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The
Book of Shmuel
Lecture
30: Chapter 16 (Part I)
THe
anointing of David As king
Rav
Amnon Bazak
This year, we will continue to study the book of Shmuel I, from
chapter 16 and on. For those who participated in last year's series, this course
will directly continue from where we ended off last year. For the new students,
chapter 16 is a good place to join, for it opens a new unit in the book that
deals in great measure with the figure of David. At certain points, we will rely
on our discussions from last year (the lectures are available in the VBM
Archives),
but most of what will be said this year will be understandable even to those who
are joining only now.
I
turn to you, the readers, newcomers and old-timers alike: Please, send in your
questions, comments, and thoughts, and help us realize thereby one of the main
objectives of this site – to serve as a center for vibrant and lively
Bet-Midrash-like study. I, for my part, will be happy to relate to every
communication.
With
my best wishes for a good and fruitful year,
Amnon
Bazak
I.
"HOW
LONG WILL YOU MOURN FOR SHAUL"
Following
Shaul's sin in the war against Amalek and the decree issued against him that
"The
Lord has rent the kingdom of Israel from you this day and has given it to a
neighbor of yours, who is better than you"
(15:28), the time arrives to anoint the next king:
(1)
And
the Lord said unto Shmuel, "How long will you mourn for Shaul, seeing I have
rejected him from being king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil, and go; I
will send you to Yishai the Beth-lehemite, for I have provided Me a king among
his sons." (2) And Shmuel said, "How can I go? If Shaul hears it, he will
kill me." And the Lord said, "Take a heifer with you, and say, 'I am come to
sacrifice to the Lord.' (3) And call Yishai to the sacrifice, and I will tell
you what you shall do; and you shall anoint unto Me him whom I name unto
you."
These
verses give rise to several difficulties. First, what does God mean when he
admonishes Shmuel, "How long will you mourn for Shaul?" What was Shmuel supposed
to have done? Second, why does God say, "For I have provided Me a king among his
sons," without telling Shmuel whom specifically He has in
mind?
From
a different perspective, it may be asked: What was Shmuel's concern when he
said, "If Shaul hears it, he will kill me?" Surely Shmuel was commanded by God
to go! And not only does God not admonish Shmuel for what he said, but He even
continues in the same vein and suggests a solution: "Take a heifer with
you!"
This
last question troubled the Rishonim and Acharonim. Thus, for
example, writes the Radak in the wake of Chazal:
We
find that even when a prophet or a righteous man is assured [safety] by God, he
is nevertheless careful not to walk about in a dangerous place, as we see
regarding Ya'akov… The reason is that even though the Holy One, blessed be He,
performs miracles and wonders for those who fear Him, they are usually governed
by the natural course of the world… This was the question: "How can I go;" and
God said to him: "Take a heifer with you"… And our Rabbis of blessed memory
learned (Yevamot 65b) from this verse that there is a mitzva to
modify a statement in the interest of peace.
That is to say, Shmuel was acting properly when he asked how he could
protect himself in a natural manner, for in a situation of danger, one must not
rely on a miracle.
From God's answer we learn the allowance to modify a statement in the interest
of peace. The difficulty with this explanation lies in the assumption that
Shmuel was asking an innocent question, while the tone of the verse implies that
it is not a question, but rather an argument that the task that he has been
asked to perform cannot be executed.
It seems, therefore, that the passage should be understood in the manner
proposed by Abravanel:
That
which Shmuel said: "How can I go? If Shaul hears it, he will kill me," seems to
me to be a false excuse, for Shmuel did not want to anoint anyone during
Shaul's lifetime, and it seemed bitterly wrong to him that he himself should
destroy his own handiwork… And, therefore, in order to avoid going, he tried to
excuse himself by saying: "How can I go? If Shaul hears it, he will kill me,"
even though he knew that God would not abandon his pious ones, but always watch
over them, and also that Shaul would never cast his hand against God's prophet,
and that he loved Shmuel very much, and revered and honored him more than his
own father. How then could he kill him?! Without a doubt, then, it was to
avoid going… And for this reason, God answered him here: "Take a heifer with
you," the answer corresponding to the question, appeasing him with
words.
