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1Sa_21:10-15
By the good providence of God, David was spared—through what seemed at first a trial and a danger—from the tremendous perils of this position.
It must be confessed to have been a bold step, so far as human confidence is concerned, for him to put himself into the hands of those whom he had so often humiliated. But, on the other hand, he might reckon with confidence upon the protection which the eastern people invariably extend, and the hospitality they show, even to an enemy who claims shelter from them; and there was room to think that the satisfaction of the Philistines in seeing the Israelites deprived of their most renowned warrior, would preponderate over their resentment at the injuries he had inflicted upon their nation. In fact, it seems that Achish the king of Gath, to which place he went, was in the first instance well enough disposed to receive him; but presently strange and dangerous murmurs passed among the lords and princes. “Is not this David, the king of the land? Did they not sing to one another of him in dances, saying, Saul has slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands?” By this we see how perfect the intelligence of the Philistines was, as to what passed among the Israelites. They knew of this special point in the songs of the Hebrew maidens; and they were even already aware of what had so recently transpired, as to his having been anointed as the future king of Israel. Even David was surprised to find them in possession of this fact. He saw at once that the treatment he might expect as one recognized as being destined, by his position, to become the public enemy of the Philistines, might be very different from that which might have been afforded to him as a fugitive general. He was greatly dismayed. He probably saw that the king himself changed countenance at this intelligence. What was he to do? This we cannot answer, as we are not sufficiently acquainted with all the minute circumstances which might help to a conclusion. We can, however, see that what David decided to do under the influence of instant apprehension, is not by any means entitled to our approbation. It was an acted untruth, and such untruths are not more innocent than oral ones. It would have become him much better, if he conceived himself in such great danger, to have prayed in his heart to the Lord, and then waited for the seemly and becoming means of deliverance which He would without doubt have opened for his imperiled servant. But “he feigned himself mad,” or perhaps to fall into a fit of epilepsy, which was in ancient times regarded as a madness. This character he acted to such disgusting perfection, that the court had no doubt of the reality of his affliction. He not only “scrabbled upon the wall,” but let his slaver fall down upon his beard. This last was convincing. Considering the regard in which the beard is held, the care taken of it, and the solicitude of the owner to protect it from insult and pollution, who could possibly doubt the abject and absolute madness of the man who thus defiled his own beard! On the other hand, a soft of respect for the persons thus afflicted, as if they were under some kind of supernatural influence, has always existed, and does now exist, in the East, so that David knew his personal safety, and even his freedom, were guaranteed by the belief in his madness. Such was the case. The king was not, perhaps, sorry to be thus relieved from the difficulty which he saw to be gathering round the question. He therefore turned in seeming, or real wrath, to his servants, rebuking them for admitting a madman to his presence. “Lo, ye see the man is mad: wherefore have ye brought him to me? Have I need of madmen, that ye have brought this fellow to play the madman in my presence? Shall this fellow come into my house?” The Jewish writers think there was more emphasis than we are aware of in Achish’s asking if he had need of madmen. They tell us that, the king’s wife and daughter were both mad, and that while David was simulating madness without, they were exhibiting the reality within, so that poor Achish might well think he had already quite enough of this.
We should like to be able to entertain the belief that the epileptic madness of David was real and not feigned. Some, in their anxiety to vindicate his character, have labored hard to prove that this was the case. Both the Septuagint and the Vulgate versions intimate that it was real: and the curious in these matters know that the question whether the madness of Hamlet was assumed or real, has not been more ably, earnestly, or ingeniously discussed than the truth or simulation of David’s madness. To us it seems that the plain meaning of the text is, that the madness was assumed; but we are ready to admit that were the text less explicit we should see no improbability in a sudden attack of real epilepsy under such circumstances. There is an anecdote which shows this in the life of St. Bernard. This renowned abbot once went into Guienne, to set right some matters which in his judgment had gone wrong through the advice of William X, Duke of Aquitaine and Count of Toulouse, to the court of the anti-Pope Analectus II. Having celebrated mass, Bernard stood forth, with the host in his hands, and uttered a most terrible denunciation against the duke, who was present. He had no sooner ended than the prince fell to the ground trembling and powerless. The soldiers lifted him up, but his countenance was altogether changed; he regarded no one, nor could any coherent words be drawn from him. He heaved forth profound sighs, and presently fell into epileptic convulsions, letting his saliva fall upon his beard. A striking instance this, of the effects which strong terror may produce upon even resolute minds. It is the reality of that which David feigned.