{"id":58019,"date":"2018-07-09T17:43:28","date_gmt":"2018-07-09T14:43:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wall\/wall-250\/"},"modified":"2023-01-19T07:31:00","modified_gmt":"2023-01-19T05:31:00","slug":"wall-250","status":"publish","type":"wall","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wall\/wall-250\/","title":{"rendered":"chapter-Prophets-I Samuel-18"},"parent":0,"template":"","acf":{"type":"chapter","wall_id":"250","date":"20260813","book":"I Samuel","chapter":"18","chapter_main_number":"250","books_group":"Prophets","hide_acf":true,"home_image":false,"home_posts":false,"home_posts_title":"","posts_home":[],"posts":[{"order":1,"id":"57840","color":"#f8ebe3","size":"1","name":"I Samuel Chapter 18 - Read by Jonathan Roumie ","post_title":"I Samuel Chapter 18 - Read by Jonathan Roumie","slug":"i-samuel-chapter-18-read-by-jonathan-roumie","old_id":"57840","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":34686,"post_title":"Soundcloud","slug":"soundcloud","old_id":"34686","first_name":"","last_name":"","description":"","short_description":"","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":34656,"alt":"","title":"491","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","width":300,"height":300,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","medium_large-width":300,"medium_large-height":300,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","large-width":300,"large-height":300,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","1536x1536-width":300,"1536x1536-height":300,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","2048x2048-width":300,"2048x2048-height":300,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","post_full_size-width":300,"post_full_size-height":300,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","home_baner-width":300,"home_baner-height":300}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"250","type_929":"4","show_author_image":true,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"","post_main_content_content":"","post_main_content_image":"","post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"JPS Audio Bible","tile_main_caption":"I Samuel 18","tile_main_caption_size":"2","tile_sub_caption":"read by Jonathan Roumie","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":"","tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/929-bible\/JPS_Audio_Bible_I_Samuel_Chapter_18_read_by_Jonathan_Roumie","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","links":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"I Samuel","chapter":"18","chapter_main_number":"250","date":"20260813","wall_id":"250"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":2,"id":"111880","color":"#f6edf6","size":"1","name":"The Crumbling Of The Kingship ","post_title":"The Crumbling Of The Kingship","slug":"the-crumbling-of-the-kingship","old_id":"111880","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":78133,"post_title":"Josh Blechner","slug":"josh-blechner","old_id":"78133","first_name":"Josh ","last_name":"Blechner ","description":"Josh first finished the Tanach during Yeshiva in Mevaseret Zion. 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After the excitement of chapter 17, things begin to shift for Saul and David. What changed for Saul? The chapter begins with three reasons:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

1) Jonathan and David. The chapter begins with Jonathan professing his love for David. As a symbol for this elevated relationship, Jonathan gives David his cloak: \u201cJonathan took off the cloak and tunic he was wearing and gave them to David, together with his sword, bow, and belt\u201d (verse 4). Earlier in chapter 15, Saul ripped Samuel\u2019s cloak after Samuel decreed that Saul would no longer be king. The cloak is symbolic of the kingship, and Jonathan presenting David with the cloak of the next in line is equally symbolic. Jonathan\u2019s loyalty to David over his father certainly irked him.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

2) The Women of Israel. Saul places David in charge of a division of the army. Not surprisingly, David is extremely successful. When David and Saul would return from battle, the woman would sing victory songs: \u201cSaul has slain his thousands; David, his tens of thousands!\u201d (verse 7). This time, the text reveals that Saul was \u201cgreatly distressed and vexed\u201d and that \u201cfrom that day on Saul kept a jealous eye on David\u201d (verse 9). Saul was at the tipping point, but it took divine intervention to push him over the edge.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

3) God. In Exodus, God wanted to teach Pharaoh a lesson, so he hardened Pharaoh's heart. God intervenes here as well. \u201cThe next day an evil spirit of God gripped Saul and he began to <\/span>nabeh<\/em> <\/span>in the house\u2026\u201d (verse 10). The Hebrew word <\/span>nabeh<\/em> <\/span>is a little uncertain. The literal translation is that he prophesied, but some comment that he began to rave wildly. Rashi explains that a madman and a prophet often can sound the same. The use of the word serves a dual purpose. The first is to emphasize that Saul\u2019s reaction was from God. The second, perhaps, references how Saul responded after Samuel anointed him. Saul returned home, but on the way encountered a group of prophets. \u201cThereupon the spirit of God gripped him, and he spoke in ecstasy among them\u201d (10:10).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Saul started his career with God, who tapped him into the divine spirit. He was a changed man. Now, God reverses His effect, and Saul switches over from the ramblings of a prophet to the ramblings of a madman.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

