A Theological Commentary on the Bible, 1 & 2 Samuel

[Bong Hwan Goo]

 
웨스트민스터 존 낙스 출판사에서 발간한 신학적 주석 시리즈의 사무엘상하 표지이다.
저자 JENSEN은 서문에서 사무엘상하를 신명기적 신학의 입장에서 저술된, 그러니까 다윗에게 호의적인 입장에서 서술된 것으로 말한다. 그리고 고대 이스라엘에서 군주제의 출현을 세 인물, 즉 사무엘과 사울과 다윗에 초점을 맟주어 설명한다고 한다. 여기에는 제사장과 군인, 왕과 선지자, 그리고 왕실 주변의 많은 인물들이 가나안 청착 시기부터 바벨론 포로기까지의 역사와 사건을 기록한다. 그 이야기들은 왕의 음모, 군사적 전투, 그리고 사회경제적 투쟁을 다룬다. 하지만 이 역사의 중심인 이스라엘의 하나님을 묘사한다. 따라서 사무엘상하에는 인간과 정치와 신학이라는 세 축의 이야기가 서로 얽혀 있다. 이 세가지는 고대 이스라엘 뿐 아니라 서양과 동양을 포함하는 전세계적인 주제이며, 비록 이 이야기가 역사의 승자인 다윗 중심의 서술이라 할지라도 오늘의 우리에게도 의미있는 주제이다. 그 이유는 사무엘서에서 묘사되는인간의 성격은 복잡하고 어지러우며, 국가라는 정치제도 역시 그 기준이 모호하지만 이러한 갈등의 한 가운데로 들어오셔서 중재하시는 하나님의 선택과 의지를 읽을 수 있기 때문이다. 
이처럼 사무엘서는 인간을 탐구하고, 개인과 국가와의 관계에 대한 고민을 함께 하면서 이에 개입하시는 하나님의 손길이라는 관점에서 읽을 때 현대의 독자에게도 시사하는 바가 많은 책이라고 저자는 말한다.
 
아래에 도입부를 그대로 인용한다.
 
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Introduction:

Why Samuel? Why Now?
 
First and Second Samuel describe the emergence of monarchy in ancient Israel by focusing on three human characters: the transitional figure of Samuel, a prophet and priest who is Israel’s last judge; Saul, Israel’s first king, who is beset by tragedy; and David, who succeeds Saul as God’s anointed. These books form part of a larger body of literature, often referred to as the Deuteronomistic History, which portrays the corporate life of Israel from the settlement of Canaan to the Babylonian exile. The episodes in 1 and 2 Samuel are striking in their depiction of human characters—priests, soldiers, kings, prophets, and royal advisors—but also significant in how they narrate the central character of this history, the God of Israel.
 
History, in these books, is not simply an accounting of royal intrigue, military battles, and socioeconomic struggle, but also the stage on which God reveals God’s very self. First and Second Samuel relay some of the most memorable vignettes in all of Scripture—the call of Samuel, David’s battle with Goliath, and David’s seizure of Bathsheba as his wife—and discover in them the hand of God.
 
Why read these stories? A casual glance at them indicates that they are not “objective” history (if there ever has been such a thing), since they clearly favor David. If history is simply the witness of the victors, perhaps these volumes contain royal propaganda burnished by David’s partisans. Furthermore, many—if not most—of the events that Samuel narrates probably did not happen in the way that the authors describe, and some events may have not occurred at all. Bias toward David and exaggeration of historical detail, no doubt, saturate these pages. If we read 1 and 2 Samuel chiefly as textbooks of ancient history, we will emerge disappointed.
 
Another way of considering these stories is that they relate legends distant from our own time and somewhat irrelevant to modern concerns: kingship is hardly a model of government for the twenty-first century; patriarchy pervades many of these stories; and abhorrent violence occurs over and again. These stories, on first glance, may seem to perpetuate many of the old oppressions that most modern readers long to overcome.
 
Yet as we read them, even these aeons hence, these stories captivate, entice, and challenge us. Many of the stories are unforgettable; many are exquisitely crafted in terms of plot and narrative suspense. The characters that populate the drama of Samuel’s pages have become characters not only of Western culture, but throughout the world. King David has entered our collective lives all these centuries subsequent to his reign. Simply put, these are stories that have grabbed us and will not let us go.
 
Why read Samuel? At the risk of oversimplifying, I would suggest that we ought to read Samuel for at least three reasons: Samuel narrates (1) the complexities of the human person, (2) the ambiguities of our social arrangements as nations, and (3) God’s agency in a conflicted world. Personhood, politics, and theology occupy much of Samuel’s time, and they ought to occupy ours as well.
 
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