Prophet Samuel Anoints David as King of IsraelInterior of the synagogue in Dura Europos Syria
King Prophet David
From Oral Jewish Tradition we receive a wonderful story. This is one of the most heart-warming stories concerning Old Testament women, I have ever read. It explains the immediate circumstances related to Psalm 69 and other verses from the Psalms, and Gospel Old Testament quotations. It also explains the circumstances of King David around the time of his anointing as King of Israel.
As Orthodox Christians these verses and the stories themselves have a prophetic significance and for us they point to our Lord Jesus Christ.
What a great woman was the mother of King David! Both Nitzevet and her son King David are an example of humility, patience and trust in God in the midst of suffering. And Nitzevet could be considered a type of the Theotokos, who Herself suffered shame unjustly, at the time of Her Conception of our Lord.
As Orthodox Christians these verses and the stories themselves have a prophetic significance and for us they point to our Lord Jesus Christ.
What a great woman was the mother of King David! Both Nitzevet and her son King David are an example of humility, patience and trust in God in the midst of suffering. And Nitzevet could be considered a type of the Theotokos, who Herself suffered shame unjustly, at the time of Her Conception of our Lord.
Nitzevet, Mother of David
The Bold Voice of Silence
By Chana Weisberg
Save me, O G-d, for the waters threaten to engulf me...
I am wearied by my calling out and my throat is dry. I've lost hope in waiting...
More numerous than the hairs on my head are those who hate me without reason...
Must I then repay what I have not stolen?
Mighty are those who would cut me down, who are my enemies without cause...
O G-d, You know my folly, and my unintended wrongs are not hidden from You...
It is for Your sake that I have borne disgrace, that humiliation covers my face.
I have become a stranger to my brothers, an alien to my mother's sons.
Out of envy for Your House, they ravaged me; the disgraces of those who revile You have fallen upon me...
Those who sit by the gate talk about me. I am the taunt of drunkards...
Disgrace breaks my heart and I am left deathly sick.
I hope for solace but there is none, and for someone to comfort me but I find no one.
They put gall into my meal and give me vinegar to quench my thirst... (Psalm 69)1
This Psalm describes the life of a poor, despised and lowly individual who lacks even a single friend to comfort him. It is the voice of a tormented soul who has experienced untold humiliation and disgrace. Through no apparent cause of his own, he is surrounded by enemies who wish to cut him down; even his own brothers are strangers to him, ravaging and reviling him.
Amazingly, this is the voice of the mighty King David, righteous and beloved servant of G-d, feared and awed by all.
King David had many challenges throughout his life. But at what point did this great individual feel so alone, so disgraced, and so undeserving of love and friendship?
What caused King David to face such an intense ignominy, to be shunned by his own brothers in his home ("I have become a stranger to my brothers"), by the Torah sages who sat in judgment at the gates ("those who sit by the gate talk about me"), and by the drunkards on the street corners ("I am the taunt of drunkards")? What had King David done to arouse such ire and contempt? And was there no one, at this time in his life, who would provide him with love, comfort and friendship?
This Psalm, in which King David passionately gives voice to the heaviest burdens of his soul, refers to a period of twenty-eight years, from his earliest childhood until his being coronated as king of the people of Israel by the prophet Samuel.
David was born into the illustrious family of Yishai (Jesse), who served as the head of the Sanhedrin (supreme court of Torah law) and was one of the most distinguished leaders of his generation. Yishai was a man of such greatness that the Talmud (Shabbat 55b) observes that, "Yishai was one of only four righteous individuals who died solely due to the instigation of the serpent"--i.e. only because death was decreed upon the human race when Adam and Eve ate from the Tree of Knowledge at the serpent's instigation, not due to any sin or flaw of his own. David was the youngest in his family, which included seven other illustrious and charismatic brothers.
Yet, when David was born, this prominent family greeted his birth with utter derision and contempt. As David describes quite literally in the Psalm, "I was a stranger to my brothers, a foreigner to my mother's sons...they put gall in my meal and gave me vinegar to quench my thirst."
David was not permitted to eat with the rest of his family, but was assigned to a separate table in the corner. He was given the task of shepherd because "they hoped that a wild beast would come and kill him while he was performing his duties"2 and for this reason was sent to pasture in dangerous areas full of lions and bears.3
Only one individual throughout David's youth was pained by his unjustified plight and felt a deep, unconditional bond of love for the child whom she alone knew was undoubtedly pure.
This was King David's mother, Nitzevet bat Adel, who felt the intensity of her youngest child's pain and rejection as her own.
Torn and anguished by David's unwarranted degradation, yet powerless to stop it, Nitzevet stood by the sidelines, in solidarity with him, shunned herself, as she, too, cried rivers of tears, awaiting the time when justice would be served.
