Josephus’ Sources and Motivations in Depicting Davidic Kingship

In Antiquitates judaicae (A.J.), book 7, Josephus (37–ca. 100 CE) retells the stories of David’s kingship in 2 Samuel. Instead of quoting the Samuel text, he paraphrases it in a fairly high-style Greek. Generally, the scholarly opinion is divided on whether Josephus based his exposition mainly on a Hebrew (so Nodet) or a Greek (Mez, Ulrich) text, or whether he used both (Rahlfs, Brock). In this article, a case will be made for Josephus being dependent on a Greek text in A.J. 7, but it is difficult to determine whether that Greek text was closer to the Lucianic (Antiochian) text than the B or majority texts (so Mez, Ulrich, Spottorno). The most decisive factors behind Josephus’ formulations are the need to produce a good story and to present King David in a favorable light. However, details of the underlying Greek text affect Josephus’ choice of words in isolated cases, e.g., referring to King David as “the shepherd” of his people (2 Sam 24:17 // A.J. 7.328) and explicating that David chose the plague over other forms of punishment following the census (2 Sam 24:14 // A.J. 7.322–323). Both of these cases are based on a Greek reading absent from the MT. In addition to details in the Greek text, Josephus’ choice of words or a free expansion are partly motivated by his own situation after the Jewish War. Josephus’ motivations can be detected when he deviates from the biblical narrative. Examples of this phenomenon include depicting David’s son Absalom as a demagogue who incited the mob to rebellion (A.J. 7.196) and justifying the purportedly changed allegiance of David’s friend Hushai by prudence and acknowledgement of divine providence (A.J. 7.211–212). The study of Josephus’ depiction of Davidic kingship must take into account both the sources and the personal motivations of the author. The study illuminates the impact of a large-scale political transition—the Jewish War and its aftermath—on the rewriting of scriptural texts and traditions.Peer reviewe