{"id":61311,"date":"2018-07-09T17:44:06","date_gmt":"2018-07-09T14:44:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wall\/wall-288\/"},"modified":"2023-03-14T08:08:41","modified_gmt":"2023-03-14T06:08:41","slug":"wall-288","status":"publish","type":"wall","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wall\/wall-288\/","title":{"rendered":"chapter-Prophets-I Kings-1"},"parent":0,"template":"","acf":{"type":"chapter","wall_id":"288","date":"20261006","book":"I Kings","chapter":"1","chapter_main_number":"288","books_group":"Prophets","hide_acf":true,"home_image":false,"home_posts":false,"home_posts_title":"","posts_home":[],"static_cube_title":"","static_cube_brief":"","static_cube_color":"","posts":[{"order":1,"id":"61211","color":"#f8ebe3","size":"1","name":"JPS Audio Bible - I Kings Chapter 1 ","post_title":"JPS Audio Bible - I Kings Chapter 1","slug":"jps-audio-bible-i-kings-chapter-1","old_id":"61211","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":"288","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":"I Kings Chapter 1","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_I_Kings_Chapter_1","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":"I Kings","chapter":"1","chapter_main_number":"288","date":"20261006","wall_id":"288"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":2,"id":"61442","color":"#effaea","size":"2","name":"Welcome To The Game Of Kings (I) ","post_title":"Welcome To The Game Of Kings (I)","slug":"welcome-to-the-game-of-kings-i","old_id":"61442","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":"288","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"","post_main_content_content":"","post_main_content_image":{"id":61443,"alt":"","title":"1kings1-intro","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings1-intro.png","width":1200,"height":1200,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings1-intro-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings1-intro-300x300.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings1-intro-768x768.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":768,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings1-intro-1024x1024.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings1-intro.png","1536x1536-width":1200,"1536x1536-height":1200,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings1-intro.png","2048x2048-width":1200,"2048x2048-height":1200,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings1-intro.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings1-intro-420x420.png","home_baner-width":420,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"Welcome To The Game Of Kings (I)","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":61443,"alt":"","title":"1kings1-intro","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings1-intro.png","width":1200,"height":1200,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings1-intro-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings1-intro-300x300.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings1-intro-768x768.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":768,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings1-intro-1024x1024.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings1-intro.png","1536x1536-width":1200,"1536x1536-height":1200,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings1-intro.png","2048x2048-width":1200,"2048x2048-height":1200,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings1-intro.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings1-intro-420x420.png","home_baner-width":420,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"I Kings","chapter":"1","chapter_main_number":"288","date":"20261006","wall_id":"288"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":3,"id":"61459","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Listening to the Prophets with Rabbi Abby Sosland- I Kings 1 ","post_title":"Listening to the Prophets with Rabbi Abby Sosland- I Kings 1","slug":"listening-to-the-prophets-with-rabbi-abby-sosland-i-kings-1","old_id":"61459","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":"288","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: I Kings 1","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-i-kings-1","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":"I Kings","chapter":"1","chapter_main_number":"288","date":"20261006","wall_id":"288"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":4,"id":"113460","color":"#f6edf6","size":"1","name":"David: Their Father, Our King ","post_title":"David: Their Father, Our King","slug":"david-their-father-our-king","old_id":"113460","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":"288","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"The perils and problems of permissive, pliable parenting\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

The First Book of Kings opens with a continuation of the political intrigue that plagued the latter part of David\u2019s reign. David is old and weak, and requires the assistance of a young maiden to keep him warm. It also seems that David has not officially named a successor. In the leadership vacuum, Adonijah, David\u2019s second son, attempts to crown himself as David's successor. Unlike Absalom or Sheba, Adonijah is not trying to replace David. He simply wants to assume the mantle of crown prince. He brings along Joab and Abiathar the priest. Both were former confidants of David who were on the outs. It is unclear exactly what David had said about his succession prior to Nathan and Bathsheba concocting a plan to install Solomon as crown prince.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

After Adonijah sets up his victory lap, the text explains that: \u201cHis father had never scolded him: \u201c\u2018Why did you do that?\u2019\u201d (verse 6). According to Ralbag, David\u2019s lack of scolding is a reference to Adonijah\u2019s upbringing. For his entire life, David never scolded his son. This gave Adonijah the mistaken impression that he was David\u2019s favorite and was thus set to be king. Rashi explains that this verse teaches a general lesson about parenting that anyone who does not scold their child dooms that child to death. David let Adonijah get away with everything his whole life, so it emboldened him at this stage.\u00a0 The verse could also simply mean that David did not scold Adonijah for all his talk about being David\u2019s successor. What troubles the commentators is the use of \u201cnever\u201d, which implies over a long period of time.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Later, Nathan approaches Bathsheba with a plan for Solomon:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Go immediately to King David and say to him, \u2018Did not you, O lord king, swear to your maidservant: \u201cYour son Solomon shall succeed me as king, and he shall sit upon my throne\u201d? Then why has Adonijah become king?\u2019\u201d (verse 13).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The problem is, the text does not say that David made such a promise to Bathsheba. Radak is troubled by this as well. He explains that after their first baby died, Bathsheba was distraught and did not want to have another child. She feared that the child would be cast aside as the offspring of their marriage. She made David promise that if she had a son, that son would be king. This backstory is plausible, but is not mentioned in the text. It is possible that Nathan and Bathsheba are also trying to pull a little \u201cMandela effect\u201d (creating a false memory) on David by both claiming David promised that Solomon would be king. Another possibility is that God did inform David that Solomon should be king. This is hinted at in the verse after his birth that \u201cGod loved Solomon\u201d (II Samuel 12:24).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

 <\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":64404,"alt":"","title":"2kings21-father sone","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings21-father-sone.jpg","width":1920,"height":1357,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings21-father-sone-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings21-father-sone-300x212.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":212,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings21-father-sone-768x543.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":543,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings21-father-sone-1024x724.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":724,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings21-father-sone.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1086,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings21-father-sone.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1357,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings21-father-sone-1200x848.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":848,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings21-father-sone-594x420.jpg","home_baner-width":594,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"David: Their Father, Our King","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"The perils and problems of permissive, pliable parenting","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":64404,"alt":"","title":"2kings21-father sone","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings21-father-sone.jpg","width":1920,"height":1357,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings21-father-sone-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings21-father-sone-300x212.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":212,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings21-father-sone-768x543.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":543,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings21-father-sone-1024x724.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":724,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings21-father-sone.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1086,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings21-father-sone.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1357,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings21-father-sone-1200x848.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":848,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings21-father-sone-594x420.jpg","home_baner-width":594,"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":"I Kings","chapter":"1","chapter_main_number":"288","date":"20261006","wall_id":"288"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"428","name":"Parent","old_id":"828"},{"term_id":"529","name":"Children","old_id":"929"},{"term_id":"834","name":"David","old_id":"1234"},{"term_id":"835","name":"King","old_id":"1235"}]},{"order":5,"id":"113508","color":"#f6edf6","size":"1","name":"The Women In The King\u2019s Bedchamber ","post_title":"The Women In The King\u2019s Bedchamber","slug":"the-women-in-the-kings-bedchamber","old_id":"113508","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":41916,"post_title":"Sandra E. Rapoport","slug":"sandra-e-rapoport","old_id":"41916","first_name":"Sandra E. ","last_name":"Rapoport ","description":"Sandra E. Rapoport is an attorney, Bible teacher, and award-winning author whose books give voice to the women of the Bible. Her third book, Biblical Seductions, was a National Jewish Book Awards Finalist and a Boston Globe Top-Ten Bestseller. Her fourth and most recent book, The Queen & The Spymaster, is a novel based on the story of Esther.","short_description":"Sandra E. Rapoport is an attorney, Bible teacher, and award-winning author of four books on Bible and Midrash.\r\n\r\n","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":41917,"alt":"","title":"sandra rapoport","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sandra-rapoport.jpg","width":150,"height":175,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sandra-rapoport-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sandra-rapoport.jpg","medium-width":150,"medium-height":175,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sandra-rapoport.jpg","medium_large-width":150,"medium_large-height":175,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sandra-rapoport.jpg","large-width":150,"large-height":175,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sandra-rapoport.jpg","1536x1536-width":150,"1536x1536-height":175,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sandra-rapoport.jpg","2048x2048-width":150,"2048x2048-height":175,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sandra-rapoport.jpg","post_full_size-width":150,"post_full_size-height":175,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sandra-rapoport.jpg","home_baner-width":150,"home_baner-height":175}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"288","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Abishag recalls Esther, but it is Bathsheba who influences the King\u2019s fateful decisions\u00a0\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

