Tuesday, June 15, 2010

On Davidic Just War Theory

The Philistine said to David, "Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?" And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. The Philistine also said to David, "Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the sky and the beasts of the field." David said to the Philistine,
"You come to me with a sword, a spear, and a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have taunted. This day the LORD will deliver you up into my hands, and I will strike you down and remove your head from you. And I will give the dead bodies of the army of the Philistines this day to the birds of the sky and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, and that all this assembly may know that LORD does not deliver by sword or by spear; for the battle is the LORD's and He will give you into our hands."
- 1Samuel 17:43-47

2 comments:

Midnight Six said...

Mark,

See my dissertation (chapter two) on the idea of Hebrew warfare as political propaganda. It followed the Assyrian model almost to the letter.

Midnight Six said...

Title would help: A Narratological Discourse Analysis of Selected Assyrian and Hebrew Conquest Accounts. 2003. In press.