Tuesday, April 13, 2004
2 Samuel 5 - Listening More Deeply
In Chapter 5 David conquers Zion, settles the city of David in Jerusalem, and clears the Philistines out of the center of Israel. There is remarkably little said about the campaign to conquer Jerusalem except for an obscure and confusing exchange about the "lame and the blind". The Jebusites who held Jerusalem, taunted David saying:
2 Samuel 5:6 "You will not come in here, even the blind and the lame will turn you back"-- thinking, "David cannot come in here."
And David responded in kind:
2 Samuel 5:8 "Whoever would strike down the Jebusites, let him get up the water shaft to attack the lame and the blind, those whom David hates." Therefore it is said, "The blind and the lame shall not come into the house."
This statement of David’s sounds hateful. It is in line with the biblical tradition did not hold the blind and lame in regard: for instance, they are listed among the descendant of Aaron considered to be too blemished to serve as a priest (Lev.21:18) . So an superficial reading of this passage would attribute to David a common prejudice against people with disabilities.
Almost certainly, however, the exchange between the Jebusites and David had nothing whatsoever to do with actual people with disabilities. The Jebusites were boasting about the impregnable nature of their stronghold on Mt. Zion. David was boasting that his scheme of attacking through the water shaft would overcome the enemy. He sarcastically called them "blind and lame" to taunt his taunters.
Nevertheless, it is interesting that the LXX wants to repair David's reputation and it reads that it is the 'lame and blind' that hate David (not that David hated them). The NIV and NAB follow the LXX in this reading.
They are vindicated in this in 2 Sam. 9, where we read that David goes out of his way to care for Jonathan’s crippled son, and even has him eat at the king’s table. Isn’t it remarkable that Jesus, "the son of David" fulfills David's righteous actions, when he heals the blind and lame and urges his followers to include them in the celebration of the kingdom:
Luke 14:13 But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind.14 And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous."
In the case of the blind and lame, we had to listen beyond David’s words to find his heart. The Chapter concludes with an interesting account of David having to listen with similar care to the word of God.
The Philistines had “spread out” in the valley of Rephaim, which is territory to the north of Jerusalem. This cut off Judah from the rest of Israel. In following God’s instructions, David succeeds in pushing the Philistines back toward the sea north of Gaza, so that the kingdom is reunited.
The account is interesting because on both occasions David inquires of the Lord as to whether he should go out against the Philistines. On the first occasion, God answered: "Go up; for I will certainly give the Philisitines into your hand." (5:9) So, he fights and has a great victory.
On the second occasion, God’s instructions start out opposite:
2 Samuel 5:23-25 When David inquired of the LORD, he said, "You shall not go up; ....
But God continues....
go around to their rear, and come upon them opposite the balsam trees. 24 When you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the balsam trees, then be on the alert; for then the LORD has gone out before you to strike down the army of the Philistines."
If David had assumed that God’s instructions would be the same on the second occasion as on the first, he would have failed. Likewise if he had stopped listening when God said, “You shall not go up” and had given up, David would have failed. By listening more carefully to the living word of God, David learned that the battle is not always to be headlong, and obedience sometimes requires us to approach the enemy from a totally different direction before. It is sometimes said that craziness is defined by trying to do the same thing and expecting a different result. In this case, David had to learn that he couldn’t repeat his success in the same way. He had to learn to wait and listen and to discern when God is ready to move, because to have acted before God was acting would have been to invite disaster.
2 Samuel 5:6 "You will not come in here, even the blind and the lame will turn you back"-- thinking, "David cannot come in here."
And David responded in kind:
2 Samuel 5:8 "Whoever would strike down the Jebusites, let him get up the water shaft to attack the lame and the blind, those whom David hates." Therefore it is said, "The blind and the lame shall not come into the house."
This statement of David’s sounds hateful. It is in line with the biblical tradition did not hold the blind and lame in regard: for instance, they are listed among the descendant of Aaron considered to be too blemished to serve as a priest (Lev.21:18) . So an superficial reading of this passage would attribute to David a common prejudice against people with disabilities.
Almost certainly, however, the exchange between the Jebusites and David had nothing whatsoever to do with actual people with disabilities. The Jebusites were boasting about the impregnable nature of their stronghold on Mt. Zion. David was boasting that his scheme of attacking through the water shaft would overcome the enemy. He sarcastically called them "blind and lame" to taunt his taunters.
Nevertheless, it is interesting that the LXX wants to repair David's reputation and it reads that it is the 'lame and blind' that hate David (not that David hated them). The NIV and NAB follow the LXX in this reading.
