Nadav Na'aman, «New Light on Hezekiah's Second Prophetic Story (2 Kgs 19,9b-35)», Vol. 81 (2000) 393-402
The article re-examines some elements in Account B2 (2 Kgs 19,9b-35) in an effort to shed more light on the date and place in which the story was composed. It is suggested that the list of cities mentioned in vv. 12-13 reflects the conquests of Nabopolassar and Nebuchadrezzar in the late seventh century BCE. It is also suggested that vv. 17-18 may reflect the Babylonian practice of destroying cult statues during their conquest of Assyria. The author of Account B2 was probably a descendant of a Judean deportee who lived in eastern Babylonia in the second half of the sixth century BCE. It is further suggested that the Deuteronomist combined chronistic and narrative early texts (Accounts A and B1) and integrated them into his composition of the history of Israel.
Babylonia. The updating of the list of conquered cities is part of his revision. He did not know much about the Assyrian conquests, which happened long before his time, apart from what he had read in the Deuteronomistic history. He therefore wrote a new list of places that were conquered not long before his time and were better known to his audience than the list of places that appears in Account B1 (18,33-34). The exact historical background of the conquests and deportations was less important to him than the theological conclusions drawn from these events. The updated list of places suited his theological lesson of the helplessness of the foreign gods and the need to trust in YHWH in times of crisis and danger.
The attribution of an exilic date for Account B2 is commonly accepted among scholars, but my suggestions for the location of the author and a possible date for his composition are new elements in the discussion. The marked difference between the authors of Accounts B1 and B2 is worth noting: the former selected his examples of the Assyrian conquests from Sargon IIs campaigns, whereas the latter selected his examples from the Babylonian campaigns of the late 7th century BCE. In what follows, I will suggest two other differences between Accounts B1 and B2, which also indicate the enormous chronological gap between their respective messages.
(a) The second speech of the Rabshakeh in Account B1 (2 Kgs 18,29-35) underlines the difference between YHWH of Jerusalem and the gods of Samaria. It could have been written only in the pre-exilic time, when Jerusalem and the temple were still intact and the memory of the destruction of the Northern Kingdom was very much alive. The author of Account B1 drew conclusions from the miraculous deliverance of Jerusalem in 701 BCE and conveyed the message that Jerusalem was different from all recently conquered places, including Samaria, since YHWH guarantees its safety.
The comparison between the fate of Samaria and Jerusalem is missing in Account B2, having lost its validity after the destruction of Jerusalem in 587-586 BCE. Instead, the later author expanded the list of conquered places and contrasted the inability of their gods to protect their citizens with the power of YHWH to protect his people and their city.
(b) A second point of comparison is the emphasis on Assyrias power and impending threat in Account B1, as against an abstract depiction of the enemy in B2. Reading Account B1, it is clear that the story was written when the memory of Assyrias enormous military power and its threat to the existence of the Kingdom of Judah was still very much alive. In Account B2, on the other hand, Assyria appears as an abstract power, representing more the concept of a strong military power than a concrete historical entity. The story will remain the same if we replace the name Assyria with the name of another power (e.g., Babylonia, Persia). Here only the theological messages are considered important, hence the arena for the scene and details of the situation are described in the shortest and schematic manner.
Account B1 was no doubt composed in the pre-exilic period. It seems to me that the author of 2 Kgs 18,1319,9a.36-37 (the Deuteronomist) combined two early sources that were available to him: a chronistic text (the source of Account A), and a prophetic story of the miraculous deliverance of Jerusalem (Account B1). The chronistic text was written shortly after the conclusion of the Assyrian campaign, which is why its contents so accurately