Jonathan H. Walton, «A King Like The Nations: 1 Samuel 8 in Its Cultural Context.» biblica, Vol. 96 (2015) 179-200 page 198

Vol 96 (2015)

Jonathan H. Walton, «A King Like The Nations: 1 Samuel 8 in Its Cultural Context.», Vol. 96 (2015) 179-200

Commentators on 1 Samuel 8 offer a variety of interpretations about what the requested king is expected to replace: judgeship, YHWH himself, or Israel's covenant identity. This article demonstrates that none of these proposals account for the Biblical text adequately. It is proposed instead that the king is intended to replace the Ark of the Covenant. The king will then manipulate YHWH into leading in battle. This is what ancient Near Eastern kings were able to do with their gods, and what the ark failed to do in 1 Samuel 4.

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02_Walton_179_200_179_200 10/07/15 11:58 Pagina 198 198 JONATHAN H. WALTON 198 occurrence. YHWH refuses to be treated like an ordinary ancient Near Eastern god. The other issue is divine dependence. Because the gods have needs, the kings can actually bribe the gods and thereby gain their support: Ashurnasirpal […] whose deeds and offerings the great gods of heaven and underworld love and (therefore) […] granted to his dominion their fierce weapons 84. Because of my voluntary offerings and my prayers to the goddess Ishtar, the mistress who loves my priesthood, approved of me and she made up her mind to make war and battle 85. Unlike the indications of license granted in response to piety, these lines indicate that the deeds/offerings/prayers were given specifically to ensure military support. Sometimes they are not even subtle about it: Because I […] quickly completed the pure temple, the exalted shrine, for the abode of the gods Anu and Adad, the great gods, my lords, and [thereby] pleased their great divinity […] may they sub- due under me all enemy lands, rebellious mountain regions, and rulers hostile to me 86. This king wastes no words in reminding the gods that they owe him, and that he expects them to deliver. But sometimes the king does not even have to deliver before demanding; a “king like the nations” can hold out promises like a carrot on a stick. As Cartledge observes concerning a selection of royal vows, “these readings un- derscore the conditional nature of the vow; a promise had been made earlier and was later fulfilled because the deity had heard Bar- Hadad’s request” 87. In one instance, we even observe the deity complaining that the king has neglected his part of the bargain: The word of Ishtar to Esarhaddon, king of Assyria […] did I not vanquish your enemy? […] what have you given me? There is no 84 Ashurnasirpal II A.0.101.1 24-26, in GRAYSON, Assyrian Rulers, 195. 85 Ashurnasirpal II A.0.101.1 37-38, in GRAYSON, Assyrian Rulers, 196. 86 Tiglath-Pileser 1 A.0.87, in GRAYSON, Assyrian Rulers, 29. 87 T.W. CARTLEDGE, Vows in the Hebrew Bible and the Ancient Near East (JSOTSS 147; Sheffield 1992) 127.