{"id":59380,"date":"2019-07-14T17:41:55","date_gmt":"2019-07-14T14:41:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=59380"},"modified":"2023-02-05T16:20:59","modified_gmt":"2023-02-05T14:20:59","slug":"arrogance-blindness-and-churlishness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/arrogance-blindness-and-churlishness\/","title":{"rendered":"Arrogance, Blindness And Churlishness"},"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":[364,384,434],"acf":{"old_id":"59380","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":56118,"related_cahpter":"262","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"The greatness of David was his constant ability to recognize that his powers were ultimately not his own\u00a0","content":"

On their way to battle the Amalek, who had pillaged David\u2019s community of Ziklag while David and his men were on the battlefield, 200 of David\u2019s 600 men are too weary to cross the Besor River. David and the other 400 go on to win the battle against the Amalekites, declaring the spoils their own. A number of the 400 men argue, with apparent cogency, that only they should receive a share in the spoils of war, not the 200 who remained behind. After all, they reason, only those who risked their lives should receive a share in the booty. What is more, we might add, if the loot following a battle goes equally to those who stay back and \u201cguard the vessels\u201d and those who fight on the battlefield, that might disincentivize future soldiers from placing their lives on the line.<\/span><\/p>\n

Yet King David fiercely opposes this proposal, insisting that all the soldiers divide the loot equally, and the text goes so far as to refer to those who make the suggestion as \u201cmean and churlish fellows\u201d (v. 22).<\/span><\/p>\n

What is the basis for David\u2019s opposition to their seemingly reasonable proposal? He explains that the 400 men\u2019s recommendation is rooted in a fundamentally erroneous assumption: it is not the men themselves who are responsible for the victory, but \u201cthe Lord [who] has granted us, guarding us and delivering into our hands the band that attacked us.\u201d On this view, it is equally the men who fought, and those who stood guard, who partnered with God in bringing about the victory.<\/span><\/p>\n

The classical commentator R. David Kimhi sharpens the point. Remarkably, not a single Israelite died in battle, and the verses suggest that all but 400 young Amalekites were killed. We may deduce that not only did every Israelite soldier survive, but they were massively outnumbered: compare the 400 soldiers who totaled David\u2019s entire force, with the 400 who are described as a mere fraction of the Amalekite soldiers who had fought in the battle. Accordingly, the soldiers had every opportunity to recognize the hand of God in their victory, yet they failed in precisely this regard. It is for this intentional spiritual blindness – and perhaps arrogance – that David dismisses these men as \u201cmean and churlish.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The greatness of David was his constant ability to recognize that his powers were ultimately not his own, but came from God. His charge as a leader is to model that recognition for others – and, ultimately, for us, devoted students of the biblical text.<\/span><\/p>\n

Gerard van Honthorst: King David (detail), 1622 \/ Wikimedia commons<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":59393,"id":59393,"title":"isam30-Gerard_van_Honthorst_-_King_David","filename":"isam30-Gerard_van_Honthorst_-_King_David.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/isam30-Gerard_van_Honthorst_-_King_David.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/arrogance-blindness-and-churlishness\/isam30-gerard_van_honthorst_-_king_david\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"isam30-gerard_van_honthorst_-_king_david","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":59380,"date":"2019-07-14 14:41:45","modified":"2021-11-29 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