Biblical Hebrew Forum

[RUSSELLGMIRKIN AT aol.com]

Dear Yohanan bin-Dawidh,

Source critical considerations may have some bearing on your  question.  
There may be as many as 5 distinct sources represented in the  Solomonic 
traditions in Samuel/Kings, namely the Acts of Solomon (1 Kgs 11.41)  as well 
as the 
later strands of tradition from J, E, D and P.  One sees a  number of J 
references in the Succession Document ending in 1 Kgs 2 (according  to 
Friedman) and 1 
Kgs 4; P is seen in the temple construction account which  contains 
significant parallels to P accounts of the tabernacle; there is  substantial 
D 
vocabulary in 1 Kgs 2-3, 8-9; and one can arguably see E influence  in the 
anti-monarchical 1 Kgs 12. One sees several contradictory doublets  in the 
pro- and 
anti-monarchic strands:  was Solomon's forced labor  levied from Israelites, 
or 
non-Israelites?  etc.  (I will discuss such  source critical matters in some 
depth in a forthcoming book, Berossus and  Kings.)  The Acts of Solomon does 
not 
appear to have mentioned either David  or Rehoboam.  Rather the figure of 
Solomon from the Acts of Solomon  was grafted into the line of Judean kings 
by 
later author/editors who wrote  transitional materials such as the Succession 
Document and 1 Kgs 12.  The  passage in 2 Sam 12.24-25 is plausibly 
understood as 
harmonizing an  originally distinct tradition in which the name of David's 
son 
by Bath-sheva was  named Jedidiah, and in which Solomon did not figure, with 
the separate  Solomon tradition.  At least that is my reading of the textual 
evolution of  the Solomon tradition. 
 
Best regards,
Russell Gmirkin

According to Sefer Shemu'el Bet 12:24, 25 it was Bath-sheva who  referred to
Sholomo as Sholomo, whereas YHWH sent the prophet Nathan to  name him
Yedidyah. But then every other occurrence of this figure we see  him by then
name Sholomo, the name his mother named him, not the name that  YHWH named
him. This may be more of a theological question than a question  of language,
but does anyone have any thoughts as to why we see him  referred to as
Sholomo rather than Yedidyah when the text clearly points  out that it was
YHWH who named him  Yedidyah?








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