| 2-Samuel-5 [2-Samuel 5:1] THEN CAME ALL THE TRIBES OF ISRAEL TO DAVID UNTO HEBRON, AND SPAKE, SAYING, BEHOLD, WE ARE THY BONE AND THY FLESH. This parallels the words of Adam concerning Eve: AND ADAM SAID, THIS IS NOW BONE OF MY BONES, AND FLESH OF MY FLESH: SHE SHALL BE CALLED WOMAN, BECAUSE SHE WAS TAKEN OUT OF MAN [Genesis 2:23]. This reflects the fact that David is part of the Israelite being and that Israel has need of him. [2-Samuel 5: ALSO IN TIME PAST, WHEN SAUL WAS KING OVER US, THOU WAST HE THAT LEDDEST OUT AND BROUGHTEST IN ISRAEL: AND THE LORD SAID TO THEE, THOU SHALT FEED MY PEOPLE ISRAEL, AND THOU SHALT BE A CAPTAIN OVER ISRAEL. Even while Saul was officially the monarch David performed many of the duties of the King concerning the people such as protecting them and leading them to war and bringing the war to a conclusion. <<FEED>>: In Hebrew "Roeh" meaning "shepherd". God said that David would be a shepherd over his people, Israel. <<A CAPTAIN>>: In Hebrew "Nagid" connoting ruler. This same term is found in Chronicles where the King James translates it as "Chief Ruler": FOR JUDAH PREVAILED ABOVE HIS BRETHREN, AND OF HIM CAME THE CHIEF RULER [Hebrew: "Nagid"]; BUT THE BIRTHRIGHT WAS JOSEPH'S [1-Chronicles 5:2]: The Midrash (Yalkut Shimeoni) points out that The task of the ruler was to take out and bring in the people (in one piece) from warfare and everything else according to the request of Moses "LET THE LORD, THE GOD OF THE SPIRITS OF ALL FLESH, SET A MAN OVER THE CONGREGATION "WHICH MAY GO OUT BEFORE THEM, AND WHICH MAY GO IN BEFORE THEM, AND WHICH MAY LEAD THEM OUT, AND WHICH MAY BRING THEM IN; THAT THE CONGREGATION OF THE LORD BE NOT AS SHEEP WHICH HAVE NO SHEPHERD [Numbers 27:16-17] . The Midrash comments that the task of the Ruler chosen by God to lead Israel is not only to lead Israel to War and bring them back from it but to do so with as few casualties as possible and preferably with none at all. This is indeed a problem with Right-Wing nationalist types who, though in principle more often right than wrong, sometimes have a tendency to be unrealistic almost suicidal in their approach. "Dead heroes" do not really help anybody: FOR TO HIM THAT IS JOINED TO ALL THE LIVING THERE IS HOPE: FOR A LIVING DOG IS BETTER THAN A DEAD LION [The Preacher "Kohelet" 9:4] . [2-Samuel 5:3] SO ALL THE ELDERS OF ISRAEL CAME TO THE KING TO HEBRON; AND KING DAVID MADE A LEAGUE WITH THEM IN HEBRON BEFORE THE LORD: AND THEY ANOINTED DAVID KING OVER ISRAEL. [2-Samuel 5:4] DAVID WAS THIRTY YEARS OLD WHEN HE BEGAN TO REIGN, AND HE REIGNED FORTY YEARS. [2-Samuel 5:5] IN HEBRON HE REIGNED OVER JUDAH SEVEN YEARS AND SIX MONTHS: AND IN JERUSALEM HE REIGNED THIRTY AND THREE YEARS OVER ALL ISRAEL AND JUDAH. This story is repeated in Chronicles which however jumps over the seven and a half years between the death of Saul and the anointing of David over all Israel. Chronicles is designed to flesh out and supplement the other works of Scripture: [1-Chronicles 10:13] SO SAUL DIED FOR HIS TRANSGRESSION WHICH HE COMMITTED AGAINST THE LORD, EVEN AGAINST THE WORD OF THE LORD, WHICH HE KEPT NOT, AND ALSO FOR ASKING COUNSEL OF ONE THAT HAD A FAMILIAR SPIRIT, TO ENQUIRE OF IT; [1-Chronicles 10:14] AND ENQUIRED NOT OF THE LORD: THEREFORE HE SLEW HIM, AND TURNED THE KINGDOM UNTO DAVID THE SON OF JESSE: [1-Chronicles 11:1] THEN ALL ISRAEL GATHERED THEMSELVES TO DAVID UNTO HEBRON, SAYING, BEHOLD, WE ARE THY BONE AND THY FLESH. [1-Chronicles 11:2] AND MOREOVER IN TIME PAST, EVEN WHEN SAUL WAS KING, THOU WAST HE THAT LEDDEST OUT AND BROUGHTEST IN ISRAEL: AND THE LORD THY GOD SAID