The fight between David and Goliath: An historical and theological analysis of 1 Samuel, chapter 17. Part I
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31802/2500-1450/2017-28-1-17-42Keywords:
historicity of the Bible, biblical theology, Old Testament, Ancient Israel, Ancient Greece, Hittites, Philistines, Egyptians, Assyrians, David, Saul, Goliath, armament of soldiers in the ancient world, Homer, Ancient Greek epic, IliadAbstract
This study is devoted to the problems associated with the story of the duel between David and Goliath in chapter 17 of the First Book of Kings (1 Samuel). It was a response to the allegations that this biblical narrative is historically unreliable and is nothing more than a legend. In the first part of the paper, three main views on the degree of the historical certainty of the biblical Goliath are considered. Modern archaeologists see in his description the image of: 1) a Mycenaean warrior of the end of the II millennium BC, 2) Ancient Greek hoplite mid - I millennium BC or 3) the charismatic warrior of Philistia. The question of when the stories about David were written in the First Book of Kings, which includes the narrative of the duel, is investigated. The A. concludes that they were written in Jerusalem at the end of the VIII century BC. Along with this, it is proven that they are based on historically reliable information about the realities of the XI-X centuries BC. The processes of composing the Homeric epic and Deuteronomistic history are compared. In both cases, oral traditions of the distant past were preserved and transmitted throughout the centuries until their written fixation in literary works. Despite the fact that over time, many changes have been made in the oral and written stories, the authenticity of the most important details of the epoch described is confirmed by ancient written sources and archeological data.
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