What does, "Palestinian," Mean?

The Hebrew word Plishti, “Philistine,” is the noun form of the Hebrew word, “Liphlosh,” to invade.  After their failure to destroy Israel in 1967, the Arabs of Israel adopted this name of the long-dead seafaring Greek Philistines and began calling themselves, “Palestinians,” ironically proclaiming themselves to be, “Invaders.”

Yoav's Ambush

After Yoav, David’s cousin and chief of staff, ambushes Avner, the late King Shaul’s defecting chief of staff, David launches into a dirge.  He curses Yoav’s family with the words, “May God repay the evildoer according to his evil.”  One interpretation could be that David thought Yoav might have been right to kill Avner, whose defection from his king and fellow Benjaminite to David, a Judean, might have been a ruse. If Yoav was wrong, he should be cursed, but if he was right, he did no evil and so there is no evil to be repaid.

David's Flight to the Philistines

The first time David flees Shaul to the Phillistine city of Gat, the townspeople begin to rumble against him despite his feigning insanity and he has to flee.  The second time, he is actually welcomed with open arms by King Achish, put in charge of a Phillistine city, and entrusted with military command.  One explanation for the Phillistine change of heart is that word of Shaul’s hunting David had not yet become public knowledge the first time he fled to Gat.  By the second time, the dispute was well known, and Achish thought he was spreading discord amongst his Israeli enemies by sheltering an upstart rebel, David.

Was the Necromancer for Real?

There are two schools of thought regarding King Shaul’s (Saul’s) use of the Necromancer to raise the spirit of Shmuel (Samuel) from the dead to inquire about his prospects against the Phillistine invasion force gathering at Beit She’an.  The rationalist school, followed by Rambam, Rashi, etc., holds that it was entirely an act of smoke and mirrors, and there is no reality to black magic or witchcraft.  The alternative school of thought, mostly Ramban and those with a more Kabbalistic bent, holds that dark forces are very much real, but Torah forbids using them.

Shaul and the Necromancer

When the Necromancer raises the spirit of Shmuel (Samuel) from the dead, who tells Shaul (Saul) that the kingdom will be taken from him and given to David, he falls on his face.  While we, the reader, knew about Shmuel’s secretly anointing David as king, and have all this time seen King Shaul as shamelessly hunting down his legitimate successor, for Shaul, this is the first time he has been told that David was chosen by God to be his successor all along.

David Loses his Tribe, but Gains the Northern Tribes

As David returns to the Land of Israel to rule again, one sees the division between Yehudah (Judah,) who are the last to send messengers to greet David, and Israel (the northern 10 tribes) who don’t hesitate to reinstate him again.  It is possible that Yehudah was nervous, seeing as how Avshalom’s rebellion began in Hebron, Yehudah’s capital city.  It’s ironic that the roles have now been reversed, with Israel embracing David while his own tribe of Judah seems to be wary.

Judging King Saul Favorably

Finished Shmuel Aleph (Samuel I.)  Personally I feel a great deal of sympathy for Shaul (Saul.)  He was a good boy looking for his dad’s lost sheep when suddenly Shmuel anoints him and proclaims him King of Israel, a position he never sought. He is seized suddenly by the divine spirit, which, after his failure at several critical moments for which he was unprepared, was ripped away from him, along with his kingdom.  He dies a gruesome death on Mount Gilboa after seeing his three sons killed in front of him. I think most of his actions can be justified.

Shaul's Tragedy

In reviewing the life of Shaul (King Saul,) I think of his story as a tragedy in the classical Greek sense, i.e. a noble hero with a tragic flaw that undoes him.  In Shaul’s case, I think of his flaw as a lack of respect.  He did not respect the monarchy enough to defend it against slanderers early in his reign, or to uphold several oaths he as king had made.  He did not respect the Shmuel’s instructions to wait for the prophet be present to make a sacrifice, or later to wipe out Amalek.  And he did not respect God’s decision, through Shmuel, to revoke his monarchy, and went down fighting.

Why We Have Prophets

Look at David’s rise from the perspective of a citizen of Israel at the time.  After 400 years of anarchy, Israel finally has a legitimate king, Shaul (Saul).  Then David becomes a better warrior than Shaul, moves in with and even serves militarily on the side of the Phillistines, gathers an army of 600 outlaws, he has an altercation with Naval, who mysteriously dies, and immediately marries Naval’s widow Avigayil.  If we didn’t have the prophets in Shmuel to tell us David’s motives were pure, we would be inclined to think the worst. This may explain why it took seven years from David’s coronation until his recognition as king by all the tribes of Israel.

Personally Responsible, National Responsibility

David offers to go to battle against his son Avshalom, but the people protest, because if he gets killed, what was the point of the war in the first place?  When Avshalom is killed, against David’s orders, he sobs and weeps over the loss of his son, even though it is his own victory and salvation.  In both cases, David evinces the tension between what he personally wants to go and do, and what the proper behavior of a king is.

Was the Mishkan Functional in Shaul's Time?

