Introduction: A Chapter of Establishing the Kingship
Chapter 2 of Melachim A is the chapter of transition: King David charges his son Shlomo before his death, is gathered to his fathers, and Shlomo sits upon his throne. From here on the entire chapter deals with removing the obstacles that remained in the path of the new kingship: Adoniyahu, Evyatar the Kohen, Yoav ben Tzeruyah and Shimi ben Gera. The chapter concludes with the words "וְהַמַּמְלָכָה נָכוֹנָה בְּיַד שְׁלֹמֹה." We will follow the order of the verses in the footsteps of the Malbim's commentary.
Adoniyahu Comes to Bat Sheva
וַיָּבֹא אֲדֹנִיָּהוּ בֶן חַגִּית אֶל בַּת שֶׁבַע אֵם שְׁלֹמֹה, וַתֹּאמֶר הֲשָׁלוֹם בֹּאֶךָ, וַיֹּאמֶר שָׁלוֹם. וַיֹּאמֶר דָּבָר לִי אֵלָיִךְ, וַתֹּאמֶר דַּבֵּר. - And Adoniyahu the son of Chaggit came to Bat Sheva the mother of Shlomo, and she said, "Do you come in peace?" And he said, "In peace." And he said, "I have a matter to speak with you," and she said, "Speak."
Adoniyahu ben Chaggit is known to us from the previous chapter as the one who tried to rebel against David and set up a kingship in the final days of his father. Natan the Navi and Bat Sheva came to David, told him of the matter, and the rebellion was cut off in its very budding. And here Adoniyahu does not rest for a moment. He has plans. Bat Sheva asks him: "Do you come in peace," meaning have you come to quarrel or have you come on matters of peace, and he answers: In peace, I have a private matter, a request.
וַיֹּאמֶר אַתְּ יָדַעַתְּ כִּי לִי הָיְתָה הַמְּלוּכָה, וְעָלַי שָׂמוּ כָל יִשְׂרָאֵל פְּנֵיהֶם לִמְלֹךְ, וַתִּסֹּב הַמְּלוּכָה וַתְּהִי לְאָחִי כִּי מֵה' הָיְתָה לּוֹ. וְעַתָּה שְׁאֵלָה אַחַת אָנֹכִי שֹׁאֵל מֵאִתָּךְ אַל תָּשִׁבִי אֶת פָּנָי, וַתֹּאמֶר אֵלָיו דַּבֵּר. - And he said, "You know that the kingship was mine, and all Israel set their faces toward me to reign, but the kingship turned about and became my brother's, for it was from Hashem for him. And now I ask one request of you, do not turn away my face," and she said to him, "Speak."
וַיֹּאמֶר אִמְרִי נָא לִשְׁלֹמֹה הַמֶּלֶךְ כִּי לֹא יָשִׁיב אֶת פָּנָיִךְ, וְיִתֶּן לִי אֶת אֲבִישַׁג הַשּׁוּנַמִּית לְאִשָּׁה. וַתֹּאמֶר בַּת שֶׁבַע טוֹב, אָנֹכִי אֲדַבֵּר עָלֶיךָ אֶל הַמֶּלֶךְ. - And he said, "Please say to Shlomo the king, for he will not turn away your face, that he give me Avishag the Shunamit as a wife." And Bat Sheva said, "Good, I will speak for you to the king."
Here we have something quite astonishing. A man who ought to have been thanking Hashem that his head was still between his shoulders, for he had long deserved to be put to death for rising to rebel while his father was still alive, is not content that they left him alive, but goes on to make requests. And what does he request? Avishag the Shunamit, who had been David's wife. True, David did not marry her nor was he intimate with her, but in any case she was an attendant of King David, an instrument that the king had made use of. How can such a thing even enter one's mind? As we shall see, this very request is what stirs Shlomo's wrath and brings upon Adoniyahu an absolute decree of death.
Adoniyahu's Reasoning According to the Malbim
The Malbim already noted earlier the difference between Avshalom and Adoniyahu. Avshalom wanted the kingship, and the way to attain it was that he came to his father's concubines, and by this he became repugnant in David's eyes and, as it were, became king. Here the situation is reversed: Adoniyahu's original aspiration was Avishag the Shunamit, of whom it is said that she was beautiful with none like her in all of Israel. He aspired to marry her, and since he saw that he could not marry her in the ordinary way, he said: I will marry her by becoming king. If I am king, continuing David's path, there is no problem of an instrument that the king made use of, for I too am king. The kingship to which he aspired was therefore mainly for her sake.
Once he failed, he said: If I did not receive the kingship, at least give me Avishag. And with what will he justify this? Upon this he builds two arguments. The first: "for the kingship was mine," I am the firstborn and I was fit to reign, and moreover "all Israel set their faces toward me," namely Yoav and Evyatar and broad segments of the people. "The kingship turned about," meaning it went otherwise than it should have, as it were it circled around and bypassed me and continued to my brother. And if so, it is fitting to appease me with something, and with what? With their giving me Avishag. And if you say, a commoner does not make use of an instrument that the king used, to this he says: I am not considered an ordinary commoner from the street, for I myself have the qualifications of a man fit for kingship, I am the firstborn and everyone wanted me.
The second argument is deeper. Says the Malbim: let us consider whose honor we need to guard, being careful that a commoner not marry his wife. For a king who was made king by human beings. For if we do not guard all the trappings of his honor, in what will his honor be expressed above the rest of the people? But a king who was made king by Hashem, what need does he have for trappings of honor? Hashem chose him, and by this very fact he is set apart. And this is what he said: "the kingship turned about and became my brother's, for it was from Hashem for him." If Shlomo's kingship is from Hashem, there is no harm to the honor of the kingship if I marry Avishag. And therefore, he says to her, there is no objection whatsoever. And Bat Sheva answers: Good, I will speak for you to the king.