They are vindicated in this in 2 Sam. 9, where we read that David goes out of his way to care for Jonathan’s crippled son, and even has him eat at the king’s table. Isn’t it remarkable that Jesus, "the son of David" fulfills David's righteous actions, when he heals the blind and lame and urges his followers to include them in the celebration of the kingdom:
Luke 14:13 But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind.14 And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous."
In the case of the blind and lame, we had to listen beyond David’s words to find his heart. The Chapter concludes with an interesting account of David having to listen with similar care to the word of God.
The Philistines had “spread out” in the valley of Rephaim, which is territory to the north of Jerusalem. This cut off Judah from the rest of Israel. In following God’s instructions, David succeeds in pushing the Philistines back toward the sea north of Gaza, so that the kingdom is reunited.
The account is interesting because on both occasions David inquires of the Lord as to whether he should go out against the Philistines. On the first occasion, God answered: "Go up; for I will certainly give the Philisitines into your hand." (5:9) So, he fights and has a great victory.
On the second occasion, God’s instructions start out opposite:
2 Samuel 5:23-25 When David inquired of the LORD, he said, "You shall not go up; ....
But God continues....
go around to their rear, and come upon them opposite the balsam trees. 24 When you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the balsam trees, then be on the alert; for then the LORD has gone out before you to strike down the army of the Philistines."
If David had assumed that God’s instructions would be the same on the second occasion as on the first, he would have failed. Likewise if he had stopped listening when God said, “You shall not go up” and had given up, David would have failed. By listening more carefully to the living word of God, David learned that the battle is not always to be headlong, and obedience sometimes requires us to approach the enemy from a totally different direction before. It is sometimes said that craziness is defined by trying to do the same thing and expecting a different result. In this case, David had to learn that he couldn’t repeat his success in the same way. He had to learn to wait and listen and to discern when God is ready to move, because to have acted before God was acting would have been to invite disaster.
Sunday, April 11, 2004
2 Samuel 2-5:4 - Civil War
These chapters take us through David's reign over Judah in Hebron; from:
2 Samuel 2:4 Then the people of Judah came, and there they anointed David king over the house of Judah.
to:
2 Samuel 5:3 So all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron; and King David made a covenant with them at Hebron before the LORD, and they anointed David king over Israel.
The tale is structured in the “chiastic” form of classic biblical narrative. Chapters 2 and 3 surround the key verse:
2 Samuel 3:1 There was a long war between the house of Saul and the house of David; David grew stronger and stronger, while the house of Saul became weaker and weaker.
On either side of this verse is story of the feud between the houses (families) of Saul and David. Then, surrounding that story, chapters 1 and 4 relate the death of, first, Saul and then his son, Ishbaal. Those intertwining stories, make up the account of the civil war.
This history is not particularly edifying, war being war. Early on, the two army commanders Abner (Saul's cousin) and Joab (David's nephew) seek to resolve the war by a combat of twenty-four champions, twelve to a side:
2 Samuel 2:16 Each grasped his opponent by the head, and thrust his sword in his opponent's side; so they fell down together.
That didn't resolve anything, so the two sides went to open warfare. In the course of that fighting, Abner was relentlessly pursued by Joab's brother Asahel, and Abner killed him. Joab, later, had is revenge on Abner, killing him when Abner had come to Hebron on a mission to make peace and unite the kingdoms under David. When he learned of this act of treachery, David was appalled. To make clear that he had nothing to do with the assassination of Abner, he required his army (including Joab) to mourn before Abner's body. He fasted the day through, saying:
TNK 2 Samuel 3:39 And today I am weak, even though anointed king; those men, the sons of Zeruiah, are too savage for me. May the LORD requite the wicked for their wickedness!"
Joab and Asahel were David’s nephews, the sons of his (half?) sister Zeruiah. This renunciation of his nephews' savagery speaks well of David.
Surrounding this story of Joab and Abners is the story in Chapter 4, concerned with the death of Saul's son Ishbaal, and in Chapter 1, concerned with the death of Saul. Recall that in Chapter 1, a man had come to David to boast of having killed Saul. Likewise, in Chapter 4, seeking to curry favor with David, two of Abner's lieutenants come to David to boast of assassinating Ishbaal:
2 Samuel 4:7 Now they had come into the house while he was lying on his couch in his bedchamber; they attacked him, killed him, and beheaded him. Then they took his head and traveled by way of the Arabah all night long. 8 They brought the head of Ishbaal to David at Hebron . . .
