Shabbat 111

בני שמואל חטאו אינו אלא טועה שנאמר (שמואל א ח, ג) ויהי (כי זקן שמואל ובניו לא הלכו) בדרכיו בדרכיו הוא דלא הלכו מיחטא נמי לא חטאו

that Samuel's sons sinned is merely erring. For it is said, And it came to pass when Samuel was old... that his sons walked not in his ways:<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' I Sam. VIII, 1, 3. ');">¹</span>

אלא מה אני מקיים (שמואל א ח, ג) ויטו אחרי הבצע שלא עשו כמעשה אביהם שהיה שמואל הצדיק מחזר בכל מקומות ישראל ודן אותם בעריהם שנאמר (שמואל א ז, טז) והלך מדי שנה בשנה וסבב בית אל והגלגל והמצפה ושפט את ישראל והם לא עשו כן אלא ישבו בעריהם כדי להרבות שכר לחזניהן ולסופריהן

thus, they [merely] walked not in his ways, yet they did not sin either. Then how do I fulfil, 'they turned aside for lucre'?<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Ibid. ');">²</span>

כתנאי ויטו אחרי הבצע ר' מאיר אומר חלקם שאלו בפיהם רבי יהודה אומר מלאי הטילו על בעלי בתים ר' עקיבא אומר קופה יתירה של מעשר נטלו בזרוע ר' יוסי אומר מתנות נטלו בזרוע:

That means that they did not act like their father. For Samuel the righteous used to travel to all the places of Israel and judge them in their towns, as it is said, And he went from year to year in circuit to Beth-el, and Gilgal, and Mizpah; and he judged Israel.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Ibid. VII, 16. ');">³</span>

א"ר שמואל בר נחמני אמר ר' יונתן כל האומר דוד חטא אינו אלא טועה שנאמר (שמואל א יח, יד) ויהי דוד לכל דרכיו משכיל וה' עמו וגו' אפשר חטא בא לידו ושכינה עמו

But they did not act thus, but sat in their own towns, in order to increase the fees of their beadles<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Who are sent to summon the litigants. On hazzan v. p. 41, n. 7. ');">⁴</span>

אלא מה אני מקיים (שמואל ב יב, ט) מדוע בזית את דבר ה' לעשות הרע שביקש לעשות ולא עשה

and scribes.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Who record the pleas, arguments, verdicts, etc. ');">⁵</span>

אמר רב רבי דאתי מדוד מהפך ודריש בזכותיה דדוד מדוע בזית את דבר ה' לעשות הרע רבי אומר משונה רעה זו מכל רעות שבתורה שכל רעות שבתורה כתיב בהו ויעש וכאן כתיב לעשות שביקש לעשות ולא עשה

This is a controversy of Tannaim: 'They turned aside for lucre': R. Meir said, [That means,] They openly demanded their portions.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' They were Levites, and personally demanded the tithes. Owing to their exalted position their demands were acceded to, while the humbler Levites might starve. But they did not actually pervert judgment. — R. Meir's interpretation may have been called forth by the troublous times before the overthrow of the Jewish state, when many High Priests abused their positions by such extortion; v. Halevi, Doroth I, 5, pp. 4 seq. ');">⁶</span>

(שמואל ב יב, ט) את אוריה החתי הכית בחרב שהיה לך לדונו בסנהדרין ולא דנת ואת אשתו לקחת לך לאשה ליקוחין יש לך בה

R. Judah said: They forced<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' They compelled people to be their business agents. ');">⁷</span>

דא"ר שמואל בר נחמני א"ר יונתן כל היוצא למלחמת בית דוד כותב גט כריתות לאשתו שנאמר (שמואל א יז, יח) ואת עשרת חריצי החלב האלה תביא לשר האלף ואת אחיך תפקוד לשלום ואת ערובתם תקח

goods on private people. R. Akiba said: They took an extra basket of tithes by force. R. Jose said: They took the gifts by force.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Either the priestly dues, viz., the shoulder, cheeks, and maw of animals, though they were not priests; or the Levitical dues, sc. the first tithes, their sin being that they used force. ');">⁸</span>

מאי ערובתם תני רב יוסף דברים המעורבים בינו לבינה

R. Samuel b. Nahmani said in R. Jonathan's name: Whoever says that David sinned is merely erring, for it is said, And David behaved himself wisely in all his ways: and the Lord was with him.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Ibid. XVIII, 14. ');">⁹</span>

(שמואל ב יב, ט) ואותו הרגת בחרב בני עמון מה חרב בני עמון אי אתה נענש עליו אף אוריה החתי אי אתה נענש עליו

Is it possible that sin came to his hand, yet the Divine Presence was with him? Then how do I interpret, Wherefore hast thou despised the word of the Lord, to do that which is evil in his sight?<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' II Sam. XII, 9. ');">¹⁰</span>

מאי טעמא מורד במלכות הוה דאמר ליה (שמואל ב יא, יא) ואדוני יואב ועבדי אדוני על פני השדה חונים

He wished to do [evil], but did not. Rab observed: Rabbi, who is descended from David, seeks to defend him, and expounds [the verse] in David's favour. [Thus:] The 'evil' [mentioned] here is unlike every other 'evil' [mentioned] elsewhere in the Torah. For of every other evil [mentioned] in the Torah it is written, 'and he did,' whereas here it is written, 'to do': [this means] that he desired to do, but did not. Thou hast smitten Uriah the Hittite with the sword:<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' II Sam. Xli, 9. ');">¹¹</span>

אמר רב כי מעיינת ביה בדוד לא משכחת ביה בר מדאוריה דכתיב (מלכים א טו, ה) רק בדבר אוריה החתי

thou shouldst have had him tried by the Sanhedrin,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' The great court; v. Sanh. 2a. ');">¹²</span>

