As Solomon Builds the Temple, God Warns “Follow My Laws” in MT Not LXX

The description of Solomon building and dedicating the Temple in the Masoretic Text (MT) of 1 Kings 6 and 8 differ from their parallels in the Septuagint (LXX). These expansions are written in Pentateuchal language, uncharacteristic of Kings, and reflect the attempt of a later scribe(s) to make these scenes cohere with Priestly theology and style, especially of Leviticus 26.

Solomon Gathers Israel to the Temple: 1 Kgs 8

After building the Temple, Solomon gathers Israel for a lengthy celebration.^[1] The passage describing this gathering, 1 Kings 8:1–5, is longer and more detailed in the Masoretic Text than in the parallel text in the LXX, the Septuagint, an ancient translation of the Bible into Greek. Differences are in bold; the Hebrew of LXX is reconstructed from the Greek.^[2]

LXX	MT
אז יקהל המלך שלמה את כל זקני ישראל ציון להעלות את ארון ברית י־הוה מעיר דוד היא ציון בירח האתנים. וישאו הכהנים את הארון ואת אהל מועד ואת כל כלי הקדש אשר באהל מועד. והמלך וכל ישראל לפני הארון מזבחים צאן ובקר אשר לא יספרו ולא ימנו מרב	אָז יַקְהֵל שְׁלֹמֹה אֶת זִקְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל אֶת כָּל רָאשֵׁי הַמַּטּוֹת נְשִׂיאֵי הָאָבוֹת לִבְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל אֶל הַמֶּלֶךְ שְׁלֹמֹה יְרוּשָׁלָ‍ִם לְהַעֲלוֹת אֶת אֲרוֹן בְּרִית יְ־הוָה מֵעִיר דָּוִד הִיא צִיּוֹן. וַיִּקָּהֲלוּ אֶל הַמֶּלֶךְ שְׁלֹמֹה כָּל אִישׁ יִשְׂרָאֵל בְּיֶרַח הָאֵתָנִים בֶּחָג הוּא הַחֹדֶשׁ הַשְּׁבִיעִי. וַיָּבֹאוּ כֹּל זִקְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וַיִּשְׂאוּ הַכֹּהֲנִים אֶת הָאָרוֹן. וַיַּעֲלוּ אֶת אֲרוֹן יְ־הוָה וְאֶת אֹהֶל מוֹעֵד וְאֶת כָּל כְּלֵי הַקֹּדֶשׁ אֲשֶׁר בָּאֹהֶל וַיַּעֲלוּ אֹתָם הַכֹּהֲנִים וְהַלְוִיִּם. וְהַמֶּלֶךְ שְׁלֹמֹה וְכָל עֲדַת יִשְׂרָאֵל הַנּוֹעָדִים עָלָיו אִתּוֹ לִפְנֵי הָאָרוֹן מְזַבְּחִים צֹאן וּבָקָר אֲשֶׁר לֹא יִסָּפְרוּ וְלֹא יִמָּנוּ מֵרֹב
Then King Solomon assembled all the elders of Israel in Zion^[3] to bring up the ark of the covenant of the LORD from the city of David, that is, Zion, in the month Ethanin. And the priests lifted the ark and the Tent of Witness and all the holy vessels that were in the Tent of Witness, and the king and all Israel before the ark were sacrificing countless^[4] sheep and oxen.	Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel—all the heads of the tribes and the ancestral chieftains of the Israelites—before King Solomon in Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the covenant of YHWH from the City of David, that is, Zion. All the men of Israel gathered before King Solomon in the month of Ethanim, at the Feast—that is, the seventh month. And when all the elders of Israel had come, the priests lifted the ark and carried up the ark of YHWH and the Tent of Meeting and all the holy vessels that were in the Tent, and the priests and the Levites brought them. And Solomon the king and all the community of Israel that were assembled with him before the ark, were sacrificing sheep and oxen in such abundance that they could not be numbered or counted.

