Verses: 39
Is It Read At Synagogue?: No.
Famous Quotes/Phrases: In Verse 8, a frustrated and upset Abner exclaims, “Am I a dog’s head from Judah?” The world would just be a bit more entertaining if this phrase became popular again.
Basic Plot: As David’s forces continue to triumph over Saul’s forces on the battlefield, we learn that David has now fathered six sons, each with a different woman (which was not necessarily problematic in those days).
The scene shifts to Saul’s loyalists, in which Ish-boshet, Saul’s son who has claimed some of Israel’s crown, accuses Abner, Saul’s general, of sleeping with Saul’s concubine. Abner angrily denies it and shifts his loyalties to David. David agrees to bring Abner to his side on the condition that he bring with him Michal, Saul’s daughter that had once been promised to David in marriage.
Abner agrees, rallying Israelites to back David. The two former rivals feast together with Michal in tow (whose transfer is approved by an intimidated Ish-boshet), but after Abner leaves David’s sights, David’s general Yoav enters the room and accuses Abner of treachery. Without David’s knowledge, Yoav then kills Abner as revenge for killing Yoav’s brother. Upon hearing the news, David proclaims his own innocence and curses Yoav’s family. David buries and eulogizes Abner, proclaiming Abner as a fallen hero.
What’s Strange: We have to talk more about Michal, a character that had loved David before but then marries a man named Palti. As Michal is brought to David in this chapter, the text describes Palti’s despondency over losing his wife for political purposes. “Palti’s devotion and helplessness provide a marked contrast to David, who has become decisive and aggressive,” writes Lillian R. Klein in her book From Deborah to Esther: Sexual Politics in the Hebrew Bible. “The textual silence about Michal’s feelings for Palti may encourage the reader to hope that the reunion with David will renew her love for him — or it may signal that Michal is as helpless as Palti and, possibly, even angry about being returned to the husband whom she remembers as unloving.”
What’s Spectacular: As with many other biblical passages, there is scant evidence of Michal’s state of mind as she is callously transferred from one husband to the next. We will soon read a little more about her and her fate, but in the meantime, David appears to have reached new heights of passive-aggressiveness. He accepts Abner’s help as long as he can get something (or rather, someone) else for himself. And then, having wined and dined Abner, he’s able to claim plausible deniability for his subsequent death. And in effort to appear above the fray, he drags down his own general in the process.
It should be clear by now that there’s no one David won’t steamroll on his way to the top. Not the mothers of his children, who have to watch yet another woman to join David’s household. Not military leaders, whether they’ve been loyal to him for a day or for years. With his ultimate triumph approaching, David may have learned how to achieve victory, but it will take longer before he discovers the costs of that victory.
Shabbat Shalom!