Well, that escalated quickly. Episode 3 kicks off with a literal nightmare—Saul starts to wander the halls in a sleepwalking stupor and then one night accidentally kills his servant. Not exactly Sunday school material. While this scene doesn’t show up anywhere in the Bible, it definitely sets the tone: Saul is spiraling fast. David, be sure to keep your slingshot close.
The king’s household is in full panic mode, reaching out to all the sketchy corners of the kingdom for help—priestesses, spiritual healers, mysterious henchmen. When you’re trying to keep a crumbling throne together, apparently no idea is too bizarre.
Meanwhile, Asher hires a killer to lurk around, hoping to intercept Samuel and the whole “God’s picking a new king” situation. But Samuel’s is not found only his assistant is. The terrible death of the assistant is not something that is found in scripture. Meanwhile Samuel shows up at Jesse’s house like, “Show me your sons.” And true to 1 Samuel 16, he sizes up the first seven (well, five in the show… maybe two called in sick?), and none of them fit the bill. Enter David, the forgotten shepherd boy, and BOOM—God says, “That’s the one.”
Now here’s where it gets interesting: The second half of the episode, during the anointing, sticks much closer to Scripture than the creative chaos of the first half. But sharp-eyed viewers (yes, I see you!) might notice that there were only five brothers shown instead of the seven the Bible mentions. Did the casting budget max out? Did the writers hope we wouldn’t notice? Oh, but we noticed.
Let’s be real—some of the story choices in this episode fall into “inspired fan fiction” territory. Saul never kills a servant mid-nightmare in the Bible, and we don’t meet any priestesses trying to calm his troubled mind until much later, after Samuel’s death (1 Samuel 28:7–10). So this episode definitely jumps the timeline a bit.
But props to the writers for circling back to Scripture with David’s anointing—it’s a beautiful moment, and they pulled it off well. The visual of young David standing among his older, bulkier brothers, being chosen as king… it hits hard.
Just remember: this show is telling a story based on the Bible—not replacing it. So, while the drama is gripping, it’s always worth flipping back through the pages of Scripture to keep the facts straight. Take a look at episode 3 in the attached study guide to dive a bit deeper into the anointing of David.
If you are interested in purchasing the full study guide, you can buy it on Lulu.com.
Biblical Rewind 
Leave a comment