While the book of Kings is Deuteronomistic, as early as his 1903 commentary, Charles Burney recognized the correspondence in style and content between the additional details in MT and the Priestly text of the Pentateuch.^[5]

Priestly Language—Several additions make use of terms common only in the Priestly strata of the Torah. For instance, the detailed description of the attendees in v. 1, —all the heads of the tribes and the ancestral chieftains of the Israelites—the terms מטות, ראשי מטות, נשיא are all typical of P but rare in other biblical texts.^[6] Similarly, in verse 5 the MT adds the classically Priestly term עדה “community” as well as the redundant הַנּוֹעָדִים עָלָיו אִתּוֹ “that were assembled with him,” which is also Priestly language (Num 14:35, 16:11).^[7]

The Festival and the Date—The LXX includes only the ancient name of the month, Ethanim.^[8] The MT glosses the term as “this is the seventh month.” More significantly, it adds that it was on the Festival, i.e., Sukkot. Only the Priestly Texts (Lev 23:33–44 [H]; Num 29:12–39 [P]) give a fixed date for this festival, whereas Deuteronomy 16:13 provides a fluid date: “when you have gathered in the produce from your threshing floor and wine press” (באספך מגרנך ומיקבך), as do other sources (Exod 23:16, 34:22).^[9]

Priestly Law—In the LXX, the priests take up the ark. In the MT, the text adds “and the Levites,” the group that is supposed to carry the ark according to Priestly regulation (Numbers 3–4, 7:4–9, 18:1–7).^[10]

Burney thus suggested that the book of Kings was edited as a whole by a post-Deuteronomistic priestly editor.^[11] However, since these additions only appear in the context of the Temple’s construction, this theory is overstated. Rather than a comprehensive editorial work of the entire book, these expansions in P-like language were added by late scribes in the transmission processes of the various manuscripts.^[12] These scribes were influenced by the Pentateuchal style, and such a scribe appears to be responsible for another gloss in the MT of Kings, also in the context of the Temple’s construction.

Solomon Builds the Temple: 1 Kgs 6

The description of Solomon’s building of the Temple is interrupted by YHWH addressing Solomon regarding the Temple. Then, the text returns to Solomon completing the construction of the Temple, with a resumptive repetition (Wiederaufnahme), noted in bold:

^{מלכים א ו:ט} וַיִּבֶן אֶת הַבַּיִת וַיְכַלֵּהוּ וַיִּסְפֹּן אֶת הַבַּיִת גֵּבִים וּשְׂדֵרֹת בָּאֲרָזִים. ^ו:י וַיִּבֶן אֶת (היצוע) [הַיָּצִיעַ] עַל כָּל הַבַּיִת חָמֵשׁ אַמּוֹת קוֹמָתוֹ וַיֶּאֱחֹז אֶת הַבַּיִת בַּעֲצֵי אֲרָזִים.

^{1 Kgs 6:9} He constructed the House and completed it. He paneled the House with beams and planks of cedar. ^6:10 He built the storied structure against the entire House—each story 5 cubits high, so that it encased the House with timbers of cedar.

^ו:יא וַיְהִי דְּבַר יְ־הוָה אֶל שְׁלֹמֹה לֵאמֹר. ^ו:יב הַבַּיִת הַזֶּה אֲשֶׁר אַתָּה בֹנֶה אִם תֵּלֵךְ בְּחֻקֹּתַי וְאֶת מִשְׁפָּטַי תַּעֲשֶׂה וְשָׁמַרְתָּ אֶת כָּל מִצְו‍ֹתַי לָלֶכֶת בָּהֶם וַהֲקִמֹתִי אֶת דְּבָרִי אִתָּךְ אֲשֶׁר דִּבַּרְתִּי אֶל דָּוִד אָבִיךָ. ^ו:יג וְשָׁכַנְתִּי בְּתוֹךְ בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וְלֹא אֶעֱזֹב אֶת עַמִּי יִשְׂרָאֵל.

