Chapter 21 deals with a weighty episode: a three year famine in the days of David, the demand of the Givonim regarding what Shaul had done to them, the handing over of seven of Shaul's descendants to be executed, the deed of Ritzpah bat Ayah, and finally the gathering of the bones of Shaul and Yehonatan and their burial in the grave of Kish his father. Afterward the chapter moves to an entirely new matter: the final wars with the Pelishtim, in which David and his servants fight the descendants of the Rafah. These are the last wars, and from here until the end of Shlomo's era we see no more battles, and even David himself no longer went out to war.
וַיְהִי רָעָב בִּימֵי דָוִד שָׁלֹשׁ שָׁנִים שָׁנָה אַחֲרֵי שָׁנָה וַיְבַקֵּשׁ דָּוִד אֶת פְּנֵי יְהֹוָה, וַיֹּאמֶר יְהֹוָה אֶל שָׁאוּל וְאֶל בֵּית הַדָּמִים עַל אֲשֶׁר הֵמִית אֶת הַגִּבְעֹנִים. - There was a famine in the days of David for three years, year after year, and David sought the presence of Hashem, and Hashem said: It is because of Shaul and the house of bloodshed, because he put the Givonim to death.
וַיִּקַּח הַמֶּלֶךְ אֶת שְׁנֵי בְּנֵי רִצְפָּה בַת אַיָּה אֲשֶׁר יָלְדָה לְשָׁאוּל, אֶת אַרְמֹנִי וְאֶת מְפִבֹשֶׁת, וְאֶת חֲמֵשֶׁת בְּנֵי מִיכַל בַּת שָׁאוּל אֲשֶׁר יָלְדָה לְעַדְרִיאֵל בֶּן בַּרְזִלַּי הַמְּחֹלָתִי. - And the king took the two sons of Ritzpah bat Ayah, whom she bore to Shaul, Armoni and Mefivoshet, and the five sons of Michal bat Shaul, whom she bore to Adriel ben Barzilai the Mecholati.
The king takes the two sons of Ritzpah bat Ayah, who was Shaul's concubine, and the five sons of Michal bat Shaul. Chazal ask: did Michal bear children? It was Merav who bore them to Adriel! Rather, Merav bore them and Michal raised them, and therefore the sons were called by her name. From here Chazal derived the great principle: anyone who raises an orphan boy or girl in his home, it is as though he bore them. The verse itself calls the sons by the name of the one who raised them.
וַיִּתְּנֵם בְּיַד הַגִּבְעֹנִים וַיֹּקִיעֻם בָּהָר לִפְנֵי יְהֹוָה, וַיִּפְּלוּ שְׁבַעְתָּם יָחַד, וְהֵמָּה הֻמְתוּ בִּימֵי קָצִיר בָּרִאשֹׁנִים בִּתְחִלַּת קְצִיר שְׂעֹרִים. - And he gave them into the hand of the Givonim, and they hanged them on the mountain before Hashem, and the seven of them fell together, and they were put to death in the days of the harvest, in the first days, at the beginning of the barley harvest.
Why is it emphasized that they were put to death specifically during the harvest days? Chazal say: specifically during the harvest days, when they saw that because of the drought there was no harvest, then they were roused to seek out the meaning of the matter, and then they put them to death.
וַתִּקַּח רִצְפָּה בַת אַיָּה אֶת הַשַּׂק וַתַּטֵּהוּ לָהּ אֶל הַצּוּר מִתְּחִלַּת קָצִיר עַד נִתַּךְ מַיִם עֲלֵיהֶם מִן הַשָּׁמָיִם, וְלֹא נָתְנָה עוֹף הַשָּׁמַיִם לָנוּחַ עֲלֵיהֶם יוֹמָם וְאֶת חַיַּת הַשָּׂדֶה לָיְלָה. - And Ritzpah bat Ayah took the sackcloth and spread it out for herself upon the rock, from the beginning of the harvest until water poured down upon them from the heavens, and she did not allow the birds of the sky to rest upon them by day nor the beasts of the field by night.
Ritzpah takes the sackcloth and spreads it out for herself upon the rock, and she keeps a constant watch there. Chazal say that she took care to keep away from the bodies the birds of the sky and the wild beasts of the field, by day and by night.
