important site for Kings material. An exten- putative cycle of biblical paintings reminiscent of sive David frontispiece cycle precedes the in the murals known to have adorned the nave walls the Cistercian Bible of Stephen Harding (1109, Di- of Old St. Peter’s, Rome (cf. Davis-Weyer: 25, 28– jon, Bibliothèque Municipale MSS 13–15). David se- 29). Kings imagery gradually became a cypher for quences were also integrated within “prefatory” cy- secular power: the David cycle in the Monastery of cles of devotional ; in the Psalter of Basil II Müstair, Switzerland, while typological, tacitly cele- (11th cent., Venice, Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana brated Charlemagne, its patron, while the stained Cod. Marc. gr. 17), scenes from David’s life supplied glass devoted to Kings in Louis IX’s famous Sainte the Byzantine Emperor with models of pious rule. Chapelle in Paris (1239–48) pictured the monarch’s Occasionally, such cycles were integrated into the scriptural predecessors in contemporary terms. Psalm text at liturgical divisions, for example in the Remarkably, the earliest extant illustrated bibli- exquisite decorated initials of the Ingeborg Psalter (ca. cal codex was may have been a standalone book of 1200, Chantilly, Museé Condeé MS. 9 olim 1695). Kings. Judging from its surviving folios, the 5th- Expenses incurred for the extensive, unfinished century Quedlinburg Itala (Berlin, Staatsbibliothek, Kings cycle woven through the margins of an early Cod. theol. lat. fol. 485) once contained some 100 14th-century English manuscript (New York Public illustrations that modelled ideologies of Christian Library, Spencer MS 26) may have led to the ruin of power and entertained elites, not unlike an exqui- Prior John Tickhill, its patron. Two centuries later, site set of silver Byzantine plates engraved with Da- the Flemish “Master of the David scenes” painted vid’s battle against (629–30; now divided an extensive David cycle in the margins of another between the Metropolitan Museum, New York and churchman’s prayer book, the Breviary of Cardinal the Museum of Antiquities, Nicosia) and the uni- Domenico Grimaldi (ca. 1520, Venice, Biblioteca cum that is the 11th-century Byzantine codex Vati- Nazionale Marciana MS lat. I 99). can Gr. 333. The 104 painted miniatures of the lat- Artists of the Renaissance and Baroque periods ter cover 1–4 Kingdoms, as do the twelve repoussé frequently explored Kings, but favored anecdotal images of the coronation chalice of Trzemeszno (ca. moments over sequential narratives. The supremacy 1180, Cathedral Treasury, Gniezno). The inscrip- of David as a subject is evident across media; a se- tion on the chalice’s rim likens the king to David, ries of engravings of David and Goliath by the 16th- Elijah, and Christ. Isolated Kings material might century Netherlandish artist Maerten van Heem- also evoke conflicts between regnum and sacerdotium. skerck, for instance, saw several printings. Densely The ink wash sequence of David and Saul that pref- illustrated Kings sequences reemerged in the 19th aces a manuscript of Peter Lombard’s Psalms Com- century with the burgeoning taste for grand illus- mentary (ca. 1163–70, Bamberg, Staatsbibliothek trated Bibles like Gustave Doré’s English Bible of Bibl. 59) allegorizes the contentious relationship of 1866, while the œuvre of Marc Chagall re-envisions Emperor and Pope. Visual orchestrations of David’s Kings from a modernist, Jewish perspective. life also focused on his romantic pursuits, as on a Bibliography: ■ Davis-Weyer, C. (ed.), Early Medieval Art Middle Byzantine ivory “nuptial” casket (9th cent., 300–1500 (Medieval Academy Reprints for Teaching 17; To- Palazzo Venezia, Rome, see fig. 10) or, on the other ronto, Ont. 2013). ■ Doré, G. (ill.), The Doré Bible Illustra- hand, a series of David and Bathsheba tapestries tions (ed. M. Rose; New York 1974). ■ Maguire, H., “The purchased by Henry VIII of England (Château Art of Comparing in Byzantium,” ArtB 70.1 (1988) 88–103.

