Shelomo assembles the elders and leaders of Israel in Jerusalem and eventually the entire nation gathers there for a ceremony dedicating the new Bet Hamiqdash. The event is held in the month of Tishre just prior to the holiday of Sukkot. The Kohanim and Levites carry the Ark, the Tabernacle and all of its original vessels to Jerusalem and many sacrifices are offered. The Kohanim then bring the Ark of the Covenant into the Holy of Holies and deposit it beneath the wings of the large Keruvim that Shelomo Hamelekh had placed there.
Shelomo had fashioned new staves/poles for the Ark that were especially long and protruded from the Holy of Holies such that they could be seen by someone standing in the Hekhal. Once the Kohanim left the Sanctuary, a cloud, representing the Divine Presence, filled the Bet Hamiqdash, making further entry or service there temporarily impossible. This was the same manner in which the Tabernacle of the wilderness was consecrated in the times of Moshe, and underscored the continuity between that structure and the “new and improved” permanent home of the Shekhina.
Shelomo then delivers two “speeches”. The first is a lengthy but beautiful and moving monologue known as the “Prayer of Shelomo”. As with all Biblical poetry, it needs to be read word for word to be truly appreciated. Shelomo begins by acknowledging Hashem’s fulfillment of His promise to David that he will have a worthy successor on the throne of Israel, and praying that he will continue to merit that honor.
Shelomo identifies the paradox of creating a “house” for God – He is infinite, incorporeal and transcendent and cannot be contained even by the Heavens, much less in a home constructed by human hands. Shelomo therefore beseeches Hashem that He take special note of the prayers offered in the Temple, and catalogues an array of circumstances under which people supplicate to God – for example, when they have sinned and repented, when there is a crisis or famine, when they must head out to battle, or when they have been taken into captivity.
Shelomo specifically requests that Hashem answer the prayers of non-Jews who arrive at the Bet Hamiqdash in search of a relationship with the God of Israel. Over the course of his speech, Shelomo stresses multiple times that while the worship of Hashem will occur on Earth at the Temple, Hashem will hear the supplications in “Heaven”, His true dwelling-place, and respond accordingly.
Finally, Shelomo offers a shorter prayer, addressed to the assembled populace. He thanks Hashem for having fulfilled all of the promises He made to the Jewish people, and asks the Almighty to help the Jews maintain their faithfulness to Torah so they can continue to merit His blessings and to teach the world the truth of monotheism. Shelomo closes by exhorting his fellow Israelites to carefully observe all of the laws of the Torah; the future will depend on their proper exercise of free will.
Tens of thousands more sacrifices were offered that day and the people celebrated the dedication of the Temple for seven days, followed by the seven days of Sukkot. On the eighth day, Shemini Atseret, the king blesses the people and sends them home.
There are a number of ideas worth highlighting in this beautiful chapter. Shelomo uses the words “makhon leshivtekha” (a place for Your dwelling) several times, borrowing the phrase that was used by the Jews when they crossed the Sea of Reeds, “You have made a place for Your dwelling, Hashem.” This is another instance of the theme that the dedication of the Bet HaMiqdash was really the final stage of the Exodus journey. Shelomo’s references throughout his prayer to the Exodus and the establishment of the Jews as God’s people accentuate this theme.
Two critical theological notions are articulated in this chapter. Many people assume that the struggle against anthropomorphism and the belief that God is outside of space and time are modern phenomena, and that the personalities of the Bible had a much less sophisticated concept of Hashem’s relationship with His creation. Shelomo’s prayer demonstrates that, on the contrary, from the very beginning of the consecration of the Bet Miqdash it was NEVER understood to be Hashem’s home in a literal sense.
Hashem transcends all of His creation. While the experience of entering and worshiping in the Bet Hamiqdash is immensely powerful and promotes tremendous concentration and depth of thought, the purpose it serves is a human one. Hashem is not limited to any one location nor does He hear prayer any less when it is offered outside of the Temple. Shelomo merely asks that the Temple be a worthy and effective vehicle of uplifting the prayers of those who visit it and that it testify clearly to the relationship between the Creator and the Jewish people.
The second theological idea Shelomo expresses is the focus on prayer rather than sacrifice in the Temple. Again, one hears very often that our downplaying of sacrifices is the result of modern sensibilities that see such ritual forms as archaic. Many people have a bloody and negative perception of the Bet Hamiqdash as a result, and feel that it is incongruous with today’s world. Yet from Shelomo’s words it is quite evident that he understood the Temple primarily as a national center of prayer, not sacrifice. Nowhere in his lengthy supplication does he mention the offering of sacrifices in the Temple nor does he request that such sacrifices be accepted, even though he himself offers tens of thousands of animals in sacrifice the same day.
As Isaiah famously declares, the house of God is meant to be the quintessential house of prayer. Although sacrifice is a part of the Temple operation and is respected for the function it serves, it is not considered the main path of a person to Hashem. Torah study, charitable acts and prayer are assigned superiority over most other commandments and observances, and certainly over sacrifice.
One last question raised in the commentaries pertains to Yom Kippur. According to the text, the Jewish people celebrated for the seven days prior to Sukkot; this means, by definition, that they partied on Yom Kippur! The Talmud and traditional commentaries accept this conclusion and state that the Jews indeed ate on Yom Kippur that year but they were absolved from any consequences and promised a place in the World to Come. What was the basis for dispensing with Yom Kippur that year?
In order to understand the answer, we must put Yom Kippur itself into perspective. In essence, Yom Kippur is about hitting the “reset” button on our service of Hashem. Over the course of a year we become lazy, sloppy, presumptuous and generally out of focus in our worship of God. Yom Kippur is a day on which we acknowledge our failings and recalibrate our relationship with the Divine Presence.
The commandment of Yom Kippur was given in the aftermath of the deaths of Nadav and Avihu, who approached Hashem inappropriately with an unauthorized form of worship on the final day of the Tabernacle’s dedication, and lost their lives as a result. Yom Kippur is meant to remind us that we should not overestimate our closeness to or familiarity with Hashem and thereby lessen our reverence for His service. Fascinatingly, the highlight of Yom Kippur is the entry of the Kohen Gadol into the Holy of Holies and his generating of a “cloud” of incense. This is a kind of simulation of the cloud of the Divine Presence that originally consecrated the Sanctuary. By imitating the Divine consecration of the Tabernacle or Temple, we recognize the need to symbolically “re-consecrate” it through our Yom Kippur service each year.
This explains why Yom Kippur could be set aside the year that the Temple was dedicated, as it would be the year Ezra and Nehemia unveiled the Second Temple. On these occasions, the Jewish people had reached a level of closeness to the Almighty that justified His resting of His presence upon their sanctuary. It was the beginning of the journey, the actual, initial manifestation of the Divine presence, and therefore the focus needed to be on the dedication of the sacred space and not on the unworthiness of the people or their need for continual cleansing. Observing Yom Kippur that year and artificially “creating” the cloud of the Shekhina would have diminished the impact of the actual encounter with Hashem that served to consecrate the Temple.
Shelomo spent thirteen years building a residential complex for himself, which included multiple buildings. He commissioned the construction of the “House of the Forest of Lebanon”, which was an airy summer residence that either received its name from the wooden planks that comprised its structure or from its location outside of the city of Jerusalem in a wooded area. The house was elevated above ground, resting on cedar pillars, and its roof was made of cedar planks. Windows lined the walls of this house and an antechamber was situated in front of it.
Shelomo also built a “Judgment Hall” that contained the throne where he would sit to hear and rule on the legal cases and disputes that were brought before him. Although the foundation and structure of the building was constructed from the finest smooth stonework, the roof, walls and ceiling of this hall were covered in cedar paneling. King Shelomo’s personal residence and the home he constructed for his wife, the daughter of Pharaoh, were also built from smooth stone but overlaid entirely with cedar paneling.
All three buildings (the palace, the House of the Forest of Lebanon, and the Judgment Hall), were located in a single courtyard that was surrounded by three rows of stone and one row of wood, like the courtyard of the Temple. It seems that the residence of the daughter of Pharaoh was not located within the main complex. However, since the materials used in its construction and its style of architecture were are similar to the other buildings in the complex, it is mentioned here.
Shelomo sent for Hiram of Tyre, an artisan who was a member of the Tribe of Naftali, to assist him in the stone and metalwork necessary for the Temple. This was not the Hiram mentioned earlier, who was the King of Tyre; this Hiram was a commoner of Jewish descent who was known as a skilled craftsman. Shelomo commissioned Hiram to fashion a number of unique structures that would be placed at the entrance to the Temple and that were totally original – they did not correspond to anything that existed in the Tabernacle. For instance, two exquisitely decorated copper pillars were situated on either side of the entry to the complex, named “Yakhin” and “Boaz”. These had intricately designed bulbs on top and almost had the appearance of “scepters”.
The “Sea of Shelomo” was another innovation of Shelomo, positioned to the right of a person approaching the Temple. This was a large copper basin that contained a substantial amount of water (tens of thousands of gallons) and from which water would be drawn to purify the kohanim for their service. It rested on the backs of twelve molten oxen the front of whose bodies protruded from underneath the basin but whose hindquarters faced away from the observer, with three facing in each direction. Hiram fashioned ten copper lavers or washing stands with bases and large decorative chariot wheels. These were installed by the entrance to the Temple, five on each side, and allowed the Kohanim to wash their hands and feet before going inside.
The furnishings inside the Holy Temple were also more extensive than those of the Tabernacle; instead of a single golden menorah and a single golden table for the showbread, the Temple boasted ten of each! This increase, as well as the increase in the number of washing stations from one to ten, may be understood as a reflection of the quantitative growth of the population since the era of Moshe – now, there were more Kohanim who needed to wash, and there were more Jews who needed sustenance, symbolized by the showbread on the ten tables. Alternatively, it may have been another way of highlighting the superiority in scale and grandeur of the new sanctuary – multiplying by ten is a typical technique of exaggeration or emphasis.
All of the implements designed to be used in the actual Temple service were fashioned from pure gold or brass, the quantity of which was so great that Shelomo did not even bother to weigh them. He transferred the items that David, his father, had consecrated to the Temple into its newly built treasure chambers
This chapter leads us to raise a couple of important questions. The first is an organizational difficulty: Why does the text begin by describing the construction of the Bet Hamiqdash, then shift to discussing Shelomo’s own palatial complex, and then return, once again, to complete its account of the Bet Hamiqdash and its accoutrements? It would have been much simpler to include all of the details pertinent to the Temple in one section and only then to change the subject to Shelomo’s personal building projects.
A second question of interest is why Shelomo spent so much more time (13 years) on his own palace, judgment hall and antechambers than he did on the Holy Temple. Our Rabbis generally take the view that this is a praise of King Shelomo – he prioritized and “rushed” the building of the Bet Miqdash, but was much more leisurely about his own residence.
Some modern interpreters have suggested the opposite; namely, that this undue emphasis on Shelomo’s own palace, summer home, etc., is indicative of a level of immodesty on his part, a personality defect that may play a role in his downfall later in the story. In support of their critical view, these thinkers point out that Shelomo used the same materials and architectural style in his own edifices that he employed in the House of God – expensive hewn stone, cedar paneling, etc. – almost unconsciously conveying that he viewed his own majesty as on par with that of the Almighty.
The commentaries, for good reason, spend much time deciphering the simple meaning of the verses in this chapter. Very little explanation of their deeper significance is provided. Even translating the unusual terminology used in these sections of the text is a tremendous challenge. So we have very little help from traditional sources when it comes to distilling the message of these elaborate and detailed descriptions of architecture. We will have to do our best to develop persuasive and original answers to our own queries here.
There are certainly Midrashim that suggest that, even from the beginning of his construction of the Bet Hamiqdash, Shelomo may already have been influenced by ulterior motives, and I hope to explore some of those ideas in later summaries. However, I would argue that, on a simple literary level, this chapter is better understood as idealistic, not negative, in its portrayal of the king.
I believe that the text integrates its presentation of the construction of the Temple and the construction of Shelomo’s residential complex in order to demonstrate that Shelomo saw his reign as a reflection and extension of Hashem’s reign on Earth, not as a substitute for it. Shelomo’s complex is divided into three parts – the Hall of Judgment, the summer home, and the royal palace, all of which are surrounded by a walled courtyard. It is a mirror image of the Temple, which is partitioned into the Devir/Holy of Holies, the Hekhal/Holy, and the courtyard, and which is surrounded by a wall identical in composition to that of Shelomo’s.
It seems to me that the parallels extend even further than this. The Devir/Holy of Holies is, in essence, the “Judgment Hall”, or symbolic throne of Hashem, Who is always portrayed as “sitting above the Keruvim/angels”, that are represented therein. In Divrei HaYamim, the Holy of Holies is, in fact, designated as “Hashem’s footstool”, evoking the imagery of a Divine throne room. The Hekhal/Holy is made of cedar wood, lined with windows and has an antechamber directly in front of it, just like the “House of the Forest Lebanon” or summer home of Shelomo. The royal residence is covered with cedar paneling and surrounded by its own courtyard, possibly in imitation of the third, outer section of the Holy Temple that contained the sacrificial altar.
Despite all of these parallels, which we might be tempted to interpret as “competitive” in nature, one striking difference emerges – gold is ubiquitous in the Holy Temple, covering nearly every surface, but is noticeably absent from the buildings in Shelomo’s complex.
All of this suggests that Shelomo saw his own majesty and position as nothing but an instrument to establish justice on Earth as a representative of the true Judge, Hashem. Because his sense of the importance of his role was inseparable from his understanding of the greatness of the Almighty and the primacy of His service, Shelomo’s royal complex replicated the layout and motifs of the Temple in many respects, and the descriptions of the two building projects are intertwined. Yet, one distinction remains – gold is not used in Shelomo’s residential structures.
This concept of Shelomo is not foreign to our tradition; in fact, we reference it in our prayers on a daily basis. In one of the blessings of the Amidah, we ask God to provide us with great judges and advisers like we had in the days of old. We follow up by stating that to be guided by such leaders would really mean having Hashem Himself as our sovereign. Righteous kings and judges do not push their own agendas; rather, they are proponents of Hashem’s plan and they do their best to implement that plan through their decisions and actions. In this way, Torah leaders serve as the agents or messengers of the Almighty in this world.
Shelomo is granted unprecedented power and authority and is prepared to judge his subjects wisely and fairly, not because he wishes to revel in his newfound influence but because he recognizes this as his sacred responsibility as the anointed one of Hashem. By applying the wisdom of Hashem to worldly affairs he effectively brings those matters not under his own jurisdiction but under the governance of the Almighty. The Bet Hamiqdash represents Hashem’s providence in the world in a symbolic manner, it is a source of clarity, edification and inspiration. Shelomo’s activities as king translate that awareness of Hashem into the language of practical politics.
We know from our Torah and Prophets that it is only when the Jewish people embody the values of charity and justice that they merit to have the Bet Hamiqdash in their midst. Traditionally, the Bet Hamiqdash was the center of religious worship, justice, and education. Shelomo Hamelekh accentuates the connection between these three core values by modeling his own home and courthouse after the House of God.
With this in mind, we can understand why the description of Shelomo’s palace and Judgment Hall is followed by more details related to the vessels and furnishings of the Bet Hamiqdash. The text first presents the Holy Temple as a place in which the Divine Presence will be manifest to and encountered by the Jewish people. This engagement with the Almighty inspires the nation to pursue the imitation of His ways in their conduct of national and personal affairs, represented and enforced by the king and his bureaucracy. However, to stop there would be to imply that the “final destination” of the experience of the Divine was the courtroom of Shelomo; as if, like other kings, Shelomo merely used the supernatural authority of religion to reinforce his own grip on his realm.
