{"id":59049,"date":"2019-07-08T21:06:36","date_gmt":"2019-07-08T18:06:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=59049"},"modified":"2023-01-30T17:58:57","modified_gmt":"2023-01-30T15:58:57","slug":"better-not-kill-saul","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/better-not-kill-saul\/","title":{"rendered":"Better (Not) Kill Saul\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Had we not known better, we might think that Saul\u2019s deranged pursuit of David has finally come to an end.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

David again has the ability to kill King Saul, and again he decides against it, declaring that he \u201cwould not raise a hand against the Lord\u2019s anointed\u201d (v. 23). Instead, he calls out to Avner, Saul\u2019s commander-in-chief, accusing the general of having failed in his duty to protect the king. Saul hears David\u2019s voice, and is overcome with emotion. David pleads with the king to stop pursuing him: Why does my lord continue to pursue his servant? What have I done, and what wrong am I guilty of?\u201d (v. 18) Saul is finally convinced, and declares with conviction, \u201cI am in the wrong. Come back, my son David, for I will never harm you again, seeing how you have held my life precious this day. Yes, I have been a fool, and I have erred so very much\u201d (v. 21). The chapter concludes, \u201cDavid then went his way, and Saul returned home\u201d (v. 25). Even if it is not quite a storybook ending, it seems that the conflict has been resolved.<\/span><\/p>\n

Yet the following chapter opens with David fleeing for his life yet again, this time into the land of the Philistines, beyond the borders of Israel. What happened? Is Saul condemned to pursue David to the death? Is he monomaniacal, Captain Ahab to David the hunted prey? God\u2019s spirit has been removed from Saul; perhaps he is destined against his will to sheer insanity.<\/span><\/p>\n

A partial answer may reveal itself in our chapter\u2019s final verse, which strikingly parallels a passage in the book of Genesis. After Abraham unsuccessfully pleads with God not to destroy Sodom and its surrounding cities, the Torah states, \u201cWhen the Lord had finished speaking to Abraham, He departed; and Abraham returned to his place\u201d (Gen. 18:33). The language is almost identical to our verse, in which David goes on his way, and Saul returns to his place.<\/span><\/p>\n

The implication of the verse in Genesis is that Abraham, having exhausted all his options and failed to sway God\u2019s mind, ultimately retreats. Extending the analogy to Saul, the implication is that when the text writes that \u201cSaul returned to his place,\u201d it is not a mere geographical description, but a psychological one. Saul genuinely desired to be swayed by David\u2019s moving words, but he failed, remaining irrationally implacable. Try as he might, Saul was unable to overcome the jealousy-driven impulse toward violence.<\/span><\/p>\n

As opposed to David, who feigns madness (chap. 21), Saul is the true madman. Yet this does not mean that he bears no responsibility. By having sinned against God and forfeited the kingdom, he not only gave up his royal position but also inverted his relationship with God. No longer endowed by a healthy, divine spirit, he is overtaken by a spirit of madness. However moving the words of David, Saul has sealed his own fate.<\/span><\/p>\n

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