1 Samuel 12 and the Deuteronomistic History
Ralph W. Klein
Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago
We will spend most of this session discussing whether 1 Samuel 12 is a significant part of the
Deuteronomistic History, and if so, when was it written and what role does it play within the
Deuteronomistic History. This focused investigation comes against a background of deep
uncertainty among scholars about what is meant by the Deuteronomistic History as a whole.
Several major studies of Dtr have come up with drastically different understandings of the big
picture. Antony Campbell and Mark O’Brien,1 for example, limit the term Deuteronomistic
History to the document supposedly written during the Josianic age and they evaluate 1 Samuel
12 on whether its vocabulary is mirrored in that edition. Thomas Roemer2 also writes about a
version of the Deuteronomistic History in the Assyrian period, and claims that the summarizing
speeches in Deuteronomy-Kings, creating and linking the successive periods in the history of
Israel and Judah in the Deuteronomistic History, clearly point to an exilic, or even postexilic date
for this revision. He argues that one should not think of a unified literary work in the time of
Josiah but rather a collection of different documents expressing the preoccupations of the
nationalist party, which may have been assembled in a library of a sort. Jochen Nentel3 dates the
composition of DtrH to the mid sixth century and concludes that it was written in Palestine, in
1
Antony Campbell and Mark O’Brien, Unfolding the Deuteronomistic History (Minneapolis: Fortress, 2000). For
my review of this work at the Annual Meeting of SBL in 2001, see http://prophetess.lstc.edu/~rklein/ and select Dtr
(Joshua-Kings) from the first drop down menu. It is the second item listed.
2
Thomas C. Roemer, The So-Called Deuteronomistic History (London: T & T Clark, 2005), 71-72.
3
Jochen Nentel, Trägerschaft und Intentionen des deuteronomistischen Geschichtswerks (BZAW 297; Berlin: de
Gruyter, 2000).
1
both cases following the lead of Martin Noth (301-302).4 Campbell-O’Brien and Nentel were
published in 2000; Roemer in 2005.
In my commentary on 1 Samuel, published in the Word Commentary Series thirty years
ago, I understood 1 Samuel 12 as a sermon constructed by a or the Deuteronomistic Historian in
the exilic period. 5 This sermon of the aged Samuel (“I am old and gray,” v. 2)6 has certain
similarities to Joshua 23, but should not be titled a farewell address since Samuel continues to
function in 1 Samuel chapters 13, 15, 16 and 19, and he in fact promises to continue to pray for
the people in the future in v. 23.7 This chapter also is not a monolog as a farewell address should
be since the people speak in vv. 4, 5, and 19.8 Scholars were divided at the time I was writing my
commentary over whether differences with other parts of the Deuteronomistic History
represented access to an earlier document or tradition that had been revised by the
Deuteronomistic historian9 or whether the chapter resulted from separate Deuteronomistic
authorship. I chose the second option without necessarily subscribing to Timo Veijola’s
ascription of this chapter to DtrN.10 In Veijola’s opinion, DtrN’s anti monarchical sentiments can
also be found in 1 Sam 8:7-9, 18 and 1 Sam 10:18-19.
4
Martin Noth, The Deuteronomistic History Translated by Jane Doull and others (JSOTSup 15; Sheffield JSOT
Press, 1981).
5
Ralph W. Klein, 1 Samuel Word Biblical Commentary 10 (Waco, TX: Word Books, 1983), 110-120. A second
edition in 2008 differs only in the new preface, pp. xxxiii-liv.
6
A. Graeme Auld, I & II Samuel (The Old Testament Library; Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2011), 126
translates: “And I, I have become old and [hoary] shall sit. ”Hoary” is a very antiquated English word. LXX’s
misunderstanding of the un-pointed noun ytb#w as a verb should not be included without comment in an English
translation.
7
Samuel’s death is recorded in 1 Sam 25:1. Reinhard Müller, Königtum und Gottesherrschaft (Forschungen zum
Alten Testament 2. Reihe 3; Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2004), 177, points out that after 1 Samuel 12 the king rather
than Samuel is at the center of the presentation, although Samuel does confront Saul in his role as prophet.
8
Walter Dietrich, Samuel (BK 8; Neukirchen-Vluyn: Neukirchener Verlag. 2003ff), 525.
9
P. Kyle McCarter, Jr. 1 Samuel, (AB 8; Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1980), 20, ascribed 1 Sam 12:1-4*, 16-20a,
23, to a pre-Dtr historical presentation which comes from prophetically influenced circles in the Northern Kingdom..
