Samuel and His God

149 Pages·2010·5 MB·English

by  Marti J. Steussy

samuel and his god
Studies on Personalities of the Old Testament
James L. Crenshaw, Series Editor
samuel
and his god
marti J. Steussy
The University of South Carolina Press
© 2010 University of South Carolina
Cloth edition published by the University of South Carolina Press, 2010
Ebook edition published in Columbia, South Carolina,
by the University of South Carolina Press, 2013
www.sc.edu/uscpress
22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
The Library of Congress has cataloged the cloth edition as follows:
Steussy, Marti J., 1955–
Samuel and his God / Marti J. Steussy.
p. cm. — (Studies on personalities of the Old Testament)
Includes bibliographical references and indexes.
ISBN 978-1-57003-924-9 (cloth : alk. paper)
1. Samuel (Biblical judge) 2. Bible. O.T. Samuel—Criticism,
interpretation, etc. I. Title.
BS580.S2S74 2010
222'.406092—dc22
2010008117
The Scripture quotations contained herein are, unless otherwise marked, from
the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) of the Bible, Copyrighted 1989 by the
Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ
in the United States of America, and are used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are from the holy bible, New Living Trans -
lation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers. All
rights reserved.
Quotations designated (NIV) are from the holy bible: new international
version®. niv®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society.
Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.
ISBN 978-1-61117-222-5 (ebook)
Contents
Series Editor’s Preface vii
Acknowledgments ix
Abbreviations xi
Samuel in the Bible xiii
Chapter 1: Introduction 1
Chapter 2: Sources of the Samuel Stories 11
“The Bible” 11
Ancient Customs of Authorship 12
Evidence of Layers in 1 Samuel: A First Glance 14
The Deuteronomistic History 16
The Prophetic Record 19
Too Much Analysis of Layers? 20
Was It Ever Meant to Be Read All at Once? 25
Chapter 3: The Many Roles of Samuel 27
Priest 28
Judge 32
Ideas and Ideals of Prophecy 37
Samuel as Prophet 43
Summary 46
Chapter 4: The Problematic God of Samuel 48
What LordDoes 48
Lordand Hannah: Caring for the Little People? 50
Lifting the Poor: Hannah’s Song (1 Samuel 2:1–10) 54
Lord’s Attitudes 58
Reflections 70
Chapter 5: A Sequential Reading of Samuel 73
Samuel’s Earliest Years (1 Samuel 1–2) 73
Samuel’s Calling (1 Samuel 3:1–4:1) 75
Interlude of Absence (1 Samuel 4:2–7:2) 76
Samuel as Judge (1 Samuel 7:3–17) 76
Request for Kingship (1 Samuel 8) 78
Samuel Designates Saul (1 Samuel 9:1–10:27) 80
vi contents
Saul Steps Forward (1 Samuel 11) 82
Samuel’s Farewell Speech? (1 Samuel 12) 82
Prophet and King: Round 1 (1 Samuel 13:1–15a) 84
The Missing Prophet (1 Samuel 13:15b–14:52) 84
Prophet and King: Round 2 (1 Samuel 15) 86
A New Era Begins (1 Samuel 16:1–13) 90
The Fading of Samuel (1 Samuel 19:18–24 and 25:1) 91
Encore (1 Samuel 28:3–25) 92
Chapter 6: Samuel, His God, and Us 95
Samuel 96
God 98
Us 100
Notes 103
Bibliography 113
Scripture Index 117
Hebrew Word Index 125
Topic Index 127
Series Editor’s Preface
Critical study of the Bible in its ancient Near Eastern setting has stimulated inter-
est in the individuals who shaped the course of history and whom events singled
out as tragic or heroic figures. Rolf Rendtorff’s Men of the Old Testament (1968)
focuses on the lives of important biblical figures as a means of illuminating histo-
ry, particularly the sacred dimension that permeates Israel’s convictions about its
God. Fleming James’s Personalities of the Old Testament (1939) addresses another
issue, that of individuals who function as inspiration for their religious successors
in the twentieth century. Studies restricting themselves to a single individual—
e.g., Moses, Abraham, Samson, Elijah, David, Saul, Ruth, Jonah, Job, Jeremiah—
enable scholars to deal with a host of questions: psychological, literary, theologi-
cal, sociological, and historical. Some, like Gerhard von Rad’s Moses, introduce a
specific approach to interpreting the Bible, hence provide valuable pedagogic
tools.
As a rule, these treatments of isolated figures have not reached the general pub-
lic. Some were written by outsiders who lacked a knowledge of biblical criticism
(Freud on Moses, Jung on Job) and whose conclusions, however provocative, re -
main problematic. Others were targeted for the guild of professional biblical crit-
ics (David Gunn on David and Saul, Phyllis Trible on Ruth, Terence Fretheim and
Jonathan Magonet on Jonah). None has succeeded in capturing the imagination of
the reading public in the way fictional works like Archibald MacLeish’s J. B. and
Joseph Heller’s God Knowshave done.
It could be argued that the general public would derive little benefit from learn-
ing more about the personalities of the Bible. Their conduct, often less then exem-
plary, reveals a flawed character, and their everyday concerns have nothing to do
with our preoccupations from dawn to dusk. To be sure, some individuals tran-
scend their own age, entering the gallery of classical literary figures from time
immemorial. But only these rare achievers can justify specific treatments of them.
Then why publish additional studies on biblical personalities?
The answer cannot be that we read about biblical figures to learn ancient his-
tory, even of the sacred kind, or to discover models for ethical action. But what
remains? Perhaps the primary significance of biblical personages is the light they
throw on the imaging of deity in biblical times. At the very least, the Bible consti-
tutes human perceptions of deity’s relationship with the world and its creatures.
Close readings of biblical personalities therefore clarify ancient understandings of
viii series editor’s preface
God. That is the important datum which we seek—not because we endorse that
specific view of deity, but because all such efforts to make sense of reality con-
tribute something worthwhile to the endless quest for knowledge.
James L. Crenshaw
Duke Divinity School
Acknowledgments
This book owes its existence to James L. Crenshaw. He taught me much of what I
know about biblical scholarship and also specifically requested that my 1999
book, David: Biblical Portraits of Power, be followed by an additional volume on
Samuel. Most of the writing took place during a research leave granted by the
trustees of Christian Theological Seminary. I am grateful to them and to my facul-
ty colleagues, who so capably sustained the school’s teaching and administrative
work in my absence. The Bibleworks 5.0 computer program (Bibleworks L.L.C.,
2001) and my daughter Cally, who returned from Japan just in time to help with
final critique and proofreading, have also greatly assisted my work.
I thank Jean Denton, Gordon Chastain, Linda Ferreira, Michael St. A. Miller,
Mark Mousse, Antony Campbell, and my colleagues in the Network of Biblical
Storytellers Scholars Seminar for conversations in which I worked out my think-
ing about the Samuel stories. I dedicate this book to my teachers and to my stu-
dents, who perpetually refresh my vision of the Bible.