“The king answered, ‘If anyone says anything to you, bring him to me; and he won’t bother you anymore.’  ‘Please,’ she said, ‘let the king swear by Adonai your God that the blood avengers won’t do any more destroying, so they won’t destroy my son.’ He said, ‘As Adonai lives, not one of your son’s […]

“Now the whole family has come against me, your servant; they’re saying, ‘Hand over the one who hit his brother, so that we can put him to death for killing his brother.’ They want to destroy the heir as well and thus quench my one remaining coal; then my husband will have neither name nor […]

“Go in to the king and speak to him in this fashion — ‘ and then Yo’av told her just what to say.  When the woman of T’koa spoke to the king, she fell down with her face to the ground, prostrating herself, and said, ‘King, help!’”-2 Samuel 14:3-4 Following on the heals of yesterday’s […]

Let’s continue with our saga of the growing political sticks of dynamite about to explode in David’s kingdom. At the moment, there are three of them: Avishalom, Yo’av, and King David. Now here’s the thing with Avishalom. He had the sympathy of the people of Israel. He was viewed as a hero for avenging his […]

Yesterday, I opened a loop by asking… Why was Joab motivated to take steps to reconcile Absalom with David? So let’s dig a bit deeper into the mind of this devious character… And in the process, come to a deeper understanding of what drives men of power who lust after even more power. I tell […]