09 Samuel 1

1 S AMUE L

345 20

TH E BOOKS OF

21 22

SA M U EL

23

T HE FIR ST BOOK OF SAMU EL

24

25

S;46: 13-20

I. S AMUEL

26

A. T H E CHILDHOOD OF SAMUEL

27 28

The pilgrimage to Shiloh Jr 7: 12

I C h6:19-23 0 121: 15- 17 Ex2 3: 14 + Lv 23:39 Jg 13:3 ;2 1;19 2 S 5; 10 I K I1:29 A m 3;13 01 12: 18 L k 1:7 O n 16:4-5

012 1: 15- 17 R1 4:1 5 Is 56:5

T here was a ma n of Ramathaim,' a Zuphite fro m the highlands of E phraim whose name was Elka nah so n of Jeroham, so n of Elihu, son of Tohu, so n of Z uph, an Ephraimite.• He had two wives, one ca lled Ha nna h, the other Peninnah ; Peninnah had children but H anna h had none.' -Every year thi s man used to go u p fro m his town to worship and to sacr ifice to Ya hweh Sa baoth " in Shiloh .s The two sons of Eli, H ophni a nd Phinehas, were there as priests of Ya hweh. One day Elkanah offered sacrifice. He used to give portions to Peninnah and to all her sons and daughters ; -to Ha nna h, howe ver, he would give only one po rtion, although he loved her more, since Ya hweh had made her ba rren . • Her riva l would taunt her to a n noy her, beca use Ya hweh had made her barren. An d this went on year after yea r; every time they went up to the temple of Ya hweh- she used to taunt her . And so Hanna h wept a nd would not ea t. Then Elkanah her husband said to her , ' Ha nna h, why a re yo u crying a nd why are you not eating? Wh y so sad? Am I not mo re to you than ten son s?'

1

I

/' L k l :48 N b 6:(,JJg 13:5; 16:17

3

They rose early in the morning and worshipped before Yahweh and then set out and returned to their home in Ramah. Elkanah had intercourse with Hannah

P s 2 : 18 /' Lkl :4S-S5

1

2

Then Hannah sa id this prayer: 2' S 22:3

Is 61:10

4

'My hear t exults in Yahweh , my horn is exa lted in my G od, my mouth de ride s my foes, for I rejoi ce in you r po wer of saving. T here is none as holy as Ya hweh, (indeed, the re is no one bu t you) no rock like ou r God.

LvI7:1 +

7

8

D o not spea k and spea k with ha ughty words, let not arrogance co me fro m you r mouth. For Yahweh is an all -knowing God and his is the weighing of deed s.

9 4 10 11

12 13 14

15

16 17

18

The birth and consecration of Samuel " 10:29

his wife a nd Ya hweh was mindful of her. -She co nceived an d gave birth to a son, an d ca lled him Samuel 'since' she said 'I asked Y ahweh for him.'! When a year had gone by, -t ne hu sband Elkanah went up again with all his fa mily to offer the an nual sacrifice to Yahweh and to fulfil his vow. •Hannah, howe ver, did not go up , having said to her husband, 'Not before the child is weaned.' Then I will br ing him and pre sent him before Yahweh and he shall stay there for ever .' -Elka na h her husb and then said to her, 'Do wha t you thin k fit ; wait until you have weaned him . Ma y Yahweh bring about what yo u have said.' > So the woman stayed behind and nursed her child un til his wean ing. When she had weaned him, she took him up with her together with a th reeyea r old bull , an epha h of flour a nd a skin of wine, and she brought him to the temple of Yahweh at Shiloh; and the child was with t hem. -They slaughtered the bull and the child's mother ca me to Eli. -She said, 'I f you please , my lord. As you live, my lord, I am th e woman who stood here beside you , praying to Yahweh. -This is th e child I prayed for, and Ya hweh gra nted me what I asked him . •N ow I ma ke him over to Yahweh for the who le of his life. He is made o ver to Ya hweh.' Th ere she left him, I for Y ahweh. The song of Hannah"

The prayer of Hannah Now after they had eaten in the hall , Hannah rose and took her stand before Ya hweh,' while Eli the pri est was sitting on his seat by the doorpost of the temple of Ya hweh. -In the bitterness of her soul she prayed to Yahweh with many tea rs -a nd made a vow, saying, 'YAhweh Sabaoth! If you will take notice of the distress of your servant, and bear me in mind and not forget your serva nt and give her a man-child, I will give him to Ya hweh for the whole of his life an d no razor shall ever touch his head'J While she prayed before Ya hweh wh ich she did fo r so me time, Eli was watching her mouth, -fo r she was speaking under her breath ; her lips were mo ving but he r voice could not be hea rd . He therefore su pposed that she was drunk- -a nd sai d to he r, 'How long are yo u going to be in this drunken state? Rid yourself of your wine.' ·'N o, my lord,' Ha nna h replied 'I a m a woma n in great trouble ; I have ta ken neither wine no r strong dr ink-I was pouring out my soul before Ya hweh. -Do not ta ke your maidservant for a worthless woman ; all thi s time I have been speaking from the depth of my grie f and my resentment.' •Then Eli a nswered her: 'Go in peace ,' he said 'a nd may the God of Israel grant what you hav e asked of him ' . And she said, .'May your maidservant find favour in your sight' ; and with that the woman went away; she returned to the ha ll" and ate a nd was dejected no longer.

2:5

19

T he bow of the mighty is broken but the feeble have girded the mselves with stren gth . The sated hire themselves out for bread but the fa mished cease from labour; a . A lso ca lled Ramah.

plicitty sa id that Samuel is to be a naziri te . cr. Nb 6:1+.

b. I.e. ' Ya hweh of ar mies '; no t o nly no r primarily Jg 13:5. th e hos ts of Israe l. b u t th e stars and he a venl y powers

g . People us ually prayed aloud . Feastdays wer e

too , and indeed all the cosmic fo rces . cf. G o 2: I, unde r so me t imes an occasion for hea vy dri n ki ng , Is 22:13 : G od's co m ma nd . Th is ancient title is associated with t he ark, cf. I S 4:3, th e sacred emblem pr ot ectin g Isra el whe n Y ahweh wage s war with h is pe ople on t heir enemies. Th e titl e is used freely in t he rnaior pr ophet s ( with t he exce ptio n of Eze kiel) and in th e Psa lms. c. Now Seilu n , abou t twe lve m iles S . of Nab lus . T h is was th e home o f the a rk in th e pe ri o d of th e Ju dg es , possibly e ven in th e ti me of J osh ua . cr. los 18: 1 + ; its sa nc tua ry ther e was destroyed . cr. Jr 7: 12; 26:6 .9 ; Ps 78:60 , pr o bably by th e Philis tines after th e defea t rec or d ed in I S 4 . Th e Yea rly pil gr image wa s that of t he feas t of T a be rn ac les. d. In the desert th e shrine of the a rk was a te n t, but at Shiloh a sto ne building, cf . 1:9; 3:2,3,15 . e . P hrase co rr ect e d . in acc o rd an ce wit h Gree k . f . As with Isaac, . Samso n, an d J o hn th e Bapt is t. G od int er vene s: Samu el is born o f a mother wh o was ba rren; she d edic at es (he un b orn child to G od as a minist er in the sa nc tuary . T he uncu t hai r is , like Sa mso n' s , a sign of th is d ed ica tio n. But it is no t ex-

Am 2:8 . Hen ce Eli's s us picio n . b . 'she re turned to the hall' G reek . i. A derivation from the ro o t shaal (10 as k) wo uld giv e Shaul, 'S aul' . Bib lica l et ymo lo gy is oft en, as her e, co n te nt with a cer tain si m ila rity of so und. The ac tua l deri vati o n of ' Sa m ue l' is from Shem-El. ' the name of Gou'. I. In fa nt s were wea ned la te . k . ' wha t yo u ha ve sa id' ver sions; ' wha t he has sa id ' H c br . I. ' she left him' in a cco rdance with 2: I I a.; ' he wo rshipped ' H eb r. 2 a . This son g h as been ca lled the protot ype of the Ma gnifi cat , b u t its tone is much m ore impersona l. It is a messiani c hymn expre ssing the ho pes of the 'p oo r ', cf. Zp 2:3 +. a nd e nding with a refer enc e to th e messiahking . It has been pu tint o Han nah's m o u th because of the a llusion 10 the ' ba rre n woman' in v. 5b . T he te xt of vv. 1. 3, 5. 10. 11 has bee n corrected .

Lk 1:47

2 S 22:3 Ps I 8:2 +

P s 75:4

Si 10:14

Is 40:29 Is 29:19

1

2:6 Ps 113:9 Is 54:1

the barren woman bears sevenfold, but the mother of many is desolate.

D1 32:39 WsI6:13 Ps 30:3 I n 5:2 1

Yahweh gives death and life, brings down to Sheol and d raws up; Yah weh makes poor and rich, he humbles and also exalts.

T b4: /9

J b 5:11 P s75:7; 147:6 .. Lk1 :52 .. Ml1:3 -5

347

1 SAM UEL

6

27

He rais es the poor from the d ust, he lifts the needy from the dunghill to give them a place with pr inces, and to assign them a seat of honour ; for to Yahweh the pr o ps of the earth belong, on these he ha s poised the wo rld.

Ps 149:4 Ps 75:3 ; 104:5 Jb 9:6 ;38 Ps 12 1:3

He safeguards t he steps of his faithful but th e wicked vanish in darkness (for it is not by strength that man triumphs). The enemies of Ya hweh are shattered , th e Mo st High thunders in the heavens.

Ps 98:9

28

29 30

10

Yahweh judges the ends of the earth, he endows his king with power, he exalts the horn of his Anointed.'

Ps 18:50 Ps 89:24

The n she left for Ramah, but the boy stayed to minister to Yahweh in the presence of Eli the priest.

Lv 3:3-5

Now the sons of Eli were scoundrels; the y ca red nothing for Yahweh -nor for the rights of the priests as regards the peo ple. b Whenever a man offered a sacrifice, t he priest's servant would come with a three-pronged fork in his hand while the meat was being cooked ; - he would thrust this into ca uld ron o r pan, o r dish or pot , and the priest claimed for his own whatever the fork brought up . That was how they behaved with all the Israelites who came there to Shiloh. T he pr iest's servant would even come up before the fat had been burnt and say to the man who was making the sacrifice, 'Give the pr iest meat for him to roast. He will not take boiled meat from you, but raw.' -Then if the ma n replied, 'Let them first burn the fat and then take for yourself whatever you wish', he wo uld reto rt, 'No! You mu st give it to me now or I will take it by force' .• Th is sin of the young men was very great in the sight of Yahwe h, because they treated the offering made to Yahweh with contempt.

))

11

3:19

)4

35 36

g 14

IS 16 17

Samuel at Shiloh Samuel was in the service of Yahweh; the boy wore a linen loincloth round him. « -His mother used to mak e him a litt le tun ic which she brought him each year when she came up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice . •T hen Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife and say, 'May Yahweh grant you an heir by this woman in place of th e one she has made over to Yahweh.' And then they wou ld go home. •Yahweh visited Ha nnah ; she conceived and gave birt h to three sons and two daughters. Meanwhile the boy Samuel grew up in the presence of Yah weh.

31 32

The sons of Eli

Lv7:29-36 Dt 18:3

~6

18 19 20

21

M ore about the sons of Eli Though now very old , Eli came to hear of everythi ng that his son s were 22 do ing to all Israel ." -A nd he said to them, ' Why do you do these th ings I hea r' 23 fro m all the peo ple? •N o, my sons! The repo rts I hear are not good .. J • If man ~~

1 SAM U EL

sins against man, G od will be the ar biter, but if he sins aga inst Ya hweh, who will inte rcede for him ?' But they did not listen 10 their fath er's word s, for Ya hweh was determi ned to br ing them to their deaths." 46: 13 r.. lea nwhile the boy Sa muel went on grow ing in stature and in favo ur bot h s:.» Lk2:52 with Ya hweh a nd with men . Future punishment is announced" A man of God came to Eli and said to him, 'Yahw eh says this, " Did I not reveal myself to your fathe r's ; Ho use when they were in Egypt, slaves of the household of Pharaoh . • I chose them out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priests, to go up to my altar, to burn incense, to carry the ephod ;' and to your fat her's House I granted all the burnt offerings of the so ns of Israel. Why do you loo k with en viou s eyes on the sacrifice and the offer ing I have ord ered , ho nour ing yo ur so ns mo re than me, by lett ing them grow fat on the best part of all the offerin gs of my people Israel?" •Whereas-s-it is Ya hweh the G od of Israel who speak s- I had said that your House an d yo ur father's Ho use would walk in my presence fo r ever ,' now, however,-it is Ya hweh who spea ksfar be th is fro m me. For thos e who hono ur me I honou r in my turn , and thos e who despise me are estee med as no t hi ng. -So, t he da ys are com ing when I will bre ak your strength and the strength of your fathe r' s Ho use, till th ere is not one old man left in you r Hou se. • Like an envious enemy you will look o n all the good tha t I shall do to Israel, but there shall be not o ne old ma n left in your House for ever. -On e of yo u I will keep at my altar for his eyes to perish and his soul to withe r, but the bulk of your Hous e shall per ish by the swo rd of men. m • What ha ppens to your two sons Ho phni a nd Phinehas shall be a sign fo r you : on the one day both shall die.• I will ra ise up a faithful priest fo r myself ; he shall do whate ver I plan and what ever I desire. I will build him an endu ring House an d he will wal k in the presence of my Anointed fo r ever. -A nd a ll that sur vive of your House will come a nd beg him on thei r knees fo r a silver piece or a loaf of bread a nd say: Please give me so me priestly task, so that I can have a scrap of bread to eat."

3:11-14

Jg 17:5 2. S 2:1; 5:19

1 K 2:27 2522:26 Ps 18:25

22:17-19 14:10 + 4:11 9:26 + 2 K 23:9

God calls Samuel a was ministerin g to Yahweh in the presence of Eli ; 3 itNowwastherareboyforSamuel Yahweh to speak in tho se days; visions were uncommo n. z One day, it happen ed that Eli was lying down in his room. His eyes were begin ning to grow dim; he co uld no longer see. -T he lamp of G od had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying in th e sanctuary of Yahweh where the ark 4 of God was, b -when Yahwe h called, 'Samuel! Samuel!' He answered , 'Here I am'. b. Eli's so ns ignor e the re gulat ion s governing the and (in v , 35) t he subs rit urion of Zad ok ' s fa mil y wh ich. fr om (he tim e of So io mo n on ward s. enj oy s t he fav ou r pri est ' s sha re. c . In Heb re w. eohod, a priesrlv vest me nt , d . 2 S 6: o f t he king , ' t he Lo rd ' s a no inted ' ; and als o . in v. 36, 14 : 22 : 18. It is to be d is tingu ished from t he epho d, an t he humiliating sit ua tio n o f th e provincial p ri es ts af te r i n str ume n t of div i nati o n : cr. Y . 28 a nd nor e. O n "t he t he refo r m u nde r Josia h. 2 K 23:9. i. Le vi. h iMh pr ies t' s eptiod , see Ex 28 :6 + . j . N ot a ves tme nt worn . h k ~ the c P}lOd of v , lR. d . T he H ebr. add s 'and ho w they slept with the wo me n who ser ved a t t he e nt rance to th e Te nt o f bu t so mething th at is 'carried", 14:3 : 23 :6 ; 30:7. M ee ting' , a gloss suggested by Ex 38: 8. a nd t hat h o ld s t he sac re d lOIS b y wh ich Y a hwe h is co nsu lt ed , 1 4 :1 ~ f : 23:9f ; 30:8 . see 14:4 1-+. We me et e . T he Hebr . adds 'the se wic ked deeds ', a aloss . t, T he co nclusio n of thi s ve rse is corr up t. Hebe. it in t he per iod or t be Juoses. Ts 17:5: 18:14 f ( G ideon ' s 'causi ng the peo p le of Y a hwe h to s in '. enho d, Jg 8.26f. is apparent ly a n ido la trous em blem ), bu t it is no t me nt ion ed in p ost- Davidic narra tives (o ne K. As e lsewhe re in t he Bibl e, Ex 4:21: J os 11:20 ; a llusion in Ho 3:4). Iy 6:9- 10, et c. , th e 'ha rden ing' of the s in ner is aurtbu ted k . Text a nd mea ni ng un ce rt a in ; so a lso v . 32. l. I. e . wo u ld serve h im fa ithf u lly a nd enjoy h is favour . 10 Ya hw e h as its ulti m a te ca use, But th is form of m . 'h is eyes', 'h is so u l' G reek : ' yo ur eyes ' , ' yo u r ex pres sio n in no way de nies m a n ' s free will. h. T he ep is ode is appa rent ly a subseq uent insert io n : soul' Hebr. ' t he sword' Greek . II ma kes th e briefe r pas sa ge of 3:1 1-14 un necessary. 3 a . By th is firs t re vel at ion Samuel is co nsecr a ted T he death of Hoph n i a nd Phi neh as . 4 : II, is to be pr o p he t. It is not a dream: the voice awakens Samuel. merelY a n omen, v. 34. of the co m ing misfort un es Nor is it a ' visio n ' exc ept in th e w ide sense, sin ce Iore to td in v. 33: the massacre of the p ries ts of N o b , Sa m uel hear s bu t does not see Ya hweh. b . Abo ve th is ark is where Y a h we h manifes ts hi s h ll' s de sce nda nts. 22:1 8-19 (wit h the exception o f Ab la tha r 22:22-23, later deposed by So lomon, 1 K 2:27) , p res ence an d issues hi s c om m a nds . cr. E x 25: 22 ; Is 6.

Ex27:20f Lv 24:3

Ex25 :22 + G n 22: 1

3:5

1 SAM U EL

34 8

Th en he ran to Eli and said, 'Here I am, since you called me' . Eli said , 'I did not call. Go back and lie down .' So he went and lay down. -O nce aga in Yah weh called, ' Samuel! Samuel!' Sam uel got up and went to Eli an d said, ' Here I am , since you ca lled me' . He replied , 'I did not ca ll you, my son ; go back and lie dow n'. · Samuel had as yet no kn owled ge of Ya hweh an d t he word of Ya hweh had not yet been revealed to him . -Once again Yahweh called, the third time. H e got up and went to Eli a nd sa id, 'H ere I a m, since you called me' . Eli the n understood that it was Yahweh who was calling the boy, -and he said to Sa muel, 'G o and lie down , an d if so meone calls say, "Spea k, Yahweh, your servant is listenin g" '. So Samu el went a nd lay down in his place. Yah weh then ca me and stood by, ca lling as he had do ne before , 'S amuel! Samuel!' Samuel answered, 'S peak , Ya hweh, yo ur ser vant is listening' . •T hen Yahweh said to Samu el, 'I am a bou t to do such a thing in Israel as will mak e the ear s of all who hear it ring. -O n th at da y, I will carr y out aga inst Eli 2:27 -36 everyt hing I have spo ken a bo ut his Ho use,' fro m beginning to end .• Yo u are to te ll him tha t I co ndemn his House for ever beca use he has known that his sons have been cur sing God, yet he has not corrected them. ·Therefor e-I swea r it to the H ouse of El i-s-neith cr sacrifice nor offeri ng shall ever exp iate t he gu ilt of th e Ho use of Eli.' T hen Samuel lay still until the morni ng, when he ope ned t he doors of Ya hweh's temple. He was afra id to tell t he vision to Eli, •but Eli cal led him and said, 'Samuel, my so n' . 'H ere I am' he answered. · 'W hat message did he give R, I: 17+ yo u? ' Eli asked; 'd o no t hide it from me. May G od do this to you , a nd more, if you keep back a nyth ing of what he said to you.' -Sarnuel then told him Jb 1:2 1 everyt hing, keeping nothing back from him. Eli said, 'H e is Yahweh ; let him do what he th inks goo d' . 2'2 1 Sa muel grew up a nd Yahweh was with him and let no wor d of his fall to Gn 39:2 Jg 20:1 + the ground. · AlI Israel fro m Da n to Beersheba came to know that Sa muel was accredited as a pro phet of Yahweh. •Ya hweh con tinued to appear in Shilo h, fo r he revealed himself to Sam uel," 4 an d the wo rd of Sam uel went out to all Israel. By then, Eli was very old and his son s still persisted in the ir wicked behaviour towards Ya hweh ."

349 10

II

5:4

-So the Philistines joined battle and Isra el was defea ted, each his tent. T he slaughter was grea t indeed, and th ere fell of th e thousand foot sold iers. •The ar k of G od was ca ptured too, and Eli died, H ophn i and Phinehas .

2:34 Ps 78:61

7

8 12 9

13

10

14

II

15 16

12 13

17

14

18

The deat h of Eli A Benjamin ite ran from the battl e line, reac hing Shiloh that same da y, his clot hes torn and d ust on his head . •When he arrived, Eli was there, sitt ing on his seat beside the gate watch ing the road, i for his hea rt trembled for the ark of G od. T his man , then, came to the town br inging th e news, whereupon cries filled the tow n.• Eli heard the upro ar and ask ed, 'What does th is great ou tcry mean?' The man mad e haste and told Eli. - ·Eli was n inety-eight yea rs old ; his gaze was fixed; he was blind .- · Th e man said to Eli, 'I have come from the cam p. I escaped fro m the rank s toda y' . ' My son,' said Eli 'what has happened?' •T he messenge r replied, 'Israel has fled before the Philistines; the army has been utterl y ro uted . What is wors e, your two sons are dead and the ark of G od has been captured.' •When he mentioned the ark of G od , Eli fell bac kward off his seat by the gate; his neck was broken and he died , for he was old an d heavy. He had ru led- Israel for forty years.

