Davidic Kings with Disability: Illness, Disability, and Ideal Monarchs

Royal illness and disability recur as motifs within the accounts of the Davidic monarchs provided in the books of Samuel and Kings. Recent work done on the intersection of disability studies and the Hebrew Bible provides a framework for tracing this motif throughout the history of the southern kingdom in 1 and 2 Kings. Under this framework, kings who are identified as acting righteously in the eyes of YHWH like their father David—Asa, Azariah, and Hezekiah—are kings who experience royal illness and disability. This paper considers how these instances of royal illness and disability informs the ideal for ancient Israel and Judah’s monarchs.