Monday, August 14, 2023

Isaac Kalimi on 2 Kings 8:18, 26 and 2 Chronicles 21:6; 22:2

  

2 Kgs 8:18 states that Athaliah was “the daughter of Ahab,” whereas 8:26 states that she was “the daughter of Omri, king of Israel”—that is, Ahab’s sister. The Chronicler used these contradictory passages in his book as they were (2 Chr 21:6; 22:2; see also 2 Kgs 11:1 // 2 Chr 22:10), without omitting either or attempting to harmonize one with the other. Even the translator of the Peshiṭta emended 2 Chr 21:6, replacing the words “the daughter of Ahab” with “the sister of Ahab,” the former being the wording that appears in all of the other textual witnesses. In this way, the Peshiṭta translator adjusted the passage to match 2 Chr 22:2, which has “the daughter of Omri.” A similar harmonization was attempted in modern times in the Revised Standard Version, though in this case, the RSV committee altered 2 Chr 22:2 to read “the granddaughter of Omri” in an effort to harmonize this text with 21:6, “the daughter of Ahab.” (Isaac Kalimi, The Reshaping of Ancient Israelite History in Chronicles [Winona Lake, Ind.: Eisenbrauns, 2005], 381-82)

 

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