Midrash su I Samuele 15:11

Another thing asked R. Nachman of R. Isaac: What is the meaning of the passage (I Sam. 8, 1) And it came to pass, when Samuel was old. Did he indeed become old? Behold, he was then only fifty-two years of age; for the master said elsewhere, "Whoever dies at the age of fifty-two, is like Samuel of Ramathi (the prophet)." "Thus it was explained by R. Jochanan," replied R. Isaac: "He (Samuel) became old before his time, as it is written (Ib. 15, 11) It repented Me that I have set up Saul to be king. Samuel said before Him: 'Sovereign of the Universe, you have considered me equal in importance to Moses and Aaron, as it is written (Ps. 99, 6) Moses and Aaron among His priests, and Samuel among them that call upon His name. Just as Moses' and Aaron's work had not been destroyed during their own life, so do also I wish that my work should not be destroyed during my life.' Whereupon the Holy One, praised be He! argued with Himself, saying: 'What shall I do? Shall I cause the death of Saul? Samuel would not allow me to. Shall I cause the death of Samuel? Since he is so young, people will murmur that he was not righteous. Shall neither Saul nor Samuel die? This is impossible; for the Kingdom of David already reached its appointed time, and one reign cannot touch upon the other even by a hair breadth.' " The Holy One, praised be He! thereupon decided to cause Samuel to become old before his time. Thus the passage becomes clear (I Sam. 22, 6) Now Saul was sitting in Gibeah, under the tamarisk-tree in Ramah, What relation has Gibeah to Ramah? The relation intends to inform: What caused Saul to sit in Gibeah two and one-half years? The prayer of Samuel, the Ramathite. Is one man displaced for the sake of another? Yea, for R. Samuel b. Nachmaini said, in the name of R. Jochanan: "What is the meaning of the passage (Hos. 6, 5) Therefore have I hewed them by the prophets, I have slain them by the words of my mouth. It does not say by their acts but it says by the words of my mouth; this, therefore, means that one man is displaced for the sake of another."

R. Huna said: "How little does he whom the Lord supports, need to grieve or trouble himself. Saul committed only one sin and was discharged from royalty. David committed two sins, and yet retained it." "Saul committed only one sin." What was it? That of Agag. But did he not commit another sin when he massacred the priests of Nob? Nevertheless only at the incident of Agag it is written (I Sam. 15, 11) I regret that I have set tip Saul as a king. "David committed two sins." What are they? That of Uriah and his numbering of Israel. But there is a third one? That of Bath Sheba? For Bath Sheba he was punished, as it is written (II Sam. 12, 6) For the ewe he shall pay fourfold. What were the four punishments? The death of Bath-Sheba's first child, the death of Amnon, the misfortune of Tamar, and of Absalom. If so, then, was he punished also for numbering Israel? As it is written (II Sam. 24, 15) And the Lord sent a pestilence in Israel from the morning even to the time appointed. In that case he himself was not punished, but in the instances we mentioned, he was personally punished, as R. Juda said in the name of Rab: "For six months David became leprous, and the Sanhedrin separated themselves from him, and the Shechina departed from him, as it is said (Ts. 119, 79) Let those that fear Thee return unto me, and those that knew Thy testimonies, and it is written again (Ib. 51, 14) Restore unto me the gladness of Thy salvation." But has not Rab said that David listened to slander? [Hence he committed more sins?] The former statement is in accordance with the opinion of Samuel who holds that David did not listen to slander. And Rab who holds that David did listen, explains that David had also been punished for it; for R. Juda said in the name of Rab: "At the time when David said unto Mephibosheth (II Sam. 19, 30), Thou and Ziba shall divide the field, a Bath-Kol went forth and said, 'Rechabam and Jeroboam will divide thy Kingdom.' "

