Professional Documents
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VAN
WOLDE
University of Tilburg
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This phenomenon, that a text commences with a general statement and then
proceeds to give a detailed account, occurs quite often in the Hebrew Bible (for
a discussion of this phenomenon, see Van Wolde 2001).
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A similar use of
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Figs. 1 and 2
Fig. 3
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express the same notions.6 More than twelve hundred royal jars
were found (all to be dated in Hezekiahs reign in the eighth century bce), which had, on their handles, stamp seal impressions with
the inscription
, for the king and with a two-winged sun emblem or with a four-winged scarab, and both scarab and winged
sun disk are conceived of as royal solar symbols (Keel 1995). Seals
have also been found of the minister of the Judean king Uziah
(779-738 bce), and of the minister of the Judean king Ahaz (736721 bce), and from the time of Hezekiah (721-693 bce), presenting winged sun disks as royal symbols (Keel 1994: 88): See figures
1-3.
Well-known, too, are the texts in the Hebrew Bible which use
solar language in relationship to kings.7 Thus, it appears that, in
the Hebrew Bible, the suns cosmic, cultic and judicial function
was delegated by Yhwh to the king: the king was not seen as the
one who constitutes the cosmic order, but as the governor who
should uphold and maintain this order(cf. Schmid 1968: 85).
Against this background, we can understand 2 Sam. 12:11-12, in
which the collocations
and
are used in
a judicial context. Yhwh discusses the criminal case in which David
is the accused and concludes that his punishment will be executed
before the forum of the sun. Having the meanings described
above, this sun can be understood to represent the incorruptible
judge, whose rays from zenith to horizon penetrate and discover
injustice done to victims. This reference to the sun is made by
Yhwh addressing David at the moment he thought he had escaped
from his murder of Uriah, and after he discovered that his
behaviour is parallelled to that of the rich man in the parable. In
this context, Yhwhs use of the term sun cannot but fill the accused person with fear. Nevertheless, a distinction should be made
between v. 11 and v. 12. In the first verse, the sun is collocated
with a demonstrative, which suggests a physical presence of the sun
in some form or another in Davids palace. In the second verse,
the term sun is placed in a parallel position to the whole of Israel; it has a more general meaning, such as openly or publicly, and appears to refer to the sun as all-seeing judge. In order
to demonstrate the plausibility of the suns distinct meaning in v.
11, I will now concentrate on specific sun emblems.
6
ANEP 809; Welten 1969: 171; Sthli 1985: 11; Keel, Uehliger 1992: 314ff,
449; Taylor 1993: 42-57; Keel 1995: 121.
7
E.g., Ex. 24:10; Judg. 14:20. 22; 1 Sam. 1:22; 2 Sam. 34; Pss. 11:7; 17:15;
27:4, 13; 42:3; 63:3; 72:5, 17; 84:12; 89:37, and Isa. 6:1.
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Fig. 4
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Fig. 5
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the cosmic order (maat) and the king was considered to be the
representative of the sun, his responsibility as a judge was to guarantee the sun-protected order, which is represented by the solar
emblem on his throne.
From elsewhere in the ancient Near East, images of kings and
gods sitting on thrones are found, but usually they are painted or
carved in profile, so it is impossible to see whether the (backs of
the) thrones have carvings or pictures. In a middle-Assyrian seal
from the thirteenth century bce, however, a combination of a sun
throne and a kings throne can be detected (Keel 1994: 87). A
clearer picture shows the stela found in Ugarit from the same
period, described by Wyatt (1983): See figure 6.
On this stela, on the right-hand side, the god El is seated on a
lion-legged throne. The person pictured on the left appears to be
performing some ritual act before the seated deity. The cap and
act of worship lead to the conclusion that the king of Ugarit is
presented here. This king is holding a jug in his left hand, presumably with a view to pouring a libation before the god, or even
filling what looks like the cup the god proffers him. In his right
hand, he holds a staff of some kind in the form of a sceptre, symbol
of power and authority. And in the middle, we have the winged
sun disk, symbol of royalty and the Ugaritic emblem of apa , the
sun god (or goddess). Wyatt (1983: 277) interprets this sun disk
as an expression of cosmic stability that hovers over the scene
of many monuments in Ugarit and protects the kingdom of Ugarit.