Bat Sheva before Shlomo: "to speak to him"
וַתָּבֹא בַת שֶׁבַע אֶל הַמֶּלֶךְ שְׁלֹמֹה לְדַבֶּר לוֹ עַל אֲדֹנִיָּהוּ, וַיָּקָם הַמֶּלֶךְ לִקְרָאתָהּ וַיִּשְׁתַּחוּ לָהּ וַיֵּשֶׁב עַל כִּסְאוֹ, וַיָּשֶׂם כִּסֵּא לְאֵם הַמֶּלֶךְ וַתֵּשֶׁב לִימִינוֹ. - And Bat Sheva came to King Shlomo to speak to him on behalf of Adoniyahu, and the king rose to meet her and bowed to her, and he sat on his throne, and he placed a throne for the king's mother, and she sat at his right.
Why does it say "to speak to him" and not "to speak with him"? The Malbim explains: "to speak to him" means for his sake, for his benefit. She comes and says to Shlomo: here is a man walking around with a feeling of bitterness and a full stomach, it would be worthwhile for you to throw him a bone and appease him, and thereby you will solve the problem and have quiet from him. This is how she reasoned, that the matter was for the king's benefit.
"And he placed a throne for the king's mother" plainly refers to Bat Sheva. But Chazal expounded "for the king's mother" as the mother of royalty, and who is she? Rut the Moaviah. Chazal say that Rut the Moaviah lived so long that she saw Shlomo the king in his glory ruling on the throne of David. This is a longevity of four generations, and Shlomo at the time he arose to rule was twelve years old.
וַתֹּאמֶר שְׁאֵלָה אַחַת קְטַנָּה אָנֹכִי שֹׁאֶלֶת מֵאִתָּךְ אַל תָּשֶׁב אֶת פָּנָי, וַיֹּאמֶר לָהּ הַמֶּלֶךְ שַׁאֲלִי אִמִּי כִּי לֹא אָשִׁיב אֶת פָּנָיִךְ. וַתֹּאמֶר יֻתַּן אֶת אֲבִישַׁג הַשֻּׁנַמִּית לַאֲדֹנִיָּהוּ אָחִיךָ לְאִשָּׁה. - And she said: one small request I ask of you, do not turn away my face; and the king said to her: ask, my mother, for I will not turn away your face. And she said: let Avishag the Shunamit be given to Adoniyahu your brother as a wife.
Let us note the precise wording "your face": the intent is to what you want, to what you are interested in. Shlomo says to her: only if this is your absolute desire will I not turn away your face. And as we will see shortly, he will indeed turn away her face, for ultimately this is not her face but the face of Adoniyahu, and when she understands why the matter is not good, she too will agree that such a request should not be made.
Shlomo's reply: "then ask for him the kingship"
וַיַּעַן הַמֶּלֶךְ שְׁלֹמֹה וַיֹּאמֶר לְאִמּוֹ, וְלָמָה אַתְּ שֹׁאֶלֶת אֶת אֲבִישַׁג הַשֻּׁנַמִּית לַאֲדֹנִיָּהוּ, וְשַׁאֲלִי לוֹ אֶת הַמְּלוּכָה כִּי הוּא אָחִי הַגָּדוֹל מִמֶּנִּי, וְלוֹ וּלְאֶבְיָתָר הַכֹּהֵן וּלְיוֹאָב בֶּן צְרוּיָה. - And King Shlomo answered and said to his mother: and why do you ask Avishag the Shunamit for Adoniyahu? Then ask for him the kingship, for he is my older brother, both for him and for Evyatar the kohen and for Yoav ben Tzeruyah.
Shlomo immediately understands what stands behind the request: Adoniyahu wants to enter the kingship through the back door. He will marry Avishag, who had been an instrument that David used, and thereby he will gain standing and dominion as one who is supposedly continuing the way of the king, and this is already a breach from which he could rebel. Therefore he replies: if these are his arguments, that he is the firstborn and that all of Israel set their faces upon him, well, let him ask for the kingship itself, since by his reasoning it belongs to him. Do you not understand that all these arguments are but one statement: the kingship is mine, and it was snatched away from me.
And this is also the depth of the ending "both for him and for Evyatar the kohen and for Yoav ben Tzeruyah." For he himself claims that great men set their faces toward him, and who are they? Evyatar and Yoav. Shlomo says to his mother: by receiving Avishag he will not satisfy them. He will satisfy half of his own desire, but his supporters will receive nothing. He will have to do something to give them dominion and positions, and this will bring him again toward the kingship. Shlomo understands that the desire for Avishag is the primary desire, but surely Adoniyahu is not free of a desire for the kingship. There were two factors here: a central factor, Avishag, and a secondary factor, the kingship. And Shlomo knew that once the central factor was attained, the secondary factor would not be nullified but the opposite. And a known principle is in our hands: a desire that has been attained no longer speaks to a person, and he always needs the next desire. What is already in my pocket does not speak to me. Once Avishag is in his hand, he will not see this as a goal attained and the end of desires, but rather the desires will grow and grow, and the next in line will be the kingship. And then it will be easier for him: one who has the king's wife in his house is clearly the next king.
Shlomo's oath: "for Adoniyahu has spoken this against his own life"
וַיִּשָּׁבַע הַמֶּלֶךְ שְׁלֹמֹה בַּה' לֵאמֹר, כֹּה יַעֲשֶׂה לִּי אֱלֹהִים וְכֹה יוֹסִיף כִּי בְנַפְשׁוֹ דִּבֶּר אֲדֹנִיָּהוּ אֶת הַדָּבָר הַזֶּה. - And King Shlomo swore by Hashem, saying: so may God do to me and so may He add, for Adoniyahu has spoken this thing against his own life.
