Protection
A story:
A wealthy rancher was at home one day, when a local brigand showed up at his door with a gang of bandits.OK, now read 1 Samuel 25 and tell me what you think.
“What do you want?” the rancher asked.
“My men need provisions,” came the reply.
“Sorry, I don’t have anything to spare.”
“Might I point out, sir,” the brigand said slowly, “that my men have been very respectful of your land and your cattle; they haven’t harmed any of your sheep or damaged any of your property. Surely it would be unfortunate if anything –– unfortunate were to happen.”
“Just who do you think you are?” demanded the rancher. “Get off my land!”
“Very well,” replied the brigand. “It seems you’ve made your decision.” At that, he turned, nodded to his men, and walked away.
The rancher’s wife, who had been listening from inside the house, was alarmed by her husband’s response, and she knew she needed to act immediately. She grabbed several large bills from the household money reserves, slipped out the side door, and met up with the brigand, out of earshot of her husband.
“Sir, you’ll have to excuse my husband,” she said quickly. “Sometimes he makes choices without taking all considerations into account.” Handing him the money, she looked at him with a glimmer in her eye and continued: “Please accept my apology on his behalf, and know that I wish you the best of success in your further ventures. And keep me in mind –– I suspect we’ll see one another again.”
“Clearly, you’re smarter than your husband,” he said. “Thank you for preventing me from doing anything –– rash. You have no need to fear any harm from me.”
The woman returned home, and shortly thereafter, the rancher died of unexplained causes. Hearing about the death, the brigand showed up at the house. “I understand your husband experienced a bit of poor fortune,” he said. “My sincerest condolences.”
“Thank you,” she said. “It’s a pity, but fools tend to get what’s coming to them.” She stood and held out her hand, which he took, and the two of them walked from the house together.
(This reading follows John J. Collins, Introduction to the Hebrew Bible, 228–29.)
4 comments:
For one, I think it is a mistake to read 1 Samuel 25 outside of the context of 1 Samuel 24 and 26. All three chapters deal with responding with evil. Saul is repaying David's good with evil by trying to kill him. David is tempted to repay Nabal's evil (not helping him during a time of abundance, sheep shearing) with evil by killing he and his men. And David is tempted once again to respond to Saul's evil by killing him when he sneaks into his camp.
It helps to know in Chapter 25 that Nabal is a rotten scoundrel and a fool. He should have helped David out of his wealth. And it is implied, though not explicitly stated, that had David followed through with his intentions that would have been wrong.
Also, 1 Samuel is clearly pro David and God must act on his behalf because God chose him to be the instrument of Israel's salvation.
The parallel story in the post brings up some interesting points but I don't think it quite tells the whole story.
It's about time you posted again!
I hadn't read through the broader story in quite a while –– you make a good point about the returning of evil in the three consecutive stories. It seems David isn’t very consistent on this point.
Still, David may have had a strategic reason for not killing Saul. David was an upstart, not from a royal family, and he really needed to win the heart of the people if he ever hoped to actually become king. If Saul was a reasonably popular king, then killing him would have been political suicide for David.
By letting Saul die in battle at his own hand, and then publicly mourning the loss of the king, David put himself in a great spot to win over the people without risking a backlash from a political assassination.
Nabal, meanwhile, was apparently expendable, apparently both to David and to Abigail. I find it suggestive that Abigail said to David, “And when the Lord has dealt well with my lord, then remember your servant” (1 Sam 25:31). Obviously the story doesn’t say anything explicit, but you have to wonder if she recognized that David would probably become king, and was making plans for a spousal upgrade.
Another thing that occurs to me here is that the story of Nabal and Abigail has a certain similarity to the story of Uriah and Bathshebal. In both cases, the husband dies and David gets the wife. I don’t know if there’s anything there, since 1 Samuel 25 says God struck down Nabal, but it’s a thought.
I preached through 1 Samuel earlier this year, so it is fairly fresh on my mind.
Abigail does make you wonder exactly what her intentions were in keeping David from sinning. I do think that she probably had an inclination that David would be king.
Post a Comment