{"id":60984,"date":"2018-07-09T17:44:01","date_gmt":"2018-07-09T14:44:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wall\/wall-284\/"},"modified":"2023-03-08T08:46:37","modified_gmt":"2023-03-08T06:46:37","slug":"wall-284","status":"publish","type":"wall","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wall\/wall-284\/","title":{"rendered":"chapter-Prophets-II Samuel-21"},"parent":0,"template":"","acf":{"type":"chapter","wall_id":"284","date":"20260930","book":"II Samuel","chapter":"21","chapter_main_number":"284","books_group":"Prophets","posts":[{"order":1,"id":"60457","color":"#f8ebe3","size":"1","name":"JPS Audio Bible - II Samuel Chapter 21 ","post_title":"JPS Audio Bible - II Samuel Chapter 21","slug":"jps-audio-bible-ii-samuel-chapter-21","old_id":"60457","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":"284","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 21","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_21","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":"21","chapter_main_number":"284","date":"20260930","wall_id":"284"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":2,"id":"113224","color":"#effaea","size":"1","name":"Purim Public, Private And Personal ","post_title":"Purim Public, Private And Personal","slug":"purim-public-private-and-personal-2","old_id":"113224","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":62571,"post_title":"Yaakov Bieler","slug":"yaakov-bieler","old_id":"62571","first_name":"Yaakov ","last_name":"Bieler ","description":"Rabbi Yaakov Bieler has been involved in Jewish education and the synagogue Rabbinate in New York, NY and Silver Spring, MD since being ordained by Yeshiva University in 1974. 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","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":62572,"alt":"","title":"OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler.jpg","width":141,"height":180,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler-141x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":141,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler.jpg","medium-width":141,"medium-height":180,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler.jpg","medium_large-width":141,"medium_large-height":180,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler.jpg","large-width":141,"large-height":180,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler.jpg","1536x1536-width":141,"1536x1536-height":180,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler.jpg","2048x2048-width":141,"2048x2048-height":180,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler.jpg","post_full_size-width":141,"post_full_size-height":180,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler.jpg","home_baner-width":141,"home_baner-height":180}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"284","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"There are actually many types of special \u2018Purims\u2019\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

Esther 9 both delineates the Jewish annual commemoration of Purim (see verses 20-22 and 27-8), and also sets a precedent for additional annual remembrances of events that may have been life-threatening and which Jews managed to survive (see e.g.,<\/span> Special Purims<\/span><\/a>). Consequently, \u201cPurim\u201d not only refers to the holiday commemorated annually by the entire Jewish people due to the thwarting of the evil intentions of Haman, but also individually, to those days when a family patriarch or a community\u2019s leadership wishes that their descendants give thanks for the continued existence of the group. The personal \u201cPurim\u201d makes these celebrations \u201creligious\u201d, and attributes to God the salvation of those who managed to \u201cweather the storm.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

However, a difficulty then arises. God, by attaching His name to the Jewish nation, i.e., \u201cYisra-El\u201d (see Genesis 32:29,) proclaims that Jews will never die out because He never will; but God does not state where Jews are to live. Life in the Diaspora, with Purim serving as a prime example of Jewish vulnerability when residing outside of their homeland, is not supposed to be forever, since this was initiated by Jews\u2019 own sinful behavior, and is to end as soon as they fully repent, or relocate due to anti-Semitism or their own choices.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Therefore, private \u201cPurim\u201ds, be they in Libya, Turkey, Egypt, Czechoslovakia, northern Italy, or Tunisia, etc., cannot be permanent because these cannot eternally be homes for the Jews. Likewise, family Purims too cannot be projected to necessarily go on forever, due to issues like a lack of fecundity, assimilation, waning interest, etc. So while Esther and Mordechai\u2019s Purim should continue to be celebrated wherever Jewish life exists, what will happen to the private \u201cPurims\u201d when either communities relocate, or families wither away?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Just as days of mourning associated with various public executions and pogroms continue to be observed only as long as those Jewish communities exist, but over the course of time, are no longer practiced, and even are forgotten by everyone but the students of Jewish history,\u00a0 will this also be the case for personal \u201cPurim\u201ds?<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":97534,"alt":"","title":"est9-purim","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/est9-purim.png","width":445,"height":295,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/est9-purim-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/est9-purim-300x199.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":199,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/est9-purim.png","medium_large-width":445,"medium_large-height":295,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/est9-purim.png","large-width":445,"large-height":295,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/est9-purim.png","1536x1536-width":445,"1536x1536-height":295,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/est9-purim.png","2048x2048-width":445,"2048x2048-height":295,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/est9-purim.png","post_full_size-width":445,"post_full_size-height":295,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/est9-purim.png","home_baner-width":445,"home_baner-height":295}},"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":"Purim Public, Private And Personal","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"There are actually many types of special \u2018Purims\u2019","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":97534,"alt":"","title":"est9-purim","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/est9-purim.png","width":445,"height":295,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/est9-purim-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/est9-purim-300x199.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":199,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/est9-purim.png","medium_large-width":445,"medium_large-height":295,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/est9-purim.png","large-width":445,"large-height":295,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/est9-purim.png","1536x1536-width":445,"1536x1536-height":295,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/est9-purim.png","2048x2048-width":445,"2048x2048-height":295,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/est9-purim.png","post_full_size-width":445,"post_full_size-height":295,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/est9-purim.png","home_baner-width":445,"home_baner-height":295}},"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":"21","chapter_main_number":"284","date":"20260930","wall_id":"284"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":3,"id":"113289","color":"#f6edf6","size":"1","name":"Human Sacrifice ","post_title":"Human Sacrifice","slug":"human-sacrifice","old_id":"113289","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. 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Chapter 21 reads differently from the previous chapters. Until this point, the chapters were written in simple chronological order, describing the trajectory of the reign of David. The second part of the chapter is a summary of certain battles with the Philistines. These battles seem to take place over the course of David\u2019s entire life, as they mention the battle against Goliath. They are not battles that occur chronologically after chapter 20.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The first part of the chapter too is different, in that it relates a bizarre tale of David and Gibeonites. This story also seems out of place chronologically and may have happened earlier on. There is a famine in the land and David asks God for the reason behind the punishment. God responds that it is punishment for Saul killing members of the Gibeonites in violation of the promise made between Joshua and the Gibeonites. The text is unclear as to why this famine is happening now, and why David is being punished for the actions of Saul.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

