Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Nazir 5a - 40 Years from when the jews asked for a king

The Tosafos and Rosh both point out that the rebellion of Avshalom is dated in the pasuk from the time that the jews asked for a king - Why? They both explain that the rebellion of avshalom was considered a punishment for the improper behavior of the jews when they rebelled against Hashem by asking Shmuel for a king. Rashi even goes further to say that Avshalom himself realized that the jews would be vulnerable on the anniversary of the date they asked for a king, and he would be more likely to succeed (Maharsha seems to call this divrei nivius, which seems to be a rejection of rashi's approach considering this to part of Avshalom's cheshbon). It seems strange that beis dovid suffered the consequences for the sin of the entire klal yisroel asking for a king?

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