Here the Gemara in Masechet Yevamot asks: but it is written "His body shall not remain overnight on the tree," so how did they remain hanging all those months? They answered: better that one letter of the Torah be uprooted than that the name of Heaven not be sanctified in public. For passersby would ask: what is the nature of these? Who are the ones hanging here? And they would be told: they are sons of kings. And what did they do? They laid their hands upon converts who had attached themselves. A convert who attached himself is not like one who comes to convert properly from the outset, but rather one who joined us through deceit, dragged along with us. And then the passersby would say: there is no nation as fitting to cling to as this nation! They were only converts who had attached themselves, yet sons of kings who laid their hands upon them were punished with such a punishment; how much more so will they honor us. And through this they would come and convert and accept upon themselves the faith in Hashem, blessed be He. It turns out that in the end there was here a matter of sanctifying Hashem's name, and from the standpoint of sanctifying the name it was permitted to do this thing.
Until when did she guard over them? The Metzudat David says: "until water was poured upon them" - she waited to see that the matter would be accepted before the Creator of the world, that the fierce anger would depart from them and rain would fall. And when the anger would depart and the rain would fall, we would know that there is atonement in this.
The Radak comes and asks: and if you say, why was his offspring punished for Shaul's sin? One possibility: it may be that these sons themselves were among those who killed the Givonim. And if you say that this is impossible, for at that time perhaps they were young, the Radak says: it is quite possible that this punishment did not come from human hands but from Heaven. By human hands "fathers shall not be put to death for sons," but if from Heaven they say to do such a thing, it is not I who decide that you should pay for your father's sin but the Creator of the world. And if it stems from the Creator of the world, it is a sign that it comes justly. I am forbidden to decide that a person should die for another's sin, but for the Creator of the world it is certainly permitted, for we see that Hashem visits the sin of the fathers upon the sons who hold on to their fathers' deeds in their hands. We, even with those who hold on to their fathers' deeds, are forbidden to do this, but the Creator of the world may. You learn from here that when the death is by the hand of Hashem, the matter is permitted, and therefore here it was permitted.
וַיֻּגַּד לְדָוִד אֵת אֲשֶׁר עָשְׂתָה רִצְפָּה בַת אַיָּה פִּלֶגֶשׁ שָׁאוּל. - And it was told to David what Ritzpah bat Ayah, the concubine of Shaul, had done.
They told David that Ritzpah bat Ayah had stayed long months beside the bodies of her sons and guarded over them. David saw that she had done a great thing, says the Radak, and because of this his compassion was aroused and he commanded to bury them. And there is a further hint in Chazal in "and it was told to David": he saw that she was a woman of valor and took her as a wife. And through this was fulfilled what the prophet said to him "and I gave you your master's wives into your bosom" - some explained this regarding Michal bat Shaul, and some explained it regarding Ritzpah bat Ayah, who was his master's wife, that is, his master's concubine, the concubine of Shaul, and her David took as a wife.
וַיֵּלֶךְ דָּוִד וַיִּקַּח אֶת עַצְמוֹת שָׁאוּל וְאֶת עַצְמוֹת יְהוֹנָתָן בְּנוֹ מֵאֵת בַּעֲלֵי יָבֵישׁ גִּלְעָד, אֲשֶׁר גָּנְבוּ אֹתָם מֵרְחֹב בֵּית שַׁן אֲשֶׁר תְּלָאוּם שָׁמָּה פְּלִשְׁתִּים בְּיוֹם הַכּוֹת פְּלִשְׁתִּים אֶת שָׁאוּל בַּגִּלְבֹּעַ. - And David went and took the bones of Shaul and the bones of Yehonatan his son from the men of Yavesh Gilad, who had stolen them from the square of Beit Shan, where the Pelishtim had hanged them on the day the Pelishtim struck Shaul at Gilboa.
