David’s flight from Jerusalem according to Josephus

Abstract

2 Samuel 15:13-16:14 tells of David’s flight from Jerusalem to the Jordan in the face of his son Absalom’s rebellion and of the five encounters that occur during that journey. This article focuses on Josephus’ retelling of the episode in his Ant 7.198-210. The article’s detailed comparison between the Samuel passage and its Josephan version aims to find answers to such questions as: Which of 2 Samuel 15:13-16:14 text-forms(s) did Josephus utilize? What rewriting techniques has he applied to the data of his source and what is distinctive about his own resultant rendering? Finally, how does Josephus’ handling of the Scriptural data in this case compare with how the data is treated elsewhere in early Jewish and Christian tradition?