Kings - Isaiah and Kings - Jeremiah Recensions (Beihefte Zur Zeitschrift Fuer Die Alttestamentliche Wissenschaft)

In the two self-contained parts of his study, Person offers a new effort at reconstructing the Urtext of the two major synoptic texts from the book of Kings, with the aim of providing a critique of current redaction-critical study of the Deuteronomistic History (DH). To this end, he compares the significant textual recensions involved, which in the case of 2 Kgs 18:13-20:19 are the Hebrew and Greek texts of Kings, the Hebrew and Greek texts of the Isaiah parallel, and the corresponding portions of the Isaiah scroll from Qumran. In the case of 2 Kgs 24:18-25:30, besides the Kings texts he covers the Hebrew and Greek editions of Jer 52. In both parts of his book Person follows the same procedure. First, the witnesses are displayed in parallel columns, with the Greek translations retroverted into Hebrew, followed by notes on the retroversions. Second, the textual and literary relationships among the witnesses are determined. Third, an annotated reconstruction of the putative Urtext of all the recensions extant is undertaken. In the fourth step, Person states his view of the text-critical implications for the redactional history of the text under discussion. The results of both parts resemble each other closely and are summarized in the final conclusions of the book. Person believes that in either text studied, inter-versional comparison can pinpoint additions in Kings that are both late and Deuteronomistic in character. From this it follows that "there were at least two redactional stages behind MT-Kings, one that produced the Urtexts and one that produced MT-Kings" (p. 114). For Person, this observation delivers a deadly blow to all recent theories on the development of the DH, since "they all fail methodologically because they ignore text critical evidence and are unable to distinguish between redactional layers that are evident from the text critical controls" (p. 115). Preface 5 Introduction 9 Review of literature 9 Purpose and method of the present study 13 Overview of Conclusions 15 Part Is The Kings/Isaiah recensions 16 Chapt 1: A synopsis of the Kings/Isaiah recensions with notes 18 Synopsis 19 Notes for the retroversion of KG 46 Notes for the retroversion of IG 47 Chapt 2: Textual and literary relationships among the texts of the Kings/Isaiah recensions 51 Some brief remarks concerning the character of each text 51 The relationships among the texts 53 Chapt 3: The Urtext for the Kings/Isaiah recensions with notes 55 Urtext 55 Notes for the reconstruction of the Urtext for Kings/Isaiah 62 Chapt 4: Text critical implications for the redaction history of KH 18:13-20:19 83 Variants between KH and the Urtext 83 Text critical evidence against the Stade-Child hypothesis 84 Text critical evidence for two deuteronomic redactions 85 Text critical evidence for a postexilic setting for KH 86 Text critical evidence for downplaying Hezekiah as model king 87 Part II: The Kings/Jeremiah Recensions 88 Chapt 5: A synopsis of the Kings/Jeremiah recensions with notes 89 Synopsis 90 Notes for the retroversion of KG 99 Notes for the retroversion of JG 99 Chapt 6: Textual and literary relationships among the texts of the Kings/Jeremiah recensions 103 Some brief remarks concerning the character of each text 103 The relationsips among the texts 104 Chapt 7: The Urtext for the Kings/Jeremiah recensions with notes 108 Urtext 108 Notes for the reconstruction of the Urtext for Kings/Jeremiah 111 Chapt 8: Text critical implications for the redaction history of KH 24:18-25:3 117 Variants between KH and the Urtext 117 Text critical evidence for two deuteronomic redactions 117 Text critical evidence for a postexilic setting of KH 119 Conclusions 122 Works Cited 125 Author Index 134 The series Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft (BZAW) covers all areas of research into the Old Testament, focusing on the Hebrew Bible, its early and later forms in Ancient Judaism, as well as its branching into many neighboring cultures of the Ancient Near East and the Greco-Roman world. BZAW welcomes submissions that make an original and significant contribution to the field; demonstrate sophisticated engagement with the relevant secondary literature; and are written in readable, logical, and engaging prose.

The series Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft (BZAW) covers all areas of research into the Old Testament, focusing on the Hebrew Bible, its early and later forms in Ancient Judaism, as well as its branching into many neighboring cultures of the Ancient Near East and the Greco-Roman world.

The series Beihefte zur Zeitschrift fur die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft (BZAW) covers all areas of research into the Old Testament, focusing on the Hebrew Bible, its early and later forms in Ancient Judaism, as well as its branching into many neighboring cultures of the Ancient Near East and the Greco-Roman world.