Book contents
- Why the Bible Began
- Why the Bible Began
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Maps
- Acknowledgments
- Prologue
- Introduction
- Part I The Rise and Fall
- Part II Admitting Defeat
- Part III A New Narrative
- Part IV A People of Protest
- 22 The Matriarch
- 23 The Hero
- 24 The Other
- 25 The Soldier
- 26 The Prophet and the Priest
- 27 The Sage
- 28 The Poet
- 29 The Queen
- 30 Conclusions
- Subject Index
- Scholars Cited
- Biblical References
- References
25 - The Soldier
Sacrificial Death and Eternal Life
from Part IV - A People of Protest
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 13 July 2023
Book contents
- Why the Bible Began
- Why the Bible Began
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Maps
- Acknowledgments
- Prologue
- Introduction
- Part I The Rise and Fall
- Part II Admitting Defeat
- Part III A New Narrative
- Part IV A People of Protest
- 22 The Matriarch
- 23 The Hero
- 24 The Other
- 25 The Soldier
- 26 The Prophet and the Priest
- 27 The Sage
- 28 The Poet
- 29 The Queen
- 30 Conclusions
- Subject Index
- Scholars Cited
- Biblical References
- References
Summary
It all begins with an afternoon dalliance. King David lays eyes on a bathing beauty named Bathsheba. She happens to be the wife of Uriah – one of his top soldiers who was both a non-native (a Hittite) and serving on the front lines. But that does not stop the king: “He sent messengers, and they took her. She came to him, and he slept with her” (2 Samuel 11:4). As fate would have it, Bathsheba, who had been bathing after her menstrual cycle, becomes pregnant after the illicit liaison.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Why the Bible BeganAn Alternative History of Scripture and its Origins, pp. 393 - 405Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2023
References
Further Reading
Ackerman, Susan, When Heroes Love: The Ambiguity of Eros in the Stories of Gilgamesh and David, Columbia University Press, 2005.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Alexander, Caroline, The War that Killed Achilles: The True Story of Homer’s Iliad and the Trojan War, Viking, 2009.Google Scholar
Brichto, Herbert Chanan, “Kin, Cult, Land and Afterlife: A Biblical Complex,” Hebrew Union College Annual 44 (1973): 1–54.Google Scholar
Feldman, Yael, Glory and Agony: Isaac’s Sacrifice and National Narrative, Stanford University Press, 2010.Google Scholar
Frymer-Kensky, Tikva, “The Atrahasis Epic and Its Significance for Our Understanding of Genesis 1–9,” The Biblical Archaeologist 40 (1977): 147–155.Google Scholar
Hays, Christopher B., A Covenant with Death: Death in the Iron Age II and Its Rhetorical Uses in Proto-Isaiah, Eerdmans, 2015.Google Scholar
Henning, Meghan, “No Heaven or Hell, Only Sheʾol,” TheTorah.com, 2021, https://thetorah.com/article/no-heaven-or-hell-only-sheol.Google Scholar
Levenson, Jon D., Resurrection and the Restoration of Israel: The Ultimate Victory of the God of Life, Yale University Press, 2006.Google Scholar
Loraux, Nicole, The Invention of Athens: The Funeral Oration in the Classical City, Harvard University Press, 1986.Google Scholar
Suriano, Matthew, “Sheol, the Tomb, and the Problem of Postmortem Existence,” Journal of Hebrew Scriptures 16 (2016): 1–31.Google Scholar
Wright, Jacob L., “Making a Name for Oneself: Martial Valor, Heroic Death, and Procreation in the Hebrew Bible,” Journal for the Study of the Old Testament 36 (2011): 131–162.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zsengellér, József and Xeravits, Géza G. (eds.), The Book of Maccabees: History, Theology, Ideology, Brill, 2007.Google Scholar