Is Saul the Second Goliath of 1 Samuel? The Rhetoric & Polemics of the David/Goliath Story in 1 Samuel

The story of David and Goliath has narrowly been interpreted as the dramatic victory of an underdog—David over a formidable Philistine giant—Goliath. This understanding of the story has largely dominated popular and scholarly interpretations of 1 Samuel 17. However, this typical reading of the story...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Michael, Matthew (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Taylor & Francis [2020]
In: Scandinavian journal of the Old Testament
Year: 2020, Volume: 34, Issue: 2, Pages: 221-244
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains:B Saul Israel, King / Samuel / Deuteronomium / Intertextuality / Narrative (Social sciences) / Polemics
IxTheo Classification:HB Old Testament
HD Early Judaism
Further subjects:B Bibel, Samuel 1., 17
Online Access: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
Description
Summary:The story of David and Goliath has narrowly been interpreted as the dramatic victory of an underdog—David over a formidable Philistine giant—Goliath. This understanding of the story has largely dominated popular and scholarly interpretations of 1 Samuel 17. However, this typical reading of the story often ignores the intertextual character, the polemic intent and the rhetorical agenda of the David/Goliath story to the overall reading of the book of 1 Samuel. Departing from this approach, the paper underscores the anticipatory character of David/Goliath story as an important literary preview to the subsequent conflicts between David and Saul in 1 Samuel. Thus, the paper engages the intertextual connections and the literary significance of the David/Goliath story to the David/Saul conflicts in the book of Samuel. Significantly, the paper situates Saul on the same character pole as the Philistine villain-Goliath, and identifies specific intertextual elements of the story which subtly enforce these polemic intents. Interestingly, two Goliaths emerged from the narratives of 1 Samuel-namely the Philistine giant from Gath, and the giant-like figure of king Saul from Gibeah. Thus, Saul is largely implicated by his subtle representation as another “Goliath” in the polemic contentions and intertextual mapping of 1 Samuel.
ISSN:1502-7244
Contains:Enthalten in: Scandinavian journal of the Old Testament
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1080/09018328.2020.1805206