When David, fleeing the suspicious Shaul, comes to the Cohanim (Priests) of the Mishkan (tabernacle) at Kiryat Yearim, they offer him some of the Lechem Hapanim (Temple Bread,) which is forbidden to David, a non-Cohen, in Halachah (Jewish Law.)  One explanation is that David was starving and was fed only to save his life, permissible in Halachah.  However, I find this interpretation a bit difficult as he had been travelling a great deal already, seemingly without trouble, and because he took enough to last many days, which would seem to be going beyond the bare necessities of survival permitted by Halachah.  Another possible explanation is that the Mishkan at Kiryat Yearim was not fully functional so soon after the destruction of the Mishkan in Shiloh by the Phillistines, so the bread did not yet have the status of actual Lechem Papanim and exception could be made.

Avigayil the Eshet Chayil

When David is shamed by Naval he prepares to fight, but Naval’s wife Avigayil (Abigail) calms him down and reasons with him.  Ten days later Naval dies of natural causes (alcohol poisoning is implied,) and David marries Avigayil.  The text also says that he marries Achinoam, the same name as the wife of his now bitter enemy, Shaul (Saul.)  Coincidence?  It seems to imply that, by marrying the guy’s wife, he has completely defeated him (both Naval and Shaul.)

Personally, I think that David just realized that Avigayil had calmed him down, reasoned with him, and prevented him from doing something he would later come to regret.  All characteristics of a good wife, like mine!

Do What's Right in Your Own Eyes

Nachash the Ammonite threatens to shame the townspeople of Yavesh Gilead by blotting out their eyes, branding them as his slaves rather than God’s.  When Shaul gathers an army to fight back, the people of Yavesh Gilead respond, “Tomorrow we will fight you, do what’s right in your own eyes.”  A beautiful way of throwing Nachash’s words back at him.

The Seeds of Division

When Shaul (Saul) gathers an army to fight the Nachash the Ammonite, the army is numbered as 300,000 from Israel and 30,000 from Judea.  Apparently the seeds of the eventual division of the united monarchy of Shaul, David, and Shlomo (Solomon) into the northern Kingdom of Israel and the southern Kingdom of Judea upon the death of Shlomo 101 years later had already been sown from its inception.

Shaul's Three to David's Six

Shaul’s (Saul) army is always a number divisible by three (300,000 Israelites, 30,000 Judeans).  David’s is divisible by six (600 men.)  Shaul is listed as having one wife and three sons; David, upon his coronation, has two wives and six sons.  That David is always listed as having double what Shaul does seems to be a hint of David’s two-faceted monarchy, both military and spiritual, whereas Shaul’s was exclusively military.  The number three also appears repeatedly in Shoftim (the Book of Judges) hinting that Shaul was still connected to the anarchy of the past whereas David was able to make the break and become a divine monarch.

It's a Shame about Mephiboshet

One of Shaul’s descendants who was hanged by the Givonim was named Mephiboshet, yet earlier in the book (but later in time) David found Mephiboshet, son of Yonatan (Jonathan,) and took him into his court.  Apparently there were two Mephiboshets.  Incidentally, according to Divrei Yamim (The Book of Chronicles) the suffix “Boshet” was originally “Baal,” the Canaanite idol.  The prophetic authors of the text did a find-replace and switched, “Baal,” idol, with, “Boshet,” shame.  Shaul’s descendants seem to have fallen into shame in that they were naming their children after idols.

David's Appropriate Punishment

Following his affair with Bat Sheva, and his conspiracy to have Bat Sheva’s husband killed but made to look like an accident, the punishment meted out to him was measure for measure.  As he had committed sexual impropriety, not only was his daughter Tamar raped, but all of his concubines were violated by his son.  Much like Bat Sheva was first seen on the roof of her building, so too these violations occurred on the roof of the palace.  Just as David conspired to kill Uriah, so his son Avshalom conspired to kill him.  Just as Uriah died, so three of his sons died.

Whither Amalek?

Agag, the King of Amalek and final survivor of Shaul’s (King Saul) attack on them, is killed by Shaul.  How is it that the Amalekites reappear during David’s time?  One possibility is that Agag was king over just one tribe within the nation of Amalek.  Another possibility is that the work Amaleki comes to mean Amalek-like behavior; anyone who takes advantage of another’s weakness.

The Bat Sheva Affar: Forgiven, not Forgotten

After David’s son Amnon raped his daughter Tamar, David remained silent on the matter, apparently thinking that his own sin with Bat Sheva (Bathsheba) would open him up to the accusation that he was in no position to pass judgement.  This leads David’s son Avshalom to take matters into his own hands, which causes his eventual rebellion and death.  Even though the prophet Natan has declared that God forgave David’s sin, the consequences keep coming.  Apparently, to forgive is not the same as to forget.

Samuel Descends from Korah

Shmuel (Samuel) was the direct descendant of Korach, who led the rebellion against Moshe after the Torah was given.  Both had the middah (personality trait) of speaking back to power, Korach for personal gain, Shmuel for the benefit of the nation.  Shmuel was a tikkun (repair) for Korach’s actions.