10
Timo Veijola, Das Königtum in der Beurteilung der Deuteronomischen Historiographie (Helsinki: Suomalainen
Tiedeakatemia, 1977).
2
Here are some of the differences between 1 Samuel 12 and other parts of the
Deuteronomistic History. The reference to Samuel’s sons in 1 Sam 12:2 is neutral and nonjudgmental, whereas in 1 Sam 8:1-3 their moral failings disqualify them to serve as Samuel’s
successors. The sequence of enemies in 1 Sam 12:9—Sisera, the Philistines, and Moab—has a
quite different order from the book of Judges where Sisera appears in Judges 4-5, the Philistines
in Judg 3:31; Judg 13-16, or 1 Sam 7; and Moab in Judg 3:13-20. The most remarkable contrast,
of course, is with 1 Samuel 11 where YHWH used the Ammonite crisis as an opportunity to raise
up a charismatic leader Saul, who was proclaimed king at Gilgal by all the people and by
Samuel.11 In ch 12 on the other hand, the Ammonite threat led to Israel’s sinful request for a king
(1 Sam 12:12). Saul, whose name appears more than thirty times in 1 Samuel 9-11 is not
mentioned by name at all in 1 Samuel 12 although there are several more generic references to
the Israelite king .
According to Martin Noth, 1 Samuel 12 is one of the sermons or prayers by which the
Deuteronomistic Historian interpreted Israel’s history in the land.12 Chapter 1213 begins with
Samuel admitting that he has listened to the voice of the people and installed a king over them, a
clear allusion to 1 Sam 8:7, 9, and 22, where Samuel took this action on YHWH’s instructions.14
“Now, there is the king walking before you” and “I have walked before you from my youth until
this very day.” Samuel’s sons are mentioned in passing in v. 2; in 1 Sam 8:3, 5 we learn that the
11
This action is called a renewal of the kingship since Saul was chosen by lot and proclaimed king in 1 Sam 10:2024.
12
The others are Joshua 1 and 23; Judges 2; 1 Kings 8; and 2 Kings 17. Dietrich, Samuel, 531, notes that there is
less Deuteronomistic phraseology in vv. 3-5 and 17-18, but he doubts that we should conclude that the author
incorporated older traditions. Verses 3-5 echo themes from 1 Samuel 8, and the storm is modeled after 1 Sam 7:910, where Samuel implored YHWH to send a thunder storm to befuddle the Philistines.
13
Dietrich, Samuel, 526 points out that vv. 1-3 are a monolog of Samuel; vv. 4-5 are Samuel’s dialog with the
people; vv. 6-19 are another monolog of Samuel; v. 19 is Samuel’s dialog with the people, and vv. 20-25 are a
monolog of Samuel.
14
1 Sam 8:7: “Listen to the voice of the people in everything that they say to you.” 1 Sam 8:9: “Listen to their
voice.” 1 Sam 8:22 “YHWH told Samuel, ‘Listen to their voice and make for them a king.’”
3
sons had not walked in Samuel’s ways. Chapter 12 continues with a legal process conducted by
Samuel in vv. 2-5 in which the people agree that Samuel has not taken anything inappropriately
from the people or oppressed them in any way (v. 4).15 The people (They16) also agree that
YHWH is a witness to this process (v. 5).17 Samuel’s conduct—he has not taken a bull or a
donkey, he has not oppressed or crushed, and he has not taken a bribe--is in sharp contrast with
1 Sam 8:11-17, where Samuel warned that the king would take many things from the people.
That pericope may once have had an independent origin, but it is now part of the
Deuteronomistic History.18 Samuel asserted that YHWH is a witness of his innocence, and the
people concur that YHWH is such a witness. With YHWH as a witness only one witness is
needed in contrast with Num 35:30; Deut 17:6 and Deut 19:15-16 where more than one witness
is required in capital cases or other important cases.19
In 1 Sam 12:6-12 Samuel engages in a second legal process20 which demonstrates the
righteousness of YHWH’s actions and the unrighteous or sinful actions of the people. YHWH is
cited in v. 6 as a witness to this process. The mention of YHWH’s righteousnesses calls to mind
the use of the word rigteousnesses in Mic 6:521 (cf. Judg 5:11 and Isa 46:13). This legal process
15
While no location is given for this legal process, its location after ch. 11 suggests it was in Gilgal. The people give
a negative answer to Samuel’s five rhetorical questions in v. 4: “You have not oppressed us, nor crushed us, nor
taken anything from anyone. ”See also the self-justification of Moses in Num 16:15 and of Job in Job 31:13.
