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Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780802860798 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Eerdmans, William B. Publishing Company |
| Publication date: | 06/05/2003 |
| Series: | The Forms of the Old Testament Literature (FOTL) , #7 |
| Pages: | 368 |
| Product dimensions: | 6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.83(d) |
About the Author
Antony F. Campbell, SJ, (1934–2020) was professor of Old Testament at Jesuit Theological College, Parkville, Australia. His other books include Joshua to Chronicles: An Introduction, God First Loved Us: The Challenge of Accepting Unconditional Love, and The Whisper of Spirit: A Believable God Today.
Read an Excerpt
1 SAMUEL
The Forms of the Old Testament Literature VOLUME VIIBy ANTONY F. CAMPBELL
William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company
Copyright © 2003 Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-8028-6079-8
Chapter One
The Overall Shape and Scope of 1-2 Samuel
The overall structuring of 1 Samuel alone is a task that wisely should not be attempted. It may be shortsighted to give an overall outline of pregnancy without reference to birth; it is imprudent to plan on earning ordinary income without thought of taxes; it is unwise to reflect on life without including death. 1-2 Samuel focuses on the figure of David. 1 Samuel speaks of the one after the Lord's own heart, who has been appointed to be ruler over Israel in place of Saul (13:14; cf. 15:28). The structural movement cannot end with the death of Saul. With the death of Saul, a page can be turned, a chapter ended; the book cannot be closed. So we are obliged to deal with 1-2 Samuel.
The books of Samuel (in Hebrew, the book of Samuel) move on two planes. At one level, events are unfolded in some form of chronological sequence. At another level, fundamental theological questions are raised by the text: in all the political turbulence associated with the names of Samuel, Saul, and David, what was God's role in the story of Israel? An attempt to conceptualize the structure of 1-2 Samuel needs to be aware of both these levels.
Any great work of literature, above all any attempt to enter into the mystery of God's dealings with humankind, is open to multiple understandings and susceptible of multiple interpretations. 1-2 Samuel is such a work. While the simple chronological sequences — from Samuel to Saul to David, from Shiloh to Jerusalem, and so on — are unlikely to invite challenge, the meaning to be derived from the texts and the reflection on the theological issues raised certainly invite multiple interpretation. It is not the place of this commentary to emphasize one interpretation of the texts as though it alone were right. It is the place of this commentary to propose at least one interpretation — as appropriate, as adequate and responsible.
Theological thinking in Israel was not divorced from the sequence of events in the life of the people. Israel's theology found its expression in the way that traditions about the sequence were formulated. Attention to detail is lavished on events that do not need such detail to be included in the sequence. Portrayals are shaped to provide an understanding that goes beyond the mere sequence. The text of 1-2 Samuel can be presented as follows.
The Beginnings of Stable Monarchy in Ancient Israel 1-2 Samuel
I. Preparations for David's emergence as king-to-be 1 Sam 1:1–16:13
A. Prophetic: arrival of Samuel on the national scene 1:1–4:1a
B. Liturgical: departure of the ark from the national scene 4:1b–7:1
C. Prophetic: emergence of monarchy 7:2–16:13
1. Arrival of Saul and the new institution of monarchy 7:2–12:25
2. Dismissal of Saul and beginning of David's arrival 13:1–16:13
II. Political moves to establish David as king 1 Sam 16:142 Sam 8:18 A. Tension between Saul as king and David as anointed Sam 16:14–31:13
1. David at the court of Saul 16:14–21:1 (NRSV, 20:42) 2. Open rupture between David and Saul 21:2 (NRSV, 21:1) –27:12 3. Ultimate failure of Saul 28:1–31:13
B. Civil war in Israel 2 Sam 1–4
C. Establishment of David as king: completion of David's arrival 2 Sam 5–8
1. Political establishment: arrival of David in Jerusalem 5:1-16 2. Security of the kingdom I: from the Philistines 5:17-25
3. Liturgical establishment: arrival of the ark in Jerusalem 6:1-23
4. Prophetic establishment: dynasty of David in Jerusalem 7:1-29
5. Security of the kingdom II: external relations generally 8:1-18
Appendix I: traditions associated with the following text 2 Sam 9–10
III. Stories of David's Middle Years: internal security threatened 2 Sam 11–20
A. David: the modeling of a king 11–12
B. The modeling within David's family 13–19
1. Internal impact: without threat to David's rule 1–14
2. External impact: with grave threat to David's rule 15–19
C. The modeling within David's kingdom 20
Appendix II: independent traditions about David 2 Sam 21–24
Within this structure, it is helpful to note the influences at work. Prophetic: Samuel arrives on the scene at the start — [= Structure Analysis: I.A] and departs after David's anointing; his job is done. A prophet, Samuel, anoints David — [I.C]; a prophet, Nathan, gives David God's promise of dynastic security in Jerusalem — [II.C.4]. Liturgical (we might say "cultic" but the word evokes old-fashioned prejudices against ancient faith): Israel's central liturgical symbol, the ark, departs at the beginning — [I.B] and returns to the center of Israel's life only after David's possession of Jerusalem — [II.C.3]. There is the prophetic again. With the ark off the scene, the prophet Samuel is central to the traditions about the emergence of monarchy in ancient Israel -[I.C]. Political: constantly at work, alongside the divinely related realms of prophecy and liturgy, are the influences we call political — [II]. There is political tension between David and Saul — [II.A]; there is political struggle after Saul's death over succession to Saul's kingdom — [II.B]; and there is political struggle to establish David's kingdom securely — [II.C]. Within the books of Samuel, the stories of David's middle years are witness to the complexity of kingship and the reality of a stable monarchy in ancient Israel — [III]. David's kingdom was threatened by turbulence; David's dynasty was stable.
