“Thus Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel. But Samuel said to Jesse, ‘The LORD has not chosen these.’ And Samuel said to Jesse, ‘Are these all the children?’ And he said, ‘There remains yet the youngest, and behold, he is tending the sheep.’ Then Samuel said to Jesse, ‘Send and bring him; for we will not sit down until he comes here.’ So he sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, with beautiful eyes and a handsome appearance. And the LORD said, ‘Arise, anoint him; for this is he.’ Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers; and the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon David from that day forward. And Samuel arose and went to Ramah” (1 Sam 16:10-13).
The divine choice of the youngest brother, David, to rule instead of his other brothers, along with his good looks provide all the best ingredients for a pot of jealousy which will boil over in the next chapter (see 1 Sam17:28-29). But there’s more to this story than meets the eye. Every single word has been strategically chosen to parallel another well-known story in the Bible.
The author introduces David by telling us “he is tending the sheep” (v. 11), a phrase used to describe only one other person in the Hebrew Bible, who also happens to be the younger brother is divinely chosen to rule over his brothers: Joseph (Gen 37:2, 8). The description of David’s good looks also draws a parallel to Joseph (compare 1 Sam 16:12; Gen 39:6), and may even be a subtle hint very early in the story that David, like Joseph, will also have to face the temptation of adultery (compare 2 Samuel 11 with Genesis 39). Like Joseph, so too David is filled with the Spirit of God (compare 1 Sam 16:13 with Gen 41:38). And perhaps most important of all, like Joseph, the author uses a poem at the end of the story to interpret the events of David’s life (God’s divine choice, the rejection by his brothers, the terrible suffering, and eventual ascent to the throne) as a prefiguration of the Messianic King (2 Sam 22:1-51; 23:1-7; Gen 49:8-12). By reading David, we see Joseph, by reading David and Joseph, we see the Messiah!
By means of this strategic narrative analogy located at the very beginning of the story of David, the author ties the divine choice of David directly to God’s promises to the Patriarchs in Genesis, and to God’s plan to bless the world through the seed of Abraham. It is no surprise, therefore, the authors of the NT identify Yeshua as the Messiah son of David (Matt 1:1), and also as the Messiah son of Joseph (John 1:45), two figures who are seamlessly woven into the Meta-Story of the Hebrew Bible. To say Yeshua is the one of whom Moses and the Prophets did write is no exaggeration. It’s a factual statement which proves we are really sensitive readers. For Yeshua truly is the resolution of the conflict, the Hero of heroes whom God has chosen to rule, not only over his brothers, but over all nations.
So in the spirit of Paul’s admonition to Timothy: Read wisely, connect the dots, and you will believe in Yeshua!
“You, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus” (2 Tim 3:14-16).