To appease the Gibeonites, David selects descendants of Saul to be tortured and executed by them. The select group seems arbitrary except for the fact that David specifically avoids picking Mephiboshet because of his promise to Jonathan. Instead, he picks two sons of Rizpah, Saul\u2019s concubine and five sons of Merab. Poor Rizpah has been on the wrong side of a few stories in the life of David and Merab has fallen far from being David\u2019s first wife.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

How could David just select random people for death? These people were not responsible for the killings. The Talmud, in Yevamot, has the same problem and explains that David did not choose these people himself. Instead, all the descendants of Saul walked by the Ark, and the \u201cguilty\u201d ones were selected out. This is similar to the story of how Joshua divined who stole the booty from Jericho.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The problem with this answer is that the text says that David specifically did not select Mephiboshet. That seems to go against the selection process in the gemara. The gemara anticipates this and explains that David did not <\/span>not<\/span><\/em> select Mephiboshet. Instead, David instructed Mephiboshet not to come to the selection ceremony, just in case the Ark would select him. 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","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":41526,"alt":"","title":"sivan rotholz","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sivan-rotholz.jpg","width":320,"height":312,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sivan-rotholz-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sivan-rotholz-300x293.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":293,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sivan-rotholz.jpg","medium_large-width":320,"medium_large-height":312,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sivan-rotholz.jpg","large-width":320,"large-height":312,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sivan-rotholz.jpg","1536x1536-width":320,"1536x1536-height":312,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sivan-rotholz.jpg","2048x2048-width":320,"2048x2048-height":312,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sivan-rotholz.jpg","post_full_size-width":320,"post_full_size-height":312,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sivan-rotholz.jpg","home_baner-width":320,"home_baner-height":312}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"284","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"And to prove a mother\u2019s love to be the most powerful force in a book about men\u2019s power","post_main_content_content":"

In 2 Samuel David famously cries, \u201cAbsalom, Absalom!\u201d But when I read this book, I grieve for the women. For<\/span> Michal, who falls victim to men\u2019s political power<\/span><\/a>. For<\/span> Bathsheba, who suffers in silence<\/span><\/a>. For<\/span> Tamar, whose life ends where male entitlement begins<\/span><\/a>. For these women\u2014and for all of us\u2014I have dedicated this eight-part series to the women of 2 Samuel. Today I conclude this project with one of the book\u2019s most heartbreaking tales\u2014as faced by one of its most stalwart women\u2014Rizpah the mother.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

When we enter 2 Samuel 21, David\u2019s kingdom has been suffering a famine for three years. The remedy, David is told, is to hand over seven of Saul\u2019s sons to the Gibeonites to be sacrificed.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

And the king took the two sons of Rizpah\u2026 whom she had born to Saul... and the five sons of Merab daughter of Saul\u2026 And he gave them into the hands of the Gibeonites, and they impaled them on the hill before the LORD... And they were put to death in the first days of the harvest\u2026<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Focusing on the personal, 2 Samuel 21 tells the story of two mothers who lose every last one of their sons.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

And Rizpah\u2026 took sackcloth and [made a little tent for herself] from the beginning of the harvest till the waters poured down on them from the heavens, and she did not allow the fowl of the heavens to settle on them by day nor the beasts of the field by night.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Rizpah\u2019s sons were brutally murdered. Impaled and strung up for all to see. And when no one took their bodies down\u2014when the Gibeonites and David alike failed to honor the dead by interning their bodies\u2014Rizpah sat vigil. The grieving mother made herself a home on the hillside beneath her dead sons and stayed by their side, protecting them.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Biblical scholar Robert Alter points out that \u201cthe beginning of the barley harvest,\u201d when the murders took place, \u201cwould be in April. The bereaved Rizpah then watches over the corpses throughout the hot months of the summer, until the rains return\u2026 in the fall.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

