Topographical Considerations and Redaction Criticism in 2 Kings 3‪.‬

The story in 2 Kings 3 displays several problems in its content and syntax that cannot be solved on a synchronic level alone. However, the narrative displays a certain consistency so that a diachronic approach is tentative at best and cannot really rest upon separate redactional strata established on the basis of syntactical or lexical features alone. Thus, together with a discussion of content-related problems (section I) and of the syntactical structure (section III), a fresh analysis of the topographical data (section II) may provide additional insight into the development of this narrative. Redaction criticism, therefore, should not dismiss a topographical approach. At least two levels of composition are to be found in 2 Kings 3. The more original story recounts a northern attack on Moab by Israel alone. The topographical setting is shifted to the south only in a secondary expansion. Thus, a careful topographical examination corroborates the existence of certain redactional strata in 2 Kings 3. Content-related problems, however, should not be neglected and will therefore be discussed first (section I).