2 Chronicles 26-36: Kings, Bubbles, Apostasy!

The final Chronicles post! After this it's onto Ezra and Nehemiah! If you haven't been following the Chronicles blogs, you might be interested in checking out previous posts, linked below.

1 Chronicles 1-9 [Infographic]
Comparative Literature: 1 Chronicles 10-26 as a Retelling of 2 Samuel
2 Chronicles 2-9: A Political Detail
2 Chronicles 10-16: Dialectical Tensions in Judah I
2 Chronicles 17-25: Dialectical Tensions in Judah II

As today's post is rather long and deals with a diverse range of topics, I have divided it into sections:

Truth in Chronicles
Bubble Kings
Kings Uzziah and Jotham
Ahaz the Wicked King
Hezekiah the Faithful King
Intermediary Kings
The Mostly Faithful King Josiah
The Final Kings of Chronicles
The Fall of Jerusalem and Aftermath

Truth in Chronicles
Truth in the Bible can be a tricky thing to define. It can be said that there are different levels or types of truth in biblical literature. Truth does not always necessarily mean fact. In the bible, it takes on a more literary form than what we know today, something like a "universal truth." Below are a few terms that are useful in describing Biblical "truth."

Historicized Fiction Functions like the genre of storytelling we know today as historical fiction. Fictional events occur and fictional characters interact against the backdrop of a historical time period. The tale of Abraham serves as one example. Besides the biblical text (and noncanonical biblical texts), there is no evidence that Abraham was a historical person; he is very likely a fictional person - an archetype of a righteous man, the patriarch of a people. The intention of the biblical author is to tell a certain story. If we run with this idea, Abraham must be a fictional character set in historical times.

Fictionalized History presents historically verifiable figures whose actions, circumstances, possessions, etc. may have been fictionalized in order to make a point. In fact, a fair amount of the information found in the Chronicler's description of the kings of Judah is attested to by nonbiblical works. It is fairly certain, however, that some of these historical events have been exaggerated or otherwise fictionalized, often in an attempt to prove God's greatness.

Throughout the Book of Kings and Chronicles, the authors emphasize God's ability to shape history, based on the actions of the kings and people of Judah. When God's people is faithful, kings literally clean up the Temple and figuratively clean up worship practices. They win their battles with God's assistance. When God's people is unfaithful, and wicked kings defile the Temple with devotion to idols, the king and people alike are punished with invasions from foreign lands.

The above example is in fact a form of fictionalized history. This is not to say that God is ficitonal. Rather, the biblical author ascribes action to a character/force beyond human comprehension, The captivity in Babylon is a historical reality. The biblical author fictionalizes the reality by attributing it to some outside influence that cannot be proven by physical means.

The biblical author would probably not understand or care for the difference between historicized fiction and fictionalized history. For him, the stories would have simply been true. They are true by virtue of the author's meaning of truth, one that differs from our modern definition of scientific, factual truth.

The truth of the bible is true in the same way as the stories in Tim O'Brien's The Things They Carried. What matters not is the historical reality, but the universal message behind the story.

Dialectical Tensions overlap with Fictionalized History. The constant differential between God's will and human action: These are the pressures that give shape and structure to the biblical narrative.

Bubble Kings
For anyone that follows the economy, or are really sore about it, it might help to take a look at the cycle of kings presented in the Books of Kings and Chronicles in terms of bubbles (and while you're at it, read anything and everything by Matt Taibbi). Market bubbles, dialectical tension bubbles...Whatever. The point is that there is imbalance until the bubble pops.

Strict regulation [adherence to God's word] means things go pretty well, though there isn't much room to - you know - stretch out and test the limits. As regulations are chiseled away [i.e. kings fall from God's will] by human nature manifested by greed [and apostasy], things go well for a while, or at least people think they do. In reality, a bubble is forming, a pressure differential that arises from what is promised and what in reality exists [In the case of the economic crisis, money. In the case of the bible, adherence to God's word]. Just as in nature, the bubble cannot sustain itself, and it bursts. The bank goes under. Judah is invaded.

