{"id":58886,"date":"2019-07-07T07:15:14","date_gmt":"2019-07-07T04:15:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=58886"},"modified":"2023-01-29T15:14:15","modified_gmt":"2023-01-29T13:14:15","slug":"is-that-your-voice-my-son-david","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/is-that-your-voice-my-son-david\/","title":{"rendered":"Is That Your Voice, My Son David?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"entry-content\"><\/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":[473,834,394,428,386,885],"acf":{"old_id":"58886","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":34245,"related_cahpter":"256","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"David walks away, branded as a son by the king who seeks his death\u00a0","content":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cIs that your voice, my son David?\u201d asks Saul, and his question is an open hand, an invitation to connect. He doesn\u2019t dismiss David as an enemy, he doesn\u2019t treat him like a rebel. He calls him \u2018<em>beni<\/em>\u2019, my son. He invites him to say \u2018yes, it is my voice,\u2019 and thus accept this designation.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But how can David answer in the affirmative, when Saul\u2019s \u2018<em>beni<\/em>\u2019 could mean so many different things? The word \u2018<em>beni<\/em>\u2019 might express an emotional truth, or simply refer to David\u2019s status as Saul\u2019s son-in-law. It might even mean nothing more than an impulse of the moment, a knee-jerk response to David\u2019s usage of \u2018<em>avi<\/em>\u2019, \u2018my father\u2019, in his address. Furthermore: can David access the meaning of Saul\u2019s \u2018<em>beni<\/em>\u2019, when his experiences of being a son are vastly different than Saul\u2019s?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Our first glimpse of Saul focused on his connection to his father: \u201cThere was a man of Benjamin whose name was Kish son of Abiel\u2026 a man of substance.<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">He had a son whose name was Saul, an excellent young man\u201d (9:1-2). Kish set Saul on his path to greatness by sending him to seek lost asses, and worried when his son failed to return. We never see David\u2019s father expressing similar emotions; in fact, \u201cour first glimpse of David is his absence\u201d from his father\u2019s house and mind (David Wolpe, David: The Divided Heart, p.1 ). Jesse didn\u2019t include David in his meeting with Samuel, didn\u2019t reveal his youngest son\u2019s existence until the prophet asked him if he had more sons, and didn\u2019t summon him until Samuel explicitly demanded to meet this absent boy. Throughout this exchange, Jesse never mentioned his youngest son by name. Before we know anything about David himself, before we even know his name ,we know that his father kept him at a distance.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Whatever Saul meant by saying \u2018<em>beni<\/em>\u2019 would have been influenced by his own experiences. But whatever David might have heard within this word would have been shaped by his own. How can he answer in the affirmative, when he can\u2019t access the world of associations and meanings that shapes this word on Saul\u2019s lips? How can he accept this open hand, and build a bridge across uncrossable divides?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Saul\u2019s question remains unanswered, and the word \u2018<em>beni<\/em>\u2019 echoes over the deep divides it cannot bridge. One day, David will cry this word when he himself will battle a beloved rebel. For now, he walks away, branded as a son by the king who seeks his death.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Image: J<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">ames J. Tissot, &#8216;David and Saul in the Cave&#8217; (1896-1902), The Jewish Museum \/ wikimedia<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":58887,"id":58887,"title":"isam24-tissot-david-and-saul-in-the-cave","filename":"isam24-tissot-david-and-saul-in-the-cave.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/isam24-tissot-david-and-saul-in-the-cave.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/is-that-your-voice-my-son-david\/isam24-tissot-david-and-saul-in-the-cave\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"isam24-tissot-david-and-saul-in-the-cave","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":58886,"date":"2019-07-07 04:15:01","modified":"2019-07-07 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