{"id":60472,"date":"2018-07-09T17:43:55","date_gmt":"2018-07-09T14:43:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wall\/wall-278\/"},"modified":"2023-03-09T21:44:04","modified_gmt":"2023-03-09T19:44:04","slug":"wall-278","status":"publish","type":"wall","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wall\/wall-278\/","title":{"rendered":"chapter-Prophets-II Samuel-15"},"parent":0,"template":"","acf":{"type":"chapter","wall_id":"278","date":"20260922","book":"II Samuel","chapter":"15","chapter_main_number":"278","books_group":"Prophets","posts":[{"order":1,"id":"60445","color":"#f8ebe3","size":"1","name":"JPS Audio Bible - II Samuel Chapter 15 ","post_title":"JPS Audio Bible - II Samuel Chapter 15","slug":"jps-audio-bible-ii-samuel-chapter-15","old_id":"60445","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":34686,"post_title":"Soundcloud","slug":"soundcloud","old_id":"34686","first_name":"","last_name":"","description":"","short_description":"","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":34656,"alt":"","title":"491","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","width":300,"height":300,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","medium_large-width":300,"medium_large-height":300,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","large-width":300,"large-height":300,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","1536x1536-width":300,"1536x1536-height":300,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","2048x2048-width":300,"2048x2048-height":300,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","post_full_size-width":300,"post_full_size-height":300,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","home_baner-width":300,"home_baner-height":300}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"278","type_929":"4","show_author_image":true,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"","post_main_content_content":"","post_main_content_image":"","post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"JPS Audio Bible","tile_main_caption":"II Samuel 15","tile_main_caption_size":"2","tile_sub_caption":"Hear the daily chapter","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":"","tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/929-bible\/JPS_Audio_Bible_II_Samuel_Chapter_15","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","links":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"II Samuel","chapter":"15","chapter_main_number":"278","date":"20260922","wall_id":"278"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":2,"id":"113035","color":"#f6edf6","size":"1","name":"Why Does Absalom Rebel, And David Flee? ","post_title":"Why Does Absalom Rebel, And David Flee?","slug":"why-does-absalom-rebel-and-david-flee","old_id":"113035","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":78133,"post_title":"Josh Blechner","slug":"josh-blechner","old_id":"78133","first_name":"Josh ","last_name":"Blechner ","description":"Josh first finished the Tanach during Yeshiva in Mevaseret Zion. He and his daughter studied the Tanach again for her bat mitzvah. Josh has taught many classes on Tanach throughout the years and currently in the New Rochelle 929 group. When not studying for 929, Josh works as an in-house lawyer in New Jersey.","short_description":"Josh has taught many classes on Tanach throughout the years and currently in the New Rochelle 929 group, and is an in-house attorney in New Jersey. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":78134,"alt":"","title":"josh blechner","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","width":276,"height":351,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner-236x300.jpg","medium-width":236,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","medium_large-width":276,"medium_large-height":351,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","large-width":276,"large-height":351,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","1536x1536-width":276,"1536x1536-height":351,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","2048x2048-width":276,"2048x2048-height":351,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","post_full_size-width":276,"post_full_size-height":351,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","home_baner-width":276,"home_baner-height":351}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"278","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"There\u2019s one answer to both questions\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

Why does Absalom rebel? The text is unclear. Absalom was next in line to be king. David had not yet announced any intention for succession, so Absalom\u2019s rebellion could not have been a reaction to being passed over.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Some commentaries look at the end of the previous chapter for the answer. Chapter 14 ends with a few verses describing Absalom\u2019s beauty. The thought is that he became so infatuated with himself that he believed he could be king. The problem is that he was always handsome. It does not really answer why he rebelled now.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Looking at the story until this point there are four possibilities. The first is a lingering anger towards David for not acting after Amnon raped Tamar. The second is for expelling him after he killed Amnon, and the third is for banishing him when he returns. The problem with each of these possibilities is that Absalom never mentions them. One would think that if Absalom was motivated by these, he would declare it as the reason for his rebellion. Surely this would garner sympathy from the people. Instead, Absalom\u2019s actions at the start of the rebellion may reveal the fourth possibility- that he felt David was out of touch as a leader.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Absalom\u2019s initial act is to set himself up as a man of the people. He ingratiates himself with the people seeking judgment from the King. After seeing how David stayed back while everyone else went to war, how he treated Uriah, how he treated Tamar, and how he treated Absalom himself, Absalom knew that David had lost the people. The swiftness with which the people rally around Absalom shows how he correctly read the mood. David\u2019s immediate flight from Jerusalem without any initial stand also shows that he knew he had lost the people. Had David been secure in his position, he would have easily dismissed the nascent rebellion.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":60863,"alt":"","title":"2sam18-color-david-absalom","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam18-color-david-absalom.jpg","width":480,"height":292,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam18-color-david-absalom-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam18-color-david-absalom-300x183.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":183,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam18-color-david-absalom.jpg","medium_large-width":480,"medium_large-height":292,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam18-color-david-absalom.jpg","large-width":480,"large-height":292,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam18-color-david-absalom.jpg","1536x1536-width":480,"1536x1536-height":292,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam18-color-david-absalom.jpg","2048x2048-width":480,"2048x2048-height":292,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam18-color-david-absalom.jpg","post_full_size-width":480,"post_full_size-height":292,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam18-color-david-absalom.jpg","home_baner-width":480,"home_baner-height":292}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"Why Does Absalom Rebel, And David Flee?","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"There\u2019s one answer to both questions","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":60863,"alt":"","title":"2sam18-color-david-absalom","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam18-color-david-absalom.jpg","width":480,"height":292,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam18-color-david-absalom-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam18-color-david-absalom-300x183.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":183,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam18-color-david-absalom.jpg","medium_large-width":480,"medium_large-height":292,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam18-color-david-absalom.jpg","large-width":480,"large-height":292,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam18-color-david-absalom.jpg","1536x1536-width":480,"1536x1536-height":292,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam18-color-david-absalom.jpg","2048x2048-width":480,"2048x2048-height":292,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam18-color-david-absalom.jpg","post_full_size-width":480,"post_full_size-height":292,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam18-color-david-absalom.jpg","home_baner-width":480,"home_baner-height":292}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"II Samuel","chapter":"15","chapter_main_number":"278","date":"20260922","wall_id":"278"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"502","name":"Fear","old_id":"902"},{"term_id":"834","name":"David","old_id":"1234"},{"term_id":"914","name":"Absalom","old_id":"1314"}]},{"order":3,"id":"60631","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Absalom The Populist ","post_title":"Absalom The Populist","slug":"absalom-the-populist","old_id":"60631","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":36277,"post_title":"Yedidya Sinclair","slug":"yedidya-sinclair","old_id":"36277","first_name":"Yedidya","last_name":"Sinclair","description":"Rabbi Yedidya Sinclair serves as Senior Rabbinic Scholar at Hazon, the leading US Jewish environmental organization. From 2011-16 he was Vice President for Research and Senior Economist at Energiya Global, a Jerusalem-based solar energy company focused on the developing world and he continues to consult on renewable energy and climate change preparedness. In 2014 he published together with Hazon, a translation of Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook's great work on shmitta, the Sabbatical year, \"Introduction to Shabbat Ha'aretz.\" Yedidya holds a BA from Oxford University, an MPA from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard and lives with his family in Jerusalem.","short_description":"Yedidya Sinclair is a Jerusalem-based rabbi and economist, and is Senior Rabbinic Scholar at Hazon. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":36278,"alt":"","title":"yedidya sinclair","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/yedidya-sinclair.jpg","width":200,"height":200,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/yedidya-sinclair-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/yedidya-sinclair.jpg","medium-width":200,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/yedidya-sinclair.jpg","medium_large-width":200,"medium_large-height":200,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/yedidya-sinclair.jpg","large-width":200,"large-height":200,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/yedidya-sinclair.jpg","1536x1536-width":200,"1536x1536-height":200,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/yedidya-sinclair.jpg","2048x2048-width":200,"2048x2048-height":200,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/yedidya-sinclair.jpg","post_full_size-width":200,"post_full_size-height":200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/yedidya-sinclair.jpg","home_baner-width":200,"home_baner-height":200}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"278","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"People yearned for connection, and who could resist personal recognition?","post_main_content_content":"