So why does the text use these three reasons? Each of them shows a stage in the progressive crumbling of the pillars of Saul\u2019s kingship. The first is the loss of his family, with Jonathan defecting to David. The second is the loss of the people, with the women chanting for David. 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Mixed-media work by Michal Nachmany, courtesy of the artist<\/p>\r\n

Michal dedicates her work in memory to her father Shamai Zweigreich z\u201dl \u00a0and her grandfather \u00a0Yisrael Zweigreich z\u201dl, who loved studying Bible and Talmud.<\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":58223,"alt":"","title":"isam18","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam18.jpg","width":782,"height":1024,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam18-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam18-229x300.jpg","medium-width":229,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam18-768x1006.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":1006,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam18-782x1024.jpg","large-width":782,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam18.jpg","1536x1536-width":782,"1536x1536-height":1024,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam18.jpg","2048x2048-width":782,"2048x2048-height":1024,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam18.jpg","post_full_size-width":782,"post_full_size-height":1024,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam18-321x420.jpg","home_baner-width":321,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"I Sam 18:20","tile_main_caption":"Michal Saul\u2019s Daughter","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"And Michal Saul\u2019s daughter loved David","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":58223,"alt":"","title":"isam18","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam18.jpg","width":782,"height":1024,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam18-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam18-229x300.jpg","medium-width":229,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam18-768x1006.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":1006,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam18-782x1024.jpg","large-width":782,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam18.jpg","1536x1536-width":782,"1536x1536-height":1024,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam18.jpg","2048x2048-width":782,"2048x2048-height":1024,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam18.jpg","post_full_size-width":782,"post_full_size-height":1024,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam18-321x420.jpg","home_baner-width":321,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"I Samuel","chapter":"18","chapter_main_number":"250","date":"20260813","wall_id":"250"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"369","name":"Visual Arts","old_id":"769"}]},{"order":4,"id":"58271","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Alone Like Saul ","post_title":"Alone Like Saul","slug":"alone-like-saul","old_id":"58271","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":36149,"post_title":"Shai Secunda","slug":"shai-secunda","old_id":"36149","first_name":"Shai ","last_name":"Secunda","description":"Shai Secunda occupies the Jacob Neusner chair in Judaism at Bard College, where he directs the Interdisciplinary Study of Religions program. 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","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":36150,"alt":"","title":"Shai Secunda","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Shai-Secunda-e1532842797599.jpg","width":1202,"height":1287,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Shai-Secunda-e1532842797599-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Shai-Secunda-e1532842797599-280x300.jpg","medium-width":280,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Shai-Secunda-e1532842797599-768x822.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":822,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Shai-Secunda-e1532842797599-956x1024.jpg","large-width":956,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Shai-Secunda-e1532842797599.jpg","1536x1536-width":1202,"1536x1536-height":1287,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Shai-Secunda-e1532842797599.jpg","2048x2048-width":1202,"2048x2048-height":1287,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Shai-Secunda-e1532842797599-1121x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":1121,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Shai-Secunda-e1532842797599-392x420.jpg","home_baner-width":392,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"250","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"As much as King Saul\u2019s animosity is directed at David, it is really an internal battle, against his own demons","post_main_content_content":"

1 Samuel 18 begins the ten-chapter-long saga of King Saul and his relentless pursuit of David. The account is animated by the strongest of human emotions \u2013 jealousy and deep, deep depression \u2013 and portrays the great clash between David and Saul as one between a future king, with his star on the rise, and a disappointing monarch, whose star is setting.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The two main characters could not be painted in more different light. Saul hatches a murderous plan to get David killed at the hand of the Philistine enemy, and he later tries to kill him himself, when the king is overcome by an evil spirit. David, on the other hand, is kind and obedient, almost to a fault. He does not bask in the praises he receives from fawning women, nor does he complain when Saul tries to kill him.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Then an evil spirit of the LORD came upon Saul while he was sitting in his house with his spear in his hand, and David was playing [the lyre]. Saul tried to pin David to the wall with the spear, but he eluded Saul, so that he drove the spear into the wall. David fled and got away (19:10-11).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