16
Following many Hebrew manuscripts and the versions; MT “he.”
17
There are references to “his anointed one” (that is, the king) in v. 3 “Testify against me before YHWH and before
his anointed one” and in v. 5 “YHWH is a witness for you, and his anointed one is a witness.” Many scholars
consider both references secondary since the people in v. 5 acknowledge only that YHWH is a witness. See Nentel,
Trägerschaft, 158, 162, citing Veijola and McCarter. The addition would have been made because of the references
to Saul as king in 1 Sam 9-11. Saul is only referred to as YHWH’s anointed in 1 Sam 24:7 (6), 10; 26:9, 11, 16, 23;
2 Sam 1:14, 16.
18
See Jonathan Kaplan, “1 Samuel 8:11-18 as a ‘Mirror for Princes,’” JBL 131 (2012): 625-642. Kaplan argues that
this pericope has its origins in much broader ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern social, religious, and political
practices of constraining the excesses of monarchic power.
19
As noted above, the reference to the anointed as a witness in v. 5a is probably secondary.
20
“Now, take your stand, and I will enter into judgment with you.”
21
Among YHWH’s saving actions in Micah are the Exodus and the sending of Moses, Aaron, and Miriam.
4
is built on a creative reuse of the Deuteronomistic sequence of sin, punishment, cry to YHWH
and deliverance, so well-known from the book of Judges.22
In stage one of that cycle in 1 Sam 12:8, the Egyptian oppression is not based on Israel’s
sin, which might have tended to exonerate the actions of the Egyptians. When the Israelite
ancestors did cry to YHWH after the Egyptians had afflicted them,23 YHWH sent Moses and
Aaron24 to bring out the ancestors from the land of Egypt and make them dwell in this place (v.
8).25 So the order in this first cycle is: oppression--cry to YHWH--deliverance.
In stage two of that cycle, vv. 9-11, the ancestors of the Israelites forgot YHWH their
God (cf. Judg 3:7), and YHWH sold them into the hand of Sisera,26 into the hand of the
Philistines, and into the hand of the king of Moab. These enemies fought against Israel (cf. Josh
24:8, 11). The ancestors cried out to YHWH and confessed their sin in that they had abandoned
YHWH and served the Baals and the Ashtaroth. Samuel connects the request for a king to the
worship of other gods against which Joshua had warned: “Now if you are unwilling to serve
YHWH, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served in the
region beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me
and my household, we will serve YHWH" (Josh 24:25). The joining of the cry to YHWH with a
confession of sins is very similar to Israel’s actions in Judg 10:10: “So the Israelites cried to
22
The differences between the order if the nations in vv. 9-11 and the book of Judges are not to be credited
according to Dietrich, Samuel, 541, to access to an independent tradition: “Die Unterschiede dürte kaum daher
rühren, dass DtrN eine eigine, von derjenigen im Richterbuch unabhängige Tradition vorlag, sondern daher, dass er
das Richterbuch auf ganz eigene Weise zu interpretieren wünscht.
23
“The Egyptians afflicted them” is restored from LXX. It had been lost from the Hebrew text by homoioarchton.
See Klein, 1 Samuel, 111, n. 8.b.-b.
24
I agree with Nentel, Trägerschaft, 160, that there is no need to delete this clause or to delete “he appointed Moses
and Aaron” in v. 6.
25
“He made them dwell in this place,” with the versions. MT: “They [Moses and Aaron] made them dwell in this
place.” In 1 Samuel, 111, n. 8.c. I said that this lectio difficilior in MT deserves strong consideration. I now retract
that opinion.
26
See Judg 4:2, which also mentions the military leader Sisera instead of the king Jabin.
5
YHWH, saying, ‘We have sinned against you, because we have abandoned our God and have
worshiped the Baals.’”27 YHWH’s deliverance is accomplished through an unusual list of
judges: Jerubbaal (the other name of Gideon),28 Barak (with the LXX; MT Bedan),29 Jephthah,
and Samuel (MT and LXX) or Samson (LXXL). The result was that they could live securely (cf.
Deut 12:10). Israel’s status in the period of the judges was better than its present status under a
king (Dietrich, Samuel, 534). The order in this second cycle is: sin—oppression--cry to YHWH
and confession of sins--and deliverance.