2 S 1:2 Jr 7:12

15 [6

[7

19

IS

20

19

21

20 21

22

I

I

B. THE ARK I N PHILISTINE HANDSb

The defeat of the Israelites and capture of the ark It ha ppened at that time that the Philistines mustered to fight Israel and Israel went out to meet them in battle, encamping near Ebenezer while the 29:1 Jos 13:2 + Phil istines were encamped at A phek .s -T he Philistines drew up thei r battle line against Israel, the battle was hotly engaged, and Israel was defeated by t he Ph ilistines and about fo ur thousan d of th eir army were killed" on the field. The troops returne d to the camp and the elders of Israe l said, 'Wh y ha s Yah weh N b lO:35f 2 S 11:11 allo wed us to be defeated today by the Philistines? Let us fetch th e ark of our God' from Shiloh so tha t it may come among us and rescue us from t he power of our enemies.'! -So the troo ps sent to Shiloh and brought away the ark of Yahweh Sa baot h, he who is seated on the cheru bs; th e two sons of Eli, H o phni and Phinehas, cam e with the ark .• When th e ark of Yahweh arrived in th e camp, all Israe l gave a great shout" so tha t th e ea rth resou nded .• When the Philistines heard the noise of the shouting, they said, 'W hat can this great shouting in the He brew camp mean?' And they realised that the ark of Ya hweh had come into the camp.• At this the Ph ilisti nes were af raid; and they said, 'God has come to the camp'. 'Alas!' they cried 'This has never happened before.• Alas! Who will save us from the power of this migh ty God? It was he who struck down Egypt with every kind of plague !" • But take courage a~d be men, Philistines, or you will become sla ves to the Hebrews as they have been slaves to you. Be

men and fight .' ma n fleeing to Israelites thi rty the two sons of

1 SAMUE L

J

4

2

4

9

The death of the wife of Phine has Now his daug hter -in-law, the wife of Phine has, was with child and nea r her time . When she heard the news that the ark of G od had been ca ptured and tha t her father-in-law and husband were dead she crouched down and gave bir th, for her labour pains cam e on . •When she was at the point of death, the women standing round her said, ' D o not be afraid; you ha ve given birth to a son ' . But she did not answer and took no not ice. -She nam ed the boy Ichabod ," saying, 'The glory ha s gone from Israel', thinki ng of her father-in-law and husband an d of the ca pture of the ark of God . -She said, 'T he glory has gone fro m Israel , because the ark of God has been cap tur ed'. The ark brings disaste r to the Philistines" When the Philistines had captured the ark of Go d they bro ught it from Ebenezer to As hdod. b • Taking the ark of G od, the Philistines put it in th e temp le of Dagon, sett ing it down beside D agon .' •Next morning the people of Ashdod went to the temple of Dagon" and there lay D agon face down on the ground befor e the ark of Yahweh. T hey picked Dagon up and put him back in his place.• But early next mo rning there lay D agon face down again on th e ground before the ark of Yahweh, and Dagon's head and two hands were lying severed on th e threshold ; only the tru nk of D agon was left in its place . e

5

c . P r oba b ly add ed a fter 2:27-,36 had been insert ed . d . Hebr. here ad ds ' a t Shiloh in th e word of Y ahweh ' , absent fr om G re ek. Yah weh ' e nd ing of ch . 3 acco rd ing to 4 a. 'Eli . G reek and Vel. LaI. ; H ebr . omi ts. 'I t happened. Israel' G reek : Hebr. om its. b . This ep isod e. 4:1-7 , h as only su perficia l con nec t io ns with th e p reced ing: the m enti on of Shilo h a nd of Eli and his sons . Sa muel no lon ger flzurcs . Th e ark (cf", Ex 25:1 0 + and 2 S 6:7 -t) is now the ma in th eme. . In co nte nt. flavo ur and geog raphica l sett in g. it is re la ted to th e story of Samson. Jg 13- 16. A t first an independen t un it, it has been use d to int rod uce th e roya list ac coun t of th e ins titut io n of t he monarchy, ch. 9-11, whi ch is fo llowed by t he res um pt io n of th e P hilistine wa rs, ch. 13- 14. F or th e co n tin ua tio n of th e history of th e ar k we m ust pas s to 2 S 6 and th en to I K 8:1- 11. c . In: northern P hili sti ne ter ritory. d. ' were killed ' versi on s. e . T he phrase in the H eb r. is o verloaded: ' the ar k of the covenan t of Ya hw eh' (o r 'of G od'); so also in

vv. 4-5. f, . T he ark is th e pallad ium (p ro tec tive im ag e) of Israel. g . T h is sacred war cr-y is pa rt of th e ar k ritua l. cf . Nb 10:5 +. h. Hebr. adds ' in the wilder ness ' .

i. Thus the G reek . j. Lit. ' judged' . though stric tly E li was not one of Israel's ' jud ges' . ' fort y years': ro und number for a 'genera tion ' . k , E i-cha bod ; 'W here is th e glory ?'-the glo ry of Y a hweh ent hroned on the ar k . S a. The Ph ilis tines and Da gon th eir god arc to feel the terrib le power of the sac red ark wher e Ya hweh m an ifests his p resence , 2 S 6:7 + . b. One of th e five P h ilistine [Owns like Gath, v. 8, a nd Ekro n. v . 10. Cf. 6:17 an d Jos 13:2 -t-. c . As a tr oph y captured fro m the de fea ted god . d . ' we nt 10 the templ e of D ago n ' Greek. e . 't he trunk of Da go n ' vers ion s.

Gn3 5: 16f

14:3

Ps 78:61

I MIO:8 3

J OI6:23 + 31: 10 Is 45:5f.20r

5:5

Ps 78:66

30s 13:2+

1 SAMU EL

35°

This is why the priests of Dagon and indeed all who enter Dagon's temple do not step on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod to th e present day ." T he hand of Yahweh weighed hea vily on the people of Ashdod and struck terro r in to them,' afflicting them with tumours, in Ashdod and its territory. W hen the men o f Ashdod sa w what was happening they said, 'T he ark of the God of Israel must not stay here with us, for his hand lies heav y on us and on Dagon our god' . •So the y sum mo ned all the Philistine ch iefs to them, a nd said , ' What sh all we do with the a rk of the God of Israel?' T hey decided, 'The ark of the God of Israel mu st go away to Gath' . So they too k the a rk of the G od of Isra el to Gath.• But after they had ta ken it there, the hand of Ya hweh lay heav y on that town and a great panic broke out ; the people of the town , from you ngest to oldest, were struck with tumours that he brought out on them.• They then sent the ark of God to Ekron, but when it came to Ekron the Ekronites shouted, ' T hey ha ve brought us the ark of the God of Israel to bring death to us and our people' . •They summoned a ll the Ph ilistine chiefs and said, ' Send the a rk o f the God of Israel away; let it go baek to where it belongs and no t bring death to us a nd our peop le'-for there was mor ta l panic .throughou t the town; the hand of God was very hea vy there. -The people who did not die were stru ck with tumours and the wailing from the town went u p to heaven. The return of the ark T he ar k of Ya hweh was in P hilistine ter ritory for seven months. -Then the Philist ines ca lled for the ir pr iests a nd d iviners and asked , 'W hat sha ll we do with th e ark of Ya hweh? Tell us how to send it back to where it belongs.' -T hey rep lied, 'If you do send the ar k o f the God of Israel away, yo u must not se nd it away empty; you must pay hi m a guilt-offe ring . T hen yo u will be healed a nd yo u will know why his ha nd wou ld not turn a way from yo u.' •They t hen as ked, 'What gu ilt-o ffering o ug ht we to pay him?' T hey a nswered, ' In proportion to the nu mber of the P hilistine chiefs, five gol de n tumou rs and mo del s o f yo ur rats," for the plag ue was the same fo r you a ll as for your chie fs. -So you must make models of yo ur tumours and modelsof the rats tha t ravage yo ur co untry, and yo u m ust pay honour to the G od of Is rael. b Then per haps he will lighten his ha nd on you a nd you r gods an d you r coun try.• W hy sho uld you be as st ubborn as Egypt and Pharaoh were? A fter he ha d brought evil on the m, did they not let them lea ve? •Now, then, take a nd fit out a new cart, a nd two milch cows that have never borne the yok e." T hen harness the cows to the ca rt and ta ke their calves back to the byre." •Then ta ke the ar k of Ya hwe h, place it on th e ca rt , a nd put the golden objects which you are paying him as guilt-offering in a box beside it; then let it go its ow n way . •Watc h it; if it goes up th e road to its ow n territory, to Bet h-shernesh, the n it was he r who d id us thi s grea t harm; bu t if no t, then we will know it was not his hand th at struck us, bu t that this happened to us by ch ance .' T he peo ple d id this. They took two milc h cows a nd harn essed the m to the ca rt a nd sh ut u p the ir ca lves in th e byre. -T hen they placed the a rk o f Ya hweh on the ca rt with the box a nd the go lden rats a nd the models o f th eir tum ou rs. T he co ws made st raight fo r Beth-s hemesh keep ing to the o ne roa d, lowing as they went and turning neither to right no r to left. T he Philistine ch iefs foll owe d th em as far as the bo undar ies o f Beth-shemesh.

35 1 16

17

18 8 19

N b 19:2 D121 :J 2 S 6:3

2 S 24:22

T he ar k at Beth-shemesh T he people of Beth-shem esh were rea ping the wheat harvest in the plain wh en, raising their eyes, they saw the a rk an d went jo yfull y to mee t it. •W hen the ca rt cam e to t he field of Jos hua o f Bet h-shemesh it stopped. T he re was a lar ge sto ne! there, and they cu t u p the wood of the cart a nd offered th e cow s as a holocaust to Ya hweh. -The Levitesv had taken do wn the a rk of Yahwe h and t he box cont a ining the go lde n o bje cts besid e it, a nd placed all thi s u po n the

large stone. T he men of Bcth -shcmesh offered ho locausts that da y and offered sac rifices to Ya hweh . •When the live Philisti ne chiefs had seen this, they went bac k to Ekron the same day. •T hese were the golden tu mours th e Philistines pa id as guilt-o ffer ing to Ya hweh: o ne for As hdod , o ne for Gaza, o ne for Ashkelo n, one for Ga th , o ne fo r Ek ro n; ' a s a lso th e gold en rats to the number o f a ll the Philistine tow ns of the five ch iefs, from fortifi ed towns to o pen villa ges. Th e lar ge sto ne on which they placed t he a rk of Yah weh is a witness' to the pres en t day in the field of Jo sh ua of Beth-she mes h. -Of the peopl e of Bct h-shcrnes h the so ns of Jecoru a h had no t rejoiced when they saw the ar k of Ya hwe h, and he str uck d own seventy ' of them . T he peo ple mo urne d beca use Y ah weh had struck them so fiercely';

10

The ark at Kiriath-jearim 20 II

21

12

I

Th e men of Beth -shemesh then sa id, 'Who can stand his ground before Ya hweh thi s ho ly God; to whom sha ll we let him go up , away from us?' -So they sent messengers to the inhab itants of Kiriath -jearim - saying, 'T he Phi list ines have se nt back the a rk of Yahweh ; come down a nd ta ke it up to your town'. The men of Kiriath-jeari rn ca me and , taki ng up the ark of Ya hweh, b rought it to the house of Abinadab on the hill, and consecrated Eleaz ar " his so n to guard the ark of Ya hweh.

Ps 76:7; 132:6

M 13: 2

7

Samuel, judge and liberator"

6

Jo s 7: 19 I n 9:24

1 SAMUEL

3

4

7

8

F ro m the day th e ark sett led in Ki riat h-jea rim a lon g timc passed, twen ty yea rs, a nd the w hole H o use of Israel lo nged for Ya hweh. •T hen Sa muel sa id to the whole H ouse of Israe l, ' If you a rc returnin g to Ya hweh with a ll yo ur hea rt, put a side th e fo reig n go ds you now ha ve, a nd t he As tartes too, a nd set your heart on Ya hweh and serve him a lone; a nd he will deliver you from 4 t he ha nd of the Philist ines' . - And the Is rael ites put aside the Baals and As tartes a nd served Yahwe h a lo ne. T hen Sam uel said, 'M uster a ll Israel at Mi zpah : a nd I wi ll plead with 6 Yahweh fo r yo u' . -So t hey muste red at Mizpah a nd drew water and po ured it out before Ya hwe h. They fas ted that day a nd de cla red , ' We have sinned against Yahweh' . And it was a t M izpa h t ha t Sa m uel was j udge ove r th e Israeli tes . The Ph ilistines cam e to hear tha t th e child ren o f Israe l had mu stered at M izpa h a nd the Ph ilisti ne chiefs march ed aga inst Isra el. The Israelites heard • of thi s and gre w a fraid of the Philistines .• T hey sa id to Sa muel, 'Do not cease 'I ca lling on Ya hwe h our God to sa ve us from th e po wer of the Philisti nes' . •Then Sa muel too k a sucking lamb a nd offered it as a hol ocaust to Ya hweh , an d he III ca lled on Yah weh on be ha lf o f Israel a nd Ya hwe h a nswere d his prayer. •W hile 3

I. It was. in fact . an an cien! and widespread c us to m 10 le ap t he l h rc~ hokl . wh er e s p irit s we re t houg h t 10 make the ir home . 10

J:. ' struck terror i n to th em ' A q u i la .

f . An y la rge s to ne co u ld serve as a n altar, 14:33. ,::. V . 15a wh ich in terr up ts the na rr at ive is inserted by a scru pu lo us ed itor , shocked t hat pro fa ne han d s T he ' t um o urs' s ho u ld tou c h tbc a r k.

noss ib lv haem o rrh o id s. () a . ' a nd m ode ls o f th e ra ts' fol lo wing G ree k. h . 'The lar ge stone is a wit ness' co rr. T hese ra ts p roba bly sp re ad t he di sease. if t he ' tu mo u rs' i. T he tr an slati o n foll o ws Ihe Greek . l lcb r. te xt were in fa ct th e res u lt o f p lague . Bu t it is possib le tha i her e add s a gloss ' fi ft y t ho u san d me n'. c h. 6 co m b ines two tradi tion s: one m a ki ng: th e nlueuc I. T he Isra el ites in th eir t urn discover ho w terri ble con sis t of humili a nn e tum ours, th e o th er of a n incursion t he a rk ca n be for those wh o d o n o t re vere it, cf. 2 S o f ra ts. 6:7 -! . b. I.c . ' ac k no w led uc that yo u have sinne d again st k , A Gibconite tow n, Jos 9: 17. on t he border s o f him ' , cr. J os 7: 19. Juda h a nd Ben jam in . Th ere the ark is on neut r al ground. r. New cart and unworkcd bea sts si nce th ey ar e 10 7 a . T hough no t a Levi te. cf', Jg 17:5. he used for a sac red ra sk . d . 2 K 2:20 : N b 19:2 : Dt 2 1:3. b. T his c ha p ter does no t co n t f nue the p re c edin a d. Tho ugh s e p ara te d from their calv es, th e cows narrati ve . H ere Samue l play s the lead in g pa rt a f te r th e ll,tl forw a rd, v. 12- str iki ng evidence [hal (l oll is fashi on or a ' jud ge ' , or lea der raised u p by Go d: he is k'a di ng t hem, v. 9. Cf . I K I R where Elija h dchbcrnrelv cre di ted . v v . 13- 14. with t he liberat ion ac tu al ly br ought mak es the m iracl e mor e d i ffic ult. a bou t by Sa u l a nd Da vid . Th is pa ves th e way for t he c , O r ' it' . Th rou ghout the na rr a t ive t he pr on ouns a m l-roval ist vers ion o f th e inst itut ion of th e mon ar ch y, co u ld re fer eit her to G od o r to t he ark (mascu line in s: IO :1 7- ~ ·k 12. I It' br .). BUI t he mea ning is the sa me. si nce no distl nctton c. T o t he N . o f Jerusalem , T he ancien t cus to m of i"t ma de between God an d th e ar k which is th e s ign o f Israel was 1.0 ga ther 'before Ya h weh' in so me sanct uary. li r e

II

12

13

14

15

h i!!

nrcscnce.

v, 6.

J"6:6- 10 : 10:10-16

J ~2 :13 -+

10:17 JR 20:1

E xI 7:6-13 SI46:16 -18

1 SAMUEL

Jg 3:30: 8:28: 11:33

J gI2:7.9. 11. 14 : \ 6:3 1

352

353

Samuel was offering the holocaust the Philistines approached to give Israel battle , but Yahweh thundered with a great noise that da y against the Philistines and threw them into a panic, and so they were routed before Israel. •The men 11 of Israel then went out from Mizpah in pursuit of the Philistines and struck them down as far as below Beth-car .:' -T hen Samuel took a stone and erected 12 it between Mizpah and Jeshanah and gave it the name Ebenezer: saying , 'Thus far has Yahweh aided us' . So the Philistines were humbled and no longer came into Israelit e terr itory ; 13 the hand of Yahweh lay on the Philistines all Samuel's lifetime. -T he town s the 14 Philistines had taken from Israel were given back to them, from Ekron to Gat h, and Israel freed their territory from the power of the Philistines. There was peace, too, between Israel and the Amorites. Samuel was ju dge over Israel as long as he lived. -Each year he went on :~ circuit through Bethel and Gilgal and Mizpah and judged Israel in all these places. ·He would then return to Ramah, for his home was there; there too he 17 judged Israel. And ther e he built an altar to Yahwe h.

22

Pr 17:23

Dt 17:14

Ho 13'10 ,;
12:12 J. 8:22-23 Jg 10:13 1 K 9:9

10:25 : 12:3f DI 17: 14-20 I K 12 2 S 15: 1 1 K 1:5

1 K21 :1-24

22:7

1 K 12:4

Prl:25-33 Mi 3:4

h

The people ask for a king" When Samuel grew old, he appointed his two sons as judg es' over Israel. The name of the first-born was Joel, that of the you nger Abija h; they were judges in Beersheba. •But his sons did not follow his ways ; they wanted money , taking bribes and perverting justice. •Then all the elders of Israe l gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah.• ' Look,' they said to him 'you are old , and your sons do not follow your ways. So give us a king to rule over us, like the other nations.v -It displeased Samuel that they should say, 'Let us have a king to rule us', so he prayed to Yahweh . -But Yahweh said to Sam uel, 'Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for it is not you they have rejected ; they have rejected me from ruling over them.• All they have done to me from the day I brought them out of Egypt until now- they deserted me and served othe r gods-i-they are doing now to you .• Well then, obey their voice ; only, you must warn them solemnly and instruct them in the right s of the king who is to reign over them .'

8

The disadvantages of the monarchy All that Yahweh had said Samuel repeated to the people who were asking him for a king •He said, 'These will be the rights of the king who is to reign over you.' He will take your sons and assign them to his chariotry and cavalry, and they will run in fron t of his chariot. -He will use them as leaders of a thousand and leaders of fifty; he will make them plough his plough land and harvest his harvest and make his weapons of war and the gear for his chariots. He will also take your daughters as perfumers, cooks and bakers .• He will tak e the best of your fields, of your vineyards and olive groves and give the m to his officials. -He will tithe you r crops and vineyar ds to provide for his eunuchs and his officials. •He will take the best of your manservants and ma idservants, of your cattl e' and your do nkeys, and make them work for him. •He will tithe your flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves.• When that day comes, you will cry out on account of the king you have chosen for yourselves, but on tha t da y G od will not answer you.' The peopl e refused to listen to the wor.ds of Samuel. They said, ' No! We want a king, -so that we in our turn can be like the othe r nati ons ; our king shall rule us and be ou r leader and fight our battl es.' •Samuel listened to all

Among the men of Benjamin there was a man named Kish son of Abiel, son of Zeror, son of Becorath, son of Aphiah; a Benjaminite and a man of rank. •He had a son named Saul , b a handsome man in the prime of life. Of all the Israelit es there was no one more handsome than he ; he stood head and shoulders taller than the rest of the people. •Now some of the she-donkeys of Saul's father Kish had strayed, so Kish said to Saul , ' My son, take one of the servant s with you and be off; go and look for the she-donkeys' .•They passed through the highlands of Eph raim and passed through the land of Shalishah , but did not find them; they passed through the land of Shaalim, they were not there ; they passed through the land of Benjamin, but did not find them .• When they came to the land of Zuph, Saul said to the servant who was with him, 'Come, let us go back or my father will stop wor rying over the she-don keys and sta rt being an xious abo ut us' . - He answe red, 'Look, there is a man of God in this town,« a ma n held in hon our ; everything he says comes true. Let us go there, then ; perhaps he will be able to guide us 0[1 the journey we have undert aken.' •Saul replied to the servan t, ' But if we do go, what can we take to the man? The bread in our sacks has gone, and we have no present to offer the man of God. What can we give him ?,d -Again the serva nt answered Saul, 'Look,' he said 'I ha ve a quarter of a silver shekel here ; I will give it to the man of God and he shall tell us our road.' -T hen Saul said to his serva nt, 'Well said ! Come , let us go.' And the y went off to the town where the man of God was.

9

2

4

A. THE INSTITUTION OF THE MONARCHy a

Ho 8:4

that the people had to say and repeated it in the ears of Yahweh. •Yahweh then said to Samuel, 'Obey their voice and give them a king'. Samuel then said to the men of Israel, 'Go back , each to your own town'. ' Saul and his father's she-donkeys-

6

II. SAMUE L AND S AU L

1 SAM U EL

I

10 3

14:51 I C h 8:33

10:23 : 16:7.12

D1 33:1 J. 13:6 1 K 13: \

Nh22:7 2 K 5:15

4

5 11 9

7 12

9

Sa ul meets Samuel As they were going up the slope to the town they came across some girls going out to draw water, and said to them , 'Is the seer' there?' - · Formerly in Israel when a man used to go to consult God he would say, 'Come, let us go to the seer', for a man who is now called a 'p rophet' was formerly called a 'seer' .- · The girls replied, 'Y es, the seer is ahea d of yOI1. He has just come' int o the town, d . ' Beth-car' coni.• cr. G reek. c. N o t . however. leaders rai sed up by Ood to e. Le. 'Slone of help~ . Th e Ebenezer oC 4:1 is de liver his people, s uch as th e judaes an d samuel

situated elsew here .

blmself, ch . 7. but offtcla Js a p p oint ed to administer

8 a . A lurnlna poi nt of Israel's w lltical and religiou s justice. hiSlory . The sa nct uary of th e' ark of Shiloh.1tas·been d. Israel (or geta that it is no t like o the r nadom: destro yed and unity is men aced as th e Ph ilisii ne thre a t in fo llowi ng Iheir exa mp le a nd cas tina off Yahweh . Ila

10 II

12

II 15 16 17 18

19 20 21

inc rea ses. A sect io n of th e people (repeating the o tter tru e king, it .den tes its specia l vocati on . made to G ide on . 1R 8:2 2f. and cr. the attemp t made by e. The details that fo llow reflect a sta te of atraln Ab imelech, J g 9:10 asks for a kina 'such as ot her not kn own un til t he days of Solomon and after : this nations have' , but ot hers ho ld the opposite view that satire im plies extens ive experience . Ya hweh. Israel', on ly lord , sh o uld be left to p rovide f. Followin g the Greek . leaders as circumstances req uired. as he did in the days of th e Judges . These two schools of t ho ug ht find a voice I. The end of the verse is by an ed itor: t he . 'disin t he anti-r oyalist , en. 8: 1 0: 1 7~24; 12, a nd royalist, miss al o f the people' makes it possible fo r him to ime rt 9:1- 10:1 6; 11. vers io ns o f the ins t it u tio n o f the 9:1- 10:16 (royalist version) into th is anti-royalist m on a rchy, here p lac ed side by side . T he r oyalist view acco un t which was origi na lly fo llowed by JO:I7~24. ulti ma tely p revails . b ut Saul. th e. firs t k ing, is scarcely 9 a. Another narrative. not connec ted with the distinguishable fr om the judg es who preceded him ; p reced ing. Saul is its cen tr al figur e. Sa muel a ppears he is Yahweh' s cw n choice . 9 :16 : 10:24, and is not as a judge but as a p ro p het who m Sa ul meets by possessed by his spiri t, 10:10, a nd wi ns th e people cha nce . T he m o na rchy is willed by God: th e fi r st king over by a fea t o f ar ms. 1 1 : 5 ~ I J. The mo na rchy, is his' chosen on e . Th is is th e ope ni ng of the royalist however, onl y ach ieves. its full deve lo pm en t in Da vid, (the more a ncient) vers io n which co nt in ues as far as an outstand ing pers OIIality in whom the religio us and 10: 16 and is resu med in ch . I J. civil fu nctions of l he Israelite mona rchy are ha r mo n ib. l.e . ' as ked fo r' (from God). ously co mb i ned, and whose po lit ica l position does not c. Ramah, Samuel's to wn . int erfere wit h the du ties of the Lord 's anoi nted . But d . O ne co ns ults a prophet o n ly afte r m a kin g hi m none of his successors achieves ·t his idea l ag a in. and a pres en t. N b 22:7 : I K 14:3 ; .2 K 4:42 ; 5: 15; 8:8. David re mains th e mo de l of that fu tu re king thr ou gh Cf. A m 7: 12; Mi 3:11 : Ezr 13:19 . who m G od is to brin g about the sal vation of h is peo ple, e . A rare wo rd for ' pro phe t". used in ancie nt p rose namely th e Mess ia h. th e Anoi nted of the Lo rd . narrative. H ence th e ex pla natory gloss of v. 9. whic h b. This antl-rovalist account co ntinues th e story of is to be: read after v , 11. cb . 7. f . 'the seer .. . come' fo llow ing Greek .

