The Unfavored: Judah and Saul in the Narratives of Genesis and 1 Samuel

Abstract

In this dissertation I focus on the fate of the unfavored within Israel: Judah in the Joseph cycle (Genesis 37-50), and Saul in the episode depicting his brief reign (1 Samuel 13-15). These two narratives contain segments that have long puzzled their readers: chapters 38 and 49 of Genesis, and the account of Saul’s first rejection in 1 Samuel 13:7b-15a seem awkward in their literary context. The bulk of my thesis consists of a thought experiment. I attempt to read these stories of Israel’s election first without and then with these intrusive segments, in order to see what the outcome might mean both in terms of hermeneutics and the notion of election.