Texts in Conversation
Genesis and 1 Samuel both show someone young or overlooked being chosen for a key role. Joseph is the younger son who receives favor, and Saul protests because he comes from a small tribe. Both \show status reversed and the unlikely becoming important.
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Genesis 37:3
Hebrew Bible
1 But Jacob lived in the land where his father had stayed, in the land of Canaan. 2 This is the account of Jacob. Joseph, his seventeen-year-old son, was taking care of the flocks with his brothers. Now he was a youngster working with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father’s wives. Joseph brought back a bad report about them to their father. 3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his sons because he was a son born to him late in life, and he made a special tunic for him. 4 When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them, they hated Joseph and were not able to speak to him kindly.
Date: 5th Century B.C.E. (Final composition) (based on scholarly estimates)
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1 Samuel 9:21
Hebrew Bible
20 Don’t be concerned about the donkeys that you lost three days ago, for they have been found. Whom does all Israel desire? Is it not you, and all your father’s family?” 21 Saul replied, “Am I not a Benjaminite, from the smallest of Israel’s tribes, and is not my family clan the smallest of all the clans in the tribe of Benjamin? Why do you speak to me in this way?” 22 Then Samuel brought Saul and his servant into the room and gave them a place at the head of those who had been invited. There were about thirty people present.
Date: 6th Century B.C.E. (Final composition) (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... An intertextual association will be formed in the mind of authors, readers or hearers only upon recognizing the motif, and then recalling other instances in which it occurs. Within an oral–aural environment, the formation of such an association is probably contingent upon density of motif recurrence within the material regularly performed. For example, given the numerous recurrences of the ‘younger son preferred’ motif in Genesis (Genesis 4:1-5; 17:18-21; 21:12-13; 28:1-9; 37:3; 48:13-19) it seems likely that associations would be freely formed between these stories as they are performed, and that their hearers might also associate them with the similar motifs in 1 Samuel 9:20-21 and 16:8-12. By contrast, it seems less likely that aural competence would suffice in order to recognize the removal of foreign gods theme as a motif recurring within the widely diverse contexts of Genesis 35:2-4; Joshua 24:23-24; Judges 10:16 and 1 Samuel 7:3-4 ..."
Edinburg, Cynthia
Intertextuality, Literary Competence and the Question of Readership: Some Preliminary Observations
(pp. 131-148) Journal for the Study of the Old Testament, Vol. 35, No. 2, 2010
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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