^6:11 Then the word of YHWH came to Solomon, ^6:12 “With regard to this House you are building—if you follow My laws and observe My rules and faithfully keep My commandments, I will fulfill for you the promise that I gave to your father David: ^6:13 I will abide among the children of Israel, and I will never forsake My people Israel.”^[13]

^ו:יד וַיִּבֶן שְׁלֹמֹה אֶת הַבַּיִת וַיְכַלֵּהוּ. ^ו:טו וַיִּבֶן אֶת קִירוֹת...

^6:14 Solomon constructed the House and completed it. ^6:15 He paneled the walls of the House on the inside with planks of cedar.

Whereas the additions in 1 Kings 8:1–5 are all short additions or minor extensions written in a Priestly style, 1 Kings 6:11–14 is a longer block of text adding a new scene into the story, a prophecy to Solomon.

This scene doesn’t seem to connect to anything in the text. YHWH simply delivers the message to Solomon in the middle of his building the Temple, after which the text just picks up where it left off without any sign of acknowledgment on Solomon’s part. Contrast this with God’s dream-speech in chapter 3, to which Solomon then responds, or God’s speech to Solomon in chapter 9, which is in response to Solomon’s long prayer in the previous chapter. Here, in chapter 6, the speech is not part of any narrative context.

Moreover, the introduction to God’s speech to Solomon in chapter 9 seems entirely unaware of this instance of revelation:

^{מלכים א ט:ב} וַיֵּרָא יְ־הוָה אֶל שְׁלֹמֹה שֵׁנִית כַּאֲשֶׁר נִרְאָה אֵלָיו בְּגִבְעוֹן. ^ט:ג וַיֹּאמֶר יְ־הוָה אֵלָיו שָׁמַעְתִּי אֶת תְּפִלָּתְךָ וְאֶת תְּחִנָּתְךָ אֲשֶׁר הִתְחַנַּנְתָּה לְפָנַי...

^{1 Kgs 9:2} YHWH appeared to Solomon a second time, as He had appeared to him at Gibeon. ^9:3 YHWH said to him, “I have heard the prayer and the supplication which you have offered to Me…”

The text describes God’s revelation to Solomon here as the second instance, noting that the first was at Gibeon. Clearly, the text does not know about the revelation in chapter 6.

All this—the interruptive nature YHWH’s message, the resumptive repetition, the lack of narrative context, and the fact that chapter 9 is unfamiliar with this revelation—suggests that YHWH’s message here is a late addition to the text. This possibility is confirmed by the absence of verses 11–14 in manuscript B, the most important manuscript of the LXX.^[14] As it did for 1 Kings 8:1–5, the LXX here reflects an earlier stage in the development of the text.^[15]

An Ideological Supplement

While Kings is part of the Deuteronomistic History, the language of the passage is Priestly, and its conceptual framing contradicts Deuteronomistic notions which appear elsewhere in the book.^[16]

For example, the concluding verse—וְשָׁכַנְתִּי בְּתוֹךְ בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל, “I will dwell among the children of Israel”—depicts God as dwelling in the earthly Temple. The Deuteronomistic History generally works with the notion that only God’s name dwells in the Temple, while God himself dwells in the heavens.^[17] As Solomon says in the prayer he recites for the dedication of the new Temple:

^{מלכים א ח:כז} כִּי הַאֻמְנָם יֵשֵׁב אֱלֹהִים עַל הָאָרֶץ הִנֵּה הַשָּׁמַיִם וּשְׁמֵי הַשָּׁמַיִם לֹא יְכַלְכְּלוּךָ אַף כִּי הַבַּיִת הַזֶּה אֲשֶׁר בָּנִיתִי. ^ח:כח וּפָנִיתָ אֶל תְּפִלַּת עַבְדְּךָ... ^ח:כט לִהְיוֹת עֵינֶךָ פְתֻחוֹת אֶל הַבַּיִת הַזֶּה לַיְלָה וָיוֹם אֶל הַמָּקוֹם אֲשֶׁר אָמַרְתָּ יִהְיֶה שְׁמִי שָׁם...

