The Kingdom of David in Jerusalem (V)
Jerusalem in the Bible
Yeshivat Har Etzion
sHIUR
#05
THe
Davidic monarchy in Jerusalem (III)
Why
can't David build the House of GOd (part II)
Rav Yitzchak
Levi
In our previous shiur, we discussed several reasons why David is barred
from building the house of God: the absence of a permanent monarchy, the lack of
respite from the surrounding enemy nations and David's personality traits. In this shiur, we will examine
additional reasons brought in Scripture, the writings of Chazal, and the
Rishonim.
I.
"YOU HAVE SHED MUCH BLOOD UPON THE EARTH BEFORE ME"
The word of the Lord
came to me saying, "You have shed blood abundantly, and have made great wars;
you shall not build a house to My name, because you have shed much blood upon
the earth before Me."
(I Divrei Ha-yamim
22:8)
This important reason for David's being barred from building God's Temple
appears twice in this formulation in Divrei Ha-yamim (22:7-10; 28:3-10), but not once in the
Book of Shemuel. Furthermore, whereas in Shemuel (II Shemuel 7) we are told about a
prophecy that the prophet Natan delivers to David, here we are told that God
Himself appears to David and gives him this reason. The Radak comments on this point (on I
Divrei Ha-yamim 22:8): "We do not find that God said this to him; rather David
said, in his heart, that this is the reason that God barred him from building
the Temple." This reason has been
interpreted in many different ways.
1.
BLOODSHED THE OPPOSITE OF THE RESTING OF THE
SHEKHINA
The simple understanding
is that bloodshed itself precludes the construction of the Temple. These two things cannot coexist, as is
stated in the Mekhilta cited by
Rashi on the verse, "And if you will make Me an altar of stone, you may not
build it of hewn stone; for if you lift up your tool upon it, you will have
defiled it" (Shemot
20:22):
For the Altar is created
to lengthen the days of man, whereas the iron tool was created to shorten them,
[and] it is inappropriate for that which shortens [life] to be lifted up over
that which lengthens [it].
Furthermore, since the Altar makes peace between Yisrael and their Father
in heaven, that which cuts down and destroys should not come upon
it.
According to this
understanding, this explanation contains no argument against or criticism of
David. It merely notes a
fundamental fact: the essential contradiction between the Temple and war bars a
king who is heavily involved in bloodshedjustified though it may be, as
necessary for the establishment of the statefrom engaging in the construction
of the Temple. In contrast,
Scripture states:
Behold, a son shall be
born to you, who shall be man of tranquility; and I will give him rest from all
his enemies around about: for his name shall be Shelomo, and I will give peace
and quiet in Yisrael in his days.
He shall build a house for My name; and he shall be My son, and I will be
his Father; and I will establish the throne of his kingdom over Yisrael
forever.
(I Divrei Ha-yamim 22:9-10)[1]
It is Shelomothe man at rest from his enemies, whose very name expresses
the idea of peacewho will build the Temple. [2]
2.
THE BLOOD OF INNOCENTS
There are, however,
other ways to understand what is meant in our context by bloodshed. The Radak (I Divrei Ha-yamim 22:8) writes: "And when He says: 'You
have shed much blood upon the earth' for there was innocent blood among the
blood that you shed."
A) THE BLOOD OF URIYA THE
CHITTI
The first example of "innocent blood" that the Radak offers is the blood
of Uriya the Chitti.[3]
This is a totally different understanding, which embraces a harsh
personal critique of David: it was David's causing the death of Uriya the Chitti
that prevented him from building the Temple.
This understanding connects with a famous passage in Shabbat 30a:
What is meant by: "Show
me a token for good, that they who hate me may see it, and be ashamed"
(Tehillim 86:17)?
David prayed before the
Holy One, blessed be He: "Master of the Universe! Forgive me for that sin."
He said to him: "It is
forgiven you."
He entreated: "Show me a
token in my lifetime."
He answered: "In your
lifetime I will not make it known, but I will make it known in the lifetime of
your son Shelomo."
