“If a Man Finds His Enemy, Will He Let Him Go?” (1 Sam 24–26)
Samuel - Rachelle Gilmour
Steven L. McKenzie [+]
Rhodes College
Description
The coherence of 1 Sam 24–26 as a literary unit and its role in the David story at large is the main topic of investigation. Beginning with a narrative analysis of 1 Sam 25, the article moves on to a consideration of which of the two stories in 1 Sam 24 and 26 was written first. Articles by Cynthia Edenburg and John Van Seters that take opposite views on the matter are assessed before the possibility that 24:5b–6 (Eng. 24:4b–5) is likely out of place as the result of a transmissional error is suggested. In addition, it is proposed that ch. 24 is part of an interpolation in 23:19–25:44, signaled by the editor’s use of the literary device known as Wiederaufnahme or “narrative resumption.” This points to the logical conclusion that ch. 24 was based on ch. 26.