^{1 Kgs 8:27} But will God really dwell on earth? Even the heavens to their uttermost reaches cannot contain You, how much less this House that I have built! ^8:28 Yet turn to the prayer and supplication of Your servant… ^8:29 May Your eyes be open day and night toward this House, toward the place of which You have said, “My name shall abide there”….

According to this, God watches the Temple from above, and responds to people’s sacrifices and prayers, but he does not dwell in the structure itself. Like the glosses in chapter 8, the supplement here reflects Priestly thinking,^[18] in this case, that God dwells amongst the Israelites in the Tabernacle or Temple. This is most evident in the chapters describing the construction of the Tabernacle (mishkan) at the end of Exodus:

^{שמות כה:ח} וְעָשׂוּ לִי מִקְדָּשׁ וְשָׁכַנְתִּי בְּתוֹכָם.

^{Exod 25:8} And let them make Me a temple that I may dwell among them.

^{שמות כט:מה} וְשָׁכַנְתִּי בְּתוֹךְ בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וְהָיִיתִי לָהֶם לֵאלֹהִים.

^{Exod 29:45} I will abide among the Israelites, and I will be their God.

The verses in 1 Kings 6 thus appear to have been written by a scribe closely familiar with the Priestly literature, specifically, the Holiness (H) strata. The term משפטַי in v. 12 is a prominent H expression.^[19] Moreover, the conditional structure of this pericope is reminiscent of the blessings in Leviticus 26:3–12, which is part of H:

1 Kings 6	Lev 26
^יב הַבַּיִת הַזֶּה אֲשֶׁר אַתָּה בֹנֶה
¹²As for this House you are building:
אִם תֵּלֵךְ בְּחֻקֹּתַי וְאֶת מִשְׁפָּטַי תַּעֲשֶׂה	^ג אִם בְּחֻקֹּתַי תֵּלֵכוּ
If you follow My laws and observe My rules	³If you follow my laws
וְשָׁמַרְתָּ אֶת כָּל מִצְו‍ֹתַי לָלֶכֶת בָּהֶם	וְאֶת מִצְו‍ֹתַי תִּשְׁמְרוּ וַעֲשִׂיתֶם אֹתָם.
And keep My commandments, following them	And keep my commandments, performing them
וַהֲקִמֹתִי אֶת דְּבָרִי אִתָּךְ	^ט ... וַהֲקִימֹתִי אֶת בְּרִיתִי אִתְּכֶם
I will establish my word to you	⁹… and I will establish my covenant with you
אֲשֶׁר דִּבַּרְתִּי אֶל דָּוִד אָבִיךָ
That I spoke to your father David:
^ו:יג וְשָׁכַנְתִּי בְּתוֹךְ בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל	^יא וְנָתַתִּי מִשְׁכָּנִי בְּתוֹכְכֶם
^6:13 I will dwell among the children of Israel,	¹¹ I will place my dwelling among you
וְלֹא אֶעֱזֹב אֶת עַמִּי יִשְׂרָאֵל	וְלֹא תִגְעַל נַפְשִׁי אֶתְכֶם
And I will never forsake My people Israel.	And my spirit will not spurn you.

This scribe likely added his text after the Pentateuch had attained authoritative status and had begun to exert a great influence on scribes and copyists.^[20]

But why was this specific allusion to Leviticus 26 added to the description of the construction of the Temple by Solomon?^[21]

Making the Temple Conditional

Although 1 Kings 6:11–14 is formulated in a positive form—“If you follow My laws and observe My rules and faithfully keep My commandments”—and only evokes the language of the blessings in Leviticus 26 as opposed to the curses, as the 11^th century commentator R. Joseph Kara noted,

ומכלל הין אתה שומע לאו

The negative may be inferred from the positive.

By alluding to Leviticus 26, this passage thus makes the Temple’s permanency conditional even before its construction has begun. This scribe may have inserted God’s words precisely here because of the following verses, which deal with the construction of the holy of holies: “In the innermost part of the House …” (1 Kgs 6:19), where the ark of the covenant and cherubim would rest, symbolizing the divine presence within the Temple.^[22]

Explaining the Destruction

Writing during the post-destruction period, the scribe who added this passage seeks to justify the events that took place by appealing to a caution found in Scripture itself. In doing so, he is expanding upon a theme already present in the book of Kings, since the Deuteronomist strata contains theodicy passages,^[23] which restrict the eternity of the promise to the House of David and the Temple by conditional sentences.

