{"id":60980,"date":"2018-07-09T17:44:04","date_gmt":"2018-07-09T14:44:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wall\/wall-287\/"},"modified":"2023-03-13T12:16:58","modified_gmt":"2023-03-13T10:16:58","slug":"wall-287","status":"publish","type":"wall","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wall\/wall-287\/","title":{"rendered":"chapter-Prophets-II Samuel-24"},"parent":0,"template":"","acf":{"type":"chapter","wall_id":"287","date":"20261005","book":"II Samuel","chapter":"24","chapter_main_number":"287","books_group":"Prophets","hide_acf":true,"home_image":false,"home_posts":false,"home_posts_title":"","posts_home":[],"posts":[{"order":1,"id":"60463","color":"#f8ebe3","size":"1","name":"JPS Audio Bible - II Samuel Chapter 24 ","post_title":"JPS Audio Bible - II Samuel Chapter 24","slug":"jps-audio-bible-ii-samuel-chapter-24","old_id":"60463","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":"287","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 24","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_24","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":"24","chapter_main_number":"287","date":"20261005","wall_id":"287"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":2,"id":"61197","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Listening to the Prophets with Rabbi Abby Sosland- II Samuel 24 ","post_title":"Listening to the Prophets with Rabbi Abby Sosland- II Samuel 24","slug":"listening-to-the-prophets-with-rabbi-abby-sosland-ii-samuel-24","old_id":"61197","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":56624,"post_title":"Abby Sosland","slug":"abby-sosland","old_id":"56624","first_name":"Abby ","last_name":"Sosland","description":"Rabbi Abby Sosland is a spiritual advisor, writer, and educator, based at The Leffell School in Westchester, New York. ","short_description":"Rabbi Abby Sosland is a spiritual advisor, writer, and educator, based at Schechter Westchester High School in New York. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":56632,"alt":"","title":"abby sosland2","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/abby-sosland2.jpg","width":182,"height":175,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/abby-sosland2-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/abby-sosland2.jpg","medium-width":182,"medium-height":175,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/abby-sosland2.jpg","medium_large-width":182,"medium_large-height":175,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/abby-sosland2.jpg","large-width":182,"large-height":175,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/abby-sosland2.jpg","1536x1536-width":182,"1536x1536-height":175,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/abby-sosland2.jpg","2048x2048-width":182,"2048x2048-height":175,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/abby-sosland2.jpg","post_full_size-width":182,"post_full_size-height":175,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/abby-sosland2.jpg","home_baner-width":182,"home_baner-height":175}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"287","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":"Listening to the Prophets - II Samuel 24","tile_main_caption_size":"2","tile_sub_caption":"with Rabbi Abby Sosland","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":"","tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/929-bible\/listening-to-the-prophets-with-rabbi-abby-sosland-ii-samuel-24","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":"24","chapter_main_number":"287","date":"20261005","wall_id":"287"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":3,"id":"113354","color":"#f6edf6","size":"1","name":"Sword, Pestilence, Famine ","post_title":"Sword, Pestilence, Famine","slug":"sword-pestilence-famine","old_id":"113354","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":"287","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"David is presented with a cruel choice\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

According to chapter 24, God looked for a way to punish the people by enticing David to conduct a census. Counting the nation is against the will of God, unless God is the one officially mandating the count. This is a little confusing because the text says that God did initiate this census in a way, but not in an official way.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

God sends Gad the prophet to present David with three potential punishments: 1) an attack by an enemy (the sword), 2) pestilence, or 3) a famine. In Hebrew they are <\/span>cherev<\/span>, <\/span>dever<\/span><\/em>, and <\/span>ra\u2019av<\/span><\/em>. David chooses pestilence. He reasons with Gad that of the three, pestilence comes directly from God. This would present David with the best opportunity to seek God\u2019s mercy. This calculation appears at the start of the <\/span>tachanun<\/em> <\/span>prayer every weekday when the penitent asks for God\u2019s mercy. Rashi explains that David also made a calculation between these three on how the people would see him. If he chose an attack by the enemy, they would think David would rely on his strength to save himself, but others more weak would perish. If he chose famine, then the people would believe that David wanted to save himself by his vast wealth and stores of food. Only pestilence is the great equalizer that can affect people of all ages and social status.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

At the end of the chapter, David is able to stop the angel of death right at the threshing floor of Araunah. David purchases this land and builds an altar there. The spot will eventually become the place where Solomon will build the Temple. In his prayer at the dedication ceremony, Solomon pays homage to his father and the new Temple, promising that:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

So, too, if there is a <\/span>famine<\/span><\/em> in the land, if there is <\/span>pestilence<\/span><\/em>, blight, mildew, locusts or caterpillars, or if an <\/span>enemy <\/span><\/em>oppresses<\/span><\/i> them in any of the settlements of the land. In any plague and in any disease, in any prayer or supplication offered by any person among all Your people Israel\u2014each of whom knows his own affliction\u2014when he spreads his palms toward this House\u201d (I Kings 8:37-38).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

This chapter ends the Books of Samuel not because it is the end of David\u2019s reign. That will happen at the beginning of the next book. It ends the book of Samuel because it is the true beginning of the age of the Temple when the people will have the location to pray for protection from God for all ailments, be they pestilence, famine, or the sword.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

