The ironic death of Josiah in 2 chronicles

Catholic Biblical Quarterly

Volumn 68, Issue 3, 2006, Pages 421-435

  Mitchell, Christine ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF SASKATCHEWAN   (Canada)

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EID: 60949919525     PISSN: 00087912     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
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References (89)

1. The discussion began with H. G. M. Williamson, 'The Death of Josiah and the Continuing Development of the Deuteronomic History," VT 32 (1982) 242-48,
2. and continued with C. T. Begg, "The Death of Josiah: Another View," VT 37 (1987) 1-8;
3. H. G. M. Williamson, "Reliving the Death of Josiah: A Reply to C. T. Begg," VT 37 (1987) 9-15;
4. Zipora Talshir, 'The Three Deaths of Josiah and the Strata of Biblical Historiography (2 Kings xxiii 29-30; 2 Chronicles xxxv 20-5; 1 Esdras i 23-31)," VT 46 (1996) 213-36;
5. Baruch Halpern, "Why Manasseh Is Blamed for the Babylonian Exile: The Evolution of a Biblical Tradition," VT 48 (1998) 473-514.
6. The work in these articles is often in conversation with that of C. C. Torrey, Ezra Studies (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1910) 87-88, 220-21;
7. and Adam C. Welch, "The Death of Josiah," ZAW 43 (1925) 255-60.
8. Another article of interest is Stanley B. Frost, 'The Death of Josiah: A Conspiracy of Silence," JBL 87 (1968) 369-82.
9. Full references for the historical issues may be found in Talshir, "Three Deaths of Josiah." The history of the interpretation of 2 Chronicles 34-35 may be found in Steve Delamarter, 'The Death of Josiah in Scripture and Tradition: Wrestling with the Problem of Evil?" VT 54 (2004) 29-60.
10. Tentative steps toward such a reading may be found in Zipora Talshir, "Synchronic Approaches with Diachronie Consequences in the Study of Parallel Redactions: First Esdras and 2 Chronicles 35-36; Ezra 1-10; Nehemiah 8," in Yahwism after the Exile: Perspectives on Israelite Religion in the Persian Era (ed. Rainer Albertz and Bob Becking; Studies in Theology and Religion 5; Assen: Van Gorcum, 2003) 199-218.
11. Helpful here is David A. Glatt-Gilad, 'The Role of Huldah's Prophecy in the Chronicler's Portrayal of Josiah's Reform," Bib 77 (1996) 16-31.
12. Welch ("Death of Josiah," 255) was among the first modem scholars to suggest that one account was clearly modeled on the other.
13. E.g., Talshir, 'Three Deaths of Josiah," 219, and the references given there,
14. esp. Torrey, Ezra Studies, 221;
15. Raymond B. Dillard, 2 Chronicles (WBC 15; Waco: Word, 1987) 292;
16. Sara Japhet, I & II Chronicles: A Commentary (OTL; Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 1993) 1042-43, 1058-59.
17. Japhet, I & II Chronicles, 1043.
18. See William Riley, King and Cultus in Chronicles: Worship and the Reinterpretation of History (JSOTSup 160; Sheffield: JSOT Press, 1993) 139.
19. Talshir, "Three Deaths of Josiah," 220.
20. H. G. M. Williamson, 1 and 2 Chronicles (NCB; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1982) 409.
21. Beyond the pattern of the king "sleeping with his ancestors" (e.g., 2 Chr 9:31 ), there is the pattern of death from an illness (e.g., 2 Chr 16:12-13; 21:18-19; 26:21-23) and assassination (e.g., 2 Chr 24:25; 33:24).
22. See the references in n. 1 for the theory of the continuing development of the Deuteronomic History as a source for 2 Chronicles, as well as Dillard, 2 Chronicles, 289.
23. Steven L. McKenzie (The Chronicler's Use of the Deuteronomislic History [HSM 33; Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1984] 184, 188) suggests that the Chronicler had an additional source(s) rather than an expanded Deuteronomic History, and he also makes the claim that 1-2 Chronicles does not contain an account of Ahab's death.
24. In his later book (The Trouble with Kings: The Composition of the Book of Kings in the Deuteronomislic History [VTSup 42; Leiden: Brill, 1991] 128) he aligns more with Williamson's position without fully agreeing with it.
25. Japhet (I & II Chronicles, 1041-42) argues that the Chronicler used the Deuteronomic framework and filled in the gaps.
26. Talshir, 'Three Deaths of Josiah," 215.
27. building on the work of Torrey, Ezra Studies, 220-21.
28. Dillard, 2 Chronicles, 282;
29. Williamson, 1 and 2 Chronicles, 401-2;
30. cf. Talshir ('Three Deaths of Josiah," 220), who downplays any contradiction between the prophecy and the circumstances of Josiah's death.
31. Halpern, "Why Manasseh Is Blamed," 509.
32. Halpern ("Why Manasseh Is Blamed," 509-11) suggests that the account in 2 Kings is also ironic, in order that the Deuteronomic distinction between true and false prophecy may be maintained.
33. So comments Dillard (2 Chronicles, 292), without giving supporting evidence.
