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Title: Quels furent les pires d'entre les rois d'Israël et de Juda selon la théologie deutéronomiste?
Subtitle: Une situation méconnue de divergence entre TM et LXX
Author(s): RICHELLE, Matthieu
Journal: Semitica
Volume: 59    Date: 2017   
Pages: 333-353
DOI: 10.2143/SE.59.0.3239915

Abstract :
Among the kings of Israel and Judah presented in the Book of Kings, Ahab and Manasseh are the most criticized. Since Manasseh has done things 'more wicked than' the Amorites (2 Kgs 21:11), whereas Ahab had merely done evil just 'as' the latter people (1 Kgs 21:26), Manasseh is presented as being 'worse' than Ahab and thus surpasses, in the theological perspective of the book, all the other leaders of the two kingdoms put together in terms of religious wrongdoing. This, in fact, is the situation in the MT; it is distinctly different in the Antiochan text (LXXL): Ahaziah acted in a manner worse than his father Ahab (1 Kgs 22:54 LXXL) and Hoshea, the last king of Israel, was worse than all his predecessors (2 Kgs 17:2 LXXL). In addition, the indication of a hierarchy between Ahab and Manasseh, noted above, disappears: Manasseh had done evil 'as' had the Amorites (2 Kgs 21:11 LXXL). While most commentators overlook all or part of these textual problems, several scholars have recently defended the idea that LXXL reflects an older text in 1 Kgs 22:54 and/or 2 Kgs 17:2, while the question should be raised for 2 Kgs 21:11. In this article, I examine these verses and conclude that the MT probably represents the oldest state of the text.

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