The Nature and Function of the Samuel Conclusion

Matthew Percuoco offers an analysis of the final four chapters of the book of Samuel. Drawing upon the research on the use of various literary devices in biblical scholarship, he proposes that the six sections that comprise 2 Samuel 21-24 serve as a miniature replica of the book of Samuel, which reflects the content and major themes of the book. The author contends that this reflection offers, at the same time, both a theological distillation of the work as a whole and an interpretative lens through which to understand the preceding narrative. This is established through strategic use of inner-biblical allusion and analogical correspondence, whereby the various episodes of the conclusion have been designed to resemble specific sections of the book, while their sequence mirrors the story's progression. The author makes the case that the addition of 2 Samuel 21-24 occurred at a single point in time at a final stage of the composition of the book (during the post-exilic period). He argues that the author/editor used available literary and historical sources to fashion his six-part conclusion, but that the narratives on the outer boundaries were likely composed, or (at least) heavily reworked, by the author himself. Matthew Percuoco offers a discussion of the relationships between the components of 2 Samuel 21-24 and their parallel texts (e.g., Ps 18; 1 Chr 11:11-41; 20:4-8; 21:1-30) and examines instances of literary influence and allusions between 2 Samuel 21-24 and other passages in the books of Genesis-2 Kings. Finally, he suggests that 2 Samuel 21-24 functioned as an important unit within an emerging Enneateuchal corpus.