Is It Read At Synagogue?: Yes; its first 37 verses make up the Haftarah (prophetic reading) of the Torah portion of Vayera, the fourth portion of the Book of Genesis.

Famous Quotes/Phrases: There’s nothing that strikes me as famous, but this chapter possesses an unusually high amount of emotional dialogue from common individuals who are dealing with stressful encounters. In a book dominated by the tales of rulers and prophets, it’s nice to hear different voices once in a while.

Basic Plot: You could easily entitle this chapter “Elisha and the Four Miracles.” These passages show that Elisha is a worthy successor of Elijah, announcing supernatural feats that can only be caused by God’s hand. They are as follows:

1. An impoverished woman with two children has only one jug of oil. Suddenly, that one jug produces an infinite amount of oil, which she can then sell to sustain her family.

2. A woman from Shunam hosts Elisha, and then, in spite of her and her husband’s old age, she is able to bear a son. Later, her son suddenly dies, and she seeks out Elisha, demanding that he do something. The prophet goes to the boy, who then returns to life.

3. Elisha feeds men suffering from famine; when it turns out that the food is toxic, Elisha adds flour to the pot of food, and the poison disappears.

4. A man who brings 20 loaves of bread is able, through Elisha’s influence, to feed more than 100 people.

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What’s Strange: The second of these miracles take up the bulk of our chapter, and the enterprising actions of the Shunammite woman stand out, much to the admiration of many. Yet Esther Fuchs notes that, unlike other biblical women, she disappears from the narrative without us ever finding out her name. “Her admirable conduct leads to no enduring relationship with Yhwh,” Fuchs writes in her book Sexual Politics in the Biblical Narrative: Reading the Hebrew Bible as a Woman. “Structurally her role is restricted to a single narrative detailing how her only son was born and how he survived thanks to her initiative. Having performed the typical functions of maternity and maternality, she slips out of the narrative, letting the diegetic focus return to Elisha and his miraculous exploits.”

What’s Spectacular: This chapter goes a long way to extend the idea that a prophet is not just someone who says what God tells him. While Elisha doesn’t have the power to actually perform the miracles, the fact that he is present for all of them establishes his role, at minimum, as a facilitator of these astonishing feats. The text could easily have said that God causes these things to happen without noting the involvement of a human actor, but instead, Elisha becomes the public face of these miracles.

Now, does God need for these miracles to be represented by a human being? Perhaps not, but maybe God understands that the Israelites sometimes need a human connection in order to grasp the magnitude of what God can do. The common people are better able to believe in God’s capabilities when they see someone who looks like them do remarkable things. Sometimes, we don’t believe in the power of what we can’t see until we can see something, or someone, who can embody all that is possible.

Shabbat Shalom!

Is It Read At Synagogue?: No.

Famous Quotes/Phrases: Elisha’s command that the king of Israel “get me a musician” sounds like it was taken from a scene in the world’s cheesiest musical, in which characters randomly break into song apropos of nothing. But apparently, that’s how Elisha likes to make his prophecies.

Basic Plot: We’re back to the kings of Israel and Judah, who are, amazingly, still working together. This time, Israelite King Jehoram (who commits idolatry but at least removes the pillars of Baal installed by his father) and Judah’s king, Jehosaphat, team up with the king of Edom to take aim at the rebellious Moabite King Mesha. When the three kings arrive at the tip of the Dead Sea, Jehoram panics at the lack of drinkable water. To reassure him, the kings seek the prophet Elisha.

Elisha assures them that water will appear in the wadi even without rain, and sure enough, that occurs the following morning. But to the Moabites, the refilled wadi looks like a pool of blood, causing them to think that the three kings had killed one another. Brimming with false confidence, the Moabites advance, only to be destroyed by the allied forces straightaway.

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What’s Strange: As the Moabites fall in defeat, their king offers his son as a sacrificial offering. Why in the world would he do so? Child sacrifice is emphatically forbidden in the Torah, partially because other Ancient Near Eastern cultures rely on the practice in a futile attempt to gain insight. “The practices that are forbidden for the Israelites share in common the attempt to gain [as stated by Gordon McConville in Deuteronomy] ‘knowledge or guidance, or to exercise power over the deity or other people by magic and secret procedures,’” wrote Peter T. Vogt in his book Deuteronomic Theology and the Significance of Torah: A Reappraisal. “Thus, child sacrifice should be seen not merely as the sacrifice of the child but also as an attempt to direct events or obtain guidance.”

What’s Spectacular: Despite its disturbing conclusion, this chapter can be viewed as one of the more positive in the books of Kings: Israel and Judah work together, the monarchs actually listen to the local prophet, and they are successful on the battlefield. God even throws in a bit of miracle work.

Still, the fact that the Moabites are blinded to the contents of the wadi recalls a far darker moment in the Bible, when the Egyptians are stricken with the first of ten plagues. In that episode, the Egyptian water actually turns into blood, whereas the Moabites in this chapter only think they are seeing blood. In both cases, the sight of blood — real or imagined — is an ominous sign of imminent disaster. The Bible certainly likes to repeat literary motifs, even when they forecast doom. And trends like these indicate that our story’s moments of brutality are far from over.

Shabbat Shalom!

Is It Read At Synagogue?: No.

Famous Quotes/Phrases: As insults go, “Go away, baldhead” might sound pretty tame; as a mostly-bald person myself, I find the phrase funny more than anything. But as we’ll see, not everyone is equipped to laugh off the mildest of taunts.