Therefore, the text immediately shifts back to a discussion of the vessels of the Temple – the implements utilized not in the passive “appearance before Hashem” but in the active worship of Hashem. Ultimately, our establishment of a just and equitable society, presided over by a righteous monarch, is only a means to an end – it paves the way back to the Holy Temple where we can learn Torah, reflect upon the True King’s infinite wisdom and devote ourselves to His service. This may be compared to the Torah’s account of the Revelation at Sinai, which is followed by the laws of civil society (Mishpatim) and only then by a description of the sanctuary to be constructed in the wilderness.
I’d like to add one last speculative observation for further consideration. The “House of the Forest of Lebanon” may be a reference to the phraseology we find in Psalm 96, “let the sea roar, and all that fills it; let the field exult, and everything in it! Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy before Hashem, for He comes, for He comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness, and the peoples in His faithfulness.” Similarly, in Psalm 29 we read “the voice of Hashem breaks the cedars of Lebanon” a metaphoric reference to the power brokers and tyrants who seem invincible and unstoppable but are, in reality, unable to stand up against or thwart the will of God.
Metaphorically, the mighty trees of the forest tremble before Hashem’s majesty and judgment. Shelomo Hamelekh, in spite of all of his achievements, still saw himself as a humble and reverent servant in the presence of the Almighty. Calling his home “Forest of Lebanon” may have been an attempt to express that using the language of Tehillim, wherein the trees of the forest represent the mighty leaders who, despite their power, still tremble in God’s presence.
This chapter and the one that follows detail the major construction projects undertaken by King Shelomo, beginning with the Holy Temple and including his own palace and summer home as well as the residence of the Pharaoh’s daughter whom he had married. Both chapters contain incredibly detailed descriptions of the architectural design, wood work, stone work, and measurements of these structures.
In addition to the sheer quantity of specifications included here, we are also faced with the difficulty that the meaning of many of the architectural terms is no longer clear and has been the subject of much debate among the commentaries. Each interpreter, therefore, emerges with his own vision of what these buildings looked like. This makes summarizing these chapters quite a challenge; the best way to develop a sense for the grandeur of these projects is to read the text itself. Instead, I will touch upon a few of the highlights.
Shelomo’s Temple is clearly inspired by the layout of the original Tabernacle of the times of Moshe but surpasses it in its majesty, elegance and extravagance. It took Shelomo’s enormous team of architects and laborers a full seven years to complete. Like the Mishkan, the Temple was divided into “inner” and “outer” sections; the inner, roofed structure contained the “Ulam” or antechamber (an additional ten cubit section added by Shelomo that did not exist in the Mishkan), the “Holy” (here called “Hekhal”) and the “Holy of Holies” (here called the “Devir”) while the outer, unroofed area was known as the Courtyard.
Once the construction project has begun, Shelomo receives word from Hashem. Hashem promises to consecrate and cause His presence to dwell in the Temple, provided the nation continue to adhere to the laws and principles of the Torah.
The dimensions of the Temple were significantly greater than those of the Mishkan – the area of each section was twice as large as the corresponding section of the Mishkan, and the ceiling was three times as high. Another noteworthy difference is that wood and stone replace cloth and curtains throughout. The “inner” section’s walls are covered by ornately decorated cedar (engravings of cherubim, palms and flowers are found everywhere) that is overlaid with gold, and its floor is likewise overlaid with gold.
The Devir and Hekhal are divided from one another, as the inner section is divided from the courtyard, by beautifully crafted wooden doors overlaid with gold and across which golden chains are drawn.Various storage and work rooms, complete with doors and staircases, are built along the two sides and the rear walls of the Hekhal. The walls of the inner section of the Temple also have windows which seem to be decorative rather than functional in nature.
The contents of the inner sanctum of the Temple differed to some degree from that of the Mishkan. In the Mishkan, only the Ark of the Covenant resided in the Holy of Holies; in the Devir of the Temple, however, there were two tall cherubim who stood on the floor and whose wings spread out such that the edge of their outer wings touched the walls of the building and the edges of their inner wings touched one another. These figures were also made of cedar wood overlaid with fine gold. When the Ark is placed in the Devir, these statues will be standing directly behind it.
It is noteworthy that, when assigning a date to this project, reference is made to the Exodus from Egypt (namely, it begins 480 years from the time the Jews left Egypt). The creation of a sanctuary for the Divine Presence was the objective of the Jewish people from the very moment of their departure from the house of bondage, as they declared in the Song at the Sea, “You will bring them and plant them upon Your holy mountain; a place for Your dwelling have You created, Hashem – Your hands have established the sanctuary of Hashem.”
The Almighty brought the Jews out of Egypt not simply to restore to them their freedom, rights and dignity, but so they could follow in the footsteps of the Patriarchs in representing Hashem to all of mankind. On a national level, we first proclaimed the existence, unity and providence of the Creator through the erection of the Tabernacle in the wilderness, which served as testimony to our relationship with Him.
Now that a monarchy and stable government has been established in Israel, it is necessary once again to refocus on the true purpose of Jewish political success and prosperity. The King of Israel is charged with constructing an edifice that will outshine the most impressive royal palace in order to demonstrate that his power and authority are merely instrumental to the mission of sanctifying God’s name in the world.
Hashem has blessed the kingdom of Shelomo with a degree of sovereignty and independence that would have been unimaginable in earlier years, when Jewish existence in the Holy Land was always precarious and seemed to teeter on the verge of chaos or self-destruction. The achievement of lasting stability, then, completed the process of the Exodus from Egypt, finally providing the nation of Israel with a sense of security in their freedom, their land and their future.
As such, it necessitated another building project – the construction of a Temple that would accurately reflect the new realities, the political, economic and social growth that had been achieved. This Temple would have to be grander, stronger, and more impressive than previous sanctuaries, a proper house of worship for the people of Hashem who had finally reached the stage of development as a nation that they had dreamt of for centuries.
It is also interesting that Shelomo starts building the Temple of his own accord and only then receives a Divine message blessing the project. This prophecy is recorded in the text after Shelomo has already erected the basic structure of the inner section of the Temple. Shelomo then proceeds to add the ornate decorations, paneling and gold that beautify that structure.
I would infer from this that Shelomo began working on the Temple and then halted the labor, waiting for a heavenly “stamp of approval” for the initiative before moving forward. Unlike Moshe, Shelomo had not been officially commanded or directed to build the Bet Hamiqdash; he undertook the project independently, based on his own understanding of the responsibilities of the king.
At the same time, he recognized that the Sanctuary could only be selected and consecrated by the decree of the Almighty – “Your hands have established the sanctuary of Hashem” – no human being could establish the home of the Divine Presence unilaterally. Once Hashem authorized and granted legitimacy to the undertaking, Shelomo was able to invest himself fully in the project, now a “partner” with the Almighty in creating a house that would represent His Name.
Melakhim Alef Chapter 5
This chapter begins with a description of the vastness of Shelomo’s kingdom, which extended far beyond the conventional borders of the land of Israel. Shelomo not only ruled over an enormous swath of territory, he also enjoyed remarkable prosperity and luxury on a daily basis. The gourmet feasts served at the palace each day were unequaled in quantity and quality. Shelomo’s subjects also benefited from the unprecedented peace, tranquility and opulence of his kingdom as they achieved economic success in their personal lives as well.
Shelomo maintained a formidable standing army that included forty thousand stables of horses. His magnificent regime was fully supported by the tax revenue collected from the citizens of Israel, as described in the previous chapter.
Shelomo became internationally known for his outstanding intelligence, which surpassed that of his wisest contemporaries. He composed thousands of parables and songs of an ostensibly educational and instructional character, and acquired an expertise in the natural sciences including knowledge of the plant world and of the animal kingdom. People from all over the world flocked to Shelomo to marvel at his legendary brilliance.
Shelomo contacts Hiram, King of Tzor, who had been a close friend and devotee of his father, David. He requests Hiram’s assistance in carrying out David’s “dream project” of constructing a house dedicated to the name of Hashem. David was unable to fulfill this aspiration because of his constant involvement in battle; therefore, the Almighty had delegated responsibility for this sacred task to his son, Shelomo.
Shelomo specifically requested that Hiram provide him with lumber for the project; he offered to send some of his own servants to apprentice with Hiram’s expert woodcutters and promised to pay Hiram’s laborers for their time.
Hiram blesses Hashem for having granted David such a wise son as heir to his throne. He agrees to provide lumber for the Holy Temple and transport it to Israel, where it will be carried by Shelomo’s servants to the construction site. In exchange for this service, Hiram asks that Shelomo provide his household with an annual gift of fine wheat and oil. A peace treaty is established between Shelomo and Hiram.
Shelomo drafts thirty thousand workers to construct the Temple. These laborers would serve in shifts; each month, ten thousand would be on active duty, and then would be replaced by another ten thousand, so that each person spent two months at home and one month in national service. Shelomo also hired eighty thousand stone hewers to extract and prepare stonework for the Temple and three thousand three hundred supervisors over the project.
We see in this chapter an elaboration of the theme we touched upon in the previous one: namely, the realization in Israel of the blessings foretold in the Torah, and how this paves the way for the establishment of the Temple. The description of Shelomo’s fame is particularly reminiscent of the promise of the Torah that the nations of the world will declare “surely this great people is a wise and understanding nation – for what great nation is there that has God close to it, like Hashem, our God, in all of our calling to Him?”
The operation of Divine providence in Israel is made manifest to all as a result of its material success and the tremendous wisdom of its leaders. This qualifies the Jewish people to serve as the representatives of the Almighty on the international stage and to build His Temple.
There is another nuance worth highlighting here. In the account of the intellectual attainments of Shelomo, we are told that “Elokim” gave wisdom to Shelomo. Elokim is the universal, generic name for the Almighty that is not uniquely Jewish. This makes sense since the text is emphasizing the idea that Shelomo’s knowledge achieved international recognition and that citizens of all nations attributed it to the hand of God. In the verses of Deuteronomy cited above, wherein the gentiles perceive the Divine providence in Israel, the term “Elokim” is used as well. However, I believe there is another significant allusion being made in the narrative that explains the unusual use of the term “Elokim”.
One of the remarkable aspects of the story of Yosef as presented in the Torah is the shift to the appellation “Elokim” to refer to Hashem. As long as Yosef is in Egypt, and especially when he is in the employ of the Egyptian government, this is the word for the deity that is utilized. In the dramatic moment when Pharaoh initially perceives the genius of Yosef and is inspired to promote him to the position of viceroy, he exclaims “Has one ever been found like this – a man that has the spirit of God [Elokim] within him?…Now that God [Elokim] has made all of this known to you, there is no wise and understanding person like you!” These declarations by Pharaoh about Yosef are clearly foreshadowing the declaration that will one day be made on a national level about the Jewish people “surely this people is a wise and understanding nation.”
The connection does not end here. Not long ago we read about the decision of Shelomo to marry the daughter of the Pharaoh of Egypt. We then read about his kingdom, which extends to the border of Egypt. When Shelomo’s wisdom is compared to that of his contemporaries, we are told that it outshines the wisdom of all of the scholars of Egypt.
All of these elements emphasize the link between Shelomo, representative of Torah and Divine wisdom to the nations of the world and particularly to the Egyptians, and Yosef, who was the first to serve in this capacity. The point is that Shelomo, like Yosef, was able to make the profound wisdom of Judaism accessible and comprehensible not only to his own subjects but to citizens of other nations who did not have a “Torah framework” through which to perceive it.
This emphasis on “Elokim” and on “Egypt” provides an enlightening contrast with Hiram, the close friend of David. Hiram explicitly references “Hashem”, using the uniquely “Jewish” name of God that expresses His Unity and transcendence. This suggests that, unlike other gentiles who related only to the superior political, scientific and technological knowledge of Shelomo and were impressed by those universally attractive intellectual achievements, Hiram had an insight into the religious message and principles of Torah that he had learned from David.
Like Akhish, the King of Gat who provided David with refuge when he was on the run from Shaul, Hiram was exposed to and embraced the concept of the God of Israel. This may explain why Shelomo was so comfortable enlisting Hiram in a partnership to build the House that would make Hashem’s name known in the world.
Melakhim Alef Chapter 4
This chapter describes the structure of Shelomo’s government and the officers responsible for its various departments. We are also told of the division of the entire land of Israel into twelve districts from which taxes were collected to support Shelomo’s kingdom. Each region was responsible for one month of the king’s expenses on an annual basis and was overseen by a designated representative. This whole enterprise was, in turn, supervised by additional personnel who coordinated and managed it.
Although some of the details recorded here will be referenced later, the main purpose of the chapter seems to be to emphasize that Shelomo’s regime has finally reached the pinnacle of evolution, organization and stability that earlier generations could only dream of. Neither Shaul nor David succeeded in creating a functioning bureaucracy that was as comprehensive and effective as the one Shelomo put in place.
As we will see, all of this is important because it means that the people of Israel now have a fully operational government that is prepared to pursue its next and most significant objective – constructing the Holy Temple that symbolizes the relationship between the Almighty and the Jews. This edifice will be the center of Torah study and Divine service in Israel and will serve as a constant reminder of the responsibility of the people to represent Hashem in their domestic policy as well as through their role on the international scene.
The chapter concludes with mention of the remarkable economic and social prosperity enjoyed by the Jewish people during the reign of King Shelomo. The beginning of the Book of Shemuel describes the infertility of Hanna as a symptom of the underlying spiritual ills suffered by the nation in her time, reminding us of the “curses” with which Israel is threatened if they violate their sacred covenant with Hashem.
The description here accomplishes just the opposite – it is reminiscent of the material blessings the Torah promises that the Jews will receive when they adhere to the teachings and commandments of the Torah. The message that the text conveys is that the nation is living in accordance with Hashem’s will and is prepared to transition to the next stage of its mission by building a permanent abode for the Divine Presence in Israel.
King Shelomo weds the daughter of the Pharaoh of Egypt, seemingly in order to establish diplomatic relations with the “superpower” of the region. All of our rabbis and commentators assume that the kings of Israel who married non-Jewish women were careful to convert them to Judaism first, even if these conversions were conducted under less than ideal circumstances.
The text informs us that there was still no national Temple constructed in the early days of Shelomo’s kingdom, so various local altars continued operating legally (only after the building of the Temple in Jerusalem did such unauthorized places of worship become forbidden). We will see later in the Book of Melakhim that there is a connection between Shelomo’s nuptials and the delayed establishment of the Holy Temple; this link is alluded to in our chapter but not yet explained.
Shelomo visits Giveon to worship Hashem with one thousand sacrifices. That night, Hashem appears to Shelomo in a dream and offers to grant him anything that he wishes for the further advancement of his regime. Shelomo responds that he is young and inexperienced and feels inadequate to the task of leading and judging the nation of Israel. He therefore asks for the wisdom necessary to guide them properly.
Hashem answers that since Shelomo did not seek the material benefits of kingship like wealth or honor, but instead desired knowledge and understanding to serve the people, he would receive both the wisdom he requested and the riches and fame that he declined to request. However, Hashem warns Shelomo, all of these promises are contingent on Shelomo’s continued observance of the laws and statutes of the Torah. The next morning, Shelomo wakes up, returns to Jerusalem and offers additional burnt offerings and peace offerings before the Ark of the Covenant, organizing a celebratory feast for all of his officers and servants.
The text then describes what is probably the best-known Biblical narrative about Shelomo. Two harlots who had lived together in the same house approached the king for judgment. Both had given birth to babies just a few days apart. One of the infants had died and the women disputed whose child it was. The mother who discovered the dead baby in her bed alleges that it was not her son; she claims that the other woman switched the children when she discovered that her own infant had passed away. The women argue their respective cases before Shelomo.
