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From David to Gedaliah: the Book of Kings As Story and History

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From David to Gedaliah: the Book of Kings As Story and History Zurich Open Repository and Archive University of Zurich Main Library Strickhofstrasse 39 CH-8057 Zurich www.zora.uzh.ch Year: 2007 From David to Gedaliah: The Book of Kings as Story and History Becking, Bob Abstract: The ten essays in this volume all deal with various aspects of the interpretation of the Book of Kings. The author tries to set a course between Scylla and Charibdis. Both ‘minimalism’ and ‘maximal- ism’ are avoided by trying to apply a variety of methods: narratology, historical criticism and theological analysis. This implies that extra-biblical evidence – the Tell Dan inscription, Assyrian royal inscriptions, West Semitic seal inscriptions – are taken into account. Selected texts from this biblical book are read on the basis of a three-dimensional matrix: (1) the narrative character of the story/stories; (2) the value and function of extra-biblical material, be it of an epigraphical or an archaeological character; (3) the art of history-writing both ancient and modern. The essays are arranged according to the order in which the relevant texts or their main characters figure in the Book of Kings. Originally published between 1987 and 2005, they have been updated for publication in the present collection. Posted at the Zurich Open Repository and Archive, University of Zurich ZORA URL: https://doi.org/10.5167/uzh-143101 Monograph Published Version Originally published at: Becking, Bob (2007). From David to Gedaliah: The Book of Kings as Story and History. Fribourg, Switzerland / Göttingen, Germany: Academic Press / Vandenhoeck Ruprecht. Becking From David to Gedal iah ORBIS BIBLICUS ET ORIENTALIS Published on behalf of the BIBLE+ORIENT Foundation in co-operation with the Department of Biblical Studies, University of Fribourg (Switzerland), the Egyptological Institute, University of Basel, the Institute of Archaeology, Near Eastern section, University of Berne, the Department of Religious Studies, University of Zurich, and the Swiss Society for Ancient Near Eastern Studies by Susanne Bickel, Othmar Keel and Christoph Uehlinger About the Author Bob Becking, born in 1951 in Geldrop, the Netherlands, studied Theolo­ gy and Semitics at Utrecht University (1970-1978) before serving the Dutch Reformed Church as a minister (1979-1989). In 1985 he received a Doctors degree from Utrecht University. In 1987 he was appointed as lecturer for Old Testament Study. In 1991 he became ordinary professor in the same department. He is the author of Nahum (Verklaring van een Bijbelgedeelte), 1987; The Fall of Samaria: An Historical and Archaeological Study (Studies in the History of the Ancient Near East, 2), 1992; Between Fear and Free­ dom: Essays an the Interpretation ofJeremiah 30-31 (Oudtestamentische Studien, 51 ), 2004. He acted as co-editor of the Dictionary of Oeities and Demons in the Bible, 1995, 2 1999 and published with his Utrecht col­ leagues Only One Cod? Monotheism in Ancient Israel and the Veneration of the Coddess Asherah (fhe Biblical Seminar, 77), 2001. Orbis Biblicus et Orientalis 228 Bob Becking From David to Gedaliah The Book of Kings as Story and History Academic Press Fribourg Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht Göttingen Internetgeneral catalogue: Academic Press Fribourg: www.paulusedition.ch Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen: www.v-r.de Camera-ready text submitted by the author © 2007 by Academic Press Fribourg, Fribourg Switzerland Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht Göttingen ISBN: 978-3-7278-1592-8 (Academic Press Fribourg) ISBN: 978-3-525-53029-0 (Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht) ISSN: 1015-1850 (Orb. biblicus orient.) Table of Contents Table of Contents.........................................................................................V Preface ........................................................................................................IX References to previous publications ...........................................................XI Chapter I: Is the Book of Kings a Hellenistic Book?....................................1 1. What is the problem? .......................................................................................1 2. The radical school from Copenhagen ..............................................................2 3. Is the Book of Kings a Hellenistic book? ........................................................5 3.1. Bibliophobia.............................................................................................5 3.2. Does the idea of a final redaction exclude earlier versions of a text? ......6 3.3. On dating texts.........................................................................................7 3.4. Yawistic or Jewish? .................................................................................9 3.5. The Hebrew language ............................................................................11 3.6. ‘Until this day’ .......................................................................................12 3.7. References in Greek-Hellenistic authors................................................18 3.8. Connections with Herodotus, Histories .................................................19 4. Conclusion.....................................................................................................22 Chapter II: Elijah at Mount Horeb Reading 1 Kings 19:9-18.....................23 1. Introduction ...................................................................................................23 2. Nachholende Erzählung or retrospective achrony .........................................26 3. The contrast of the ‘still small voice’ ............................................................29 4. Forces of nature .............................................................................................30 5. General connections between 1 Kings 18 and 19 ..........................................33 6. A final remark................................................................................................34 Chapter III: No More Grapes from the Vineyard? A Plea for a Historical-Critical Approach in the Study of the Old Testament................35 1. Introduction ...................................................................................................35 2. Does reader-oriented reading exclude historical reading? .............................36 3. Is ‘text minus ideology = history’ true or naive?...........................................38 3.1. Traditional historical criticism...............................................................38 3.2. Positivistic pitfalls..................................................................................39 3.3. Literary criticism of 1 Kings 21.............................................................40 4. Rethinking historiography .............................................................................44 5. The world(s) outside the story .......................................................................45 6. Movements in the story..................................................................................47 7. Clashing belief systems .................................................................................48 8. No more grapes from the vineyard?...............................................................50 VI From David to Gedaliah Chapter IV: Did Jehu Write the Tel Dan Inscription? ................................52 1. Introduction ...................................................................................................52 2. A new proposal: Jehu as the ‘I’......................................................................53 3. Evaluation of Wesselius’ proposal.................................................................56 3.1. Tel Dan inscription or inscriptions.........................................................56 3.2. The trouble with Kings ..........................................................................57 3.3. 2 Kings 10:18: Did Jehu really worship the Baal?.................................59 3.4. The language of the inscription..............................................................59 3.5. Aramaic aid for Jehu’s revolt? ...............................................................60 3.6. ‘I killed Joram and Ahaziah’..................................................................60 3.7. ‘Hadad made me King’..........................................................................62 3.8. Can Baal be equated with Hadad? .........................................................63 3.9 Conclusion: A disbalance of (im)probabilities........................................64 4. Did Jehu write the Tel Dan inscription? ........................................................64 Chapter V: ‘Touch for Health …’ Magic in 2 Kings 4:31-37 with a Remark about the History of Yahwism ......................................................66 1. Structural analysis of 2 Kings 4:8-37.............................................................66 2. Religio-historical backgrounds......................................................................70 2.1. Biblical material.....................................................................................70 2.2. Extra-biblical material ...........................................................................70 3. Theological interpretation..............................................................................80 3.1. A magical ritual......................................................................................80 3.2. Interpretation..........................................................................................81
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