Well, I confess. The Bible Part 2? I didn’t enjoy it as much as last week’s show.
Last week, I mentioned that a popular criticism of this mini-series is that it leaves out elements of the Bible stories. This week, I am a culprit of my own remarks.
The show began with Joshua and the Battle of Jericho. The two spies snuck into the city, climbed the great wall and ran into an elderly woman. I don’t know why, but this woman cracked me up. There was something about her initial neutral stare, and then suddenly yelling, “What are you men doing here?!” It seemed spoofy to me.
The rest of the story is unmemorable. I expected more, and maybe a different portrayal involving the experience of Rahab with the two spies. There wasn’t a rooftop scene, hiding the spies under the flax, and I expected Rahab to reveal more of a genuine faith when she spoke to the spies.
“I know that the Lord has given you this land,” Rahab is supposed to say, based on Joshua 2:9-10. “For we have heard how the Lord dried up the waters of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt.”
Rahab is a major part of the whole Jericho story, and The Bible mini-series, in my opinion, did not give her enough significance.
The scene of Joshua approaching the commander of the Lord’s army was interesting. One glaring flaw in the conversation would be the commander telling Joshua that God would “split rock” and making a comparison to the parting of the Red Sea.
The Samson story was a MAJOR disappointment. I admit I’m not a Biblical scholar, but it occurs to me they may have gotten the ethnicity of Samson wrong.
Let me be clear, this isn’t an interpretive story inspired by the Bible. They are claiming to retell or dramatize the Bible. Therefore, they should stick to the facts. After all, the script was written for them.
This mistake, for me, messed up the whole story. I had a hard time picturing Israelites and Philistines communicating with someone who looked like they just got off the set of filming Cool Runnings 2.
Oh, that’s another thing. How do you pronounce “Philistines”? I grew up with the pronunciation “Phil-a-STEENS.” I never heard it pronounced “Phil-a-STINES,” as the characters were saying the word. Granted, this pronunciation reflects the English spelling, but it was odd for my listening ear.
Samuel, Saul and David finished off the rest of the evening’s show. This was a fair portrayal. Some parts were left out, but this whole section of Scripture would be challenging to present. They could dedicate the whole 10-hour series on David alone and still find it difficult to give his story justice.
I did like Saul’s depiction. The man was definitely insane, and the actor did a good job revealing Saul’s insanity.
The actor playing David didn’t seem to fit. The guy who played Thor in the recent Marvel Comics movies is more like who I would have in mind to be David. Someone who is full of life with strong, handsome features (see I Sam. 16:18), has a booming baritone voice, would stand out in a crowd – this is who I think should play David.
The story ends with David discussing building a temple, but he is told that his infant son Solomon would be the one in charge of building the temple. Next week’s show should lead off with the wisest man who ever lived.
Once again, I welcome your thoughts. I realize I was quite harsh this week, but tell me how I am not accurate, if applicable.