Unable to resolve the dispute, Shelomo requests that a sword be brought to the court and that the living baby be sliced in half so that it can be divided between the two claimants. One of the women is satisfied with this arrangement; however, the other woman protests, begging the king to simply give the baby to the other woman so it will survive. The king correctly rules that she is the true mother, and her child is returned to her. At this point, the entire nation reveres King Shelomo, recognizing the divine wisdom he possesses and his extraordinary ability to judge his people.
One of the fascinating questions raised about the famous case of the two harlots is what it was about his ruling that demonstrated that Shelomo was so wise. Some Midrashim and commentaries interpret his judgment as being based on intricate legal principles that are not mentioned explicitly in the text but could be inferred from “between the lines”, and that this vast knowledge of Torah was what impressed Shelomo’s subjects so much. Other commentaries, however, are dissatisfied with the suggestion that the story means to tell us that Shelomo was an expert in Jewish law, when none of the content of Jewish law or complex legal reasoning is actually mentioned in the narrative.
My friend and colleague Rabbi Hayyim Angel has convincingly argued that what stood out about Shelomo wasn’t the content of his judgment, but the “reach” of his judgment. In other words, the fact that even two prostitutes, who were the bottom of the barrel of society, could be given a fair hearing in the King’s court was what testified to his greatness as a leader. According to this approach, we should not look to the details of the case itself to evaluate Shelomo’s superiority as a judge, nor should we seek complex legal nuance or genius in his ruling. What was unique about Shelomo’s regime was his insistence that justice be applied at all levels and to all aspects of the nation, and that fairness and equity before the law not be the special privilege of the elite or even of the “middle class”. To borrow a famous quote that summarizes this view, “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”
At one time I was persuaded by this interpretation of the story of Shelomo. However, further study and reflection has changed my mind. From a textual standpoint, it seems to me too much of a stretch to argue that the elaborate details of the claims presented to Shelomo, and the novelty of his famous and dramatic solution, had nothing to do with the impact this judgment had on the perspective of the people. A simple reading of the story supports the conventional understanding that it was the actual ruling of Shelomo, and not the mere fact that he was willing to hear a dispute between two harlots, that impressed his subjects.
Therefore, I would like to offer an alternative interpretation that I believe fits the narrative more smoothly. Faced with an insoluble “he-said-she-said” legal case such as the one that was brought before Shelomo in our chapter, most judges would have fallen back on whatever conventional principles of jurisprudence were available to them. Perhaps they would rule that “possession is nine tenths of the law”, and that whichever mother currently held the baby would be able to keep him. Under normal circumstances, a judge would probably view this situation as beyond any real resolution, assuming that the facts of the case would never be ascertained, and that a legal ruling, while necessary, might not reflect the “real truth” of who deserved to keep the infant.
Shelomo’s greatness was that he was not willing to acquit himself with a pro forma, legalistic response. Instead, he used his profound understanding of psychology to “manipulate” the lying mother and thereby cause the actual facts of the case to come to light. Through his brilliant handling of this situation, he demonstrated his uncompromising commitment to the truth and his unwillingness to be satisfied with rulings that met legal standards but fell short of absolute justice. This explains why the nation “feared” or revered Shelomo, and acknowledged his level of wisdom as “Divine” – like Hashem Himself, Shelomo would accept no substitute for genuine, unadulterated truth when it came to implementing justice in Israel.
Melakhim Alef Chapter 2
David is nearing death and delivers his last will and testimony to the new king, Shelomo. First and foremost, he exhorts Shelomo to observe the Torah of Hashem and His commandments, so that his kingdom will be well established and supported by the Almighty. David then offers instructions to Shelomo with respect to several personalities who had “unfinished business” with David.
David provides Shelomo with three pieces of advice: First, he should not allow Yoav, who had shed much innocent blood in defiance of royal orders, to go down to his grave peacefully. Second, he should amply reward Barzilai HaGiladi in recognition of the support and friendship he showed to David during Avshalom’s rebellion. Third, he reminds Shelomo of the curses that Shimi ben Gera pronounced upon him and calls for Shelomo to punish him appropriately. David then dies and is buried.
Adoniyahu approaches Batsheva, Shelomo’s mother, with an unusual request. He prefaces his petition with a description of how close he had been to securing the throne of Israel for himself before Shelomo was given the upper hand. Nevertheless, he acknowledges Shelomo’s right to the position that was granted to him by Hashem. Adoniyahu asks Batsheva to persuade her son, Shelomo, to allow him to marry Avishag Hashunammit.
Batsheva agrees to intervene on Adoniyahu’s behalf and visits Shelomo, who greets her with tremendous respect. When Shelomo hears of Adoniyahu’s request, however, he is quite upset and calls for him to be executed. Shelomo correctly understands that Adoniyahu desires a relationship with King David’s former “concubine” that will lend legitimacy to his claim to the kingdom, a claim he apparently has not fully relinquished. Adoniyahu clearly has his heart set on the crown and is employing a devious strategic plan to pursue it.
After Shelomo sends Benayahu to kill Adoniyahu, he summons Evyatar, who is banished from serving as a Kohen and is instructed to return to his fields in Anatot instead. This was a fulfillment of the prophecy of Shemuel that predicted the ultimate downfall of the house of Eli, of which Evyatar was a descendant. Shelomo refrains from killing Evyatar because of the loyalty he demonstrated to David during trying times in the king’s life. Moreover, Evyatar was not numbered among the personalities whom David identified as threats to the throne. His error in following Adoniyahu was regarded as a relatively minor infraction.
Yoav hears of these developments and escapes to the sanctuary, grabbing hold of the horns of the altar to gain asylum from Shelomo’s judgment. Benayahu ben Yehoyada is dispatched to apprehend him but Yoav refuses to leave his position. Shelomo then explains the legitimate basis for the execution of Yoav and instructs Benayahu to kill Yoav right where he is standing; Yoav is executed and buried.
Lastly, Shelomo addresses Shimi ben Gera and places him under a kind of house arrest. As long as Shimi stays within the borders of his town and refrains from crossing the Qidron River, his life will be spared, despite his disrespectful behavior toward King David. Shimi agrees to this condition and is seemingly relieved to find that he was shielded from the harsh judgment he may have expected. Nonetheless, three years after meeting with King Shelomo, Shimi’s servant runs away from home and Shimi, intending to recover the servant, leaves his town. Shelomo summons Shimi once again and has him executed.
One question that we can ask about this chapter is why Shelomo seems to wait for the request of Adoniyahu to be presented to him before taking any action against Yoav and Shimi, who were specifically identified by David as worthy of punishment. It seems that David’s instructions to Shelomo are best understood as recommendations he offers based on his experience with these men and not as “commands” per se. Shelomo takes them under advisement in the meantime, hoping that perhaps David has overestimated the significance of certain events in his history and the nefarious character of some of the personalities involved, and that perhaps these violent punitive measures can be avoided.
However, once Shelomo sees that Adoniyahu has not truly abandoned his aspirations for the throne, he realizes that the political tensions, conflicts and “baggage” of the past have not been decisively put to rest. On the contrary, these factors continue to exert a substantial influence on key players in the realm and endanger the future of Shelomo’s monarchy.
The continued presence of complex and powerful people like Yoav and Shimi, whose loyalties and agendas are never fully transparent and who are reasonably suspect, can only be a hindrance to the establishment of Shelomo’s rule. Indeed, it is quite possible that Yoav himself – knowing that he had fallen out of favor with David and Shelomo though not with Adoniyahu, whose coronation he supported – encouraged Adoniyahu to pursue Avishag Hashunammit as a stepping stone to the throne. The political complications left behind by David make “wiping the slate clean” an urgent necessity for his successor. Therefore, Shelomo systematically, although patiently and carefully, roots out the individuals who could legitimately pose a threat to the stability of the kingdom in the near or even distant future.
One further point to explore is the treatment of Shimi ben Gera. On the surface, Shelomo’s roundabout punishment of Shimi seems to be unnecessary. Why place him under house arrest and compel him to swear to Hashem not to cross the Qidron River? It is quite clear that Shelomo expects Shimi to eventually violate the oath and be liable to the death penalty. Why not simply have him executed for his denigration of King David and avoid the circuitous path to punishing him?
It seems that the answer lies in David’s initial words to Shelomo regarding Shimi ben Gera. David had sworn to Shimi that he would not kill him for the curses that he uttered. Given that Shimi ben Gera remains a problematic character who must be eliminated from the political scene, Shelomo must find a pretext for killing Shimi that is independent of his original crime, and this pretext must be, in and of itself, sensible and coherent.
Shelomo therefore demands that Shimi essentially take what amounts to an oath of allegiance to him – despite being a member of the tribe of Benjamin, Shimi will reside in Jerusalem out of deference to and under the watchful eye of the King. Shimi’s crossing of the river in order to retrieve a slave basically amounted to placing his own “power” and status as “master” over that of King Shelomo’s. Rather than acting as a true servant of the king, he violated the royal order to recover his own servant. This betrayal was what cost him his life.
It is fascinating that the Rabbis refer to Shimi as Shelomo HaMelekh’s Torah teacher and that some commentaries, including Rashi, go so far as to state that he was the head of the Sanhedrin. What led the rabbis to attribute this position to Shimi ben Gera? I believe they were perplexed by an obvious difficulty in the narrative – the great significance assigned to the words and deeds of Shimi ben Gera, a man who does not seem to occupy any position of political clout or influence.
If Shimi were a nobody, he would not have been a source of so much distress and worry for David and would not have had to intercept and beg for mercy from David upon his return to Jerusalem. Moreover, had Shimi not been a person of any spiritual stature, David may not have ascribed his harsh remarks to Divine inspiration. Finally, had Shimi been a mere commoner, it would have been unusual for Shelomo to single him out as a threat to the kingdom and to target him with such cunning.
All of these factors lead us to the conclusion that Shimi must, in fact, have been a leader of considerable importance whose statements and actions carried weight in the eyes of the people. Since he does not appear to have held or aspired to any political office, the Rabbis are justified in concluding that he was a religious teacher who wielded a level of spiritual influence that could have far-reaching effects on the social and political climate of the kingdom.
Melakhim Alef Chapter 1
According to our tradition, the Book of Melakhim was authored by Yirmiyahu (Jeremiah) the Prophet. This is a very significant piece of information to keep in mind as we study the book, because it suggests that the prophetic message of Sefer Melakhim can best be understood in the context of the themes and lessons conveyed by Yirmiyahu to the Jewish people throughout his life and career.
Specifically, we should expect that the Book of Melakhim to help us comprehend the decline and fall of the monarchy of Israel. It will do so by first describing the height of its development and progress, culminating in the rule of King Shelomo and the construction of the Holy Temple, and will conclude with the destruction of the Temple and the exile of the Jewish people by the Babylonians. The Book of Melakhim, like the Book of Shemuel, is one unified work; the division into Melakhim Alef (I Kings) and Melakim Bet (II Kings) is a later innovation that was introduced for convenience.
King David has grown old and can no longer keep warm, even with blankets covering him. His advisers suggest that he find a beautiful young woman who can lie next to him and provide the body heat that he needs. They conduct a national search and select a proper candidate for this purpose, Avishag HaShunammit.
Meanwhile, David’s oldest surviving son, Adoniyahu, has prepared to declare himself the new king of Israel. He garners many supporters from among David’s close associates, including Yoav Ben Tzeruyah and Evyatar the Kohen. Adoniyahu organizes a coronation party for himself, notably excluding the prophet Natan, Benayahu, Tzadoq and his own brother Shelomo from the guest list.
Natan the prophet approaches Batsheva and informs her of these developments, of which King David is unaware. He instructs Batsheva to challenge David on why he has violated his oath to appoint Shelomo as successor to the throne by allowing Adoniyahu to reign. Natan will then enter the palace and confirm that Adoniyahu has indeed declared himself king without involving the prophet, Benayahu, Tzadoq Hakohen or Shelomo in the process. Natan will ask whether this move was authorized by the king or not.
Batsheva implements the plan as directed by Natan, and David responds by affirming his promise to designate Shelomo as heir to the throne. David commands his inner circle of advisers and officers to lead Shelomo on the king’s own mule down to the Gihon River and to coronate him there. Shelomo is then brought to the palace and is made to sit upon the throne in the presence of David himself. Everyone attending the proceedings offers blessings to David and all note the great privilege he has merited to have in witnessing the transfer of power to his son in his lifetime.
Word of David’s response comes to Adoniyahu through Yonatan, the son of Evyatar HaKohen. All those who participated in the “unauthorized” ceremonies of Adoniyahu panic, and he himself takes refuge in the Sanctuary, grasping onto the horns of the altar to claim asylum. Shelomo dispatches a messenger to Adoniyahu to inform him that if he demonstrates loyalty to the new regime, he need not fear for his life. Adoniyahu appears before Shelomo and bows to him, acknowledging the legitimacy of Shelomo’s claim to the throne.
There are several points worth highlighting in this chapter. The first is the curious strategy employed by the servants of David to cure his chills – searching throughout the entire kingdom to find a beautiful young woman. Was it really necessary to undertake such a heroic effort for this purpose? Even granting that this is a “therapeutic” method that works, couldn’t they have found a young woman in the local community? More basically, what is the relevance of this whole episode to the ensuing drama with Adoniyahu?
It seems that the purpose of the description of David’s condition is to convey to us that he is now perceived as passive, withdrawn, sickly and essentially “out of commission”. His lack of involvement in public affairs and absence from the political scene is what sets the groundwork for Adoniyahu’s premature declaration of his own claim to the throne. It does not appear that Adoniyahu saw himself as rebelling against David – after all, several key David-loyalists, including Yoav ben Tzeruya, participate in his coronation. Furthermore, as soon as David makes his official “pick” for king, Adoniyahu discontinues his pursuit of the crown and his movement disbands. Rather, Adoniyahu is capitalizing on the weakness of David and his hands-off approach to the affairs of the kingdom in order to put his own aspirations to power on the fast track.
Adoniyahu was the oldest prince, handsome, charming and popular, so he felt he was a shoe-in for the position. While he may have suspected he was not David’s choice for the job, he was also keenly aware of David’s disengagement from politics at this point in his life and was confident that David would not come out of retirement to protest his assumption of leadership.
We can conjecture that the servants of David who recommended the “national beauty contest” that led to the identification of Avishag Hashunammit were the same servants who backed Adoniyahu’s efforts to claim the throne. By publicizing David’s need for a woman to keep him warm, they made sure that the population became aware of just how feeble the king was and how serious of a vacuum of leadership prevailed in Jerusalem. This, they thought, would make Adoniyahu’s candidacy and immediate rise to power much more appealing.
Another difficulty with the story is the roundabout approach of Natan to addressing David. Why does he prompt Batsheva to speak to the king and only arrive afterwards to confirm her words? Can’t he simply appear before David in his capacity as a prophet and ask him to render a decision on the issue of succession? Alternatively, couldn’t Batsheva alone convey the message?
It seems that Natan understood David’s state of passivity and waning strength and therefore was sensitive to what needed to be done in order to pressure him into taking an official position on a contentious political issue. Had Batsheva come alone, David may have brushed off her request, promising to “take care of it later”, assuming that it wasn’t particularly urgent and hoping not to have to deal with it altogether.
On the other hand, if Natan had discussed the matter with David independently, David’s response might have been more circumspect and less direct; he may have opted to take a “hands off” approach to the controversy. The combination of Batsheva’s request that the oath to her be honored and Natan’s emphasis of the urgency of the situation moved David out of complacency to offer a decisive, dramatic and final answer – exactly what was needed to put the brewing conflict to rest.