"So may God do to me, and so may He add" is an expression that recurs many times in Tanach: an oath in which the punishment is not stated explicitly. The reason is that when a person says something unfavorable about himself, he may, God forbid, cause it to come upon him, as it says "what I feared has come upon me," and as we say, a covenant is made with the lips. Therefore, when a person sees that someone is liable to fall, we say to him, be careful not to fall, for in the statement "you will fall" there is a power that can cause the fall, and likewise one who dreamed a bad dream, we interpret it for him favorably, for words that leave the mouth have power. So too in Parashat Shemot: "וְנִלְחַם בָּנוּ וְעָלָה מִן הָאָרֶץ", where seemingly it should have said "and we will go up from the land," since he would drive us out. But they did not want to say anything negative about themselves, and therefore they attributed the going up from the land to him and not to themselves.
And what does the addition "for Adoniyahu spoke this matter with his own soul" mean? The Malbim explains: when a person speaks such a thing he understands the danger he is entering, and if he understands and nevertheless requests it, he is like one delivering his soul to death. And if a person is prepared to give up his soul, for what would he do so? A person does not give up his soul for something small. If he takes such a risk, it is a sign that the minimum he is requesting here is the kingship, and for less than that a person does not take such a risk. If so, his verdict is to be liable to death.
וְעַתָּה חַי ה' אֲשֶׁר הֱכִינַנִי וַיּוֹשִׁיבַנִי עַל כִּסֵּא דָּוִד אָבִי וַאֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה לִי בַּיִת כַּאֲשֶׁר דִּבֵּר, כִּי הַיּוֹם יוּמַת אֲדֹנִיָּהוּ. - And now, as the Lord lives, who has established me and set me on the throne of David my father, and who has made me a house as He spoke, so this day Adoniyahu shall be put to death.
What is the point of all these preliminaries? All this comes to explain why he has no choice but to kill him specifically today. God promised that I would be a man of rest, unlike David my father, for whom years passed until he reigned, and even once he reigned he was removed from his kingship twice, once by Avshalom and once by Sheva ben Bichri. If it was promised to me that there would be no breach and no going forth and no outcry in our streets, and that God made me a house, meaning that my offspring too would reign after me, it is a sign that I must root out every spark of rebellion while it is still in its bud, before it develops into a full revolt and more men join it as we have seen in the past. Therefore: today Adoniyahu shall be put to death.
וַיִּשְׁלַח הַמֶּלֶךְ שְׁלֹמֹה בְּיַד בְּנָיָהוּ בֶן יְהוֹיָדָע וַיִּפְגַּע בּוֹ וַיָּמֹת. - And King Shlomo sent by the hand of Benayahu son of Yehoyada, and he struck him down, and he died.
Benayahu son of Yehoyada was a Kohen, and seemingly, how was he sent to kill? The Radak says: when he struck him, he did not die immediately, and Benayahu withdrew his hand from him before his death, so he did not become impure. Something similar we find with Pinchas, that one of the miracles done for him was that Zimri son of Salu and the Midianite woman did not die until he had cast them to the ground. And some explain differently, that where a mitzvah is involved a Kohen is permitted to become impure through the dead, and just as a Kohen is permitted to fight and to become impure in a war that is a mitzvah, so too here, since there is a command of the king, the matter was permitted.
Evyatar the Kohen: A Partial Punishment
וּלְאֶבְיָתָר הַכֹּהֵן אָמַר הַמֶּלֶךְ, עֲנָתֹת לֵךְ עַל שָׂדֶיךָ כִּי אִישׁ מָוֶת אָתָּה, וּבַיּוֹם הַזֶּה לֹא אֲמִיתֶךָ כִּי נָשָׂאתָ אֶת אֲרוֹן אֲדֹנָי ה' לִפְנֵי דָּוִד אָבִי, וְכִי הִתְעַנִּיתָ בְּכֹל אֲשֶׁר הִתְעַנָּה אָבִי. - And to Evyatar the Kohen the king said, Go to Anatot, to your own fields, for you are a man deserving of death, but on this day I will not put you to death, because you carried the Ark of the Lord God before David my father, and because you suffered in all that my father suffered.
Anatot is a city of Kohanim, the very one in which Yirmiyahu the prophet would later live. "You are a man deserving of death" for rebelling against the kingship of David and conspiring with Adoniyahu. And why does he not exact punishment from him? Because he carried the Ark before David. As we recall, when David fled from his son Avshalom, it was Evyatar who carried the Ark and the Urim and Tumim. On that day it is written that he was removed from the priesthood, but he was not yet completely dismissed, for he tried to inquire through the Urim and Tumim and did not succeed, and David said to him "withdraw your hand," meaning we have no time to tarry. And why in fact did he not succeed? Our Sages say: because he was among the descendants of Eli, of the offspring of Chofni and Pinchas, who were cursed that they would have no authority nor rank of priesthood, to the extent that it is said that one would come and say to the Kohen serving in the House of the Lord "attach me, please, to one of the priestly offices" and would beg him for bread for a coin of silver, a punishment for their having despised the service of the Temple and treated it without the proper honor. But since he was with David in his time of trouble and suffered in all that he suffered, Shlomo does not exact punishment from him: he sends him to his home, but banishes him from the priesthood. A partial punishment, and not a full exaction.
וַיְגָרֶשׁ שְׁלֹמֹה אֶת אֶבְיָתָר מִהְיוֹת כֹּהֵן לַה', לְמַלֵּא אֶת דְּבַר ה' אֲשֶׁר דִּבֶּר עַל בֵּית עֵלִי בְּשִׁלֹה. - And Shlomo banished Evyatar from being a Kohen to the Lord, to fulfill the word of the Lord which He had spoken concerning the house of Eli in Shilo.
With this he fulfilled the word of God that they would have no authority, but would be subordinate to the other Kohanim who would hold authority over them.
