2 Samuel 20:15

Hebrew Bible

14 Sheba traveled through all the tribes of Israel to Abel of Beth Maacah and all the Berite region. When they had assembled, they too joined him. 15 So Joab’s men came and laid siege against him in Abel of Beth Maacah. They prepared a siege ramp outside the city that stood against its outer rampart. As all of Joab’s soldiers were trying to break through the wall so that it would collapse, 16 a wise woman called out from the city, “Listen up! Listen up! Tell Joab, ‘Come near so that I may speak to you.’”

LXX 2 Samuel 20:15

Septuagint

14 And he went through all the tribes of Israel to Abel, and to Bethmacha; and all in Charri too were assembled, and followed after him. 15 And they came and besieged him in Abel and Phermacha: and they raised a mound against the city and it stood close to the wall; and all the people with Joab proposed to throw down the wall. 16 And a wise woman cried from the wall, and said, Hear, hear; say, I pray ye, to Joab, Draw near hither, and I will speak to him.

 Notes and References

"... During Sheba’s revolt, “Joab’s forces were battering the wall to break it down” (2 Samuel 20:15 in the Masoretic text). The following context presupposes that the wall remained undestroyed. The Antiochene text and Ra differ with regard to the tempus of the verb. The Antiochene text uses the pluperfect ἐνενόουν in order to make clear that the people of Joab in fact did not batter the wall. Ra offers ἐνοοῦσαν (NETS: “all the people who were with Ioab were intending to throw down the wall”). In any case, the verb ἐνοέω presupposes a form of בשח (consider) instead of תחש (break down). We observe a similar altering in Targum Jonathan 2 Samuel 20:15: “the people who were with Joab were planning ( תשע) to destroy the wall.” Both the Septuagint and Targum change in order to achieve a text which is free of intra-textual antagonisms ..."

Meiser, Martin The Septuagint and Its Reception: Collected Essays (p. 71) Mohr Siebeck, 2022

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