G n 24 :11 Ex 2:16

Si46:15 l K 14:23 2Ch 17:6

1 S A MUE L Nb3 3:52 L v 3:1 +

10:1 Ex3:7 .10

16:12

?\j

2s I K 1:34 Ps132:10

9:16 -17 3g 9:9 I K 1:39 S146:13 14 :10 + D' 7:6 + ;32:9 3r31:15 M k14:13

13:3

16: 13 3.3: 10 + 2 K 3:15 Go 39:2

354

for the people are having a sacrifice today on the high place... You will me et him as soon as you enter the town before he goes up to the high place for the meal. The people will not eat until he comes, since he must bless the sacrifice; then the people invited eat afterwards.' Go up now and you will soon find him.' So they went up to the town, and as they were going through the gate Samuel came out in their direction on his way to the high place. -Now Yahweh had given Samuel a revelation the day before Saul came, saying, ·'About this time tomorrow I will send to you a man from the land of Benjamin; you are to anoint him as prince over my people Israel, and he will save my people from the power of the Philistines ; for I have seen the distress of my people and their crying has come to me'. ·When Samuel saw Saul, Yahweh to ld h im, 'That is the man of whom I tol d you; he shall rule my people'. -Saul accosted Samuel in the gateway and said, 'Tell me, please, where the seer 's house is?' -Sarnuel replied to Saul, ' 1 am the seer. Go up ahead of me to the high place. You are to eat with me today. In the morning I shall take leave of you and tell you all that is in your heart.• As regards the she -donkeys you lost three days ago, do not worry about them; they have been found already. Besides, for whom is all the wealth of Israel desti ned , if not for you and all your father's House?" -Saul then replied, 'Am I not a Benjaminite , from the smallest/ of Israel's tr ibes'? And is not my fami ly the least of all t he families of the tribe of Benjamin? Why do yo u say such words to me?' Sa muel then too k Sau l a nd his servan t and brought them into the ha ll and ga ve th em a place a t th e head of those invited; the re were a bout thirty of the m. Samuel said to th e cook, 'Serve th e port ion I gave yo u, whic h I to ld you to put o n one side' .• The cook t hen took u p the leg a nd th e tail an d set it in fro nt of Sa ul, say ing, 'T here! The part that has been kept is set befo re yo u. Eat!'. . . k So, Sa ul a te tha t da y wit h Sa muel. From the high place they came down to th e town. O n the hou set o p th ey spread o ut cov erl ets for Sa ul and he lay down.'

I0

10:24

there to offe r holocausts and communion sacrifices. You are to wait seven L~f: l+ ; days for me to come to you, a nd then I will show yo u what you are to do .' 3;1+ The return of Sa ul

14

9

15

10

16 II

17 18

12

19

ii

20

II

21

As soon as Saul had turned his back to leave Samuel, God changed his heart and all the se signs were acc omplished that sa me day. • F ro m there- they came to G ibeah, a nd there wa s a gro up of prophets com ing to meet h im; the sp irit o f G od seized on him a nd he fell into ecstasy in th eir midst. •When all who knew him previously saw him prophesying with the prophets, the people sa id to each o ther, 'What ha s happened to the son of Kish ? Is Saul one of the prophets too?' O ne of the gr oup retorted , 'A nd who is thei r fatber v'« And thi s is the origin o f th e proverb: Is Saul one of the prophets too? When Sa ul's ecstasy had pas sed he went bac k into the hous e' -a nd h is uncl e ask ed him and his serva nt, 'Where ha ve you been ?' He repl ied, ' In search of the she-donkeys; and when we saw we co u ld not find them, we went to Samuel.' Sa ul's uncle then said , 'Tell me, no w, wha t did Samuel say to you ?' -Saul sa id to h is uncle , ' He onl y told us that the donkeys were already found' , but he sa id nothing to him about the kingsh ip o f which Sa m uel had spoken.

19:20-24 11:6 Nbl l:25

19:2 4

Sa ul is chosen king by loti 17 I"

22

19 24

15

20 21

The consecration of Saul-t At the break of day Samuel called to Saul on the housetop, 'Get up ; I must take lea ve of you'. Saul got up , and the two of them , he and Sa muel, went out into the street.• T hey had wal ked as far as the end of the town when Sam uel said to Saul, 'Te ll th e serva nt to go o n a head of us, but you sta nd still for a moment a nd I sha ll make known to you the word of God'. Samuel LOok a phia l of oil a nd po ured it on Saul's head; then he kissed him, say ing, 'Has no t Yahweh anointed you prince over his peop le Israel? You are the man who must ru le Yahweh's people, a nd who must save them from the power of the enemies surrounding them. This shall be th e sign " for you that Yahweh has appointed you prince of his heritage: -when you leave me now, you will meet two men near the tomb of Rachel , on the front iers of Benjamin . .. b and the y will say to you , "T he she -donkeys you went in search of have been found and your fat her has lost interest in the donkeys and is wo rrying about you, thi nking, What am I to do about my son?" -Going fu rther from there you will come to the Oak of Tabor where three men will meet you, going up to God at Bethel; one will be ca rrying three kids , one th ree loaves of b read and the third a skin of wine . •They will greet you and give you two loaves of bread which you must accept from them . •After this you will go to Gibeah of God' (where the Philistine pilla r" is) and as you come to the town you will meet a group of prop het s coming down from the high place, headed by harp, tambourine, flute an d lyre ; they will be in an ecstasy.' •Th en the spirit o f Ya hweh will seize o n yo u, and yo u will go int o an ecstasy with them , an d be changed into a no ther man . •W hen these signs are fulfilled for yo u, act as occasion ser ves, for God is with you .• You must go down before me to G ilgal ;" I will jo in you

1 SAMUEL

355 13

26

22 27

23

24

Sa m uel called t he people together to Ya hweh at Mi zpah -a nd said to the Israelites, 'Yahweh the God o f Israel has spo ken and says, " I br o ught Israel o ut of Egypt a nd del ivered you from the power of the Egyptia ns and of all t he kingdoms that were oppressing you" . • But today you ha ve rejected you r God, he who saved yo u from all your calam ities and desperate stra its; and you have sa id, "No." you must set a kin g over us". We ll then, take yo ur positions befo re Ya hweh according to your tribes an d clan s.' Sa muel then made all the tribes o f Israel co me forwa rd, and the lot fell to the tribe o f Benjamin . • He then made the tribe of Benj amin co me for wa rd clan by clan , and the lot fell to the clan of Matri ; he then made the cla n of M atri co me forwa rd man by man , and the lot fell to Saul son of Kish. they looked fo r him but he was not to be found. Once again they consu lted Yahweh, 'Has the man come here?" 'There he is,' Ya hwe h a nswered 'h idden among the baggage'. -So th ey ran and brought him out and, as he stood among the people, he was head and shou lders taller than the m al l. -Then Samuel said to all the people, ' Have you seen the man Yahweh

I

g . The ' h igh p lac e' was a shrine se t o n a hilltop

nea r a town . The custom was Can aanite. but Israel subst itu ted Yahweh fo r Baal, J g 6:25f. a nd t he hi gh pl aces were for many year s tolerat ed by th e or thodox, I K 3:4f. until their pr oh ibi ti o n by the la w im posing a sin gle sanctuary. 1:'1 12:2 + . b . The sa cred meal was an esse nt ia l pa r t 01' the

communion sacrifi ce.

cr. Lv 3: I +.

I, Sau l's royal de s tiny is foretold fo r the first time. 3

i . 'the sma llest' coni . k . Tex t corrupt. Hebe. ' beca use for the time a ppointed for YOU saying: I h ave invited t he peo ple ', I. ' they sp read ... la y down' Greek and Vet. Lat.

m. The kings of Israel were anointed by a man of

4

5

6

God. eit her a pr iest or a prop het, cr. 16:13: I. K 1:39: 2 K 9:6 : 11:12 . The r ite ga ve t hem a sacred cha rac ter: the king was 't he a noi n ted of Ya hwe h', cr. 2:35; 24:7,11; 26:9,16, an d see Ex 30:2 2 + . 10 a . 'Yahweh a no in ted yo u .. . the sign' follo wing Greek and vu is.: Hebr'. o mi ts . b. T he word om itted is inco m prehens ibl e in the Hebr. Th e 'fronti ers' are th ose be twe en Ben jamin and Ephraim : Sau l is on his wa y from there. Ancien t rradltlo n (a nd cf J r 31: l S) located Rachel's tomb ther e ; later it was said to be near Bethlehem where it is s till shown. cr. the gloss of Gn 35:19 . c, Another name for Gibeah, Saul's home. vv, lOf;

11:4 ; 15;34. d , O thers translate ' go vernor'. The parenthesis is a gloss pr ep aring the reader for 13:3. e . These ' prop hets' li ved in gro ups; they made u se o f m usic and gest ic ulatio n to s tim ula te an ecstasy which communica ted itself to others . 19:20-24. I K 22: IOf. They have been compared with the dervishes of to d ay. Isr ael ' s nei gh bours (c f , the prophets o f Baal. I K 18: 25-29) were famil iar with thi s lower form o f re ligious life , which was long tolera ted in the cu lt of Yahweh. I K J8:4 . The ' pr o p hets' re appear, w ith d iminished frenzy. in Elisha's company, 2 K 2:3+ . The great prophets of Isr ae l a re of a d iffere nt Qualit y. see Introduction to t he P r op hets. f . Near Jericho, cf. Jos 4:19 + . V. 8 is an insertion preparing fo r 13:8-15, a passag e from a d ifferent source. g . T he o r igin a l na rra tive mus t ha ve described the fu lfilmen t of the first two s igns. h. T hey are su r prised th a t a ma n of Saul's standing should m ix with the se e nthusiasts , no doubt of low ly origin. I. 'into the house ' coni. I. The anti-royalist version of ch. 8 is here res umed. k, ' YOU have said, " N o " • several MSS and versions. I. Following Greek.

7:5+ 3g 6:8-9 E x 20:2 Lv 25 :38

Jos7;16-18

9:2 :16 :7

10 :25 I K 1:39 2K 11:12

8: 11-1 8 D117 :18-20 J0524:26-28

11:12 -14

12: 12

10:10 J03:1O +

is 19:.29 14: 15 G n 35:5

10: 27 2 S 19:23

Jo,4 :19 + Lv 3:1 +

Jo'24:1.28

Nb27 : 16- 17

8:11 -17 N b 16: 15 sr 46 : 19

has chosen? Of all the peopl e there is none to equal him.' And all the peop le acclaimed him , shouting, ' Long live the king!' Samuel explained t he ro yal constitution to the pen pie and inscribed it in a book which he placed before Ya hweh. He then dismissed all the people, each to his own home . -Saul to o went home to G ibeah and with him went the mighty rnen « whose hearts God had to uched. -Bu t there were some scoundrel s who said, 'How can this fellow save us?' Th ey despised him, ·and offered him no pre sent. Victor y over the Ammonites" Abo ut a mo nth lat er, b 11 Nahash the Ammon ite marched up and laid siege to Jabes h-gilead . All the men of Ja besh said to Na hash, ' Make a trea ty with us and we will be your subjects' . -B ut Na hash t he Ammo nite said to them , ' I will mak e a trea ty with you o n this condition, that I put out a ll your right eyes ; I sha ll inflict this disg race o n the whole of Israel' . -T he elder s of Ja besh said to him, 'Give us seven days' grace while we send messengers throughout the ter ritor y of Israel, and if no one com es to our help, we will go over to you' . -The messengers cam e to G ibeah of Sa ul, and repor ted th is to the people, and all the people began to lamen t and weep. Now Sau l was just the n coming in from the fields behind his oxen, an d he sa id, 'What is wrong? Why ar e the people weep ing?' They explained to him wha t the men of Jabesh had said . -And the spir it of Yahweh seized on Sa ul when he hear d these wor ds, and his fury was stirred to fierce flame. • He took a yoke of oxen and cut them in pieces which he sent by messengers throughout the territo ry of Israe l with th ese words: 'I f an yone will not ma rch wit h Sa ul,v this shall be don e with his oxen !' At th is, a dre ad of Ya hweh fell on the peop le and they ma rched ou t as on e man. • He inspected them at Bezek ; there were three hundred thousand Israelites and thirt y th ousan d of J uda h." • He then said to the messengers who had come, 'T his is what you must say to the men of Jabesh -gilead, "To morrow by th e t ime the sun is ho t help will reach you" '. T he messen gers went and rep orted this to the men of Jabesh who were overjoyed; the y said to Nahash, ' 'T om orrow we will go over! to you and you can do what you like to us' . The next da y, Saul disposed the army in three companies; they bu rst into the middle of the camp in the last watch of the night and stru ck down the Ammonites until high noon. The survivors were so scattered that not two of them were left together. Saul is proclaimed kingThe people then said to Samuel, 'Wh o said, " Is Sau l to reign over us?" Hand the men over for us to put them to death.' •' No one is to be put to death toda y' Saul rep lied 'for today Yahw eh has brought victory to Israel.' •Then Samuel said to the people, 'Come, let us go to G ilgal and reaffirm the monarchy ther e'. So all the people went to Gilgal and there they procl aime d Saul king before Ya hweh at G ilgal. They offered communio n sacrifice s there befor e Ya hweh; and Saul and all the men of Israel rejoiced greatly. Samuel gives way to Sau l" Samuel said to all Israel, 'I have faith fully done all you asked of me, and I have appoi nted a king over you . -I n future it is the king who will lead you . As for me, I am old and grey, and my son s are here among you . I have led you from my you th unt il today. • Here I am . Tes tify against me befo re Ya hweh an d befo re his ano inted . Whose ox have I ta ken? Whose donkey have I taken ? Have I ever wronged or op pressed Anyone? Have I ever tak en a bribe from anyone? If so I will here and now req uite you .' ; ' Yo u have neither wronged nor oppressed us' they said ' nor accepted a bribe from an yone .' • He said to them ,

12

357

1 SAMUE L

25

26

27

I

2

3

4

5

10

II

12

13 14

1 SAMUEL

'Yahweh is witness aga inst you and his anointed is witness today that you have found not hing in my hands?' 'He is witness' they replied. Samu el then said to the people, rel="nofollow"> 'Y ahweh is witness,' he who raised up 7 M oses an d Aaron and who brought your ancesto rs ou t of the land of Egypt.• So Mi6:4 now sta nd here while I arg ue with you before Ya hweh an d remi nd you of all 8 th e saving works he performed for you and for you r ancestors.• When Jacob ca me to Egypt the Egyptians oppressed them," and your ancesto rs cried to Ya hweh who sent Moses and Aaron; they brought your ances tors out of Egypt and gave 9 them a settled home here. -Then they forgot Yahweh their God and he sold them into the power of Sisera, general of the army of Hazar, as also into the }g 4-S:13-16 power of the Philistines an d of the king of Moab who fought against them . }g3:12-30 10 Th ey cried to Yah weh, "We have sinned, for we ha ve deserted Yahweh; we ha ve served the Baal s an d the Astartes. Resc ue us now from the power of our I I enemies, and we will serve you" .•The n Ya hweh sen t Jerubbaal, Barak , Jephthah, Jotl~i"i5: and Samuel. ' He rescued yo u from the power of the enemies sur ro unding you, and you lived in secu rity. 12 'But when you saw Nahash, king of the Ammonites, come to attack you, l1: l f you said to me, "N o, a king must rule over us"-al though Yahweh you r God 13 himself is your king. • Here then is the king you havechose n; " Yahweh has set a 8:7 14 king over you . •If you reverence and serve Ya hweh and obey his voice and do not rebel aga inst his order, and if both you and t he king who rules over 15 yo u follow Ya hweh your God, all will be well. -B ut if you do not obe y th e voice of Ya hweh , if you rebel against his order, his ha nd will be against you and against your king. v 16 'Stand here, then, and watc h th e great wonder Ya hweh will do before your 17 eyes. - It is now wheat harvest, is it not?« I will call on Yahweh a nd he shall I K 18 send th under and rain . Co nsider then and see wha t a very wicked thing you 18 have do ne in the sight of Ya hweh by asking to have a king.' -Samuel then called o n Ya hweh, and Yahweh sent thunder and rain the same day , and all the people 19 held Ya hweh and Samuel in great awe . -T hey a ll sa id to Sa muel, ' Plead for your ser vants with Yahweh yo ur G od that we may not die, for we have ad ded to all o ur sins this evil of ask ing to have a king'. 20 Samuel said to th e peopl e,' 'Do not be afraid ; you have indeed done all this evil, yet do not turn aside from following Yahweh, but serve Yahweh with ~ I all your hearts. · 0 0 not turn aside after empty idols which , being empty, are Dt32:37-39 14:21 22 useless and cannot save, -since for the sa ke of his great name Yahweh will Jr E zk 20 :9 Dn 3:34 23 not desert his people , for it has pleased Yahweh to make you his people. •For DI7:6 + my part, far be it from me that I should sin aga inst Yahweh by ceasing to plead Ex 32: 11 + 24 for you or to instruct yo u in the good and right way. •Onl y reverence and serve Ya hweh faithfully with all your heart, for you see the great wo nder he zs has do ne amo ng you.• But if yo u persist in wickedness, you and your king will perish.' m. ' the m ight y me n' co ni.

15

I

3

4

5

12:25

11 a. Here t he roy alis t vers io n is resu me d . Thi s is the m oment foreto ld in 10:7, and it ind ica tes to ever yone th a t Sa u l ( who se a no in ting has rem a ined secret) is God 's cho sen leader. We ar e o nce mo re in th e climate of t he Book of J udges. b. ' A bo ut a mont h lat er ' vers io ns : join with 11:1. c. T he text ad ds 'a nd Samuel' in a cco rd ance with t he mentality of ch . 7. d . Th e lar ge n u m bers and th e di stin ct ion be twee n Is ra el and Ju dah betray a late hand . e . ' 10 N ahas h ' ad ded co ni ectu ra lly. f. T he Olen of Ja besh p ia}! o n t he wor d whi c h ca n mean eit her 'a n ac k ' o r (as in v, 3) ' su rre nd er ' . g . V. 15 o r tgtnallv fo llo wed v. I I ; Sa u l was accla imed king o n (he day a fter the victory. BUI accor d ing 10 t he pa ra llel narrat ive , Sau l ha d a lread y been p roc lai med a t M izpah . 10:24 . Vv. 12-14 harmon ise th e two n arr atives: Sau l was not ac kn o wled ged by

all , cr. 10:27. and his inves titure had to be ' renewed" Hosea , ho stile to monarchical go vern me nt , bra nds the p roc lam a tio n as sinful, Ho 8:4 : 9: I S. 12 a. T he immediate seq uel o f 10: 17-24 (a n ti-royalist versio n). b. A shor t d iscourse in the sty le of D eu tero no m y a nd of the de uteronomic ed itor of Judges. c. 'i s witne ss' Greek. d . ' the Egvptla ns oppres sed them ' G reek . e . ' Bar ak' G reek. Thus Samuel is r an ked wi t h the iud ges. cf. ch . 7. f . T he text adds 'for whom you hav e as ked ' . g . ' and ag a inst yo ur king' G reek . h . A seaso n whe n it neve r rains in Palestine . i. Su m m ary o f t he ami-royalist thes is: est a blishing the mon a rc hy ha s bee n a gra ve o ffence . n evertheless God will n ot cas t off his chosen peop le if they rem a in fai th ful. Th e prophets w ill plead for them a nd guide them.

1 S AM UE L

359

358

1 S AM UE L

14:17

J onat han attacks the outp ost B. THE BEGINNING OF SAUL'S REIG N

Revolt against the P hilistines a b -Saul chose three thousand men from Israel; there were two thousa nd with Saul at Michmash and in the h ighlands of Bethel, and a thousand with Jonathan" at Ge ba ' of Benjamin; the rest of the people Saul sent home, each man to his own tent.' Jonathan smashed the Philistine pillar which was at Gibeah/ and the Philistines learned that the Heb rews had risen in revolt. Saul had the trumpet sounded throughout the coun try, -a nd the whole of Is rael heard the news: Saul has smashed the Philistine pillar, and now Isra el ha s incur red the enmity of the Philistin es. So all the people rallied behind Sau l a t G ilgal. -The Philistines mu ste red to do ba ttle with Israel, three thousand " cha riot s, six thou sand ho rse a nd a force as numerous as the sand on the seashore. T hey cam e up a nd pitched ca m p at Michmas h, to th e eas t of Beth -aven . n • When the men o f Isra el saw that thei r situation was des perate, since the y were hard pres sed , they hid in ca ves, in holes , in cre vices, in vaults, in wells . • Man y, too, crossed ove r the Jo rda n fords into the terr itory o f Ga d and G ilead .

I

13 ...

10:5;14:1-15

J0 57 :2 + 14:11

Jg 6:2

I ~I

15

10:8

2 S 7: 15f " A c 13:22 ps n :70

14 : 15

14 ;15

Sa muel breaks with Saul' Sau l was still at Gilgal and all the people who followed him wer e trembling.' He waited for seven days, the period Sa muel had fixed, but Samuel did not come to G ilga l a nd th e army, dese rting Saul , was dispersed . -So Sa ul sa id, 'B ring me the holocaust and the communion sacrifices' ; and he o ffere d the ho locaust. -Just as he was completing th e offering o f the holoca ust Sa muel ca me, and Sau l went out to meet h im and greet h im, • but Sam ue l said, 'W hat ha ve you done?' Sau l replied, 'I saw th e a rmy deserti ng me a nd disper sin g, an d you had not com e a t the tim e fixed, while the Ph ilistines were mu steri ng at M ichmas h. -So I tho ught: N ow the Philistines a re go ing to fa ll o n me at G ilga l a nd I have no t implo red the favo ur of Ya hwe h. So I felt o bliged to act a nd I o ffere d the hol ocau st myself.' -Samuel a nswered Sa ul, 'Yo u have ac ted like a fool. If you ha d " ca rrie d out the o rder Ya hweh yo ur God co m ma nded you, Ya hweh woul d have confirmed yo ur sovereignty over Israel fo r eve r. • But now your sov ereig nty will not last ; Yahw eh ha s searc hed out a man for hims elf after his own hea rt ' and designated him leader of his people, since you hav e not ca rried out what Yahweh o rdered you .' -Samuel then rose a nd left G ilgal to co nt inue his jou rney . T hose of th e peo ple who rema ined followed Sau l as he went to join the warriors, a nd wen t fro m G ilga l to Ge ba ?' of Benja min. Sau l inspected the forc e that was with h im ; there were about six hu nd red men .

