{"id":58447,"date":"2019-06-27T23:41:16","date_gmt":"2019-06-27T20:41:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=58447"},"modified":"2023-01-22T11:46:05","modified_gmt":"2023-01-22T09:46:05","slug":"measure-for-measure-sauls-punishments-fit-his-crimes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/measure-for-measure-sauls-punishments-fit-his-crimes\/","title":{"rendered":"Measure For Measure: Saul\u2019s Punishments Fit His Crimes\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[529,428,547,885],"acf":{"old_id":"58447","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":42588,"related_cahpter":"251","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"Being a king is a hard job, but being a parent is even harder","content":"

The rabbinic concept of \u201cmidah k\u2019neged midah<\/em>\u201d (lit., \u201cmeasure for measure\u201d), posits that when God metes out punishment, \u201cthe punishment fits the crime\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

An example of this appears in Chapter 15, when King Saul is chastised by Samuel for his failure to wipe out Amalek in its entirety. He is informed that – due to his \u201crejection\u201d of God\u2019s command – he is now \u201crejected\u201d as king of Israel, and that another would eventually take his place.<\/span><\/p>\n

Rejection is punished with rejection. In Chapter 19, we see this idea in action again, in a story of betrayal and deceit of King Saul by his own children, Jonathan and Michal.<\/span><\/p>\n

It opens with a jealous King Saul confiding in his son, Jonthan that he wishes David dead. Saul\u2019s confidence is immediately betrayed, as Jonathan runs to David, tells him to hide and then manipulates his father into changing his mind about King David.<\/span><\/p>\n

Jonathan\u2019s actions offer a momentary reprieve for David. Yet only one verse later (and after a war with the Philistines), King Saul attempts to kill David and he must run for his life.<\/span><\/p>\n

David first flees home, where his wife Michal (King Saul\u2019s daughter) advises him to escape out the window to avoid the king\u2019s soldiers who had come to arrest him. She then aids his escape by hiding a figure in their bed and telling the arresting officers that David could not come before the king because he was sick. When King Saul shows up at his daughter\u2019s home and the ruse is uncovered, Michal explains to her father that she lied because David threatened to kill her if she did not.<\/span><\/p>\n

To understand this story as an example of \u201cmidah k\u2019neged midah<\/em>\u201d the reader must again reference back to Chapter 15.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A close reading reveals that King Saul not only sinned against God by rejecting God\u2019s word but also transgressed against Samuel. He betrayed his trust by acting independently as a king, with little regard to who got him there and greater concern for a fellow king. And when confronted with the truth he piled lie upon lie upon lie to deceive Samuel.<\/span><\/p>\n

Betrayal and deceit is punished by betrayal and deceit.<\/span><\/p>\n

All this works fine with the concept of \u201cmidah k\u2019neged midah<\/em>\u201d, yet there is another reading of this story that reveals a much more mundane truth: that children do as they see, not as they are told.<\/span><\/p>\n

In this reading, Saul\u2019s children \u201cwitnessed\u201d his betrayal and deception of Samuel. As such, their actions reflected what they learned from their father; not some divine intervention.<\/span><\/p>\n

Tragically Saul\u2019s children betrayed him, it is even more tragic that it was his own fault!<\/span><\/p>\n

Being a king is a hard job, but being a parent is even harder.<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":50775,"id":50775,"title":"dt16-justice-mercy","filename":"dt16-justice-mercy.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt16-justice-mercy.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/morality-and-ethics-justice-and-care\/dt16-justice-mercy\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"dt16-justice-mercy","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":50774,"date":"2019-03-05 16:44:08","modified":"2022-04-04 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For Measure: Saul\u2019s Punishments Fit His Crimes\u00a0","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"Being a king is a hard job, but being a parent is even harder","preview_embedded":"","preview_image":{"ID":50775,"id":50775,"title":"dt16-justice-mercy","filename":"dt16-justice-mercy.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt16-justice-mercy.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/morality-and-ethics-justice-and-care\/dt16-justice-mercy\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"dt16-justice-mercy","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":50774,"date":"2019-03-05 16:44:08","modified":"2022-04-04 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