It’s interesting to read about the women’s role in David’s
time.
Already, in the first two chapters, we encounter references
to the women. The two verses in chapter one appear to cast the women in the
role of
responders (reflecting the mood of the community), and receivers:
I Sam 1: 20 “Tell it not…lest the daughters of the
Philistines rejoice; lest the daughters of the uncircumcised triumph”
Circumcision was an indication of purity. (See Ayaan Hirsi
Ali’s book “Infidel – my life”, for insight into this practice today.)
I Sam 1: 24 “Ye daughters of Israel, weep over Saul, who
clothed you in scarlet…”
In chapter two, we meet David’s two wives, Ahinoam (see I Sam 14:50) and the
intelligent and attractive Abigail,
who we first met in I Samuel 25:3. I think we can assume that marriages were
often strategic alliances, arranged to suit the men and to uphold the honour of
the family “line”. The women, often
still girls, presumably had little or no say in the matter, and simply obeyed
their parent’s wishes.
Julie Swannell
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