Thus David bested the Philistine with sling and stone; he struck him down and killed him. David had no sword. (I Samuel 17: 50, JSB)
The Bible story of the battle of David the shepherd boy with Goliath the giant has been much on my mind these past few weeks, watching the Ukrainians struggle to hold back invading Russian forces. As we enter the summer season, I will be adding four new images from international artists of this classic confrontation in the Hebrew Scriptures to the on-line Sacred Art Pilgrim Collection. My first featured work is an etching of David and the slain Goliath by the East-European born, American Jewish Artist Ben-Zion from a portfolio on Judges and Kings--one of four collections of prints on biblical themes, represented on the Ben-Zion profile page in the Sacred Artists section. Ben-Zion created simple, expressive, often, humorous images of the patriarchs, prophets and kings he had come to know so well from his reading of sacred texts in the East European yeshiva school of his childhood, presenting them as a visual commentary on specific passages from the Hebrew Scriptures. We see David toying with his fallen foe's super-sized spear after slaying him with a single stone from a slingshot. This biblical narrative is often cited as proof that might does not make right and underdogs have their day. Pray for the Peace of Ukraine! (John Kohan)