48 As the Philistine moved closer to attack him, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet him. 49 Reaching into his bag and taking out a stone, he slung it and struck the Philistine on the forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell facedown on the ground.
50 So David triumphed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone; without a sword in his hand he struck down the Philistine and killed him.
51 David ran and stood over him. He took hold of the Philistine’s sword and drew it from the sheath. After he killed him, he cut off his head with the sword.
When the Philistines saw that their hero was dead, they turned and ran. 52 Then the men of Israel and Judah surged forward with a shout and pursued the Philistines to the entrance of Gath[f] and to the gates of Ekron. Their dead were strewn along the Shaaraim road to Gath and Ekron. 53 When the Israelites returned from chasing the Philistines, they plundered their camp.
54 David took the Philistine’s head and brought it to Jerusalem; he put the Philistine’s weapons in his own tent.
55 As Saul watched David going out to meet the Philistine, he said to Abner, commander of the army, “Abner, whose son is that young man?”
Abner replied, “As surely as you live, Your Majesty, I don’t know.”
56 The king said, “Find out whose son this young man is.”
57 As soon as David returned from killing the Philistine, Abner took him and brought him before Saul, with David still holding the Philistine’s head.
We begin today with the death of the Giant Goliath. This book gave me more to ponder than the last one...that killing Goliath prevented a war is a great reason... But I'm one of the "why" type of people that asked "Why then cut off his head?"
With the ISIS beheading activities paramount in our minds, I went out to look for a brief answer to include here in case others are interested:
By decapitating Goliath, David wanted to "show the whole world that there is a God in Israel. All those gathered here will know that it is not by the sword or spear that the Lord saves; for the battle is the Lord's, and he will give all of you into our hands" (17:46–47).
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| Caravaggio (1573-1610) |
There were other references of cultural issues that might also apply but, the above reference seemed to fit what I was thinking as I followed each artist's portrayal of how he was to portray the aftermath of Goliath's death; i.e., that his head was cut off and carried away... I found myself analyzing each artist choosing this particular one as how I felt David would have responded to what he'd just done--he had killed a man!
To me, I believed that David would have immediately turned toward God and talked, prayed to Him. It was God who had surely chosen a young shepherd, using a slingshot, to destroy any chances of war. David would have thanked him, as was shown in Guercino's portrayal of David. Having cut off the head, David immediately turned toward heaven to speak to God, to thank Him for being with him in battle.
Other presentations by various artists are gruesome, as he walked back to Jerusalem carrying the head; but as I thought about each, they also exhibited the natural thrill of victory, of knowing he had acted as commanded by God...and had succeeded!
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| Giovanni Lanfranco - David Dragging Goliath's Head. |
In this array of paintings, I noticed quite a few had David dressed in grandeur, in clothes which would never have been worn by a poor shepherd... As we close out the book with paintings of celebration, of Saul's response to what was happening, it leaves readers with a desire to move forward to see how this story of the Goliath's death results in changes in David's life...
This concentration, this study of paintings based upon a specific theme, to me, surpasses walking through an art gallery or books covering a particular artist or style of painting. For me, this is another new experience where each painting, created by various artists and presented in comparison, forces the reader, the observer of the paintings, to consider the story behind the painting and question whether the artist sees the story as you would or as something completely different. It is unique in presentation, is an excellent teaching instrument and is also quite a beautiful, wonderful addition to your personal library.
Do check out this and other books in this series. It is highly recommended to scholars, students, and all those who love paintings as an expression of our wonderful world...
GABixlerReviews
The series The David Chronicles includes the following novels:- I: Rise to Power
- II: A Peek at Bathsheba
- III: The Edge of Revolt
- I+II+III: The David Chronicles
In addition, it includes the collections of art that inspired writing the novels:
- IV: Inspired by Art: Fighting Goliath
- V: Inspired by Art: Fall of a Giant
- VI: Inspired by Art: Rise to Power
- VII: Inspired by Art: A Peek at Bathsheba
- VIII: Inspired by Art: The Edge of Revolt
- IX: Inspired by Art: The Last Concubine
Uvi Poznansky is a bestselling, award-winning author, poet and artist. “I paint with my pen,” she says, “and write with my paintbrush.” Her romance boxed set, A Touch of Passion, is the 2016 WINNER of The Romance Reviews Readers' Choice Awards.
Education and work:
Uvi earned her B. A. in Architecture and Town Planning from the Technion in Haifa, Israel and practiced with an innovative Architectural firm, taking a major part in the large-scale project, called Home for the Soldier.
Having moved to Troy, N.Y. with her husband and two children, Uvi received a Fellowship grant and a Teaching Assistantship from the Architecture department at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. There, she guided teams in a variety of design projects and earned her M.A. in Architecture. Then, taking a sharp turn in her education, she earned her M.S. degree in Computer Science from the University of Michigan.
She worked first as an architect, and later as a software engineer, software team leader, software manager and a software consultant (with an emphasis on user interface for medical instruments devices.) All the while, she wrote and painted constantly, and exhibited in Israel and California. In addition, she taught art appreciation classes. Her versatile body of work includes bronze and ceramic sculptures, oil and watercolor paintings, charcoal, pen and pencil drawings, and mixed media.
Books and Genres:
Her two series won great acclaim. Still Life with Memories is a family saga series with touches of romance. It includes Apart From Love, My Own Voice, The White Piano, The Music of Us, and Dancing with Air. The David Chronicles is a historical fiction series. It includes Rise to Power, A Peek at Bathsheba, and The Edge of Revolt.
Her poetry book, Home, is in tribute to her father. Her collection of dark tales, Twisted, and her Historical Fiction book, A Favorite Son, are both new age, biblically inspired books. In addition, Uvi wrote and illustrated two children books, Jess and Wiggle and Now I Am Paper. For each one of these books, she created an animation video (find them on YouTube and on her Goodreads page.)
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