Basic Plot: Elijah is about to be swept up and brought to Heaven. Everyone knows it — the people in the towns Elijah and his successor Elisha walk through, even Elijah himself. Elisha refuses to leave his master’s side until he is taken. Upon reaching the Jordan River, Elijah strikes the water, causing it to split so the two of them can walk on dry land. Elisha requests that Elijah give him a “double portion” of his spirit. Elijah tells him that Elisha’s wish will come true if he is permitted to watch Elijah’s final moment on earth, which is exactly what happens.

With his master gone, Elisha parts the Jordan again, and although the 50 men watching him realize that he has been blessed with Elijah’s spirit, they insist on searching for Elijah. After three days without success, they return to Elisha and note that the town they live in lacks clean water. Elisha tosses salt into the water, cleansing it for all to use. But the miracles heralded by the new prophet of Israel aren’t always beneficial, for when the young boys hurl their mild insult on Elisha, he curses them, causing two bears to maul and kill 42 of them.

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What’s Strange: So … is Elijah dead? It’s not entirely clear. Unlik Samuel, who speaks to King Saul after his death, Elijah does not appear in subsequent biblical scenes. Yet Jewish tradition looks to him as the person who will herald the arrival of the Messiah. Is this because he is not technically dead and therefore available to help, or because his time on earth is so extraordinary that God wishes to revive him for this sacred duty? Rabbi Abraham ben David of Posquieres suspects that when that time comes, Elijah will be in a strong physical form, indicating that even if Elijah were extraordinarily old should the Messiah come in the future, God will grant him strength, whether the prophet has been alive all along or revived just for the occasion.

What’s Spectacular: The end of Elijah’s time on Earth is the main event of this chapter, but even the dramatic final moments when he is swept away is arguably overshadowed by the shocking assault on the kids who make fun of Elisha. To say that the end of the chapter leaves a bad taste in readers’ mouths is quite the understatement.

If there’s one thing this episode proves, it’s that Elisha is granted Elijah’s spirit — warts and all. As we’ll see, Elisha inherits Elijah’s prophetic vision and extraordinary connection to God and Divine miracles, but also his impulsive and violent tendencies. Perhaps Elisha doesn’t realize that inheriting a legacy doesn’t require us to emulate every aspect of it.

Shabbat Shalom!

Is It Read At Synagogue?: No.

Famous Quotes/Phrases: When asked to describe the prophet Elijah, King Ahaziah’s messengers first refer to him as a “hairy man.” As we will see in a subsequent chapter, a future prophet will have a great deal of difficulty dealing with the opposite condition.

Basic Plot: Under threat from the nearby Moabites, King Ahaziah of Israel injures himself. He sends his messengers to ask the deity Baal-zebub if he would recover, but Elijah intercepts them and chastises them for daring to inquire of a foreign god, saying that the true God knows that Ahaziah will never recover.

After learning this, Ahaziah sends 50 of messengers to collect Elijah, but the prophet summons a fire from heaven to vanquish them on the spot. Ahaziah tries this again with 50 other messengers, but the same thing happens. When Ahaziah tries this a third time, the messengers beg Elijah for clemency, so Elijah goes to Ahaziah himself to tell the king of his fate. Ahaziah dies and, since he has no offspring, is succeeded by Judah’s king, Jehoram.

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What’s Strange: Can Elijah really summon fire from heaven at will? Not exactly; the Hebrew Bible makes clear that God is the source of all miracles, and this is one example of God causing supernatural events at the pleading of a human leader. A reason we know that God is responsible for sending the fire is offered by Nathan Lovell in his book The Book of Kings and Exilic Identity: 1 and 2 Kings as a Work of Political Historiography, who notes that the language used by Elijah to summon the fire is a direct parallel to other occasions in the Hebrew Bible when God sends fire from heaven, such as the Israelites’ encounter at Mount Sinai.

What’s Spectacular: Considering that Elijah has been “fired” (no pun intended) by God as Israel’s chief prophet, he certainly does a lot of work, leading to the downfalls of both Kings Ahab and Ahaziah. Is Elijah defying God’s orders? Or is God being lenient with Elijah, giving him time to accept his fate?

I’m inclined to believe the latter. Change is frequently difficult, especially when it is compelled by other people — and especially when the person is particularly passionate, as Elijah is. I imagine that God is trying to make sure that Elijah’s zealousness doesn’t backfire on the Israelites somehow. It’s often challenging to deal with those who have strident beliefs, and it’s imperative that we give them a chance to gradually back away from their most extreme behavior, lest we cause a reaction that might be even worse.

Shabbat Shalom!

Is It Read At Synagogue?: No.

Famous Quotes/Phrases: When Israel’s King Ahab demands a prophecy from Micaiah, the seer replies, “You’ll find out on the day when you try to hide in the innermost room.” I like how mysterious that sounds. Where is this innermost room? What is in it? No explanation is offered.

Basic Plot: In a brief attempt at teamwork, King Jehoshaphat of Judah suggests to King Ahab of Israel that the two combine forces to attack the nation of Aram in order to recover Ramoth-gilead. Ahab agrees, but Jehoshaphat wants Divine approval for the plan. A group of 400 prophets claim that God will deliver Judah and Israel, but the prophet Micaiah tells Ahab that God is tricking his colleagues into predicting victory. Ahab ignores this warning and the two kingdoms march together, where the Arameans kill Ahab in battle. Just as God had foreseen, dogs lap up the blood from his corpse.

Jehoshaphat’s 25-year reign is evaluated; while he himself is loyal to God, he doesn’t dismantle the idolatrous altars in his territory. He is succeeded by his son Jehoram. Ahab, meanwhile, is succeeded by his son Ahaziah, who is just as disloyal as his father.

