Of Kings and Prophets – episode two

Saul is rattled by the prophet's condemnation of him, and David is rattled by the violence and sexual exploitation in the king's palace, in 'Let the Wicked Be Ashamed'.

Sep 13, 2022

This is an updated version of a recap that was first posted on March 16, 2016.

Season 1, Episode 2 — ‘Let the Wicked Be Ashamed’
I Samuel 16

Synopsis. The death of Mattiyahu and the prophet’s condemnation of Saul have rattled the royal family. Since Saul and Ahinoam can no longer unite the tribes by marrying their daughter to Mattiyahu, they arrange for Jonathan to marry Mattiyahu’s sister Sarah instead—and Jonathan is much less enthusiastic about his impending marriage than Merav was about hers. Ishbaal hires an assassin to kill Samuel, but Samuel kills the assassin. David plays the harp for the royal court, soothing Saul’s nerves and entertaining the guests at Jonathan and Sarah’s betrothal banquet—but then David finds evidence that one of Saul’s guests is plotting to betray him, and Saul kills the guest and the guest’s young son. David is attracted to Merav’s sister Michal, and Michal seems to be returning his affection, but Ahinoam, frustrated that Saul would rather be with his concubine, summons David to the palace and forces him to sleep with her—and their tryst is noticed by Merav. Disgusted by Saul’s violence and Ahinoam’s sexual exploitation of him, David returns to his home in Bethlehem—only to find that Samuel is waiting there, to anoint him the next king of Israel.

Editing Samuel. The chronology has been rearranged a tad, but the episode begins and ends with Samuel going to anoint David (I Samuel 16:1-13), and it includes scenes of David playing the harp for Saul and growing closer to him (I Samuel 16:14-23).

There are a few notable differences between the biblical account of David’s anointing and the depiction of that anointing in this episode: In the series, we see the remains of a sheep outside Jesse’s house, but the biblical Samuel sacrificed a heifer, or young cow, when he was there. In the series, David has just returned home from the palace in Gibeah, but the biblical David was summoned while he was tending sheep. In the series, David finds Jesse and Samuel sitting at a table, but the biblical Samuel said “we will not sit down” until David arrives. And, most notably, the series does not show David’s older brothers being auditioned, as it were, before David arrives.

The words Samuel speaks as he anoints David (“He will be to you a Father, you will be to him a son, and he will call you the beloved”) are very similar to the words Nathan will use when discussing God’s relationship with Solomon in II Samuel 7:14-15.

This episode also introduces the budding romance between David and Michal (I Samuel 18:20)—but, unlike the biblical David, who at least openly questioned whether he was worthy to marry a princess (I Samuel 18:23), the David of this series is fairly optimistic about his prospects. When his kinsman Joab says David shouldn’t be pursuing the princess, David points to his recent rise in status (from a mere shepherd to a servant of the royal court) and says he could rise even higher.

Certain characters get some biblical back-story. Saul says he was a farmer (I Samuel 11:5) before Samuel came along and declared that Elohim had chosen him to be king (I Samuel 9-10). And the Philistine queen Zaphra reminds her husband that their country was afflicted by plagues and boils after they captured the Ark of the Covenant (I Samuel 5-6)—and she still bears the scars of that affliction on her face and body.

Saul’s wife Ahinoam summons David to her bedroom and pressures him into sleeping with her. This foreshadows the way David will exploit Bathsheba (II Samuel 11), and it may also have its roots in a theory, held by some Jewish interpreters, that Saul’s wife Ahinoam (I Samuel 14:50) and David’s wife Ahinoam (I Samuel 25:43, etc.) were the same person, and that Saul called Jonathan’s mother “a perverse and rebellious woman” (I Samuel 20:30) partly because David had stolen Ahinoam away from Saul.1

Saul lashes out at a traitor and executes his entire family, including the man’s young boy. Similarly, Ishbaal threatens to kill David, his family, and every animal in his fields if he doesn’t keep out of Ishbaal’s business. This parallels not only how Saul, in his paranoia, will eventually turn against David, but also how Saul will slaughter the families and livestock of priests who were friendly to David (I Samuel 22:6-23). David’s parents will end up fleeing the country to get away from Saul (I Samuel 22:1-4).

David repeatedly proclaims his loyalty to Saul, even when other Israelites cite Samuel’s rejection of Saul as a reason to be critical of Saul. The biblical David similarly professed loyalty to Saul even after Saul turned against him (e.g. I Samuel 24:5-7).

Jonathan, for his part, remains loyal to Samuel, even though the prophet has rejected his father. When Ahinoam says Jonathan will be the next king, Jonathan replies, “Kingship must come with the blessing of the prophet.” This parallels how Jonathan will remain loyal to David even after Saul turns against David (I Samuel 20, etc.).

Joab says Saul won’t die peacefully in his bed. He is correct: Saul and most of his sons will die in battle against the Philistines some years later (I Samuel 31).

The Philistine king Achish says he and his army are going to the Valley of Elah. That is where the clash between David and Goliath will take place (I Samuel 17:2).

Other scriptures. The episode’s title comes from Psalm 31:17.

Saul is betrayed by Hanoch of Reuben. The biblical Reuben had a son named Hanoch (Genesis 46:9), but that was many generations before this series takes place.

