Is Saul the Second Goliath of 1 Samuel? The Rhetoric & Polemics of the David/Goliath Story in 1 Samuel

Abstract

ABSTRACT The story of David and Goliath has narrowly been interpreted as the dramatic victory of an underdog—David over a formidable Philistine giant—Goliath. This understanding of the story has largely dominated popular and scholarly interpretations of 1 Samuel 17. However, this typical reading of the story often ignores the intertextual character, the polemic intent and the rhetorical agenda of the David/Goliath story to the overall reading of the book of 1 Samuel. Departing from this approach, the paper underscores the anticipatory character of David/Goliath story as an important literary preview to the subsequent conflicts between David and Saul in 1 Samuel. Thus, the paper engages the intertextual connections and the literary significance of the David/Goliath story to the David/Saul conflicts in the book of Samuel. Significantly, the paper situates Saul on the same character pole as the Philistine villain–Goliath, and identifies specific intertextual elements of the story which subtly enforce these polemic intents. Interestingly, two Goliaths emerged from the narratives of 1 Samuel–namely the Philistine giant from Gath, and the giant-like figure of king Saul from Gibeah. Thus, Saul is largely implicated by his subtle representation as another “Goliath” in the polemic contentions and intertextual mapping of 1 Samuel.