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What’s Strange: Why would God trick these 400 prophets — and therefore Ahab, who believes them — into thinking that victory is certain? David M. Howard, Jr. defends God’s actions in his An Introduction to the Old Testament by reminding us that Ahab already knows that Micaiah is a prophet of truth, and it is his vision that Ahab ignores. “Also note, most importantly, that ultimately God didn’t deceive Ahab, since the content of the vision was revealed to Ahab,” Howard writes. “He was given full warning and was given a chance not to be deceived. He chose not to heed the warning. His downfall, then, was entirely of his own choosing.”

What’s Spectacular: We’ve reached the end of the first book of Kings, and clear patterns have been established: the kingdom of Israel’s leadership is disloyal, the kingdom of Judah’s leadership is mixed, and true prophets continue to be ignored by the ruling class. Even though these patterns are consistent, they create a sense of uncertainty for the long-term success of our ancestors. This stands in stark contrast to the start of the book, when the reigns of David and Solomon, though flawed, bring relative normalcy to the Children of Israel.

It’s worth wondering which kind of political conditions are most common among our ancestors. In other words, should the times of David and Solomon be seen as the norm of Israelite life, or are topsy-turvy times more typical? Given the books we’ve covered in the past, it appears that the eras of Joshua, David, and Solomon are more the exceptions than the rule. Being an ancient Israelite, for the most part, means expecting the unexpected — just like in 2026.

Shabbat Shalom!

Is It Read At Synagogue?: No.

Famous Quotes/Phrases: Once again, the biblical text is obsessed wth hating on dogs. The idea, once again expressed multiple times, that Ahab and Jezebel’s blood will be lapped up by dogs, is considered an especially humiliating way to meet their end.

Basic Plot: King Ahab’s next-door neighbor, an ordinary man named Naboth, owns a vineyard. Ahab asks Naboth to give him the vineyard in exchange for a better vineyard or for money. Naboth refuses, sending Ahab into a depressive state. Jezebel arranges two people to give false, damning testimony against Naboth, resulting in his conviction and execution. Ahab takes the vineyard for himself.

Elijah reappears and proclaims that Ahab and his house will be decimated. The king tears his clothing and fasts while sitting in sackcloth. God tells Elijah that, due to Ahab’s repentance, the punishment to his house will happen in his son’s generation.

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What’s Strange: Given the evil, authoritarian manner in which Ahab rules, why does Jezebel thwart Naboth through legal means rather than simply having him killed? Douglas A. Knight and Amy-Jill Levine speculate that Naboth’s status within Israelite society would have not been politically savvy. “Naboth is no poor, vulnerable peasant, as some interpreters have viewed him; rather, he belongs to the upper class inasmuch as his valuable vineyard borders on the king’s summer palace grounds,” they write in their book The Meaning of the Bible: What the Jewish Scriptures and Christian Old Testament Can Teach Us. “So Jezebel has to move more carefully to achieve her goal.”

What’s Spectacular: One can’t help but note the parallels between Ahab and David at their worst moments. In II Samuel 12, the prophet Nathan compares David’s murder of Urriah the Hittite and subsequent marriage to his wife Batsheva to a wealthy man who takes a poor man’s one and only animal. Meanwhile, Ahab and Jezebel capture Naboth’s vineyard when they presumably could have purchased a vineyard anywhere else in their kingdom.

The difference is that the text in this chapter points out that this is but one of Ahab’s many sins; indeed, he acts “most abominably” throughout his life. Yet for David, ruthless as he can be in his ascension to power, his sin appears to be his lone repugnant moment. It says a lot about how low an Israelite king can go; David’s worst day is simply a typical day for Ahab and Jezebel. It reminds us that we must never allow a low standard of behavior to become merely ordinary.

Shabbat Shalom!

Is It Read At Synagogue?: No.

Famous Quotes/Phrases: I don’t know whether it’s famous, but I love the Verse 23 phrase “Their God is a God of mountains.” It sounds like a good slogan for a ski resort somewhere …

Basic Plot: We’ve known for a while how terrible King Ahab is, but when is God going to finally punish him? We finally get a hint of it at the end of this chapter, but not before God delivers him to victory twice against Ben-Hadad, the king of Aram. Ahab is actually willing to accede to Ben-Hadad’s demands when he first threatens invasion, and only resists after his people demand it. The far outnumbered Israelites defeat the Arameans, killing a startling 100,000 soldiers during the second invasion.

Ultimately, Ahab’s undoing is the same as Saul’s was hundreds of years before: Instead of vanquishing his rival king, he allows him to go free. An unnamed prophet tells Ahab that in spite of his act of clemency, his forsaking of God’s command will lead to his own death.

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What’s Strange: This chapter seems out of place with the previous two chapters; after focusing heavily on Elijah’s ups and downs, he isn’t mentioned at all here. But Burke O. Long contends that the order of chapters is not important in the grand scheme of things. As he writes in I Kings with an Introduction to Historical Literature, “The author-editor has chosen [instead] to present a series of incidents which clearly show Ahab as offender and prophet as one who confronts offender with his wrong and announces punishment.”

What’s Spectacular: Is it possible that the unnamed prophet in this chapter is actually Elijah? Near the end of this chapter, the prophet in question is described as “disguised by a cloth over his eyes.” And Elijah is aware that Ahab and Jezebel wish to kill him should they find him again.