The advantage of Abravanel's explanation is that it fits in well with the
overall tenor of the chapter and helps us resolve the difficulties mentioned
above.
It seems that God's argument with Shmuel, "How long will you mourn for
Shaul," was not about the mourning itself, but about the passivity that it
caused Shmuel. Surely, Shmuel already knew that Shaul's kingdom had come to an
end and that a new king had already been selected.
It might have been expected, then, that the prophet would initiate steps to fix
the problematic situation in which, for all practical purposes, there was no
king in Israel. For example, Shmuel could once again have assembled all of
Israel and chosen a king by lottery, as he had done when Shaul had publicly been
appointed to the throne (10:17-24). Shmuel, however, continues his mourning, as
if refusing to accept the decree, and does nothing about finding a replacement
for Shaul. It is for this reason that God admonishes Shmuel: How can you
continue to mourn over Shaul, and show no desire to replace him, when you know
that "I have rejected him?" Is it possible that a person's feelings should take
precedence over God's thoughts? Therefore, "Go, I will send you to Yishai the
Beth-lehemite; for I have provided Me a king among his sons" -"Me" and
not "him," for the king is chosen exclusively in accordance with Divine
vision.
Shmuel does not overcome his grief easily. Like Moshe in his day (as
noted by Abravanel later in the passage), he also tries to avoid the task: "How
can I go? If Shaul hears it, he will kill me." Shmuel knows that Shaul poses no
danger to him, and "without a doubt it was to avoid going." God responds to him
in kind, and pushes aside his evasion: "Take a heifer with
you."
II.
"BUT
THE LORD LOOKS ON THE HEART"
From
now on, two items are on the agenda: First, anointing David, and second,
demonstrating to Shmuel that human thoughts must not set aside a Divine decree.
It is apparently for this reason that God conceals from Shmuel the specific
identity of the designated king, and merely informs him in a general way: "And I
will tell you what you shall do; and you shall anoint unto Me him whom I name
unto you" (v. 3).
At
the first stage, it seems that Shmuel has not yet internalized the
lesson:
(6)
And it came to pass, when they were come, that he beheld Eliav, and said,
"Surely, the Lord's anointed is before Him."
Shmuel does not wait for the word of God, but decides on his own, based
on human considerations, that the person standing before him is God's anointed
one. We now come to the main idea of the section:
(7)
But the Lord said unto Shmuel, "Look not on his countenance
(mar'ehu), or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected
him; for it is not as man sees (yir'eh): for man looks
(yir'eh) on the outward appearance (yir'eh), but the Lord
looks (yir'eh) on the heart."
A human being only sees what is evident to his eyes, which does not
necessarily attest to the inner nature of the person he is looking at. God
alludes to Shmuel that his mistake here is a repetition of the mistake that he
had made with respect to Shaul, about whom it was stated: "From his shoulders
and upward he was higher than any of the people" (9:2); "he was higher than any
of the people from his shoulders and upward" (10:23) – but in the end it turned
out that "I rejected him." Once again, Shmuel is impressed by Eliav's height and
appearance from a human perspective, when God has "rejected
him."
Chazal expanded upon this criticism with respect to an earlier
remark of Shmuel:
Similarly
it says: "Then Shaul drew near to Shmuel in the gate… And Shmuel answered Shaul,
and said, 'I am the seer'" (9:18-19). The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him:
You are the seer? I will tell you that you do not see. When did He tell him
this? When He said to him: "Fill your horn with oil, and go; I will send you to
Yishai the Beth-lehemite, for I have provided Me a king among his sons." What
does it say? "And it came to pass, when they were come, that he beheld Eliav,
and said, 'Surely the Lord's anointed is before Him.'" The Holy One, blessed be
He, said: Did you not say, I am the seer? "Look not on his countenance, or on
the height of his stature; because I have rejected him." (Sifrei, Devarim
17, ed. Finkelstein, p. 30)
The criticism is formulated as a response to what Shmuel said at the time
that Shaul was anointed, "I am the seer," but it is clearly not directed solely
at that, but also at Shmuel's general attitude, which was very sympathetic to
Shaul, but stemmed from external appearances.
