“The king and his men went to Yerushalayim to attack the Y’vusi, the inhabitants of that region. They taunted David, ‘You won’t get in here! Even the blind and the lame could fend you off!‘ — in other words, they were thinking, ‘David will never get in here.’ Nevertheless, David captured the stronghold of Tziyon, also known [now] as the City of David. What David said on that day was, ‘In order to attack the Y’vusi, you have to climb up [from the spring outside the city] through the water tunnel. Then you can do away with those [so-called] ‘lame and blind’’ (whom David despises — hence the expression, “The ‘blind and lame’ keep him from entering the house”).-2 Samuel 5:6-8
Alrighty, let’s take a look at the main part of Samuel Chapter 5, which is what the people inside the walled city said to David and his army.
Not very many Bible translations agree with one another on the true meaning of their words.
When we compare, we find slightly different meanings assigned to what they said from version to version.
Further, when we look at verse 8, it ends with David uttering another line about the lame and the blind, and it sounds like he is disgusted by them.
Strange, right?
So there are 3 theories as to what’s going on here as follows:
Theory 1:
The Jebusite soldiers, safe up on the city walls, are simply throwing insults at David.
And David’s comment about hating the lame and blind?
That’s just him being sarcastic and throwing the insults right back to them.
Theory 2:
Some think the Jebusites brought lame and blind people to the city walls and had them yell insults at David.
If that’s true, David might have been saying that when he entered the city, he wouldn’t show mercy to them like a warrior usually would to people with such severe disabilities.
Theory 3:
This idea comes from the Rabbis.
They think the “lame and blind” were actually idols or statues.
The Jebusites might have put these idols on the city walls as a way to curse David and his army.
Rashi, a famous Rabbi, had a different take.
He said the people in the city were descendants of Abimelech, and the “lame and blind” were statues.
One represented Jacob, who became lame after wrestling with the Angel of the Lord, and the other represented Isaac, who went blind in his old age and was tricked by Jacob.
David hated these statues and planned to destroy them.
Some scholars even link this to Hittite myths, while others argue the strange wording might mean the text had been corrupted over time.
But since the Dead Sea Scrolls say pretty much the same thing, that explanation doesn’t hold up well.
So to close, instead of a takeaway today, I’d like to pose a question.
What’s your take?
What do you think is the most credible theory?
Or you may have a completely different idea.
Either way, I’d love to hear your thoughts.
Leave your answer in the comments below.
The next time we meet, we’ll get into the most plausible answer about the meaning of the “lame and the blind” in this story.
i think it is a combination of both 2 and 3
Answer to be revealed soon!