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The biblical story of King David and his conflict with King Saul (1 and 2 Samuel) is one of the most colorful and perennially popular in the Hebrew Bible. In recent years, this story has attracted a great deal of scholarly attention, much of it devoted to showing that David was a far less heroic character than appears on the surface. Indeed, more than one has painted David as a despicable tyrant. Paul Borgman provides a counter-reading to these studies, through an attentive reading of the narrative patterns of the text. He focuses on one of the key features of ancient Hebrew narrative poetics -- repeated patterns -- taking special note of even the small variations each time a pattern recurs....
Integrity is often discussed, challenged, occasionally vindicated; but what does it look like? Sometimes the best highlight of the diamond is the velvet against which it is cast. Likewise, narrative artistry subtly depicts flaws in character and flaws in leadership. When some ancients moved from insignificant provincials to emperors in a generation, why did those of the United Monarchy of Israel only achieved the "mini-empire" (Kitchen) and varying degrees of regional influence? Dr. Vreeland maintains that how leaders respond to God's rules of engagement and how they treat people make the difference between greatness and mediocrity. Lest this book be confused with a commentary, it must be sa...
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Cephas Tushima provides a comprehensive analysis of the fate of Saul's heirs, focussing on whether their tragedies were due to continuing divine retribution, coincidence, or Davidic orchestration. He concludes that David was unjust and calculating in his dealings with the Saulides and, like other Near Eastern usurpers, perpetrated heinous injustices against the vanquished house of Saul. Traditionally readers saw Saul as evil and David as a hero; but more recently scholars have written about Saul as a tragic character and David as a villain, turning the book of Samuel into deeply contested interpretive territory. Tushima provides analysis of the critical literature surrounding this contentiou...
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