 <\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":74224,"alt":"","title":"ez21-fire sword","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez21-fire-sword.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez21-fire-sword-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez21-fire-sword-300x169.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":169,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez21-fire-sword-768x432.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":432,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez21-fire-sword-1024x576.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":576,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez21-fire-sword.jpg","1536x1536-width":1280,"1536x1536-height":720,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez21-fire-sword.jpg","2048x2048-width":1280,"2048x2048-height":720,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez21-fire-sword-1200x675.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":675,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez21-fire-sword-747x420.jpg","home_baner-width":747,"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":"Sword, Pestilence, Famine","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"David is presented with a cruel choice","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":74224,"alt":"","title":"ez21-fire sword","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez21-fire-sword.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez21-fire-sword-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez21-fire-sword-300x169.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":169,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez21-fire-sword-768x432.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":432,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez21-fire-sword-1024x576.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":576,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez21-fire-sword.jpg","1536x1536-width":1280,"1536x1536-height":720,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez21-fire-sword.jpg","2048x2048-width":1280,"2048x2048-height":720,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez21-fire-sword-1200x675.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":675,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez21-fire-sword-747x420.jpg","home_baner-width":747,"home_baner-height":420}},"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":"24","chapter_main_number":"287","date":"20261005","wall_id":"287"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"547","name":"Punishment","old_id":"947"},{"term_id":"618","name":"Plagues","old_id":"1018"},{"term_id":"834","name":"David","old_id":"1234"}]},{"order":4,"id":"61284","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"A Census Can Be A Controversial Thing- Then And Now ","post_title":"A Census Can Be A Controversial Thing- Then And Now","slug":"a-census-can-be-a-controversial-thing-then-and-now","old_id":"61284","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":60755,"post_title":"Katja Vehlow","slug":"katja-vehlow","old_id":"60755","first_name":"Katja ","last_name":"Vehlow ","description":"Dr. Katja Vehlow is a rabbinical student at JTS in New York City. She taught as an Associate Professor of Religious and Jewish studies at the University of South Carolina. ","short_description":"Dr. Katja Vehlow is a rabbinical student at JTS in New York City. She taught as an Associate Professor of Religious and Jewish studies at the University of South Carolina. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":60757,"alt":"","title":"Katja Vehlow","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Katja-Vehlow.jpg","width":454,"height":580,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Katja-Vehlow-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Katja-Vehlow-235x300.jpg","medium-width":235,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Katja-Vehlow.jpg","medium_large-width":454,"medium_large-height":580,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Katja-Vehlow.jpg","large-width":454,"large-height":580,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Katja-Vehlow.jpg","1536x1536-width":454,"1536x1536-height":580,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Katja-Vehlow.jpg","2048x2048-width":454,"2048x2048-height":580,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Katja-Vehlow.jpg","post_full_size-width":454,"post_full_size-height":580,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Katja-Vehlow-329x420.jpg","home_baner-width":329,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"287","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Many people can be hurt","post_main_content_content":"

God\u2019s anger, usually directed against David\u2019s enemies, is a prominent theme in Samuel. In today\u2019s chapter, David surfaces both as an object and an instrument of this divine ire when he carries out a census, ostensibly a sensible act at a time of constant warfare. Not everybody agrees with David\u2019s assessment, though. Joab, the very man who had sent Uriah, Bathsheba\u2019s husband into certain death on the battlefield, objects immediately: \u201cMay God increase the number of the people a hundredfold, while your own eyes see it! But why should my lord King want this?\u201d (3)<\/span><\/p>\r\n

So why would God first tell David to do something, only to then punish him for the very act? In contrast to other divine retributions, here, God\u2019s ire is not even the result of one of David\u2019s many missteps. So, what is this? Is this a test, a moment where David is given free rein to make the right decision, and fails? Or, writing from the US where aspects of next year\u2019s national census are bitterly disputed, is the very idea of a census dangerous? Perhaps this episode, and Joab\u2019s warning, cautions us to not reduce humans to numbers, or to their legal status. Instead of assessing the potential size of his military, the army commander Joab implies, David should focus on the reasons for the census (that are not given in the text).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Rashi confesses that he, too, is unsure what this means, and Radak notes the dilemma David finds himself in, pointing to the parallel text in Chronicles where it is Satan who incites David to carry out the census. But the key for understanding God\u2019s acts in Samuel, I think, lies in the punishments themselves. Famine, flight, or pestilence, the choices given to David as tools of penitence are all events in which his own strength, and that of the armies whose future might the census just asserted, would be useless.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

This, then, is the lesson for David, one that reverberates through so much of Tanakh: to rely on God, and God alone. One might think that David had learned this lesson earlier, ideally when God chose him, the youngest and least powerful son, to be king. But David, throughout his lifetime, is at the same time a spectacularly successful and frequently stumbling king, one who keeps making mistakes. Perhaps, if David had heeded the lessons doled out to him throughout his life, he might have been able to act according to the values they imparted.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Of course, God\u2019s acts here remain puzzling and are ultimately unknowable in our world. But this chapter reminds us that living with a divine presence in our lives means that day after day, we are called to examine our values, and to act accordingly.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":61285,"alt":"","title":"2sam24-census","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-census.jpg","width":800,"height":549,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-census-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-census-300x206.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":206,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-census-768x527.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":527,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-census.jpg","large-width":800,"large-height":549,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-census.jpg","1536x1536-width":800,"1536x1536-height":549,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-census.jpg","2048x2048-width":800,"2048x2048-height":549,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-census.jpg","post_full_size-width":800,"post_full_size-height":549,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-census-612x420.jpg","home_baner-width":612,"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":"A Census Can Be A Controversial Thing- Then And Now","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Many people can be hurt","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":61285,"alt":"","title":"2sam24-census","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-census.jpg","width":800,"height":549,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-census-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-census-300x206.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":206,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-census-768x527.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":527,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-census.jpg","large-width":800,"large-height":549,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-census.jpg","1536x1536-width":800,"1536x1536-height":549,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-census.jpg","2048x2048-width":800,"2048x2048-height":549,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-census.jpg","post_full_size-width":800,"post_full_size-height":549,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-census-612x420.jpg","home_baner-width":612,"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":"24","chapter_main_number":"287","date":"20261005","wall_id":"287"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"366","name":"Commentators","old_id":"766"},{"term_id":"384","name":"God","old_id":"784"},{"term_id":"689","name":"Census","old_id":"1089"},{"term_id":"834","name":"David","old_id":"1234"}]},{"order":5,"id":"61307","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Joab\u2019s Final Obedience ","post_title":"Joab\u2019s Final Obedience","slug":"joabs-final-obedience","old_id":"61307","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":34891,"post_title":"Miriam Gedwiser","slug":"miriam-gedwiser","old_id":"34891","first_name":"Miriam","last_name":"Gedwiser ","description":"Miriam Gedwiser teaches Talmud and Tanakh at Ramaz Upper Upper school and is a core faculty member at Drisha. She has a BA from the University of Chicago in the History and Philosophy of Science and a JD from NYU School of Law. She studied in the Drisha Scholars Circle as well as at other programs in Israel and Boston, and has taught at a variety of synagogues and Hillels. She previously practiced commercial litigation at a large law firm, and completed a judicial clerkship in the Southern District of New York","short_description":"Miriam Gedwiser teaches Talmud and Tanakh at Ramaz and at Drisha.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":60045,"alt":"","title":"Miriam Gedwiser 2 cropped","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Miriam-Gedwiser-2-cropped-1.jpg","width":453,"height":522,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Miriam-Gedwiser-2-cropped-1-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Miriam-Gedwiser-2-cropped-1-260x300.jpg","medium-width":260,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Miriam-Gedwiser-2-cropped-1.jpg","medium_large-width":453,"medium_large-height":522,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Miriam-Gedwiser-2-cropped-1.jpg","large-width":453,"large-height":522,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Miriam-Gedwiser-2-cropped-1.jpg","1536x1536-width":453,"1536x1536-height":522,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Miriam-Gedwiser-2-cropped-1.jpg","2048x2048-width":453,"2048x2048-height":522,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Miriam-Gedwiser-2-cropped-1.jpg","post_full_size-width":453,"post_full_size-height":522,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Miriam-Gedwiser-2-cropped-1-364x420.jpg","home_baner-width":364,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"287","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"And Joab never even gets to say \u201cI told you so\u201d","post_main_content_content":"

