Category: Uncategorized

When I think of King David, my mind goes straight to the David and Goliath story in the Bible. Then I go straight to thinking about his reign as king and the length, the joys and laments that were written in the book of Psalm, and how prosperous the time was. But the misogyny that he expressed is not something that really came to mind before this lesson. It is right there in the Bible where I learned the other aspects of David, but I had skipped over those sections or really didn’t pay much attention to them if I read over them. Sometimes this is can be connected to powerful people who have great aspects to them like leading or a big donation to support a cause, but they do some shady acts and it is hidden from the public. Yes, it is a person and they should have privacy, but when there are people that the press picks and chooses to expose for devious acts it leads you to question why this particular person is being propped on a pedestal? Definitely, David was a great ruler, but also why was his bad side swept to the side when teaching about him, I feel that by teaching these facts can show that even the kings were human and that what he did was wrong.

Another thing that I hadn’t questioned before was the existence of David. To really think about how King David might not have existed is mind-boggling, but when presented with the facts from archaeology, this really is a controversial topic. It is interesting to see the comparisons between what archaeologists have found and how it aligns to the teachings of the Bible. From one article that I read, it clearly stated that the Bible is not a historical recount, but a religious document. But, I think that historians and archaeologists look into the stories of the Bible to try and draw out the truth behind it to see how it existed.

When I was younger, I did attend some bible school and a “vacation bible school” camp.  I do vividly remember picture Goliath as some giant, towering man who could crush a village with his foot, and David some small guy who hit Goliath with a rock and he fell down.  I have always been inspired by this story, and even if it wasn’t completely how the story goes (who would’ve thought they wouldn’t teach kids about a beheading!) it still has the same inspiring theme despite some more adult situations within the actual story.

I was also very interested on the topic of “whether David raped Bathsheba or not” and was interested in researching whether King David actually did exist.  Now while I had heard the David and Goliath story, I had never heard any of this and didn’t know who Bathsheba was (I guess Veggie Tales doesn’t cover that part!).  So to find out that he potentially raped a woman was kind of shocking, but also interesting to learn at the same time as David always seems to be portrayed in such a positive light.

Today in class we talked about the story of King David. In class we talked about 1 Samuel 16. The story in which David is introduced.  It was said in class this story is estimated to be 1000 BCE. We later talked about the story of David and Goliath in 1 Samuel 17. “51 David ran and stood over him. He took hold of the Philistine’s sword and drew it from the sheath. After he killed him, he cut off his head with the sword.” In Sunday school I never learned that David chopped off Goliath’s head. In addition to this I had never realized David did a lot of things. David, waged war, he killed people and raped women. David however did turn into a King. His legacy would rule for generations and with it a supposed Empire. In class we talked about the legitimacy  of Davids Empire, However the only thing linked to him is the Les Dan. This was etched in stone and translated to “House of David”. Besides this the only other artifacts that have been found are structures but no direct correlation to David besides the estimated year of construction. David was a king who will go down in history as one of the most famous warriors and rulers due to his story in the Bible.

After today’s class discussion on David and Goliath, I vividly remember always comparing Goliath to a lion when I was younger.  Goliath is always described as undefeatable.  He, in essence, could be compared to a mighty beast, and because David had previously killed a lion before, it was easy to compare Goliath to a lion.  Goliath intimidated people! He threatened the Israelites, but David stood up and put up a fight, even though the odds seemed stacked against him.

Ever since I can remember, David has been so inspiring in this story.  I can relate to just how he felt so intimidated by this giant being standing in front of him.  Although they had a physical battle, I have had many battles that I have had to fight verbally, because of getting picked on.  So, in a lot of ways, I was very glad that we read this story.  It reminded me that even when I feel weak, God will give me strength if I trust in Him.  I think that this really speaks to me today because with everything going on and all the tensions that we see daily, it is important for us to remember that the evil (or Goliath) can be defeated, despite how undefeatable it may seem.  The devil is working through the evil in this world just as he worked through Goliath, but just like David, we can overcome it.

