I was re-struck this morning as I was reading in the Book of 1 Samuel by the contrast between some of the views of kingship in it and in the Book of Judges.  The books of Samuel are certainly not a monolith on this topic, however, since there are positive views of kingship found therein.  At any rate, I thought I’d lay out the contrast.

1 Samuel 8:4-18

4 Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah, 5 and said to him, “You are old and your sons do not follow in your ways; appoint for us, then, a king to govern us, like other nations.” 6 But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to govern us.” Samuel prayed to the Lord, 7 and the Lord said to Samuel, “Listen to the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them. 8 Just as they have done to me,​​ from the day I brought them up out of Egypt to this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so also they are doing to you. 9 Now then, listen to their voice; only—you shall solemnly warn them, and show them the ways of the king who shall reign over them.”
10 So Samuel reported all the words of the Lord to the people who were asking him for a king. 11 He said, “These will be the ways of the king who will reign over you: he will take your sons and appoint them to his chariots and to be his horsemen, and to run before his chariots; 12 and he will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and some to plow his ground and to reap his harvest, and to make his implements of war and the equipment of his chariots. 13 He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. 14 He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive orchards and give them to his courtiers. 15 He will take one-tenth of your grain and of your vineyards and give it to his officers and his courtiers. 16 He will take your male and female slaves, and the best of your cattle​ and donkeys, and put them to his work. 17 He will take one-tenth of your flocks, and you shall be his slaves. 18 And in that day you will cry out because of your king, whom you have chosen for yourselves; but the Lord will not answer you in that day” (NRSV).

Judges

I do not know that there is any one particular text to cite here, but the whole book is full of chaos and part of  the very little commentary that one gets on this chaos is:

In those days there was no king in Israel …

or something like it (17:6, 18:1, 19:1, 21:25).

I have been reading each morning recently from the Old Testament in the NJPS.  And, it seems like each day I’ve been noticing things I’ve not seen before.  And, today is certainly no exception. I suppose when I have read through 1 Samuel before, I probably read from the NASB or ESV.  And, I believe I am probably accustomed to seeing the word ‘ophalim (Qere – tehorim) in 1 Samuel 5 translated as “tumors.”  So, I was a bit surprised this morning to read that God had stricken the people with “hemorrhoids” in 1 Samuel 5 in the NJPS (though it seems I vaguely remember hearing about this in passing).

1 Samuel 5.6

The hand of the Lord lay heavy upon the Ashdodites, and He wrought havoc among them: He struck Ashdod and its territory with hemorrhoids,

1 Samuel 5.9

And after they had moved it, the hand of the Lord came against the city, causing great panic; He struck the peopl of the city, young and old, so that hemorrhoids broke out among them.

1 Samuel 5.12

… and the men who did not die were stricken with hemorrhoids. The outcry of the city went up to heaven.

………………………………

After having a look at the lexicons, the real question is why all translations don’t read something like “hemorrhoids.”  Even when “tumor” or “boil” is given in the lexicon entry it is qualified as likely a tumor or boil “of the anus” – see Holladay and Gesenius.  I’m sure it is probably a felt need for using euphemism.

At any rate, God seems to use everything at his disposal to inflict his wrath on the Philistines who have taken the ark of the covenant.  What is equally interesting is the solution to the problem.  If you’ve not read that story or at least not read it with the word hemorrhoid in the translation, you should definitely read it or re-read it in 1 Samuel 6.  But, I’ll go ahead and spoil it … the Philistines end up having to make 5 golden hemorrhoids among other things.  I don’t know about you, but I think that would be at least as interesting an archaeological find as the ark of the covenant …

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“Judges” or “Chieftans”?

In the rare occurrence that the reading I do throughout the day has some bearing the lectionary reading, I like to share that.  Today’s lectionary reading was verses 24-28 of 1 Samuel 1 (the responsive reading was from chapter 2).  In the reading, Hannah has dedicated her son, Samuel, to the Lord and she hands him over in verse 28.

1 Samuel 1.24-28

In those days,
Hannah brought Samuel with her,
along with a three-year-old bull,
an ephah of flour, and a skin of wine,
and presented him at the temple of the LORD in Shiloh.
After the boy’s father had sacrificed the young bull,
Hannah, his mother, approached Eli and said:
“Pardon, my lord!
As you live, my lord,
I am the woman who stood near you here, praying to the LORD.
I prayed for this child, and the LORD granted my request.
Now I, in turn, give him to the LORD;
as long as he lives, he shall be dedicated to the LORD.” She left Samuel there.

Meyers on Child Birth

Today I was reading from Carol Meyer’s Households and Holiness: The Religious Culture of Israelite Women.  I came across a passage that pertains to just how difficult it might have been for a woman to have given up her son, especially after having been barren.  I cite the passage in full:

The formation of ritual behaviors in relation to reproduction is a function of the critical place of birth processes in the life cycle and of the life-or-death risks involved at each stage.  Giving birth means danger to the life of the mother and of the infant.  In biblical antiquity, as many as one in two children failed to live to adulthood; and the average life span of women was significantly shorter than that of men, in part because of the risks of dying in childbirth.  Furthermore, the alternative-not having children-meant jeopardizing the viability of the family and even the community.  For any premodern agrarian people such as the Israelites, the production of offspring is essential for maintaining the household’s food supply and thus its survival, and also for providing care for again adults.  In such as context, infertility, childbirth complications resulting in the death of the mother or child, difficulty in lactation, and high infant mortality rates are constant threats to the durability of the family household.

In today’s narrative, considering all that was at stake in childbirth the end of verse 28 represents quite a feat: “She left Samuel there.”

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