Torah Reading is Ha’Azinu (Deuteronomy 32); Haftorah is 2 Samuel 22: 1-51
By Irv Jacobs, M.D.
LA JOLLA, California — Except for an opening prose sentence of introduction, this haftorah is entirely classical ancient Hebrew poetry/song. Nominally, it is David’s closing hymn of victory and thanksgiving to God who had ‘saved’ him from all enemies, particularly Saul.
With minor textual variations, the whole hymn is also found in Psalm 18. [1] Historically we don’t know which text came first.
A prevailing image within this Haftorah is God as tzur (rock). [2]
What’s the connection between these verses and the Torah parasha? The Torah’s text is the ‘song of Moses,’ with praise to God for His ultimate providence to all Hebrews in the Torah legend—despite His requites for their sins. This poem’s text is ‘David’s praise’ for personal help against his enemies, with a strong side allusion ‘for my merit.’ [3]
The rock reference presents contrasts in the Torah between God, the perfect rock, and the people who are a ‘crooked, perverse generation’ that ‘spurned the Rock.’
In this poem, David also glorifies God as a perfect ‘rock,’ to which he, though manifestly tainted, claims to be blameless.’ [4]
Following are excerpts from the haftorah, from the translation and interpretations of Emeritus Professor Robert Alter of UC Berkeley in his opus on the Prophets. [5]
I preface what follows by noting that the Prophets contains a long remarkable ‘biography’ of David, extending from I Samuel 1 through I Kings 2: 12. Contributors are believed to be many, with the usual competition and editing between them, written over years. The usual exaggerations as in all biblical (and other ancient) literature pertain.
The Lord is my crag and my fortress [6]
and my own deliverer.
God, my rock where I shelter,
my shield and the horn of my rescue, [7]
My bulwark and refuge,
my rescuer, saves me from havoc…
The snares of Sheol coiled around me,
the traps of death sprang around me. [8]
In my strait I called to the LORD…
And from His palace He heard my voice…
The earth heaved and quaked…
Smoke went up from His nostrils,
consuming fire from His mouth,
coals before Him blazed. [9]…
He reached from on high and He took me,
He drew me out of vast waters,,
saved me from enemies fierce,
from my foes who had overwhelmed me.
They sprang against me on my most dire day, [10]
but the LORD was a stay then for me…
The LORD dealt with me by my merit
by the cleanness of my hands, requited me… [11]
For You are my lamp, O LORD!
For through You I rush a barrier,
through my God I vault a wall.
The LORD Whose way is blameless,…
He frees my way to be blameless,…[12}
You gave me Your shield of rescue,
Your battle cry made me many.
You lengthened my stride beneath me,
and my ankles did not trip. [13]
I pursued my foes and destroyed them,
never turned back till I cut them down…
They cried out—there was none to rescue, [14]…
Foreigners cowered before me.
by what the ear heard they obeyed me.
Now comes the necessary (hyperbolic) upbeat ending to the haftorah.
Therefore I acclaim You among nations, O LORD,
and to Your name I would hymn.
Tower of rescue to His king,
keeping faith with His anointed,
for David and his seed, forever.
The writers of the David story/bio, including this farewell song, were on a hyperbolic binge to adulate David and ‘his words.’ I admit, it is indeed a wonderful example of ancient Hebrew poetry techniques.
Unfortunately this song does not include his womanizing, and multiple vengeful eliminations of Hebrew leaders who competed politically with him. In it, we see overall self-congratulation, apparently seconded by God himself.
I grant him his empathy and sparing efforts for his nemesis, King Saul, as the overall biography indicates. However it is not mentioned in this haftorah-poem.
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NOTES
[1] Etz Hayim, The Jewish Publication Society, 2001, New York, p. 1196
[2] Ibid, p. 1196
[3] Ibid, p. 1197
[4] Ibid, p. 1197
[5] Robert Alter, The Hebrew Bible, Prophets Vol. 2, W. W. Norton & Company, New York, 2019, pp. 407-414
[6] Ibid Many Semitic gods were deified mountains. Thus the imagery of the god as a lofty rock or crag abounds in ancient heathen inscriptions. Also it fits in a passage of military triumph in the rough terrain of mountains.
[7] Alter: The idiom is drawn from the goring horn of a charging animal.
[8] Alter: Such metaphoric images in ancient times conveyed the subject to be mortally threatened.
[9] Alter: anthropomorphic God, in metaphor
[10] surprised me
[11] This is chutzpa
[12] like a politician who hangs onto the coattails of one more impressive
[13] strong metaphors for strength in battle
[14] Unlike our LORD, their god(s) failed them, nor did ours give them heed.
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Irv Jacobs is a retired medical doctor who delights in Torah analysis. He often delivers a drosh at Congregation Beth El in La Jolla, and at his chavurah.