"And after Avshalom he did not turn"
וְהַשְּׁמֻעָה בָּאָה עַד יוֹאָב כִּי יוֹאָב נָטָה אַחֲרֵי אֲדֹנִיָּה וְאַחֲרֵי אַבְשָׁלוֹם לֹא נָטָה, וַיָּנָס יוֹאָב אֶל אֹהֶל ה' וַיַּחֲזֵק בְּקַרְנוֹת הַמִּזְבֵּחַ. - And the report reached Yoav, for Yoav had inclined after Adoniyahu, though after Avshalom he had not inclined, and Yoav fled to the Tent of Hashem and grasped the horns of the altar.
Yoav hears that the settling of accounts has begun: Adoniyahu has been killed, Evyatar has been sent home and has already received warning that he is deserving of death. Yoav understands that he is next in line, and begins to fear for his life. Yet the reason the verse gives is very puzzling, and all the commentators dwell upon it: "for Yoav had inclined after Adoniyahu, though after Avshalom he had not inclined." If you come to indict him, the first part is enough. What relevance does the merit in the latter part have, mentioned in the same breath? Seemingly this is a reason not to fear, and it cannot be counted among the reasons for his fear.
The Radak explains: had he inclined after Avshalom, he would have had no reason to fear, for all of Israel followed Avshalom, and there was no rebellion in it that would carry the death penalty. But he did not incline after Avshalom, rather after Adoniyahu, and this is more severe. With Avshalom, what could he do, everyone was behind him and he had no choice. But Adoniyahu had no power of his own, and by inclining after him you created his power, you made him king. Therefore Yoav understood that he was deserving of death.
And there are Sages who expounded that the latter part too is to his discredit: "after Avshalom he had not inclined" in practice, but in thought he did incline, for he wished to incline and did not. And why did he not incline in practice? He said: David's vigor still stands, his strength is in his loins, it is not worthwhile to tangle with him. He waited until David was old and advanced in years, and they covered him with garments and he could not get warm, and no one came and went in his house, and only then did he go and incline after Adoniyahu. And from here we learn: for the intention of the heart alone one is not punished, but when a deed is joined to it, one is held accountable also for the debt of the heart's intention, and we say to him: even then you had intention, and for this you will now be punished.
The Ibn Ezra explains that he did not incline after Avshalom because he knew that Avshalom was not fit for kingship, whereas Adoniyahu he considered fit. And for this very reason he did not incline after Shlomo, for he considered that Shlomo too was not fit, and in his view the only one fit for kingship was Adoniyahu.
The Ralbag offers a novel interpretation: "after Avshalom he had not inclined" does not mean that he did not go after him to rebel against David, but rather that it was Yoav who killed Avshalom. And now he understands that two transgressions were charged against him: one, that he inclined after Adoniyahu. The second, that David had warned him "deal gently for my sake with the lad, with Avshalom," not to harm him, and he went and killed him. And this is "after Avshalom he had not inclined," he did not incline after David's instruction in the matter of Avshalom.
And the Malbim explains why Yoav feared for his life more than Evyatar: had he inclined both after Avshalom and after Adoniyahu, he would not have been liable to a death sentence, for he would have had a principled argument that the kingship belongs to the firstborn. But since he inclined after Adoniyahu and did not incline after Avshalom, it is proven that there is no principle here at all. If it were a principle, you should have inclined after Avshalom too. And since you did not incline, it is a sign that you do only what is advantageous to you, and for this you deserve to be punished. Indeed one may raise a difficulty against the interpretation: would he really have had justification had he inclined after Avshalom? David was still alive, and what justification is there in rebelling against a living father on the claim that the kingship belongs to the firstborn? After all, the firstborn would rule only if they killed his father. Nevertheless, so the Malbim explains.
Three Errors at the Horns of the Altar
וַיֻּגַּד לַמֶּלֶךְ שְׁלֹמֹה כִּי נָס יוֹאָב אֶל אֹהֶל ה' וְהִנֵּה אֵצֶל הַמִּזְבֵּחַ, וַיִּשְׁלַח שְׁלֹמֹה אֶת בְּנָיָהוּ בֶן יְהוֹיָדָע לֵאמֹר לֵךְ פְּגַע בּוֹ. - And it was told to King Shlomo that Yoav had fled to the Tent of Hashem, and behold, he was beside the altar, and Shlomo sent Benayahu son of Yehoyada, saying: Go, strike him down.
The expression "grasping the horns of the altar" is familiar to us to this day, describing one who tries with all his might to save himself. And what lies behind it? There is a halachah that a kohen who has murdered a person and is liable to death, if he is upon the altar with the service in his hands, is not brought down in order to be put to death. But Yoav erred in all of these rulings. The Sages say that he erred in three matters: the altar affords protection only to a kohen with the service in his hands, and Yoav is not a kohen. The altar affords protection only in the permanent House, and not in the Mishkan of Shiloh, and here it says "to the Tent of Hashem." And it affords protection only on its top and not at its horns, for the altar was high and one ascended it by a ramp, and only a kohen standing upon the altar is protected, and he did not stand upon it. Therefore he could not save himself by this.
"No, for here I will die"
וַיָּבֹא בְנָיָהוּ אֶל אֹהֶל ה' וַיֹּאמֶר אֵלָיו כֹּה אָמַר הַמֶּלֶךְ צֵא, וַיֹּאמֶר לֹא כִּי פֹה אָמוּת, וַיָּשֶׁב בְּנָיָהוּ אֶת הַמֶּלֶךְ דָּבָר לֵאמֹר, כֹּה דִבֶּר יוֹאָב וְכֹה עָנָנִי. - And Benayahu came to the Tent of Hashem and said to him: Thus says the king, come out. And he said: No, for here I will die. And Benayahu brought back word to the king, saying: Thus spoke Yoav, and thus he answered me.
Why did Yoav insist on remaining there? Yoav was a great sage, head of the Sanhedrin, who sat in the seat of Tachkemoni. Did he not know the laws we mentioned? Rather, our Sages say that he made a different calculation: those executed by the court are not buried in the graves of their fathers, and he said: better that I die here and be buried in the grave of my fathers. This is the meaning of "No, for here I will die": I want to die here so that I may be buried in the graves of my fathers.