How could Absalom's rebellion against his father, the mighty and revered King David, have come so close to succeeding?<\/span><\/p>\r\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>\r\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>\r\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>\r\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>\r\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>","post_main_content_image":{"id":60642,"alt":"","title":"2sam15-populism","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam15-populism.jpg","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}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"Absalom The Populist","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"People yearned for connection, and who could resist personal recognition? \u00a0","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":60642,"alt":"","title":"2sam15-populism","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam15-populism.jpg","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}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"II Samuel","chapter":"15","chapter_main_number":"278","date":"20260922","wall_id":"278"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"423","name":"Politics","old_id":"823"},{"term_id":"503","name":"Power","old_id":"903"},{"term_id":"834","name":"David","old_id":"1234"},{"term_id":"914","name":"Absalom","old_id":"1314"}]},{"order":4,"id":"60654","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"2","name":"Absalom\u2019s Strategic Assault on David\u2019s \u2018Justice\u2019 (Mishpat) ","post_title":"Absalom\u2019s Strategic Assault on David\u2019s \u2018Justice\u2019 (Mishpat)","slug":"absaloms-strategic-assault-on-davids-justice-mishpat","old_id":"60654","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":38322,"post_title":"James A. Diamond","slug":"james-a-diamond","old_id":"38322","first_name":"James ","last_name":"Diamond ","description":"Prof. James A. Diamond holds the Joseph and Wolf Lebovic Chair of Jewish Studies at the University of Waterloo. His most recent book is \u201cJewish Theology Unbound\u201d published by Oxford University Press. ","short_description":"Prof. James A. Diamond holds the Joseph and Wolf Lebovic Chair of Jewish Studies at the University of Waterloo.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":38323,"alt":"","title":"James Diamond","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/James-Diamond-e1534858914913.jpg","width":1186,"height":1386,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/James-Diamond-e1534858914913-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/James-Diamond-e1534858914913-257x300.jpg","medium-width":257,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/James-Diamond-e1534858914913-768x898.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":898,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/James-Diamond-e1534858914913-876x1024.jpg","large-width":876,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/James-Diamond-e1534858914913.jpg","1536x1536-width":1186,"1536x1536-height":1386,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/James-Diamond-e1534858914913.jpg","2048x2048-width":1186,"2048x2048-height":1386,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/James-Diamond-e1534858914913-1027x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":1027,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/James-Diamond-e1534858914913-359x420.jpg","home_baner-width":359,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"278","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"David\u2019s current abuse of mishpat while in power is an extension of his manipulation of mishpat during his dubious beginnings and renders his regime particularly vulnerable\u00a0","post_main_content_content":"

The initial step in Absalom\u2019s insurrection against his father is crafting his image as a champion of the rule of law. Absalom seizes on some failure of David\u2019s governance that must have caused resentment among the populace. Those seduced by power always exploit political disgruntlement to rally support in their fledgling campaigns against the current regime.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Absalom intercepts litigants seeking justice in David\u2019s courts. His warning that the king will not afford them a \u201chearing\u201d must credibly appeal to be effective. This strategy proved successful for regime change previously. Discontent with corruption in the administration of justice was the very reason the people rejected Samuel\u2019s prophetic dynasty in favor of kingship: that Samuel\u2019s successor sons were \u201cbent on gain, accepted bribes, and subverted justice (<\/span>mishpat<\/span><\/i>)\u201d (I Sam 8:3). Thus begins a recurring play on the term <\/span>mishpat<\/span><\/i> (law; custom; practice) throughout the Saul\/David narrative.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Absalom\u2019s first question regarding what town the disputant comes from and its elicited response, \u201cfrom one of the Israelite tribes,\u201d are revealing. For the 19<\/span>th<\/span> century commentator Malbim, Absalom pointedly targets David\u2019s bias favoring his own tribe to the detriment of all other Israelites. Once the litigant identifies himself as outside David\u2019s clan, Absalom offers an impartial alternative to David\u2019s prejudiced judicial administration. Fueling civil unrest garners Absalom popular support needed to ensure a successful insurgency already stirring in the first verse describing his ominous formation of a private militia, \u201cAbsalom provided himself with a chariot, horses, and fifty runners.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Ironically<\/span>, <\/span><\/i>David\u2019s own pretensions to Saul\u2019s throne began with <\/span>subversions<\/span><\/i> of the law. First, he attracted a ragtag band of misfit recruits comprising those \u201cin straits, in debt, and desperate\u201d (1 Sam 22:2) who sought <\/span>escape<\/span><\/i> from the law. These weren\u2019t citizens mistreated by Saul, but rather precisely those failing to fulfil their legal obligations toward others, seeking relief that an outlaw life with David offered.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Second, David\u2019s premiere association with <\/span>mishpat<\/span><\/i> occurred during his refuge from Saul under the protection of the Philistines. David would ransack for personal gain non-Israelite towns leaving no survivors who could controvert his deceptive report to the Philistine king that he had plundered Israelite villages, conduct characterized as \u201chis practice\/law (<\/span>mishpato<\/span><\/i>) as long as he stayed in the territory of the Philistines (I Samuel 27:11).\u201d David\u2019s insurrection was thus marked by the lawlessness of his supporters compounded by banditry, wholesale murder, and deception characteristic of his <\/span>mishpat.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\r\n

