‘And He Will Take Your Daughters ….’:Woman Story and the Ethical Evaluation of Monarchy in the David Narrative

Abstract

The David narrative, as recorded in the books of Samuel, is made up of short stories linked together with intentional sequence and connected themes. A significant component in this telling of David's story concerns the inclusion of a large number of woman stories having apparent purpose to highlight aspects of the use and abuse of monarchal power. This aim is accomplished both by the specific narrative details of individual woman stories, as well as their collective arrangement in the composite narrative. This woman story pattern systematically creates opportunities for the reader to evaluate the monarchy ethically, as it guides the reader through various scenarios in David's acquisition, possession, and potential loss of power while repeatedly asking the underlying question, ‘Will the king do justice?’. Thus, the woman story pattern contributes a vital component to this epic narrative that makes it distinctive from other biblical perspectives on King David and the monarchy he represents, as well as the complex nature of the monarchy's relationship to Yhwh, especially in matters of justice.

Cite this work

No public copy is stored for this record, so only the metadata is cited.

Stored only when both papers are in the corpus — 18 citations exist upstream.