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■ Noel, W./D. Weiss (eds.), The Book of Kings: Art, War and the 30) and “Hear the Voice and Prayer of thy Servant” Morgan Library’s Medieval Picture Bible (Baltimore, Md. 2002). by Thomas Tallis (1 Kgs 8 : 28–30). ■ Swarzenski, H., “A Chalice and the Book of Kings,” in Es- Works based on the narrative of King Ahab and says in Honor of Erwin Panofsky (ed. M. Meiss; New York 1961) his wife Queen Jezebel are told in conjunction with 437–45. ■ Weitzmann, K./H. L. Kessler, The Frescoes of the the story of Elijah in the oratorio Ahab by George Dura Synagogue and Christian Art (Washington, D.C. 1990). Richard A. Leson Benjamin Arnold (1864) based on 1 Kgs 21–22, tell- ing of the story of Elijah and Naboth’s vineyard, the VII. Music death of Jezebel and the defeat of Ahab at Ramoth- gilead. Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy’s well-known The lives of kings, queens, and prophets from the oratorio Elijah, which was performed in 1846 at the books of Kings have inspired numerous works in Birmingham Festival (based on 1 and 2 Kings, the music, among them 18th- and 19th-century orato- Psalms and Isaiah) comprises numerous episodes rios, motets, instrumental works, African American from the life of Elijah including the raising of the Spirituals, and popular songs from the 20th cen- widow’s son from the dead (1 Kgs 17 : 17–24) and tury. Character portrayals include King Solomon, the contest between Elijah and the priest of Baal on the prophet Elijah, King Ahab and his consort (1 Kgs 18) in part 1. Towards the end Queen Jezebel, the prophet Elisha, Queen , of part 2 Elijah ascends to heaven in a fiery chariot King Hezekiah, and Nebuchadnezzar, King of Bab- (2 Kgs 2 : 11; Sir 48 : 1–16). African American Spiri- ylon. tuals “Elijah Rock” (2 Kgs 2 : 11–13) and “Swing George Frideric Handel’s oratorio Solomon Low, Sweet Chariot” (2 Kgs 2 : 11) were also inspired (HWV 67, 1748; rev. 1759), based on 1 Kgs 3–11 and by this episode. 2 Chron 1–9, and Josephus’ Jewish Antiquities, is a Popular songs inspired by the story of the evil well-known work that recounts various episodes Queen Jezebel include “Jezebel” by Wayne Shanklin from King Solomon’s life, including the consecra- (1951) (2 Kgs 9) and “Jezebel” by Sam Beam/Iron tion of the temple in scene 1/act 1, and in scene 2 and Wine (1974). an extra-biblical conversation between Solomon Works inspired by the Prophet Elisha include and his unnamed Queen “from the Nile” following the oratorio Naaman by Michael Costa (1864), Elisha their marriage (1 Kgs 3 : 1), it also includes referen- by Richard Harris Peters (1895) and Eliseo, o sia il ces to the palace which Solomon was building trionfo di fede by Francesco Masciangelo to a libretto (1 Kgs 3 : 11; 9 : 24). The next episode highlights the by Giacomo de Vincentiis (premiered 1849). wisdom of Solomon (act 2) with a retelling of the The character of the evil queen Athalia features story of the two harlots who claimed the baby as in an oratorio Athalia (HWV 52) by Handel to a li- their own (1 Kgs 3 : 16–28). Act 3 features the Queen bretto by Samuel Humphreys. It tells the story of of Sheba, and the well-known sinfonia, “The Arrival Athalia who ordered the murder of all the males of