I’m not your little boy but a king’s servant: re-reading 1 Samuel 17 through representation

Abstract

Children’s ability to be social beings and change agents is a recent development in the interdisciplinary field of childhood studies. Scholars of Childhood Studies have been calling for a move beyond the situation where children claim their rights into a situation where children fully participate in shaping the world in which both children and adults are co-creators of the future they want. This is known as representation in the form of negotiating power, participation, and re-imagining citizenship. This study seeks to read 1 Samuel 17 in light of childist representation. The muting of children’s voices and agency in the Old Testament texts will be challenged because children are also fully human beings. This study will therefore draw insights from the scholars of Childhood Studies and childism to re-read an Old Testament text. This study will employ the childist biblical approach to read 1 Samuel 17. Childist biblical approach questions the way in which children are presented in biblical texts. Therefore, David will be presented as a child who claimed his agency by participating in the efforts of defeating war and empire.

Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: This article displays intersections between Childhood Studies and biblical studies. It draws from scholars of Childhood Studies to re-read an Old Testament text.