King David: The Golden Age of Ancient Israel, Vol 2: The Badlands

etc

Introduction

King David: The Golden Age of Ancient Israel is an historical reconstruction as epic novel in 4 volumes. This is Vol 2.

In Vol 1 we saw young David, a sheepcote boy, taken into King Saul's palace at 16, viewed as a luck charm. Here he became a minstrel through his musical talents. Recklessness and dreams of glory drove him to attach himself to forays against the lowland Peleset, where he fast rose to mighty man of valor. In that time, he became deeply attached to Rizpah, a young concubine in King Saul's second harem. Their bond lasted for 3 years, even though she maneuvered Saul to promote her to the queens' harem. Almost to keep step with her, David accepted a challenge intended to harm him. He won out and wed Saul's daughter Michal for a rise in station to prince.

The David-Saul-Rizpah triangle lasted until a slanderous whisper in Saul's ear, intended to injure David's rising warrior reputation, drove Saul into a mind-boggling rage. David fled to the Judaean desert, then into the Southeastern Badlands, as a hunted outlaw. He was roughly 20.

David came from the Southland Tribe of Judah, with its many clans. Judah did not recognize Saul, who reigned as king of Israel. David became the leader of an outlaw pack. Saul's determined pursuit drove David to seek shelter in the Southwest Badlands. Then to the enemy center city of Gath, and a game of false-face vassalage to King Achish of Philistia. While Queen Rizpah had already born Saul two sons.

Among the most dramatic moments are 1) the Great Battle That Nobody Really Won, and 2) the revival of love in a more cold-hearted David at sight of Abigail when, in one of his dark hours, a gust of wind outlined her figure across a long field, and 3) Saul's entrapment and momentous death. Leaving his throne open to Rizpah, David and others.

The 12 Tribes and Other Unaffiliated Hebrew-Speaking Tribes and Clans in Early Davidic Times. The Twelve were divided into 1) the weakly allied Northland 10 (Israel), with its central Yahwist core ruled by, or allied to, Saul, and 2) the Southland 2 (Judah, Simeon). The northern extension of Caleb was known as Maon. (Moab is not shown here, as they spoke a different West Semitic Canaanite dialect. By the Roman era, Edom had absorbed Simeon, Reuben and Moab, known then as Idumaea.)

1 Bad Men of the Badlands

1. Nare before did he know any fear of being killed. Youth, delusion and ambition clouded his eyes. But now he knew it could happen. Saul meant to do him in, and not too gently. So the outcast Prince David loped along furtive as a filcher, mainly by night, ever onward into the western Judaean desert near the rumored Lake of Sheol he knew only by name.

Here the rocks of the goats fell away to its other calling, the Sea of Salty Slime. Rumor said 10,000 caves of whirring bats and squealing moles pockmarked these rugged cliffs. Along with the countless drifting people who lived here as best they could, ever on the aimless go, without the comfort of homes, regular meals or trust in friends.

This Hebronite edge of the Badlands fell away toward its south. And then grew more dangerous as one continued into the more lawless northern Negev, less arid then. Or it could not have held the Exodus for 40 years. Or all the other wanderers inside its great expanse, even unto 1,500 and more years after David. Small armies of spoilers lived here, such as the unaffiliated Hebrew Tribe of Amalek that young Saul had decimated with a much larger army.

Alone. Yea, ever alone now. It hurts. For I am such as needs people around me more than food. But what the Lord wills, I must accept, he thought, climbing crags like a monkey down a dangerous steepness by the Wilderness of En-gedi. He sought and found an ample cave with sound of drip of water, and with a mighty swing and a leap, he stood inside. He drank of the drip. Then he slept his fill. By eve he went forth and, with stealth, killed a mountain goat with his sling to cook over a fire.

That night as he sat propped against the wall in the dark thinking of Rizpah, how he had lost her to Saul forever, he heard gruff voices nearing. Then came footsteps, and the face of a one-eyed spoiler appeared, glaring at him.

