Abner, whose son is that young man? (1 Samuel 17:55)In chapter 16, Saul is looking for a musician/therapist to ease his troubled mind. He hears about David, and Saul has the young man brought to him. David interviews with the CEO who takes a liking to him, and Saul offers David the job.
Then comes chapter 17 and a little altercation between Israel and Philistia, which is more commonly referred to as the story of David and Goliath. Once the outcome is decided, Saul asks his general to do a background check on David, whom Saul apparently does not know. Then in chapter 18, after Abner has found out about David's family and where he comes from, Saul offers David a job. Wait...
Just one more of those things that makes me say, Hmmm...
In 2 Samuel 21:19 it is Elhanan (another son of Bethlehem) who is credited with Goliath's death (I mean how many giants named Goliath does Philistia have on tap?), although in the parallel passage from 1 Chronicles 20:5, it is reported that Goliath's brother is killed by Elhanan, and not Goliath himself.
Hmmm...
Of course if it was Elhanan who killed Goliath and not David, that would explain why Saul needed to be introduced to the giant killer in chapter 17, even though David was already a trusted member of his court.
What do we do with difficulties like this? Must we reconcile every jot and tittle before we can sense God in the text?
I am so glad you brought this up because I was going to ask you about this myself - I was very confused about Saul knowing David in one chapter and not knowing who he was in the next. I'm still confused - but I guess it is just one of those things I will have to let go and move on with.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the well written Bible study. God bless, Lloyd
ReplyDeleteMerry, if you want to let it go and move on, that's okay. If you want to look into it more, believe me, God's not threatened by your questions.
ReplyDeleteLloyd, thank you for your gracious note. Blessings.