December 02, 2008

Breadcrumb: I killed the king!

At the very beginning of 2 Samuel (1:1-16) that we read a second account of Saul's death, this time as it was told to David. We read in 1 Sam. 31 that Saul had been wounded by arrows, asked his armour-bearer to finish him off, and when the latter refused, Saul fell on his own sword. Now we read that, in fact, it was an Amalekite who killed Saul when he was fatally wounded. How do we know? Because the very same man took Saul's crown and bracelet to present them to David and tell his story. And what, we might ask, did this noble soul receive for his efforts in putting Saul out of his misery? David had him killed. Just goes to show that you should never murder the king, even if he asks you to.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Think David was a little too kill-happy? Maybe he should've run for Texas governor. . .
~AA