We recently celebrated the holiday of Purim, where Megillat Esther, the script for that holiday, famously features a mighty, virile king, and courtiers who advise a nationwide search for beautiful virgins to vie for the position of queen. Eventually, Esther the Jewess, as queen, is able to maneuver events from inside the palace to save her people from a genocide.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In parallel terms, the Tanach in 1 Kings 1:2-4 presents an aged and cold, once-mighty King David, and royal advisors who, likewise, counsel a kingdom-wide search for beautiful virgins, seeking the choicest girl to warm the king in his bed. The search turns up Abishag the Shunammite.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Even some of the language in 1 Kings 1 echoes the Megillah: the words \"<\/span>na'arah<\/span><\/em>\" and \u201c<\/span>betulah<\/span><\/em>\u201d for young virgin, repeatedly describe both Esther and Abishag. Also, describing the chosen girl's beauty, Abishag is referred to as \"<\/em><\/span>yafah ad me'od<\/span><\/em>,\" <\/em>\u201cexceedingly lovely.\u201d Similarly, Esther is exceedingly beautiful, the Megillah using the rare description that she is beautiful both of face and figure (Esther.2:7). Also, the text says that Abishag \"was found and brought\" before King David, and similarly, that Esther \"was taken\" to the palace.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The common event of a \u201cnationwide\u201d search for beautiful virgins in both Esther and 1 Kings is a tool that brings palace and political news to the far-flung public. In Esther, the nationwide search publicized that the king was back in control of the domestic side of his kingship after the Vashti humiliation, finally ready to choose a bride and crown her queen. In our chapter, King David\u2019s courtiers, supporters of David\u2019s usurping son Adonijah, deliberately suggest the nationwide search for a virgin as \u201ca publicity technique\u201d (Alex Israel, \u201cI Kings: Torn in Two,\u201d p.17), a shortcut way to let \u201call of Israel\u201d know that their king is old and cold, a step from the grave. It will be a cakewalk, they think, to slide the dashing Adonijah onto the throne.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

One prime difference in the two stories is that Abishag is not brought to King David in order to be queen. While it is likely she is David's de facto concubine (hence Solomon's violent reaction when his usurping brother Adonijah seeks to wed her in 1 Kings 2:22-25), her purpose is to warm the king and invigorate him, not to rule. And importantly, Abishag is not a hero of this story.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Why, then, the strong suggestive parallels with Esther?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The urgent issue in this story in Kings is succession. Which son will succeed David? Will the new Israelite monarchy implode or endure? The silent Abishag will be a prop, not a player.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

It is Bathsheba, David's wife and mother of Solomon\u2014and, importantly, at one time an \"Abishag\" herself, \u201ctaken\u201d by King David in 2 Sam.11:4\u2014who is the hero here. She steps in, Esther-like, and, at Nathan's instigation, eloquently maneuvers events so Solomon is chosen by King David to be his undisputed successor.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":60357,"alt":"","title":"2sam12-bathsheba","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/2sam12-bathsheba.jpg","width":649,"height":406,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/2sam12-bathsheba-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/2sam12-bathsheba-300x188.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":188,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/2sam12-bathsheba.jpg","medium_large-width":649,"medium_large-height":406,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/2sam12-bathsheba.jpg","large-width":649,"large-height":406,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/2sam12-bathsheba.jpg","1536x1536-width":649,"1536x1536-height":406,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/2sam12-bathsheba.jpg","2048x2048-width":649,"2048x2048-height":406,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/2sam12-bathsheba.jpg","post_full_size-width":649,"post_full_size-height":406,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/2sam12-bathsheba.jpg","home_baner-width":649,"home_baner-height":406}},"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 Women In The King\u2019s Bedchamber","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Abishag recalls Esther, but it is Bathsheba who influences the King\u2019s fateful decisions\u00a0","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":60357,"alt":"","title":"2sam12-bathsheba","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/2sam12-bathsheba.jpg","width":649,"height":406,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/2sam12-bathsheba-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/2sam12-bathsheba-300x188.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":188,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/2sam12-bathsheba.jpg","medium_large-width":649,"medium_large-height":406,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/2sam12-bathsheba.jpg","large-width":649,"large-height":406,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/2sam12-bathsheba.jpg","1536x1536-width":649,"1536x1536-height":406,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/2sam12-bathsheba.jpg","2048x2048-width":649,"2048x2048-height":406,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/2sam12-bathsheba.jpg","post_full_size-width":649,"post_full_size-height":406,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/2sam12-bathsheba.jpg","home_baner-width":649,"home_baner-height":406}},"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":"I Kings","chapter":"1","chapter_main_number":"288","date":"20261006","wall_id":"288"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"517","name":"Esther","old_id":"917"},{"term_id":"834","name":"David","old_id":"1234"},{"term_id":"911","name":"Bathsheba","old_id":"1311"}]},{"order":6,"id":"113445","color":"#f6edf6","size":"1","name":"David ","post_title":"David","slug":"david","old_id":"113445","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":55059,"post_title":"Dina Jehuda","slug":"dina-jehuda","old_id":"55059","first_name":"Dina ","last_name":"Jehuda ","description":"Dina Jehuda is a NY- born English teacher in Kinneret College. Blessed with a wonderful family and community, she lives in scenic Mizpe Netofa and works with Aliya and Torah initiatives. Currently, she is editing the Voices Israel Poetry Anthology. ","short_description":"Dina Jehuda is a NY- born English teacher in Kinneret College.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":55060,"alt":"","title":"dina jehuda","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/dina-jehuda.jpg","width":267,"height":315,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/dina-jehuda-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/dina-jehuda-254x300.jpg","medium-width":254,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/dina-jehuda.jpg","medium_large-width":267,"medium_large-height":315,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/dina-jehuda.jpg","large-width":267,"large-height":315,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/dina-jehuda.jpg","1536x1536-width":267,"1536x1536-height":315,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/dina-jehuda.jpg","2048x2048-width":267,"2048x2048-height":315,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/dina-jehuda.jpg","post_full_size-width":267,"post_full_size-height":315,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/dina-jehuda.jpg","home_baner-width":267,"home_baner-height":315}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"288","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"until all desire all heat left my body\u00a0\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

Young I was aflame
\r\n<\/span>fury tingling down my arms<\/span><\/p>\r\n

when the Philistines cursed God
\r\n<\/span>pure rage steadied my hand
\r\n<\/span>I unleashed the unerring stone\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

When you speak of me, say,
\r\n<\/span>women loved me, bore me sons
\r\n<\/span>who tore my heart from me<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Say I was brother to the prince,\u00a0
\r\n<\/span>then, reluctant king
\r\n<\/span>to an unruly nation
\r\n<\/span>that I loved God
\r\n<\/span>hated only His enemies,<\/span><\/p>\r\n

that everyday until Batsheva\u00a0
\r\n<\/span>I burned with righteous love
\r\n<\/span>and then, only\u00a0
\r\n<\/span>burned<\/span><\/p>\r\n

until at last\u00a0
\r\n<\/span>all desire
\r\n<\/span>all heat left my body\u00a0
\r\n<\/span>cold<\/span><\/p>\r\n

