Goliath among the Giants: Monster Decapitation and Capital Display in 1 Samuel 17 and Beyond
A single verse near the conclusion of 1 Samuel 17 mentions that after defeating Goliath, David took the giant’s severed head to Jerusalem (1 Sam. 17.54). The present paper argues that this text’s communicating of David’s preeminence through his act of decapitation draws on the widespread understandi...
| 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: |
Sage
2021
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| In: |
Journal for the study of the Old Testament
Year: 2021, Volume: 45, Issue: 3, Pages: 336-356 |
| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Old Testament
/ Bible. Samuel 1. 17,1-54
/ Goliath
/ Giant
/ Head
/ Gilgamesch und Huwawa
/ Perseus
/ Medusa
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| IxTheo Classification: | BC Ancient Orient; religion HA Bible HB Old Testament |
| Further subjects: | B
monstrosity
B Samuel B Medusa B Monster B Goliath B Decapitation B giant B Ḫumbaba |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | A single verse near the conclusion of 1 Samuel 17 mentions that after defeating Goliath, David took the giant’s severed head to Jerusalem (1 Sam. 17.54). The present paper argues that this text’s communicating of David’s preeminence through his act of decapitation draws on the widespread understanding of heads as uniquely powerful and vulnerable, while triumph over a giant or monstrous body casts the future Israelite king as uniquely dominant over monstrous enemies at the physical extreme. Narratives of monster-combat that center an adversary’s head and its subsequent display are widespread; the present paper discusses the Gilgamesh/Ḫumbaba and Perseus/Medusa narratives, with their corresponding visual art manifestations, to show how the biblical allusion to monstrous capital display functions socially and literarily to constitute David’s power. |
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| ISSN: | 1476-6728 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Journal for the study of the Old Testament
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1177/0309089220950348 |