Solomon's Cabinet Lists

Beukenhorst, Martinus
(2024) SBL International Meeting — Location: Amsterdam (29.July.2024)

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Abstract
1 Kings 4:2-6 provides the reader with a list of the ‘high officials’ of Solomon. A boring aspect of the Masoretic Text, it becomes much more fascinating when looking at the Septuagint and its daughter versions. The list of Solomon’s cabinet appears twice in the Septuagint: once in the same position as the MT, 3 Kgds 4:2-6 and once at the end of the so-called ‘Miscellanies’, found following 3 Kgds 2:35 and 2:46. Solomon’s cabinet list is found at 2:46h. The Miscellanies are two large plusses consisting of 14 and 11 verses, almost all with an equivalent in the main story of Solomon. Originally thought to be the result of Greek revision, most scholars nowadays agree that they must be based on a Hebrew Vorlage – but other than that, no consensus has been reached. Few scholars interested in the Miscellanies delve deep into the complex nature of 2:46h, the list of Solomon’s officials – the short article by Rehm (1972) remains the most comprehensive overview, although the excellent work of Torijano (2013) has helped much in clarifying the problems with onomastics in this verse. This lack of scholarly interest in this list is unfortunate, as it plays a significant role in understanding the Miscellanies, especially the second Miscellany. Most of the second Miscellany consists of verses that are found in the periphery of the story of Solomon – something which this list is clearly not. In this paper, I will defend the hypothesis that there exist three different versions of this list, which all relate to each other. In this way, this paper aims to provide new insights into the intricate way in which the different versions of this list impacted each other, both in the Hebrew Vorlage of the Septuagint and in the text of the Septuagint and its daughter versions.
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Beukenhorst, M. (2024). Solomon’s Cabinet Lists. SBL International Meeting, Amsterdam.