From: "Heard, Christopher" <Christopher.Heard AT pepperdine.edu>
To: b-hebrew <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
Subject: [b-hebrew] Regnal resume variation in Kings
Date: Thu, 14 Jul 2005 15:25:46 -0500
Hello all.
I've been working verse by verse through 2 Kings recently and noticed
something peculiar about the regnal resumes that I've never noticed
before. At the end of each king's reign, as you know, there is a
reference to "the book of the annals of the kings of Israel" or "the
book of the annals of the kings of Judah." (I am not sure whether
"annals" is the best translation for דברי הימים, but I think
that it fits.)
In any event, I noticed that in most cases, the wording is in the
form of a rhetorical question beginning with הלא כתובים, "are
they not written ...?" (1 Kings 11:41; 14:29; 15:7, 23, 31; 16:5, 14,
20; 22:39, 46; 2 Kings 1:18; 8:23; 10:34; 12:20; 13:8, 12; 14:15, 18,
28; 15:6, 21, 36; 16:19; 20:20; 21:17, 25; 23:28; 24:5). Yet in a
very few cases, the phrasing is as a declarative beginning with
הנם כתובים, "behold them written!" (1 Kings 14:19; 2 Kings
15:11, 15, 26, 31).
I suppose this is more of an exegetical, form-critical, or text-
critical question than a linguistic one, but does anyone on the list
know of any particular reason why these five cases should depart from
the "standard" (meaning "more frequently attested") formula?
--
R. Christopher Heard
Assistant Professor of Religion
Pepperdine University
Malibu, California 90263-4352 http://faculty.pepperdine.edu/cheard http://www.iTanakh.org http://www.semioticsandexegesis.info
[b-hebrew] Regnal resume variation in Kings,
Heard, Christopher, 07/14/2005