The Davidic Dynasty Tradition in Early Judaism: Its History and Significance for Messianism (review)

Hebrew Studies 37 (1996) 193 Reviews THE DAVIDIC DYNASTY TRADITION IN EARLY JUDAISM: ITS HISTORY AND SIGNIFICANCE FOR MESSIANISM. By Kenneth Pomykala. SBL Early Judaism and Its Literature 7. pp. xv + 308. Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1995. Paper, $24.95. This very interesting book enters with authority into that ever-growing line of research devoted to offering a purely historical reading, not a reading conditioned by Christian (and rabbinic) theology, of Old Testament texts and, more generally, of the Jewish tradition. The aim of the book is twofold: to offer a history of the Davidic dynasty tradition in early Judaism and to evaluate whether there existed in this period a widespread, continuous, or uniform expectation for a Davidic messiah. For this purpose, the author first examines the biblical background of the Davidic dynasty tradition up to the late Persian period, then he deals with its interpretation during this period in Chronicles and in Zech 12:2-13:1. Lastly, he analyzes the content and the function of the Davidic dynasty tradition in Jewish texts from the Hellenistic and Roman periods. A separate chapter is devoted to other royal messianic figures like the Messiahs of Israel and Judah, and the royal pretenders of the Herodian and Roman epoch. . The conclusion is, in the first place, that the biblical tradition about the Davidic dynasty prior to the late Persian period was marked by great diversity , so that reducing it to an unconditional promise of an everlasting covenant, like the one of 2 Sam 7: 11-16 and Psalm 89, is an unjustified limitation of the textual evidence. In fact. at the dawn of the early Jewish period. the evidence of a Davidic messianic hope seems extremely restricted . Secondly. in early Judaism. the Davidic dynasty tradition was interpreted in different ways according to the intentions of the various authors. It is true that in six texts, Pss. Sol. 17, 4QpGena, 4QFlor, 4QpIsaa, 4QMill)ama. and 4 Ezra. Davidic dynasty tradition was used to express the hope for a messiah descending from David, but. in this period. there existed no widespread. continuous. and dominant expectation for a Davidic messiah. The first evidence of this expectation is in Pss. Sol. 17. which goes back to the middle of the first century S.C.E., while others appear only in the Qumran community in the Herodian period and in 4 Ezra (ca. 100 C.E.). Other messianic figures of the period. however, cannot be identified as Davidic. Among these are the Messiah of Israel. the ideal king of the Hebrew Studies 37 (1996) 194 Reviews Temple Scroll, the Messiah of Judah, and the messianic pretenders of popular origin. All this means that one cannot speak, as scholars usually do, of a "traditional" Davidic hope. Interpretations of earliest Christology and of rabbinic messianism based on the linear development of Davidic messianism in biblical texts and in the re-readings of Second Temple period must be rejected. The book, as I have said, is very interesting, written in a clear style, well documented (even if only bibliography in English is generally used), surely innovative, and, to a large extent, convincing. Some observations, however, must be made in order to engage in a constructive dialog with the author. The division of documentary material seems questionable and misleading . To set a "biblical background" (made up of the texts preceding the late Persian period but including the Psalms and the Prophets) over against the "texts from the late Persian period" and the "texts from the Hellenistic and Roman periods" means not only mingling a strictly chronological criterion with a prevalently theological one, but also neglecting the fact that parts of this "biblical background" (other Psalms, other parts of the Prophets, and maybe even the books of Samuel and Kings) date from the Persian and the Hellenistic periods. This cannot but affect how one evaluates the consistency of the Davidic dynasty tradition in this last period. But, most of all, the legitimate demand of a historical reading of the texts relative to the Davidic dynasty tradition, and a reading not conditioned by Christian and rabbinic interpretations, seems to lead to minimalist conclusions and, sometimes, even to unjustified distortions. Let us leave aside the...