Nadav Na’aman, «Jebusites and Jabeshites in the Saul and David Story-Cycles» biblica, Vol. 95 (2014) 481-497 page 487

Vol 95 (2014)

Nadav Na’aman, «Jebusites and Jabeshites in the Saul and David Story-Cycles», Vol. 95 (2014) 481-497

This article re-examines the historical role of the Jebusites in the early monarchical period. The Jebusites, whose name is derived from the verb YBŚ («to be dry»), were a West Semitic pastoral clan that split into two segments, one settling in western Gilead and the other around Jerusalem. The two segments kept their tribal solidarity, as indicated by Saul’s campaign to rescue Jabesh-gilead. The Jebusite stronghold was one of Saul’s power bases, and David took it over. The biased description of David’s conquest influenced the way the Jebusites were presented in the late (Deuteronomistic) biblical historiography and in Israelite cultural memory.

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001_naman_co_481-497 13/02/15 11:20 Pagina 487 JEBUSITES AND JABESHITES IN THE SAUL AND DAVID STORY-CYCLES 487 which mentions the prohibition against blind and lame individ- uals entering the temple, no doubt on account of their assumed impurity. I. Willi-Plein has suggested an alternative solution 27: “V. 8 [...] berichtet von einer Maßnahme Davids nach der Einnahme der Fluchtburg Zion, deren Hauptinhalt ein Schutzwort für die Jebusiter sein dürfte: David versuchte, die sehr verschiedenartigen Bevölke- rungselemente seiner nunmehr eingenommenen, als Residenz ge- wählten und als Davidsstadt benannten oder umbenannten Stadt mit der Fluchtburg Zion in die neue bzw. hier erst im Werden be- griffene ‘Hauptstadt’ zu integrieren”. Be that as it may, it is evident that this description includes no detail of the way the place was conquered. The text only states that “David took (dklyw) the stronghold of Zion” (v. 7). The statement is deliberately positioned at the centre of the chiastic account 28 and establishes that the stronghold, formerly under Jebusite control, fell into David’s hands. What happened to the Jebusites after their stronghold was con- quered? The text does not answer this question. This omission dif- fers from many other biblical conquest stories, including David’s wars with Israel’s neighbours (2 Samuel 8; 12,31), which explicitly mentioned the fate of the defeated. Hence, the silence of the text on this matter might possibly be significant. The late story of the presence of Araunah the Jebusite in Jerusalem and David’s pur- chase of his threshing-floor in order to build an altar there (2 Sam 24,18-25) indicates that the story’s author considered the Jebusites as part of the city’s population 29. Further support for the survival of the Jebusites in Jerusalem is provided by Zech 9,7b: “it [Ash- dod] shall become like a clan in Judah, and Ekron shall be like the 27 WILLI-PLEIN, “Keine Eroberung”, 229. 28 TYSON, “Who’s In?”, 549-551. 29 For the episode of the acquisition of the threshing-floor and the status of Araunah the Jebusite, in addition to the commentaries, see W. FUSS, “II Samuel 24”, ZAW 74 (1962) 145-164; M. COHEN, “II Sam 24 ou l’histoire d’un décret royal avorté”, ZAW 113 (2001) 17-40; H.-P. MATHYS, “Anmer- kungen zu 2 Sam 24”, “Sieben Augen auf einem Stein” (Sach 3,9). Studien zur Literatur des Zweiten Tempels. Festschrift für Ina Willi-Plein zum 65. Geburtstag (eds. F. HARTENSTEIN – M. PIETSCH) (Neukirchen-Vluyn 2007) 229-234, 242-246.