The
distinction between Shmuel's attitude toward Shaul at the time of his anointing
and his attitude toward David is also evident:
Then
Shmuel took the vial of oil, and poured it upon his head, and kissed him,
and said, "Is it not that the Lord has anointed you to be prince over His
inheritance?" (9:1)
Then
Shmuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren.
(16:13)
This parallel emphasizes the warm personal relationship that Shmuel had
with Shaul, a relationship that proved in the end to have been a mistake. The
anointing of David closes the circle.
III.
THE
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE ANOINTING OF DAVID AND THE BINDING OF
YITZCHAK
As
we have seen previously in the book of Shmuel, Scripture chooses another
way to reinforce its criticism of Shmuel's conduct: a parallel that it draws to
another biblical story – this time, the binding of Yitzchak. I wish to note the
points of similarity between the two stories:
1)
In both stories, God sends a person to perform a certain task in a
particular place. Avraham is told: "Take now your son, you only son Yitzchak,
whom you love, and go you to the land of Moriya" (Bereishit
22:2), and Shmuel is told: "Fill your horn with oil, and go, I will send
you to Yishai the Beth-lehemite" (Shmuel I
16:1).
2)
In both cases, something is taken for the purpose of offering a
sacrifice:
Take
now your son… Yitzchak… and offer him there for a burnt offering.
(Bereishit 22:2)
Take
a
heifer with you, and say, "I am come to sacrifice to the Lord." (Shmuel I
16:2)
3)
In both cases, a certain detail is not spelled out during the first
stage:
And
offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will
tell you of. (Bereishit 22:2)
And
call Yishai to the sacrifice, and I will tell you what you shall do; and you
shall anoint unto Me him whom I name unto you. (Shmuel I
16:3)
4)
In both stories, emphasis is placed on the fact that the final choice is
in the hands of God:
My
son, God will provide Himself a lamb for a burnt offering.
(Bereishit 22:8)
For
I have provided Me a king among his sons. (Shmuel I
16:1)
In general, the root resh-alef-heh appears many times both in the
story in Bereishit (22:4, 8, 13, 14) and in our story (16:1, 6, 7,
12).
The points of similarity sharpen the differences between the two
accounts. Avraham is asked to give God that which is dearer to him than anything
else, and he does so without hesitation. When he passes this great trial, it
becomes evident "that you fear God" (Bereishit 22:12), and the place
where he passes the test he calls "The Lord will see" (Hashem
yir'eh) (ibid. v. 14). Shmuel, on the other hand, tries to get out of the
mission that had been cast upon him, and he does not accept God's will as an
absolute command. He tries to decide for himself what God has chosen, and is
made to understand: "For it is not as man sees; for man looks on the outward
appearance, but the Lord looks (Hashem yir'eh) on the heart.
IV.
"OF
BEAUTIFUL EYES, AND GOODLY TO LOOK UPON"
The
end of the section testifies to the fact that the clear message has been
internalized. After God admonishes Shmuel, Yishai continues to make his sons
pass before him. But now Shmuel emphasizes that the choice lies not in his own
hands, but in the hands of God:
(8)
Then Yishai called Avinadav, and made him pass before Shmuel. And he said,
"Neither has the Lord chosen this." (9) Then Yishai made Shamma to pass by. And
he said, "Neither has the Lord chosen this." (10) And Yishai made seven
of his sons to pass before Shmuel. And Shmuel said unto Yishai, "The Lord has
not chosen these."
At this point, Shmuel's trial becomes more difficult, for after it had
become clear that none of the seven sons was chosen by God, Shmuel appeared as
if he had troubled Yishai for no reason. Shmuel, however, believes that a
solution still exists, and therefore he turns to Yishai:
(11)
And Shmuel said unto Yishai, "Are here all your children?" And he said, "There
remains yet the youngest, and, behold, he keeps the sheep." And Shmuel said unto
Yishai, "Send and fetch him; for we will not sit down till he comes
here."
Indeed, David is brought before Shmuel:
(12)
And he sent, and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and of beautiful eyes, and
goodly to look upon…
The problem seems to have been solved. No doubt remains that the young
lad is God's chosen one, for he is the last of Yishai's sons. Moreover, this lad
is also "of beautiful eyes, and goodly to look upon." There is no apparent
reason for waiting - Shmuel must quickly anoint him.