This chapter contains David and Joab\u2019s last face-to-face conversation - at once banal and carrying the<\/span> baggage<\/span><\/a> of<\/span><\/a> all<\/span><\/a> of<\/span> their<\/span><\/a> previous<\/span><\/a> interactions<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

God \u201cincites\u201d David \u201cagainst\u201d Israel, causing David to take a census.\u00a0 To fulfill this demand, David calls his general, Joab. Joab has kept this position by striking the right balance between being<\/span> obedient to a fault<\/span><\/a>, and <\/span>going it along to eliminate his own rivals<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Chapter 24\u2019s interaction embodies both sides of Joab\u2019s relationship with David. On the one hand, David calls him to faithfully execute David\u2019s plan, and Joab does not act as if he has a choice in the matter. On the other, as he did in previous incidents, Joab knows that David is making a mistake. He protests, \u201cBut why should my lord king want this?\u201d\u00a0 Still, when David insists, he obeys.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The census is a massive undertaking with Joab and his men fanning out across the land (and across several verses): \u201cThey traversed the whole country, and then they came back to Jerusalem at the end of nine months and twenty days.\u201d Previously, Joab has had moments where he had to decide whether to obey the king, whether to kill a rival at an opportune moment, and how to serve a King bent on undermining his own interest.\u00a0 But the very banality of the census, combined with its duration, is something new: Joab\u2019s obedience lies not just in the moment of decision, but in the days, weeks, and months of methodical follow-through on a command he knows is wrong.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Joab is, of course, vindicated: The census was a mistake, as David himself recognizes in the very next verse. The remedy for that mistake lies between David and God, as David comes to terms with what it means to be a leader, and how to put himself on the line to protect his people.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Joab, for his part, never even gets to say \u201cI told you so.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

And with this image, we leave Joab and David\u2019s direct interactions: Joab unflinchingly, methodically obedient. David taking that obedience so for granted that it becomes almost invisible. And David still struggling with his own demons as a king, with Joab watching.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Joab and David never speak again (at least, no such conversation is recorded).\u00a0 But their history echoes into the beginning of I Kings, where we will pick up (and conclude) this series.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":60360,"alt":"","title":"2sam12-david and joab","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/gif","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/2sam12-david-and-joab.gif","width":625,"height":631,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/2sam12-david-and-joab-150x150.gif","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/2sam12-david-and-joab-297x300.gif","medium-width":297,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/2sam12-david-and-joab.gif","medium_large-width":625,"medium_large-height":631,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/2sam12-david-and-joab.gif","large-width":625,"large-height":631,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/2sam12-david-and-joab.gif","1536x1536-width":625,"1536x1536-height":631,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/2sam12-david-and-joab.gif","2048x2048-width":625,"2048x2048-height":631,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/2sam12-david-and-joab.gif","post_full_size-width":625,"post_full_size-height":631,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/2sam12-david-and-joab-416x420.gif","home_baner-width":416,"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":"Joab\u2019s Final Obedience","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"And Joab never even gets to say \u201cI told you so\u201d","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":60360,"alt":"","title":"2sam12-david and joab","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/gif","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/2sam12-david-and-joab.gif","width":625,"height":631,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/2sam12-david-and-joab-150x150.gif","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/2sam12-david-and-joab-297x300.gif","medium-width":297,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/2sam12-david-and-joab.gif","medium_large-width":625,"medium_large-height":631,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/2sam12-david-and-joab.gif","large-width":625,"large-height":631,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/2sam12-david-and-joab.gif","1536x1536-width":625,"1536x1536-height":631,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/2sam12-david-and-joab.gif","2048x2048-width":625,"2048x2048-height":631,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/2sam12-david-and-joab.gif","post_full_size-width":625,"post_full_size-height":631,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/2sam12-david-and-joab-416x420.gif","home_baner-width":416,"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":"24","chapter_main_number":"287","date":"20261005","wall_id":"287"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"689","name":"Census","old_id":"1089"},{"term_id":"900","name":"Joab","old_id":"1300"}]},{"order":6,"id":"61287","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"The Ideal Political Leader ","post_title":"The Ideal Political Leader","slug":"the-ideal-political-leader","old_id":"61287","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":"287","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Which we learn from David\u2019s failures as much as from his successes","post_main_content_content":"

The book of Samuel ends with one more story of David sinning, acknowledging his error and repenting. This time the king wanted to count the people which, as we know from Exodus 30, is liable to bring punishment, unless each person counted makes a half shekel contribution.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Before anyone rebukes him, David realizes he has done wrong, saying before God, \u201cI have sinned grievously\u2026I have acted foolishly.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

This capacity for self-judgment and change was one of David\u2019s most striking characteristics. He sins grievously a number of times in his life, abuses his power (most egregiously in the sin with Bathsheba) and thanks to disastrous misjudgements is nearly overthrown by his son Absalom. Yet David repeatedly recognizes his faults. He expresses pangs of conscience for having cut off the edge of Saul\u2019s robe, and relief that Abigail held him back from his plan to massacre Nabal and his men. Mostly famously, David confesses, \u201cI have sinned greatly\u201d when Nathan the prophet confronts David for his responsibility for Uriah the Hittite\u2019s death.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

This ability contrasts notably with his predecessor Saul\u2019s poor powers of self-criticism. In the counting episode David says, \u201c<\/span>I<\/span><\/i> have acted foolishly,\u201d whereas when Samuel rebukes Saul, the prophet has to tell the king, \u201c<\/span>you<\/span><\/i> have acted foolishly.\u201d (I Samuel 13)<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Maimonides, drawing on the Talmud, synthesized these biblical stories, the commandments on kingship from the Torah and their oral interpretations into a unified system of law and thought about the ideal Jewish monarchy, (which some have extended to Jewish government more generally.)\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

