{"id":58104,"date":"2019-06-23T18:46:32","date_gmt":"2019-06-23T15:46:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=58104"},"modified":"2023-01-17T16:31:27","modified_gmt":"2023-01-17T14:31:27","slug":"david-i-and-david-ii","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/david-i-and-david-ii\/","title":{"rendered":"David I and David II"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[834,471,406],"acf":{"old_id":"58104","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":34243,"related_cahpter":"249","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"We picture him as a small, callow youth, but he was probably a strapping man already","content":"

While the one-on-one combat between David and Goliath\u2014featured in this chapter\u2014is known well-nigh universally, some of its lesser known features are well worth a second look.<\/span><\/p>\n

Let us begin with the inconsistency between David\u2019s introduction to Saul as a musician, reported in the previous chapter (16:18 ff.), and his appearance in this chapter as a prospective champion (31 ff.). After his victory, Saul turned to his Chief of Staff, Abner ben Ner, and asked \u201cWho is this young man\u2019s father?\u201d to which Abner replied: \u201cI honestly don\u2019t know\u201d (55), forcing Saul to ask David directly (58). While it is true that Saul was reported (in chapter 16) to undergo mood swings\u2014and we will see his attitude towards David changing as well\u2014how could he have failed to recognize his favorite lute player?<\/span><\/p>\n

Even more striking, perhaps, is the common misapprehension regarding David\u2019s age and physical stature at the time of his encounter with Goliath. Rather than a callow youth of relatively diminutive stature, there is textual evidence that he was above average height and in his late twenties. Let us go to the verses:<\/span><\/p>\n

And Saul clad David with his apparel, put a helmet of brass upon his head, and clad him with a coat of mail. And David girded his sword upon his apparel and tried (<\/span>vayo\u2019el<\/span><\/em>) to go [but could not], for he had not tried it (<\/span>ki lo nissah<\/span><\/em>). And David said to Saul: \u201cI cannot go with these, for I have not tried them.\u201d And David removed them. (38-39)<\/span><\/p>\n

Simply put, Saul tried to give David the advantage of a suit of armor, but David, who was not an experienced soldier, found that it restricted his movements, so he removed it. But it is not all that simple. Recall that Saul was \u201chead and shoulders above all the people\u201d (9:2), implying that if he thought David could wear his armor then David had to be of a comparable size. Recall, as well, that Saul reigned for only two years (13:1); since David was 30 years old when he ascended the throne (2 Samuel 5:4), he had to have been about 28 or 29 years old when he fought Goliath.<\/span><\/p>\n

Indeed, Radak rejected the simple reading of the text, \u201cfor I have not tried them,\u201d favoring \u201cfor it would be no miracle\u201d (<\/span>nissah=nes<\/span><\/em>), explaining that if David had fought while dressed and armed as a regular soldier, it would have diminished the miraculous nature of his victory.<\/span><\/p>\n

Image: Michelangelo, David, c. 1501\u20131504, Galleria dell’Accademia, Florence, Italy \/ wikipedia<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":58134,"id":58134,"title":"isam17-David_by_Michelangelo","filename":"isam17-David_by_Michelangelo.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam17-David_by_Michelangelo.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/david-i-and-david-ii\/isam17-david_by_michelangelo\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"isam17-david_by_michelangelo","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":58104,"date":"2019-06-23 15:46:17","modified":"2019-06-23 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