As soon as he has declared his preference for Shelomo, David details and initiates an official coronation ceremony full of proper pomp and circumstance, clearly and obviously contrasted with the unofficial, grassroots event organized by Adoniyahu. And as soon as Adoniyahu and his associates realize that David has, surprisingly, reinserted himself into the public arena to make his “endorsement” – an endorsement they know that the nation will embrace and uphold – they accept the fact that their movement has been effectively and permanently undermined in favor of Shelomo’s ascent to the throne.
This chapter concludes not only Shemuel Bet but the entire Book of Shemuel. For a reason left unexplained in the text, Hashem intends to punish Israel and therefore entices David to initiate a census of the population. His general, Yoav, is resistant to the idea, and attempts to persuade David to abandon the project. However, David insists on having the census conducted, and Yoav oversees the project for a span of nine months and twenty days.
As soon as the numbers are reported back to him, David regrets having ordered the counting of the Jewish people, and confesses his error. The prophet Gad is sent to David with a message from Hashem. David will have to choose one of three punishments: a seven year famine, three months of flight from his enemies, or a three day plague upon the nation. David famously responds that it is better that they fall into the hands of Hashem who is abundantly merciful than to subject themselves to the whims of other human beings, so he chooses the plague (a famine is considered to be “falling into the hands of man” because the resultant economic crisis would force the nation of Israel to depend on other nations for sustenance.)
The plague begins and the destructive angel approaches Jerusalem; at this point, David beseeches Hashem, asking Him to punish him and his family who are the transgressors, not the innocent people who committed no wrong. The prophet instructs David to approach Aravna the Jebusite, who owns a granary on a mountain outside the city, and to build an altar there.
David immediately visits Aravna and is greeted with great deference and respect; Aravna is willing to give him the granary immediately, in addition to some animals for sacrifice. David refuses to accept the gift and insists on paying Aravna for the land as well as the offerings. Once he has completed the sacrificial service, the plague is discontinued and the land once again found favor in the eyes of Hashem. This threshing-floor became the site of the future Holy Temple.
The questions to be asked on this chapter are numerous. First, if Hashem wanted to punish the Jewish people, why did He need to involve David both in a specific sin (counting the population) and in choosing the punishment? Why couldn’t Hashem simply mete out whatever consequences He determined that the nation deserved?
Second, why doesn’t the text tell us what the sin was that Hashem meant to rectify here?
Third, why does David wait so long to pray to Hashem to put a stop to the plague? Shouldn’t he have immediately realized that innocent people would be suffering for his mistake, and protested to the Prophet Gad before the plague began?
Finally, how does the construction of the altar and offering of sacrifices address whatever problem or transgression precipitated this plague?
This chapter is one of the most perplexing and mysterious in the Book of Shemuel. Generally, I rely upon my own literary analysis, some psychological, philosophical and political knowledge, and a sampling of commentaries from various eras to develop my understanding of a chapter and its relationship to the book as a whole. This chapter, however, was one that I did not have a strong intuition about from the beginning, so I consulted with more sources than usual.
Nevertheless, to be honest, diligent research of the classical and modern commentaries left me unsatisfied. Few of the interpreters have addressed these difficulties at all, and those who have dealt with one or two of the issues have provided either incomplete or otherwise unpersuasive resolutions for them. None managed to connect the content of the chapter to broader themes of the book as a whole in any substantive way. Therefore, with your permission, I would like to propose an interpretation of this chapter that is original, and I would greatly appreciate your thoughts and feedback.
I believe we can find allusions in our text to at least three stories from the Torah that are all relevant to its themes and help clarify its message. The first and most fundamental is the story of the Aqedah, or binding of Isaac. Most obviously, both our story and the Aqedah conclude on Mount Moriah with the construction of an altar, offering of sacrifices, and an angel who “stops” a destructive force (there, Abraham about to kill Isaac; here, the plague about to strike Jerusalem). The plague lasts for three days just like Abraham’s journey to the Aqedah. And both stories relate to “numbers” – here, David seeks to clarify the census numbers, and the story of the Aqedah concludes with Hashem’s blessing to Avraham to increase the number of his descendants like the stars in the sky and the sand along the ocean.
This parallelism offers us an insight into the problem that is responsible for the chapter before us. Avraham was blessed with the miraculous gift of a child and is almost immediately called to sacrifice him to God. The Midrashim explain that Avraham, in his excitement over the birth of Yitschaq, neglected the Almighty. Avraham had a party celebrating the weaning of his son and did not offer a single sacrifice to his Creator. He became too engrossed in his “heir” and thoughts of his legacy being passed to the next generation. He lost sight, at least momentarily, of the fact that everything he possessed really belonged to Hashem and had to be dedicated to His service. He started becoming enamored with his son for his own sake and not the sake of Heaven.
The Aqedah was the ultimate test for Avraham because it required that he completely cast aside his own hopes and aspirations and that he break his attachment to the most precious thing he had ever received – his own son. Avraham’s only attachment was to be to the Almighty; no other person, thing or place could have intrinsic significance in his mind apart from Hashem’s plan. Once Avraham is reminded of this fundamental truth, he is promised countless descendants; having a legacy or an heir will no longer be a distraction for Avraham nor will it distort his perspective on the role he must play in the world.
With this in mind, we can understand the episode with David quite well. Like Avraham,David is a pioneer, chosen “out of nowhere” to found not the movement of Judaism (like Avraham) but the monarchy and nation-state of Israel. The hallmark of David’s approach to life and governance was placing Hashem at the center of his focus, and never losing sight of where he came from or the purpose for which he was selected. In our chapter, we see David slipping. He is counting the people in order to enjoy their number, in order to bask in the power and grandeur of his kingdom, for its own sake. They “belong” to him and he is taking “harmless” pleasure in that fact.
However, at the same time, this attitude of David is a two-way street; the people also view David as their patron and protector, as a father-figure to whom they are subjects and to whom they are deeply attached. They are proud of their growth and success and attribute it to their fearless and accomplished king. So the “sin of David” and the punishment to be visited upon the nation are two sides of the same coin – they reflect the spiritually unhealthy relationship between David and the people, a mutual attachment that excludes the Almighty.
This explains why Hashem visits the punishment upon the nation THROUGH an error of David – both sides are responsible for the situation that has developed, and this scenario brings to light the underlying problems. David is in fact punished by the plague, which diminished the very numbers that brought him so much pride. The people likewise suffer for their own overestimation of the significance of their population growth and the greatness of their monarch.
David’s immediate recognition of his mistake, while praiseworthy, is not a complete recovery from this spiritual fog. His choice of punishment is, in and of itself, indicating that some vestiges of the original error still remain. He still sees the people as belonging to him and extensions of his power and therefore considers it appropriate that they suffer for his mistake. It is only when he cries out to Hashem that he and his family should suffer and NOT the citizens of Israel that we see a complete breakthrough being made.
David now recognizes that it is not about him, his kingdom or his legacy. It is about the Jewish people and their mission in the world. He is not supposed to focus on cultivating the loyalty or devotion of the nation towards him, nor is he to take pleasure in his “possession” of them; rather, he is merely a steward appointed by Hashem to lead the nation of Israel toward a deeper relationship with the Almighty.
Avraham had to reframe his relationship with Yitschaq and clarify his own sense of identity through the Aqedah. He went from seeing himself as a parent taking personal pride in his child and living vicariously through his offspring to seeing himself as a servant of Hashem who had the sacred obligation to educate his child for the sake of Heaven. Similarly, David had to reframe his identity through this experience. He went from from viewing himself as the proud ruler of a vast empire that reflected his greatness to viewing himself as a devoted servant of the Almighty with the holy responsibility of shepherding His people.
Offering to suffer instead of his subjects and then purchasing the site of the altar and offering sacrifices as a “substitute” for the suffering of the people is where we see David behaving in a truly Abrahamic fashion. Avraham was willing to make the ultimate sacrifice, giving up his own son, and eventually offered a ram in his stead. Simply being relieved and happy that the plague had stopped or that the sacrifice of Isaac had been canceled would be another instance of focus on the self – joy in being excused from a difficult responsibility or having a painful burden alleviated. The translation of that energy into worshiping God here is critical because it means that the lesson has been learned – both Avraham and David, in exactly the same geographical spot, were declaring “my task is to serve the Almighty and not get caught up in the pursuit of my own egotistical glory.”
Indeed, David’s designation of this place as a sacred space and ultimately the location of the Holy Temple is a fulfillment of Avraham’s prophetic statement at the conclusion of the Aqedah that this mountain would be a place where people would appear before and experience the Divine presence. The insistence on paying full price for the granary is likewise reminiscent of Avraham’s insistence that he pay in full for the acquisition of Mearat HaMachpelah, the burial place of the Patriarchs and Matriarchs. David is clearly being compared to Avraham throughout the narrative.
Another section in the Torah that has echoes in this chapter is one that we are about to read this Shabbat – Parashat Sheqalim, the beginning of Parashat Ki Tissa. There we are told that when a census of the Jewish people is conducted, it should be by collecting half-sheqel contributions to the sanctuary. A head count of the population invites “negef”, or plague, while the donations provide an atonement to counteract these negative effects. In our story, we observe a “negef” that strikes the nation because of an improperly executed census. Moreover, it is David’s payment of sheqalim, silver coins, to purchase the granary and sacrifices on behalf of the nation that finally brings them relief from the crisis.
Counting the Jewish people as a point of pride or because it builds up their sense of strength in numbers is misguided. In fact, it is can become a source of arrogance, misplaced confidence, irresponsibility and loss of the Divine Presence. The true strength of the Jewish people is only found in and through their dedication to the Creator. What we “measure” is not human capital, military might or economic prosperity but the fulfillment of Hashem’s promise to establish a great, populous and holy nation that is devoted to sanctifying His name in the world.
We demonstrate this concept by only counting the Jewish people through their act of participation in the sacred work of consecrating and maintaining the Sanctuary, rising above any preoccupation with physical strength per se and therefore avoiding any calamitous consequences. Clearly, in this respect, David’s actions in this chapter mirror the theme expressed in Parashat Ki Tissa.
One more very instructive thematic and textual parallel to our chapter can be found in Parashat Qorah. After Qorah’s rebellion is put down in a magnificent and dramatic manner – the Earth opens up to swallow the dissenters and the imposters vying for the position of Kohen Gadol are incinerated – the nation complains about the injustice that has been visited on the people of Hashem. This prompts the Almighty to punish them with a plague. Moshe instructs Aharon to bring the Qetoret, or incense, among the people, and to offer it there as an atonement to halt the destruction. This strategy is effective, and the words “va-teatsar ha-magefah” are used there – precisely the words used here, in our story.
One of the lessons of that episode in the Torah is that what defines us as the “nation of Hashem” is not some intrinsic entitlement we have to Divine favor; only when we live in accordance with Hashem’s wisdom and commandments can we claim that title. The people were stricken with a plague because they forgot that the special status conferred upon them was a conditional one – it was granted only as long as they were true to Hashem and His laws. And disputing the authority of His chosen representatives, the leaders He has selected to guide the Jewish people, is clearly a betrayal of Hashem Himself. When Moshe and Aharon intervene and, through their service of Hashem, are able to put a stop to the plague, it underscores not only their dedication to the welfare of the people but their special Divinely appointed status as shepherds of His nation.
One of the significant themes of our story is that David, like Aharon, “enters the breach” to defend and protect his people through supplicating to Hashem and then offering sacrifices to Him. The fact that his entreaties are accepted and the plague ceases is another Divine validation of the “chosen” status of David as monarch of Israel. Moreover, just as the selection of the kohanim was controversial and may have been disputed as a “partisan” choice because Aharon was the brother of Moshe, so too might the selection of Yerushalayim as the home of the Divine Presence be resisted. The description of its consecration by prophetic mandate, and the effectiveness of the worship there in saving the Jews from a crisis, is sufficient evidence to naysayers that the choice of the Temple Mount was not politically motivated – it was decreed from Heaven.
In summary, this chapter represents the final hurdle to be overcome in preparing the Jewish people to construct a permanent home for the Divine Presence and to remain consistently focused on their calling as a light unto the nations. When the people are the beneficiaries of untold prosperity, population growth, military victory and political stability, will they still remain connected to their spiritual mission? Or, as the Torah predicts, will they become self-absorbed, get caught up in their own fantasies, and lose sight of their role in God’s plan, undermining the whole idea of a Holy Temple altogether?
David’s error, the resulting plague and the correction through designating and offering sacrifices at the future sanctuary all address this problem. The solution is to refocus, as Avraham did, on the true purpose for which we have been chosen, to recall the real value of our population growth and success as tools to serve the Creator, and acknowledge that our salvation and security will always be contingent on our fulfillment of His will. At the end of David’s career, he had “made it” – the question was, how would he sustain it? This chapter recounts the experience that helped David himself remain spiritually grounded and the study of which would provide guidance to his successors in future generations as well.
The Book of Shemuel started by describing the Jewish people without any central government and suffering from the oppression of an absolutely corrupt religious establishment in Shilo, lorded over by the sons of Eli. Shemuel the Prophet arose to heal the spiritual ills of the nation and return them to the path of Torah, and was charged with the responsibility of anointing the king who would bring security and stability to the country so that service of Hashem would have a solid base upon which to stand.
The first monarch, Shaul, was a very righteous and admirable man, and the Rabbis emphasize that we should not allow his flaws (magnified for us in the stories with David) to overshadow the outstanding qualities that earned him the kingdom to begin with. Nevertheless, his insufficient devotion to Hashem – manifest in his excessive concern with the opinions and approval of others – left him unable to defer to Torah guidance, defeat Amaleq or take any action to establish a permanent home for the Ark of the Covenant. His rule was not a vehicle of Divine service to the extent it was intended to be.
David, by contrast, lives in the presence of Hashem continually. He is totally disinterested in fame, fortune and popularity and singularly preoccupied with seeking and fulfilling the will of his Creator. Therefore, not only does he wage decisive and successful battles against the enemies of Israel, he forms a highly functional government and paves the way for the Holy Temple to be constructed (he would have done so himself, but was forbidden from it!)
The final chapter of the Book of Shemuel is a beautiful “reversal” of its opening chapter – we now have a selfless and devoted leader (unlike the sons of Eli), presiding over a well-ordered and systematically governed society (unlike Shaul), and dedicating himself and his nation to the service of Hashem (unlike either of them). The temporary, corrupt sanctuary and priests of the first chapter of Sefer Shemuel have disappeared, a new and improved generation bustling with educated citizens and guided by sincere leaders has emerged, and the permanent sanctuary – the symbolic “culmination” of the settlement of the Jews in the Holy Land, begun in the Book of Yehoshua – is now ready to be constructed.
This chapter begins with another brief poem that is introduced as the “last words” of David, meaning the last words he pronounced under divine inspiration for posterity. This is the only time in the book of Shemuel that we find David referred to by his famous moniker the “sweet singer of Israel”. David reflects upon his selection by Hashem for kingship and his profound sense of moral obligation to rule justly. He compares the emergence of his monarchy to sunlight that shines upon the vegetation of earth on a cloudless morning following the rain. David contrasts his radiantly blossoming regime which is sure to flourish in the future with the kingdoms of the wicked that are like thorns that must be torn away with iron implements or burned in their place.
The chapter proceeds to describe for us the inner circle of David’s officers and commanders. Although interpretation of the text is somewhat challenging, it appears that they are divided into three categories: the first tier, comprised of three elite officers, the second tier, also comprised of three officers, and then thirty officers who were counted among the best of David’s men but were not equal in skill or military prowess to the first six.
