David, Yahweh’s Anointed Sorcerer?

I blame my parents.  Of course, it’s a common thing to do in our culture to find a cause for all our woes in those who reared us at great cost.  But, in my own defense, I really do think that I can objectively trace it to them. 

Those in similar situations know my plight.  The sticks clacking together in mortal combat with your children intoning the light saber’s “Woahn! Woahn!”  Your curly-haired two year old humming “the imperial march” while coloring.  Your seven- and six-year-olds pointing and counterpointing  at the dinner table about who was the most powerful Jedi.  Yes, it’s Star Wars sickness.  An acute fever that never seems to abate except by deep sleep.  Since we have been living in Yaoundé, my parents have access to “the shipment” where they can send over gifts to their grandchildren via boat. It takes about three months but it works.   Light sabers and Star Wars books came on the last shipment.  Thus my blame-casting. 

Because of the time it takes to ship, my parents are already planning to send Christmas presents.  They asked what the kids would like for a gift.  Our children responded with joy that they wanted full Darth Vader costumes.  Both Ruth and I both promptly (and definitively) said no to their request.  Although one can grow tired of Star Wars, that’s not the reason we denied their wish.

Now, we are actually leaving the country in less than a month from our more affluent urban African context to a poorer rural village setting.  We live now in a walled compound where our children play with other Western children who speak English.  The rural village will be filled only with Central African children who speak Gbaya and Sango and who have never seen Star Wars at all.   To western children, Darth Vader costumes may provide a way to relive a fun, exciting, and familiar story.  It would not be experienced that way with the children where we’re moving.  The black mask would likely be a terrifying thing and probably associated with some evil spirit.  To have it would likely do badly for our children’s and our family’s reputations as Christians, not to mention scaring the daylights out of our neighbors.

We explained to the kids, “Darth Vader would be just fine in your culture, but in theirs it would be a bad thing.  It’s just not worth it if we want to love our neighbors.”

The boys seemed to understand, but were coming up with a solution.  Sam asked, “What if we show all our neighbors the movie then they can understand?”

We said, “We likely won’t get all of our neighbors to watch Star Wars, and it probably wouldn’t change their reaction to you running around in the suit, because we don’t change quickly from things we believe deep down.”

Darth Vader would have too much baggage.

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Baggage is the word for this episode of translation Tuesday. 

We were reviewing a translation in 1 Samuel 16:1-13.  It’s a well-known and interesting passage.  God sends the prophet Samuel to the house of Jesse in Bethlehem where God will make the choice of his king because he has rejected Saul.  There, Jesse brings all his sons (except the youngest David who is watching the sheep) before Samuel.  Samuel thinks that Eliab will certainly be God’s choice of the next king because he’s so tall (people were impressed by Saul’s height).  The Lord famously responds, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart."

After all of the important older sons have been brought before Samuel and God doesn’t choose them Samuel sent for the youngest son, David, to be brought.  It’s revealed to Samuel that David is God’s choice.  Then the story ends on verse 13 when it says,

“Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers. And the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon David from that day forward. And Samuel rose up and went to Ramah.”

In my preparation for checking this verse I did a lot of study on the word “anoint” with ideas how to help the translators come up with a good translation of this key term.  I assumed that there was no word for it Gbaya.  Boy, was I wrong.  They did have a perfectly fine word that means ‘to anoint/put oil on someone’: “honga.”

Wow, cool.  Since they have a word that means ‘to anoint’ then we can move on to the next verse, right?

Well…remember that word baggage?  I just wanted to see how this word was used in the culture to see what other meanings are associated with this word to make sure that it somewhat matches the situation of David being anointed.

So I asked the translator, “When do you use ‘honga’ (to anoint) in normal life?”  After some discussion he ended up writing these three situations in normal life where the word is used:

1. To put oil on one’s skin as a moisturizer.

2. To put oil on someone a transfer of power ritual from one village chief to another.  After the new chief is anointed, local powerful evil spirits enter into the chief at this time to give special discernment to the chief to lead wisely when the anointing is done.

3. To describe the act of the transfer of “witchcraft power” from a female witch through the umbilical cord just after the witch’s baby is born. Or the process of transferring witchcraft power from a wizard to his son (through pronouncing certain words and transferring the power through clasped hands).

Read numbers 2 and 3 carefully again.

Now read  1 Samuel 16:13 again.

See the similarities in how anoint (honga) is used in modern Gbaya culture and in the Biblical text?

Both (#2) involve transfer of power rituals: village chief in Gbaya and David as the King of Israel.

Both involve spirit possession/control/influence (#2, #3) to empower the leader’s new position.

Now….STOP!

What should we do?

Should we leave the word or change it somehow?

This is a good word in one sense, but will people be confused that David is possessed by the same local spirit(s) or by ‘witchcraft power’?

Will ‘the spirit of the LORD’ be confused with the local evil spirits from this?

If I had a nickel for every time I’ve heard Gbaya church folks equate witchcraft power as the source of the Apostle’s power to heal, then I could buy my family a hearty breakfast of beignets.

Does David’s blessing by being able to escape Saul due to the secret wisdom given by the spirits just like the wisdom the village chief has from the rite performed by the anointing?

What should we do?

Is this a word that could be changed in understanding through teaching to fit the Biblical spiritual worldview…

Or does it, like Darth Vader, have too much baggage to change much in the community’s ears?