Here's where the metaphor gets really sick and twisted. For some reason these bubbles continue. For some reason they are allowed to happen. In the Bible, God allows for a certain degree of human freedom before he himself teaches his own people a lesson. Old generations are replaced, and the cycle generally finds a good king to lead again. In case of the financial crisis, the U.S. government allows for a certain degree of freedom before the whole thing comes crashing down on its own accord. And then it bails out the people who perpetrated the crime.

Allow me to take my metaphor too far: the state of safety is adherence to God. [And you can draw your own conclusions about the parallel metaphor.]

But I progress.

Kings Uzziah and Jotham

Uzziah

As long as he sought the Lord, God made him prosper.
(2 Chronicles 26.5)

So the Chronicler says of King Uzziah. He is supported by God and therefore victorious in war. he build cities, but like Rehoboam before him, he grows proud once he becomes strong, ultimately to his own destruction. He attempts to offer incense to the Lord without the priests, and for this he suffers leprosy. But the kingdom of Uzziah is never directly punished for the king's pride.

Jotham
Jotham likewise is a righteous king - more righteous even than his father. He builds cities and succeeds in war.

Ahaz the Wicked King
Ahaz is so wicked - walking in the ways of the kings of Israel (whom the Chronicler believes to be unified against the Lord), casting idols, having his sons pass through fire - that the apostasy bubble bursts and Judah collapses beneath him under attacks by Aram, then Israel, then the Edomites. These attacks are all divinely sanctioned - and deadly. The attack by Israel results in the death of 120,000 valiant warriors of Judah.

Hezekiah the Faithful King
Hezekiah brings goodness, back to Judah, and so the dialectical tensions pull Judah back to God. Hezekiah delivers Judah from its evil ways and initiates sweeping reforms to clean up Judah literally and figuratively. Such action is only possible by a good leader; wicked leaders are not associated with building and cleaning projects. Under him the Temple is cleansed, pagan shrines are destroyed, worship of God is restored, and the roles of priests and Levites are reestablished.

All this is celebrated with a great passover that lasts seven days and includes the sacrifice of over 2,000 bulls and 17,000 sheep. Writes the Chronicler:

There was great joy in Jerusalem, for since the time of Solomon son of King David of Israel there had been nothing like this in Jerusalem.
(2 Chronicles 30.26)

And, furthermore, we find a statement affirming the reward/punishment cycle of dialectical tensions:

And every work that he undertook in the service of the house of God, and in accordance with the law and the commandments, to seek his God, he did with all his heart; and he prospered.
(2 Chronicles 31.21)

The true test of piety comes when King Sennacherib of Assyria invades Judah. Previously this is where kings (e.g. King Rehoboam) have turned their backs on God and put their faith in human works instead. But Hezekiah remains pious. The Lord in turns protects Judah from the invasion.

The king’s pride results in only one instance of wrath. In a strange scene, Hezekiah becomes sick to the point of death, prays to the Lord, and refuses to accept the Lord’s sign. In the bible’s laconic style, little information about the sign or the illness is given. All we know is that Hezekiah refuses the Lord’s sign out of pride. However, he humbles himself, and all of Jerusalem with him, and the wrath of the Lord does not fall upon Judah.

Intermediary Kings
Manasseh is a wicked king of Judah, though he repents in his latter days. After he misleads Judah and pays no heed to the Lord, he is taken away by the King of Assyria in manacles and fetters. But, as per the flexible dialectical tensions, he is restored to his kingship at Jerusalem when he prays and repents:

Then Manasseh knew that the Lord was indeed God.
(2 Chronicles 33.13)

Unfortunately, the people of Judah still sacrifice at the high places to the Lord. Worship is conducted in an improper place...

The Mostly Faithful King Josiah
King Josiah finds the correct outlet for worship of the Lord. His reign begins at the tender age of eight, and despite this he is one of the greatest kings. Josiah demolishes all signifiers of apostasy and centers worship again in Jerusalem.  He even purges the house of the Lord, during which time the book of the law of Moses is discovered.