of the .” Other well-known works the royal household, and her grandson Joash, who inspired by the Queen of Sheba include the cantata escaped and remained hidden in the temple for six for women’s voices and solo soprano The Queen of years (2 Kgs 11 : 1–3). The oratorio concludes with Sheba by Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco (1953) (1 Kgs the brutal death of Athalia, which is treated off- 10 : 1–13), the opera Die Königin von Saba by Karl stage. Goldmark (premiered 1875, The Queen of Saba) Events such as the siege of Jerusalem by the As- (1 Kgs 10 : 1–13) and the ballet Belkis, Queen of Sheba syrian King Sennacherib and the slaughter of the (premiered in La Scala, Milan 1932) by Ottorino Assyrian army by the angel of death (2 Kgs 18 : 13– Respighi. 19 : 37) were retold by Modest Mussorgsky in a can- Handel composed the coronation anthem, tata for mixed chorus and orchestra (The Destruction the Priest (HWV 258), based on the account of the of Sennacherib), based on a poem of the same name anointing of Solomon by Zadok the Priest (1 Kgs by Lord Byron, and in two oratorios by the same 1 : 38–40), for the coronation of George II of Great name Hezekiah by Philip Armes (1878) and later by Britain. Arthur Honegger also included an instru- John Truman Wolcott (1908), both based on the ac- mental in Le Roi David (H. 37; 1923) entitled “Coro- count of the story from Isaiah (Isa 36–37). nation of Solomon” (no. 26), followed by a work The story of King Hezekiah also enjoyed a re- for chorus and soprano solo entitled “The Death of ception in music from the early 18th century, in David” (no. 27) based on 2 Kgs 10–11. Other nota- a work for harpsichord entitled Hiskia agonizzante e ble coronation anthems on this theme include King risanato (Sonata No. 4) in Biblical Sonatas (Biblische Solomon for chorus, narrator and orchestra by Sir Historien) (1700) by Johann Kuhnau based on 2 Kgs Granville Bantock for the coronation of George VI 20, and in a dialogue motet Ezechia (date unknown) and Queen Elizabeth on May 6th 1937. by Carissimi based on the account of the story in Settings of “Solomon’s prayer of dedication” for Isa 38. the temple include the anthem “O Lord my God The best known work based on the story of the (Solomon’s Prayer)” by Samuel Wesley (1 Kgs 8 : 28, Babylonian king, Nebuchadnezzar from 2 Kgs 24–

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25 features in the opera by Giuseppe Verdi mon’s rule that are found in the text, whilst filling (1841) to a libretto by Temistocle Solera (1815– out the sizeable gaps in the biblical narrative. Chief 1878) based on the play Nabuchodonosor by Auguste amongst the embellishments is the scene where Sol- Anicet-Bourgeois and Francis Cornu (premiered omon and the queen writhe together on the floor 1836) and a ballet adapted from the play, Nabucco- of a Sheban orgy whilst God strikes his temple with donosor, ballo storico by Antonio Cortese (premiered a lightning bolt. A more serious treatment occurred 1838). Although the opera libretto is based pri- seven years later in a Turkish film Hazreti Süleyman marily on Jeremiah, it also derives from 2 Kings, ve Saba Melikesi (dir. Muharrem Gürses, 1966, Solo- 2 Chronicles, Daniel, and the Psalms. mon and the Queen of Sheba).