When one more officer is included (either Yoav ben Tzeruya or Benayahu ben Yehoyada), we arrive at a final number of thirty-seven. There are other ways of understanding the count and the hierarchy being delineated but this appears to be the simplest approach. It is noteworthy that both Uriah the Hittite, victim of David’s most heinous crime, and the son of Ahitophel, David’s renegade adviser, are numbered among his best and brightest troops.
In addition to describing the impressive deeds of several of these heroes, the text recounts an incident during David’s period of hiding with his men in the Cave of Adullam. Although the Pelishtim occupied Bet Lehem at the time, David expressed a strong desire to drink of the cool waters of the well there; three of his officers then risked their lives, snuck into the Pelishti camp and returned with the water that he had mentioned. David, not wanting to encourage soldiers to risk their lives for such insignificant reasons, spills out the water, refusing to validate their manifestly courageous but nonetheless irresponsible act.
The reader wonders what objective the text serves in providing us with vivid details of the exploits of David’s soldiers, particularly when we have already finished the essential narrative of David’s life and career. The Sages of the Talmud propose metaphoric interpretations of several of the battles described here, seemingly in order to emphasize that David’s men were not mere brutes or ninjas who claimed many casualties; they were Torah scholars and spiritual personalities as well as accomplished warriors.
For instance, the “water” drawn for David from Bet Lehem is interpreted as Torah knowledge that David wanted to obtain from the Sanhedrin or High Court of the Rabbis, which was then located in Bet Lehem. Similarly, Benayahu ben Yehoyada’s slaying of a lion in a pit on a snowy day is read as a metaphor for his conquering a very difficult halakhic text under particularly trying circumstances.
It is easy to dismiss this approach as unfaithful to the plain meaning of the text. However, I would suggest that the Rabbis’ method is well-grounded in the principles we learned from the book of Shofetim, where we saw that political and military triumph are inseparable from religious redemption and salvation. Consider Gideon, who had to liberate himself from idolatry in order to lead the nation, and who was only allowed to employ soldiers who had kept themselves free from it as well. Alternatively, recall Devorah, who did not command Baraq to lead the Jews into battle until they had returned to Torah life first.
Truthfully, however, we need not look as far as the Book of Shofetim – at the very beginning of Sefer Shemuel, we saw that the political downfall of the Jews was part and parcel of its spiritual decline under the corrupt leadership of the sons of Eli. The resurgence of the strength and autonomy of the Jewish people and their eventual establishment of a monarchy occurred only because the groundwork was first laid by Shemuel, who reeducated the nation and placed them back on the path of Torah.
Thus we see that the suggestion that primitive muscle-men would be the agents of the Divine Plan is anathema to the Tanakh, and the Rabbis, based upon this premise, read the stories here as parables of spiritual as well as military victory. They did this not because they wanted to recast the heroes of the era of David in their own image as rabbinical scholars of the Talmudic period, but because they understood the underlying themes of Tanakh and its message. They knew that the notion of celebrating or attaching intrinsic value to military conquest or political power outside of the context of Torah or service of Hashem would be contradictory to the spirit of our tradition.
The Rabbis wisely rejected the idea that an “action hero” would be put on a pedestal in Judaism simply by virtue of his physical feats on the battlefield. What we read about here is not about men fighting for power but about men fighting to preserve the traditions of Torah and to continue the sacred mission of sanctifying Hashem’s name in the world.
Shemuel Bet Chapter 22
This chapter contains the “Song of David”, a lengthy poem whereby David expresses his gratitude to Hashem for the salvation and success he has experienced throughout his life. This chapter is remarkable in that it is the only one repeated in the Bible – it appears again, with a few slight stylistic modifications, in the Book of Tehillim.
As we have noted in the past, it is difficult to “summarize” poetry, since much of its power derives not from the content but from the beautiful and emotionally moving form through which that content is communicated. It is critical to read every word in order to appreciate the enduring richness of these sections. Nevertheless, we can attempt to identify a couple of the themes and ideas in the poem as well as make an observation or two about its format and context.
The Book of Shemuel begins and ends with a song. The prayer of Hanna on the occasion of the birth of the prophet Shemuel is the conclusion of the very first story of the book, and the final verse is a prayer that Hashem should uplift and strengthen His anointed king. Hanna realized that the spiritual and political decline in Israel was due to the lack of strong, centralized religious and governmental leadership, and turned to Hashem to provide this much-needed structure. She hoped this change would come about through her son Shemuel, which indeed it did – he anointed the first and second monarchs of Israel, with David being the final choice of the Almighty for the position.
In our chapter, we hear the words of the long hoped-for king that Hanna dreamed of but never actually had the opportunity to see. David offers his reflections on the role Divine providence has played in his ascendancy to power, successful military campaigns and establishment as ruler of the Jewish nation. Like Hanna, he dwells on Hashem as the transcendent, unknowable and all-powerful Creator who nonetheless “lowers Himself” and involves Himself in the affairs of human beings.
The clear connection between the two songs can be found in the final verse of David’s song “Great source of salvation is He to His king, and He bestows kindness upon his anointed one,” which reminds us of Hanna’s last verse “He will give strength to His king and uplift his anointed one.” This parallelism underscores the relationship between the two songs that form a kind of “frame” around the book of Shemuel as a whole. The two poems are like bookends on a shelf or like two slices of bread between which all of the “meat” of the narratives is sandwiched.
We can take the liberty of dividing David’s tribute into two sections. The first half focuses on Hashem’s protection and salvation of David from the attacks of his enemies, including Shaul. David considers his survival of these ordeals and challenges to be a direct consequence of his faithfulness to Hashem and the commandments of the Torah. Here David portrays himself more passively, as the beneficiary of Hashem’s kindness in times of trouble.
The second half of the song builds upon the first, although the focus shifts from “defense” – Hashem’s guarding of David from his opponents – to offense, David’s remarkable success on the battlefield and in consolidating his kingdom. Here, David describes himself as an active agent of change who is assisted by Divine intervention in his endeavors.
More than simply helping David “to make it through” various crises, Hashem has empowered and supported David’s efforts to secure and expand the borders of Israel, vanquish and subjugate his enemies, and usher in an era of stability and strength, both spiritually and politically, for the Jewish people as a whole. Hashem is not only David’s Savior and Deliverer; He is also the One Who has blessed David with the capacity to accomplish heroic and decisive victories on the battlefield and to advance his kingdom beyond what anyone could ever have imagined.
Proof that there are two halves to the song can be found towards the end. One of the stylistic flairs of the Tanakh is to use “chiastic” structures; this means speaking about topic A, moving to topic B, then again topic B, and ending with topic A. Topic A here would be the protection and salvation Hashem has provided David, and Topic B would be the political and military victories and other successful endeavors of David.
The song begins with Topic A and transitions to Topic B. Then finally, in verses 48-50 we see the signature form: David praises Hashem for avenging him of his enemies and subduing them (Topic B) and then concludes with “You extract me from my enemies clutches and lift me above those who rise against me, You save me from violent men,” which is a reversion to Topic A.
David closes with the idea that, because of all of the evidence of Divine providence in his life and career, he declares his gratitude to Hashem before all of the nations of the world.
The last four chapters of Shemuel Bet are somewhat disjointed, and the chronology of the events depicted therein is not always clear. Many commentaries suggest that some of these events happened earlier in David’s career but, since they are not connected to the main storyline of the book their treatment is saved for the end.
There is a famine in Israel for three consecutive years and David seeks Hashem for an explanation of why it has befallen them. Hashem informs David that the famine is a punishment incurred by Shaul because he massacred the Givonim, decimating their population. The Givonim were a group of Canaanites who joined the Jews in the times of Yehoshua. They pretended not to be inhabitants of the land (who would have to be driven out or destroyed) and convinced Yehoshua to allow them to co-exist with the Jews in Israel.
Apparently, in an incident not described explicitly anywhere in the Hebrew Bible, Shaul attacked and killed many Givonim on some kind of crusade to purify the Jewish people of foreign influences. Although it may have been well-intentioned, it was in direct violation of the solemn oath undertaken by the Jewish people not to harm the Givonim.
The Midrashim attempt to mitigate Shaul’s sin somewhat, claiming that the “destruction” wreaked upon the Givonim was a result of Shaul’s siege on the priestly city of Nov. Since the Givonim were tasked with supplying water and wood to Nov, its destruction put them out of work and therefore “destroyed them”. Alternatively, the Givonim may have been unintentional victims of the strike against Nov.
In either case, these Midrashim do an admirable job of casting Shaul in a positive light, but they do not fit with the literal meaning of the text. Understood simply, the text states that Shaul was inspired by religious fervor and massacred the inhabitants of Givon at some point in his career.
It should not strike us as unusual that this conflict with the Givonim is not mentioned elsewhere in Tanakh. Several examples of Biblical allusions to otherwise unknown historical events can be cited. For instance, when Shaul visits the necromancer at Ein Dor, the text informs us that Shaul had previously initiated a campaign to rid the land of all practitioners of the occult. Had Shaul not himself succumbed to his desire for a consultation with a medium, we would not have any knowledge of the efforts he made earlier in his career to put a stop to such activities. Here, too, we would not know that Shaul had massacred the Givonim if not for the consequences manifest in the days of David.
David understands that only through securing the forgiveness of the Givonim will the Divine wrath be removed from the Jewish people. He approaches the people of Givon and asks them what he can do to correct the wrongs perpetrated by the house of Shaul. They demand seven of the male descendants of Shaul be handed over to them to be hung in retribution for the murders that he committed. David complies with their request, although he spares the life of Mefivoshet in deference to the oath he made to Yonatan to protect his children and preserve his legacy.
The Givonim hang the descendants of Shaul around the beginning the of the barley harvest, in the spring, and leave their corpses exposed during the rainy season. The mother of two of the victims, Ritzpah bat Aya, mourns and stands guard over them in the field, protecting their bodies from the elements as well as from wild beasts. When David hears about this, he arranges for the bones of Shaul and Yonatan to be retrieved from Yavesh Gilead and for the remains of those killed by the Givonim to be collected and interred in their ancestral burial plot. After all of this, the famine ends.
The chapter concludes with a description of several heroic battles waged by the men of David against various Pelishti giants. These accounts give us a sense of the mightiness and skill of David’s entourage of fighters. We are also told of a point in time where David no longer had the physical energy to contend on the battlefield and was nearly killed; after this, his soldiers insisted that he no longer join them in combat.
The contrast emphasized here between Shaul and David is noteworthy. Shaul has a reputation for failing to honor his word, even when it is bolstered with an invocation of the name of Hashem. He oftentimes adhered to his own sense of the proper course of action, even when it conflicted with the Divine will, and especially when it conformed to popular sentiment. Shaul’s killing the Givonim transgressed an oath made in the name of Hashem but he rationalized this in view of his “holy purpose” in battling what he believed to be their inappropriate influence on Israel.
David, by contrast, violates his own sense of moral propriety in this chapter in order to honor an oath taken in the name of Hashem and to fulfill His will. David puts Hashem and His reputation ahead of his own political or religious sensibilities and does not allow his subjective feelings, even when they are theologically justifiable, to bias him.
The text comments that the Givonim were not originally Jewish, something that students of the Tanakh already know. The Rabbis tell us that the purpose of mentioning this fact here is to explain why the Givonim acted in such a cruel and heartless fashion, demanding bloody revenge from the house of Shaul for what had been done to them. Jews, the Sages tell us, have compassion and mercy instilled in them and would never have sought to punish the family of Shaul in such a manner.
Of course, this leads us to the further question of what justified killing seven descendants of Shaul for a crime they did not commit. Not only does David fulfill what seems like an outlandish and unjust request from the Givonim, Hashem discontinues the famine shortly after, indicating that these actions were considered proper and were therefore sufficient to quelch the Divine wrath. One possibility, suggested by some of the commentaries, is that the members of the house of Shaul who were punished were actually complicit, on some level, in the deeds of Shaul – they either participated in the massacre, endorsed it or supported it. This makes the story much more reasonable and comprehensible to us.
However, I would like to suggest an alternative possibility. The reason the text emphasizes the non-Jewish background of the Givonim is not in order to explain their demand but in order to explain David’s acquiescence to their demand. Precisely because they were of non-Jewish origin, the Jewish people had to be extremely cautious and go to enormous lengths to avoid any desecration of the name of Hashem. Therefore, despite the fact that the request of the Givonim was essentially unjust and reflected poorly upon them, David felt morally obligated to honor it in order to restore the sanctity of Hashem’s name that had been sullied by the behavior of Shaul toward them.
When dealing with other nations to whom we must serve as mentors and examples of Divine wisdom and justice, the rules of engagement are sometimes more radical than when we are dealing “in house” with fellow Jews. Other nations are not well-schooled in the nuances of law and principle and would not be able to grasp a learned discourse on the legitimacy of punishing the children for the sins of the father. The imperative to demonstrate that justice is the legitimate claim of all of God’s creatures and that sacred oaths in the name of the Almighty are inviolable forced David to take an action that would normally (in a Jewish framework) be unjust. Tragically, this was the only way he could convey to the Givonim that the violation of the oath was addressed and that their grievance received a serious response.
Sheva ben Bikhri, a disreputable member of the tribe of Binyamin, takes advantage of the intertribal tensions that followed David’s resumption of power and declares another rebellion against the crown, taking all of the tribes except Yehuda over to his side. Parenthetically, the text mentions that the ten concubines of David who had relations with Avshalom are supported by David for the rest of their lives, but are subject to a kind of house arrest, not living with the king nor permitted to marry anyone else.
David instructs his newly appointed general, Amasa, to gather troops from the tribe of Yehuda, report back to him in three days and then attack Sheva ben Bikhri and his forces. However, the deadline arrives and Amasa has defaulted on his mission. Therefore, David commands Avishai to organize a contingent of soldiers and put down the rebellion before it is too late – the more time passes, the stronger and more emboldened the rebels will become.
Avishai arrives with his troops in the territory of Binyamin and is joined there by Yoav, who has apparently gotten over the insult of being replaced and wishes to lend his support to the war effort. They encounter Amasa, David’s general, in Givon. Yoav approaches Amasa with warm wishes and leans in to kiss him; meanwhile, Yoav draws his sword and slays the naïve Amasa with a single strike.
One of the men present declares that whoever is with David should follow Yoav into battle; however, at first, the soldiers gathered around are paralyzed by the sight of Amasa’s bloody corpse on the side of the road. The man who is attempting to inspire everyone to proceed moves Amasa’s body away from the thoroughfare and throws a blanket over it. Now under the direction of Yoav, those committed to the cause of defending David’s kingdom depart to lay siege to the stronghold of Sheva Ben Bikhri.
Sheva ben Bikhri has taken refuge in Avel of Bet Maakha, a fortified city in the territory of Binyamin. On Yoav’s orders, the men of Yehuda lay siege to the city – building a ramp and battering, to gain entry either through or over the wall. A wise woman calls to Yoav and asks him why his army seeks to destroy the heritage of Hashem, a peaceful Jewish community. Yoav explains that they bear no ill will toward the people of the city, but that Sheva ben Bikhri has declared a rebellion against the king and must be stopped.
The woman confers with the inhabitants of the city and Sheva Ben Bikhri’s head is thrown over the wall to quell the fighting. Yoav blows the shofar and the war is concluded. The chapter ends with a list of the members of the latest incarnation of David’s royal cabinet, most notably featuring Yoav reinstated as his general.