From spring until fall, a mother sits beside the bodies of her murdered sons. Beneath their shadows, bearing the unimaginable weight of a mother\u2019s grief, she sits until she sees justice done for them.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Today, Rizpah might be<\/span> Sybrina Fulton dedicating her life to fighting for justice<\/span><\/a> after the senseless murder of her son Trayvon Martin. She could be any mother who lost her child to gun violence, to police brutality or homophobia, to forced separations at the hands of ICE. In the wake of the greatest loss a mother can experience\u2014and amidst unimaginable suffering\u2014Rizpah was at once a tragic figure and a hero, her mother\u2019s love quietly proving to be the most powerful force in a book about men\u2019s power.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

 <\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":61050,"alt":"","title":"2sam21-grief","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam21-grief.jpg","width":1440,"height":1920,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam21-grief-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam21-grief-225x300.jpg","medium-width":225,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam21-grief-768x1024.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam21-grief-768x1024.jpg","large-width":768,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam21-grief.jpg","1536x1536-width":1152,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam21-grief.jpg","2048x2048-width":1440,"2048x2048-height":1920,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam21-grief-900x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":900,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam21-grief-315x420.jpg","home_baner-width":315,"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":"To Suffer A Mother\u2019s Grief","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"And to prove a mother\u2019s love to be the most powerful force in a book about men\u2019s power","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":61050,"alt":"","title":"2sam21-grief","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam21-grief.jpg","width":1440,"height":1920,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam21-grief-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam21-grief-225x300.jpg","medium-width":225,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam21-grief-768x1024.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam21-grief-768x1024.jpg","large-width":768,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam21-grief.jpg","1536x1536-width":1152,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam21-grief.jpg","2048x2048-width":1440,"2048x2048-height":1920,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam21-grief-900x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":900,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam21-grief-315x420.jpg","home_baner-width":315,"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":"21","chapter_main_number":"284","date":"20260930","wall_id":"284"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"381","name":"love","old_id":"781"},{"term_id":"484","name":"Mourning","old_id":"884"},{"term_id":"503","name":"Power","old_id":"903"},{"term_id":"604","name":"Mothers","old_id":"1004"},{"term_id":"700","name":"Grief","old_id":"1100"}]},{"order":5,"id":"61032","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Beyond the Practical, Deeper than Useful ","post_title":"Beyond The Practical, Deeper Than Useful","slug":"beyond-the-practical-deeper-than-useful","old_id":"61032","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":33992,"post_title":"Bradley Shavit Artson","slug":"rabbi-dr-bradley-shavit-artson","old_id":"33992","first_name":"Bradley Shavit ","last_name":"Artson","description":"Rabbi Dr Bradley Shavit Artson holds the Abner and Roslyn Goldstine Dean's Chair of the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies and is Vice President of American Jewish University in Los Angeles, and is professor of philosophy there. Artson is married to Elana Shavit Artson, and they are the parents of twins, Shira and Jacob.\r\n","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"short_description":"Rabbi Dr Bradley Shavit Artson is the Dean of the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies and is Vice President of American Jewish University in Los Angeles.","link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":33993,"alt":"","title":"Rabbi Dr Bradley Shavit Artson","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Rabbi-Dr-Bradley-Shavit-Artson-e1532029361140.png","width":204,"height":199,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Rabbi-Dr-Bradley-Shavit-Artson-e1532029361140-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Rabbi-Dr-Bradley-Shavit-Artson-256x300.png","medium-width":256,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Rabbi-Dr-Bradley-Shavit-Artson-e1532029361140.png","medium_large-width":204,"medium_large-height":199,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Rabbi-Dr-Bradley-Shavit-Artson-e1532029361140.png","large-width":204,"large-height":199,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Rabbi-Dr-Bradley-Shavit-Artson-e1532029361140.png","1536x1536-width":204,"1536x1536-height":199,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Rabbi-Dr-Bradley-Shavit-Artson-e1532029361140.png","2048x2048-width":204,"2048x2048-height":199,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Rabbi-Dr-Bradley-Shavit-Artson-e1532029361140.png","post_full_size-width":204,"post_full_size-height":199,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Rabbi-Dr-Bradley-Shavit-Artson-e1532029361140.png","home_baner-width":204,"home_baner-height":199}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"284","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"The Light: David\u2019s soldiers remind him and us that the battle is about a higher vision","post_main_content_content":"

It isn\u2019t often that the Bible circles back to repeat itself, although such repetitions are scattered throughout the Torah (two versions of the Ten Commandments, for example), or some modified narratives between the books of Kings and Chronicles. But in this chapter of Samuel, we revisit an insight from a few chapters ago.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

King David was dissuaded from leading his soldiers in battle. In Chapter 18, the soldiers justify this insight by stating that if they have to flee, David will draw the enemy after them, endangering the fleeing army even further. The argument seems pragmatic and anticipatory. Let\u2019s avoid a bad outcome by letting you stay home.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

