Studies in the Language and Historiography of 2 Samuel
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The Pennsylvania State University The Graduate School College of the Liberal Arts STUDIES IN THE LANGUAGE AND HISTORIOGRAPHY OF 2 SAMUEL A Dissertation in History by Margaret E. Cohen Copyright 2013 Margaret E. Cohen Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy August 2013 The dissertation of Margaret E. Cohen has been reviewed and approved* by the following: Baruch Halpern Chaiken Family Chair in Jewish Studies Professor of Ancient History, Classics, and Ancient Mediterranean Studies, and Religious Studies Dissertation Adviser Chair of Committee Gary Knoppers Edwin Erle Sparks Professor of Classics and Ancient Mediterranean Studies, Religious Studies, and Jewish Studies Donald B. Redford Professor of Classics and Ancient Mediterranean Studies and History Aaron Rubin Director, Jewish Studies Program Associate Professor of Jewish Studies, Classics and Ancient Mediterranean Studies, and Linguistics David Atwill Director of Graduate Studies in History Associate Professor of History and Asian Studies Michael Kulikowski Head, Department of History Professor of History and Classics and Ancient Mediterranean Studies *Signatures are on file in the Graduate School. ii ABSTRACT The following work is a collection of six essays each of which began as an investigation into the language of 2 Samuel. Out of the broad examination of the language of the book, certain lexical, grammatical and syntactical elements stood out, not only for their particular linguistic nature or function, but because the language choices they represent speak to larger thematic, narrative and historiographical concerns. While the following essays cannot comprehensively describe the language of 2 Samuel, they each make some statement about the method, intention and context of the book’s composition. In each case study, something unusual about the text—a rare lexeme, an unexpected grammatical feature—serves as a basis for further analysis. These textual “irritants” can seem insignificant alone. But each of the following studies demonstrates that these small details are all part of a larger intricate structure of the language of 2 Samuel. The results of the analyses in two of the studies have implications for how we understand the creation and function of the final chapters of 2 Samuel, the so-called “appendix” or “miscellany”. Four other studies use grammatical and lexical elements to address issues of David’s character and the choices made by the author in creating his story of David. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES v LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ix CHAPTER 1: THE COMPOSITION OF 2 SAMUEL 1-36 IN 2 SAM 21 37-46 אלּה CHAPTER 2: THE RARE USE OF AS EDITORIAL MARKER IN 2 SAMUEL 47-76 אלּה :CHAPTER 3 CHAPTER 4: THE NATURE OF THE SO-CALLED “APPENDIX” (2 SAM 21-24) AND ITS RELATIONSHIP TO THE BOOK OF NUMBERS 77-110 (?) PROTECTS תקע CHAPTER 5: ONE LITTLE INDIAN: HOW THE ROOT DAVID’S REPUTATION 111-127 CHAPTER 6: ANOTHER LITTLE INDIAN: HOW A VOLITIVE VERB PROTECTS (?) 