It seems clear that the author of the text wants us to take sides in the conflict, to be sympathetic towards David, and critical of Saul.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Yet, the late Israeli poet Yehuda Amichai, in his <\/span>\u201cOpen Closed Open\u201d<\/span><\/a>, takes the unusual step of removing David from the picture, and collapsing the different artifacts of violence into a single subject:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Sometimes I am alone like King Saul.<\/span>
\r\n<\/span> I need to play the music for myself and to throw the javelin by myself<\/span>
\r\n<\/span> and to dodge the javelin. And I am also the wall<\/span>
\r\n<\/span> in which the thrusted javelin quivers (\u201cOpen Closed Open; The Bible and You,\u201d 17).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In this imaginative reading, Amichai challenges us to think of the story as an internal, rather than external, conflict. In this way, one can appreciate how, as much as King Saul\u2019s animosity is directed at David, it is really an internal battle, against his own demons. When Saul thrusts his javelin at the wall, he is only hurting himself.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Image: <\/span>Saul and David by Rembrandt (detail), Mauritshuis Museum, c. 1660 \/ wikimedia<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":58272,"alt":"","title":"isam18-rembrandt","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam18-rembrandt.jpg","width":551,"height":639,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam18-rembrandt-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam18-rembrandt-259x300.jpg","medium-width":259,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam18-rembrandt.jpg","medium_large-width":551,"medium_large-height":639,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam18-rembrandt.jpg","large-width":551,"large-height":639,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam18-rembrandt.jpg","1536x1536-width":551,"1536x1536-height":639,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam18-rembrandt.jpg","2048x2048-width":551,"2048x2048-height":639,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam18-rembrandt.jpg","post_full_size-width":551,"post_full_size-height":639,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam18-rembrandt-362x420.jpg","home_baner-width":362,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"Alone Like Saul","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"As much as King Saul\u2019s animosity is directed at David, it is really an internal battle, against his own demons","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":58272,"alt":"","title":"isam18-rembrandt","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam18-rembrandt.jpg","width":551,"height":639,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam18-rembrandt-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam18-rembrandt-259x300.jpg","medium-width":259,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam18-rembrandt.jpg","medium_large-width":551,"medium_large-height":639,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam18-rembrandt.jpg","large-width":551,"large-height":639,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam18-rembrandt.jpg","1536x1536-width":551,"1536x1536-height":639,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam18-rembrandt.jpg","2048x2048-width":551,"2048x2048-height":639,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam18-rembrandt.jpg","post_full_size-width":551,"post_full_size-height":639,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam18-rembrandt-362x420.jpg","home_baner-width":362,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"I Samuel","chapter":"18","chapter_main_number":"250","date":"20260813","wall_id":"250"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"362","name":"Poetry","old_id":"762"},{"term_id":"834","name":"David","old_id":"1234"},{"term_id":"877","name":"Amichai","old_id":"1277"},{"term_id":"885","name":"Saul","old_id":"1285"}]},{"order":5,"id":"58054","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Saul\u2019s Moral Depravity ","post_title":"Saul\u2019s Moral Depravity","slug":"sauls-moral-depravity","old_id":"58054","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":56443,"post_title":"Moshe Halbertal","slug":"moshe-halbertal","old_id":"56443","first_name":"Moshe ","last_name":"Halbertal ","description":"Prof. Moshe Halbertal is a professor of Jewish thought and philosophy at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and a professor of law at New York University (NYU) and the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya. 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","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":56444,"alt":"","title":"Moshe-Halbertal","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Moshe-Halbertal.png","width":500,"height":500,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Moshe-Halbertal-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Moshe-Halbertal-300x300.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Moshe-Halbertal.png","medium_large-width":500,"medium_large-height":500,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Moshe-Halbertal.png","large-width":500,"large-height":500,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Moshe-Halbertal.png","1536x1536-width":500,"1536x1536-height":500,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Moshe-Halbertal.png","2048x2048-width":500,"2048x2048-height":500,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Moshe-Halbertal.png","post_full_size-width":500,"post_full_size-height":500,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Moshe-Halbertal-420x420.png","home_baner-width":420,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"250","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Ruthlessly using his daughter as lure to get the man she loved killed","post_main_content_content":"

In the plan that Saul devised, Michal\u2019s uncalculating love became bait to lure her beloved into his death. Saul, we are told, was pleased to hear of his daughter\u2019s love for David, though he was not happy in a way we would expect a father uninvolved in a lethal contest for power to be. Instead, he convinced her to use her inscripted love in a plot to eliminate his rival to the throne...The narrative emphasizes Michal\u2019s intensely vulnerable condition by its unprecedented ascription of love of a woman for a man. That his daughter would be devastated if his scheme succeeded didn\u2019t enter Saul\u2019s calculus in any way... <\/span><\/p>\r\n

The plot might possibly have succeeded. This is because Saul, who by now understands the workings of ambition and lust for power, was certain that David, too, would not hesitate to use Michal\u2019s love as an instrument to serve ends of his own. And this assumption proved correct. Here, too, as in the rest of the narrative, David\u2019s inner life, as Robert Alter pointed out, is meticulously kept opaque.<\/span> While detailing how everyone was enamoured of David, the narrator avoids mentioning anything about David\u2019s own feelings. Jonatahan loved him deeply. But did David love Jonatahan? Did he love Michal? We don\u2019t know. Opaqueness is intrinsic to the mystique of charisma\u2026 <\/span><\/p>\r\n