The message is dire, as delivered by the prophet Huldah. However, Josiah experiences a quasi-Davidic moment as he discovers that he personally will not be punished for the sins of Israel:

Thus says the Lord: I will indeed bring disaster upon this place and upon its inhabitants, all the curses that are written in the book that was read before the king of Judah. Because they have forsaken me and have made offerings to other gods, so that they have provoked me to anger with all the works of their hands, my wrath will be poured out on this place and will not be quenched. But as to the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the Lord, thus shall you say to him: Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Regarding the words that you have heard, because your heart was penitent and you humbled yourself before God when you heard his words against this place and its inhabitants, and you have humbled yourself before me, and have torn your clothes and wept before me, I also have heard you, says the Lord. I will gather you to your ancestors and you shall be gathered to your grave in peace; your eyes shall not see all the disaster that I will bring on this place and its inhabitants.
(2 Chronicles 34.2-28)

Afterward, adherence to the covenant of the Lord is resumed under King Josiah:

All his days they did not turn away from following the Lord the god of their ancestors
(2 Chronicles 34.33)

Josiah, in fact,  celebrates a passover even greater than that of King Hezekiah:

No passover like it had been kept in Israel since the days of the prophet Samuel; none of the kings of Israel had kept such a passover as was kept by Josiah, by the priests and the Levites, by all Judah and Israel who were present, and by the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
(2 Chronicles 35.18)

But even the righteous Josiah is undone with a test to his devotion to the Lord. King Josiah enters battle with Pharaoh Neco of Egypt, who warns him, through the words of the Lord:

“What have I to do with you, king of Judah? I am not coming against you today, but against the house with which I am at war; and God has commanded me to hurry. Cease opposing God, who is with me, so that he will not destroy you.”
(2 Chronicles 35.21)

Josiah is ultimately killed by the Egyptian army. But even in his prideful death, he is mourned by his followers.

The Final Kings of Chronicles

2 Chronicles ends with a string of kings:

• Jehoahaz - About whom we learn nothing of greatness or evil. He is deposed by the Egyptian king, and his brother Eliakim is made king; his name is changed to Jehoiakim.
• Jehoiakim - Who is evil, and who is carried off to Babylon by King Nebuchadnezzar.
• Jehoiachin - Who is evil. He is deposed by Nebuchadnezzar and taken to Babylon.
• Zedekiah - Who is evil. He, the people, and the priests are all unfaithful, and pollute the house of the Lord. He is the last King of Judah.

The Fall of Jerusalem and Aftermath
Ultimately, God decides to cleanse the land of ungrateful people. The Lord raises the king of the Chaldeans against God's people, and there is no mercy in the slaughter of men and women of Judah and destruction of Jerusalem. Survivors are deported to Babylon. The land gets a rest from God's people for a while:

All the days that it lay desolate it kept sabbath, to fulfill seventy years.
(2 Chronicles 36.21)

Chronicles ends with a glimmer of hope, however, as King Cyrus of Persia allows the exiles to return to Judah and rebuild the temple. In fact, this is the edict of God, according to Cyrus (according to the Chronicler!):

The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever is among you of all his people, may the Lord his God be with him! Let him go up.
(2 Chronicles 36.23)

So ends Chronicles. And so begins a new chapter in the history of God's chosen people.

2 Chronicles 17-25: Dialectical Tensions in Judah II

Last week's post covered 2 Chronicles' account of first three kings of Judah. Today we extend our analysis up to the reign of Hezekiah. As with the last post, this entry will take a look at the dialectical tensions within the Chronicler's narrative and how the Chronicler uses those tensions to emphasize the importance of proper obedience to God.

Jehoshaphat
Asa's son Jehoshaphat succeeds him to the throne and begins a series of building and fortification initiatives, as well as the removal of the non-Israelite sacred poles and high places, both signs of a good king. Indeed, the Chronicler writes:

The Lord was with Jehoshaphat, because he walked in the earlier ways of his father; he did not seek the Baals, but sought the God of his father and walked in his commandments, and not according to the ways of Israel. Therefore the Lord established the kingdom in his hand.
(2 Chronicles 17.3-5)

A few important things to take away from this:

1. The Lord "is with" and rewards those that follow in God's ways and reject outside deities.
2. Kings are compared to their fathers, who might be good or wicked.
3. Kings are compared to Israel, a people that consistently stands contrary to God's will by not following the line of David.
4. Kings have a habit of following the Lord for a time, but ultimately losing their way, as Jehoshaphat's father did. 

