SHOULD CHAPTERS 20 AND 21 OF I KINGS BE REVERSED?

Whereas the standard Hebrew text of I Kings places chapter 21 following chapter 20, in the Greek Septuagint (LXX) that order is reversed. Shenkel sides with LXX as the superior text since it better groups together the stories of Elijah and Ahab's interactions. In addition, another effect of the LXX ordering is to combine all the wars with Aram together. Burney agrees for another reason entirely, namely, that the Hebrew text was the one doing the reversing in order to more closely associate (a) the prophecy of Ahab's death with its occurrence and (b) the two descriptions of the king's dismal mood in 20:43 and 21:4. Unfortunately, these two arguments in favor of the Greek ordering have somewhat the effect of cancelling each other out depending on whether one expects a logical order to the text or suspects it.

G.H. Jones states that recent investigations into the text of I-II Kings have resulted in “the acceptance of a more positive attitude towards the Greek translation...” He concludes that “when the Greek diverges from the Hebrew, all the evidence has to be carefully considered in order to assess the significance of each divergence.”

In contrast, Wolters includes the LXX reversal of chapters 20 and 21 among other disagreements with the Hebrew text as “changes [which] do not represent an independent Hebrew textual translation. Instead, they are in all likelihood innovations introduced within the Greek textual tradition itself.”

So obviously, the situation is still up in the air, and Cogan says, “There is no consensus among the commentators regarding the 'original' order of these chapters.” With that being the current impasse, an attempt to enlist the aid of structural analysis seemed to be in order.

The first thing to note regarding these two chapters is that practically all scholars agree that they belong together as a cohesive unit. And the overall form this unit takes is as two parallel stories. Here is how they appear according to the order of the Hebrew text:

Structure of I Kings 20-21 (Hebrew)

1. Ben-hadad wants Ahab's money, wives and children (20:1-6)

    2. Ahab defeats Ben-hadad's forces with a prophet's help but sins in the process (20:17-34)

        3. Judgment is pronounced on Ahab through the prophet (20:35-44)

            4. Ahab's response (20:43)

1'. Ahab wants to buy Naboth's land (21:1-4)

    2'. Ahab gets the land with Jezebel's help but sins in the process (21:5-16)

        3'. Judgment is pronounced on Ahab through the prophet Elijah (21:17-26)

            4'. Ahab's response (21:27)

If the above were all there was to this organization, then it alone would not be very helpful in distinguishing which textual tradition was the superior one, since the two parallel units stand even if the order of the two chapters is transposed. However, one fact needs to be included in the analysis. This nice, neat arrangement above does not even include the end of chapter 21, God's response to Ahab's repentance found in 21:28-29. This ending has no correspondence in chapter 20 and thus disrupts the above organization. But if the order of the two chapters are reversed, the following complete symmetry results:

Structure of I Kings 21-20 (Greek)

CYCLE I

    1. Ahab wants to buy Naboth's land (21:1-4)

        2. Ahab gets the land with Jezebel's help but sins in the process (21:5-16)

            3. Judgment is pronounced on Ahab through the prophet Elijah (21:17-26)

                4. Ahab's response (21:27)

                        CENTER UNIT: God delays Ahab's Punishment (21:28-29)

CYCLE II

1' Ben-hadad wants Ahab's money, wives and children (20:1-6)

    2' Ahab defeats Ben-hadad's forces with a prophet's help but sins in the process (20:17-34)

        3' Judgment is pronounced on Ahab through the prophet (20:35-44)

            4'. Ahab's response (20:43)

Indications that this as the original order are (a) the resulting literary stress of the whole unit on God's mercy in the face of repentance and (b) the perfect inclusio (set of bracketing bookends) it provides in encapsulating both chapters between the opening statement: “Ahab went home resentful and sullen” (21:4) and the conclusion: “The king of Israel set out toward home, resentful and sullen.” (20:43)

This is certainly not the definitive answer to the question at hand, but it is one more piece of evidence leading in favor of the Septuagint's order reversing the order of chapters 20 and 21of I Kings.