2

3

3 4 4 5 5

6

6

7

8 7

9 10 11 8 9

12

10 11

13

14 12

14

O ne day, Jonath an son of Sa ul said to his a rmou r-b ea rer, 'Come on, let us 13;3 1 M4:3 1 go acros s to the Philist ine out post in the pass'." But he did not warn h is father. -Sa ul was on the outskirts of Ge ba, sitti ng under the pomegr an a te tree IslO:28.29 tha t sta nds nea r the threshi ng-floor; b the force with him numbered about six hund red men. -A hijah son of Ahitub, br other of Icha bod SOn of Ph inehas son 4:2 1 +: of Eli, the pri est of Yahweh at Shiloh, was weari ng the ephod. The force did 2:28 14:18 not know that Jo nathan had left. In th e pa ss tha t Jonatha n was trying to cross to reach the Philistine outpost ther e is a rocky spur on one side and a rocky spur on the other ; one is called Bozez , the other Seneh. -T he first spu r stands to the no rt h faci ng Michm ash, Is 10:28 1M 3;19 the ot her to th e south facing Ge ba . -Jonath an said to his armour-bearer , 'Come Ps 33;16 o n, let us go across to the outpost of these uncirc umc ised men ; perhaps Yahweh Si 39;18 17:47 will do some thing fo r us , fo r nothing can pre vent Yahweh from giving us victo ry, ]g 7:4-7 whet her there a re many or few of them'. -His armour-bearer said to him , 'Do rai s.u just as your hea rt tells you; as for me , my heart is' with you' . •Jonathan 1M 5:40 then said , 'Lo ok, we will go across to t hese peop le an d let ourselves be seen. If they say to us, "Do not move till we come to yo u" we shall stay whe re we are and not go u p to th em. -But if they say , "Co me up to us" we will go up , for 10:1+ that will be the sign" for us that Ya hweh has given th em into ou r power.' When they both let themselves be seen by the Ph ilistine post, the Philistines said , 'Look, the Heb rews are coming out of the holes where they ha ve bee n 13 hid ing' . -The men of the post then hai led Jonathan an d his ar mou r-bea rer. ' Co me up to us,' the y sa id ' we have somet hing to tell you .' Jonathan then said to his armour-bearer, 'Follow me up; Yahweh has given the m into the power of Israel' . -J onathan climbed up , hand s and feet, with his a rm our -bearer beh in d hi m. Th e Philistines fell before Jo nathan , a nd his a rmo ur-bearer, co ming behin d , 2 S 18:5 finished them off. -T h is first blow th at Jonathan and his ar mour-bearer struck accou nted for about twenty men . . . e Battle is engaged

13 15 14 16 17

There was panic in the camp and in the co untryside ; a ll the me n in the outpost, a nd the raiding co ntingent too, were terrified ; the earth shook; it was a very pan ic of God. -Sa ul's loo ko ut men in Ge ba/ of Benjamin could see th e cam p scatt erin g in a ll directions , -Sa ul then said to the force that was with him ,

15

Preparations for war n Sa ul, his so n Jo na t han , a nd the force that was with them took u p thei r qu ar ters 16 in Geba of Benja min wh ile the Philistines camped at Michmash. > -T he ra idi ng 17 contingent ca me o ut from th e Philistine camp in thre e co mpa nies: o ne made for Ophrah in the land ofS hua l; -a not her for Beth -horon ; and th e t hird for the 18 heigh t ove rha nging the Va lley of the Hyenas , towa rds th e wilderness." T here was not a single smith in t he who le la nd of Israe l, becau se the 19 Philistines had reaso ned: We mu st prevent the Hebrews from forg ing swords or spears. • He nce all the Is rae lites wer e in th e habit of go ing down to the Philistines 20 to sha rpen eve ry ploughsha re, axe, mattock or goad . -T he pr ice was two -thi rds 2 1 of a shekel for plo ughsh a res and axes , and one-thir d for sha rpening mattocks a nd str a ighten ing goads. q -So it was tha t o n the da y of the ba tt le of Michma sh ' " no o ne in the whole a rmy with Sa ul a nd Jo nath a n had either swo rd o r spea r in his ha nd, except, ho weve r, Sa ul a nd his so n Jo na than. 23 A P hilistine out post left for the Pass of M ichmash .

13 a . C h . 13 is co m pos ite . Vv. 16- 18 a nd 23 belo ng to the pr im itive account which is co n tin ued in ch . 14 . Vv. 3· 15 are of la ter or igin. T here will be no fu r th er a llus io n 10 thi s firs t rejecti o n o f Sa ul. a pparen tly an a nt icipa tio n of ch. IS. b. Th e He be. reads <Sa ul was o ne year o ld when he be ca me k i na , a nd he reigned over Isr ael for t wo ye ars ' , wh ich is a bsu rd . The vers e is lacking in the a nci ent G reek vers io n . A tr ad it io n cr edit ed Sa ul with a reign of fo rty yea rs, Ac 13:2 1. c. Sa ul's so n , v. 16 etc. d . ' G e ba' co ni., cr. v. 15 : ' G lbea h ' Hebr. e. Re m na nt of a n inde pe nd ent rrad it lon . f. 'Gi bea h' G ree k, cf. 10: 15 ; ' O e ba' H eb r. ' h ad risen in re volt 'Greek . Poss ib ly a d uplica te of 14: 1-15. g . ' three th ou san d ' vers io ns. h. 'H o use of n othin gn ess ', n ickn am e for Bethel, cr. Am 5:5. i. T he tr agedy of K in g Sa u l: thou gh he is Ya hweh 's chosen one and the sa vio ur of his peopl e, ch 1 J a nd 14. Ya h weh casts h im off, ch. 13 and IS. The Bib le, fro m [he prefe rence sho wn to Ja cob ra ther [h an to Esau , G n 25:23, cr. Rm 9: 13, from Is rae l' s o wn elect io n , Dt 7:6 ; A m 3:2. to the ca lli ng o f the a pos tles . leache s Ihe free bes towal of G od 's cho ice . Bu t it teach es a lso th at persisten ce in God 's fav o ur depend s on th e fa ithfu lness o f Ihe one cho sen : Sa ul betra yed h is ch oi ce . i. Text un cer tai n . k . 'If yo u had' coni. It is n o t eas y to see what

Sa u l' s fa ult was: h e waited seven days. as ins tructed. T ha t he hi msel f should offer sac r ifice wo u ld no t be op posed to a ncient cus tom, cr. 14:32-35. T he reason for his reje ct io n is p u t more clearl y in ch . IS. I. I.e . David. m . Following Greek . n. Wi th v , 16 t he ancient na rra tive of the war of 'libe ra tio n begi ns. Vv. 19-22 are paren the tical. 0 •. W ith the d eep wad i Suweini t between ; Jonatha n crosses it •. 14:4f . n . Th ese ski r m ishe rs are o ut to lay the whole co un try was te . Tex t un cert a in . q, Te xt very d o ubtful. r.
]4 a .
13;16.17,23

11:7+

14:18 2:28+ ;14:3

3g 7:23 29:4

1 SA M UEL

3 60

'Call th e roll an d see who has left us' . So they called the roll, and Jonathan and his armour-bearer were missing. Sa ul then sa id to Ahijah, ' Bring the ephod'; for (t was he who carried the e phod in the presence of Israel. g • But while Saul was spea king to the priest, the turmoil in the Philistine camp grew worse and worse ; and Saul sa id to the pr iest, ' Withd raw yo ur hand ' ." -Th en Saul and the whole force with h im formed up and advanced to where the fighting was , wh ere men were a ll drawin g their swords on each other in wild co nfu sion . •The Hebrews who had ea rlier tak en service with the Philistines a nd had accompanied them into ca m p, them selves defected ' to the Israelites with Saul a nd Jonathan. ·AII th e Israel ites in hidin g in the highlands of Ephra im, hearing that the Philistines were on the run, cha sed a fter them and joined in the fight. -T ha t da y Yah weh gave Israel the victo ry, and the battle spread beyond Beth-heron. '

1 SAMUEL

o

Yahweh, God of Israel, give Urim: if the fault lies on your people Israel, give Thummirn.' Jo nathan and Saul were indicated and the people went free . -Sau l said, 'Cast the lot between me and my son Jonathan' ; and Jonathan was indicate d. Saul t hen sa id to Jo na tha n, 'Tell me wh at you ha ve do ne'. Jonathan sa id, 'I onl y at e a mouthful of honey off the end of the st ick I was holding. Here I am . I a m read y to d ie.' ' Saul said , ' May God d o thi s to me an d more if yo u d o not die, Jonathan' . • But the people said to Saul , ' Must Jonathan die after winni ng this great victory for Israel? Never let it be so ! As Ya hweh lives, not one hai r of his head shall fall to the ground, for his deed s today have been done with the help of God.' And so the people ransomed' Jonathan and he was not put to death. Saul decided not to pursue the Philistines, and the Philistines returned to their own territory.

42 18 19 43 20 44 21

45

22

23 46

J ona tha n defies Saul's orders Sa ul had im posed a great fast" tha t day, laying the peop le under an oath , 'Cursed be the ma n who eats food befo re evening, befo re I have had my reve nge on my en em ies!' So no one so muc h as tasted food . Now there was a honeycomb lying on the gro und ;' • but when the people came up to the hon eycom b, tho ug h the swa rm had go ne > no one put a hand to h is mouth for fear of the oa th. • But Jo nat ha n, not having heard h is father lay the oath o n the peopl e, put out the end of t he stick he was ho lding, thrust it into the hon eycomb an d put his hand to his mo uth ; then his eyes brig hten ed. But o ne of the men spo ke up . ' You r father' he sa id ' has bo und the peop le with a st rict oa th to t he effect that anyone who ea ts food today will be accursed .' > Jonathan replie d, 'My fat her has done the nation a d isser vice. See how much brighte r my eyes are now that I ha ve ea ten this mout hful of honey.• By the sa me token, if th e peo ple had ea ten their fill of the booty t hey took from t he enemy today, wo uld no t the de feat of t he P hilisti nes ha ve been all the grea ter?'

24 47 25 26

Lv 1:5+

rs 6:24

They struck at the Philist ines that day from Mich mash as far as A ijalon unt il t he peo ple were utterly weary. •T hey flu ng themselves on the boot y a nd, ta king sheep, oxen a nd cal ves, slau ghtered them there o n the gro un d a nd at e them with the blood. -News of this came to Saul. 'Loo k,' th ey said ' th e people are sin ning aga inst Yahweh, eating with the blood.' At wh ich he rep lied to t ho se who brought the news, > 'Roll me a large stone here'. > • T hen he sa id , 'Sca tte r th ro ugh the people and say to the m, "Let eac h ma n brin g me his ox or his sheep; sla ughter them here a nd eat, no t sinning agai nst Ya hwe h by eat ing with th e blood" . All the people then brought what eac h o ne had q that night, a nd they sla ughter ed t hem there .• Sa ul b uilt a n a lta r to Ya hweh; it was the first a ltar he ha d buil t to Ya hwe h.

49 50 28 51 29 30

28:6

Jo s 7 : 14

SI33:3; 4 5: 10

52

I

31 32

2 3

34

35

36

37 38

39

40

41

Ac 1:26

R tI :17 ...

Summary of Saul's reign" Sa ul consolidated his ru le over Is rae l and fought against all his enemies 2 S 1:22 everywhere: against Moab, the Ammonites, Edom, Beth-rehob, the king of 2 ~ nL Z ob ah, the Philistines; wherever he turned he was victorious ." ·He did grea t 15 deeds of valour; he defeated the Ama lekites a nd de livered Israel from the power of th eir plunderers. The son s of Saul were: Jo nat han, Ishvi-' a nd Malchishua . Th e names of his 31:2 two dau ghters were: the elder, Merab, a nd th e yo unger, M ichal. -The name 18:17f.20f of Saul's wife was Ahinoa m daught er o f Ahimaaz. The name of his a rmy commander was Abner son of Ner ; he was Saul's u ncle. • Kish th e father of 9: 1 Saul, an d Ner the father of Abner were t he sons of Abiel. There was fierce war against the Philistines th ro ugh out Sa ul's lifeti me. Any strong man or man of va lour that caught Saul's eye he recru ited into his service .' The holy war against the Amalekites" Sam uel said to Saul, 'I am the man whom Yahweh sent to anoint you kin g over his people, over Israel, so now listen to the words of Yahweh. Thus speaks Ya hweh Sa baot h, " I will rep ay wha t Ama lek d id to Israel when they o pposed them on the road by which t hey ca me up out of Egy pt. •Now, go a nd

15

33

Th e guilt of J onatha n is discovered, but he is saved by the people Saul sa id , 'Let us go down und er cov er of darkness and pursue a nd plun der the Ph ilist ines u ntil da wn ; we shall no t leave o ne of them a live' . 'Do whatever you thin k righ t' th ey replied. Bu t the pries t sa id, 'Let us a ppro ac h G od her e' . r Sa ul co nsulted God, 'S hall I go do wn a nd pu rsue the Philisti nes? W ill you give them into Israel's power?' But he gave him no repl y tha t day. -T hen Sa ul sai d, 'Come fo rwar d, a ll yo u leaders of the people ; co nsider care fully where today's sin may lie ; -for as Ya hweh lives who gives victory to Israel, eve n if it be in Jo na tha n my so n, he sh all be put to death ' . An d not one o f a ll th e peo ple a nswe red him . •T hen to a ll Israe l he sa id, 'St a nd on o ne side, a nd I a nd Jo na tha n my son will stand on t he other' . And the people replied to Saul , 'Do as yo u t hink right' . -Then Sa ul sa id, 'Ya hweh, G od o f Israel, why did yo u not answer yo ur serva nt to -day? If t he fault lies o n me or o n my so n J on a than,

48

27

The people commit a ritual fa ult 30'10: 10-12

15:3

g. Saul wishes to consult G od befor e joi n in g battle. cr. 30:7f a nd v. 37 of t his cha pter. A la te r scr ibe. think in g of J g 8:27 whe re th e eohod is an id ol at rous sy mbol, c ha nged ' eohod ' here to ' a r k of God'. b . The priest is a bou t to d raw lo ts . Sau l stOPS h im a nd goes out to ba tt le withou t co ns ulti ng the orac le. i. ' t hemse lves defect ed to' Greek . J. ' Beth -he ro n' corr. : ' Beth-aven' Hebr. T he Phil isti nes ar e driven ba ck th e way th e y h a ve co me , cf. v, 3 1. A notable triu mph: th e hi gh lands, the very he art of the ki ng d om , a r e cleared o f the e ne my . k . "Sa u l . .. fa st' fo llo win g G reek . T his vo lu nta ry abstine nce is a mean s of winning G od's gift . victory. I. Restored co nje ct urally. m. ' t he swar m ha d gone' coni. n , The te xt ad ds 'a nd t he people we re ex ha us ted " a gloss. o . 't o those who brou aht t he ne ws ' co n i. ' here ' G ree k . p - The sto ne is to serve as an alta r, cf. 6:14: J g 6:20 : ]3:1 9. rhus m a king th e s laug hter a sa cr ificia l ri le, cf. L v 17:1 -j-- , q . ' wha t he had' Greek . r, T o co ns ult the eohod. cf. 30: 8 . s . T h is . verse, restor ed in acco rd a nce with t he versions , show s ho w th e ephod was used for di vin a tion : it he ld IWO lo ts (small s tick s, or di ce?) ca lle d Urim and T hum m im (the meaning of the wo rds is u nce r ta in) , their im por t be in g de ter m ined according to conve ntion . The

o ne d rawn out gav e th e div ine answer-s- a s imple 'y es ' or ' no " cf. 23: 10- 12. T he p ro cess was freque ntl y a lo ng o ne. T he ca re o f th e sac re d lo ts was res er ved 10 th e le vitlca l pri es ts , N b 27:21 : Dt 33:8 . A rter th e re ign of David the p r ac tice wa s discontinued an d ne ve r resu me d . cf. Ezr 2:63 = Ne 7:65. Bu t th e name was st ill used for p a r t of the nigh pri es t' s vestme nt, cf . Ex 28:30 ; Lv 8:8 . a nd Ex 28:6 + . t. Lik e som e victim d edi cat ed to Ya h we h , E x 13: 1 3 - 1 ~ ; 34:20 ; Lv 27:27 . Bu t possib ly th e verb si mp ly mean s ' to se t free' . u . A s u mma ry like t hat of 7: 13· 15 (Sa m uel) a nd 2 S 8 (David) . C r. also 2 S 3:2-5; 5:13-16: 20:23-26. Y. ' he was vic to rious' G reek; ' he acted wicked ly' Hebr. w. I.e.
27:8 Nb31 :1 14:48

E xI 7:8- 16 D I25:17-19

I

I

1 SAMUE L

1 SAMUEL N b24: 20 Jo,6:17 +

NbI 0:29+ : 24:21 Ex I7: 8+

strike down Amalek; put him under the ban with all that he possesse s. D o not spare him , but kill man and woman, babe and suckling, ox and sheep, came l and donkey" , Saul su mmoned the peo ple and reviewed them at Telaim: two hun dre d th ousand foot soldiers (and ten thousand men of Jud ah) . -Sa ul went to th e city of Amalek and lay in ambush in the river bed . -Sa ul sa id to the Keni tes, 'G o, leave your homes among the Amalekites or I ma y destroy you with them, for you were friendly to all the son s of Israel when they ca me up from Egypt' . So the Kenites moved away from the Ama lekites. Saul then defea ted the Amalekites, starting from Havilah in the direction of Shu r, which is to the east of Egypt. • He too k Agag king of the Arn a le kites alive and , executing the ban , put all the peo ple to the sword. -Bu t Saul and the ar my spared Agag with the best of the sheep an d catt le, the fatling s and lambs and all that was good. T hey did no t want to put thos e under the ban ; the y o nly put under the ban wha t was poor and wor thless. b

28

29 30

31

7

32

8

33

25:2

R m ll: 29

Pr 15:8 :2 1:3 H 03A :6:6 A m 5:21 -

25 + Zc 10:2

M l 12: 7

H ob 10:9

T he word of Yah weh came to Samue l, · '1 regret having made Saul king , fo r he has turned awa y fro m me and has not carried out my orders' . T hen Sa muel was deeply moved, and all night long he cried out to Yahweh. In the mo rn ing Sam uel went to meet Sa ul; word was bro ught him tha t Saul had gone to Carmel' to ra ise himself a mo numen t, a nd had passed o n again and go ne down to Gi lgal. •W hen Sam uel reached Sau l, Sa ul said to him, 'Blessed ma y yo u be by Ya hweh! I have ca rried out Yahweh's orders' . • But Sa muel replied, 'T hen what is the meani ng of this bleating of sheep in my ea rs, and the lowing of oxen I hear?' -Sa ul said, 'They ha ve bro ugh t the m from Amalek beca use the peop le spared the best of the sheep and oxen to sacrifice them to Yahw eh, your G od; the rest we put und er the ban '. T hen Sam uel said t o Saul , 'Stop ! Let me tell yo u what Yahweh said to me last night .' Saul said , 'Tell me' . -Sa rnucl cont inued , 'Small as you ma y be in yo ur own eyes, are yo u no t head of th e tri bes of Israe l? Yahweh ha s a no inted you king over Israel. •Yahweh sent you on a mission a nd said to yo u, "G o, put these sinners, the Amalekites, under the ban a nd make war on them un til they ar e exter mina ted" .• Why then did yo u not obe y the voice of Yahweh? Why did you fall o n the booty a nd do wha t is displeasing to Ya hweh?' -Sa ul rep lied to Samuel, 'B ut I did o bey the voice of Yahweh. I went on the mission wh ich Yahweh gave me; I bro ught ba ck Agag king of the Ama lekites ; I put the A malekites under t he ban . • Fro m the booty the peop le too k the best sheep a nd oxen of what was und er t he ban to sacrifice them to Yahweh your God in G ilgal.' • But Samuel replied:" ' Is the pleasu re of Yahweh in ho loca usts and sacrifices or in obedience to the voice of Ya hweh ? Yes, obedie nce is bett er than sac rifice, sub missiveness better tha n the fat of ram s. Re bellion is a sin of so rcery, pres umptio n a cr ime of teraph im. e

\?

Then Samuel butchered Agag before Yahweh at Gilgal.' Samuel left for Ramah, and Saul went up home to Gibeah of Saul. -Samuel did not see Saul again to the day of his death ;' Samuel was very sorry for Saul, but Yahweh regretted having made Saul king of Israel.

Is 10:29

Go 6:6

III. SAUL AND DAVID 12

A. DAVID AT COURT 13

David is anointed-

14 I

15

16 17

18

19 20

21

22

4

16

Yahweh s~i d to S~muel, '~ow long will you go on mourning over Saul when I have rejected him as king of Israel? Fill your horn with oil an d go. I am send ing you to Jes se of Bethlehem, for I have chosen myself a king among his son s.' -Sam uel replied, 'How can I go? When Saul hears of it he will kill me.' Then Yahweh said, 'Take a heifer with you and say, " I have co me to sacrifice to Yahweh". -Invite Jesse to the sacri fice, and th en I myself will tell you what you must do ; you must an oint to me the one 1 poin t out to you.' Samuel did what Yahweh ordered an d went to Bethlehem. The elde rs of the town cam e trembling to meet him and aske d, 'Seer, have you come with good intentions towards us?' ·'Yes,' he replied ' I have com e to sacrifice to Yahweh. Puri fy yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice. ' He purified Jesse an d his sons and invite d them to the sacrifice. When they arrived, he caugh t sight of Elia b an d thought, 'Surely Ya hweh' s anointed one stands the re before him', - but Yahweh said to Samuel. Take no notice of his appearance or his height for I have rejected him ; G od does not see" as man sees ; man looks at appearances but Yahweh loo ks at the heart'. b. ' poor and wor thl ess' versio ns. Sa ul and the Peoplt ha ve fttiJc;l.1 In their execution of th e ban Which

sho uld have fallen on al l livin g thin gs. even tho ugh

23

Sa ul vainly asks for pardon f

IK I I: I I.30f

Agag ' s death and Samuel's departure Then Samuel said, 'Bring me Agag the king of the Amale kites ', and Agag came to him reluctantly. 'T ru ly, dea th is a bitte r thing" he said .• Samuel said: 'As your sword has made women childless, so sha ll your mo ther be ma de childless am ong women.'

~~

'S ince yo u ha ve rejected the wo rd of Ya hweh, he ha s rejected you as king.'

T hen Saul sa id to Sa muel, 'I have sinned, fo r I have transgressed th e o rder of Ya hweh a nd your di rect ion s, being afraid of the people and doing what they said.• Now, I pray you, forg ive my sin; co me back with me and I will wo rship Yahweh .' • But Sa muel answe red Sa ul, 'I will not come back with you, for you have rejected the word of Yahweh and he has rejected you as king of Israel'. -A s Samuel turned to go away , Sau l caught at the hem of his ga rment

an d it tore, -and Samuel said to him, 'Today Yahweh has tom the kingdom l~\~~I+ of Israel from you and given it to a neighb our of yours who is better th an you ' . 2 S 7:15f (And yet the glory of Israel will not lie or go back on his word, for he is not 15:11 a man to go back on his word.) .'1 have sinned,' Saul said ' but please still Nb23: 19 sho w me respect in front of the elders of my people and in front of Israel, and come back with me, so that I can worship Yahweh your God.'" -Samuel followed Sau l back and Saul worshi pped Yahweh.

9

Sa ul is rejected by Ya hweh 15:29 G n 6:6 +

16:7

2-1

25

~6 27

the ir m o tive is no t to dep riv e Ya hw eh o f the bes t of the boOIY bu t 10 sacrifice it CO h im. v , 15. Saul act s in good fa it h. and in t his lies his tr a ged y: his s in co ns ists in c hoosing hi s in di vidu al way o f ho n o ur ing God . with a view to his o .....n popula rity. H e see ks 10 co m p ro m ise betwee n Ya hwe h who ha s chosen him and the people who h a ve ackn ow led ged him a s kinR ; he has not decl ared for G od alo ne. c. A town to the S. of Hebron. cr. 25:2f. The modern Ker mcl. it lies o n Sa ul's way from the Negeb to Gi lxat . d. Sa muel does nor co nde m n sac rirtclal pract ice as a whole. but o bedience of t he heart is wha t pleases G Od . no ! mere e xte r nal rt rual . T o prac tise (h e secon d ax amst God's w ill is [Q d o h oma e e to .som c rh trm t hat is no r G od. ((1 be /.: u ill J,' o f ido latry, a c ri me he re S U!!j..:eslc ~ by 'so rcc rv an J t he menrio n of rcraohtm. tu re ta rv IJ pl s o f houses and pr operly. Gn J I: 19.30 f : 1 S 19:13. On consult ing teraohim cr. Ez 21:21. e . ' a crime of teraohim ' Svmmachu s .

t . .Vv . 24-2 8 .sc:cm Co be a n ad dition preluding th e narrative of D avid s anointing . ch . 16. g. There are no -witnesses o f (h e int e rv iew, an d Saul's re jection d oes not become effec tive immediately (because t he ki ng has confessed his fault?) . Samuel ag rees to SUPPo r t Sa ul's aut hority by acc o m pa nyingh im to th e sa nc tua ry . h. ' relucta n tly' te xt uncertain . ' dea th is a bitter th ing' follo ..... ing G reek ; 'the bitterness o f dea th is re mov ed ' Hc br. (in th is rea din g. Aeae be lie ves he ha s beer:. spared ) . I. Th e ban is n o w enforced . I. T ho ug h see 19:22-24 wh ich reco rd s a d ifferent trad ition . 16 a. Th e e p isode appea rs to der ive fr o m the Prophetic trad itio n a nd re ma ins u nr elat ed to the s ubsequent h is to ry in ~\" hich D a vid is a noin ted at He br o n by th e me n o f Ju dah . 2 S 2:4 , an d the n by t he e lde rs of Israel. 2 S 5:3. wuhou r an y furt her me n tion of the present an oi un n a of which. accor din g t o 17:28, and desp ite l li: 13 . Eliab has no k now ledge. b. ' O o d see s ' Greek .