If we recall, the Pelishtim hanged Shaul and his sons on the wall of the square of Beit Shan, and the men of Yavesh Gilad came and took them down from the wall and buried them. Now comes the stage of correcting the distortion: Shaul was not eulogized properly, nor was he buried in the fitting place. Yavesh Gilad is not the burial place of his fathers, and the dignity of a person, and all the more so the dignity of a king, is that he be buried in the burial place of his fathers. Therefore David goes and fulfills the second command that was said to him from Heaven, to seek the honor of the deceased.
וַיַּעַל מִשָּׁם אֶת עַצְמוֹת שָׁאוּל וְאֶת עַצְמוֹת יְהוֹנָתָן בְּנוֹ, וַיַּאַסְפוּ אֶת עַצְמוֹת הַמּוּקָעִים. - And he brought up from there the bones of Shaul and the bones of Yehonatan his son, and they gathered the bones of those who had been hanged.
וַיִּקְבְּרוּ אֶת עַצְמוֹת שָׁאוּל וִיהוֹנָתָן בְּנוֹ בְּאֶרֶץ בִּנְיָמִן בְּצֵלָע בְּקֶבֶר קִישׁ אָבִיו, וַיַּעֲשׂוּ כֹּל אֲשֶׁר צִוָּה הַמֶּלֶךְ, וַיֵּעָתֵר אֱלֹהִים לָאָרֶץ אַחֲרֵי כֵן. - And they buried the bones of Shaul and Yehonatan his son in the land of Binyamin, in Tzela, in the grave of Kish his father, and they did all that the king commanded, and afterward God was entreated for the land.
This requires understanding: seemingly David could have done this long before. Why does he wait such a long time, until the matter of Shaul's sons was already reconciled and rain was already falling, and only then goes and takes out the bones of Shaul and Yonatan and eulogizes them? The moment he received a command from Hashem, just as he immediately dealt with the claims of the Givonim, he should have immediately dealt as well with the eulogy that was not done properly and the burial that was not done properly.
The Malbim says: the Holy One, Blessed be He, was exacting with Shaul to a hair's breadth, and for all his matters he was judged here in this world. And so said Chazal: when David expressed himself harshly about Shaul at the time he was pursued by him, and said "either his day will come or Hashem will strike him down in battle," the Holy One, Blessed be He, said to him: Know, David, that if you were Shaul and he were David, I would pass over a hundred Davids before Shaul. David, throughout the entire way, was judged with mercy. Even in the matter of Bat Sheva he was judged with mercy and did not lose the kingship. Chazal express it: Shaul with one and it cost him, David with two and it did not cost him. Shaul sinned one sin and it cost him the kingship, and David sinned two sins and it did not cost him the kingship.
What is this apparent double standard? We explained the words of the Arizal, that the difference between Shaul and David lies in the root of their souls. The holy Ari says: Shaul was very refined with respect to the root of his soul, and therefore it is written "Shaul was a year old when he began to reign," like a one year old, clean and pure from sin. And when the soul is of a very high root, they are exacting with him to a hair's breadth. In contrast, David's soul, says the Arizal, was the beginning of his soul's emergence from the kelipot, meaning the beginning in which it is still only starting to become refined. In such a state one cannot demand of him as of a refined soul like Shaul's. Therefore with Shaul they were exacting to a hair's breadth, and with David we saw greater forgiveness, for only Hashem knows hidden things, and knows the difficulty of the test, and whether he had the strength to overcome or not, and what he deserves to receive for each and every act.
There are many other explanations of the difference between Shaul and David, and we elaborated on them: that Shaul's sin touched the kingship itself while David's was a private sin, and more. And here we brought the fundamental principle of the Arizal.
Shaul and his sons were killed for the sin of killing Nov, and seemingly it is difficult: for what are they holding him accountable? For the Givonim? But he killed Nov, the city of the priests, eighty priests bearing a linen ephod! And especially since Chazal's words imply that the killing of the Givonim was only indirect: he killed the priests, and as a result the Givonim had no livelihood and their death was caused. If so, there is a deliberate act here, and you punish him only for what was caused through him?
