Studies in Antiquity
King David
Sacred and Secular in Biblical Times
E Bruce Brooks

The rise of the Kingdom was the decisive event in the history of the ancient Hebrews, and its fall was their great catastrophe: it meant the failure of the promise of God to David, and the end of the worldly aspirations of the people of Judah. The Biblical texts which record these events were written over centuries, and together, they reveal a process of continual growth and doctrinal adjustment. This book follows those changes, both in in social forms (increasing emphasis on law, with an improved social status for women) and in doctrine (the ongoing conflict between the priestly and the kingly interest, the sacred and the secular). It follows the Promise Narrative, which links the first contacts with the Land of Canaan to the later Conquest. Canaan itself, the people who were there first, figure prominently.

Many regard the Pentateuch texts as post-Exilic. The finding of this book is that some texts or parts of texts (the Miracles in Egypt, at the beginning of Exodus) date from before the Kingship; others anticipate the Kingship (the Tabernacle instructions at the end of Exodus anticipate Solomon's Temple); others reflect the Exile (Kings is a theological analysis of how the sins of the kings caused it); and still others (Chronicles) express the hopes of a renewed Kingship that were inspired by the Return, The loss of faith (Job) and the emergence of a different kind of faith (Jonah) bring the book to a close.

To untangle these texts, the standard methods of philology are used, The simplest of these is to distinguish between earlier and later versions of a story. Thus, the Conquest is told in two incompatible ways (one textual, the other archaeological); which is nearer to what actually happened? Or at a more modest level, the killing of Goliath (pictured above; the first act attributed to the future King David) occurs not in one, not in two, and not in three versions, but in seven versions. Why seven? And who benefits from each stage of that process: David, or somebody else?

This book is not an Introduction to the Old Testament. The passages it does include are touched on only briefly; the discussion must be suggestive rather than exhaustive. What it intends to suggest is a what a historical reading of the Bible would look like. We hope to see, in some detail, what was going on. What were these people up to? Out of what materials did they construct, and then reconstruct, and then update, their stories? These are the questions on which we focus. At the end, we hope to have seen something of the more modest, and more complex, history that lies behind the present Biblical story.

Front Matter
Cover
Halftitle, 1
Title Page, 3
Dedication, 5
Introduction, 7
Contents, 9

Orientation, 11
01The Land, 13
02The People, 14
03Many Gods, 16
04The Kings
, 22
05Ancient Texts, 28

Canaanite Tradition, 33
06
The Garden of Eden, 35
07Cain and Abel, 37
08Seth, 39
09Noah's Ark, 40
10The Creation, 47

The Northern Patriarchs, 49
11Abram / Abraham, 51
12Isaac, 59

13Jacob / Israel, 63
14Dinah, 69
15The Joseph Story, 71
16The Twelve Tribes, 80

Out of Egypt, 83
17Moses and Aaron, 85
18The Miracles, 89
19The Passover, 90
20Pharaoh's Chariots, 92
21Into The Wilderness, 95

The Laws of Exodus, 97
22The Sinai Covenant, 99
23The Covenant Code, 101
24The Decalogue, 103
25Two Festival Codes, 106
26The Tabernacle, 110

Leviticus and Numbers, 111
27Leviticus, 103
28Nadab and Abihu, 117
29The Holiness Code, 118
30Numbers, 121
31Balaam, 124

32The Final Approach, 127
33Zelophehad's Daughters, 130

Deuteronomy, 133
34To the Jordan, 135
35Admonitions, 136
36The Decalogue Code, 138
37Updating the Covenant, 157
38The Death of Moses, 160

Conquest, 163
39Khirbet el-Mastarah, 165
40Joshua, 166
41The Song of Deborah, 169
42Twelve Judges, 171
43The Need for a King, 180
44The Philistines, 182

Three Kings, 183
45Samuel, 185
46Saul, 188
47Goliath, 191
48David, 193
49The Psalms of David, 198
50Solomon, 200

Two Kingdoms, 205
51The Book of Kings, 207
52Jezebel's Wedding, 210
53Elijah, 212
54Elisha
, 215
55The War with Moab, 217
56Hezekiah's Defense, 219
57Josiah's Venture, 221

Exile and Return, 223
58Yehud, 225
59The Torah Psalter, 227
60Job, 230
61Qoheleth, 234
62The Second Temple, 241
63Songs of Ascents, 243

The Parting of the Ways, 245
64Nehemiah / Ezra, 247
65Ruth, 250
66The Samaritans, 253
67Elephantine, 255
68The Book of Chronicles, 256

69Jonah, 261
70The Ethical Horizon, 262

End Matter, 269
Chronology, 271
Maps, 274
Works Cited, 276
Passages Quoted, 283
Subject Index, 286

 

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