A convention of reading

The story of David and Jonathan, part of the interwoven narrative threads of the demise of King Saul of Israel and the rise of his divinely anointed successor, David son of Jesse, has been much discussed in recent biblical scholarship. A particular source of excitement to scholars has been the question of whether or not the Hebrew text of 1 and 2 Samuel supports the view that David and Jonathan were homosexual lovers. But why has this question been so much discussed in this often dry and dusty, yet occasionally passionately contested corner of contemporary academia? What is at stake in the debate? What shapes the questions asked by those engaged in the debate? What aspects of the biblical narrative, and what threads in its history of reception, have made this debate possible at this particular point in time, and in these particular circles?

These are the questions with which this book deals. It is not an attempt to resolve once and for all whether David and Jonathan had sex, or whether the biblical author(s) thought they did, or expected their readers to think they did.