Bathsheba and the Witch of Endor: The Fall  of the Two Royal Houses and its Polemics  in 1 and 2 Samuel: General Articles

Matthew Michael

doi:10.25159/2663-6573/10552

Authors

Matthew Michael Nasarawa State University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.25159/2663-6573/10552

Keywords:

Bathsheba, Witch of Endor, Adultery, divination, Deuteronomistic History, polemic, Saul, David

Abstract

Bathsheba’s role in the story of the house of David bears an often-overlooked intertextual connection to the story of the Witch of Endor. In the books of Samuel, the two women triggered a chain of events that later led to the fall of the houses of David and Saul, respectively. While past scholarship has independently studied the importance of the stories of these two women, the present paper describes the intertextual connections and the significance of these two stories in the matrix of 1 and 2 Samuel and the Deuteronomistic History (DtrH). The two royal houses in the stories of these two women are subtly indicted for adulterous affairs against Yahweh. Consequently, the story of Saul at Endor and the story of David’s adultery with Bathsheba are not only intertextually connected to each other but also fulfil a subversive agenda.

Metrics

Metrics Loading ...

References

Adams, Karin. 2008. “Metaphor and Dissonance: A Reinterpretation of Hosea 4:13–14.” Journal of Biblical Literature 127 (2): 291–305. https://doi.org/10.2307/25610121

Alter, Robert. 2011. The Art of Biblical Narrative. New York: Basic Books.

Auld, Graeme. 2011. I & II Samuel: A Commentary. Louisville, KY: Westminster/John Knox.

Ben-Dov, Jonathan. 2008. “Writing as Oracle and as Law: New Contexts for the Book-Find of Josiah.” Journal Biblical Literature 127 (2): 223–39. https://doi.org/10.2307/25610118

Ben Zvi, Ehud. 2004. “Some Observations on the Marital Metaphor of YHWH and Israel in Ancient Context: General Considerations and Particular Images in Hosea 1.2.” Journal for the Study of the Old Testament 28 (3): 366–77. https://doi.org/10.1177/030908920402800307

Ben Zvi, Ehud, and Michael H. Floyd, eds. 2000.Writings and Speech in Israelite and Ancient Near Eastern Prophecy. SBLSS 10. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature.

Berger, Yitzhak. 2009. “Ruth and the David-Bathsheba Story: Allusions and Contrasts.” Journal for the Study of the Old Testament 33 (4): 433–52. https://doi.org/10.1177/0309089209105688

Berger, Yitzhak. 2010. “Esther and Benjaminite Royalty: A Study of Inner-Biblical Allusion.” JSOT 129 (4): 625–44. https://doi.org/10.2307/25765958

Berger, Yitzhak. 2011. “On Patterning in the Book of Samuel: ‘News of Death’ and the Kingship of David.” Journal for the Study of the Old Testament 35 (4): 463–81. https://doi.org/10.1177/0309089210385654

Bodner, Keith. 2003. “Eliab and the Deuteronomist.” Journal for the Study of the Old Testament 28 (1): 55–71. https://doi.org/10.1177/030908920302800103

Bosworth, David A. 2011. “Faith and Resilience: King David’s Reaction to the Death of Bathsheba’s Firstborn.” Catholic Biblical Quarterly 73: 691–707.

Campbell, Anthony F. 1996. Of Prophets and Kings: A Late Ninth Century Document (1 Samuel 1- 2Kings 10). Catholic Biblical Quarterly 17. Washington DC: Catholic Biblical Association of America.

Cogan, Mordechai. 2001. 1 Kings: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary. Anchor Bible Commentary. New York: Doubleday. https://doi.org/10.5040/9780300261974

Cohen, Hirsch. 1965. “David and Bathsheba.” Journal of Bible and Religion 33 (2): 142–48. https://doi.org/10.1093/jaarel/XXXIII.2.142

Cross, Frank Moore. 1973.Canaanite Myth and Hebrew Epic: Essays in the History of the Religion of Israel. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. https://doi.org/10.4159/9780674030084

Day, Peggy L. 2000a. “Adulterous Jerusalem’s Imagined Demise: The Death of a Metaphor in Ezekiel XVI.” Vetus Testamentum L (3): 285–309. https://doi.org/10.1163/156853300506369

Day, Peggy L. 2000b. “The Bitch Had It Coming to Her: Rhetoric and Interpretation of Ezekiel 16.” Biblical Interpretation 8 (3): 231–53. https://doi.org/10.1163/156851500300044666

Dietrich, Walter. 2013. “The Layer Model of the Deuteronomistic History and the Book of Samuel.” In Is Samuel Among the Deuteronomists?, edited by Cynthia Edenburg and Juha Pakkala, 39–65. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt5hjh2n.6

Edelman, Diana. 2008. “Hezekiah’s Alleged Cultic Centralization.” Journal for the Study of the Old Testament 32 (4): 395–434. https://doi.org/10.1177/0309089208092138

Ellis, Teresa A. 2009. “Jeremiah 44: What if the ‘Queen of Heaven’ is YHWH?” Journal for the Study of the Old Testament 33 (4): 475–76. https://doi.org/10.1177/0309089209105690

Eynikel, Erik. 1996. The Reform of King Josiah and the Composition of the Deuteronomistic History. OTS 33. Leiden: E.J. Brill. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004497511

Faur, José. 1978. “The Biblical Idea of Idolatry.” Jewish Quarterly Review 69: 1–15. https://doi.org/10.2307/1453972

Floyd, Michael H., and Robert D. Haak, eds. 2006.Prophets, Prophecy, and Prophetic Texts in Second Temple Judaism. Library of Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Studies 427. New York: T&T Clark.

