Chapter 6 of Shmuel Bet is devoted entirely to bringing up the Ark of God to the City of David. The chapter divides into two clear parts: a first attempt that failed and ended with the death of Uzzah, and a second attempt that was carried out properly and with the joy of a mitzvah. The Malbim leads us hand in hand and shows exactly what the mistakes were the first time, and what was corrected the second time. At the end of the chapter we will also examine the argument between David and Michal daughter of Shaul: what is the honor of a king, and what is the true honor of a person.
וַיֹּסֶף עוֹד דָּוִד אֶת כָּל בָּחוּר בְּיִשְׂרָאֵל שְׁלֹשִׁים אָלֶף׃ - And David again gathered every chosen one in Israel, thirty thousand.
King David gathers "every bachur in Israel," and the meaning is not young men but rather those who are chosen. In Divrei HaYamim it is explained that David sends to assemble the elders of Israel to bring up the Ark, and the Malbim explains that apparently not all of Israel came, but rather each and every city sent its elders and its judges, and these are the ones called here "bachurim" - the chosen elders.
In connection with the language of the verse, let us examine the terms for the stages of life. A bachur is called a bachur according to one explanation because he is in the prime (mivchar) of his days, and according to another explanation because he is at the stage in which he is meant to choose (livchor) the continuation of his path. An elem is called an elem because he is still in the category of the hidden (ne'elam): the powers of his soul have not yet emerged and come to expression, and it is not yet known what will become of him. And further: whatever he does he tries to conceal (le'halim), in secret, and therefore he is called an elem. And a na'ar is called a na'ar because he tries to shake off (le'hitna'er) obligations: "Not me," "I have no time," "Give it to someone else." He does not want to accept authority upon himself, he seeks to flee from his parents, from the principal, from here and from there - shaking himself off.
Now the Yerushalmi says that on that day David ordained ninety thousand elders. How so? Chazal expound three inclusive terms in the verse: "et," "kol," "bachur" - to teach you that the thirty thousand were three times that, for each and every congregation sent a court of three, and in total the number came to ninety thousand.
וַיָּקָם וַיֵּלֶךְ דָּוִד וְכָל הָעָם אֲשֶׁר אִתּוֹ מִבַּעֲלֵי יְהוּדָה לְהַעֲלוֹת מִשָּׁם אֵת אֲרוֹן הָאֱלֹהִים אֲשֶׁר נִקְרָא שֵׁם שֵׁם ה' צְבָאוֹת יֹשֵׁב הַכְּרֻבִים עָלָיו׃ - And David arose and went, along with all the people who were with him, from Baalei Yehudah, to bring up from there the Ark of God, over which is called the Name, the Name of Hashem Tzevakot who dwells upon the keruvim.
David and all the people who were with him from Baalei Yehudah, which is Kiryat Yearim, go to bring up the Ark from the house of Avinadav which is on the hill. The verse takes the trouble here to describe for us what the Ark is, and this is an introduction to what will be told immediately: the punishment of Uzzah. The verse tells you - know what this Ark is: this is the place over which the Name of Hashem Tzevakot is called, this is the place upon which the keruvim dwell, and the Shechinah would speak from between the keruvim. The bearers of the Ark had to be like the bearers of the supernal chariot above: not carrying it on an ox or a donkey, but they had the face of a man. And from now you will understand how great was the sin in what they did.
וַיַּרְכִּבוּ אֶת אֲרוֹן הָאֱלֹהִים אֶל עֲגָלָה חֲדָשָׁה וַיִּשָּׂאֻהוּ מִבֵּית אֲבִינָדָב אֲשֶׁר בַּגִּבְעָה וְעֻזָּא וְאַחְיוֹ בְּנֵי אֲבִינָדָב נֹהֲגִים אֶת הָעֲגָלָה חֲדָשָׁה׃ - And they set the Ark of God upon a new cart and carried it from the house of Avinadav which is on the hill, and Uzzah and Achyo, sons of Avinadav, were driving the new cart.
The Malbim lists here six things that were sins and errors in the way the Aron was carried. The first sin: they placed it on a wagon. Is the Aron to be carried on a wagon? After all, "the service of the holy things was upon them, they shall bear them on the shoulder," the Leviim carry it on the shoulder. And how did David err in such a thing? Chazal say: since David said "Your statutes have been songs to me in the house of my sojourning," the Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: You call the Torah songs? Is the Torah then a song and a tune? By your life, you will err in a matter in which schoolchildren do not err. It is an explicit verse, "they shall bear them on the shoulder," and you take a wagon.
The new wagon, however, that specifically was proper, and we saw this from the Pelishtim. What is the point of a new wagon in particular? That it has an advantage in that it was not used for mundane purposes: it had not served to carry loads, but was built from the outset for the sake of the Aron. Yet the error still lay in the very act of taking a wagon.
