The Bible You Thought You Knew

A Prophet’s Pregnant Pause: 1 Samuel 4:1

  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!

Saul According to 1 Chronicles 10

 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.

Psalm 80

  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.

Manasseh According to Kings and Chronicles

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.

Jacob at Bethel.  Based on Genesis 28

 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.”