In stage three of the cycle, v. 12, the oppression inflicted by the Ammonites is followed
not by crying to YHWH, but by saying No to YHWH and sinfully demanding a king even
though YHWH was their king.30 A similar answer had been given in 1 Sam 8:19 “The people
refused to accede to the voice of Samuel. They said, ‘No, but a king will be over us.’” and 1 Sam
10:19 “But you have rejected this day your God, who was your savior from all your troubles and
hardships, when you said, “No! You must place a king over us.”31 Nevertheless, YHWH did in
fact give them a king. The order in the third cycle is: oppression—sin--deliverance by YHWH.
In all three stages of the cycle YHWH delivered Israel—by sending Moses and Aaron
and giving the land, by sending four deliverers or judges, and by giving them a king. In stage two
the Israelites sinned and confessed their sin, and in stage three the expected cry to YHWH in
time of distress is replaced by their demand for a king. The writer, therefore, shows
27
Campbell and O’Brien, Unfolding, ,196, ascribe Judg 10:10-16 to their natural focus revision. Veijola, Das
Königtum, 44-48, assigns these verses to DtrN.
28
In Judges 6-8 Gideon is mentioned forty-one times and Jerubbaal only twenty times, twelve of which are in
Judges 9. LXX manuscripts Bya2 read Jeroboam!
29
Müller, Königtum, 185, n 41, defends the Barak reading. If Barak is the correct reading, it should have been listed
before Jerubbaal/Gideon. He notes that Veijola chooses Gideon and Stoebe argues for MT. Dietrich, Samuel, 542543, chooses Bedan as the lectio difficilior. But Donner remains puzzled about why this name was used.
30
In previous chapters the desire for a king (ch. 8) preceded the Ammonite crisis (ch. 11).
31
Campbell and O’Brien, Unfolding, 236, assign vv. 18-19 to the national focus revision, and Veijola,
Königtum,119, calls it DtrN.
6
Deuteronomistic traits, but feels free to revise the tradition in ways that make possible his
ambiguous or even ambivalent attitude toward human kingship. While the demand for a king is
considered sinful, YHWH had given them a king anyway. Thomas Roemer appropriately calls
attention to this writer’s ambiguous—or even ambivalent—attitude toward earthly kingship.32
Verse 13 marks a transition to the moment of decision facing the people: “Now there is
the king you chose33 and asked for34: YHWH has in fact given you a king.” Paradoxically
YHWH has given Israel a human king even though the request for a king was a rejection of the
kingship of YHWH. In v. 19 the request for a king is identified as an evil beyond Israel’s normal
sins, and their request in v. 20 is called a great evil by Samuel. Verses 14-15 in 1 Sam 12 lay out
the conditions whereby life under an earthly king would be blessed or cursed.35 If the people fear
YHWH, serve him,36 obey his voice, and do not rebel against his commandment, both the people
and the king will be truly followers of YHWH.37 The expression rx)…hyh is often used to
indicate recognition of the king (2 Sam 2:10; 15:13; 1 Kgs 12:20; 16:21).38 Dietrich, Samuel,
522, adds “wird er euch retten” = “he will save you,” following the Lucianic version of the LXX
32
Roemer, The So-Called Deuteronomistic History, 139-143. Roemer believes that the positive affirmations of
kingship within 1 Samuel 8-12 presuppose a pre-exilic context.
33
This is quite a contrast with 1 Sam 10:24, where YHWH himself had chosen the king.
34
No translation is given in LXX for Mtl)# r#$). Were these words lost by homoioteleuton or are they a
secondary addition? Their presence in the text forms a link to 1 Sam 8:10: “Samuel reported all the words of YHWH
to the people who had requested a king from him.”$
35
Veijola and Müller call attention to Isa 1:18-20: “Come now, let us argue it out, says YHWH: though your sins
are like scarlet, they shall be like snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool. If you are
willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land; but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured by the
sword; for the mouth of YHWH has spoken.”
36
Cf. Josh 24:14: “Now therefore fear YHWH and serve him.”
37
See the discussion of this translation in Klein, 1 Samuel, 111, n. 14.a-a. Cf. Campbell and O’Brien, Unfolding,
248. Nentel, Trägerschaft, 154, 156, with an appeal to the exegesis of Boecker, offers a paraphrastic translation:
“dann werdet sowohl ihr als auch der König, der über euch König ist, Jahwe, euren Gott, als König anerkennen.”
Others find here the construction called aposiopesis. See the translations in NRSV “If you will fear the LORD and
serve him and heed his voice and not rebel against the commandment of the LORD, and if both you and
the king who reigns over you will follow the LORD your God, it will be well” (cf. CEB).