David\u2019s current abuse of <\/span>mishpat<\/span><\/i> while in power is really an extension of his manipulation of <\/span>mishpat<\/span><\/i> during his dubious beginnings. But it is what renders his regime particularly vulnerable to the machinations of his opponents, in this case his own son. The recurring appearance of the term <\/span>mishpat<\/span><\/i> in the record of Absalom\u2019s nascent strategy toward an eventual coup invokes David\u2019s Machiavellian distortion of <\/span>mishpat <\/span><\/i>to gain power which, when systemically instituted while in power, exposes his greatest weakness. It also further corroborates Samuel\u2019s prediction of the king\u2019s oppressive <\/span>mishpat <\/span><\/i>which would inevitably degenerate into enslavement (I Sam 8:11-17).<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":60655,"alt":"","title":"2sam15-justice","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam15-justice.png","width":1280,"height":739,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam15-justice-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam15-justice-300x173.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":173,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam15-justice-768x443.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":443,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam15-justice-1024x591.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":591,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam15-justice.png","1536x1536-width":1280,"1536x1536-height":739,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam15-justice.png","2048x2048-width":1280,"2048x2048-height":739,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam15-justice-1200x693.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":693,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam15-justice-727x420.png","home_baner-width":727,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"Absalom\u2019s Strategic Assault on David\u2019s \u2018Justice\u2019 (Mishpat)","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"David\u2019s current abuse of mishpat while in power is an extension of his manipulation of mishpat during his dubious beginnings and renders his regime particularly vulnerable\u00a0","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":60655,"alt":"","title":"2sam15-justice","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam15-justice.png","width":1280,"height":739,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam15-justice-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam15-justice-300x173.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":173,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam15-justice-768x443.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":443,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam15-justice-1024x591.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":591,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam15-justice.png","1536x1536-width":1280,"1536x1536-height":739,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam15-justice.png","2048x2048-width":1280,"2048x2048-height":739,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam15-justice-1200x693.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":693,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam15-justice-727x420.png","home_baner-width":727,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"II Samuel","chapter":"15","chapter_main_number":"278","date":"20260922","wall_id":"278"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"391","name":"In\/Justice","old_id":"791"},{"term_id":"414","name":"Law","old_id":"814"},{"term_id":"834","name":"David","old_id":"1234"},{"term_id":"884","name":"Corruption","old_id":"1284"},{"term_id":"914","name":"Absalom","old_id":"1314"}]},{"order":5,"id":"113025","color":"#f6edf6","size":"1","name":"The Tanakh Podcast-IISam15 ","post_title":"The Tanakh Podcast-IISam15","slug":"the-tanakh-podcast-iisam15","old_id":"113025","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":33692,"post_title":"Alex Israel","slug":"33692-2","old_id":"33692","first_name":"Alex","last_name":"Israel","description":"Alex Israel teaches Tanakh at the Pardes Institute, Yeshivat Eretz Hatzvi and Matan, Jerusalem. His first book \"I Kings - Torn in Two\" was published in 2013. See his website www.alexisrael.org, and his podcasts at https:\/\/elmad.pardes.org\/ and https:\/\/tanachstudy.com\/ \r\n","credit":"","image_url":"","short_description":"Alex Israel teaches Tanakh at the Pardes Institute, Yeshivat Eretz Hatzvi and Matan, Jerusalem.","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":33693,"alt":"","title":"alex israel","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/alex-israel.jpg","width":1657,"height":2500,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/alex-israel-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/alex-israel-199x300.jpg","medium-width":199,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/alex-israel-679x1024.jpg","medium_large-width":679,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/alex-israel-679x1024.jpg","large-width":679,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/alex-israel.jpg","1536x1536-width":1018,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/alex-israel.jpg","2048x2048-width":1357,"2048x2048-height":2048,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/alex-israel-795x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":795,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/alex-israel-278x420.jpg","home_baner-width":278,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"278","type_929":"4","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"","post_main_content_content":"","post_main_content_image":"","post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"The Tanakh Podcast","tile_main_caption":"II Samuel 15: Revolution","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Absalom, back in Jerusalem, wastes no time and discredits his father the king, boosting his own popularity. He then launches a mutiny, causing David and his close circle to abandon the city.","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":108885,"alt":"","title":"-635baf915f04f--635baf915f050tanakh podcast - Alex Israel.JPG","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/10\/635baf915f04f-635baf915f050tanakh-podcast-Alex-Israel.JPG.jpg","width":350,"height":352,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/10\/635baf915f04f-635baf915f050tanakh-podcast-Alex-Israel.JPG-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/10\/635baf915f04f-635baf915f050tanakh-podcast-Alex-Israel.JPG-298x300.jpg","medium-width":298,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/10\/635baf915f04f-635baf915f050tanakh-podcast-Alex-Israel.JPG.jpg","medium_large-width":350,"medium_large-height":352,"large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/10\/635baf915f04f-635baf915f050tanakh-podcast-Alex-Israel.JPG.jpg","large-width":350,"large-height":352,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/10\/635baf915f04f-635baf915f050tanakh-podcast-Alex-Israel.JPG.jpg","1536x1536-width":350,"1536x1536-height":352,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/10\/635baf915f04f-635baf915f050tanakh-podcast-Alex-Israel.JPG.jpg","2048x2048-width":350,"2048x2048-height":352,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/10\/635baf915f04f-635baf915f050tanakh-podcast-Alex-Israel.JPG.jpg","post_full_size-width":350,"post_full_size-height":352,"home_baner":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/10\/635baf915f04f-635baf915f050tanakh-podcast-Alex-Israel.JPG.jpg","home_baner-width":350,"home_baner-height":352}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/episode\/2qxr7ZF1ej4ARShN3OCCd7","tile_link_for_pay":"0","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"II Samuel","chapter":"15","chapter_main_number":"278","date":"20260922","wall_id":"278"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"589","name":"audio","old_id":"989"},{"term_id":"857","name":"podcast","old_id":"1257"}]},{"order":6,"id":"60647","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"David's Concubines: More Than Meets The Eye? ","post_title":"David's Concubines: More Than Meets The Eye?","slug":"davids-concubines-more-than-meets-the-eye","old_id":"60647","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":41525,"post_title":"Sivan Rotholz","slug":"sivan-rotholz","old_id":"41525","first_name":"Sivan ","last_name":"Rotholz","description":"Sivan Rotholz is a joint rabbinical and MARE student at Hebrew Union College, where she is a Wexner Graduate Fellow and a New Israel Fund Elissa Froman Fellow. She taught feminist Torah study and creative writing at Brooklyn College, Tel Aviv University, and Temple Israel of the City of New York. She holds a Master of Fine Arts from Brooklyn College and a Juris Doctorate from Golden Gate University School of Law and is the Managing Editor of the Saturday Poetry Series on As It Ought To Be. ","short_description":"Sivan Rotholz is a joint rabbinical and MARE student at Hebrew Union College, where she is a Wexner Graduate Fellow and a New Israel Fund Elissa Froman Fellow. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":41526,"alt":"","title":"sivan rotholz","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sivan-rotholz.jpg","width":320,"height":312,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sivan-rotholz-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sivan-rotholz-300x293.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":293,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sivan-rotholz.jpg","medium_large-width":320,"medium_large-height":312,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sivan-rotholz.jpg","large-width":320,"large-height":312,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sivan-rotholz.jpg","1536x1536-width":320,"1536x1536-height":312,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sivan-rotholz.jpg","2048x2048-width":320,"2048x2048-height":312,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sivan-rotholz.jpg","post_full_size-width":320,"post_full_size-height":312,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sivan-rotholz.jpg","home_baner-width":320,"home_baner-height":312}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"278","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Vested with power, they were queens for a day, representing a different sort of public","post_main_content_content":"