UNTO THEE, THOU SHALT FEED MY PEOPLE ISRAEL, AND THOU SHALT BE RULER OVER MY PEOPLE ISRAEL. [1-Chronicles 11:3] THEREFORE CAME ALL THE ELDERS OF ISRAEL TO THE KING TO HEBRON; AND DAVID MADE A COVENANT WITH THEM IN HEBRON BEFORE THE LORD; AND THEY ANOINTED DAVID KING OVER ISRAEL, ACCORDING TO THE WORD OF THE LORD BY SAMUEL. [1-Chronicles 11:4] AND DAVID AND ALL ISRAEL WENT TO JERUSALEM, WHICH IS JEBUS; WHERE THE JEBUSITES WERE, THE INHABITANTS OF THE LAND. Now that David was made the King over all Israel meaning the northern as well as the southern sections there was a need to give physical expression to the requested unity. Jerusalem at that time was occupied by foreigners and formed a barrier between the two sections of Israel . There was a need to conquer it. 2-Samuel 5-2 [2-Samuel 5:6] AND THE KING AND HIS MEN WENT TO JERUSALEM UNTO THE JEBUSITES, THE INHABITANTS OF THE LAND: WHICH SPAKE UNTO DAVID, SAYING, EXCEPT THOU TAKE AWAY THE BLIND AND THE LAME, THOU SHALT NOT COME IN HITHER: THINKING, DAVID CANNOT COME IN HITHER. This is a hard passage to comment on. The Jebusites were part of the Canaanites (Genesis 10:16). Jerusalem is referred to as "Yevus" ("Jebus") after the Jebusites: "JEBUS, WHICH IS JERUSALEM" (Judges 19:10). "BLIND AND THE LAME": The Sages said these were images of idolatry on which had been written a copy of an undertaking by Avraham or later Israelites to leave the inhabitants of the land in peace. The undertaking was not valid since the other side had broken their part of the agreement. Nevertheless some degree of ethical propriety was involved. We face a similar problem in our days. The State of Israel is constantly under duress even from its friends (sometimes especially from its "friends") to make all kinds of agreements and guarantees for the "Poor Palestinians". These are all in a formal sense contingent (or should be assumed as contingent) on at least a modicum of minimum reciprocity on the side of the Palestinians which is not forthcoming and neither will it ever be. Nevertheless when the time comes (and come it will, God willing) to send the Palestinians away all these forced undertakings could be something of an impediment even though the only ones who ever respected them were the Jews in Israel. The Sages also said that the inhabitants of the city were actually at that time Hittites though the city was still named "Jebus". This is of interest since Shimeon Bar-Ephrat ("Mikra le-Yisrael") tells us that the Hittites used real people who had physical impairments (such as blind and dumb) as witnesses for ceremonial oaths. We have archaeological evidence that when swearing in their armed forces the Hittites would stand before the troops blind and dumb individuals and repeat the formula: "Behold before you, a blind woman and a lame man! Whosoever shall think evil [the word for "dumb" and the word for "think" came from the same root, i.e. a play on words] on the king and queen may curses come upon them. May they be made dumb! May they be made deaf! May he be destroyed! He, his,wife, his children, and his family!" [2-Samuel 5:7] NEVERTHELESS DAVID TOOK THE STRONG HOLD OF ZION: THE SAME IS THE CITY OF DAVID. [2-Samuel 5:8] AND DAVID SAID ON THAT DAY, WHOSOEVER GETTETH UP TO THE GUTTER, AND SMITETH THE JEBUSITES, AND THE LAME AND THE BLIND THAT ARE HATED OF DAVID'S SOUL, HE SHALL BE CHIEF AND CAPTAIN. WHEREFORE THEY SAID, THE BLIND AND THE LAME SHALL NOT COME INTO THE HOUSE. "Gutter": Hebrew "tsinor" maybe an opening or shaft. http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Archaeology/canaan.html Warrens Shaft <<From the