Midrash for II Samuel 10:2

(Numb. 25:16-17:) “Then the Lord spoke [unto Moses], saying, ‘Harass the Midianites […].’” Why?⁵Numb. R. 21:4. (Numb. 25:18:) “Because they are harassing you.” Hence the sages have said, “If someone comes to kill you, act first to kill him.”⁶Ber. 62b; Sanh. 72a. R. Simeon says, “Whoever causes a person to sin is worse than the one who kills him. Because whoever kills [a person] kills him in this world, but he [still] has a share in the world to come. However, the one who causes him to sin kills him in this world and for the world to come. Two peoples encountered Israel with the sword, the Egyptians and the Edomites. Thus it is stated (of the Egyptians that they said (in Exod. 15:9), “I will pursue, I will overtake, [I will divide the spoil…].” And Edom [did the same], as stated (in Numb. 20:18), “But Edom said unto him, ‘You shall not pass through me, or else I will come out to meet you with the sword.’” Moreover, two [peoples encountered them] with sin, Moab and the Ammonites. Concerning the ones who encountered them with the sword, it is written (in Deut. 23:8), “You shall not abhor an Edomite …; you shall not abhor an Egyptian.” But concerning the ones who encountered them with sin to cause Israel to sin, it is stated (according to Deut. 23:4), “No Ammonite or Moabite shall come into the assembly of the Lord […].” And in this world you have not [yet] fulfilled your obligation, as stated (in Numb. 25:17), “Harass the Midianites.” (Numb. 25:17:) “Harass the Midianites.” What is the meaning of “Harass the Midianites?” Even though it is written in the Torah (in Deut. 20:10), “When you draw near unto a city to fight against it, you shall offer terms of peace (shalom) unto it”; however, in regard to these [peoples] you shall not do this; (according to Deut. 23:7), “You shall not seek their welfare (shalom) and benefit all your days forever.”⁷Numb. R. 21:5. You find that the one who came to them with the trait of mercy, in the end came to disgrace, war and distress. And who [was that]? David, as stated (in II Sam. 10:2), “David said, ‘I will do kindness with Hanun son of Nahash.’” The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him, “You are transgressing My word, as I wrote (in Deut. 23:7), ‘You shall not seek their welfare and benefit,’ and you are doing acts of kindness with them? (Eccl. 7:12:) ‘Do not be greatly righteous,’ such that a man should not forego [what is written in] the Torah. And this one is sending [word] to console the Children of Ammon and to do kindness and good to him?” And in the end, he came to disgrace [as stated] (in II Sam. 10:4), “So Hanun seized David’s courtiers, clipped off one side of their beards [and cut away half of their garments at the buttocks, and sent them off].” And he came to disgrace, and afterwards to war with four nations: Aram-Naharayim, with the kings of Zova, with the kings of Maakha and with Children of Ammon. And it is written (about this in II Sam. 10:9), “Joab saw that there was a battle line against him both front and rear.” What caused him [this]? That he sought to do good to those about whom the Holy One, blessed be He, told him, “You shall not seek their welfare and benefit.” Hence it is written (Numb. 25:17), “Harass the Midianites.” Another interpretation (of Numb. 25:17), “Harass (tsrwr) the Midianites.” Even though I have written (in Deut. 20:19), “When you besiege (rt. tswr) a city a [long time] […], you shall not destroy its trees,”⁸Numb. R. 21:6. in the case of these (i.e., Moab and the Ammonites) you shall not do so. On the contrary, their trees you shall destroy. And so you find that when Joram king of Israel, Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and the king of Edom went to fight with Moab, (according to II Kings 3:9) “they circled around on a seven-day march, so that there was no water for the army or for the animals that were with them.” They began to weep, and (according to vs. 10) “The king of Israel said, ‘Alas, for the Lord has summoned these three kings to give them into the hand of Moab.’” Jehoshaphat answered (in vs. 11), “Is there no prophet of the Lord here through, who we may inquire of the Lord…?” [This passage is] to make known the wickedness of Joram, in that he did not acknowledge Him. (Vs. 12:) “Then Jehoshaphat said, ‘the word of the Lord is with him’; so the king of Israel, Jehoshaphat, and the king of Edom went down unto him.” Why is Jehoshaphat not called a king here? In order to make known the humility of that righteous man, in that he did not want to go down before the prophet in royal garb, but as a commoner.