Textual Corrections in Deference to Israel's Dignitaries and in Aversion to the Wicked

This article gathers instances where biblical manuscripts and versions attest to corrections made out of respect to virtuous heroes of Israel, and out of hatred towards persons considered as wicked. Some of these cases have been highlighted by former scholars; in any case they concern individuals acting in the following passages: Moses in Judg 18:30 (Rashi), in Exod 18:7 SP (Geiger) and in Exod 4:25 (Gressmann, Seeligmann), David in 2 Sam 7:21 and 1 Chr 17:19 (Torczyner [Tur-Sinai]), Solomon in 1 Kgs 2:19 LXX (Talshir) and in 1 Kgs 10:8 (C. McCarthy), Isaac in Gen 21:9 (Gunkel), Esau in Gen 33:4, Saul in 1 Sam 14:47 (Noeldeke by Budde), and Jezebel in 1 Kgs 19:2. The tendency reflected by these corrections features in the writing of the Chronicler; therefore one can surmise that this kind of textual correction prevailed thereafter, in early Hellenistic times.