But the Yaarot Devash says: it is known that Nov, the city of the priests, was not punished for nothing. From whom were they? From the sons of Eli. And of the house of Eli it was said "and all the increase of your house will die as men," because Chofni and Pinchas acted with contempt toward the sacred, as we learned in the past, and it was decreed upon them that they would have death through shortened days. It comes out, then, that Shaul killed a dead man, in the language of Chazal "he killed a dead man," people who in any case were liable to death. But we saw in Chazal that even though the sons of Eli "will die as men," they had a chance to lengthen their days. Through what? If the sin of the house of Eli would be atoned through sacrifice and offering, and this would not help them, for they had shown contempt for the sacrifices and offerings, and it is impossible that these would be an atonement for them. Rather, through what is it atoned? The Gemara says: through acts of kindness, and it brings Abaye who engaged in acts of kindness and through this lengthened his days.
It comes out, then, that the very fact that the Givonim were cared for by the men of Nov, the city of the priests, should have given the men of Nov length of days, for they performed acts of kindness with them. And Shaul comes and claims: Master of the Universe, I am not liable for the killing of Nov, the city of the priests, for I killed men who were already dead, they were liable to death. They answer him: you err, for they performed kindness with the Givonim, and the moment they performed kindness they are no longer liable to death. If so, for what is he held accountable? For killing Nov, the city of the priests, who were the ones who sustained the Givonim. And therefore they mention to him "for having put the Givonim to death," meaning, your act that caused the Givonim not to be sustained by them is itself the proof that the priests were their sustainers, and consequently they were not a dead man nor liable to death, and you are judged for Nov, the city of the priests. According to his words, the killing of the Givonim is not the substance of the claim but only a proof that you are liable for the murder of the priests, for if they performed kindness they should have lived many more years, so why did you kill them? Thus explains the Yaarot Devash.
There is another wonderful explanation that I saw, and it is brought in the novellae on the Ein Yaakov. It is written in Chazal that Israel was held accountable for not eulogizing Shaul according to halacha. The Tosafot ask: why do we eulogize a deceased person? A dispute in the Gemara: one says it is for the honor of the dead, and one says it is for the honor of the living. One says because of the honor of the deceased, that when you praise him it gives him honor and satisfaction; and one says because of the honor of the living, that when the deceased is praised there is honor to the family, they say look what an important and special person he was, and the family is honored by it.
And the Tosafot ask a tremendous question: if the eulogy is for the honor of the living, why was Israel held accountable? They could say: we forgo our honor! You hold us accountable and punish us for not eulogizing according to halacha, and we forgo our honor. The Tosafot answer: a king is different. With a king there is no possibility of forgoing his honor. Shaul has the status of a king, and with a king one cannot say "do not eulogize him, if you wish to give me honor," but rather a king must be eulogized, for this is the honor of the kingship and the honor of the nation, and it cannot be forgone.
With this we can understand what the Gemara says, that two charges were brought against them: for the eulogy that was not performed properly, and for having killed the Givonim. And the Gemara already asks: how can this be? On the one hand you seem to give Shaul credit and say you did not eulogize him properly, which is his praise; and on the other hand you say he deserves punishment for the Givonim. Both at once?
The commentaries on the Ein Yaakov say something wonderful: they came and said to them, either way you are liable. For they argue: Master of the Universe, on what do You charge us? If for having killed the Givonim, the Givonim were rebels against the kingdom, they assisted David, and Shaul was king. Rebels against the kingdom are judged as Shaul did to them, and as king he was permitted to do so, so where is the sin here? To this they reply: ah, Shaul was king and therefore it was permitted to him? If so, there is a question against us, why did you not eulogize him properly? And if you say we forgave our honor, in the case of a king forgoing his honor is of no avail.
And the reverse: if they are told, why did you not eulogize him properly, and they answer, was he even king? For David had already received the kingship from Hashem, he had already been anointed, and Shaul was no longer king, so what obligation do we have in his eulogy? Then immediately the argument comes: you claim he was not king? If so, how did he kill the Givonim? As a man who is not king, in what were they rebelling against him? It emerges that whichever way you look at it you are liable: if you say he is king, I will ask why you did not eulogize properly; and if you say he is not king, I will ask how he killed the Givonim. Therefore these two sins were bound together.