For example, after the completion of the Temple, YHWH warns the people:

^{מלכים א ט:ו} אִם שׁוֹב תְּשֻׁבוּן אַתֶּם וּבְנֵיכֶם מֵאַחֲרַי וְלֹא תִשְׁמְרוּ מִצְו‍ֹתַי חֻקֹּתַי אֲשֶׁר נָתַתִּי לִפְנֵיכֶם וַהֲלַכְתֶּם וַעֲבַדְתֶּם אֱלֹהִים אֲחֵרִים וְהִשְׁתַּחֲוִיתֶם לָהֶם. ^ט:ז וְהִכְרַתִּי אֶת יִשְׂרָאֵל מֵעַל פְּנֵי הָאֲדָמָה אֲשֶׁר נָתַתִּי לָהֶם וְאֶת הַבַּיִת אֲשֶׁר הִקְדַּשְׁתִּי לִשְׁמִי אֲשַׁלַּח מֵעַל פָּנָי וְהָיָה יִשְׂרָאֵל לְמָשָׁל וְלִשְׁנִינָה בְּכָל הָעַמִּים. ^ט:ח וְהַבַּיִת הַזֶּה יִהְיֶה עֶלְיוֹן כָּל עֹבֵר עָלָיו יִשֹּׁם וְשָׁרָק וְאָמְרוּ עַל מֶה עָשָׂה יְהוָה כָּכָה לָאָרֶץ הַזֹּאת וְלַבַּיִת הַזֶּה. ^ט:ט וְאָמְרוּ עַל אֲשֶׁר עָזְבוּ אֶת יְ־הוָה אֱלֹהֵיהֶם אֲשֶׁר הוֹצִיא אֶת אֲבֹתָם מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם וַיַּחֲזִקוּ בֵּאלֹהִים אֲחֵרִים (וישתחו) [וַיִּשְׁתַּחֲווּ] לָהֶם וַיַּעַבְדֻם עַל כֵּן הֵבִיא יְ־הוָה עֲלֵיהֶם אֵת כָּל הָרָעָה הַזֹּאת.

^{1 Kgs 9:6} If you and your descendants turn away from Me and do not keep the commandments and the laws which I have set before you, and go and serve other gods and worship them, ^9:7 then I will sweep Israel off the land which I gave them; I will reject the House which I have consecrated to My name; and Israel shall become a proverb and a byword among all peoples. ^9:8 And as for this House, once so exalted, everyone passing by it shall be appalled and shall hiss. And when they ask, ‘Why did YHWH do thus to the land and to this House?’ ^9:9 they shall be told, ‘It is because they forsook YHWH their God who freed them from the land of Egypt, and they embraced other gods and worshiped them and served them; therefore YHWH has brought all this calamity upon them.’

The late scribe who added 1 Kgs 6:11–14 was not satisfied with this and added the conditional sentence in H style in the description of the Temple’s construction itself, implying that already in the days of the Temple’s building God reminded Solomon of the Pentateuchal treaty.

Post-exilic readers would understand the message: YHWH removed His presence from the Temple, allowing it to be destroyed because Israel did not meet the conditions laid out in the Torah and reiterated to Solomon while the Temple was being constructed.