David reacted the same way to them that he had in Chapter 1 to the man who had killed King Saul:
2 Samuel 4:11 How much more then, when wicked men have killed a righteous man on his bed in his own house! And now shall I not require his blood at your hand, and destroy you from the earth?" 12 So David commanded the young men, and they killed them; they cut off their hands and feet, and hung their bodies beside the pool at Hebron.
After this, "all the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron" (2 Samuel 5:1) and anointed David king, saying:
2 Samuel 5:1 "Look, we are your bone and flesh. 2 For some time, while Saul was king over us, it was you who led out Israel and brought it in. The LORD said to you: It is you who shall be shepherd of my people Israel, you who shall be ruler over Israel."
The civil war was brutal. It is hardly an edifying story: God does not appear in the narrative, and there is no moral lesson to be learned. The one attribute of David that is worth noting through all this history is that he never lifts his hand against the king of Israel. If he was to be exalted king, as Samuel had promised, it had to be the work of God, not the work of his own will.
2 Samuel 2:4 Then the people of Judah came, and there they anointed David king over the house of Judah.
to:
2 Samuel 5:3 So all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron; and King David made a covenant with them at Hebron before the LORD, and they anointed David king over Israel.
The tale is structured in the “chiastic” form of classic biblical narrative. Chapters 2 and 3 surround the key verse:
2 Samuel 3:1 There was a long war between the house of Saul and the house of David; David grew stronger and stronger, while the house of Saul became weaker and weaker.
On either side of this verse is story of the feud between the houses (families) of Saul and David. Then, surrounding that story, chapters 1 and 4 relate the death of, first, Saul and then his son, Ishbaal. Those intertwining stories, make up the account of the civil war.
This history is not particularly edifying, war being war. Early on, the two army commanders Abner (Saul's cousin) and Joab (David's nephew) seek to resolve the war by a combat of twenty-four champions, twelve to a side:
2 Samuel 2:16 Each grasped his opponent by the head, and thrust his sword in his opponent's side; so they fell down together.
That didn't resolve anything, so the two sides went to open warfare. In the course of that fighting, Abner was relentlessly pursued by Joab's brother Asahel, and Abner killed him. Joab, later, had is revenge on Abner, killing him when Abner had come to Hebron on a mission to make peace and unite the kingdoms under David. When he learned of this act of treachery, David was appalled. To make clear that he had nothing to do with the assassination of Abner, he required his army (including Joab) to mourn before Abner's body. He fasted the day through, saying:
TNK 2 Samuel 3:39 And today I am weak, even though anointed king; those men, the sons of Zeruiah, are too savage for me. May the LORD requite the wicked for their wickedness!"
Joab and Asahel were David’s nephews, the sons of his (half?) sister Zeruiah. This renunciation of his nephews' savagery speaks well of David.
Surrounding this story of Joab and Abners is the story in Chapter 4, concerned with the death of Saul's son Ishbaal, and in Chapter 1, concerned with the death of Saul. Recall that in Chapter 1, a man had come to David to boast of having killed Saul. Likewise, in Chapter 4, seeking to curry favor with David, two of Abner's lieutenants come to David to boast of assassinating Ishbaal:
2 Samuel 4:7 Now they had come into the house while he was lying on his couch in his bedchamber; they attacked him, killed him, and beheaded him. Then they took his head and traveled by way of the Arabah all night long. 8 They brought the head of Ishbaal to David at Hebron . . .
David reacted the same way to them that he had in Chapter 1 to the man who had killed King Saul:
2 Samuel 4:11 How much more then, when wicked men have killed a righteous man on his bed in his own house! And now shall I not require his blood at your hand, and destroy you from the earth?" 12 So David commanded the young men, and they killed them; they cut off their hands and feet, and hung their bodies beside the pool at Hebron.
After this, "all the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron" (2 Samuel 5:1) and anointed David king, saying:
2 Samuel 5:1 "Look, we are your bone and flesh. 2 For some time, while Saul was king over us, it was you who led out Israel and brought it in. The LORD said to you: It is you who shall be shepherd of my people Israel, you who shall be ruler over Israel."
The civil war was brutal. It is hardly an edifying story: God does not appear in the narrative, and there is no moral lesson to be learned. The one attribute of David that is worth noting through all this history is that he never lifts his hand against the king of Israel. If he was to be exalted king, as Samuel had promised, it had to be the work of God, not the work of his own will.
