Did David murder Saul’s successors in 2 Samuel 21:1–14 and does it matter?
This reading reveals the structure of the episode in 2 Samuel 21:1–14 as a story-within-a-story: In the frame story, David tackles the causes of a famine. In the inner story, his attempt to resolve the famine by executing seven of Saul’s descendants and the expiation performed by Rizpah are parallel...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Unisa Press
2018
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| In: |
Journal for semitics
Year: 2018, Volume: 27, Issue: 2, Pages: 1-17 |
| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Bible. Samuel 2. 21,1-14
/ Famine
/ King
/ Centralisation
/ Murder
|
| IxTheo Classification: | HB Old Testament |
| Further subjects: | B
Bible. Samuel 2. 21,1-14
B Law B Centralisation of worship B David B 2 Samuel 21 B Archaic 3ms suffix |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | This reading reveals the structure of the episode in 2 Samuel 21:1–14 as a story-within-a-story: In the frame story, David tackles the causes of a famine. In the inner story, his attempt to resolve the famine by executing seven of Saul’s descendants and the expiation performed by Rizpah are paralleled with the frame story and are distinguished from the cause of the famine. We are directed to the conclusion that David is responsible for the famine after engineering the deaths of Saul and Jonathan. David’s exploitation of the differences between Ancient Near Eastern and Israelite law, resulting in seven dead challengers to the throne of Israel, suggests that the episode was compiled as a rejection of kingship; the centralisation of worship, and the promulgation of the law code. The effort of presenting David’s actions as honest while undermining his motives causes cracks in the language, some of which have been treated as transmission errors. |
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| Contains: | Enthalten in: Journal for semitics
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.25159/1013-8471/3758 HDL: 10520/EJC-13dc6040e7 |