⁹Gk.: idiotes. But some say, “[It was] because an edict had been decreed that he would be killed with Ahab that the scriptural text has reckoned [the reign of] his son from that hour. For that reason ‘king’ was not written.” But as a reward for their going down to the prophet, they attained the right to see all those miracles. When the king of Israel saw Elisha, Elisha said to the king of Israel (according to vs. 13,) “What have I to do with you; go unto the prophets of your father and unto the prophets of your mother.” He began to implore him. (Ibid., cont.:) “And the king of Israel said to him…,” as he had never asked him [anything] in his life. (Vss. 14-15:) “Elisha said, ‘As the Lord of hosts lives…Now then get me a musician….” And the rest of the whole parashah. Moreover, he said to them “The Moabites shall fall into your hands, (in vs. 19) ‘thus you shall smite every fortified city and every choice city, [you shall also fell every good tree].’” They said to him, “[But] the Holy One, blessed be He said (in Deut. 20:19), ‘You shall not destroy its trees’; yet you are saying [to do] so.” He said to them, “He gave the command with reference to the rest of the nations, but this one is insignificant and contemptable,” as stated (in II Kings 3:18), “This one is insignificant in the eyes of the Lord, so He will give Moab into your hands.” It is [also] stated (in Deut. 23:7), “You shall not seek their welfare and benefit (literally, their good).” [That is referring to] the good trees. It is therefore stated (in Numb. 25:17), “Harass the Midianites.”

And it came to pass in the days of Amraphel (Gen. 14:1). R. Tanhuma the son of Abba opened the discussion with the verse The wicked began with the sword, and have bent their bow; to cast down the poor and the needy, to slay such as are upright in the way; their sword shall enter into their own heart, and their bows shall be broken (Ps. 37:14–15). The wicked began with the sword alludes to Cain, who slew his brother Abel before any other man was slain. Their sword shall enter into their own heart refers to the fact that Lamech later killed Cain. Another comment on The wicked began with the sword: This refers to Hanun the son of Nahash. Why? After the death of his father, David sent messages by the hand of his servants to comfort him (II Sam. 10:2), but Hanun seized David’s servants, shaved off half their beards and cut off their garments in the middle, even to their buttocks, and sent them away (ibid., v. 4). Hanun then dispatched emissaries to Aram-naharaim to hire thirty-two thousand charioteers in addition to the tens of thousands of troops he had in his army.¹¹II Sam. 10:16. They all assembled and encamped in one place. The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: Wicked one, you began with the sword, hence the sword will penetrate your heart. Therefore, Joab and Abishai destroyed them all, as it is said: So Joab and the people that were with him drew nigh unto the battle to meet the Arameans; and they fled before them (ibid., v. 13).

5 (Numb. 25:17) “Harass the Midianites”: Even though I have written (in Deut. 20:10), “When you draw near unto a city to fight against it, you shall offer terms of peace (shalom) unto it”; however, in regard to these [peoples] you shall not do this; (according to Deut. 23:7), “You shall not seek their welfare (shalom) and benefit.” You find that the one who came to them with the trait of mercy, in the end came to disgrace, war and distress. And who [was that]? David, as stated (in II Sam. 10:2), “David said, ‘I will do kindness with Hanun son of Nahash.’” The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him, “You are transgressing My word, as I wrote (in Deut. 23:7), ‘You shall not seek their welfare and benefit,’ and you are doing acts of kindness with them? (Eccl. 7:12) ‘Do not be greatly righteous,’ such that a man should not forego [what is written in] the Torah. And this one is sending [word] to console the Children of Ammon and to do kindness and good to him?” And in the end, he came to disgrace [as stated] (in II Sam. 10:4), “So Hanun seized David’s courtiers, clipped off one side of their beards and cut away half of their garments at the buttocks, and sent them off.” And he came to war with four nations: Aram-Naharayim, with the kings of Zova, with the kings of Maakha and with Children of Ammon. And it is written (about this in II Sam. 10:9), “Joab saw that there was a battle line against him [both front and rear].” What caused this to David? That he sought to do good to those about whom the Holy One, blessed be He, told him, “You shall not seek their welfare.” Hence it is written (Numb. 25:17), “Harass the Midianites.”