They both wished to use Michal, although David aimed to use her to forge a political alliance, while Saul schemed to use her to murder the man she loved.<\/span> While David\u2019s way of treating Michal instrumentally was typical for tradtional societies, Saul\u2019s way was morally depraved. As it turned out, in any case, David won this round, delivering twofold the requested hundred foreskins and obtaining thereby a legal connection to the king\u2019s household that would abet his unspoken ambition to succeed Saul on the throne.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In its essence, love is a noninstrumental relationship. The other whom you love is not solely a means to your end. You care for the other person for his or her own sake. Yet Saul\u2019s treatment of his daughter as an instrument in a plot to kill her beloved violated the protection that parental love is supposed to grant. Michal\u2019s story epitomizes the problem of instrumentalizing essential noninstrumental relations, since it concerns the way in which the quest for power corrupts its wielders and seekers to the point of debasing love itself. Uninhibited political instrumentalization, our author implies, spreads its poisonous reach into what should be the most secure fabric of human relations - the father's love for his children.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Excerpts from The Beginning of Politics: Power in the Biblical Book of Samuel<\/em>\u00a0\u2013 Moshe Halbertal and Stephen Holmes, Princeton University Press, 2017, pp.33-4. By permission of the author.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":56668,"alt":"","title":"halbertal-book 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His teaching and research focus on \u2018all things ancient Israel\u2019 \u2013 primarily language and literature, though also history and archaeology. His secondary interests include post-biblical Judaism, the Dead Sea Scrolls, and the medieval Hebrew manuscript tradition. Rendsburg\u2019s most recent book is How the Bible Is Written (Hendrickson, 2019), with particular attention to the use of language to create literature.\r\n\r\n","short_description":"Gary Rendsburg serves as the Blanche and Irving Laurie Professor of Jewish History in the Department of Jewish Studies at Rutgers University.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":56491,"alt":"","title":"Gary_A_Rendsburg","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Gary_A_Rendsburg.jpg","width":220,"height":314,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Gary_A_Rendsburg-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Gary_A_Rendsburg-210x300.jpg","medium-width":210,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Gary_A_Rendsburg.jpg","medium_large-width":220,"medium_large-height":314,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Gary_A_Rendsburg.jpg","large-width":220,"large-height":314,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Gary_A_Rendsburg.jpg","1536x1536-width":220,"1536x1536-height":314,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Gary_A_Rendsburg.jpg","2048x2048-width":220,"2048x2048-height":314,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Gary_A_Rendsburg.jpg","post_full_size-width":220,"post_full_size-height":314,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Gary_A_Rendsburg.jpg","home_baner-width":220,"home_baner-height":314}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"250","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"The tales of David are part of Israel\u2019s epic literature, on a par with Homeric epic","post_main_content_content":"

I had the great honor and privilege of studying for five years (1975\u20121980) with Cyrus H. Gordon at New York University, under whose tutelage I received my Ph.D.\u00a0 Gordon (1908\u20122001) had the broadest horizons of any scholar of the Bible in the modern era; his expertise spanned all of the ancient Near East (Egypt, Ugarit, Mesopotamia, etc.) as well as the eastern Mediterranean (especially Homer).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Gordon\u2019s most lasting contribution is the interrelationship between the world of the Bible and the world of Homer. Today\u2019s chapter, 1 Samuel 18, provides a stellar example of such.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Several times in Homer\u2019s epics we read that a princess is to be won not by gifts nor by a great bridal price, but rather by an act of valor which the suitor must perform.\u00a0 Thus, for example, Neleus, king of Pylos, states that he will give his daughter Pero only to the man who would drive the cattle of Iphicles (brother of Heracles) from his realm (Odyssey 11.287-290).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Perhaps better known is the tragic story of Othryoneus, who sought to marry Cassandra, daughter of Priam, king of Troy. Homer writes, \u201cHe brought no gifts of wooing, but promised a mighty deed, that he would drive out the Achaeans from the land of Troy. To him the old man Priam promised that he would give her, and he bowed his head thereto, and Othryoneus fought, trusting in his promise\u201d (Iliad 13.366-370). Alas, noble Othryoneus was killed by Idomeneus, so that he never was able to marry the princess, but the point remains.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The ever wily Odysseus himself plays on this motif.\u00a0 At the home of his friend Eumaios the swineherd, Odysseus, disguised as a commoner, makes up an elaborate story in which he states, \u201cBut I took unto me a wife from a house that had wide possessions, winning her by my valor; for I was no weakling, nor a coward in fight\u201d (Odyssey 14.211-212).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

All of this serves as the background to how David married Michal, daughter of Saul.\u00a0 Actually, the story is more complicated, because at first Saul promised his older daughter Merab to David, if he would fight the Philistines, but he then gave Merab to another man (1 Sam 18:17-19). Furthermore, for Saul the entire affair was a ruse, because he hoped that David, who had grown in popularity, would be killed in battle by the Philistines.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

