“When Sha’ul saw David go out to fight the P’lishti, he said to Avner, the army’s commander, ‘Avner, whose son is this boy?’ ‘By your life, O king,’ Avner replied, ‘I don’t know.’ The king said, ‘Find out whose son this boy is.’As David returned from killing the P’lishti, Avner took him and brought him to Sha’ul with the head of the P’lishti in his hand. Sha’ul asked him, ‘Young man, whose son are you?’ David answered, ‘I am the son of your servant Yishai the Beit-Lachmi.’-1 Samuel 17:55-58
A lot of folks get confused about the conversation between Saul, Abner, and David that takes place after David killed Goliath.
Saul asks his army commander “Avner, whose son is this boy?“
So the confusing issue is why in the world doesn’t Saul know who David is?
David was Saul’s official court musician…
And he even gave David the official title of “armor-bearer”.
Since the king seems to have no idea who David is, he goes out of his way to ask his top general Avner about him.
Abner responds with a dramatic answer “By your life, O King, I don’t know”.
So finally Saul approaches David directly and asks, “Whose son are you?”
Okay, so the usual interpretation is that this is a corrupted narrative.
Or someone inserted this conversation much later and failed to notice that what he added flat-out contradicted what came earlier.
Another opinion is that King Saul’s mental faculties had worsened so badly that he couldn’t even remember who he had summoned to play the lyre in his court anymore.
Okay, let’s clear this up.
Take a close look at the question Saul asked David.
“Whose SON are you?”
Notice, he’s not asking “Who are YOU?”.
He’s asking David who his father is.
This issue of who David’s father is connects perfectly to verse 25.
“The soldiers from Isra’el said [to each other], ‘You saw that man who just came up? He has come to challenge Isra’el. To whoever kills him, the king will give a rich reward; he’ll also give him his daughter and exempt his father’s family from all service and taxes in Israel.'”-1 Samuel 17:25
Three things would be awarded to the man who succeeded in slaying Goliath.
FIRST, was a monetary (cash) award…
SECOND was winning one of the king’s daughter’s hands in marriage…
THIRD the victor’s family would no longer have to pay taxes or service to the government of Israel.
What Saul was addressing when he asked David whose son he was was this part about his father’s family no longer having to pay taxes or service to Israel.
For Saul to reward David’s family, he has to know who his papa was, right?
“But didn’t Saul already know who David’s father was?”
No, he didn’t.
You’re assuming it was Saul who personally went out and discovered David to be his court musician.
That wasn’t the case, it was one of Saul’s court advisors who informed the king of David’s name.
“But what about this verse from chapter 16?”
“So Sha’ul sent messengers
to Yishai saying,
‘Send me David your son,
who is out with the sheep.'”
-1 Samuel 16:19
This verse clearly says Saul sent messengers to Jesse for David.
But listen up homies.
That doesn’t mean Saul personally knew Jesse.
Saul simply gave the word to one of his royal messengers to summon David from his family of Jesse.
Look, if I told you I received an invitation from the President of the United States, that doesn’t mean that Joe Biden himself sent me a personal text message or something, right?
A king or a President delegates those tasks to his underlings who act under his authority.
Avner had no idea who David’s father was because he was responsible for the soldiers, not the musicians.
So he was telling the truth when he said he didn’t know whose son David was.
Again, David was never asked to identify himself.
He was asked to identify his father.
That’s why David gave Saul his father’s name because that’s what he was asked.
Ya, feel me here?
In the next chapter, we’ll see Saul take care of the second part of the reward for defeating Goliath: the winner gets to marry one of the King’s daughters.
So there isn’t any mystery at all in this dialogue now, is there?
NEXT TIME WE BEGIN 1ST SAMUEL CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
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