DAVID – MAN OF THE EARTH?

1 Samuel 16

I almost didn't write Bible notes this week. But last night I reviewed this chapter in Hebrew to check out verse 12. King James says David was “ruddy,” but other translations brush over this to the effect he was good looking. In reviewing this verse I tracked some other verses and discovered this was more than history. He's writing theology! So here are some Hebrew word studies:

16:12 – Ruddy – in English letters, the Hebrew word is adamuni, but pay attention to the first four letters – adam. You recognize that as the first man's name, right?

What you may not know is that adam also means “man,” one of two main Hebrew words that do. (Ish is the other one.) But let's line up several similar words to compare:

adam

dam

adamah

edom

adamuni (or possibly adamoni)

Dam means blood. Blood is red.

Edom means red.

Adamah is the word translated “dust of the ground” in Genesis 2.

The implication is that God created a man with living blood from the red earth.

Thus, when the Book says David is ruddy, it may well mean, as one OT scholar suggested, that David was a red head, with a reddist complexion! But with all of these words in the background could the Samuel writer be implying that David is a man of the earth, a sort of new Adam. Later he's described as a man after God's own heart, perhaps closer than most to what God intended in creation?

:3 – Anoint – meshach in Hebrew letters, the same word as “Messiah.” David was to be a kind of messiah for Israel, righting the nation back on obedience to the Lord.

Kingship in Israel is a fundamental concept in the Bible. The Lord (Yahweh)is King, but anoints a human king. David, from the tribe of Judah, town of Bethlehem becomes for Israel what George Washington is for America. In England there is a legend that at Britain's time of great need, Sir Francis Drake will re-appear to save his people as he did from the Spanish Armada. Israel looked back on David like that – the idealized king who would re-appear. His story became a part of the popular thinking about a Messiah that God would send to redeem Israel in time of trouble. That's one reason some were expecting Jesus to lead a rebellion to overthrow the Romans.

:4 – the elders asked if he had come “in peace,” shalom. In Hebrew, shalom means more than lack of war or belligerence. Shalom is wholeness, health, both physical and mental health. At peace with the world. A theme that pops up again and again in the Bible.

:5 – Sanctify or purify yourselves – Hebrew here is kodesh, the basic OT word for holy. The concept in OT and NT is set apart. A famous (among Ot scholars) book by Rudolf Otto concludes that the Idea of the Holy is “otherness.” The Holy One is wholly other than we are. He is infinite, we are finite. We have boundaries. He is His own boundary. To make ourselves holy, means to separate ourselves to His service and worship, or His worship and service. For Israel there were certain rituals to go through before sacrifice to “purify” themselves. They did not separate ritual from life as we do. The Law from God included sacrifice and moral living. They were the same. Oh btw, the verb form here implies strong action to bring something about. “Get with the program!”

:7 – see – roeh – tho translations use two words here, see and look, in Hebrew it is the same word. The tense is continuous, seeing or looking habitually. Instead of romping through this verse piously pointing out God's examining our insides, pause to ask how you look at people. Jesus challenged us to love others as He has loved us! Can we learn to look past those things we habitually use to evaluate people? How would the Spirit revise how you see people?

Also note that God evaluates you by the realities within you. Not by your outward appearance and actions.

:11 – David was a shepherd. Moses was a shepherd. Amos was a shepherd. If the Bible had happened in the American West, would they have been cowboys? They were definitely men of the earth, accustomed to rugged outdoor living. Strong men. Jesus was a carpenter, but He called Himself the Good Shepherd. We often call pastors shepherds. But if all Christians are to be ministers (See Romans and 1 Corinthians 12, and Ephesians 4), then we all need to learn how to shepherd.

:13 – the Spirit of the Lord came on David when he was anointed. Was this the Holy Spirit? The word is ruah, the same word that in used in Genesis 1:2, when the Spirit of God hovered over the chaos. And God breathed His ruah, breath, into man and he became a living soul (nephesh hayah). I find it striking that in both Hebrew and Greek the words for spirit also mean wind and breath. That ambiguity explains the word play in John 3 – the wind/spirit blows as it chooses...

That's all I got this week, except to note the story at the end of the chapter has David playing his harp for Saul. Today we would suspect Saul of being bi-polar or manic depressive, flashing from despondency to temper explosions in an instant. There's also a puzzle here in that when David shows up in the next chapter to fight Goliath, Saul gives no sign of recognizing him. Another part of the mental illness or just the author adding a story he didn't know where else to put?