Biblical story of the capture of Jerusalem by King David, it is implied that the battle was won with the help of a stratagem connected with something called the "tsinor" (Samuel II, 5; 8). This word appears only here, its meaning is not fully known, and it has been translated as gutter or tunnel. <<In the Jebusite city there was a method to access the Gihon spring water source, which is outside the wall, from within the city. A diagonal tunnel was hewn in the bedrock (apparently, along the line of a natural crack), and at its end a deep horizontal shaft was dug. From the top of the horizontal shaft, water jugs were lowered to the spring flowing below. Thus, access to the spring was hidden from the enemy outside the city. Perhaps this shaft is the "tsinor" through which King David's men climbed and penetrated the city as is mentioned in the Bible. The shaft was named after the British researcher Charles Warren who discovered it in the 19th century, . (Hezekiah's tunnel is from a later period).>> Were the THE LAME AND THE BLIND in some way connected with the guardianship of the tunnel? Remember what we said elsewhere about the possible use of physical peculiarities in warfare: http://britam.org/ezekiel/chapter27.html " THE GAMMADIMS WERE IN THY TOWERS" [Ezekiel 27:11] Pygmies [Hebrew: "Gamadim"] in your towers hung their shields around your walls. They perfected your beauty. ..The use of Pygmies to man very high almost inaccessible towers about the walls probably had military value. Pygmies make small targets. They are agile and they probably could climb up heights difficult of access to larger mortals. Likewise who knows whether blind defenders may not have some advantage in dark underground tunnels and lame fighters be more reliable in narrow enclosed spaces? In Ancient Times significance would have been seen in the use of the blind and lame to guard the city if the blind and lame also represented some past treaty undertaking that presumed to limit the rights of Israelite inheritance. Ezekiel 27:11 "The natives of Arwad and your own soldiers manned your walls round about, Pygmies [Hebrew: "Gamadim"] in your towers hung their shields around your walls. " "HATED OF DAVID'S SOUL": David identified completely with Israel. The enemies of the God of Israel and of the people of Israel were the personal enemies of David. The "LAME AND THE BLIND" in the City of the Jebusites represented the forces preventing Israel from realizing its destiny. The Capture of Jerusalem was important even beyond the fact that it was part of the Promised Land that we are commanded to liberate. It also was needed in order to serve as a continuing link between the two parts of the Kingdom of Israel. Jerusalem embodied the unification of Judah with Joseph and still does. "HOUSE": i.e. House of David. [1-Chronicles 11:4] AND DAVID AND ALL ISRAEL WENT TO JERUSALEM, WHICH IS JEBUS; WHERE THE JEBUSITES WERE, THE INHABITANTS OF THE LAND. [1-Chronicles 11:5] AND THE INHABITANTS OF JEBUS SAID TO DAVID, THOU SHALT NOT COME HITHER. NEVERTHELESS DAVID TOOK THE CASTLE OF ZION, WHICH IS THE CITY OF DAVID. [1-Chronicles 11:6] AND DAVID SAID, WHOSOEVER SMITETH THE JEBUSITES FIRST SHALL BE CHIEF AND CAPTAIN. SO JOAB THE SON OF ZERUIAH WENT FIRST UP, AND WAS CHIEF. [2-Samuel 5:9] SO DAVID DWELT IN THE FORT, AND CALLED IT THE CITY OF DAVID. AND DAVID BUILT ROUND ABOUT FROM MILLO AND INWARD. "MILLO": This is a Hebrew word meaning "filling". The City of David was built on hills. In one area they apparently built a wall to extend the top pf a high area and filled it in with rocks, dirt, and possibly plaster