Language:
English
Year of publication:
2021
Titel der Quelle:
Journal for the Study of the Old Testament
Angaben zur Quelle:
45,3 (2021) 336-356
Keywords:
Goliath
;
David,
;
Perseus
;
Bible. Criticism, interpretation, etc.
;
Bible Comparative studies
;
Gilgamesh Comparative studies
;
Monsters in the Bible
;
Beheading
Abstract:
A single verse near the conclusion of 1 Samuel 17 mentions that after defeating Goliath, David took the giant’s severed head to Jerusalem (1 Sam. 17.54). The present paper argues that this text’s communicating of David’s preeminence through his act of decapitation draws on the widespread understanding of heads as uniquely powerful and vulnerable, while triumph over a giant or monstrous body casts the future Israelite king as uniquely dominant over monstrous enemies at the physical extreme. Narratives of monster-combat that center an adversary’s head and its subsequent display are widespread; the present paper discusses the Gilgamesh/Ḫumbaba and Perseus/Medusa narratives, with their corresponding visual art manifestations, to show how the biblical allusion to monstrous capital display functions socially and literarily to constitute David’s power.
DOI:
10.1177%2F0309089220950348
URL:
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