Note the repetition: "So spoke Yoav and so he answered me." If all his words were merely "here I will die," one statement would have sufficed. From the repetition you learn that there was a broader dialogue here than what is revealed in the verses. And indeed our Sages say that Yoav came to him with a claim: do not judge me with two judgments. On the one hand you want the curses with which your father cursed me to fall upon me, and if so, leave me alive. You cannot punish me with two punishments, for the principle is that one is exempted by the more severe penalty.
For David the king had cursed Yoav following the killing of Avner, that the house of Yoav should never lack one who has a discharge, a leper, one who leans on a staff, one who falls by the sword, and one who lacks bread, a series of curses. He said to him: you want both the curses and to kill me? Decide. There is an opinion among our Sages that Shlomo said: kill him, and I take the curses upon myself. And there is an opinion that he said even so, and since it was not just, the curses passed to him. Either way, in the end the curses passed to Shlomo. Proof of this comes from what is said of his descendants: Rechavam his son, of whom it is said "And King Rechavam exerted himself to mount his chariot," and the chariot alludes to one with a discharge, as in the phrase "any seat upon which the one with a discharge rides," and the exertion teaches that physical actions were difficult for him. Uziyahu, of whom it is said "and the leprosy broke out on his forehead," and he was among the descendants of Shlomo. Asa, of whom it is said "and Asa was diseased in his feet," and this is one who leans on a staff, a man who walks with a cane. One who falls by the sword, this is Yoshiyahu, of whom it is said "and the archers shot King Yoshiyahu," and sword and arrow are one and the same. And one who lacks bread, this is Yechanya, whose meal was a regular meal given to him from the king, meaning that of himself he had no bread.
"Strike him down and bury him"
וַיֹּאמֶר לוֹ הַמֶּלֶךְ עֲשֵׂה כַּאֲשֶׁר דִּבֶּר וּפְגַע בּוֹ וּקְבַרְתּוֹ, וַהֲסִירֹתָ דְּמֵי חִנָּם אֲשֶׁר שָׁפַךְ יוֹאָב מֵעָלַי וּמֵעַל בֵּית אָבִי. - And the king said to him: Do as he has said, strike him down and bury him, and remove the innocent blood that Yoav shed from me and from the house of my father.
What does "and bury him" mean? Is there anyone who is killed and not buried? Even a gentile is buried. Rather, this is precisely the point: his request had been about burial, that he be buried in the graves of his fathers. Shlomo said to him: do as he has said, kill him according to the law of those executed by the court, and see to it that he is buried in the grave of his fathers. And some say that he killed him as one executed by the crown and not as one executed by the court, and even so he fulfilled for him the promise of the grave of his fathers, and "as he has said" means fulfill his wish and bury him in the graves of his fathers.
"And remove the innocent blood": as we recall, when we studied the killing of Avner and Amasa son of Yeter, we saw that David's great concern was that the murder would be attributed to him. People would say: Avner came to make peace with David, and David sent Yoav to murder him, and this could have undermined his kingship. Now Shlomo says: when everyone sees that I send to kill Yoav for these deeds, they will understand that David is clean of that sin. Even those few in whom suspicions remained, when they see that Shlomo kills Yoav, they will understand that David was entirely clean, and that the suspicion was a baseless suspicion.
וְהֵשִׁיב ה' אֶת דָּמוֹ עַל רֹאשׁוֹ אֲשֶׁר פָּגַע בִּשְׁנֵי אֲנָשִׁים צַדִּקִים וְטֹבִים מִמֶּנּוּ וַיַּהַרְגֵם בַּחֶרֶב וְאָבִי דָוִד לֹא יָדָע, אֶת אַבְנֵר בֶּן נֵר שַׂר צְבָא יִשְׂרָאֵל וְאֶת עֲמָשָׂא בֶן יֶתֶר שַׂר צְבָא יְהוּדָה. - And Hashem will return his blood upon his own head, because he struck down two men more righteous and better than himself and killed them with the sword, and my father David did not know: Avner son of Ner, commander of the army of Israel, and Amasa son of Yeter, commander of the army of Yehudah.
The verse enumerates the severity of Yoav's sin in several respects. First, he killed two men, a double murder. Second, "more righteous and better than himself." And what does "better than himself" mean? That they did what he did not do. Our Sages say: when Shaul had to kill the people of Nov, the city of the priests, he commanded Avner and Amasa to strike them down, and they refused. They did not agree to kill the priests of Hashem and did not heed the king's command. And if you say, is it not an obligation to heed the king's command? Rather, they expounded the words "ach" and "rak" as limiting terms. Regarding Yehoshua, where the command came to heed the king's word, it is said "only be strong and courageous," and "only" comes to limit: there is a case in which you are not obligated to heed the king, and that is when his command contradicts the words of the Torah. If the king commands to desecrate Shabbat, you do not heed him. If he commands to murder, you do not heed him. They properly upheld the verse and did not kill the people of Nov, whereas you, who had no royal command, went and murdered. Third, "and killed them with the sword," for killing by the sword is the killing of those executed under the law of the crown, and thus he created the impression that he was David's agent and that they were executed by the crown as men who had rebelled against the king, and by this he cast a stain on David as though he takes vengeance on anyone who was not with him, and this could have undermined the kingship. And fourth, that they were commanders of the armies of Israel and Yehudah, great and important men and not ordinary people.
וְשָׁבוּ דְמֵיהֶם בְּרֹאשׁ יוֹאָב וּבְרֹאשׁ זַרְעוֹ לְעֹלָם, וּלְדָוִד וּלְזַרְעוֹ וּלְבֵיתוֹ וּלְכִסְאוֹ יִהְיֶה שָׁלוֹם עַד עוֹלָם מֵעִם ה'. - And their blood shall return upon the head of Yoav and upon the head of his descendants forever, but for David and for his descendants and for his house and for his throne there shall be peace forever from Hashem.
