Previously, I wrote a blog series titled “The Life of David” with Parts 1,2,3, etc. In it I tried to include life applications for each of us today. In other words, one could see how the narrative from long ago still had applicability to the way we live our lives and exercise our will. Now, I would like to look at these same stories from a purely intellectual and an emotional viewpoint. The former is done through an analysis of the organization of the biblical material so as to create a symmetrical literary patterns which guide the reader toward the key points of the text. And for something completely different, I will also append some early collages I created to illustrate the same narrative. Such an artistic approach may take some liberties with the literal narrative in order to speak to one's emotional side.
The well-known text under consideration first is I Samuel 17 in which David battles with Goliath. In the totally symmetrical organization of the combined books of Samuel and Kings (previously proposed in my “Samuel-Kings: Introduction to the Literary Structure”), I demonstrated that there was actually a close parallel to this battle of David and a previous encounter that Jonathan had. This prepares the reader psychologically for the friendship between these two young warriors described later in I Samuel 20.
Figure 1: Organization of I Samuel 11-18
1. God’s spirit in Saul (11:1-13:22)
a. Saul is angry
b. Saul’s successes in battle
2. Jonathan in battle (13:23-14:23)
a. Jonathan and his armor bearer
b. single combat with Philistines
c. Philistines flee before the army
3. Jonathan chosen by God for death (14:24-52)
4. Command to kill all Amelekites (15:1-21)
5. “Obedience is better than sacrifice” (15:22-23)
4'. Samuel kills king of Amelekites (15:24-35)
3'. David chosen by God as king (16:1-13)
2'. David in battle (16:14-17:58)
a. Saul and his armor bearer
b. single combat with Philistine
c. Philistines flee before army
1'. God’s spirit in David (ch. 18)
a. Saul is angry
b. David’s successes in battle
The parallelism of units 2 and 2' also indicates the far-reaching effect on whole nations that can result from the actions of single individuals motivated by love for God.
This prepares us for a close-up view of the chapter under our main concern.
Figure 2: Organization of I Samuel 17:1-54
a. Philistines and Israel (17:1-3)
b. Goliath's challenge (17:4-11)
(1). Goliath and his weapons
(2). Challenge to a duel
(3). Saul and Israel frightened
c. David and his family (17:12-30)
(1). David, his brothers and Jesse
(2). Goliath
(1'). David, his brothers and Jesse
(2'). Goliath
(1''). David and his brother Eliab
b'. Answer to Goliath's challenge (17:31-54)
(1). David and his weapons
(2). The duel
(3). The Philistines panic
a'. Israel and the Philistines (17:51b-54)
Lessons that can be brought out from this symmetrical pattern include the following:
A. The comparison between the cumbersome man-made armor and weapon of Goliath and the simple shepherd's gear of David with “God-made” rocks as weaponry points to the folly of trusting to man's own devices instead of putting one's trust wholly in God's hands.
B. Another lesson in trust is seen by looking at the fear that Goliath and the Philistines brought out in the Israelites and their king and comparing it with the way the Philistines ended up fearing the Israelites and their God.
C. The back-and-forth perspectives we see in Unit c point to the fact that David was actually facing two enemies here, not just one. Goliath represents threats from the outside that we may face while the taunts of David's own family demonstrate that our challenges from within may be just as hard to face at times. I am reminded of Jesus' own encounters with the unbelief of this brothers and those in the town where he had grown up.
Lastly, as a change of pace, below is a collage I made years ago to illustrate a small portion of this chapter.
I Samuel 17 (1992)
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment
Comments