34. The verb Ku" is also used in 2 Chr 35:20 of Josiah's action. Talshir ("Three Deaths of Josiah," 216-17) compares the use of "N"1? b in 2 Kgs 23:29 with rsnp1? NS' in 2 Chr 35:20 and concludes that the latter expression denotes hostility.
35. For discussions of prophecy in 1-2 Chronicles, see Sara Japhet, The Ideology of the Book of Chronicles and Its Place in Biblical Thought (2nd ed.; Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang, 1997) 176-90;
36. William M. Schniedewind, "Prophets and Prophecy in the Books of Chronicles," in The Chronicler as Historian (ed. M. Patrick Graham, Kenneth G. Hoglund, and Steven L. McKenzie; JSOTSup 238; Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1997) 204-24.
37. Contra Begg, "Another View," 2-3;
38. Glatt-Gilad, "Role of Huldah's Prophecy," 24-25;
39. and esp. Halpem ("Why Manasseh Is Blamed," 482), who sees this as the base on which the entire literary patterning is built.
40. Glatt-Gilad ("Role of Huldah's Prophecy," 29) suggests that Huldah's prophecy coming after the temple restoration project has begun and at the midpoint of the story of Josiah's reign serves to inspire the Passover observance (further religious reform), but that "the religious zeal... ultimately did not hold up."
41. Halpern, "Why Manasseh Is Blamed," 513,502-4.
42. See Schniedewind, "Prophets and Prophecy," 204.
43. Talshir ("Three Deaths of Josiah," 231-32) points out that the Chronicler considered foreign powers to be legitimate instruments of God, but that Neco is the only foreigner who spoke with God's authority. Key to our understanding here, however, is that Neco is the one who claims divine authority - within the story world, how could Josiah consider this acceptable?
44. See Halpern, "Why Manasseh Is Blamed," 502.
45. Talshir ("Three Deaths of Josiah," 217-18) analyzes the parallel account in 2 Kings 23 and concludes that the vassal-overlord relationship is certainly implied in the account in Kings. The key changes in the language of encounter made by the Chronicler, however, remove this scenario.
46. See Riley, King and Cultus in Chronicles, 135-38;
47. and Talshir ("Synchronic Approaches," 216) on Josiah observing the Passover according to tôrâ.
48. See Roddy Braun, "Solomon, the Chosen Temple Builder: The Significance of 1 Chronicles 22,28, and 29 for the Theology of Chronicles," JBL95 (1976) 581-90;
49. Japhet, Ideology of the Book of Chronicles, 488-89.
50. H. G. M. Williamson, Israel in the Book of Chronicles (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1977).
51. For the basic sources on this, see Robert Alter, The Art of Biblical Narrative (New York: Basic, 1981 ) 116-17;
52. Adele Berlin, Poetics and Interpretation of Biblical Narrative (Bible and Literature Series 9; Sheffield: Almond, 1983) 57-59.
53. A more nuanced view may be found in Robert Polzin, Samuel and the Deuteronomist: A Literary Study of the Deuteronomic History, Part 2, I Samuel (San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1989) 18-21 ;
54. idem, Moses and the Deuteronomist: A Literary Study of the Deuteronomic History, Part 1, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges (New York: Seabury, 1980) 20-24, 26-36. In these studies, Polzin demonstrates how the phraseological and ideological levels do not necessarily coincide in the Deuteronomic History (I believe we can extend this discussion to biblical literature as a whole).
55. Polzin relies on the discussion of "voicedness" found in Mikhail M. Bakhtin, The Dialogic Imagination: Four Essays (trans. Caryl Emerson and Michael Holquist; Austin: University of Texas Press, 1981) 301-33;
56. and in an earlier translation of Bakhtin, The Problems of Dostoevsky's Poetics (trans. Caryl Emerson; Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1984) 203-4. By making a claim about the phraseological level of the text in 2 Chronicles 35,1 am not precluding the possibility of double-voiced discourse embedded within the narrator's speech.
57. Mark A. Throntveit, "The Relationship of Hezekiah to David and Solomon in the Books of Chronicles," in The Chronicler as Theologian: Essays in Honor of Ralph W. Klein (ed. M. Patrick Graham, Steven L. McKenzie, and Gary N. Knoppers; JSOTSup 371; London: Clark, 2003) 105-21, here 105-6.
58. John W. Wright, "Beyond Transcendence and Immanence: The Characterization of the Presence and Activity of God in the Book of Chronicles," in The Chronicler as Theologian, 240-67, here 264.
59. Adam C. Welch, The Work of the Chronicler (London: British Academy, 1939) 55-80.
60. For an interesting correlation of the genealogical material in Chronicles with the Chronicler's interest in Levites that demonstrates that the Chronicler's interest in the Levites is not supported by contemporary genealogical information, see Yigal Levin, "From Lists to History: Chronological Aspects of the Chronicler's Genealogies," JBL 123 (2004) 601-36, here 630-31.
