ANCIENT VARIANTS AND INTERPRETATIONS OF SOME LAWS OF THE BOOK OF THE COVENANT AS REFLECTED IN EARLY PROPHETS’ NARRATIVES

In a recent and important article, 1 it has been claimed that in the law “You shall not revile God, nor put a curse upon a chieftain among your people” (Ex. 22:27), the term https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9781315825045/6669d027-71b4-4859-8e00-8c375cf64e32/content/pg57.tif” xmlns:xlink=“https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink”/> (chieftain) replaces the original https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9781315825045/6669d027-71b4-4859-8e00-8c375cf64e32/content/pg57_1.tif” xmlns:xlink=“https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink”/> (king). The evidence presented for this assumption was: The Bible knows the word-pair https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9781315825045/6669d027-71b4-4859-8e00-8c375cf64e32/content/pg57_2.tif” xmlns:xlink=“https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink”/> (God - king; Prov. 24:21; 25:2), but not the word-pair https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9781315825045/6669d027-71b4-4859-8e00-8c375cf64e32/content/pg57_3.tif” xmlns:xlink=“https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink”/> (God - chieftain). The reconstructed text is reflected in I Kings 21, in the words of the machiavelistic queen who, wishing to appear as one who is exacting of the law, commands that Naboth be charged, saying: “You have reviled God and king” (v. 10; see also v. 13), 2 words which we compare to those of the prophet: https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9781315825045/6669d027-71b4-4859-8e00-8c375cf64e32/content/pg57_4.tif” xmlns:xlink=“https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink”/> (“He shall revile his king and his God”; Is. 8:21). The replacement of “king” with “chieftain” expresses an anti-monarchistic tendency. This tendency also found its way to the prophecies of Ezekiel, who calls the king of Judah https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9781315825045/6669d027-71b4-4859-8e00-8c375cf64e32/content/pg57_5.tif” xmlns:xlink=“https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink”/> (12:10; 19:1; 21:17; 22:6, etc.), as well as to the Septuagint in the law of the king (Deut. 17:14-20), which translates https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9781315825045/6669d027-71b4-4859-8e00-8c375cf64e32/content/pg57_6.tif” xmlns:xlink=“https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink”/> with https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9781315825045/6669d027-71b4-4859-8e00-8c375cf64e32/content/pg57_7.tif” xmlns:xlink=“https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink”/> and https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9781315825045/6669d027-71b4-4859-8e00-8c375cf64e32/content/pg57_8.tif” xmlns:xlink=“https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink”/> with https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9781315825045/6669d027-71b4-4859-8e00-8c375cf64e32/content/pg57_9.tif” xmlns:xlink=“https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink”/> and other verses in the Pentateuch (Gen. 49:20; Num. 23:21; Deut. 28:36). It also shows up in Qumran texts, such as CD 5:12, which refers to the law of the king: https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9781315825045/6669d027-71b4-4859-8e00-8c375cf64e32/content/pg57_10.tif” xmlns:xlink=“https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink”/>.