1. Echoes of research
2. Personal research
Book on the comparison between MT and LXX in 2 Kings 13-14
Le Testament d’Élisée: Texte massorétique et Septante en 2 Rois 13.10-14.16 (Cahiers de la Revue Biblique 76; Pendé: Gabalda, 2010).
Summary: This book offers a detailed comparison between the Masoretic Text and the Septuagint in 2 Kgs 13,10-14,16. Close attention is given to the Antiochian Text and to the Old Latin, including the Palimpsestus Vindobonensis. It appears that the Vorlage of the Old Greek might represent, in this section, an older stage than the MT in the transmission history of the text, as Adrian Schenker and Julio Trebolle Barrera have already proposed in shorter studies of this passage. At the same time, arguments in favor of the TM as well as in favour of the LXX are taken into account. In addition, this monograph provides some new insights on the structure and narrative analysis of 2 Kgs 13.14-21, and on the overall structure of 2 Kgs 8,20-10,36.
Article on 2 Kings 2.12 and 13.14
“Élie et Élisée, auriges en Israël. Une métaphore militaire oubliée en 2 R 2,12 et 13,14”, Revue Biblique 117/3 (2010) 321-336.
Summary: In the Masoretic Text, 2 Kgs 2.12 and 3.14 contain the same expression, often translated "chariots of Israel and its cavalry". Commentators generally assess this as a description of an army, an image applied to Elijah and his disciple. This study shows that the ancient Septuagint, reflected in the Vetus Latina, found in 2 Kgs 2.12 a short expression ("charioteer of Israel") and in 2 Kgs 13.14 a double formula "charioteer of Israel and her driver". One obtains a new, more natural interpretation: in both cases, the text makes use of a military title, metaphorically characterising the man of God.
Article on 2 Kings 13.22 (Antiochian text)
“Les conquêtes de Hazaël selon la recension lucianique en 4 Règnes 13,22”, Biblische Notizen 146 (2010) 19-25.
Summary: The Lucianic text of 2 Kgs 13.22 includes a statement absent elsewhere: "and Hazael took from his hand the 'allophulon' from the Sea of the 'evening' to Aphek". Commentators generally understand that Hazael conquered a Philistine territory between the Mediterranean Sea and Aphek in the coastal plain. Paying attention to the translation practices of LXXL leads us to another solution: the territory lies in Transjordan between the Dead Sea and Aphek in the Golan. Thus this verse may be compared to another description of Hazael’s invasion, 2 Kgs 10.32-33.
Summary: The Lucianic text of 2 Kgs 13.22 includes a statement absent elsewhere: "and Hazael took from his hand the 'allophulon' from the Sea of the 'evening' to Aphek". Commentators generally understand that Hazael conquered a Philistine territory between the Mediterranean Sea and Aphek in the coastal plain. Paying attention to the translation practices of LXXL leads us to another solution: the territory lies in Transjordan between the Dead Sea and Aphek in the Golan. Thus this verse may be compared to another description of Hazael’s invasion, 2 Kgs 10.32-33.
Review of Les deux visages d’Elie
My 6-pages review of Philippe Hugo’s great book on the comparison between TM and LXX in 1 Kings 17-18 (including an excellent history of research) has appeared in the Revue Biblique 116/3 (2009) 451-57.Article on Isaiah 28.17
“La pierre angulaire d’Esaïe 28 à la lumière de l’oracle contre l’Egypte (Es 28)”, ZAW 123 (2011), p. 437-440.
Summary: According to a sense of the word pinnah neglected by the exegetes but attested in Is 19,13, the “cornerstone” from Is 28,16 might designate an ideal “leader” that Yahweh will install instead of, or in contrast with, the officials who are criticized in the surrounding verses. This would explain the traditions which personify the “cornerstone”, from the Targum to the New Testament.