They repeat the same policy recommendation here in Chapter 21, but their motivation is more expansive and less practical. \u201cYou shall not go to war with us anymore, so that you do not extinguish the lamp of Israel.\u201d Notice, the outcome is exactly the same. But their motivation is no longer driven by strategy or fear. Something higher has intruded, lifting their vision to something more expansive.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

David, it seems, is linked to<\/span> ner Yisrael<\/span><\/i>, the light of Israel. Should something happen to him, that light would be diminished or extinguished.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In many cultures, Jewish included, light is a metaphor for understanding: illumination, enlightenment. It is an image of spirit, of love, of warmth. \u201cStanding in the light of day\u201d is about truth, integrity, courage to be one\u2019s best. We are told that Torah is light. That democracy dies in darkness. The human soul is the light of God.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

When the soldiers invoke the light of Israel, they indicate a spiritual depth that is the real source of Jewish resilience and renewal. Pragmatic factors deserve their place. We must attend to them. But they do not dictate outcome or goals. For that, we have always been a people who know that our aspirations and destiny requiring looking up. \u201cI will lift my eyes to the mountains, from where my help comes.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In the midst of a desperate battle for their lives and their kingdom, David\u2019s soldiers remind him and us that the battle is not about competing pragmatisms. It is between pragmatics as an end, or a higher vision that beckons us to a better place.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Like moths to a flame, we are called to be motivated by glowing spirit, radiant love, shimmering justice.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":61033,"alt":"","title":"2sam21-candle","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam21-candle.jpg","width":1920,"height":1176,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam21-candle-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam21-candle-300x184.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":184,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam21-candle-768x470.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":470,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam21-candle-1024x627.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":627,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam21-candle.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":941,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam21-candle.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1176,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam21-candle-1200x735.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":735,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam21-candle-686x420.jpg","home_baner-width":686,"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":"Beyond the Practical, Deeper than Useful","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"The Light: David\u2019s soldiers remind him and us that the battle is about a higher vision","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":61033,"alt":"","title":"2sam21-candle","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam21-candle.jpg","width":1920,"height":1176,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam21-candle-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam21-candle-300x184.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":184,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam21-candle-768x470.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":470,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam21-candle-1024x627.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":627,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam21-candle.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":941,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam21-candle.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1176,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam21-candle-1200x735.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":735,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam21-candle-686x420.jpg","home_baner-width":686,"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":"21","chapter_main_number":"284","date":"20260930","wall_id":"284"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"391","name":"In\/Justice","old_id":"791"},{"term_id":"402","name":"Leadership","old_id":"802"},{"term_id":"629","name":"Light","old_id":"1029"}]},{"order":6,"id":"61042","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"David Battles the Philistine Giants ","post_title":"David Battles The Philistine Giants","slug":"david-battles-the-philistine-giants","old_id":"61042","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":33877,"post_title":"Marc Bregman","slug":"marc-bregman","old_id":"33877","first_name":"Marc","last_name":"Bregman","description":"Marc Bregman received his Ph.D. from The Hebrew University in Jerusalem in 1991. He taught at the Hebrew Union College (Jerusalem), The Hebrew University in Jerusalem, the Schechter Institute for Judaic Studies in Jerusalem, and at the Ben-Gurion University in Beer Sheba, Israel. During 1993 he was Visiting Associate Professor at Yale University, and during 1996 he was the Stroum Professor of Jewish Studies and Visiting Research Fellow at the University of Washington in Seattle. During 2005, Bregman served as the Harry Starr Fellow in Judaica at Harvard University and was awarded a Teaching Fellowship at the Center for Advanced Judaic Studies at the University of Pennsylvania. He also has served as Forchheimer Visiting Professor in the Faculty of Humanities at The Hebrew University in Jerusalem. He is the author of The Tanhuma-Yelammedenu Literature: Studies in the Evolution of the Versions (Gorgias Press, 2003). In 2006, Bregman was appointed the Herman and Zelda Bernard Distinguished Professor of Jewish Studies at the University of North Carolina in Greensboro, where he also headed the program in Jewish Studies, until 2013. Bregman retired from UNCG as of July 31, 2017. He has now returned to Jerusalem where he is continuing his research and teaching activities.","credit":"","image_url":"","short_description":"Marc Bregman is the Herman and Zelda Bernard Distinguished Professor of Jewish Studies emeritus, at the University of North Carolina in Greensboro.","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":33878,"alt":"Marc Bregman","title":"Marc Bregman","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman.jpg","width":361,"height":488,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman-222x300.jpg","medium-width":222,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman.jpg","medium_large-width":361,"medium_large-height":488,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman.jpg","large-width":361,"large-height":488,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman.jpg","1536x1536-width":361,"1536x1536-height":488,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman.jpg","2048x2048-width":361,"2048x2048-height":488,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman.jpg","post_full_size-width":361,"post_full_size-height":488,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman-311x420.jpg","home_baner-width":311,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"284","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"But this time he needs help!","post_main_content_content":"

