{"id":60631,"date":"2019-08-05T17:08:34","date_gmt":"2019-08-05T14:08:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=60631"},"modified":"2023-02-28T22:43:05","modified_gmt":"2023-02-28T20:43:05","slug":"absalom-the-populist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/absalom-the-populist\/","title":{"rendered":"Absalom The Populist"},"content":{"rendered":"
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How could Absalom’s rebellion against his father, the mighty and revered King David, have come so close to succeeding?<\/span><\/p>\n

Yes, we know about Absalom’s good looks and glossy hair. We see him posing as a social justice warrior, promising to right all the wrongs of the kingdom if only he were appointed judge. We observe the skills through which he “won away the hearts of the people of Israel” (v.6) –\u00a0 as a flesh pressing, baby kissing populist, making every person he meets feel that he, Absalom, though a privileged scion of the royal house, feels their pain and frustration. But these factors, though invaluable to a rising politician, are external, and do not touch on the essential sources of Absalom’s appeal.<\/span><\/p>\n

A fascinating comment by Rashi gives a deeper perspective. Verse 11 says that “200 men of Jerusalem accompanied Absalom (when he went to Hebron to launch his revolt); they were invited and went in good faith, suspecting nothing.” Commenting on these men’s good faith and lack of suspicion, Rashi says, based on the Talmud Yerushalmi, Sotah (1:8) “Absalom requested that his father write him a document that any two people that he request should go. He showed this document to two people, then to another two people and in this way, to many.” Absalom implied to David that only two men would go with him; by recycling the document he enlisted 200.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Rashi’s comment suggests that Absalom drew supporters by making individuals feel important. His first followers did not think they of themselves as an anonymous mob; they were honoured confederates, each asked individually to accompany Absalom on a special mission.<\/span><\/p>\n

Even more importantly, this was not any old honour; it was a request that came, so they were led to believe, directly from the king. King David had latterly withdrawn from his people. He no longer went out to war at their head. The bible repeatedly uses the phrase “and David sent,” to describe his agency in this period, exercising power at arm’s length through a web of intermediaries. And now regular men of Jerusalem were approached two at a time with a letter signed by the king himself requesting their aid. After years when David had become ever more remote from people, who could resist such personal recognition?<\/span><\/p>\n

Absalom’s brilliance was to recognize this and to turn people’s yearning for a renewed connection with David into a force that would nearly unseat him.<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":60642,"id":60642,"title":"2sam15-populism","filename":"2sam15-populism.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam15-populism.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/absalom-the-populist\/2sam15-populism\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"2sam15-populism","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":60631,"date":"2019-08-05 14:08:20","modified":"2023-01-10 14:15:37","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":1024,"height":601,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam15-populism-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam15-populism-300x176.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":176,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam15-populism-768x451.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":451,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam15-populism-1024x601.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":601,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam15-populism.jpg","1536x1536-width":1024,"1536x1536-height":601,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam15-populism.jpg","2048x2048-width":1024,"2048x2048-height":601,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam15-populism.jpg","post_full_size-width":1024,"post_full_size-height":601,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam15-populism-716x420.jpg","home_baner-width":716,"home_baner-height":420}},"embedded_video":"","video_duration":"","show_fb_comments":true,"credit_media":""},"tile":{"top_caption":"","main_caption":"Absalom The Populist","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"People yearned for connection, and who could resist personal recognition? 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