Yoav’s killing of Amasa can be added to the list of unauthorized assassinations that he carries out. In the beginning of Sefer Melakhim, David condemns Yoav for having murdered Amasa, perhaps interpreting it as motivated by jealousy over the selection of Amasa to replace him. However, in reality, the appointment of Amasa was itself a questionable move by David. Amasa had never demonstrated any military expertise on the battlefield; the one war he led, Avshalom’s rebellion, was a total failure. And when assigned the task of organizing forces to put down the uprising of Sheva Ben Bikhri, he again fails to fulfill his mission, placing King David and his regime in serious danger.
Yoav apparently viewed Amasa’s negligence here as deliberate betrayal and assumed that Amasa’s sympathies were with the rebel movement and not with David. Yoav’s suspicions were essentially confirmed by one simple fact: Amasa was supposed to be recruiting troops from the tribe of Yehuda to defend David, and is instead found in Givon, the very heart of the tribe of Binyamin, the home territory of Sheva ben Bikhri. In other words, Yoav has caught Amasa red handed in enemy territory, ostensibly having joined or planning to join the rebellion against his own king. Therefore, Yoav had every reason to feel justified in his decision to execute Amasa for treason, and we cannot assume that he was influenced by personal enmity or resentment.
David’s response to the news of Avshalom’s death is heart-wrenching. He is totally consumed by his profound sense of loss. His supporters become aware of the fact that he is in mourning, and the people are uncomfortable approaching him. Yoav confronts David and rebukes him harshly for his reaction. Yoav reminds David that, had they not been victorious on the battlefield, all of them – including David’s entire family – would have been killed.
By reacting to the outcome of the war as if it were a tragedy, David is implying that he would rather that his friends, relatives and associates be dead than his rebellious son. This, Yoav argues, will lead to David’s abandonment even by those who are closest to him. David agrees with Yoav’s assessment, composes himself and seats himself at the gate to receive the people.
The tribes of Israel reflect upon the aftermath of the conflict and decide that the time has come to officially restore David to his position of leadership. However, David himself reaches out to the elders of his own tribe of Yehuda and subtly criticizes them for not being the first to offer to escort him back to the palace. He removes Yoav as general of his army and replaces him with Amasa, Avshalom’s general, who also hailed from the tribe of Yehuda. In both cases, David himself makes reference to the natural familial affiliation he has with these parties.
On his way back to Jerusalem, David is first intercepted by Shimi ben Gera, who has come to apologize for his unseemly conduct in cursing and throwing stones at David and to beg for forgiveness. Shimi has arrived in the company of one thousand men of the tribe of Binyamin, including Tziva, the servant of Mefivoshet, and his fifteen sons and twenty servants. Avishai ben Tzeruyah proposes that Shimi be executed for having disgraced the anointed king; David, however, orders him to desist and promises Shimi that he will not be killed.
Mefivoshet is the next to welcome David back to Jerusalem. He has evidently been in a state of mourning, is unshaven and disheveled. David asks Mefivoshet why he chose not to accompany him into exile. Mefivoshet explains that he indeed wished to come but that his servant, Tziva, fooled him. Rather than preparing a donkey for Mefivoshet to ride upon, Tziva absconded with the donkey and provisions himself and slandered his master to the king.
Mefivoshet emphasizes that he owes an eternal debt of gratitude to David for having spared him and his household and that he will willingly accept whatever judgment David decrees. David responds to Mefivoshet’s lengthy speech somewhat impatiently, chiding him for elaborating so much, and declares that the estate of Shaul should be divided evenly between Mefivoshet and Tziva. Mefivoshet declines the offer and expresses his wish that all of the property remain with Tziva, since the knowledge that David has been restored to the monarchy is sufficient for him and he has no need for material goods.
David next addresses Barzilai HaGiladi and encourages him to come and live in Jerusalem. Barzilai responds that he is too old and his senses are too dulled to benefit from “retirement” in Yerushalayim – his taste buds have lost their capacity to enjoy food and his ears can no longer enjoy music. Barzilai prefers to finish his life in his own city, but sends his son, Kimham, to live with David and receive whatever rewards David wishes to bestow upon Barzilai in his stead.
The chapter concludes with a description of tensions that have erupted between the tribe of Yehuda and the rest of the tribes of Israel. The majority are upset that the tribe of Yehuda has played such a significant role in accompanying the king back to the palace, especially in view of the fact that they were the last to take any initiative on this project.
The tribe of Yehuda points out that it has never been the beneficiary of any special favors or kindnesses from David as a result of his tribal affiliation with them; rather, they got involved out of a sense of obligation to their relative, David. The other tribes respond that, as the vast majority of the nation, they have ten shares in King David and should have been consulted on and included in his “welcome home” party. We are told that the words of the tribe of Yehuda were stronger – either in tone or in persuasiveness – than those of the other tribes.
David displays an unusual amount of partisanship in this chapter by favoring his own tribe of Yehuda. Until now, he has been quite principled in his impartiality. One wonders whether the change we observe here is because of a general lack of trust and sense of wariness that he has now developed – the fact that the nation supported Avshalom’s rebellion made David feel that he could only rely upon “his own”.
Alternatively, from the fact that Avshalom based his camp in Hevron, a bastion of Yehuda, David may have intuited that he failed to ingratiate himself enough to his own base, and he attempted to correct that imbalance. It is noteworthy that in their exchange with the other tribes, the representatives of Yehuda make mention of the fact that they have received no benefits or favoritism from David during his rule.This can be interpreted as a praise of David’s objectivity and fairness or as a veiled complaint that they were never granted the privileges to which they felt they were entitled. Whatever the case may be, we will see that tensions among the tribes spell more trouble for David in the near future.
David’s deposing of Yoav, like his intense mourning for Avshalom, reveals to us a mentality that is now somewhat typical of the “new David” who is more preoccupied with his own fate and personal needs than those of the nation as a whole. Yoav was not fired for killing Avner, for example, even though it was treacherous and unwarranted; yet here, when he killed Avshalom because of his status as a rebel against the crown, he is dismissed from his position.
David may have justified his distinction between the two cases by citing the fact that here, Yoav acted in defiance of a direct order, whereas David never explicitly warned Yoav not to harm Avner. However, our impression that David is acting emotionally rather than rationally is reinforced by his choice to appoint the treasonous and failed general of Avshalom, Amasa, in place of the loyal and accomplished Yoav, on the pretext of the fact that Amasa is a member of his family (actually, Yoav was too!).
Again, David may have defended his decision based upon a desire to reunify and consolidate the kingdom, erasing the divisions that had been created by the rebellion and demonstrating that he had no ill will against those who allied themselves with Avshalom. In retrospect, however, it will become clear that this view was somewhat naïve.
David’s treatment of Mefivoshet is roundly criticized by the Sages, who say that as punishment for David’s order to split the estate between Tziva and Mefivoshet, his kingdom would one day be split as well. On the surface, David’s harshness toward the lame and helpless Mefivoshet is puzzling. However, taken in the context of his general “swing” of preference in favor of his own tribe and family, we can interpret his behavior as a reflection of some feelings of hostility and mistrust toward the house of Shaul, represented by Mefivoshet.
David’s earlier graciousness to Mefivoshet was part of his effort to unite the kingdom and eliminate or mitigate divisions that existed between various tribes or factions within the nation. However, his new program, at least temporarily, seems to be a reversion to the “old fashioned” way of doing things, and he has no patience or sympathy for Mefivoshet. This exacerbation of the divisions between the tribes (particularly, the singling out of the tribe of Yehuda for special treatment) and the sense of “us against them” may have laid the groundwork, as the Sages suggest, for the ultimate bifurcation of the nation into the Kingdom of Judah and the Kingdom of Israel.
It has also been suggested that David was prejudiced against Mefivoshet for historical reasons; Yonatan, Mefivoshet’s father, also made the fateful and tragic decision not to follow David in exile but to remain at the palace by his father Shaul’s side. He did this, neglecting to join David and part ways with Shaul, despite professing a belief that David was destined to be king and a desire to rule as a partner with him. It is possible that David interpreted Mefivoshet’s actions as a replay of this “betrayal” by Yonatan that he could never fully forgive.
Barzilai HaGiladi is also worthy of a few comments. The Sages remark that he was steeped in instinctual pleasures, and this is why his senses were dull. Although he was clearly a kind, generous and loyal friend to David, the Rabbis disparage his moral character. What is their basis for this assessment? I would suggest that the reasons he offers for declining to join David in Jerusalem reveal his value system. If he is not able to partake of fine food and wine and listen to beautiful music, he sees no benefit in residing in the Holy City of Jerusalem.
In other words, his definition of what is worthwhile or meaningful in life is totally materialistic and sensual. A deeper, more spiritual person would yearn to be in Yerushalayim for the opportunities to learn Torah, to serve Hashem, to be inspired. Such an individual would not be focused on the quality of the cuisine or of the musical offerings available to him in the palace.
By contrast, Barzilai, who turns down the chance to live in Jerusalem because his age prevents him from enjoying the “finer things in life”, demonstrates clearly the values and priorities that guide him. He shows us what he thinks makes life worth living – not the inspiration of the soul but the pleasures of the body.
David is now joined by tens of thousands of supporters and prepares for the battle with Avshalom. The group is divided into three camps under the leadership of Yoav, Avishai and Ittai, respectively. David expresses a desire to join the troops himself; however, the officers object, concerned that Avshalom’s forces will be disinterested in combat and simply target David if he is present. David agrees to stay behind, but he publicly orders his officers to deal gently with Avshalom.
David’s soldiers quickly gain the upper hand in the conflict, slaying twenty thousand men. At one point, Avshalom is riding on his mule and his head is caught in a tree above; the mule continues walking, leaving Avshalom hanging from a branch in midair. One of the troops reports this to Yoav, who rebukes the soldier for neglecting to kill Avshalom when he found him; the soldier replies that he did not feel that he could contravene the direct orders of the king not to harm his son.
Yoav drives three darts through the heart of Avshalom and then instructs ten of his weapon-bearers to execute him. Yoav then blows the shofar, signaling that the war has come to an end. Avshalom’s body is dumped in a pit and covered with a pile of stones. The text emphasizes that he had no heir to continue the struggle after him.
Ahimaatz, son of Tzadoq the Kohen, wants to run and inform David that the war is over. Yoav explains that since the king’s son has died, these are not good tidings and he should allow someone else to convey them. Yoav sends a Kushite to bring the news to David, and the Kushite leaves to fulfill his mission. Ahimaatz persists and again asks for permission to run ahead and share the latest developments with David, and Yoav begrudgingly allows him to do so, reiterating that this will be a thankless job under the circumstances. Despite the fact that Ahimaatz left later than the Kushite, he is able to surpass the Kushite and reach David first because he takes a shortcut.
Meanwhile, David is waiting patiently for an update from the battlefield. The watchman observes first one, then two men running toward the gate, evidently coming to provide some information to the king. When David is told that the first to arrive will be Ahimaatz, he assumes that this indicates that the news will be positive. Ahimaatz reassures David that all is well and bows low to the ground. When David asks about the welfare of Avshalom, he claims ignorance of the details. David is then greeted by the Kushite, who confirms the message delivered by Ahimaatz. When he is asked about the status of Avshalom, however, he freely acknowledges his death, declaring that “all the enemies of the king should be like that young man.”
One noteworthy element of this chapter is the sudden “swelling” of David’s camp. How did his entourage grow from a few hundred supporters to tens of thousands of troops? One possibility is that, as Ahitophel predicted, the rebellion’s loss of its initial momentum caused a sizable number of people to become skeptical, defect from Avshalom’s regime and join David. Another possibility is that the vulgar behavior of Avshalom in publicly cohabiting with his father’s wives was not well received and caused some of his allies to rethink their allegiances.
The Sages explain that there is an element of “poetic justice” in Avshalom’s death; he grew his hair very long to elevate himself and it was ultimately the cause of his downfall. The Rabbis state that Avshalom was actually a permanent Nazirite and this was the reason why he only cut his hair once a year. On the surface, it is difficult to reconcile the image of a devoutly religious Nazir with the manifestly base and aggressive tendencies of Avshalom. Why do the Rabbis cast Avshalom as a Nazir?
We must bear in mind that the status of a Nazir is itself quite controversial in rabbinic tradition. A famous Talmudic story has it that Shimon Hatzadiq, the great Kohen Gadol of the Second Temple period, refused to eat of the sacrifices of Nazirites because, as a rule, they undertook the vow to showcase their piety and not out of genuine religious motives (the story goes on to detail a memorable exception to this rule).
Avshalom, as a clever and crafty manipulator of public opinion, is portrayed as a Nazir – that is, someone who cultivates an outward image of religiosity in order to impress and endear himself to others. Avshalom is envisioned as a Nazir precisely because, generally speaking, a Nazir is a person who wants to be seen as very devout, even when this is far from the case. We can well imagine Avshalom, like many politicians today, taking up the mantle of religious fervor and observance in order to win the admiration and trust of his would-be supporters.
In that way, unlike Shimshon and Shemuel who preceded him, Avshalom’s Nazirite status undermined true Torah principles rather than helping to establish and promote them. Shimshon and Shemuel were Nazirites from birth because this allowed them to focus less on themselves and more on the service of Hashem and the needs of the nation of Israel. Avshalom, by contrast, used the Nazirite vow as a ploy to draw more attention to himself.
The complications negotiated by Yoav and Ahimaatz with respect to informing David of the outcome of the battle are symptomatic of a deeper problem – David’s ambivalence about the war as a whole. On a national level, his responsibility and objective must be to defend his crown and protect his subjects. However, at the same time, his attachment to Avshalom renders this communal victory a personal loss. This theme will be explored in more detail in upcoming chapters.
Avshalom is poised to consolidate his political gains and advance his agenda, so he once again seeks counsel from Ahitophel. Ahitophel recommends that Avshalom authorize him to personally gather 12,000 men and lead an immediate, nighttime attack while David and his men are still demoralized and weary. There will be no need to defeat all of David’s soldiers; merely assassinating David will be sufficient. Ahitophel will then take whatever steps are necessary to transition the population to acceptance of their new king.
Avshalom and the elders are pleased with the advice of Ahitophel; however, Avshalom wants to consult with Hushai before making a final decision. He summons Hushai and shares Ahitophel’s plan with him. Hushai declares that Ahitophel’s suggestion is misguided and offers an alternative. Hushai reminds Avshalom that his father is legendary for being a mighty and courageous warrior. David and his men are highly experienced, tough and ferocious fighters who are probably on high alert right now and will repel the kind of attack suggested by Ahitophel.
Hushai instead urges Avshalom to patiently gather a large army from all across the country and insists that Avshalom himself should lead them into battle. Rather than merely targeting David, all of his troops and supporters should be eliminated, and if they take refuge in a city, ropes should be tied around its walls so it can be dragged into the sea.
Avshalom and the men of Israel prefer the advice of Hushai over that of Ahitophel. The text remarks that this was not because of the superiority of Hushai’s plan – in fact, Ahitophel’s was wiser – but because of Hashem’s intent to thwart the evil designs of Ahitophel and to punish Avshalom. Unsure whether this will be Avshalom’s final decision or not, Hushai sends word through the Kohanim, informing him of the two proposals and warning him not to sleep in the camp; he tells David to cross over the Jordan and hide there because of the possibility that Avshalom will stage a sneak attack at night.
The elder Kohanim pass the message on to the younger kohanim, Yonatan and Ahimaatz, who communicate it to David. However, they are almost caught traveling back and forth and they only evade capture because they hide inside the well of a couple in Bahurim that covers for and protects them. When Ahitophel sees that his advice is not being followed, he returns home, sets his affairs in order, and commits suicide.
