Judean Royal Theology

This is an attempt at a brief overview of the Judean royal theology/ideology, as presented in Brooke’s lecture, Coogan, and the Harper-Collins NRSV. P. Kyle McCarter, writing on First and Second Samuel in the NRSV, notes that 2 Sam 7: 1-17 is “the royal theology of the Davidic dynasty in oracular form. Because of the thematic centrality of Davidic kingship to ancient Israelite religion, the oracle uttered by Nathan is a watershed event in the biblical narrative as a whole” (p. 445). The passage begins with David’s wish to build a house for Yahweh, since it seems unfitting to him that “the ark of God stays in a tent” while he, David, lives in “a house of cedar.” The prophet Nathan then receives an oracle from Yahweh: instead of David building a temple for Yahweh, Yahweh will establish the house of David.

David’s dynasty will now be guaranteed “unconditionally and in perpetuity, even if David’s successor(s) act wrongly” (Coogan, p. 261), and a covenant relationship is signified by the use of the words “steadfast love.” The Davidic dynasty will begin with David’s son Solomon, who will, in fact, build a temple for the Lord. The NRSV adds that the language of “father” and “son” in 7:14 indicates the “special relationship between the dynastic deity and the king, who was regarded as the adoptive son of the national god” (p. 446); David is therefore considered Yahweh’s son. Although Saul was rejected by God, it is now promised that this will never happen to David or to his successors: “But I will not take my steadfast love from him, as I took it from Saul, who I put away from before you” (7:15). The covenant with David is meant to be everlasting.