I died cold.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":105918,"alt":"","title":"-62b33a67e8538--62b33a67e8539lev10-old man grief lonely.jpg","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/11\/62b33a67e8538-62b33a67e8539lev10-old-man-grief-lonely.jpg.jpg","width":1920,"height":1080,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/11\/62b33a67e8538-62b33a67e8539lev10-old-man-grief-lonely.jpg-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/11\/62b33a67e8538-62b33a67e8539lev10-old-man-grief-lonely.jpg-300x169.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":169,"medium_large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/11\/62b33a67e8538-62b33a67e8539lev10-old-man-grief-lonely.jpg-768x432.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":432,"large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/11\/62b33a67e8538-62b33a67e8539lev10-old-man-grief-lonely.jpg-1024x576.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":576,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/11\/62b33a67e8538-62b33a67e8539lev10-old-man-grief-lonely.jpg.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":864,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/11\/62b33a67e8538-62b33a67e8539lev10-old-man-grief-lonely.jpg.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1080,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/11\/62b33a67e8538-62b33a67e8539lev10-old-man-grief-lonely.jpg-1200x675.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":675,"home_baner":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/11\/62b33a67e8538-62b33a67e8539lev10-old-man-grief-lonely.jpg-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":"929 Poetry Corner","tile_main_caption":"David","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"until all desire all heat left my body\u00a0...","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":105918,"alt":"","title":"-62b33a67e8538--62b33a67e8539lev10-old man grief lonely.jpg","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/11\/62b33a67e8538-62b33a67e8539lev10-old-man-grief-lonely.jpg.jpg","width":1920,"height":1080,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/11\/62b33a67e8538-62b33a67e8539lev10-old-man-grief-lonely.jpg-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/11\/62b33a67e8538-62b33a67e8539lev10-old-man-grief-lonely.jpg-300x169.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":169,"medium_large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/11\/62b33a67e8538-62b33a67e8539lev10-old-man-grief-lonely.jpg-768x432.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":432,"large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/11\/62b33a67e8538-62b33a67e8539lev10-old-man-grief-lonely.jpg-1024x576.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":576,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/11\/62b33a67e8538-62b33a67e8539lev10-old-man-grief-lonely.jpg.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":864,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/11\/62b33a67e8538-62b33a67e8539lev10-old-man-grief-lonely.jpg.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1080,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/11\/62b33a67e8538-62b33a67e8539lev10-old-man-grief-lonely.jpg-1200x675.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":675,"home_baner":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/11\/62b33a67e8538-62b33a67e8539lev10-old-man-grief-lonely.jpg-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":"I Kings","chapter":"1","chapter_main_number":"288","date":"20261006","wall_id":"288"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"362","name":"Poetry","old_id":"762"},{"term_id":"419","name":"Elderly\/Aging","old_id":"819"},{"term_id":"834","name":"David","old_id":"1234"}]},{"order":7,"id":"61453","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Everything You Need to Know About the Jewish People \u2013 in One Chapter ","post_title":"Everything You Need to Know About the Jewish People \u2013 in One Chapter","slug":"everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-jewish-people-in-one-chapter","old_id":"61453","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":"288","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"By the end of the book, because of our incompetence, betrayal, disloyalty and venality, we will lose it all. Or almost...","post_main_content_content":"

It\u2019s all right here in the first chapter of the First Book of Kings. Attempts at dynastic control from one generation seeking to manage the future. Contentious claimants to the same throne. Powerless women scheming as the only available mode of influence in a patriarchal system. Prophets weighing in on how awful people are behaving. Siblings competing for fame and power. Priests divided and supporting competing nobility. And in all this chaos, competition, ego and bloodshed, somehow the covenant between God and the people Israel kicked from side to side, bruised yet managing to survive.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Spoiler alert: by the end of this book, the ongoing series of incompetence, betrayal, disloyalty and venality will break the monarchy entirely. Our claim on the land of Israel, our hold on a Holy Temple capable of uniting the people in the service of the one God, the monarchy itself will smash apart on the rocks of our own lack of vision and decency.\u00a0 We will lose it all.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Or, almost all. We won\u2019t lose the one God who called us as a people, nor will we lose that covenant. Instead, we will discover that both God and Torah are portable and will go with us wherever we wander in the world. We will discover that there are ways to keep alive our ancient sacred tradition, so that it can provide comfort and resilience, even by the waters of Babylon. And we\u2019ll discover (and forget, and discover, and forget) that the trappings of statehood and power are at best ancillary to our true vitality. The real source of Israel\u2019s vibrant resilience remains our reciprocal love affair with the Holy One, our distinctive fusion of ritual and ethics that emerges as ethical monotheism, and the ongoing expression of that heritage in a people of flesh and blood.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

All that can be found in this very first chapter: David\u2019s sons battle it out for the throne while the poor man is still alive. His wife and prophet both intervene with him to get him to act, and factions of priests and nobility wrap themselves around the prince they think most likely to succeed. The monarchy\u2019s hold on the people is less than solid. The hold on the sublime morality promised by Torah even less so.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

And yet \u2026 survive it does. Imperfect though we may be, the people Israel continues to keep that covenant alive, transmits it to the next generation, learns from the mistakes it keeps making, and somehow inspires the next generation not to abandon the effort.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

That\u2019s it. And that may be as good as it gets in this world. Imperfect people, imperfectly struggling to live up to God\u2019s expectations and our own.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Turns out, that may also be as good as it needs to be.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":61454,"alt":"","title":"1kings1-StarofDavidBroken","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings1-StarofDavidBroken.jpg","width":320,"height":310,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings1-StarofDavidBroken-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings1-StarofDavidBroken-300x291.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":291,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings1-StarofDavidBroken.jpg","medium_large-width":320,"medium_large-height":310,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings1-StarofDavidBroken.jpg","large-width":320,"large-height":310,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings1-StarofDavidBroken.jpg","1536x1536-width":320,"1536x1536-height":310,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings1-StarofDavidBroken.jpg","2048x2048-width":320,"2048x2048-height":310,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings1-StarofDavidBroken.jpg","post_full_size-width":320,"post_full_size-height":310,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings1-StarofDavidBroken.jpg","home_baner-width":320,"home_baner-height":310}},"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":"Everything You Need to Know About the Jewish People \u2013 in One Chapter","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"By the end of the book, because of our incompetence, betrayal, disloyalty and venality, we will lose it all. Or almost...","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":61454,"alt":"","title":"1kings1-StarofDavidBroken","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings1-StarofDavidBroken.jpg","width":320,"height":310,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings1-StarofDavidBroken-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings1-StarofDavidBroken-300x291.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":291,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings1-StarofDavidBroken.jpg","medium_large-width":320,"medium_large-height":310,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings1-StarofDavidBroken.jpg","large-width":320,"large-height":310,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings1-StarofDavidBroken.jpg","1536x1536-width":320,"1536x1536-height":310,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings1-StarofDavidBroken.jpg","2048x2048-width":320,"2048x2048-height":310,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings1-StarofDavidBroken.jpg","post_full_size-width":320,"post_full_size-height":310,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings1-StarofDavidBroken.jpg","home_baner-width":320,"home_baner-height":310}},"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":"I Kings","chapter":"1","chapter_main_number":"288","date":"20261006","wall_id":"288"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"395","name":"Covenant","old_id":"795"},{"term_id":"434","name":"War","old_id":"834"},{"term_id":"444","name":"History","old_id":"844"}]},{"order":8,"id":"61445","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Ode To Abishag ","post_title":"Ode To Abishag","slug":"ode-to-abishag","old_id":"61445","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":"288","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"The Talmud and Ranier Maria Rilke weigh in on her character","post_main_content_content":"

Our chapter opens with a sad depiction of King David in his dotage. In order to stay warm at night, a young virgin is sought after: \u201cThey found Abishag the Shunammite and brought her to the king. The girl was exceedingly beautiful. She became the king\u2019s attendant and waited upon him; but the king was not intimate with her\u201d (1 Kings 1:1-4).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The Talmud (Sanhedrin 22a) elaborates on the relations between King David and Abishag. Abishag suggested to David that they should marry. David replied that this would not be permitted because he already had eighteen wives, the maximum number permitted a king of Israel (see Mishnah Sanhedrin 2:4). Abishag countered: \u201cWhen a thief lacks victims, he professes himself to be an upright man \u2013 the true reason you refuse to marry me is that you are too impotent to have marital relations with me!\u201d To show Abishag that she was wrong, David summoned his wife Bathsheba (1 Kings 1:15) and had sex with her thirteen times, while Abishag was serving the king.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Abishag\u2019s serving King David is the subject of later literature, particularly among American Jewish Women Poets, such as Shirley Kaufman and Louise Gluck. However, one of the most well-known poems about Abishag is by the Bohemian-Austrian Poet, Rainer Maria Rilke, the first section of which is well-worth citing in full:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Abishag<\/em> (1907)<\/span><\/p>\r\n

(Rilke, Rainer Maria, and George C. Schoolfield, \u201cAbishag,\u201d in <\/span>New Poems<\/span><\/i>, translated by Len Krisak, 2015, Boydell & Brewer, pp. 21\u201322).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

