Dovina14 Sep 2007
The book of I Samuel rings more like history than parable. I canât imagine any theological value in these hemorrhoids. But itâs easy to imagine gut-wrenching laughter from Israelites when they received them. They must have at least grinned at the funny choice of shape for a gift of gold sent by those humiliated Philistines. And they must have grinned again at seeing their enemy recognize the fact that they, the Israelites, had won. Perhaps they also felt empathy, for they too had been humiliated in times past, akin to one who admits his mistake, an act of recognized imperfection in which the Lord is pleased.