The second sin: "and Uzzah and Achyo, the sons of Avinadav, were driving the wagon." We saw that when the Pelishtim placed the Aron on the wagon, they did not drive the wagon, but placed cows there and the cows directed the way on their own. And in this there is greater honor, to show that the wagon, as it were, goes on its own and no people guide it.
וַיִּשָּׂאֻהוּ מִבֵּית אֲבִינָדָב אֲשֶׁר בַּגִּבְעָה עִם אֲרוֹן הָאֱלֹהִים וְאַחְיוֹ הֹלֵךְ לִפְנֵי הָאָרוֹן׃ - And they brought it out of the house of Avinadav which was on the hill, with the Aron of God, and Achyo went before the Aron.
The third sin: who carried the Aron from the house of Avinadav to the wagon? Uzzah and Achyo. And who was supposed to carry it? The Leviim, "the service of the holy things was upon them, they shall bear them on the shoulder." The Aron is not carried by strangers but only by Leviim.
The fourth sin: "with the Aron of God." How was the Aron to be carried? By the poles, like beams, and one does not touch the Aron itself. Yet they carried it "with the Aron of God": they touched the Aron itself, they touched the holy thing, and that is forbidden. They should have lifted the poles and thereby carried the Aron. It was not enough that you did not carry it with Leviim, but you even touched the Aron itself.
The fifth sin: "and Achyo went before the Aron." Even the Pelishtim were careful about this, for it is written of them that they walked after the Aron and not before it. And one who walks before the Aron shows it his back. The Rambam says that when they carried the Aron, those in front carried it with their faces toward the Aron, and those in back had their faces toward the Aron, meaning the bearers in front walked backward. There was no situation in which a person turned his back toward the Aron. And here Achyo walks before the Aron and turns his back to it.
וְדָוִד וְכָל בֵּית יִשְׂרָאֵל מְשַׂחֲקִים לִפְנֵי ה' בְּכֹל עֲצֵי בְרוֹשִׁים וּבְכִנֹּרוֹת וּבִנְבָלִים וּבְתֻפִּים וּבִמְנַעַנְעִים וּבְצֶלְצֱלִים׃ - And David and all the house of Yisrael were playing before Hashem with all manner of instruments of cypress wood, with harps, with lyres, with drums, with rattles, and with cymbals.
The sixth sin: "playing before Hashem." It does not say rejoicing, nor "rejoice with trembling," but playing, and this is an expression of a bit of frivolity, from the language of laughter. And furthermore: there are instruments dedicated to the service in the House of Hashem, and they did not use them, but ordinary sorts of music, "with all manner of instruments of cypress wood," all kinds of music. There are kinds of music made from cypress wood, but the meaning is that they did not specifically play with trumpets and the instruments designated for the Beit HaMikdash, and this too was a deficiency.
וַיָּבֹאוּ עַד גֹּרֶן נָכוֹן וַיִּשְׁלַח עֻזָּה אֶל אֲרוֹן הָאֱלֹהִים וַיֹּאחֶז בּוֹ כִּי שָׁמְטוּ הַבָּקָר׃ - And they came to the threshing floor of Nachon, and Uzzah reached out to the Aron of God and took hold of it, for the oxen stumbled.
They arrive at the place called the threshing floor of Nachon, the wagon tilts slightly on its side, and Uzzah sees that the Aron is about to slip off the wagon and comes to take hold of it with his hand. And this too was a further error: for we all know that the Aron carries its bearers. The Leviim who carried the Aron not only did not feel its weight, but walked as if floating. And if the Aron carries its bearers, does it need someone to support it so that it does not fall?
It is quite possible that this was an instinct. But one must know: Hashem is not served out of instinct. To do something instinctively, without thought, is a great sin before Hashem.
The Radak raises a difficulty: the Ark had come from the field of the Pelishtim, and there we do not find that the oxen slipped, so what suddenly happened here? The Radak explains: the Pelishtim did not know how the Ark was supposed to be carried, and they did it in the best way they understood, and this is to their credit. A new cart, a gift offering of hemorrhoids and swellings and mice made in the shape of those very things that afflicted them, all of this they sent as a gift offering to Hashem, the God of Israel, and they sent the cows to go before them. They did everything so that there would be honor for Hashem in the matter, so that His anger would be removed from them and the plague would cease. But you, the people of Israel, know how the Ark is to be carried, and you are warned about this in the Torah. Therefore, what for the Pelishtim was still considered a mitzvah, for us is considered a transgression. They acted without knowledge, doing the best they could. But you know what must be done, and if you know, how could you do such a thing? You carried it on a cart, you came to support the Ark so it would not fall, and all the other actions we enumerated. You, David HaMelech, and righteous people like Uzzah and the rest of the people who were there, should have known that there was a stumbling block here and not stumbled into it.