On a ninth-century tablet from Mesopotamia, a similar scene can
be detected (Keel 1972: 153, Pl. 239): See figure 7. King Nabuapaliddin (figure on the left), preceded by a priest who is led by a
protector deity, enters the solar temple of Sippar. On a table-like
piece of furniture, a large emblem of the sun god is presented. It
forms the centre of the scene and focuses the attention of the
perceiver. The right-hand side of this scene takes place in heaven
(behind the god on his throne are, from left to right, the symbols
of the sun, moon, and Venus); the left-hand side takes place on
earth, and the waters underneath both can be discerned. On the
table-like piece of furniture in the middle of the scene stands an
emblem of the sun, the representation of the sun deity on earth.
The king approaches this table or altar, guided by the priest and
his protector, who hold hands on this piece of solar furniture.
Apparently, the sun god lowers with ropes from heaven the table
or altar with the suns emblem. In this picture, all elements are
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
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Fig. 9
Fig. 8
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this in this sun, (2) the collocation of this sun with the prepositional phrase before the eyes of (
) which usually occurs
only before persons, and (3) the placement of before the eyes of
this sun parallel to the previous before your eyes (same noun
and preposition but with a possessive suffix), which shows that the
materialised sun represents David and that he is physically engaged. Every word in Yhwhs speech underlines the severe judgement, but the proprioceptivity makes it tangible: it is the visible
skin of the text.
The iconographic study showed to what kind of material object
this sun could refer. The demonstrative indicates specificity and
denotes a sun visibly manifest in the presence of David in one
form or another. It can be the royal throne on which David is
sitting at that moment, with a sun painted on it, in a way similar
to Tut-ank-Amons throne. It might refer to another piece of furniture with a sun emblem above it (a table, a pedestal). It cannot
refer, however, to Yhwhs empty throne in the temple, which
(from the narratives point of view) still has to be built by Davids
son Solomon. The reference to a royal throne appears to be the
most attractive possibility, representing the kings and the deitys
responsibility for righteousness and justice, but we cannot be sure
that it refers to an actual seat. However, what we can be sure of is
that the function of the expression this sun in v. 11 is based on
the assumed relationship between David and the object. In other
words, the collocation refers, in the story world of 2 Sam. 12:11,
to a tangible object, and functions in the discourse world as a
metonym, as a language sign that receives its meaning by the contiguity of the subjects. To understand the emotional contents of
this contiguity, knowledge of the material culture and its cultural
representations are indispensable.
To summarize, this sun in v. 11 is not just a nice image, nor
a metaphor or another term for publicly, nor just a way of speaking, but functions as a metonym which activates the contiguity
between the character David and a material object, possibly the
sun emblem on the royal throne, in a way that makes it possible
for the contemporary reader to understand and even experience
it as a meaningful language sign charged with strong emotional
feelings. It is before the vigilant eye of this all-seeing judge, the
representative of the king, that Yhwhs verdict will be executed.
David is shattered, as is shown by his immediate reaction, I stand
guilty before Yhwh (12:13). No more long statements as in v. 5
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Abstract
A cognitive web with different layers of emotion spreads over the text of 2
Samuel 12, in which the sun plays an important role. The unique linguistic combinations in vv. 11-12 show the suns personified role. Iconographic study clarifies the sun as an image loaded with strong emotional feelings. Thus, it becomes
understandable why the sun could function for the contemporaneous reader as a
metonym which activates the contiguity between the character of David and a
material object, possibly the sun emblem on the royal throne. It is before the
vigilant eye of this sun, as the all-seeing judge, that Yhwhs verdict will be executed. Every reader since, all those who know of the suns cultural and religious
power as well as of Yhwhs, all those who read in the textual context about desire, lust and murder and about the kings devotion to the royal throne, can experience the sparks of thrill and fear in this text.
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