\u201cAnd the king went out, and all his household with him, on foot, and the king left his ten concubines to watch over [his palace].\u201d<\/p>\r\n

In 2 Samuel 15 the prophecy David brought upon himself when he took Bathsheba and murdered her husband is coming to fruition. His son Absalom has risen up in an attempt to usurp the throne. David receives word that \u201cThe hearts of the men of Israel are following Absalom,\u201d and David responds by taking all of his servants and all of his household and fleeing Jerusalem.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n

All of his household except his concubines, who he leaves in charge of the palace.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n

Concubines in the biblical age were a kind of second wife, of a lower status than first wives, but still legally bonded to their husbands, and possessing a number of rights afforded to wives.<\/p>\r\n

Within the monarchy, concubines played a critical role tied to power. The biblical precursor to the adage \u201cwhoever has the money holds the power\u201d was that power lay in the hands of whomever lay with the concubines.<\/p>\r\n

Concubines were a symbol of power and dominion.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n

So why did David leave his concubines in charge when he and his household fled Jerusalem? Perhaps he left them as a statement that, although he had fled, Jerusalem was still his.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\r\n

But David did not merely leave these women in his palace; he left them there to watch over it<\/em>. Clearly these women, in this moment, were not merely symbols<\/em> of power\u2014they had been vested<\/em> with it.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n

But unlike his queens, these were not the daughters of kings and political allies, these were more likely the handmaids of those better-connected women, or women of status whose fathers nonetheless lacked the means to pay a king\u2019s dowry.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n

These were not women trained in royal affairs\u2014were they qualified to watch over the palace<\/em>?<\/p>\r\n

Perhaps\u00a0David's leaving his concubines in charge was\u00a0an act of desperation. Or perhaps they weren't left in charge at all, serving merely\u00a0as palace\u00a0guards.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\r\n

But I am loath to write these women off too quickly, hesitant to strip them of a rare power they might have held, if only for a moment.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n

I am thinking instead of the debates that are unfolding in politics today, of whether a lifelong politician beholden to Big Money or a former bartender rooted in the proletariat is better suited to make decisions that affect the American masses. I like to at least entertain the idea that\u00a0David\u2019s concubines might have been\u00a0the Alexandria Ocasio-Cortezs of their day\u2014capable, determined, industrious women who understood Jerusalem and its people and held deep reverence for an unprecedented opportunity to govern.<\/p>\r\n

Perhaps, in this moment, David\u2019s concubines come to teach us that we should all put greater faith in the hands of the capable and committed, regardless of social status.<\/p>\r\n

Image: by Francesco de\u2019 Rossi Salviati, c. 1553 \/ wikimedia<\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":60648,"alt":"","title":"2sam15-Salviati_concubines","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam15-Salviati_concubines.jpg","width":300,"height":612,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam15-Salviati_concubines-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam15-Salviati_concubines-147x300.jpg","medium-width":147,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam15-Salviati_concubines.jpg","medium_large-width":300,"medium_large-height":612,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam15-Salviati_concubines.jpg","large-width":300,"large-height":612,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam15-Salviati_concubines.jpg","1536x1536-width":300,"1536x1536-height":612,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam15-Salviati_concubines.jpg","2048x2048-width":300,"2048x2048-height":612,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam15-Salviati_concubines.jpg","post_full_size-width":300,"post_full_size-height":612,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam15-Salviati_concubines-206x420.jpg","home_baner-width":206,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"David's Concubines: More Than Meets The Eye?","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Vested with power, they were queens for a day, representing a different sort of public","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":60648,"alt":"","title":"2sam15-Salviati_concubines","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam15-Salviati_concubines.jpg","width":300,"height":612,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam15-Salviati_concubines-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam15-Salviati_concubines-147x300.jpg","medium-width":147,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam15-Salviati_concubines.jpg","medium_large-width":300,"medium_large-height":612,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam15-Salviati_concubines.jpg","large-width":300,"large-height":612,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam15-Salviati_concubines.jpg","1536x1536-width":300,"1536x1536-height":612,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam15-Salviati_concubines.jpg","2048x2048-width":300,"2048x2048-height":612,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam15-Salviati_concubines.jpg","post_full_size-width":300,"post_full_size-height":612,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam15-Salviati_concubines-206x420.jpg","home_baner-width":206,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"II Samuel","chapter":"15","chapter_main_number":"278","date":"20260922","wall_id":"278"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"503","name":"Power","old_id":"903"},{"term_id":"600","name":"Women","old_id":"1000"},{"term_id":"834","name":"David","old_id":"1234"},{"term_id":"835","name":"King","old_id":"1235"},{"term_id":"908","name":"Queen","old_id":"1308"}]},{"order":7,"id":"60644","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Sartorial Politics ","post_title":"Sartorial Politics","slug":"sartorial-politics","old_id":"60644","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":33877,"post_title":"Marc Bregman","slug":"marc-bregman","old_id":"33877","first_name":"Marc","last_name":"Bregman","description":"Marc Bregman received his Ph.D. from The Hebrew University in Jerusalem in 1991. He taught at the Hebrew Union College (Jerusalem), The Hebrew University in Jerusalem, the Schechter Institute for Judaic Studies in Jerusalem, and at the Ben-Gurion University in Beer Sheba, Israel. During 1993 he was Visiting Associate Professor at Yale University, and during 1996 he was the Stroum Professor of Jewish Studies and Visiting Research Fellow at the University of Washington in Seattle. During 2005, Bregman served as the Harry Starr Fellow in Judaica at Harvard University and was awarded a Teaching Fellowship at the Center for Advanced Judaic Studies at the University of Pennsylvania. He also has served as Forchheimer Visiting Professor in the Faculty of Humanities at The Hebrew University in Jerusalem. He is the author of The Tanhuma-Yelammedenu Literature: Studies in the Evolution of the Versions (Gorgias Press, 2003). In 2006, Bregman was appointed the Herman and Zelda Bernard Distinguished Professor of Jewish Studies at the University of North Carolina in Greensboro, where he also headed the program in Jewish Studies, until 2013. Bregman retired from UNCG as of July 31, 2017. He has now returned to Jerusalem where he is continuing his research and teaching activities.","credit":"","image_url":"","short_description":"Marc Bregman is the Herman and Zelda Bernard Distinguished Professor of Jewish Studies emeritus, at the University of North Carolina in Greensboro.","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":33878,"alt":"Marc Bregman","title":"Marc Bregman","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman.jpg","width":361,"height":488,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman-222x300.jpg","medium-width":222,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman.jpg","medium_large-width":361,"medium_large-height":488,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman.jpg","large-width":361,"large-height":488,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman.jpg","1536x1536-width":361,"1536x1536-height":488,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman.jpg","2048x2048-width":361,"2048x2048-height":488,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman.jpg","post_full_size-width":361,"post_full_size-height":488,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman-311x420.jpg","home_baner-width":311,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"278","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Rebellious Absalom becomes a symbol for the ages","post_main_content_content":"