When such did not occur, Saul offered his younger daughter Michal to David, if he would kill one hundred Philistines, the proof of which would be David\u2019s bringing one hundred foreskins to Saul (since the Philistines alone were uncircumcised amongst the peoples of the region).\u00a0 To show his prowess, however, David actually killed two hundred Philistines and brought two hundred foreskins to Saul: imagine the scene!<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The main point here is that the tales of David are part of Israel\u2019s epic literature, on par with Homeric epic, but the motif is not known from elsewhere in the ancient Near East.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Image: red-figure vase, Vulci, c. 490-480 BCE, Boston Museum of Fine Arts<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":58267,"alt":"","title":"isam18-homer","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam18-homer.jpg","width":500,"height":330,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam18-homer-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam18-homer-300x198.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":198,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam18-homer.jpg","medium_large-width":500,"medium_large-height":330,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam18-homer.jpg","large-width":500,"large-height":330,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam18-homer.jpg","1536x1536-width":500,"1536x1536-height":330,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam18-homer.jpg","2048x2048-width":500,"2048x2048-height":330,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam18-homer.jpg","post_full_size-width":500,"post_full_size-height":330,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam18-homer.jpg","home_baner-width":500,"home_baner-height":330}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"David, Othryoneus and Odysseus","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"The tales of David are part of Israel\u2019s epic literature, on a par with Homeric epic","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":58267,"alt":"","title":"isam18-homer","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam18-homer.jpg","width":500,"height":330,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam18-homer-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam18-homer-300x198.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":198,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam18-homer.jpg","medium_large-width":500,"medium_large-height":330,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam18-homer.jpg","large-width":500,"large-height":330,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam18-homer.jpg","1536x1536-width":500,"1536x1536-height":330,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam18-homer.jpg","2048x2048-width":500,"2048x2048-height":330,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam18-homer.jpg","post_full_size-width":500,"post_full_size-height":330,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam18-homer.jpg","home_baner-width":500,"home_baner-height":330}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"I Samuel","chapter":"18","chapter_main_number":"250","date":"20260813","wall_id":"250"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"522","name":"Marriage","old_id":"922"},{"term_id":"834","name":"David","old_id":"1234"},{"term_id":"876","name":"Greek","old_id":"1276"}]},{"order":7,"id":"58227","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Beware of Poetic License ","post_title":"Beware Of Poetic License","slug":"beware-of-poetic-license","old_id":"58227","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":34243,"post_title":"Moshe Sokolow","slug":"moshe-sokolow","old_id":"34243","first_name":"Moshe","last_name":"Sokolow","description":"Dr. Moshe Sokolow is Associate Dean of the Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education and Administration, Yeshiva University, and teaches a weekly class in parashat hashavu`a at Lincoln Square Synagogue. 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David\u2019s defeat of Goliath and subsequent routing of the Philistines was lauded by the women of Israel in song, with lyrics such as \u201cSaul smote thousands, and David\u2014tens of thousands\u201d (7). Saul was greatly vexed and stated, \u201cThey have awarded David tens of thousands and me [only] thousands; next [they will award him] the kingdom\u201d (8). Was Saul, who was, after all, the king and entitled to some preferential treatment, justified in his jealousy?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Let us take a moment to review what we know about biblical poetry. Rather than being governed by such features as rhyme and meter\u2014although they do occasionally exist\u2014biblical poems are characterized by their use of parallelism: the employment of synonymous nouns and verbs in the two respective halves of a poetic measure. A classic illustration is Deut. 32:1: \u201cHarken heavens as I speak, listen earth to my words.\u201d While heaven and earth are clearly not identical, they serve as poetic synonyms all the same, each signifying everywhere.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Other such pairs include: tent and tabernacle (Numbers 24:5), evening and morning (Ps. 30:6), and, of course, thousands and tens of thousands. Tents and tabernacles both signify places of residence, evening and morning are moments in time, and thousands and tens of thousands mean many.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In other words, the singers\u2019 use these words was not prose, but poetry, and, as such, should not have been taken as literally as Saul clearly took it. Their intention may not have been to aggrandize David tenfold, but to accentuate the myriad accomplishments of both. It was only in Saul\u2019s manic state that he read into their song more than they may have intended.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":58261,"alt":"","title":"isam18-10000","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam18-10000.jpg","width":1280,"height":420,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam18-10000-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam18-10000-300x98.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":98,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam18-10000-768x252.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":252,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam18-10000-1024x336.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":336,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam18-10000.jpg","1536x1536-width":1280,"1536x1536-height":420,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam18-10000.jpg","2048x2048-width":1280,"2048x2048-height":420,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam18-10000-1200x394.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":394,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam18-10000-1280x420.jpg","home_baner-width":1280,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"Beware Of Poetic License","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"What\u2019s a few zeroes between rivals?","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":58261,"alt":"","title":"isam18-10000","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam18-10000.jpg","width":1280,"height":420,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam18-10000-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam18-10000-300x98.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":98,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam18-10000-768x252.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":252,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam18-10000-1024x336.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":336,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam18-10000.jpg","1536x1536-width":1280,"1536x1536-height":420,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam18-10000.jpg","2048x2048-width":1280,"2048x2048-height":420,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam18-10000-1200x394.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":394,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam18-10000-1280x420.jpg","home_baner-width":1280,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"I Samuel","chapter":"18","chapter_main_number":"250","date":"20260813","wall_id":"250"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"362","name":"Poetry","old_id":"762"},{"term_id":"789","name":"Numbers","old_id":"1189"}]},{"order":8,"id":"111953","color":"#f6edf6","size":"1","name":"The Tanakh Podcast-ISam18","post_title":"The Tanakh Podcast-ISam18","slug":"the-tanakh-podcast-isam18","old_id":"111953","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":33692,"post_title":"Alex Israel","slug":"33692-2","old_id":"33692","first_name":"Alex","last_name":"Israel","description":"Alex Israel teaches Tanakh at the Pardes Institute, Yeshivat Eretz Hatzvi and Matan, Jerusalem. 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One of the saddest narratives in Tanakh is King Saul\u2019s decline into paranoia, and in particular his murderous fear of David. The most tragic aspect is that Saul had nothing to worry about from David.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

