RT Article
T1 Is Saul the Second Goliath of 1 Samuel? The Rhetoric & Polemics of the David/Goliath Story in 1 Samuel
JF Scandinavian journal of the Old Testament
VO 34
IS 2
SP 221
OP 244
A1 Michael, Matthew
LA English
PB Taylor & Francis
YR 2020
UL https://ixtheo.de/Record/1733642110
AB 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.
K1 Bibel, Samuel 1., 17
DO 10.1080/09018328.2020.1805206