For when Shelomo built the Temple, he desired to take the Ark into the
Holy of Holies, whereupon the gates cleaved to each other. Shelomo uttered twenty-four prayers, yet
he was not answered. He opened his
mouth and said: "Lift up your heads, O you gates; and be you lifted up, you
everlasting doors; and the King of Glory will come in" (ibid. 24:7)
Yet he was
not answered. However, as soon as
he said: "O Lord God, turn not away the face of Your anointed; remember the good
deeds of David your servant" (II Divrei Ha-Yamim 6:42), he was immediately
answered. At that time, the faces
of all of David's enemies turned [black] like the bottom of a pot, and all
Yisrael knew that the Holy One, blessed be He, had forgiven him that
sin.
The connection made here between the pardon granted for the sin involving
Bat Sheva and the Ark's entry into the Holy of Holies may perhaps be better
understood in light of the Radak's view that David did not build the Temple
because of the blood of Uriya the Chitti.[4]
In this connection, we find an interesting derasha of Chazal regarding the proximity of the
mention of Uriya the Chitti at the end of the list of David's warriors (II
Shemuel 23:39) to the story of the
census and plague that immediately follows it:
"And again the anger of
the Lord burned against Yisrael [and He incited David against them, saying, Go,
number Yisrael and Yehuda']" (ibid.
24:1)what is written above it? When David came to count his soldiers, he
proceeded to count them. When he
came to Uriya the Chitti, it says: "thirty seven in all" (ibid. 23:39). Yet you find that David did not count
another seventeen warriors, though in Divrei Ha-yamim you find another seventeen
sacrifices. Rather, as soon as he
reached Uriya, immediately, "And again the anger of the Lord burned." This may be likened to a king who was
sitting and reading through the records of his warriors, mentioning each by
name, and when he reached a certain name, he was told that he died. [The king] immediately threw down the
records and became angry. So too
here since it mentions Uriya, immediately, "And again the anger [of the Lord
burned]." [5]
According to this midrash, the sin involving Uriya had additional
ramifications: God's anger and the terrible plague that it brought (in which
70,000 people died), and the revelation of the site of the Temple following
David's readiness to accept responsibility and die of the
plague.
B) THE BLOOD OF THE PRIESTS OF
NOV
The next example of
"innocent blood" mentioned by Radak is as follows:
He was also the reason
for the [shedding of the] blood of the priests, as it is stated: "I have
occasioned the deaths of all the persons of your father's house" (I Shemuel 22:22).
As the Radak notes, David himself accepted responsibility for the death
of the priests of Nov, which he had indirectly caused when he went to
Achimelekh. [6] This is an exceedingly harsh ramification of what was merely
indirect responsibility on the part of David, who certainly harbored no
intentions whatsoever of doing evil.
C) THE BLOOD OF PIOUS
NON-JEWS
The Radak continues:
Also among the blood of
the non-Jews that he shed who had not been fighting against him, there may have
been good and pious people.
Nevertheless, he was not punished for them, for it was his intention to
destroy the wicked so that they not attack Yisrael or to save himself when he
was in the land of the Pelishtim, when he spared not a man or a woman. However, since he was involved in a
great deal of bloodshed, he was barred from building the Temple, which was for
peace and atonement of sin and the glory of prayer, just as we are barred from
lifting up an iron tool over the altar or in the Temple, because iron which is
used to fashion instruments of killing should not be used for utensils of
peace.
In other words, the bloodshed of innocent non-Jews in and of itself, even
if performed in the context of a just war, sufficed to prevent David from
building the Temple.
D) THE BLOOD OF THOSE WHO FELL IN THE CIVIL
WAR
Yehuda Kil explains (in
the Da'at Mikra commentary to I
Divrei Ha-yamim 22:8) that the blood shed by David includes also the blood of
the people killed in the two camps over the course of the long civil war between
the House of Sha'ul and the House of David (II Shemuel 3:1).