I suspect that it’s possible because Elijah must think he has nothing to lose. He knows that Elisha has been tabbed to succeed him as Israel’s main prophet. What’s more, Elijah has never been reluctant to act boldly in the name of God.

Regardless, it’s curious how different the Elijah of the Bible is compared to the one of popular folk tails. We’ll talk about this more in an upcoming chapter, but suffice it to say for now that the passionate seer in the Bible will appear in later stories as a serene messenger. It’s amazing how differently we can remember a person’s legacy years after they’re gone.

Shabbat Shalom!

Is It Read At Synagogue?: No.

Famous Quotes/Phrases: The phrase “A soft murmuring sound” from Verse 12 is a memorable phrase in the prayer known as Un’taneh Tokef, a centerpiece of High Holiday service.

Basic Plot: Israel’s Queen Jezebel threatens to kill Elijah, so the prophet flees for a day’s journey to Beer-Sheva, praying that God will kill him instead. An angel provides him food and water, and a reenergized Elijah walks for 40 days and nights without rest, finally arriving at Mount Horeb.

After finally sleeping in a cave, God asks Elijah what exactly he’s doing; he responds that he is “moved by zeal” for God and knows that others are out to get him. God causes a mighty wind, an earthquake, and a fire; the text notes that God is not present in any of these phenomena. What follows is a quiet sound; God then asks Elijah the same question as before, and the prophet gives the exact same answer.

God responds by commanding Elijah to anoint new kings who will take vengeance on Israelites who worship Baal. What’s more, Elijah is to anoint a man named Elisha to succeed him as Israel’s chief prophet. Elijah goes to Elisha, who becomes his attendant for now.

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What’s Strange: The scene at Mount Horeb has fascinated many commentators over the centuries, and Rabbi Ruth Durchslag reflects on the connection between this episode and the Jewish directive to be reflective during the High Holidays. “The thunder and fire and wind capture Elijah’s attention, but it is only when Elijah listens to the silence that he can hear the voice of the divine,” she writes in “The Power of the Thin Whisper of Silence” in Who By Fire, Who By Water: Un’taneh Tokef (Rabbi Lawrence A. Hoffman, PhD, ed.). “The key to change is to be still and hear the whisper after the noise: the whisper of self, the whisper of the divine.”

What’s Spectacular: Rabbi Durchslag’s comment reveals the bittersweetness of Elijah’s fate: Even after the prophet witnesses both remarkable sights and a meaningful whisper, he doesn’t change; his answer to God’s question is exactly the same as it was before. And when we take into account Elijah’s behavior throughout the chapter, it’s fair to say that he’s out of control. He runs for his life, then asks God to kill him. He’s exhausted, then runs for 40 days straight.

It’s no wonder, then, that God tells Elijah that enough is enough. It’s time to find a new prophet and to transfer his burden to someone else. Elijah’s passion and enthusiasm for God are admirable, but he just gets carried away. And we are no help to anyone when we’re out of control.

Shabbat Shalom!

Is It Read At Synagogue?: Yes. The chapter’s first 39 verses make up the Haftarah for the Torah portion for Ki Tissa (from the book of Exodus). And the final verse is the start of the Haftarah periodically read alongside the Torah portion of Pinchas (from the book of Numbers).

Famous Quotes/Phrases: Elijah’s challenge to the people in Verse 21, “How long will you keep hopping between two opinions?”, could have easily been lifted from the transcript of a political debate.

Basic Plot: God tells Elijah to appear before King Ahab, after which the drought will end. The scene shifts to Obadiah, a prophet under duress by Ahab and his equally sinister Queen Jezebel; he had been hiding 100 prophets in a cave since Jezebel started killing all the others. Obadiah sees Elijah and begs him to go to Ahab lest he become Jezebel’s next victim.

Elijah compels Ahab to assemble 450 prophets of the idolatrous god Baal. They gather at Mount Carmel with all of Israel in attendance. Elijah challenges the prophets to offer a sacrifice to Baal while he offers a sacrifice to God; whichever sacrifice is accepted would be crowned the true God. The Baalite prophets hop around and cause themselves self-harm in the hopes that their deity would respond. Elijah, meanwhile, completes a simple offering, which God accepts by consuming the offering with fire. The Israelites proclaim that God is the true Sovereign — and eagerly follow Elijah’s command to seize the Baalite prophets so he can slaughter them.

It’s all a bloody mess … but as predicted, the rain begins to fall.

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What’s Strange: Why does Elijah dare Ahab to gather the prophets of Baal specifically at Mount Carmel? The location lends greater significance to the outcome of the contest. “Long before Elijah, the mountain was revered as a holy site,” writes Daniel C. Matt in his book Becoming Elijah: Prophet of Transformation. “Seafarers and locals alike venerated the conspicuous landmark as the seat of Baal of the Promontory. … In Elijah’s time, the Carmel range may have marked the boundary between the kingdom of Tyre (home to Jezebel) and the kingdom of Israel. By staging the contest between Baal and YHVH on Mount Carmel, Elijah was challenging the rival god right on his border.”

It can be compared to an underdog team challenging a powerful rival to a game at the rival’s home field — and winning in a rout.

What’s Spectacular: Elijah clearly has a flair for the dramatic. He isn’t satisfied proving to King Ahab that he has erred by following Baal instead of God; he has to prove it in front of all the Israelites. He even seems to take pleasure watching the Baalite prophets humiliate themselves while trying to summon their deity to accept their offering.

