Haftarah of VaYechi

Melachim I 2:1-12

This Haftarah describes the transition between King David's reign to that of his son, Shlomo. It relates David's parting words to his son, along with instructions regarding certain delicate issues that will need to be handled after his death.

First and foremost, David tells Shlomo to keep the Torah; it is the only path to success and the only way to guarantee G-d's support for the new dynasty.

1) The time of David’s death drew near;

he commanded his son Shlomo as follows:

(א) וַיִּקְרְבוּ יְמֵי דָוִד לָמוּת

וַיְצַו אֶת שְׁלֹמֹה בְנוֹ לֵאמֹר:

2) I am about to go the way of all the land.

Be strong, be a man.

(ב) אָנֹכִי הֹלֵךְ בַּדֶרֶךְ כָּל הָאָרֶץ

וְחָזַקְתָּ וְהָיִיתָ לְאִישׁ:

3) You must keep the charge of Hashem your G-d,

to go in His ways,

keep His statutes, commandments, laws and testimonies,

as written in the Torah of Moshe;

in order that you should succeed in all that you do,

and in whatever you turn to.

(ג) וְשָׁמַרְתָּ אֶת מִשְׁמֶרֶת ה’ אֱ-לֹהֶיךָ

לָלֶכֶת בִּדְרָכָיו

לִשְׁמֹר חֻקֹּתָיו מִצְוֹתָיו וּמִשְׁפָּטָיו וְעֵדְוֹתָיו

כַּכָּתוּב בְּתוֹרַת מֹשֶׁה

לְמַעַן תַּשְׂכִּיל אֵת כָּל אֲשֶׁר תַּעֲשֶׂה

וְאֵת כָּל אֲשֶׁר תִּפְנֶה שָׁם:

4) In order that Hashem will keep His word

that He spoke to me, saying,

“If your sons guard their path,

to walk before Me in truth,

with all their hearts and all their souls,

then, you will never lose a man

from the throne of Israel.”

(ד) לְמַעַן יָקִים ה’ אֶת דְּבָרוֹ

אֲשֶׁר דִּבֶּר עָלַי לֵאמֹר

אִם יִשְׁמְרוּ בָנֶיךָ אֶת דַּרְכָּם

לָלֶכֶת לְפָנַי בֶּאֱמֶת

בְּכָל לְבָבָם וּבְכָל נַפְשָׁם

לֵאמֹר לֹא יִכָּרֵת לְךָ אִישׁ

מֵעַל כִּסֵּא יִשְׂרָאֵל:

David now lists the loose ends that he is leaving for Shlomo to deal with.

First, he tells him to make sure that Yoav ben Tzeruya does not escape justice. Yoav was the general of the army of Israel; he was also David's kinsman and his closest companion throughout his life. However, David now determines that Yoav had murdered two men in cold blood: Avner ben Ner and Amasa ben Yeter.

Avner ben Ner had been King Shaul's general. After Shaul's death, rather than accept David's popular bid for kingdom, Avner attempted to bolster the reign of Shaul's son Ishboshet. When he realized that Ishboshet would not have what it takes to be king, Avner offered David his support, bringing with him the remaining dissenters. In order to unite the nation, David offered to make him his general. When Yoav heard of this agreement, he protested that Avner had ulterior motives, and that he meant to betray David. Yoav met up with Avner, and under the guise of drawing him off to a private conversation, stabbed him in the gut.

At the time, David disciplined Yoav for making David look like he assassinates his enemies, but not for the murder itself. He believed that Yoav's motives were national, not personal - until Yoav did the same thing to Amasa.

Near the end of David's life, his son Avshalom rebelled against him, gathering support of many factions in Israel, and marching on Yerushalaim to take his father's throne by force. The rebellion was short-lived, but it exposed a potential rift in the nation. To heal that rift, David offered Avshalom's general, Amasa ben Yeter, to take Yoav's place. Yoav met up with Amasa, and under the guise of greeting him, stabbed him in the gut.

The Tanach does not record David's reaction to Amasa's death. We are left to speculate on the constraints - personal, military, and political - that prevented him from taking action against Yoav. But now, on his deathbed, David retroactively judges Avner's death as a murder, and instructs his son to find a way to exact justice from Yoav for both Avner and Amasa.

5) Also, you know

what Yoav ben Tzeruya did to me,

what he did to the two generals of Israel,

to Avner ben Ner and to Amasa ben Yeter;

he killed them.

He shed the blood of war in peacetime.

He put the blood of war onto his belt on his hips

and onto the shoes on his feet.

(ה) וְגַם אַתָּה יָדַעְתָּ

אֵת אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה לִי יוֹאָב בֶּן צְרוּיָה

אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה לִשְׁנֵי שָׂרֵי צִבְאוֹת יִשְׂרָאֵל

לְאַבְנֵר בֶּן נֵר וְלַעֲמָשָׂא בֶן יֶתֶר

וַיַּהַרְגֵם

וַיָּשֶׂם דְּמֵי מִלְחָמָה בְּשָׁלֹם

וַיִּתֵּן דְּמֵי מִלְחָמָה בַּחֲגֹרָתוֹ אֲשֶׁר בְּמָתְנָיו

וּבְנַעֲלוֹ אֲשֶׁר בְּרַגְלָיו:

6) You should act according to your wisdom;

and do not let him go down to his grave in peace.