E) THE BLOOD OF THE SOLDIERS IN THE
CONQUEST OF ARAM
Rav Goren, zt"l, [7] argues that David was barred
from building the Temple, because he had conquered Aram Naharayim and Aram
Tzova prior to his conquest of
Yerushalayim. This is in line with
the criticism of David found in the Sifrei to Devarim 11:24 (Sifrei Devarim 51):
David acted against the
Torah: the Torah says that only after the conquest of the land may one embark on
extraterritorial campaigns, but he did not do this. Rather he conquered Aram Naharayim and
Aram Tzova, whereas the Yevusi near Yerushalayim he did not conquer. God said to him: "Next to your palace
you have not conquered; how then can you go off and conquer Aram Naharayim and
Aram Tzova?"
This criticism is particularly understandable in light of Chazal's view of this territory (modern-day
Syria) as the "conquest of an individual," [8] that is, conquest for David's
personal sake (see I Shemuel 8:13 and
I Divrei Ha-yamim 18:12).
Psalm 60 in Tehillim testifies
to the great number of casualties suffered by David's army during that
war:
of David, to teach.
When he strove with Aram Naharayim and Aram Tzova, and Yoav returned, and smote
twelve thousand of Edom in the Valley of Salt.
O God, You have cast us
off, You have shattered us, You have been angry; O turn Yourself to us
again
You have shown Your
people hard things; you have made us drink the wine of staggering.
(Tehillim 60:1-3, 5)
The Targum renders v. 2 in the following way:
And afterwards Yoav
returned, and smote Edom in the plain of salt; and those who fell of the
soldiers of David and Yoav were twelve thousand
According to the Targum, the twelve thousand deaths were among David's
soldiers in this personal campaign, and it was because of their deaths, argues
Rav Goren, that David was denied permission to build the Temple. This punishment exemplifies the idea of
"measure for measure": forsaking the conquest of Yerushalayim and the site of
the Temple and going out to conquer foreign lands involves an insult to the
honor of the Temple, and therefore David was barred from building the
Temple.
II. IN THE VIEWS OF THE
SAGES
Thus far we have discussed several understandings of the disqualification
that "You have shed much blood upon the earth before Me." We shall now relate to additional
reasons appearing in the words of Chazal and the Rishonim.
1. DISUNITY AMONG THE PEOPLE OF
ISAREL
Devarim Rabba (5, 10) states as
follows:
Rabbi Yehuda bar Rabbi Ila'i
said: "Yisrael was commanded about three things when they entered the
land. They were: to wipe out the
memory of Amalek, to appoint a king and to build a Temple. They appointed a king, and wiped out the
memory of Amalek, but why did they not build a Temple? There were informers among
them."
Know that this is true, for Rabbi Shemuel bar Nachman said: "The
generation of Achav was composed of idol-worshippers, but they would go out to
war and emerge victorious. Why so?
Because there were no informers among them; therefore, they would go out to war
and emerge victorious
" However, the generation of Sha'ul was composed of
informers.
Know that this true, for when Shaul pursued David, everyone slandered him
to Shaul, as it is stated: "when Do'eg the Adomi came" (Tehillim 52:2); "when
the Zifim came and said to Shaul" (ibid. 54:2). Therefore, they would fall in
war.
Another explanation: Rav Muna said, "Whoever speaks evil speech [causes]
the Shekhina to be removed from below
to up above." Know that this true,
for David said: "My soul is among lions, and I lie down among those who are
aflame: the sons of men, whose teeth are spears and arrows, and their tongue a
sharp sword" (ibid. 57:5); and
afterwards is written: "Be You exalted, O God, above the heavens" (ibid. v.
6). David said: "Master of the
Universe, what is the Shekhina doing
down here? Remove the Shekhina to
heaven
"
See how great the power of evil speech is! They were commanded to build the Temple,
but because the generation spoke evil speech, it was not built in their
days.