In Sunday-School, David was always told to me in a very positive light. He was often described as a just and noble king, but when I try to remember the stories about David, I was only told a very small portion of his battle with Goliath. I was certainly not told that David cut off Goliath’s head when he had won the battle. Every time a character from the Bible is mentioned in class that I recognize, I realize that the ink on the paper depicts a much more grim version of these characters that what was told to me at Sunday-School (maybe for the better when I was learning about these characters as a child). It’s horrific to read that David would send Uriah on a suicide mission out of jealousy after raping Uriah’s wife, Bathsheba. The more we dive into the nitty gritty of the Bible, the more horrified I become that tales like these are written in the Bible. This book is definitely written for mature audiences only, and it’s astonishing how little I actually know about the Bible and its stories.

It was very interesting to look at the history of the Bible in the aspect of the line of kings, which starts with Saul, then David, then Solomon, and the list keeps going on until the Babylonian exile. Talking about the stories of David and Goliath and David and Bathsheba also fascinated me because they are stories that I know quite well of, but there were certain details I found out today or ways of looking at each story in which I never have before. In David and Goliath, I didn’t realize that there were different interpretations of the height of Goliath based on how one would convert the measurements of when this story was written to today’s measurements. In David and Bathsheba, I knew he committed adultery with her, but I never considered the fact that he may have raped her, which is quite frightening to think about, considering the man being David.

I also found interesting when we talked about how Solomon’s son, Rehoboam, and how his effect on the lives in his kingdom was so negative. When I think about the kings in the Bible, I think of the positive effects they had on Israel and how they did so much good, but in this case Rehoboam knew that Solomon had made life harder for the civilians, and instead of lightening the yoke on these people, he instead did the opposite by making this yoke they have to carry even heavier.

In all honesty this lecture and pre-class material didn’t really captivate me. The topic that I found most interesting is the ancient archaeology and its relation to the Bible. This is especially interesting when you dive into groups that think the Bible is inerrant. What do they do when errancy is proven in the Bible using the scientific process. They then have to deny one of the two most influential creations for modern society, in my opinion. I also think the archaeology section is interesting for what it actually is. Applying the archaeological concepts to the bricks found and trying to figure out what time period of the Bible they would fit in is fascinating. My favorite part is how they searched for the bones of the livestock the ancient people killed and figured out they were Israelites because they were Kosher. I can only imagine how excited the research team was when they got the information to make that conclusion.

What really stood out to me from this lesson was the short documentary that touched on the city of Jericho and how it fell-down. I found myself reminiscing on the song I learned years ago about Joshua fighting the battle at Jericho and the walls come tumbling down as I watched the video referencing Jericho. But in all reality, the structure of Jericho might have come down because of seismic activity years before Joshua was ever there. What I wonder is if the inhabitants of ancient Jericho might have attributed the seismic activity to an act of Godly intervention? It is interesting to see how archaeologists have found this action and figured out how the walls fell and when this happened. Through cross-referencing remains that were at the same level as pieces that fell is a way that the archaeologist could have referenced when this happened. Furthermore, they could do carbon-dating on the physical remains and DNA tests on the human remains, thus double-checking the resources to which the walls might have fallen. What is even more interesting is the comparison to the bible stories and the dates of when these happened as well. Joshua must have come in at some point to Jericho, but was this battle as dramatic as it has been put up to in the Bible and how did this become a huge event as written by the author?

Something that I’ve never really thought of when it comes to the Bible is how its history can actually be attempted to be proven. I have always had the mindset that the Bible is divine and everything that takes place in the Bible, no matter how you interpret it, seems quite untouchable physically because of how many years have passed since events from the Bible have taken place, which is between about 3500-2000 years. To uncover and discover physical documents or other physically attainable things from that time period is mind-blowing to me, and to actually interpret these artifacts and compare these interpretations to the Bible and what it says is so fascinating.

I had so closely associated the history of Israel with the stories from the Bible that it hasn’t occurred very often for me to look up the archeological or written history of Israel outside the stories in the Bible. It’s not impossible for the stories that we see in the Bible to be dramatized, abridged cultural stories of Mesopotamia. Earlier in the semester we looked at different stories, like Gilgamesh, that share strong similarities to different stories in the Bible. The Epic of Gilgamesh was written in where modern-day Iraq is located, giving it a close cultural proximity to the authors of the Bible. We also looked at two rock formations that are in both Israel and Jordan that are known to both lands as Lot’s wife, who turned into a pillar of salt. The rock formations are referenced to be the same person, and it’s not hard to image that tales and stories migrated back and forth from places like Jordan and Israel. Books like Genesis could be abridged versions of cultural tales much like Aesop’s Fables: a compilation of tales that aim to teach morals to the next generation.