Flynn, Shawn W. 2012. “Inescapable Perspective and David’s Sin in 2 Samuel 11–12.” Irish Theological Journal 77 (2): 182–96. https://doi.org/10.1177/0021140012445667

Galambush, Julie. 1992. Jerusalem in the Book of Ezekiel: The City as Yahweh’s Wife. SBLDS 130. Atlanta: Scholars Press.

Galpaz-Feller, Pnina. 2004. “Private Lives and Public Censure: Adultery in Ancient Egypt and Biblical Israel.” Near Eastern Archaeology 67 (3): 152–61. https://doi.org/10.2307/4132377

Garsiel, Moshe. 1993. “The Story of David and Bathsheba: A Different Proposal.” Catholic Biblical Quarterly 55: 244–62.

Grabbe, Lester L. 1995. Priests, Prophets, Diviners, Sages: A Socio-Historical Study of Religious Specialists in Ancient Israel. Valley Forge, PA: Trinity Press International.

Gunn, David M. 1978. The Story of King David. Sheffield: JSOT.

Hadjiev, Tchavdar S. 2016. “Adultery, Shame, and Sexual Pollution in Ancient Israel and in Hosea: A Response to Joshua Moon.” Journal for the Study of the Old Testament 41 (2): 221–36. https://doi.org/10.1177/0309089215628421

Halbertal, Moshe, and Avishai Margalit. 1992.Idolatry.Trans. Naomi Goldblum. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University.

Hall, Gary H. 1997. “נאף.” In New Dictionary of Old Testament Theology & Exegesis, edited by Willem A. VanGemeren, 3/2–5. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

Hawk, Daniel L. 2003. “Violent Grace: Tragedy and Transformation in the Oresteia and the Deuteronomistic History.” Journal for the Study of the Old Testament 28 (1): 73–88. https://doi.org/10.1177/030908920302800104

Hays, Daniel J. 2003. “Has the Narrator Come to Praise Solomon or to Bury Him? Narrative Subtlety in 1 Kings 1-11.” Journal for the Study of the Old Testament 28 (2), 149–74. https://doi.org/10.1177/030908920302800202

Hobbs, T.R. 1985. 2 Kings. WBC 13. Waco, TX: Word Books.

Hoppe, Leslie J. 2017. “The Strategy of Deuteronomistic History: A Proposal.” Catholic Biblical Quarterly 79: 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1353/cbq.2017.0000

Horsnell, Malcolm J. A. 1997. “קסם.”In New Dictionary of Old Testament Theology & Exegesis, edited by Willem A. VanGemeren, 3/945–51. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

Ishida, Tomoo. 1982. “Solomon’s Succession to the Throne of David—A Political Analysis.” In Studies in the Period of David and Solomon and other Essays: Papers Read at the International Symposium of Biblical Studies, Tokyo, 5-7 December, 1979, edited by Tomoo Ishida,175–87. Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns.

Janzen, David. 2008. “An Ambiguous Ending: Dynasty Punishment in Kings and the Fate of the Davidides in 2Kings 25:27–30.” Journal for the Study of the Old Testament 33 (1): 39–58. https://doi.org/10.1177/0309089208094459

Kalimi, Isaac. 2016. “Reexamining 2 Samuel 10–12: Redaction History versus Compositional Unity.” Catholic Biblical Quarterly 78: 24–46.

Kelle, Brad E. 2009. “Hosea 1–3 in Twentieth Century Research.” Currents in Biblical Research 7 (2): 179–216. https://doi.org/10.1177/1476993X08099542

Knoppers, Gary. 1987. “Dynastic Oracle and Secession in 1 Kings 11.” Proceedings, Eastern Great Lakes and Midwest Biblical Societies 7: 159–72.

Knoppers, Gary. 1993. Two Nations Under God: The Deuteronomistic History of Solomon and the Dual Monarchies: The Reign of Solomon and the Rise of Jeroboam. Vol. 1. Harvard Semitic Monographs. Atlanta: Scholars Press. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004369689

Knoppers, Gary.1994. Two Nations Under God: The Deuteronomistic History of Solomon and the Dual Monarchies: The Reign of Jeroboam, the Fall of Israel, and the Reign of Josiah. Vol. 2. Harvard Semitic Monographs. Atlanta: Scholars Press. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004369696

Long, Burke O. 1984. 1 Kings with an Introduction to Historical Literature. FOTL 9. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.