וַיִּחַר אַף ה' בְּעֻזָּה וַיַּכֵּהוּ שָׁם הָאֱלֹהִים עַל הַשַּׁל וַיָּמָת שָׁם עִם אֲרוֹן הָאֱלֹהִים׃ - And Hashem's anger flared against Uzzah, and God struck him down there for the error, and he died there beside the Ark of God.
What is "עַל הַשַּׁל"? It is from the language of unintentional error: "beshalvata" means unintentionally. Or it is from the language of forgetting, something that slipped away from him, like "for your olives will drop off," that the olives are shed. And we already saw this expression in the previous chapters with Avner, that he struck him to speak with him "beshli," meaning as though he forgot to tell him something. Here too "al hashal" is from the language of forgetting and unintentional error: the matter slipped from Uzzah's mind, and as a result he was struck.
And here is an answer to the question: but it was an instinct, without paying attention! However, one who stands before the king does not do things out of instinct. And this is a sin too great to bear: one who forgets the awe of the king while standing before him. To forget the awe of the king while you stand before him is a most severe iniquity, and this was Uzzah's punishment. And in truth the matter was ordained from Heaven so that Hashem's Name would be sanctified, and that through this people would know and understand how severe the matter of the Ark of God is.
וַיִּחַר לְדָוִד עַל אֲשֶׁר פָּרַץ ה' פֶּרֶץ בְּעֻזָּה וַיִּקְרָא לַמָּקוֹם הַהוּא פֶּרֶץ עֻזָּה עַד הַיּוֹם הַזֶּה׃ - And David was distressed because Hashem had broken out against Uzzah, and he called that place Peretz Uzzah, as it is to this day.
What does "vayichar leDavid" mean? Could it be, as it were, that he was angry at the Holy One, blessed be He? Would such a thing enter one's mind? The Malbim says: his anger flared at himself. And the proof is this: this is the difference between "vayichar af" and "vayichar" alone. "Vayichar af" means that his anger flared at someone else, but "vayichar" alone means anger at oneself, like "vayichar leKayin vayiplu panav," at whom was he angry? At himself, that he had not acted properly.
And what is the root of "charah"? It is a language of burning. So too "nichar," "my throat is parched," meaning a throat that is burned from all its shouting. And from here too comes the expression familiar to us when a person's anger flares: "smoke came out of his nose," a burning that causes smoke to come out of the nose.
וַיִּרָא דָוִד אֶת ה' בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא וַיֹּאמֶר אֵיךְ יָבוֹא אֵלַי אֲרוֹן ה'׃ - And David feared Hashem on that day, and he said: How shall the Ark of Hashem come to me?
David sees the sight and is afraid. Until now David had served the Holy One, blessed be He, out of love and out of joy, and love and joy pour out upon a person an abundance of kindness, mercy, and blessing from Heaven. And now David begins to serve Hashem out of fear, and this is a fall, for the level of love is higher than the level of fear.
The Rambam writes that serving Hashem out of fear is fitting for women and children, while a man must reach the level of love. Would that we merited even the fear of Hashem, and yet this is a lower rung. There is fear of punishment, dread of Gehinnom - and would that we truly feared Gehinnom, we would look different - and this is one level. And there is a higher level, awe of His exaltedness: like a person who comes before a great sage and is overcome with awe. Will the sage kill you with the breath of his mouth? He has never killed anyone. Rather, this is awe of honor, awe of exaltedness. So too a person must fear Hashem on this higher rung of awe, and from awe of His exaltedness he will rise to an even higher level of love, cleaving, and joy in serving Hashem. Says the Malbim: until now David had served with love and joy, and now "and David feared Hashem on that day" - he felt that he had fallen from his level, and therefore he said: if so, how can the Ark of Hashem come to me? How can I bring the Ark to myself if for every small thing it can punish, and this is a matter of danger to life.
For indeed "anyone who draws near shall die." It is written that the tribe of Levi was the smallest of the tribes, and Chazal say: because the tribe of Levi were among those who carried the Ark, and the Ark consumed them. Awesome and terrifying. Everyone would run to carry the Ark because of the mitzvah, but they were not careful enough, there was not sufficient seriousness, they would push, each one wanting to merit it - and the Ark consumed them. David said: if so, how can I keep the Ark with me? This is a matter of danger to life.
וְלֹא אָבָה דָוִד לְהָסִיר אֵלָיו אֶת אֲרוֹן ה' עַל עִיר דָּוִד וַיַּטֵּהוּ דָוִד בֵּית עֹבֵד אֱדוֹם הַגִּתִּי׃ - And David was unwilling to bring the Ark of Hashem to himself, to the City of David, and David turned it aside to the house of Oved Edom the Gittite.