These teachings set a high bar for the moral and spiritual qualities of the king, insisting that despite the honour paid him, \u201chis heart should be humble\u00a0 within him,\u201d and that he should keep a Torah scroll with him at all times to consult and remind him of his subjection to a higher law than his own power and appetites.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

A clear distinction is made between kings from the house of David, who are under the jurisdiction of the legal system and other Jewish kings, who are not (Talmud Sanhedrin 19a, Maimonides, Laws of Kings 3:7.)\u00a0 Maimonides explains, based on the Talmud, that non-Davidic kings are not brought to court because they are proud-hearted; if you try and make them liable under the law, they will wreak disastrous damage on the legal system. Davidic kings, on the other hand, are held to have the humility needed to endure, and perhaps even welcome, the rebuke of law.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

David\u2019s acts of self-criticism and repentance, in this chapter and throughout his life, were I suggest, formative for the Torah\u2019s construction of the ideal political leader. The power to self-correct, to acknowledge a higher law, whether from within one\u2019s conscience or from an outside authority, and to change course, were enshrined as essential characteristics of the Jewish ruler envisaged by the tradition.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":61288,"alt":"","title":"2sam24-failure","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-failure.jpg","width":1920,"height":1220,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-failure-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-failure-300x191.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":191,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-failure-768x488.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":488,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-failure-1024x651.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":651,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-failure.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":976,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-failure.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1220,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-failure-1200x763.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":763,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-failure-661x420.jpg","home_baner-width":661,"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":"The Ideal Political Leader","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Which we learn from David\u2019s failures as much as from his successes","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":61288,"alt":"","title":"2sam24-failure","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-failure.jpg","width":1920,"height":1220,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-failure-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-failure-300x191.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":191,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-failure-768x488.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":488,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-failure-1024x651.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":651,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-failure.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":976,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-failure.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1220,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-failure-1200x763.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":763,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-failure-661x420.jpg","home_baner-width":661,"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":"24","chapter_main_number":"287","date":"20261005","wall_id":"287"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"400","name":"Sin","old_id":"800"},{"term_id":"571","name":"Repentance","old_id":"971"},{"term_id":"689","name":"Census","old_id":"1089"},{"term_id":"799","name":"confession","old_id":"1199"},{"term_id":"834","name":"David","old_id":"1234"},{"term_id":"835","name":"King","old_id":"1235"}]},{"order":7,"id":"61290","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"A Gift to the Next Generation ","post_title":"A Gift To The Next Generation","slug":"a-gift-to-the-next-generation","old_id":"61290","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":60052,"post_title":"Alon Meltzer","slug":"alon-meltzer","old_id":"60052","first_name":"Alon ","last_name":"Meltzer ","description":"Rabbi Alon Meltzer is the Rabbi of Or Chadash and Director of Programs at Shalom in hte Sydney, Australia Jewish Community. Alon holds ordination from Yeshiva University\u2019s RIETS, a Masters in Medieval Jewish History from Bernard Revel Graduate School, and a Masters in Sociology from the University of Auckland. ","short_description":"Rabbi Alon Meltzer is the Rabbi of Or Chadash and Director of Programs at Shalom in hte Sydney, Australia Jewish Community. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":60053,"alt":"","title":"alon meltzer","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/alon-meltzer.jpg","width":1383,"height":1583,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/alon-meltzer-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/alon-meltzer-262x300.jpg","medium-width":262,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/alon-meltzer-768x879.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":879,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/alon-meltzer-895x1024.jpg","large-width":895,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/alon-meltzer.jpg","1536x1536-width":1342,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/alon-meltzer.jpg","2048x2048-width":1383,"2048x2048-height":1583,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/alon-meltzer-1048x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":1048,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/alon-meltzer-367x420.jpg","home_baner-width":367,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"287","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"A conduit between heaven and earth","post_main_content_content":"

The final words of the book of Samuel II discuss the purchase of Araunah\u2019s threshing floor, the place that would become the Temple Mount. Reminiscent of the purchase of the burial site of the matriarchs and patriarchs, the Cave of Machpelah, between Abraham and Ephron, this tale concretizes the notion of the rightful, and eternal ownership of Jerusalem to the Jewish people.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

It is not surprising that this final act of the book of Samuel II, which chronicles the ups and downs of David\u2019s life, is an act of setting the terms of handover from one generation to the next. Solomon will soon become king, he will soon set in motion the desires of God discussed from the very beginning of David\u2019s kingship, the building of a permanent residence for God.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The Midrash explains that Jerusalem is the mirror image of a celestial city, representing the conduit point between heaven and earth.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The very rabbinic notion of the city is in fact the reality between David and God as displayed in this book of Samuel. David was the divine appointed, the conduit between the Jewish people and the Almighty. David\u2019s life and service to the Jewish people set in motion a continued relationship with Jerusalem, and therefore a continued relationship with God. Jerusalem despite her repeated destruction, would remain the focal point of Jewish prayer throughout the ages, and as such, a concrete way in which to maintain a relationship with God.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Yes, the most pious would have never faltered in their service to God no matter the trials inflicted upon us. But for many people throughout history, without a physical conduit to God through the aspirational Jerusalem, abandoning our faith and people would have been a real possibility.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

David does not know what trials and tribulations would be presented to his son, but what he does know, is that firmly establishing Jerusalem as the conduit between the next generation and God, is the greatest gift he could present Solomon.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

