Course Description
At first, we shall offer a survey of the latest developments in the field of archaeology and history of the early Iron Age period. On the literary level we will focus on three texts that describe, in their own way, the anointment of David as king: 1 Sam 16:1-13; 2 Sam 2:1-7; 2 Sam 5:1-5. We will analyze them against Deut 17:14-20, 1 Sam 8, and other similar texts. The specific aim is understanding both the prerequisites and the prerogatives of the royal figure – with a view also on David’s successors – in particular his relation to the temple/s of YHWH. We also will look at the way the Chronicler and the Greek translators dealt with these texts. During the course we shall regularly discuss the theological perspectives that emerge, and how these texts shaped the ideology of the so-called royal messianism.
Bibliography
DE VAUX R., Ancient Israel: Its Life and Institutions (Grand Rapids, MI: W.B. Eerdmans 1961) (& French [orig.], Dutch, German, Italian, Spanish).
JOHNSON A.R., Sacral Kingship in Ancient Israel (Cardiff: University of Wales Press 21967).
BLENKINSOPP, J., David Remembered: Kingship and National Identity in Ancient Israel (Grand Rapids, MI: W.B. Eerdmans 2013). Commentaries and specific studies will be introduced during the course.