I Ch 11:3

R t4:17-21. Is 11:1 Lk 2:4

1 K I :J 9

Jb 1:5

9:2; IO:23f Jb 10:4 Ps147:1Of Pr 15:11

1~ ~tlc?+ ; 17:10 : 20: 12

16:8

17: 12

2 S 7:8

9:2 G n 39:6 2S i4:25f 9:1 7 10:6 J .3 : 10+ ; 9 :9 S i 46: 13

1 SA M U E L

Jesse then called Abinadab and pr esented h im to Sa muel , who said , 'Ya hweh has not chosen this o ne either' . •Jesse then presented Shammah, but Sa m uel sa id , ' Y ah weh has not chosen this o ne either' . -Jesse presented his seven so ns to Samuel, but Samuel sa id to Jesse, 'Ya hweh has not chosen these' . -He then as ked Jesse, 'Are these ali the sons you ha ve?' He answered, 'There is st ill o ne left the youngest; he is out loo king after the sheep ' . T hen Samuel sa id to Jesse, 'Send fo r him; w~ will not sit down to eat unt il he comes' . -Jesse had him sent for, a boy ' of fresh complexion , with fine eyes and pleasant bearing. Yahweh said, ' Come, a noin t him , for this is the one' . · At th is, Samuel took the horn of o il a nd ano inted him whe re he stood with his bro t hers; a nd the spirit of Ya hweh seized on Davi d" a nd stayed with him from that day on. As for Sa m uel, he rose a nd went to Ra mah.

s: 11:2

1 M4:30 Si 4 7:4

2 S 23,9

2S2 1:19

2S 2 1:19

17:23

16: lor Rt 1:2 -;-

1 SA M U EL 8 9

David takes service with Saul' N ow the spirit of Yahweh had left Saul and an evil spirit from Ya hweh! filled him with terror. -Sa ul's ser vants sa id to him, 'Look, a n evil spirit of God is t he cause of you r terror. • Let our lord give the or der , and yo ur ser vants who wa it on you will look for a skilled ha rpist; when the evil spirit o f G od tro ubles you , the harpist will play and yo u will recover.t v -Saul sa id to his serv ants, ' Find me a man who plays well and bring hi m to me' . -O ne of the sold iers then spoke up . 'I have seen one of the sons of Jesse the Bethlehemite' he said ; ' he is a skilled player, a brave man a nd a fighter, prudent in speech, a man of pre sence , a nd Yahweh is wit h him.' -At this, Saul sent messengers to Jesse, saying, 'Send me Dav id yo ur so n who is with t he sheep'. -Jesse took five" -loa ves, a sk in of wine a nd a kid, and sent the m to Sa ul by David his son . - A nd so David ca me to Sa ul a nd ent ered his se rvice ; Sa ul loved him greatl y a nd David became his a rm ou r-bea rer. •Then Sa ul sent to Jes se say ing, 'Let Dav id ente r my service; he has won my favou r' . •And whenever the spirit fro m God troubled Sa ul, Dav id too k the harp and played ; then Saul grew calm, and reco vered, and the evil sp iri t left him. Goliath defies the Israelite army The Ph ilistines m ust ered their ~ ro ops for war; they ass emb led at Soco~ , which is a town of J uda h, an d pit ch ed cam p between Socoh a nd Azeka h, Il1 E phes -da mm im.• Sa ul a nd th e Israe lites a lso mu ste red, pitching ca mp in th e Va lley o f th e Tereb int h, a nd d rew u p their ba tt le line to meet the P hilisti nes. T hese took their sta nd on the hills o ne side an d th e Israel ites o n the hills th e ot her side, with the valley bet ween them. O ne o f their shoc k-troo pers step ped o ut fr om the Philistine rank s; his na me was Go lia th," fro m Gath; he was six cubits a nd one spa n tall . -O n his head was a b ro nze helmet a nd he wo re a breastp late of sca le-a rindur; the breastplate weighed five thousan d shekels of bronze.• He had bronze greaves on his legs and a bronze javelin across his shoulders.• The shaft of his spear was like a wea ver's bea m, a nd the head of his spear weighed six hu ndred shekel s of iro n. A shieldbea rer walked in front of him . He to ok his stand in fro nt of the ra nks of Israel a nd sho uted, 'W hy co me ou t and ra nge yo urse lves for ba ttle? Am I not a Philistine an d are yo u not the slaves o f Sa ul'? C hoose a ma n a nd let him come d own to me.• If he wins in a fight wit h me a nd kills me, we will be your slaves; but if I beat him a nd kill him , you sha ll become ou r slaves an d be serva nts to us.' -The Philisti ne th en sa id , ' I chal lenge the ran ks of Israe l today. G ive me a man a nd we will fight in single com bat .' W hen Sau l a nd a ll Israe l hea rd th ese wo rds o f the Phi listine they were d ismay ed an d ter rified .

1.7

David a rrives in the ca mp Da vid was the son of a n Ep hrathit e from Bet hleh em of J uda h whose na me

13

10 II

14 15

16 12

17 18

13

19

20

14

21

15

22

16 23 17 18

24 25

19 20 21

26

22 23

27 28

29 1

-30

31

was Jesse; Jesse had eight sons and, by Saul's t ime, he was old and well on in yea rs ." -The three eldest sons of Jesse followed Saul to the war. The names of the three sons who went to the war were : the first -born Eliab, the second Abinadab and the thi rd Shammah.• David was the youngest ; the three eldest followed Saul. (David alternated between servi ng Saul and look ing after his father's sheep at Bethlehem. c • Morning and evening for forty days the Philis tine advanced and took his stand .) -Jesse said to David his son, 'Take your brothers this ephah of roasted grain and these ten loa ves, and hurry to your brothers' cam p. • And ta ke the se ten cheeses to their commanding officer ;« ask after your bro thers' hea lth and bring some token from them; -they are with Saul and all the Israelites in th e Valley of the Tereb inth fighting the Ph ilist ines .' D av id rose early in the morning and, leaving the shee p wit h someone to guard th em , took up his load a nd went off as Jesse had or dered h im ; he ca me to the en campmen t just as the troops were leaving to take up battle sta tions, shouting the wa r cry.• Israel and the Phi listines drew up their lines facing one a nother. David left the bundle in charge of the ba ggage guard, ran to the battle line and went to ask his b ro th ers how they were . While he was ta lking to them , the shock-trooper (his name was G oliat h, the Philistine from Gath) ca me up from the Philistine ra nks and made his usua l speech, and David heard it. •As soon as the Israeli tes saw this m an, they all ra n away from him an d were terrified.• Th e Is ra elites said, 'Have yo u seen th is ma n coming up now ? H e is com ing to cha llenge Israel. T he king will lav ish riche s on th e ma n who kill s him a nd give him his daughter in ma rriage a nd gra nt h is father's Ho use the freedom of Israel.' T hen D avid asked the men who were standing near hi m, 'What rewa rd will the man have who k ills th is Philistine a nd removes the d isgrace from Is rael? W ho is t his unci rcu mcised Philistine who da res insult the arm ies of the living God ?' The people replied as before, 'That is how th e man will be rewarded who kills him' . -Now Eliab h is elder brother heard him talking to the men and his a nge r flared up ag ain st David. 'Why have yo u come down here?' he sa id . 'W hom ha ve you left in cha rge of those few shee p out there in the wilderness? I know you r insolence an d your wicked hea rt ; yo u hav e come to wat ch the ba tt le.' • David retorted, ' W hat hav e I don e? M ust I no t even spea k?' -A nd he tu rn ed away fro m him to address anoth er a nd as ked the sam e question ; and th e peop le answer ed as befo re. - But Da vid's wo rd s were not ed and rep o rted to Sa ul, w ho sent for him .

3

4

32

Dav id volunteers to a cce pt the cha llenge Dav id sa id to Sa u l, ' Let no one lose hea rt on his account ;' yo ur serva nt will

5

6

C. ' 3

boy' coni.

d . 'Th e spi rit of God' possesses D av id without e xtern a l m an ifest a tion and in close associa tio n with the ano in ti ng : thi s is th e grace bes towed on one consecra ted . T he na me ' Da vid' is a n a ncient se m itic word for ' co m m ander ', ' m i li tar y leader '.

8

9

10

11

12

ult im a te C ause. (CL the ' evil spirit' of J g 9 :23, th e sp iri t of lies. I K 22: 19-23. th e sp iri t of giddiness. Is 19: 14 . t he spirit of letha r gv . Is 29: 10). K nowi ng himself re jected by God a nd deser ted by Sa m uel , the ho t-tem pered ki ng su ffers a ttacks of m ad ness, 18:I Of ; 19:9r. G, T he anci ents co m monly used mu sic either to sum mo n th e goo d sp iri t, cf. 10:5 . o r to exp el the e vil sp iri t. h . ' five' co n i. 17 a. 2 S 21: 19 assign s the d efeat o f G o lia th to on e of Da vid 's war rio rs-c-rhe m or e a ncie n t tr adi tio n . as it see ms . Possib ly the ori ginal trad iti on beh ind ch . 17 spoke o nly of D a vid' s vic tory ove r a n u nn a med o ppo ne nt . ' the P hilis ti ne'.

e. Da vid 's ear ly assoc iati o n wit h Saul is rec o un ted in two tr adi tio ns. Acco rd ing to nn e . Dav id is s um mo ned to co ur t as a mi nstrel and becom es Sa u l's armou rbearer, 16:14-2 3. in w h ich ca nac uv he acc o mp an ies th e king .In th e Ph ilis tin e wa r . 17:1- 11. an d disrina uis hes him self in sing le co m ba t. 17:32-53 (f usio n o f both tradi ti o ns) . Acc ord ing to t he second, Da vid is a young s hep he rd un kn o wn to Sau l : he visits h is so ld ier b rothers a t the ver v mo me nt the Ph ilist ine c ha m p io n is R ib im~ a t t he Isr aelit es. 17:1 2-30 . ( v . 3 1 b . ' in years' versio ns. T he a ncient Greek ver sio n is a lin k- ver se and the firs t trad it io n is then resumed , 17:32-53). Sau l t hen s um mons th e yo un g her o an d om its vv. 12- 13. c. Editoria l glo ss inse rte d to h ar m o nise th e tw o enlists him in his ser vice, 17:55-1 8:2 . f . T he sp iri t of Ya h we h (d. Jg 3:Jl l +) lea ves Sa ul, tr adit io ns, see 16:14 + . d . Li t. 'c o m m a nder o f their th o usa nd '. 15:23, and he is 'possessed' b y a n ev il s piri t wh ich e : Resu mp tion of th e firs t traditio n (v. 32 fo llows is said to be ' o f God' , vv. 15-16 , cf. 18: 10; 19:9, bec ause t he Is rae lite asc ri bed everythi ng .to G od, th e o n v . I I) . T he t wo tr ad ition s are t hen fused .

2 S 7:8

2 S 7: 8

17:8- 10

18:17

18:25 :31 :4 J 055:9 +

J . 15: 18 2 K I9:4. 16 Is37:4.17 2 S 7:8

1 SAMUEL

2 S 7:8 J . 14 :6 S i 47:3

Lv 26:8 D t 30:3-4 Pr 28: 1

366

go and fight this P hilistine' . •But Saul answ ered David, 'Y ou can not go and fight the Philistine; you are only a boy and he has been a warrior from his youth' . D avid sa id to Saul, ' Your ser vant used to look after the sheep for his father a nd whene ver a lion or a bear came out and took a sheep from the flock , •I used to fo llow him up and strike him down and rescue it from his mouth; if he turned on me I seized him by the hair at his jaw and struck him down and killed him . Your servant has killed both lion a nd bear, and this uncircumcised Phili stin e sha ll be like one of them, for he has dared to insult the armies of the living G od . Ya hweh who rescued me from the claws of lion and bear' Da vid said 'will rescue me from the power of this Phili stine.' Then Saul said to Da vid, ' G o, a nd Ya hweh be with you !' Saul made David put on his own a rmour and put a bro nze hel met on his head an d ga ve him a breastplate to wea r, -and over David's ar mour he buck led his own sword ; but not being used to the se things David found he cou ld not walk. ' I ca nnot walk with these,' he sa id to Sau l 'I am not used to them.' So they took the m off aga in.'

1 SAMUE L 33

57 58

34 35

I 2

36 3

37

4 5

38 39

16: 12

Jos 4:24 Ho 1:7

14:6 2 K 19:34f Ps 33:16

2 1:10

2 1: 10: 3 1:9

Dav id the conqueror of Goliath is presente d to Saul" W hen Sau l saw David goi ng to engage the P hilistine he said to Abner, his ar my co mma nder, 'Abner, whos e son is that boy ?' 'On yo ur life, 0 king,' Abner rep lied 'I d o not know.' 'So the king sa id, 'Fi nd ou t wno se son the lad is' ,

When David ca me back after killing the Philistine, Abner took him and br ought him before Saul, with the Philistine's hea d in his hand.• Saul asked him , 'Whose son are you, young man?' David repl ied, 'The son of your servant Jesse of Bethlehem'. After David h.ad finished talking to Saul, Jonathan's soul became closely bound to David's and Jonathan came to love him as his own soul.« 'Saul kept him by him from that da y forward and would not let him go back to his father's house. -Jonathan made a pact with David to lo ve him as his own sou l ' he took off the cloak he was wearing and gave it to David , and his armour too' even his sword, his bow and his belt. > •Whenever David wen t out, on whatever mission Saui sent him, he was successful, and Saul put him in command of the fighting men ; he stood well in the people's eyes and in the eyes of Saul's officers to o.

18

19: 1-7 ;20; 23: 16- 18 2 S 1:26 ; 9: 1

The first stirrings of jealousy in Saul6

Da vid and Goliath He to ok his staff in his hand , picked five sm ooth sto nes from the river bed , pu t them in his shepherd 's bag, in his po uch, a nd with his sling in his han d he went to meet the Philistine. -The Philistine, his shield- bearer in fro nt o f him , ca me nearer a nd nearer to David; -and the P hilistine looked at David, an d what he saw filled him with sco rn, beca use DavId was o nly a yo uth, a boy« of fresh co mplexion a nd plea sa nt bearing. -The Philisti ne sa id to him , ' Am I a dog for yo u to come aga inst me wit h sticks?' And the Phi listine cu rsed David by his gods.• The Philistine sa id to David, 'Come over here and 1 will give your flesh to the birds of the air an d the beasts of th e field ' .• But Davi d a nswered th e Phil istine, ' You co me aga inst me with sword an d spear a nd jave lin, but I co me aga inst you in the na me of Ya hweh Sabaoth, the God of the arm ies of Israe l that you have da red to insul t. -Today Ya hwe h will de liver you into my han d a nd I shall kill you; I will cut off your head , and this very day I will give your dead bod y a nd the bodies of the Philistine ar my to the bird s of the air a nd the wild beas ts of the earth , so that all the earth ma y know that th ere is a God in Isr ael, -a nd that all this assembly may know tha t it is not by swo rd o r by spea r t ha t Yahweh gives the victory, for Ya hweh is lord o f the battle and he will deliver you into our power.' N o sooner had the Philistine started forward to confro nt Dav id than David left the line o f battle a nd ran - to meet the P hilistine. •Pull ing his hand in his bag, he too k out a ston e a nd slung it a nd struc k the P hilistine on th e fo rehead; the stone penetrated his forehead a nd he fell on his face to the ground. Th us Dav id tri ump hed ove r the Philistine with a sling a nd a sto ne and struck the Philistine do wn a nd killed him. Davi d had no sword in his hand. •T hen David ra n a nd, standin g o ver the Philistine, seized his sword a nd drew it from the sca bba rd, and with thi s he killed him , cutting o ff his head. T he Phili stin es saw that their cha mpion was dead a nd took to flight. •T he me n of Israe l a nd of J ud a h star ted forwa rd, shouting their war cry, a nd pursued the Philistines as far' as the a pproaches of G a th a nd the gates of Ekro n. T he P hilistine wounded lay all along the road fro m Shaar aim as far as Gath / and Ekro n.• F ro m their determined pur suit of the P hilistines the Israelites retu rne d an d plundered th eir ca mp. -A nd Da vid took the P hilistine's head and brought it to Jerusalem; the man's arm our he kept in his own ten t. '

r 8:r9

40

On their way back, as David was returning after killing the Phili stine, the women came out to meet K ing Sa ul from all the towns of Israel, sin ging and dancing to the sound of tambourine and lyre and cr ies ofjoy; -and as they danced the wo men sang: 'Sa ul has killed his thousands, and David his tens of thousands.'

41 42

43

9 44

10

45

II

46

12 13 14 J5

47

16

Saul was very angry; the inciden t was not to his liking . 'They have given David the tens o f thousands,' he sa id 'but me onl y the thousa nds ; he ha s all but the kingship now.' -And Sa ul turned a jealous eye on David from that day forward . On the foll owing da y a n evil spirit from God seized o n Saul and he fell into a fit of fren zy while he was in his house. David was playing the harp as on other days a nd Sa ul had his spear in his hand. -Saul brandished the spear ; 'I am going to pin David to the wall' he said. But David twice evaded him. s Sa ul feared David, for Yahweh was with him but had turned away from Saul. So Saul dismissed him from his presence, making him commander of a thousand; he marched at the head of the people. • In all his enterprises David was success ful, and Ya hweh was with him . -And seeing how well he succeeded, Saul was frightened of him. -B ut all Israel and J udah loved David, because he was their leader in all their exploits.

17

50

18

51 19

Saul said to David, 'Here is my elde r da ughter Merab; I will give her to you in marriage ; but yo u must serv e me bravely and fight the ba ttles ofYa hweh'- for Sa ul had made up his mind, 'Let it be not my hand that strikes him down, but the hand of the Ph ilist ines !' -David replied to Saul, 'Who am I and what is my ancestry' an d my fa ther's family in Israel, that I should be the king's son-in-law?' But when th e time came for Merab the daughter of Saul to be given to David, she was given in ma rriage to Adriel of Meholah.

52

54

55

56

21:12;29:5 S147:6

16 : 14 + ; ~ 19:9- 10

26:8

G n 39:2

2 S 5:2

Da vid's ma rriage'

48 49

53

EXI5 :2Of 195 :l l:34 Jdt 15:12

f. The teensr eu oe fo llows t he Greek. b . The accoutrement is pan of the ma n, cr. 24: • . ' a bo y' cont ., cf. 16: 12. 5-6; 2 K 2:13f : Rt 3:9 ; Jonathan's aeature thus exoresses his de votJon for Dav id , v. 1. b. 'left t he Hne or ba n le and ra n' conl.: 'ran c . The tex t of this chapter Is o verloaded: v. 6 is tow ard. the line of ba ul e' He br. un necessary, 8J al so vv, I().II (Ont aUemp t o n Da vid 's I. ' Oat h' Greek. 'fr om Shaa raim ' coni. J. The verse hal been ad ded : Jer usale m W8J canrured life). VV . 17· 19 (t hwarted marrl..., with Merab). v. 30 (D avi d'a tri um ph , repea(Jmr vv. 14-16). The a ncient w mewha t la ter, 2 S ! :6-9, and Dav id had no te nt or Greek versi on omitS these doublets. hb own. d. Vv. 10-11, belonalna to the sa me tra di tion as k. Sa me trad ition U 17:12-30 . David Is stili 16:14-23, a nt icip a te th e episod e of 19:8- 10 and here unk nown to Sa ul. 'Thia ill at variance wJth 16:14-23 interrupt the na rrative. an d 17:55-18:5 is therefore omhted, like 17:12-3 1, e. Vv. 17-19 are ill-assorted with what follows ; from the a ncient G reek venJon . wJth the exception of the Kloss In v, 21 t here is no all usion in vv. 2().27 to an y neevtcue broken enaage18 • . Th e frfen dlhi p of David a nd Jo na tha n Is an me nt, and vv. 2()"27 develop the Ideu of vv. 17-19 a tt ractive featu re of the subsequent bitt er ep isodes ; co ncer ni ng M ichal. It luts tUl Jo na than', dea th. r. 'mv anceatrv' conl.

14:49 ; 17:25

2 S 7:18 2 S 21:8

1 S A M ll F L

18:20 14:49 :l 5:44 2 S ~ : 13

18:1:20: lf

1 SAMUEL

36 8

Now Michal the dau ghter of Sau l fell in love with Da vid. Wh en Sa ul heard 20 th is he was pleased . • He thoug ht, 'Yes, I will give her to him, hut she will prove 1 1 a snar e for him and the ha nd of th e Philist ines will st rike him' . (Tw ice " Sa ul said to D avid. ' Now you shall be my son -in-law") -Saul then zave th is command to ?? his servan ts, 'Talk secret ly to Davi d and say. " Loo k. the king is pleased wit h you and all his servan ts love you; it is time vou becam e the king' s son -in-law" ' . Th e king's servants repea ted these words in D avid's ea r. and David replied, l. 1 'D oes it str ike you as an easy thing for me to becom e the kin g's so n-in-law. poo r and of humble position as I am?' -Saul ' s servants then repo rted back what ~4 David had said . -Sa ul rep lied, 'Tell David th is, "T he king desires no settlement " I ' except a hundred foreskins ' of the Phi listines, for vengeance on the king' s enemies" ' . Saul was planning t hat David shoul d fall hy th e hand of the Philistines. His servan ts brough t th is messag e to Dav id and he was delight ed at the »« tho ught of beco ming th e king's so n-in-law T he time had not yet expired -wh en 17 David rose and set off, he an d his men, and killed Iwo hu ndr ed of th e Philistines. D avid brought back their for eskin s an d counted them o ut before th e king so tha t he coul d be the kin g's so n-in-law. Saul then gave him his dau ght er Michal in marriage. Sau l now realised that Ya hweh was with David. and that all the Hou se of 28 Israel' loved him ; -then Sau l feared David all the more and beca me David's 29 lasting enemy. -T he leaders of the Philisti nes wen t out to hatti e. bu t every time JO they went ou t to battle D avid was more successfu l than all Saul's officers. and his name was held in great honour. J onathan intervenes on behalf of Davida Saul told Jona than his so n and all his servants of his inte ntion to kill , David. Now Jonat han, Saul's son, held David in great affection; -a nd so Jonat han warn ed David ; ' My fath er Sau l is looki ng for a way to kill you ,' he said 'so be on your guard tomorrow mo rn ing ; hide away in so me secret place. T hen I will go out an d keep my fat her com pan y in the fields where you are hid ing. ] and will talk to my father a bout you ; I will find out what the situation is and let you know.' So J onathan spok e well of David to Sa ul his father; he said, 'L et not the king 4 sin against his servant David, for he ha s not sinned again st you, and what he has done has been greatly to your adv an tag e. • He took his life in his hands 5 when he killed the Philistine, and Yahweh brough t about a great victory for all Israel. You saw it yourself and rejoiced ; why th en sin against innocent blood in killing David without cause?' -Saul was impressed by Jonathan's words an d took an oath, 'As Yahweh lives, I will not kill him '. -Jonathan called David and told him all these things. Then Jonathan brought him to Saul , and Dav id attended on him as before.

