October 1st, 2009
27 Wherefore David arose and went, he and his men, and slew of the Philistines two hundred men; and David brought their foreskins, and they gave them in full tale to the king, that he might be the king’s son in law. And Saul gave him Michal his daughter to wife.
Upon reading the entirety of the First Book of Samuel, chapter 18, we see that this is part of a story. It is essentially all explained in this single verse. Saul wanted David to die, so he gave him the task of getting one hundred philistine foreskins. David not only survived, he over-delivered by bringing back two hundred foreskins.
None of this was commanded by Yahweh, so it does not point to his immorality. However, David was said to have Yahweh’s favor, which he did not lose through this act. The point of the story is that this is just plain disgusting. Offering any body parts as payment for the privilege of marrying a man’s daughter is obscene in it’s own right. Requiring that this body part be the severed skin from the tip of a man’s phallus is that much more obscene. This is not a verse you hear in church, and it certainly isn’t something you tell children in Sunday school.
October 1st, 2009 at 9:25 pm
Maybe Saul wanted to eat them, or bathe in them, or have them stretched and made into a coat. Perhaps he collects them like insects, pinned to boards. Who knows. All I do know, is that foreskin has got to be the strangest form of currency I’ve ever heard of.