A Fresh Look at Βοσόρ: Textual Criticism in 2 Peter 2:15 107 Investigation of this problem flounders due to a common misconception that Βοσόρ fails to occur outside this passage13. However, Βοσόρ appears 12 times in the LXX, generally translating  (i.e. Deut 4:43, Josh 20:8; 21:36; 1 Chr 6:63)14.  can also be rendered  in referring to the Edomite capital which became a Reubenite city of refuge and a Levitical possession15. The LXX translates  interchangeably with Βοσόρ (Isa 34:6, 63:1) or Βοσόρρα (Gen 36:33, 1 Chr 1:44; 1 Macc. 5:26, 28; cf. Job 42:17c). Since all four of these names refer to the same city, our investigation should allow for a fluid substitution of one name for another, as this provides a broader backdrop against which to understand a potential confusion in 2 Peter. The variant spelling Βοσόρρα draws our attention to three specific passages: Gen 36:33, 1 Chr 1:44, and Job 42:17c. These texts form part of an Edomite king list which narrates the accession of Jobab. There are a number of similarities between these texts and the Balaam narrative and it seems plausible that these parallels could account for the aberrant patronymic the author of 2 Peter assigns to Balaam. In the MT, Gen 36:33 and 1 Chr 1:44 both read  which the LXX translates καὶ ἐβασίλευσεν ἀντ’ αὐτοῦ Ἰωβαβ υἱὸς Ζαρα ἐκ Βοσορράς. The  of  denotes source, identifying Jobab’s hometown;16 the LXX renders the  with ἐκ. These ambiguous prepositions led the LXX expansionist of Job 42 to believe that  was the name of Jobab’s17 mother, hence writing ἦν δὲ αὐτὸς πατρὸς μὲν Ζαρε, τῶν Ἠσαυ υἱῶν υἱόϛ, μητρὸς δὲ Βοσορράς. While the Hebrew sources18 certainly did not intend to include a royal matronymic in the king list19, such confusion of a home city with Metzger, Textual Commentary. 635; Moo, 2 Peter and Jude, 128. 13 The Thesaurus Linguae Graecae drew my attention to these Septuagintal occurrences 14 of Βοσόρ; see also E. Hatch; A.H. Redpath, A Concordance to the Septuagint (Grand Rap- ids 21998) Appendix 1, 40. In Jer 48:24  (LXX: Βοσόρ) refers to a Moabite city as well (c.f. 1 Macc 5:26- 15 36). Compare Gen 2:7; Judg 12:8; 1 Sam 24:14; 1 Kgs 2:15. 16 The LXX takes Jobab to be the full name of Job, thus allowing them to draw his 17 lineage to Abraham through Esau. While I am aware that there is no extant Hebrew Vorlage for Job 42:17, it seems 18 probable that the expansionist utilized the Edomite king-lists from Gen. 36:33 and 1 Chr. 1:44 as the sources of his embellishment. On this basis I posit the following reconstruction of the translation from Hebrew to Greek. Maternal relationships are generally expressed by the construct phrase [mother’s 19 name]  (c.f. Gen 25:1-6; 35:23-26; 2 Sam 3:3; 1 Chr 1:32, 33) or with a -prefix (2 Sam 3:2-5).