No one can doubt that Elijah prove his point in spectacular fashion. The question is whether all the histrionics are necessary. God’s instructions to him at the beginning of this chapter are simple: Go to Ahab, and then I’ll cause the rain to fall. God doesn’t ask for a contest, a show, nor certainly the mass murder of false prophets. Elijah thinks of all that himself. We’ll see in the next chapter whether all this drama is ultimately wortwhile.

Shabbat Shalom!

Is It Read At Synagogue?: No.

Famous Quotes/Phrases: Verse 22’s description of God hearing Elijah’s plea for a boy’s life is similar to the phrase in Exodus 2 when God hears the cries of the Israelites enslaved in Egypt.

Basic Plot: Enter Elijah, one of the Bible’s most memorable characters. In the midst of a drought, the prophet announces to King Ahab that rain will only come due to God’s will. Fearing Ahab’s wrath, God commands Elijah to go into hiding in a wadi east of the Jordan River, where he can drink and ravens can bring him food. But soon, the wadi dries up.

God directs Elijah to stay with a widow to feed him. Upon arrival, the woman says she can’t bake him with bread, as she and her son have meager supplies and are on the brink of starvation. Elijah promises that God will cause her jar of flour and jug of oil to regenerate food until the drought concludes. Later, the widow’s son falls ill and dies, but Elijah cries out to God, who responds by reviving the boy.

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What’s Strange: This chapter contains the first of numerous stories in which prophets intercede on behalf of ordinary Israelites, leading to a Divine miracle. “Such stories hinge on the prophet’s ability to resolve an altogether bleak situation through remedy, amelioration, or foretelling,” writes Gary N. Knoppers in Two Nations Under God: The Deuteronomistic History of Solomon and the Dual Monarchies. “However severe the predicament, the outcome is usually favorable to the afflicted. … An overall consistency, despite variation, establishes these consultation stories as a ‘type-scene.’”

What’s Spectacular: While prophets appear at various points in the books of Samuel, Elijah’s arrival ushers in an often-forgotten aspect of the seer’s life: Not only can they communicate God’s promises for the future, but they are at the center of some of the most wondrous occurrences this side of the Exodus. Even though it is clear that God causes the miracles, the prophet’s presence adds a layer of mystique to the reader’s impression of him.

Really, we haven’t seen these fireworks since the time of Moses, who is known in the book of Deuteronomy as the greatest prophet of all time. In some ways, we’ll see in coming chapters how Elijah is a new version of Moses. But in actuality, he might be seen as “Moses on steroids” (not literally, of course). It goes to show that it’s difficult, if not impossible, to imitate and/or replace a true original.

Shabbat Shalom!

Is It Read At Synagogue?: No.

Famous Quotes/Phrases: In Verse 4, God promises that King Baasha’s family and possessions would be “devoured by dogs.” This is considered the ultimate degradation; as we will continue to see, the Hebrew Bible has a very low opinion of canines.

Basic Plot: This chapter focuses on a string of kings of Israel, with each one worse than the one before:

As described above, Baasha and all he holds dear are doomed, but moreso after his death; his son Elah succeeds him as king for two years, until his drunken general Zimri kills him and his entire family. Zimri is in charge for all of one week when another army commander, Omri, lays siege to the capital city of Tirzah; Zimri burns down the royal palace while inside of it.

The Israelites split their allegiance between Omri and Tibni son of Ginath, but Omri’s forces overwhelm Tibni’s men, leading to Tibni’s death. Omri rules for 12 years, committing sin after sin, and then dies; his son Ahab succeeds him, and during his 22 years on the throne, his capacity for wrongdoing exceeds all who came before him.

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What’s Strange: There’s a bit of confusion regarding the conflict between Omri and Tibni. C.F. Keil and Franz Delitzsch suggest in their Commentary on 1 Kings that ordinary Israelites likely don’t weigh in on their preferred royal candidate; it’s more probable that a potential leader’s popularity depends on military support. Even though the historian Josephus claims that Omri himself kills Tibni, the probable culprit is one of Omri’s soldiers.

What’s Spectacular: There’s something fascinating about people who hold positions of power for stunningly short periods of time. America’s ninth president, William Henry Harrison, is something of an historical punchline because he spent only one month in office before dying of pneumonia. In more recent years, people have made countless jokes about the 10 (or maybe 11?) days in 2017 Anthony Scaramucci served as White House Communications Director, as well as the 49 days in 2022 that Liz Truss was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

In that spirit, Zimri’s seven days as King of Israel is emblematic of the instability of the monarchs of the Northern Kingdom. While his case may be an extreme one, his absurdly short time on the throne reminds readers that a reign built on a naked desire for power is not built to last. It’s a lesson that the Israelite Kingdom never learns — and one that the kingdom of Judah only heeds on occasion.

Shabbat Shalom!

Is It Read At Synagogue?: No.

Famous Quotes/Phrases: Maybe it isn’t famous, but there’s a strange postscript in the summary of the life of King Asa of Judah — he suffered from a foot ailment late in his life. It seems a little strange to focus on a mild case of agony of de-feet (rim shot).

Basic Plot: There’s a lot here; several kings come and go. It might be best to summarize it in a spreadsheet:

Israel and Judah are constantly in conflict. What’s more, Baasha becomes king of Israel after killing Nadav. But there are a couple of examples of promises kept; God keeps Judah in the Davidic family in spite of Aviyam’s disloyalty, and Baasha destroys the entire House of Jeroboam, as God had foretold.