וַתְּהִי עוֹד מִלְחָמָה לַפְּלִשְׁתִּים אֶת יִשְׂרָאֵל, וַיֵּרֶד דָּוִד וַעֲבָדָיו עִמּוֹ וַיִּלָּחֲמוּ אֶת פְּלִשְׁתִּים וַיָּעַף דָּוִד. - There was again a war of the Pelishtim against Yisrael, and David went down with his servants and they fought against the Pelishtim, and David grew weary.
There was another war of the Pelishtim against Yisrael, and David went down to battle even though he was no longer young. "Vaya'af David" is an expression of weariness, he became fatigued and weak; he was already close to seventy years old.
וְיִשְׁבִּי בְנֹב אֲשֶׁר בִּילִידֵי הָרָפָה, וּמִשְׁקַל קֵינוֹ שְׁלֹשׁ מֵאוֹת מִשְׁקַל נְחֹשֶׁת, וְהוּא חָגוּר חֲדָשָׁה, וַיֹּאמֶר לְהַכּוֹת אֶת דָּוִד. - And Yishbi in Nov, who was of the descendants of the Rafah, and the weight of his spear-shaft was three hundred measures of bronze, and he was girded with a new sword, and he thought to strike David.
Yishbi was one of the descendants of the Rafah. And who is the Rafah? Chazal say: Orpah, who was the mother of Golyat. It emerges that Yishbi is the brother of Golyat, and he was no dwarf, but one of four giants. "And the weight of his spear-shaft was three hundred measures of bronze", the "keino" is the case of the shaft's handle, and by itself it weighed three hundred measures of bronze, meaning it was extremely heavy.
"And he was girded with a new sword", what does this mean? Rashi says: I have heard that on that very day he was initiated into wearing the implements of war. This is the day on which they dressed him in the special garb of a man of war, he finished the course and received his equipment. And it is the way of those newly initiated to perform an act of victory and might on the day of their initiation, to make a name for themselves. You received all the weapons and all the ammunition from the armory, you are fully equipped, now show what you can do. This was their custom, that on that day they had to perform a feat of battle bravery to prove that the ammunition had not been wasted on them. Therefore the verse emphasizes "and he was girded with a new sword", for in order to make a name for himself he said: I am going after none other than David king of Yisrael, I want to kill David and thereby I will make a fitting name for myself. And all the more so since he was the brother of Golyat, and the avenging of his brother's blood was in his hand, so he had reason to seek out David specifically.
And Chazal say: "Yishbi in Nov", a man who came on account of the affair of Nov. It is stated in Chazal that David the king had the sin of Nov, the city of the Kohanim, and now they come to demand from him the reckoning for the killing of Nov, the city of the Kohanim, and we will soon explain what the reckoning was that David had to pay.
וַיַּעֲזָר לוֹ אֲבִישַׁי בֶּן צְרוּיָה וַיַּךְ אֶת הַפְּלִשְׁתִּי וַיְמִתֵהוּ, אָז נִשְׁבְּעוּ אַנְשֵׁי דָוִד לוֹ לֵאמֹר: לֹא תֵצֵא עוֹד אִתָּנוּ לַמִּלְחָמָה וְלֹא תְכַבֶּה אֶת נֵר יִשְׂרָאֵל. - And Avishai the son of Tzeruyah came to his aid and struck the Philistine and killed him. Then the men of David swore to him, saying: You shall no longer go out with us to battle, so that you do not extinguish the lamp of Israel.
Avishai the son of Tzeruyah saves David and kills the Philistine, and then David's men tell him: it is too dangerous for you to keep going out to battle, for you might extinguish the lamp of Israel. "The lamp of Israel" - you light the way before the camp, and if you were to die, God forbid, what point would there be to the entire monarchy? David king of Israel is the ruler and the sovereign, and without you what will we do? Therefore it is better that you stay in your house and we will go out to battle.
So says the Gemara in tractate Sanhedrin (page 95a): "And Yishbi in Nov" - what is "Yishbi in Nov"? Rav Yehuda said in the name of Rav: a man who came on account of the matters of Nov. The Holy One, Blessed be He, said to David: How long will this sin remain hidden in your hand? Because of you Nov, the city of the priests, was killed; because of you Doeg the Edomite was banished; and because of you Shaul and his three sons were killed.