אביי קשישא רמי דרב אדרב מי אמר רב הכי והאמר רב קיבל דוד לשון הרע קשיא

but didst not. And hast taken his wife to be thy wife: thou hast marriage rights in her.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Lakah, the verb employed here, denotes marriage; cf. Deut. XXIV, 1. ');">¹³</span>

גופא רב אמר קיבל דוד לשון הרע דכתיב (שמואל ב ט, ד) ויאמר לו המלך איפוא הוא ויאמר ציבא אל המלך הנה הוא בית מכיר בן עמיאל (בלא) דבר וכתיב וישלח המלך ויקחהו מבית מכיר בן עמיאל (מלא) דבר

For R. Samuel b. Nahmani said in R. Jonathan's name: Every one who went out in the wars of the house of David wrote a bill of divorcement for his wife, for it is said, and bring these ten cheeses unto the captain of their thousand, and look how thy brethren fare, and take their pledge ['arubatham].<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' I Sam. XVII, 18. ');">¹⁴</span>

מכדי חזייה דשקרא הוא כי הדר אלשין עילויה מ"ט קיבלה מיניה דכתיב (שמואל ב טז, ב) ויאמר המלך (אל ציבא איה) בן אדוניך ויאמר ציבא אל המלך הנה (הוא) יושב בירושלים וגו' ומנא לן דקיבל מיניה דכתיב (שמואל ב טז, ב) ויאמר המלך הנה לך כל אשר למפיבושת ויאמר ציבא השתחויתי אמצא חן (בעיני) המלך

What is meant by 'arubatham? R. Joseph learned: The things which pledge man and woman [to one another].<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Lit., 'him and her', sc. the marriage. I.e., take away their marriage — cancel it by means of a divorce. — The divorce was conditional, in the sense that it became retrospectively valid if the husband died. Thus, since Uriah died, she was a free woman from the time he went out, and was not married when David took her. ');">¹⁵</span>

ושמואל אמר לא קיבל דוד לשון הרע דברים הניכרים חזא ביה דכתיב (שמואל ב יט, כה) ומפיבושת בן שאול ירד (לפני) המלך ולא עשה רגליו ולא עשה שפמו ואת בגדיו לא כיבס וגו' וכתיב ויהי כי בא ירושלים לקראת המלך ויאמר לו המלך למה לא הלכת עמי מפיבושת ויאמר אדוני המלך עבדי רמני כי אמר עבדך אחבשה לי החמור וארכב עליה ואלך את המלך כי פסח

And thou hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon:<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' II Sam. Xli, 9. ');">¹¹</span> just as thou art not [to be] punished for the sword of the Ammonites, so art thou not [to be] punished for [the death of] Uriah the Hittite. What is the reason? He was rebellious against royal authority, saying to him, and my lord Joab, and the servants of my lord, are encamped in the open field [etc].<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' II Sam. XI, 11. Thus he disobeyed David's order to go home. ');">¹⁶</span> Rab said: When you examine [the life of] David, you find nought but 'save only in the matter of Uriah the Hittite.'<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' I Kings XV, 5. Rashi: his only sin lay in encompassing Uriah's death, but not in taking Bathsheba (as explained above). From the context, however, it appears that Rab does not exculpate him from adultery with Bathsheba, but means that David was guilty of no other sin save that in connection with Uriah, which naturally includes his behaviour with Bathsheba. On that view Rab rejects Rabbi's exegesis (That too appears from Rab's prefacing remark: 'Rabbi who is descended, etc.'). ');">¹⁷</span> Abaye the Elder pointed out a contradiction in Rab['s dicta]: Did Rab say thus? Surely Rab said, David paid heed to slander? The difficulty remains. [To revert to] the main text: 'Rab said, David paid heed to slander,' for it is written, And the king said unto him, where is he? And Ziba said unto the king, Behold, he is in the house of Machir the son of Ammiel, belo da bar [in Lo-debar].<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' II Sam. IX, 4. ');">¹⁸</span> And it is written, Then David sent, and fetched him out of the house of Machir the son of Ammiel, millo dabar [from Lo-debar].<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Ibid. 5. Maharsha: belo dabar is translated: He (Mephibosheth son of Jonathan and grandson of Saul) has words, i.e., makes unloyal accusations against you. But David found that he was millo dabar, i.e., he had not made such accusations. Thus Ziba's charges were unfounded. This explains the Gemara that follows. ');">¹⁹</span> Now consider: he [David] saw that he [Ziba] was a liar; then when he slandered him a second time, why did he pay heed thereto? For it is written, And the king said, And where is thy master's son? And Ziba said unto the king, Behold, he abideth at Jerusalem [: for he said, To-day shall the house of Israel restore me the kingdom of my father].<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Ibid. XVI, 3. ');">²⁰</span> And how do we know that he accepted it [the slander] from, him? Because it is written, Then said the king to Ziba, Behold, thine is all that pertaineth unto Mephibosheth. And Ziba said, I do obeisance; let me find favour in thy sight, my lord, O king.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Ibid. 4. ');">²¹</span> But Samuel maintained: David did not pay heed to slander, [for] he saw self-evident things in him,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Which substantiated Ziba's charges. Thus it was not a mere acceptance of slander. ');">²²</span> For it is written, And Mephibosheth the son of Saul came down to meet the king; and he had neither dressed his feet, nor trimmed his beard, nor washed his clothes, etc.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Ibid. XIX, 24. ');">²³</span> While it is written, And it came to pass, when he was come to Jerusalem to meet the king, that the king said unto him, Wherefore wentest thou not with me, Mephibosheth? And he answered, My Lord, O king, my servant deceived me: for thy servant said, I will saddle me an ass, that I may ride thereon, and go with the king, because thy servant is lame,