Here came a band of homeless young roughs and toughs of the Badlands, more unshaven and foul smelling than he, but equally pronounced as David in their sinew. They wore the winter wool of the poor, two and three lengths wound around, especially at the foot, with no true ankle wrap. It was so dark inside the cave the burn of their eyes gave off the best light, while in the rear could be heard the winging of the bats. The rich colors of his clothes gave David away as a young man of means waiting only to be robbed. He had to think fast.

Come dine with me, David said, with a forced smile. He did this before they could decide to rob him or not. Yea, they were spoilers. Such as could beat him senseless and steal every stitch off him. The thing he most feared they might steal was the Urim under his gown. So he courteously said, And after I will tell you a tale of this land.

One by one they entered, until they numbered 12 in all, and stared at him, as if wondering whether it might be best to hear the tale first or beat and rob him straightaway.

Now one of David's special gifts was to win respect as a man among men. He had the right build, the right timbre of voice, and a sense of command now used in battle for several years. Another talent honed not as sharp was to be shrewd, learned from Rizpah. Well he knew that for the homeless men who wandered the Badlands around Hebron, nothing was more rare than to hear a bard tell a good tale. For they were Negev thistle blown by the wind. Story tellers drew crowds in the broad places and at pilgrimage fairs, reserved for household folk and their loved ones of a life level that bothered to wash the black off their hands. So these crude men of the Badlands gathered in close around the char of the burnt-out fire, watching David with ferral eyes as they cut slabs of meat off his roasted goat with stabbing flicks of their long sharp knives. As if they would dine first, hear the tale and then rob him at will.

Those roughs and toughs closest to David could make out the scars on his face and limbs. They said he was a man of blood experienced in the madfest of war. And this inclined them toward him as did his firm voice and air of command, now habitual with him from his forays in the Aijalon. They also fast glimmed the combed wool of his vest and the rich dyes and embroidery of his chest binding. This said he was of a high station. A few even saw the flesh bumps of geese on his calves, and they knew he was a man who bore privations well, for he did not rub the bumps. So they falsely merried him back a bit, eating his meat clean off the lips of their knives.

Where did ye get that long gash on your brow? their big chieftain asked. And David saw in the shadows how raw the bones and how bullock thick was this man's hide. Taller and broader than most men, he showed no sign he might not slit David's throat in a thrice for David's Megiddo-styled sash.

In the War of the Forays south of the Aijalon.

You're a Hebrew soldier?

War captain. And mighty man of valor.

They gaped. It was the dream of every boy in this land to be called that.

What are ye doing here? a patch-eyed fellow asked.

Same as ye. An outlaw.

We hear of a luck child of Judah up that way. He married a king's daughter and became a prince.

I am that man.

David willed his charm as the rose exudes a sweet fragrance. And he made his voice more mellow to the ear, for he was well practiced at chant and song now, at how to please an ear. Yea, his luminous brown eyes moved from face to face with a half smile, and this Badlands gang warmed to him.

We are the sons of Hard Luck, their chieftain said with glum, even as the others stared at David with envy. For to become a war captain was high, but to become a mighty man of valor the highest of manly honors in Canaan. Nare a thing hath come easy for us save breath itself from the air. Each meal we eat is bare won and then, soon enough, our bellies need fill again.

2. To stall them further from harming him, he asked their names. And they answered in a bevy Chief, One Eye, Killer, Slasher, Ape.

Who are your people? David probed, though he well knew they belonged to the nameless in the Badlands as a swift belonged to the sky.

We have no people, Chief answered somberly.

If ye are of this land, then you have a belonging to a people and a place, David boldly answered.

Who are our people and what is our place? Chief asked, a man of hardness equal to these cliffs. "We are outcasts, damned to a life of petty thieving. Almost as cursed by the townspeople as the habiru, whom it appears it is our destiny to become. For they earn themselves the blood oath in return. We seek to avoid that."

Bad things happen enough, Ape admitted. A man we pummel for a filch may die on us. Only because he fought too hard to keep two or three pims. Then his household will call down the blood oath on us.

We are Negev wanderers. Without a tent, Chief said.