She lay there. And the king's subservients tied<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>her childlike arms around the withered powers<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>of him on whom she lay those sweet long hours.<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>His full years left her almost terrified.<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>And sometimes, when she heard the screech owl scream,<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>she'd turn and bury in his beard her face;<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>then everything that was the nighttime came<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>in fear and longing, flocking to that place.<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>The stars were trembling with her, as a scent<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>went searching through the bedroom where she lay.<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>The curtain stirred \u2014 a sign, but what was meant?<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>Her soft eyes sought the sign, turning that way,<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>but still she clung to him \u2014 that dark old man \u2014<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>untouched by what the night of nights can do.<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>She lay, upon the chilling he began,<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>As lightly as a soul \u2014 a virgin, too.<\/span>
\r\n
\r\n<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Image: David and Abishag by Pedro Am\u00e9rico, 1879 \/ wikimedia<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":61446,"alt":"","title":"1kings1-Pedro_AM\u00e9rico_1879_Davi_e_Abisag","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings1-Pedro_AM\u00e9rico_1879_Davi_e_Abisag.jpg","width":2464,"height":1932,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings1-Pedro_AM\u00e9rico_1879_Davi_e_Abisag-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings1-Pedro_AM\u00e9rico_1879_Davi_e_Abisag-300x235.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":235,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings1-Pedro_AM\u00e9rico_1879_Davi_e_Abisag-768x602.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":602,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings1-Pedro_AM\u00e9rico_1879_Davi_e_Abisag-1024x803.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":803,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings1-Pedro_AM\u00e9rico_1879_Davi_e_Abisag.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1204,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings1-Pedro_AM\u00e9rico_1879_Davi_e_Abisag.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":1606,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings1-Pedro_AM\u00e9rico_1879_Davi_e_Abisag-1200x941.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":941,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings1-Pedro_AM\u00e9rico_1879_Davi_e_Abisag-536x420.jpg","home_baner-width":536,"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":"Ode To Abishag","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"The Talmud and Ranier Maria Rilke weigh in on her character","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":61446,"alt":"","title":"1kings1-Pedro_AM\u00e9rico_1879_Davi_e_Abisag","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings1-Pedro_AM\u00e9rico_1879_Davi_e_Abisag.jpg","width":2464,"height":1932,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings1-Pedro_AM\u00e9rico_1879_Davi_e_Abisag-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings1-Pedro_AM\u00e9rico_1879_Davi_e_Abisag-300x235.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":235,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings1-Pedro_AM\u00e9rico_1879_Davi_e_Abisag-768x602.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":602,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings1-Pedro_AM\u00e9rico_1879_Davi_e_Abisag-1024x803.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":803,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings1-Pedro_AM\u00e9rico_1879_Davi_e_Abisag.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1204,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings1-Pedro_AM\u00e9rico_1879_Davi_e_Abisag.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":1606,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings1-Pedro_AM\u00e9rico_1879_Davi_e_Abisag-1200x941.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":941,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings1-Pedro_AM\u00e9rico_1879_Davi_e_Abisag-536x420.jpg","home_baner-width":536,"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":"I Kings","chapter":"1","chapter_main_number":"288","date":"20261006","wall_id":"288"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"834","name":"David","old_id":"1234"}]},{"order":9,"id":"61451","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Joab: Outside Looking In ","post_title":"Joab: Outside Looking In","slug":"joab-outside-looking-in","old_id":"61451","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":"288","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"He backs the wrong horse, but only because he didn\u2019t know David\u2019s heart","post_main_content_content":"

Joab has managed to hang on to power all this time, despite being<\/span> cursed by David<\/span><\/a>, by having a keen sense of<\/span> when<\/span><\/a> to<\/span><\/a>\u00a0 <\/span>obey<\/span><\/a> the king blindly and<\/span> when<\/span><\/a> to<\/span><\/a>\u00a0 <\/span>second-guess<\/span><\/a> him.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

At the very end of David\u2019s life, as David is frail and cold, Joab, too, falters: he throws his lot in with the wrong son of David.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Did Joab intend any affront to David by following Adonijah? It seems not. Joab sided with David and fought tirelessly against the uprisings of Ish-Boshet and Absalom. We may surmise that Joab, like the rest of the people following Adonijah, simply took their cues from David\u2019s inaction. \u201cHis father had never scolded him: 'Why did you do that?'\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Joab, further, knew that David had wished for<\/span> Absalom to succeed<\/span><\/a> him - a wish David could not entirely let go even as Absalom rebelled. Since Adonijah \u201cwas the one born after Absalom and, like him, was very handsome,\u201d Joab had good reason to surmise that Adonijah would be David\u2019s chosen successor.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

But David chose Solomon. What prevented Joab, who<\/span> knew the king better than anyone else<\/span><\/a>, from anticipating this choice? David chooses Solomon because of his relationship to Bathsheba. While Joab was<\/span> essential<\/span><\/a> to the origins of David and Bathsheba\u2019s marriage, the subsequent emotional and spiritual work - between David and Bathsheba, and between David and God - was out of Joab\u2019s reach.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Joab was an effective general because he saw every situation strategically, coldly,<\/span> even when the king could not<\/span><\/a>. David chooses his own successor, though, through the combination of strategy and human connection that marks his kingship, both for better and for worse. Ultimately, Joab did not anticipate the choice of Solomon because he did not inhabit the king\u2019s emotional world.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":58969,"alt":"","title":"isam26-joab","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/isam26-joab.jpg","width":211,"height":463,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/isam26-joab-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/isam26-joab-137x300.jpg","medium-width":137,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/isam26-joab.jpg","medium_large-width":211,"medium_large-height":463,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/isam26-joab.jpg","large-width":211,"large-height":463,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/isam26-joab.jpg","1536x1536-width":211,"1536x1536-height":463,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/isam26-joab.jpg","2048x2048-width":211,"2048x2048-height":463,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/isam26-joab.jpg","post_full_size-width":211,"post_full_size-height":463,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/isam26-joab-191x420.jpg","home_baner-width":191,"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: Outside Looking In","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"He backs the wrong horse, but only because he didn\u2019t know David\u2019s heart","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":58969,"alt":"","title":"isam26-joab","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/isam26-joab.jpg","width":211,"height":463,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/isam26-joab-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/isam26-joab-137x300.jpg","medium-width":137,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/isam26-joab.jpg","medium_large-width":211,"medium_large-height":463,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/isam26-joab.jpg","large-width":211,"large-height":463,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/isam26-joab.jpg","1536x1536-width":211,"1536x1536-height":463,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/isam26-joab.jpg","2048x2048-width":211,"2048x2048-height":463,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/isam26-joab.jpg","post_full_size-width":211,"post_full_size-height":463,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/isam26-joab-191x420.jpg","home_baner-width":191,"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":"I Kings","chapter":"1","chapter_main_number":"288","date":"20261006","wall_id":"288"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"835","name":"King","old_id":"1235"},{"term_id":"900","name":"Joab","old_id":"1300"}]},{"order":10,"id":"62025","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Seeking Warmth ","post_title":"Seeking Warmth","slug":"seeking-warmth","old_id":"62025","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":56290,"post_title":"Sandra Cohen","slug":"sandra-cohen","old_id":"56290","first_name":"Sandra ","last_name":"Cohen","description":"Rabbi Sandra Cohen teaches, provides pastoral care, and works in mental health outreach. She and her husband live in Denver, Colorado. ","short_description":"Rabbi Sandra Cohen teaches, provides pastoral care, and works in mental health outreach.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":56293,"alt":"","title":"Sandra Cohen","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Sandra-Cohen.jpg","width":279,"height":303,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Sandra-Cohen-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Sandra-Cohen-276x300.jpg","medium-width":276,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Sandra-Cohen.jpg","medium_large-width":279,"medium_large-height":303,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Sandra-Cohen.jpg","large-width":279,"large-height":303,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Sandra-Cohen.jpg","1536x1536-width":279,"1536x1536-height":303,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Sandra-Cohen.jpg","2048x2048-width":279,"2048x2048-height":303,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Sandra-Cohen.jpg","post_full_size-width":279,"post_full_size-height":303,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Sandra-Cohen.jpg","home_baner-width":279,"home_baner-height":303}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"288","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"King David did not know Abishag - but she may have known him\u00a0","post_main_content_content":"

\u201cKing David was now old; the years had caught up to him. Although they covered him with clothes, he could not get warm.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

What kind of warmth was King David seeking?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

