Day 9

The books of Samuel were a delight. There was a lot of warfare, but woven throughout there was great intrigue. Love, betrayal, redemption, anguish, and — as with so much of the Bible, raw humanity. Second Samuel didn’t disappoint. I found myself reading the stories differently. I let go of a lot of the shock at how things unfolded and, instead, interpreted them allegorically. A horrible battle where people are destroyed? What was I reading before that happened? How does that impact my approach to this story? It almost always came down to people trying their best and failing as we often do. But more than that, I was getting a strong impression that — while I am not a historian — this is where the story of Israel really begins. The Torah? Symbolic. These stories? Still symbolic in many ways, but striking at on-the-nose truths. Israel was at war, often.

Second Samuel made me reassess the story of the Exodus and wandering in the wilderness. Was this Exodus really just a cultural revolution? A letting go of “Egyptian” ways? And was the wandering in the wilderness just a symbol of the great strife, war, and fragility of Israel? I have no answers, that’s not the point of this discipline. But that’s where my heart and mind are pulling me. It translates well into the here and now, especially with COVID and our current political situation.

What are the ways in which we are having a cultural revolution and resisting? What has COVID taught us about who we are as a nation and what needs to change? What about the intense fighting among political factions and the insurrectionist Republicans? Second Samuel has a lot to warn us about. The upheaval will continue, but there will also come a day of gladness, perhaps for just a moment. Figuring out who you are as a people and changing that is hard work that can last generations. So may it be for us.

One Word for Second Samuel: Transformation

Parts of the Story That Stayed With Me

1. 2 Sam 1, Alternate Death of Saul. This is the first clear contradiction in the Bible that jumped out at me. In 1 Samuel 31, Saul kills himself. Here we find that he was killed by the Amalekites. I’m mostly interested in what this means for the stories themselves. It’s long been know the Jewish approach to scripture was not a literal one. But I guess I’m wondering what there is to learn from obvious contradictions.
2. 2 Sam 6, Dance! King David dances with joy before the Lord…to the point of stripping off his clothes in public. It was an iron age rave. It also led to a woman by the name of Michal, a relative of the dead king Saul, scolding King David. He didn’t care, he kept dancing and people joined him.
3. 2 Sam 9, The Sparing of Mephibosheth. This is a great story. Jonathan (who David loved) had a son named Mephibosheth. He was born with the inability to walk properly and had to use crutches. Usually this was a death sentence at this time. But King David goes out of his way to ensure Mephibosheth is taken care of. He loved Meph’s father and, by extension, takes on a fatherly role for him. I just found it really striking compared to the merciless nature of other stories in the Hebrew Bible.
4. 2 Sam 14, Life is Fleeting. Our lives are like water spilled on the ground. Thanks for that reminder.
5. 2 Sam 21, GIANTS! Here we find a listing of all the descendants of giants. Yes, giants. As in, massive people. Were they nephilim? No idea. But it’s clear they were giants. Tuck away that factoid.
6. 2 Sam 24, A 1980s Movie Postscript. Remember those movies from the 80s that always ended with “So and so grew up to become a lawyer…and so and so invented velcro. This person grew up to be an international spy.” The text would float over pictures of the people smiling with epic 80s music in the background. This was the biblical version of that.

This post is part of a lager series where I read the entirety of Hebrew & Christian scriptures in 45 days. Take a look a the original post for more info, as well as links to other reflections on this journey.