And what was the story? David went to Achimelech the son of Achituv, who was the High Priest in Nov, the city of the priests. While fleeing from Shaul he came to him and asked him for something to eat, for he was seized with a ravenous hunger, and Achimelech brought out for him warm bread on the day it was taken, from the showbread, and gave it to him to eat. Afterward David asked: do you perhaps have a sword? He said to him: there is only Goliath's sword here. He said to him: give it to me, there is none like it. So it turns out that Achimelech helped him with bread and with a sword. And who was detained there in the house of Hashem at that time? Doeg the Edomite. And David, who already saw him then, had a bad feeling. And so indeed it turned out: Doeg went and informed on him to Shaul and told him that Achimelech the son of Achituv and Nov the city of the priests had helped those who rebelled against him, had helped David. Shaul summoned Achimelech and questioned him about his deeds, and Achimelech said: I did not know that he was rebelling against you; I knew that he is your son in law and that he goes out and carries out your word. Then the king commanded that he be killed, and in the end he told Doeg the Edomite that he would be the one to kill them, and Doeg killed them all, eighty men in Nov, and Achimelech the son of Achituv the High Priest. Hashem says to him: who was the cause of all this? You. Had you not come there, none of this story would have happened. And likewise because of you Shaul and his three sons were killed, for you set the wheel in motion: from the moment you caused the death of Nov, the city of the priests, you brought sin upon Shaul, and on account of this sin he had to die. Who, in the end, caused Shaul's death? You.
The Holy One, Blessed be He, said to him: what do you prefer, that your offspring be wiped out, or that you be delivered into the hand of the enemy? That is to say, the matter requires atonement, and it is one of two things: either your offspring will be wiped out, or you will be delivered into the hand of enemies. Which do you prefer? He said before Him: Master of the Universe, better that I be delivered into the hand of the enemy and that my offspring not be wiped out.
One day David went out to a place, to a village called Sechor Bizai. The Satan came and appeared to him as a deer. David shot an arrow at it but did not reach it, and he continued pursuing it, until this deer, which was the Satan, drew him into the land of the Philistines, into the place of danger. When Yishbi in Nov saw him he said: here is the one who killed my brother Goliath. He bound him and folded him up, that is, he subdued him and placed him under the beam of the olive press, in order to sit upon it and crush him. The Gemara says: a miracle was performed for him and the ground beneath him sank down, the ground spread out and became lower, and through this he was not crushed. And this is what David praises in Tehillim, saying "You have widened my stride beneath me and my ankles did not slip" - Hashem widened the ground beneath me and through this I was saved.
That day was Shabbat eve. Avishai the son of Tzeruyah was washing his head in four buckets of water, and he saw stains of blood upon them. And why does the Gemara emphasize how many buckets there were? To tell you that had it been in one bucket you would say it is coincidental, perhaps there had been blood in it beforehand, but when he saw blood stains in all the buckets, he understood that there was a sign here. And some say that a dove came and fluttered before him, that is, made a noise with its wings. He said: the assembly of Israel is compared to a dove, as it says "the wings of a dove covered with silver," learn from this that David king of Israel is in distress. He came to David's house and did not find him. He said: we have learned, one may not ride on the king's horse, nor sit on his throne, nor use his scepter. He wanted to run and search for David on David's mule, but it is forbidden, and one is liable to death. What does one do? In a time of danger is it permitted or forbidden? He came and asked in the study hall, and they told him: in a time of danger it is permitted. He rode on David's mule and the earth leaped for him.
On the way he sees Orpah, Goliath's mother, occupied at the loom, weaving. When she saw him, she stopped the work of weaving and threw the spindle at him - the tool with which one weaves - in order to kill him, but she did not hit him. She said to him: young man, give me the spindle, return it to me. Apparently she wanted to try again. He returned it to her - into her head, and killed her. In the language of the Gemara: he threw it at the top of her skull and killed her.
