Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

b-hebrew - Re: [b-hebrew] Aegean Ethnic determinatives onPhilistineguardsofJ udean kings in Kings and Samuel?

b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: Biblical Hebrew Forum

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: Peter Kirk <peterkirk AT qaya.org>
  • To: Karl Randolph <kwrandolph AT email.com>
  • Cc: Hebrew <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] Aegean Ethnic determinatives onPhilistineguardsofJ udean kings in Kings and Samuel?
  • Date: Sun, 01 Feb 2004 10:48:54 -0800

On 01/02/2004 06:39, Karl Randolph wrote:

Dora:

Practically all the we know about David comes from one source document. As I
pointed out in a previous missive, that document clearly points out that
David’s 600 men were brought by him to Ziklag, not chosen while in Ziklag.
Unless Halpern has newly discovered documentation, that makes his statements
contradicting that one source document pure speculation based on his personal
presuppositions.


True. Well, in principle he could have archaeological evidence, but if so, what?

As for the Philistine religion, they were not followers of YHWH, rather they
had other gods like Dagon. The events surrounding the Philistine capture of
the ark of YHWH and the destruction of Shiloh led both Israelis and
Philistines to fear it. While Saul was king, the memory of those events was
still fresh, so it was unlikely that he would touch it.

The only indication that Saul turned to worshiping Baal is that his one son,
usually called )Y$ B$T, was twice listed in 1 Chronicles as )$B(L. All other
indications are that he, at least outwardly, worshipped YHWH.


Also Saul's grandson MPYB#T (Mephibosheth) is elsewhere called MRYB B(L or MRY B(L. But the commonest explanation of these names is that at the time B(L "master" was an acceptable title for YHWH, which was only later rejected because it became increasingly the proper name of the Canaanite god. (Cf. the modern debate over whether the Arabic word for God, "Allah", should be used of the true God by Christians - in some contexts the word is considered as the Islamic proper name of the God.)

As for Israelis’ religious syncretism, that was a constant theme from Judges
through the end of 2 Kings. It was also repeated condemned. The two golden
calves made after Israel rebelled from the Davidic kingdom, however, were
Egyptian, not Canaanite, in origin.

As for our source document, from its language and content, it appears post
exilic, but that the author(s) (possibly Ezra?) consulted, concatenated and
condensed at that time still extant original documents.


Which document are you talking about? The major source, the books of Samuel (and 1 Kings 1-2 which probably originally went with Samuel), are dated by many scholars as pre-exilic although perhaps with later redaction. Chronicles, which is post-exilic (and traditionally linked to Ezra), is mostly secondary. Other sources which tell us something of David include the Psalms, and some snippets in the prophetic books and in Ruth.


--
Peter Kirk
peter AT qaya.org (personal)
peterkirk AT qaya.org (work)
http://www.qaya.org/





Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page