The final part of our chapter (verses 15-22) relates David\u2019s continuing battles with the Philistines, beginning with one of the remaining Philistine giants: <\/span><\/p>\r\n

Again war broke out between the Philistines and Israel, and David and the men with him went down and fought the Philistines. David grew weary. And Ishbi-benob tried to kill David. He was a descendant of the Raphah [i.e. the \u201cRephaim\u201d \u2013 giants, see Deuteronomy 2:11, Joshua 11:22].
\r\n<\/span>His bronze spear weighed three hundred shekels and he wore new armor. But Abishai son of Zeruiah came to David\u2019s aid. He attacked the Philistine and killed him. It was then that David\u2019s men declared to him on oath, \u2018You shall not go with us into battle any more, lest you extinguish the lamp of Israel (i.e. King David himself)!\u2019\u201d (verses 15-17).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Significantly, the story of David began with his vanquishing the Philistine giant, Goliath (1 Samuel, Chapter 17), and now comes full circle with his again facing another Philistine giant. However, in our chapter, King David, now growing old and tired, needs the assistance of his soldiers and particularly the aid of Abishai, his nephew and leader of David\u2019s forces.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The medieval Midrash Al Yithallel<\/em> elaborates dramatically on David\u2019s battle with the Philistine giant, Ishbi-benob. \u201c\u2018Let not the strong man glory in his strength\u2019\u201d (Jeremiah 9:23). This refers to David, who when fighting would kill eight hundred at a time (see 2 Samuel 23:8). And he would brag that there was none like him in the world. So, the Holy One, blessed be He, caused a deer to run before David, which he ran after. The land sped before him until it brought him to Ishbi-benob. The giant immediately grabbed David, cast him into the bottom of a cellar and sat on it to break him. Whereupon, David cried out to God: \u2018Widen my steps under me!\u2019 (Psalms 18:37). When Ishbi-benob had finished eating, he took up David and would throw him up into the air threatening to impale him on the point of his spear. In the meanwhile, a dove told Abishai that David was in trouble. Abishai mounted one of David\u2019s mules and came to his rescue. He fought off Ishbi-benob and killed him. Then Abishai brought David, weak and exhausted, to Jerusalem. This resulted in Israel swearing to King David: \u2018You shall not go with us into battle any more, lest you extinguish the lamp of Israel\u2019\u201d (21:17).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

image:\u00a0Osmar Schindler, \"David und Goliath\", 1888 (detail) \/ wikimedia<\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":61043,"alt":"","title":"2sam21-schindler_goliath","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam21-schindler_goliath.jpg","width":220,"height":293,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam21-schindler_goliath-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam21-schindler_goliath.jpg","medium-width":220,"medium-height":293,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam21-schindler_goliath.jpg","medium_large-width":220,"medium_large-height":293,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam21-schindler_goliath.jpg","large-width":220,"large-height":293,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam21-schindler_goliath.jpg","1536x1536-width":220,"1536x1536-height":293,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam21-schindler_goliath.jpg","2048x2048-width":220,"2048x2048-height":293,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam21-schindler_goliath.jpg","post_full_size-width":220,"post_full_size-height":293,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam21-schindler_goliath.jpg","home_baner-width":220,"home_baner-height":293}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"David Battles The Philistine Giants","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"But this time he needs help!","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":61043,"alt":"","title":"2sam21-schindler_goliath","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam21-schindler_goliath.jpg","width":220,"height":293,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam21-schindler_goliath-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam21-schindler_goliath.jpg","medium-width":220,"medium-height":293,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam21-schindler_goliath.jpg","medium_large-width":220,"medium_large-height":293,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam21-schindler_goliath.jpg","large-width":220,"large-height":293,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam21-schindler_goliath.jpg","1536x1536-width":220,"1536x1536-height":293,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam21-schindler_goliath.jpg","2048x2048-width":220,"2048x2048-height":293,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam21-schindler_goliath.jpg","post_full_size-width":220,"post_full_size-height":293,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam21-schindler_goliath.jpg","home_baner-width":220,"home_baner-height":293}},"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":"21","chapter_main_number":"284","date":"20260930","wall_id":"284"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"363","name":"Midrash","old_id":"763"},{"term_id":"834","name":"David","old_id":"1234"},{"term_id":"893","name":"Goliath","old_id":"1293"}]},{"order":7,"id":"61035","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"2","name":"A Story Of Multiple Covenants ","post_title":"A Story Of Multiple Covenants","slug":"a-story-of-multiple-covenants","old_id":"61035","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":60873,"post_title":"Rori Picker Neiss","slug":"rori-picker-neiss","old_id":"60873","first_name":"Rori Picker ","last_name":"Neiss ","description":"Maharat Rori Picker Neiss serves as the Executive Director of the Jewish Community Relations Council of St Louis. ","short_description":"Maharat Rori Picker Neiss serves as the Executive Director of the Jewish Community Relations Council of St Louis. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":60874,"alt":"","title":"rory picker neiss","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/rory-picker-neiss.jpg","width":2400,"height":3000,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/rory-picker-neiss-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/rory-picker-neiss-240x300.jpg","medium-width":240,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/rory-picker-neiss-768x960.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":960,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/rory-picker-neiss-819x1024.jpg","large-width":819,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/rory-picker-neiss.jpg","1536x1536-width":1229,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/rory-picker-neiss.jpg","2048x2048-width":1638,"2048x2048-height":2048,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/rory-picker-neiss-960x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":960,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/rory-picker-neiss-336x420.jpg","home_baner-width":336,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"284","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Covenants that endure despite foundations of deceit, beyond individual lives, that take into account both faults and afflictions","post_main_content_content":"