McCarter, P. K. Jr. 1984. I Samuel: A New Translation with Introduction, Notes and Commentary. Anchor Bible 9. Garden City: Doubleday. https://doi.org/10.5040/9780300261202

McConville, J.G. 1989. “Narrative and Meaning in the Books of Kings.” Bib 70: 31–49.

Na’aman, Nadav. 1997. “Sources and Composition in the History of Solomon.” In The Age of Solomon: Scholarship at the Turn of the Millennium, edited by Lowell K. Handy, 57–80. Leiden: Brill.

Nelson, Richard D. 1981. The Double Redaction of the Deuteronomistic History. Sheffield: JSOT Press. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt5hjh2n.5

Nelson, Richard D. 2013. “Deuteronomistic Historian in Samuel: ‘The Man behind the Green Curtain.’” In Is Samuel Among the Deuteronomists?, edited by Cynthia Edenburg and Juha Pakkala, 17–66. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature.

Nicol, George G. 1997. “The Alleged Rape of Bathsheba: Some Observations on Ambiguities in Biblical Narrative.” Journal for the Study of the Old Testament 22 (73): 43–54. https://doi.org/10.1177/030908929702207303

Noll, K. L. 2007. “Deuteronomistic History or Deuteronomistic Debate? (A Thought Experiment).” Journal for the Study of the Old Testament 31: 311–45. https://doi.org/10.1177/0309089207076357

Noll, K. L. 2013. “Is the Scroll of Samuel Deuteronomistic?” In Is Samuel Among the Deuteronomists?, edited by Cynthia Edenburg and Juha Pakkala, 119–48. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt5hjh2n.10

Noth, M. 1964. Könige. BKAT 9.1. NeukirchenVluyn: Neukirchener Verlag.

Noth, M. 1981. The Deuteronomist History. Sheffield: JSOT Press.

Park, Song-mi S. 2009. “The Frustration of Wisdom: Wisdom, Counsel, and Divine Will in 2 Samuel 17:1–23.” Journal for the Study of the Old Testament 128 (3): 453–67. https://doi.org/10.2307/25610196

Person, Raymond. 2002. The Deuteronomic School: History, Social Setting, and Literature. Leiden: E.J. Brill.

Polzin, Robert. 1993. Samuel and the Deuteronomist: A Literary Study of the Deuteronomic History. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press.

Rofé, Alexander. 1988. The Prophetical Stories: The Narratives about the Prophets in the Hebrew Bible, Their Literary Types and History. Jerusalem: Magnes Press.

Römer, Thomas. 2005. The So-Called Deuteronomistic History: A Sociological, Historical and Literary Introduction. London: T&T Clark International.

Römer, Thomas, and Albert de Pury. 2000. “Deuteronomistic Historiography (DH): History of Research and Debated Issues.” In Israel Constructs its History: Deuteronomistic Historiography in Recent Research, edited by Albert de Pury, Thomas Römer, and Jean-Daniel Maachi, 24–141. Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press.

Roth, Martha T. 2006. “Marriage, Divorce, and the Prostitute in Ancient Mesopotamia.” In Prostitutes and Courtesans in the Ancient World, edited by Christopher A. Faraone and Laura K. McClure, 21–39. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press.

Spina, Frank. 1994. “Eli’s Seat: The Transition from Priest to Prophet in 1 Samuel 1–4.” Journal for the Study of the Old Testament 63: 67–75. https://doi.org/10.1177/030908929401906205

Van Seters, John. 1983. In Search of History. New Haven, CT: Yale University.

Van Seters, John. 2000.“The Court History and DtrH: Conflicting Perspectives on the House of David.” In Die sogenannte Thronfolgegeschichte Davids, edited by Albert de Pury and Thomas Römer, 70–93. Freiburg, Switzerland: Universitätsverlag.

Van Seters, John. 2009. The Biblical Saga of King David. Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns. https://doi.org/10.1515/9781575066141

Veijola, Timo. 1975. Das Königtum in der Beurteilung der Deuteronomistischen Historiographie: Eine Redaktionsgeschichtliche Untersuchung. Helsinki: Suomalainen Tiedeakatemia.

Veijola, Timo. 1977. Die ewige Dynastie: David und die Entstehung seiner Dynastie nach der Deuteronomistischen Darstellung. AASF B. 193. Helsinki: Suomalainen Tiedeakatemia.

Vermeylen, Jacques. 2013. “The Book of Samuel within the Deuteronomistic History.” In Is Samuel Among the Deuteronomists?, edited by Cynthia Edenburg and Juha Pakkala, 67–91. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt5hjh2n.7

Von Rad, Gerhard. 1953. “The Deuteronomistic Theology of History in the Books of Kings.” In Studies in Deuteronomy, trans. David Stalker. London: SCM Press.

Willis, Joyce. 2011. “Conversation in the Succession Narrative of Solomon.” Vetus Testamentum 61: 133–47. https://doi.org/10.1163/156853311X551466

Zucker, David J., and Moshe Reiss. 2016. “David’s Wives: Love, Power and Lust.” Biblical Theology Bulletin 46 (2): 70–78. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146107916639209