'The Bible' Episode 2: Samson, King Saul, David and Goliath, and Solomon

By Ethan Cole, Christian Post Reporter Sunday, March 10, 2013

"The Bible" featured the stories of Samson and Delilah, King Saul, David and Goliath, and ended with the appearance of Solomon as a child in the second part of the five-part, 10-hour TV miniseries aired on the History channel on Sunday evening.

Part two picked up where episode one left off – Jericho and Rahab the prostitute. Joshua and the Israelites successfully capture Jericho, and Rahab and her family are spared because of her assistance in capturing the city.

Next scene is the story of Samson, who was gifted with supernatural strength by God in order to fight the Philistine. What was striking about "The Bible's" portrayal of Samson is that he is played by a black actor, when predominantly Samson has been seen in artwork with fair skinned. Perhaps many viewers with biblical knowledge will be reminded by the show that Samson was actually married to another Philistine woman before meeting Delilah. His first wife and her father were killed by the Philistine, sending Samson into a violent rage. Amid his revenge killing, Samson meets Delilah, also a Philistine, who later agrees with a Philistine leader's request to find out Samson's weakness in exchange for money. She ends up cutting Samson's hair, which is something that God forbids him to do, and causes Samson to be of normal strength. In the end, Samson prays to God to return his strength one last time and pushes down pillars in the temple where he was chained. He ends up kills many more Philistines with his death than when he was living.

"The Bible" then moves on to the story of the anointing of Saul as king, who soon becomes crazed with jealousy when David becomes more popular among the people because of his war victories. Saul and his son Jonathan die in battle and David becomes king. A good part of the evening's show was devoted to the story of David, from his story as a young shepherd who defeated Goliath, to his being chased by Saul, his ascension to being king, and then David's infamous affair with Bathsheba, who was married to his loyal soldier Uriah. After David orders his general to abandon Uriah in battle where he subsequently died and Bathsheba gives birth to her child with David, God sends Prophet Nathan to chastise David, telling the king that God knows everything, including David's sins against Bathsheba and Uriah. David and Bathsheba have a child, but the baby dies after a few days after its birth as punishment for David's sin.

The second part of "The Bible" closed with the first sighting of the future King Solomon as a child, playing with a small model of the future temple of God that he will build as David and his mother Bathsheba watch by his side.