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What’s Strange: A postscript found in another verse is striking: Early on, King David is noted for never having turned his back on God, “except in the matter of Urriah the Hittite.” This is a reference to II Samuel 13, when David essentially sets up Urriah for death on the battlefield so he can marry his widow Batsheva — a woman David had already slept with and impregnated. To a familiar biblical reader, this is a familiar story, but it’s bizarre that it’s rehashed here, numerous years after David’s death.

What’s Spectacular: Giovanni Garbini explains that David’s misdeed is mentioned here in spite of the fact that, to the writer of books of Samuel and Kings, David is considered “the just king par excellence” and the monarch to whom all other biblical kings are compared. “It is hard to believe that our historian would have had such a high consideration of King David if he had read only the texts that we have today,” Garbini writes in his book Myth and History in the Bible. He speculates that the fact that other manuscripts don’t mention Urriah in this verse indicates that it was inserted in our version by a later scribe or editor.

In other words, even many centuries ago, there were storytellers who wanted to whitewash or at least deemphasize the flaws of their heroes, as well as other voices who do what they can to enable a more complete story to emerge. Our modern pursuit of truth contains the very same categories of people.

Shabbat Shalom!

Is It Read At Synagogue?: No.

Famous Quotes/Phrases: Unfortunately, the prose of the Hebrew Bible is most vivid when describing tragedy. A prime example appears in Verse 15: “God will strike Israel until it sways like a reed in water.”

Basic Plot: King Jeroboam’s son Aviyah becomes sick, so the king sends his wife in disguise, along with his son and gifts of food, to a blind prophet named Achiyah. When they arrive, the prophet — fully aware of who has entered his home — announces that Aviyah will die once he returns home, and moreover, Jeroboam’s kingship is doomed due to his idolatry. Jeroboam dies after reigning over Israel for 22 years and is succeeded by another son, Nadav.

Things are no better in the Southern kingdom of Judah; Rehoboam reigns for 17 years, bringing idolatry and indentured servants to the land. He and Jeroboam are constantly at war with one another. What’s more, shortly after the start of Rehoboam’s reign, King Shishak of Egypt marches into Jerusalem and takes the treasures of the royal palace, including golden shields Solomon had made. Rehoboam is succeeded after his death by his son Aviyam.

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What’s Strange: Why is it significant that Achiyah knows that Jeroboam’s wife has arrived at his home? Saul M. Olyan suggests that we learn that God can even cause a blind person to see Jeroboam’s great. “The fact that she is disguised and that he is able nonetheless not only to recognize her, but also to identify her mission, underscores YHWH’s outstanding capacity to know all, and to communicate this privileged knowledge to his blind mouthpiece, the prophet,” Olyan writes in his book Disability in the Hebrew Bible: Interpreting Mental and Physical Differences. “Ahijah’s inability to see, which would have placed him at a disadvantage vis-à-vis Jeroboam’s wife were he not a prophet of YHWH, is rendered irrelevant in light of YHWH’s supreme knowledge and his choice to communicate it to his representative.”

What’s Spectacular: There are many people who believe that God’s every decision in the Hebrew Bible is pre-ordained, that every action is taken with a future outcome in mind. With all due respect, I disagree; I tend to think that God makes choices, and when those choices don’t work out, God isn’t afraid to pivot and try something new.

The shortcomings of both Rehoboam and Jeroboam are but one example of God’s evolving plan. The unified kingdom of Israel is split into two due to Solomon’s idolatry; while we don’t have specific insight into God’s specific rationale, we presume that now that there are two different kingdoms, at least one of them is bound to be faithful to God, right? Yet, instead, now there are two unfaithful monarchies. It’s hard to imagine that this is God’s plan all along.

But, at least it’s reassuring to reason that since God is willing to adjust to new circumstances, we have that ability as well. All of us have the ability to try different things in search of the lives we desire.

Shabbat Shalom!

Is It Read At Synagogue?: No.

Famous Quotes/Phrases: The agent’s borderline cringe-worthy exclamation of “O altar, altar!” in Verse 2 is nevertheless an effective cry of despair, much like David’s repetitious lament after the death of his son Absalom.

Basic Plot: An “agent of God” accosts Jeroboam at his idolatrous altar, claiming that a future Davidic king named Josiah will one day kill him along wth the altar’s priests, and that the altar will break. Almost on cue, the altar breaks, and Jeroboam invites the agent to eat with him at his home. The agent declines, saying that God commanded him to neither eat nor drink.

The agent continues his journey, where an aging prophet approaches him and invites him to break bread. When the agent refuses, the prophet falsely claims that an angel had commanded him to make the invitation. The agent falls for the lie, and God punishes him by sending a lion to kill him. The prophet finds the agent’s corpses and requests to be buried next to him after he dies.

All of this has no effect on Jeroboam, who continues to ordain priests to serve at idolatrous shrines.

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What’s Strange: This chapter is stark and challenging even by biblical standards. Perhaps the most significant aspect of its inclusion is the prophecy of a future King Josiah, as Karen Armstrong suggests in her book The Bible: A Biography. Indeed, the first half of the agent’s predictions will come to pass in the latter chapters of II Kings.

What’s Spectacular: Still, it’s hard to ascertain a logical message within this chapter. Is it trying to tell us that prophets and agents of God aren’t trustworthy? Are they easily fooled? Do they deceive each other rather than stand together in unity?

To me, the point of this chapter is to illustrate that chaos had returned to the people of Israel, much in the way that it reigns supreme at the end of the Book of Judges, in which everyone simply does as s/he pleases. Leaders like Samuel, Saul, David, and Solomon all have their flaws, but they do what they can to keep the Israelites from total collapse. But their days are long gone.

