This continues my post from yesterday, Moshe Weinfeld and Dtr in II Samuel 7. I'm writing a paper on the Deuteromistic additions to II Samuel 7 and I Kings 8:1-30, as well as I Kings 8:1-30's interaction with II Samuel 7. In this post, I want to highlight the Deuteromistic additions to I Kings 8:1-30, based on the Appendix on "Deuteronomic Phraseology" in Moshe Weinfeld's Deuteronomy and the Deuteronomic School. I also will take note of where I Kings 8:1-30 interacts with II Samuel 7.
The translation is from the New Revised Standard Version, but I will focus more on the Hebrew text in my actual paper. In this post, the Deuteromistic additions will be in red, followed in parentheses by the page number and phrase number in Weinfeld, which specifies where the phrase appears in the Book of Deuteronomy or elsewhere in the Deuteromistic History (Joshua-II Kings). I will color in blue the passages of I Kings 8:1-30 that interact with II Samuel 7. Following those passages, I will insert in blue-green the verse in II Samuel 7 with which I Kings 8:1-30 is interacting. I will put my own comments in purple.
I'm getting the references to II Samuel 7 from the Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge and some commentaries (though I'm not entirely clear right now which ones--that will be something for me to dig up!).
Here we go!
I Kings 8:1-30:
1 Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the leaders of the ancestral houses of the Israelites, before King Solomon in Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the covenant of the LORD out of the city of David, which is Zion.
2 All the people of Israel assembled to King Solomon at the festival in the month Ethanim, which is the seventh month.
3 And all the elders of Israel came, and the priests carried the ark.
4 So they brought up the ark of the LORD, the tent of meeting, and all the holy vessels that were in the tent; the priests and the Levites brought them up.
The reference to "the priests and the Levites" may be significant, for the Deuteronomist equates the priests with the Levites. He doesn't believe in a hierarchy with "Aaronites" and "the other Levites." But this text makes that differentiation, so this part is not Deuteronomic.
5 King Solomon and all the congregation of Israel, who had assembled before him, were with him before the ark, sacrificing so many sheep and oxen that they could not be counted or numbered.
6 Then the priests brought the ark of the covenant of the LORD to its place, in the inner sanctuary of the house, in the most holy place, underneath the wings of the cherubim.
But doesn't Numbers 4 say that the Levites (I forget which family) carry the ark? So maybe, contra my point on v 4, this text is equating the priests and the Levites, and "the priests and the Levites" is a hendyades (two words used together to speak of one thing--I'm sure I misspelled it!). But I did a search on Bibleworks for the NRSV, and I couldn't find it in Deuteronomy.
7 For the cherubim spread out their wings over the place of the ark, so that the cherubim made a covering above the ark and its poles.
8 The poles were so long that the ends of the poles were seen from the holy place in front of the inner sanctuary; but they could not be seen from outside; they are there to this day.
9 There was nothing in the ark except the two tablets of stone that Moses had placed there at Horeb, where the LORD made a covenant with the Israelites, when they came out of the land of Egypt.
10 And when the priests came out of the holy place, a cloud filled the house of the LORD,
This accords with Exodus, in which God as a cloud visits the people (Exodus 16:10; 19:9; 24:15-16; 33:9--tabernacle; 40:34--tabernacle). Leviticus 16:2, 13 presents God appearing in a cloud of incense above the mercy seat, which goes back to my question yesterday of whether the priests thought God lived in the earthly sanctuary, or only visited at special times.
11 so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud; for the glory of the LORD filled the house of the LORD.
12 Then Solomon said, "The LORD has said that he would dwell in thick darkness.
13 I have built you an exalted house, a place for you to dwell in forever."
(II Samuel 7:13: He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.)
I'm not sure if this is a good reference, since II Samuel 7:13 mentions building a house for God's name, whereas I Kings 8:13 says God will dwell in it forever. The first is Deuteronomic and says God's name dwells in the house, not God himself. The second says God himself dwells in the earthly sanctuary. The two ideas are contradictory, so I have problems believing that one is directly alluding to the other.
