Source and Revision in the Narratives of David's Transfer of the Ark: Text, Language, and Story in 2 Samuel 6 and 1 Chronicles 13, 15-16

This book evaluates the relationship between Samuel and Chronicles in a single synoptic story: David's transfer of Israel's sacred ark to Jerusalem in 2 Samuel 6 and 1 Chronicles 13, 15-16. Chapter 1 establishes the framework of the investigation. In this chapter Rezetko surveys three areas of research related to Samuel and Chronicles, including views on the composition of these books on the whole, the story of David's ark transfer in particular, and the characteristics of the textual witnesses to these books. Chapter 2 introduces the methodology of the study. In this chapter Rezetko surveys issues related to synchronic and diachronic approaches to Samuel and Chronicles. Specifically, he suggests that the standoff between alternative approaches to these books may be bridged by taking a textual-exegetical approach, that is, by combining textual and literary criticism in an analysis of their stories. Chapters 3-6 are a close examination of textual, linguistic, and literary facets of 2 Samuel 6 and the synoptic portions of 1 Chronicles 13, 15-16. On the basis of parallel aligned Hebrew and Greek texts of these passages, Rezetko studies in varying degrees of detail the ancient texts of David's ark transfer story in order to understand better its different formulation and shape in the received Hebrew texts of Samuel and Chronicles in their Masoretic dress (MT) in particular.