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Textual analysis reveals competing Benjaminite and Judean scribal memories in 1 Samuel, suggesting ancient Israelite identity was forged through narrative negotiation.
This article reads the book of Samuel as the product of competing Benjaminite and Judean memories, arguing that the Saul–David narrative is not a record of history but a construct shaped by scribal memory. The early Saul traditions (1 Sam. 9–11) preserve an independent Benjaminite memory that was later absorbed into a Judean, Jerusalem-centred framework. This process of transformation reflects not popular recollection but the discursive reworking of memory among the literati. Ultimately, Samuel presents ‘Israel’ not as a fixed entity but as a narrative space forged through the collision and silencing of rival communal memories.
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JiSeong James Kwon (2026) studied this question.
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