A Karanga perspective on fertility and barrenness as blessing and curse in 1 Samuel 1:1-2:10

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This dissertation seeks to develop further the theological interpretation of the books ofSamuel, by examining I Samuel I: 1-2:10 in the context of fertility and barrenness as blessingand curse. This reading was related to the Karanga understanding of fertility and barrenness.The contribution shows how the Biblical narrative can become a resource for ethicalreflection in African communities such as the Karanga women.The hypotheses that guided this study, were that:a-Fertility and barrenness in the Old Testament should be understood in close conjunctionwith blessing and cursing as theological concepts in ancient Israel.b-Fertility and barrenness could also be examined in a relevant and contextual manner by relating it to the culture and understanding of the Karanga people.In order to achieve this, two major tasks were attempted. One: An exegesis of I Samuel I: 12:10 in which Vernon Robbins' method of Socio- Rhetorical criticism was used. The methodhelped to identify that the text is a narrative, and that the author might have been theDeuteronomistic historian, who wrote in the period of the decline of the Judean monarchyand when the Jews were in exile. The narrative is used to tell about the despair of the Jews,and to inform the Jews that there was hope for restoration if they obeyed God. This ideologyis woven in the story of a barren woman Hannah who suffered the despair of barrenness andwas later blessed with a child because of her prayer and obedience to God. In the narrativeGod is described as one who cares for the marginalised, and one who changes the lives of hispeople, from curse to blessing. The method also helped to realise tbe culture and context ofHannah, and made it possible to relate this culture and context to other cultures that aresimilar.Secondly an empirical survey was conducted amongst one hundred Karanga women. Thefindings were that Karanga consider fertility as blessing and barrenness as curse.The curse is experienced in the suffering of the barren women. Barrenness is used to inflictpain, to marginalise women, and has become a major cause of divorce and death through thespread of HIV and Aids. A reading of the story of Hannah helped the Karanga women to identify their barren problems with Hannah, and to find a new way of understanding theirown problem in terms of hope.This study was able to prove its hypothesis both through the exegesis and the discussions ofthe research findings. It was found that the narrative form of the text appealed effectively tothe understanding of Karanga women. This was possible because narrative is one of themethods of communication that is used effectively by the Karanga in their language. Throughusing Hannah as a paradigm of curse and blessing in relation to barrenness and fertility,Karanga women were challenged to view their barren situations in a different way that isopen to accept change from curse to blessing. The study has also contributed to see how anold text of the time of Hannah could in the present day contextually influence Karangawomen's barren experiences through holding the same culture and also by having similarexperiences barren of women.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University