View Footnotes

Published 2021-05-05

This paper is partially based on my article “The Quasi-Priestly Additions in MT 1 Kings 6–8 in Light of ‘Rewritten Bible’ Compositions from Qumran” (forthcoming)
The LXX reads (words found only in LXX are in bold):
καὶ ἐγένετο ἐν τῷ συντελέσαι Σαλωμων τοῦ οἰκοδομῆσαι τὸν οἶκον κυρίου καὶ τὸν οἶκον ἑαυτοῦ μετὰ εἴκοσι ἔτη τότε ἐξεκκλησίασεν ὁ βασιλεὺς Σαλωμων πάντας τοὺς πρεσβυτέρους Ισραηλ ἐν Σιων τοῦ ἀνενεγκεῖν τὴν κιβωτὸν διαθήκης κυρίου ἐκ πόλεως Δαυιδ αὕτη ἐστὶν Σιων ἐν μηνὶ Αθανιν καὶ ἦραν οἱ ἱερεῖς τὴν κιβωτὸν καὶ τὸ σκήνωμα τοῦ μαρτυρίου καὶ πάντα τὰ σκεύη τὰ ἅγια τὰ ἐν τῷ σκηνώματι τοῦ μαρτυρίου καὶ ὁ βασιλεὺς καὶ πᾶς Ισραηλ ἔμπροσθεν τῆς κιβωτοῦ θύοντες πρόβατα καὶ βόας ἀναρίθμητα.
Regarding the opening phrase—“And it happened, when Solomon finished building the house of the Lord and his own house after twenty years”—which I skipped over in the table above, Charles Burney explains this as an addition by the Greek translator. (Charles F. Burney, Notes on the Hebrew Text of the Books of Kings [Oxford: Clarendon, 1903], 104.) However, the obviously Hebraist character of some expressions in this half-verse (Καὶ ἐγένετο = ויהי, ἐν τῷ συντελέσαι = ככלות, etc.) points to a Hebrew Vorlage, such as:ויהי ככלות שלמה לבנות את בית י־הוה ואת ביתו מקץ עשרים שנה (cf. 2 Chr 8:1). This half-verse may not only be based on a Hebrew text but also reflect an older version omitted by a later scribe uncomfortable with the idea that Solomon only brought the ark into the Temple after he had finished building his house, 13 years after he completed the Temple. The MT in chapter 8 gives the impression that the ark was brought into the Temple immediately after Solomon finished erecting the Temple (1 Kgs 7:51), although reading 1 Kgs 7:1–12 in its current position may support the LXX chronology.
The LXX reading here is secondary, since this name is only introduced at the end of the verse (in both versions).
ἀναρίθμητα translates here the whole idiom אשר לא יספרו ולא ימנו מרב . Cf. also in 1 Kgs 3:8. There is no need to reconstruct a different text against the MT here. See also Burney, Kings, 107.
Burney, Kings, xix.
For the combination ראשי מטות לבני ישראל, see also Num 30:2. Cf. ראשי אבות ל/המטות לבני ישראל (Num 32:28; Josh 14:1, 19:51, 21:1), ראשי (ה)אבות (e.g., Exod 6:25; Num 31:26, 36:1), נשיאי מטות (Num 1:16, 7:2), נשיא בית אב (Num 3:24, 30, 35, 25:14).
The expression הנועדים עליו אתו is probably a doublet. Although the compound נועד + על is more common, it usually signifies “gather together against” in a negative context (Num 14:35, 16:1, 27:3; Josh 11:5). Since this meaning does not fit our text, אתו was added in order to substitute the former. While 1 Kings preserves both readings, the parallel text in 2 Chr 5:6 only contains הנועדים עליו.
For inscriptional occurrences, see KAI 37:1, 2, 41:4. For the possibly Hurrian origin of the name Ethanim, see Robert R. Stieglitz, “The Phoenician-Punic Menology,” in Boundaries of the Ancient Near Eastern World: A Tribute to Cyrus H. Gordon, ed. M. Lubetski et al., JSOTSup 273 (Sheffield: Sheffield University Press, 1998), 211–222 [p. 213]; cf. j. Roš. Haš. 6a.
Cf. already Abraham Geiger, Urschrift und Übersetzungen der Bibel in ihrer Abhängigkeit von der inneren Entwicklung des Judenthums (Breslau: Julius Hainauer, 1857), 70—although the change is not dependent upon Chronicles, as Geiger suggests. See also Gray, Kings, 192–194; Steven L. McKenzie, “1 Kings 8: A Sample Study into the Texts of Kings Used by the Chronicler and Translated by the Old Greek,” BIOSCS 19 (1986): 15–34, 27–28.
According to Deuteronomy, which does not distinguish between Priests and Levites, the Levites perform all the duties of the clergy (Deuteronomy 18). A Deuteronomistic scribe would thus not have bothered to differentiate between separate categories of Levites and Priests. See in general S. R. Driver, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Book of Deuteronomy, ICC (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1973), 219; Menahem Haran, Temples and Temple-Service in Ancient Israel: An Inquiry into Biblical Cult Phenomena and the Historical Setting of the Priestly School (Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 1985), 58–131. In the parallel text in Chronicles, the Levites hold the ark (2 Chr 5:4).
Burney, Kings, xix.

