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)
