Exegetical Variation in Exodus 2: The Hermeneutics of Assimilation in LXX and 4QExod^b

In this study, I analyze textual variants within Exodus 2 that reflect interpretive activity, specifically as found within LXX and 4QExod^b (4Q13). Of particular interest is the phenomenon of assimilation. The article is organized according to expanding contexts to which scribes have assimilated the text of Exodus 2: immediate context (intra-episode), near context (adjacent episodes), and distant context (Genesis). This study identifies one intra-episode assimilation via expansion in Exodus 2:3 in 4Q13. Three assimilations between adjacent episodes in LXX are discussed. Two instances derive from scribal coordination through translation choices (ἄρσεν [1:16, 22; 2:2, 10]; ἀναιρέω [2:5, 10, 14–15]), while the other case of assimilation derives from the translator’s Hebrew Vorlage (2:22). Finally, the article discusses one case of assimilation to Genesis via expansion attested in both 4Q13 and LXX. Cumulatively, these cases demonstrate a tendency for scribes to increase the cohesion of Exodus 2 within its immediate, near, and distant literary contexts. These assimilations are not an attempt to correct the text but are instead an explication and extension of what was perceived as implicit within the Vorlage.