Similar Quasi-Priestly expansions were added also in many other versions of the biblical books, such as 4QSam^a (=4Q51). For example, in 1 Sam 1:24, Channah is bringing Samuel with her to Shilo, in fulfillment of her vow to dedicate him to the service of YHWH. She also brings along animals to sacrifice. The exact description of the animals differs between MT, LXX, and 4QSam^a.

MT	LXX	4QSam^a
בְּפָרִים שְׁלֹשָׁה	בפר משלש (ἐν μόσχῳ τριετίζοντι)	בפר בן] בקר משולש]
With 3 bulls	With a bull, 3-years-old	[With a bull of] the cattle, 3-years-old

(The reconstruction of 4QSam^a here is certain. See Frank M. Cross, et al., Qumran Cave 4: XII 1–2 Samuel, DJD 17, [Oxford: Clarendon, 2005], 33.) The LXX here preserves a better reading than the MT—a 3-year-old bull is a standard offering—and it is easy to see how the MT scribe erred by moving the mem to the ending of the previous word (in this period the final and medial mem were written in the same way). Although 4QSam^a remains faithful to the earlier form of the text (“3-year-old” instead of “3”), it replaces the simple term “bull” with the longer, Priestly formulation “bull of the cattle,” which appears only in the Pentateuch’s Priestly source and in Ezekiel who, as is well known, was close to the priestly milieu. Another example occurs in 1 Sam 10:4, in which the prophet Samuel describes to Saul gifts he would receive from three men:

MT	LXX	4QSam^a
שְׁתֵּי לֶחֶם	שתי תרומות לחם (δύο ἀπαρχὰς ἄρτων)	שתי ת]נופות לחם]
Two breads	Two offerings of bread	[Two w]ave-offerings of bread

The term תנופה in the context of offerings only appears in P. 4QSam^a probably reflects the Priestly idiom לֶחֶם תְּנוּפָה found in H (Lev 23:17, 20), but inverting the order of the words to follow the original text’s syntax. See further discussion in, Andrea Ravasco, “Saul and the Feast of Weeks: 1Sam 10:4 in 4QSamª and Later Tradition,” Revue de Qumran 25(2012), 473–479. In addition to linguistic adjustments, in some cases 4QSam^a changes the text to make it fit with Pentateuchal law, such as its reworking of 1 Sam 2:14, to make the sacrificial gifts to the priests fit with the requirement in Lev 7:34. See discussion in, Alexander Rofé, “The Nomistic Correction in Biblical Manuscripts and its Occurrence in 4QSam^a,” Revue de Qumran 14 (1989): 247–254.

