A Cultural Study of the David and Jonathan Relationship through the Ritual in 1 Samuel 18:1-5.

Abstract

This thesis introduces a cultural hermeneutic for the study of the David and Jonathan relationship as found in the 1 Samuel 18:1-5 ritual. Its goal is to encourage biblical scholars and theologians to augment the use of exegetical tools in analyzing biblical matter with methods from social anthropology and the social sciences. This will offer a third alternative interpretation of the heroes’ relationship apart from late modern tendencies to engage in either a strict pro-homosexual reading or anti-homosexual rendering of the David-Jonathan narratives. This Ph.D. dissertation sets anthropological gift theory and material from selected comparative ethnography alongside the influence of the alleged Deuteronomistic Historian in an analysis of the socio-political transition of Premonarchical Israel to statehood to propose a textual and socially contextual bond of new male-male intimacy between David and Jonathan now classified as a warriors’ brotherhood. Other key theological and social scientific areas explored are the Yahweh Religion, both chapter 'nineteen narratives' in the Books of Genesis and Judges, the term ‘loyal love’ (in Hebrew, hesed), the Holiness Code and pollution theory, ritualized kinship and identity, patriliny (in which a child acquires social status from its father) and power, and domestic groups.