image: William Brassey Hole, King David purchasing the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite,<\/em> c. early 20th century<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":61291,"alt":"","title":"2sam24-Hole_King_David_Threshing","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-Hole_King_David_Threshing.jpg","width":431,"height":600,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-Hole_King_David_Threshing-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-Hole_King_David_Threshing-216x300.jpg","medium-width":216,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-Hole_King_David_Threshing.jpg","medium_large-width":431,"medium_large-height":600,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-Hole_King_David_Threshing.jpg","large-width":431,"large-height":600,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-Hole_King_David_Threshing.jpg","1536x1536-width":431,"1536x1536-height":600,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-Hole_King_David_Threshing.jpg","2048x2048-width":431,"2048x2048-height":600,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-Hole_King_David_Threshing.jpg","post_full_size-width":431,"post_full_size-height":600,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-Hole_King_David_Threshing-302x420.jpg","home_baner-width":302,"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":"A Gift To The Next Generation","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"A conduit between heaven and earth","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":61291,"alt":"","title":"2sam24-Hole_King_David_Threshing","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-Hole_King_David_Threshing.jpg","width":431,"height":600,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-Hole_King_David_Threshing-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-Hole_King_David_Threshing-216x300.jpg","medium-width":216,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-Hole_King_David_Threshing.jpg","medium_large-width":431,"medium_large-height":600,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-Hole_King_David_Threshing.jpg","large-width":431,"large-height":600,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-Hole_King_David_Threshing.jpg","1536x1536-width":431,"1536x1536-height":600,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-Hole_King_David_Threshing.jpg","2048x2048-width":431,"2048x2048-height":600,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-Hole_King_David_Threshing.jpg","post_full_size-width":431,"post_full_size-height":600,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-Hole_King_David_Threshing-302x420.jpg","home_baner-width":302,"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":"24","chapter_main_number":"287","date":"20261005","wall_id":"287"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"384","name":"God","old_id":"784"},{"term_id":"635","name":"Jerusalem","old_id":"1035"},{"term_id":"834","name":"David","old_id":"1234"}]},{"order":8,"id":"61296","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Tenacious Optimism ","post_title":"Tenacious Optimism","slug":"tenacious-optimism","old_id":"61296","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":34245,"post_title":"Rachel Sharansky Danziger","slug":"rachel-sharansky-danziger","old_id":"34245","first_name":"Rachel Sharansky","last_name":"Danziger","description":"Rachel Sharansky Danziger is a Jerusalem-born writer and speaker who blogs about Judaism, parenting, and life in Israel. She currently lives in Boston, where she teaches about storytelling in the bible and the subversive depths of Hebrew words.\r\n","short_description":"Rachel Sharansky Danziger is a Jerusalem-born Boston-based writer and speaker about Judaism, parenting, and life in Israel. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":34246,"alt":"","title":"RSDanziger","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/RSDanziger.jpg","width":1171,"height":1769,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/RSDanziger-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/RSDanziger-199x300.jpg","medium-width":199,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/RSDanziger-678x1024.jpg","medium_large-width":678,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/RSDanziger-678x1024.jpg","large-width":678,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/RSDanziger.jpg","1536x1536-width":1017,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/RSDanziger.jpg","2048x2048-width":1171,"2048x2048-height":1769,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/RSDanziger-794x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":794,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/RSDanziger-278x420.jpg","home_baner-width":278,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"287","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"David, who once battled lions and bears, now stands up to God","post_main_content_content":"

When David faces Gad and tells him \u201ctzar li me\u2019od<\/em>\u201d (24:14) - 'it is very narrow for me' or 'I am in dire straits' - his words evoke a sense of helplessness, of being crushed underneath events that can\u2019t be mitigated, or avoided. God Himself decreed a form of suffering; what can David do, but acknowledge his helplessness, and face the pain to come?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

But this has never been King David's way. When Nathan informed him that his infant son will die because of his affair with Bathsheba, David acknowledged his guilt, but refused to\u00a0 accept God's harsh sentence. He prayed for forgiveness until his infant\u2019s death, explaining later that \"while the child was yet alive... I said, Who can tell? God may be gracious to me, and the child may live\u201d (12:22).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Where is this tenacious optimism now? David's people are \u2018yet alive\u2019. Why does he meekly accept their coming death?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Instead of resembling his own earlier conduct, David\u2019s response echoes king Saul\u2019s fatalism in his final confrontation with Samuel. Then, too, a king faced the prophet who anointed him, and said \u201ctzar li me\u2019od<\/em>.\u201d Like David in his conversation with Gad, Saul didn\u2019t argue when Samuel informed him that due to Saul\u2019s failures he, his sons, and many others will die come morning. He accepted God\u2019s judgement and rode on his way.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

This echo of Saul leaves us with a sense of tragic inevitability: David, we might conclude, has finally become that which he had been selected to replace. After facing the kind of insurrections and oppositions which he himself had brought into Saul\u2019s life, he has apparently lost the very dynamism that set him apart from the king he deposed.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

But David\u2019s Saul-like resignation doesn\u2019t last. \u201cWhen David saw the angel who was striking down the people\u201d the David of old reappeared. \u201cI alone am guilty,\u201d he told God, echoing his bold admission of guilt when Nathan confronted him about Batsheba. \u201cI alone have done wrong; but these poor sheep, what have they done? Let Your hand fall upon me and my father\u2019s house!\u2019\u201d (24:17)<\/span><\/p>\r\n

With these words, the despondent and helpless man gives way to the consummate shepherd we met before David\u2019s battle with Goliath, who once battled lions and bears to protect his flock --- and now stands up to God Himself. David pushes against the walls that force on him a sense of narrowness. And in doing so he breaks away from the predetermined, already-trodden, stories of the past.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":61297,"alt":"","title":"2sam24-lion and bear","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-lion-and-bear.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-lion-and-bear-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-lion-and-bear-300x169.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":169,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-lion-and-bear-768x432.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":432,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-lion-and-bear-1024x576.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":576,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-lion-and-bear.jpg","1536x1536-width":1280,"1536x1536-height":720,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-lion-and-bear.jpg","2048x2048-width":1280,"2048x2048-height":720,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-lion-and-bear-1200x675.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":675,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-lion-and-bear-747x420.jpg","home_baner-width":747,"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":"Tenacious Optimism","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"David, who once battled lions and bears, now stands up to God","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":61297,"alt":"","title":"2sam24-lion and bear","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-lion-and-bear.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-lion-and-bear-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-lion-and-bear-300x169.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":169,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-lion-and-bear-768x432.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":432,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-lion-and-bear-1024x576.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":576,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-lion-and-bear.jpg","1536x1536-width":1280,"1536x1536-height":720,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-lion-and-bear.jpg","2048x2048-width":1280,"2048x2048-height":720,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-lion-and-bear-1200x675.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":675,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-lion-and-bear-747x420.jpg","home_baner-width":747,"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":"24","chapter_main_number":"287","date":"20261005","wall_id":"287"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"384","name":"God","old_id":"784"},{"term_id":"451","name":"Hope","old_id":"851"},{"term_id":"834","name":"David","old_id":"1234"}]},{"order":9,"id":"61304","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"One Of The Seven Shepherds ","post_title":"One Of The Seven Shepherds","slug":"one-of-the-seven-shepherds","old_id":"61304","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":46656,"post_title":"Molly Morris","slug":"molly-morris","old_id":"46656","first_name":"Molly ","last_name":"Morris ","description":"Molly Morris holds a Masters degree in Leadership and Community Engagement. Her particular area of interest is biblical leadership. Molly participates in the 929 initiative with a dedicated group from the Beth Avraham Yoseph of Toronto congregation. \r\n\r\n","short_description":"Molly Morris holds a Masters degree in Leadership and Community Engagement. Molly participates in the 929 initiative with a dedicated group from the Beth Avraham Yoseph of Toronto congregation. \r\n\r\n","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":92561,"alt":"","title":"molly morris","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris.jpg","width":2192,"height":2488,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris-264x300.jpg","medium-width":264,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris-768x872.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":872,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris-902x1024.jpg","large-width":902,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris.jpg","1536x1536-width":1353,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris.jpg","2048x2048-width":1804,"2048x2048-height":2048,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris-1057x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":1057,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris-370x420.jpg","home_baner-width":370,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"287","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Yet David\u2019s legacy is as singularly unique as the man himself","post_main_content_content":"

