The Fate of Saul’s Progeny in the Reign of David

This book, as a comprehensive analysis of the fate of Saul's heirs, shows that David, like other ancient Near Eastern usurpers, perpetrated heinous injustices against the vanquished house of Saul. It evaluates the relationships between David and Saul's heirs, using the criterion of justice, which is a cardinal directive principle for living in YHWH's covenant community as is enunciated in the Deuteronomic Code. Tushima focuses on the story of David and its interconnections with the fate of the Saulides to determine the factors that lay behind the latter's tragedies, inquiring into whether these tragedies were due to continuing divine retribution, pure happenstance, or Davidic orchestration. In his close reading of these texts, Tushima argues that David was, for the most part, unjust and calculating in his dealings with the Saulides. Thematic and motific threads arising from this narrative critical study (such as the impact of human conduct on the environment, the tension between election and the character of God's servants, the dynamics of sacred space and sacred typonyms, the Judahite [Davidic] kingship, the monarchy, marriage, and Zion theology) are considered within their contexts in Israel's traditions for their biblical-theological and redemptive-historical import.