thus enlarging the level region for residential purposes. [1-Chronicles 11:7] AND DAVID DWELT IN THE CASTLE; THEREFORE THEY CALLED IT THE CITY OF DAVID. [1-Chronicles 11:8] AND HE BUILT THE CITY ROUND ABOUT, EVEN FROM MILLO ROUND ABOUT: AND JOAB REPAIRED THE REST OF THE CITY. [2-Samuel 5:10] AND DAVID WENT ON, AND GREW GREAT, AND THE LORD GOD OF HOSTS WAS WITH HIM. [2-Samuel 5:17] BUT WHEN THE PHILISTINES HEARD THAT THEY HAD ANOINTED DAVID KING OVER ISRAEL, ALL THE PHILISTINES CAME UP TO SEEK DAVID; AND DAVID HEARD OF IT, AND WENT DOWN TO THE HOLD. Some interpret this event as taking place before David had conquered Jerusalem BUT we try to always understand Scripture according to its simplest possible most literal sense and as being told in chronological order. Two major battles are spoken of in this passage and it may be that they occurred at different times but Scripture spoke of them together because from a military-political point of view they were connected. [2-Samuel 5:18] THE PHILISTINES ALSO CAME AND SPREAD THEMSELVES IN THE VALLEY OF REPHAIM. [2-Samuel 5:19] AND DAVID ENQUIRED OF THE LORD, SAYING, SHALL I GO UP TO THE PHILISTINES? WILT THOU DELIVER THEM INTO MINE HAND? AND THE LORD SAID UNTO DAVID, GO UP: FOR I WILL DOUBTLESS DELIVER THE PHILISTINES INTO THINE HAND. [2-Samuel 5:20] AND DAVID CAME TO BAAL-PERAZIM, AND DAVID SMOTE THEM THERE, AND SAID, THE LORD HATH BROKEN FORTH UPON MINE ENEMIES BEFORE ME, AS THE BREACH OF WATERS. THEREFORE HE CALLED THE NAME OF THAT PLACE BAAL-PERAZIM. Here we have a play on words as frequently happens in the Bible: David came to a place called "Baal-Perazim" meaning "The Lord of the Wilderness": "Perez" (Perets) means bursting forth so a place in which everything is biursting forth is a wilderness. In this place (BAAL-PERAZIM) David smote them and said that God had BROKEN FORTH (Parats) upon his enemies like a dam of water breaking forth from what held it back. Therefore he called the name of that place BAAL-PERAZIM. This means as we have emphasized several times in similar cases that the original name signified something about the event that took place and after the event had taken place the name acquirered an additional significance. [2-Samuel 5:21] AND THERE THEY LEFT THEIR IMAGES, AND DAVID AND HIS MEN BURNED THEM. They could have burnt them. The Hebrew says VaYisa-aim" which could be interpreted to mean burned them anor it could also mean carried them away. Yehudah Kiel claims it means they carried them off in a ceremony of victory. [2-Samuel 5:2 AND THE PHILISTINES CAME UP YET AGAIN, AND SPREAD THEMSELVES IN THE VALLEY OF REPHAIM. This is the second battle-scene. For a map of the area go to: http://www.anova.org/sev/atlas/htm/051.htm (Look at the insert). [2-Samuel 5:23] AND WHEN DAVID ENQUIRED OF THE LORD, HE SAID, THOU SHALT NOT GO UP; BUT FETCH A COMPASS BEHIND THEM, AND COME UPON THEM OVER AGAINST THE MULBERRY TREES. This is taken to mean that David was told not to make a frontal assault against them but to come at them from the flank. [2-Samuel 5:24] AND LET IT BE, WHEN THOU HEAREST THE SOUND OF A GOING IN THE TOPS OF THE MULBERRY TREES, THAT THEN THOU SHALT BESTIR THYSELF: FOR THEN SHALL THE LORD GO OUT BEFORE THEE, TO SMITE THE HOST OF THE PHILISTINES. David was to align his men up under the shelter of the trees and then when he heard the tops of the trees rustling in the wind to attack knowing that God was going before him to destroy his enemies. [2-Samuel 5:25] AND DAVID DID SO, AS THE LORD HAD COMMANDED HIM; AND SMOTE THE PHILISTINES FROM GEBA UNTIL THOU COME TO GAZER. BACK TO SAMUEL INDEX HOME |