38
See Hans Jochen Boecker, Die Beurteilung der Anfänge des Königtums in den deuteronomistischen Abschnittes
des I. Samuelbuches (WMANT 31; Neukirchen-Vluyn: Neukirchener Verlag, 1969), 80.
7
(see McCarter, 1 Samuel, 211-212).39 But disobedience will also have retributive consequences.
If the people do not obey the voice of YHWH and rebel against the commandment of YHWH (v.
15), the same behaviors listed at the end of the protasis in v. 14, “the hand of YHWH will be
against you and your king to destroy you.”40
YHWH’s intervention and Israel’s confession of sin
After Samuel’s righteousness had been demonstrated in vv. 1-5, and the righteousnesses41
of YHWH and the sinfulness of the people had been demonstrated in vv. 6-15, verses 16-19
describe an intervention of YHWH that led the people to confess their sin in demanding a king.
Samuel prayed to YHWH for thunder and rain during the wheat harvest that usually took place in
May. Such a storm would normally not be expected at this time of year in Palestinian
climatological conditions, and a storm at such a time would mean severe economic hardship for
the people. This display of God’s power42 caused the people to fear YHWH and Samuel very
much, and to confess that their choice of a king was a climactic moment in their history of
sinning. The people said to Samuel: “Pray to YHWH your God on behalf of your servants lest
we die, since we have added to all our sins an evil by asking for a king for ourselves” (1 Sam
12:19).
Samuel’s final exhortation
39
Dietrich, Samuel, 522, tries, unsuccessfully in my opinion, to defend this lectio facilior.
For the translation, based on LXX L , see Klein, 1 Samuel, 111, n. 15.a.-a. Some LXX mss read only “your king.”
MT “your fathers.” Nentel, Trägerschaft, 154, wie gegen eure Väter, In 1 Samuel, 111, I identified the translation
“as it was against your fathers” as a forced reading of the Hebrew.
41
Hhwhy twqdc (cf. Judg 5:11; Mic 6:5). YHWH’s righteousnesses are the ways that YHWH has lived up to the
obligations of his relationship with Israel. See von Rad, Old Testament Theology I, 370-383.
42
Nentel, Trägerschaft, 178, points out that these verses do not deal with a theophany, but with a manifestation of
God’s power. YHWH is not a witness to the people’s sin but he is their chief accuser.
40
8
Samuel’s concluding exhortation in vv. 20-25 repeats and expands on the conditions
under which kingship would be permissible. In v. 20 Samuel urges the people not to be afraid,
but adds ominously that they have done a great evil. Samuel ordered the worship of YHWH
alone. He urged the people not to turn from YHWH, but to serve YHWH with all their heart (v.
20, 24).43 YHWH would never abandon his people. YHWH’s great name—his own identity and
reputation—guarantees the promise (v. 22). The end of the states of Israel and Judah does not
mean the end of the existence of Israel or Judah (Dietrich, Samuel, 549). Samuel assured the
people of his promise to pray for them, a promise to be fulfilled also by prophetic successors of
Samuel (v. 23). Samuel invoked upon himself a curse if he would fail to carry out this obligation:
“Let death be my lot if I sin against YHWH by ceasing to pray on your behalf.” He also
promised to instruct them in the good and upright way. Samuel also admonishes: “Fear YHWH,
serve him in fidelity, with all your heart.44 See how he has acted greatly for you” (v. 24; see vv.
8-11). The final conditional curse in v. 25, threatened both the people and the king with exile or
destruction. Since I do not subscribe to the notion of a pre-exilic edition of the Deuteronomistic
History, this threat had become reality by the time this redaction took place in the exilic period.
What makes this chapter part of the Deuteronomistic History?
This chapter is an interpretive speech at a critical transition point in Israel’s history, just
like Joshua 23 at the end of the conquest, 1 Kings 8, the prayer of Solomon at the dedication of
the temple, and 2 Kings 17, the Deuteronomistic sermon at the fall of the northern kingdom.
43
Verse 21, which repeats the words “do not turn” from v. 20 and uses a term for idols (wht) known from Second
Isaiah (Isa 41:29; 44:9) may be secondary. See Nentel, Trägerschaft, 161. He also cites Boecker, Mommer,
McCarter, Veijola, and L. Schmidt for support. Kingship and idol worship are considered parallel phenomena.
