I have OT questions i need help with

[anendlesswaltz]

I have two things i need help with! I believe both shoudl be in the same book or at least near each other in the bible, in the old testament. With interpretting them, i mean. I wish i could bold my specific questions to make it easier, as i have to describe the event for one cause i want to read the passage but don’t know where it was from…

ONE

I was looking up things on google the other day, i don’t remember why, and i happened upon an article that mentioned something i don’t remember reading in the bible and wanted to look up. It described, negatively, about how God was angry at Saul? Samuel? The king for keeping concubines and allowing them to keep practicing the religion they did and not converting. I wanted to read the passage to see for myself if they described it properly and study it for myself.

TWO

I was googling to try to find that passage and ended up finding another i want to get help with but this instead for help studying. 1 Samuel chapters 16-19. It is translated differently as either an evil spirit, a distressing spirit, or a troubling spirit from the Lord. And it/Saul’s actions in ch.16 and ch.19 are very disturbing, distressing, honestly, because I thought God tempted you to…how was it described to me…to bring out faith, i think, was the person’s point. Like the goal is to bring you closer to Him whereas with the devil and his demons the goal is to drive you away. That’s how it was described and explained to me anyways.

Is that the only bible passage that speaks of this? Because i have heard that some books retell a story (i do not remember which one) and in one book it ascribes something to God and in the other retelling the story it ascribes it to the devil.

Can you please help me with my questions and concerns? Is some of this a mistake in writing or translation perhaps? Or was some things meant as a literary device? Like i read once that when the OT says Israel ‘utterly destroyed’ its enemy its meant to be the army not the whole nation. Its an intentional exaggeration, because if they really killed literally everyone there wouldn’t be someone for them to fight just pages later once again from the same tribe.

Sorry i’m not speaking very clearly i think, i haven’t ate yet today and i’ve only been up for an hour. I didn’t get much sleep so i’m very sleepy and out of it. I am a Christian i am not an athiest, but I think i ask a lot of questions that i fear will make people upset or angry.

 

[fredystairs]

Greetings,

I think that I might have an answer for your first question. In the First book of Kings, chapter 11, it describes how King Solomon had hundreds of wives and concubines. These turned him away from the Lord and he worshipped other gods. Please see 1Kings 11: 1-13.

Is this what you were looking for?

Pax

 

[fredystairs]

Also, please ask any questions you want. Most posters on this forum will love to help you with your questions. Don’t feel as though you have to limit yourself or that people will get annoyed. Some might but you should just ignore them.

Pax

 

[BartholomewB]

@anendlesswaltz, now that @Fredystairs has answered your first question, please see if this helps to answer your second question:

That period in the history of Israel can be summarized very briefly as follows:

1. At the end of the Exodus, the people of Israel settled in Canaan. Each group of settlers had a leader or chieftain, who were called “judges” because settling disputes between the villagers was one of their duties.
2. These settlements formed a kind of loose confederation, without any centralized power structure. This went on for 200 years or so, until they decided it would be better to live as a unified state, under a king who would govern them all.
3. They called on the prophet Samuel to appoint a king for them. Samuel appointed Saul, who seemed to be a good king at first, but less so as time went on.
4. David, who while still a boy became famous for killing Goliath, emerges as a national hero and marries Saul’s daughter.
5. Israel is fighting a long-running, on-off war against the Philistines; one day Saul loses a battle and falls on his sword to avoid capture. David succeeds as king.
6. One of David’s first triumphs is the capture of Jerusalem from the Jebusites. David makes Jerusalem the new capital of his kingdom.

The passage in 1 Samuel that you mention in your second question deals with the difficult period when Saul is seen as no longer acting like a good king. His son-in-law David is emerging as a rival candidate to take his place, and Saul naturally becomes jealous and resentful.