David takes the Ark out of the house of Avinadav, but he fears bringing it to the City of David, and therefore he sets its place in the house of Oved Edom the Gittite, who lived in Gat. Chazal say that he was a Levi and one of the gatekeepers. The Levites were in two divisions: singers and gatekeepers. The gatekeepers were the guardians of the Temple, seeing to closing the doors and opening them, and the singers were those who sang over the offering, standing on the fifteen steps and singing. And Oved Edom was among the gatekeepers, as brought in Divrei HaYamim.
וַיֵּשֶׁב אֲרוֹן ה' בֵּית עֹבֵד אֱדוֹם הַגִּתִּי שְׁלֹשָׁה חֳדָשִׁים וַיְבָרֶךְ ה' אֶת עֹבֵד אֱדוֹם וְאֶת כָּל בֵּיתוֹ׃ - And the Ark of Hashem remained in the house of Oved Edom the Gittite three months, and Hashem blessed Oved Edom and all his household.
Until now we have seen how the Ark is a source of danger, and here the verse comes and shows you that the place of the Ark is a source of kindness and abundance. Chazal say that the Ark dwelt with him inside his house together with all the members of his household, and none of them was harmed. And in Divrei HaYamim it is written "and the Ark of God dwelt with the house of Oved Edom in his house" - "with," truly together with them, so that you should not think they made it a separate house, and to show you that the Ark has no harmful power. And here too the Malbim notes precisely that it is not written "in the house of Oved Edom" but "the house of Oved Edom," meaning together with them.
Chazal say: come and see, Oved Edom and all his household were blessed. At first he himself was blessed with acquisitions and possessions, and as a result "his household" - his wife, and "all his household" teaches also about his daughters-in-law. Chazal say: his wife and his eight daughters-in-law, each of them gave birth to six at a single birth, as it is written in Divrei HaYamim "Peullthai the eighth, for God blessed him." And do the calculation: it is written that Oved Edom had sixty two descendants. She and her eight daughters-in-law are nine, times six children each - fifty four. And if she has eight daughters-in-law, then she has eight sons to whom they are married. Add to the fifty four another eight - that is sixty two. An astounding thing, and all by the power of the Ark.
וַיֻּגַּד לַמֶּלֶךְ דָּוִד לֵאמֹר בֵּרַךְ ה' אֶת בֵּית עֹבֵד אֱדוֹם וְאֶת כָּל אֲשֶׁר לוֹ בַּעֲבוּר אֲרוֹן הָאֱלֹהִים וַיֵּלֶךְ דָּוִד וַיַּעַל אֶת אֲרוֹן הָאֱלֹהִים מִבֵּית עֹבֵד אֱדוֹם עִיר דָּוִד בְּשִׂמְחָה׃ - And it was told to King David, saying: Hashem has blessed the house of Oved Edom and all that is his on account of the Ark of God. And David went and brought up the Ark of God from the house of Oved Edom to the City of David with joy.
They come and bring word to David: have you not heard? Hashem has blessed the house of Oved Edom and all that is his on account of the Ark of God. You thought the Ark, God forbid, causes death - come and see that the Ark brings blessing. And it is brought in the Mechilta: because they were saying that the Ark kills, Hashem showed them that there is blessing in it. That is, it is not that six were born to Oved Edom at each birth as a reward for acting well on behalf of the Ark, but precisely the opposite: the births of six each were meant to show everyone that the Ark is a source of good abundance and not a source of trouble and death.
And from where did Chazal learn this? For one could have understood that this was a blessing given as reward for what he did. Says the Malbim, whose entire commentary is precise according to the holy tongue: there is a vast difference between "biglal" and "ba'avur." Seemingly both are expressions of cause, and if a person says "I came biglal this" or "I came ba'avur this," it is the same thing. But in the holy tongue there are no two words with the same meaning. "Biglal" always refers back to a prior cause, to the past, while "ba'avur" is a future cause. For example: someone lent me money and I came to repay him. If he asks me why I came, I will say: I came biglal the loan - that is about the past. And I repay on time ba'avur that he will lend to me again the next time as well - that is about the future.
Similarly with "לְמַעַן יִיטַב לִי בַעֲבוּרֵךְ וְחָיְתָה נַפְשִׁי בִּגְלָלֵךְ": "that it may be well with me for your sake" - Rashi explains that they will give me gifts, and this refers to the future. "and that my soul may live because of you" - they will let me live and not kill me, and this is a cause relating to the past. So too with Yaakov, who brought the delicacies to his father Yitzchak: "so that your soul may bless me" - a future expression, a cause relating to the future.
Now, says the Malbim, note carefully: if the blessing of Oved Edom was a reward for having merited to serve the Aron, it should have been written "Hashem blessed the house of Oved Edom and all that he had because of (biglal) the Aron of God" - you gave, and because of this you merited the blessing, a cause in the past. But since it is written "ba'avur," this is a cause relating to the future: the Holy One blessed him so that from this point onward everyone would know that the Aron is an outpouring of blessing, and not, God forbid, a source of curse. And this is exactly what the Mechilta says: because they were saying that the Aron brings death, He blessed the house of Oved Edom to show that there is blessing in it. And from where did they learn this? From the word "ba'avur" and from the fact that "biglal" was not written.