When Yishbi in Nov saw that reinforcement had arrived, that Avishai was coming, he said: now there will be two here and they will kill me. What did he do? He threw David into the air and fixed the spear in the ground, so that David would fall upon it and die. Avishai uttered a holy Name and held David up between heaven and earth, so that he would not fall upon the sword. And the Gemara asks: why did David himself not utter the Name? Because a prisoner cannot free himself from prison. And Rashi explains: his mind is not settled to utter the Name. He does not have the presence of mind to concentrate on uttering the Name of Hashem in order to be saved, for this is not a mere utterance, but a holy Name upon which one must concentrate, and he is now flying in the air and his mind is not set to it. Therefore the one who did this was Avishai.
Meanwhile Yishbi was flung far away, and Avishai and David head back on the way toward the land. Avishai asks him: what are you doing here? David tells him: so said the Holy One, Blessed be He, to me, whom would you want to be punished, you or your offspring, and so I answered Him. He said to him: reverse your prayer! Ask for the opposite, that your offspring suffer and not you. "Your grandson can sell wax and you need not suffer." Here the Gemara shows us what logic and common sense dictate. David said to him: if so, assist me - help me in prayer to reverse the situation, so that it return to being that my children pay and not I. And this is what is written "And Avishai the son of Tzeruyah came to his aid," Rav Yehuda said in the name of Rav: that he helped him in prayer. And the Gemara says: Avishai uttered a Name and brought David down to the ground. And still the story is not over, for after he brought him down the Philistines continued to pursue them.
When they reached a village called Kuvi, which is the village between the land of Israel and the Philistines, they said: Kum bi - stand against him. They would interpret names, like Rabbi Meir who would examine names, and when he saw a man called Kidor he said that he was not trustworthy, for "they are a generation of perversions." They too were expert in names, and when they reached the village whose name was Kuvi, which in Aramaic means "Kum bi," stand here, they understood that one must stand against him. And when they reached the place called Bei Tri they said: two cubs killed the lion. That is, now is the time to stand against him and fight him. They said to him: go find your mother in the grave. For where had Avishai sent Orpah? To the grave, with the spindle with which he struck her head. And when they mentioned to him the name of his mother who had died, his strength weakened and they killed him. And this is what is written "Then the men of David swore to him, saying: You shall no longer go out with us to battle, so that you do not extinguish the lamp of Israel" - we see that David was in great danger.
וַיְהִי אַחֲרֵי כֵן וַתְּהִי עוֹד הַמִּלְחָמָה בְּגוֹב עִם פְּלִשְׁתִּים, אָז הִכָּה סִבְּכַי הַחֻשָׁתִי אֶת סַף אֲשֶׁר בִּילִדֵי הָרָפָה. - And it came to pass after this that there was again war with the Philistines at Gov; then Sibbechai the Chushathite struck down Saph, who was among the descendants of the Raphah.
The war continued. Sibbechai the Chushathite was a leader in Israel, and he struck down Saph, who was among the descendants of the Raphah, yet another son of Orpah.
וַתְּהִי עוֹד הַמִּלְחָמָה בְּגוֹב עִם פְּלִשְׁתִּים, וַיַּךְ אֶלְחָנָן בֶּן יַעְרֵי אֹרְגִים בֵּית הַלַּחְמִי אֵת גָּלְיָת הַגִּתִּי, וְעֵץ חֲנִיתוֹ כִּמְנוֹר אֹרְגִים. - And there was again war with the Philistines at Gov, and Elchanan son of Yaarei Orgim the Bethlehemite struck down Goliath the Gittite, and the shaft of his spear was like a weaver's beam.
Who struck down Goliath? David! So who is this Elchanan son of Yaarei Orgim the Bethlehemite? Chazal say that the reference here is to David: "Elchanan" is David; "son of Yaarei Orgim" (weavers), for members of his family used to weave the curtains for the Temple, and the Temple is called a forest (yaar), as in "the forest of Lebanon"; "the Bethlehemite" because Yishai's place was Bethlehem, and David's origin was Bethlehem. Therefore the reference here is to David.