Sometimes, we don’t know how good we have it until it’s too late — and the leaders we complain about during less scary times sure look a whole lot better during our most harrowing days.

Shabbat Shalom!

Is It Read At Synagogue?: No.

Famous Quotes/Phrases: There are a couple of incredibly vivid phrases in this chapter. In Verse 14, Rehoboam threatens the Israelites, “My father flogged you wth whips, but I will flog you with scorpions.”

Ouch. But that’s tame compared to a phrase his young subjects suggest in Verse 10: “My little finger is thicker than my father’s loins.”

Basic Plot: Although God ordains that the Children of Israel will have separate kingdoms, Jeroboam, the newly-minted king of the Northern kingdom, offers the King of Judah, Rehoboam (Jeroboam and Rehoboam? That won’t be confusing at all), his kingdom’s devotion as long as Rehoboam rules less harshly than his father Solomon had. Rehoboam’s elder advisors suggest that he accept the offer, but he instead sides with his younger advisors, who want their king to show the Northern Israelites no mercy. The Israelites withdraw their offer of loyalty.

Rehoboam then tries to reunite the Children of Israel by force. He sends his henchman Adoram to induce the northerners into servitude, but instead they pelt Adoram to death with stones. Then Rehoboam prepares to simply invade, but God forbids it.

Jeroboam, meanwhile, has a different concern. He fears that his subjects will continue traveling south to offer sacrifices in Jerusalem and consequently switch their loyalties to Judah. So he builds two golden calves at the northern towns of Bethel and Dan, commanding his people to worship them.

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What’s Strange: What possesses Jeroboam to encourage such blatant idolatry? Avigdor Shinan and Yair Zakovitch don’t try to defend Jeroboam, but they suggest that the king doesn’t think that producing molten calves is a problem. “One senses that [he] viewed the calves only as symbolic of the presence of Israel’s God in that place, perhaps even as the pedestal on which the Invisible God might rest,” they write in their book From Gods to God: How the Bible Debunked, Suppressed, or Changed Ancient Myths & Legends. “In that case, there is no significant difference between the calves that stood in the temples in the Northern Kingdom and the cherubs, those winged creatures that served as God’s chariot, that stood in the Temple in Jerusalem.”

What’s Spectacular: There’s a lot going on in this chapter. For the first time in dozens of chapters, neither David nor Solomon are on the stage, and a new generation is in charge. This makes Rehoboam’s response to Jeroboam’s offer so emblematic. Rather than trusting the measured approach suggested by his elders, he prefers the more extreme (and crude) reaction of his contemporaries. One wonders how our ancestors’ fate may have changed had Rehoboam considered a less reactive response.

Of course, this is not to suggest that a younger generation’s philosophy is always misguided. But we should at least pause before simply dismissing what more experienced voices have to say.

Chag Sameach & Shabbat Shalom!

Is It Read At Synagogue?: No.

Famous Quotes/Phrases: When God announces in Verses 38-39 that David’s descendants will pay the consequences of their ancestors’ sins, God adds the phrase, “though not forever.” That shred of hope for a restoration of the Davidic line has fueled hopes of multiple religions for many centuries.

Basic Plot: Solomon likes women … a lot. We learn in this chapter that he has 700 wives as well as 300 concubines, and those wives turn his heart to foreign gods; he even builds shrines to a couple of them. God sees this as the ultimate betrayal and tells Solomon that, after his death, most of the kingdom will be torn away from his house and given to one of his servants. In addition, God raises up adversaries to torment Solomon, such as an Edomite named Hadad and an Aramite ruler named Rezon.

But the biggest threat to Solomon is Jeroboam, whom Solomon had put in charge of the forced labor from the descendants of Joseph. Jeroboam meets the prophet Ahijah, who gives Jeroboam a new robe. Ahijah then tears that robe into 12 pieces, announcing that 10 of those pieces represents the 10 tribes of Israel that will be under Jeroboam’s command in a newly seceded kingdom of Israel. Solomon seeks to kill Jeroboam, so he lays low in Egypt until Solomon’s death.

Solomon dies after a 40-year reign, aware that only a small portion of his kingdom will be passed down to his son Rehoboam.

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What’s Strange: Why does Solomon have so many women in his life? Is he an insatiable womanizer, or does he strategically wed women who will help him form international alliances? Both possibilities are feasible, but Steven Weitzman suggests a third possibility from an alternative source: “In the Kebra Nagast, the Ethiopian version of Solomon’s story, the king’s motive for marrying so many women is a pious one,” Weitzman writes in his book Solomon: The Lure of Wisdom. “He wants to fulfill God’s promise to Israel of many descendants more numerous than the stars in the sky, and there seemed to him no better way to help bring this about than to have sex with as many women as possible.”

What’s Spectacular: Solomon’s fall from grace is as stunning as it is swift. As of last chapter, he’s on top of the world; now, he exits the narrative as a failure, at least according to God’s chief criterion for success: loyalty. What causes Solomon to turn his back on God so quickly?

I wonder whether the abruptness of Solomon’s 180-degree turn lies more in our perspective as readers rather than a sudden change in character. In other words, Solomon has probably been led astray far before the narrative cares to mention it; we only read about his tragic flaws all at once, at the end of his story. It’s almost like the familiar film or television plot that shows characters with what seem to be ideal lives, and then discovering that they were hiding a shameful secret. Solomon probably doesn’t “break bad” at the end of his life; rather, there are bad habits all along, only revealed to us as the curtains close.

Shabbat Shalom!

Is It Read At Synagogue?: No.