Scholars have long noted that this speech interrupts the flow of the narrative. See, for example, Burney, Notes on the Hebrew Text of the Books of King, 68; James A. Montgomery, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Book of Kings, ed. H. S. Gehman, ICC (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1976 [1951]), 147; Gary N. Knoppers, Two Nations Under God: The Deuteronomistic History of Solomon and the Dual Monarchies, 2 vols. (Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1993), 1:96–97.
It is clear that MS. B here reflects the “Old Greek,” original, while other manuscripts were influenced by Hexaplaric readings and corrected the text to fit with MT.
No plausible reason exists for the deletion of the unit in the Septuagint, nor can we reconstruct a scribal accident. Cf., for example, Joseph R. Lumby, The First Book of the Kings, CB (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1890), 58–59; D.W. Gooding, “Temple Specifications: A Dispute in Logical Arrangement between the MT and the LXX,” VT 17 (1967), 143–172, esp. 158–159.
Several scholars suggest that the unit belongs to a late Deuteronomistic editorial stratum. See, for example, John Gray, I and II Kings, OTL (London: Marshall, Morgan & Scott, 1964), 157–158; Frank M. Cross, “The Themes in the Books of Kings and the Structure of the Deuteronomic History,” in Canaanite Myth and Hebrew Epic: Essays in the History of the Religion of Israel (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1973), 274–289, esp. 287; Gwilym H. Jones, 1 and 2 Kings, NCB, 2 vols. (Eerdmans: Grand Rapids, 1984), 1:167; Simon J. De Vries, I Kings, WBC 12 (Waco: Word, 1985), 95. All these scholars regard this section as belonging to the Deuteronomistic stratum, but this is very unlikely considering the Priestly language and ideology. Cf. also Martin J. Mulder, 1 Kings, HCOT, 2 vols. (Leuven: Peeters, 1998), 1:251–253; Marvin A. Sweeney, I & II Kings: A Commentary, OTL (Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2007), 113—both of whom are ambivalent about the issue.
Note, however, that 1 Kgs 8:13 preserves a fragment of an ancient poem that does not work with the Dtr conception. For the Priestly notion see Exod 25:8, 29:45, 46; Lev 15:31, 16:16, 26:11; Num 5:3, 16:3, 35:34. Cf. Ezek 43:9. See also Gerhard von Rad, “The Deuteronomy’s ‘Name’ Theology and the Priestly Document’s ‘Kabod’ Theology,” in Studies in Deuteronomy, trans. D.M.G. Stalker (London: SCM, 1953), 37–49; Moshe Greenberg, Ezekiel 1–20, AB 22 (Garden City: Doubleday, 1986), 51; Michael Carasik, “In the Presence of God,” TheTorah (2015).
Burney, Kings, 68–69. See also, Montgomery, Kings, 147; Steven L. McKenzie, The Trouble with Kings: The Composition of the Book of Kings in the Deuteronomistic History, VTSup 42 (Leiden: Brill, 1991), 138.
It is also reminiscent of Ezekiel, which uses this same style. For ללכת + בחקתי see Lev 26:3; Ezek 5:6, 7, 11:20, 18:9, 17, 20:13, 16, 19, 20:13, 16, 19, 21. Cf. Lev 18:4. For ,משפטַי see Lev 18:4, 5, 26, 19:37, 20:22, 25:18, 26:15, 43, 18:1, 12, 5:6, 7, 8:9, 11:20, 18:17, 20:11, 13, 16, 19, 21, 24, 36:27, 37:3, 4, 44:24.
Quasi-Priestly additions may have entered the text of 1 Kings 6-8 not only by one scribe, but rather at several stages at the hands of diverse scribes. Thus, for example, the term ,קדש הקדשים was appended three times in 1 Kings (6:16; 7:50; 8:6) to the non-P terms דביר or innermost part of the house, and the verses 1 Kgs 8:10-11 imitating Exod 40:34–35. All these texts appear in both in LXX and MT. These texts were not added by the Priestly authors of the Pentateuch, but rather by late scribes influenced by the Torah that includes P and H in it. For theses texts see Darshan, “Quasi-Priestly Additions.”
Avigdor Hurowitz suggested comparing this unit with the divine blessings found in ancient Near Eastern descriptions of temple-building projects. However, these ancient Near Eastern blessings have very little in common with our passage, and these usually appear before the description of building projects rather than in the middle of them. See Avigdor (Victor) Hurowitz, I have Built you an Exalted House: Temple Building in the Bible in the Light of Mesopotamian and North-West Semitic Writings, JSOTSupp 115 (Sheffield: JSOT Press, 1992), 128, 159–160, 236.
Cf. Gooding, “Temple Specification,” 158–159.
1 Kgs 2:4; 8:25; 9:6-9; 2 Kgs 21:8.

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