David's slaying of Goliath was considered an action that hostilely prevented a potential war between Israel and the Philistines. The immediate result of this act was the lowering of tension in the nation and a wave of euphoria that followed and flooded the entire country.
David's slaying of Goliath was considered an action that hostilely prevented a potential war between Israel and the Philistines. The immediate result of this act was the lowering of tension in the nation and a wave of euphoria that followed and flooded the entire country. The climax was in the song of praise to David that was deeply etched in the historical consciousness of the people of Israel and as the scripture indicates, "Saul struck with his hands and David with his harps" (7 Samuel XNUMX:XNUMX).
The sympathy and admiration that David received after killing Goliath, were ridiculous in Saul's eyes. However, he did not feel comfortable, he was jealous of David and a feeling arose in him that he was threatened. At the first opportunity that came his way, he tried to kill David, but was unsuccessful (ibid. 8-12).
Jealousy quickly turned into fear (ibid. 15). A way that Saul saw as practical is the murder of David in a covert manner. Saul appointed David to a senior military position and tasked him to go to war with the Philistines in the hope that he
will fall on the battlefield. This hope was not realized. David defeated the Philistines. Saul's fear of David intensified and accompanied him for a long period of time (ibid. 17-29). It was actually an unfounded fear. Saul suffered from paranoia.
The scriptures tell of five cases in which Saul tries to eliminate David, but they all fail. Each failure ended with Shaul's disillusionment and realization that he was wrong in his behavior. There is a pattern of behavior that repeats paranoia-sobriety, paranoia-sobriety, paranoia-sobriety until Shaul finally sobers up and leaves David to his own devices. The first case was when Jonathan convinced his father Saul not to kill David by reminding him of the killing of Goliath and Saul did relent (ibid. 4:7-20). Second case, when Saul came to Shmuel in Benuet to take David, but "the Spirit of God was upon him also, and he went forth and prophesied" (Isaiah 24-25). A third case was in the desert of Ma'on, when while pursuing David, a messenger came to Saul and reported to him that the Philistines had raided the land and he stopped the pursuit to stop them (ibid. 38:4-XNUMX). A fourth case was in Tzuri HaYalim. David had an opportunity to kill Shaul. Instead of being killed, David tore a part of Shaul's coat and when the latter decided to leave the place because he could not find David, David called him and convinced him with common sense that he did not want to kill him. Shaul was moved, burst into tears and left the place without harming David (ibid. chapter XNUMX ). A fifth case was in the bristles. As in the scapegoats, David enters Saul's camp. When the whole camp was asleep, he took the spear and the water plate from Saul, and in the conversation that took place later between them, David appealed to Saul's heart and convinced him that he was not interested in his death and each of them went their separate ways (ibid. chapter XNUMX). From then on, Saul no longer pursued David and left him to his own devices (Im. XNUMX:XNUMX).
In order to catch David, Shaul was not content with sending murder squads to carry out his mission, but carried out the pursuits personally while neglecting his state duties (taking the case out in the desert of Ma'on), which indicates the depth of the paranoia. It can be assumed with a fairly high probability that it was even pathological. The recidivist behavior pattern of paranoia and disillusionment indicates that Shaul's attitude towards David was ambivalent. On the one hand, deep hatred and fear to the point of trying to murder David, and on the other hand, in the moments of disillusionment, an understanding that his behavior is wrong. What David did to Shaul with the goats and stubble is in terms of shock treatment. He proved to Saul in the most blatant way, because he could have killed him, but he actually had no motive to do so. This way of treating David finally convinced Shaul that his fears were unfounded and he was cured of his paranoia.