When David hears this, he sees that there is blessing for one who assists the Aron, and this proves to him that in the Aron there is only blessing and, God forbid, no curse. Therefore David hastens to bring up the Aron - and this time "with joy," and not in fear as at first. Note the difference from the previous time: then it said "playing before Hashem," and play indicates a bit of frivolity, whereas here it says "with joy" - the joy of a mitzvah, which is something entirely different.
וַיְהִי כִּי צָעֲדוּ נֹשְׂאֵי אֲרוֹן ה' שִׁשָּׁה צְעָדִים וַיִּזְבַּח שׁוֹר וּמְרִיא׃ - And it was, when those bearing the Aron of Hashem had stepped six paces, that he sacrificed an ox and a fatling.
Besides the joy, David also offers appeasement to Hashem: every six steps they offer an ox and a fatling, two sacrifices. A "meri" is a healthy, fattened, young ox. However, in Divrei HaYamim it is written "And it was, when God helped the Levites bearing the Aron of the covenant of Hashem, that they sacrificed seven bulls and seven rams," while here it is written an ox and a fatling for every six steps. How do we reconcile this? The Gemara in Sotah says: for every six steps they offered an ox and a fatling, and for every set that they completed of six times six steps they offered seven bulls and seven rams. And six times seven is forty two, corresponding to a holy Name, the Name of forty two letters.
The Radak explains that apparently the previous time, after they had gone six steps, Uzza died, and therefore this time, immediately after six steps, when they saw that everyone was alive, they offered an ox and a fatling. The Radak gives an additional explanation from the precision of the language: here it is written "וַיִּזְבַּח" in the singular, and in Divrei HaYamim "וַיִּזְבְּחוּ" in the plural. According to this there is no contradiction at all: King David, after every six steps, himself sacrificed an ox and a fatling of his own, while the Levites and the Kohanim and the rest of the people sacrificed seven bulls and seven rams. There was here his sacrifice and their sacrifice.
And from that verse in Divrei HaYamim, "when God helped the Levites bearing the Aron of the covenant of Hashem," our Sages learn that the Aron carries itself: Hashem, as it were, helps them and carries them - it is not they who carry the Aron but the Holy One who carries the Levites.
וְדָוִד מְכַרְכֵּר בְּכָל עֹז לִפְנֵי ה' וְדָוִד חָגוּר אֵפוֹד בָּד׃ - And David was dancing with all his might before Hashem, and David was girded with a linen ephod.
Here the verse tells us of the greatness of David's joy and self sacrifice in bringing in the Aron, and David sets aside his honor in three ways. The first - with his body: he was dancing with all his might, with all his strength, before the Aron of Hashem. And what is "mecharker"? Leaping and dancing. This is also why a carriage (kirkara) is called kirkara, since one who rides in it is constantly leaping and jolting and bouncing.
The second - in his garments: the king is dressed in royal garments and garments of gold, yet here he was girded with a linen ephod, like the Kohanim and the servants of Hashem, and not in royal dress, so as not to display pride before Hashem.
וְדָוִד וְכָל בֵּית יִשְׂרָאֵל מַעֲלִים אֶת אֲרוֹן ה' בִּתְרוּעָה וּבְקוֹל שׁוֹפָר׃ - And David and all the house of Israel brought up the Ark of Hashem with shouting and with the sound of the shofar.
The third point: normally a king keeps his distance from the people and does not draw close to them, yet here David joins together with all of Israel, keeping no distance and connecting with them. This is another way in which David set aside his own honor for the sake of Hashem's honor. And notice how they brought up the Ark: "with shouting and with the sound of the shofar" - there are no cypress instruments and cymbals and all sorts of musical instruments as there had been the previous time, but only instruments that are sacred vessels, the ones used to play in the Beit Hamikdash.
וְהָיָה אֲרוֹן ה' בָּא עִיר דָּוִד וּמִיכַל בַּת שָׁאוּל נִשְׁקְפָה בְּעַד הַחַלּוֹן וַתֵּרֶא אֶת הַמֶּלֶךְ דָּוִד מְפַזֵּז וּמְכַרְכֵּר לִפְנֵי ה' וַתִּבֶז לוֹ בְּלִבָּהּ׃ - And as the Ark of Hashem came into the City of David, Michal daughter of Shaul looked out through the window and saw King David leaping and dancing before Hashem, and she despised him in her heart.
