12'"". In this narrative w."- "•'^■''* appear to be additions of a later hand. V.", witli its refer- he prediction of Ahijali, probably pre- ll"*- in its present form, and must in this cAse be due to R". Vv.'^'"", stan<ling in close connexion with v." (cf. v." 'for it was a thing brought about of J',' v." ' for this thing is of me '), give a Judaic turn to the originall3' impartial narrative of vv.'"'", and are scarcely consistent with the statement of H*", which is based upon the contemporary ' Annals.' Notice further, tliat while v.* speaks only of the tribe of Judah, rv.i- ^ are careful to make reference also to the tribe of Henjamin. V.", which stands in an awk- ward position, and is absent from LXX, is prob- ably a later gloss, though not by the same hand as yy Is. 3i-24_ since it makes no reference to Benjamin.
]OM-3s_ Judging by the stress which R" lays upon Jeroboam's cult of the calves as the cause of all subsequent deflection of Israel from the pure worship of J" (phrases. No. 56), it is probable that this narrative nas obtained its present castiiiij at his hands, though there is no reason hence to infer that any detail oi fact is underived from the older •ource. Kuenen [Onderzoek, § 25*) observes justly, ' Jeroboam's measures with reference to the wor- ship must already have been related in older narratives, but it is only natural that the Redactor, when dealing with a matter which so specially excited his interest, should not fail to set before us his own construction and his own verdict.' Vv.''-- ** serve to introduce the story of ch. 13.
J31-33 'p)jg style of the language in this narrative shows traces of decadence : — cf . jmi perf. with weak 1 V.', 'i}x .-iiv, "^ nj'n w.*- ", apparently first written as passives 'n'ls, -^ tj-j (cf. Wellliausen, Comp. p. 280), and perhaps rap' v.' — and this fact, together with the anachronism 'in the cities of Samaria' V." (cf. II 17^- ^ SS'"), and the non-mention of the names of the principal actors, marks the narrative as being of comparatively late origin. It may be thought to have been a story previously current in the form of oral tradition, and to have assumed a literary form shortly after the event predicted — the destruction of tlie altar at Bethel — had corae about. Notice the precision of the statement ' Josiah by name ' v.". The style is about con- temporary with that of the annals of Josiah's reformation, II 23'"""-*', where the perf. with weak 1 is used with some frequency : w.'- '• '"•
U. 14. ll>_
It ifl, however, by no meaoB to be hence Inferred that the itory u of the character of a vaticinium post eventum. Such a view presupposes that it, together with the notice of II 2318-18, was inserted into Kings subsequently to the redaction of Ri* CWellhausen, Comp. p. 280 ; Kuenen, Ond. g 25*) ; whereas, on the contrary, cb. 122o'f- appears to have been carefully edited by R^ so as to lead up to tne story, and the resumption of the main narrative in 1333-^, forming a link to 141-20, constructs of the history a harmonious whole. If the story be merely a very late Judfsan fiction, the point of the details as to the dis- obedience and punishment of the Jud^an prophet seems to be quite inexplicable.
The narrative of 14'"" * exhibits very clear traces of the hand of R" in Ahijah's prophecy w.'""
• Upon the LXX version of this narrative in its relationship to MT, see Winckler, AUtett. Unterauchungen, p. 129. ; Kittel, Binary q/ Ute HciTem, iL p. 206 fl. ; and the writer's Kotee on
(phrases, Nos. 3, 8, 13, 29, 32, 34, ,39, 54, 56, 57, 6fi- 7U), with which should be compared the prophecies of .lehu son of Hanani against Baaslia 1B'"^ of Elijah against Ahab 21-''''^'', and of the 3'ounf prophet against the house of Ahab II 9°"'°.
^ arrntires of the Northern Kiiiijrioin. — I 17-19 20 21 22'''*^ II P"'^** 2'""*' '*"■"■ ^"'"^ 3**"^ 4'"'' ^''* ^'*^
ri-U 5 gl-7. 8-a3. S4-33 y gl-«. 7-lft 9'_10^ J3U-19. 30. a".
(14'""). This great group consists of narratives dealing with the affairs of the kingdom of Israel. The stories are in most cases of some length, tlieii high descriptive power and synijiathetic feeling indicating tliat they have their origin in the king- dom to \vliich they relate ; and this conclusion is substantiated by such touches as ' Boer-sheba which belongeth to Judah' I 19^, 'at Beth-sheraesh which belongeth to Judah' II 14". No blame is any- where attached to the calf-worship of Bethel and Dan, the efforts of Elijah and his succe.ssor being wholly directed to the rooting out of the foreign cult of the Tyrian Ba'al.
Certain peculiarities of diction probably belong to the dialect of North Palestine.
The following may be noticed : —
Suttli 2 t. sing. '5-,^, pi. 'a;^- ; Kfthtbh II 43 "5^, • 'r.i^V, '•3':f'j, '3;j3. Elsewhere sing. Ca 2^, Ps 103»- «, Jer II" (text corrupt), pi. Ps 1033- *• » 116'. Of. Syriao suff. i f. sing. •K • r
■■ pL . » n ■ — .
Personal pronoun 2 f. sing. Kfthtbh 'BK :— II 4l«- ^ 8". Else- where Jg 172, Jer 430, Ezk 36" f . Of. Syriao «.j Aj"). So prob- ably Kithlbh •np'pn II 423 stands for 'PS By^n, as in Syr. .-tZoAs for uAj] |2A2(Duval,Snimm.5yr.p.l74t.).