62 Jeffrey C. Geoghegan time of sheepshearing and whose actions at birth to secure the right of primogenitor – and, by implication, to sire the royal clan (Gen 49,10; cf. Ruth 4,18-22; 1 Chr 2,4-15) — helped to account for the “p˝ras≥”-ing nature of the Davidides in their early struggles for the throne (1 Sam 25,10; 2 Sam 13,25.27) (28). Such a reconstruction of events might also explain the several parallels between the Jacob/Laban and David/Nabal sheepshearing narratives. In particular, an event from David’s life has found expression in the ancestral history. After all, a number of episodes from David’s life mirror those of the Patriarchs, especially Jacob (29). For instance, both Jacob and David have daughters (Dinah and Tamar, respectively) who are victims of sexual aggression and whose vindication results in the removal of two brothers (Simeon and Levi, in the case of Jacob; Amnon and, eventually, Absalom, in the case of David) from the line of succession (30). Additionally, both Jacob and David have sons (Reuben, in the case of Jacob; Absalom and, in a manner, Adonijah, in the case of David) who take their fathers’ concubines, again with consequences for the throne (31). In the end, it is the “fourth” son of both Jacob and David (Judah and Solomon, respectively) who secures the right to rule over his brothers (32). Whether the allusions to David’s life in the ancestral history were intended as a further apology for his or a later Davidide’s (e.g., Solomon’s) ascent to power, or whether they were intended as a further critique of that ascent, is unclear. My sense, based on both the noble and ignoble actions recorded for the Patriarchs and the early Davidides, is that the biblical authors were content with the ambiguities (33). The establishment of the Davidic dynasty was, in a word, “complicated”, and the account of this period — both in Genesis and Samuel — reflects this reality. Boston College Jeffrey C. GEOGHEGAN Chestnut Hill, MA 02467 (28) The author’s innovation was not David’s affiliation to the Peres≥ite clan but the wordplay on the clan name to characterize the Davidides’ behavior. (29) For the parallels between David and the Patriarchs in general, see the discussion and bibliography in R. DE HOOP, “The Use of the Past to Address the Present: The Wife- Sister Incidents (Gen 12,10-20; 20,1-18; 26,1-16)”, Studies in the Book of Genesis. Literature, Redaction, and History (ed. A. WÉNIN) (BETL 155; Leuven 2001) 359-69. For the parallels between Jacob’s and David’s lives, see, most recently, R.E. FRIEDMAN, The Hidden Book in the Bible. The Discovery of the First Prose Masterpiece (San Francisco 1998) 37-44. (30) For the many thematic and linguistic parallels between the Dinah and Tamar stories, see D.N. FREEDMAN, “Dinah and Shechem, Tamar and Amnon”, God’s Steadfast Love. Essays in Honor of Prescott Harrison Williams, Jr., Austin Seminary Bulletin 105.2 (1990) 51-63; also published in Divine Commitment and Human Obligation (Grand Rapids 1997) 485-95. Cf. J.A. EMERTON, “Judah and Tamar”, VT 29 (1979) 403-415. (31) Solomon uses Adonijah’s request for Abishag (1 Kgs 2,13-25) as justification for his execution. (32) Whatever Solomon’s actual birth order, he is presented in Samuel-Kings as the fourth son in contention for the throne. (33) Cf. M.E. BIDDLE, “Ancestral Motifs in 1 Samuel 25: Intertextuality and Characterization”, JBL 121/4 (2002) 617-638.