Sunday, May 8, 2016

Reflection - Ahinoam from Jezreel - Woman of the Bible

Source Website: http://www.moshereiss.org/articles/22_david.htm
By Rabbi Moshe Reiss, moshereiss@moshereiss.org, Bible Commentator


Ahinoam, said to come from Jezreel, is King David’s wife and the mother of his eldest son, Amnon. All references to her occur with, or in close literary proximity to Abigail.
PHOTO: Ahinoam, said to come from Jezreel, is King David’s wife and the mother of his eldest son, Amnon. All references to her occur with, or in close literary proximity to Abigail.
Only one other character named Ahinoam appears in the Hebrew Bible (Saul’s wife; 1 Samuel 14:50). Because she is roughly a contemporary of David’s wife, it is possible that “Ahinoam of Jezreel” is Saul’s wife Ahinoam. Citing God’s words (via the prophet Nathan) to David, “I gave you … your master’s wives” (2 Samuel 12:8).
Texts by Linda Schearing, Jewish Women's Archive -  "Ahinoam: Bible",  http://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/ahinoam-bible
Picture posted by Peter T. Chattaway on 12 May 2015 - Kings and Prophets - Ahinoam (Simone Kessell)
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http://wp.production.patheos.com/blogs/filmchat/files/2015/05/vlcsnap-2015-05-12-11h56m30s59.png
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/filmchat/2015/05/watch-the-first-trailer-for-of-kings-and-prophets.html
Who is Ahinoam?  King Saul wife was named Ahinoam daughter of Ahimaatz (1 Samuel 14:50). Is it reasonable that these are two different women with the same very odd name?  Why would a daughter be named the brother of Noam? Given the uniqueness of the name it appears David married Saul’s wife. But Saul is still alive! In the following verse we are told that David married Ahinoam Saul arranges a second marriage for Michal to Palti ben-Laish (1 Samuel 25:43-44).  Was Saul reacting to David’s kidnapping his wife? Does this reflect ‘what is good for the goose is good for the gander’? It basically means what is good for one type is also (or equally) good for another type (even if the two types have differences between them). [What you have done to me I do to you also].
Who is Ahinoam?
PHOTO: Who is Ahinoam?
King Saul wife was named Ahinoam daughter of Ahimaatz (1 Samuel 14:50). The Bible also tells us that when David married Abigail it adds that he also married Ahinoam of Jezreel (1 Samuel 25:43-44). Is it reasonable that these are two different women with the same very odd name? Given the uniqueness of the name it appears David married Saul’s wife.
Picture posted by by Bashar Shglila on Pinterest
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https://www.pinterest.com/kicksend/golden-hour/


When Nathan, the prophet admonishes David for having taken Bathsheba he says in the name of God ‘I gave you your master’s household and your master’s wives into your arms’ (2 Samuel 12:8).  The master is clearly Saul. What does ‘wives’ imply if not that Ahinoam, wife of Saul, became David’s wife? After Saul and Ishbosheth’s deaths David may have taken their concubines but nothing in the text suggests that. The only known concubine of Saul, Rizpah was taken by Abner (2 Samuel 3:7) and David allowed her children (as well as Merab’s) to be killed by the Gibeonites (2 Samuel 21:8-9). In one of Saul’s angry outbursts against Jonathan he calls him the ‘son of a rebellious woman’ (1 Samuel 20:30). Is Saul referring to his wife who went with David? [10]

 David's retaliation for the Gibeonites included the execution of two of Saul's sons by Rizpah and five of the sons of Merab, Saul's eldest daughter.


PHOTO: During the reign of David, there was a famine for three successive years; so David sought the face of the Lord. The Lord said, “It is on account of Saul and his blood-stained house; it is because he put the Gibeonites to death.” (Now the Gibeonites were not a part of Israel but were survivors of the Amorites; the Israelites had sworn to spare them, but Saul in his zeal for Israel and Judah had tried to annihilate them.) (2 Samuel 21:1-2). 

David's retaliation for the Gibeonites included the execution of two of Saul's sons by Rizpah and five of the sons of Merab, Saul's eldest daughter. The dead were left hung as a public warning for all to see. Rizpah kept a horrendous (horrifying) watch for five months over the bodies of her sons, protecting them from being devoured by wild birds and animals. Her action must have prompt King David to "gathered up the bones of those who had been killed and exposed" and buried them at Zelah with the bones of Saul and Jonathan  (2 Samuel 21:10-13).

