Hutzli, Jürg 2011a

Literaturid

2019

Werksart

Artikel

Kurztitel

Hutzli, Jürg 2011a

Autor(en)

Hutzli, Jürg

Titel

The Meaning of the Term ‘îr dawid in Samuel and Kings

Sammelband

Reihe

Reihe kurz

Reihe Band

Zeitschrift

Tel Aviv

Zeitschrift Band

38

Ort

Jahr

2011

Seiten

167−178

Anmerkungen

Davidstadt; Jerusalem

Abstract

When the term >îr dawid appears in the Books of Samuel and Kings, most commentators and translators interpret it as referring to Jerusalem or a part of it, i.e., the southeastern hill (cf. the common translation, 'City of David'). A few scholars (Yeivin 1948: 40-43; Knauf 2000: 79; Barkay 2006: 8; 2008: 54; Keel 2007: 63; Zevit 2008: 207), however, note parenthetically that the term in Samuel and Kings sometimes or always (Keel) relates to a 'fortress', a 'citadel' or 'inner citadel'. This paper systematically re-examines the occurrences of the term >îr dawid in Samuel and Kings and ends in agreement with the minority scholarly position. Since 2 Sam 5:7-9; 6:16; 1 Kings 3:1; 9:24 indicate that >îr dawid served as a residence of David, Michal and the Egyptian wife of Solomon, it may be argued that the burial formulae for the Judahite kings that mention >îr dawid may refer to a royal palace that also functioned as a place of burial. The paper then presents several instances in Samuel and Kings where the noun >îr (unspecified) probably designates a stronghold or a tower rather than a town or a section of a town and thus is consistent with the semantic meaning 'fortress' of the lexeme >r in Old South Arabic.

Ortsnamen