The (Second) Book of Samuel: chapter 20

Welcome to 2 Samuel, Shmuel part Bet, chapter twenty one

Episode 48: Polydactyly

Previously on the book of Shmuel part Bet: We saw the secret life of Amasa who we proposed was in fact the inside man propelling the rebellion of Sheva ben Bichri. We noted That Yoav seemed to be hunting Amasa and explained the poor handling of Amasa’s corpse as part of the fallout of the ongoing war. I know we mentioned the gemara about the halachic question as to whether or not Sheva should have been handed over to Yoav, but we didn’t quite touch on the fact that even if they were allowed to hand Sheva over, who says they could kill him? Meaning even if he was a mored b’malchut, doesn’t he get his day in court in front of David? The only answer I can come up with is that this is a proof that anyone can kill a mored b’malchut at the kings behest.

In this chapter we begin the coda of sefer shmuel by pivoting back in time. David is dealing with a famine that is one again tied to Gibe’on, a place and a people which has outsized impact on our book as a whole. Perhaps now we can see why Shimi ben Gera was so livid at David, David had essentially wiped out nearly the entire remaining family of Shaul, even after he had made an oath to preserve them!

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The (Second) Book of Samuel: chapter 20

Welcome to 2 Samuel, Shmuel part Bet, chapter twenty

Episode 47: The Secret Life of Amasa

Previously we saw the return of the king, where David meets again with many of the cast of characters he encountered when he had to flee before Avshalom. We spoke about his misjudgement with Mephiboshet and Tzibah and at the end we saw that David’s efforts to reunite the nation, by appointing Amasa as the head of his army, were insufficient to prevent the beginnings of internal strife. The tribes are once again acting tribal, with bickering over who gets to be closer to the king being an example of the simmering unrest that will erupt into another rebellion in this chapter.

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The (Second) Book of Samuel: chapter 19

Welcome to 2 Samuel, Shmuel part Bet, chapter nineteen

Episode 46: The Return of the King

Previously on the book of Shmuel part bet - We saw what was referred to in Shir HaShirim 7:6 as מֶלֶךְ אָסוּר בָּרְהָטִים the king held captive in the hairlocks. David’s army, and the battle location was too much for Avshalom’s troops. Yoav callously put an end to Avshalom and then in the beginning of chapter 19 we saw a broken king mourning the death of yet another child.

The rest of the chapter will remind you, if you are a Tolkein fan, and if you are not we need to speak to remedy that, of the Gray Heavens, or in Joseph Campbell language, the concluding return of the Hero’s journey, where he meets upon his return the same cast of characters he met on his way out.

But first we take a brief excursus to note the many thematic and textual parallels between Saul's son Jonathan, and David's son Absalom.

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