Here the Malbim says something terrible, and were it not his own words it would be impossible to say it. These are his words: he relates that Michal daughter of Shaul, being accustomed in her father's house to regard their honor as more important in their eyes than the honor of the Omnipresent - hear what a terrible thing, the honor of the house of Shaul was more important in their eyes than the honor of the Omnipresent - did not sense the matter of the Ark's coming and the honor of Hashem before whom a king rejoices, but rather an arrow pierced her honor, meaning that this seeming lack of dignity pierced her heart like an arrow, over her husband's honor which in her eyes had been diminished in value, according to her view. In her eyes David is degrading himself here. This was the difference between the house of Shaul and the house of David, as David himself will state explicitly further on. She sees him and despises him in her heart, thinking that he is degrading himself for the honor of the Ark, in a way that a king ought not to behave.
וַיָּבִאוּ אֶת אֲרוֹן ה' וַיַּצִּגוּ אֹתוֹ בִּמְקוֹמוֹ בְּתוֹךְ הָאֹהֶל אֲשֶׁר נָטָה לוֹ דָּוִד וַיַּעַל דָּוִד עֹלוֹת לִפְנֵי ה' וּשְׁלָמִים׃ - And they brought the Ark of Hashem and set it in its place, inside the tent that David had pitched for it, and David offered up burnt offerings before Hashem and peace offerings.
They bring the Ark of Hashem with the joy of a mitzvah and set it up in a tent, and David offers up burnt offerings and peace offerings. This joy brought him to begin performing the service himself, and even to bestow an abundance of blessing upon all the people who were there.
But let us take note: in the house of Avinadav the Ark had been inside a roofed house, and here David brings it up to Jerusalem and places it inside a tent. Yet the status of a house is greater than the status of a tent. The Radak explains: David knew that Jerusalem is the place of the Mikdash, and he knew that this spot was a temporary and not a permanent place, for they had it by tradition and by prophecy from Hashem that the Beit Hamikdash must be built in Jerusalem, and there are explicit pesukim in the Torah. Therefore David said: as long as the Ark was in the house of Oved Edom, there was room to place it in a roofed house as is fitting. But here in Jerusalem, if I place it inside a house, it is as though I have fixed it here permanently and declared that this will be its home forever. Therefore let us place it in a tent, to show that the place is temporary, that soon we will bring it into its proper place. Had he placed it in a roofed house, there would have been disgrace in that, as if to say: that's it, here we have fixed you, here you will remain.
To what may this be compared? To a man who was a good friend of the king and sinned against him, and the king put him in prison. There he constantly hoped that perhaps the king would pardon him, and even after ten years he thought maybe the king would pardon him. One day he heard knocking and saw people entering, and he understood that presumably the king had come to inform him that he was being pardoned. He asked them: why have you come here? They told him: the king sent us to enlarge your cell, to make you a bigger window and install an air conditioner for you. Did he rejoice or grow sad? He grew sad, for if the king comes to improve the conditions, it is a sign that you are still destined to sit here a long time. He had thought he was getting out, and suddenly they come and arrange a better place for him. And this is exactly what David did not want: if I place the Ark in a house, it is as though I am saying it will stay here and this is permanent. He said: on the contrary, I will place it in a tent, so that it will be clear that this is a temporary place, and that this is not the permanent place where the Ark will dwell, but rather the Beit Hamikdash.
וַיְכַל דָּוִד מֵהַעֲלוֹת הָעוֹלָה וְהַשְּׁלָמִים וַיְבָרֶךְ אֶת הָעָם בְּשֵׁם ה' צְבָאוֹת׃ - And when David had finished offering up the burnt offering and the peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of Hashem of Hosts.
וַיְחַלֵּק לְכָל הָעָם לְכָל הֲמוֹן יִשְׂרָאֵל לְמֵאִישׁ וְעַד אִשָּׁה לְאִישׁ חַלַּת לֶחֶם אַחַת וְאֶשְׁפָּר אֶחָד וַאֲשִׁישָׁה אֶחָת וַיֵּלֶךְ כָּל הָעָם אִישׁ לְבֵיתוֹ׃ - And he distributed to all the people, to the whole multitude of Israel, both to men and women, to each one a loaf of bread, a portion of meat, and a cake of raisins. And all the people departed, each to his house.
David distributes food to the people. "To the whole multitude of Israel" refers to all those who were present at the bringing up of the Ark, not that he sent to all the borders of Israel. "A loaf of bread" is a round loaf. And what is "eshpar"? Meat. From what root? Chazal offer two interpretations. The first: from the expression "who gives goodly words (imrei shefer)," "a goodly (shefer) heritage is upon me" - eshpar meaning something choice and superior, that he gave them of the finest meat. And the additional exposition: eshpar is a combination of three words - "one sixth of a bull (echad mishisha bapar)," that one takes a bull and divides it into six parts, and this is eshpar, a piece that is one sixth, a very honorable portion. And what is "ashishah achat"? Chazal say: ashishah is a jug of wine, a jar of wine, that each one also received a jug of wine. In short: a proper mishloach manot.
