Drawing primarily on their cultural surroundings and traditions, the author groups of the Hebrew Bible developed a wide variety of literary works. Included in this plethora of author groups was the group responsible for the documentation of the Former Prophets , known to us as the Deuteronomistic Historians. The books of Joshua, Judges, 1+2 Kings, and 1+2 Samuels, which together comprise the Former Prophets, all reflect ideas surrounding the exclusive worship of Yahweh and the continued apostasy of the Israelite peoples, the establishment of a temple based upon the ideals of monotheistic, centralised worship, and the formation of the Davidic Covenant. Overall, the primary themes depicted throughout the Former Prophets reflect the idealized
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The reality of intertribal warfare, apostasy, and lack of control present prior to the establishment of a monarchy is presented in the book of Judges, which continually repeats the phrase “In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as they saw fit” (Judges 17.6, NRSV). The rise of Saul to kingship saw a period of short-lived prosperity followed by doom as a result of his lost relationship with God. The establishment of the Davidic covenant, which emphasizes both God’s choice of Jerusalem as his home and the guarantee of the continuation of the dynasty, began as a primarily contractual relationship in which God promises to “provide a place for my people Israel” provided that the kings obeyed the laws of Moses (2 Samuel 7.10, NRSV). Gradually, however, this relationship became the unconditional promise that his “house and [his] kingdom will endure forever” (2 Samuel 16.16, NRSV). While the transgressions of the kings were mentioned in such stories as David’s sexual conduct with Bathsheba and his subsequent order for the death of Uriah as well as his lack of punishment of Amnon for the rape of his daughter Tamar, such deviations from the law by the kings of the United Monarchy were often dismissed as the unconditional element of the covenant served to discontinue previous traditions of retributive theology in a majority of scenarios (Coogan and Chapman, , A Brief Introduction to the Old Testament: The Hebrew Bible in its Context, 212-213, 230-231). In short, the formation of a contractual relationship that required adherence to the Mosaic laws gave way to a more unconditional promise to the kings of Israel, to be destroyed only by the apostasy of succeeding
The reality of intertribal warfare, apostasy, and lack of control present prior to the establishment of a monarchy is presented in the book of Judges, which continually repeats the phrase “In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as they saw fit” (Judges 17.6, NRSV). The rise of Saul to kingship saw a period of short-lived prosperity followed by doom as a result of his lost relationship with God. The establishment of the Davidic covenant, which emphasizes both God’s choice of Jerusalem as his home and the guarantee of the continuation of the dynasty, began as a primarily contractual relationship in which God promises to “provide a place for my people Israel” provided that the kings obeyed the laws of Moses (2 Samuel 7.10, NRSV). Gradually, however, this relationship became the unconditional promise that his “house and [his] kingdom will endure forever” (2 Samuel 16.16, NRSV). While the transgressions of the kings were mentioned in such stories as David’s sexual conduct with Bathsheba and his subsequent order for the death of Uriah as well as his lack of punishment of Amnon for the rape of his daughter Tamar, such deviations from the law by the kings of the United Monarchy were often dismissed as the unconditional element of the covenant served to discontinue previous traditions of retributive theology in a majority of scenarios (Coogan and Chapman, , A Brief Introduction to the Old Testament: The Hebrew Bible in its Context, 212-213, 230-231). In short, the formation of a contractual relationship that required adherence to the Mosaic laws gave way to a more unconditional promise to the kings of Israel, to be destroyed only by the apostasy of succeeding