earticle

영어

God, Samuel's God Hyo-Myong Lim Southern Methodist University, Ph.D. This article reconstructs the portrait of God in the story of Saul. There are two extreme opinions about the reason for Saul's fall. One blames Saul, the other God. Recently new literary critics found more faults with God than with Saul based on their observation that God was displeased with the people's demand for a king. They argued that Saul was predestined for failure due to God's ill-will. The portrait of God drawn by them is characterized by ambiguity, malice, and hostility. Utilizing new literary critical method, especially characterization, textual gap and ambiguity this study closely examines the ways in which Samuel's words and deeds affect the unfolding of the story and the portrait of God. His portrayal of God is divergent from that of the narrator and God. The author concludes that the portrait of God drawn by the new literary critics is based on the projection of the prophet Samuel which is tainted by his own agenda. The prophet enjoys considerable freedom in carrying out God's command, partly because of the laconic nature of God's commands. He is free even to do nothing about God's command. Often times he has to interpret the commands into actions, filling details in. In the process his agenda dilutes and in some cases eclipses the intention of God, resulting in the distortion of the portrait of God. Rather than being malicious and hostile, the author finds a God, who initially shows anti-monarchic sentiment, preempts the people's demand for a king and takes initiative in placing a king over Israel. God is open to human demands and embraces human frailty. This study challenges the long-held assumption that Samuel faithfully represents God, and convincingly establishes the differences between them. This article is expected to catalyze a deeper study of the characters in biblical stories.

한국어

이 논문은 사울의 이야기에 나타난 하나님의 상을 연구한다. 이 연구는 사울의 몰락의 원인이 사울의 잘못이냐 하나님의 왕정에 대한 반감이냐는 두 극단적인 입장을 넘어서서 신문학비평적 방법, 특히 성격묘사연구를 사용하여 하나님과 백성사이에 중재자로 선 사무엘의 행동이 사울 이야기의 전개와 하나님의 상에 미치는 영향을 분석한다. 이 논문에서는 이제까지 간과되어왔던 사무엘의 독자적이며 임의적인 행동과 그 결과가 부각된다.