The Reading
The Summary
Shemuel Alef Chapter 26
The inhabitants of Zif again approach King Shaul and inform him of David’s whereabouts; this time, David and his men are hiding out in Hakhila. Shaul mobilizes three thousand troops to capture David and they position themselves in the area. David intends to approach the camp of Shaul personally and requests a volunteer to accompany him; Avishai, son of Tzeruya, offers to do so.
Shaul and his men are sleeping in a circle; the troops surround the king who is located in the center. In a typical sign of Shaul’s paranoia, his spear is stuck in the ground by his head. Seeing that Shaul is defenseless and vulnerable with his guards slumbering around him, Avishai suggests that he assassinate Shaul on David’s behalf. David responds that Hashem will see to it that Shaul perishes, either in battle or of natural causes, but that one who lays his hand upon the anointed of God will never be forgiven; simply stated, killing Shaul is not an option.
David sneaks into the center of the camp, quickly grabs the spear and container of water that were next to Shaul, and retreats back to the hill above and far away from the camp. The text tells us that Hashem had caused a deep sleep to fall upon the men of Shaul so they would not be awakened in the meantime. David calls out to Avner Ben-Ner, the general of Shaul, and admonishes him for failing in his sacred duty to protect the king. Shaul’s life had been in danger and he could easily have been killed; David proves this by showing that he has been able to enter their garrison undetected and to leave with the spear and water jug. The troops of Shaul should pay with their lives for this neglect of their responsibility.
Shaul recognizes David’s voice and addresses him once again as “my son, David.” David questions Shaul’s motive for chasing him when he has committed no crime. He declares that if the rift between them has a divine source, Hashem should accept an offering in lieu of the ongoing dispute, and if human beings have stirred up the resentment, they should be cursed by Hashem for alienating David from the people of Israel and excluding him from Jewish life. David concludes his speech by asking that his blood not be shed; the king has come in pursuit of a mere flea who is not worth the trouble.
Shaul confesses that he has erred in condemning David and invites him to rejoin the royal court. David, already accustomed to the fickleness and unpredictability of Shaul, prudently declines this offer, but asks that a lad be sent across to him from Shaul’s camp to retrieve the king’s spear and water jug. David prays that just as he has seen fit to treat Shaul’s life with respect so should Hashem protect his life from all of his adversaries. Shaul responds that David is blessed to Hashem and will surely succeed in his endeavors; the two part ways, never to meet one another again.
Some students of Tanakh are troubled by the apparent redundancy of this chapter; in many of its features it seems like a repeat of Chapter 24. In both cases, David confronts Shaul with evidence that he has no intention of harming the king and in both cases there is some sort of dialogue and reconciliation between the parties. A few modern scholars have even argued that Chapter 26 is simply another version of the narrative in Chapter 24; in other words, they are variant accounts of the same event that, for some reason, were both included in the Book of Shemuel.
I believe that this reading of the story is flawed and actually misses a fundamental difference between the two accounts. Whereas in Chapter 24 David’s interaction with Shaul occurs by chance – Shaul just happens to select the cave in which David is hiding to use it as a restroom – in our chapter, David initiates contact with Shaul on purpose. In Chapter 24, when David’s men urge him to assassinate Shaul, he seems conflicted about the prospect and struggles to resist the temptation to lash out at his former employer; indeed, he even cuts Shaul’s robe, which was indicative of the anger and resentment he could barely contain.
By contrast, in our chapter, Avishai, who offers to kill Shaul, is quickly silenced by David; his proposal evokes no response from David other than swift rejection.During this encounter, David does not even entertain the possibility of striking Shaul, nor does he take any action that would manifest aggression toward or disdain for the king; he merely absconds with Shaul’s spear and water jug to demonstrate his innocence and blamelessness.
If anything, then, the similarities between this chapter and chapter 26 serve to highlight the contrasts between them. What is the reason why David handled this situation so much differently than he handled his first interaction with Shaul? When we examine the order of the chapters before us, we notice that the episode with Naval and Avigayil interrupts between the two narratives that present David’s encounters with the king. It seems reasonable to suggest that David underwent a substantial transformation after the story of Naval. Perhaps the words of Avigayil and her involvement in his life as his wife have had a significant positive influence on his thought and behavior. He has internalized the wise and judicious principles that Avigayil taught him and with which she persuaded him to abandon his mission of vengeance against her former household.
Now that David, supported by his exemplary spouse, has a clear sense of the damage that would be done to him and to the Jewish people were he to inflict any harm upon Shaul, he desists from it as a matter of course, choosing instead the path of diplomacy and peace. The Rabbis teach us that we can only credit a person with genuine repentance when he has faced the same situation in which he previously sinned and yet he resists temptation and responds properly the second time around. Here, David is given the opportunity to rectify the errors he made in his dealing with Shaul in Chapter 24 and he rises to the occasion beautifully, demonstrating to us that he has truly learned his lesson.