Our chapter narrates the initially successful attempt of Absalom to usurp the kingship of Israel from his father, David. Absalom manages to cause David\u2019s trusted counselor, Ahithophel, to join the rebellion against the king. When David learns that \u201cthe loyalty of the men of Israel has veered toward Absalom\u201d, David flees Jerusalem in haste \u201cfollowed by his entire household, except for ten concubines whom the king left to mind the palace\u201d (15:1-16).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The Rabbinic Sages elaborate on Absalom and his rebellion. In the Talmud (Niddah 24b), Abba Saul says: \u201cI was once a grave-digger and on one occasion a cave opened under me and I found myself standing up to my nose in the eye-ball socket of a skeleton, that I learned was what remained of the eye of Absalom.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In describing Absalom, Scripture (14:25-26) states that: \u201cWhen he cut his hair\u2014he had to have it cut every year, for it grew too heavy for him\u2014the hair of his head weighed two hundred shekels by the royal weight.\u201d One shekel is thought by some to be the modern equivalent of about 11 grams. If so, the hair that was trimmed from Absalom each year weighed over two kilograms!<\/span><\/p>\r\n

According to the Mishnah (Sotah 1:8 and parallels), Absalom's rebelliousness was because of his hair of which he was inordinately proud. His overly abundant hair eventually led to his death, when riding on a mule his hair became entangled in the branches of a great terebinth (see 18:9-15).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In legends about the so-called Pillar of Absalom (Yad Avshalom) in the Kidron Valley of Jerusalem, rebellious Absalom serves as an example of what may befall sons who do not sufficiently honor their father and mother (see Exodus 20:12; Deuteronomy 5:16). For example, according to Bernardin Surius, a French Christian pilgrim who visited Jerusalem in 1666, the inhabitants of Jerusalem would bring their children to the tomb of Absalom to shout and throw stones at it, to teach them what can happen to children who did not revere their parents.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The story of Absalom\u2019s rebellion continues to reverberate in post-biblical tradition to the extent that the term \"Absalonism\" has come to be used as a generic term for a son's rebellion against his father.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Image: Yad Avshalom, 1898 \/ wikimedia<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":60645,"alt":"","title":"2sam15-Yad_avshalom","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam15-Yad_avshalom.jpg","width":800,"height":838,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam15-Yad_avshalom-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam15-Yad_avshalom-286x300.jpg","medium-width":286,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam15-Yad_avshalom-768x804.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":804,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam15-Yad_avshalom.jpg","large-width":800,"large-height":838,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam15-Yad_avshalom.jpg","1536x1536-width":800,"1536x1536-height":838,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam15-Yad_avshalom.jpg","2048x2048-width":800,"2048x2048-height":838,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam15-Yad_avshalom.jpg","post_full_size-width":800,"post_full_size-height":838,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam15-Yad_avshalom-401x420.jpg","home_baner-width":401,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"Sartorial Politics","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Rebellious Absalom becomes a symbol for the ages","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":60645,"alt":"","title":"2sam15-Yad_avshalom","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam15-Yad_avshalom.jpg","width":800,"height":838,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam15-Yad_avshalom-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam15-Yad_avshalom-286x300.jpg","medium-width":286,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam15-Yad_avshalom-768x804.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":804,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam15-Yad_avshalom.jpg","large-width":800,"large-height":838,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam15-Yad_avshalom.jpg","1536x1536-width":800,"1536x1536-height":838,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam15-Yad_avshalom.jpg","2048x2048-width":800,"2048x2048-height":838,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam15-Yad_avshalom.jpg","post_full_size-width":800,"post_full_size-height":838,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam15-Yad_avshalom-401x420.jpg","home_baner-width":401,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"II Samuel","chapter":"15","chapter_main_number":"278","date":"20260922","wall_id":"278"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"363","name":"Midrash","old_id":"763"},{"term_id":"428","name":"Parent","old_id":"828"},{"term_id":"708","name":"Beauty","old_id":"1108"},{"term_id":"914","name":"Absalom","old_id":"1314"}]},{"order":8,"id":"60607","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Human Implementations of Divine Plans ","post_title":"Human Implementations Of Divine Plans","slug":"human-implementations-of-divine-plans","old_id":"60607","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":54356,"post_title":"Robert Alter","slug":"robert-alter","old_id":"54356","first_name":"Robert ","last_name":"Alter","description":"Robert Alter is the Class of 1937 Professor of Hebrew and Comparative Literature at the University of California at Berkeley, where he has taught since 1967. He has written over twenty books, focusing on such topics as the European novel from the 18th century to the present, contemporary American fiction, and modern Hebrew literature. He has also written extensively on the literary aspects of the Bible. His most recent work is his monumental three volume translation of the entire Hebrew Bible - The Hebrew Bible, W. W. Norton & Co., 2019 - from which the selections in 929 are taken. ","short_description":"Robert Alter is the Class of 1937 Professor of Hebrew and Comparative Literature at the University of California at Berkeley, and author of the three-volume translation of the entire Hebrew Bible - The Hebrew Bible, W. W. Norton & Co., 2019.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":54357,"alt":"","title":"robert alter","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter.jpg","width":184,"height":275,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter.jpg","medium-width":184,"medium-height":275,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter.jpg","medium_large-width":184,"medium_large-height":275,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter.jpg","large-width":184,"large-height":275,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter.jpg","1536x1536-width":184,"1536x1536-height":275,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter.jpg","2048x2048-width":184,"2048x2048-height":275,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter.jpg","post_full_size-width":184,"post_full_size-height":275,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter.jpg","home_baner-width":184,"home_baner-height":275}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"278","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Or is the other way round?","post_main_content_content":"

15:32 \u201cAnd David had come to the summit, where one would bow down to God, and, look, coming toward him was Hushai the Archite, his tunic torn and earth on his head.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Commentary: This crucial moment in the story is an especially deft manifestation of the system of double causation that Gerhard von Rad and others after him have attributed to the David narrative: everything in the story is determined by its human actors, according to the stringent dictates of political realism; yet, simultaneously, everything is determined by God, according to a divine plan in history. David, informed that his own shrewd political advisor Ahitophel is part of Absalom\u2019s conspiracy, urgently and desperately invokes God, \u201cThwart, pray, the counsel of Ahitophel, O Lord.\u201d Then he reaches a holy site, an altar on the crest of the Mount of Olives (\u201cwhere one would bow down to God\u201d), and here he sees Hushai, his loyalty betokened by the trappings of mourning he has assumed, coming toward him. Theologically, Hushai is the immediate answer to David\u2019s prayer. Politically, David seizes upon Hushai as the perfect instrument to thwart Ahitophel\u2019s counsel, so from a certain point of view David is really answering his own prayer through his human initiative. Yet the encounter with Hushai at a place of worship leaves the lingering intimation that Hushai has been sent by God to David.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