44
See Deut 6:5-6: “You shall love YHWH your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your
might. Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart. “
9
This sermon endorses the first commandment45 and subscribes to the doctrine of
retribution: blessings upon obedience and curses following disobedience.46 While the doctrine of
retribution is not limited to the Deuteronomistic History, it is typical of that history.
Verses 9-11 reprise the cycle of sin, punishment, cry to YHWH, and deliverance, so
typical of the book of Judges.47 The historian also adapts this cycle to a new situation,
specifically coming to terms with pro monarchical narratives and anti monarchical traditions
arising during the course of Judah’s and Israel’s experience with earthly kingship.
The vocabulary of the chapter is well in accord with the Deuteronomic and
Deuteronomistic literature:48
1. yl Mtrm) r#$) lkl Mklqb yt(m#$ "I have listened to you in all that you have said
to me” 1 Sam 12:1//"Listen to the voice of the people in all that they say to you” (1Sam
8:7; Cf. 1 Sam 8:9, 22a)
2. Klm Mkyl( Kylm)w “and have set a king over you.” (1Sam 12:1)//"Listen to their
voice and set a king over them." (1Sam 8:22)
3. hzh Mwyh This day 1 Sam 12:5; today 1 Sam 12:17//Cf. 1 Sam 10:19
4. Myrcm Cr)m Mkytb) t) hl(h r#$) “who brought up your ancestors from the land
of Egypt (1 Sam 12:6; cf. v. 8)
5. hzh Mwqm “this place” (1 Sam 12:8)
45
Hertzberg, Josua, 75. Cited by Nentel, Trägerschaft, 162.
Boecker, 81ff, traces this to Deuteronomy. See Nenel, Trägerschaft, 162\.
47
I have argued that 1-2 Kings contain the first two parts of this cycle—sin and punishment, with the implication
that a cry to YHWH would be followed by deliverance. See Ralph W. Klein, Israel in Exile (Philadelphia: Fortress,
1979), 42-43.
48
For discussion, see Timo Veijola, Das Königtum in der Beurteilung der Deuteronomistischen Historiographie,
83-89. See also Weinfeld, Deuteronomy, 320ff ; Peter Mommer, Samuel (WMANT 65; Neukirchen-Vluyn:
Neukirchener Verlag, 1991), 124-125; Dietrich, Samuel, .530; Klein, 1 Samuel, 114-118.
46
10
6. hwhy l) Mkytwb) wq(zyw “your ancestors cried to YHWH” (1 Sam 12:8, 10)
7.
Mhyhl) hwhy t) wxk#$yw “they forgot YHWH their God” (1 Sam 12:9 )//”forgetting
YHWH their God (Judg 3:7) . Cf. Deut 6:12; 8:11, 14, 19; 32:18
8. dyb Mt) rkmyw “he sold them into the hand of” (1 Sam 12:9)
9. hwhy t) wnbz( yk because we have forsaken YHWH (1Sam 12:10)//forsaking me
(1Sam 8:8)
10. twrt#$(h t)w Myl(bh t) db(nw wnbz( yk wn)+x wrm)yw hwhy l) wq(zyw
“And they cried to YHWH and said, ‘we have sinned because we have foraken YHWH
and we have served the Baals and the Astartes’” (1Sam 12:10)// then put away the
foreign gods and the Astartes (1Sam 7:3) and So Israel put away the Baals and the
Astartes, and they served YHWH only. (1Sam 7:4; cf. Judg 10:10).
11.
wnyby) dym wnlych rescue us out of the hand of our enemies (1Sam 12:10) and rescued you
out of the hand of your enemies on every side (1Sam 12:11)// and he will deliver you out of the
hand of the Philistines." (1Sam 7:3) and I rescued you from the hand of the Egyptians and from
the hand of all the kingdoms that were oppressing you (1Sam 10:18). Cf. Deut 12:10.
12. Kdb(nw and we will serve you (1Sam 12:10). Cf. vv 14, 20, 24//and serve him only
(1Sam 7:3); similarly v. 4.