Jehoshaphat is so reverent as to send officials, Levites, and priests throughout Judah to teach from the "book of the law." He is loved by those he rules over, and feared by those around his territory, having a great army and great cities. But his success does not last.

In a story lifted nearly verbatim from 1 Kings 22, Jehoshaphat makes a marriage alliance with King Ahab of Israel, who tries to convince Jehoshaphat to attack Ramoth-gilead. All the prophets of King Ahab that are present say it's a good idea, but Jehoshaphat presses to see if there are any others. Ahab sends for Micaiah, who prophecies doom, saying the Lord has contracted a spirit to cause all the other prophets to lie. For this Micaiah is imprisoned.

Micaiah's dissenting voice turns out to be accurate, and Ahab is killed in battle while Jehoshaphat is saved by God. But the Chronicler has Jehoshaphat punished for his support of Ahab: Jehu son of Hanani prophecies that the wrath of the Lord is upon Jehoshaphat. Nevertheless, the king did some good in his life, which is not forgotten. This portion does not appear in the Kings narrative, and seems to show that the Chronicler is very particular about following in the ways of the Lord. He has to acknowledge the king's wrongdoing, even if the king is not punished for it.

Indeed, Jehoshaphat goes on to appoint righteous judges in the land. He defeats the Moabites and Ammonites after praying to the Lord and trusting in God to intercede on behalf of Judah. The Lord as divine warrior is feared by all the kingdoms.

The last we are told of Jehoshaphat's life is that he joins the wicked King Ahaziah of Israel in shipbuilding for vessels bound for Tarshish. Jehoshaphat is not directly punished for this, though the ships are all wrecked.

Overall, Jehoshaphat has a very righteous reign. The Chronicler does include a line from Kings (2 Chronicles 20.33; 1 Kings 22.43) that the ruler did not in fact destroy all the high places, but this contradicts with what the Chronicler previously wrote (2 Chronicles 17.6)  and seems to represent a textual error.

Jehoram
Jehoram is the first King of Judah that the Chronicler explicitly renders entirely unfavorable.

This character undoes the work of his father (biologically) by killing his brothers as well as some officials, and (physically) by installing new high places, which lead the people of Judah into unfaithfulness. He also marries the daughter of the wicked King Ahab of Israel. Jehoram is labeled as walking in the ways of the kings of Israel, a negative reference to his apostasy. "Out with the old and in with the new" is a common theme throughout the succession of kings, which either brings Judah into apostasy or saves it from apostasy.

And yet, we are told, the Lord is still champion of Judah, even though the king and his people are not walking in the ways of the Lord:

Yet the Lord would not destroy the house of David because of the covenant that he had made with David, and since he had promised to give a lamp to him and to his descendants forever.
(2 Chronicles 21.7)

But God's patience with Jehoram eventually reaches a turning point. Jehoram is directly punished with invasions by the Philistines and Arabs, direct repercussions for the king's evil ways. All the possessions of the house and all of Jehoram's wives and sons are taken, with the exception of Jehoahaz, the king's youngest son. After this Jehoram falls ill with an incurable disease of the bowels. He dies in great agony and "departed with no one's regret." (2 Chronicles 21.20) His death is not commemorated, and he is buried in Jerusalem, though in the ultimate sleight it is not in the tombs of the kings.

Ahaziah
The opening of Ahaziah's description informs us that a symmetrical sort of divine justice is exacted upon Jehoram before his death. The Arab invaders killed all of Jehoram's sons except for Ahaziah. This seems to be divine retribution for Jehoram's murder of his brothers. That is, Jehoram's murder of his father's sons ensures that his progeny will be killed as well - all except for one, representing symmetrical outcomes.

Ahaziah is as wicked as his father (and Ahab) and counseled by his mother. "But," the Chronicler reveals, "it was ordained by God that the downfall of Ahaziah should come about through his going to visit Joram. (2 Chronicles 22.7) This verse does not appear in Kings; the Chronicler instead inserts it to articulate his idea of divine retribution.

The righteous Jehu, who has been busy cleansing the house of Ahab, turns his attention to Azariah, killing his officials and nephews, as well as Ahaziah himself. This leaves a power vacuum, which is filled by none other than Ahaziah's mother.