His servants seemed to believe his chills were of a physical nature, if not sexual. They offer to find him a young woman, a virgin, who will lie with him. That, they say, will \u201cgive him heat,\u201d as traditional translations have it.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u201cGive him heat?!\u201d Is she to be a blanket, or a sex toy? This short story seems on its surface to be of an old man who needs a young woman to make him feel young again. The blankets do not warm him because the problem is not that he is cold. The story specifically describes the problem as \u201cv\u2019lo y\u2019cham lo<\/em>,\u201d that \u201che could not be made warm.\u201d The problem is internal. And, as the servants and poor Abishag, are about to discover, the problem is not even physical.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

King David\u2019s servants surmise the that king will feel better when the lovely young virgin they find, Abishag the Shunammite, comes to lie with him. She seems right for the role in every way: she is beautiful, she becomes his companion, and she waits upon him. And yet, the king does not know her.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

These last words, \u201cv\u2019hamelech lo yad\u2019ah<\/em>\u201d are often understood as \u201cthe king was not sexually intimate with her,\u201d and this meaning is certainly important. Perhaps the king was too old for sex with this young woman. Perhaps he was not interested in sex with her. Or perhaps sex is not what he needed at this point in his life.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The story ends here, as if to say, Abishag was a failure. But was she? The lack of sex between King David and Abishag might not mean that she did not warm him, as it were. Her companionship, her pastoral presence, might indeed have been what he needed at this point in his life. His inability to get warm, the first verse suggests, was connected to his aging, to he years having \u201ccome.\u201d I have suggested we translate \u201cba b\u2019yamim<\/em>,\u201d as \u201cthe years have caught up.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In this reading, King David is aging, not just physically, but emotionally. He is looking back at his life, and experiencing regret, remorse, alienation. He can get no warmth of satisfaction of life well-lived, because now, he is alone. Finding him a companion is the right instinct, if slightly off. He does not need another wife or a lovely mistress. Rather, he needs someone to be with him, to listen to his life\u2019s story, to help him through this last stage of his life without judgement or manipulation. His family members, as the following chapters reveal, all want something. But Abishag is simply there. She might almost be seen as a therapist. She listens, but does not speak.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

King David does not know Abishag. In this reading, however, she knows him. And, perhaps, King David eventually gets warm.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Image: David and Abishag, Jacob Epstein (1880-1959)<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":62026,"alt":"","title":"1kings1-abishag","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings1-abishag.jpg","width":480,"height":374,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings1-abishag-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings1-abishag-300x234.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":234,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings1-abishag.jpg","medium_large-width":480,"medium_large-height":374,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings1-abishag.jpg","large-width":480,"large-height":374,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings1-abishag.jpg","1536x1536-width":480,"1536x1536-height":374,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings1-abishag.jpg","2048x2048-width":480,"2048x2048-height":374,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings1-abishag.jpg","post_full_size-width":480,"post_full_size-height":374,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings1-abishag.jpg","home_baner-width":480,"home_baner-height":374}},"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":"Seeking Warmth","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"King David did not know Abishag - but she may have known him\u00a0","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":62026,"alt":"","title":"1kings1-abishag","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings1-abishag.jpg","width":480,"height":374,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings1-abishag-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings1-abishag-300x234.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":234,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings1-abishag.jpg","medium_large-width":480,"medium_large-height":374,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings1-abishag.jpg","large-width":480,"large-height":374,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings1-abishag.jpg","1536x1536-width":480,"1536x1536-height":374,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings1-abishag.jpg","2048x2048-width":480,"2048x2048-height":374,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings1-abishag.jpg","post_full_size-width":480,"post_full_size-height":374,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings1-abishag.jpg","home_baner-width":480,"home_baner-height":374}},"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":"I Kings","chapter":"1","chapter_main_number":"288","date":"20261006","wall_id":"288"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"419","name":"Elderly\/Aging","old_id":"819"},{"term_id":"834","name":"David","old_id":"1234"}]},{"order":11,"id":"61608","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Aging Is A State Of Mind ","post_title":"Aging Is A State Of Mind","slug":"aging-is-a-state-of-mind","old_id":"61608","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":58418,"post_title":"Naomi (Jaffe) Eini","slug":"naomi-jaffe-eini","old_id":"58418","first_name":"Naomi (Jaffe)","last_name":"Eini","description":"Naomi (Jaffe) Eini is an educational psychologist, lecturer and workshop facilitator, and author of the book, \"Journey To The Real World\" (Hebrew). She is a graduate of Mandel School For Educational Leadership, works at Midreshet Lindenbaum, and is writing a doctorate in psychology at Bar Ilan University.","short_description":"Naomi (Jaffe) Eini is an educational psychologist, lecturer and workshop facilitator, and doctoral candidate in psychology.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":58420,"alt":"","title":"naomi eini","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/naomi-eini.jpg","width":960,"height":1135,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/naomi-eini-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/naomi-eini-254x300.jpg","medium-width":254,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/naomi-eini-768x908.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":908,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/naomi-eini-866x1024.jpg","large-width":866,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/naomi-eini.jpg","1536x1536-width":960,"1536x1536-height":1135,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/naomi-eini.jpg","2048x2048-width":960,"2048x2048-height":1135,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/naomi-eini.jpg","post_full_size-width":960,"post_full_size-height":1135,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/naomi-eini-355x420.jpg","home_baner-width":355,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"288","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"As is our attitude to the aged. Let us include and not exclude","post_main_content_content":"

We read today's chapter as the <\/span>haftarah<\/span><\/em> (additional reading for Sabbaths and festivals)<\/span> of the weekly portion of Hayyei Sara. The two present two pictures of aging \u2013 of Abraham and David.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

We All Age Differently<\/span><\/em><\/p>\r\n

In Hayyei Sara, Abraham's aging is perfect. He is old and blessed \"and the LORD had blessed Abraham in all things\" (Gen.24:1)<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In contrast, King David becomes weak as he ages: \"King David was now old, advanced in years; and though they covered him with bedclothes, he never felt warm\" (I Kings 1:1).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

We are told that \"the king was very old\" (v.15), but in reality, he was nearing 70, half the age of Abraham, who was 140 years old when he was described as \"old, advanced in years\" (Gen.24:1).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The Moment We Become Old<\/span><\/em><\/p>\r\n

For me, the defining moment of the onset of old age is when younger people exchange glances over an elderly person's head as they grasp the finer details of a situation, while the elderly person does not. My heart goes out to the elderly person.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Today\u2019s chapter describes how the prophet Nathan and Bathsheba intervene. I feel sorry for the King who has become old in the eyes of those close to him.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

David requests of God: \"Do not cast me off in old age; when my strength fails, do not forsake me\" (Ps.71:9). He begs Him: My God and the God of my fathers, when I grow old, do not relate to me as human beings do. Ignore my frail body, my poor eyesight and my failing memory. Look at my vibrant soul and help me not to feel rejected or deserted.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

I learnt a great lesson in aging from my deceased father and mentor, Professor Eliezer Jaffe z\"l: To be old is not just a question of chronological age, but also \u2013 and perhaps mainly \u2013 a question of one's approach to life. We feel old if we focus on the difficulties in life, on past mistakes and on our physical aches and pains. To a certain extent, we decide when to become old and how to live our lives.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Inclusion not Exclusion<\/span><\/em><\/p>\r\n

Recently, I attended a wedding in which the mother of the bride brought her elderly, wheelchair-bound mother into the middle of the circle and danced in front her with so much joy, reminding me of David who danced before the Holy Ark. The bride joined in, showering her grandmother with love and respect.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

