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King David’s Politics of Reconciling Northern Israel with Southern Judah and His Political Strategy for National Unification

Hae Kwon Kim 1

1숭실대학교

Accredited

ABSTRACT

The purpose of the present article is first to explore King David’s Politics of Reconciling Northern Israel with Southern Judah and His Political Strategy for National Unification through close analysis of 2 Samuel 1-5, and then to argue that David’s rise to power illustrates the Deuteronomistic viewpoint of monarchy. It consistently argues that David’s enthronement over the entire people of Israel was made possible through David’s realpolitical sagacity and faith commitment to the Samuel-mediated oracle saying, “Yahweh God of Israel will make you a shepherd over the entire people of Israel in place of Saul his predecessor”. This was obviously case with David’s realpolitical performances which were designed to bring the broken and self-insecure heart of the northern tribes close to him and to reconcile Judah with Israel through several public show-ups of his heartfelt sympathy with the sorrow and pain of the northerns over the deaths of Saul, Jonathan, and Abner. 2 Samuel 1-5 demonstrates that the God-given oracle regarding the future reign of David over all Israel was substantiated and made real only through diverse human agents’ approval of and commitment to the original Samuel oracle. This characterizes the Deuteronomistic kingship in contrast to other ancient near eastern royal mythologies, whose aim was to provide check and balance for a human king lest he/she fall into the trap of despotism and political autonomy. Thus comes the contract of the elders of Israel with David as a climax to the history of David’s rise to power, which means that David was enthroned as a constitutional monarchy and was bound to rule Israel only under the people of God’s approval of and full assent to his kingship. The present essay concludes that David’s unification of Israel with Judah was achieved only through the elders of Israel’s request for David to be a king over all Israel on the condition that David will remain faithful to the equal and bilateral contract between the two parties.

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