Bullet in from Sinai

One day Jesse called David in to the house. He instructed him to leave the sheep in the care of one of the farmhands and to head over to the battlefield to bring some supplies to his brothers. Some fresh milk and bread from home would give them a reassuring boost.

When David arrived at the war zone, he was startled by the odd tableau. Instead of actual combat, everyone was standing around in fascination as the Philistine muscleman faced down an entire nation with his bravado.

David began to ask around, like someone arriving late at a sporting match and trying to find out the score. Before long (17:25-27) he had picked up all the scuttlebutt.

This man Goliath was challenging the entire army to provide him a sparring opponent. There were no takers, day after miserable day, and the army of Israel was being humiliated.

The king was offering a bounty to anyone courageous enough to go up against Goliath. The hero would receive a large cash reward, a chance at marrying the princess, and his immediate family would be relieved of all tax obligations.

*

As David took in all this incredible information, his eldest brother, Eliav, spotted him standing there and chit-chatting. Since David had already deposited his boxes of supplies in care of the quartermaster on his brothers’ account, he was empty-handed.

Eliav did not know David had delivered provisions on his behalf at the behest of their father. Without knowing the background of David’s visit, he rashly assumed the worst.

“Why did you come down here? Who did you leave our sheep with in the desert? I recognize your insolent behavior and your bad judgment at work. You neglected your work to come see the excitement!” (17:28)

David’s response is simple and poignant, the language as fresh as if it were just yesterday (17:29): “What have I done now? Isn’t this really something?”

In fact, the Talmud (Psahim 66b) sees in this attack by Eliav the revelation of why God rejected him for kingship. He was too quick to judge and too quick to anger.

Eliav never asked David for the facts before rushing to judgment, and he was lashing out with criticism based on uninformed conjecture. This was the intemperate side of him that God had seen all along but the prophet had missed with human eyes.

As for David, he gets to begin his exposure to, and experience with, the battlefield by being put down again and being misjudged by his domineering elder siblings.

*

Unfazed, David makes the rounds. He keeps circulating around the army encampment, approaching each murmuring cluster of bystanders with the same message.

“Who does this Philistine think he is? What gives him the right to besmirch the legions of the Living God?” (17:26,30)

Pretty soon David’s little cameo begins to “go viral.” Instead of talking about the news, he is becoming the news. People begin talking about this spunky kid who is walking the lines trying to encourage our warriors.

Eventually word gets back to King Saul’s command post. Saul knows David as a musician who would occasionally do gigs in the palace when the king needed a boost. He sends for him now, presumably to tell him in a fatherly way to cool down the rhetoric.

David enters the royal presence and actually addresses the King before being invited to speak, a privilege reserved for the inner circle. But Saul cannot become indignant about this aggressiveness, because he is charmed by the idealistic kid full of youthful naivete.

*

David says: “There is no need for anyone to be discouraged. I, your servant, will go and battle this Philistine.” (17:32)

Saul answers, probably with an indulgent chuckle: “You will not succeed in a fight with this Philistine. You are a youngster and this fellow has been a military man since his youth.” (17:33)

David knows he has no military experience to cite. He shifts into reminiscences about his adventures as a shepherd.

Once, David recalls, he defeated a lion that attacked his sheep. On a different occasion he emerged victorious over a marauding wolf that had targeted his flock. The arena of the duel of strength-vs.-strength was not entirely alien to him even in his role of tending a flock of sheep.

Once again everyone around David sees him as overmatched, as trying to operate out of his depth. It seems the only one who believes in David is David… and God.