Bible Stories part 5: 1 Samuel
I'm back to reading the Bible, with quite a few thoughts on the first book of Samuel. Previous installments of the exciting Biblical saga can be found here.
1 Samuel is a slightly frustrating book. It tells the story of Samuel, Saul and David. The overall story is fairly clear, as are the characters, but the details are frustratingly unclear. What is clear is that the book is put together from multiple sources and stories. So, for example, there are two accounts of how Saul and David met, and two explanations of the saying "has even Saul become a prophet". I really want to complain about all the narrative contradictions and loose ends in the book, but I will restrain myself.
The story goes like this. The Israelites are being threatened and oppressed by their powerful neighbours, particularly the Philistines. They beseech the prophet Saul for a king to lead them. After many entreaties, God agrees, but warns the Israelites that they're not going to like it. He has Samuel pick out Saul. At first, many Israelites aren't keen on Saul, but after he defeats the Philistines they change their mind.
Unfortunately, Saul doesn't always make good decisions. Sometimes he blames his people for putting pressure on him. For example, God tells Saul (through Samuel) to attack the Amalekites, to kill and destroy everything, right down to their livestock and property. The Israelites are fine with killing the Amalekites children, but they take the best livestock for themselves. When questioned by Samuel about this, Saul gives the not-entirely-convincing excuse that they took the best to sacrifice to the Lord and the slightly more convincing excuse that he was scared his followers wouldn't obey him.
Eventually, God rejects Saul and has Samuel anoint David, a young shepherd, king, although they don't tell Saul this. David becomes one of Saul's chief lieutenants through exploits like killing giants, dodging spears, collecting foreskins for dowries, etc.. Saul is jealous and afraid of David's success and drives him into hiding, until Saul dies fighting the Philistines.
There is a theme of reversal going through 1 Samuel, the low being lifted up and the powerful cast down, with the story of David and Goliath being the paradigmatic example. Samuel's mother Hannah is childless until she prays to God. Saul is raised up from obscurity, David is the youngest of eight sons. On the way down, the sons of both priests in the story are bad people, and Saul comes to an unfortunate end. It all ties in with the Israelites' position, living with powerful neighbours.
There are some insights into the character of Yahweh and other gods in 1 Samuel. Once again, the status of other gods is ambiguous. At one point Samuel says the Lord is the only "real" god - I wonder how accurate a translation that is. At another, David says that because he's been driven out of Israel, he has only been able to worship foreign gods. This is despite having a priest with him who could probably perform the necessary rituals. This suggests that the Israelites' god is place-specific, perhaps centred around the Lord's tent and the Ark of the Covenant. Certainly the Philistines are terrified that the Israelites bring a god with them to battle, in the form of the ark. More surprisingly, it suggests that David and his men have been worshipping other gods, without any suggestion that this is a bad thing.
There's also an instance of communing with the dead, when Saul (despite his, presumably religiously inspired, ban) has a medium call up the spirit of Samuel.
The question of why God agreed to appoint a king at all, and why Saul was chosen, is puzzling. It looks a lot like he's pressured into it by persistent requests of the Israelites. The best you can say would be that it's done to teach them a lesson - but if that's the case I don't think it worked. As is common, what people say about God contradicts what he actually does. So when Saul tries to persuade Samuel not to reject him, Saul refuses, saying that God doesn't change his mind, even though by choosing and then rejecting Saul, that's exactly what he appears to have done... Historically, it's a transition in governance, from a looser confederation of tribes governed primarily by priests (who are often struggling for authority against other gods) to a more centralised and more hierarchical system. In that sense, it's no wonder the prophet Samuel is not keen on having a king. It does also lead to a division of authority, between the secular and the religious figures, even if the two are closely identified.
I'm still not sure how Samuel gets two books named after him, even though he dies about two-thirds of the way through the first one.
1 Samuel is a slightly frustrating book. It tells the story of Samuel, Saul and David. The overall story is fairly clear, as are the characters, but the details are frustratingly unclear. What is clear is that the book is put together from multiple sources and stories. So, for example, there are two accounts of how Saul and David met, and two explanations of the saying "has even Saul become a prophet". I really want to complain about all the narrative contradictions and loose ends in the book, but I will restrain myself.
The story goes like this. The Israelites are being threatened and oppressed by their powerful neighbours, particularly the Philistines. They beseech the prophet Saul for a king to lead them. After many entreaties, God agrees, but warns the Israelites that they're not going to like it. He has Samuel pick out Saul. At first, many Israelites aren't keen on Saul, but after he defeats the Philistines they change their mind.
Unfortunately, Saul doesn't always make good decisions. Sometimes he blames his people for putting pressure on him. For example, God tells Saul (through Samuel) to attack the Amalekites, to kill and destroy everything, right down to their livestock and property. The Israelites are fine with killing the Amalekites children, but they take the best livestock for themselves. When questioned by Samuel about this, Saul gives the not-entirely-convincing excuse that they took the best to sacrifice to the Lord and the slightly more convincing excuse that he was scared his followers wouldn't obey him.
Eventually, God rejects Saul and has Samuel anoint David, a young shepherd, king, although they don't tell Saul this. David becomes one of Saul's chief lieutenants through exploits like killing giants, dodging spears, collecting foreskins for dowries, etc.. Saul is jealous and afraid of David's success and drives him into hiding, until Saul dies fighting the Philistines.
There is a theme of reversal going through 1 Samuel, the low being lifted up and the powerful cast down, with the story of David and Goliath being the paradigmatic example. Samuel's mother Hannah is childless until she prays to God. Saul is raised up from obscurity, David is the youngest of eight sons. On the way down, the sons of both priests in the story are bad people, and Saul comes to an unfortunate end. It all ties in with the Israelites' position, living with powerful neighbours.
There are some insights into the character of Yahweh and other gods in 1 Samuel. Once again, the status of other gods is ambiguous. At one point Samuel says the Lord is the only "real" god - I wonder how accurate a translation that is. At another, David says that because he's been driven out of Israel, he has only been able to worship foreign gods. This is despite having a priest with him who could probably perform the necessary rituals. This suggests that the Israelites' god is place-specific, perhaps centred around the Lord's tent and the Ark of the Covenant. Certainly the Philistines are terrified that the Israelites bring a god with them to battle, in the form of the ark. More surprisingly, it suggests that David and his men have been worshipping other gods, without any suggestion that this is a bad thing.
There's also an instance of communing with the dead, when Saul (despite his, presumably religiously inspired, ban) has a medium call up the spirit of Samuel.
The question of why God agreed to appoint a king at all, and why Saul was chosen, is puzzling. It looks a lot like he's pressured into it by persistent requests of the Israelites. The best you can say would be that it's done to teach them a lesson - but if that's the case I don't think it worked. As is common, what people say about God contradicts what he actually does. So when Saul tries to persuade Samuel not to reject him, Saul refuses, saying that God doesn't change his mind, even though by choosing and then rejecting Saul, that's exactly what he appears to have done... Historically, it's a transition in governance, from a looser confederation of tribes governed primarily by priests (who are often struggling for authority against other gods) to a more centralised and more hierarchical system. In that sense, it's no wonder the prophet Samuel is not keen on having a king. It does also lead to a division of authority, between the secular and the religious figures, even if the two are closely identified.
I'm still not sure how Samuel gets two books named after him, even though he dies about two-thirds of the way through the first one.