Shmuel II 5 · Pshat

5:1

וַיָּבֹאוּ כׇּל־שִׁבְטֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל אֶל־דָּוִד חֶבְרוֹנָה וַיֹּאמְרוּ לֵאמֹר הִנְנוּ עַצְמְךָ וּֽבְשָׂרְךָ אֲנָֽחְנוּ׃

All the tribes of Yisroel came to Chevron, to Dovid and they said, "We are your bone and your flesh."

5:2

גַּם־אֶתְמוֹל גַּם־שִׁלְשׁוֹם בִּֽהְיוֹת שָׁאוּל מֶלֶךְ עָלֵינוּ אַתָּה (הייתה מוציא) [הָיִיתָ הַמּוֹצִיא] וְהַמֵּבִי אֶת־יִשְׂרָאֵל וַיֹּאמֶר יְהֹוָה לְךָ אַתָּה תִרְעֶה אֶת־עַמִּי אֶת־יִשְׂרָאֵל וְאַתָּה תִּהְיֶה לְנָגִיד עַל־יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃

Both yesterday and the day before yesterday while Shaul was king over us you were the one who took out and brought back Yisroel, and Adonoy said to you, 'You will lead my people Yisroel and you will be a prince over Yisroel.

5:3

וַיָּבֹאוּ כׇּל־זִקְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל אֶל־הַמֶּלֶךְ חֶבְרוֹנָה וַיִּכְרֹת לָהֶם הַמֶּלֶךְ דָּוִד בְּרִית בְּחֶבְרוֹן לִפְנֵי יְהֹוָה וַיִּמְשְׁחוּ אֶת־דָּוִד לְמֶלֶךְ עַל־יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃ {ס}

All the elders of Yisroel came to Chevron to the king and King Dovid enacted a pact with them in Chevron before Adonoy and they anointed Dovid to be king over Yisroel.

5:4

בֶּן־שְׁלֹשִׁים שָׁנָה דָּוִד בְּמׇלְכוֹ אַרְבָּעִים שָׁנָה מָלָֽךְ׃

Dovid was a man of thirty years when he [first] reigned. He was king for forty years.

5:5

בְּחֶבְרוֹן מָלַךְ עַל־יְהוּדָה שֶׁבַע שָׁנִים וְשִׁשָּׁה חֳדָשִׁים וּבִירוּשָׁלַ͏ִם מָלַךְ שְׁלֹשִׁים וְשָׁלֹשׁ שָׁנָה עַל כׇּל־יִשְׂרָאֵל וִיהוּדָֽה׃

In Chevron, he reigned over Yehudah for seven years and six months and in Yerushaloyim he reigned for thirty-three years over all of Yisroel and Yehuda.

5:6

וַיֵּלֶךְ הַמֶּלֶךְ וַֽאֲנָשָׁיו יְרוּשָׁלַ͏ִם אֶל־הַיְבֻסִי יוֹשֵׁב הָאָרֶץ וַיֹּאמֶר לְדָוִד לֵאמֹר לֹא־תָבוֹא הֵנָּה כִּי אִם־הֱסִֽירְךָ הַעִוְרִים וְהַפִּסְחִים לֵאמֹר לֹא־יָבוֹא דָוִד הֵֽנָּה׃

The king and his men went to Yerusholoyim to the Yevusim who dwelled in that land. He said to Dovid, You shall not come lest you [are able to] remove [the idols depicting] the blind and the lame which are saying, 'Dovid will not come here.'

Rashi

אל היבוסי. מצודת ציון נקראה יבוס, ומזרעו של אבימלך היו, והיו להם שני צלמים, אחד עור, ואחד פסח, שנעשו על שם יצחק ויעקב, ובפיהם השבועה שנשבע אברהם לאבימלך, ולכך לא הורישום כשלכדו את ירושלים, לא לכדו את המצודה, כמו שנאמר (יהושע טו סג): ואת היבוסי יושב ירושלים לא יכלו יושבי יהודה להורישם, ותניא אמר רבי יהושע בן לוי: יכולין היו, אלא שלא היו רשאין (ספרי ראה יב יז):

To the Yevusi. The fortress of Tzion was called Yevus. [Its inhabitants] were from the descendants of Avimelech. They had two idols, one [depicting] a blind person and one [depicting] a lame person. They were made to represent Yitzhok and Yakov.¹Yitzchak was blind at the end of his life (Bereshis, 27,1). Yakov was lamed during the course of his struggle with the angel (Bereishis 32,33). [Placed] in their mouths was the oath Avrohom swore to Avimelech,²Bereishis 21,23–24. This is why they were not displaced [from Tzion]. When Yerushalayim was conquored The tribe of Yehuda did not conquor the fortress [of Tzion], as the verse states, (Yehoshua, 15, 63). "However the Yevusim who lived in Yerushalyim, the descendants of Yehudah were unable to expel them. [About this verse] it is learned: Rebbe Yohoshua, the son of Levi said, They had the ability to [expel the Yevusim] but they were not permitted to.³Because of Avrohom’s oath to Avimelech. This point is made in the Sifri, Re’ey, Piska 72. However, there it’s brought in the name of Rebbe Yehoshua, the son of Korcho.

ויאמר לדוד. מי שאמר:

And he said to Dovid. Whoever said it,⁴The speaker is unidentified, but is obviously one of the Yevusim.

העורים והפסחים. הם עבודת כוכבים שלהם:

[The idols depicting] the blind and the lame These were their idols.

