182 | Martin Buber’s Theopolitics
theopolitical ardor [of the Deborah circle],” demanding a kingly dynasty of flesh
and blood.^30
After recapitulating The Anointed by narrating the loss of the ark and the
passage from Samuel to Solomon, the chapter on “The Great Tensions” intro-
duces the “legendary” prophets with discussions of Micaiah ben Imlah, Elijah
the Tishbite, and Elisha.^31 First Buber reiterates his conviction, already argued in
Der Gesalbte, that Samuel too is primarily a prophet and not a priest. This early
prophetic leadership demonstrates why the prophets are seen as the representa-
tives of YHVH and explains that “they were the ones who anointed all the kings
in Israel (except Omri) acting on divine authority, a fact the influence of which
was still recognized in postexilic times (Neh. 6:6f)—they stand and summon to
justice the representatives on the royal throne for their treachery against YHVH
and his commandments.”^32 Samuel’s failures, however, play a significant role in
the rise of the first messiah, whom he anoints. He is the one who attempts to pass
on his judgeship to his sons; he fails to defeat the Philistines and to counter the
propaganda of the realist politicians with a compelling vision of the leadership
of YHVH.
Samuel’s prophethood combined with his role as anointer sets the tone for
the “theopolitical supposition of this prophetic standpoint, a supposition which is
for the most part not openly expressed... the commission of YHVH’s represen-
tative which is not fulfilled by the kings in Israel.”^33 The prophet must be under-
stood as a believer in his own role as the guardian of the divine will of the true
king. The prophet’s role is to keep the monarch accountable and to remind him
that he is merely a governor: “In the first period it was required of the am that
they should be a true am, and in the second period it was required of the nagid
that he should be a true nagid.” However, from the beginning of the kingdom, the
monarchy is “prepared to accept the symbolic sense of the charge and authoriza-
tion from on high, implied in the act of anointing, but it resists the realism, ac-
cording to which orders can be given to the king and an account of his activities
can be demanded.”^34
The Second Messiah: A Righteous Ruler in Fear of God,
Like the Light of a Morning without Clouds
Crucial to Buber’s picture is the notion that the protest prophecy of Amos and
Hosea marks the end of a long process and is not an innovation of the eighth
century BCE. Buber cites the last words of David (2 Samuel 23:1–7) as evidence
for a view that YHVH “has” a future righteous ruler whom he keeps to himself
for the present.^35 From the very beginning, the people and the kings fail to live up
to the conditions on which the kingship was premised and promised, and from
the beginning of the kingdom there are people who see it as their role to call the
sinful kingdom to account. For the most part, however, their words fall on deaf