Narrative Devices: The Necessary Failures of King Saul in the Old Testament.

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Chirinos

 Elvis Chirinos Jr

Professor Edson

Lit 46

5 Nov, 2012

Midterm Research Essay

Narrative Strategies: The Necessary Failures of King Saul

        King Saul is a complicated and tragic figure in the Old Testament. A new reader of the book of Samuel could misconstrue the fate of King Saul as unwarranted; an unfair and harsh punishment to an admittedly, human liability. Worse yet, it’s even easier to approach the story with a sense falsified altruism from Samuel or even God himself; that The failure of King Saul was a preordained personal “lesson” for Samuel’s callous use of the word “seer” or to the people of Israel, to whom God’s will is fastidiously influenced and changed to accommodate the desires of its citizens. However, there is much evidence that these are not the case, nor the reason for the inclusion of King Saul, whose reign is covered in great detail, in the over-arching narrative from Judges through 2 Samuel; Saul’s failures were a necessary narrative device to diffuse the tension and gradual (if not hostile) transition from a sacred theocracy to a sacred monarchy.

        To demonstrate that King Saul was a necessary narrative device we first have to state and define what a narrative device actually is, and how it relates to the overarch. “This term [narrative device] describes the tool of the story teller (also used in non-fiction), such as ordering events such that they build to a climactic moment or a withholding of information until a crucial or appropriate moment when revealing it creates a desired effect.” (Hernandez, 1) This notion connects Saul to the literary text as a narrative device. The narrator of 1 and 2 Samuel could have just as easily skipped or belittled Saul’s arc to exonerate God’s selection of King, or even merely mention the laconic information of David’s arc to further emphasize the virtues of a Great King, for example; David did A, but more importantly he did not do B. The narrator, however, includes Saul as a major narrative component for the transition of Judge to King, his characterization being the driving force of the narrative progression and leading directly to the finale of his eventual failure and the successful reign of David. This provides evidence that the lessons of the Saul arc were not only meant to be didactic, but also to be taken seriously in the impending texts.

        To start things off, Samuel is the last Judge of Israel. A Judge is a hybrid between a prophet and leader of the small city state, and was a position that was held by many before him. The position came with sanctioned glory and admiration, as the history of Israel normally had a Judge save them from an impending threat and was followed by a time of prosperity. Nevertheless, at the closing of the Book of Judges, the text reads, “[…] in those days there was no king in Israel; everyman does that which was right in his own eyes.” (Judges 21:16-23) setting the narrative basis for which the citizens request a king, despite Samuel already being a fully competent, experienced leader. This left a contentious Samuel with the task of asking God to anoint a new king, one that would essentially replace him. Now, it was well within the power of God, or even Samuel for that matter, to reject the people’s requests or even become a self anointed king; however, the text takes a turn involving the children of Samuel, claiming that his sons, “[…] did not walk in [Samuel’s] ways, and they turned after gain, and they took bribes and perverted justice” (1 Samuel 8:3). Thus the nation could not receive Samuel as its first king on the grounds that his own bloodline was already publicly corrupt, and Samuel himself was too old (1 Samuel 8:4-5).

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Samuel was upset at the request of the people. God, however, reassured Samuel telling him, “They have not rejected you, but rejected me from reigning over them” (1 Samuel 8:7). There is still tension and hesitation from Samuel who tells the people that with a king comes new problems, and he lists them in (1 Samuel 8:11-18). This is important; here we begin to decipher whether Saul is already destined to fail as Samuel relays the potential pitfalls that a new king will have.  With further critical analysis of the text, however, it seems highly unlikely that God intended for ...

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