We should not follow Bathsheba and Nathan's example and treat individuals or sectors of the population as if they are elderly and exclude them from daily life.\u00a0 Whether it be a new immigrant, our parents, the elderly, people with special needs \u2013 let us <\/span>include not exclude<\/em> them.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Translated by: Chava Wilschanski\u00a0<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":61629,"alt":"","title":"1kings1-aging","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings1-aging.jpg","width":1920,"height":1439,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings1-aging-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings1-aging-300x225.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":225,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings1-aging-768x576.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":576,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings1-aging-1024x767.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":767,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings1-aging.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1151,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings1-aging.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1439,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings1-aging-1200x899.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":899,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings1-aging-560x420.jpg","home_baner-width":560,"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":"Aging Is A State Of Mind","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"As is our attitude to the aged. Let us include and not exclude","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":61629,"alt":"","title":"1kings1-aging","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings1-aging.jpg","width":1920,"height":1439,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings1-aging-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings1-aging-300x225.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":225,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings1-aging-768x576.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":576,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings1-aging-1024x767.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":767,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings1-aging.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1151,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings1-aging.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1439,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings1-aging-1200x899.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":899,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings1-aging-560x420.jpg","home_baner-width":560,"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":"I Kings","chapter":"1","chapter_main_number":"288","date":"20261006","wall_id":"288"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"419","name":"Elderly\/Aging","old_id":"819"},{"term_id":"712","name":"Inclusion","old_id":"1112"}]},{"order":12,"id":"61448","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Imagining A Voice Where There Is None ","post_title":"Imagining A Voice Where There Is None","slug":"imagining-a-voice-where-there-is-none","old_id":"61448","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":39842,"post_title":"Avigayil Halpern","slug":"avigayil-halpern","old_id":"39842","first_name":"Avigayil ","last_name":"Halpern ","description":"Avigayil Halpern graduated from Yale in May of 2019 and is beginning study toward rabbinic ordination at the Hadar Institute. 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. Halpern headshot","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/A.-Halpern-headshot-e1536749058221.jpg","width":1612,"height":1935,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/A.-Halpern-headshot-e1536749058221-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/A.-Halpern-headshot-e1536749058221-250x300.jpg","medium-width":250,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/A.-Halpern-headshot-e1536749058221-768x922.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":922,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/A.-Halpern-headshot-e1536749058221-853x1024.jpg","large-width":853,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/A.-Halpern-headshot-e1536749058221.jpg","1536x1536-width":1280,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/A.-Halpern-headshot-e1536749058221.jpg","2048x2048-width":1612,"2048x2048-height":1935,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/A.-Halpern-headshot-e1536749058221-1000x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":1000,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/A.-Halpern-headshot-e1536749058221-350x420.jpg","home_baner-width":350,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"288","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"How did Abishag feel about her role?\u00a0Was she as silent as the text?","post_main_content_content":"

The first new character we meet in 1 Kings is Abishag the Shunamite. She is brought to the king to warm him; the text assures us that though she lies in bed with him, and is beautiful, they do not interact sexually. Instead, Abishag\u2019s job is to warm the king where mere blankets cannot, to literally be a warm body and nothing more.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Abishag is the last of the many women over whom King David asserts control. David has, over his life, had many wives and concubines; he summons Bathsheba from her home and leaves his concubines guarding the palace to be raped by Absalom. In contrast with these actions, it seems minor for the king to maintain a woman servant whose job it was to simply lie in bed with him, acting as a body-heat furnace.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

How did Abishag feel about her role? The text offers no information; she is voiceless. In a scene parallel to the story of Esther, King David\u2019s courtiers search the land for a beautiful young woman, and bring her to the palace. Perhaps Abishag came eagerly, excited to be proximate to royalty. Perhaps she was dragged unwillingly. Either is possible.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Ultimately, it would not have mattered if Abishag wanted to serve David. She did not have a choice. Her desires are not recorded because they do not matter to the plot and they did not matter within her own story. She is unheard in the Biblical text, and it is likely that she was unheard in life.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The lacunae in the Bible lead to so much interpretive possibility. The narrative gaps have offered Jews throughout the millennia the opportunity to build stories around our own interests and concerns, to see our own priorities within the sacred texts. But sometimes these holes in the Bible\u2019s story stymie us, leaving the unseen characters unseen and those who do not speak as voiceless. In encountering these silent figures, we must not only work to imagine their voices; we must be moved to prevent those near us in our own lives from going silent in the world and in our records of it.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Image: James Tissot, <\/span>King David with Abishag sitting at his feet \/ wikimedia<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":61449,"alt":"","title":"1kings1-King_David_with_Abishag","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings1-King_David_with_Abishag.jpg","width":388,"height":488,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings1-King_David_with_Abishag-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings1-King_David_with_Abishag-239x300.jpg","medium-width":239,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings1-King_David_with_Abishag.jpg","medium_large-width":388,"medium_large-height":488,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings1-King_David_with_Abishag.jpg","large-width":388,"large-height":488,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings1-King_David_with_Abishag.jpg","1536x1536-width":388,"1536x1536-height":488,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings1-King_David_with_Abishag.jpg","2048x2048-width":388,"2048x2048-height":488,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings1-King_David_with_Abishag.jpg","post_full_size-width":388,"post_full_size-height":488,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings1-King_David_with_Abishag-334x420.jpg","home_baner-width":334,"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":"Imagining A Voice Where There Is None","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"How did Abishag feel about her role?\u00a0Was she as silent as the text?","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":61449,"alt":"","title":"1kings1-King_David_with_Abishag","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings1-King_David_with_Abishag.jpg","width":388,"height":488,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings1-King_David_with_Abishag-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings1-King_David_with_Abishag-239x300.jpg","medium-width":239,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings1-King_David_with_Abishag.jpg","medium_large-width":388,"medium_large-height":488,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings1-King_David_with_Abishag.jpg","large-width":388,"large-height":488,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings1-King_David_with_Abishag.jpg","1536x1536-width":388,"1536x1536-height":488,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings1-King_David_with_Abishag.jpg","2048x2048-width":388,"2048x2048-height":488,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings1-King_David_with_Abishag.jpg","post_full_size-width":388,"post_full_size-height":488,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings1-King_David_with_Abishag-334x420.jpg","home_baner-width":334,"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":"I Kings","chapter":"1","chapter_main_number":"288","date":"20261006","wall_id":"288"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"548","name":"Silence","old_id":"948"},{"term_id":"600","name":"Women","old_id":"1000"}]},{"order":13,"id":"61357","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"2","name":"A New Season In The Saga Of The Monarchy: Solomon And Adonijah ","post_title":"A New Season In The Saga Of The Monarchy: Solomon And Adonijah","slug":"a-new-season-in-the-saga-of-the-monarchy-solomon-and-adonijah","old_id":"61357","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":"288","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\/rzEINZxSg5I","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"Bible By The Bay","tile_main_caption":"I Kings 1: A New Season In The Saga Of The Monarchy: Solomon And Adonijah","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"With Shira Hecht-Koller and Rabbi Dr. Jeffrey Kobrin","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":"","tile_preview_video":"https:\/\/youtu.be\/rzEINZxSg5I","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":"I Kings","chapter":"1","chapter_main_number":"288","date":"20261006","wall_id":"288"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"369","name":"Visual Arts","old_id":"769"}]},{"order":14,"id":"61414","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Adonijah\u2019s Scheme to Ascend The Throne ","post_title":"Adonijah\u2019s Scheme To Ascend The Throne","slug":"adonijahs-scheme-to-ascend-the-throne","old_id":"61414","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":"288","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"With unmistakable echoes of Absalom\u2019s similar challenge\u00a0","post_main_content_content":"

The problem presented at the outset of our chapter is the inability of the aged and ailing King David to get warm. The resolution is found in the appointment of Abishag as a \"companion.\" Is this the simplest way to meet David's medical needs? Furthermore, why was a search made of the entire country in order to find this young lady?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

One explanation is that the opening paragraph regarding Abishag may be setting a political tone to the chapter. In the opening verses (1:2), an anonymous group of courtiers are mentioned. A key to identifying them is their reappearance in verse 9, where it appears that these \"servants,\" are in fact aligned with Adonijah. The proposal for a public, nationwide search for a woman to warm the sick King David's bed emerging from the headquarters of the Adonijah faction suggests that it is initiated as a publicity technique, a strategy in the campaign to crown Adonijah as king. This national beauty contest announces loud and clear that David cannot maintain his body temperature. The message is simple \u2014 the king is dying and a new one must be crowned, with urgency.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

This cynical opportunism typifies the character of Adonijah. Adonijah is referenced explicitly (v.5) and obliquely as a reflection of Absalom, the man who murdered his brother Amnon in a calculated act of family vengeance, the infamous renegade who sought to depose his father David.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

There are several points of comparison between Adonijah and Absalom:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    \r\n\t
  1. Both have impressive good looks (I Kgs 1:5 and II Sam.14:25).<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
  2. Both instigate a mutiny during their father\u2019s lifetime.<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
  3. Each is the heir to the throne at the time of his self-coronation.<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
  4. Adonijah uses David\u2019s ailments and the search for Abishag to make him seem infirm. In a similar manner, Absalom paves the way to his self-coronation and raises public support by discrediting David\u2019s sense of justice (II Sam. 15:2\u20136).<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
  5. Both make for themselves \u201cchariots and horses and an escort of fifty runners\u201d (I Kings 1:5 and II Sam. 15:1).\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
  6. Absalom\u2019s crude act of intimacy with his father\u2019s concubines (II Sam. 16:20\u201322) parallels Adonijah\u2019s eventual request to marry Abishag (I Kgs 2:13\u201322).\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n

