"... In so far as these reflections about the preservation and modification of potential early pre-exilic blocks of material are correct, we can suppose that several books now in the “writings” portion of the Hebrew canon—for example, much of Proverbs and certain royal psalms—provide us with the clearest overall view of the contours of early monarchal literature, despite the fact that they were subject to continuing small-scale revisions in oral-written transmission. Meanwhile, it is more difficult to identify such early monarchal texts in the Pentateuch and historical books, not only because they focus on pre-state traditions, but also because later Jewish scribes seem to have played a particularly active role in developing and modifying such traditions. The books of the Primary History extending through 2 Kings probably preserve early monarchal traditions, but the contours and character of such traditions often are more difficult to specify. In sum, the shifting dynamics of textual preservation and revision decisively affect our present picture of early monarchal literature. Certain texts are lost forever, some of which are referred to (and perhaps preserved in fragments) in existing biblical books (e.g., identifiable parts of the “book of Yashar”; Joshua 10:13; 2 Samuel 1:18; [note also LXX 3 Kingdoms 8:53]) and probably others that failed the test of religious orthodoxy or usability in later periods. Other texts, such as those now embedded in the Pentateuch, are only partially identifiable—with the Primeval History and Jacob-Joseph traditions more reconstructible (perhaps because less central) and early Moses-exodus traditions largely lost behind the haze of centuries of focus on development of the Mosaic Torah ..."