{"id":62953,"date":"2019-09-16T13:50:52","date_gmt":"2019-09-16T10:50:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=62953"},"modified":"2023-04-10T17:46:56","modified_gmt":"2023-04-10T14:46:56","slug":"kind-to-the-cruel-cruel-to-the-kind","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/kind-to-the-cruel-cruel-to-the-kind\/","title":{"rendered":"Kind To The Cruel; Cruel To The Kind"},"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":[927,460,835],"acf":{"old_id":"62953","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":33992,"related_cahpter":"308","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"Ahab\u2019s legacy: reflections on chapters 20 and 21","content":"

King Ahab goes down in history as one of the very worst kings Israel ever produced. He and his wicked wife Jezebel (the only \u201cJezebel\u201d in history whose name was actually Jezebel!) are a power couple of the worst kind. Yet his kind of wickedness only unfolds across these two chapters. His wife is just evil through and through. Consistently she offers torture and death to those she dislikes, or even to those merely standing in her way. But her husband is weak in ways that play out badly in every direction.<\/span><\/p>\n

Back in Chapter 20, King Ahab goes to war against one of Israel\u2019s perennial enemies, the Arameans. Under its powerful King Ben-haddad, Israel faces the threat of total annihilation. Ben-haddad assembles a coalition of local kings intent on taking every woman and child captive, and then destroying every village and settlement. It was only with the sage counsel of his advisors, the intervention of God, and the unity of his terrified people that King Ahab was able to resist the enemy\u2019s assault and turn the tide to victory. And then, having been told not to let his enemy escape, he does worse than that: he calls Ben-haddad his brother, he consults with him in his chariot, and releases Ben-haddad who gets not only to stay alive, but continues to rule Aram as king! Kind to the cruel.<\/span><\/p>\n

If the story stopped there, it would be of a king too weak to impose consequences. A monarch so fickle that he literally lets his people\u2019s enemies get away with murder (and live to tell of it another day, or to try again at a later date).<\/span><\/p>\n

But the story continues. Today’s chapter tells of an innocent Israelite man named Naboth (the Talmud sees him as a cousin of the king). Ahab wants Naboth\u2019s ancestral lands, and makes an offer to acquire them, which Naboth refuses, adamantly. What does the too-compassionate king do this time? He sulks and pouts and turns to the wall. His wicked wife (that Jezebel!) intervenes to have Naboth stoned to death for crimes he did not commit. Then King Ahab confiscates his murdered cousin\u2019s estate. Cruel to the kind.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Talmud correctly sees these traits as linked: one who is kind to the cruel will wind up being cruel to the kind. That\u2019s Ahab \u2013 he has a brutal mass murderer under his control and he lets him go do damage again later. Then he finds an innocent relative and subjects him to a gruesome death just to take his property.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Kind to the cruel; cruel to the kind. Not the sort of legacy a King of Israel should bequeath.<\/span><\/p>\n

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