According to the interpretation that Shlomo did not take the curses upon himself, "upon his head and upon the head of his descendants forever" means that Shlomo thought the curses too would continue with Yoav and his descendants. But as we said, according to that interpretation he was mistaken in this, for if the king had already sentenced him to death, the curses were not supposed to continue.
And one must ask: why was Yoav punished specifically now? David had already commanded "and you shall act according to your wisdom, and do not let his gray head go down to the grave in peace," so why was a new reason needed? The Malbim explains that there was indeed a new reason here: in going and grasping the horns of the altar there was a kind of rebellion against the king. He, as it were, ties the king's hands and says to him: you cannot kill me. The king summons you and you answer: I will not come, I hold on to the horns of the altar. Acting against the king's will is itself a new reason sufficient to warrant death.
וַיִּתֵּן הַמֶּלֶךְ אֶת בְּנָיָהוּ בֶן יְהוֹיָדָע תַּחְתָּיו עַל הַצָּבָא, וְאֶת צָדוֹק הַכֹּהֵן נָתַן הַמֶּלֶךְ תַּחַת אֶבְיָתָר. - And the king set Benayahu the son of Yehoyada in his stead over the army, and Tzadok the Kohen the king set in the place of Evyatar.
Shimi ben Gera: the shrewd command
וַיִּשְׁלַח הַמֶּלֶךְ וַיִּקְרָא לְשִׁמְעִי וַיֹּאמֶר לוֹ, בְּנֵה לְךָ בַיִת בִּירוּשָׁלַ͏ִם וְיָשַׁבְתָּ שָׁם וְלֹא תֵצֵא מִשָּׁם אָנֶה וָאָנָה. - And the king sent and called for Shimi and said to him: Build yourself a house in Yerushalayim and dwell there, and do not go out from there anywhere at all.
וְהָיָה בְּיוֹם צֵאתְךָ וְעָבַרְתָּ אֶת נַחַל קִדְרוֹן, יָדֹעַ תֵּדַע כִּי מוֹת תָּמוּת, דָּמְךָ יִהְיֶה בְרֹאשֶׁךָ. - And it shall be, on the day you go out and cross the brook of Kidron, you shall surely know that you will certainly die; your blood will be upon your own head.
Now Shlomo comes to settle the account with the last one remaining, Shimi ben Gera. "Your blood will be upon your own head" means: I will not be judged as a murderer, for it is you who endangered your own life by transgressing the king's command.
וַיֹּאמֶר שִׁמְעִי לַמֶּלֶךְ טוֹב הַדָּבָר, כַּאֲשֶׁר דִּבֶּר אֲדֹנִי הַמֶּלֶךְ כֵּן יַעֲשֶׂה עַבְדֶּךָ, וַיֵּשֶׁב שִׁמְעִי בִּירוּשָׁלַ͏ִם יָמִים רַבִּים. - And Shimi said to the king: The matter is good; as my lord the king has spoken, so will your servant do. And Shimi dwelt in Yerushalayim many days.
וַיְהִי מִקֵּץ שָׁלֹשׁ שָׁנִים וַיִּבְרְחוּ שְׁנֵי עֲבָדִים לְשִׁמְעִי אֶל אָכִישׁ בֶּן מַעֲכָה מֶלֶךְ גַּת, וַיַּגִּידוּ לְשִׁמְעִי לֵאמֹר הִנֵּה עֲבָדֶיךָ בְּגַת. וַיָּקָם שִׁמְעִי וַיַּחֲבֹשׁ אֶת חֲמֹרוֹ וַיֵּלֶךְ גַּתָה אֶל אָכִישׁ לְבַקֵּשׁ אֶת עֲבָדָיו, וַיֵּלֶךְ שִׁמְעִי וַיָּבֵא אֶת עֲבָדָיו מִגַּת. - And it came to pass at the end of three years that two servants of Shimi fled to Achish the son of Maachah, king of Gat, and they told Shimi, saying: Behold, your servants are in Gat. And Shimi arose and saddled his donkey and went to Gat, to Achish, to seek his servants; and Shimi went and brought his servants back from Gat.
This is very difficult. Shimi ben Gera was a clever man, and according to Chazal he was the head of the Sanhedrin. What sort of man, whose head is tottering on his shoulders, who sees that everyone who rebelled against David is no longer among the living, goes out of the city for the sake of two servants? Let them be lost, and a hundred like them, and you stay alive. How does a man endanger his life for so trivial a thing? Even were it a great deal, his life is worth more.
The Malbim explains that here Shlomo acted with his wisdom: he gave Shimi a vague command. Let us take note. At first he said to him, "Build yourself a house and dwell there, and do not go out from there anywhere at all," and from this it seems: do not uproot your residence from Yerushalayim, your home shall be here. But afterward he said, "And it shall be, on the day you go out," which implies that the very act of going out, even not for the purpose of establishing a residence, brings immediate death. And from a third angle he added, "and cross the brook of Kidron," and what is special about the brook of Kidron? It does not surround Yerushalayim, and there are other ways out. Rather, says the Malbim, in the direction of the brook of Kidron were his family and relatives, and therefore it seems that the entire problem is going out toward his relatives, which casts suspicion that he wishes to form a conspiracy, for with whom does a man conspire if not with the members of his family?
Thus Shlomo confused his adversary. Shimi became entangled: am I warned about such a thing or not? Had he been wise enough, he would have understood that all this was part of the trap, and that in capital matters one takes no risks but adopts the stringent view, that any going out is forbidden. But he did not do so. When he learned that his servants had fled, at once "Shimi arose and saddled his donkey," since he understood that the warning was only about the direction of the brook of Kidron. For Gat is in the opposite direction, to the west of Yerushalayim. And moreover, it is not one of the cities of Israel but belongs to Achish king of Gat, gentiles, so there is no concern of rebellion. And further, there is coercion here, servants who fled, and not a going out of his own will. And further, he went and returned at once, "and brought his servants back from Gat." In all these he thought he was in the clear and that he had not transgressed the king's command.
