Verbum Breviatum

In my first post about my new book, I posted statements by a couple of well-known and a couple of anonymous biblical scholars. For my second post, I’d like to post here the summary that Harvard University Press used in their catalog (both online and in their Spring/Summer 2010 print catalog). It’s also the summary that vendors like Eisenbrauns and Amazon picked up (with lightning speed, I might add) when HUP started promoting my book online.

THE SURPRISING ELECTION AND CONFIRMATION OF KING DAVID
J. RANDALL SHORT
Some of the best-known biblical episodes are found in the story of David’s rise to kingship in First and Second Samuel. Why was this series of stories included in the Bible?

An answer that has become increasingly popular is that this narrative should be interpreted as the “apology of David,” that is, the personal justification of King David against charges that he illegitimately usurped Saul’s throne. Comparisons between “the History of David’s Rise” and the Hittite “Apology of Hattušili,” in particular, appear to support this view that the biblical account belongs to the genre of ancient Near Eastern royal apology.

Having presented this approach, Randall Short argues that the biblical account has less in common with the Hittite apology than scholars have asserted, and he demonstrates how interpretive assumptions about the historical reality behind the text inform the meaning that these scholars discern in the text. His central contention is that this story should not be interpreted as the personal exoneration of David composed to win over suspicious readers. Rather, composed for faithful readers represented by David, the story depicts the dramatic confirmation of David’s surprising election through his gradual emergence as the beloved son of Jesse, Saul, all Israel, and YHWH Himself.

The main purpose of a summary in a print catalog, of course, is to give readers a good idea of what the book is about. But online summaries have a purpose that is equally important. They draw people who are running searches on the key words and phrases to the website and let them know about the book in the first place.

I would love to see what search strings bring people to my book’s site at Harvard University Press, Amazon, and the like. One problem with summaries, though, is that they don’t include — and can’t include without becoming nearly unreadable — many of the key terms and phrases that a lot of people among my intended readers are likely to be Googling and Binging.

So, in the interests of reaching as wide an audience as possible, and hoping that you won’t be disappointed if your online search of any of the below terms brought you here, I offer a mini-index of keywords and phrases that somehow relate to my book. This, too, is rather limited, but I hope it’s skim-worthy and, more importantly, search-worthy.

Interested in Any of the Following? Then please check out The Surprising Election and Confirmation of King David:

Biblical figures and themes: King David, King Saul, the Prophet Samuel, Davidic Covenant, David’s Anointing, Divine Election, Divine Rejection, Davidic King and Kingdom, Kingship in Israel and Judah

Texts and corpuses: Books of Samuel, Historical Books of the Bible, the Former Prophets, Nevi’im, Nebi’im, Historical Psalms, Tanakh, Masoretic Text (MT), Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia (BHS), Hebrew Bible, Old Testament; Samuel Commentary

Critical sources, extra-biblical texts, etc.: History of David’s Rise (HDR), Apology of David, Ancient Israelite Royal Propaganda, Apology of Hattusili, Apology of Hattushilish, Hittite Empire, Ancient Near Eastern Apologies, ANE, Deuteronomist, Deuteronomistic, Dtr, Original Context, Final Form

Modern Scholarly Approaches: Historical Critical Scholarship, Historical Criticism, Source Criticism, Redactional Criticism, Rhetorical Criticism, Ideological Criticism, Tradition Criticism, Canonical Criticism, Literary Criticism, Comparative Criticism, Theological Interpretation, Biblical Interpretation, Biblical Exegesis

Scholars and works: P. Kyle McCarter, “The Apology of David” (JBL), and I Samuel (Anchor Bible); Baruch Halpern, David’s Secret Demons: Messiah, Murderer, Traitor, King; Steven L. McKenzie, King David: A Biography; James W. Flanagan, David’s Social Drama: A Hologram of Israel’s Early Iron Age; Harry A. Hoffner, “Propaganda and Political Justification in Hittite Historiography.”

I’ve thought about things I can do to build some anticipation around the launching of my first book, The Surprising Election and Confirmation of King David (Harvard Theological Studies). It won’t be out until May, so I have a few months to go. For instance, I could have a lot of fun making a book trailer, and a trailer for a dissertation-turned-into-book might even create some buzz. But I’m afraid I don’t have the right set of skills to pull it off.

I’ll start, instead, by letting others speak for me. The fact is, very few people have read my book so far — it’s not out yet, after all. But I’m happy to say that the people who’ve read it are experts about these things, and they had some very positive and encouraging things to say.

Jon D. Levenson was my doctoral advisor at Harvard Divinity School. According to this most trustworthy source that professors just love for their students to cite, he is “the most interesting and incisive biblical exegete among contemporary Jewish thinkers.” Professor Levenson had this to say about my book:

This provocative and well-reasoned interpretation of David’s rise to kingship challenges the standard political reading of the narrative and impressively recovers its key theological dimensions. By refusing to assimilate the text to its putative ancient Near Eastern parallels, Randall Short enriches our understanding of an exceedingly subtle and complex narrative in a valuable way. This volume should command the attention of scholars, students, and clergy alike.

Recent books by my doctoral advisors

Resurrection and the Restoration of Israel by Jon D. Levenson
and Sin: A History by Gary A. Anderson

Gary A. Anderson was also my advisor at Harvard until he moved to the University of Notre Dame. But even after his move, he continued to advise me by serving on my dissertation committee. At some point I expect the above-cited source to describe him as “the most interesting and incisive biblical exegete among contemporary Catholic thinkers” (he’s a little younger than Prof. Levenson, so give it time). Professor Anderson offered this statement:

It is not frequent that a book comes along and proposes a bold new approach to a problem that was once thought to be solved. Short’s bold and deftly argued thesis about the founding of the Davidic Kingdom is going to mark a new direction for the exegesis of I and II Samuel.

I’m indebted to and grateful for these men, and I’m deeply honored to have them evaluate my work so highly.

Let me share comments about my work by two more scholars. I don’t know their names because the comments were from two anonymous reviewers of my manuscript at an early stage in Harvard Theological Studies’ review process. The below statements came to me along with several constructive criticisms that helped me to make a number of improvements.

One reviewer said this about my manuscript in general:

[Short’s book] has a clear and important thesis to put forward on an important text and issue in Hebrew Biblical studies, and everything, so far as I can see, is very well arranged around the definition, exposition, and substantiation of this thesis, in a style that is lucid, direct, and precise: few, if any solecisms or baroque formulations typical of dissertations. It makes its case by a serious critique of one standard view of the History of David’s Rise (HDR), and then by a penetrating, closely observed analysis of facets of the literary techniques and themes of the HDR . . .

And another reviewer said this about my chapters 4 and 5:

I have found his analyses of the individual verses to be detailed and reasonable. The impression that Short’s text gives is that he attends to the interpretation of individual verses or texts with great care.

Andover Hall, Harvard Divinity School, Cambridge, Massachusetts

I don’t mean to imply that my advisors and reviewers agree with me about every position I take. That is certainly not the case, but no one who knows the field of biblical studies would expect it to be.

I am extremely pleased, though, that these scholars all agree on this point: You’ll benefit from reading my book if you have any interest in Samuel’s account of David’s rise to kingship in particular and/or modern biblical scholarship in general.