Another [explanation]: "Bring close the tribe of Levi, etc." - this is [the meaning of] what is written (Psalms 65:5), "Happy is the one whom You have chosen and You have brought close": Happy is the one whom the Holy One, blessed be He, has chosen, even though he has not brought him close. And happy is the man that He has brought close, even though He has not chosen him. And who is the one whom He has chosen? That is Avraham, as it is stated (Nehemiah 9:7), "You are He, Lord God, Who chose Avram." But He did not bring him close, but rather he brought himself close. The Holy One, blessed be He, chose Yaakov, as it is stated (Psalms 135:4), "For Yaakov did the Lord choose." And so [too] it says (Isaiah 41:8), "Yaakov whom You have chosen." But He did not bring him close, but rather he brought himself close, as it is stated (Genesis 25:27), "Yaakov was a simple man that sat in tents." He chose Moshe, as it is stated (Psalms 106:23), "were it not for Moshe, His chosen"; but He did not bring him close. Happy are those that the Holy One, blessed be He, chose, even though He did not bring them close. Come and see - the Holy One, blessed be He, brought Yitro close, but He did not choose him. He brought Rachav the prostitute close but He did not choose her. Happy are these that whom He brought close, even though He did not choose them. A [Roman] matron asked Rabbi Yose, "[Does] your God bring close whomever He wants (arbitrarily)?" [So] he brought a basket of figs in front of her and she would choose a nice one, she would choose it and eat it. He said to her, "You know how to choose, [does] the Holy One, blessed be He not know how to choose? The one whom He sees has good deeds, He chooses him and brings him close." Rabbi Nechemiah [said] in the name of Rabbi Shmuel bar Rabbi Yitschak, "Not all who are close are close, and not all who are distant are distant. There is one who is chosen and pushed off and brought close, [and] there is one who is chosen and pushed off and not brought close. Aharon was chosen - (I Samuel 2:28) 'And I chose him from all the tribes of Israel for Me as a priest.' And he was pushed off - (Deuteronomy 9:20) 'And with Aharon did the Lord get angry.' And it is written [after the event that the last verse cited was referring to] (Exodus 28:1), 'And you should bring close to you Aharon your brother.' Shaul was chosen - (I Samuel 10:24) 'Have you seen the one that the Lord chose?' And he was pushed off - (ibid., 15:11) 'I have regretted that I have crowned Shaul, etc.' And he was not brought close [again] - (ibid., 16:1) 'And I have been disgusted with him from ruling over Israel.' David was chosen - (Psalms 78:70) 'And He chose David, His servant.' And he was pushed off - (II Samuel 15:16-17) 'And the king went out, and all of household on his heels,... and they stood in Beit Merchak.'" Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said, "They excommunicated him. Nonetheless, he accepted his excommunication. This is [the meaning] of that which is written, (II Samuel 15:30) 'and David went up to the Ascent of Olives, he went up and cried, and his head was covered.'" "And he was brought close [again]." Rabbi Yudan said, "Eira Hayairi, the teacher of David, brought him close. This is what David says (Psalms 119:79), 'Let those that fear You (yeirecha) return to me, and they that know Your testimonies' - ['they that know'] is written as 'he that knows,' [meaning that] Eira Hayairi was his teacher and brought [David] close." Rabbi Yehoshua of Sakhnin said in the name of Rabbi Levi, "There are six that were chosen: the priesthood; the order of Levi; Israel; the monarchy of the house of David; Jerusalem; [and] the Temple. From where [do we know this about] the priesthood? Since it is written (I Samuel 2:28), 'And I chose him from all the tribes of Israel for Me as a priest.' From where [do we know this about] the order of Levi? As it is stated (Deuteronomy 18:5), 'As he was chosen by the Lord, your God.' From where [do we know this about]Israel? As it is stated (Ibid., 7:6), 'the Lord, your God, chose you.' From where [do we know this about] the monarchy of the house of David? As it is stated (Psalms 78:70), 'And He chose David, His servant.' From where [do we know this about] Jerusalem? As it is stated (I Kings 11:32), 'the city that you chose.' From where [do we know this about] the Temple? As it stated (II Chronicles 7:16), 'I have chosen and sanctified this house.'" David [meant to say in Psalms 65:5], "Happy is the one whom the Holy One, blessed be He, has chosen, and happy is the one that He has brought close. And who is the one who is doubly happy? The one that the Holy One, blessed be He, chose and brought close." And who is that? That is Aharon and [the tribe of] Levi. From where [do we know this about] Aharon? Since it is written (I Samuel 2:28), "And I chose him from all the tribes of Israel for Me as a priest." And from where [do we know] that He brought him close? As it is stated (Exodus 28:1), "And you should bring close to you Aharon your brother." The Holy One, blessed be He chose Levi, as it is stated (Deuteronomy 18:5), "As he was chosen by the Lord, your God." And from where [do we know] that He brought him close? As it is stated [here], "Bring close the tribe of Levi, and stand [it up]." And about them the verse (Psalms 65:5) says, "Happy is the one whom You have chosen and You have brought close, who dwells in your courtyards"; as you say (Numbers 3:7), "And they shall keep his charge, and the charge of the whole congregation, etc." [The continuation of Psalms 65:5 is:] "let us be satiated from the good of Your house" - that thy would eat from the tithes that were brought to the [Temple], as you would say (Numbers 18:21), "To the house of Levi, behold, I have given all tithe in Israel for an inheritance, etc."

(Devarim 32:36) "For the L-rd will judge His people, and over His servants yithnecham": When the L-rd judges (i.e., punishes) the nations, it is "joy" to Him, viz. (Proverbs 11:10) "and in the destruction of the wicked is rejoicing." And when the L-rd judges the righteous, there is "bethinking" before Him, as it is written "and over His servants, yithnecham," "nechamah" connoting "bethinking," viz. (Genesis 6:7) "for I (the L-rd) have bethought Myself (nichamti) for having made them," and (I Samuel 15:11) "I have bethought myself (nichamti) for having made Saul king."