Shmuel, however, seems to freeze. It is easy to guess what thoughts must
have been racing through his mind. On the one hand, if this is the last of
Yishai's sons, he clearly must be the one whom God had in mind. On the other
hand, even though David was "of beautiful eyes (einayim), and
goodly to look upon (ro'i)," it had already been made clear to him
that only "man looks on the outward appearance (yir'eh
le-einayim)!" Shmuel therefore waits for God's guidance, as he had been
commanded. This waiting is so striking that God is forced to bring it to an end:
"And the Lord said, 'Arise, anoint him; for this is he.'"
The lesson seems to have been well absorbed.
Indeed,
as the story ends, the correspondence between Shmuel and Avraham
reappears:
So
Avraham returned to his young men, and they rose up and went together to
Be'er-Sheva. (Bereishit 22:19)
So
Shmuel rose up and went to Rama. (Shmuel I
16:13)
Appendix:
How many Brothers did David Have?
A question may be raised regarding the makeup of David's family. Our
chapter explicitly states that Yishai had eight sons, David being one of
them:
(10)
And Yishai made seven of his sons to pass before Shmuel…
Similarly, it is stated explicitly in the next
chapter:
(12)
Now David was the son of that Efratite of Beth-lehem in Yehuda, whose name was
Yishai; and he had eight sons… (14) And David was the youngest; and the three
eldest followed Saul.
The book of Divrei Ha-yamim records different
information:
And
Bo'az begot Oved, and Oved begot Yishai, and Ishai begot his firstborn Eli'av,
and Avinadav the second, and Shim'a the third, Netan'el the fourth, Raddai the
fifth, Ozem the sixth, David the seventh. (I Divrei Ha-yamim
2:12-15)
To resolve this difficulty, the commentators raised various
suggestions:
1)
Rashi (Shmuel I 17:2) writes that one of the sons mentioned in our
chapter died without children, and therefore he is not mentioned in the
genealogical list in the book of Divrei Ha-Yamim.
2)
The commentary on Divrei Ha-yamim attributed to Rashi suggests
that the eighth son is Elihu, who is mentioned later in Divrei Ha-yamim –
"Of Yehuda, Elihu, one of the brothers of David" (ibid. 27:18). He is not
mentioned in the genealogical list because "he now found the pearl, and
therefore did not count the eighth [son], Elihu" (commentary to Divrei
Ha-yamim I 2:15).
This explanation is, of course, very forced, for the book of Shmuel
emphasizes that David was the youngest son.
If we reject this understanding, it is possible that Elihu should be identified
with Eli'av, Yishai's firstborn.
3)
The Radak writes there that Yishai's eighth son was from a different
woman, and therefore he is not included in the genealogical list in Divrei
Ha-Yamim. In our chapter, all of Yishai's sons are listed in age
order.
We
cannot prove which of these explanations is factually accurate, and therefore we
can adopt Rashi's understanding or that of the Radak. It seems, however, that
the main point in this regard is not the practical issue, but rather the idea
behind the description in Divrei Ha-yamim. This idea seems to be
connected to the general tendency found in the book of Divrei Ha-yamim,
as it was defined many times in the commentary attributed to Rashi throughout
the book: "For the entire book was written in honor of David and his
descendants" (commentary to Divrei Ha-yamim I 3:6 and in many other
places). This being the case, it is not surprising that Divrei Ha-yamim
describes David as the seventh son, for this number adds stature and honor, as
we find in the midrash:
All
sevenths are dear forever… Among the lands, the seventh is dear… Among the
generations, the seventh is dear: "Adam, Shet, Enosh, Kenan, Mahalal'el, Yered,
Chanokh" (Divrei ha-Yamim I 1:1-3), and it is written: "And Chanokh
walked with God" (Bereishit 5:24). Among the patriarchs, the seventh is
dear: Avraham, Yitzchak, Ya'akov, Levi, Kehat, Amram, Moshe, and it is written:
"And Moshe went up to God" (Shemot 19:3). Among the sons, the seventh is
dear, as it is stated: "David the seventh" (Divrei ha-Yamim I
2:15).
(Translated
by David Strauss)
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