The Midrash (which relates to the period of Shaul's pursuit of David,
that is, prior to Shaul's death and the beginning of David's actual reign)
points to an important reason for David being barred from building the Temple:
the prevalence of evil speech. [9] This reason corresponds to the words of the
Rambam in his Guide of the Perplexed
(III, 45), that one of the main reasons why the Torah does not clearly
indicate the site of the Temple, but rather uses the vague expression, "the
place that the Lord will choose" (e.g., Devarim 12:5), is to prevent controversy
among the tribes as to which one will receive that site in his
portion.
2. HAD DAVID BUILT THE
TEMPLE, IT WOULD HAVE BEEN ETERNAL
Midrash
Tehillim states as follows (Midrash Shocher Tov, Psalm 62):
[10]
Rabbi Nechemya states:
"'When You render to every man according to his work' (Tehillim 62:13)what is
'according to his work'? There is a
person who considers committing a sin, but fails to do so; the Holy One, blessed
be He, does not ascribe it to him unless he [actually] does it. If, however, he intended to perform a mitzva, but because of circumstances
beyond his control he fails to perform it, the Holy One, blessed be He, ascribes
it to him as if he had done it.
"From where do you learn
this? You learn from David, who painfully wished to build the Temple
Immediately, the Holy One, blessed be He,
appeared to him through Natan, as it is stated: 'And it came to pass that night
that the word of the Lord came to Natan, saying
"You shall build Me a house"'
(II Shemuel 7:4-5), and another verse
states: 'You shall not build Me a house wherein to dwell' (I Divrei Ha-yamim
17:4). How can these two verses be
reconciled? Rather, even though your son Shelomo will build it, it will be
called by your name."
Indeed, David was worthy
to build it, but the prophet Natan came and said to him: "You shall not build a
house to My name, because You have shed much blood upon the earth before Me"
(ibid. 22:7). When David heard
this, he was frightened and said: "Surely, I have been disqualified from
building the Temple!" Rabbi Yehuda
bar Ila'i said: "The Holy One,
blessed be He, said to him: 'Fear not, David, by your life, all the blood that
you shed is before Me like that of a gazelle or a deer.' Thus it is stated: 'The unclean and the
clean may eat of it as they do of the gazelle and the deer. Only you shall not eat the blood; you
shall pour it upon the earth like water' (Devarim 12:15-16). [11]
"He said to Him: 'If so,
why can't I build it?' The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Him: 'If you build it, it will stand forever and
never be destroyed.' He said
before Him: 'Surely that is good!'
The Holy One, blessed be He, said: 'It is revealed and known to Me, that
in the future Yisrael will sin, and I will diffuse My anger by destroying [the
Temple], and Yisrael will be spared.'
This is what is written: 'He has bent His bow like an enemy
He has
poured out His fury like fire' (Eikha 2:4). The Holy One, blessed be He, said to
him: 'Even though you will not build it, since you wanted to build it, I will
ascribe it to your name.' As it is
stated: 'A psalm and song at the dedication of the house; of David' (Tehillim
30:1). It does not say 'of
Shelomo,' but rather 'of David;' why? This is because he desired to build
it. Thus we learn that whoever
intends to perform a mitzva,
even if, on account of circumstances beyond his control, he fails to do it, the
Holy One, blessed be He, regards him as if he had performed it."
[12]
This midrash interprets the bloodshed in question not in accordance with
the plain sense of the verses; it sees it as a neutral act (like the slaughter
of "a gazelle or a deer") or perhaps even as a positive act (similar to
sacrificial offeringsaccording to the reading of the Pesikta Rabbati, see note
11). Why then was David barred from
building the Temple? The Midrash
answers that had David built the Temple, it would never have been destroyed, but
rather it would have stood eternally and forever.
The level of eternity will be attained in actual fact only in the future
Temple, described in the Book of Yechezkel (e.g., 43:9), but not in the two
Temples that will precede it.
