Series:

Bibleworld

2 total works

Cover of Surpassing the Love of Two Women
Were David and Jonathan 'gay' lovers? This very modern question is at the root of the recent explosion of studies of the David and Jonathan narratives in 1 and 2 Samuel. But what makes it possible even to ask this question, and what agendas govern the ways interpreters try to answer it? This book begins by critiquing recent scholarship on David and Jonathan, with particular emphasis on the ideological use of historical criticism on the one hand and queer theory on the other. Neither approach to the relationship between David and Jonathan has taken seriously enough either the richness of the biblical text as a work of narrative art or the influence of reception history on the way scholarly agendas are framed. Beneath the plurality of interpretations currently on the market lies an ambiguous text that has drawn readers, beginning with the redactors of the Hebrew text and the translators of the Septuagint and Targum, to the task of resolving its several possible meanings. Generations of interpreters have read the biblical narrative through the lens of later codes and conventions, culminating in the use of this narrative as a resource for the reconstruction of gay history.
Far from being a history of misreading, the reception history of the David and Jonathan narratives is a witness to the capacity of a richly ambiguous text to generate interpretations.

Cover of The Love of David and Jonathan

Were David and Jonathan 'gay' lovers? This very modern question lies behind the recent explosion of studies of the David and Jonathan narrative. Interpreters differ in their assessment of whether 1 and 2 Samuel offer a positive portrayal of a homosexual relationship. Beneath the conflict of interpretations lies an ambiguous biblical text which has drawn generations of readers - from the redactors of the Hebrew text and the early translators to modern biblical scholars - to the task of resolving its possible meanings. What has not yet been fully explored is the place of David and Jonathan in the evolution of modern, Western understandings of same-sex relationships, in particular how the story of their relationship was read alongside classical narratives, such as those of Achilles and Patroclus, or Orestes and Pylades. The Love of David and Jonathan explores this context in detail to argue that the story of David and Jonathan was part of the process by which the modern idea of homosexuality itself emerged.