On Some Alleged Anachronisms in the Books of Samuel

The textual history of the books of Samuel, both in Greek and in Hebrew, is laden with problems that the researcher needs to be acquainted with, whatever the focus of textual research. The Septuagint translation shows a close word-for-word correspondence to its Hebrew Vorlage, however, not without occasional freedom of translation, especially in lexical choices and grammatical forms, as well as erroneous translation due to defective knowledge of Hebrew. The Hebrew Vorlage used by the translator differed at times substantially from the later Masoretic Text, used for comparison during the early textual history of the Septuagint text as well as in research today. Not only is the Masoretic Text corrupted but it underwent editorial changes until the turn of the era. Textual differences caused by both the translator and the editors of the Hebrew text must have occasioned the repeated revisions of the Greek text by Jewish and Christian scribes.

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Text History Of The Books Of Samuel: An Assessment Of The Recent Research

Archaeology of the Books of Samuel ◽

10.1163/ej.9789004179578.i-304.8 ◽

2010 ◽

pp. 1-19

Keyword(s):

History Of ◽

Books Of Samuel

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(Hi)story Telling in the Books of Samuel

10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199967728.013.35 ◽

2015 ◽

Author(s):

Rachelle Gilmour

Keyword(s):

The Other ◽

Story Telling ◽

Literary Reading ◽

Close Attention ◽

Critical Questions ◽

The Past ◽

Narrative Studies ◽

Books Of Samuel ◽

2 Samuel

This chapter introduces the books of Samuel from three angles. The first angle is an overview of its content and macro-structures. Close attention is paid to the patterns in its narrative: the rise and fall of Israel’s leadership and the comparisons and contrasts between these leaders. Second, the focus shifts from the books themselves to the methods of reading them, tracing the development of narrative studies in Samuel. It advocates the integration of final form readings with investigation into historical and source-critical questions of the book, each informing and developing the other. Finally, an example of this integration is demonstrated in a narrative reading of the story of Shimei, David, and Joab in 2 Samuel 20 through the lens of its characteristics of historiography: causation, meaning, and evaluation. Attention to these categories deepens our literary reading, highlighting its values and conception of significance in the past.

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