וַיֻּגַּד לִשְׁלֹמֹה כִּי הָלַךְ שִׁמְעִי מִירוּשָׁלַ͏ִם גַּת וַיָּשֹׁב. - And it was told to Shlomo that Shimi had gone from Yerushalayim to Gat and had returned.
Shlomo had spies, men who kept watch, and they immediately reported to him that he had gone out.
וַיִּשְׁלַח הַמֶּלֶךְ וַיִּקְרָא לְשִׁמְעִי וַיֹּאמֶר אֵלָיו, הֲלוֹא הִשְׁבַּעְתִּיךָ בַה' וָאָעִד בְּךָ לֵאמֹר בְּיוֹם צֵאתְךָ וְהָלַכְתָּ אָנֶה וָאָנָה יָדֹעַ תֵּדַע כִּי מוֹת תָּמוּת, וַתֹּאמֶר אֵלַי טוֹב הַדָּבָר שָׁמָעְתִּי. וּמַדּוּעַ לֹא שָׁמַרְתָּ אֵת שְׁבֻעַת ה' וְאֶת הַמִּצְוָה אֲשֶׁר צִוִּיתִי עָלֶיךָ. - And the king sent and called for Shimi and said to him: Did I not make you swear by Hashem and warn you, saying, On the day you go out and walk anywhere at all, know for certain that you shall surely die? And you said to me, The matter is good, I have heard. So why have you not kept the oath of Hashem and the commandment that I laid upon you?
He had four arguments against him. The first: Did I not make you swear by Hashem, and when a person swears by Hashem it is forbidden for him to seek strained leniencies, but rather he must take the stringent possibility into account. The second: I warned you that there is a warning of death here, and I said "on the day you go out you shall surely die," so how did you not take these words seriously and instead choose to focus on the Kidron stream? Those words alone should have been enough to keep you from moving a single meter from your house. The third: "and walk anywhere at all," I warned you in every direction, and "anywhere at all" means that I do not permit you to go in any direction whatsoever. The fourth: you said "the matter is good, I have heard," and its meaning is: I accept, I accept the decree according to your intent and understanding, and whatever you intended in the oath is acceptable to me. And if so, it was forbidden for you to go out. Here there was both an oath of Hashem and the command of the king, and toward both of them you were obligated to be concerned with the greatest stringency.
"And do according to your wisdom": wisdom in understanding the human soul
The Chafetz Chaim zt"l says in Sichot Mussar: what is the special wisdom hinted at in "and do according to your wisdom"? Beyond the wisdom we saw in the Malbim, of how to lock him in with a command that carries a double meaning, there was here a great wisdom of deep understanding of the human soul. Shlomo knew that a person can live in Yerushalayim for seventy years and not leave it even once, and there were tzaddikim who lived there for years and never felt any need to leave. A person can live in the land and not leave it for years without feeling confined. When does he begin to feel confined? From the moment you command him not to leave. From that moment he feels bound, he feels suffocated, claustrophobic, and he simply must go out. Why? Because he was commanded not to.
This is a great secret: when a person is commanded forcefully, it immediately brings him to rebellion, as happened with Adam HaRishon. Do you want a child to read what is written? Put a sticker over it to hide it, and immediately he will scratch it off and hold it up to the light: what did they want to hide from me? Tell a person "forbidden," and immediately you awaken in him the desire to do it. And it is written concerning the eshet yefat toar that the Holy One, blessed be He, said: I know that if I do not permit it to him, he will take her forbidden, and therefore the Torah spoke only against the yetzer hara and permitted it. And the commentators ask: against the yetzer hara? This is in favor of the yetzer hara, the yetzer says take and the Torah says take. But it is not so. As long as there is a prohibition, I feel a need to break it. But when they tell him: if you wish, take her, he is no longer in a hurry and no longer pressured, and in this very way they broke the yetzer hara.
And this is the concept that Chazal called "bread in his basket." A person who has permission is not pressured to commit the transgression. For example, on a fast day: a person wakes up at six or seven in the morning and feels thirsty, even though at such an hour he is not usually thirsty. Why? Because today it is forbidden for him to drink. In contrast, a person on a weekday leaves the synagogue, has not eaten or drunk, goes to the bank and takes care of errands, and only at twelve does he have his first cup of coffee, and he does not feel that it was difficult. But if it were a fast day, it would be very hard for him. The difference is the bread in his basket: he knows that in another five minutes he will be able to drink, and therefore there is no pressure. From the moment they tell me "it is forbidden for you," from that moment it begins to gnaw at me.
And this is exactly what Shlomo knew. He came and said to Shimi: it is forbidden for you, woe unto you if you leave Yerushalayim. From that moment Shimi felt that Yerushalayim was one big prison, and that he simply had to leave it. And then a small pretext was enough, two servants who ran away, for him to feel a need to go out, to break free, to get some air, because it had been forbidden to him.
And from here comes a great piece of advice, also in chinuch and in the home: when you come by way of force, "forbidden," "you must," you create resistance and antagonism, and you draw out in the other person the desire not to do what you say. But when you come by way of request and give the other person the possibility to do it or not to do it, and you say: I ask that you do this for me, he feels that he is a person of chesed, a good man doing you a favor, and he does it. Under coercion, he immediately responds: no way, why do I have to, I do not want to.
