The Demise of the Warlord: A New Look at the David Story
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The novelty of this monograph on David and Bathsheba (2 Sam. 11 —12) lies in its placing the narrative in the context of the behaviour of nomadic warlords and Amorite tribal chieftains as reflected in several Akkadian texts from Mari and Mesopotamia.
The novelty of this monograph on David and Bathsheba (2 Sam. 11 —12) lies in its placing the narrative in the context of the behaviour of nomadic warlords and Amorite tribal chieftains as reflected in several Akkadian texts from Mari and Mesopotamia. The biblical story is interpreted in the light of an Akkadian literary topos depicting the ideal warlike existence of a Bedouin tribal chieftain. According to this topos, David’s dallying with women, and eating, drinking and living in the shade rather than leading armies into military exploits would be considered unworthy of a warlord and disparaging to his reputation.
Another new feature in this book is the explanation of the treatment that King David inflicted on Uriah the Hittite, a ‘resident alien’ according to the rabbis, in the light of the outrage that a high official of a Pharaoh committed upon a resident-alien in El-Amarna times. There seems to have existed a non-written ancient Near Eastern law about the obligation of protecting and not harming resident aliens. As evidenced by the El-Amarna letter 162, disregard for this law entailed a death sentence on the perpetrator of such an outrage. In 2 Samuel 11 —12 the outrage done to the resident alien is expressed through the literary motif of the abduction of the beautiful wife in the context of oppression and threat exercised by the powerful over the weak and the helpless.
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| Table of Contents | Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 |
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Jeremy Hutton, Review of Biblical Literature. –
All in all, this volume is both fascinating and thought-inducing. Its primary audience should be scholars and students interested in the history of the interpretation of Samuel, although it will also undoubtedly be of interest to anyone concerned with the literary interactions between ancient Israel and the wider ancient Near East. I am pleased to recommend it as a captivating interpretation of the David and Bathsheba affair, a complex and provocative text in its own right.