Beit Midrash
- Sections
- Chemdat Yamim
- Parashat Hashavua
- Torah Portion and Tanach
- Vayikra
- Emor
How could Shaul, who was, for much of his life, a great man, come to destroy such a distinguished spiritual center as Nov? When Shmuel anointed David as king, Shaul became affected by a depression referred to as a "bad spirit" (Shmuel I, 16:14). David was invited to play music for Shaul, and the navi writes that "he loved him" (ibid. 21). Because other p’sukim indicate that Shaul, at this early stage, did not know who David was, we will assume that the pasuk means that it was David who loved Shaul.
Indeed, we see throughout the development of the relationship that David loved Shaul. After David failed to act on his opportunity to kill Shaul in self-defense at the cave, David called out to Shaul to highlight his decision and called him, sincerely, "My father" (ibid. 24:12). At that point, Shaul also responded in kind, calling David "My son" and crying (ibid. 17).
This view of Shaul as a father figure could have been therapeutic, as David was, to an extent, banished from his own parents’ home, as it says: "For my father and mother shall abandon me" (Tehillim 27:10). This was also a consolation for Shaul who understood that his biological son Yonatan would not merit to sit on his throne – at least his "adopted son" should be able to do so. However, the "bad spirit" that had overcome Shaul did not allow him to continue to look at it in this light. For that reason, the kindness of the kohanim of Nov to David appeared to him as betrayal in favor of a rebellious son. The tension created by Shaul’s conflicting emotions of love and hatred towards David tore Shaul apart. Betrayal from within the family is especially painful.
When Shaul gave away his daughter Michal, who had married David, to Palti ben Layish, it convinced David that he was no longer seen as a son or a son-in-law, but as a rebel to be killed. In the next encounter in which David infiltrates and spares Shaul, Shaul still refers to David as "my son," but David no longer calls Shaul "my father" but rather "my master" (Shmuel I, 26: 17, 25).
The difference in the reaction to admittedly understandable mixed emotions shows another difference between Shaul and David. David’s biological son Avshalom rebelled and tried to kill David, yet David’s intention was to spare Avshalom’s life. David also did not kill those who supported Avshalom against him, and he even appointed Avshalom’s general, Amasa ben Yeter, as chief of staff of Israel in an attempt for unity. Shaul, in contrast, while seeing David as a son, could not hold himself back from trying to harm him, and even those around him. The kohanim of Nov could "tell us," as Chazal learned from the opening of our parasha.
What’s in a Number? – part I
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