(Gen. 20:1:) THEN ABRAHAM JOURNEYED FROM THERE. It is written (in Prov. 27:10): < DO NOT FORSAKE > YOUR FRIEND AND YOUR FATHER'S FRIEND … < A CLOSE NEIGHBOR IS BETTER THAN A DISTANT BROTHER >. This < verse refers to > Hanun ben Nahash, king of the children of Ammon, as mentioned (in II Sam. 10:1f.): AND IT CAME TO PASS AFTER THAT THAT {NAHASH} THE KING OF THE CHILDREN OF AMMON, DIED; < AND HIS SON HANUN REIGNED IN HIS STEAD. > THEN DAVID SAID: I WILL DEAL FAITHFULLY WITH HANUN BEN NAHASH. R. Berekhyah said in the name of R. Eleazar ben Pedat: And how did Nahash deal faithfully with David, since he had said (ibid., cont.), AS HIS FATHER DEALT FAITHFULLY WITH ME? Simply < like this >: When David fled from Saul, David and all his father's house went to Moab. He said to them: Receive my father, as stated (in I Sam. 22:4): SO HE BROUGHT < HIS PARENTS > BEFORE THE KING OF MOAB. (I Sam. 22:3:) AND HE SAID [UNTO THE KING OF MOAB]: PLEASE LET MY FATHER AND MY MOTHER {DWELL} [GO AWAY] < WITH YOU >. So he received them. When David went away, the king of Moab arose and killed the father, mother, and brothers of David. Only one of them survived, as < only one > is mentioned < in David's census > (in I Chron. 27:18): BELONGING TO JUDAH < THERE WAS > ELIHU, ONE OF DAVID'S BROTHERS. R.Levi bar Halafta the Priest said that only one of them survived. And how was Elihu saved? He simply fled from the king of Moab and came to Nahash, king of Ammon, who received him. The king of Moab sent and said to Nahash: Did, perhaps, one of David's brothers come to you? He said to him: No; and he kept him until David came. For that reason David said (in II Sam. 10:2): I WILL DEAL FAITHFULLY WITH HANUN BEN NAHASH. When David's representatives⁹⁹The word here is sheluah, the Hebrew equivalent of “apostle.” came to Hanun, the princes of the children of Ammon said to him (in I Sam. 10:3): What is this? DO YOU THINK THAT DAVID IS HONORING YOUR FATHER < JUST > BECAUSE DAVID SENT COMFORTERS TO YOU? Do not trust David. Why? Because the Holy One has warned him about us. It is written {for him} in his Law (in Deut. 23:4): NO AMMONITE OR MOABITE SHALL COME INTO THE ASSEMBLY OF THE LORD. It is also written (in Deut. 23:7): YOU SHALL NOT SEEK THEIR WELFARE AND BENEFIT. Thus the Holy One has warned him. So will he despise the words of his God, and say (in II Sam. 10:2): I WILL DEAL FAITHFULLY WITH HANUN BEN NAHASH? (Ibid., vs. 3:) IS IT NOT IN ORDER TO INVESTIGATE THE CITY? Immediately (in vs. 4) HANUN TOOK THE SERVANTS OF DAVID AND SHAVED OFF < HALF OF THEIR BEARDS >…. The Holy Spirit cries out (in Prov. 27:10): < DO NOT FORSAKE > YOUR FRIEND AND YOUR FATHER'S FRIEND…. And so it was with Jehoram ben Jehoshaphat. When he became king, he killed all his brothers, as stated (in II Chron. 21:4): WHEN JEHORAM HAD RISEN UP OVER THE KINGDOM OF HIS FATHER, HE CONSOLIDATED HIS POWER AND KILLED ALL HIS BROTHERS {AND HIS FATHER'S HOUSE}.