Journal: Tyndale Bulletin
Volume: TYNBUL 63:1 (NA 2012)
Article: Heptadic Verbal Patterns In The Solomon Narrative Of 1 Kings 1-11
Author: John A. Davies

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Heptadic Verbal Patterns In The Solomon Narrative Of 1 Kings 1-11

John A. Davies

Summary

The narrative in 1 Kings 1-11 makes use of the literary device of sevenfold lists of items and sevenfold recurrences of Hebrew words and phrases. These heptadic patterns may contribute to the cohesion and sense of completeness of both the constituent pericopes and the narrative as a whole, enhancing the readerly experience. They may also serve to reinforce the creational symbolism of the Solomon narrative and in particular that of the description of the temple and its dedication.

1. Introduction

One of the features of Hebrew narrative that deserves closer attention is the use (consciously or subconsciously) of numeric patterning at various levels. In narratives, there is, for example, frequently a threefold sequence, the so-called ‘Rule of Three’1 (Samuel’s three divine calls: 1 Samuel 3:8; three pourings of water into Elijah’s altar trench: 1 Kings 18:34; three successive companies of troops sent to Elijah: 2 Kings 1:13), or tens (ten divine speech acts in Genesis 1; ten generations from Adam to Noah, and from Noah to Abram; ten toledot [‘family accounts’] in Genesis). One of the numbers long recognised as holding a particular fascination for the biblical writers (and in this they were not alone in the ancient world) is the number seven. Seven

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conveys the idea of completeness in biblical and Semitic texts generally.2 Thus some narrative events, particularly at key turning points, are repeated seven times: Joshua marching around Jericho (Joshua 6:15); Elijah’s servant looking toward the sea as the drought is about to break (1 Kings 18:43); Naaman bathing in the Jordan before being healed (2 Kings 5:10). According to Markova, Njoh, and Lloyd there is a higher incidence in the Pentateuch of the numeral seven, or numbers beginning with seven, than would be expected according to Benford’s law (lower numerals naturally occur with higher frequency than higher numerals in a descending logarithmic scale).3 Heptadic units are also used as a structuring device in the Hebrew Bible at the macro and micro level, often in a chiastic arrangement, as devel...

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