The chapter concludes by describing the transition of David’s camp to an unlikely location as well as the arrival of several new friends of David, many of them unlikely supporters. David moves to Mahanayim, the former capital of the short-lived kingdom of his rival, Ish-Boshet. Shovi, the son of Nahash, King of Ammon, Barzilai the Gileadite, and Makhir the son of Ammiel – all of whom had reason not to take David’s side in the conflict – come with all sorts of provisions to assist him.
David’s kindness to Nahash’s son, Hanun, had previously been rebuffed in a humiliating manner, igniting an intense war between the two nations. Nevertheless, Nahash’s other son, Shovi, joins David’s camp. Barzilai the Gileadite has ties to the house of Shaul and is probably a member of his family, and Makhir was Mefivoshet’s host and patron before David made other arrangements to take care of him. Despite their previous loyalties to Shaul, they recognize that David is the rightful king and deserves their support.
Moreover, the woman who protects the two Kohanim who serve as spies for David lives in Bahurim, a city closely associated with Shaul. The message here is that David’s efforts to unify the kingdom, to govern in a principled manner and even to conduct international affairs in a compassionate and judicious way have not gone unnoticed. His popularity endures among those who appreciate what he stands for as a person and as a leader.
One of the most fascinating aspects of this chapter is the contrast between the proposals of Hushai and Ahitophel. What is it that made Ahitophel’s advice superior but not attractive enough to win Avshalom’s endorsement? What was it about Hushai’s vision that appealed more to Avshalom and to the men of Israel?
Ahitophel has made a realistic and highly accurate assessment of the facts on the ground. His evaluation of David’s state of demoralization and weakness, and the resultant advantage to Avshalom, is likewise correct. Moreover, the notion of capitalizing on the momentum of the rebellion and assassinating David in a targeted strike would have been the wisest move for Avshalom, since it would have prevented the conflict from evolving into a long, protracted struggle.
However, there was one problem with Ahitophel’s advice – not a tactical or strategic flaw, but a lack of psychological appeal. It is too practical and perfunctory, and it assigns a decisive role to Ahitophel rather than Avshalom. While Ahitophel’s plan would have produced results, there was no glory or honor in his approach for the ego-driven Avshalom. Hushai picks up on this and utilizes it to make his proposal sound much more desirable. Let us consider how Hushai frames his vision differently.
First of all, Hushai is wise enough not to impugn or attack the personality of Ahitophel; instead, acknowledging the brilliance of Ahitophel, he “humbly” suggests that, this one time, Ahitophel has erred. Hushai describes David as a larger-than life Chuck Norris type warrior (a depiction obviously better suited to the early stages of his career than to his recent, more passive behavior), and characterizes his military prowess, courage and determination in glowing terms. He also repeatedly calls David “your father” when addressing Avshalom, rather than “the king”. Hushai then paints a picture of a clash of epic and almost ridiculous proportions in which Avshalom would utterly subdue and destroy the forces of the legendary King David.
Hushai realizes that Avshalom is motivated not only by a desire for practical political and military successes but by his desire for glory and honor in victory. This means that Avshalom WANTS to believe that his enemy is tremendously strong, not weak. And he wants to be sure that he himself vanquishes this formidable opponent in as dramatic and impressive a fashion as possible.
Hushai deliberately emphasizes that David is Avshalom’s father because every young man idealizes and wants to romanticize and exaggerate the greatness of his father. In a son’s mind, he, too, partakes of that greatness by virtue of being the father’s child. So Hushai magnifies both the image of David’s near-invincibility on the battlefield as well as Avshalom’s self-image as heir to that mightiness and valor. The dream of a “battle royale” with David’s army appeals not only to the honor-hungry Avshalom but to his troops as well.
Once again, it is Hushai’s psychological insight into the mind of Avshalom that enables him to succeed in sabotaging the rebellion. Ultimately, of course, Hushai’s real plan is to buy time for David by delaying the conflict as well as to make sure that Avshalom himself enters into the battle so he can be strategically eliminated.
Ahitophel’s reaction to Avshalom’s decision seems rash but it is warranted. Ahitophel was used to advising David, a humble, principled and essentially well intentioned king who was interested in the wisest and most effective strategies, not the ones that would buy him glory. Ahitophel realizes that the ego of Avshalom is eclipsing his intellect and will eventually cause his kingdom to unravel; if not in the first conflict, then not long afterwards.
Ahitophel correctly recognizes not only that Hushai’s plan is doomed to fail but that the character flaw in Avshalom – his seeking the most glorious route rather than the wisest – is a fatal defect. Knowing that the revolt would fail and that he would ultimately be condemned as a traitor to David, Ahitophel ended his life in what seemed to him a more noble way.
This chapter begins with two encounters between David and representatives of the house of Shaul. First, Tziva, who manages the estate of Shaul and whom David had charged with serving and supporting Mefivoshet, intercepts David on his way into hiding. Tziva has brought along saddled donkeys, two hundred loaves of bread, one hundred raisin cakes, fruits and a container of wine. Tziva explains that he has come to offer these provisions to David and his men and to show his support for them.
David then asks Tziva why Mefivoshet has not joined him. Tziva tells David that Mefivoshet viewed the exile of David positively, as a sign that he would be restored to his rightful position as heir to the throne of Israel. Upon hearing this, David reverses his earlier command and declares that ownership of Shaul’s estate should be stripped from Mefivoshet and transferred to Tziva. Tziva bows to David in gratitude for this gift.
David’s group is then approached by Shimi ben Gera, a member of Shaul’s family. Shimi curses David, throws rocks at him and casts dust in his direction, accusing him of wickedness and bloodshed and alleging that his exile was a fitting punishment for him because of all the crimes he had committed against the house of Shaul. Avishai ben Tzeruyah offers to kill Shimi ben Gera for his insolent behavior toward David; David orders him to leave Shimi alone.
David speculates that Shimi is merely a mouthpiece for the Almighty and is not speaking of his own accord; Hashem may see David’s suffering and humble acceptance of the insults and favor him because of this. Moreover, David observes that his own son has deposed him and seeks to kill him so it is no surprise that a relative of Shaul would have harsh words for him. David and his men arrive at their temporary hideout in a state of exhaustion and encamp in order to refresh themselves.
Meanwhile, Avshalom enters Jerusalem and is greeted by Hushai, who repeatedly hails him as the new king. Avshalom is at first skeptical of this gesture and questions Hushai’s sudden disloyalty to his good friend David. Hushai explains that his allegiance is to the king of Israel chosen by Hashem, not to any one person; and anyway, Avshalom is the rightful heir and successor of David, and deserves his support.
Avshalom asks Ahitophel what his next course of action should be. Ahitophel realizes that the inhabitants of Jerusalem may be afraid to accept Avshalom as king. They still view the situation as unstable and unpredictable and may hold out hope that Avshalom and his father will one day make peace and put an end to the conflict. David might then be restored to power and the citizens of Yerushalayim will be branded as traitors for having agreed so quickly to aid the rebels.
Therefore, Ahitophel recommends that Avshalom lie with the concubines that David left in the palace to oversee the household. Aside from symbolically demonstrating that he has officially “taken over” as king, this effectively eliminates any possibility of a future reconciliation between father and son. Avshalom accepts the advice of Ahitophel and takes it even further – he sets a tent up on the roof of the palace and has relations with the concubines publicly. This public violation of David’s wives was the fulfilment of the prophecy of punishment decreed upon David for his sin with Batsheva.
The juxtaposition of David’s meetings with Tziva and Shimi ben Gera is very instructive. David’s response to Tziva is deeply problematic and illustrates his lack of “presence of mind” as a result of the stress that he is experiencing. As readers, we can see that Tziva is an opportunist who is taking advantage of the political upheaval in order to regain his footing in the house of Shaul and to once again displace Mefivoshet, the rightful heir.
Indeed, David’s judgment fails him on several counts here. Did he reasonably expect Mefivoshet, who was severely disabled, to travel long distances in order to join David in exile? Was it fair or prudent to issue a ruling on such a contentious case without hearing the arguments on both sides? What happened to David’s sense of moral and ethical obligation to support and protect the descendants of Yonatan?
Finally, was Tziva’s explanation of Mefivoshet’s absence truly reasonable – does it make sense that Mefivoshet would see himself as a possible beneficiary of Avshalom’s rebellion and that he would believe that the ambitious Avshalom would want to restore power to the lame grandson of Shaul?
One gets the impression that David is reaching this decision impulsively and under duress, much like the choices he made at Nov when he was on the run from Shaul that endangered the city and unwittingly caused a massacre. In a moment of weakness and vulnerability, David is allowing himself to be influenced by lashon hara, evil speech, in a manner inconsistent with his usual commitment to justice. His need for support and comradery at this difficult time has overwhelmed his better judgment.
Shimi ben Gera can be seen, in a way, as a corrective “punishment” for this lapse of David. Shimi’s attacks and insults are likewise based upon “lashon hara”, slanderous rumors about David that were in fact false. David believed in and acted upon the scandalous allegations of Tziva against Mefivoshet, and Shimi is convinced by and is proclaiming similarly false accusations against David. There is poetic justice here, measure for measure, and this may explain David’s conviction that Hashem has sent Shimi to communicate the message he proclaims.
Hushai’s method of gaining the trust of Avshalom reveals his wisdom and psychological insight, more of which we will learn about in the next chapter. Aside from his persuasive and flattering explanation of his decision to defect to Avshalom’s camp, Hushai is also careful not to protest against or even opine on Ahitophel’s recommendation that Avshalom sleep with David’s concubines. He realizes that he is “on probation” and that any objection he raises, no matter how slight, will cast aspersions on the sincerity of his commitment to Avshalom’s cause.
Standing by silently and allowing the concubines to be violated, although he must have found this act deeply disturbing, earned him the standing he sought as a “company man” and built up the credibility he would need to accomplish his mission of infiltrating the regime of Avshalom. His ability to think strategically under such complex and potentially dangerous circumstances is a credit to his political acumen and his keen understanding of the nuances of human emotion and motivation.
This is the first of five chapters that are devoted to the rebellion of Avshalom. Avshalom is the consummate politician, patiently and persistently building a following among the Jewish people over many years. He purchases a chariot and horses and hires fifty attendants to serve as his entourage. Then, using considerable political acumen, he brilliantly capitalizes on any lingering dissatisfaction with the current regime. Avshalom makes sure to get up early in the morning every day so that he is the first person in front of the palace. When people arrive from all over the country with cases to bring before the king, Avshalom greets them and listens to their arguments.
Avshalom tells them that the current administration will not be inclined to help them but that if he were in charge, they would certainly be vindicated in their claims. When citizens would prostrate themselves before Avshalom out of respect and deference, he would lift them up, embracing and kissing them instead. In this way, he effectively establishes a broad base of support across all segments of the population.
After many years, Avshalom informs David that he plans to travel to Hevron to fulfill an oath he had taken. Avshalom recounts that when he was living in Geshur and his future was still uncertain, he swore that, were he to be returned to Jerusalem, he would offer sacrifices to the Almighty. In the meantime, Avshalom has planted emissaries throughout the cities of Israel who are poised to declare that Avshalom is the new king of Israel and now rules in Hevron.
David hears the news and immediately orders his men to flee Jerusalem, as their lives are all in serious danger. Except for ten concubines left behind to tend to the household, all of David’s servants depart with him. We then read about a series of people who each desire to join David in exile and each of whom receives a different response.
Itai HaGitti is a non-Jew who followed David since his time in Gat (when he was on the run from Shaul and living in the land of the Pelishtim) and who has chosen to reside in Jerusalem and serve as one of David’s top generals. David urges him to return either to the city or to his homeland; as a foreigner, Itai has no specific attachment to Israel, nor does he have anything to fear from Avshalom. Itai, echoing the words of Rut to her mother-in-law Naomi, declares his absolute allegiance to David and his willingness to follow him wherever he may go.
Tzadoq the High Priest and all of the Levites then arrive, carrying the Ark of the Covenant with them. David orders them to return to Jerusalem, which he has consecrated as the permanent abode of the Ark. If God wills that David be restored to his kingship, he will return to the Ark, but if he does not return, the Ark should remain in Jerusalem regardless. He also suggests that the younger Kohanim, Ahimaatz and Yonatan, may be helpful spies if they stay back in the city and convey critical information to David while he is in hiding.
David and his men ascend the Mount of Olives, weeping and with heads covered. At this point, David is informed that Ahitophel, the most brilliant adviser and tactician in the entire realm, has allied himself with Avshalom. Ahitophel’s genius in military strategy was so formidable that it would render Avshalom practically unbeatable. This alarms David, and he offers a brief prayer to Hashem, asking that He confound the counsel of Ahitophel.
Immediately after concluding his prayer, David encounters his closest friend and adviser, Hushai, who has come to accompany him into exile. Hushai is advanced in years and David feels that traveling with him would be an unnecessary burden. David instead requests from Hushai that he return to Jerusalem and present himself as a supporter of Avshalom who is loyal not to David in particular but to whomever of his descendants occupies the throne.
This way Hushai can attempt to gain entry into the “situation room” and sabotage whatever guidance Ahitophel tries to provide to Avshalom. This will also enable Hushai to pass along classified information and other secrets to David through the young Kohanim who are loyal to him. Hushai agrees and arrives in Jerusalem before Avshalom, so that nobody knows he has been commiserating with David and his claim to be on the side of the rebellion appears credible.
There are many important ideas to explore in this fairly lengthy chapter; we will highlight just a few. The first noteworthy subject is the political strategy of Avshalom. Notwithstanding his evil intentions, there is much to learn from his methodical approach to gaining power. His first step is to project an image of power and influence by acquiring a chariot and a professional entourage.
His second move is to be exceptionally proactive in exploiting any feelings of resentment, dissatisfaction or disenchantment with the current regime. Everyone wants to believe and to be told that they are right and their cause is just, and Avshalom provides them with that validation and therefore gains in popularity.
This also explains why Avshalom sets up his capital in Hevron, which David “left behind” when he relocated the capital to Yerushalayim. It stands to reason that there were people in Hevron who were upset about David’s abandonment of them and of his “natural allies”, the tribe of Yehuda, and who might be inclined to follow Avshalom.
The third element of Avshalom’s strategy is his portrayal of himself as a populist; you don’t bow down to Avshalom, you hug or kiss him, he may seem superior to you but he is one of the people. Ordinary citizens inevitably feel some resentment or distrust of those who wield power, perceiving them as elitist, aloof, distant and indifferent to the concerns of the man on the street; by contradicting this perception with his show of false humility, Avshalom further endears himself to his constituents.
Notice that the text specifically mentions that, before hearing about their cases, Avshalom asked each visiting litigant where he was from; in other words, he showed a personal interest in them by inquiring about their background as individuals and connected with them on a more intimate level, they were not mere “subjects” but were human beings worthy of his attention.
More than anything else, one must be impressed by Avshalom’s patience and forbearance in plotting his rebellion. Avshalom is calm and calculated and therefore quite dangerous; his ambition and inner discipline are what allow him to succeed in the long term and complex project of overthrowing his father. We have seen this quality of Avshalom previously, when he waited quietly for two years before finally seizing the opportunity to punish Amnon for violating Avshalom’s sister, Tamar.
It is also difficult to ignore the similarities between Avshalom’s political strategy and the style of modern election campaigns. The management of the candidate’s image, efforts to tarnish the reputation of an opponent or to capitalize on pre-existent disappointment in the current administration for political advantage, the emphasis on the humanity and accessibility of the candidate who portrays himself as a man of the people as contrasted with the “out of touch” political insiders who are wedded to the establishment, and the penchant for promising everyone everything that they want and telling constituents whatever they wish to hear in order to win their “votes” all sound familiar to contemporary ears. Apparently political culture has not changed too much in the last 3,000 years.
