Shiur #24: Chapter 20 ֠A Test of Faith (Part I)
Sefer
Melakhim: The Book
of Kings
By Rav Alex
Shiur #24
Chapter 20 A Test of Faith (Part I)
Did the
contest at
Achav's
religious orientation is complex and far from linear. Achav does not share
Izevel's monolithic attachment to the Baal. Rather, Achav's faith has a
fascinating history, taking interesting twists and turns. On the one hand, Achav
is described by the mishna[1]
as one of the three evil kings of
R. Yochanan
said: Why did Achav deserve to reign for twenty-two years? Because he honored the Torah, which was
given with twenty-two letters (Sanhedrin 102b)
What is the
Biblical source for this midrash? How does Achav honor the Torah? Is this
out of character?
Let us
survey the evidence:
Chapter 20
describes Achav's altercations with the
Where are
the prophets of the Baal and the Ashera? If Izevel remains a central religious
influence, why are prophets of God allowed to feature so freely and prominently
in the royal arena? It is true that in chapter 18, Achav's closest advisor,
Ovadia, was loyal to God. But at the same time, he needed to hide his allegiance
to God. At that point in time, Izevel had a free hand when it came to national
religion. With the central role of the prophet of God in chapter 20, we have to
consider the fact that something HAS changed in the royal court. Eliyahu's
actions had generated a significant shift in the religious tone of the
kingdom.
Chapter 20
ends with a clash between the prophet and the king, leaving a sour taste
regarding the positive cooperation between the king and the prophet. Similarly,
chapter 21 tells a story of considerable friction between prophet and king; yet,
when condemned by Eliyahu for his unethical actions, Achav responds with an act
of contrite repentance.
In chapter
22, we return to the royal court. There, we find 400 prophets. Interestingly,
they are false prophets, more like actors or a paid political crowd who give a
sense of support by chanting in unison the lines that the king wishes to hear.
Nonetheless, and particularly important in the light of the number of
constituents - 400 - these prophets speak in God's name and not in the name of
the Baal.
What we are
contesting then, is that Achav is far from having rejected God or the religion
of
The backdrop
to our perek is the hostility between
The dialogue
here is difficult. We shall compare the first exchange with the
second:
And he sent
messengers to Achav inside the city to say to him:
"Thus said
Ben-Hadad: Your silver and gold are mine; your beautiful wives and children are
mine."
The king of
Then the
messengers came again and said:
"Thus said
Ben-Hadad: When I sent you the order to give me your silver and gold and your
wives and your children, I meant that tomorrow at this time I will send my
servants and they will search your house
and seize everything you prize and
take it away." (vv.2-6)
Achav's
reaction is slow and deliberate. He first summons his advisors, giving them his
feeling that this is no ordinary demand but essentially a provocation, a pretext
for attack: "This man is bent on evil/destruction."[5]
They advise him not to submit, and Achav informs
Ben-Hadad:
Tell my lord
the king: "All that you demanded of your servant at first, I shall do, but this
thing I cannot do." (v.9)
The
commentaries are puzzled. In his first message, Ben-Hadad proclaimed that
Achav's money and close family were his. Achav agreed! What was the critical
shift that took place in the second demand? Why did Achav agree so readily to
the first demand and reject the second? The Ralbag and Metzudat David both
explain:
I and all I
have are yours: I am under your governance, to serve you and to pay tribute.
(Ralbag)
In other
words, the original request was seen as demand that Achav capitulate to the
superior military might of
This
depiction of Achav taking advice is interesting. We see Achav as a person who is
open to influence and to reason. Do note, however, that Achav still calls
Ben-Hadad, "lord, my king," indicating that he would accept the subordinate
vassal agreement.
In contrast
to Achav's humble demeanor, the response of Ben-Hadad is one that smacks of
arrogance and braggery. He boasts as to his victory.[6]
But interestingly, Achav does not adopt a subordinate or intimidated position.
He will have the final word in the conversation. In a wonderful idiom, he
expresses that this battle is far from decided:
The king of
In other words, this is a
military makeover of the famous expression, Don't count your chickens before
they hatch!
THE SEFER
TORAH
Chazal however,
read this exchange very differently. They suggest that Achav was willing to
accept that his wives and children would be seized by the enemy forces. What was
it that Ben Hadad demanded next "everything you prize" that Achav refused?
