사울 왕의 놉 제사장 학살 사건: 심리적 분석

Abstract

With reference to the massacre recorded in the Book of Samuel, in which Saul killed the priests and residents of the town of Nob, I propose that Saul’s psychological immaturity may have been a decisive factor and that a leader’s psychological health plays a very important role in the well-being of his/her community. From my viewpoint, the slaughter of the priests and the people in Nob was caused by Saul's paranoiac hatred of David. He attempted to kill David, suspecting that David, who was actually innocent, intended to destroy him. In this context, Saul eventually arrived at a point where he slaughtered 85 priests, in addition to the priest Ahimelech, accusing them of conspiring against him because Ahimelech helped David by chance. He even struck down all the residents of Nob. His paranoiac hatred against David started with his distorted conviction that David wished to usurp his throne, when he saw women praising David more than him while returning from the battlefield. His conviction was rooted in Samuel’s prophecy that his kingdom would be taken by another man. Further, Saul’s narcissistic immaturity contributed to the butchery, leading to a sense of inferiority, a desire to earn praises, and susceptibility to anxiety and stress. Thus, Saul’s lack of psychological soundness and distorted conviction resulting from it are essential factors that may have caused the massacre. In the conclusion part of this paper, I emphasize the importance of leaders’ psychological health. I then introduce ways for leaders to grow psychologically and suggest institutional measures to prevent immature persons from overusing power in leadership positions.