19

B. T HE FLIGH T ~

18:10-11

16:14 +

25:44 :26:8

20 :1f

OF D AV ID

Saul's attempt on David's life Wa r brok e out again and David went ou t to fight against the Ph ilistin es ; he inflicted a great defeat on them and they fled befor e him. •An evil spi rit from Yahweh came o n Saul while he was sitting in his house with his spear in his han d ; D avid was playing the harp. -Saul tried -to pin Dav id to the wall with his spear, bu t he avoided Saul's thru st and the spea r stuck in the wall. Dav id fled and mad e goo d his escape.

R 9

10

Dav id is saved by Mic hal That same night > · Sa ul sent agents to watch David's house, intending to kill h im in the morni ng. But Michal, David's wife, warn ed him, 'I f you do no t escape

II

12

13 14 15

16 17

20:6

tonight, you will be a dead man tomorrow' .• Then Michal let David down through the window, and he made off and took to flight and so esca ped . Michal then took the teraphim, laid it on t he bed , pu t a tress of goats' hair on its head and covered it wit h a garment. •When Sau l sen t the agents to arr est D avid, she sa id, ' H e is ill' . -Saul, howe ver, sent th e agents back to see David, sayi ng, ' Bring him to me o n his bed for me to kill him' .•So they went in, and there on the bed was the teraphim with the tress of goats' ha ir on its head ! •T hen Saul sai d to Michal , 'Why have yo u dece ived me like this and let my enemy go, and so make his esca pe?' Mic hal a nswered Saul , 'He said to me, "L et me go or I will kill yo u" ,

J os 2:15 15:22 + G n 31:19

Saul and Dav id at Ramah with Samuel' So David fled and made his escape , and he went to Samuel at Ramah and told hi m all that Saul had done to him ; he and Samuel went and lived in the hu ts." ~Z Word was br ought to Saul . ' David is in the huts at Ramah' . -Saul accordingly sent agents to ca pture David ; when they saw ' the company of prophets prophesying, and Samuel there as their leader, the spirit of God came o n Saul 's agents, 21 and they too fell into a n ecst asy . -Wo rd of th is was brought to Sa ul and he sent ot her agents, and the y, to o, fell into an ecstasy ; Saul then sent a third gro up of agents, and t hey fell into an ecstasy too. 22 He t hen went to Ramah himself and, coming to the well of the thr eshing-floor on the bare hill, " asked, 'Where are Samuel and David?' And someone answered, 23 'W hy, they are in the hilts at Ramah' .• H e went on from there to the huts at Ramah and the spirit ofGod ca me on him too, and he went on his way in an ecsta 24 sy until he came to the huts at Ramah. • He too st ripped off his clothes and he too fell into an ecstasy in the presence of Sam uel, and falling do wn lay there naked all t hat day and night. Hence the saying: Is Saul one of the prophets too? 18

2

3

6

20

David then fled from the huts at Ramah. > And he went and talked to Jonathan, 'What have I done; what is my guilt and what is my sin against you r fat her that he is seeking my life?' • He answered. 'You must not t hink tha t. He will not kill you . Loo k, my father does nothing, important or unimporta nt, without con fiding it to me; why sho uld he hide this from me? It is not tr ue.' But David swore t his so lemn oa th, ' Your father knows very well tha t I enjoy your favour, and thinks, "J o nathan must not co me to know of this o r he will be grieved" . But as Ya hwe h lives and as you yo urself live, there is o nly a ste p between me and death.' Then Jo na tha n sa id to David, ' Wha t do you wa nt me to do for yo u?' Dav id repl ied , 'Look, to morrow is New Moon' and I should be sitting at tab le wit h t he king, but you must let me go and hide in the fields till evening ." -If your fat her notices my absence, you must say, "David as ked urgent leave of me to hurry off to Bethlehem, his own tow n, becau se they are holdi ng the annual c . Independen t and probably la te narrative . Whe re t he pro phe ts lived , cr. 2 K 6:1(, in Ramah o r its neig hbourhood . Or possibly the name of a d istric t 10 t he father of hi! fut ure br id e. in R am ah : ' in Navi th ' o r 'i n Nato rh ' I. To ass ist reckon ina of the e nemy dead so me e. ' whe n Ihey saw ' vers ions. pa rI of their bod ies was some t imes c u t off . The fores kins I. ' of the th reshi ng-flo or on the bare hill ' according prove th ai those k illed a re uncircumcised. i.e . BcC to G reek. Philistine. 20 a. Narrative from a tr adition different (r o m 19: J. ' all . . . Israel ' G reek ; 'Michal. Saul', daughter' 1-7 and parallel with 19:11- 17. In one case it is Saul's Hebr. da ugh ter, in the o ther h is son, who saves David . 19 • . This episod e does no t square whh the na rrative b. Editorial link : in t he narrative that fol lows of ch. 20 where Jonathan as yet knows no thing. v , 2. Da vid has not ye t left SauL of h i! f at her's vicio us Int entions. The re are two d ifferent c. Ce leb ra ted by a religto us feas t , Is 1:13-14: tra d itions teJllna of J o na tha n 's inte r ven t ion on be half Ho 2:13; Am 8:5; (;(.2 K 4:23. wnh secrtnce. N b 10:10; o ( David . 28: 11f. d , With the Greek we omit 'o n the tbird (day)" b. D a vid 's weddlng n iahl : the narrative is co n nected wit h 18:27 rather tha n with what Im m ediate ly precedes. after 'till evenrna' .

I . In Mera b', a nd then in M ichal's C85e. h. l .e . a mohar , the su m pa id by the bri degroom

10:10. 12 18: 1: 19: 1-7. 11-17

J onatha n helps David to returnI

10:5 +. 10 + N bll :2 5 2K I:9- 14

~.

I S AMUE L

R II :17 +

259 ;2 1;7

20:37

20:2 2

370

sacrifice th ere for all the clan " . • If he says, " Very well", your serva nt is safe, but if he is a ngry, you ma y be sure he is set on evil. • Do this favou r fo r yo ur serv a nt, since you have unit ed yo urself with him by a pact in Ya hwe h' s nam e. But if I am guilty, then kill me yo urself- why ta ke me to your fat her?' -Jo na than re plied , 'You must not thi nk t hat. If I had certain kno wledge tha t my fat her was set o n bringing evil upo n you, would I not tell you '? ' • Da vid t hen said to Jonatha n, 'Who will let me kno w if your fathe r gives you a har sh an swer ?" 'Come,' Jonathan said to Da vid ' let us go o ut int o the fields.' So t he pa ir of th em wen t out into the fields .• The n Jon atha n said to Da vid, 'Y ahw eh the G od of Israel be witness! [ will so und my father this time tomo rro w ; if all is well as co ncerns Da vid and I do not t hen info rm him, -then may Ya hweh do this to Jo nat ha n an d more ! If my fath er thinks fit to d o you so me ha rm, I will info rm yo u a nd send you away, and you will go unh armed. And may Yahweh be with yo u as he used to be with my fath er ." • [ I' [ a m still alive, sho w me Ya hwe h's own kindness; if I die, - never withdraw yo ur o wn kind ness from Illy Hou se. W hen Yahw eh cu ts all' every o ne of Da vid's enemies from the face of the ea rth, · Iet not the name of Jo na than be cut off with the Ho use of Sa ul, or Ya hweh will :Iemand a recko ning of David.:« -Once aga in J o nat han swo re the sole mn oa th " to David beca use he loved him as his own so ul. J ona tha n said to him, 'Tomorrow is New Moo n ; your ab sence will be noticed, for your place will be empty. -The day after to morrow your ab sence will be very mar ked, and you mu st go to the place where you hid on the day of the deed ,' a nd you must stay beside the heap of stones there.• Fo r my part, the day afte r to morrow I shall be shooti ng a rrow s towar ds it as t hou gh a t a target. •The n I shall send a servant to say, "Go and find the a rrow" . If I say to the servant, "T he arrow is th is side of yo u, get it" , com e by all mean s, beca use it will be safe for you and there will be no thing to fear as sure as Yahwe h lives.• But if I say to the youth, "The arrow is a head of yo u", then be air, for Ya hweh himse lf sends yo u away. -And as rega rds the ag reement we made, you a nd I, why, Ya hweh is witness between us for ever.' So David hid in the fields ; New Moon came a nd the king sat down to his meal. .He sa t in his usual place , the plac e by the wall, with Jonathan sea ted facing him and Abner sitting next to Saul; but Da vid's place was empty. -Saul said nothing that da y, thinking, 'Something has hap pened ; he is unclean'. ' -On the day after N ew M oon, the secon d day, David's place was still empty, -Sa ul sa id to his son Jonat han, 'W hy did not the so n of Jesse come to the meal eithe r yesterday or today?' -J onath a n ans wered Saul, 'Da vid asked urge nt leave of me to go to Beth lehem. "Please let me go, " he said "fo r we are hold ing the clan sacrifice in the tow n a nd my brot hers ha ve o rdered me to atte nd. So now if yo u a pprove of th is, let me take my leave and see my brothers." T hat is why he has not co me to the king's ta ble' . Then Saul's an ger fla red up aga inst Jo nathan a nd he said to him , 'Y ou so n of a wan to n! Do I not k now that yo u a re in league with the son of Jesse to your own disgrace and the disgrace of your moth er's nakedness'? · As lo ng as the son of Jesse lives on the ea rth neit her yo ur person no r your royal right s are secure. Now, send and bring him to me ; he is condemned to dea t h.' -Jo natha n a nswered Sa ul his fat her a nd sa id, ' Wh y sho uld he d ie'? What has he do ne?' • But Saul bran d ished his spear at him to strike him d own , and Jo na tha n knew then t hat his fat her had a lready made u p his nun d - tha t David sho uld die.• Hot with ange r Jo nathan rose from t he ta ble and too k no food t hat second day of the New Moon, being grieved on David's acco unt beca use his fathe r had insulted him , Next mo rn ing Jonathan went out into the fields for the agreed meet ing with David, ta king a young serva nt wit h him . • He said to his serva nt, 'Run a nd find the arrows I am go ing to shoot' , a nd the servant ran while Jona tha n shot an arrow ahead of him. •Whe n the serva nt reac hed (he place where Jo na than had sho t the arrow, Jo na tha n shouted after him, 'Is not the arrow ahead of yo u?' -Again

37 I 7 -8

9

10

II

12

13

14 15

16

17

18

19

20 21

22

23

24 25 26 27 28

29

31

32 33

34

35 36

37

38

2 I :I I

J ona tha n sho uted after the ser vant , 'Be quick , hur ry, do no t sta nd about'. Jo natha n's serva nt picked u p the a rro w a nd bro ugh t it back to his mast er .• T he servant suspected noth ing ; only Jo na tha n and David knew what was mea nt. 40 Jo natha n the n ga ve his weapons to his serva nt a nd said, 'G o a nd car ry them 41 to th e town' . •W hen the servant went off, Dav id rose fro m beside the hillock and fell with his face to the grou nd a nd bowed do wn three times. T hen they 42 kissed each othe r and both shed ma ny tears.' -Then Jo na than said to David, 'G o in peace . And as regards the oat h tha t both of us have sworn in the name of Yahweh, may Yahweh be witness between yo u and me, between your desce nd4} a nts and mine for ever.' '" 21 Davi d then rose a nd left, and Jona than went back to the tow n. 39

David and the priest a t Nob Dav id wen t to N ob," to Ahimclech the priest. " A himelech ca me ou t trembl ing to meet Da vid a nd said, 'W hy a re yo u alone a nd no on e with yo u'?' • Dav id replied to Ahimelech the priest , 'T he king has given me an o rder and said to me, " Let no o ne kno w an yt hing o f the mission I am send ing you o n, nor of the o rder I am giving you" . As regard s my so ld iers, I have arra nged to meet them a t such and suc h a place. ' • Mean whi le, if yo u have five loa ves of bread to hand, give them to me, or whatever there is.' •T he priest replied to David, 'I have no ordinary bread to ha nd ; th ere is o nly con secrated bread" -prov ided yo ur so ldiers have kept t hemselves from wo men?' Da vid replied to the pr iest, 'Certainly, women a re forb idden us, as always s when I set off on a campaign. T he so ldiers' things a re pu re. Thoug h this is a profane jo urn ey, t hey are certainly pure to day as far as t heir thi ngs are con cerned." •The priest then gave him what had been consecrated, for the o nly bread there was the bread of offer ing which is taken away fro m the presence of Ya hweh to be rep laced by wa rm bread when it is remo ved. Now one of Saul's serva nts ha ppened to be there that da y, detained in the presence of Yahweh ; his name was Docg the Edom ite a nd he was the ch ief of Sa ul's guardsm en. " <J Davi d then sa id to Ahimelcch, 'H ave yo u no spea r or swo rd here to hand ? .< I d id not br ing either my swo rd or my weapons with me, beca use the king's I ~ business was pressing.' •The priest rep lied, 'T he swo rd of Go liath the Phi list ine whom yo u killed in the Valley of the Terebint h is over there wrap ped up in a clot h behind the ephod ; g if yo u wish to take it, do so, for there is no ot her here' . Da vid sa id, 'There is none like it ; give it to me' .

2S9:1 : 2 1:7

Is 10:32 Mk 2:26

Ex 25:30 Lv24: 5-9 "' MI12;3 -4p

"

l,; 30

1 S AMUEL

David with the Philisti nes" T hat day Davi d left, fleeing from Sau l and went to Ach ish the king of Gath . Bcniami n to Judah had to by- pas s it. T he e pisode pre pares fo r 22 :9-23. b. A de scenda nt o f El i, 22:9. an d brother o f (o r po ssib ly to be ide ntified with) A h ija h. 14: 3. The pri es ts o f S h ilo h ha d !led to N o b a fte r th e d isas te r r. Vv. 12- 13 ca rr . of c h . 4 . ~, Vv. 14~ 16: text ba dl y corr upted , restored with e . Fo llo wing G ree k . he lp o f G ree k. d . Th e loa ves of o ffe ring. T hey were reser ved for h. 's wore ' G ree k ; ' m ade (Dav id) sw ear' Hc b r. the pri est s . Lv 24:5-9 . Exc eptio n to th is law wa s i. Refe re nce to an u nrecor de d ep isode , The text admitted in the t ime of Dav id . but r-it un l p uri ty was o f vv . 19-20 is u ncert ain . esse n tial. j. Accord ing to L v 15: 16 ; Dl 23 : 11, an ' ucc ide m', c . D ltflc ult verse. We adop t this in te r pret a t io n : a n in volunta rv po llution/ m a kes a ma n un clean till tho ugh t he joum ev had no re liuiou s purpose, David eve n ing. and his com pa n io ns beh a ved as on a m ilitary expedition k , Lit. ' it wa s a lread y de cided on his fat her 's part ' for whi ch con tine nc e was a re ligiou s ob liga tion , G ree k . c f'. D t 23 : 11 : the ir ' th ings ' (e up hemi sm ) a rc pu re. r. Lit. ' r u n ne rs ' co ni .. cf. 22: 17. I. Lit. ' we p t co p io us ly' co ni. T ext un certa in . g. T h is cn ho d is an parcnuy not t he enhod from m. Vv -to-·n ha ve bee n a d de d: th er e is no po int whic h lot s were d rawn . 2:2S I", b u t possib ly a n in the a r row s tra ta ge m u nle ss Da vid a nd Jon athan e m ble m o f th e divi ni rv. like G ide o n 's l'plw d , J g S:27. C"lI l1HH meet. h . ln dependcnt trad ition o f Da vid 's flight ; it 21 :1. On th e eas tern slope o f MI . Scopus. E. o f J er usa- a ntic ipates the na rr a t ive of c h . 27 a nd , with a tou c h rem , th en s till in Ca naa nit e ha nd s : a t ravel ler fr om o f humo ur , portra ys Da vid 's cun ni ng.

v. Th e Questi o n p res up poses t ha t a mcc un e wo uld he d anuero us. T he an swe r is gi v en in v . I SIT. v v, 11- 17 ;I I'C a n ad d itio n a nt icipat ing th e pa ss in g o f Sa ul's unt bo rh v to Da .... id .

Ps 52 22 :9f

17:51 .54 ; 3 1:10

Ps 34; 56

21: 12

1 SAMUEL

373

3 72

they knew he was ma king his escape yet did not tell me' . But the king's serva nts would not lift a hanJ to stri ke the priests of Yahwe h. -T he king then said to Doeg, 'You step fo rwa rd and stn ke the priests' . Do eg the Edorni te stepped forward and str uck the pries ts himself, that da y killing eight y-five men who wo re " the Iiuen ep hod . • As for Nob, the to wn of t he priests , Saul put it to the sword, men an d women , children and mfau ts cattl e and do nkeys and sheep . 20 One sun on ly of Ahimelech son ot Ahi tub esca ped . H is name was Abiat har, !I and he tied away to Join David -aud told him that Saul had slaughtered t he 22 priests of Yahweh.• David said to Abia thar, 'I knew that day, when Doeg the Edomi te was there, he wou ld be SUre to inform Sau l. I am responsible - for the 23 death of all your kinsmen . •Stay with me, have no fear, for he who seeks your life seeks mine too ; you will be safe with me.'>

But the servants of Achish said, 'I s not th is David, the king of the country? }7 Was it not of him they sang in the dance: 18:7 ;29: 5

'0

"Saul has killed his thousands, an d David his ten s of th ousands" ?' David po ndered these wor ds and became very frightened of Achish th e king g of Gath . •When their eyes were o n him he played th e madman a nd , when they J~ held him , feigned lunacy. He would d rum; on the doo rs of the gate and let his spittle run down his beard. Achish said to his serva nts, 'You ca n see th is man is mad . Why bring him J~ to me? • Have I no t enough mad men without your bringi ng me this one to wea ry J~ me with his a ntics? Is he to j oin my household?'

C.

David at Keilah T hey brought the news to Davi d, 'T he Philistines are fighti ng aga inst Keilah and are plunder ing the threshing-floors' . • Da vid consulted Yahweh, 'Shall I go and fight these P hilistines?' Ya hweh answered David, 'G o and fight the J Philistines and save Keila h'.• But David' s men said to him, 'We go in fear here inJudah ; how much more, then , if we go to Keilah to fight agains t the Philistines?' 4 So David consulted Ya hweh again and Yahweh replied, ' Be on yo ur way ; go s down to Keilah for I will give the Philistines into your power ' . -So David and his men went to Keilah and fought the Philistines, and carried off their cattle and inflicted a great defeat on them. T hus David saved the inhabitants of Keilah. 6 Now when Abiathar son of Ahimelech took refuge with David, he went down to Keilah with the ephod in his hand. " When word was brought 10 Saul that David had gone to Keilah he said, 'God has delivered him> into my power, for he has walked into a trap by go ing into 8 a town with gates and bars'. -Sa ul called all the people to arms , to go down to 9 Keilah and besiege David and his men. - D avid, however, was aware that Saul was plotting evil against him and said to Abiathar the priest, 'Bring the ephod' . 10 David said, 'Y a hweh, G od of Israe l, your servanthas heard that Saul is preparing II to come to Keilah and destroy the town because of me. • c Will Saul come down as your servant has heard? Yahweh, G od of Israel) I beg you, let your servant 12 know .' Yahweh replied , ' He will come down'. -Then David asked, 'Will the townsmen of KeiIah hand me and my men over to Saul?' Yahweh replied, 'T hey IJ will hand you over '. « ·At th is, David made off with his men, about six hundred in number; they left KeiIah and went where they could. When the news was brought to Saul that David had escaped from Keilah, he abandoned the expedition. 14 David stayed in the wilderness, in the strongholds; he stayed in the mountains, in the wilderness of Ziph ;« Saul searched for him continually, but God did not deliver him into his power. I

DAVID THE O UT L A W

David begins his wanderings 2S23: 13 Ps 63 M i 1:15

22

David left there and and took refuge in the Cave of Adullarn ;« his brothers , and all his fathe r's family hea rd of it a nd join ed him ther e. -A ll the oppres sed, th ose in distress, all those in debt , anyo ne who had a gr ievance, gat hered round him a nd he became their leader. There were about fou r hund red men with him. Da vid went fro m there to Mizpa h in Moa b an d said to the king of Moa b, 3 'Allow my father and mo ther to stay with you b un til I know what G od intends to do for me' . -He left them ' with the king of Moab a nd they stayed with him 4 all the time tha t David was in the stronghold. But t he prophet Ga d" said to David, ' Do not sta y in the st ro ngho ld; go 5 an d make your way int o th e lan d of Juda h.' So David wen t away and came to the forest of Hereth. The massacre of the priests of Nob

. :14

2 1:2-10

zS 23 :23

2 :3 1 33

1 S AM U E L

Sa ul came to hear that Davi d and the men with him had been discovered. 6 Saul was at G ibeah, seated under the tamarisk on the high place, spea r in hand, with his officers standing round him. · 'Listen, men of Benjami n,' Saul said to 7 his officers stan ding round him, 'is the son of Jesse ready to give yo u all fields and vineya rds and to make all of you commanders of thou sands and command ers of hundreds · that yo u all conspire again st me ? N o one told me when my son 8 made a pact with the so n of Jesse ; non e of yo u felt sorry' for me or told me when my son incited my servant to become my enem y, as is no w th e case.' Doeg the Edomite then spoke up -he was sta nding nea r Saul's officers: 9 'I saw th e son of Jesse co me to Nob,' he said 'to A himelech son of A hitub . T his man consulted Ya hweh for him, gave him pro vision s a nd also the swo rd 10 of G oliath the Phi listine.' -T hen th e king sent and summoned the priest Ahimelech II son of Ahitub and his whole family, the priests of No b ; they all came to the king. Sa ul said, ' Now listen , so n of Ahit ub' . He an swered, 'I am here, my lord' . 12 ' Why have you conspired aga inst me,' Saul said 'you and the son of Jes se, l.l giving him bread a nd a swo rd a nd consulting G od on his behal f, for him to rebel against me-as is now the case?' · Ahim elech answered the king, ' Who amon g all 14 your servants is as faithfu l as David, son-in-law to the king, captain! of yo ur bodygua rd, honoured in you r household? •Was today the first time I ever 15 consulted God on his behalf? Fa r be it from me to do otherwise ! Let not the king bring any charge against his servant or against his whole family, for your servant knew noth ing whatever of the whole affair .' • But the king answered, 16 'Most surely you shall die, Ah imelech, you and your whole family' . Th e king said to t he guardsmen who were standing beside him, 'Step forwar d rt and put the pr iests of Yahweh to death. for they too have supported Da vid ,

15

23

David at Hore sh, A visit from J onatnan/ D avid was afraid- becau se Sa ul had mounted an expedition to take his life. c . H ere the H ebr. has 'W ill t he to wnsmen of Keilah hand me over to h im?' T h is is o mi tt ed by the G ree k and is repeated in v, 12. d . D avid has liberated the people of Kei lah. but he the Shephela h, o r ' low la nd s' , b . 's tay' coni. D avid puts h is p aren ts o ut of l each makes them pay for it : he and his follo wers live a t [heir o f Sa ul's vengea nce; acco rd ing to Rt 1:4f ; 4:21-22 he expe nse, cr. 25:4-8 -l-, But K eilah betrays him and appea ls to th e est ablished a ut hority. C f. 23:19-20; had family ties with Moab. c. 'lef t' versio ns, 24: 2; 26 :1. e , T o the S. of H ebro n . T he verse li nk s th e Ke ila h d , He was to rem ain David 's 'se er ', 2 S :l4: llf. episode, VV, 1-13, with th at of Z tph, VV. 19-27. e. 'felt sorry' G reek . f. 'captain' G reek, f. Vv . 15-18 are pa rt of th e tr ad itio ns rela ti ng to David 's friend ship with Jonat han, cr. es pec ially 20: 11- 17. Here th e n ro phecv of D avid' s access io n is &. ' am res pons ib le' Io llowmg Greek. h . Abia tba r was to rema in D avid's prie st un til the expli ci t. and Jo na than is con tent wit h seco nd p lace, ki na 's ,Je
I. ' wou ld d r um' G reek. 22 a. T he caves of the desert of J uda h hav e al ways p ro vided ref uge for o u tlaws. Ad u llam was a town in

,

2 : 1ts t-

------

22:20-2 3 2:28 +

2:28 +

23:16 1U

1 SAMUEL

At that time he was at H oresh in the wilderness of Ziph. -J onathan son of Saul set off and went to D a vid a t Horesh a nd encou raged him in the name of God . · 'H ave no fear ,' he to ld him 'for the ha nd of my father Sau l will not reach yo u ; you are the on e who is to re ign ove r Israel, and I shall be seco nd to you . Saul my fat her is himsel f aware of this.' -And the two made a pact in the pr esence of Yahweh. David stayed at Ho resh an d Jo na tha n went home.