Athaliah
In a rage over her dead son, Athaliah sets out to destroy the entire royal family (evil is clearly a familial trait; her mother was Jezebel). Only one son of Ahaziah survives: Joash is saved by his sister Jehoshabeath. For seven years he hides out in the house of God, until the priest Jehoiada (who is Jehoshabeath's husband) pushes to make Joash king under the protection of priests and Levites.

Joash
Joash is proclaimed king, and at the behest of Jehoiada the captains of Judah kill Athaliah. Thus begins a new cycle of benevolence. But as we will see, Joash is only faithful to God when Johoiada is alive.

Joash is a "popular" king that makes a covenant between himself and the people that they should be the Lord's people. Thus influenced, the people destroy the altar of Baal and the priest there. Jehoiada, for his part, reorganizes the staff of the house of the Lord. In appreciation of his efforts, all the people of Israel, including military and political leaders, march him into the king's house and set him on the throne. Indeed, people actually rejoice at being taxed in order to fix the house of the Lord. And the house is finally restored to its proper condition.

But we know that Joash is only faithful to the Lord because he is so influennced by Jehoiada. In a departure from the normal introductory regnal formula, it is written:

Joash did what was right in the sight of the Lord all the days of the priest Jehoiada.
(2 Chronicles 24.2)

Other kings do what is right or wrong on their own account, but Joash is dependent on the priest that brought him into power. Once Jehoiada dies, the king of Judah abandons the Lord, along with the rest of Israel. God sends prophets to turn the people, but they do not listen. Zechariah son of Jehoiada is even stoned for speaking the truth against Joash.

For his apostasy, Joash is defeated by the Army of Aram. When the army withdraws, Joash's servants remember the blood of Zechariah, and murder Joash on his bed. Joash is buried in Jerusalem, though separate from the other kings. Though King Joash was apparently faithful during Jehoiada's lifetime, it seems that it was truly the priest who was responsible for Judah's peace and prosperity.

Amaziah
Amaziah takes a semi-pious approach to "cleansing" after becoming king. He kills the servants who murdered his (ultimately not pious) father, though does not punish their children, in deference to Mosaic Law. (Deuteronomy 24.16) For this it is said:

He did what was right in the sight of the Lord, yet not with a true heart.
(2 Chronicles 25.2)

Amaziah's righteousness is apparent in his attack on the Edomites. He initially plans to attack with his men, alongside 100,000 Israelite warrior hired for 100 talents of silver. But a man of God advises the king to leave the Israelites out of battle, for the Lord is not with Israel. Amaziah obeys, but after the slaughter of the Amonites resorts to worship of the gods of Seir. For this he is punished through defeat at the hands of the Israelites, an act the Chronicler tells us is divinely ordained.

So the Chronicler continues to bring to light dialectical tensions, and we continue to discover them.


Good night. Stay tuned for an account of the final kings of Judah next week - their pride, their sins, and their good works alike!

2 Chronicles 10-16: Dialectical Tensions in Judah I

After the tales of David and Solomon, the Chronicler begins his account of the succession of Kings of Judah. As discussed in the post on Chronicles' account of King David and last week's post on King Solomon's reign, the Chronicler has a very particular worldview in his rewriting of the tale of the rulers of Israel and Judah described in the Book of Kings. In fact, the Chronicler leaves out the kings of Israel entirely, emphasizing that only Judah remained faithful to God during this era. In the eyes of the Chronicler, the Davidic line was the only legitimate one, so only the Southern Kingdom, centered in worship around Jerusalem, needed to be recorded.

The Chronicler is notable for his emphasizing another point: divine retribution is dealt to kings for their evil actions in their own lifetimes. Kings that are faithful to the Lord are blessed with either peace or victory in war. The reigns of the greatest kings of Judah are associated with building projects. The resulting effect is that the people of Judah are destroyed when their king is wicked, but they build great things when their leader is good.

Chronicles therefore serves as an excellent example of dialectical tensions, the tensions between God's will that humankind obey him and humankind's penchant for not obeying the law of God. These forces give shape to biblical narrative, and move the story forward through cycles of devotion and apostasy.