Rabbi Neugroschel once said about closing streets on Shabbat, that the mistake is that we demand it on the grounds of Shabbat. According to him, we should say: we want the streets closed because we want quiet, we deserve one day a week of rest. After all, many organizations and many people demand this on their own. Back in the day, before Leviev bought the mall in Ramat Aviv Gimel, the residents themselves asked that the mall not operate on Shabbat, because they wanted quiet, so that Shabbat would not turn into a big market day for them. Only after Leviev bought it and said he would close on Shabbat did voices suddenly arise: no way, he is coming to force it on us. We do not want to keep Shabbat, we want quiet on a day of rest. This a person grasps. But when you come and tell him "it is forbidden for you, one does not shop on Shabbat," immediately: I will do it to spite you. This is human nature, and one must know how to bypass it.
And for this reason Chazal say that greater is one who is commanded and performs than one who is not commanded and performs. I, who fulfill mitzvot that I am obligated in, receive a greater reward than a woman who fulfills mitzvot she is not obligated in, such as taking the lulav and sitting in the sukkah. Why? Because the one who is commanded and performs has a great yetzer hara to overcome. One who comes voluntarily comes with pleasure, and if he does not want to, he leaves. Look at volunteers, you see that they do the work with joy, whereas the salaried worker looks as though a demon is forcing him. Why? Because if he does not come, they deduct from his salary, they require him to punch a card and ask why he was ten minutes late. And the one who comes voluntarily says: it does not suit me, at twelve I am leaving, I do not have to stay until four. On the contrary, what a person does not feel obligated in does not choke him. And here Shlomo said: I will obligate him, do not leave Yerushalayim. And from the moment he told him not to leave, he already planted in him the seed of calamity: I must leave, I cannot stay here.
"That your heart knows"
וַיֹּאמֶר הַמֶּלֶךְ אֶל שִׁמְעִי, אַתָּה יָדַעְתָּ אֵת כָּל הָרָעָה אֲשֶׁר יָדַע לְבָבְךָ אֲשֶׁר עָשִׂיתָ לְדָוִד אָבִי, וְהֵשִׁיב ה' אֶת רָעָתְךָ בְּרֹאשֶׁךָ. - And the king said to Shimi: You know all the evil that your heart knows, which you did to David my father, and Hashem shall return your evil upon your own head.
Shlomo says to him: Regarding your cursing of David my father, you could still have claimed that you acted unwittingly, that you thought David was persecuted because of his sins and because God had turned away from him and because he had stumbled with Bat Sheva, and that God's will at that time was for David to be humbled. But now, after God brought it about that you transgress your oath and become liable to death, this is testimony and proof that what you did then stemmed from the evil in your heart. For if it had not stemmed from an evil heart, why would God have brought death upon you? Since He did bring it about, this is a sign that already for what you did then you were liable, and therefore God caused you to fall into the hand of David's son so that you would pay the price for what happened then. This is why he stated precisely "which your heart knows": who can know what evil is in his heart? Only you. Outwardly you might say that you intended it for the sake of Heaven and that it was a mitzvah to humble David for what he had done, but you knew that it stemmed from an evil heart, and now the matter is revealed, and God has returned your evil upon your own head.
וְהַמֶּלֶךְ שְׁלֹמֹה בָּרוּךְ, וְכִסֵּא דָוִד יִהְיֶה נָכוֹן לִפְנֵי ה' עַד עוֹלָם. - But King Shlomo shall be blessed, and the throne of David shall be established before God forever.
What is meant by "But King Shlomo shall be blessed"? That the matter should not be counted to me as a sin, in that I caused you a stumbling block, that you left Jerusalem and became liable to death. And what is the proof? "And the throne of David shall be established before God forever", for after God took up His grievance and avenged Himself upon those who sought to disgrace Him, through this his throne will be established forever.
"And the kingdom was firmly established in the hand of Shlomo"
וַיְצַו הַמֶּלֶךְ אֶת בְּנָיָהוּ בֶּן יְהוֹיָדָע וַיֵּצֵא וַיִּפְגַּע בּוֹ וַיָּמֹת, וְהַמַּמְלָכָה נָכוֹנָה בְּיַד שְׁלֹמֹה. - And the king commanded Benayahu son of Yehoyada, and he went out and struck him down and he died, and the kingdom was firmly established in the hand of Shlomo.
Seemingly, it was already stated above in verse 12, "And Shlomo sat upon the throne of David his father, and his kingdom was firmly established", so what is added here? First, that he fulfilled his father's charge, who told him "and you shall know what to do to him", and indeed he knew what to do to him. Second, the verse testifies that until now he had adversaries within his kingdom, all sorts of people waiting for an opportune moment to seize the monarchy, whether Adoniyahu, or Yoav son of Tzeruya, or Shimi son of Gera, and now the kingdom was firmly established.
And what is the difference between "kingship" (melucha) and "kingdom" (mamlacha)? The Malbim says: kingship is stated with regard to the king himself, and "his kingdom was firmly established" means that his reign succeeded. But "the kingdom" refers to the country. That is, at first there was the king's personal success, whereas now, after all the thorns had been cleared from the vineyard, the entire country was firmly in his hand, and there was no longer anyone to contest Shlomo's reign. This is the new point: that now the kingdom too is a complete kingdom in his hand.
In summary:
This chapter teaches how a monarchy is established. Adoniyahu, whose entire aspiration was Avishag and only through her the throne, does not learn from the kindness shown to him and makes a request that gives away his intention, and Shlomo understands that a desire once attained only gives birth to the next one after it. Evyatar receives a partial punishment in the merit of having carried the Ark and having shared in David's suffering, and through this the decree upon the house of Eli is fulfilled. Yoav, who inclined after Adoniyahu and not after Avshalom, thereby exposing that he does not act out of principle, errs in three laws concerning the horns of the altar, and sought to die there so as to be buried in the graves of his fathers. And Shimi, who was ensnared by Shlomo's wisdom in a command that could be understood two ways, teaches us the great secret in the human soul: from the moment something is forbidden to a person, he feels stifled and compelled to break loose. In the end, after all the thorns had been cleared from the vineyard, not only did Shlomo's reign succeed, but the entire kingdom was firmly established in his hand.