128-131 DAVID’S REPUTATION CHAPTER 7: COMMAND STYLE FIT FOR A KING 132-154 CHAPTER 8: CONCLUSIONS 155-162 BIBLIOGRAPHY 163-179 iv LIST OF TABLES TABLE 1. ELEMENTS IN THE TWO PHILISTINES TALES OF 2 SAM 5 54 TABLE 2. ELEMENTS IN THE FOUR PHILISTINE TALES OF 2 SAM 21 56 TABLE 3. WARRIOR TALES FROM 2 SAM 23:8-22 63 TABLE 4. SCHEMATIC NARRATIVE STRUCTURE OF OCCURRENCES OF IN 2 SAMUEL 68-69 אלּה UNMARKED TABLE 5. PARALLEL ELEMENTS IN “APPENDIX” NARRATIVES AND NUM 11 91 BLOWING AN AEROPHONE 114 :תקע .TABLE 6 PLEDGING HAND GESTURE 115 :תקע .TABLE 7 STAKING A TENT 116 :תקע .TABLE 8 PENETRATING, AFFIXING 116-117 :תקע .TABLE 9 TABLE 10. VERBAL LEVEL STRUCTURE IN 2 SAM 13:10-17 135 v LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS 4QSAMa,b,c FOR QUMRAN SCROLL MATERIAL, SEE F.M. CROSS, D. W. PARRY, R.J. SALEY AND E. ULRICH, QUMRAN CAVE 4 – XII, 1-2 SAMUEL. DISCOVERIES IN THE JUDAEAN DESERT SERIES, XVII; OXFORD: CLARENDON, 2005. 1QSAM FOR QUMRAN SCROLL MATERIAL, SEE D. BARTHÉLEMY, O.P. AND J.T.MILIK, QUMRAN CAVE I. DISCOVERIES IN THE JUDAEAN DESERT SERIES I; OXFORD: CLARENDON, 1955. AB ANCHOR BIBLE AIAR W.F. ALBRIGHT INSTITUTE OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCH AnBib ANALECTA BIBLICA AOS AMERICAN ORIENTAL SERIES ASOR AMERICAN SCHOOLS OF ORIENTAL RESEARCH BA BIBLICAL ARCHAEOLOGIST BASOR BULLETIN OF THE AMERICAN SCHOOLS OF ORIENTAL RESEARCH BETL BIBLIOTHECA EPHEMERIDUM THEOLOGICARUM LOVANIENSIUM BSOAS BULLETIN OF THE SCHOOL OF ORIENTAL AND AFRICAN STUDIES BDB THE BROWN-DRIVER-BRIGGS HEBREW AND ENGLISH LEXICON B-L HANS BAUER AND PONTUS LEANDER, HISTORISCHE GRAMATIK DER HEBRÄISCHEN SPRACHE DES ALTEN TESTAMENTES Bib BIBLICA BIBOR BIBLICA ET ORIENTALIA BGr CARL BROCKELMANN, GRUNDRISS DER VERGLEICHENDEN GRAMMATIK DER SEMITISCHEN SPRACHEN BR BIBLE REVIEW BTB BIBLICAL THEOLOGY BULLETIN BWAT BEITRÄGE ZUR WISSENSCHAFT VOM ALTEN TESTAMENT BZAW BEIHEFTE ZUR ZEITSCHRIFT FÜR DIE ALTTESTAMENTLICHE WISSENSCHAFT BZABR BEIHEFTE ZUR ZEITSCHRIFT FÜR ALTORIENTALISCHE UND BIBLISCHE RECHTSGESCHICHTE CBQ CATHOLIC BIBLICAL QUARTERLY CBQMS CATHOLIC BIBLICAL QUARTERLY MONOGRAPH SERIES vi CJT CANADIAN JOURNAL OF THEOLOGY ConBOT CONIECTANEA BIBLICA OLD TESTAMENT CQR CHURCH QUARTERLY REVIEW EBib ETUDES BIBLIQUES FAT FORSCHUNGEN ZUM ALTEN TESTAMENT FOTL THE FORMS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT LITERATURE FRLANT FORSCHUNGEN ZUR RELIGION UND LITERATUR DES ALTEN UND NEUEN TESTAMENTS G-K WILHELM GESENIUS, EMIL KAUTZSCH, ARTHUR ERNEST COWLEY, HEBREW GRAMMAR HALOT THE HEBREW AND ARAMAIC LEXICON OF THE OLD TESTAMENT HB HEBREW BIBLE HS HEBREW STUDIES HSM HARVARD SEMITIC MONOGRAPHS HSS HARVARD SEMITIC STUDIES IBC INTERPRETATION: A BIBLE COMMENTARY FOR TEACHING AND PREACHING IES ISRAEL EXPLORATION SOCIETY ITL INTERNATIONAL THEOLOGICAL LIBRARY J-M PAUL JOÜON AND T. MURAOKA, A GRAMMAR OF BIBLICAL HEBREW JBL JOURNAL OF BIBLICAL LITERATURE JBQ JEWISH BIBLE QUARTERLY JNES JOURNAL OF NEAR EASTERN STUDIES JSOTSup JOURNAL FOR THE STUDY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT SUPPLEMENT SERIES JSS JOURNAL OF SEMITIC STUDIES KAT KOMMENTAR ZUM ALTEN TESTAMENT KeH KURZGEFASSTES EXEGETISCHES HANDBUCH ZUM ALTEN TESTAMENT KHC KURZER HAND-COMMENTAR ZUM ALTEN TESTAMENT LHBOTS LIBRARY OF HEBREW BIBLE/OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES (FORMERLY JSOTSUP) LXX SEPTUAGINT (CITED FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT IN GREEK, ED. A.E. BROOKE, N. MCLEAN, AND H.J. THACKERAY. VOL. II CAMBRIDGE: CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS, 1927.) vii