Sons or Lovers. An Interpretation of David and Jonathan's Friendship

180 Pages·2012·0.865 MB·English

by  Jonathan Y. Rowe

LIBRARY OF HEBREW BIBLE/
OLD TESTAMENT STUDIES

575

Formerly Journal for the Study of the Old Testament Supplement Series

Editors
Claudia V. Camp, Texas Christian University
Andrew Mein, Westcott House, Cambridge

Founding Editors
David J. A. Clines, Philip R. Davies and David M. Gunn

Editorial Board
Alan Cooper, John Goldingay, Robert P. Gordon,
Norman K. Gottwald, James Harding, John Jarick, Carol Meyers,
Patrick D. Miller, Francesca Stavrakopoulou, Daniel L. Smith-Christopher

SONS OR LOVERS

An Interpretation of David and Jonathan’s
Friendship

Jonathan Y. Rowe

NEW YORK • LONDON • NEW DELHI • SYDNEY
Bloomsbury T&T Clark
An imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

175 Fifth Avenue 50 Bedford Square
New York London
NY 10010 WC1B 3DP
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www.bloomsbury.com

First published 2012

© Jonathan Y. Rowe, 2012

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in
any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying,
recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without prior permission
in writing from the publishers.

No responsibility for loss caused to any individual or organization acting on or
refraining from action as a result of the material in this publication can be
accepted by Bloomsbury Academic or the author.

eISBN: 978-0-5673-0616-6

Typeset by Forthcoming Publications Ltd (www.forthpub.com)
For Mark

CONTENTS

Acknowledgments ix
Abbreviations xi

INTRODUCTION 1

Chapter 1
INTERPRETING DAVID AND JONATHAN 11
1. Hearing Voices: Reading with Mikhail Bakhtin 12
2. Family Practices: Reading with Anthropology 17
3. Interpretative Understanding 27

Chapter 2
“REAL MEN” 32
1. Bravehearts 36
2. Profanity! 43
3. Spearmen 50

Chapter 3
FAMILY FIRST 54
1. “Honour your father and mother” 57
2. Loyalty to Kin 63
3. Understanding David and Saul’s Family Values 70

Chapter 4
FRIENDS FOREVER 77
1. The Loyalty of Love 78
2. Friendship 83
3. Understanding Jonathan’s (Dis)Loyalty 90

Chapter 5
SHAMEFULLY DISGRACED 102
1. “Shall my honour be as shame?” 102
2. “Honour and Shame” 107
3. Understanding Saul’s Accusation 118
viii Contents

Chapter 6
HONOURABLY DISLOYAL 126
1. Keeping Faith 126
2. Sons or Lovers 129

Appendix A:
RELATIVE AGES OF SELECTED CHARACTERS IN 1 SAMUEL 133

Appendix B:
COLLOCATION OF (cid:267)(cid:275)(cid:272)(cid:275)(cid:270) WITH OTHER ELEMENTS
OF OATH FORMULAE 136

Bibliography 137
Index of References 156
Index of Authors 162
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This book explores the biblical story of David and Jonathan’s friendship
in the context of their family relations. The questions I ask about the
narrative arose during many years living away from my native England.
Perhaps this was only natural, for while even a casual reader of the Bible
can echo L. P. Hartley’s quip that “the past is a different country: they do
things differently there,” personal experience of cultural dislocation (and
adaptation) obliges readers to face the issue head on. Living in Uganda,
Pakistan and Spain helped me realize that not only is the Old Testament
a “strange land”—they do things differently, but also that my suppositions
would have been quite foreign to its original recipients. Sons or Lovers,
therefore, attempts to sensitize contemporary readers to these differences.
I do not suppose to “bridge the gap,” as if the dichotomy could be over-
come or collapsed, but instead point to ways in which the ancient texts
might be understood anew: my aim is “interpretative understanding.”
Special thanks are owed to my family for their support and forbear-
ance during the years that it has taken for this book to reach publication.
I am most grateful, also, to readers of various versions of the draft
manuscript who made perceptive comments that have sharpened my
argument considerably: Mario Aguilar, Dennis Byler, Richard Cleaves,
Nathan MacDonald, Chris Wright, and an especially diligent anonymous
reviewer for T&T Clark International. The usual disclaimers apply.
Chapter 1 contains some material, appropriately revised, that was (cid:191)rst
published in my Michal’s Moral Dilemma: A Literary, Anthropological
and Ethical Interpretation (New York: T&T Clark International, 2011).
At other points I have also re-utilized some of my article “Is David
Really David’s ‘Wife’? A Response to Yaron Peleg,” JSOT 34 (2009):
183–93. The table entitled “The Amiable Relations of Kinship and
Friendship” in this book was originally published by Cambridge Uni-
versity Press in Julian Pitt-Rivers, “The Kith and the Kin,” in The
Character of Kinship (ed. J. Goody; Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 1973), 96. I am grateful to the copyright holders for the relevant
permissions.