Um diálogo entre o principado de Saul e o príncipe de Maquiavel

Abstract

Over time, many scholars of the Hebrew Bible have asserted that the main reason for the fall of Saul's reign was his disobedience (1Sam 13:13–14). However, even after the fateful speech of the prophet Samuel in Gilgal, following clear instances of disobedience, Saul still reigned. Saul had been tasked with delivering Israel from its enemies (1Sam 9:16), and for such a feat, he had to establish a principality marked by constant war and bloodshed. Looking at modern literature, one of the books that can engage with the mentality of the exercise of political power and the maintenance of the State is Niccolò Machiavelli's work, The Prince. The book describes the methods that a prince can and should use to perpetuate himself in power, in pursuit of his own glory and his reign. Thus, this study, through comparative literature, dares to propose an intertextual dialogue between the biblical narrative of Saul's principality in Israel and the intriguing political work, The Prince. To that end, the Machiavellian categories of liberality and parsimony, cruelty and piety, and the honor of one's word were retrospectively mobilized to interrogate the trajectory of the biblical monarch. In this exercise, the strict historical context is suspended to illuminate the universal dynamics of power and leadership.