{"id":61074,"date":"2019-08-14T15:36:08","date_gmt":"2019-08-14T12:36:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=61074"},"modified":"2023-03-07T14:50:33","modified_gmt":"2023-03-07T12:50:33","slug":"davids-valedictory-a-poetic-analysis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/davids-valedictory-a-poetic-analysis\/","title":{"rendered":"David\u2019s Valedictory: A Poetic Analysis"},"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":[362,569],"acf":{"old_id":"61074","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":34243,"related_cahpter":"285","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"Key, rich Hebrew terms deepen our understanding of the stark imagery employed","content":"

Here, we have, in classic biblical poetic form, David\u2019s own retrospective on his forty-year reign, composed, as the opening verse indicates, \u201con the day that God had delivered him from the hands of Saul and all his [other] enemies.\u201d From a textual perspective, we should note that the poem repeats itself, essentially, in the form of Psalm 18. Indeed, well-known to many is the appearance of the final verse\u2014#51 in both texts\u2014in the Grace after Meals, wherein the alternation between two versions of M-G-D-L (<\/span>magdil<\/span>\/<\/span>migdol<\/span><\/em>) is assigned to weekdays versus Sabbaths and festivals.<\/span><\/p>\n

In previous texts (specifically Exodus 14-15, Judges 4-5), we have seen narrative accounts alongside poems and acknowledged that comparisons between the two would be productive. In the present case, however, a comparison would be constrained by the sheer size of the narrative that would have to be contrasted: the entire book we call 2 Samuel and a goodly portion of its predecessor, too, all of which fits the aforementioned qualification of deliverance from both Saul and other enemies. That said, we can still focus on particular aspects of it.<\/span><\/p>\n

I would like to look at verses 5-6, following the old (1916) Jewish Publication Society translation:<\/span><\/p>\n

For the waves of Death compassed me. The floods of Belial assailed me.
\n<\/span>The cords of Sheol surrounded me. The snares of Death confronted me.<\/span><\/p>\n

In condensed paraphrase, David was saying: \u201cI was in mortal danger,\u201d comparing the threats to his life, first, to being engulfed by water and, second, to being ensnared in a trap. Reading it somewhat more closely, however, makes several finer distinctions possible.<\/span><\/p>\n