61. Welch (Work of the Chronicler, 71) points out that 2 Chr 35:1-4 is a "preface which defined certain permanent arrangements that were made by the reforming king."
62. Welch (Work of the Chronicler, 69) remarks that the language of 2 Chr 35:1-4 brings together temple, ark, and Levites, and the Levites are described as both teachers of tôrâ and holy to Yhwh in a way that "has no direct relation to the passover."
63. Christopher T. Begg, 'The Ark in Chronicles," in Chronicler as Theologian, 133-45, here 141-42.
64. Delamarter, "Death of Josiah," 34-35;
65. Welch, "Death of Josiah," 255;
66. Williamson, "Death of Josiah," 246.
67. The section on ancient sources was written independently of Delamarter, "Death of Josiah," which deals with many of the same issues from the specific point of view of theodicy and Josiah's death in more detail. Delamarter also deals with 2 Baruch, the Peshitta, the Old Latin, the Vulgate, and the targums. For a discussion of the LXX rendering of 2 Chronicles 35 as a whole, which includes the statement in 2 Kgs 23:24-27 of the sin of Manasseh, see esp. pp. 37-39.
68. Torrey (Ezra Studies, 221 n. 16) suggests that the translators "foolishly corrected" the Hebrew. We should keep in mind that there were quite possibly several versions of the Hebrew text in circulation (cf. n. 49 on 1 Esdras, below).
69. Torrey (Ezra Studies, 221 n. 16) notes that åéå éñåßrenders u£ri in the sense of "search."
70. Here I follow Zipora Talshir (I Esdras: From Origin to Translation [SBLSCS 47; Atlanta: SBL, 1999] 175-79;
71. eadem, 'Three Deaths of Josiah," 233-34) in treating 1 Esdras as an independent creative work, based on 2 Chronicles 35-36, but not as a potential textual witness to the MT of 2 Chronicles. Rather, it is an example of a different text form only partially reflected in the LXX and other versions of 2 Chronicles.
72. See Kristin De Troyer, "Zerubbabel and Ezra: A Revived and Revised Solomon and Josiah? A Survey of Current 1 Esdras Research," CBR 1, no. 1 (2002) 50-51 ;
73. H. G. M. Williamson, "The Problem with 1 Esdras," in After the Exile: Essays in Honor of Rex Mason (ed. John Barton and David J. Reimer; Macon, GA: Mercer University Press, 1996) 201-16.
74. Kristin De Troyer (Rewriting the Sacred Text: What the Old Greek Texts Tell Us about the Literary Growth of the Bible [SBL Text-critical Studies 4; Atlanta: SBL, 2003] 91-126) argues on text-critical grounds that 1 Esdras was a new Hebrew-Aramaic composition, based on Chronicles, Ezra, and Nehemiah, which was then translated into Greek.
75. Contra Tamara C. Eskenazi ("The Chronicler and the Composition of 1 Esdras," CBQ 48 [1986] 39-61), who sees 1 Esdras as a rewriting of Chronicles-Ezra-Nehemiah and hence usable as a textual witness.
76. As Delamarter ("Death of Josiah," 41-42) points out, 1 Esdras makes Jeremiah the prophetic voice rather than Neco.
77. Delamarter ("Death of Josiah," 36, 59) suggests that later authors tried to balance two authoritative versions - Kings and Chronicles - and that no later author was able to harmonize the two versions fully, favoring either the Kings version or the Chronicles version .
78. Christopher T. Begg, 'The Death of Josiah: Josephus and the Bible," ETL 64 (1988) 157-63, here 161 ;
79. Delamarter ("Death of Josiah," 45) notes that in Josephus, Huldah's prophecy is to be fulfilled after Josiah's death.
80. Begg, "Josephus and the Bible," 160 n. 11.
81. see Delamarter, "Death of Josiah," 47.
82. Begg, "Josephus and the Bible," 161.
83. Peter R. Ackroyd, The Chronicler in His Age (JSOTSup 101; Sheffield: JSOT Press, 1991)324.
84. However the phenomenon of "deuteronomism" may be working itself out in biblical studies at the moment, this is still true. See Reconsidering Israel and Judah: Recent Studies on the Deuteronomic History (ed. Gary N. Knoppers and James G. McConville; Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 2000);
85. Gary N. Knoppers, Two Nations under God: The Deuteronomislic History of Solomon and the Dual Monarchies, vol. 1, The Reign of Solomon and the Rise of Jeroboam (HSM 52; Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1993) esp. 17-54;
86. McKenzie, Trouble with Kings, esp. 1-19;
87. Those Elusive Deuteronomists: The Phenomenon of Pan-Deuteronomism (ed. Linda S. Schearing and Steven L. McKenzie; JSOTSup 268; Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1999).
88. See Begg, "Another View," 2.
89. Halpern ("Why Manasseh Is Blamed," 511-12) points out that Jeremiah and 1-2 Chronicles share certain affinities and that there is a certain amount of "unremarked" Jeremian influence on passages in 1-2 Chronicles.