From: Robert Alter, The Hebrew Bible<\/em>, vol. 2: Prophets, W. W. Norton & Co., 2019, ad loc. By permission of the author.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":54890,"alt":"","title":"Alter-Cover","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover.jpg","width":1200,"height":693,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-300x173.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":173,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-768x444.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":444,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-1024x591.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":591,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover.jpg","1536x1536-width":1200,"1536x1536-height":693,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover.jpg","2048x2048-width":1200,"2048x2048-height":693,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-1200x693.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":693,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-727x420.jpg","home_baner-width":727,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"From Robert Alter's Bible Translation and Commentary","tile_main_caption":"Human Implementations Of Divine Plans","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Or is the other way round?","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":54890,"alt":"","title":"Alter-Cover","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover.jpg","width":1200,"height":693,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-300x173.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":173,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-768x444.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":444,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-1024x591.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":591,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover.jpg","1536x1536-width":1200,"1536x1536-height":693,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover.jpg","2048x2048-width":1200,"2048x2048-height":693,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-1200x693.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":693,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-727x420.jpg","home_baner-width":727,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"II Samuel","chapter":"15","chapter_main_number":"278","date":"20260922","wall_id":"278"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":9,"id":"60650","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Plots and Counterplots ","post_title":"Plots And Counterplots","slug":"plots-and-counterplots","old_id":"60650","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":34243,"post_title":"Moshe Sokolow","slug":"moshe-sokolow","old_id":"34243","first_name":"Moshe","last_name":"Sokolow","description":"Dr. Moshe Sokolow is Associate Dean of the Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education and Administration, Yeshiva University, and teaches a weekly class in parashat hashavu`a at Lincoln Square Synagogue. He is the author of TANAKH: An Owner\u2019s Manual (Jerusalem: Urim\/Ktav, 2015).\r\n\r\n","short_description":"Dr. Moshe Sokolow is Associate Dean of the Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education and Administration, Yeshiva University","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":34244,"alt":"","title":"sokolow","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow.jpg","width":302,"height":300,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow-300x298.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":298,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow.jpg","medium_large-width":302,"medium_large-height":300,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow.jpg","large-width":302,"large-height":300,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow.jpg","1536x1536-width":302,"1536x1536-height":300,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow.jpg","2048x2048-width":302,"2048x2048-height":300,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow.jpg","post_full_size-width":302,"post_full_size-height":300,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow.jpg","home_baner-width":302,"home_baner-height":300}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"278","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Absalom rebels, but David responds with a page from his playbook\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

Absalom, not content with his reconciliation with David, began to practice demagoguery and politicking by presenting himself as a potentially more favorable ruler than his father. His striking appearance (recall 14:25: \u201cThere was none in Israel as handsome as Absalom\u201d) combined with his sense of public displeasure with his father\u2019s austere rule, made a favorable impression on visitors to Jerusalem and \u201che stole the hearts of the men of Israel\u201d (6).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

At a particular time designated \u201cafter forty years\u201d (7; the exegetes regard it as the fortieth year since the initiation of the monarchy under Saul, a point at which Absalom may have thought that David had outlived his royal usefulness), Absalom, who had already demonstrated an aptitude for conspiracy (see chapter 13), asked and received permission to relocate to Hebron where he successfully launched a rebellion against his father with the motto \u201cAbsalom rules in Hebron\u201d (10). Surely it was not lost on him that Hebron was both the capital of his tribe, Judah, as well as the place from which his father had launched his own kingdom in defiance of Saul.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

David appreciated the lethal threat Absalom posed not only to his reign but to his person and promptly took flight, taking exaggerated care to be accompanied by those who could be useful to him in exile and not to encumber himself with those who could provide no practical service. He also took a page, as it were, from Absalom\u2019s playbook, leaving behind a potential fifth column in the persons of the priests, Zadok and Abiathar, whom he charged with collecting intelligence on his opponents and dispatching it to him via their sons, Ahimaaz and Jonathan, and Hushai, the \u201cfirst friend\u201d (<\/span>rei`eh David<\/span><\/i>, 37), who was specifically charged with thwarting the counsel of Ahithophel of Gilo, a particular nemesis (and, according to a medieval Jewish folk tradition, the teacher of Socrates).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

