(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)
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1 Samuel 18:6–11, “And it came to pass as they came, when David was returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, that the women came out of all cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet king Saul, with tabrets, with joy, and with instruments of musick. And the women answered one another as they played, and said, Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands. And Saul was very wroth, and the saying displeased him; and he said, They have ascribed unto David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed but thousands: and what can he have more but the kingdom? And Saul eyed David from that day and forward. And it came to pass on the morrow, that the evil spirit from God came upon Saul, and he prophesied in the midst of the house: and David played with his hand, as at other times: and there was a javelin in Saul’s hand. And Saul cast the javelin; for he said, I will smite David even to the wall with it. And David avoided out of his presence twice.”
Every time a victorious army returned from battle, not just in Israel, the people who supported that army would come out to watch them parade. The victors would come into their home towns with the trophies of war and march behind their king and the other notable leaders. Of course, by the time the army had finished all the mopping up, the message had already been sent home so the people knew that there had been a victory and were ready to show their pleasure. On the other hand, if there was a defeat most of the people would hide so that they would not be taken as slaves by the other side. When Saul’s army returned from this battle the people were there to welcome them. As they marched in the women sang that Saul had slain thousands but David had slain tens of thousands. This was just a literary device that they used but it demonstrated that David was the real hero and Saul had just played a secondary role in that battle. Saul was already deeply troubled over the fact that Samuel had told him he would lose the kingdom himself and none of his sons would form a dynasty. He saw that David might be a rival for the kingship. After all, David showed that he was the kind of leader that the Lord supported while Saul was just a king like the neighbouring nations had. Saul looked for a chance to eliminate David so that he would never be a rival for the crown of Israel. This caused Saul to sink into one of his black moods and David came to play music for him. While David was playing the music, and defenceless, Saul grabbed hold of his spear and tried to kill David. He threw the spear a David, hoping to pin him to the wall but David was able to jump out of the way twice and stay alive.
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