It is clear from the episode with Goliath, that David was both fearless and a man of faith. He disdained the heavy armor he was offered, and he faced Goliath\u2019s weapons with trust in God and he was rewarded with success. Following the enormous victory over the Philistines that David made possible, he remained modest. He identified himself to Saul simply as \u2018the son of your servant, Jesse from Bethlehem\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

David entered the royal court, and became close to Saul\u2019s son Jonathan. Jonathan clearly became very fond of David, although it is not obvious that the relationship was entirely symmetrical, in any case it is Jonathan\u2019s love rather than David\u2019s that is described. David grew in popularity which aroused Saul\u2019s resentment but did not seem to go to David\u2019s head. When Saul suggested David might marry his daughter Merav (an idea he did not follow through), David was humble in his response, \u2018who am I\u2026that I should be the king\u2019s son-in-law?\u2019<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In the end, it was another of Saul\u2019s daughters, Michal, who loved David and was firmly offered to him in marriage. The wedding came with a condition, the supply of one hundred Philistine foreskins. Saul made this stipulation in order to get David killed in the attempt, but David was gung-ho about the whole enterprise, \u2018the thing pleased David\u2019. What was more, David brought back double the amount that was asked of him. David evidently liked a fight and was good at it. He seemed to have no inkling that Saul was actually trying to get him killed (perhaps ironically, seeing as David used the same trick with Uriah many years later).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Alas, Saul\u2019s suspicion and murderous intent only grew stronger, and yet it was all unnecessary. At this stage in the story David was delighted to be fighting for God and his father-in-law. His wife, Saul\u2019s daughter, loved him. His friend Jonathan, Saul\u2019s son, loved him. David was pleased and surprised to be ensconced in the centre of the royal family. Had Saul not turned against him there is no indication that David would have sought to overthrow him.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Through his entirely internally-generated hatred Saul turned his greatest asset into the man who would be forced to bring him down.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

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He has written over twenty books, focusing on such topics as the European novel from the 18th century to the present, contemporary American fiction, and modern Hebrew literature. He has also written extensively on the literary aspects of the Bible. His most recent work is his monumental three volume translation of the entire Hebrew Bible - The Hebrew Bible, W. W. Norton & Co., 2019 - from which the selections in 929 are taken. ","short_description":"Robert Alter is the Class of 1937 Professor of Hebrew and Comparative Literature at the University of California at Berkeley, and author of the three-volume translation of the entire Hebrew Bible - The Hebrew Bible, W. W. Norton & Co., 2019.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":54357,"alt":"","title":"robert alter","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter.jpg","width":184,"height":275,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter.jpg","medium-width":184,"medium-height":275,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter.jpg","medium_large-width":184,"medium_large-height":275,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter.jpg","large-width":184,"large-height":275,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter.jpg","1536x1536-width":184,"1536x1536-height":275,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter.jpg","2048x2048-width":184,"2048x2048-height":275,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter.jpg","post_full_size-width":184,"post_full_size-height":275,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter.jpg","home_baner-width":184,"home_baner-height":275}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"250","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Saul\u2019s feelings are clear - but what about David\u2019s reactions and motivations?","post_main_content_content":"

And Saul saw that he was very successful, and he dreaded him. (18:15)<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Commentary: <\/span>Saul saw\u2026 and he dreaded him<\/span><\/i><\/p>\r\n

