David in the Desert

In the course of the last two decades, both the historical reconstruction of the Iron I-Iron IIA period in Israel and Judah and the literary-historical reconstruction of the Books of Samuel have undergone major changes. With respect to the quest for the "e;historical David"e;, terms like "e;empire"e; or "e;Groreich"e; have been set aside in favor of designations like "e;mercenary"e; or "e;hapiru leader"e;, corresponding to the image of the son of Jesse presented in I Sam. At the same time, the literary-historical classification of these chapters has itself become a matter of considerable discussion. As Leonhard Rost's theory of a source containing a "e;History of David's Rise"e; continues to lose support, it becomes necessary to pose the question once again: Are we dealing with a once independent 'story of David' embracing both the HDR and the "e;succession narrative"e; are there several independent versions of an HDR to be detected, or do I Sam 16-II Sam 5* constitute a redactional bridge between older traditions about Saul on the one hand and David on the other? In either case, what parts of the material in I Sam 16-II Sam 5 are based on ancient traditions, and may therefore serve as a source for any tentative historical reconstruction? The participants in the 2018 symposium at Jena whose essays are collected in this volume engage these questions from different redaction-critical and archaeological perspectives. Together, they provide an overview of contemporary historical research on the book of First Samuel.