As the prophet Isaiah was later to remark: \u201cI reared children and brought them up\u2014 And they have rebelled against Me!\u201d (Isaiah 1:2).<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":60652,"alt":"","title":"2sam15-chess","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam15-chess.jpg","width":1920,"height":960,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam15-chess-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam15-chess-300x150.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":150,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam15-chess-768x384.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":384,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam15-chess-1024x512.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":512,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam15-chess.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":768,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam15-chess.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":960,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam15-chess-1200x600.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":600,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam15-chess-840x420.jpg","home_baner-width":840,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"Plots And Counterplots","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Absalom rebels, but David responds with a page from his playbook","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":60652,"alt":"","title":"2sam15-chess","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam15-chess.jpg","width":1920,"height":960,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam15-chess-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam15-chess-300x150.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":150,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam15-chess-768x384.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":384,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam15-chess-1024x512.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":512,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam15-chess.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":768,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam15-chess.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":960,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam15-chess-1200x600.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":600,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam15-chess-840x420.jpg","home_baner-width":840,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"II Samuel","chapter":"15","chapter_main_number":"278","date":"20260922","wall_id":"278"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"813","name":"Rebellion","old_id":"1213"},{"term_id":"834","name":"David","old_id":"1234"},{"term_id":"914","name":"Absalom","old_id":"1314"}]},{"order":10,"id":"60480","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Biblical Snapshots: Absalom Challenges David's Rule ","post_title":"Biblical Snapshots: Absalom Challenges David's Rule","slug":"biblical-snapshots-absalom-challenges-davids-rule","old_id":"60480","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":38102,"post_title":"929-English","slug":"929-english","old_id":"38102","first_name":"","last_name":"929-English","description":"","short_description":"","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":38333,"alt":"","title":"\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5.png","width":1513,"height":860,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-300x171.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":171,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-768x437.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":437,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-1024x582.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":582,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5.png","1536x1536-width":1513,"1536x1536-height":860,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5.png","2048x2048-width":1513,"2048x2048-height":860,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-1200x682.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":682,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-739x420.png","home_baner-width":739,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"278","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"","post_main_content_content":"","post_main_content_image":"","post_main_content_embedded_video":"https:\/\/youtu.be\/qYjvPr1kV6I","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"Biblical Snapshots","tile_main_caption":"II Samuel 15: Absalom Challenges David's Rule","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"with Adam Mintz ","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":"","tile_preview_video":"https:\/\/youtu.be\/qYjvPr1kV6I","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"II Samuel","chapter":"15","chapter_main_number":"278","date":"20260922","wall_id":"278"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"369","name":"Visual Arts","old_id":"769"}]},{"order":11,"id":"60606","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"David\u2019s Mixed Motives ","post_title":"David\u2019s Mixed Motives","slug":"davids-mixed-motives","old_id":"60606","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":56443,"post_title":"Moshe Halbertal","slug":"moshe-halbertal","old_id":"56443","first_name":"Moshe ","last_name":"Halbertal ","description":"Prof. Moshe Halbertal is a professor of Jewish thought and philosophy at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and a professor of law at New York University (NYU) and the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya. His latest book, co-authored with Stephen Holmes, The Beginning of Politics: Power in the Biblical Book of Samuel was published by Princeton University Press in 2017. Halbertal was the recipient of the Michael Bruno Memorial Award of the Rothschild Foundation and the Goldstein-Goren Book Award for the best book in Jewish thought in the years 1997 to 2000. In 2010, Halbertal was named a member of Israel\u2019s Academy for the Sciences and the Humanities.","short_description":"Prof. Moshe Halbertal is a professor of Jewish thought and philosophy at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and a professor of law at New York University (NYU) and the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":56444,"alt":"","title":"Moshe-Halbertal","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Moshe-Halbertal.png","width":500,"height":500,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Moshe-Halbertal-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Moshe-Halbertal-300x300.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Moshe-Halbertal.png","medium_large-width":500,"medium_large-height":500,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Moshe-Halbertal.png","large-width":500,"large-height":500,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Moshe-Halbertal.png","1536x1536-width":500,"1536x1536-height":500,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Moshe-Halbertal.png","2048x2048-width":500,"2048x2048-height":500,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Moshe-Halbertal.png","post_full_size-width":500,"post_full_size-height":500,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Moshe-Halbertal-420x420.png","home_baner-width":420,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"278","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Leaving the Ark and its priests behind in Jerusalem is both genuine piety and savvy counter-intel...","post_main_content_content":"

In leaving Jerusalem, David refused the offer of Zadok the priest and the Levites to join him with the Ark. Perhaps he had internalized the lessons learned from past abortive attempts to instrumentalize the Ark, revealing the dangers of treating it as a lucky charm or portable divine insurance policy. In justifying this reluctance to agree to move the Ark with him, David made what at first seems to be a genuine expression of piety and humility\u2026.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

At this moment of reckoning, the instrumentalization of what should not be treated instrumentally might have come to an end. While doing everything to survive, David was placing his personal fate in God\u2019s hands. He seemed resigned to being punished, in whatever way God chose, for his crime of killing Uriah. But here again the underlying motives that drive the narrative are mixed and impossible to untangle completely or clearly. David had a second, less pious reason for locating the Ark and the priests in Jerusalem. He could use the priests, the young sons of Zadok, to inform him of what was happening in the city while he lingered in the wilderness. While David needed undercover informants in Absalom\u2019s camp, he didn\u2019t need the dangerously unpredictable Ark to accompany him on his flight.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Excerpts from The Beginning of Politics: Power in the Biblical Book of Samuel<\/em> \u2013 Moshe Halbertal and Stephen Holmes, Princeton University Press, 2017, p. 129.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":56668,"alt":"","title":"halbertal-book cover.jpg","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/halbertal-book-cover.jpg.png","width":2000,"height":2000,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/halbertal-book-cover.jpg-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/halbertal-book-cover.jpg-300x300.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/halbertal-book-cover.jpg-768x768.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":768,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/halbertal-book-cover.jpg-1024x1024.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/halbertal-book-cover.jpg.png","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/halbertal-book-cover.jpg.png","2048x2048-width":2000,"2048x2048-height":2000,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/halbertal-book-cover.jpg-1200x1200.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/halbertal-book-cover.jpg-420x420.png","home_baner-width":420,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"Excerpts from:\u201cThe Beginning of Politics: Power in the Biblical Book of Samuel\u201d ","tile_main_caption":"David\u2019s Mixed Motives","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Leaving the Ark and its priests behind in Jerusalem is both genuine piety and savvy counter-intel...","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":56668,"alt":"","title":"halbertal-book cover.jpg","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/halbertal-book-cover.jpg.png","width":2000,"height":2000,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/halbertal-book-cover.jpg-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/halbertal-book-cover.jpg-300x300.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/halbertal-book-cover.jpg-768x768.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":768,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/halbertal-book-cover.jpg-1024x1024.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/halbertal-book-cover.jpg.png","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/halbertal-book-cover.jpg.png","2048x2048-width":2000,"2048x2048-height":2000,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/halbertal-book-cover.jpg-1200x1200.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/halbertal-book-cover.jpg-420x420.png","home_baner-width":420,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"II Samuel","chapter":"15","chapter_main_number":"278","date":"20260922","wall_id":"278"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"423","name":"Politics","old_id":"823"},{"term_id":"670","name":"Ark","old_id":"1070"}]},{"order":12,"id":"59834","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Sefaria Source Sheets - II Samuel 15 ","post_title":"Sefaria Source Sheets - II Samuel 15","slug":"sefaria-source-sheets-ii-samuel-15","old_id":"59834","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":42228,"post_title":"Sefaria","slug":"sefaria","old_id":"42228","first_name":"","last_name":"Sefaria","description":"Sefaria is a non-profit organization dedicated to building the future of Jewish learning in an open and participatory way. We are assembling a free living library of Jewish texts and their interconnections, in Hebrew and in translation. With these digital texts, we can create new, interactive interfaces for Web, tablet and mobile, allowing more people to engage with the textual treasures of our tradition.","short_description":"Sefaria is a non-profit organization dedicated to building the future of Jewish learning in an open and participatory way. \r\n","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":42230,"alt":"","title":"Sefaria Logo2","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Sefaria-Logo2.png","width":1200,"height":1200,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Sefaria-Logo2-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Sefaria-Logo2-300x300.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Sefaria-Logo2-768x768.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":768,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Sefaria-Logo2-1024x1024.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Sefaria-Logo2.png","1536x1536-width":1200,"1536x1536-height":1200,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Sefaria-Logo2.png","2048x2048-width":1200,"2048x2048-height":1200,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Sefaria-Logo2.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Sefaria-Logo2-420x420.png","home_baner-width":420,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"278","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"","post_main_content_content":"

\u201cDusk: The Epic King David\u201d<\/a><\/u> by Dan Epstein: Explore more about this central figure.<\/p>\r\n

