The Hebrew Bible Final

Front 1

The rejection of Saul in favor of David

Back 1

After Saul makes an offering himself rather than waiting for Samuel
• “You have done a foolish thing,” Samuel said. “You have not kept the command the Lord your God gave you; if you had, he would have established your kingdom over Israel for all time. 14 But now your kingdom will not endure; the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him ruler of his people, because you have not kept the Lord’s command.”
• 1 Samuel 13:13-14
• End of reign: Saul tries to consult God through prophets, but God turns his back on him

Front 2

Saul’s Malady

Back 2

• Depression, melancholy, migraine, paranoia, insanity, manic depressive, possessed by higher evil power
• Saul’s sufferings is described theologically not psychologically

Front 3

• The Necromancer at En-Dor

Back 3

The Rest of Saul’s life (God has taken away your Kingdom and taken it to David? His search for answers)
• The Necromancer at En-Dor
o Legitimate means: dreams, Urim (what the priest wore on the ephod), prophets
o Illegitimate means: necromancy (Ghost of Samuel tells him that he lost favor)
What is the most surprising thing about this story
• The Efficacy of Necromancy: It worked!

Front 4

The Tel Dan inscription

Back 4

rewrites the whole field essentially
• Found in 1993/1994
• Northern Galilee
• 9th ct.
• Written in old Aramaic
• Mentions the “house of David”
• Found in 1993-94
• Northern Galilee, 9th century BC, Written in old Aramaic by Aramaic King who conquered a king from dynasty of David
• Mentions the byt dwd “house of david”
• Reused victory stela for building material

Front 5

David entering Saul’s service (1 Sam 16: 14-23; 1 Sam 17: 54-58; 2 accounts conflated?)

Back 5

• DTR conflates 2 traditions about how David came into Saul’s service
• Conflation—fusing together; combing 2 variant traditions into 1
• Why common among scribes, esp. those transmitting sacral texts
o Texts are sacred, scribes erred on the side of caution—including it rather than leaving it out—even if the variant is at odds with other traditions
• David brought in to play music to sooth Saul’s headaches
• In addition to music therapy, David is a man of war whom Saul strongly favors
• David becomes Saul’s personal armor bearer
• 1 Samuel 16:14-23
o Now the Spirit of the Lord had departed from Saul, and an evil[a] spirit from the Lord tormented him.
o 15 Saul’s attendants said to him, “See, an evil spirit from God is tormenting you. 16 Let our lord command his servants here to search for someone who can play the lyre. He will play when the evil spirit from God comes on you, and you will feel better.”
o 17 So Saul said to his attendants, “Find someone who plays well and bring him to me.”
o 18 One of the servants answered, “I have seen a son of Jesse of Bethlehem who knows how to play the lyre. He is a brave man and a warrior. He speaks well and is a fine-looking man. And the Lord is with him.”
o 19 Then Saul sent messengers to Jesse and said, “Send me your son David, who is with the sheep.” 20 So Jesse took a donkey loaded with bread, a skin of wine and a young goat and sent them with his son David to Saul.
o 21 David came to Saul and entered his service. Saul liked him very much, and David became one of his armor-bearers. 22 Then Saul sent word to Jesse, saying, “Allow David to remain in my service, for I am pleased with him.”
o 23 Whenever the spirit from God came on Saul, David would take up his lyre and play. Then relief would come to Saul; he would feel better, and the evil spirit would leave him.
• Tradition A
o In famous battle vs. Philistines Saul has to lengthy interview with David about his capabilities to go up vs. Giant Goliath
o Once convinced, Saul clothes david with his own armor, 2 big, David = f- it, goes with sling
• Tradition B
o Saul doesn’t hear about David until he kills Goliath and brings head
o 1 Samuel 17:54-58
• 54 David took the Philistine’s head and brought it to Jerusalem; he put the Philistine’s weapons in his own tent.
• 55 As Saul watched David going out to meet the Philistine, he said to Abner, commander of the army, “Abner, whose son is that young man?”
• Abner replied, “As surely as you live, Your Majesty, I don’t know.”
• 56 The king said, “Find out whose son this young man is.”
• 57 As soon as David returned from killing the Philistine, Abner took him and brought him before Saul, with David still holding the Philistine’s head.
• 58 “Whose son are you, young man?” Saul asked him.
• David said, “I am the son of your servant Jesse of Bethlehem.”

Front 6

David vs Goliath accounts

Back 6

• Tradition A
o In famous battle vs. Philistines Saul has to lengthy interview with David about his capabilities to go up vs. Giant Goliath
o Once convinced, Saul clothes david with his own armor, 2 big, David = f it, goes with sling
• Tradition B
o Saul doesn’t hear about David until he kills Goliath and brings head
o 1 Samuel 17:54-58
• 54 David took the Philistine’s head and brought it to Jerusalem; he put the Philistine’s weapons in his own tent.
• 55 As Saul watched David going out to meet the Philistine, he said to Abner, commander of the army, “Abner, whose son is that young man?”
• Abner replied, “As surely as you live, Your Majesty, I don’t know.”
• 56 The king said, “Find out whose son this young man is.”
• 57 As soon as David returned from killing the Philistine, Abner took him and brought him before Saul, with David still holding the Philistine’s head.
• 58 “Whose son are you, young man?” Saul asked him.
• David said, “I am the son of your servant Jesse of Bethlehem.”
Goliath
• 9.6 feet MT, DS 6.6 feet
• Armor weights more than 150 pounds
• Description illustrates David’s greatness
• Greater foe = greater victory
Textual criticism and inner-biblical corrections
• David slew Goliath 1 Samuel 17:4-7ff
• Elhanan slew Goliath 2 Samuel 21:19
• Elhanan slew brother of Goliath?