The penultimate verse in the final chapter of Samuel relates to King David\u2019s purchase of the land on which the Temple will stand. David already knows that it will be his son, Solomon, who builds the Temple, not he himself (2 Samuel Chapter 7), and he is OK with that. In fact, immediately after getting that news, David began collecting materials for the Temple of the future (8:6-7). With respect to the land he\u2019s now purchasing, the land-owner is prepared to give it to David, but David insists on paying full value.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

More importantly, although he\u2019s a wealthy King who could afford to just buy the land outright, our Sages explain that, in fact, David divvied up the cost between all 12 tribes. The Temple would not be David\u2019s Temple, nor Solomon\u2019s Temple as it\u2019s often referred to, it would in fact belong, legally and physically, to the entirety of the Jewish people.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

When we mourn the loss of the Temple and all it stood for on Tisha B\u2019Av, we weren\u2019t mourning the loss of THE Temple, we were mourning the loss of OUR Temple.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Following that penultimate verse is confirmation that God answered David\u2019s prayers for the salvation of his people. These final two verses of 2 Samuel are what should underscore our ultimate understanding of David\u2019s life. Throughout his hardships, foibles and missteps, of which there were many, is the ever-present knowledge that David was chosen by God, first to be a King over Israel, and to be for eternity the lineage from which our Messiah will come.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Our Sages describe David as one of the seven shepherds of our nation, in the same company as Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Aaron and Joseph. And yet this Book goes to great lengths to describe an imperfect leader, struggling with his own moral and spiritual challenges, often with short-term unsuccessful outcomes, yet always striving to better his character and the moral backbone of his nation. David\u2019s legacy, unlike any of his predecessors or any leader to follow, is as singularly unique as the man himself. This warrior, King, nation-leader, imperfect human-being, was also a sensitive poet and composer, whose volume of Psalms (Tehillim) is to this day a foundation of heartfelt prayer offered to God by the Jewish people. Like He did for David in the final verse of this Book, may God also answer the prayers of those who invoke David\u2019s words and vision.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

image: stylized depiction of\u00a0Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Aaron, Joseph and David.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":61305,"alt":"","title":"2sam24-7 shepherds","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-7-shepherds.jpg","width":700,"height":379,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-7-shepherds-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-7-shepherds-300x162.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":162,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-7-shepherds.jpg","medium_large-width":700,"medium_large-height":379,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-7-shepherds.jpg","large-width":700,"large-height":379,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-7-shepherds.jpg","1536x1536-width":700,"1536x1536-height":379,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-7-shepherds.jpg","2048x2048-width":700,"2048x2048-height":379,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-7-shepherds.jpg","post_full_size-width":700,"post_full_size-height":379,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-7-shepherds.jpg","home_baner-width":700,"home_baner-height":379}},"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":"One Of The Seven Shepherds","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Yet David\u2019s legacy is as singularly unique as the man himself","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":61305,"alt":"","title":"2sam24-7 shepherds","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-7-shepherds.jpg","width":700,"height":379,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-7-shepherds-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-7-shepherds-300x162.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":162,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-7-shepherds.jpg","medium_large-width":700,"medium_large-height":379,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-7-shepherds.jpg","large-width":700,"large-height":379,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-7-shepherds.jpg","1536x1536-width":700,"1536x1536-height":379,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-7-shepherds.jpg","2048x2048-width":700,"2048x2048-height":379,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-7-shepherds.jpg","post_full_size-width":700,"post_full_size-height":379,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-7-shepherds.jpg","home_baner-width":700,"home_baner-height":379}},"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":"24","chapter_main_number":"287","date":"20261005","wall_id":"287"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"402","name":"Leadership","old_id":"802"},{"term_id":"437","name":"Prayer","old_id":"837"},{"term_id":"778","name":"Temple","old_id":"1178"},{"term_id":"834","name":"David","old_id":"1234"}]},{"order":10,"id":"61293","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"2","name":"Flashback and Foreshadowing ","post_title":"Flashback And Foreshadowing","slug":"flashback-and-foreshadowing","old_id":"61293","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":61002,"post_title":"Yogev Bar-Gad","slug":"yogev-bar-gad","old_id":"61002","first_name":"Yogev ","last_name":"Bar-Gad","description":"Yogev Bar-Gad is a lawyer and a Torah lecturer.","short_description":"Yogev Bar-Gad is a lawyer and a Torah lecturer.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":61003,"alt":"","title":"yogev bar gad","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/yogev-bar-gad.jpg","width":431,"height":582,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/yogev-bar-gad-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/yogev-bar-gad-222x300.jpg","medium-width":222,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/yogev-bar-gad.jpg","medium_large-width":431,"medium_large-height":582,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/yogev-bar-gad.jpg","large-width":431,"large-height":582,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/yogev-bar-gad.jpg","1536x1536-width":431,"1536x1536-height":582,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/yogev-bar-gad.jpg","2048x2048-width":431,"2048x2048-height":582,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/yogev-bar-gad.jpg","post_full_size-width":431,"post_full_size-height":582,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/yogev-bar-gad-311x420.jpg","home_baner-width":311,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"287","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"A tale of three prophets, two kings, and a Temple","post_main_content_content":"