It would take twenty-eight long years of assault and rejection, suffering and degradation until that justice would finally begin to materialize.
David's Birth
Why was the young David so reviled by his brothers and people?
Save me, O G-d, for the waters threaten to engulf me...
I am wearied by my calling out and my throat is dry. I've lost hope in waiting...
More numerous than the hairs on my head are those who hate me without reason...
Must I then repay what I have not stolen?
Mighty are those who would cut me down, who are my enemies without cause...
O G-d, You know my folly, and my unintended wrongs are not hidden from You...
It is for Your sake that I have borne disgrace, that humiliation covers my face.
I have become a stranger to my brothers, an alien to my mother's sons.
Out of envy for Your House, they ravaged me; the disgraces of those who revile You have fallen upon me...
Those who sit by the gate talk about me. I am the taunt of drunkards...
Disgrace breaks my heart and I am left deathly sick.
I hope for solace but there is none, and for someone to comfort me but I find no one.
They put gall into my meal and give me vinegar to quench my thirst... (Psalm 69)1
This Psalm describes the life of a poor, despised and lowly individual who lacks even a single friend to comfort him. It is the voice of a tormented soul who has experienced untold humiliation and disgrace. Through no apparent cause of his own, he is surrounded by enemies who wish to cut him down; even his own brothers are strangers to him, ravaging and reviling him.
Amazingly, this is the voice of the mighty King David, righteous and beloved servant of G-d, feared and awed by all.
King David had many challenges throughout his life. But at what point did this great individual feel so alone, so disgraced, and so undeserving of love and friendship?
What caused King David to face such an intense ignominy, to be shunned by his own brothers in his home ("I have become a stranger to my brothers"), by the Torah sages who sat in judgment at the gates ("those who sit by the gate talk about me"), and by the drunkards on the street corners ("I am the taunt of drunkards")? What had King David done to arouse such ire and contempt? And was there no one, at this time in his life, who would provide him with love, comfort and friendship?
This Psalm, in which King David passionately gives voice to the heaviest burdens of his soul, refers to a period of twenty-eight years, from his earliest childhood until his being coronated as king of the people of Israel by the prophet Samuel.
David was born into the illustrious family of Yishai (Jesse), who served as the head of the Sanhedrin (supreme court of Torah law) and was one of the most distinguished leaders of his generation. Yishai was a man of such greatness that the Talmud (Shabbat 55b) observes that, "Yishai was one of only four righteous individuals who died solely due to the instigation of the serpent"--i.e. only because death was decreed upon the human race when Adam and Eve ate from the Tree of Knowledge at the serpent's instigation, not due to any sin or flaw of his own. David was the youngest in his family, which included seven other illustrious and charismatic brothers.
Yet, when David was born, this prominent family greeted his birth with utter derision and contempt. As David describes quite literally in the Psalm, "I was a stranger to my brothers, a foreigner to my mother's sons...they put gall in my meal and gave me vinegar to quench my thirst."
David was not permitted to eat with the rest of his family, but was assigned to a separate table in the corner. He was given the task of shepherd because "they hoped that a wild beast would come and kill him while he was performing his duties"2 and for this reason was sent to pasture in dangerous areas full of lions and bears.3
Only one individual throughout David's youth was pained by his unjustified plight and felt a deep, unconditional bond of love for the child whom she alone knew was undoubtedly pure.
This was King David's mother, Nitzevet bat Adel, who felt the intensity of her youngest child's pain and rejection as her own.
Torn and anguished by David's unwarranted degradation, yet powerless to stop it, Nitzevet stood by the sidelines, in solidarity with him, shunned herself, as she, too, cried rivers of tears, awaiting the time when justice would be served.
It would take twenty-eight long years of assault and rejection, suffering and degradation until that justice would finally begin to materialize.
David's Birth
Why was the young David so reviled by his brothers and people?
Please read the rest of the story here .
Chana Weisberg is on the editorial staff of chabad.org. She is the author of Tending the Garden: The Unique Gifts of the Jewish Woman and Divine Whispers: Stories that Speak to the Heart and Soul and lectures worldwide on issues relating to women, faith, relationships and the Jewish soul. The content on this page is copyrighted by the author, publisher and/or Chabad.org, and is produced by our content partner, Chabad.org. If you enjoyed this article, we encourage you to distribute it further, provided that you comply with the copyright policy.Permision to reprint a few paragraphs and a link to the original story was granted by e-mail from Dovid Zaklikowski
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Thanks for posting this. I'd never heard this story before!
ReplyDeleteDavid... Awesome and Magnificant.... A Treasure to stay in my heart... Thank-u
ReplyDeleteMary of Egypt