Journal: Tyndale Bulletin
Volume: TYNBUL 66:1 (NA 2015)
Article: The King And The Reader Hermeneutical Reflections On 1 Kings 20-21
Author: T. S. Hadjiev

TynBull 66:1 (2015) p. 63

The King And The Reader
Hermeneutical Reflections On 1 Kings 20-21

T.S. Hadjiev

([email protected])

Summary

1 Kings 20-21 offers a critical portrayal of Ahab as a king who practices neither mercy, nor justice in his dealings with his subjects but who strives to present a public image of himself as a king of mercy and justice. His character would have been seen by the exilic/post-exilic readership of the book of Kings as prefiguring their own experience of judgement and providing them with a model of repentance in the face of inevitable doom.

1. Introduction

King Ahab is one of the well-known villains of the Deuteronomistic history. His shortcomings as promoter of idolatry, persecutor of prophets, husband of Jezebel, and oppressor of the weak are explored in a number of narratives stretching from 1 Kings 16 to 22. In view of his negative portrayal, it is not a surprise that modern readers have usually not warmed up to him and have sought to identify themselves with one of the other, more positive, characters in the story. Reading the text of Kings from such a perspective almost inevitably leads to taking Ahab as a representative of the hostile and evil world opposed to everything good and pure. This is well illustrated by several recent attempts to relate the account of 1 Kings 21 to the experience of the contemporary reader. Hens-Piazza, for example, comments as follows:

In our own world, the same misuse of power discourages the buildup of the human community. Large corporations often manipulate legal codes and practices in order to squeeze small businesses out of existence. Powerful governments slash budgets, depriving citizens of basic needs while satisfying the desire for further luxuries among those at the top.

TynBull 66:1 (2015) p. 64

First-world countries already controlling a great deal of the earth’s natural resources often negotiate inequitable deals or exert military pressure in order to control even more resources belonging to the needy two-thirds world.1

Similarly, Richard Nelson says:

The community which accepts this story (i.e. 1 Kings 21) as Scripture must read its newspapers and then ask itself the hard questions. Who are the Ahabs and Jezebels? Who are the Naboths? What is the shape of the conspiracy this time? … The community of faith must always ask if it is functioning as Elijah, bearing the word of God to governments an...