Fictitious elements. Ishbaal hires an assassin to kill Samuel, but Samuel kills the assassin instead. Samuel is something of a badass in this series, which makes sense in light of how he beheaded the Amalekite king in the previous episode and how he may have led the Israelites in battle when he was younger (cf. I Samuel 7).

Philistine culture. Ahinoam says the Philistines worship a “sea-monster”, which is presumably a reference to the “fish-god” Dagon. Goliath is later seen praying to Dagon for his family, which is a nice touch; it helps to remember that the Israelites weren’t the only ones back then who worshiped a deity of some sort.

Ahinoam says the Philistines eat dogs and pigs. That is archaeologically true.

The supernatural. Nothing particularly supernatural happened in the first episode; whether Samuel was really speaking for God was left to the viewer to decide. But this episode points in a direction that is more suggestive of divine intervention.

For starters, there is the reference to the plagues that hit the Philistines.

And, for the first time, we experience Samuel’s thoughts from his own point of view, as he has a dream or vision of David’s exploits against the lion. Thus, Samuel’s decision to anoint David is not just part of some political or personal ploy to disrupt Saul’s monarchy; it is in direct response to a vision that he believes came from God. And since the vision shows Samuel things that he never witnessed himself…

Irony. Saul tells David the story of how Samuel chose him to be king, and says, “Who would say no?” Little do they know that Samuel will soon choose David.

Hanoch betrays Saul partly because he wants to see his nine-year-old son grow up, but his betrayal leads to the death of his entire family, including his son.

David goes home to get away from the palace, partly because Ahinoam was imposing her will on him. But when he gets home, Samuel imposes God’s will on him.

Geography. The assassin says he went to “the Tabernacle” but Samuel was gone. The biblical Samuel grew up at the Tabernacle (I Samuel 1-3) but, since he was not a priest, he does not seem to have lived there as an adult. In the series, Samuel lives in Gilgal, but in the Bible, Samuel lived primarily at the place of his birth, Ramah (I Samuel 7:17, 15:34, etc.), while the Tabernacle, where the priests officiated, moved around a bit and appears to have been located in Nob during this period (cf. I Samuel 21:1-9).

Women. Merav is still dealing with the fact that her “husband” was killed. She also taunts her mother with the fact that Saul prefers to sleep with his concubine, and that he no longer sends for Ahinoam except to discuss “strategy” with her.

Ahinoam takes an active role in helping Saul unite the tribes. And, just as she cited Deuteronomy in the first episode to argue against Samuel’s decree that the Amalekites should be wiped out right away, she now argues that no one really knows what the prophet meant when he said God would take the throne from Saul: Did he mean God would do it now, or at some point in the future, etc.? She also notes that no one heard the prophet specifically say that they should “betray” their king, so presumably Saul can still rule for now and expect obedience from his subjects.

Achish is affectionate with his wife after she shows him her scars. This is another good example of how the series humanizes the Philistine characters.

Sex and/or nudity. Ahinoam summons David to her chamber—and thus inadvertently prevents David from responding to Michal’s summons. Did Michal intend to sleep with David? Do the unmarried princesses of this culture not protect their virginity? (Cf. Merav and Mattiyahu in the previous episode.) This may be one way in which the series reflects more modern sensibilities rather than ancient Israelite ones.

Rizpah disrobes and distracts Saul while he is kissing Ahinoam, at which point Saul sends Ahinoam away because, he says, he needs to “rest” before going to war.

A couple has sex against a wall in the background as Ishbaal goes to the pub to meet the assassin. This is the second episode in a row where people have sex in public.

Violence. Samuel kills the assassin that Ishbaal sent after him—and he apparently also kills his own servant for revealing his location to the assassin.

Ishbaal and Michal begin to fight when she discovers his plan to kill Samuel.

Saul executes a traitor and his family. Ishbaal threatens to do the same to David.

God talk. Once again, David doesn’t say or do anything particularly spiritual—his harp-playing so far is purely instrumental, so he never sings any psalms—and most of the God-talk is left to Saul and Samuel, the latter of whom anoints David.

Saul, in particular, wonders why he can no longer “feel” God (I Samuel 16:14 says “the Spirit of the Lord had departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord tormented him”). But when Saul confronts Achish, he says the Israelites have Elohim on their side, and thus they have “weapons” that will work against the Philistines.

Miscellaneous. The cast for this episode includes another Bible-movie veteran:

David Dennis (Hanoch) — Simon the Sorcerer in The Visual Bible: Acts (1994)

Apparently this character was in the previous episode too, though I don’t believe that episode drew any particular attention to him. He certainly stands out more here.

The actress who plays Jonathan’s fiancée Sarah, Alex McGregor, played Jonathan’s sister Merav in the original, never-aired version of the show’s pilot episode.

TV show recaps:
Prophet Joseph | The Bible | A.D. The Bible Continues | The Chosen

Movie scene guides:
Risen | The Young Messiah | Paul, Apostle of Christ | Mary Magdalene

Some interpreters have also argued that the two Ahinoams might be the same because the prophet Nathan said God gave Saul’s wives into David’s arms (II Samuel 12:8). But the implication in that passage seems, to me, to be that David assumed control of Saul’s harem after he won the civil war against Saul’s dynasty, whereas the theories linking the two Ahinoams assume that David took her from Saul before he won the civil war.

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