David, Once and Future King? A Closer Look at the Postscript of Psalm 72.20

How did scribes understand Psalm 72.20, ‘Ended are the prayers of David, son of Jesse’, in view of subsequent Davidic psalms in the MT Psalter? After appraising the major proposals and examining its earliest reception (MT pointing, DSS parallels, and early Jewish and patristic evidence), this paper argues that the oft-overlooked genealogical qualifier ‘ben Jesse’ indicates a primary focus on ‘historical’ David in Books 1–2, whereas Books 3–5 primarily have future or eschatological ‘David’/Davidic monarchy in view. This synchronic account of 72.20’s meaning in the Psalter honours its plainest sense and explains its editorial retention/reuse, yet leaves room for diachronic theories about its origins. It also accounts for evidence other theories do not, especially Psalm 86’s identification as a ‘prayer (תפלה‎) of David’ and the Psalms’ predominant association of תפלה‎ with David. Further implications for ‘psalmic voice’ and David’s significance as YHWH’s praying servant in the Psalter are then explored.

The Politics of Worship

Cases of politically oriented rituals used to maintain the kingdom of Judah and its successor societies are surveyed from the beginning of the Davidic monarchy through to the Hasmonaean era. Preference is given to the concept of “national religion” instead of “official” or “state religion” to describe attempts to centralize worship on Jerusalem during this period. Challenges were posed to these efforts by Judah’s internal religious pluralism. Social configurations at the family and local levels were maintained by forms of worship not always amenable to subordination to centralized authority. After a general discussion of the concept of political rituals, interactions between the impulse towards a national religion and forms of family and local cultic practices are described. The ideology of kingship (especially in the royal psalms), and the politics of sacrifice in the post-exilic era receive particular attention.

Rut 4:18�22: �n Venster na Israel se verlede?

Ruth 4:18�22: A window to Israel�s past. The genealogy at the end of the Book of Ruth starts with Perez and ends with David, thereby covering Israel�s history since the time of the sojourn in Egypt to the Davidic monarchy. This article focuses on Ruth 4:18�22 and what its genealogy may reveal. After a brief review of different types of genealogies in the Hebrew Bible, the problematic dating of the Book of Ruth becomes secondary; however, a particular perspective will determine the rest of the interpretation of the genealogy. My point of view in this article is that the Book of Ruth dates back to the period of the Second Temple. I examine the following issues: the connection between Ruth 4:18�22 and 1 Chronicles 2:4�15, as David�s genealogy appears only in these two passages of the Hebrew Bible; the connection between the ten-member genealogy in the Book of Ruth and similar ten-member genealogies of Genesis; and whether Ruth 4:18�22 is a later addendum to the text or part of the original. The conclusion to these questions is that the genealogy of the Book of Ruth is similar to those in Genesis, and that it was part of the original book. The median of the genealogy of the Book of Ruth takes place in the desert with Nahshon as the representative of that era. Nahshon�s sister happens to be married to Aaron whose priesthood is elevated above the rest of the tribe of Levi, and to whose descendants eternal priesthood is promised. Phinehas, his grandson, appears to be extremely intolerant of mixed marriages � an attitude which is later sustained byhis descendant, Ezra, the scribe. The article also touches briefly upon the whole problem of mixed marriages and a sense of identity during the Second Temple period. The conclusion is that the author of the Book of Ruth was written by members of the scholarly circles of this period in opposition to exclusivist circles as to remind the community of the important role that women � especially foreign women � played in the formative history of the nation.

Conversation in the Succession Narrative of Solomon

Reading 1 Kings 1-2, the account of the succession of Solomon, one is left with a strange impression. On the one hand, in its current telling and context it clearly seeks to offer a favourable account of the process. On the other hand, one just has to scratch the surface of this story to see an underlying and less favourable account. The paper notes the importance role that private conversations play in the story to argue that an earlier telling of the story was largely fabricated by a party opposed to the Davidic monarchy and Solomon in particular. According to this telling, a cloud stood over Solomon’s legitimacy; David was hoodwinked by Nathan and Bathsheba into believing that he had made an earlier promise that Solomon would succeed; Solomon came to the throne by means of a palace coup; Abishag was not David’s concubine and Adonijah’s request for her was quite innocent; however, his approach and private conversation with Bathsheba was manipulated by Solomon and his supporters to remove significant personal opponents.

Ephraim and Treachery, Loyalty and (the House of) David: The Meaning of a Structural Parallel in Psalm 78

The parallel between the first and last units (vv. 1-8, 68-72) of the concentric structure that Zakovitch discovered in Psalm 78 is interpreted differently than he does: we should not infer from the first unit that David's election, mentioned in the last unit, is conditional. Rather, in light of language common to both two units [vv. 5, 71], the parallel actually involves the Lord's two gifts to Israel: the Torah and the Davidic kingdom. That is, here David is an object. The emphasis that Ephraim violates the Torah is significant, because that tribe constituted the opposition and alternative to the House of David. It is possible that through the parallel with the first unit the last unit suggests the duty of loyalty to the Lord's second gift—the Davidic monarchy. Similar ideas can be found in 2 Chronicles xiii 5-11 and xxx 7-8.

Theological Politics and the Davidic Monarchy: Three Examples of Theological Exegesis

Karl Barth, Oliver O'Donovan, and Walter Brueggemann explicitly link their constructive political projects to extensive Scriptural exegesis. I will investigate their different readings of the Davidic monarchy within the life of Israel as a means by which to exposit and critique their respective accounts of centralized governmental authority. Along the way, three important judgments will be suggested from their theological exegesis for the task of theological politics: the analogical subordination of human government to divine judgment, an encouragement of prophetic counter-politics to ward off imperial idolatry, and affirmation of a positive creaturely witness to divine action.