Athaliah and the Theopolitics of Royal Assassination
While the kingdom of Israel experienced eight military coups in its shorter history, the kingdom of Judah saw only four assassinations of its monarchs, three of which were Athaliah, her usurper, and his successor. This sequence of untimely royal deaths in Judah stands in contrast to the stability of...
| Published in: | Semitica |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Peeters
[2020]
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| In: |
Semitica
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| IxTheo Classification: | HB Old Testament ZC Politics in general |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (Verlag) Volltext (doi) |
| Summary: | While the kingdom of Israel experienced eight military coups in its shorter history, the kingdom of Judah saw only four assassinations of its monarchs, three of which were Athaliah, her usurper, and his successor. This sequence of untimely royal deaths in Judah stands in contrast to the stability of Israel’s royal line under the Jehuite dynasty, whose kings are said to have entreated Yahweh, sought advice from prophets, and defeated Judah at Beth-Shemesh. From a later perspective it seems that whereas Yahweh previously protected the Judahite kings, in the ninth-eighth centuries BCE the Jehuite kings enjoyed Yahweh’s favour more than the Davidides. This paper thus considers the theopolitical impact of untimely royal deaths in ninth-eighth century Judah and argues that the instability of the Judahite royal line after her marriage contributed to the negative biblical portrayal of Athaliah and the Omride-Judahite alliance. Cependant que le royaume d’Israël a connu huit coups d’État, le royaume de Juda n’a subi que quatre assassinats royaux, parmi lesquels Athalie, son usurpateur et son successeur. Cette séquence tranche avec la stabilité de la dynastie jéhuite, dont les rois implorent Yahvé, cherchent conseil auprès des prophètes, et défont Juda à Beth-Shémesh. De ce point de vue, il semble qu’aux IXᵉ-VIIIᵉ s. av. J.-Ch. les rois jéhuites bénéficient plus que les davidides de la faveur de Yahvé, alors même que ce dernier protégeait jusqu’alors les rois judaïtes. Cet essai s’intéresse donc à l’impact théopolitique de ces morts royales prématurées et suggère que l’instabilité de la dynastie judaïte après le mariage d’Athalie a contribué au portrait négatif que la Bible dépeint d’elle et de l’alliance omrido-judaïte. |
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| ISSN: | 2466-6815 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Semitica
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.2143/SE.62.0.3288854 |