The reformed David(s) and the question of resistance to tyranny
Subtitle: reading the Bible in the 16th and 17th centuries
By: Nevada Levi DeLapp
Contributors: DeLapp, Nevada Levi
Series: Scriptural traces -- 3; Library of Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Studies -- 601; T & T Clark library of biblical studies; Scriptural traces -- 3.; Library of Hebrew Bible/Old Testament studies -- 601.; T & T Clark library of biblical studies
Publisher: Bloomsbury T & T Clark
Published: 2014
Place of publication: London; New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 234
ISBN-13: 9780567655486; 9780567667458; 9780567655493
Copyright date: 2014
Subjects: Despotism; Bible; Homiletical use; Criticism, interpretation; Reformierte Theologie; Rezeption; History of doctrines; Protestant authors; History
Other titles: Reformed David and the question of resistance to tyranny; Reformed Davids and the question of resistance to tyranny
Description: "This study centers on the question: how do particular readers read a biblical passage? What factors govern each reading? DeLapp here attempts to set up a test case for observing how both socio-historical and textual factors play a part in how a person reads a biblical text. Using a reception-historical methodology, he surveys five Reformed authors and their readings of the David and Saul story (primarily 1 Sam 24 and 26). From this survey two interrelated phenomena emerge. First, all the authors find in David an ideal model for civic praxis--a "Davidic social imaginary" (Charles Taylor). Second, despite this primary agreement, the authors display two different reading trajectories when discussing David's relationship with Saul. Some read the story as showing a persecuted exile, who refuses to offer active resistance against a tyrannical monarch. Others read the story as exemplifying active defensive resistance against a tyrant. To account for this convergence and divergence in the readings, DeLapp argues for a two-fold conclusion. The authors are influenced both by their socio-historical contexts and by the shape of the biblical text itself. Given a Deuteronomic frame conducive to the social imaginary, the paradigmatic narratives of 1 Sam 24 and 26 offer a narrative gap never resolved. The story never makes explicit to the reader what David is doing in the wilderness in relation to King Saul. As a result, the authors fill in the "gap" in ways that accord with their own socio-historical experiences."--Bloomsbury Publishing

This study centers on the question: how do particular readers read a biblical passage? What factors govern each reading? DeLapp here attempts to set up a test case for observing how both socio-historical and textual factors play a part in how a person reads a biblical text. Using a reception-historical methodology, he surveys five Reformed authors and their readings of the David and Saul story (primarily 1 Sam 24 and 26). From this survey two interrelated phenomena emerge. First, all the authors find in David an ideal model for civic praxis-a "Davidic social imaginary" (Charles Taylor). Second, despite this primary agreement, the authors display two different reading trajectories when discussing David's relationship with Saul. Some read the story as showing a persecuted exile, who refuses to offer active resistance against a tyrannical monarch. Others read the story as exemplifying active defensive resistance against a tyrant. To account for this convergence and divergence in the readings, DeLapp argues for a two-fold conclusion. The authors are influenced both by their socio-historical contexts and by the shape of the biblical text itself. Given a Deuteronomic frame conducive to the social imaginary, the paradigmatic narratives of 1 Sam 24 and 26 offer a narrative gap never resolved. The story never makes explicit to the reader what David is doing in the wilderness in relation to King Saul. As a result, the authors fill in the "gap" in ways that accord with their own socio-historical experiences
Notes: Revision of the author's thesis (Ph. D.)--Brite Divinity School, Texas Christian University, 2012 under title: Wielding Goliath's sword : 16th and 17th century reformed political readings of the David story.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 218-228) and indexes.

Current Copyright Fee: GBP17.50 0.
Table of contents: title: Introduction; title: Calvin and Beza set the stage; title: The Dutch David: William of Orange in Davidic dress; title: Andrew Willet and the Jacobean David; title: Samuel Rutherford and the Scottish David; title: The David story: gap-filling and reading strategies.