And He Will Take Your Daughters...'

Woman Story and the Ethical Evaluation of Monarchy in the David Narrative

April D. Westbrook

• Publisher: T&T Clark
• Year: 2015
• Print ISBN: 9780567672148
• eBook ISBN: 9780567662668
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Biblical Criticism & Interpretation

April Westbrook explores the intentional inclusion of woman stories (those displaying significant female presence) within the David narrative in the books of Samuel. These stories are made prominent by the surprisingly high number of their occurrences as well as the sequentially progressive literary pattern in which they occur in the larger narrative. Westbrook shows that the dramatic and detailed accounts within the story repeatedly challenge the reader to consider the experiences of women and their contribution to the purpose of the larger narrative. When viewed collectively, these woman stories serve to stir the reader's responses in ways which systematically call into question the nature of the monarchy itself as a power system-both its impact upon the nation and upon the kings who rule. Although King David is often held up as a paragon of virtue, the experiences of the women in his life frequently reveal a different side of his character, and the reader must wrestle with the resultant ambiguity. In the process, the reader must also think deeply about the inevitably negative aspects of hierarchical social structures and why this biblical text is apparently designed to press the reader toward unavoidable and uncomfortable personal confrontation with these realities concerning the use of power within community life.

Part I

PARAMETERS OF THE STUDY

Chapter 1

INTRODUCTION

The ancient Israelite king named David was a very complicated individual. At least, he is portrayed in this manner within the lengthy narrative of his life and reign as recorded in the books of Samuel.¹ This text provides the reader with a complex picture of David, both as an individual and as a representation of the Israelite monarchy, through the intentional development of David as a character in the story—a story which includes specific narrative details for the reader to ponder. Consequently, in order to understand this presentation of David, and the monarchy he portrays, one must give considerable attention to the interrelated components of the text; to its repeated themes and motifs; to the placement of the smaller stories which, together, make up the epic narrative.

Of major significance, then, are the various characters with whom David interacts, both as man and as king—their natures, why their stories are included and how they relate to each other within the structure of the text. To know the primary character, David, one must fully encounter the other characters as they are presented in the story, being willing to see David through their individual eyes and through their combined experiences over time.

Among these various characters are the many women whose individual and collective experiences of David’s presence in their lives create a distinct impact on the reader.² This effect is established firmly by their sheer numbers—there are no less than thirteen major woman stories in the David narrative.³ The importance of these female characters is further highlighted by the fact that, in many cases, these woman stories could have easily been reduced in detail or even excluded all together without significant disruption to the flow of the larger narrative.

The result of such an approach, however, would have caused the reader to encounter an entirely different presentation of David—a factor which makes the presence of these women all the more significant to the meaning and purpose of this particular narrative. This point may be readily observed by a simple comparison of the account of King David in 1 Chronicles 11–29, which focuses heavily on David’s reign, but does not include any of the detailed woman stories found in the books of Samuel.

Here, no women from outside the court are to be found at all, and women at court are simply noted as mothers of sons without further description in the genealogical lists (1 Chronicles 3). Even Michal, whose entire life is enmeshed with the political realities of the Israelite monarchy, is only tersely described as despising David (1 Chron. 15:29), with no further detail given to explain the specific cause of her disdain or, indeed, anything else about her beyond the simple fact that she was the daughter of Saul.

Thus, within the 1 Chronicles account of King David, the reader does not know that he was ever married to Michal, or that he abandoned her to her father’s wrath and many years later forced her away from her second husband to become part of his sizeable harem—experiences that, from her point of view, might very well justify disdain toward this man whom she had loved in her youth. Likewise, the reader does not know that David committed adultery with the wife of his loyal friend, or that his daughter Tamar was raped by his son Amnon, while David did nothing in response.

As a result, without woman stories such as these in the Chronicles description of King David, the reader is given little reason to question this ruler’s actions or potentially related moral character, a situation further enhanced by the fact that there are also no wise women here to voice such troubling reflections, as those found repeatedly in the books of Samuel. Thus, even a cursory comparison of these two different accounts of David makes one thing very clear—the woman stories, as a whole, are intentionally included in the books of Samuel for a purpose unique to this telling of David’s story. That purpose is centered in an ethical evaluation of the monarchy designed to make one consider the nature and consequences of kings and their use of power.⁴

The phenomenon is made even more prominent by the fact that these women are dramatically highlighted in the midst of the generally patriarchal concern of the initiation of the monarchy and its related war stories. Here, one might expect a singular focus on male-oriented genealogies, heroic deeds, and a celebration of kings (as one does find in 1 Chronicles). Instead, in the books of Samuel, the presence of these women and the stark details of their stories consistently create very uncomfortable ambiguity for the reader who, like the Israelites within the narrative, really wants to love David and to believe that he is the noble king who will fulfill the great dream of the monarchy’s potential to protect the people and ensure justice for them.⁵ In striking contrast, however, through David’s interactions with women, the reader is regularly confronted with a very unlikeable person who abuses his power to violate even those loyal to him—a point made more distasteful by their typical depiction in ways that engender the sympathy of the reader toward the violated person.⁶

