02_Walton_179_200_179_200 10/07/15 11:58 Pagina 192 192 JONATHAN H. WALTON 192 shares/endorses Samuel’s sentiment or simply reports Samuel’s re- action, and indeed whether that reaction is motivated by offense on behalf of YHWH 60, offense on behalf of his person (implied by God’s assurance in v. 7), or offense on ideological grounds 61, or perhaps less laudable reasons 62. We are investigating YHWH’s displeasure, not Samuel’s, and it is not clear that their respective reasons are the same. We will therefore examine the other objective offered in v. 20: “to go out before us and fight our battles”. Commentators normally interpret the desire for a military leader as a variant of the “secularism” theme discussed above. Gerbrandt summarizes: “Israel’s request for a king was a rejection of Yahweh in his role as Israel’s defender […]. The deuteronomist affirms kingship, but warns that kingship in Israel cannot be allowed to re- place Yahweh in this crucial area” 63. Klein agrees: “The rejection includes Yahweh’s leadership in war […] the people [want] the king to lead in war; he will fight our — not Yahweh’s — wars” 64. Like- wise Eslinger, “The people prefer […] a human king and their own devices to fight their wars. […] Israel’s request for a king is a de- cision on a national level to take its fate into its own hands” 65. The problem here, as in the previous “secularism” interpretation, is that this does not reflect the ideology of the nations. In the ancient Near East, the place where you most want your deity to be present in full power is on the battlefield. An Assyrian hymn depicts the gods riding before the king into battle: Assur went first, the conflagration of defeat burst out upon the enemy, Enlil was whirling (?) in the midst of the foe, fanning the blaze, Anu set a pitiless mace to the opponent, Sin, the luminary, laid upon them the tension of battle. 60 See for example TSUMURA, Samuel, 250. 61 See for example DIETRICH, Samuel 1, 374-375. 62 POLZIN, Samuel, 83. 63 GERBRANDT, Kingship, 149. 64 KLEIN, Samuel, 78; see also TSUMURA, Samuel, 261. Emphasis original. 65 ESLINGER, Kingship, 280. Emphasis original. See also H. J. BOECKER, Die Beurteilung der Anfänge des Königtums in den deuteronomistischen Ab- schnitten des I. Sammelbuches. Ein Beitrag zum Problem des “Deuterono- mistischen Geschichtswerks” (WMANT; Neukirchen-Vluyn 1969) 34.