Front 7

David's military and political strategies to secure the monarchy

Back 7

5 Points Military Strategy
• 1) Keeps Philistines at Bay
• 1 Samuel 27:8-12
• Saul obsessed with killing David, David goes to Philistines and graciates himself to Philistines, esp. King Achish
• Deceives king; has battles far from king where king will not hear, brings booty, signs songs of victories, and tells king he is fighting his own people
• Army generals wary of David, But Achish ignores them (1 Samuel 29:6-9); David: “What have you found against your servant”
• 2) Give booty to tribe of Judah
• 1 Samuel 30:26
• Then men of Judah came to Hebron, and there they anointed David king over the tribe of Judah (2 Samuel 2:4)
• 3) Private army
• 1 Samuel 27:2
• 4) Covenant with Abner (Saul’s military commander)
• 2 Samuel 2:8-11
o Meanwhile, Abner son of Ner, the commander of Saul’s army, had taken Ish-Bosheth son of Saul and brought him over to Mahanaim. 9 He made him king over Gilead, Ashuri and Jezreel, and also over Ephraim, Benjamin and all Israel.
o 10 Ish-Bosheth son of Saul was forty years old when he became king over Israel, and he reigned two years. The tribe of Judah, however, remained loyal to David. 11 The length of time David was king in Hebron over Judah was seven years and six months.
• 2 samuel 3:6-8
• During the war between the house of Saul and the house of David, Abner had been strengthening his own position in the house of Saul. 7 Now Saul had had a concubine named Rizpah daughter of Aiah. And Ish-Bosheth said to Abner, “Why did you sleep with my father’s concubine?”
• 8 Abner was very angry because of what Ish-Bosheth said. So he answered, “Am I a dog’s head—on Judah’s side? This very day I am loyal to the house of your father Saul and to his family and friends. I haven’t handed you over to David. Yet now you accuse me of an offense involving this woman!
• 2 Samuel 3:9-12
o May God deal with Abner, be it ever so severely, if I do not do for David what the Lord promised him on oath 10 and transfer the kingdom from the house of Saul and establish David’s throne over Israel and Judah from Dan to Beersheba.” 11 Ish-Bosheth did not dare to say another word to Abner, because he was afraid of him.
o 12 Then Abner sent messengers on his behalf to say to David, “Whose land is it? Make an agreement with me, and I will help you bring all Israel over to you.”
• 5) Military successes
• vs. philistines, Moab, Ammon, Edom, Amalek, Aram, Jubusites
• With very powerful, effective and ruthless military general named Joab
• Where David can’t win: He makes a treaty with the much stronger Hiram, the Phoenician king of Tyre
7 point political system
• 1) Dealings with Saul’s family
• Doesn’t kill Saul when he has the chance
• Jonathan, Saul’s heir apparent: covenant and friendship
• Ishboshet: Saults song reigning in certain parts of Israel (now weak thanks to Abner)
• Michal, Saul’s Daughter: importance of political marriages, power play taking her away form Paltiel, her husband
o Saul asks for 100 Philistines foreskins and David brings enough; Saul later marries her off to Paltiel
• Mephiboshet: Jonathan’s son: injured/impairment with his legs, David provides for him
• 2) Jerusalem as capital
• 3) Powerful symbolism of ark
• 4) No temple
• Though strange to believe (temples viewed to be universally positive today), Iron age Judah prior to the building of Solomonic temple, temples were seen as Canaanite
• Yahweh lived in a tent symbolizing his presence with nomadic travelers
• Eventually when Solomon goes to build a temple, hires a Canaanite Hiram to build it
• 5) 2 high priests
• Abiathar (Mushite) and Zadok (Aaronid)
• Remember how Abiathar took refuge with David when Saul (Via Doeg) was killing of the 85 priests of Nob 1 Samuel 22:17-23
• 6) Nathan
• As we will come to see, prophets played various roles (Central and peripheral)
• In addition to the power and persuasion of their rhetoric, prophets had a significant power base
• Central
o Words side by side with the high priest Zadok in support of monarchy
o Free access to king
o Delivers dynastic promise 2 Samuel 7:17
o Tells future of ongoing dynasty unconditional convent for the Davidites (2 Samuel 11:11-16)
o
• 11 Uriah said to David, “The ark and Israel and Judah are staying in tents,[a] and my commander Joab and my lord’s men are camped in the open country. How could I go to my house to eat and drink and make love to my wife? As surely as you live, I will not do such a thing!”
• 12 Then David said to him, “Stay here one more day, and tomorrow I will send you back.” So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day and the next. 13 At David’s invitation, he ate and drank with him, and David made him drunk. But in the evening Uriah went out to sleep on his mat among his master’s servants; he did not go home.
• 14 In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it with Uriah. 15 In it he wrote, “Put Uriah out in front where the fighting is fiercest. Then withdraw from him so he will be struck down and die.”
• 16 So while Joab had the city under siege, he put Uriah at a place where he knew the strongest defenders were.
o Key player in Solomonic succession (1 KGS 1:11-14)
o Writes David’s chronicles (1 Chr 29:29)
o Establishes Levites musical role (2 Chr 29:25)
• Confronts: Bashes David for Batheshba story and cover up
• Tells story of lamb as critique; cute lamb sits on lap, rich guy comes by and kills lamb for party (used to eat out of guy’s eat)
• David responds that guy should die and is fiend of hell; Nathan is like that’s you
• 7) The Yahwist
• Writing pro-David (pro-Judah) propaganda