The Tent of Meeting and the Women’s Mirrors in 1 Sam 2:22 and Exod 38:8: A Text-Critical Inquiry of the MT, LXX, Qumran Texts and the Vetus Latina

This article evaluates the relationship between the texts of 1 Sam 2:22 and Exod 38:8 using a methodology that proceeds from textual criticism to literary criticism. According to a traditional text-critical approach of the available textual witnesses (MT, LXX, 4QSama), the short reading of 1 Sam 2:22 found in LXXB 4QSama is preferable to that of MT. By contrast, using a literary critical approach, this article proposes that MT-Exod 38:8 depends on MT-1 Sam 2:22 and not vice versa. MT-1 Sam 2:22 has greater affinity with Num 4:23 and 8:24 regarding the terminology used for the women’s ‘cultic service’ at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. 1 Sam 2:22b ought to be regarded as a post-P addition made after the text of the LXX had been translated from the Hebrew. For Exod 38:8 and related texts, we examine the role of the Vetus Latina in resolving this text-critical problem.