The wayehî ʾîš [ʾeḥād] formula as the narrative framework of the Deuteronomistic account of the decline of the pre-monarchic period in Israel (Judg 13:2–1 Sam 10:16)
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.12775/BPTh.2026.009Keywords
formula wayehî ʾîš [ʾeḥād], Deuteronomistic redaction, the tradition block Judges 13:2–1 Samuel 10:16, Samson, Micah, Eli, Samuel, SaulAbstract
One of the most groundbreaking moments in the Deuteronomistic historiography of Israel (Josh–2 Kgs) was the socio-religious transformation that occurred at the end of the period of the Judges, leading to a transition from the rule of local tribal leaders and the unstructured ministry of priestly levites to a model of enduring and widely recognized institutions: the prophet and the king. To this significant process of transformation, the Deuteronomists devoted a specially delineated and edited collection of traditions comprising several larger cycles of narratives, which are now found at the end of the Book of Judges (13–16; 17–18; 19–21) and the beginning of 1 Samuel (1–3; 9:1–10:16). The structural and narrative coherence of this block of texts is determined by the fivefold use of the formula wayehî ʾîš [ʾeḥād], and this publication presents its origin, distribution, literary characteristics, and functions within the complex spanning Judges 13:2–1 Samuel 10:16.
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