Talk:Obed-Edom

message: How many Obed-Edom's were there? This is the fundamental question which must determine the organization of this article. As the article stands, it seems to claim that there were four. Unfortunately, scholarship is divided as to exactly how many Obed-Edoms are referred to. First a quick run through the relevant passages, then through scholarly opinions on them. We can't, after all, restructure this article around my readings.
We can begin by splitting all the references to Obed-Edom into two parts: 2 Chronicles 25:24 and every other reference. 2 Chronicles 25:24 mentions an "Obed-Edom" during the reign of Jehoash of Israel, that is, a little after 800. All the other mentions point to an Obed-Edom or Obed-Edoms in the reign of David, about two centuries earlier. So let's set aside the 2 Chronicles 25 Obed-Edom.
Of the remaining "Obed-Edom" passages, we have 2 Kings 6, 1 Chronicles 13, 1 Chronicles 15, 1 Chronicles 16, 1 Chronicles 26. 2 Kings 6 and 1 Chronicles 13 present clear repetitions of a single story, in which the Ark is captured by Philistines, causes mayhem, and then is stored, with better results, in the house of Obed-Edom, "the Gittite" as he is called in both chapters. 
1 Chronicles 15:25 mentions the ark being brought "from the house of Obed-Edom" but in this case does not mention the word "Gittite". The rest of chapter 15 uses the name "Obed-Edom" (verses 18, 21, 24) to describe a musician and gatekeeper and Levite. This is where things get sticky. Put a pin in this and I'll get back to it.
1 Chronicles 16 continues the narrative from 15, with the Ark now being brought toward Jerusalem. Here the name Obed-Edom appears (without "Gittite") for a Levite ministering and worshipping before the Ark (verse 5). David leaves the ark in the care of Obed-Edom and relatives (verse 38), with Obed-Edom son of Jeduthun (this is the first mention of Jeduthun in connection with the name Obed-Edom) and another fellow to serve as gatekeepers of the Ark (also verse 38). 
1 Chronicles 26 discusses the various assignments of gatekeeping jobs in the time of David, and Obed-Edom and sons appear (verses 4 and 8). Then lots are cast for job assignments, gatekeeping in various places, and Obed-Edom is assigned "the south" and his sons are assigned "the storehouse" (verse 15).
That's it. The tour is complete.
Here's the issue. Scholars generally, but not always (see ) take the term "Gittite" and implying that "Obed-Edom the Gittite" was a Philistine, as Gath was a Philistine city as in e.g. the story of Goliath, and it is the city of the Philistine king Achish with whom David stays and allies himself with. If we follow most scholars in taking "Gittite" as referring to a Philistine (rather than, say, an Israelite living in Gath) then Obed-Edom is a foreigner. This, in turn, would make it hard to square this Obed-Edom as the same person described as a Levite, and therefore an Israelite.
The opinion expressed here  is that the Book of Chronicles "transformed" the figure of Obed-Edom the Gittite into a Levite. Another opinion, mentioned in the footnotes, is that two or three Obed-Edoms appear here. Yet another, mentioned in the footnotes, is that "the Gittite" only implies that Obed-Edom had resided in Gath, without implying that he was a Philistine. I intend to tabulate a variety of opinions to see if I can get an idea about whether any one opinion is clearly dominant in scholarship. Alephb (talk) 16:14, 9 July 2017 (UTC)
thread_title:  How many Obed-Edoms? A Long-Winded Prologue. 

message: I've made edits in line with what I wrote above, presenting the biblical details first and only later dealing with with the scholarship. I'm slightly disappointed with how long the biblical section turned out, but I'm not sure I could rewrite it without pre-judging the issues, and given the cloudiness in scholarship I didn't want to do that until after presenting the biblical data. If anyone wants to improve further, it might be worthwhile to hunt down one of the scholars who represent a minority position, that there were two or more Obed-edoms. Alephb (talk) 08:06, 11 July 2017 (UTC)
thread_title:  Edits Made