Did David Get a Free Pass? — BT Yoma 22b — #115

Rav Huna said, “How little does one who has the support of his Lord have to worry or be concerned.” Saul sinned once and it was counted against him. David sinned twice and it was not counted against him. What was the sin of Saul? The incident with Agag. But wasn’t there also the incident of Nob, the city of priests? It was because of what happened with Agag that Scripture says, I regret that I have set up Saul to be king (1 Samuel 15:11). What were David’s two sins? The sin of Uriah (2 Samuel 11) and “the incitement” (i.e., the census in 2 Samuel 24:1). But there was also Bathsheba. There, he was punished, as it is written, And he shall restore the lamb fourfold (2 Samuel 12:6)—the child, Amnon, Tamar, and Absalom. For the other sin (i.e., the census) he was also punished, as it is written, So Adonai sent a plague upon Israel from the morning until the appointed time (2 Samuel 24:15)? There his body was not punished. But in the former case (i.e., Bathsheba), his body was not punished either. No—he was punished in his body, for Rav Yehudah said Rav said, “For six months David was stricken with tzara’at, the Sanhedrin withdrew from him, and the Shekhinah (Divine Presence) left him, as it is written, Let those that fear You return to me, and those who know Your testimonies (Psalm 119:79) and it is also written, Restore to me the joy of Your salvation (Psalm 51:14). But Rav said that David also listened to lashon ha-ra (evil speech) [a slanderous report from Ziba concerning Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan, saying that the latter was pleased by David’s downfall]. We hold with Shmuel that David did not. And even according to Rav, who says that David did listen to lashon ha-ra, was he not punished for it? For Rav Yehudah said in the name of Rav, “At the time David said to Mephiboshet, I say that you and Ziba shall divide the field (2 Samuel 19:30), a heavenly voice burst forth saying, ‘Rehoboam and Jeroboam will divide the kingdom.’”

INTRODUCTION

Is the world fair? Is God fair? Saul, the first king of Israel, dies in battle on Har Gilboa. The throne passes to David, his erstwhile musician, and David’s throne is the one established for all time: [David’s] line shall continue forever, his throne, as the sun before Me, as the moon, established forever, an enduring witness in the sky (Psalm 89:37). Why did God end the reign of Saul after he committed one sin, but establish David’s throne eternally despite numerous sins? What about fairness? This is the question Talmud poses.

COMMENTARY

Rav Huna comments that if you have God on your side, you’ve got it made. Consider the kings Saul and David: Saul committed but one sin and lost everything; David committed two sins but his descendants retained the throne of Israel eternally. The Rabbis explore what these sins were. 

In the case of Saul, his decision to spare the life of Agag, king of Amalek, despite God’s clear command to kill him, lost him the kingship of Israel. A discussion ensues. An anonymous voice objects: But in the incident of Nob, Saul ordered the killing not only of the priests, but innocents were killed, as well. Is that not a second sin? The Gemara acknowledges the truth of the claim, but points out God’s decision was made prior to Nob; hence one sin lost Saul the kingship. 

And what about David? An obvious answer is Uriah, the husband of Bathsheba, whom David sent to the front battle line to insure he would be killed so David could marry Bathsheba. In addition, David ordered a census, which was forbidden. As with Saul’s sins, a discussion ensues. An anonymous voice asks: Isn’t the sin of Bathsheba yet a third sin? The Gemara responds yes, but David paid directly for this sin by the loss of four children in his lifetime, a fulfillment of David’s own judgment in response to Nathan’s allegory about David’s sin with Bathsheba. The Gemara points out that if one is discounting sins for which David suffered personal bodily punishment, then the census should not be counted as one of his two sins since it resulted in a plague. The Gemara responds that the plague did not afflict David’s body (though it certainly afflicted many others); hence it should not count. This idea is rejected on the basis of a teaching of Rav Yehudah in the name of Rav who said that David suffered material punishment for ordering the plague in three ways: he was afflicted with tzara’at (a skin disease), and the Sanhedrin and Shekhinah both withdrew from him. In support of this teaching, Rav Yehuda cites two verses from Psalms (understood to have been written by David) that are taken to refer to the Sanhedrin and God’s Presence. The Gemara suggests one additional sin: David listened to Ziba’s slander of Mephibosheth (2 Samuel 16:4), which he should not have done. While the sage Shmuel holds that David is not guilty of listening to Ziba, Rav Yehudah in the name of Rav contends that if he did, he suffered for it: following the reign of his son Solomon, his kingdom was divided—could there be a greater punishment than the dissolution of one’s legacy?

The Sages cannot agree on how many sins each king committed, nor whether they suffered physical punishment for each, but one difference becomes clear: David repented the sin with Bathsheba. Saul did not repent.

QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER AND DISCUSS

1. Rav Huna boldly suggests that God is no necessarily fair: if God supports you, you can get away with sins others would be punished for. Why do you think they don’t attempt to justify the transference of the kingship from Saul to David on the grounds of superior leadership, or character, or spirituality?
2. In the end, Saul’s sin related to Agag is identified as the single sin that lost him the throne. With respect to David, four sins are identified, but the Rabbis identify physical punishment for three of them (census, Bathsheba, lashon ha-ra) leaving only the sin against Uriah unpunished. Hence they do not support the original conjecture. Do you think this is?
3. Rabbi Isaac Hutner (1906-1980) suggests that the essential distinction between Saul and David is teshuvah (repentance): David, unlike Saul, repented.  For Hutner, this points to a valuable and essential quality for leadership: admitting one’s mistakes and changing. For this reason, the messiah will come from the line of David and not from the line of Saul. How important is it for a leader to admit his/her errors and correct them? Consider the teaching of R. Abbahu concerning the penitent: "In the place where penitents stands, even the perfectly righteous cannot stand" (BT Berakhot 34b) How do you understand this teaching?