During the earlier stages, the Temple reflects the spiritual level of
Yisrael, and therefore its existence is conditional upon their state: if their
spiritual level is worthy, it will stand, but if not, it will be destroyed. Had David built the Temple, it would not
have been able to give expression to this idea, and therefore, according to
these midrashim, David was barred from building it. Furthermore, the potential gap between
the level of Yisrael and the eternity of the Temple raises the danger that God
will expend His anger on the nation of Yisrael directly, whereas a Temple that
is not eternal can be destroyed, thereby sparing Yisrael.
3. CONCERN ABOUT THE APPEARANCE OF ULTERIOR
MOTIVES
In his commentary to the end of Parashat Balak (Bamidbar 25:5), the
Meshekh Chokhma writes:
This is the answer that
God, blessed be He, gave to David: "'I took you from the sheepfold, from
following the sheep
And I have made for you a great name, like the name of the
great men that are on the earth' (II Shemuel 7:8-9). Therefore, if you build the Temple,
people will say that it is to strengthen your kingdom and enhance your
reputation with the title of saint or defender of the faith, and not for the
sake of Heaven. However, 'Your seed
after you
I will establish his kingdom.
He shall build a house for My name' (ibid. vv. 12-13). Everyone will say that it is for the
sake of heaven, for he does not have to strengthen the office [already] in his
hand, since for him it is an inheritance."
In other words, had David built the Temple, it might have been
interpreted as an act for the purpose of strengthening his rule and glorifying
his name, and not for the sake of heaven.
SUMMARY
An examination of the various reasons for which David was barred from
building the Temple teaches us that there are several essential conditions for
its construction:
* A permanent and stable [13]
royal dynasty, on the one hand, and peace and respite from enemies, on the
other.
* Distance from that which
contradicts in its very essence the Shekhina's resting in the Temple:
bloodshed (of Jew or non-Jew) even when fundamentally justified, and all the
more so, when unjustified; the trait of cruelty and hard-heartedness; evil
speech and social divisionthe opposite of the unity which is a condition for
building the Temple.
The resting of the Shekhina in the Temple requires external
and internal peace and absolute unity.
Therefore, David with all his great merits in establishing the kingdom
of Yisrael, while confronting enemies from within and from withoutwas not
permitted to build the Temple. And
it was only about his son Shelomo, the first king to rule in place of his
father, that it was said: "A man of tranquility
for his name shall be Shelomo,
and I will give peace (shalom) and quietness to Yisrael in his days. He shall build a house for My name" (I
Divrei Ha-yamim 22:9-10).
In the next shiur, we will deal with the census conducted
by David and the revelation of the site of the Temple in the threshing floor of
Aravna the Yevusi.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] The formulations are
very reminiscent of the chapter in Shemuel and appear to be sort of a homiletic
interpretation of the verses found there.
[2] The positive aspect
of this principle finds expression in the idea that connects the Temple to
peace: conditioning the building on respite from enemies (Devarim 12:10-11;
Sanhedrin 20b; Rambam, Hilkhot Melakhim 1:1-2); the prohibition of raising a
sword over the altar (Shemot 20:22, I Melakhim 6:7, Midot 3:4); the special
status of the Levites, who do not take part in wars and do not receive an
inheritance in the land of Yisrael (Bamidbar 3:5-13, 18:21-24; Devarim 18:1-2;
Guide of the Perplexed, III, 45); the juxtaposition of justice and the
Temple (Devarim 17:8-13); the vision of the end of days that connects justice,
cessation of war, and pilgrimage to Yerushalayim (Yeshayahu 2:2-4, Mikha
4:1-5).
[3] According to this
possibility, the incident involving Uriya took place prior to David's request to
build the Temple. Clarifying this
issue requires an examination of the chronology of David's life in its entirety,
which is beyond the scope of this shiur.
[4] Another midrash that
draws a connection between the sin involving Uriya and the building of the
Temple appears in Aggadat Bereishit 38:
"King David was old,
advanced in years" (I Melakhim 1:1)this is what Scripture refers to when it
says: "But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength" (Yeshayahu
40:31).
Our Rabbis said: "David
was sick and bedridden for thirteen years.
