The Unfavored: Judah and Saul in the Narratives of Genesis and 1 Samuel. By Josef Sykora

Abstract

In this book Josef Sykora builds on recent scholarly work on the concept of election, in particular noting the approach of both Jon Levenson and Joel Kaminsky in examining chosenness as a central feature of the Hebrew Bible, and the focus of a number of scholars on the fate of the unchosen outsider in biblical narrative. Sykora takes a different tack however, tackling two narratives relating specifically to chosenness and the unchosen within Israel itself, both of which contain ‘difficult’ passages often assumed to be later editorial additions to the text. Sykora examines the figure of Judah within the Joseph cycle of Genesis 37–50, and the portrayal of Saul in 1 Samuel 13–15, in each case using an experimental reading of the text without the seemingly ‘intrusive’ passages which seem to sit awkwardly within the canonical text. In the Judah/Joseph narrative, Genesis 38 and 49 are removed for later analysis,...