To report that Samuel was born and consecrated to the Lord at Shiloh does not require the detail of a barren woman's vow, the Lord's attention to her, and her fulfillment of her vow. Sequentially, the details of Elide failure and condemnation are less important than the details of what brought Samuel to the attention of "all Israel" (cf. 1 Sam 4:1a); these latter details are not given — just the bare report of 3:19–4:1a. Similarly, the move of the ark from Shiloh to Jerusalem, via Kiriath-jearim, is politically and historically significant. The details given serve another aim than the political and historical. Equally, the role of Samuel in Saul's kingship and David's emergence is important; the details provided reflect a concern with God's role in this new development. The many stories of the political struggle for power between Saul and David are fascinating for the sequence of events in Israel. As they are told, though, they reflect a concern for God's action and the realization of the prophetic word. The arrival of the ark in Jerusalem is told as an action under God's control. The assurance of David's dynastic security is given within a prophetic word associated with the royal proposal to build a temple. The stories of David's middle years have a characteristic dynamic that is peculiar to them alone. The detailed narrative goes far beyond the needs of any sequence of events. Divine action is present, but focus on it is restricted. The final collection (2 Sam 21–24) has a structural focus of its own; it scarcely contributes to the sequence of events — [Appendix II].
In Hebrew, the books of the Pentateuch are named from the first words of their text. The book of Samuel is named from the first major figure in its text. Samuel's life-work is finished by 1 Sam 16:13; he appears briefly in the text at 1 Sam 19:18-24; he is buried in 1 Sam 25:1. He had a job to do and he has done it; he has been God's instrument in inaugurating Israel's monarchy, and he has bestowed God's anointing on David who will be Israel's greatest king. Samuel occupies an extraordinarily dominant place in the biblical text. Since the ancestors and Moses, no one has had such attention paid to the story of their birth as Samuel. Since Moses, no one in Israel has established an office equal in significance to that of the king. Samuel could be dubbed the man born to make kings. The structural question is whether his fate is portrayed as first to anoint a failure and only then to anoint David, or whether, from the outset of the text, Samuel's destiny is to be seen as the anointing of David.
It is clear that Samuel had to emerge on the national scene as a recognized prophet of YHWH before he could anoint a king in Israel. "All Israel ... knew that Samuel was a trustworthy prophet of the Lord" (1 Sam 3:20). Since the biblical portrayal of Moses, there has been no prophetic figure of comparable stature until Samuel. Samuel starts a tradition of prophetic involvement with the monarchy. It is not clear that the ark had to leave Shiloh for a king to be established over Israel. What is clear in the text is that the ark as focal point for God's action in Israel withdraws from the scene until its return to Jerusalem in 2 Sam 6. The way is clear for something new. It is clear in the text that God would have acted differently had Saul been obedient to God's command — communicated by the prophet. "The Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever, but now your kingdom will not continue" (1 Sam 13:13-14). What is not clear in the text is whether the anointings, first of Saul and then of David, are portrayed in the text as the two peaks of Samuel's achievement or whether the text's portrayal is better understood as oriented from the outset toward David.
There is no certainty in the text, as to its structure; there are certain pointers. When God speaks to Samuel about sending Saul to him, Saul's mission is to "save my people from the hand of the Philistines" (1 Sam 9:16). Saul does not do this; David does. Other traditions of Saul's selection (1 Sam 8:1–22; 10:17-27) are tainted with overtones of displeasure and rejection. David alone is the man after God's own heart (cf. 13:14). The moves recounted in 1 Sam 1–12 to identify Saul as the man to be king are substantially religious. The moves from 1 Sam 16:14 on are a more profound mingling of the political and the religious. Out of these moves emerge Saul's death (in 1 Sam 31:1-13) and David's establishment as king over all Israel. Finally, in the biblical texts, the Davidic dynasty is the one stable and enduring element in the story of the monarchy. I do not believe that it can be affirmed with certainty as the structure of the text but I do believe that it makes good sense of the text to see it as oriented toward the Davidic monarchy, rather than toward a monarchy embodied first in Saul and then in David.