They would change his mattress seven times a day, because of wetness, as
it is stated: 'I am weary with my groaning; all the night I make my bed to swim;
I water my couch with my tears' (Tehillim 6:7). These are the thirteen years during
which he suffered affliction, because of that act that he had committed, and all
his enemies would say: 'When will he die [already]?' As it is stated: 'My enemies speak evil
of me: "When shall he die, and his name perish?"' (ibid. 41:6). Finally, he asked for mercy from the
Holy One, blessed be He; he said to him: 'Master of the Universe, raise me up
for the sake of the Temple that the prophet Shemuel passed down to me. Please raise me up from this bed, so
that I may complete the blueprints of the Temple.' As it is stated: 'O Lord, be gracious to
me, and raise me up, that I may complete it for them' (ibid. v. 11)'Raise me up from this illness
and I will complete for them the blueprints of the Temple.' Immediately, the Holy One, blessed be
He, heard his prayer and he stood up from the bed. As it is stated: 'Then David the king
stood up upon his feet' (I Divrei Ha-yamim 28:2). Now, where does a man stand if not upon
his feet? What is 'upon his
feet'? Rather, he was cured and
became healthy, and he stood on his feet after all those years, and he handed
over to them the blueprints of the Temple; 'All this is put in writing by the
hand of the Lord who instructed me' (ibid. 19). Furthermore, it says: 'Then David gave to
Shelomo his son the pattern of the porch,' and it says: 'and the pattern of all
that he had by the spirit' (ibid. vv. 11-12)."
Therefore it says: "But
they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength."
According to the
Midrash, David's desire to complete the Temple plans was the reason for his
recovery, while the illness itself had come upon him in the wake of his
sin.
[5] The citation here is
from Yalkut Shimoni 165. A parallel
is found in Pesikta Rabbati 11.
[6] There is room to
discuss David's responsibility in the incident, but this is not the forum for
that discussion.
[7] Rav Shelomo Goren,
Meishiv Milchama, I, pp. 15-25.
[8] Tosafot Gittin 8b
s.v. Kibbush; Rambam, Hilkhot Terumot 1:3.
[9] In his amazing
commentary to Shemot 14, the Meshekh Chokhma deals at length with the effect of
communal sins on the removal of the Shekhina, distinguishing between corruption
in the realms of idolatry and incest, and corruption of morals in interpersonal
relationships:
If the community becomes
corrupt in idolatry or incest, about this it is stated: "[Hashem] Who remains
among them in the midst of their uncleanness" (Vayikra 16:16). However, regarding matters of
interpersonal traits, evil speech and controversy, it is written: "Be You
exalted, O God, above the heavens" (Tehillim 57:6)remove Your Shekhina,
as it were, from them
If the community is corrupt in their interpersonal
traits, it is worse than if they are corrupt in mitzvot.
See there at length.
[10] A parallel Midrash
is found in Pesikta Rabbati 2:5.
[11] In the parallel in
Pesikta Rabbati, an additional line is found:
Another explanation: The
Holy One, blessed be He, said to him, "By your life, all the blood that you
spilled is before me like sacrificial offerings. For it is written: 'You have shed much
blood upon the earth before Me,'" and Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai said: "'Before Me'
refers to sacrifices, as it is stated: 'And he shall kill the bullock before the
Lord' (Vayikra 1:5)."
[12] As for the central
theme of this Midrash, that God ascribed the construction of the Temple to David
because of his good intentions to build it, we will expand upon it in a shiur on
David's practical preparations for the building of the
Temple.
[13] There is no need to
expand upon the supreme importance of a permanent regime for the stability of
rule and service of God. The
closing chapters of the book of Shofetim (like the entire book of Shofetim),
with its leitmotif, "In those days there was no king in Yisrael; every man did
that which was right in his eyes" (Shofetim 21:25), is a clear example of
instability in all areas. On the
other hand, it is absolutely clear that even the permanent regime of a single
royal dynasty does not guarantee a permanent resting of the Shekhina, as
proven by what happened at the end of the First Temple
period.
(Translated by David
Strauss)
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