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.
match the text of Sennacheribs inscriptions39. It may have been included in the so-called chronicles of the kings of Judah. The story was probably transmitted orally for some time, but was composed in writing at a time when the memory of the power and impending threat of Assyria to the very existence of Judah was still very much alive. The reference to Tirhakah king of Egypt in connection with the Assyrian withdrawal from Judah (18,9a, 19,36) indicates that when the story was written, Tirhakahs name was kept in memory in connection with the Assyrian-Egyptian struggle over the domination of Palestine40. The vivid memory of the murder of Sennacherib by his sons (2 Kgs 19,37), including the names of the murderers, the circumstances of the murder, the place where they found shelter, and the name of Sennacheribs successor, all point to a relatively early date of composition. The struggle of Tirhaka (690-664) with Assyria and the murder of Sennacherib (681) are the earliest possible dates for the composition of Account B1, which could have been written at any time after these dates.
Dating the composition of the Deuteronomistic history is disputed among scholars, and this is not the place to enter the discussion41. I have already suggested some arguments in support of a Josianic date of composition42, and will restate here my conviction that the early comprehensive history of Israel was written in the time of Josiah.
The Deuteronomist combined the chronistic and narrative texts (Accounts A and B1) into a continuous history and integrated them into his composition of the history of Israel. He worked the chronistic source and fitted it into the pattern of other closely related texts that described the campaigns of foreign kings and the payment of tribute (e.g., 1 Kgs 14,25-26; 2 Kgs 12,18-19; 15,19-20; 16,5.7-9). He copied almost verbatim the prophetic story, as he did with many other prophetic stories that were available to him43. His main