The famine seems to come out of nowhere.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

David, after three years of seeking the cause of this tribulation, turns to God to inquire. And God tells him, \u201cIt is on account of Saul and on account of his blood-stained house; it is because he put the Gibeonites to death.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Rashi expounds upon this answer. <\/span>On account of Saul<\/span><\/i>, he states, who sinned and who was buried secretly and thus not eulogized with the respect due to him. <\/span>On account of his bloody house<\/span><\/i>, because he wiped out Nob, city of priests. And <\/span>because he put the Gibeonites to<\/span><\/i> death<\/span><\/i>, that when he wiped out the city of Nob he killed seven people from among the Gibeonites.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Our story then actually begins in Joshua chapter 9. The people of Gibeon, appearing destitute, approached Joshua and proclaimed themselves to be foreigners, offering themselves as servants in exchange for a pact to spare their lives. Joshua agreed. Yet, the people soon learned that the Gibeonites were not actually from a distant country but were among their neighbors that they had set out to conquer. Nevertheless, the leaders of the community honored their treaty\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Saul, hundreds of years later, then violated this pact. While the text itself never tells the story explicitly, the verse, in referencing it here, tells us that it was in his zeal for the people of Israel and Judah that Saul sought to wipe out the Gibeonites.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

David seeks to appease the Gibeonites and asks them what he can do to make expiation for the sin of Saul. The people claim that they want nothing but seven of Saul\u2019s descendants. An eye for an eye, it seems. David gives them over and the Gibeonites impale Saul\u2019s descendants on stakes.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

And yet, David does not give all of Saul\u2019s immediate descendants. The text explicitly points out that he spares Mephiboshet because of David\u2019s covenant with his father, Jonathan (I Samuel 20).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

However, the appeasement of the Gibeonites alone is not sufficient to end the famine. It is only when David properly buries the remains of Saul and Jonathan that God heeds the plea of the land. God, in allowing retribution for the sin of Saul, also demands redress for the injustice done against Saul.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

And so we have a story of covenants: covenants that endure despite foundations of deceit, covenants that endure beyond the lives of those who sealed them, and covenants that persist despite factors some might assume to be grounds for termination. And the story of a God who can recognize one\u2019s merits amidst one\u2019s failings, hold simultaneously one\u2019s faults and one\u2019s afflictions, and not only not allow one to cancel the other, but to seek remedy for 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Story Of Multiple Covenants","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Covenants that endure despite foundations of deceit, beyond individual lives, that take into account both faults and afflictions","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":51917,"alt":"","title":"dt29-covenant","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt29-covenant.jpg","width":1600,"height":900,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt29-covenant-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt29-covenant-300x169.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":169,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt29-covenant-768x432.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":432,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt29-covenant-1024x576.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":576,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt29-covenant.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":864,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt29-covenant.jpg","2048x2048-width":1600,"2048x2048-height":900,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt29-covenant-1200x675.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":675,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt29-covenant-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 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Avigayil has written extensively on issues of Jewish observance and gender in the Jewish media, and was an opinion columnist for the Yale Daily News.","short_description":"Avigayil Halpern graduated from Yale in May of 2019 and is beginning study toward rabbinic ordination at the Hadar Institute","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":39843,"alt":"","title":"A. 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Rizpah bat Ayah, a concubine of King Saul, has been absent from the text for a long time when we meet her once again in this chapter. This renewed encounter is a tragic one; she sits, guarding the bodies of her children, the grandchildren of Saul, when they are impaled upon stakes by the Gibeonites and left to rot.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

This is a gruesome scene. Rizpah sits on sackcloth, invoking -- and experiencing -- the imagery of mourning, while guarding the corpses from pecking birds and hungry beasts. She keeps vigil for months, in all weather, protecting the dignity of the bodies of her family insofar as she can. To hang a corpse on a stake is a shaming gesture, one of dominance and power. This is in sharp contrast with the respect for human life that is demonstrated by care for a dead body.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Rizpah\u2019s persistence in her guard over the bodies eventually impacts King David. When he learns of her actions, and is spurred to correct a similar cruelty that Rizpah opposes by means of her care. David retrieves the bodies of King Saul and his son Jonathan, which were too denied a dignified burial.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

It is significant that as David reacts to the news of Rizpah\u2019s actions, in addition to Saul and Jonathan he works to redress the situation of the bodies of her family that she has been protecting. He is moved to honor the bodies of Saul and Jonathan, and in addition, is moved to care for the rest of Rizpah\u2019s family.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