(ו) וְעָשִׂיתָ כְּחָכְמָתֶךָ

וְלֹא תוֹרֵד שֵׂיבָתוֹ בְּשָׁלֹם שְׁאֹל: ס

During Avshalom's rebellion, David and his entourage escaped from Yerushalaim, and camped at a place called Machanaim, on the other side of the Yarden. A local landowner, Barzilai, provided food for the entire camp. When the rebellion ended, King David offered him to join his court in Yerushalaim. Barzilai declined due to his advanced age; now David asks Shlomo to pay this debt to his sons instead.

7) But be kind to the sons of Barzilai the Giladi;

they should eat at your table;

for they came to me

when I fled from your brother Avshalom.

(ז) וְלִבְנֵי בַרְזִלַּי הַגִּלְעָדִי תַּעֲשֶׂה חֶסֶד

וְהָיוּ בְּאֹכְלֵי שֻׁלְחָנֶךָ

כִּי כֵן קָרְבוּ אֵלַי

בְּבָרְחִי מִפְּנֵי אַבְשָׁלוֹם אָחִיךָ:

As King David had been running from Avshalom, an important nobleman of Binyamin named Shimi ben Gera cursed David in public, accusing him of killing Shaul and his sons. David's soldiers made a move to execute him for his treasonous words, but David would not allow it. When the rebellion was over and David was on his way to be reinstated in Yerushalaim, Shimi came to beg for forgiveness. Once again, David chose not to execute him, and even swore an oath that he would not be killed. The reason that David gave was that his return as king should not be marred by execution, which could lead to a wave of vengeance against the rebels. But Shimi's action should not go unpunished, and David instructs his son Shlomo to find a clever way to make sure that justice is served.

8) With you is Shimi ben Gera the Yemini

of Bahurim,

and he cursed me with a terrible curse

on the day that I was going to Machanaim.

But then he came down to me by the Yarden,

and I swore to him by Hashem saying,

“I will not have you die by the sword.”

(ח) וְהִנֵּה עִמְּךָ שִׁמְעִי בֶן גֵּרָא בֶן הַיְמִינִי מִבַּחֻרִים

וְהוּא קִלְלַנִי קְלָלָה נִמְרֶצֶת

בְּיוֹם לֶכְתִּי מַחֲנָיִם

וְהוּא יָרַד לִקְרָאתִי הַיַּרְדֵּן

וָאֶשָּׁבַע לוֹ בַה' לֵאמֹר

אִם אֲמִיתְךָ בֶּחָרֶב:

9) But now, do not hold him innocent;

for you are a wise man,

and you will know what should be done to him,

and make him go down to his grave in blood.

(ט) וְעַתָּה אַל תְּנַקֵּהוּ

כִּי אִישׁ חָכָם אָתָּה

וְיָדַעְתָּ אֵת אֲשֶׁר תַּעֲשֶׂה לּוֹ

וְהוֹרַדְתָּ אֶת שֵׂיבָתוֹ בְּדָם שְׁאוֹל:

David dies after having served as king of Israel for 40 years. Shlomo becomes the first political leader of the Jewish People to inherit his position from his father. His reign is stable and firm.

10) David rested with his forefathers.

He was buried in the City of David.

(י) וַיִּשְׁכַּב דָּוִד עִם אֲבֹתָיו

וַיִּקָּבֵר בְּעִיר דָּוִד:

11) The time that David had reigned over Israel

was forty years.

In Hevron, he reigned for seven years,

and in Yerushalaim he reigned

for thirty three years.

(יא) וְהַיָּמִים אֲשֶׁר מָלַךְ דָּוִד עַל יִשְׂרָאֵל

אַרְבָּעִים שָׁנָה

בְּחֶבְרוֹן מָלַךְ שֶׁבַע שָׁנִים

וּבִירוּשָׁלִַם מָלַךְ

שְׁלֹשִׁים וְשָׁלֹשׁ שָׁנִים:

12) And Shlomo sat on the throne of his father David;

his kingdom was very firmly established.

(יב) וּשְׁלֹמֹה יָשַׁב עַל כִּסֵּא דָּוִד אָבִיו

וַתִּכֹּן מַלְכֻתוֹ מְאֹד:

Afterword:

Not long after David's death, Yoav was involved in an attempt to wrest power away from Shlomo. When Yoav heard that the ruse was discovered and the perpetrators executed, he ran to the Sanctuary and grabbed on to the altar (this is why the word "sanctuary" has the secondary meaning of "a place of safety"). Shlomo instructed his soldiers to execute him anyway, making it clear that he was being punished for the murders of Avner and Amasa.

Shlomo put Shimi under a modified house arrest, commanding him to move to Yerushalaim, and stay there. If he were to leave, his life would be forfeit. Shimi agreed to these conditions and swore an oath to abide by them. This worked for several years, but eventually, Shimi left Yerushalaim on a personal errand. King Shlomo called him out for breaking his oath, and had him executed.

Haftarot Unrolled: http://www.torahforum.org/haftara

In memory of my father, Peter Rozenberg, z"l

לעילוי נשמת אבי מורי פנחס בן נתן נטע ז''ל