We live by skulk and filch from the fields, One Eye added, avoiding the Hebron militia. We already paid them off once to leave us alone.

I see ye as the flower of manhood in Canaan, David countered. Look how ye are all men of finest sinew. Sons of this land. A land that needs your strength. It is your belonging. The Lord may have led you here. But I am one who can lead you to a better life. No matter what ye did before. I can build ye into a busyness. To earn respect.

A busyness? one wondered.

How strong is the Hebron militia? David asked. I mean outside the walls of Hebron? Not inside.

Mayhap forty men with spears, came the answer. Bare half ride on mules. They lounge about the city. You can buy some for a few pims. Their chief is the lowest scum of all.

I can build you into a better militia. It would win you the respect of the Hebronites. They will see you as deliverers with a place and a purpose here. On their side of the law.

Deliverers? One Eye asked.

Flower of manhood? Chief mouthed the fine words.

How can ye do this? Killer asked. For we fear the blood oath in our present life of spoiling. It can strike us out of nowhere. We who have poor arms, and so must filch day to day as best we can.

A dog's life, David said. Now both ye and I know full well how spare justice is in all this land. And how many spoilers plague the ploughman and his family. I can make you into a band of deliverers the locals will look up to. If ye but cross over to the law's side of honorable dispatch.

But the Hebronites already know us as vagrants who scavenge their fields. How can we change that?

You just told me of a Hebron militia that is lax. But ye are men of finest sinew who, if led by an experienced warrior, could make a better militia. For what is needed in this land is more justice. And who can best provide it if not men born with broad backs. Am I not the Luck Child? I can turn your luck around.

Really? came many voices.

We like what you say, Chief added, as Knife nodded. But to skulk and filch by night is our life, what we do and how we live. Nare did we sink as low as child stealers.

Then who better for us to attack than the child stealers? David said.

Are ye also the one called David the Ephrathite? Killer asked. Made a prince of Israel by briding.

Yea.

The spoilers all fell into a reverent hush.

David wondered if Saul's reward might be in anyone's mind. If so, let capture come swiftly. If not, he would push on, enhancing it a bit. Yea, he needed them more than they needed him. These roughs and toughs kept on chewing the last of his goat meat, even as the makeshift spit collapsed. Chewing on their thoughts too, these unwashed spoilers of the Badlands, their flesh-eating knives still in their hands, the smell from their underarms sharp as cut onion.

3. We heard of thee, Chief now said. A word here, a bit there. But as to justice. No such thing for the likes of us. The upperfolk commit high crimes and get away with it. But we poor fellows are left to steal. To be flogged and scorched when caught, if not worse.

Then I offer ye a rise in station. A chance, David said. I can take out 20 men with a trained handful. I have done it for years.

So they sized him up, and he sized them up, in the pale of latent destiny, and he decided they had no idea of Saul's reward. David felt he had won them over, feeling his way as if in the dark. A sense of command touched with recklessness was inbred in him, overriding all.

I am a man of the people, David laid it on, and I can clearly see ye can do much good in this land. I take to men with tales of hardship. As some of my soldiers were. I turned them around. Yea, I can turn ye around too and make ye right in the eyes of the Lord. Then the Lord would favor thee. And no blood oath harm thee.

How? Ape asked. Tell us a story of a turn around. For we would turn likewise, if we could. And rid ourselves of blood oaths already on our heads.

Beguiled by him, they put aside the dirt and meanness of their lives a moment to hear a mighty man of valor out. So David told of Jephthah, as though he himself were Shammah reborn. They listened spellbound, learning about this man of the Gilead wilds who turned himself around from an unjust outcast to become a king. They remained amazed by it, but also amazed how David, who had obviously hobnobbed with high lords in great houses, treated them with no sign of fear or patronizing air, but as equals, though they felt of a station far beneath him and the palace life he had known. It was a gift of David's busybodyness with the servants at the palace for him to do this, as natural as the soft breezes that carve the desert dunes. They saw him as a leader of men by his scars, as well as his fame that had reached into the Negev. He saw how he had escaped a for-certain pummeling and robbery at their hands. For no one in all that land commanded more respect among menfolk than one who had looked the Shadow in the eye repeatedly and came away alive. Nor had any one ever offered to turn these roughs and toughs around before. To bloodlet on the side of the very people they had been filching from. And win their favor.

