House of David (2025) s1e04

This post is part of a series looking at Amazon Prime's show House of David (2025). I'm trying to post them as soon as possible after the show airs, so keep checking back. There are a few spoilers in in what follows.

Having anointed David in episode 3, Samuel now finds himself on the run. This isn't something that is specifically mentioned in Samuel/Chronicles, but it's an interesting idea: Samuel's relationship with Saul ends dramatically after Saul's victory over King Agag and the Amalekites and Samuel's prophecy against Saul and his line. Indeed the passage ends saying "Until the day Samuel died, he did not go to see Saul again" (1 Sam 15:35). Moreover, Samuel fades to the peripheries of the book that bears his name, appearing in only one other incident (1 Sam 19) before he dies unceremoniously at the start of ch.25. His final appearance is as a spirit in ch.28.

In addition to this Samuel remained a popular figure. When he dies, the text says "all Israel had mourned for him". It's reasonably likely, then, that someone so openly opposed to the king could only survive by going on the run. That said Saul also seems scared of Samuel, so perhaps he left him alone and hoped he would not stir things up further.

The idea of a prophet being on the run from his monarch have spoken truth to power in this way, also evokes another prophet from the Hebrew Bible: Elijah. I think the series will want to keep Samuel alive a little longer, for continuity purposes, so it'll be interesting to see if any more parallels are drawn between Samuel and Elijah as things continue. Samuel's fears are soon realised when his companion is murdered. He and his wife go into hiding.

Samuel is not the only one who fear's Saul's reprisal. Jesse is concerned, especially given the family's outsider status. But it's Eliav who truly realises the danger that Samuel's words have brought to David, and seeks to protect his brother. I like Eliav's portrayal in this series, he's in many ways a better father than Jesse, tough but sensitive and compassionate.

Meanwhile, David is being rapidly integrated into Saul's court. Saul's mental health is continuing to decline so his people are trying to find ways to soothe him. It's actually Queen Ahinoam who brings David in as a musician, though it's clear that Mychal has recommended him. The chemistry between them is still strong and they get a scene alone later on where Mychal reads him the words from The Song of Moses in Deut. 32. Here wish to have it made into a song soon comes true as David sets an-oldie-but-a-goodie to  a a new tune that not only impresses Mychal but also her dad, who calls it "beautiful".

Incidentally David's costume here is interesting. The blue sash over the white undergarment is something Jesus is often shown as wearing in religious art (most recently in The Chosen).

At the same time, Eshbaal, Saul's second son (apparently only 10 months younger than Jonathan) starts trying to help his father regain his popularity by suggesting a rather bread-and-circuses approach, only with less emphasis on the bread. No sooner has his suggestion been rebuffed when an elder of the tribe of Dan breaks into the throne room enraged because Eshbaal has "defiled" his daughter "Dinah"

This passage has stoked a bit of debate on the show's Facebook discussion group and there are a few different points here. Firstly, Eshbaal/Ishbaal is an alternative name for Ishbosheth, another son of Saul who briefly becomes King of Israel (but not, apparently, Judah) after Saul's death. Translations tend to choose one or the other, but there is a split with the more liberal/scholarly NRSV (and variants) going with Ishbaal and more conservative translations (KJV, NIV, ESV) going with Ish-bosheth. Given that the show seems like more of a faith-based/ evangelical film it's interesting to see it go with Eshbaal, because that version of the name is obviously some kind of acknowledgement to one of the Hebrew Bible's rival gods and its use here suggests Saul allegiance, on some level, to Baal.

It's fascinating how the Bible deals with Baal worship through the Hebrew Bible narratives. It's clear that at the time many works within it are being editing down, worship of God (Adonai or Hashem as the series prefers) is the dominant position and is in the ascendency, with God's proponents trying to exorcise worship of other gods entirely. Yet at the same time we see this tendency across hundreds of years of history. Perhaps it waxed and waned, but it's clear from the Bible that worship of Baal and other deities ran (to some degree) alongside worship of Hashem for centuries. This isn't something people are always keen to acknowledge, perhaps reflected in the translation choices, so it's interesting to see it play out here.

Another name that carries certain resonances is that of Eshbaal's victim (in the show), Dinah. For those not familiar with the murkier sections of Genesis, in the Bible Dinah is the daughter of Jacob who gets raped and has to marry her rapist, only for her brothers to kill him and massacre his tribes people (Gen 34). Some have worried this might be confusing, or just seems inappropriate, but personally I like this callback, deliberately connecting the two stories in viewers minds. I'm curious as to why they are trying to get people to recall the biblical Dinah story, though. Perhaps it's to subtly suggest that Esh-Baal has actually raped this woman. Perhaps all will become clearer as the show progresses

I also think it's great that Eshbaal is being developed as a character here because so often things are just presented as David taking over from Saul with a fairly straightforward transition, whereas that's not the case in the Bible. Ishbosheth is King of Israel for two years before David (who is simultaneously the King of Judah) takes over. There's actually a neat moment here where David & Eshbaal – unaware of their futures – pass each other on the road and acknowledge each other.

Is it significant, then, that Eshbaal is being portrayed as "the black sheep of the family", (and possibly even worse than that, a rapist). Making Eshbaal bad might make David's takeover of the northern tribes more acceptable, although David himself calls Ishbosheth "righteous" (2 Sam. 4:11) and executes his murderers, so somewhere along the line there may be some theological gymnastics. Surprisingly, there's little if any mention of any wrongdoing by Ishbosheth, in the Bible. His fate in this episode is also interesting. How will they resolve this?