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...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Taylor & Francis
[2020]
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| 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
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| IxTheo Classification: | HB Old Testament HD Early Judaism |
| Further subjects: | B
Bibel, Samuel 1., 17
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| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| 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. |
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| ISSN: | 1502-7244 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Scandinavian journal of the Old Testament
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1080/09018328.2020.1805206 |