Anothe Mangled Passage – 2 Samuel 18
I must be sounding like a broken record, but I really dislike mangled passages. It is sometimes possible to quote part of a passage and just hit the highlights. That may be required by time limitations. But when the changes made to the passage change the intent of the story, or make nonsense of it, that is another matter.
In Proper 14B, the Old Testament passage is 2 Samuel 18:5-9, 15, 31-33. I would divide the story into the following elements, with those in red included in the lection, while those in black are not:
- David commands that Absalom be treated gently
- The battle occurs and is won by David’s forces
- Absalom encounters his father’s troops
- Joab is told and rebukes the messenger for not having killed Absalom himself; they debate
- Joab goes to where Absalom is hanging from a tree and pierces him with them
- Joab’s young men finish the job
- The battle ends
- A considerable debate about messengers
- The Cushite takes word of Absalom’s death
- David mourns
Thus we lose the actual story of Joab’s disobedience which explains much of the later history. The death appears to be some sort of mob action. I do agree that in seeking highlights one could leave out the long debate about messengers, though I fail to see why the entire passage cannot be read.
David’s indulgence is part of the story of David as king. Note how he is overwhelmed with grief at the death of Absalom while paying little attention to thousands of deaths among the troops who were following Absalom. One might consider this more or less natural for an ancient near eastern despot, but not for the man after God’s own heart. And we can see that David’s own followers don’t see it as such a natural thing. They want thanks for their service and they want to celebrate their victory.
All of these are elements of the story that call on us to think about the consequences of our attitudes and actions.
I know that people don’t have much patience for long scripture readings, but learning the Bible story is not well served by cutting out key elements of the narrative.