16

15 17 16 18 17 18

David has a nar row escape from Sa ul 26,1f Ps 54

~26

I

N ow some men of Ziph went up to Sa ul a t Gibeah. 'Is not David in hid ing among us' they said 'in th e strongholds at H or esh, o n the H ill of Hach ilah to the south of the wastelands? •Now whenever you wish to go down, 0 king, do so ; it will be our task to deliver him into the king's power.' -Saul repl ied, ' M ay you be blessed by Yahweh, for coming to help me. · G o now, make surer still. Find out and note the place his footsteps hurry to," for I have been told he is very cunning . -Ta ke careful notice of all the hiding places where he lurks, and come back to me when you are certain. I will then come to you ; and if he is in the country, I will track him down through all the clans of Judah.' So they set off an d went to Ziph ahead of Sau l. Meanwhile, David a nd his men were in the wilderness of Ma on, in th e plain to the sout h of th e wastel ands. W hen Saul an d his men set out in search of him, D avid was informed of it and wen t down to the rock' that is in the wilderness of Maon. Saul heard of this and pursued David into the wilderness of Maon. -Saul an d his men proceeded along on e side o f the mountain, D avid an d his me n along the other. David was hurrying to get away from Saul, while Saul with his men was trying to outflan k; D a vid and his men and so capture them , - when a messenger came to Sa ul a nd sai d, 'Come a t o nce, the P hilistines have invaded the countr y' . -So Sau l bro ke off his pursui t of D avid a nd wen t to fight the Phili stines. Th is is why that place is calle d the Rock of Di visions. Da vid spares Saul David went away from the re, an d stay ed in the st rongholds of En ged i.s When Saul re tu rned from pur suin g th e Phili stines, he was to ld, 'David is now in th e wilderness of Engedi'. -Saul thereu pon took th ree thousand me n chosen from the who le of Israel and went in sea rch of David an d his men east of th e Rocks of the Wild Goats. -He came to th e sheepfolds> along the route whe re there was a cave , and went in to cove r his feet.' Now D avid an d his me n were sitting in the recesses of th e cave ; -D avid's men said to him, 'Today is the day of whic h Yahweh sai d t o you, "1 will deliver your enemy into you r pow er, do wh at you like wit h him" ' . D avid stoo d u p an d , unobserved, cu t off th e border of Sau l' s cloa k. - Afterwards Da vid repro ached himself for having cut off the border of Saul's clo a k." -He sai d to his me n, ' Yahweh preserve me from doing such a thing to my lord' and ra ising my hand against him, for he is the anoi nted of Yahweh'. -David gave his men strict instructions, forbidding them to at tack Sau l. Sa ul then left the cave and went on his wa y. -A fter this, D avid to o left the ca ve a nd calle d after Saul, 'My lord king! ' Sau l looked behind him an d D avid bowed to t he gro und an d di d hom age. -Th en Davi d said to Sau l, ' Why do you listen to the men wh o say to yo u, "David means to harm you" ? -Why, you r own eyes hav e seen tod ay how Yahweh put you in my power in the cav e and how 1 refused! to kill you, bu t spa red you. "I will not raise my ha nd agains t my lor d," I said " for he is the anoi nte d of Yahweh." -0 my father, see, look at the bo rder of your cloak in my han d. Since I cut off the border of your cloak , yet d id not kill you, you must ac kn ow ledge frankly th at th ere is neither mal ice nor treason in my min d. I have not offended against you, yet you hu nt me down to tak e my life. • M ay Ya hweh be j ud ge between me an d you, and may Ya hweh avenge me on you; but my ha nd sha ll no t be laid on you . -( As th e old

24

I Ps 57

9,26 ', :31:4 2 S J' 14

1 S A M UEL

375

374

19

19 20

20 21

21

22

22

23

23

2 S 9 :8; 16:9

The death of Sa muel

24 I

25

25

27

28

5 1

H

4

5

10

II

7 12 8 I)

II

12

IJ

14

~ 28 : 3

Samuel died and the wh ole of Israel assembled to mou rn him. Th ey buried him at his ho me in Ramah.

David then set off a nd wen t do wn to th e wilderness of Maon.« Now there was a ma n in Maon who se bu siness was a t Car mel, a ma n of means who owned three thousand shee p an d a thousand goa ts. He was engage d in shearing his sheep at Car mel. -T he ma n's name was Nabal and his wife's Abigail. She was a woman of intelligence and beauty, bu t the ma n was bru tish an d ill-ma nnered . He was a Ca lebite. When David learned in the wilderness that Nabal was at his sheepshearing, he sent ten soldie rs, say ing to them, I, 'Go u p to Carmel, visit Nabal an d greet him in my na me. - You a re to say th is to my brother ,' "Pea ce to yo u, peac e to you r H ouse, peace to a ll that is you rs ! •I hea r that you have the shea rers ; now your shep herds were with us and we did no t mole st them, no r did th ey find a nything miss ing a ll the t ime they were a t Carmel. - Ask you r soldier s an d they will tell you. May these soldiers win you r favour , for we com e on a day of feasting. Wha tever you have to hand please give to your servants an d to David yo ur son ." , Da vid' s soldiers ca me a nd sa id all this to N abal in David's na me, and waited . T hen Nabal an swered Dav id's soldiers, 'W ho is David ? Who is the son of Jes se? There are ma ny servants nowaday s who ru n away fro m thei r masters. -Am I to ta ke my brea d an d m y wine" an d th e me at I have slaug htered for my sheare rs a nd give it to men who come from I do not kno w where ?' -David' s soldi ers turn ed away an d wen t back the way they had come, a nd they to ld all thi s to David. Th en David said to his men, 'E very man buckle on his swo rd !' And they

9

10

26,25

The story of Nahal and Abigail

26

6

proverb says: Wic kedn ess goes ou t fro m the wic ked, and my hand will not be laid on you .) « -On whose tr ail has t he king of Israel set out? On whos e tr ail ar e you in ho t pursuit? On the trail of a dead do g! On the trail of a single flea! May Yahweh be the judge and decide between me an d you ; may he take up my cause and defend it a nd give judgement fo r me , freeing me from your pow er.' When David had finis hed saying these words to Saul , Saul said , 'I s that your voice, my son David?' And Saul wept a loud. -You are a more upright man than I,' he said to David 'for you have repaid me with goo d while I have repai d you with evil. -Today you have crowned your goodness towards me " since Yahweh ha d put me in you r power yet you did not kill me. -Wh en a ma n comes on his enemy , does he let him go u nmoleste d? May Ya hweh rewa rd you for the goodness you have shown me today.• Now I know you will indeed reign and that the sove reignty in Israel will be secure in your hands. - Now swear to me by Yahweh that you will not cut off my descendants afte r me nor blot out my name from my family.' -This D avid swore to Saul' and Saul went home while David and his men with him went back to the stronghold.

h. 'make su re' wit h some M SS. 'hurry' foll owing th e w ick ed b ri ngs misf or tune . h . 'YOU ha ve cr ow ned' (l it. 'yo u have made gre a t' ) G reek . I. Actually , fro m what fo llo ws. a rock y gorge. con i. i . Vv. 2 1-23a. whi ch fo re tell Da vid' s kin gsh ip , are i. ' ou tflank ' Gr eek . 24 a. T he ' Well of th e K id' : nea r the shore of the a n additi on s imilar to those o f 20: 12- 17 : 41-42; 23:15- 18 . Dead Sea in the same latit ude as Zi p h . 2 5 a . ' Ma o n' G reek . b. Drysto ne encl osur es to ho use flocks at ni gh t. b. T he sheari ng is a festive occasion . 2 S 13:23f. c . E up he mism fo r ' EO ea se ones elf' . d. D avid feels rem or se (for the ph rase, cf 2 S 24: on wh ich the ric h sheep-own er shou ld d isp lay his 10), for the gar me n t is, as it were, the man himsel f, generos ity . David takes ad va ntage of th is to de ma nd cr. 18:4. an d to to uch it is lO lay hands o n th e pe rson . the s u m that nomads levy on neighb ourin g villa ges in e . T he text add s 't he a no in ted o f Y ahweh ' , retu rn for (he ' p ro tect io n' they afford by absta ini ng: from p illage an d by rest ra inin g marauders. v , 16. Thi s pr oba b ly a gloss. is called th e 'law of brot her ho od ' . f . ' I refuse d' G reek ; ' and he sai d ' Hebr. c . 'to my brother' con i, d. 'my wine' Greek . g. Pro ver b' ins ert ed b y a gtoss a tor: co n tact with

15: 12+

1 S A MU .I!: L

R tl: 17 +

IKI6:t1

Ps 69:28

Is 4:3

Dn 12:1 Rv 3:5 2 S 3: 10

Pr

15:1

b uckled on t he ir sword" a nd David b udded On h is to o ; about four hundred ruen foll owed D a vid will ie two hundred rc mai ued with the baggage. Now o ne o f the se rvants hac l bro ug h t t he news (u Abigail, N a hal's WI fe . I Ie sa id , ' Da vid sent 1I 1e,sen ge" from the w ilderness to greet our II las ter , bu t he flar ed out at them . - No w th ese .nen wer e very good to us ; the y d id not molest us and we did not find auy th iug miss ing all th e tim e we were out in t he fie lds while we were in thei r neig h bo ur ho od . -T he v we re a pr o tec tio n to u , nig ht aud day, all the time we were III t heir nei g hbo urhood m ind in g the s heep . - Now bea r (his in mind a nd see what you can duo for th e r ui n of our master a nd of h rs whole House is decided 011 , and he is so rll - tem per ed no o ue cau say a wo rd to hir u.' Abigail hastily took two h und red loa ves, two skins of wine, five sheep re ady prepa red , five mea su re, of roasted grai n, a hundred bunches o f raisin, a nd two hund red cakes of figs an d lo aded them on d o n keys . -S he sa id to her se rvants , 'G o o n a hea d o f me , I wi ll foll o w you' - but she did no t te ll he r husband . As she wa s r id ing he r donkey do wn be hi nd a sp ur o f the mount ai n, D a vid and hi s men ha p pened to be co m ing d o wn in her d irec tio n ; a nd s he m e t them . - N ow D a vid had decided , 'It was a waste o f time guardin g al l this m an's p ro perty in th e wildern ess . N oth ing wa s m issin g of a ll he had, and yet he retu rn ed evil fo r go o d . -M ay God do thi s to D a vid ' a nd m o re if by morni ng 1 lea ve one male! al ive o f all t hose wh o belong to h im !' -A s so o n as Abigail sa w D a vid sh e quic kly d ismou nted fro m t he don ke y an d , fa llin g on her fa ce befo re David, bowed down to the gro und . -She fell a t h is fee t a nd sa id , ' Le t me ta ke the bla me , my lo rd. Le t yo u r servant sp eak in yo u r ear ; listen to th e w o rd s o f your ser vant. - Pay no attention to th is ill-tempered man Nabal fo r hi s na t ure is like his name ; " Brute" is his name a nd brutish his cha rac te r. B ut I yo u r serv an t did not see the so ld iers my lord had se nt. - And now, my lo rd , as Y a h weh lives a nd as you r soul lives , by Y a hweh w ho kept yo u from the c rime o f bloodshed and from ta king vengeance wi th your o w n ha nd , may yo ur enemies, a nd a ll those who plan evil again st my lo rd become like N ab al.« -As for th e presen t yo ur serva n t br ing s my lord, let it be given to t he sold iers o f my lord's own fo llo wi ng. -I ask yo u to forgive you r servant's fa u lt , fo r then Y a hwe h will gra nt my lord a lasting dynasty, fo r my lo rd is figh ting the battles o f Y a h weh , and in all your life there is no wickedness to be fo un d in yo u. S hou ld men set ou t to h un t yo u down and t ry to ta ke yo ur life, m y lord's life will be kept cl o se in th e sa tchel o f life' wit h Ya hwe h yo ur God, while as for th e lives o f yo u r enemies he will fling th em a wa y, as from a slin g. - W he n Y a hweh ha s d one fo r my lo rd all the go o d he has promised yo u , when he has ma de you prin ce ov er Israel, - y o u d o not want to have a n y reaso n to gr ieve or feel remorse a t havin g sh ed blood need lessly a nd a ven ged you rself with you r o wn ha nd. A nd when Ya hweh ha s sh o wn his goodness to my lord , then reme m be r yo u r servant.' D a vid sa id to Abigai l, ' Blessed be Yahwe h, the G o d o f Israe l, w ho sent you to m ee t me to day ! - Blessed be yo ur wisd o m a n d blessed yo u you rse lf for restr ain ing m e today from the cri me of bloods hed a nd from a ven gi ng my sel f with m y ow n ha nd! -B u t a s Yahw e h the God of Isr ael lives, he wh o kept me from ha rm ing you , had you no t hurried out to meet me, I sw ear t hat N a bal wo uld not have had one male left ali ve by the morni ng .' - D a vid then accepted fro m her what s he had brought h im a nd sa id, 'Go ho me in peace; see, I ha ve listened to yo u and have gran ted your req uest' . Abiga il re t u rn ed to Nabal. H e was ho ldi n g a feas t, a pri ncely fea st, in his h ouse ; Nabal wa s in high sp irits, and as he was ve ry drunk she to ld him nothi ng at all till it was dayl ight. - In the morning then, when t he w ine ha d left him, hi s wife to ld him all that had happened and his heart died in side him and he became like a s to ne . -Abou t ten days later Y a hwe h st ruck Nabal, and he died . When David heard that Nabal wa s dead, he sa id, 'B lessed be Yahweh who has av en ged t he in sult 1 received at Nabal's ha nd s a nd has res t ra ined his se rva n t fro m doing evil ; Ya hweh has brought Nahal's wickedness do wn on his own head .'

3 77

1 SAMUE L

26:19

40

1-1

IS

16 17

D av id the n sen t A b iga il an offer of mar riage.• When D a vid 's ser va nts came to Abi ga il at C a rme l, they said, 'David has sen t us to yo u to ta ke you to h im 41 as his wife .' -She rose and bowed down her face to t he gro und. ' C o nsider your 42 serva nt a slave ' she said 't o wash th e feet of my lo rd ' s ser va nts.' - Q u ic k iy A biga il stood up again and mou nt ed a donk ey ; followed by five of he r sla vegi rls sh e followed David's mess en gers an d became h is w ife. 43 David had also married Ahinoam of Jc zrcc l a nd he kept t hem both as wives . - Sa ul -14 had given Michal h is daughter, t he wife of Da vid , to Pa lt i son of La ish, from G a llim . David spares Sa ul"

IS

1

19 3 20 21

4

5

22 23 24 7 25 26

27 2S

., "' II

29 11

30 31

l'

II

32

I'

33 11,

34 35 17 IH

36 37 3B 39

I"

26

Now the men of Zi ph came to Sau l at Gibeah . ' Is not Dav id in h iding' th ey said ' o n t he Hill of Hachiia h on the edge of the was te lan ds? ' -So Saul set off and we nt down to th e w ildern ess of Z iph, a ccom pa n ied by t hr ee thousan d me n chosen from Israe l to search for D av id in the wilderness of Zip h. -Saul p itched camp on t he H ill of Hachi lah , which is o n the edge of t he was tela nd s, by t he ro adsi de. David was t he n living in t he wilderness a nd sa w th a t Saul was co m ing after h im th er e . -Accord ingly, David sen t out s pies an d learned that Sa ul ha d indeed arrived. -Set t ing off, David we nt to t he pla ce w he re Sau l had pi tc hed camp. He sa w t he p lace wh er e Saul and A bne r son of Ne r comm an d er of his army we re lyi ng . Saul was ly ing inside the ca m p with t he troops bi vou a ck ing roun d him. Speak in g to A hi m elec h t he Hittite and A bis ha i son o f Zeruiah and bro th e r of Joab, Da vid said , 'W ho will co me down wit h me in to t he ca mp of Sau l?' Abish a i a ns we red , ' 1 w ill go down w ith you '. -So in the dark Dav id and A bis ha i m a de t he ir way towa rds the fo rce, whe re they fo u nd Sa ul lying as leep inside (he cam p, his spear stuck in t he g ro und beside his head, wit h A bne r a nd t he troops lyin g rou nd him . T he n A bishai sa id to David. ' T od ay God has put yo ur ene my in yo u r powe r; so no w let me pin him to th e g ro und with his own spear. Just o ne st ro ke' I will no t need to strike h im twi ce.' -David answered A bisha i, '00 no t k ill him, for who can lift his hand a ga inst Ya hwe h's ano inted a nd be with o u t gui lt? - A s Ya hweh lives,' D a vid sa id 'Y a hweh himself will stri ke hi m d own, whether h is time to die com es, or he goes ou t to baltle and peri sh es then . Ya hwe h for bid t hat I s hould ra ise m y hand agains t Y a hweh' s anointed! But now ta ke the spea r bes ide h is he a d a nd the pitcher of water a nd let us go aw a y.' Dav id to o k the sp ear a nd t he pitc her o f water fro m beside Saul's hea d , a nd the y mad e off. No o ne saw , no one kn ew, no o ne wok e up ; the y wer e all as lee p, fill' a de ep sleep from Ya hwe h ha d fall e n o n them. Da vid crossed ( 0 t he o t her side " and ha lted on t he top o f t he m ou nta in a lon g wa y off ; t he re wa s a w id e space between them .. - Da vid then called o u t to (he t ro o ps and to A b ner so n of Ner, 'A bner, wi ll yo u not a nswe r?' A bner re plied , ' W ho is th a t call ing?' - David sa id to Ab ner, ' A re you not a m a n ? W ho is your like in Israel? W hy d id yo u no t guard your lord the king t hen? So me m a n o f t he peo ple cam e to kill t he king yo ur lord. -What you did was no t we ll d on e. As Ya hweh lives, you a ll de serve to d ie since you did not guard you r lord, Ya hwe h' s a nointed . Lo o k wh ere t he king' s sp ea r is no w, an d t he pi tc her o f water that was bes ide hi s hea d .' Then Sa ul reco gnised D avi d 's vo ice an d said, ' Is that your voice, my son Da vid? ' Dav id an swered , 'It is my voice , my lo rd king. -Why does my lo rd p ur sue h is ser va nt?' he said . ' W ha t ha ve I do ne? What evil am I guilty o f? - May c. ' Da vid ' Greek; 'Da vid's en emies' Heb r. f. Li t. 'who uri n ates a ga inst t he wall' . g . In Hebrew na ha l m ea ns the ' foo l' who respec ts neith er Go d nor man ; he is at o nce st upi d , irr e ligio us. mal icious . cf. Is 32:5 f. h. Sh a rin g his tragic en d as fo resee n by A bigai l. i. God takes ca re of his fr ie nd s ' lives as m an wo uld of a treasur e. The im a ge is simil a r 1O that o f the ' b ook of life ' , Ps 69:28; Is 4:3 ; D n 12: 1 ; xv 3:5.

26 a . T he na rr ative o f ch . 26 is very like th a t 01 ch . 24. We have here e ithe r two similar eve n ts to which o ral , a nd th e n wri tt en. traditio n ha s Riven the sa me co ntour s; or els e (mo re p ro ba bly) a d u plica te narr a tive, i. e . two sim ilar way s of illustrating D a vid's m a gn a nim ity and his respect for th e sacred o ffice o f th e kin g, ' (he anointed of Ya hwe h' , cf. 9:2 6 -l-, b. To t he o ther sid e of the va lley .

IH :20f ;

19: lOt 2 S 3:I.H = 24

23: 19f

I C h 2: 16

IS : 11; 19:10

9: 26 -.- ;31;4

Gn 2:2 1: 15: 12

D r 7:6

Ps

7 : ~ : IS : :! 0

~ 4 : 21

379

SA M U E L

26:2 0

9

10

H e takes refuge at Gath 'One of these day s' Da vid thought 'I shall pe rish a t the ha nd of Saul. I ca n do no better tha n escape" to t he land of the Philist ines ;" the n Sa ul will give u p tracki ng me thro ugh th e leng th and breadth of Israel and I shall be safe from him.' ' So Dav id set ofT and went , he and the six hund red men who were wit h him, down to Achi sh so n of Maoch the king of G a th. • He sett led at Gat h wit h Ach ish , he a nd his men, each wit h his fa mily and David with his two wives, Ahinoa m of Jczreel and A biga il the wife of Nabal from Ca rmel. •When news reached Sa ul that Da vid had fled to G ath, he sto pped sea rching for him.

27

2 1: 11- 16

30:5

11

1

12 11

3

4

David as vassal of the Philistines

29:3

Ex I7:H I· Ju s 13:2 I S 15

1C h 2:25

David said to Achish, ' If you wiII grant me a favour , let me be given a place in one of the cou ntry tow ns for me to settle in . W hy shou ld your servant live in the royal city with you?' -So that da y Achish gave him Zik lag, c a nd for this reason Zik lag has been the property of the kings of J udah " to the present day. The len gt h of time that David stayed in Phi listine territory was a year a nd four mo nt hs. David a nd his men went out on raid s against the Ge sh urite s, G irzites and Amalekites, for the se are the tribe s inha biting the regio n that goes from Telarn« in the d irectio n of Shur a nd as fa r as the land of Egypt. • Dav id lai d the co unt ryside waste and left neit her man 'nor wo ma n alive but took the shee p and oxen, donkeys, camels and garments a nd came back , bri nging them to Achis h. -Achish wo uld ask, ' W here did you go raiding today?' Dav id would rep ly, 'A ga inst the Negeb of Juda h', or 't he Ncgcb of Jerahrncel', or 't he Negeb of the Kenites.v But Dav id never broug ht a man or woman back alive to Ga th ' in case' as he thought ' they inform aga inst us and say, "David did suc h a nd suc h" ' . This was David's pra ctice all the time he staye d in Philisti ne territory . -Ac hish tr usted Da vid . ' He has mad e himself ha ted by his own people Israel' he t ho ught 'a nd so will be my serva nt for ever:

At t hat ti me t.he P h i l ist ~ n e ~ mustered their forc es for. war to fight Israel , a nd Ach ish sa id to David, It IS understood that yo u Join force s with me, yo u a nd your men ?' • Dav id a nswered Ac hish , ' In that cas e, you will soo n see

15

5

17

8

9

10

11

12

The P hilistines go to war against Israel

28

14

1(,

7

I

28 : I 7

what you r serva nt ca n do. :« Achish replied to Da vid, ' Right, I sha ll appo int yo u as my perma nent bod yguar d:

my lo rd king now listen to t he words of his servant : if Yahweh himself has incited you against me, let him accept a n offerin g ; but if men ha ve d o ne it, may the y be accu rsed befo re Yahwe h, for now t hey ha ve d riven me out so that I ha ve no sha re in t he heritage of Yahweh . T hey have sa id, "Go and serve other gods".' -So now, do not let my blood fall to th e ground out of the presence 20 of Ya hweh ;" fo r the king of Israe l has go ne out in qu est of my life' as a ma n hu nts a pa rt ridge on the mo untains. ' Saul replied, 'I have sinned. Come back , my son Da vid; I will never harm 2 1 you aga in since yo u ha ve shown such respec t for my life today. Yes, n.y course has been folly and my error gra ve.' • Da vid answered , 'Here is the kings spear. " Let one of the soldiers co me across and ta ke it. • Ya hweh repays everyone fo r 23 his u prightness and loyalty. Today Ya hweh put yo u in my power, but I would not ra ise my hand again st Yahweh 's a noi nted . -Just as today yo ur life 24 co unted for much in my sight, so shall mv life coun t for much in the siaht of "' Ya hweh a nd he will de liver me from all di~tress: T hen Saul said to Da vid , ' May you be b lessed, my so n Da vid ! Yo u will do 25 grea t things and will succeed .' Then David went on his way and Saul returned home.

