“Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren. And the spirit of the LORD came mightily upon David….”
After Abravanel explained that King Saul, and only King Saul, ruled the Hebrews (no one knew about David), let’s understand how Abravanel interprets Saul’s foul mood. “Now the spirit of the LORD had departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD terrified him.” Two points must be addressed.
- Why did Heaven depart from Saul? Granted that God decreed an end to his reign, but why His immediate abandonment of Saul? Why not let him serve out his years without an emotional bender? Curiouser still, some commentators assert that Saul’s crisis had not hampered his military prowess, a fearlessness with which he fought until his dying day.
- An internal contradiction emerges from the verses. On the one hand, we read: “Now the spirit the LORD had departed…” The departure of God’s spirit from Saul left him, well, without what had heretofore been a huge lift from Above. Yet, on the other hand, it says: “And an evil spirit from the LORD terrified him.” So, apparently, some spirit from Above attached to Saul, albeit a debilitating one.
Abravanel reconciles both points. As soon as the Maker chose David, the divine spirit swathed him. By the same token, Saul lost it. We’re advancing a zero-sum game whereby God imbues only one man with that especial heavenly spirit and energizer.
This requires clarification. At times, a man may exhibit unusual courage and steely resolve. That, Abravanel teaches, may motivate many men of valor simultaneously. Yet, if we speak about that big boost from Above in matters of moral and judicial clarity, only one man possesses that spirit at any given time. This is because such a trait befits a Hebrew king, seeing that he is tasked with adjudication (besides acting as commander-in-chief). To the point, even after King Saul failed in his role as king, nevertheless, he retained vestiges of the “kingly spirit”, let us call it. Not for long. When Samuel anointed David and as a direct result of it, the divine spirit descended upon the king-select, it fled King Saul.
As stated, King Saul lost God’s spirit. Yet, a dire sense of doom or “an evil spirit from the LORD terrified him.” Abravanel believes that Saul’s melancholy and wide mood swings may be traced to his profound shame at having betrayed the Creator and the prophet. Ghoulish thoughts hounded him, possessed him. Incessantly, he feared God’s punishment as imminent.
Again, except for his bravery in the face of enemies, Saul shuffled aimlessly. When gripped by mental anguish, he hardly functioned. Naturally, the king’s servants sought to alleviate Saul’s morosity. “Let our lord now command your servants, that are before you, to seek out a man who is a skillful player on the harp; and it shall be, when the evil spirit from God comes upon you, that he shall play with his hand, and you shall be well.”
As providence would have it, David’s musical touch and melodic voice worked magic. “And it came to pass, when the [evil] spirit from God was upon Saul, that David took the harp, and played with his hand; so Saul found relief, and it was well with him, and the evil spirit departed from him.” It will prove to be a temporary fix or diversion, as the upcoming chapters relate.