Good Evening Yamon Ki Yesepar;
I Samuel 17:40: And he took his staff in his hand, and chose him five smooth stones out of the brook…”
If you have ever taken a class in creative writing, you know this is very poor story telling. We have a real good example of foreshadowing, with David picking up 5 smooth stones to do battle against a giant, but then the narrative never explains the purpose of the other four stones. The result of such poor story telling is clearly seen as Christians are always wondering why the text mentions 5 stones. Everyone automatically assumes there is some significance in the 5 stones.
This is not poor story telling but a remez and the realization that this is not just nice folk lore. The remez here leds us to search out a deeper spiritual meaning, a coded message so to speak. Something that may not be revealed to us in our generation or maybe it will be in these last days.
However, let’s take a shot at deciphering the code. We will focus on the words
“Chamsah kaleke-‘evanim,” or “five smooth stones” as it is usually translated. The word here for five is in its root form “Chamesh.” This could be a play on a similar word using the exact same consonants in the exact same order “chamush.” This word means to arm oneself, array for battle. The word for “smooth” is “Kaleke” which is used only once in the Hebrew, which is right here and is translated as “smooth.” The word in it’s root form is “Kalek” which means to flatter through smooth talking, creating a sense of false comfort. The word stone is the normal word for stone “‘even” which also means strength and power. In other words David was arming himself with a weapon that would flatter his opponent into thinking he will have an easy victory, only to confront a power he was not suspecting. This is so typical of the way God delivers us from our enemies.
I believe God also had David chose five stones to convey a spiritual meaning to be taught from this story. The word “five” “chemesh” is “cheth, mem, shin” This combination suggest arming yourself by bonding with the knowledge and peace of God. The word smooth is, “cheth, lameth, qof” with suggest that through this bonding you will receive the power of God because of the cleansing work of God. The word stone is “aleph, beth, nun.” Thus, the sages would teach that we receive power from the very heart of God through faith.
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You see Israel had no metal weapons. Only King Saul had a metal sword and metal armor, the rest of the army had to do with wooden weapons. The Philistines had weapons fashioned from metal. They were a superior army because of their weapons. Yet, God had David defeat the Philistines with a weapon (a smooth stone) made by God and fashioned and prepared by God through the running waters which cleansed the stones and made them smooth.
David then went to battle armed with a weapon formed by God against a giant who was armed with a weapon formed by man. The poor slob did not stand a chance.
As the sages would teach, God is smoothing us, working all the rough edges off of us through his cleansing waters. Then he will send us against the enemy who are armed with weapons devised by man. They will not stand a chance so long as we allow ourselves to be purified by the waters (the hidden mysteries) of God.
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