Texts in Conversation
The Greek Septuagint translation of 1 Kings includes a second, independent description of Jeroboam’s rise not in the Hebrew version. It adds extra details, naming his mother and giving him an Egyptian wife.
Share:
2500 BCE
1000+ CE
1 Kings 11:26
Hebrew Bible
25 He was Israel’s enemy throughout Solomon’s reign and, like Hadad, caused trouble. He loathed Israel and ruled over Syria. 26 Jeroboam son of Nebat, one of Solomon’s servants, rebelled against the king. He was an Ephraimite from Zeredah whose mother was a widow named Zeruah. 27 This is what prompted him to rebel against the king: Solomon built a terrace, and he closed up a gap in the wall of the city of his father David.
LXX 1 Kings 12:24
Septuagint
24a And King Solomon slept with his fathers, and he was buried with his fathers in the city of David. And Rehoboam his son reigned in place of him in Jerusalem, being sixteen years old when he began to reign, and twelve years he reigned in Jerusalem, and the name of his mother was Naanan the daughter of Hanan the son of Nahash king ofAmmon. And he did what was evil before the Lord, and he did not go in the way of David his father. 24b And there was a man from the mountain of Ephraim, a servant of Solomon, and his name was Jeroboam, and the name of his mother was Sarisa, a prostitute. And Solomon made him into commander of staff over the forced labor of the house to Joseph, and he built for Solomon Sarira,a which is in the mountain of Ephraim, and there were to him three hundred horse-drawn chariots. This one built the citadel with the forced labor of the house of Ephraim, this one closed off the city of David, and he was exalted over the kingdom. 24c And Solomon was trying to put him to death, and he was afraid, and he fled to Shishak king of Egypt, and he was with him until Solomon died.
Search:
Notes and References
... Inclusion of an alternative version. An alternative history of Jeroboam extant only in the Septuagint (3 Kingdoms 12:24a–z) presents a rival story juxtaposed with the original one found in all textual sources including the Septuagint (1 Kings 11, 12, 14). The technique of juxtaposing two versions of the same story was used from ancient times onwards in the composition of Hebrew Scripture. For example, different accounts of the creation and the flood were juxtaposed and partially intertwined in Genesis. In all these cases, the two versions are now included in all textual witnesses. However, with one exception (1 Samuel 16–18), there is no parallel for the juxtaposition of two alternative versions appearing in one textual witness but not in the others. ...
Tov, Emanuel
"Three Strange Books of the LXX: 1 Kings, Esther, and Daniel Compared with Similar Rewritten Compositions from Qumran and Elsewhere" in Hilhorst, Anthony; Puech, Émile; Tigchelaar, Eibert (ed.) Flores Florentino: Dead Sea Scrolls and Other Early Jewish Studies in Honour of Florentino García Martínez
(p. 354) Brill, 2007
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
Your Feedback:
Leave a Comment
Anonymous comments are welcome. All comments are subject to moderation.