MT MASORETIC TEXT (CITED FROM BIBLIA HEBRAICA STUTTGARTENSIA, ED. K. ELLIGER AND W. RUDOLPH. STUTTGART: DEUTSCHE BIBELGESELLSCHAFT, 1967-77). NCB NEW CENTURY BIBLE NTG NEUE THEOLOGISCHE GRUNDRISSE OLA ORIENTALIA LOVANIENSIA ANALECTA OTL OLD TESTAMENT LIBRARY RB REVUE BIBLIQUE SAT DIE SCHRIFTEN DES ALTEN TESTAMENTS SBL SOCIETY OF BIBLICAL LITERATURE SBLDS SOCIETY OF BIBLICAL LITERATURE DISSERTATION SERIES SBOT THE SACRED BOOKS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT SBT STUDIES IN BIBLICAL THEOLOGY SHCANE STUDIES IN THE HISTORY AND CULTURE OF THE ANCIENT NEAR EAST SOTSMS SOCIETY FOR OLD TESTAMENT STUDY MONOGRAPHS SSN STUDIA SEMITICA NEERLANDICA SubBi SUBSIDIA BIBLICA SWBA SOCIAL WORLD OF BIBLICAL ANTIQUITY TB THEOLOGISCHE BÜCHEREI: NEUDRUCKE UND BERICHTE AUS DEM 20. JAHRHUNDERT TDOT THEOLOGICAL DICTIONARY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT ThSt THEOLOGISHE STUDIËN UF Ugarit-Forschungen VT VETUS TESTAMENTUM VTSup SUPPLEMENTS TO VETUS TESTAMENTUM W-C B. WALTKE AND M. O’CONNOR, AN INTRODUCTION TO BIBLICAL HEBREW SYNTAX WZ WISSENSCHAFLICHE ZEITSCHRIFT ZAW ZEITSCHRIFT FÜR DIE ALTTESTAMENTLICHE WISSENSCHAFT viii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Because of the realities of life, this project is far too long in coming. I am happy though, in the end, to thank those who not only helped me in matters of academic substance, but also allowed me the time to get to this point. I wish to thank the (then) National Foundation for Jewish Culture (now, Foundation for Jewish Culture) for awarding me a dissertation writing fellowship, Dean Selzer of PSU for additional support from the College of Liberal Arts, and various monies and teaching opportunities from the department of Classics and Ancient Mediterranean Studies and the Jewish Studies Program at Penn State. For the support of Jewish Studies, I am especially indebted to Brian Hesse, z’’l, and miss him very much. I thank my committee members for being extremely patient and kind. I am grateful for instruction from Don Redford and Aaron Rubin over many years of coursework, fieldwork and teaching. Gary Knoppers was especially instrumental in encouraging me to rethink the structure of this project and to finish it. Finally, I thank B for being my teacher. Much of my time in the last several years has been spent abroad, and a good deal of it at the AIAR in Jerusalem. Thanks are owed to Sy Gitin and the staff there for always welcoming us. I also am grateful for the hospitality and kindness of Father Jerome Murphy-O’Connor and Father Justin Taylor of the École biblique. David Atwill, in his current capacity as the Director of Graduate Studies in the History Department, also deserves special praise. I am pleased to submit this dissertation on his watch. Lastly, I thank Matt for listening to many years of dissertation talk and only rarely complaining. ix Chapter 1: The Composition of 2 Samuel Introduction The books of Samuel contain the story of David, from his idyllic youth and his stormy rise to power to his celebrated reign as king over all Israel. In telling the story of David, and Saul, and to some extent Solomon, the Samuel tradition provides a critical piece of Israel’s foundation narrative. The account of King David, in particular, cannot be separated from what would become the national identity