Dialectical tensions are perhaps best expressed in Azariah's words to King Asa of Judah:

Hear me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin: The Lord is with you, while you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you abandon him, he will abandon you. For a long time Israel was without the true God, and without a teaching priest, and without law; but when in their distress they turned to the Lord, the God of Israel, and sought him, he was found by them.
(2 Chronicles 15.2-4)

Today's post explains the notable characteristics that the Chronicler emphasizes about the first three kings of Judah.

Rehoboam
Solomon's son gets off to a rocky start by ostracizing all of Israel except for Judah. He does it in a rather tactless style - promising to add to the workload of a tired people, and to enact stronger discipline among his followers. The story seems to suggest that had he listened to the elders instead of his entourage, Israel and Judah would have remained united.

Rehoboam makes a mistake that will trip up a few kings after him. While he is politically weak, he obeys the Lord. But when he becomes established and politically strong, he abandons the law of the Lord, and the people follow suit. Therefore, "because they had been unfaithful to the Lord," Judah is overrun by King Shishak if Egypt. (2 Chronicles 12.2) The prophet Shemaiah puts it nicely: "Thus says the Lord: You abandoned me, so I have abandoned you to Shishak." (2 Chronicles 12.5). The people acknowledge this, humble themselves, and the Lord relents somewhat. The people will not be destroyed, but they will serve Shishak as punishment. In the words of the Lord: "Nevertheless they shall be his servants, so that they may know the difference between serving me and serving the kingdoms of other lands." (2 Chronicles 8) This is an interesting way to put it; when Israel desired a monarch, the Lord emphasized that they would be sacrificing the best qualities of a divine ruler for an earthly one. Now Judah must serve a foreign earthly ruler in addition to the one that was chosen - it must pay tribute to the Egyptian King.

But because Rehoboam humbles himself, he only loses earthly treasures, and Judah is not completely destroyed.

Abijah
Abijah has the task of facing off against Jeroboam, the King of Israel. Luckily, he is faithful to the Lord and so Israel emerges triumphant: "Thus the Israelites were subdued at that time, and the people of Judah prevailed, because they relied on the Lord, the God of their ancestors." (2 Chronicles 13.18)

Asa
This king's reign goes well for most of his life. Judah enjoys ten years of peace during his reign, as he does what is right in the sight of the Lord. He destroys the vestiges of idol worship and spruces up Judah:

Asa did what was good and right in the sight of the Lord his God. He took away the foreign altars and the high places, broke down the pillars, hewed down the sacred poles, and commanded Judah to seek the Lord, the God of their ancestors, and to keep the law and the commandment. He also removed from all the cities of Judah the high places and the incense altars. And the kingdom had rest under him. He built fortified cities in Judah while the land had rest. He had no war in those years, for the Lord gave him peace. He said to Judah, “Let us build these cities, and surround them with walls and towers, gates and bars; the land is still ours because we have sought the Lord our God; we have sought him, and he has given us peace on every side.” So they built and prospered. Asa had an army of three hundred thousand from Judah, armed with large shields and spears, and two hundred eighty thousand troops from Benjamin who carried shields and drew bows; all these were mighty warriors.
(2 Chronicles 14.2-8)

 Note that Asa has peace because the Lord bestows it upon him. Righteous actions by Kings are rewarded. Unrighteous actions are punished.

It might seem strange to have such a great army during a time of peace, but the narrative includes it because it demonstrates very effectively the power that Judah has. Asa and his army defeat an Ethiopian army comprised of a million men and three hundred chariots.

Asa goes on to be a great reformer, going so far as to remove his mother Maacah from her post as queen mother because she makes an idol of Asherah. But this great king ends up making a big mistake. When King Baasha of Israel threatens to attack Judah, Asa pays off King Ben-hadad of Aram to break his covenant with Israel and attack them, so that Asa might have peace. For relying on a human instead of God, he is punished with disease in his feet. Again he seeks human aid above the Lord, relying on physicians instead of God. For this he dies. Yet his funeral is well attended - for the evil he caused at the end of his life, he was a good king for most of it.

Our discussion continues next week with further exploration of dialectical tensions and the implications for the author and reader.

1 Kings, 2 Kings: Infographic

I put a lot of thought into this post (and a lot of frustration toward my dying computer), but here, finally, is a post covering 1-2 Kings. It traces the kings of Israel and Judah from Saul to the fall and captivity of Judah. The x axis denotes the amount of time each king reigned over Israel or Judah. The y axis denotes the number of verses dedicated to each king.

