La locuzione “mebōʾ bêt-JHWH” (2Re 23,11aβ) nelle versioni antiche

In the Ancient Versions of the Hebrew Bible (Symmachus, Targum Jonathan, Peshitta, Arabic Version, “Vetus Latina,” Vulgate), there appears a locution in 2 Kgs 23:11aβ which supposes as its “Vorlage” “mebōʾ bêt-JHWH,” “at the entrance of YHWH’s temple.” MT reads “mibbōʾ [țāmēʾ] bêt-JHWH,” “so as not to go [impure] into YHWH’s temple,” but this reading seems secondary, because it is constructed on the basis of a theological perspective that finds clear expression only later. In facts, absolute monotheism is the outcome of a slow process, that is completed only after the Exile. The MT locution affirms that Josiah’s intention was to avoid contamination with cultic syncretism, while the Ancient Versions refer only the place that had been occupied by the idols removed by Josiah. So, their convergence on one interpretation proves that the identical Hebrew archetype, here represented, is the original.