What was his red-line? It was a Sefer Torah! This is not a personal
dressing-down of the king, but rather an act of national humiliation, as
Ben-Hadad seeks to take away a national symbol. And it is this attack at the
spiritual roots of
Are not all
the items mentioned in the earlier message "prize" possessions? But what is the
"prize"? It is that which is the most precious of all: the Sefer Torah,
about which it is said, "It is dearer than gold and great treasures." Achav said
to himself, "He is asking for a great thing which does not belong to me alone,
but to the elders of
In this
fascinating derash, as Achav faces the very survival of his kingdom, he
discovers that what matters most to him is his Jewish identity. In a classic
gesture that has been exhibited by many wayward Jews, who, in critical moments
of danger or external pressure and anti-Jewish humiliation discover their Jewish
roots, Achav demonstrates that at his core is a Jewish sensitivity, a commitment
to God. He may not keep the law but he knows that it is the essence of
THE
PROPHET
At this
point, Ben-Hadad activates his forces to enforce the siege. Interestingly, we
are informed even at this stage (v. 12) that Achav and his compatriots had
started drinking. They clearly were not anticipating any action that day. After
all, a siege can take months, if not years. There was no need at this point to
be on alert. The brief mention of Ben-Hadad drinking with his associate kings
conveys not only their confidence, but underscores the contrast in mood between
the carefree scene at the siege-camp, and the tense atmosphere inside Shomron.
This disparity will be the key to Achav's victory. By the time we reach v. 16,
Ben-Hadad will be drunk (despite the fact that it is only noon).
It is at
this juncture that the navi enters the scene:
Thus says
the Lord: Do you see this great multitude? I will deliver it into your hands
today and you shall know that I am the Lord.
Achav does
not contest the prophecy and seeks only to know who will lead the battle and who
will conclude it. Achav follows God's advice, sending out the "naarei
sarei ha-medinot" to attack. This is hardly a recommended tactic -
sending out a small unit of soldiers[7]
to attack so a large force, in broad daylight, at noon and yet it would appear
that they are following God's instruction against all odds. At any rate, a
drunken Ben-Hadad delivers an incoherent message to his sentries.[8]
Seeing a meager 232 people emerging from the camp, they view this as a
possibility that this is a group of deserters, abandoning the city and the bleak
prospects of a prolonged siege. And so, a small force becomes an advantage, and
the forces from Shomron win the day.
The victory
had been orchestrated by God, and it is clear that God had been victorious. Even
if, in retrospect, we could see the genius in sending a small force in midday,
no one could have had intelligence information as to the inebriated state of the
enemy, a critical factor in the panic and confusion that ensued. God's hand was
evident in this unpredictable reversal of fortunes.
As we can
see from v. 22, the navi, now allied with Achav, cautions against
over-confidence, informing the king that
THE
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE PESHAT AND THE
DERASH
What is the
difference between the peshat and the derash? According to the
midrash, there is a certain innate quality to Achav that understands the
value of the primary symbols of Judaism. The unwillingness to part with a
Sefer Torah expresses certain principles that Achav always held.[9]
God rewards Achav then, by offering him a victory over his enemies as a response
to his religious commitment. This is a story of virtuous acts and their
reward.
But
according to the peshat, Achav begins with simple sense of national
pride. His refusal towards Ben-Hada is not a religious one. It is national,
political. Nonetheless, Hashem uses this opportunity as a springboard to
motivate Achav along religious lines, having the Navi inform Achav how God will
assist in moments of absolute despair. The sense generated by the peshat
reading is one of God actively seeking to draw Achav to a different religious
place, to educate him that if he follows God, God will protect
him.
We shall
continue with this chapter in our upcoming shiur.
[1]
Sanhedrin
10:2
[2]
20:13,
28.
[3]
See
Melakhim II 14:23. There are times when
[4]
See
vv.2, 5, 6, 7, 9, 17, 34, 42
[5]
In Hebrew, the verb is "RA"AH," usually translated as "evil." But in many
contexts it means annihilation or destruction; see Bereishit 19:19;
Shemot 32:12,14; Yona 3:10.
[6]
Ben-Hadad's statement,
May the gods deal with me, be it ever so severely, if enough dust
remains in
Melakhim II 13:7:
"For the king
of
And in the
context of Naaman: Melakhim II 5:17: "Please let me, your servant, be given
as much earth as a pair of mules can carry, for your servant will never
again make burnt offerings and sacrifices to any other god but the Lord."
Tzarikh Iyun!
[7]
The
number of the army which followed the attack force 7,000 is interesting,
because the last appearance of this number was in regards to the "seven thousand
every knee that has not bowed to Baal" (19:18). Is this a literary indication
that the people have been exonerated for their sins of avoda
zara?
[8]
See the mepharshim who all agree that Achav's strange line: "If
they have come out to surrender, take them alive; and if they have come out for
battle, take them alive anyway" indicates that whichever way, the people should
be taken alive. I think it is clear from the incoherence and linguistic lilt
that these are the words of a drunk man.
[9]
I have
always wondered why Chazal chose the particular object of a Sefer
Torah to make this point. One place where a Sefer Torah features
prominently is in the religious renaissance by the king Yoshiyahu. Yoshiyahu
found a Sefer Torah after the dreadful period of idolatry lead by the
evil king Menasheh (see Melakhim II 22:8-12). I wonder whether this
midrash aims to say that however bad things were in Achav's time, they
were incomparable to the religious rejection perpetrated by Menasheh. Achav had
a Sefer Torah and he cherished it. In Menasheh's time, there was no
Sefer Torah to be found!