Then David asked, Can ye tell me of a gross wrong at hand we might right? Say … involving innocents.

They all spoke at once. Telling of child stealers. Of blond children sold as slaves into the Deltaland at a better price than black or brown heads.

What do you propose? Chief asked.

4. That we form a band of deliverers, David said. To earn our keep. But ye must do more than pummel. Ye must bloodlet against bad men. It is called 'adjutication.'

Meaning?…

We judge the bad men. Like the judges at the gate.

How can we judge? Knife asked. We fear the judges at the gate. Our mouths go dumb before one. Where we get 10 or 15 lashes, and a bloody back … sometimes even for what we did not do.

Ye set a hard task for us, Killer said. We are not into that kind of thinking.

Would ye rather be hero outlaws or outcast beggars?

Now Chief, the mountain of a man in their midst, said, Well, now. I must say. I am mayhap one of the strongest men in all the Badlands from Hebron to Kadesh-Barnea. And I have been head of a gang for four years now, since 19, like this Jephthah fellow. I see ye are of higher station than me, with fine schooling. But I will not be second in command to anyone. Save one who can best me at wrestling in two out of three. Or that fellow who as a boy felled the giant of Gath in the Border War.

David said, I am the man.

Of course! two or three now said. It maketh sense. And mayhap the Lord hath sent him to us. As this fellow says.

No one spoke, until David said, getting to his feet and full height, But take me not at my word, Chief. Let us go at it, as ye described. Let us wrestle. Man to man. As it is the greatest sport everywhere among men of stone-hard sinew.

And Chief stared at him astonished.

5. As pink break of day sent a narrow beam of light slicing inward, David strode about to set the limits of the ring with a rock here and a line in the clay there, as he used to do with Doag. Then Chief rose up full, with rowdy pride in his raw strength, 290 pounds, and said, Ye are small compared to me. Are ye sure you want to do this? I am a powerful man with a back of granite. With no intent to hurt ye if ye can truly better our fortunes.

I am powerful too, David said, The Hebrew Lord is with me. And He is stronger than any granite back.

So Chief nodded, and they took up position within the mouth of the cave. And each let his arms dangle. And David said, as mental thrust first, Do ye know of Doag the Edomite?

The wrestling champ of Jebus? Who in this land doth not? They even know him in the Delta Land.

Yea, others said. A wrestler of highest renown.

He was my teacher. I oft bested him, David lied, while noting how heavy footed Chief stood.

What is your name? David asked him.

Barnea.

Like Kadesh-Barnea?

Exactly. The oasis. We bastards oft take the name from where we were born. For the father is gone and the mother may desert as well to wend her way with harlotry.

The bigger man came on, but David proved agile. Yet because of the cave limits, he missed the first leg trip he tried. He then fast wheeled and got the second, and as Barnea went atumble, David caught him from behind in a headlock. They fell with David riding Barnea on a side. No sooner did they strike the ground, where Barnea took the shock in his hands, then David angled off quickly without letting up in his necklock with his powerful forearms. Thus, the bigger man could only flail with one mighty arm, punching weakly at David's thighs. And it was all as Doag had taught.

I can break your neck, David whispered softly in Barnea's ear, but I have no wish to. I like you. I need you. You need me. Why should we continue this?

I am humbled before my men, Barnea said, in even softer whisper. You got me down so quick. I did not even throw you once.

Then let us make a pact, David said. You will give a mighty shout and fling me away, and I will let go and roll. Then you will rise and say, 'Now I know you are the man ye say you are. No need for us to wrestle in this cave, where the walls are sharp, and we can bleed ourselves for naught. Let us join for the good.'

How can I remember all that? Barnea asked. Those are too many words, and of a finer cast than I am used to. I am a simple filcher off the Negev. Plain as sand.

Try.