14 Then the king turned around and blessed all the assembly of Israel, while all the assembly of Israel stood.
15 He said, "Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who with his hand has fulfilled (p. 350#2) what he promised with his mouth to my father David, saying,
(II Samuel 7:5: Go and tell my servant David: Thus says the LORD: Are you the one to build me a house to live in?
II Samuel 7:25: And now, O LORD God, as for the word that you have spoken concerning your servant and concerning his house, confirm it forever; do as you have promised.
II Samuel 7:28: And now, O Lord GOD, you are God, and your words are true, and you have promised this good thing to your servant;
II Samuel 7:29: now therefore may it please you to bless the house of your servant, so that it may continue forever before you; for you, O Lord GOD, have spoken, and with your blessing shall the house of your servant be blessed forever.")
The promise of II Samuel 7 is that God will build David an eternal house. The point of I Kings 8:15 is that God has fulfilled that promise. But has he? We don't know yet if the house will be eternal. Moreover, whereas II Samuel 7 treats God's covenant with David as unconditional, v 25 adds conditionality to it.
16 'Since the day that I brought my people Israel out of Egypt, I have not chosen a city (p. 324#1a) from any of the tribes of Israel in which to build a house, that my name might be there (p. 325#5); but I chose David (p. 354#3) to be over my people Israel.'
(II Samuel 7:6: I have not lived in a house since the day I brought up the people of Israel from Egypt to this day, but I have been moving about in a tent and a tabernacle.
II Samuel 7:7: Wherever I have moved about among all the people of Israel, did I ever speak a word with any of the tribal leaders of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, saying, "Why have you not built me a house of cedar?"
II Samuel 7:8: Now therefore thus you shall say to my servant David: Thus says the LORD of hosts: I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep to be prince over my people Israel;)
I Kings 8:16 mentions a city, which is absent from II Samuel 7. This may be significant. Overall, the verse seems to summarize II Samuel 7:5-8.
17 My father David had it in mind to build a house for the name of the LORD, the God of Israel (p. 325#6).
(II Samuel 7:2: the king said to the prophet Nathan, "See now, I am living in a house of cedar, but the ark of God stays in a tent."
II Samuel 7:3: Nathan said to the king, "Go, do all that you have in mind; for the LORD is with you.")
II Samuel 7:2-3 presents David wanting to build a house for God to live in. I Kings 8:17 reflects a Deuteromistic ideology that says the house is for God's name, not God himself. So there is allusion, but the allusion alters what is alluded to.
18 But the LORD said to my father David, 'You did well to consider building a house for my name (p. 325#6);
19 nevertheless you shall not build the house, but your son who shall be born to you shall build the house for my name (p. 325#6).'
(II Samuel 7:5: Go and tell my servant David: Thus says the LORD: Are you the one to build me a house to live in?
II Samuel 7:12: When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come forth from your body, and I will establish his kingdom.
II Samuel 7:13: He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.)
I Kings 8:18-19 emphasizes the house being for God's name. Maybe the Deuteronomist here felt that the Deuteronomist redacting II Samuel 7 didn't go far enough in stressing that point!
20 Now the LORD has upheld the promise that he made (p. 350#1); for I have risen in the place of my father David; I sit on the throne of Israel, as the LORD promised, and have built the house for the name of the LORD (p. 350#6), the God of Israel.
21 There I have provided a place for the ark, in which is the covenant of the LORD that he made with our ancestors when he brought them out of the land of Egypt."
22 Then Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in the presence of all the assembly of Israel, and spread out his hands to heaven.
23 He said, "O LORD, God of Israel, there is no God like you (p. 331#5) in heaven above or on earth beneath (p. 331#2), keeping covenant and steadfast love (p. 330#21) for your servants who walk before you with all their heart (p. 334#9a),
(II Samuel 7:22: Therefore you are great, O LORD God; for there is no one like you, and there is no God besides you, according to all that we have heard with our ears.)