It would be easy enough to make out a case for Saul's kingship that failed through disobedience and David's that succeeded because of his fidelity. As noted, 1 Sam 13:13-14 tries exactly that move for Saul. But in 13:7b-15a the text hardly allows Saul the opportunity to repent. His repentance is emphatic in 15:24-25 and is accepted in 15:31. It is hard to make a convincing case that David is less disobedient to God in his dealings with Bathsheba and her husband. It can be done; I doubt that it can be done convincingly.
Samuel's arrival on the Israelite scene then may be directed toward founding the Davidic monarchy that will be an unshakable pillar in the traditions of Israel. Samuel's birth has to be portentous; his replacement of the Elides has to happen. If something new is to happen in Israel, it is fitting for God's traditional symbol of presence to be withdrawn, at least temporarily; so the ark leaves Shiloh. There are conflicting traditions about the origins of Israel's monarchy. It is good to have these out of the way and the monarchy in place before David is brought on the scene.
In these narrative books, Israel's prophetic claims are a mixture of the divinely absolute and the humanly realistic. Most of the time, prophets proclaim God's word, and political activity is portrayed bringing it to realization. So Samuel is portrayed anointing Saul, dismissing Saul, anointing David; after this, the text spends more than twenty chapters portraying the political events that brought it to be. Once in being, the monarchy is a fascinating institution. It is subject to the quirks of human freedom; it is subject to the often unseen working of God's will. The Stories of David's Middle Years explore something of this fascination. The structure of 1-2 Samuel can be seen as remarkably unified: the portrayal of the arrival of the monarchy that will be given David — [I]; the portrayal of the political struggle that made this gift a reality — [II]; the portrayal of the workings of this institution in the life of David — [III]. Around these three bases, the traditions of 1-2 Samuel can be distributed.
Stories are told after events have happened. Prophecy ought to precede events; storytelling ought not. Israel's stories and traditions are based on the sequence of events that have happened, not that are foreseen for the future. The issue is not fact or fiction but past or future. Stories and traditions tell of the past. Story can be exclusively secular, without involving God, or story may be concerned with the role of God in the sequence of events. For the most part, the storytelling texts of 1-2 Samuel are about the role of God in the events of Israel's past. The events experienced are of major significance for Israel. Understanding is needed of the experience; stories provide the interpretation. Interest may be maintained by the storyteller's skill in weaving the sequence of events into a plot that arouses interest by raising tension and reaching resolution.
In one way or another, the narrative texts of 1-2 Samuel are involved with events that brought radical change for the people of Israel and their understanding of themselves. The old tribal era was replaced by the centralized government of a monarchy — all of this within a people who believed themselves chosen by their God and committed to their God. The religious implications of the experience are enormous. Interpretation of the experience is needed to grapple with these religious implications. Stories are one way of providing that interpretation. In this sense, the storytelling texts of 1-2 Samuel are religious texts; at their core, there is the need to interpret the experience of Israel in the events that produced a radically new institution within God's people.
Israel's experience, in these texts of 1-2 Samuel, is of the end of a period of tribes or tribal leadership, of the emergence of monarchy as the institutionalized leadership in Israel, and of the projection of this form of government into the foreseeable future. To the best of our knowledge, aspects of the interpretation of this experience are preserved for us from several stages in that future: early, middle, and late. Critical to an understanding of these texts is the realization that they offer an interpretation of the events of Israel's experience. Often the interpretation is religious: this was how God was acting or was not acting in our midst. Aspects of the interpretation come from various periods of time; they come also from various viewpoints in society. The interpretations reflect those viewpoints. Varying viewpoints should not surprise us; we should not be closed to the possibility of other viewpoints beyond those we have. Above all, we cannot let go of the realizations that these texts are, for the most part, the interpretation of experience and that, because the events are often experienced religiously, the interpretation generates religious texts.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from 1 SAMUEL by ANTONY F. CAMPBELL Copyright © 2003 by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.. Excerpted by permission of William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
Table of Contents
Contents
Abbreviations and Symbols....................ixEditors' Foreword....................xii
Author's Preface....................xv
Introduction....................1
Chapter 1 The Overall Shape and Scope of 1-2 Samuel....................23
Chapter 2 The Arrival of Samuel on the National Scene (1 Sam 1–3)....................34
Chapter 3 The Departure of the Ark from the National Scene (1 Sam 4–6)....................60
Chapter 4 The Emergence of the Monarchy: The Arrival of Saul and the New Institution of Monarchy (1 Sam 7–12)....................85
Chapter 5 The Emergence of the Monarchy: The Dismissal of Saul and the Beginning of David's Arrival (1 Sam 13:1–16:13)....................134
Chapter 6 David's Emergence in Israel (1 Sam 16:14–18:16)....................167
Chapter 7 Veiled Conflict at the Court (1 Sam 18:17–21:1)....................194
Chapter 8 Open Rupture between David and Saul (1 Sam 21:2–27:12)....................220
Chapter 9 The Ultimate Failure of Saul (1 Sam 28–31)....................276
Chapter 10 Diachronic Dimension: From Past Texts to Present Text....................295
Glossary....................340