The King-Priest in Samuel: A Messianic Motif
Digital Verbum Edition
Overview
Scholars studying the ANE have noticed that Canaanite kings ruled as a representative of their god and served in a priestly role. Yahweh allows Israel to have a king “like all the nations” (Deut 17:14), but he shapes the monarchy according to his covenant. A key question remains, does God’s allowance for a king “like all the nations” include a king-priest model? This study presents a synchronic view of the king as a priest within the MT of Samuel, analyzing the motif and considering how the narrator heightens the hope for the coming anointed one, whom the narrator describes as both king (1 Sam 2:10) and priest (2:35–36). This study will argue that, from the monarchy’s inception, Yahweh considered Israel’s kingship a sacral task. My study examined the king as a priest through a synchronic literary-theological approach.
- Presents a synchronic view of the king as a priest within the MT of Samuel
- Analyzes the motif and considers how the narrator heightens the hope for the coming anointed one
- Argues that, from the monarchy’s inception, Yahweh considered Israel’s kingship a sacral task
- Introduction
- History of Literature On Kingship in 1–2 Samuel
- The King-Priest in the Pentateuch: Foundational Theology for 1–2 Samuel
- The King-Priest in 1 Samuel 2:10, 35
- Saul as a Rejected King-Priest |
- David’s Portrayal as the King-Priest
- David’s Rejection and His Hope in the King-Priest |
- Summary and Conclusions
Part I
Part II
Appendix 1: A King-Priest Overseeing Communal Worship and Priestly Regulations
Nicholas Majors has produced a significant study building the case that Saul, David, and David’s royal descendants functioned as divinely authorized king-priests in ancient Israel—a role that was fully realized in the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. To build his argument, Majors marshals an impressive array of evidence from Scripture and contemporary scholarship, and in the process, succeeds in creating a comprehensive treatment of a topic that has implications for both Old and New Testament studies.
—Robert D. Bergen, professor emeritus of Old Testament, Hannibal-LaGrange University
Nicholas Majors is to be congratulated on this accomplishment. He has drawn attention to important questions with fresh exegesis and a penetrating study that will require all of us to be more cautious about unguarded assumptions on the nature of Israelite kingship. His literary-theological methodology has much to commend it, and as a result, none of us can afford to neglect this new investigation.
—Bill T. Arnold, professor of Old Testament interpretation, Asbury Theological Seminary
I have been dissatisfied with the usual explanations of who the promised ‘faithful priest’ of 1 Samuel 2:35 may be, and Nicholas Majors has cut the Gordian knot by proposing that the figures of the faithful priest and God’s anointed in 2:35 are the same person, namely David as he anticipates the promised future king-priest. This is a provocative thesis, but it is thoroughly argued. This rich biblical-theological argument deserves serious attention.
— Greg Goswell, academic dean, Christ College
In this well-researched and clearly written study, Nicholas Majors examines relevant texts related to the theme of the king-priest not only in 1–2 Samuel, but also in the Pentateuch. Majors presents a compelling argument that these texts reveal how the messianic figure was not meant to be merely a ruler, but that from the beginning, he was meant to serve in a priestly capacity as well. Anyone interested in the Israelite monarchy, or the biblical portrayal of Messiah, will find this a fascinating read.
—David T. Lamb, professor of Old Testament, Missio Seminary