The Contribution of Personal Names in Biblical “United Monarchy” Prose and Lists to Understanding the Origin of These Texts

Personal names within the biblical “United Monarchy” narratives offer insight into their origin and chronological relationships. This study presents an analysis of personal names from the prose sections and from lists within the “United Monarchy” narratives in the books of Samuel and Kings, focusing on the structure of these names and the theophoric elements they contain. The analysis reveals that, despite the difference in genre, personal names in both groups stem from a shared onomastic reality which is distinct and earlier than the “United Monarchy” names that are unique to Chronicles. Additionally, the results of this study support the scholarly claim that, despite the seeming lateness and secondary status of the “Appendix to the Book of Samuel,” the names in the lists it contains (2 Samuel 21,15–22 and 23,8–39) are pre-exilic and relatively early.