Florence, Italy – city of beauty, history, and art. Visitors come here for a lot of reasons, but my guess is that the number one draw is Michaelangelo’s statue of David. It’s here in Florence’s Galleria dell’ Accademia. We’re headed there now. C’mon!
Inside the Accademia
From the outside, the Accademia isn’t particularly impressive, but on the inside… oooo… different story. We poked around, looking at paintings and sculptures, but we weren’t fooling anyone. No one was fooling us, either. Everyone there was there to see David.
We walked around a corner, and there he was, standing at the end of a long hall. Whoa boy – he’s BIG! That was the first surprise. Then, as we got closer, something strange started happening. Something just grabs you. If Stendahl is hanging around in here today, he’s gonna be in trouble.
Michaelangelo carved David out of one gigantic piece of marble. David looks like he has just decided that Goliath is gonna get it. You can see it in David’s face. He means business!
1 Samuel 17 – Here We Go
You remember the story. It’s in the Book of Samuel. Here’s the original version, abridged and with translation. (Bible-speak can be tricky to follow). We start at 1 Samuel 17…
“Now the Philistines gathered their forces for war and assembled at Sokoh in Judah. Saul and the Israelites assembled and camped in the Valley of Elah and drew up their battle line. The Philistines occupied one hill and the Israelites another, with the valley between them.”
Translation: The Philistines and the Isrealites were ready to rumble!
“A champion named Goliath came out of the Philistine camp. His height was 6 cubits and a span. He wore a bronze helmet and a coat of scale armor of bronze weighing five thousand shekels; on his legs he wore bronze greaves, and a bronze javelin was slung on his back. His spear shaft was like a weaver’s rod, and its iron point weighed 600 shekels.”
Translation: Out stepped Goliath. This dude was huge and armed to the teeth.
“Goliath stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, “Choose a man and have him come down to me. If he is able to fight and kill me, we will become your subjects; but if I overcome him and kill him, you will become our subjects and serve us.”
Translation: Choose one man to come and fight. I’ll have him for lunch, then everyone else won’t have to get all dirty.
“On hearing these words, Saul and the Israelites were dismayed and terrified.”
Yikes!
Translation: “Yikes! We’re gonna get creamed!”
“David was the youngest son of Jesse, who had eight sons. The others followed Saul into battle, but David stayed to tend his father’s sheep.”
Translation: David was just a pup. He wasn’t allowed to fight with the big boys.
David goes to meet with the boss – Saul.
“David said to Saul, “Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine; your servant will go and fight him. Saul replied, “You are not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him; you are only a young man, and he has been a warrior from his youth.”
Translation: David said, “Lemme at him! I’ll tear him limb from limb!” But Saul said, “That monster will squash you like a little bug.”
“But David said, “Your servant has been protecting his father’s sheep. I have killed both the lion and the bear; this Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God. The LORD who rescued me from the paw of the lion will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.” Saul said to David, “Go, and the LORD be with you.”
Translation: David said, “This guy’s got nuthin’. He’s all show. I’ll pulverize him! And besides, the LORD has my back.” Saul said, “OK, kid. Go for it.”
“Then Saul dressed David in his own tunic, coat of armor, and a bronze helmet.. David tried them on and walked around, because he was not used to them.”
Translation: David wearing Saul’s armor was a joke — it was ten sizes too big.
David Don’t Need No Stinkin’ Armor
“I cannot go in these,” he said to Saul, so he took them off. Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd’s bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine.”
Translation: David said, “This is ridiculous.” Then he ditched Saul’s armor, grabbed some rocks, and went to go kick some Philistine booty.
“The Philistine came closer and saw that David was little more than a boy. He said, “Am I a dog, that you come at me with sticks?” And he cursed David by his gods. “Come here, and I’ll give your flesh to the birds and the wild animals!”
“David said, “You come against me with sword and spear, but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, whom you have defied. This day the LORD will deliver you into my hands, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head.”
“As the Philistine moved closer to attack him, David ran to meet him. Reaching into his bag and taking out a stone, he slung it and struck the Philistine on the forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell facedown on the ground.”
Score One for the Good Guys
Translation: David had called it right — that big dude was all swagger and no dagger. All fluffy and no tuffy. All… well, you get the idea. Nailed him on the first shot.
“So David triumphed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone, without a sword in his hand he struck down the Philistine and killed him. David ran and stood over him, took hold of the Philistine’s sword and cut off his head.”
(That kid had some chutzpah!)
When the Philistines saw that their hero was dead, they turned and ran. Saul said to his commander, “Who is that young man?” His commander replied, “As surely as you live, Your Majesty, I don’t know.”
Shades of the Long Ranger, sans mask, eh? – At least for fans of old westerns. We can safely assume that David rode off into the sunset, a hero.
To be continued…