וַיָּשָׁב דָּוִד לְבָרֵךְ אֶת בֵּיתוֹ וַתֵּצֵא מִיכַל בַּת שָׁאוּל לִקְרַאת דָּוִד וַתֹּאמֶר מַה נִּכְבַּד הַיּוֹם מֶלֶךְ יִשְׂרָאֵל אֲשֶׁר נִגְלָה הַיּוֹם לְעֵינֵי אַמְהוֹת עֲבָדָיו כְּהִגָּלוֹת נִגְלוֹת אַחַד הָרֵקִים׃ - And David returned to bless his household, and Michal the daughter of Saul came out to meet David and said: How honored was the king of Israel today, who exposed himself today before the eyes of the maidservants of his servants, as one of the empty fellows shamelessly exposes himself.
Michal tells David what is in her heart, and with sarcasm: What an honored day this was, that the king of Israel exposed himself before the eyes of the maidservants of his servants, as one of the empty fellows exposes himself. The Malbim explains that she meant to say to him thus: Honor depends on two factors, from the side of the one giving honor and from the side of the one being honored, and in both you disgraced yourself.
From the side of the one giving honor: Who draws near to the king? Only great people, ministers and important figures, and no sort of common riffraff draw near to the king but stand at a distance. Therefore she says sarcastically: What great honor you had, that you exposed yourself before the eyes of the maidservants of your servants and they rubbed shoulders with you - is this the honor of a king? From the side of those giving honor it was a great disgrace for you. And from the side of the one being honored: you should have dressed in royal garments, for it is not fitting for a king to walk in plain clothing. And not only did you not wear royal garments, but you were even girded with a linen ephod, leaping and dancing, and this is what she said: "as one of the empty fellows exposes himself."
And what is the emphasis on "today," and why the repetition? The Malbim explains: there are kings whose way is always to be with the people, folksy kings who go down to the people and this is their honor - their honor is that they are with the people and do not separate from them. She said to him: with them one can still understand, but with you it is not so, you are always accustomed to keeping distant from the people. Therefore "how honored was the king of Israel today" - only today did you do this thing and cling to the people. Moreover: sometimes the king indeed needs to go out and come with the people, as we saw at the time of Avner's death when David walked among the men and among the women, or in time of war when he wishes to inspire the people to battle and they go out together. But today the matter was not necessary, and what special reason was there here specifically today? And to this the second "today" comes: "who exposed himself today before the eyes of the maidservants of his servants."
And Chazal say that she told him: my father's house had a nobler kingship than yours, my father had a more honored kingship than yours. Heaven forbid that any hand or foot of them should be seen exposed, they were all dignified - and how do you dance with your robe fluttering and your legs being seen? This is not honorable.
וַיֹּאמֶר דָּוִד אֶל מִיכַל לִפְנֵי ה' אֲשֶׁר בָּחַר בִּי מֵאָבִיךְ וּמִכָּל בֵּיתוֹ לְצַוֹּת אֹתִי נָגִיד עַל עַם ה' עַל יִשְׂרָאֵל וְשִׂחַקְתִּי לִפְנֵי ה'׃ - And David said to Michal: Before the Lord, who chose me over your father and over all his house, to appoint me ruler over the people of the Lord, over Israel, before the Lord did I play.
Chazal say that he told her: those of your father's house set aside the honor of Heaven and occupied themselves with their own honor, while I set aside my own honor and occupy myself with the honor of my Maker. And regarding what she said, "the maidservants of his servants," he told her: Heaven forbid, you are not counted among the maidservants but among the honored ones.
And the Malbim explains his answer in depth. Those special marks of royal honor - that one does not sit on the king's throne and does not draw too near to him - are very important for a king who was chosen by the people. For a king chosen by the people is not a true chosen one, but rather there was an agreement among us that he is worthy to reign, and tomorrow we could decide that he should go home and another reign. This is not true honor but, in the Malbim's words, conventional honor: we all agreed that he should reign. And such a person, if you do not give him honor, do not build him a throne, do not dress him in a robe, place a scepter in his hand and a crown on his head - he is nothing, for he has no true honor. Why is he honored? Because we decided to clothe him, we decided to exalt him, but in himself he has no honor.
David answered her: with me the matter is different. That was indeed the case with your father, when the people came demanding "we want a king." But my kingship does not come from the people's choice but from Hashem: the Holy One, blessed be He, is the One who took me from the sheepfolds, from behind the nursing ewes, and brought me to reign over Israel. By right, whom should they have chosen as king? Your father's sons, for it is a king who is the son of a king who is fit to reign after him. And you see: "who chose me above your father and above all his house, to appoint me ruler over the people of Hashem": Hashem rejected your father and his dynasty and chose me. Therefore my honor does not depend on the people, nor does it depend on the trappings of honor customary among the people, keeping distant from them and wearing special garments. My honor depends on Hashem, blessed be He, who set me as ruler.