\u201cXOXO A Kiss is Just a Kiss\u201d<\/a><\/u> by Robyn Fryer Bodzin: The significance of kisses in the Bible.<\/p>","post_main_content_image":"","post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"Go deeper into the chapter....","tile_main_caption":"Source Sheets - II Samuel 15","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Links to learning resources","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":42232,"alt":"","title":"sefaria-words-sunburst","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst.png","width":608,"height":395,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst-300x195.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":195,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst.png","medium_large-width":608,"medium_large-height":395,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst.png","large-width":608,"large-height":395,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst.png","1536x1536-width":608,"1536x1536-height":395,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst.png","2048x2048-width":608,"2048x2048-height":395,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst.png","post_full_size-width":608,"post_full_size-height":395,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst.png","home_baner-width":608,"home_baner-height":395}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"Sefaria word sunburst visualization","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","links":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"II Samuel","chapter":"15","chapter_main_number":"278","date":"20260922","wall_id":"278"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":13,"id":"60491","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"A Lesson on the Daily Chapter- II Samuel 15 ","post_title":"A Lesson on the Daily Chapter- II Samuel 15","slug":"a-lesson-on-the-daily-chapter-ii-samuel-15","old_id":"60491","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":40936,"post_title":"David Silber","slug":"david-silber-2","old_id":"40936","first_name":"David ","last_name":"Silber ","description":"Rabbi David Silber is the Founder and Dean of Drisha Institute for Jewish Education. He received ordination from the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary. He received the Covenant Award in 2000. He is the author of APassover Haggadah: Go Forth and Learn, published by JPS in 2011, and the newly released For Such a Time as This: Biblical Reflections in the Book of Esther, published by Koren Publishing in 2017 (Hebrew). ","short_description":"Rabbi David Silber is the Founder and Dean of Drisha Institute for Jewish Education. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":40937,"alt":"","title":"david-Silber-2","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/david-Silber-2.jpg","width":151,"height":175,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/david-Silber-2-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/david-Silber-2.jpg","medium-width":151,"medium-height":175,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/david-Silber-2.jpg","medium_large-width":151,"medium_large-height":175,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/david-Silber-2.jpg","large-width":151,"large-height":175,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/david-Silber-2.jpg","1536x1536-width":151,"1536x1536-height":175,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/david-Silber-2.jpg","2048x2048-width":151,"2048x2048-height":175,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/david-Silber-2.jpg","post_full_size-width":151,"post_full_size-height":175,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/david-Silber-2.jpg","home_baner-width":151,"home_baner-height":175}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"278","type_929":"4","show_author_image":true,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"","post_main_content_content":"","post_main_content_image":"","post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"929 Audio","tile_main_caption":"A Lesson on the Daily Chapter- II Samuel 15","tile_main_caption_size":"2","tile_sub_caption":"","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":"","tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/929-bible\/rabbi-david-silber-a-lesson-on-ii-samuel-chapter-15","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"2","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","links":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"II Samuel","chapter":"15","chapter_main_number":"278","date":"20260922","wall_id":"278"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":14,"id":"60605","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Points to Ponder - II Samuel 15 ","post_title":"Points to Ponder - II Samuel 15","slug":"points-to-ponder-ii-samuel-15","old_id":"60605","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":38102,"post_title":"929-English","slug":"929-english","old_id":"38102","first_name":"","last_name":"929-English","description":"","short_description":"","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":38333,"alt":"","title":"\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5.png","width":1513,"height":860,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-300x171.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":171,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-768x437.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":437,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-1024x582.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":582,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5.png","1536x1536-width":1513,"1536x1536-height":860,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5.png","2048x2048-width":1513,"2048x2048-height":860,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-1200x682.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":682,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-739x420.png","home_baner-width":739,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"278","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"","post_main_content_content":"

    \r\n\t
  1. Echoes of the Law of the King<\/em>. 38 chapters ago in I Samuel chapter 8, Samuel warned the people of the ways of the king, that he would \u201ctake your sons and appoint them as his charioteers and horsemen, and they will serve as outrunners for his chariots\u201d (verse 11). That\u2019s what kings do. Absalom is (only) the son of a king, but judging by the chariot and the runners - he\u2019s got plans!<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
  2. Absalom\u2019s Electioneering<\/em>. Like any good election campaign, Absalom is promising everyone everything he can. Everyone will succeed in their court cases, because with promises, anything is possible: \u201cIf only I were appointed judge in the land and everyone with a legal dispute came before me, I would see that he got his rights\u201d (verse 4).\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
  3. Surprise upset in Judah<\/em>. Absalom begins the rebellion in Hebron, the capital of Judah. How did he get the support of Judah - David\u2019s home turf? Good question.<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
  4. Barefoot<\/em>. In the description of their difficult departure from Jerusalem, David and the people are described as going the whole way on foot. Their trudging along expresses the tragedy, the difficulty and the humiliation of their flight.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
  5. Concubines left in charge.<\/em> Who stays in Jerusalem? \u201cThe king left, followed by his entire household, except for ten concubines whom the king left to mind the palace\u201d (verse 16). Not entirely clear what sort of supervision the concubines were meant to provide, but their being left alone in Jerusalem will play a role in the unfolding of events to come.<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
  6. Ahithophel<\/em>. Ahithophel\u2019s joining forces with Absalom worries David. First he prays: \u201cPlease, O LORD, frustrate Ahithophel\u2019s counsel!\u201d (verse 31), and then he decides to take matters into his own hands, and ask of Hushai the Archite: \u201cBut if you go back to the city and say to Absalom, \u2018I will be your servant, O king; I was your father\u2019s servant formerly, and now I will be yours,\u2019 then you can nullify Ahithophel\u2019s counsel for me\u201d (verse 34). What was so troublesome about Ahithophel? Stay tuned.<\/span><\/li>\r\n<\/ol>","post_main_content_image":{"id":86314,"alt":"","title":"Points to ponder","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","width":1000,"height":1000,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-768x768.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":768,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","large-width":1000,"large-height":1000,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","1536x1536-width":1000,"1536x1536-height":1000,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","2048x2048-width":1000,"2048x2048-height":1000,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","post_full_size-width":1000,"post_full_size-height":1000,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-420x420.jpg","home_baner-width":420,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"II Samuel 15","tile_main_caption":"Points to Ponder","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Insights and questions for personal reflection and group discussion","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":86314,"alt":"","title":"Points to ponder","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","width":1000,"height":1000,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-768x768.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":768,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","large-width":1000,"large-height":1000,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","1536x1536-width":1000,"1536x1536-height":1000,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","2048x2048-width":1000,"2048x2048-height":1000,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","post_full_size-width":1000,"post_full_size-height":1000,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-420x420.jpg","home_baner-width":420,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"II Samuel","chapter":"15","chapter_main_number":"278","date":"20260922","wall_id":"278"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false}],"hide_acf":true,"home_image":false,"home_posts":false,"home_posts_title":"","posts_home":[],"static_cube_title":"","static_cube_brief":"","static_cube_color":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wall\/60472"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wall"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/wall"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=60472"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}