13. x+b wb#$tw bybsm Mkyby) dym Mkt) lcyw and rescued you out of the hand of
your enemies on every side; and you lived in safety. (1Sam 12:11)// and when he gives
you rest from your enemies all around so that you live in safety, (Deut 12:10)
11
14. Nwyl( Klmy Klm yk )l yl wrm)tw you said to me, 'No, but a king shall reign over
us, (1Sam 12:12) // "No! but we are determined to have a king over us, (1Sam 8:19) and
'No! but set a king over us.' (1Sam 10:19)
15. Mtrxb r#$) Klmh the king whom you have chosen (1Sam 12:13)// because of your king,
whom you have chosen for yourselves (1Sam 8:18)
16.
hwhy t) w)ryt M) “if you fear YHWH” (1 Sam 12:14; cf. vv. 18. 24)
17.
wt) Mtdb(w “and serve him” (1 Sam 12:14; cf. v. 24 tm)b wt) Mtdb(w; 1 Kgs 2:4;
3:6; 2 Kgs 20:3). See Deut 6:13; 10:12, 20; 13:5
18.
wlqb Mt(m#$w “if you listen to his voice” (1 Sam 12:14; cf. v. 15); cf. Deut 13:5
19. hwhy yp t) wrmt )lw “and not rebel against the commandment of YHWH” (1Sam
12:14) and “but rebel against the commandment of YHWH” (1Sam 12:15)// Whoever
rebels against your orders (Josh 1:18). Cf. Deut 1:26, 43; 9:23; Josh 1:18; 1 Kgs 13:21,
26
20. Mkyhl) hwhy rx) “be after YHWH your God” 1 Sam 12:14
21. )whh Mwyb that day (1Sam 12:18)// And in that day (1Sam 8:18)
22. t)zh h(rh lk t) Mty#$( “you have done all this evil” (1 Sam 12:20)
23. hwhy yrx)m wrwst l) K) “yet do not turn aside from following YHWH” (1Sam
12:20)//widely attested in deuteronomic/Deuteronomistic contexts (Deut 9:12, 16; 11:28;
17:11, 20; 28:14; 31:29; Josh 23:6; Judg 2:17
24.
Mkbbl lkb with all your heart; (1Sam 12:20) and with all your heart (1Sam 12:24)//
with all your heart (1Sam 7:3)
12
25.
lwdgh wm#$ rwb(b “for the sake of his great name” 1 Sam 12:22
26.
hr#$yhw hbw+h Krdb “in the good and right way” 1 Sam 12:23
27. (rt (rh M)w But if you still do wickedly, (1Sam 12:25)// But the thing displeased
Samuel (1Sam 8:6)
Veijola49 believes that in DtrH there was an immediate connection between 1 Sam 11:15 and
13:1, which fits a pattern of regnal change noted elsewhere: 1. So and so was made king 1 Sam
12:15; 2. He was so many years old when he became king (1 Sam 13:1), 3. he reigned x years (1
Sam 13:1). “So all the people went to Gilgal, and there they made Saul king before the LORD in
Gilgal. There they sacrificed offerings of well-being before the LORD, and there Saul and all the
Israelites rejoiced greatly…. Saul was X years old when he began to reign; and he reigned two
years over Israel.” 50
Campbell and O’Brien deny that 1 Samuel 12 is part of the Deuteronomistic History. The
double sideline they draw by the translation of 1 Samuel 12 indicates that they classify this
chapter as “other.” It is important to note that by Deuteronomistic History they mean the version
of this history purportedly composed during the reign of Josiah. When Graeme Auld in his
commentary on the books of Samuel states that the compositions in ch. 12 appear to be anything
but Deuteronomistic, he adds that the evidence against that is well reviewed by Campbell in his
FOTL commentary. Actually those pages deal only with vocabulary that is not in the Josianic
edition of Dtr, but there are numerous verbal parallels with other sections of their royal and
national revisions, passages that in the Cross-Nelson understanding might be part of Dtr2 or in
Veijola or Nentel would be considered DtrN or DtrS. The judgment of Auld and Campbell-
49
50
Das Königtum, 91-92. So also Müller, Königtum und Gottesherrschaft, 178 and Dietrich, Samuel, 533-534.
The text of this verse is notoriously corrupt from a chronological perspective. See Klein, 1 Samuel, 121, 122.