It is crucial that we not simply be moved by acts of care and acts of justice to make change close to us. It is easy to be inspired by the hard work of others. But we must take seriously their real needs and claims, too: it is necessary to redress injury even when it is not proximate to us. We must engage in the hard work of righting wrongs even when they do not stir us directly.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Image: Gustave Dor\u00e9 , Rizpah\u2019s Kindness toward the Dead, 1866, Dor\u00e9's English Bible \/ wikimedia<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":61047,"alt":"","title":"2sam21-rizpah1","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam21-rizpah1.jpg","width":747,"height":524,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam21-rizpah1-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam21-rizpah1-300x210.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":210,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam21-rizpah1.jpg","medium_large-width":747,"medium_large-height":524,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam21-rizpah1.jpg","large-width":747,"large-height":524,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam21-rizpah1.jpg","1536x1536-width":747,"1536x1536-height":524,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam21-rizpah1.jpg","2048x2048-width":747,"2048x2048-height":524,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam21-rizpah1.jpg","post_full_size-width":747,"post_full_size-height":524,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam21-rizpah1-599x420.jpg","home_baner-width":599,"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":"Responding To Injustice With A Vigil For Human Dignity","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"It is necessary to redress injury even when it is not proximate to us","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":61047,"alt":"","title":"2sam21-rizpah1","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam21-rizpah1.jpg","width":747,"height":524,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam21-rizpah1-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam21-rizpah1-300x210.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":210,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam21-rizpah1.jpg","medium_large-width":747,"medium_large-height":524,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam21-rizpah1.jpg","large-width":747,"large-height":524,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam21-rizpah1.jpg","1536x1536-width":747,"1536x1536-height":524,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam21-rizpah1.jpg","2048x2048-width":747,"2048x2048-height":524,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam21-rizpah1.jpg","post_full_size-width":747,"post_full_size-height":524,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam21-rizpah1-599x420.jpg","home_baner-width":599,"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":"21","chapter_main_number":"284","date":"20260930","wall_id":"284"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"383","name":"Death","old_id":"783"},{"term_id":"391","name":"In\/Justice","old_id":"791"},{"term_id":"484","name":"Mourning","old_id":"884"},{"term_id":"604","name":"Mothers","old_id":"1004"},{"term_id":"700","name":"Grief","old_id":"1100"}]},{"order":9,"id":"113337","color":"#f6edf6","size":"1","name":"The Tanakh Podcast-IISam21","post_title":"The Tanakh Podcast-IISam21","slug":"the-tanakh-podcast-iisam21","old_id":"113337","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. 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","post_title":"Beware the Polydactyl!","slug":"beware-the-polydactyl","old_id":"61038","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. 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The second half of this chapter (vs. 15-22) describes the encounters between the Davidic forces and four truly outstanding Philistine opponents: the children of Rafah. Assuming that R-P-H is identical with R-P-\u2018, these are four of the race of giants (the Septuagint translates Refa\u2019im as either <\/span>gigantes<\/span><\/em> or <\/span>titanon<\/span><\/em>) that we have already encountered on a number of previous occasions, ranging from Og, King of Bashan to Goliath of Gat. Let us look at each of the four escapades.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In the first (16-17), Ishbi Benob, \u201cwhose spear was three hundred shekels of brass in weight,\u201d was taken down by the combined efforts of David and Avishai. Second, a giant named Saph was slain by a warrior named Sibkhai of Hushat. Third, Goliath the Gittite (likely named for the earlier Philistine hero to whom, by virtue of his size, he was probably related), \u201cthe staff of whose spear was like a weaver's beam,\u201d was slain by a Bethlehemite named Elchanan whose father\u2019s name is given as Ya`rei Orgim, which can fairly be translated into Hebrew as a weaver\u2019s (<\/span>orgim<\/span><\/em>) beam (<\/span>ya`ar<\/span><\/em>=forest=tree=beam).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The fourth matchup, featured in the title of these remarks, pitted David\u2019s own nephew Yehonatan <\/em>(named for\u2026?) against an anonymous giant of whom we have but a key physical description: \u201cHe had six fingers on every hand, and six toes on every foot, twenty four [digits] in number\u201d (20). Poly (many) dactyly (finger\u2014related to digital) is a congenital variance that occurs in 1 of every 3,000 births and can be resolved through surgery. One assumes that in this case it added to the fearsome appearance of the otherwise anonymous giant.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Without treating additional specifics, there is, nevertheless, a significant overall observation to be made here; namely, the mere fact that there were four such giants. As we have noted previously (see our comments to Joshua 14 and 15), Hebron was also known as Kiryat Arba because it was settled (originally?) by four giants named Anaq, Achiman, Sheishai, and Talmai. Either giants come naturally in groups of four (there were 12 Titans, who could have been grouped by fours), or it is just a coincidence. Take your pick.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

