Special Issue IOSOT 2013 - Books and Journals

70 S. Japhet / Vetus Testamentum IOSOT (2013) 36-76
In the use of the verb אמץ as parallel to חזק two places are noteworthy:
2 Chr. xxiv 13, where the subject of they‏“—”ויאמצוהו“‏ strengthened it” is the
house of God, and 2 Chr. xiii 7, where על רחבעם“‏ ‏”ויתאמצו is translated “and . . .
defied Rehoboam”, and is rather “they tried to overcome him”.172
The root אמץ is not found in the vocabulary of late biblical prose, including
Ezr.-Neh.
אמונה .L
The noun אמונה is rare in early prose173 but is quite frequent in poetry. As in
other instances it was transferred by the Chr. to his prose and was absorbed
there.174 Its meaning in Chr. is “stability” and “faithfullness”. But it also has the
peculiar connotation “permanent office”,175 or being in charge of something.
The first meaning, “faithfulness”, is exemplified by: 2 Chr. xxiv 12 // 2 Ki. xxii 7;
2 Chr. xix 9; xxxi 12.
The second is exemplified by 1 Chr. ix 22: “David and Samuel . . . established
them in their permanent office” ‎176‎‏(באמונתם)‏ and also by 1 Chr. ix 26, 31;
xxxi 15.177
The problematic verse is 2 Chr. xxxi 18 באמונתם יתקדשו קדש“‏ ‏.”כי It is translated
by RSV as “for they were faithful in keeping themselves holy” which is
rather paraphrastic. It seems that here too we should translate “for in their
office ‏)באמונתם(‏ they should be sanctified”.
The noun ‏,אמונה in either of its meanings, is not found at all in Ezr.-Neh.178
172) The other instances are: 2 Chr. xi 17; xiii 18; 2 Chr. x 18 // 1 Ki. xiii 18.
173) Exod. xvii 12, 1 Sam. xxvi 23, and twice in Kings in similar contexts and wording: 2 Ki. xii 16,
xxii 7.
174) To a lesser degree it is shown also in the use of the verb, ‏.אמן The utterance of Isaiah (vii 9)
האמינו בה׳ אלהיכם ותאמנו האמינו sermon: is utilized in Jehoshaphat’s אם לא תאמינו כי לא תאמנו
substitutes for another in the parallel text or is אמן In three instances the root ‏.בנביאיו והצליחו
‏,יאמן ויגדל in 2 Sam. vii 25, a nd in the following verse הקם in place of יאמן 23: added to it: 1 Chr. xvii
found in place of ויגדל alone. The same addition is made also in 2 Chr. i 9 in comparison to 1 Ki. iii
6. All these sections are related to God’s promise to David and his house, and in this connection
it does occur once in Kings, and in the parallel text in Chr. (1 Ki. viii 26 // 2 Chr. vi 17). The consistent
use of the verb in this context in Chr. suggests that its origin is in Chr. and it was secondarily
transferred to 1 Ki. viii 26. On the other hand, it might have been taken by the Chr. from this place
in Kings and used in all the other sections dealing with the same subject. The case is complicated
by the fact that the Septuagint’s version of 2 Sam. vii contains a trace of the same verb there.
175) Cf. Thesaurus of the Language of the Bible, p. 197.
176) Translated by RSV: “In their office of trust”.
177) It seems that it should rather be translated here “in their office” instead of “faithfully” (RSV).
178) Neither the verb. We do have in Ezr.-Neh. twice the adj. נאמן in “non-chronistic” parts
(Neh. ix 8, xiii 13) and the noun ‏.אמנה Neither are found in Chr.