Throughout this pivotal episode, Saul\u2019s feelings and motives remain perfectly transparent-here, through the narrator's report of his emotions, and in the next scene, through interior monologue. At the same time, David is pointedly left opaque. No word of his is reported when Jonathan gives him his cloak and battle gear. We know that Saul is afraid of David but not whether David is afraid of Saul, who, after all, has tried to kill him. And when David speaks in the next scene, it will be manifestly a speech framed for public occasions, which leaves his real motives uncertain.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

From: Robert Alter, <\/span>The Hebrew Bible, <\/span><\/i>vol. 2: Prophets, W. W. Norton & Co., 2019, ad loc. By permission of the author.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":54890,"alt":"","title":"Alter-Cover","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover.jpg","width":1200,"height":693,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-300x173.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":173,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-768x444.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":444,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-1024x591.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":591,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover.jpg","1536x1536-width":1200,"1536x1536-height":693,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover.jpg","2048x2048-width":1200,"2048x2048-height":693,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-1200x693.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":693,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-727x420.jpg","home_baner-width":727,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"From Robert Alter's Bible Translation and Commentary","tile_main_caption":"David Remains A Mystery","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Saul\u2019s feelings are clear - but what about David\u2019s reactions and motivations?","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":54890,"alt":"","title":"Alter-Cover","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover.jpg","width":1200,"height":693,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-300x173.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":173,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-768x444.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":444,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-1024x591.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":591,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover.jpg","1536x1536-width":1200,"1536x1536-height":693,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover.jpg","2048x2048-width":1200,"2048x2048-height":693,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-1200x693.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":693,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-727x420.jpg","home_baner-width":727,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"I Samuel","chapter":"18","chapter_main_number":"250","date":"20260813","wall_id":"250"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"394","name":"Emotions","old_id":"794"}]},{"order":12,"id":"58246","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"King Saul And David His Minstrel ","post_title":"King Saul And David His Minstrel","slug":"king-saul-and-david-his-minstrel","old_id":"58246","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":36669,"post_title":"Yakov Azriel","slug":"yakov-azriel","old_id":"36669","first_name":"Yakov ","last_name":"Azriel","description":"Yakov Azriel, who lives in Israel, has published five books of poetry in the USA and hundreds of poems in journals and magazines. 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Red headed David plays his harp and sings<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>Of stalking, starving lions that he fought,<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>And how one day the righteous will be brought<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>To nest in Eden\u2019s trees on eagles\u2019 wings.<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>The king in silence broods, \u201c<\/span>His music brings<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>A witch\u2019s spell in which my son is caught \u2014<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>A spider\u2019s web of harp-strings, stretched and taut,<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>While wild weeds will wilt on the graves of kings.\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\r\n

