Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.34075/sb.63.3.1
Reconciliation between David and absalom, father and son narrative analysis and evaluation of ioab’s role in 2 sam 13:39 – 14:33
Stipo Kljajić
; Catholic Faculty of Theology in Zagreb
Abstract
The article seeks to shed light on the role of Joab, the longtime commander of David’s army and one of David’s closest men
and at the same time one of the most controversial characters in the Books of Samuel, in the process of Absalom’s return, David’s
son and his potential successor, from exile (in which he found himself after killing his brother Amnon who had raped their sister Tamar and remained unpunished) and in an equally complex process of reconciliation between David and Absalom, father and son, king and future king. As in the entire Succession Narrative (2 Sam 9 – 20; 1 Kings 1 – 2), also in this story (2 Sam 13:39 – 14:33) the relationship between Joab and David is rather complex, indeed ambivalent, so the author, in the first part of the article, analyzes Joab’s role in the narrative (through six phases of narrative analysis: preliminary actions, i.e. delimitation of the narrative and translation problems; verbal forms; time and rhythm; action; narrative techniques; presentation of the characters) and then, in the second part, presents and evaluates Joab’s role in the story, using, in addition to the results of the narrative analysis, other biblical methods and approaches. Finally, in the conclusion, the author briefly presents the results of the analysis of Joab’s role in the narrative, that is, in the story, and these, in short, reveal the decisive role of Joab not only in Absalom’s return from the exile and in the reconciliation with the king, but also in the complex Succession Narrative, since Absalom, David, and also Joab, who had key roles in past events, will also have such roles in the events that follow, closely connected with the first.
Keywords
exile; return from exile; reconciliation; David; Absalom; Joab
Hrčak ID:
313594
URI
Publication date:
1.12.2023.
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