One question to be asked is what the relevance of Avshalom’s politicking is to the prophetic message of the Book of Shemuel? Sure, it is clever and creative, but why does Hashem want us to know this? I believe the answer is very clear and extremely important. When great leaders withdraw, disconnect and become passive, they leave a vacuum that will inevitably be filled by ambitious people like Avshalom. The success of Avshalom’s tactics demonstrate how far removed David was from being a significant presence in the daily life of the citizens of Israel.
This is why David flees the palace so quickly and enjoys such minimal support from his subjects; he has lost interest in them, and they in him, so Avshalom easily works his way into their hearts by occupying the void that David created. Had David continued to be the inspiring, confident and fearless leader he had been in his earlier years, the rebellion of Avshalom would have had no chance whatsoever. However, David’s adopting this passive attitude toward governance gave the green light to Avshalom to pursue his agenda by alienating the population and even convincing Ahitophel, his long-time adviser, that the future was with Avshalom and not with David.
We will hopefully address David’s reaction to the arrival of the Ark in a future summary when we discuss how David understood this whole ordeal, and his role, from a religious perspective. For now, one last matter to consider is the prayer of David, which reveals to us an important lesson as to the philosophy of prayer in Judaism. David recognizes the threat posed by the involvement of Ahitophel and prays to Hashem for Ahitophel’s influence to be neutralized; moments later, Hushai appears and becomes David’s “agent” for accomplishing that goal. David understood that prayer to Hashem is no substitute for human effort; if anything, the process of prayer clarifies for us what steps we need to take to achieve our desired objectives, so that we rely on Hashem to handle only those aspects of the situation that lay beyond the sphere of our influence.
Yoav, David’s general, realizes that David is still pining for his son Avshalom who remains in exile in Geshur. Unwilling to confront or advise him directly, Yoav devises a roundabout strategy to bring the issue to the attention of David and force him to address the problem. Yoav approaches a wise woman from Teqoa and asks her to present a fictitious legal case to the king that will serve as a kind of parable or metaphor that will help him to reflect on his own situation in a different light..
The woman disguises herself as a mourner and explains to David that she is a widow with two sons. The children got involved in a dispute and one of her sons killed his brother. The family now wants to put the murderer to death. This would leave the mother bereft not only of her husband but both of her children; this would be cause her to experience unimaginable suffering and would erase any vestige of her late husband’s memory by eliminating his only surviving heir.
At first, David recommends that the woman return home and promises that he will deal with her case. This vague assurance does not satisfy her; unwilling to settle for platitudes, she requests some more immediate and concrete action from the king. David then suggests that she bring anyone who attempts to harm her to court and he will punish the offending party; this, too, is not a reasonable solution for the helpless widow. Finally, David swears that he will not permit any harm to come to her surviving son, despite the fact that he committed murder.
At this point, the woman draws an analogy between her circumstances and those of the king himself. Like the widow, David has lost one son, Amnon, to murder by Avshalom; nevertheless, punishing the killer would mean tremendous suffering for David who would now have lost two sons. And condemning Avshalom to a permanent state of exile, banishing him from the kingdom and cutting all ties with him, is the psychological equivalent of executing him. David now realizes that the woman had a hidden agenda with her story and demands to know whether Yoav was behind the whole production. She confirms his suspicions and acknowledges that Yoav did, indeed, instruct her to convey the message that she shared.
David accepts the advice of Yoav and orders him to return Avshalom from Geshur to Jerusalem. However, David refuses to meet with Avshalom face to face. The text interjects that Avshalom was an exceptionally handsome man with three sons and one daughter. It goes on to tell us that Avshalom’s beautiful, long, thick hair would be cut only once a year. The relevance of the detailed description of Avshalom’s appearance to our chapter is unclear, and there are several possible explanations for its inclusion here.
One possibility is that we are being offered a reason why David was so attached to Avshalom and why he resisted banishing him for good; Avshalom’s ravishing good looks made him an ideal heir to the throne. Another interpretation might be that it accounts for some of Avshalom’s rash and immature behavior; like Yosef, another Biblical character who is handsome, successful and “spoiled”, Avshalom has an exaggerated sense of self from a young age and this can lead him to act in ways that are inappropriate. A third possibility, endorsed by Radaq, is that the text is telling us what it was about Avshalom that attracted so many people to his campaign to overthrow David; however, this doesn’t quite explain why it is mentioned in this chapter rather than the next chapter.
Avshalom repeatedly summons Yoav to arrange an audience for him with his father, but Yoav ignores his invitations. Eventually, Avshalom directs his servants to set fire to Yoav’s barley field and this prompts Yoav to arrive at Avshalom’s house quickly and angrily. Avshalom demands that Yoav tell David that he would have been better off remaining in Geshur; if the king wants Avshalom to be in Jerusalem, he should at least be willing to see him, and if he deserves to die, then the king should kill him. Leaving him in a state of limbo is unfair. Yoav convinces David to allow Avshalom to visit him at the palace. Avshalom appears before David and bows down; David kisses his son, indicating a kind of “official pardon” for the crime that Avshalom committed.
On an emotional level, reading this chapter leaves us confused and conflicted; I believe this effect is deliberate. On one hand, we can sympathize with the argument of the woman from Teqoa and the sentiments of David, and we can understand his desire to reconcile with his son. On the other hand, we are worried about the propriety of welcoming a cold blooded, calculated killer back home with open arms; this concern is supported by the evidence we see of Avshalom’s immature and aggressive behavior toward Yoav and his eventual rebellion against and plot to kill his own father. It is clear that Avshalom is capable of some pretty dastardly deeds when he feels they are justified.
From a purely religious perspective, we see here the further downfall of David Hamelekh. His constant consultation with Hashem – whether via the prophets or Urim Vetummim – was the signature of his Torah-based approach to governance. In our chapter, David seems to have totally abandoned that methodology. Now, he is allowing his emotions to be swayed by Yoav and is reaching decisions that are inconsistent with his core values.
The David of yesteryear would not have hesitated to reject, spurn and even execute Avshalom for the premeditated murder of his brother; in the past, David had no compunction about holding others accountable for their misdeeds, even when the outcomes of those deeds were of potential benefit to him. Here, we witness David capitulating to his sentimental side, listening to his heart and showing preferential treatment to his own child in a way that contravenes the principles of justice that should have been guiding him. From David’s conduct we can already sense that he, too, was aware of the inner conflict that plagued him and was struggling with it; first he consigned Avshalom to exile and merely pined for him, then he brought him back to Jerusalem but declined to meet with him, then finally he reunited with him but in a cordial, almost purely formal manner.
We cannot avoid comparing the errors of David here to the earlier mistakes of his predecessor Shaul; indeed, one of Shaul’s first missteps was in sparing the life of his own son because of the pressure exerted upon him by the people, and here we find David following a similar path. Undoubtedly, the text is suggesting to us that David has lost a substantial amount of the clarity and religious focus that once defined his leadership. As we will see in chapters to come, this reintroduction of Avshalom into the picture will ultimately bring much suffering and punishment in its wake, and our fingers can only be pointed at David, who should not have allowed himself to be taken in by the rhetoric of Yoav when it was against his better judgment. As is often the case in Tanakh, the hardship David will experience is trouble that he brought upon himself due to his poor judgment.
This chapter details the troubling incident of “Amnon and Tamar”. Amnon is the firstborn son of David and has fallen madly in love with Tamar, who is apparently his very beautiful half-sister from another mother (we will address this issue at the conclusion of the summary). He does not feel comfortable approaching her romantically but is paralyzed with sorrow over his obsession with her. His friend and cousin, Yonadav, advises him to feign being ill and request that Tamar personally tend to him, preparing and serving him food. This will give him the opportunity to interact with her privately and perhaps develop some connection.
This suggestion meets with Amnon’s approval; he pretends to be sick and asks for Tamar to come and prepare pancakes for him and feed him on his sickbed. King David sends Tamar to fulfill the request of Amnon. She arrives, kneads the dough and prepares the cakes in Amnon’s presence. When they are ready, Amnon refuses to eat until everyone else has left the area. He then asks for Tamar to bring the food into his bedroom and feed him there. When she draws close to him to offer him the pancakes, he grabs hold of her and attempts to force himself on her. She resists, urging him to speak to the king about marrying her and not to sexually assault her and bring shame upon both of them. Amnon does not listen to her and rapes her.
As soon as the act is completed, Amnon’s emotions undergo a total reversal – he feels nothing but hatred and revulsion for Tamar, and – over her tearful objections – casts her out of his chamber, referring to her derisively as “that woman”. Tamar was wearing the multicolored garment that the maiden daughters of the king typically wore; she tore her garment, placed ashes on her head, and went on her way, weeping. Avshalom, her brother, immediately surmises what has happened; when she confirms his suspicions, he cautions her to keep it a secret to protect the honor of the family. However, Avshalom never again speaks to Amnon. King David hears of all that has transpired but is powerless to take any action against his son.
Two years later, Avshalom is planning a shearing party for his flocks near the land of Ephraim and he invites the entire royal family to attend. David declines repeated invitations to the celebration, not wanting to leave the palace unoccupied for the outing. Avshalom therefore asks if Amnon may join the party instead of the king; although David is surprised by this unusual request, he grants it.
Meanwhile, Avshalom prepares his servants to ambush Amnon when he arrives; they kill him in retribution for his dishonoring of Tamar. Word initially comes to David that all of the king’s sons were killed, and he responds by beginning to mourn their losses. Eventually, a messenger clarifies that only Amnon has been killed. Avshalom flees to Geshur to live with his grandparents for three years (his mother was the daughter of the king of Geshur). As time passes, David is comforted for the loss of Amnon, but pines for Avshalom who has escaped and forsaken him.
These deeply troubling developments are clearly the beginning of the punishments that Natan foretold would plague David and his household – namely, “the sword will never leave your house”. A careful reader may notice strong similarities and parallels between this narrative and the story of Yosef told in the Book of Beresheet.
Most obviously, the coat of many colors worn by Tamar is strikingly reminiscent of the one worn by Yosef and is called “ketonet passim”, exactly the same term that the Torah uses to describe Yosef’s garment. In our story we have a “stalker” who creates a situation where he is alone with the object of his affections so he can take advantage of her; this is similar to the wife of Potifar’s efforts to get Yosef alone so she could seduce him.
The stories of Amnon and Tamar and of Yosef both involve family drama of a very serious nature; in one case, brother murders brother, in the other, brothers contemplate and ALMOST murder brother. In both stories, a son is estranged or separate from his father for a significant period of time and they eventually reunite. In both stories, a father sends his child or children right into the clutches of one who wishes to harm them; David sends Tamar to Amnon and Amnon to Avshalom, and Yaaqov sends Yosef to his brothers.
Moreover, there are two phrases that appear in the story of Amnon and Tamar and that are strikingly evocative of the story of Yosef. One is Amnon’s command “take every man out of my presence”, which are the exact words that Yosef uses before revealing his identity to his brothers; the other is “he mourned over his son all the days” to characterize David’s reaction to the loss of either Amnon or Avshalom (it is not clear which one), which is itself reminiscent of the description of Yaaqov who, in his belief that Yosef had died “mourned over his son many days.” We cannot escape the conclusion that these parallels are deliberate – what do they mean and what are they intended to teach us?
I believe the text means to highlight thematic commonalities between the narratives of Amnon-Tamar and Yosef that can help us read between the lines and grasp a deeper message in the story. Although he does not point to these specific clues in the text, Ralbag identifies one of the main ideas that explain the parallels. We learned several chapters ago that David placed his sons in positions of power even from a young age; the Ralbag comments that this was an error on David’s part. He groomed them, as it were, to follow in his footsteps and continue his legacy, and he granted them too much influence when they were not yet prepared to handle it.
We can apply this insight of Ralbag and advance it a few steps further to explain the link between this story and the story of Yosef. We can imagine – and we indeed observe – that, after receiving the devastating rebuke from Natan for his sin with Batsheva, David preferred to recede to the background and play a more passive and peripheral role in the kingdom. He was no longer as motivated or ambitious as he once had been and he was constantly wary of the impending consequences he knew would be visited upon him.David’s removal of himself from the scene enabled his children to play an even more active role in the affairs of state and in palace politics, and led to the intrigue we read about in this chapter and in chapters to come to carry on unchecked.
The story of Yaaqov and Yosef exemplifies the same problem. The first verse of Parashat Vayeshev tells us that Yaaqov settled in the land of Canaan, implying that he figured that his struggles, trials and tribulations were over, that he could retire and focus on passing the baton of leadership to the next generation, specifically to Yosef. The Rabbis say that it was precisely this decision on Yaaqov’s part that created and exacerbated the internal strife in the family and that nearly caused the death of Yosef at the hands of his brothers.
Yaaqov trusted too much in the wisdom and maturity of his sons, unwittingly feeding the ego of Yosef with special treatment and relying on the prudence and good judgment of the brothers who he assumed would not harm Yosef. In taking a back seat, Yaaqov allowed Yosef to provoke his brothers and also enabled the brothers to take it upon themselves to determine his fate, since they perceived Yaaqov as no longer an active player in the governance of the family.
One of the messages here is that it is incumbent upon a leader not to recede from the scene prematurely. As critical as it is for elders to “let go” and allow the younger generation to play a part in shaping their future, this can only be done gradually and when it is clear that the youth are prepared for the task. Leaders should step out of the picture when they see that the groundwork has been laid for a solid process of succession and not simply because they are too tired, too depressed or would prefer to enjoy a longer retirement.
Such personal motives may blind them to reality and persuade them that the individuals who will be taking over are more qualified for the task than is actually the case.
Yaaqov and David both abdicated their positions of influence too soon and caused tremendous damage as a result; both of them were forced to endure the estrangement from and “loss” of the very children they believed would be their saviors and would carry the torch forward on their behalf.
One final note about Tamar. In her words to Amnon, she implies that, were the king to be petitioned, she and Amnon could actually be legally wed. This is perplexing if we take the text at face value, since Tamar is Amnon’s half-sister and would be Biblically forbidden from marrying him. The Sages of the Talmud, quoted by many traditional commentaries, state that Maakha, Tamar’s mother, was a captive woman that David had relations with before she converted to Judaism, and that she was conceived while her mother was still a gentile. This meant that, according to the technical halakha, Tamar was not actually related to David or to Avshalom (although Avshalom and Tamar shared both a mother and a father, Avshalom was conceived and born after his mother became a Jewess.)
The Abarbanel rejects this interpretation as far-fetched and argues that Tamar’s claim to Amnon was simply a ruse to convince him not to assault her; they could not have actually gotten married. In fact, the Abarbanel takes issue with the halakhic principle invoked by the commentaries, which is remarkable but goes beyond the scope of our discussion.
I would like to suggest an alternative possibility. Tamar may have been the daughter of Maakha from a previous husband, and therefore not blood related to Amnon or David. She would have been a biological half-brother of Avshalom (which explains why the text refers to her several times as the sister of Avshalom) and would have been the stepdaughter of David, which would account for the fact that she is occasionally called Amnon’s sister as well.
If this is the case, then Amnon and Tamar could have been legally married if David had permitted it; although they lived in the same home and were part of the same family socially speaking, they were not related by blood. Consider the Brady Bunch as an instance of this kind of “blended family” where the boys and girls grow up as brothers and sisters but don’t actually share a biological parent. After proposing this hypothesis, it came to my attention that the commentary of Tosafot in Masekhet Sanhedrin offer the same explanation.
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