His web\u2019s strong strands ensnare my daughter, too.<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>Look how my servants listen to him sing<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>And nod their heads; his web expands and grows.<\/span>\u201d<\/span><\/em>
\r\n<\/span>The court applauds, and David sings anew.<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>Abruptly rising from his throne, the king<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>Stares at the harp; picks up his spear; and throws.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":67546,"alt":"","title":"2sam3-saul-david","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/2sam3-saul-david.jpg","width":612,"height":784,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/2sam3-saul-david-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/2sam3-saul-david-234x300.jpg","medium-width":234,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/2sam3-saul-david.jpg","medium_large-width":612,"medium_large-height":784,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/2sam3-saul-david.jpg","large-width":612,"large-height":784,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/2sam3-saul-david.jpg","1536x1536-width":612,"1536x1536-height":784,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/2sam3-saul-david.jpg","2048x2048-width":612,"2048x2048-height":784,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/2sam3-saul-david.jpg","post_full_size-width":612,"post_full_size-height":784,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/2sam3-saul-david-328x420.jpg","home_baner-width":328,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"929 Poetry Corner","tile_main_caption":"King Saul And David His Minstrel","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"The king in silence broods ","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":67546,"alt":"","title":"2sam3-saul-david","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/2sam3-saul-david.jpg","width":612,"height":784,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/2sam3-saul-david-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/2sam3-saul-david-234x300.jpg","medium-width":234,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/2sam3-saul-david.jpg","medium_large-width":612,"medium_large-height":784,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/2sam3-saul-david.jpg","large-width":612,"large-height":784,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/2sam3-saul-david.jpg","1536x1536-width":612,"1536x1536-height":784,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/2sam3-saul-david.jpg","2048x2048-width":612,"2048x2048-height":784,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/2sam3-saul-david.jpg","post_full_size-width":612,"post_full_size-height":784,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/2sam3-saul-david-328x420.jpg","home_baner-width":328,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"I Samuel","chapter":"18","chapter_main_number":"250","date":"20260813","wall_id":"250"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"362","name":"Poetry","old_id":"762"}]},{"order":13,"id":"57821","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Sefaria Source Sheets - I Samuel 18 ","post_title":"Sefaria Source Sheets - I Samuel 18","slug":"sefaria-source-sheets-i-samuel-18","old_id":"57821","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":42228,"post_title":"Sefaria","slug":"sefaria","old_id":"42228","first_name":"","last_name":"Sefaria","description":"Sefaria is a non-profit organization dedicated to building the future of Jewish learning in an open and participatory way. 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\u201cSeeing Ourselves in the Text: Queer Characters in the Jewish Tradition\u201d<\/span><\/a> by Ricki Heicklen: Seeking identification in Jewish sources.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u201cBring Your Timbrels!\u201d<\/span><\/a> by Jake Best Adler: When is it time to dance?<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":"","post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"Go deeper into the chapter....","tile_main_caption":"Sefaria Source Sheets - I Samuel 18","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Click to get links to learning resources","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":42232,"alt":"","title":"sefaria-words-sunburst","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst.png","width":608,"height":395,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst-300x195.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":195,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst.png","medium_large-width":608,"medium_large-height":395,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst.png","large-width":608,"large-height":395,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst.png","1536x1536-width":608,"1536x1536-height":395,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst.png","2048x2048-width":608,"2048x2048-height":395,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst.png","post_full_size-width":608,"post_full_size-height":395,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst.png","home_baner-width":608,"home_baner-height":395}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"Sefaria word sunburst visualization","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","links":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"I Samuel","chapter":"18","chapter_main_number":"250","date":"20260813","wall_id":"250"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":14,"id":"57795","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"A Lesson on the Daily Chapter- I Samuel 18 ","post_title":"A Lesson on the Daily Chapter- I Samuel 18","slug":"a-lesson-on-the-daily-chapter-i-samuel-18","old_id":"57795","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":40936,"post_title":"David Silber","slug":"david-silber-2","old_id":"40936","first_name":"David ","last_name":"Silber ","description":"Rabbi David Silber is the Founder and Dean of Drisha Institute for Jewish Education. 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  1. Passing on the mantle<\/span><\/i>. This time, in the symbolic clothes closet of the Book of Samuel: \u201cJonathan took off the cloak and tunic he was wearing and gave them to David, together with his sword, bow, and belt\u201d (verse 4). The message is clear: Jonathan transfers his status as the future of the dynasty, and successor to the king, to his beloved friend and companion David.<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
  2. A great love.<\/span><\/i> This chapter is just brimming with love for David. The root aleph-h-b (as in <\/span>ahavah, <\/span><\/i>\u201clove\u201d) appears six times - twice from Jonathan, who loves David \u201c<\/span>ahavat nefesh,<\/span><\/i>\u201d \u201ca soul-love.\u201d Twice with Jonathan\u2019s sister, Michal, as the subject; once re Saul\u2019s courtiers, and once the entire nation, Judah and Israel. What does David feel? No comment...<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
  3. Unintended consequences<\/span><\/i>. Everything seems to turn out cock-eyed: The women want to please Saul in their praise, but their chants only cause him anguish (verse 7). David comes to play to ease Saul\u2019s troubled spirit, but his very presence only serves to deepen Saul\u2019s depression (verses 10-11) and Saul strives to distance David, but in the end only brings him closer to him and to the royal family, as his very own son-in-law.<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
  4. From rival - to foe<\/i>\u2026 The verbs that describe Saul\u2019s attitude to David reveal a severe deterioration in the situation. From \u201cSaul kept a jealous eye on David\u201d (verse 9) to \u201cSaul was David\u2019s enemy ever after\u201d (verse 29).<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>","post_main_content_image":{"id":86314,"alt":"","title":"Points to ponder","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","width":1000,"height":1000,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-768x768.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":768,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","large-width":1000,"large-height":1000,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","1536x1536-width":1000,"1536x1536-height":1000,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","2048x2048-width":1000,"2048x2048-height":1000,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","post_full_size-width":1000,"post_full_size-height":1000,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-420x420.jpg","home_baner-width":420,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"I Samuel 18","tile_main_caption":"Points to Ponder","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Insights and questions for personal reflection and group discussion","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":86314,"alt":"","title":"Points to ponder","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","width":1000,"height":1000,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-768x768.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":768,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","large-width":1000,"large-height":1000,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","1536x1536-width":1000,"1536x1536-height":1000,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","2048x2048-width":1000,"2048x2048-height":1000,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","post_full_size-width":1000,"post_full_size-height":1000,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-420x420.jpg","home_baner-width":420,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"I Samuel","chapter":"18","chapter_main_number":"250","date":"20260813","wall_id":"250"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false}],"static_cube_title":"","static_cube_brief":"","static_cube_color":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wall\/58019"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wall"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/wall"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=58019"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}