Tracing the Writing of Kings with Nadav Na’aman and Klaus-Peter Adam

ABSTRACT A critique by Na’aman of an essay by Adam on the growth of the Book of Kings is tested against Auld’s work on the synoptic narrative shared by Samuel-Kings and Chronicles. Some 130 words and phrases are tabulated, each occurring in synoptic reports of only two kings. The implied patterns of comparisons and contrasts are key to understanding the shared text. Textual consistency is a feature of the listed terms (a rare exception in the Solomon story is discussed): they constitute the stable core of the familiar biblical narratives. While Adam and Na’aman were discussing “sources” of Kings, the synoptic narrative should instead be understood as a historian’s early “draft” of Samuel-Kings.