The Bible You Thought You Knew

In this podcast I deal with the first part of verse 1 of 1 Samuel 4 (the so-called verse 1b).  Translators and commentators place this verse as the final verse of 1 Samuel 3.  This is because we are told that the word of Samuel came to all Israel, but Samuel says not a word.  Plus, he does not even appear in the next story.  I argue that is a rhetorical device to have us read the story of the capture of the Ark of the Covenant (1 Samuel 4—6) as a “prophet’s pregnant pause” hovers over the narrative.  That strategy intensifies the fact that God had raised up a prophet for Israel, but Israel neglected prophetic ministry for twenty years.  Twenty years later (according to 1 Samuel 7) the prophet Samuel finally spoke!

In this story the totality of Saul’s reign is recorded.  It is significantly shorter than Saul’s story as narrated in 1 Samuel 9—31.  Plus, the story in 1 Chronicles 10 is uniformly negative.  It tells about Israel’s losing a battle to the Philistines, about the death of Saul’s three sons, and his being wounded by Philistine archers.  Trying to avoid humiliation, Saul orders his armor-bearer to kill him, something that the man is unable to do.  So, Saul kills himself (immediately afterwards, the armor-bearer kills himself).  The Philistines find the corpses of Saul and his sons; they desecrate Saul’s corpse by decapitation.  Eventually, Saul’s and his sons’ bodies are rescued and buried properly in Israelite territory.  1 Chronicles 11 begins the story of King David’s reign.

In this psalm, which is technically a communal lament, the psalmist asks God several times to save the people (i.e., Israel).  At first, it is unclear from what the people are to be saved.  Eventually, it is either from a severe military defeat or the Exile.  Several times in this psalm, God  is implored to make His face shine, positively on Israel and negatively on Israel’s enemies.  Toward the end of the Psalm, the psalmist points out that should salvation appear in the form of victory, God will be invoked.

The two stories are narrated in 2 Kings 21 and 2 Chronicles 33.  In the Kings account King Manasseh was completely opposite his righteous father, Hezekiah.  In fact, he was an unmitigated disaster for his idolatrous practices, which even included sacrificing his own son.  The incurred God’s wrath and subsequent judgment.  In the Chronicles account, Manasseh’s copious sins are also enumerated.  But in this account after he had been dragged off to Babylon in chains he humbled himself and implored God.  That eventuated in his return to Jerusalem and his fostering Israelite religious practices.  The two stories are impossible to harmonize.  The best we can do is to note that the characterizations suited differing purposes of the editors of Kings and Chronicles, respectively.

This is the famous dream: “Jacob’s Ladder.”  As he was on the way to his Uncle Laban’s place, he spent the night.  He had a dream in which he saw a ladder with divine messengers (i.e. angels) moving up and down the ladder.  God then spoke, reiterating the promise of numerous descendants and the gift of the land.  Jacob commemorated the occasion by converting a stone which he had used as a pillow into a pillar, upon which he poured oil.  He also responded to the dream by acknowledging God’s presence.  He called the place “the house of God” (=Bethel).  He also made a vow to God.  That was the good news.  The bad news was that he prefaced the vow with a disturbing “if.”

This is the sole story in which Isaac is the main character and where he shines.  He and Rebekah had to go to Gerar because of a famine.  God warned him not to go to Egypt (as Abraham and Sarah had done).  God also reiterated the promises to the family.  Isaac passed off his wife as his sister.  Because of her beauty, he felt threatened.  Eventually, the king of the city realized that Isaac had lied.  Though the king made sure no one would bother Rebekah, he ordered the whole family to leave.  Isaac did, but did not go far.  While in the nearby valley, he farmed, quite successfully.  This increased his wealth and numbers, which worried the Philistines.  Also, Isaac redug several wells that Abraham had dug but the Philistines had filled with soil.  Eventually, the Philistines and Isaac’s family made a non-aggression pact and lived peacefully.

Many psalms are laments in which a psalmist complains about various kinds of crises.  Thought the laments are often bitter, typically toward the end of the psalm God either intervenes to deal with the causse of the complaint or God’s intervention is anticipated.  That is not the case in Psalm 88.  In this lament, there is not amelioration or anticipation of amelioration.  The psalmist prays persistently, but there is no resolution.  At the same time, the psalmist refuses to give up.  Regardless of how bad things are—he seems close to death—he continues to cry out to God.  Ironically, laments only make sense if one believes in God.  If there is no God, there is no expectation of how things should be.  They just are!  Laments underscore how profoundly the lamenter holds on to God.  And, the lamenter continues to pray regardless of the answer.

Based on 1 Kings 3.  This story begins with a mixed introduction of Solomon.  On the one hand, he is depicted as righteous as King David, his father.  On the other hand, we are told that he married Pharoah’s daughter and engaged in pagan practices.  Still, in a dream God asked him what he would like.  Realizing the arduous task of being king over Israel, he asked for a wise and discerning mind.  God granted this, and wealth to boot.  Solomon’s wisdom was soon tested when two prostitutes claimed ownership of the same baby.  Solomon used his wisdom to figure out who the real mother was.  This decision made his wisdom legendary.

The story is based on 2 Samuel 20.  In this somewhat obscure story a man named Sheba foments revolt against David.  This was right after Absalom, David’s son, had rebelled against his father.  Though Absalom was unable to stay in power, he had greatly weakened his father.  Because of that, Sheba tried his hand at removing David from the throne.  But this time, David did not have to leave Jerusalem.  Eventually, Joab, a military officer, chased Sheba and found him holed up in Abel.  While threatening the city, a wise woman in the city negotiated with Joab.  Eventually, she agreed to deliver Sheba in exchange for Joab’s withdrawing his troops.  The woman persuaded the people in the city to sacrifice Sheba, which they did by decapitating him and throwing the head to the invading troops!

Based on 2 Samuel 12.  In this story, in the aftermath of David’s affair with Bath-Sheba and his having her husband murdered Nathan the prophet confronts David.  But he does so indirectly.  Nathan tells David about two men, one rich and one poor.  In this story, the rich man callously exploits the poor man.  David is outraged at the rich man and insists that the man pay fourfold for what he has done.  Nathan lets David know that he is the man in the story.  David, too, will pay fourfold.  Though David’s sins are forgiven, the consequences remain.  Eventually, David loses three sons and has to deal with his daughter’s Being raped.  Even forgiven sins often have consequences.