    In equating Absalom and Adonijah, our chapter is directing us to a similarly unfavorable assessment of Adonijah as a person who cannot be trusted, and an unscrupulous schemer. This man is unfit to be king of Israel.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Alex Israel, 1 Kings: Torn in Two<\/em>, Maggid Books, 2013, \u201c<\/span>Race to the Throne,\u201d by courtesy of the author<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":61437,"alt":"","title":"alex israel - kings 1","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/alex-israel-kings-1.jpg","width":1020,"height":1304,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/alex-israel-kings-1-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/alex-israel-kings-1-235x300.jpg","medium-width":235,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/alex-israel-kings-1-768x982.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":982,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/alex-israel-kings-1-801x1024.jpg","large-width":801,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/alex-israel-kings-1.jpg","1536x1536-width":1020,"1536x1536-height":1304,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/alex-israel-kings-1.jpg","2048x2048-width":1020,"2048x2048-height":1304,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/alex-israel-kings-1-939x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":939,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/alex-israel-kings-1-329x420.jpg","home_baner-width":329,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"Excerpts from: 1 Kings - Torn in Two","tile_main_caption":"Adonijah\u2019s Scheme To Ascend The Throne","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"With unmistakable echoes of Absalom\u2019s similar challenge\u00a0","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":61437,"alt":"","title":"alex israel - kings 1","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/alex-israel-kings-1.jpg","width":1020,"height":1304,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/alex-israel-kings-1-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/alex-israel-kings-1-235x300.jpg","medium-width":235,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/alex-israel-kings-1-768x982.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":982,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/alex-israel-kings-1-801x1024.jpg","large-width":801,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/alex-israel-kings-1.jpg","1536x1536-width":1020,"1536x1536-height":1304,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/alex-israel-kings-1.jpg","2048x2048-width":1020,"2048x2048-height":1304,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/alex-israel-kings-1-939x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":939,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/alex-israel-kings-1-329x420.jpg","home_baner-width":329,"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":"I Kings","chapter":"1","chapter_main_number":"288","date":"20261006","wall_id":"288"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"473","name":"Child","old_id":"873"},{"term_id":"834","name":"David","old_id":"1234"},{"term_id":"835","name":"King","old_id":"1235"}]},{"order":15,"id":"113393","color":"#f6edf6","size":"1","name":"The Tanakh Podcast-IKings1 ","post_title":"The Tanakh Podcast-IKings1","slug":"the-tanakh-podcast-ikings1","old_id":"113393","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":"288","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":"I Kings 1: Long Live King Solomon!","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Chapter 1 gives us a competition to succeed King David. Who will be king - Adoniya or Solomon?","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\/3zKyx1Ei7El9Ysa42OOeTQ","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":"I Kings","chapter":"1","chapter_main_number":"288","date":"20261006","wall_id":"288"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"589","name":"audio","old_id":"989"},{"term_id":"857","name":"podcast","old_id":"1257"}]},{"order":16,"id":"61439","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Abishag ","post_title":"Abishag","slug":"abishag","old_id":"61439","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":36669,"post_title":"Yakov Azriel","slug":"yakov-azriel","old_id":"36669","first_name":"Yakov ","last_name":"Azriel","description":"Yakov Azriel, who lives in Israel, has published five books of poetry in the USA and hundreds of poems in journals and magazines. His poems have won twenty-two prizes in international poetry competitions, and he has twice been awarded fellowships from the Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture.","short_description":"Yakov Azriel is an English language poet who lives in Israel","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":36670,"alt":"","title":"Yakov.Azriel.Photo","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668.jpg","width":1099,"height":1519,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668-217x300.jpg","medium-width":217,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668-741x1024.jpg","medium_large-width":741,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668-741x1024.jpg","large-width":741,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668.jpg","1536x1536-width":1099,"1536x1536-height":1519,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668.jpg","2048x2048-width":1099,"2048x2048-height":1519,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668-868x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":868,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668-304x420.jpg","home_baner-width":304,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"288","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Let the old king cry.\u00a0 Let an old man rest.","post_main_content_content":"

    During the rainy, dark and chilly nights<\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>Of winter, His Royal Majesty, the king,<\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>Warms his hands in mine, listens to me sing,<\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>And nods his head before he slowly bites<\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>The meat I feed him with a spoon.\u00a0 He writes<\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>Another psalm, then orders me to bring<\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>His mother\u2019s candlesticks and wedding ring<\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>For me to see, and him to hold.\u00a0 He fights<\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>His tears when he begins to talk, quietly,<\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>About his mother.\u00a0 \u201c<\/span>Friday nights she\u2019d kiss<\/span><\/i>
    \r\n<\/span><\/i>My brow before she prayed; she loved me best,<\/span><\/i>
    \r\n<\/span><\/i>And after lighting candles, sang with me.<\/span><\/i>
    \r\n<\/span><\/i>Of everyone I\u2019ve loved, it\u2019s her I miss<\/span><\/i>.\u201d<\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>Let the old king cry.\u00a0 Let an old man rest.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":60950,"alt":"","title":"2sam19-David_mourning_for_Absalom1","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam19-David_mourning_for_Absalom1.jpg","width":424,"height":599,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam19-David_mourning_for_Absalom1-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam19-David_mourning_for_Absalom1-212x300.jpg","medium-width":212,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam19-David_mourning_for_Absalom1.jpg","medium_large-width":424,"medium_large-height":599,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam19-David_mourning_for_Absalom1.jpg","large-width":424,"large-height":599,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam19-David_mourning_for_Absalom1.jpg","1536x1536-width":424,"1536x1536-height":599,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam19-David_mourning_for_Absalom1.jpg","2048x2048-width":424,"2048x2048-height":599,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam19-David_mourning_for_Absalom1.jpg","post_full_size-width":424,"post_full_size-height":599,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam19-David_mourning_for_Absalom1-297x420.jpg","home_baner-width":297,"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":"929 Poetry Corner","tile_main_caption":"Abishag","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Let the old king cry.\u00a0 Let an old man rest.","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":60950,"alt":"","title":"2sam19-David_mourning_for_Absalom1","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam19-David_mourning_for_Absalom1.jpg","width":424,"height":599,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam19-David_mourning_for_Absalom1-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam19-David_mourning_for_Absalom1-212x300.jpg","medium-width":212,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam19-David_mourning_for_Absalom1.jpg","medium_large-width":424,"medium_large-height":599,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam19-David_mourning_for_Absalom1.jpg","large-width":424,"large-height":599,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam19-David_mourning_for_Absalom1.jpg","1536x1536-width":424,"1536x1536-height":599,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam19-David_mourning_for_Absalom1.jpg","2048x2048-width":424,"2048x2048-height":599,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam19-David_mourning_for_Absalom1.jpg","post_full_size-width":424,"post_full_size-height":599,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam19-David_mourning_for_Absalom1-297x420.jpg","home_baner-width":297,"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":"I Kings","chapter":"1","chapter_main_number":"288","date":"20261006","wall_id":"288"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"362","name":"Poetry","old_id":"762"},{"term_id":"834","name":"David","old_id":"1234"}]},{"order":17,"id":"61456","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"A Look Ahead At What\u2019s In Store ","post_title":"A Look Ahead At What\u2019s In Store","slug":"a-look-ahead-at-whats-in-store","old_id":"61456","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":"288","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"The seeds of dissolution are already planted","post_main_content_content":"

    The Book of Samuel (its Jewish name\u2014the division in two being of Christian origin) gave us insight into the introduction to the idea of monarchy, which was sought, initially (harken back to 1 Samuel 8), as an antidote to the weakness of tribal leadership that characterized the earlier era of the Book of Judges. Now, with our entry into the Book of Kings, we will witness how that institution fared after the death of its dynastic founder, David, until its discontinuation at the time of the destruction of the Temple of Solomon by the Babylonians in 586 BCE\u2014an era of over 400 years.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    A<\/span>\u00a0word of caution to the reader: At some point in the first half of the Book of Kings, the kingdom will split in two and the title \u201cKing of Israel\u201d will no longer identify a member of the Davidic dynasty\u2014who will henceforth be called the King of Judah (including also Benjamin)\u2014but any of a series of rulers who will command a breakaway kingdom comprised of the other ten tribes.<\/p>\r\n