In this process of complex ethical evaluation, the reader is swept up into the lives of individual people, but also soon realizes that more is represented here than just their personal experiences. Women, as frequently marginalized persons within this particular social system, provide apt opportunities for demonstration of the injustices that occur in general as a result of the abuses of power so commonly associated with those who rule. These particular women interact with David not simply as a male, but as a male who is king. Thus, their experiences highlight injustices found not simply as women living in patriarchy, but as royal subjects living in monarchy. Further, royal women, as several of the female characters in the books of Samuel are, also offer a unique perspective into the political happenings and related usage of power within the lives of those who are actually at court.

Consequently, these female characters demonstrate not only their personal experiences, but in so doing, they often also represent the larger experience of the Israelite people in relationship to the monarchy. As such, the female characters become for the reader a mirror that reflects the developing moral character of kings and of those who want to be king within the context of the early establishment of the Israelite monarchy. In order to understand the meaning of the text, then, one must consider the importance of the inclusion of these woman stories within the larger David narrative and their major contribution to the overall function of the books of Samuel of which it is a significant part.

1. Parameters of the Present Study

The corpus of literature known as the books of Samuel is a complex work, and many important issues may be considered within a formal study of its content and structure. Therefore, in a single monograph such as this, one must choose specific focal points and leave others. It is important, then, to note from the beginning what the present work seeks to explore and what it does not attempt to address.

The major objective here is to establish the understanding that the David narrative, as it occurs in its present form, includes a significant number of woman stories which are intentionally placed within the composite narrative in a meaningful literary pattern.⁷ This focus necessitates an ongoing emphasis on attention to narrative detail, repeated themes, character development, and textual structure in the present arrangement of the larger narrative. This work does not seek to theorize overtly concerning original source documents and/or to reorganize the present text.⁸ Rather, the focus here will assume that it is worthwhile to pursue greater understanding of the text not only by attempting to deconstruct it, but also by fully acknowledging meaningful purpose in its present arrangement—an arrangement which is consistently linked together by the woman stories, as this study will show.⁹

With this approach, the placement of a smaller story within the surrounding context of the larger narrative as it currently exists may have more importance than its proposed purpose in a theoretical original source. For example, in keeping with Rost’s argument, there may have been an earlier independent textual unit concerning the Ammonite War, which existed in its own earlier independent setting.¹⁰ However, this study, in seeking to understand the present text in its current composition, will not focus on that discussion, but will instead consider why the specific details of the Ammonite War story are now placed around the Bathsheba story, thus also providing the introductory backdrop for the Tamar story, which then leads into the woman of Tekoa story.

Such holistic consideration of the composite narrative is the concern of the present study because the woman story pattern becomes visible through observation of the narrative details as they occur within each story, and as all of the stories are integrated together in the present text. Once the recognition of the overall woman story pattern has been credibly established, with the potential impact of its presence fully explored in the meaning of the narrative as a whole, then one might revisit the way in which what has been learned about the present text might impact ongoing redaction theories for the books of Samuel—an endeavor that will have to remain for future work beyond the present study.

The emphasis here upon realizing the woman story pattern and appreciating its contribution to the meaning of the composite narrative inevitably yields its own questions of the text. What does the resultant combination of stories reveal about the individual meaning of each one? What does each one, then, contribute to one’s understanding of the larger narrative and its major themes? In this case in particular, what is indicated by the repeated use of woman stories in this specific sequence within larger narrative? Is this portion of the larger narrative only concerned with who will succeed David as king, as some have suggested, or are there greater issues concerning the monarchy involved?¹¹

In the process of seeking answers to these questions, primary attention will be given to the interrelationship of themes and motifs occurring in the composite narrative, utilizing narrative interpretation methodology—an exercise that consistently yields the necessity for ethical evaluation on the part of the reader due to the manner in which these stories are told.¹² As Smith has rightly noted, various rhetorical devices within these narratives, such as narrative patterns, plot outcomes, characterization and irony are used to both direct the reader’s experience of the story, as well as to communicate the ethical perspectives of its creator.¹³ In the case of the woman stories in the David narrative, a major theme of ethical evaluation of the monarchy will quickly and consistently become apparent and so will be of primary importance here.

As a result, consideration of these stories must recognize that, within the present text, the story of David does not occur in a vacuum, but is presented as a continuation of the larger depiction of the initiation of the Israelite monarchy. Consequently, the reader approaches the David narrative with certain ideas about the monarchy already in mind.¹⁴ While numerous comparisons and conclusions might be derived from this circumstance, the presen...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Series Page
• Title Page
• Contents
• List of Tables
• Abbreviations
• Preface
• Part I
• Part II
• Part III
• Part IV
• Appendix I
• Appendix II
• Bibliography
• Index of Biblical References
• Index of Authors
• Copyright