Journal: Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society
Volume: JETS 67:1 (Mar 2024)
Article: A Tale Of Two Ahinoams: Did David Marry Saul’s Wife To Usurp The Throne?
Author: Stephen parker

JETS 67:1 (March 2024) p. 27

A Tale Of Two Ahinoams: Did David Marry Saul’s Wife To Usurp The Throne?

Stephen parker*

* Stephen Parker is academic coursework manager at the Australian College of Ministries and senior lecturer in pastoral theology at the Sydney College of Divinity. He may be contacted at [email protected].

Abstract: To date, an audacious theory proposed by Levenson over four decades ago has received limited exploration. Did King David marry not just Michal, the daughter of King Saul, but also Ahinoam, her mother and Saul’s queen? If true, this would have implications both for David’s wives and his acceptance as an exemplar for subsequent biblical kings. This article evaluates the multiple threads of reasoning on this issue. It also provides novel suggestions to establish that, despite the proposal’s intriguing nature, it seems more likely Ahinoam of Jezreel, whom David married, merely shared a common name with Ahinoam daughter of Ahimaaz, whom King Saul married. The evidence does lead to the conclusion that they are two separate people, albeit with a common name. As such, a historical scandal is avoided, and David’s reputation has one less chink in its armor.

Key words: Saul, David, Ahinoam, Abigail, Nabal, Nathan, 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel

In 1978, Jon D. Levenson took up Robert Alter’s challenge for biblical scholars to attempt broad literary criticism of the Hebrew Bible.1 In his consequent excellent examination of the 1 Samuel 25 tale of Nabal, Abigail, and David, he developed a surprising thesis. First, he argued that David’s marriage to Abigail, after the death of her husband Nabal, was a key element in his later accession to the throne of Israel.2 Far more controversially, though, he proposed that the Ahinoam shown in 25:43 already to be David’s wife at his marriage to Abigail was also the Ahinoam shown in 14:49–50 to be the wife of King Saul previously.3 In 1980 Levenson elaborated further on this theory with Baruch Halpern, providing more strands of evidence and showing how the marriages could have helped David politically.4

JETS 67:1 (March 2024) p. 28

Although this situation may appear fanciful,5 Levenson and Halpern’s scholarly work and the biblical evidence for it are substantial and worthy of respectful engagement. This article...