And he further said to her: it is known that a minister may not display grandeur before the king, and a servant may not display grandeur before his master, for that is an affront to the master's honor. And more than this: one may not come before the king and say "my lord Yoav said" - you have no lords at all when you stand beside the king; rather you say "your servant Yoav said to my lord the king." Before the king one does not show loftiness but lowliness, and even the commander of the army comes before the king in lowliness. And David said: Hashem commanded me as ruler over the people of Israel, "and I played before Hashem" - before whom did I play? Before flesh and blood? Surely I played before Hashem, and before Hashem a person may not show loftiness but on the contrary must show lowliness. And the fact that I wore such lowly garments, this is the fitting way when one stands before the Holy One, blessed be He, and not a way of pride.
וּנְקַלֹּתִי עוֹד מִזֹּאת וְהָיִיתִי שָׁפָל בְּעֵינָי וְעִם הָאֲמָהוֹת אֲשֶׁר אָמַרְתְּ עִמָּם אִכָּבֵדָה׃ - And I will be even more lightly esteemed than this and will be lowly in my own eyes, and with the maidservants of whom you spoke, with them I will be honored.
After he answered her that there is no degradation in this, but on the contrary a great sign of honor, esteem and greatness - first, that his honor does not depend on the people but comes from Hashem, and second, that before Hashem it is fitting for a person not to seek his own honor but to disregard it, and this itself displays the honor of Hashem - he adds one more thing for her. He said to her: know that the best of all would have been if I had not wanted honor at all and had fled from it. What are we arguing about here? Which is more honorable, this way or that way. And in truth this is an incorrect argument. "And I will be even more lightly esteemed than this and will be lowly in my own eyes" - if it were up to me, I would seek how to be more lowly, and I would not enter into an argument with you at all about which is more honorable. The correct argument is how a person can appear more lowly, not how he can be more honored. And why? Because one who seeks honor is not truly honored. Had I despised honor, that would be the true honor. What is the true honor? One who flees from honor and despises it. And therefore "and with the maidservants of whom you spoke, with them I will be honored": my true honor is to be with the lowly, with the humble, with the maidservants and with the servants.
וּלְמִיכַל בַּת שָׁאוּל לֹא הָיָה לָהּ יָלֶד עַד יוֹם מוֹתָהּ׃ - And Michal the daughter of Shaul had no child until the day of her death.
Michal the daughter of Shaul was punished for the words she spoke, and she had no child until the day of her death. But there is a seeming difficulty, for we find that she did give birth, and Chazal say that "Egla" refers to Michal. There are two explanations for this. The Midrash says: "until the day of her death" - until the day of her death she had none, but on the day of her death she did have one, for three women died as they gave life, that is, they died in childbirth: Rachel, the daughter-in-law of Eli, and Michal the daughter of Shaul. It turns out that on the day of her death she did have a child.
And the Abarbanel says that there was in this a heavenly plan and intent, a cause from Hashem so that the offspring of Shaul would not multiply. The reasoning was as follows: the Holy One, blessed be He, knew that the Givonim were destined to come and ask to destroy the offspring of Shaul, because he had killed Nov the city of the kohanim and the Givonim. And since Hashem knew this, He said: what will David do? Will he put to death his own sons or will he have compassion on them? David would have a problem, for he too has sons who are the offspring of Shaul. Hashem said: I will spare him the problem, I will see to it that he has no sons from Michal the daughter of Shaul, and thus he will not stand before the dilemma of whether to hand over his sons to the Givonim or not. So the Abarbanel explains.
This chapter teaches us both sides of the coin of drawing near to the holy. In the first bringing up they erred in six matters - a cart instead of the shoulder, men who drove the cart, carrying by strangers rather than by Levites, touching the Ark itself instead of the poles, walking in front of the Ark with their backs turned, and playing music with ordinary instruments - and the death of Uzza "for the error" taught that one does not serve Hashem by instinct, and that whoever forgets the awe of the King while standing before Him commits a grave sin. And on the other side, the blessing of the house of Oved Edom, which was said "for the sake of" and not "because of," came to make known for all generations that the Ark is a source of abundance and blessing and not a source of death. And in the second bringing up, which was done with the joy of a mitzvah, with sacrifices, with holy vessels, and with the nullification of David's own honor in his body, his garment, and his closeness to the people, the fundamental difference between the house of Shaul and the house of David was revealed: the house of Shaul set aside the honor of Heaven and occupied themselves with their own honor, while David set aside his own honor and occupied himself with the honor of his Maker. And from here comes the great principle that David teaches Michal: the correct argument is not which is more honorable, but how to be more lowly, for true honor belongs to one who flees from honor and despises it.