1 Samuel 21 Crazy Man

seekeroftruth

Well-Known Member
1 Samuel 21:10 That day David fled from Saul and went to Achish king of Gath. 11 But the servants of Achish said to him, “Isn’t this David, the king of the land? Isn’t he the one they sing about in their dances:

“‘Saul has slain his thousands,
and David his tens of thousands’?”

12 David took these words to heart and was very much afraid of Achish king of Gath. 13 So he pretended to be insane in their presence; and while he was in their hands he acted like a madman, making marks on the doors of the gate and letting saliva run down his beard.

14 Achish said to his servants, “Look at the man! He is insane! Why bring him to me? 15 Am I so short of madmen that you have to bring this fellow here to carry on like this in front of me? Must this man come into my house?”​

My mother use to tell me that one of the best ways to get rid of an unwanted suitor was to act insane. I actually had the opportunity to take her advice once. I was at a public phone waiting for a call [that should date me right?] and a strange man started hanging around me. He stayed just long enough to make me uncomfortable and then he started to get closer still... that's when I remembered my mom's advice. I said "Are you trying to get to me? Do you want me? You do want me don't you!" then I started jumping up and down and I said "I told momma that if I came to a navy town I'd find me a man and here you are!" That guy took off!!! So that's what I thought about when I read what David did in Gath.

This is from the blueletterbible.org.

David pretended madness in their hands. He acted in a strange manner, , including scratching on the doors of the gate, and let saliva fall down on his beard. It was as if David was foaming at the mouth.

Basically, David humiliated himself before the Philistines and acted like a madman. The saliva on the beard was especially convincing, because men in that culture would have considered that something only a man out of his right mind would allow. "An indignity to the beard was considered an intolerable insult and would not have been permitted by a normal person." (Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown)​

This man is insane. Why have you brought him to me? David's plan worked. Achish decided that either David wasn't the man he thought he was, or that if he was, he was such a pathetic specimen that he may as well let him go.

This is from GodVine.

And he changed his behavior - Some imagine David was so terrified at the danger to which he was now exposed, that he was thrown into a kind of frenzy, accompanied with epileptic fits. This opinion is countenanced by the Septuagint, who render the passage thus: Ιδου ιδετε ανδρα επιλητον; "Behold, ye see an epileptic man. Why have ye introduced him to me?" Μη ελαττουμαι επιληπτων εγω; "Have I any need of epileptics, that ye have brought him to have his fits before me, (επιληπτευεσθαι προς με?") It is worthy of remark, that the spittle falling upon the beard, i.e., slavering or frothing at the mouth, is a genuine concomitant of an epileptic fit.​

If you ask me.... this was a smart way to get out of a tight situation. There at least two people in this cuckoo's nest, Saul and David. Saul has genuine issues and David is turning into quite good at telling lies.

:coffee:
 
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