But the Malbim says that there is greater depth here. In truth there really was a man named Elchanan son of Yaarei Orgim the Bethlehemite, and he too was from a family of Bethlehem, of the Ephrathites, and he struck down the brother of Goliath. This brother was a mighty warrior like Goliath, and the verse wishes to tell you that he performed an act of valor no less than David's, and therefore it calls him "Goliath" even though that was not his name, in order to say that this was like David's valor in killing Goliath. And what Chazal said, "this is David," means like David, that this man acted as David acted. It turns out that both things are true: there really was such a man, and Yaarei Orgim was his father's name, and it is also true that it was David's deed to have killed Goliath, except that the verse wished to compare them, and therefore inserted the name Goliath into both accounts.
וַתְּהִי עוֹד מִלְחָמָה בְּגַת, וַיְהִי אִישׁ מָדוֹן וְאֶצְבְּעֹת יָדָיו וְאֶצְבְּעֹת רַגְלָיו שֵׁשׁ וָשֵׁשׁ עֶשְׂרִים וְאַרְבַּע מִסְפָּר, וְגַם הוּא יֻלַּד לְהָרָפָה. - And there was again war at Gath, and there was a man of great stature, whose fingers and toes were six and six, twenty four in number, and he too was born to the Raphah.
This man would easily have made it into the Guinness Book of Records: he had twenty four fingers and toes, six and six on each. Now seemingly, if it says "his fingers and his toes were six and six," do I not know that together that is twenty four? Why does it need to do the arithmetic for us? Chazal say: it needed to state this so that you would not think that the fingers of his two hands were only six and the toes of his feet six, together twelve, three on this hand and three on that hand. Therefore it needed to add "twenty four." And on the other side, let it simply say that his hands and feet had twenty four, and I would understand six and six? That too is not decisive, for it is possible that this hand had seven and that one five. Therefore it says "six and six" and also "twenty four," for both computations were needed.
And what does the word "in number" add? That this extra digit was not like a deformity that protruded outward, but a finger that was counted as one of the fingers. Whoever looked at his palm would see the normal continuation of the hand with another finger, like an ordinary person who simply has an additional finger. This is the meaning of "in number," that it was counted along with them, as though it were part of his hand and not a blemish jutting out from it.
And what does "a man of great stature" mean? It is like "and there were men of measure" (anshei middot). "Men of measure" does not mean that they possess good character traits, but that they are tall men. And why were they called this? Rashi says: because whoever sees such a man tries to measure him. So it always is, when people see a tall man they try to estimate his height, and therefore they were called men of measure, since whoever sees them tries to gauge their length.
וַיְחָרֵף אֶת יִשְׂרָאֵל, וַיַּכֵּהוּ יְהוֹנָתָן בֶּן שִׁמְעָה אֲחִי דָוִד. - And he taunted Israel, and Yehonathan son of Shimah, David's brother, struck him down.
He too followed in the ways of his brothers: he would taunt Israel and tell them that no man could defeat him, just as Golyat had done. In the end, someone from David's own family struck him down as well: Yehonatan son of Shimah, David's brother.
אֶת אַרְבַּעַת אֵלֶּה יֻלְּדוּ לְהָרָפָה בְּגַת, וַיִּפְּלוּ בְיַד דָּוִד וּבְיַד עֲבָדָיו. - These four were born to the giant in Gat, and they fell by the hand of David and by the hand of his servants.
All four of these mighty men were born to the giant, to Orpah, in Gat, and in the end they all died by the hand of David and by the hand of his servants.
The chapter opens with a famine that comes in the wake of an injustice that was never corrected, and it teaches us how exacting Heaven is about the honor of the weak and the honor of kings: the blood of the Givonim, converts who had attached themselves to Israel, was demanded, and even a eulogy that was not carried out properly was demanded. We saw the greatness of Ritzpah daughter of Ayah, who guarded her sons until water poured down, and the sanctification of God's name that came out of the exposure, and David completing the correction by burying Shaul and Yehonatan in the grave of Kish his father, and only then "God responded to the plea for the land." In the second half we move to the final wars against the offspring of the giant, in which David still fought at the age of seventy, entered mortal danger at the hand of Yishbi in Nov over the matter of Nov, the city of the priests, and was saved through Avishai son of Tzeruyah and through the prayer that was reversed. From this point on "you shall no longer go out with us to battle, so that you do not extinguish the lamp of Israel," and Israel defeats all four of the giants by the hand of David and by the hand of his servants.