Lookin’ good, Dave
I had lunch with Alex again, and we read the Bible and prayed. Thankfully he appears to blog in German. (I say ‘appears’ because ich sprechen nur wenig Deutsch, so, for all I know, he could be writing Polish and discussing the latest fabbo shopping bargains at the Birkenstock shop. I say ‘thankfully’ because whatever language it is, it means we are reaching different audiences, and not competing with each other to blog first.)
We came across a famous verse:
But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”
It's from 1 Samuel 16.
This is all well and good—especially when you consider that Saul, the man rejected as king, appealed to the people because he was a BC basketballer and a bit of eye candy as well:
There was not a man among the people of Israel more handsome than he. From his shoulders upward he was taller than any of the people. (1 Samuel 9:2)
(Notice how no-one's even mentioned Barack Obama until now!)
The story tracks along nicely because the famous verse (verse seven of chapter 16) leads into a section where, one by one, the fine and upstanding sons of Jesse appear, and are rejected as future kings of Israel, since the Lord judges the heart, not the looks. But we hit a speed hump when we reach verse 12: young David, the minder of sheep, is brought in. What sort of boy is he?
Now he was ruddy and had beautiful eyes and was handsome.
!
This is really unexpected. Surely after the build-up we would expect that the one who is anointed king (as David is about to be) would be described in terms of character, not appearance. And if we were to hear about appearance, we might even expect that the next king of Israel would be as ugly as, er, sin. I even once heard a speaker explain that ‘ruddy’ probably meant that David had acne, so keen was he to make this verse fit with the idea that David's appearance was not up to what you would expect at Facelift Central.
All this left both Alex and me scratching our heads, to some extent. But a thought did occur to us: what if this was the writer's way of saying that even David, for all his greatness and anointing by God's Spirit, would turn out to be a slightly more humanly fallible king than what seemed promised? He would turn out to be a king who didn't quite manage to break out of the pattern set by Saul: he was humanly attractive, but he had fatal flaws that had the potential to undo him completely. Maybe David is going to turn out a bit too much like Saul for comfort. The only way to find out is to read on.
Whether or not this explains the focus on David's beautiful appearance, it can't help but remind us that when the anointed King of God's choosing did finally come—the Son from David's line—“he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him” (Isaiah 53:2).
Two of David’s sons who caused him the most grief were his most handsome boys.
Absalom: 2 Sam. 14:25: In all Israel there was not a man so highly praised for his handsome appearance as Absalom. From the top of his head to the sole of his foot there was no blemish in him.
Adonijah: 1 Kings 1:5-6: Now Adonijah, whose mother was Haggith, put himself forward and said, “I will be king.” So he got chariots and horses ready, with fifty men to run ahead of him. (His father had never interfered with him by asking, “Why do you behave as you do?” He was also very handsome and was born next after Absalom.)
Is there a pattern of good-looking Fabio-style vain and godless drop-kicks?
Thanks for the post, Gordon.
I agree that the physical description of David is unexpected in the context. However, I wonder whether the preoccupation with beauty was as strong in the Israelite mindset as our world’s. It’s telling to note that when an almost identical description of David is given in the following chapter: it is the cause for Goliath’s disdain of David (1 Sam 17:42-43). Thus, I take it that while David was a good-looking kid (perhaps even ‘cute’), he didn’t seem to be king material—certainly not a military leader who would bring the nation back from the brink of collapse that it is facing at the end of chapter 15.
Just a thought about how verse 12 might fit. And this does remind us (as you helpfully concluded) that despite all human appearances, Jesus was the one chosen as God’s great king—and that is the only true way of seeing him.
dc
Andrew and Dan, you both seem to agree that KD is a pretty boy, which is what 1 Samuel 16 highlights, so also 1 Samuel 17.
There is a deep tradition of pretty boys in the Bible, starting with the serpent in the garden.
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