Jonathan Y. Rowe Phd Thesis
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MICHAL, CONTRADICTING VALUES UNDERSTANDING THE MORAL DILEMMA FACED BY SAUL'S DAUGHTER Jonathan Y. Rowe A Thesis Submitted for the Degree of PhD at the University of St Andrews 2009 Full metadata for this item is available in Research@StAndrews:FullText at: http://research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk/ Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/10023/639 This item is protected by original copyright Michal, Contradicting Values Understanding the Moral Dilemma Faced by Saul’s Daughter A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Divinity in candidacy for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy by Jonathan Y. Rowe September 2008 St Mary’s College The University of St Andrews ABSTRACT Value conflicts due to cultural differences are an increasingly pressing issue in many societies. Because Old Testament texts hail from a very different milieu to our own they may provide new perspectives upon contemporary conflicts and, in this context, the present dissertation investigates one particular value clash in 1 Samuel. Studies of Old Testament ethics have attended to narrative only relatively recently. Although social-scientific interpretation has a longer pedigree, there are important debates about how to employ the fruits of anthropology in biblical studies. The first part of this thesis, therefore, attends to methodological issues, advancing four main propositions. First, attention should be paid to the moral goods that feature in the text. Second, the family, a central feature of Old Testament morality, should be understood as a set of practices rather than an institution. Third, ‘models’ of social action that purport to comprehend the social world of the Bible should be used only cautiously. Finally, a modified version of Bakhtin’s theory of heteroglossic voices can help readers appreciate how authors present a moral vision by approving some characters’ actions whilst undermining others. The second part of the thesis employs this methodology to examine 1 Samuel 19.10–18a. The discussion of the moral dilemma facing Michal adduces anthropological theories and ethnographic data concerning violence, lying, and the relationship between fathers and daughters. Given that the conflicts of moral goods are ‘resolved’ by characters choosing to act in a certain way, the dissertation enquires after the author’s assessment of each character’s moral choices, and hence their theological import. The dissertation argues that Michal’s loyalty to David and deception of Saul was counter- cultural, and by approving of her choice the author affirms the importance of loyalty to the Davidic dynasty. i DECLARATIONS I, Jonathan Rowe, hereby certify that this thesis, which is approximately 80,000 words in length, has been written by me, that it is a record of work carried out by me and that it has not been submitted in any previous application for a higher degree. I was admitted as a research student in September 2004 and as a candidate for the degree of Ph.D. in May 2006; the higher study for which this is a record was carried out in the University of St Andrews between 2004 and 2008. .............................................................. Signature of Candidate .............................................................. Date I hereby certify that the candidate has fulfilled the conditions of the Resolution and Regulations appropriate for the degree of Ph.D. in the University of St Andrews and that the candidate is qualified to submit this thesis in application for that degree. .............................................................. Signature of Supervisor .............................................................. Date In submitting this thesis to the University of St Andrews I understand that I am giving permission for it to be made available for use in accordance with the regulations of the University Library for the time being in force, subject to any copyright vested in the work not being affected thereby. I also understand that the title and abstract will be published, and that a copy of the work may be made and supplied to any bona fide library or research worker, that my thesis will be electronically accessible for personal or research use unless exempt by award of an embargo as requested below, and that the library has the right to migrate my thesis into new electronic forms as required to ensure continued access to the thesis. I have obtained any third-party copyright permissions that may be required in order to allow such access and migration, or have requested the appropriate embargo below. The following is an agreed request by candidate and supervisor regarding the electronic publication of this thesis: ii Access to all or part of a printed copy but embargo of all or part of electronic publication of thesis for a period of 3 years on the following ground: publication would preclude future publication. .............................................................. Signature of Candidate .............................................................. Signature of Supervisor .............................................................. Date REPRINT PERMISSIONS Pierre Bourdieu, Outline of a Theory of Practice (Cambridge: CUP, 1979), figure on page 80. © Librairie Droz S A. Reproduced with permission from Cambridge University Press. Robin Fox, Kinship and Marriage (London: Penguin, 1967), figure on page 236. © Robin Fox. Permission sought from author. Kathey-Lee Galvin, “Schneider Revisited: Sharing and Ratification in the Construction of Kinship,” in New Directions in Anthropological Kinship (Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2001), 109–24, figure on page 119. © Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. Reproduced with permission from Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group. Simon Harrison, The Mask of War: Violence, Ritual and Self in Melanesia (Manchester / New York: Manchester University Press, 1993), figure on page 20. © Simon Harrison. Reproduced with permission from the author. Gordon J. Wenham, Leviticus (NICOT 3; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1979), figure on page 19. © Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. Reproduced with permission of the publisher. iii DEDICATION Hilary and Elizabeth & Benjamin אָנֹכִי ו ּבֵיתִי נַעֲבֹד אֶת־יְהוָה – Joshua 24.15 iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS My most profound thanks for the support and encouragement that has resulted in this thesis are due to Hilary, one reason she starts this rather than trails these acknowledgments. Our children, Elizabeth and Benjamin, have grown a lot since the start of this adventure; they are no longer bemused by Daddy’s ‘boring books’—ones without pictures. The search for a university willing to allow me to register for Ph.D. studies whilst continuing to work in Spain came to a providential end one summer evening in 2003 on the lawn in front of St Mary’s in conversation with Dr Mario Aguilar. A congenial discussion and excellent dinner led, naturally, to years of hard work, during which the now Professor Aguilar has provided sage advice and guidance that I gladly acknowledge here. I have benefited enormously from joint supervision and it is an equal pleasure warmly to acknowledge Dr Nathan MacDonald’s erudite comments on earlier drafts, probing questions, uncannily timely queries about progress, and his and Claire’s hospitality when I visited St Andrews. I should also like to thank Dr Esther Reed, now of Exeter University, for a helpful conversation about ethics. Whilst researching this thesis part-time I have continued to work at the Seminario Evangélico Unido de Teología in El Escorial, Spain. I would like to acknowledge the support of my colleagues, particularly the Rev. Dr Pedro Zamora, the seminary’s director. In addition, sparring with Sergio Rosell over the use of models in social-scientific interpretation as he laboured on a New Testament thesis was always stimulating. The Rev. Dr Christopher Wright was willing to read and discuss a final draft of the thesis. As always, he was both encouraging and helpful. Doctoral studies cannot be undertaken without financial resources. In this connection I would like to thank my mother, Anne Rowe, and my parents-in-law, Jim and Cynthia Fox, for their generosity over the years. I am very grateful, too, for scholarships from the Kirby Laing Institute for Christian Ethics in 2007/08 and 2008/09, and the opportunity this provided for interaction with other research students whilst visiting Tyndale House. I also acknowledge grants from the St Luke’s College Foundation and the Newby Trust in 2004. v CONTENTS Abstract ..................................................................................................... i Declarations .............................................................................................. ii Reprint Permissions .................................................................................. iii Dedication ................................................................................................. iv Acknowledgments..................................................................................... v Contents .................................................................................................... vi Figures....................................................................................................... viii Abbreviations............................................................................................ ix Introduction............................................................................................. 1 1. Old Testament Morality and Value Conflict .................................