Day 23, 1 Samuel 3-14

Today's reading takes us deeper into the first book of Samuel, where we follow the exploits of the title prophet as well as Saul, the first king of Israel. So far, this book isn't necessarily funny, but I found it nonetheless interesting; the stories told were compelling, and through 1 Samuel we learn a lot about Israel's early relationship with human kings, and how surprisingly controversial the idea was.

Chapter 3 opens with a fun little tale in which the boy Samuel is called to his role as a prophet. While he sleeps in the temple, he is woken by a voice calling his name. This happens three times, and each time he assumes it's Eli and runs to the priest, asking what he wants. After the third time, Eli catches on that God is calling Samuel, and tells him to say, "Speak, Lord; your servant is listening" (1 Sam 3:9). Samuel complies and receives his first message from God, who essentially says that Eli and his family are crappy priests and that "their abuse of sacrifices and offerings will never be expiated" (1 Sam 3:14). Oh dear! In the morning, Samuel rather uncomfortably relates this message to Eli, who sadly accepts his fate.

1 Samuel is marked by conflicts with the Philistines, the first of which we see in chapter 4. Here I must also correct an error I made in yesterday's entry; I said that Eli's sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were smote down by God when they messed up a sacrifice, but actually their deaths were just forewarned. They partake in chapter 4's unsuccessful fight against the Philistine army and are both killed. Not only do thirty thousand Israelite soldiers die in the battle, but the Ark of the Covenant is also taken by the enemy. As you can imagine, this is a huge blow to Israeli morale, and when Eli hears the news that his sons have been killed and the Ark has been taken, he "[falls] backwards from his seat by the gate and [breaks] his neck" (1 Sam 4:18). Soon after, Phinehas's widow goes into labor. She names her son Ichabod, which translates to "No glory" and then dies.

How depressing!

Chapters 5 and 6 depart from the tale of Samuel and focus on the Philistines, who have just captured the Ark of God. They set it up in one of their cities, Ashdod, but it brings nothing but chaos and misfortune to the Philistine people; they are "plagued...with tumors, and their territory swarm[s] with rats" (1 Sam 5:6). Gross! In chapter 6 they resolve to return the Ark and build "five tumors modeled in gold and five gold rats, each one for each of the Philistine lords" (1 Sam 6:4). Gold tumors? Well gee, I'd sure forgive them after that! Gold tumors! Wow!

So the Israelites get their Ark back. Hooray! In chapter 7, Samuel makes a little speech to the people and assumes his role as a judge, causing peace and prosperity to return to the people. They recover their land from the Philistine forces and maintain peace with the Ammonites as well during Samuel's reign.

In chapter 8, the people petition Samuel for a king. God is super annoyed about this, telling Samuel "they have not rejected you, it is I whom they have rejected, I whom they will not have to be their king" (1 Sam 8:6). Here we see one of the first instances of tension between the ideas of human kingship and divine kingship, which will reoccur often in the bible. Samuel describes the risks of a human king to the people: "He will take your daughters for perfumers, cooks, and bakers. He will seize the best of your fields, vineyards, and olive groves, and give them to his courtiers. He will take a tenth of your grain and your vintage to give to his eunuchs and courtiers" (1 Sam 8:14-15). In other words, a human king has a potential for corruption that God does not. But the people persist, and God eventually complies with their will and resolves to appoint a king.

Chapter 9 introduces us to our dapper young prince-to-be, a "man in his prime" (1 Sam 9:2) named Saul. One day Saul's family's donkey goes missing, so he ventures off with one of his servants to look for it. When they do not succeed, the pair decide to visit Samuel, a known prophet, to ask where the donkey is.

When Saul approaches Samuel, God says, "This is the man who will govern my people" (1 Sam 9:17). Samuel relates the message to Saul, who is at first hesitant, persisting, "But I am a Benjamite...from the smallest of the tribes of Israel, and my family is the least important of all the families of the tribe" (1 Sam 9:21). In other words, he's from a loser family! How can he be king?

Sam explains that, well, he just is, and in chapter 10 Saul is anointed in secret. He returns home and tells his father that the donkey is okay, but neglects to mention his whole appointment to the kingship because he's just SO DARN MODEST. This modesty is demonstrated further when later in the chapter, as Samuel presents him to the tribes of Israel, he runs away and hides "among the baggage" (1 Sam 10:22). Okay Saul. We get that you're humble, but isn't this a little much?

In chapter 11, the conflict with the Philistines resumes. One of the kings, a fellow named Nahesh, captures a region of Israel called Jabesh and demands that he be allowed to "gouge out the right eye of every one of you [the Israelites] and bring disgrace on all of Israel" (1 Sam 11:2). That's pretty gross! The Jews ask for seven days to decide if they want to comply with this, during which time Saul gets wind of what's going on and angrily chops up an oxen, which he sends throughout Israel. First a concubine, now an oxen! People really liked to send dismantled body parts in the mail back then! Anyway, the oxen bits symbolize what will "be done to the oxen of any man who [does] not follow Saul and Samuel to battle" (1 Sam 11:7). They proceed with the fight and reign victorious over the Philistines!

Chapter 12 comprises a nice little goodbye speech from Samuel, who is very old and is preparing to die. His speech is a lot like those of Moses, Joshua, and other leaders who have made them; he recounts recent events and urges the people to follow God faithfully. The one difference is that here, he emphasizes the king's subordinance to God, and cautions that "if you persist in wickedness, both you and your king will be swept away" (1 Sam 12:25)

Chapter 13 details more exploits against the Philistines, or as we might shorten it, the Phillies. At the beginning of this chapter, the Jew Crew is once again in dire straights at the hands of the Fightin' Phils, so Saul disobeys some vague rule of Samuel's and presents a whole-offering to God. When Samuel finds out about this (even though I thought he was supposed to die after chapter 12!) he freaks out and reprimands Saul: "You have not kept the command laid on you by the Lord your God; if you had he would have established your dynasty over Israel for all time. But now your line will not endure; the Lord will seek out a man after his own heart, and appoint him prince over his people, because you have not kept the Lord's command" (1 Sam 13:13-14). If you were confused like me, the footnotes let us know not to fret; apparently, this is a later addition, included to support David's legitimacy as king. That's why Saul's offense seems so arbitrary.

Chapter 14 continues the battle tale, focusing on Saul's son, Jonathan. One note of interest is that Phinehas's son, Ichabod, is said to have a brother. How does he have a brother if both his parents died right after he was born?! That's whack!

Anyway, Jonathan decides to sneak down the Philistine camp with his armor-bearer. They wind up getting into a little scuffle, which turns into a big old battle. Back at camp, Saul instructs his troops to fast, but because Jonathan is already fighting he doesn't hear the message, and eats some honeycomb while he's walking through a field. When Saul finds out, he is prepared to kill Jonathan, but the men come to the lad's defense: "Shall Jonathan die, Jonathan who has won this great victory in Israel? God forbid!" (1 Sam 14:44). So Saul's son is spared. The chapter ends by mentioning a few of Saul's military conquests, and stating that "there was bitter warfare with the Philistines throughout Saul's lifetime" (14:52). In other words, these boring battles aren't going to end so you better get used to them!

More Samuel tomorrow. I'm thinking we might get to meet David soon. How exciting!