Textual Plurality at the Margins of Biblical Texts: The Miscellanies in 3 Reigns 2:35, 46

The 'miscellanies' appended to 3 Rgs (1 Kgs) 2:35, 46 in the Septuagint stand on the borderline between what can be considered biblical and extra-biblical texts: they are missing in all other witnesses, they are manifestly secondary in their respective contexts, and they exhibit many features typical of midrash and rewritten bible. In the present paper it is argued that the Miscellanies were introduced at the end of 3 Rgs/1 Kgs 2 at a time when this chapter formed the conclusion of a book of Samuel that did not continue into the book of Kings. In this way the Miscellanies show once again that book ends often provide evidence for different editions of 'biblical' books. Such editions continued to exist side-by-side for centuries.