A Sure House: Studies on the Dynastic Promise to David in the Books of Samuel and Kings

This book is a study of the texts referring or alluding to the dynastic promise to David in the books of Samuel and Kings (and the Law of the King in Deut 17,14-20). Attention is paid to the textual problems of some of the studied passages, especially 2 Sam 7 which has different meanings in the most important textual witnesses (MT, LXXB, LXXL, 1 Chr 17MT, 1 Chr 17LXX). Although the most ancient retrievable text of 2 Sam 7 is not to be identified with MT, this text form corresponds to the original basic meaning of the chapter. Special attention is given to the value of 1 Chr 17 for the reconstruction of the oldest text of 2 Sam 7. There are many synonymous differences between 2 Sam 7 and 1 Chr 17, which cannot be explained as resulting from mistakes or tendentious (e.g. ideologically motivated) changes in one of the two traditions. A statistic study of the patterns of agreements among the witnesses leads to the conclusion that evaluating these differences case by case would lead to arbitrary decisions; the great majority of these differences are a result of the Chronicler’s relatively free approach to his source.