How 1 Kings Came to Us

Journey of a Passage

• 1 Kings 2:35: The Greek Solomon miscellanies (2:35a–o, 2:46a–l) →After 2:35 and again after 2:46, the Greek 3 Kingdoms adds long summaries about Solomon: his wisdom, his provisions, his wife Pharaoh's daughter, his building works and his officials. Much of it repeats or rearranges material found later in the Hebrew (chapters 3–5 and 9–10). In the library's Greek the additions are merged into verses 35 and 46.
• 1 Kings 6:1: 480 years or 440? →The Hebrew dates the temple's foundation to the 480th year after the Exodus; the library's Greek has the 440th. Separately from the textual question, readers debate whether 480 is a literal count or a symbolic one (twelve generations of forty years).
• 1 Kings 8:16: "But I chose Jerusalem" →In the Hebrew of Kings, God says He chose no city, but chose David. The library's Greek also says "I chose Jerusalem for my name to be there," as 2 Chronicles 6:5–6 does. The Qumran fragment 4Q54 is reported to have the longer text. The Hebrew of Kings probably lost the words when a scribe's eye skipped between two similar clauses.
• 1 Kings 8:12–13: Solomon's short poem, moved and longer →In the Hebrew, Solomon's poem "The LORD said that he would dwell in the thick darkness" stands at 8:12–13. In the library's Greek it comes after 8:53, with an extra opening line about the sun. The Greek is commonly reported to end with "Is it not written in the book of the song?", possibly a misreading of "the book of Jashar"; that line is not in the library's text.
• 1 Kings 11:41: The lost Book of the Acts of Solomon →Kings tells readers to look for "the rest of the acts of Solomon" in "the book of the acts of Solomon." The wording is stable across the witnesses checked. The book itself is lost; no copy, fragment or outside quotation is known.
• 1 Kings 12:24 (3 Kingdoms 12:24a–z): A second story of Jeroboam →After 12:24 the Greek 3 Kingdoms tells the story of Jeroboam's rise a second time, differently: his mother is a prostitute named Sarira, he marries Pharaoh's sister-in-law Ano, his son falls sick before the division, and the prophet who tears a garment is Shemaiah, not Ahijah. In the main Greek manuscripts 14:1–20 is absent, because this account covers it. The library's digital Greek lacks 12:24a–z entirely; the site reports it from scholarship and has not checked its wording.
• 1 Kings 20–21: Naboth before the Aramean wars →The Hebrew tells Ahab's wars with Ben-hadad (chapter 20) before Naboth's vineyard (chapter 21). The library's Greek reverses them, so that Naboth follows directly after the Elijah chapters. This is a difference in the order of the book, not in individual words.
• 1 Kings 22:28: "Hearken, O people, every one of you" →Micaiah's last words in the Hebrew, "Hearken, O people, every one of you," are the opening words of the book of Micah (Micah 1:2). The library's Greek lacks them. Many scholars think a scribe added them, identifying Micaiah son of Imlah with the later prophet Micah of Moresheth.