In my last post on this subject, we examined the Biblical language concerning genealogy throughout the Book of Genesis. We found that the relation of God to the world is framed in terms of the relationship between the Bridegroom and Bride. The Divine Bridegroom gives life to the world, guards it, and carries it to glory. The Creation as Bride actively participates in this mystery, responding to divine grace at every step and reciprocating the divine love shown to her. This relation is mirrored within the structure of creation itself: Mankind stands as the Bridegroom of the World, the creature whose commission it is to guard and cultivate the world, speaking the divine word into the ground and bringing life from the earth unto God. And within the ordered life of humanity itself, this is replicated: Father and Mother stand as a single unit, joined in will and operation in protecting their household and rearing their children to maturity. And even within this organism the relation is more specifically replicated, as those persons who are Parents in relation to their children are spouses in relation to each other: the Bridegroom guards the Bride and leads her as head.
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That this relation is replicated at every level of creation renders it symbolically potent. It is a relation which simultaneously captures a myriad of interconnected bonds. For this reason, it is widely deployed in Scripture and antiquity, and understanding the nature of this symbol helps us understand the behavior of many civilizations in antiquity. Let us consider, then, the political dimensions of this symbol. It is fundamental to appreciate the fact that the biblical and traditional concept of the state is not that of a detached managerial bureaucracy, vaguely acting for the common (but impersonal) good. Rather, the kingdom is a large-scale extension of the household over which the king is head as father and husband. Yet the king himself is the junior partner in an even greater household whose head is God (or a specific, lesser deity in idolatrous cultures). Thus, God promises to be a “father” to the son of David (2 Samuel 7:14). Nor is the kingdom itself a simple twofold reality- where the king acts to protect an undifferentiated mass of people who are his nation. Instead, it is a complex web of personal relations bound together by family ties. Saul is not simply an individual picked out from Israel. In 1 Samuel 10:21, Saul is selected as king through three successive specifications. Lots are cast so that the “Tribe of Benjamin” is chosen out of the twelve tribes of Israel. Lots are cast again- and a specific clan, a sub-tribe, the Matrites, are chosen out of the Tribe of Benjamin. And then again the lots are cast and Saul, the son of Kish, is chosen. Israel, like the other nations of antiquity, is not an undifferentiated mass. It is rather a highly structured organism where the relation of head and body, masculine and feminine, play out at more and more universal degrees until the body is crowned with the king himself, who in turn is crowned by God.
Moreover, we should observe the integral role that familial ties play in this structure. Families generate offspring with a continuity of identity. This was what the birth of the monarchy entailed- it was not that a specific individual was simply given absolute power that constituted the monarchy as such. Indeed, a traditional monarch does not wield, in practical terms, absolute power. It is rather that the monarchy signified the permanent installation of a certain lineage in headship over the nation. That lineage is the fundamental point, as it brings about a crystallization of identity. With leadership rotating among the great families, the character of Israel remains in relative flux. But with a specific family line leading the nation for generation after generation, Israel has begun to acquire a fixed identity. This is why the monarchy marks a turn to maturity in the life of Israel. But maturity is not always a good thing- it must come at the appropriate time. A child should not strike out on his own to build a household, because he will manage it foolishly, hurting himself and others in the process. When Israel does seek monarchy too early, in the coronation of Saul, it brings about a major catastrophe in the life of the nation, where there are for a time two competing royal houses within the nation. The monarchy is that point at which the nation ought to be integrated. But the principle of a universal head is an occasion for schism when the nation cannot agree about which head they will embrace as their own.