‘May YHWH avenge me on you; but my hand shall not be against you’ (1 Sam. 24:13): Mapping land and resistance in the ‘biographical’ notes of the ‘Book’ of Psalms

The ‘biographical’ notes of the Masoretic ‘Book’ of Psalms are often understood as placing the psalms in dialogue with 1-2 Samuel, and casting David as a pious exemplar. As David prayed psalms in his distress, so can anyone. Indebted to an influential article by Brevard Childs, many scholars also see early traces of midrashic exegesis. However, this is not entirely persuasive, and to inquire into these issues, the article proceeds from the observation that many of the ‘biographical’ notes cluster around similar events. In most of them, David is fleeing from Saul. Following a survey of the ‘biographical’ notes in both the Masoretic text and the Septuagint, it is argued that the often-suggested connections between the psalms and 1-2 Samuel are quite weak, and that a better way to understand the addition of ‘biographical’ notes is found when reading them in light of a resurfacing Saulide–Davidic rivalry in post-exilic times