Torah reading is Hayyei Sarah, Genesis 23-25:18; Haftorah is 1 Kings I:1-31.
By Irv Jacobs, M.D.
This full-episode prose passage is set in a picture of aged, ill, and failing King David, cold, on his death bed. His memory has failed and he is manipulated over the matter of which son will be successor to the throne. Of his multiple wives, Bathsheba, mother of Solomon, appears after a long absence, along with the prophet Nathan, to induce in David a false memory that he had designated Solomon to be his successor.
The link of this Haftorah to the Torah reading is the expression “old, advanced in years” as applied to both Abraham and David. [1]
I have chosen the Haftorah translation and commentaries of Emeritus Professor Dr. Robert Alter, of the University of California Berkeley, from his opus work, Prophets. [2]
“And King David had grown old, advanced in years, and they covered him with bedclothes, but he was not warm. And his servants said to him, ‘Let them seek out for my lord the king a young virgin, that she may wait upon the king and become his familiar, and lie in your lap, and my lord the king will be warm.’ [3]
And Adonijah, (David’s) son of Haggith, was giving himself airs, [4] saying, “I shall be king!” And he made himself a chariot and horsemen with 50 men running before him. [5]
And his father never caused him pain, [6] saying, “Why have you done thus?”…And he parlayed with Joab…and…Abiathar the priest,…(who) lent their support to Adonijah.
But Zadok the priest…and etc. Nathan the prophet…and David’s warriors were not with Adonijah. And Adonijah made a sacrificial feast [7]…and he invited all his brothers (from various of David’s wives)…and…the king’s servants. But Nathan the prophet…and the warriors and Solomon…he did not invite.
And Nathan said to Bathsheba, Solomon’s mother, saying, “Have you not heard that Adonijah…has become king, and our lord David knows it not? [8]
“And now, come let me give you counsel that you may save your own life and the life of your son Solomon. Go and get you to King David and say to him, ‘Has not my lord the king sworn to your servant (you, Bathsheba), saying: Solomon your son shall be king after me, and he shall sit on my throne. [9]…
I (Nathan) shall come (in) after you and (confirm) your words.”
And Bathsheba came to the king…(he) was very old…and (she) did obeisance and bowed down to the king…the king said, “What troubles you?”
And she said to him, “My lord, you yourself swore by the LORD…to (me), ‘Solomon your son shall be king after me, and he shall sit on my throne.’
“…now look, Adonijah has become king and my lord knows it not. And he has made a sacrificial feast…invited all the king’s sons and…the priest and Joab commander of the army, but Solomon…he did not invite. And you, my lord the king, the eyes of all Israel are upon you to tell them who will sit on the throne of my lord the king…the eyes of all Israel are upon you to tell them who will sit on (your) throne after (you). And it will come about when (you die) that I and my son Solomon will be held offenders.” [10]
…she was still speaking…when Nathan the prophet came in…before the king and bowed…his face to the ground.
…Nathan said, “My lord…have you (really) said, ‘Adonijah shall be king after me…and…sit on my throne’?
For he has gone down…and made a sacrificial feast…in abundance, and he has invited all the king’s sons and the commanders…and Abiathar the priest, and there they are eating and drinking…and they have said, ‘Long live King Adonijah!’ [11] But me—your servant—and Zadok the priest… and Solomon your servant he did not invite. Has this thing been done by my lord the king without informing your servant (me, Nathan) who will sit on the throne of…the king after him?”
Here now comes the mandatory upbeat ending of the Haftorah.
And King David answered “Call me Bathsheba.”
And she came before the king. And the king swore and said, “As the LORD lives Who rescued me from every strait, as I swore to you by the LORD God of Israel,…’Solomon your son shall be king after me, and he shall sit on my throne in my stead,’ even so will I do this day.” [12]
And Bathsheba did obeisance, her face to the ground, and bowed to the king and said, “May my lord King David live forever.”
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This recorded episode of palace intrigue c. 962 BCE is convincing, and may well be accurate history. Add this story to other recorded literature of royal insiders jockeying for elevated positions from their superiors. Even queens got into the act!
One surely sees that the ancient Hebrews, even celebrated kings, had human foibles and surely suffered declined functions, physiologically and mentally, e.g. our current doddering, easily manipulated, aged president. [13]
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[1] Etz Hayim,The Jewish Publication Society, 2001, New York, p. 142
[2] Robert Alter, The Hebrew Bible, Prophets Vol. 2, W. W. Norton & Company, New York, 2019, pp. 433-438
[3] Ibid. Alter: This expression emphasized by familiar is loaded with symbolic meaning, including affection. Used previously, it is in an example of David acting with sometimes nobility in his long career.
[4] Ibid, Alter: acting the part of prince
[5] regal presumption
[6] King David never reprimanded him.
[7] feast ceremony intended to thus confer the crown on him!
[8] In he Hebrew, the expression means, David, in a state of both sexual and cognitive impotence, is “out of it.”
[9] As no such promise was recorded, Nathan has invented/fabricated this vow, and enlists Bathsheba’s help in persuading the doddering David that he previously/actually made this commitment.
[10] and thereby executed by the ruthless, ambitious Adonijah
[11] words calculated to arouse David’s ire!
[12] Whether or not David had previously made such a vow to Bathsheba, by now he is thoroughly convinced that he did.
[13] This particular story makes no mention of David’s womanizer history. I might add the President Biden is also tainted on that score.
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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.