The Height of Saul and the Beauty of David

Chapter 5 analyzes the bodies of Israel’s first two kings, Saul and David. In the broader landscape of Samuel-Kings, precious few bodies take center stage, truly positioning Saul head and shoulders above the crowd and David as the ideal monarchic body over the short-lived united kingdom. Saul and David participate in a rather complex “body drama” in 1 Samuel that scholars have not yet analyzed with enough depth in its bodily dimensions, especially given the pervasiveness of body themes both explicitly and subtly interwoven throughout the narratives. In this chapter, we continue to see individual bodies reflected back into the corporate body, and vice versa, though for David and Saul the process seems more ambiguous, complicated by the rollercoaster of affairs that characterize the national body through the reigns of both men: moments of strength and unity, undermined, reconciled, undermined again, valorous, cowardly, bold, and hidden.