Three prophets influenced the life of David. First was Samuel, who met young David as a shepherd and told him secretly that he was chosen by God to replace King Saul. Samuel died before his prophecy came true.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Second was Gad, who met the young David after his marriage to Princess Michal and his clash with her royal father, while David and his parents were escaping to Moab, and called David back.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Third was Nathan, who met the adult David as a king in Jerusalem, blamed him for his severe sin regarding Uriah and Bathsheba, and a few years later helped Bathsheba's son, Solomon, to be chosen by old King David as his successor.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Surprisingly, the last few chapters of 2 Samuel book are not chronological. They are not dealing with old King David nor with Nathan the prophet, but with young King David and the prophet Gad.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

This is especially true in our chapter, in which Gad gives young King David the opportunity to choose from three optional punishments, and guides David how to stop the chosen punishment.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Behind this flashback there seems to be a desire to connect the last story of our book \u2013 2 Samuel \u2013 to the coming stories of the next book \u2013 Kings.\u00a0 By ending our book with the story about King David buying the top of Mount Zion and building an altar for God on it, our chapter builds a bridge to the Book of Kings that tells about building a Temple for God at the same exact place, but by David's son \u2013 King Solomon<\/span>.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\r\n

Image: <\/span>Protasov AN\/Shutterstock.com<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":61294,"alt":"","title":"2sam24-jerusalem","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-jerusalem.jpg","width":1022,"height":1024,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-jerusalem-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-jerusalem-300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-jerusalem-768x770.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":770,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-jerusalem-1022x1024.jpg","large-width":1022,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-jerusalem.jpg","1536x1536-width":1022,"1536x1536-height":1024,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-jerusalem.jpg","2048x2048-width":1022,"2048x2048-height":1024,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-jerusalem.jpg","post_full_size-width":1022,"post_full_size-height":1024,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-jerusalem-419x420.jpg","home_baner-width":419,"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":"Flashback And Foreshadowing","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"A tale of three prophets, two kings, and a Temple","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":61294,"alt":"","title":"2sam24-jerusalem","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-jerusalem.jpg","width":1022,"height":1024,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-jerusalem-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-jerusalem-300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-jerusalem-768x770.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":770,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-jerusalem-1022x1024.jpg","large-width":1022,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-jerusalem.jpg","1536x1536-width":1022,"1536x1536-height":1024,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-jerusalem.jpg","2048x2048-width":1022,"2048x2048-height":1024,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-jerusalem.jpg","post_full_size-width":1022,"post_full_size-height":1024,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-jerusalem-419x420.jpg","home_baner-width":419,"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":"24","chapter_main_number":"287","date":"20261005","wall_id":"287"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"390","name":"Prophets","old_id":"790"},{"term_id":"778","name":"Temple","old_id":"1178"},{"term_id":"834","name":"David","old_id":"1234"}]},{"order":11,"id":"113390","color":"#f6edf6","size":"1","name":"The Tanakh Podcast-IISam24 ","post_title":"The Tanakh Podcast-IISam24","slug":"the-tanakh-podcast-iisam24","old_id":"113390","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":"287","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 24: Who Chose Jerusalem - David Or God?","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"This final chapter gives us yet another sin of David, and another admission of guilt! And an echo of the Akedah. What does it all mean?","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\/0x06iOgvw1hKuLnTuT5U2s","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":"24","chapter_main_number":"287","date":"20261005","wall_id":"287"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"589","name":"audio","old_id":"989"},{"term_id":"857","name":"podcast","old_id":"1257"}]},{"order":12,"id":"61301","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"A Senseless Census and a Problem of Theodicy ","post_title":"A Senseless Census And A Problem of Theodicy","slug":"a-senseless-census-and-a-problem-of-theodicy","old_id":"61301","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":"287","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"A challenge for readers through the ages","post_main_content_content":"

In this chapter, David commissioned a census and suffered its consequences. One verse and one moral from this chapter are of particular note.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Verse 14 is noteworthy because it is the liturgical introduction to Psalm 6, which is the quintessential prayer of supplication (<\/span>tachanun<\/span><\/em>) over whose recitation (or, more commonly, omission) daily worshippers are wont to good-naturedly argue. The noteworthy moral relates to the reason for which David was supplicating to the Lord, i.e., to ameliorate the consequences of the census he had conducted. The Torah seems to anticipate the need to conduct a census and stipulates, \u201cWhenever you do a per capita census of the Children of Israel, let each of them pay a poll tax of half a shekel to the Lord in lieu of a head count, lest a plague break out on account of the head count\u201d (Exodus 30:12). Indeed, it seems to be such a mundane matter that Rashi, here, expressed his perplexity over its lethal outcome, saying \u201cI do not know what they did [wrong].\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In many respects, this situation is reminiscent of one we encountered in chapter 21. There, we read how God brought a multi-year famine on Israel on account of a wrong that Saul had perpetrated against the Gibeonites, and how David sought to rectify the situation by handing over seven of Saul\u2019s descendants for execution. Here, too, the Torah seems to say its piece unequivocally, \u201cChildren shall not be put to death on account [of the crimes] of their parents\u201d (Deut. 24:16). In both cases, then, we confront the challenge philosophers and theologians call theodicy: God\u2019s administration of justice, which becomes particularly trenchant when we consider the stipulation that \u201cGod incited David, saying go count the people\u201d (1).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The medieval exegetes were also alert to this, and offered the following explanation.\u00a0 It is permissible to conduct a census for a constructive purpose; it is prohibited to do so for no good reason\u2014and David had no good reason. Therefore, it would appear that the only objective he could have had was to satisfy his own need for self-gratification (\u201clook at how many people I rule over!\u201d) and that incurred a penalty for both him and for those who willingly participated in it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