Bibliography: ■ Dowling Long, S./J. F. A. Sawyer, The Bible More recently the story of Solomon has been in Music (Lanham, Md. 2015). covered both by Robert Young in Solomon & Sheba Siobhán Dowling Long (1995, US), starring Halle Berry and Jimmy Smits, and 2010’s Persian film Molke Soleiman (dir. Shah- VIII. Film riar Bahrani, IR, The Kingdom of Solomon). Whilst The books of Kings start with King David on his several films have cast a darker skinned Sheba death-bed and end with the exile of his dynasty to against a paler skinned Solomon, these roles were Babylon. In between thirty-nine kings and one reversed in 2001’s modernized version of the story queen, rule the people of the kingdoms of Israel Brooklyn Babylon (dir. Marc Levin, US/FR). and of Judah. Strangely though, few of these mon- The closing chapters of 1 Kings and the opening archs have been portrayed on film. Even the death of 2 Kings star Elijah and his sidekick Elisha, but of David is oddly absent; in films about him featur- filmmakers have been strangely reticent to bring ing only in The Story of David (dir. David Lowell these stories to the (big) screen. Even the one movie Rich/Alex Segal, 1976, US/IT/DE) and the thirty- about Elijah was actually named after his sworn en- hour Rei Davi (dir. Edson Spinello, 2012, BR, King emy. Sins of Jezebel (dir. William Castle, 1953, US) David). Strangely rather than covering his death in starred Paulette Goddard as the titular queen at the their 1997 film David (dir. Robert Markowitz, 1997, center of a love triangle between her husband Ahab, US), the Bible Collection only included the episode in and his eventual successor Jehu. The portrayal of Solomon (dir. Roger Young, 1997, UK/CZ/FR/IT/DE/ Elijah is somewhat bombastic, featuring little of the US). Indeed David’s final days actually feature more character’s humanity that is so skillfully conveyed in films about his most famous son. in Kings. The story was covered again five years Amongst the other rulers of Israel and Judah, it later by The Living Bible’s Elijah a Fearless Prophet (dir. is Solomon that has proved to be the most popular, Edward Dew, 1958, US) and more recently in Elijah featuring in at least twenty-five productions. The (dir. Derek Hayes, 1996, UK) from the Testament se- earliest, Pathé Frères film Le Jugement de Salomon ries and the Brazilian O Desafio de Elias (dir. Luis (FR), goes back to 1904 covering the king’s famous Antonio Piá, 1997, The Challenge of Elijah). intervention in a dispute between two mothers. The Shortly after the deaths of Jezebel and Ahab, same story was adapted three more times in the their daughter Athaliah seized the throne of Judah, next eight years, and in practically all of the film an obscure story, but one which was included as depictions of Solomon ever since. However Solo- part of Pathé Frères’ early series of silent Bible mon’s enduring popularity would appear to owe at films, Athalie (1910, dir. Michel Carré, FR). Around least as much to the popularity of the Queen of the same time Gaumont released Le Fils de la Suna- Sheba as it does to the man himself. Continuing the mite (dir. Louis Feuillade, 1911, The Son of the tradition of the biblical operas of the 19th century, Shunamite, FR) the only real film about Elisha. Solomon’s meeting with Sheba’s ruler first ap- The remainder of 2 Kings featuring the gradual peared in cinemas in Pathé’s silent La Reine de Saba deterioration of the divided kingdom is perhaps (dir. Henri Andréani, 1913, FR), and reached best captured by Marc Connelly and William Keigh- America when Betty Blythe took the role in Fox’s ley’s 1936 film The Green Pastures (US). Instead of 1921 Queen of Sheba (dir. J. Gordon Edwards, US). portraying any ruler in particular, it condenses It is no surprise, then, that the most famous ver- them all into a single king who has set his face sion of the story also features the queen. Solomon against God and is persecuting the similarly generic and Sheba (dir. Henry King, 1959, US) suffered in prophet who speaks out against him. comparison with star Yul Brynner’s earlier epic The Ten Commandments (dir. Cecil B. DeMille, 1959, US) Bibliography: ■ Campbell R. H./M. R. Pitts, The Bible on Film: A Checklist, 1897–1980 (Metuchen N.J./London 1981). and Ben-Hur (dir. William Wyler, 1959, US), which Matt Page debuted that same year. Whilst it incorporated other aspects of Solomon’s rule from the book of Kings (including the aforementioned “judgment” scene) it presented a largely fictional narrative both Kingship of God riding roughshod over various fragments of Solo- /King, Kingship; /Kingdom/Kingship of God

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