    The scene for the eventual dissolution of David\u2019s kingdom is actually set in the first chapter, as he is shown to be enfeebled by advancing age to such an extent that he failed to recognize an incipient plot to usurp the throne. The erstwhile usurper was Adonijah ben Hagit \u201cwho was born after Absalom\u201d (6), a neat double-entendre, as he followed him in the birth line (see 2 Samuel 3:3-4) as well as in his opposition to their father\u2019s will. As if that were not enough of a coincidence, we are further notified that they also shared the quality of handsomeness and that David had a soft spot for him, too, and was unable to remonstrate with him over his behavior (6).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    On this occasion, however, there are other forces at work in the palace and sides are quickly drawn up: Joab (military) and Abiathar (priesthood) side with Adonijah, while, correspondingly, Zadok (priesthood) and Benayahu (military) side with\u2026? As of yet, they have no side to take, so all we can be told is that \u201cthey did not side with Adonijah\u201d (8). To redress that situation, Nathan the Prophet (prominent in 2 Samuel 7) colluded with Bathsheba to successfully insure that David\u2019s choice of Solomon as his successor would be preserved.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    A literary note: Word of Solomon\u2019s succession was brought to Adonijah by Jonathan ben Abiathar who was welcomed as \u201ca messenger of good news\u201d (42). This is the very same Jonathan who carried intelligence to David about Absalom (2 Samuel 17), supporting our earlier observation about the reprise of Absalom\u2019s rebellion in Adonijah\u2019s usurpation. It also illustrates the fickleness of loyalties when they are put to the test.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":61457,"alt":"","title":"1kings-split tree","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings-split-tree.jpg","width":616,"height":382,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings-split-tree-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings-split-tree-300x186.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":186,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings-split-tree.jpg","medium_large-width":616,"medium_large-height":382,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings-split-tree.jpg","large-width":616,"large-height":382,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings-split-tree.jpg","1536x1536-width":616,"1536x1536-height":382,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings-split-tree.jpg","2048x2048-width":616,"2048x2048-height":382,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings-split-tree.jpg","post_full_size-width":616,"post_full_size-height":382,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings-split-tree.jpg","home_baner-width":616,"home_baner-height":382}},"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 Look Ahead At What\u2019s In Store","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"The seeds of dissolution are already planted","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":61457,"alt":"","title":"1kings-split tree","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings-split-tree.jpg","width":616,"height":382,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings-split-tree-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings-split-tree-300x186.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":186,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings-split-tree.jpg","medium_large-width":616,"medium_large-height":382,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings-split-tree.jpg","large-width":616,"large-height":382,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings-split-tree.jpg","1536x1536-width":616,"1536x1536-height":382,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings-split-tree.jpg","2048x2048-width":616,"2048x2048-height":382,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings-split-tree.jpg","post_full_size-width":616,"post_full_size-height":382,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings-split-tree.jpg","home_baner-width":616,"home_baner-height":382}},"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":"I Kings","chapter":"1","chapter_main_number":"288","date":"20261006","wall_id":"288"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"834","name":"David","old_id":"1234"},{"term_id":"835","name":"King","old_id":"1235"},{"term_id":"895","name":"Loyalty","old_id":"1295"}]},{"order":18,"id":"61214","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Biblical Snapshots: A Humbling Beginning ","post_title":"Biblical Snapshots: A Humbling Beginning","slug":"biblical-snapshots-a-humbling-beginning","old_id":"61214","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":"288","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\/BbKd4YgAbD4","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":"I Kings 1: A Humbling Beginning ","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"with Adam Mintz ","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":"","tile_preview_video":"https:\/\/youtu.be\/BbKd4YgAbD4","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":"I Kings","chapter":"1","chapter_main_number":"288","date":"20261006","wall_id":"288"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"369","name":"Visual Arts","old_id":"769"}]},{"order":19,"id":"61415","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Geriatric Impotence ","post_title":"Geriatric Impotence","slug":"geriatric-impotence","old_id":"61415","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":"288","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"A reversal of the story of David with a different beautiful maiden who was sent for","post_main_content_content":"

    1:4 \u201cAnd the young woman was very beautiful, and she became a familiar to the king, and ministered to him, but the king knew her not.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    David, lying in bed with this desirable virgin, but now beyond any thought or capacity of sexual consummation, is of course a sad image of infirm old age. At the same time, this vignette of geriatric impotence is a pointed reversal of the Bathsheba story that brought down God\u2019s curse on the house of David, triggering all the subsequent troubles of dynastic succession. There too, David was lying in his bed or couch (<\/span>mishkav<\/span><\/em>, as in verse 47 here), and there, too, he sent out emissaries to bring back a beautiful young woman to lie with him, though to antithetical purposes.<\/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":"Geriatric Impotence","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"A reversal of the story of David with a different beautiful maiden who was sent for","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":"I Kings","chapter":"1","chapter_main_number":"288","date":"20261006","wall_id":"288"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":20,"id":"61384","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"A Lesson on the Daily Chapter- I Kings 1 ","post_title":"A Lesson on the Daily Chapter- I Kings 1","slug":"a-lesson-on-the-daily-chapter-i-kings-1","old_id":"61384","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":"288","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- I Kings 1","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-i-kings-chapter-1","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":"I Kings","chapter":"1","chapter_main_number":"288","date":"20261006","wall_id":"288"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":21,"id":"61213","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Sefaria Source Sheets - I Kings 1 ","post_title":"Sefaria Source Sheets - I Kings 1","slug":"sefaria-source-sheets-i-kings-1","old_id":"61213","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":"288","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"","post_main_content_content":"

    \u201cKing David: Tales of a Flawed King\u201d<\/a> by Rick Kellner: The complexity of the Jewish people\u2019s best-known ruler.<\/p>\r\n

    \u201cAnd let us say, Amen\u201d<\/a> by Jeremy Borovitz: Explore the uses of this common phrase.<\/p>\r\n

     <\/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 - I Kings 1","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":"I Kings","chapter":"1","chapter_main_number":"288","date":"20261006","wall_id":"288"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":22,"id":"61413","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Points to Ponder - I Kings 1 ","post_title":"Points to Ponder - I Kings 1","slug":"points-to-ponder-i-kings-1","old_id":"61413","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":"288","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"","post_main_content_content":"

      \r\n\t
    1. Handsome, spoiled, and heir to the throne<\/em>. \u201cHis father had never scolded him: \u201cWhy did you do that?\u201d He was the one born after Absalom and, like him, was very handsome\u201d (verse 6). This is what we know about Adonijah: gorgeous, never disciplined, and the next in line.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
    2. Coronation on the water<\/em>. Both coronation ceremonies - Adonijah\u2019s, and Solomon\u2019s - take place near a spring. What\u2019s the connection? Different commentators have different ideas...<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
    3. Royal transportation.<\/em> Adonijah, who is striving for the throne, adopts the custom of kings: \u201cNow Adonijah son of Haggith went about boasting, \u201cI will be king!\u201d He provided himself with chariots and horses, and an escort of fifty outrunners\u201d (verse 5). Solomon, who is on his way to be crowned king, uses David\u2019s personal ride, they had \u201cSolomon ride on King David\u2019s mule\u201d (verse 38).\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
    4. The one-two punch<\/em>. Bathsheba\u2019s and Nathan\u2019s dual entreaty to David is well-planned. Bathsheba knows just what to say and how to say it, and Nathan has his cue when to burst in to provide back-up: \u201cWhile you are still there talking with the king, I will come in after you and confirm your words\u201d (verse 14).<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
    5. Long live the king!<\/em> Solomon\u2019s first act as king is to react to Adonijah\u2019s request (from his refuge holding onto the altar), that he swear that he won\u2019t kill him. Solomon gets him off the altar, but adds a condition, that he, Solomon, will honor the vow if Adonijah behaves. But if not - he will die. So it\u2019s up to Adonijah (smart, huh?). We\u2019ll see how that turns out...<\/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":"I Kings 1","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":"I Kings","chapter":"1","chapter_main_number":"288","date":"20261006","wall_id":"288"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false}]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wall\/61311"}],"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=61311"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}