But if you are still troubled by the problem of vicarious punishment, you are in the company of Rashi, and how bad can that be?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Image: William Blake, The Good and Evil Angels, c.1805 \/\u00a0 CC-BY-NC-ND \u00a9 Tate<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":61302,"alt":"","title":"2sam24-blake angels","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-blake-angels.jpg","width":1400,"height":840,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-blake-angels-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-blake-angels-300x180.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":180,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-blake-angels-768x461.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":461,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-blake-angels-1024x614.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":614,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-blake-angels.jpg","1536x1536-width":1400,"1536x1536-height":840,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-blake-angels.jpg","2048x2048-width":1400,"2048x2048-height":840,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-blake-angels-1200x720.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":720,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-blake-angels-700x420.jpg","home_baner-width":700,"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":"A Senseless Census And A Problem of Theodicy","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"A challenge for readers through the ages","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":61302,"alt":"","title":"2sam24-blake angels","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-blake-angels.jpg","width":1400,"height":840,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-blake-angels-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-blake-angels-300x180.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":180,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-blake-angels-768x461.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":461,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-blake-angels-1024x614.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":614,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-blake-angels.jpg","1536x1536-width":1400,"1536x1536-height":840,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-blake-angels.jpg","2048x2048-width":1400,"2048x2048-height":840,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-blake-angels-1200x720.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":720,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-blake-angels-700x420.jpg","home_baner-width":700,"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":"24","chapter_main_number":"287","date":"20261005","wall_id":"287"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"366","name":"Commentators","old_id":"766"},{"term_id":"400","name":"Sin","old_id":"800"},{"term_id":"547","name":"Punishment","old_id":"947"},{"term_id":"689","name":"Census","old_id":"1089"}]},{"order":13,"id":"60813","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Biblical Snapshots: All's Well That Ends Well? ","post_title":"Biblical Snapshots: All's Well That Ends Well?","slug":"biblical-snapshots-alls-well-that-ends-well","old_id":"60813","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":"287","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\/R6GBCduzjzw","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 24: All's Well That Ends Well?","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"with Adam Mintz ","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":"","tile_preview_video":"https:\/\/youtu.be\/R6GBCduzjzw","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":"24","chapter_main_number":"287","date":"20261005","wall_id":"287"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"369","name":"Visual Arts","old_id":"769"}]},{"order":14,"id":"61196","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"An Arbitrarily Punitive God, Accompanied By Hocus-Pocus ","post_title":"An Arbitrarily Punitive God, Accompanied By Hocus-Pocus","slug":"an-arbitrarily-punitive-god-accompanied-by-hocus-pocus","old_id":"61196","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":"287","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Prophet or no prophet","post_main_content_content":"

24:11 \u201cAnd David arose in the morning, and the word of the Lord had come to Gad the prophet, David\u2019s seer, saying\u2026\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Commentary: Gad was mentioned earlier (1 Samuel 22:5). His appearance here by no means warrants the claim by Kyle McCarter, Jr., and others that this story is the work of a \u201cprophetic\u201d writer. Visionary intermediaries between king and God were a common assumption in the ancient world. Gad is called \u201cseer\u201d (<\/span>hozeh<\/span><\/i>), not the way prophetic writers would ordinarily think of prophets (and also not the term used for Samuel in 1 Samuel 9). Above all, the prophetic current in biblical literature does not presuppose either this kind of arbitrarily punitive God or the accompanying hocus-pocus with choices of punishment and divine messengers of destruction visible to the human characters.<\/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":"An Arbitrarily Punitive God, Accompanied By Hocus-Pocus","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Prophet or no prophet","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":"24","chapter_main_number":"287","date":"20261005","wall_id":"287"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"506","name":"Prophecy","old_id":"906"}]},{"order":15,"id":"59850","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Sefaria Source Sheets - II Samuel 24 ","post_title":"Sefaria Source Sheets - II Samuel 24","slug":"sefaria-source-sheets-ii-samuel-24","old_id":"59850","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":"287","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"","post_main_content_content":"

\u201cOrigins of Jewish demography: Censuses in Tanakh\u201d<\/a><\/u> by Ezra Fishman: The Biblical history of counting the Jewish people.<\/p>\r\n

\u201cWitches, Spirits, and Magick, Oh My! A Torah Perspective of all things Halloween\u201d<\/a><\/u> by David Neff: Explore Jewish texts about all things spooky.<\/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 24","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":"24","chapter_main_number":"287","date":"20261005","wall_id":"287"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":16,"id":"60509","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"A Lesson on the Daily Chapter- II Samuel 24 ","post_title":"A Lesson on the Daily Chapter- II Samuel 24","slug":"a-lesson-on-the-daily-chapter-ii-samuel-24","old_id":"60509","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":"287","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 24","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-24","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":"24","chapter_main_number":"287","date":"20261005","wall_id":"287"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":17,"id":"61195","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Points to Ponder - II Samuel 24 ","post_title":"Points to Ponder - II Samuel 24","slug":"points-to-ponder-ii-samuel-24","old_id":"61195","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":"287","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"","post_main_content_content":"

    \r\n\t
  1. No fair!<\/em> If David is the one who sins, why punish the whole people? Or as David himself puts it in verse 17: \u201cWhen David saw the angel who was striking down the people, he said to the LORD, \u201cI alone am guilty, I alone have done wrong; but these poor sheep, what have they done? Let Your hand fall upon me and my father\u2019s house!\u201d Verse 1 provides a sort of answer, which raises other questions about justice. For some reason, God is angry at Israel, and David\u2019s actions transfer the punishment to them, they don\u2019t cause it.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
  2. Senseless census<\/em>. What\u2019s the problem with a census? The story seems to assume that the reader completely understands. And true, if we were paying attention 207 chapters ago (Exodus 30) to the story of the half shekel, that is both the atonement and the monetary proxy for a direct census, in order that \u201cthat no plague may come upon them through their being enrolled [= counted].\u201d<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
  3. Questions,\u00a0 but obeys<\/em>. This isn\u2019t the first time that Joab challenges a decision of David\u2019s. But this time he does it politely, and in the end defers to David, who sticks to his guns. In another 600 chapters, in the reprise of this story in Chronicles (I - 23), Joab will be more insistent, but will still carry out the order.<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
  4. Don\u2019t do me any favors<\/em>. Or give me presents. David insists on buying the threshing floor and all the necessaries for a sacrifice, and not to be gifted them by Araunah: \u201cI will buy them from you at a price. I cannot sacrifice to the LORD my God burnt offerings that have cost me nothing\u201d (verse 24), just like Abraham who insisted on buying the Cave of Machpelah.<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
  5. Spoiler<\/em>. There is no hint of it in this chapter, but fyi: on the threshing floor of Araunah, exactly in the place where the angel stood, and an altar was constructed, and the plague was checked, there is where the Temple will be built. Stay with us...<\/span><\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n

    Chazak! End of II Samuel - on to Kings!<\/span><\/p>","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 24","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":"24","chapter_main_number":"287","date":"20261005","wall_id":"287"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false}],"static_cube_title":"","static_cube_brief":"","static_cube_color":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wall\/60980"}],"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=60980"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}