But what could Rizpah do? The deaths of her sons had left her in a particularly vulnerable position; she was now only a widow and a childless one at that. Her sons were the property of the Gibeonites. She couldn’t ease her pain and grief by the normal tender ministrations of washing the bodies, wrapping them in oils and spices, followed by a burial in a family grave. Her sons were just left to be fodder for the appetites of vultures or large animals. [2]

The Bible said "After that, God answered prayer in behalf of the land." (2 Samuel 21:14)
Picture posted by Photobucket
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Did David with his enormous charm and magnetic charisma succeed in seducing Michal and Ahinoam? Is it possible that Michal’s rage noted above is a reaction to finding her mother in David’s bed? Did David inherit or kidnap Saul’s wife and then marry her as a partial means of obtaining his kingship? Several scholars have indeed suggested that the two Ahinoam’s are the same person. [11]

Alternatively if Ahinoam is not Saul’s wife David’s taking additional wives could be considered by Saul and Michal as a rejection of the Saulide connection and the creation of a new alliance with Abigail and Hebron. That could explain the conflict between David and Michal over the Ark incident.


Bathsheba
PHOTO: Bathsheba, Jean-Léon Gérôme (1824-1904)
Bethsabee : Jean-Leon Gerome painting. Jean-Leon Gerome was a French painter and sculptor in the style now known as Academicism. The range of his oeuvre (work of a painter) included historical painting, Greek mythology, Orientalism, portraits and other subjects, bringing the Academic painting tradition to an artistic climax.
Posted by Me Quietly, painting by Jean-Léon Gérôme
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http://www.deshow.net/d/file/cartoon/2009-12/bethsabee-809-2.jpg
http://www.deshow.net/cartoon/bethsabee-809.html
http://em-mim-serenamente-2.blogspot.sg/2013/06/jean-leon-gerome-betsaba.html
http://veryfatoldman.blogspot.sg/2015/09/king-david-bathsheba-and-uriah-hittite.html


Bathsheba, Jean-Léon Gérôme (1824-1904)
PHOTO: Bathsheba, Jean-Léon Gérôme (1824-1904)
Bethsabee : Jean-Leon Gerome painting. Jean-Leon Gerome was a French painter and sculptor in the style now known as Academicism. The range of his oeuvre (work of a painter) included historical painting, Greek mythology, Orientalism, portraits and other subjects, bringing the Academic painting tradition to an artistic climax.
Posted by Me Quietly, painting by Jean-Léon Gérôme
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFxsL1qWLYONeLkjaTM6h3CBrLJhsR5X59mmVxyks597WaHHC8BJnv9_ITmPrdjGzck4dujAg-IySY907fnh8DxJlKP4V2S_-dK7YSUbB7j1z9ko1VKwzLhdeWJUQWfaB2TjIeHpunHLA/s1600/bethsabee-809-2-1.jpg
http://www.deshow.net/d/file/cartoon/2009-12/bethsabee-809-2.jpg
http://www.deshow.net/cartoon/bethsabee-809.html
http://em-mim-serenamente-2.blogspot.sg/2013/06/jean-leon-gerome-betsaba.html
http://veryfatoldman.blogspot.sg/2015/09/king-david-bathsheba-and-uriah-hittite.html

 
Prayer For The Journey.
PHOTO: Prayer For The Journey.
"Dear Lord, I bring to You my burdens and You know my situation. You know I can't make it without You. Comfort my heart, give me strength, & help me carry on. Amen!" - Sara G, Loriann R - Words Of Wisdom
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https://www.pinterest.com/pin/80642649548235075/

Reflection - Ahinoam - Woman of the Bible
By Rabbi Moshe Reiss, moshereiss@moshereiss.org, Bible Commentator



Reference
[1] David's Wives: Love, Lust and Power, By Rabbi Moshe Reiss, moshereiss@moshereiss.org, Bible Commentator, http://www.moshereiss.org/articles/22_david.htm

[2] A Woman Of Extraordinary Strength and Resolve, Posted by Shari Hervold on Monday, 16 February 2015, http://friendsneedingfriends.blogspot.sg/2015/02/a-woman-of-extraordinary-strength-and.html

[10] Levenson and Halpern, JBL, pg. 515.

[11] Jon Levenson, CBQ, pgs. 27-28 and James C. Vandererkam, David’s Complicity in the Deaths of Abner and Eshbaal, Journal of Biblical Literature, vol. 99/4, 1980, pg. 528.

NIV, New International Version, Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

1 Samuel 14:50 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Samuel+14%3A50&version=NIV

1 Samuel 20:30 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Samuel+20%3A30&version=NIV

1 Samuel 25:43-44 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Samuel+25%3A43-44&version=NIV

2 Samuel 3:7 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Samuel+3%3A7&version=NIV

2 Samuel 12:8 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Samuel+12%3A8&version=NIV

2 Samuel 21:1-2 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Samuel+21%3A1-2&version=NIV

2 Samuel 21:8-9 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Samuel+21%3A8-9&version=NIV

2 Samuel 21:10-13 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Samuel+21%3A10-13&version=NIV

2 Samuel 21:14 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Samuel+21%3A14&version=NIV
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