The Nature and Function of the Samuel Conclusion: 2 Samuel 21–24 as Mise en Abyme

Abstract

In this study, I undertake an analysis of the final four chapters of the book of Samuel (i.e., 2 Sam 21–24). I propose that the six sections that comprise 2 Samuel 21–24 serve as a mise en abyme, a miniature replica of the book of Samuel, which reflects the major themes of the book. This reflection offers, at the same time, both a theological distillation of the work as a whole and an interpretative lens through which to understand the preceding narrative. It is established through strategic use of inner-Biblical allusion and analogical correspondence whereby the various episodes of the conclusion are designed to resemble specific sections of the book while their sequence mirrors the story’s progression. After analyzing its function as the conclusion to the work, I make the case that the addition of 2 Samuel 21–24 occurred at a single point in time at a final stage of the composition of the book (during the post-exilic period). I argue that the author/editor used available literary and historical sources to fashion his six-part conclusion, but that the narratives on the outer boundaries were likely composed, or (at least) heavily reworked, by the author himself.

I begin the study with an introduction that provides an overview of issues relating to 2 Samuel 21–24 and my proposal. The first main chapter offers a survey of the history of interpretation of 2 Samuel 21–24 from the 1800’s to the present. This is followed by a chapter which discusses the theory behind particular literary devices which are relevant to my thesis. These devices include allusion, intertextuality, narrative analogy, and mise en abyme. This discussion forms the foundation for the next chapter, which offers an analysis of how 2 Samuel 21–24 serves as a mise en abyme of the book of Samuel as a whole. In the final chapter (before the conclusion), I engage with this material from a diachronic perspective, offering some suggestions with regard to the date and situation of its composition.