Disability Studies And the Hebrew Bible: Figuring Mephibosheth in the David Story

This text uses a fresh approach to explore issues of disability in the Hebrew Bible. It examines how disability functions into the David Story (1 Samuel 16; 1 Kings 2) by paying special attention to Mephibosheth, the only biblical character with a disability as a sustained character trait. The David Story contains some of the Bible’s most striking images of disability.