Today’s Scripture Reading (March
31, 2019): 1 Chronicles 3
The story of William Ætheling
is really a cautionary tale for those who
are considered to be the “up and coming.” William Ætheling was the oldest son
of Henry I of England and Matilda of Scotland, and heir apparent to the throne
of England. The prince was in Barfleur, France and was due to sail across the
English Channel to the shores of England on November 25, 1120. The ship that
was to carry him across the Channel was known in English “The White Ship.” Its actual name was “la Blanche-Nef;” and the ship was both new and fast.
As a direct result of
the speed of the White Ship, William Ætheling decided that he and his friends could
remain on shore during the evening drinking and still make it to England to
take care of commitments that they had made there. His logic was that the calm seas and the speed of the White Ship would
mean that the delay would have no real effect on their arrival time in England.
And so, William and his friends remained drinking and did not leave Barfleur
until the middle of the night. Evidently, among those who were drinking with
the Prince was the helmsman responsible for guiding the White Ship on the ride
back. Instead, the helmsman ran the White Ship into a rock in the bay. Unable
to get the ship off of the rock or to
stop the White Ship from sinking, the drunken passengers were able to get a
dinghy in the water, but when they jumped into the rescue boat, they capsized it and the intoxicated inhabitants
all drowned. The 12th-century English historian Henry of Huntington
wrote about the prince and the White Ship tragedy saying "instead of wearing embroidered robes… [he] floated naked in the
waves, and instead of ascending a lofty throne…found his grave at the bottom of
the sea." To become king, all Prince William had to do was to outlive his
father. But he could not do that. William Ætheling died on November 25, 1120, at the age of 17.
David had many sons and daughter; several of them drew much attention in the
story of his life. But one that didn’t was his second son, Daniel. He is never mentioned as a possibility for the ascending
the throne of Israel upon David’s death, even after his older brother Amnon was
assassinated by a younger brother to avenge Amnon’s rape of his sister Tamar.
Daniel simply is not mentioned anywhere,
except in the lists of David’s children.
But we do have rumors about the boy. One suggestion is that the parentage of Daniel was questioned around the time of his birth.
Abigail, Daniel’s mother, was the widow Nabel the Calebite. Nabel was a rude
man who had had a run-in with David and was subsequently killed by God. In
the aftermath, David took Nabel’s widow as his wife. Daniel was apparently born somewhere around nine months after the death of Nabel and
Abigail’s marriage to David. As a result, Daniel’s father could have been
either David or Nabel.
Also according to rumor, God took things into his
hands and made Daniel into the exact image of his father, David. In some
places, Daniel is known by another name, Chileab. Chileab means the “perfection
of the father.” If Daniel really was the
image of David, it is a little surprising that he was not mentioned as a possible successor to his father, or at
least featured in other stories of the kingdom. That is unless Daniel died young. The Prince’s untimely death is the
most likely reason that we know so little of this boy who was born in the image
of his father. He just did not live long
enough to become king.
Tomorrow’s
Scripture Reading: 1 Chronicles 4
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