Texts in Conversation
Pseudo-Philo reframes David’s defeat of Goliath as an angelic act. An angel named Zervihel strikes alongside David, and the dying Goliath sees that his true slayer is not human but divine.
Share:
2500 BCE
1000+ CE
1 Samuel 17:49
Hebrew Bible
48 The Philistine drew steadily closer to David to attack him, while David quickly ran toward the battle line to attack the Philistine. 49 David reached his hand into the bag and took out a stone. He slung it, striking the Philistine on the forehead. The stone sank deeply into his forehead, and he fell down with his face to the ground. 50 David prevailed over the Philistine with just the sling and the stone. He struck down the Philistine and killed him. David did not even have a sword in his hand.
Pseudo Philo Biblical Antiquities 61:8
Classical
7 And David put a stone in his sling and smote the Philistine in his forehead, and ran upon him and drew his sword out of the sheath and took his head from him. And Golia said unto him while his life was yet in him: Hasten and slay me and rejoice. 8 And David said unto him: Before thou diest, open thine eyes and behold thy slayer which hath killed thee. And the Philistine looked and saw the angel and said: Thou hast not killed me by thyself, but he that was with thee, whose form is not as the form of a man. And then David took his head from him. 9 And the angel of the Lord lifted up the face of David and no man knew him. And when Saul saw David he asked him who he was, and there was no man that knew him who he was.
Date: 50-120 C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
Search:
Notes and References
“... The single combat described by Josephus is a human one, despite the presence of an invisible ally. In the previous paragraph as well (188), Josephus inserts realistic details; he depicts Goliath’s armor hindering his advance. Conversely, Rabbinic tradition emphasizes the miraculous by having David afflict Goliath with leprosy, by casting his evil eye upon him (Midrash Leviticus Rabbah 21:2; Pesikta Rav Kahana 127; Midrash Samuel 21:109). The supernatural is accentuated once again by Pseudo-Philo (Liber Antiquitatum Biblicarum 61:7-8): Before dying, Goliath urges David to hasten his murder and to rejoice; David in turn invites the giant to look at his true slayer, and in that moment Goliath sees the supernatural figure—the angel Zervihel—who is with David ...”
Wright, Benjamin G.
Outside the Bible: Ancient Jewish Writings Related to Scripture
(p. 1277) The Jewish Publication Society, 2013
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
Your Feedback:
Leave a Comment
Anonymous comments are welcome. All comments are subject to moderation.