Komentaryong Sumisipi para sa 1 Mga Hari 1:1

Tanchuma Chayey Sarah 2 claims that there are four possible causes why premature old age suddenly settles on a person. 1) because he lives in fear of something; 2) because he is angry at his children; 3) because he is married to an evil person; 4) because of being involved in waging wars. The respective verses from Scripture quoted by that Midrash to support its claim are 1) Chronicles 1 21,30 “and David was unable to go to it to worship the Lord because he was terrified by the sword of the angel of the Lord.” We also have a verse in Kings I, 1,1 “and King David was old, advanced in years.” As to the anger caused to a person by his children aging him, we read in Samuel I 2,22: now Eli was very old. When he heard all that his sons were doing to all Israel, etc.” We have proof that being engaged in constant warfare ages a person from Joshua 13,1: “Joshua was old, advanced in years.” Concerning a husband’s aging prematurely due to being married to bad women, we find a verse in Kings I 11,4 “it was when Solomon grew old because his wives had turned his heart, etc.” On the other hand, we know that Avraham’s wife had always honoured him and not caused him any grief, for even when she referred to him as old (Genesis 18,12), she still called him אדוני, “my lord.”

אל הארץ כנען, “to the land of Canaan.” Ibn Ezra explains this phrase, which is unusual, as meaning that the Torah had written אל הארץ, ארץ כנען, “to the land, the land of Canaan.” Nachmanides understands this as the Torah saying that the name the land is known by is “Canaan”, just as the name of the Land of Egypt, is “Egypt.” Both the land of Egypt is called מצרים, and the people living there are called מצרים. The construction is similar to Kings I 1,1 אל העיר ירושלים והמלך דוד, where we also would not have expected the letter ה before the word מלך.