Click the image below to see in greater detail!

1 Samuel 7-10

Under the head priest Eli and his wicked sons, Israel has trouble against the Philistines. In last week's reading the Philistines even captured the Ark! Fortunately, the Lord plagues the Philistines and the Ark is returned. However, the Israelites still are wont to behave badly. They will live righteously for a short time under Samuel, but afterwards will reject God and demand a king for themselves. The first king of Israel, Saul, seems to serve as a rejection of Israel's choice. He is inept, incompetent. Later we will see that David is not perfect either. However, Israel in a very real sense seems to be punished by the Lord under Saul.

Samuel as Judge
Though the description of his life as judge is brief, Samuel is nevertheless a highly effective leader, and clearly one with divine support. Samuel is able to focus the Israelites' worship on God alone, which actually lasts through the tenure of his judgment. Samuel is also an excellent (nonviolent) commander in war. When the Philistines, who have caused Israel so much trouble, attempt an invasion, Samuel holds them off by offering burnt offering, at which time the Lord throws the Philistines into confusion and the Israelites pursue them. Under Samuel, Israel regains all the territory it lost - and Samuel judges on a circuit, travelling from town to town to administer justice.

Unfortunately, Samuel's sons are as bad as Eli's sons, which is perhaps the biblical author's attempt to tell us something about rebellious children as a way to preemptively reject a dynastic monarchy. in any case, it fits into the apostasy cycle, which seems to last roughly two generations. In the cycle one generation is faithful to the Lord, the next unfaithful, the one after that faithful, and so forth. The biblical author seems to be reacting to his source materials: If the sons of the high priest and judge of Israel cannot live up to their father's name, what will happen when the king - supreme overlord of Israel - has a son?

The elders of Israel use Samuel's rebellious sons as the prime example for why they need a king (and this is exactly what the biblical author is railing against - the Ignorance of Israel). Samuel (the mouthpiece of good sense) is not pleased. A king, he knows, will ultimately be very bad for Israel. But the people respond as a whole:

"No! but we are determined to have a king over us, so that we also may be like the other nations, and that our king may govern us and go out before us and fight our battles."
(1 Sam. 8.19-20)

In effect this is a rejection of holiness - the separateness that differentiates the Israelites from the surrounding peoples. The Israelites are holy because they have no human king - because God is their "king." It is God as YHWH Sabaoththat leads them and fights for them in war and governs them through intermediaries on earth.

Even with Samuel's warning in 1 Samuel 8.11-18, the Israelites still desire a king. God knew this, of course, but Samuel is livid.

The man chosen to lead Israel as ing is a tall young wealthy Benjaminite named Saul. He is a man of Gibeah (AKA Benjamin), which seems to be a rather odd choice for a king. Gibeah was singled out in Judges 19-20 as a heinous town whose sins are not unlike those of Sodom. God's choice in the first king of Israel, however, is very suitable. Saul, who is tall, rich, and handsome, and from a militaristic tribe, only displays signs of outward greatness. (Plus he is a member of the tribe of Benjamin, the youngest son of Israel. [The youngest is generally the favorite in the biblical narrative]). What we don't see at first is that he is just as depraved and incompetent as anyone else. Saul will stand in stark contrast to the shorter lyre-playing Judahite David, who will become the second King of Israel.

God engineers a very complex method for establishing Saul's kingship, which will also stand in stark contrast to the ease of David's appointment. David will have to fight for the throne, but God's favor will be bestowed on his quickly and simply.

In the narrative of Saul's rise to power, what would normally be the extraordinary event of the choosing of a king is cloaked in a folkloric tale about lost donkeys and a seer (Samuel). Saul is drawn away from the donkeys and finds the seer, who proclaims him king and anoints him, before giving him specific instructions involving meeting different groups of people, gathering items, and going into a prophetic frenzy. Saul is also to wait seven days for Samuel once he gets to Gilgal. Samuel then comes to choose by lot a king from the tribe of Benjamin. In the earliest display of Saul's incompetence, he is nowhere to be found at the ceremony of his choosing - until we discover - oh, wait - he's actually over there in the baggage. It's a rather embarassing start to his tenure as king.