I Kings 8:23 stresses that God is in the heavens above and the earth beneath, meaning he's not in a house. But, as I asked in my last post, did those who believed God dwelt in a house think the house was God's only dwelling?
24 the covenant that you kept for your servant my father David as you declared to him; you promised with your mouth and have this day (p. 350#4) fulfilled with your hand (p. 350#2).
(II Samuel 7:12: When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come forth from your body, and I will establish his kingdom.
II Samuel 7:16: Your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me; your throne shall be established forever.)
God kept the promise by giving David royal offspring that would build the temple, according to I Kings 8:24.
25 Therefore, O LORD, God of Israel, keep for your servant my father David that which you promised him, saying, 'There shall never fail you a successor before me to sit on the throne of Israel (p. 355#8), if only your children look to their way, to walk before me as you have walked before me.'
(II Samuel 7:27: For you, O LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, have made this revelation to your servant, saying, 'I will build you a house'; therefore your servant has found courage to pray this prayer to you.
II Samuel 7:28: And now, O Lord GOD, you are God, and your words are true, and you have promised this good thing to your servant;
II Samuel 7:29: now therefore may it please you to bless the house of your servant, so that it may continue forever before you; for you, O Lord GOD, have spoken, and with your blessing shall the house of your servant be blessed forever.")
I Kings 8:25 seems to be quoting something, and it's not exactly II Samuel 7:27-29. We see the expression "there shall not fail a successor" in I Kings 2:4 and 9:5. I Kings 8:25 may believe that the expression refers to the incident in II Samuel 7, even if God isn't quoted exactly. Plus, as I noted earlier, I Kings 8:25 (and I Kings 9:5-6) condition the Davidic covenant on the king's obedience, whereas II Samuel 7 treats it as unconditional--God will chasten David's descendants but not break his covenant with them. Some scholars try to harmonize the two, and I'll take a look at their views in a future post.
26 Therefore, O God of Israel, let your word be confirmed (p. 350#1a), which you promised to your servant my father David.
(II Samuel 7:25: And now, O LORD God, as for the word that you have spoken concerning your servant and concerning his house, confirm it forever; do as you have promised.
II Samuel 7:26: Thus your name will be magnified forever in the saying, 'The LORD of hosts is God over Israel'; and the house of your servant David will be established before you.
II Samuel 7:27: For you, O LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, have made this revelation to your servant, saying, 'I will build you a house'; therefore your servant has found courage to pray this prayer to you.
II Samuel 7:28: And now, O Lord GOD, you are God, and your words are true, and you have promised this good thing to your servant;
II Samuel 7:29: now therefore may it please you to bless the house of your servant, so that it may continue forever before you; for you, O Lord GOD, have spoken, and with your blessing shall the house of your servant be blessed forever.")
One thing to note: Although God has promised David an unconditional covenant, David still sees a need to ask God to do so ("may it please you"). Does this add some conditionality to the Davidic covenant, basing it on God's pleasure rather than an unconditional, iron-clad promise?
27 "But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Even heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you, much less this house that I have built!
This is an explicit rejection of "God dwells in a house," so it's probably Deuteronomic.
28 Regard your servant's prayer and his plea (p. 330#23), O LORD my God, heeding the cry and the prayer (p. 330#24) that your servant prays to you today;
29 that your eyes may be open night and day toward this house, the place of which you said, 'My name shall be there,' (p. 325#5) that you may heed the prayer that your servant prays toward this place.
30 Hear the plea (p. 330#23) of your servant and of your people Israel when they pray toward this place; O hear in heaven your dwelling place (p. 326#8); heed and forgive.
This is weird. The Deuteronomist denies that God dwells in a house, yet he uses the expression "your dwelling place."
I'll stop here, since I'm about to see Star Trek. Eventually, I'll want to look for Hebrew overlaps between II Samuel 7 and I Kings 8. Have a good day!