13
O’Brien is to be contrasted with Dietrich, who concludes in his commentary: “In fact the chapter
is so thoroughly shaped by Deuteronomistic Theology and language, so that a Deuteronomistic
authorship is hardly to be doubted.”51
The Campbell-O’Brien understanding of ch. 12 as “other” really does not explain how
this chapter relates to 1 Samuel in general. Verse 10 of 1 Sam 12, in their analysis, is part of their
“national focus revision”: “Then they cried to the Lord, and said, ‘We have sinned, because we
have forsaken the Lord, and have served the Baals and the Astartes; but now rescue us out of the
hand of our enemies, and we will serve you.’” In effect, this one verse does incorporate this
chapter within a later form of the Deuteronomistic History. They also ascribe Judg 10:10-16 and
1 Sam 7:3-4 to the national focus revision.52 They believe that an explicit confession of sin is not
found in the Josianic Dtr. They also deny that the plea for deliverance (“Now save us from the
hand of the enemies and we will serve you”) is part of Dtr. Dtr also lacks repentance as a
condition before deliverance (they do not consider 1 Sam 7:3-4) as part of Dtr. Part of the
difficulty in evaluating their work is their unusual terminology. Dtr for them is a Josianic
document and what others might see as part of Dtr2, they ascribe to their royal focus or national
focus revisions of this work, but which they do not call Dtr. In their reconstruction the Josianic
Dtr focuses on the obedience of the king whereas 1 Sam 12:14-15 focuses on the obedience of
the people. In 1 Sam 12:14-15 Samuel is a preacher of the law, as in Judg 2:17 and 2 Kgs 17:13,
51
Dietrich, Samuel, 530. O’Brien himself differs considerably from the joint Campbell-O’Brien publication when he
states in his own published dissertation: “The combination of theology, compositional technique, and linguistic
evidence clearly militates against assigning 1 Samuel 12 to DtrH. The chapter is a composition by a subsequent Dtr
(italics RWK) who was principally concerned to demonstrate that the demand for a sing was a great evil on the
people’s part, an infidelity like their previous infidelities, and that it had placed their relationship with YHWH in
jeopardy. In this sense this Dtr was more anti-people than anti monarchical.” See Mark A. O’Brien, The
Deuteronomistic History Hypothesis: A Reassessment(Orbis Biblicus et Orientalis 92; Göttingen: Vandenhoeck &
Ruprecht, 1989), 128
52
They date this revision somewhere in the exilic period.
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both from their national focus revision. Most scholars would consider this national focus revision
a part of (a perhaps later) Dtr. They also make the following comments on phraseology:
Thunder in vv. 17-18 is not Dtr
We have added to our sins in v. 19 is not Dtr.
Turn aside after of vv. 20-21 is not Dtr.
“useless things” (wht), v. 21, is not Dtr. Second Isaiah refers to idols by this term (Isa 41:9;
44:9, Since some of the phraseology in v. 21 is unique in Dtr, and since it adds an explicit
reference to idolatry in addition to the more general exhortation to loyalty typical of vv. 20-25, a
number of scholars hold it to be a gloss by someone indebted to the theology of Second Isaiah.53
In 1 Sam 12:14-15, 23 Samuel is a preacher of the law, as in Judg 2:17 and 2 Kgs 17:13, both
ascribed by them to the national focus revision.
Serve YHWH does not occur in the Josianic Dtr.
With all your heart in 1 Sam 12:20, 24 evokes the national focus revision.
When Auld appeals to the work of Campbell and O’Brien to disassociate 1 Sam 12 from Dtr he
may be misled.54 Campbell and O’Brien conclude: “The enigma of this chapter is how close it is
to the complex of dtr thinking and how far away it is so often from Dtr tradition and
expression.55 Or again: “Our formatting opts for an understanding in which this tradition (chap.
12) has been added early enough to be available for revision by the national focus, above all in
53
See Klein 1 Samuel, 118.
Auld, I & II Samuel, 127: “[T]he compositions [1 Sam 12:1-5 and 6-25] appear to be anything but
Deuteronomistic: the evidence against that is well reviewed by Campbell (1:120-24).” The reference is to Antony F.
Campbell, 1 Samuel (FOTL 7; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2003). Campbell and O’Brien include the same arguments
in Unfolding.
55
Unfolding, 247.
54
15
12:10” (247). They also ascribe 1 Sam 8:7b (p. 235), 8:18 (p. 236), and 10:18-19 to the national
focus revision of Dtr (p. 242). .
I date the Deuteronomistic History to the exilic period and recognize that there may be
more than one hand behind this composition. 1 Samuel 12 may well be an addition to an earlier
form of Dtr (often called DtrH), in what Veijola called DtrN or Nentel DtrS. Veijola dated DtrN
to late exilic times.56 According to Nentel, DtrS should be dated to the fifth century or later.57 I
see no reason to move beyond the exilic period.
56
See T Veijola¸Verheissung in der Krise. Studien zur Literature und Theologie der Exilszeit anhand des 89. Psalms
(AASF B 220; Helsinki, 1982), 173-174
57
Nentel, 304.Nentel believes that DtrS presupposes the existence of the Second Temple and of an established
Golah in 1 Kgs 8:33-34, 46-53. See pp. 226-230.
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