5:7

וַיִּלְכֹּד דָּוִד אֵת מְצֻדַת צִיּוֹן הִיא עִיר דָּוִֽד׃

Dovid conquored the fortress of Tzion This is [now] the city of Dovid.

5:8

וַיֹּאמֶר דָּוִד בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא כׇּל־מַכֵּה יְבֻסִי וְיִגַּע בַּצִּנּוֹר וְאֶת־הַפִּסְחִים וְאֶת־הַעִוְרִים (שנאו) [שְׂנוּאֵי] נֶפֶשׁ דָּוִד עַל־כֵּן יֹֽאמְרוּ עִוֵּר וּפִסֵּחַ לֹא יָבוֹא אֶל־הַבָּֽיִת׃

Dovid said on that day, "Whoever kills the Yevusi and touches [and destroys] the tower's spire and [the idols of] the lame and the blind, which were abhored by Dovid, upon which they are saying, '[While] the blind one and the lame one [are here], [Dovid] will not come into the house.'"

Rashi

כל מכה יבוסי ויגע בצנור. (תרגום:) כל דיקטל יבוסאה וישרי למכבש כרכא:

Whoever kills the Yevusi and touches [and destroys] the towers spire Whoever kills the Yevusi and has the strength to conquor the fortress.

ואת הפסחים. ויכה גם את הפסחים ואת העורים שנואי נפש דוד:

And [the idols of] the lame. And destroys [the idols of] the lame and the blind which were abhorrent to Dovid.

על כן יאמרו. על אשר אומרים: עור ופסח. בעוד שהעור והפסח יהיה בכאן:

Upon which they are saying. Upon which they are saying, "The blind one and the lame one," i.e., while the blind one and the lame one are here.

לא יבא וגו'. יבא דוד הנה הרי זה מקרא קצר, שאמר כל מכה יבוסי ויגע בצנור, ולא פירש מה יעשה לו, ובדברי הימים (א יא ו) פירש: כל מכה יבוסי בראשונה יהיה לראש ולשר ; ודומה לזה (בראשית ד טו): לכן כל הורג קין, ולא פירש מה יעשה לו, אבל מעצמו הוא נשמע לשון גערה ונזיפה:

[Dovid] will not come Dovid will not come here. This is a shortened verse [because] it stated, "Whoever kills the Yevusi and touches [and destroys] the tower's spire" but [the verse] does not explain what happens to the person [who reaches the spire]. However, in Divrei Hayomim I, 11, 6) it explains, "Whoever kills the Yevusi first will be made a chief and a prince." Similar to this [we find]. "Therefore, whoever kills Kayin" (Bereishis 4, 14) and [that verse] does not explain what happens to the person [who kills Kayin] but from its context, it's understood that the language conveys rebuke and anger.⁵To whoever kills Kayin.

ויגע בצנור. לשון גובה המגדל, כי שם היו נתונים הצלמים שלהם, ובימי דוד כבר עברו הדורות שהוזכרו בשבועה:

And touches [and destroys] the tower's spire. [This word] denotes the spire of a tower because that's where their idols were placed. [During] the days of Dovid, the generations of the oath had already passed.⁶Avimelech asked Avrohom to swear “that you will not deal falsely with me, with my son or my grandson.” These three generations had already passed when Dovid attacked the Yevusim in the fortress of Tzion.

5:9

וַיֵּשֶׁב דָּוִד בַּמְּצֻדָה וַיִּקְרָא־לָהּ עִיר דָּוִד וַיִּבֶן דָּוִד סָבִיב מִן־הַמִּלּוֹא וָבָֽיְתָה׃

Dovid settled in the fortress, and he called it the city of Dovid. Dovid built around [the fortress], from it's low wall and inwards.

Rashi

מן המלוא וביתה. היקף חומה נמוכה, וממלאין אותה עפר, וגובה התל באמצע, ומשפע והולך לכל רוח, הוא קרוי מלוא, ועליו בנה דוד בתים, ואותו המלוא היה סביב למצודה:

From it's low wall and inwards. A surrounding low wall; they would fill it up with earth, the summit of the mound would be in it's middle, and it would slant in all directions, that is called a מלוא, and Dovid built houses on [the wall]. That low wall surrounded the fortress.

5:10

וַיֵּלֶךְ דָּוִד הָלוֹךְ וְגָדוֹל וַיהֹוָה אֱלֹהֵי צְבָאוֹת עִמּֽוֹ׃ {פ}

Dovid became continuously greater, and Adonoy, the God of Legions was with him.

5:11

וַיִּשְׁלַח חִירָם מֶלֶךְ־צֹר מַלְאָכִים אֶל־דָּוִד וַעֲצֵי אֲרָזִים וְחָרָשֵׁי עֵץ וְחָרָשֵׁי אֶבֶן קִיר וַיִּבְנוּ־בַיִת לְדָוִֽד׃

Chirom, the king of Tzor sent messengers to Dovid [bringing with them] cedarwood and carpenters and stone cutters [who could build] a wall. They built a house for Dovid.

5:12

וַיֵּדַע דָּוִד כִּֽי־הֱכִינוֹ יְהֹוָה לְמֶלֶךְ עַל־יִשְׂרָאֵל וְכִי נִשֵּׂא מַמְלַכְתּוֹ בַּעֲבוּר עַמּוֹ יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃ {ס}

Dovid understood that Adonoy had established him king over Yisroel and that his kingdom had been elevated for the sake of His people Yisroel.

Rashi

וידע דוד. בראותו כל מעשיו מצליחין, ומלכי הגוים שולחין לו מנחה:

Dovid understood. When he saw all his endeavors succeeding, and the idol worshipping kings sending him a present.