D , D AV ID A MONG T H E P H I L I S TIN E S

1 SAMUEL

Saul an d the witch of En-dor : Now Sa muel was dead , a nd all Israel had mourned him and bur ied him at Ram ah, his own town . Sa ul had expelled the necromanc ers and wizard s from the coun try. Mea nwhile the Phil istines had mustered a nd pitche d camp a t Sh unem.r Sau l mustered all Israel a nd th ey encamped at Gi lboa. •When Saul saw the Ph ilistin e ca mp he was af ra id and there was a grea t tr emb ling in his hear t. Saul cons ulted Yah weh , but Ya hweh gave him no an swer, either by dream or o racle o r prophet. •Th en Saul said to his serv a nts, ' Find a wo man who is a necrom an cer for me to go and con sult her'. His serva nts replied, 'There is a necromanc er at En-dot'. A nd so Saul, disguising himself an d cha nging his clothes, set o ut accompanie d by two men ; th eir visit to the woma n too k place a t night. ' Disclose t he future to me' he said 'by mean s of a gho st. Co njure up the on e I shall nam e to you .' -T he woma n ans wered, ' Loo k, yo u know what Saul has don e, how he has swept the necromance rs an d wizard s out of the country ; why ar e yo u setti ng a tra p fo r my life, the n, to ha ve me killed?' • But Saul swor e to her by Ya hweh, ' As Yahweh lives,' he said ' no blam e shall a ttach to you fo r this business.' Then th e woman ask ed , 'Whom shall I co njure up for you?' He replie d, 'Conjure u p Samuel'. Then the woma n saw Samuel an d, giving a great cr y, she said to Saul, 'Why have you deceived me ? You ar e Saul:" -T he king said , ' Do not be afraid ! What do you see?' T he woman an swere d Sa ul, ' I see a gho st' rising up from th e ea rth '. " .'Wha t is he like ?' he asked . She a nswered, ' It is an old man co ming up ; he is wrapped in a cloak'. T hen Sa ul knew it was Sam uel a nd he bowed down his face to the ground and did homage. Then Samuel said to Sa ul, ' Why ha ve yo u disturbed my rest, conjuri ng me up?' Sa ul replied , 'I am in gre at dist ress ; th e Philistines are waging war aga inst me, and God has abandone d me and no lo nger an swers me either by prophet or dream; and so I ha ve summo ned yo u to tell me what I must do'. -Sa rnuel said, ' A nd why do you con sul t me, when Ya hweh has abandon ed yo u a mi is with yo ur neighbour?' -Yahweh has done to you as he fo reto ld through me ; he has sna tched the so vereignty from your han d and given it to you r neighbo ur, Da vid, c . T he land of Israel wa s G od 's in heri ta nce: s o closel y were t he two linked th at it was th ou gh t im possible to wo rsh ip Ya hweh in an other la nd whe re ali en go ds held s way. Th us N a a ma n takes so il (0 Da masc us from Israel. 2 K 5: 17. To condemn Da vid t o ex ile is to force him (0 a ba ndo n Ya h we h . d. And co nsequentl y wh er e h is blo od '...-ill no t be a venged . cr. Gn 4: 14- 15. e. ' m y life' G reek . 27 a . ' tha n escape ' Gree k . b. A sure wa y of elu ding Saul b UI a seemi ng d esert ion to the enemy , put ting Da vid in a fa lse po siti on fro m which circ umstances . c h . 29, and his own cu nn ing, vv , 8-12, extrica te hi m . e. O n the borders o f P h illsna. to the N .E . of Beersheba . Ac hish assigns t he to wn to D avid who se fo llo wers he re lies on to po lice th e neigh bourin g dese r t co unt ry. d . That is. it became the kin a's p riva te do main . e. 'Telam ' G reek . f . T he N egcb is the sparsel y po pulated . mainl y pa s tora l d istrict lying to the S . of Palestine. II belo ngs to the me n of Judah and thei r all ies. s uch as the Ke n ttcs. cf', also 30: 14 . Da vid re p resen ts h is ra ids as m ad e auai nst thes e: in fac t t hey a re m ad e a ga inst t he rnaru u ders from th e dese rt a nd win him th e fa vo ur of me men of J udah.

28

3.

An ambigu ou s a nswe r wh ich Ac h ish tak es fo r

a pr omise o f va lo ur in wa r. Da vid is honin g th a t ci rcumsta nces will di spen se h im from fight in g a gai nst Is rael. as in fac t the y did . ch. 29. b. Nec ro m a ncy was pra cu sed in Israel, 2 K 21 :6 : Is8:19.. thou gh for bid den by th e La w. Lv 19:31 ; 20:6 .27 : D t 18:1 I. and v. 9 o f (hi s c ha p te r. T he na rra tor seems to s ha re the pop ular be lief in ghos ts (t ho u gh he regards it un la wfu l to co ns ult th em): the Fa the rs a nd co m men ta tors, ho wever, see k. a n e xn tana uo n o f th e incident it self: div ine pow er, de mon ic act ivity, th e woman' s tr ickery . Do ubtl ess, as in o ther sea nces, cred u lity and tr ickery were at work ; bu t (h e incident is prese nt ed as a gen uine reca lling of Sa m uel' s SPirit (hence the wo man 's fea r) to foretell the fu tu re . Cf. : C h 10:13 (LXX) a nd S; 41i:20. c . In t he p lain of Jezr eet . S. of Sh uncm the G ilb oa ran ge bo r ders thi s p la in . E n-d or lies a t the fo ot o f Tabor and N . of Sh unem; 10 reach it, t herefore . Sau l had to pass rou nd the P hilisti ne encampm en t. d . T he wo man knows of the relati o ns between Sam uel and Sa u l; that the dead prop het appea rs. she co ncl udes, me ans tha t her client is the king of Is rael. e . In Hebr. an etohtm o r s uper h uman be in g, cf'. ( i n 3:5: Ps 8:5 . On ly in t his pla ce is it used o f t he dead .

f. It ri ses fro m Sheol , un der worl d of th e dea d , cf. N b 16:33 -1... . 1; . ' wit h yo ur neigh bo ur ' G ree k ,

~ 25 : 1

14:38.41 + Ex33: 7 + Lv 19:3 1

I K 14:2

Si 46:20

15:27-28

28:18

3 1:2·6

ICh13 :20 4: [

27:7

14:2 1

1 S A M UEL

380

because yo u disobeyed th e voi ce of Y ahweh .a nd d id not execute his fierce a nger ag a ins t A m a lek. T hat is wh y Yahw eh treats you li ke this now. - Wha t is more, Yahweh will deliver Israel a nd you, too, into the power of t he P h ilist ines. Tomorrow yo u and yo ur so ns will be wit h m e ;" and Israel' s army, to o, for Yahweh will deliver it into the po wer of the P h ilistines.' Saul wa s overcome; and fell fu ll-length o n th e gro u n d. H e wa s terrifie d by what Sa m uel had sa id and, besi d es this, he was weakened by havi ng eaten no t hi ng a t all t ha t day and a ll t ha t nigh t. - The wo man t hen came to Saul, and seei ng h is terro r said, ' Loo k, yo u r servant has o bey ed yo u r vo ice; I have taken my life in my h a nd s, and have obeyed t he com mand you ga ve me . -So no w yo u in yo ur turn list en to what yo u r se rva nt says. Let me set a little food before yo u for you to ea t a nd get so m e strength for yo ur journey.' -But he refused . 'I will not ea t' he sa id . H is servants however p ressed h im, a nd so did the woman. Allowi ng hi ms elf to be persuaded by them , he rose fro m the gr o u nd a nd sat on th e d ivan. -The wo man o wned a fa tt ened ca lf wh ich s he quick ly slaugh te red, and she took some flo ur a nd k neaded it a nd with it baked cakes of unleavened bread; -she pu t these before Sa ul a nd h is servant s ; and a fte r they had eaten they set off and left the same ni gh t.

S ,AMUF f, 18 19

20

21

22

23

24

25

David is sent away by the P hilistine leaders"

29

T he P hi list ines m us te red a ll their fo rces a t A phe k wh ile th e Is rae lites we re enca m ped nea r the s p ring whic h is in J ez recl. -T he P hilis tine lord s paraded in thei r gr o u ps o f a hu nd red a nd a t ho usand . w ith D a vid a nd h is me n bri ngi ng u p the rear w it h Achis h, -The P hilist ine leader s as ked , ' W ho a re these He br ews?' Ac hish replied to th e Phi list ine lea de rs , ' W hy, t his is D a vid the se rvan t of Sa u l, king o f Israel, w ho ha s bee n w it h m e for t he la st one o r two years . b I ha ve ha d no fa u lt to find wi th him from t he da y he gave hi mself u p to m e to th e p rese n t time .' • Bu t the P hilistine lea d er s were a ngry w ith hi m . 'Send the m an back ,' t hey sa id ' Jet him retu rn to t he place yo u a ss igned h im. He m ust not go down wi th us to batt le. in ca se he tu rn s o n us o nce battle is joined. Woul d there be a better way for the m a n to regai n his ma ster's fa vo ur than with th e hea ds o f t he se men he re ? -Is no t thi s th e David of w ho m t he y sa ng in t he d a nce:

4

5

" Sa u l ha s killed his thousands, David his te ns o f th o usa nd s" ?'

18: 7: 21 : 12

So A c his h called Da vid and sa id , 'As Yahweh lives , yo u are lo yal . and to 6 me it seems only rig ht yo u s ho u ld acco m pa ny m e in the campa ign , for I have fo u nd no t hi ng wrong in yo u from the da y yo u ca m e to me to the p resent time . Bu t yo u a re not accepta ble to t he lea d e rs. -S o go ba ck . a nd go in pea ce , rathe r 7 t ha n a ntago nis e the lea de rs o f th e Phi list ines.' ' Bu t w ha t ha ve I done ,' D a vid as ke d Ac h ish ' w ha t fa ult ha ve yo u ha d to X find w it h yo u r se rva nt from t he d a y I e nte red yo u r se rv ice to the present t im e. fo r me n ot to be a llowed to go a nd fight t he e ne m ies o f m y lord the k ing?" 20~N~P ' A c h ish a ns we re d , ' Yo u know" th a t in my sig ht yo u a re as b lameless a s a n a nge l 9 o f G od; but the Phi list ine lead e rs ha ve sa id , " H e mu st not go o u t wi th us to bat tle " . -S o now, get u p ea rly in th e m orn ing , yo u a nd yo ur ma st e r' s se rva n ts 10 who ca m e w ith you , a nd go to the place I a ss igne d yo u. Let th e re be no rancour in yo ur heart , for to me yo u a re b la meless." Yo u m ust ge t up ear ly in t he mo rni ng and whe n it is ligh t en o ug h you m us t be o fT.' So D a vid ro se ea rly, he a nd h is m en , an d set o fT in the morn ing to re turn II to t he la n d o f th e P h ilistines . T he P hi listi nes we nt lip [ 0 J ez reel. T he ca m pa ign a ga inst the Ama lek itcs

30

N ow by t he t ime Dav id a nd h is m en reached Z iklag o n the th ird . d ay, t he A rna le kites had ra id ed t he N ege b a nd Z ik la g; th ey had sto rme d Z iklag and

I

hm nt it down . -T hey lw rl tak en th e wo m en <:'nl' t ive with all thn~eq wh o we re th ere, bo th sm a ll ,1'1d great . They had not kil led a nyo ne . hu t taken the pr iso ners 3 and go ne o n t he ir wa y , •When Da vid nnd h is me n arr ivcd , th ey foun d t he to wn 4 bu r-nt dO\\'11 and t heir w ives a nd so ns and d auuhrers tn kr-n ca ptive -Thcn D avid and th e rv ople WIth h im wep t aloud ti ll th ey wer e ton we a k to we ep an y m ore , Dnvi ds t wo wi vf's had her n tak en ca ptive, A h ll,, )nm o f Je zrecI a nd Abinail t he wife. of N aba l f rom Can nel. Da vid was in great tro u ble , for t he r-cop l« Wf'le tnlk in g o f st o n ing him ; ,11 1 th e people were hitt er in
h. In Sh eol, d welling of good cf, Nb 16:33 + ,

a nd bad alike.

I. 'was overcome' coni.

Following imm edi ately on 2~ :2 . b . 'one or two years' Greek . c . Dav id is resc ued fro m his aw k war d posit ion by the deci sion of Achish bu t still preten ds t hat h is loy a lty has been impugn ed .

29

8.

d. ' You know' coni e . 'and go . . . blam eless ' G reek a nd Ve t. Lat.

30 ~,

a. 'w it h all th ose' Greek. b. T he text adds 'a nd th e rest gloss .

stayed be nmu',

c . T he C he re thites are kin to th e Phili st in es and Da vid la ter cho oses pari of his bodyguard fro m [hem. 7. S 8: IR: 15:18. etc . d. ' p u tt i n g them und er th e ban' con j . Text corr upt. e . Th e G ree k seq ue nce is adopted here. f . 'a p proaching . . . ask ed ' co ni. fro m Greek and Sy r. I . ' like this after wha t' Gr ee k .

2"

2:2X-4-

27;10

Jos6: 17+

1 SAM U EL

2 SAM U E L

1:21

'As the sha re is of him wh o goes d own to the ba ttl e, so is t he sha re of him who stays wit h t he baggage. Nb

_~

1:7

' T hey mu st sha re al ike.' • A nd from t ha t da y fo rwa rd he made t his a sta tute a nd an o rd ina nce fo r Israel whic h o bta ins to t he present day . W he n Da vid ca me to Z ik lag he se nt part s o f t he boo ty to t he elde rs o f J ud ah , proport iona te to thei r town s," wit h t his messa ge, ' He re is a presen t fo r yo u fro m the boo ty tak en fro m the e nemies o f Yah weh ":

JostS :l9

for for for fo r for for fo r fo r fo r fo r for fo r fo r

t hose in th ose in th ose in th ose in those in those in th ose in t ho se in t hose in those in t hose in th ose in t hose in

Bethe l, Ramot h of t he Negeb, Jatti r, Aroer, Siphmo t h, Es htern oa, Ca rmel, the to wn s o f Jera hmccl, the to wns o f the Kcn itcs, Ho rma h. Ho ra sha n, A t hac h, He bro n

25

TH E SECOND BOOK OF SAMUEL

26

Dav id learns of Sa ul's dea th " I

27

3 4

29

6

30 7 8

31

and for a ll th e places which Da vid and his men had frequ ent ed .'

9 10

1~' hl; :,"i4i~ Th e battle of G ilboa and the deat h of Sa ul"

T he Philistin es ma de wa r o n Israel a nd t he men of Isr ael fled fro m I the Ph ilist ines a nd we re sla ug hte red on Mo unt Gilboa . •The Philistines presse d Sau l and his so ns ha rd a nd killed J on a t han , Ah ina da b and Ma lchi shua , t he son s o f Sau l. •The light ing grew hea vy abo ut Sa ul; t he bow me n took h im J o il' his gua rd, so that he fe ll wo und ed by the bow me n! ' •Then Sa u l sa id to his 4 a rm o ur-bea rer, 'D raw yo u r' swo rd and run me throu gh wit h it ; I do no t wa nt t hese un circu mc ised men to co me a nd gloat ov e r me' , But his a rmo ur- bea re r was afra id a nd wo uld no t do it. So Sau l too k his ow n swo rd a nd fell o n it. • H is 5 armo ur -bea rer, seeing tha t Sa ul was dea d , fell o n his swo rd to o an d d ied with hi m, -A nd so Saul and his t hree so ns and his a r mo ur-bea rer d ied together 6 th a t da y, • Whe n the Israelites who we re o n the o t he r side o f the va lley- saw tha t 7 the me n o f Israe l had taken fligh t an d t hat Saul a nd his so ns were dea d , they a ba nd o ned their to wns a nd fled . T he Philistines the n ca rn e and occ u pied th em . W hc n the Philistincs came O i l t he following da y to st rip the dead, the y found 8 Sa ul and his three so ns lying o n Mo unt G ilboa . -T hcy cut o fl' his head a nd, " st rip ping hi m of his a rmo u r, ha d it carr ied" ro u nd the lan d o f th c Philist ines to proc la im th e good ne ws to t heir id ol s an d t he ir peo ple . -Thcy plac ed his 10 a r mo ur in the te m ple of Astarte : t hey fastened his bod y to t he wa ll of Beth- shan . W he n th e inha bita nts o f Jabcsh-gilc ad - hea rd what t hc Phili stines ha d do ne I I to Sa ul, -a ll t he wa rrio rs se t o ut, marchi ng t hrougho ut th e night , a nd to o k t he 12 bodie s of Sa ul a nd his so ns o ff th e wa ll of Bet h-s ha n, a nd bring ing the m/ to Ju bcs h th cy burn ed t hem the re . •T he n th ey too k th eir bon es a nd buried t he m 13 unde r th e ta ma risk of Ja bcs h, a nd fasted for seve n da ys."

31

. :26:9 2.\1 1-l. 4 2

9 : ~ (,

17:54 2 .\1 15;.' 5 5:2: :! I : 10 .2 S ' "20

l ;n ) O: IO

II

12

13 14

15

16

The towns mcnuoned (so me o f [he names have been co r rec ted ) a ll lie to th e S . o f Hebr on .

3 1 a . T his fo llo ws o n c h . 2H. b . 'The

b o w me n '

I C h 10:3.

wou n ded ' G reek. Te xt un cer tain. c. T he te x t a d d s 'a nd th o se

's o

th at

beyond

he

fe ll

Jordan ' ,

nr ob ab lv a gtoss. d . Trans tauon uncer tain . e . They had been rescu ed by Sa ul . c h . I J, and wanted ro pa y h im their las t res pec ts . r. ' b ri nni n a th em' Greek . J:. O n Iasrine fo r th e dead cf. 2 S I: 12 ; 3:35. a nd COnt ras t 2 S 12:2.\. O n t he se ven days' mo urni ng d . G n 50: 10 ; J d t 16:24 ; Si 22:12.

Af te r the deat h of Saul, Da vid return ed from his rou t of t he Ama lekites a nd s pe nt two da ys in Zik lag . -On the third d ay a ma n came fro m t he ca mp wh er e Sau l had bee n, his garments to rn an d ea rt h o n his head . Wh en he ca me to Da vid, he fe ll to th e g ro und and d id hom age. · 'Where do yo u com e fro m?' Dav id ask ed hi m. 'I ha ve esca ped from th e Isr aelit e camp' he sa id .• Da vid sa id to him, ' W ha t happened ? Te ll me.' He rep lied , 'The peopl e have fled from the ba tt lefield a nd man y o f t hem ha ve fa llen . Sa ul a nd his so n J onathan are dead too ,' Da vid t hen asked th e yo u ng so ld ie r who brou ght the news. 'How d o yo u kn o w th at Sa ul and his so n J on atha n a re dead ?' •' I happened to be o n Mo unt G ilbo a ,' the yo ung so ld ier rep lied 'a nd t he re was Sa ul, lea ning on his spea r, with t he ch ariots a nd t he caval ry pressing him ha rd . •T he n. he tu rn ed ro und an d saw me, a nd sho uted to me . I a nswe red, " He re I a m" . • He sa id , " W ho are yo u? " "An A rna lc k itc' I repli ed . -T hen he said, "S ta nd ove r me and kill me, for a gidd iness has co me o n me, thou gh my life is who lly in me still" . - So I stood over him a nd killed him , beca use I k ncw t ha t o nce he fell he co uld no t su rvive. T he n I to ok th e crow n he wo re o n his head a nd th e bra celet on his ar m, a nd I ha ve br ought t hem her e to my lo rd .' Th e n Da vid took ho ld of his ga rme nts and tore the m, and a ll t he me n with him did t hc sa me.• T hey mourned a nd we pt a nd fas ted unt il t he eve ning for Sa ul a nd his son J o nath an , for the peo ple of Ya hweh a nd fo r t he Ho use of Israel, beca use t hey ha d fa llen by th e swor d . Da vid sa id to t he yo ung so ld ier who had bro ug ht t he news, 'W here a re yo u from ?' 'I a m the so n o f a reside nt a lien ,' he a nsw e red 'a n A ma lekite .' • D a vid sa id, ' Ho w is it yo u we re no t a fra id to lift yo u r hand to des t ro y Ya hwe h's a no inted ?' •T he n David ca lled o ne of his so ld ie rs. ' Co rn e here ,' he sa id ' str ike him dow n.' T he ma n struc k him a nd he d ied . · ' Your blood be on yo ur own head,' Da vid sa id" 'for yo ur own lips gave evidence against yo u when yo u sa id, " I ki lled Ya hweh ' s a no inted" . '

I S31:1-13 4: 12- 17 :

I S 30

2K 11:1 2

13:31 15 3 1: 13

1

IS9 :2h t - ; 24 :7 Lv

~I) :\)

J,IS 2. 1Y

David ' s eleg y over Sa ul a nd J ona tha n' 17 18

T he n Dav id mad e t his lament ove r Sa ul a nd his so n J o na tha n . · It is writte n in t he Book of t he J ust," so t ha t it ma y be ta ug ht to th e so ns of Judah . It runs:

19

A las, t he glo ry o f Isr ael has bee n sla in o n yo ur he igh ts! Ho w d id th e heroes fa ll?

20

Do no t spea k of it in Gat h, no r a nno unce it in th e st reets of Ashke lo n, o r the da ughte rs o f th e Philistines will rej o ice, t he dau ght er s of t he un cir cumcised will gloa t.

21 h . 't o wns ' co n] . i. T o re pay bospi talu v an d . sn tl m o re. (0 w i n f r ie nd s w ho wi ll p ut D a vid o n t he thro ne . 2 S 2:4 .

1

4: 10

Jo,1 0: 13+

:o.ti l : IO

a

mo unta ins of G ilboa , let t he re be no dewa r ra in o n yo u;

] a . A se co nd t ra d itio n o f Sau l' s death. T he na rra tive, 13- 16. b . D a vid a d d resses the dead m a n : th e man 's blood wh ic h fo llo ws imm e d ia tel y o n I S 3D, is itself co m posite . A cco rdin g 10 o ne for m o f the tradi t io n. a so ldier br in es w ill no r cr y fu r ven geance (o n Dav id) be cause h e h a s ne ws o f th e d e a th o f Saul a nd Jona th a n . a nd Da vid bee n juslly execu ted. d . I K 2:32. Co T he poe m is ce rt ai nly a u t he nt ic . Tex t co r r . in lam ent s w ith h is fo llo wer s , vv , 1-4 and 11- 12. In thc ot he r fo rm , a vo une A m al c kitc b o a sts o f tia vin}!: vv. 19 ,21. 24 . 25 . d . I n t h is ver se the words ha ve been re-o r der ed in k ille d S a u l a nd brin as the r ova l ins ig ni a. e xpe c tfn z a re wa rd ; D a vid or de rs his e xecu tion , vv . 5-10 a n d accorda nce w ith the sen se.

(I n

27:2R

.33: 13 Is 5:h

1) ,