earticle

영어

King David’s Politics of Reconciling Northern Israel with Southern Judah and His Political Strategy for National Unification Hae Kwon Kim, Ph. D. Professor, Department of Christian Studies Soongsil University The purpose of the present article is first to explore King David’s Politics of Reconciling Northern Israel with Southern Judah and His Political Strategy for National Unification through close analysis of 2 Samuel 1-5, and then to argue that David’s rise to power illustrates the Deuteronomistic viewpoint of monarchy. It consistently argues that David’s enthronement over the entire people of Israel was made possible through David’s realpolitical sagacity and faith commitment to the Samuel-mediated oracle saying, “Yahweh God of Israel will make you a shepherd over the entire people of Israel in place of Saul his predecessor”. This was obviously case with David’s realpolitical performances which were designed to bring the broken and self-insecure heart of the northern tribes close to him and to reconcile Judah with Israel through several public show-ups of his heartfelt sympathy with the sorrow and pain of the northerns over the deaths of Saul, Jonathan, and Abner. 2 Samuel 1-5 demonstrates that the God-given oracle regarding the future reign of David over all Israel was substantiated and made real only through diverse human agents’ approval of and commitment to the original Samuel oracle. This characterizes the Deuteronomistic kingship in contrast to other ancient near eastern royal mythologies, whose aim was to provide check and balance for a human king lest he/she fall into the trap of despotism and political autonomy. Thus comes the contract of the elders of Israel with David as a climax to the history of David’s rise to power, which means that David was enthroned as a constitutional monarchy and was bound to rule Israel only under the people of God’s approval of and full assent to his kingship. The present essay concludes that David’s unification of Israel with Judah was achieved only through the elders of Israel’s request for David to be a king over all Israel on the condition that David will remain faithful to the equal and bilateral contract between the two parties.

한국어

이 논문은 사무엘을 통해 소년시절에 왕으로 기름부음을 받은 다윗이 이스라엘 민중에게 왕으로 추대받는 절정사건에 이르기까지 보여준 현실정치적 책략과 경륜을 자세히 추적한다. 이 논문을 통해 저자는 하나님의 절대주권적 선택과 민중들의 추대를 통해 비로소 왕이 된 다윗이 북지파들의 화해와 통일을 통해 사무엘신탁과 민중신탁 모두를 만족시킨 왕이었음을 밝힌다.