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Snapshots","tile_main_caption":"II Samuel 21: David Tries To Do Right","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"with Adam Mintz ","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":"","tile_preview_video":"https:\/\/youtu.be\/3B-HKZwsnjc","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":"21","chapter_main_number":"284","date":"20260930","wall_id":"284"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"369","name":"Visual Arts","old_id":"769"}]},{"order":12,"id":"61029","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"A Literary Collage And Coda ","post_title":"A Literary Collage And Coda","slug":"a-literary-collage-and-coda","old_id":"61029","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":"284","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"An overview of the last chapters of the Second Book of Samuel\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

On chapters 21-24: These chapters appear to be a series of appendices to the David story proper, manifestly written by different writers in styles that exhibit notable differences from that of the main narrative, and also certain differences in ideological assumptions and even in what are presumed to be the narrative data of David\u2019s history. It should, however, be kept in mind that creating a collage of disparate sources was an established literary technique used by the ancient Hebrew editors and sometimes by the original writers themselves.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Recent critics have abundantly demonstrated the compositional coherence of Chapters 21-24 and have argued for some significant links with the preceding narrative. For that reason, it may be preferable to think of this whole unit as a coda to the story rather than as a series of appendices. The structure of the chapters is neatly chiastic, as follows: a story of national calamity in which David intercedes; a list (Chapter 21); a poem (Chapter 22); a list (Chapter 23); a story of national calamity in which David intercedes (Chapter 24).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The temporal setting of these materials is unclear but they seem to belong somewhere in the middle of David\u2019s career, and do not follow from the late point in his reign reported in the immediately preceding account of the rebellion of Sheba son of Bichri. The editors placed these chapters here, rather than after David\u2019s death, and then set the account of his last days, which they interrupt, at the beginning of 1 Kings in order to underline the dynastic continuity between David\u2019s story and Solomon\u2019s, which then immediately follows as the first large unit of the Book of Kings.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

From: Robert Alter, The Hebrew Bible<\/em>, vol. 2: Prophets, W. W. Norton & Co., 2019, beg. chapter 21. 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\u201cPaying For Your Father's Sin\u201d<\/a><\/u> by Shoshana Lehman: How can a child be punished for the errors of their parent?<\/p>\r\n

\u201cWives of David\u201d<\/a><\/u> by Gina Fass: Explore texts about the women David married.<\/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 21","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":"21","chapter_main_number":"284","date":"20260930","wall_id":"284"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":15,"id":"61030","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Points to Ponder - II Samuel 21 ","post_title":"Points to Ponder - II Samuel 21","slug":"points-to-ponder-ii-samuel-21","old_id":"61030","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":"284","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"","post_main_content_content":"

    \r\n\t
  1. Two oaths, one kept, one broken.<\/em>\u00a0Saul sinned when he killed the Gibeonites and transgressed the covenant that was established with them under oath. In contrast, David receives a sort of commendation that he didn\u2019t break his oath to Jonathan, when he refused to turn over Mephiboshet, Jonathan\u2019s son, to the Gibeonites.<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
  2. A promise is a promise<\/em>. 88 chapters ago (in Joshua 9), a covenant was made with the Gibeonites, based on false premises, but for all concerned it was clear that, despite the deceit involved, it had to be honored. Why? \u201cBut the Israelites did not attack them, since the chieftains of the community had sworn to them by the LORD, the God of Israel. The whole community muttered against the chieftains, but all the chieftains answered the whole community, \u2018We swore to them by the LORD, the God of Israel; therefore we cannot touch them\u201d (Joshua 9:18-19). The story in our chapter proves that indeed, breaking the covenant is not just a matter between the Gibeonites and the Israelites; it concerns Israel and God - God is the one who punishes (verse 1), and the one who responds to pleas of forgiveness (verse 14).<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
  3. The Lamp of Israel.<\/em> That\u2019s what David\u2019s courtiers call David in verse 17, after they almost lost their king: \u201cIt was then that David\u2019s men declared to him on oath, \u2018\u201cYou shall not go with us into battle any more, lest you extinguish the lamp of Israel!\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
  4. Who killed Goliath?<\/em> A good question! Everyone knows the answer given 35 chapters ago (I Samuel 17), in the iconic story of David and the slingshot. The answer given here in verse 19 - less so. (Moshe Sokolow on this page, makes the interesting suggestion that this was \"Goliath Jr.\", named for his famous, though equally vincible, predecessor).<\/span><\/li>\r\n<\/ol>","post_main_content_image":{"id":86314,"alt":"","title":"Points to ponder","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","width":1000,"height":1000,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-768x768.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":768,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","large-width":1000,"large-height":1000,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","1536x1536-width":1000,"1536x1536-height":1000,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","2048x2048-width":1000,"2048x2048-height":1000,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","post_full_size-width":1000,"post_full_size-height":1000,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-420x420.jpg","home_baner-width":420,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"II Samuel 21","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":"21","chapter_main_number":"284","date":"20260930","wall_id":"284"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false}],"hide_acf":true,"home_image":false,"home_posts":false,"home_posts_title":"","posts_home":[],"static_cube_title":"","static_cube_brief":"","static_cube_color":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wall\/60984"}],"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=60984"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}