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Document Details : Title: Quand les intrigues s'entrelacent Subtitle: Une étude de l'organisation narrative de 2 S 11-12 Author(s): ABABI, Ionel Journal: Ephemerides Theologicae Lovanienses Volume: 87 Issue: 1 Date: 2011 Pages: 35-56 DOI: 10.2143/ETL.87.1.2122229 Abstract : The arrangement of chapters 11 and 12 in the second book of Samuel seem to correspond with what experts of biblical narrative call 'the procedure of intrigue enclosure (enshrinement) or sandwich'. In fact, this narrative sequence has as its background the military campaign against the sons of Ammon, the siege and conquest of their capital, and (Rabba), who is mentioned both at the beginning (11,1) and at the end of the story (12,26-31), is an easily identifiable (spottable) inclusion. In the centre, there are two portraits or 'illustrations' (11,2-27 and 12,1-25) that are depicted in the form of a diptych, which portray David’s adultery and its consequences. However, the central organising (leading) narrative of these two chapters is much more subtle and even more complex. Effectively, certain elements of the background framework play a major role in the main section of the story (11,2–12,25). On the basis of thematic and lexical indices, one might identify an example of a 'framework intrigue' within this biblical narrative, as having as its main subject a focus on the military campaign against the Ammonites. Enclosed within a complex story, this first intrigue functions as the backdrop to the two portraits or 'micro-story' relating the events of the king’s private life (11,2-27 et 12,1-25), and it does so at the price of a great deal of discreet dyschrony (disharmony). Besides highlighting the construction of a sequence narrative of the Old Testament corpus Hebrew Bible, this essay tries to show how the biblical narrator, far from being tributary to an established scheme, handles with finesse and flexibility the art of narration. |
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