Famous Quotes/Phrases: I don’t think Verse 22 is famous, but it ought to be. This is when we learn that Solomon receives a shipment every year filled with riches as well as — wait for it — apes and peacocks.

What is Solomon doing with apes and peacocks? Any ideas?

Basic Plot: The queen of Sheba’s appearance in the first half of this chapter has intrigued many scholars over the years. She travels to Jerusalem bearing lavish gifts, all for the purpose of seeing for herself whether the grand stories about Solomon’s wisdom are true. The two monarchs proceed to form a mutual admiration society, with Solomon brilliantly answering the queen’s challenging questions, giving her “everything [the queen] wanted and asked for.” Satisfied and “breathless”, the queen returns home.

The queen’s gifts account for a mere fraction of Solomon’s riches he accumulates from foreign monarchs and merchants. Solomon transforms some of this into more glorious items, such as golden shields, decorations and musical instruments of fine wood, a large throne of ivory, and drinking cups and utensils of pure gold. (The text tells us that “silver did not count for anything in Solomon’s days.”) He also assembles 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horses, procured from Egypt.

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What’s Strange: Inquiring minds have wanted to know: Is the encounter between Solomon and the Queen of Sheba strictly platonic, or is it also romantic? Naomi Harris Rosenblatt suspects the latter, but not necessarily in the way other commentators assume. She writes in her book After the Apple - Women in the Bible: Timeless Stories of Love, Lust, and Longing, “While the postbiblical versions stress Solomon’s sexual conquest and strategic superiority, the biblical version stresses equality between the two monarchs. Given what the Bible tells us elsewhere about Solomon, it strikes me as more likely that Solomon’s exotic visitor responded to his charm and that their intellectual rapport blossomed into a romantic interlude mutually desired and free of trickery or coercion.”

In other words, while Solomon and the queen likely are romantically involved, it doesn’t appear that their connection is dominated by one person or the other — rather, these are two equally impressive people drawn to one another willingly.

What’s Spectacular: The main thing that struck me while reading this chapter is, even after reading chapter and chapter of his achievements, it’s still hard to pinpoint what kind of person Solomon is. Our experience with his character stands in stark contrast to David, whose every move seems to reveal about his traits, both positive and negative. With Solomon, though, it feels like I’ve been reading his resume rather than interviewing him. We know so little about his character.

It reminds me of what sometimes happens when we meet someone; one of the first things we tend to ask is what they do for a living. While this isn’t a bad question per se, we also recognize that a person’s occupation usually reveals just a small sense of who they are as a human being. For the most part, we only know Solomon on this surface level. And unfortunately, what we will learn about the remaining years of his life might make us wish we didn’t inquire further.

Shabbat Shalom!

Is It Read At Synagogue?: No.

Famous Quotes/Phrases: God foretells that, should the Israelites be exiled from the land due to their insolence, people subsequently walking by the Temple “shall be appalled and hiss.” It sounds like an over-the-top reaction, but it reflects the symbolic power of Solomon’s grand architectural achievement.

Basic Plot: God speaks with Solomon and essentially reinforces the main points he had said to the Israelites at the Temple dedication — the house of David will always rule the Israelites, but the nation is subject to exile and shame if they forsake God’s commandments.

To repay King Hiram of Tyre for all the materials used in the Temple’s construction, Solomon gives him 20 towns in the northern end of the kingdom. Hiram isn’t thrilled with the quality of these towns, but he sends Solomon a little bit of money anyway.

We learn that Solomon’s forced laborers mainly focus on the king’s building projects — and that some of the laborers are of the foreign nations Joshua had once been commanded to destroy (more on that in a moment). One project connects Solomon’s palace with the home of his most prominent wife, the daughter of Pharaoh. We also learn that Solomon offers sacrifices three times a year at the Temple.

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What’s Strange: In Wrestling with the Violence of God: Soundings in the Old Testament (M. Daniel Carroll R. & J. Blair Wilgus, eds.), Hélène M. Dallaire writes in her article “Taking the Land by Force: Divine Violence in Joshua” that Solomon’s policy toward forced laborers suggests that the wartime policies of Joshua might not have been as heartless as they appear. “Nachmanides … taught that only men [of these other nations] were to be killed, both in “obligatory” and “optional” wars,” she writes. “Women and children were to be spared in all situations. Israel was to demand tribute and service, and the abstinence from worship of idols. Nachmanides supported his view by pointing to Solomon, who enslaved the Canaanites rather than eradicating them.”

What’s Spectacular: If you’re a fan (as I am) of the Broadway show Hamilton, you might remember an exchange in the Second Act when Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton complains to President George Washington of the difficulties of working with Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. “Winning [the Revolutionary War] was easy, young man,” Washington replies, “governing’s harder.”

I thought of this when considering Nachmanides’ contention that the treatment of foreign servants in biblical times is not as brutal as the text in the book of Joshua might indicate. It’s one thing to speak of total destruction during wartime, which makes up a good chunk of the text of Joshua. But Solomon’s reign, which is in a time of peace, reminds us that in order to maintain order and peace, we can’t resort to the harshest tactics. Therefore, the most extreme policies have to be modified. Solomon seems to understand this well.

Obviously, this is not to say that servitude is ethical and merciful … but it’s better than the likely alternative. Solomon’s practicality indicates why he is so suitable to lead during some of Israelite kingdom’s calmest days.

Shabbat Shalom!

Is It Read At Synagogue?: Yes, frequently. Verses 2-21 make up the Haftarah for the second day of Sukkot, while the end of the chapter (from Verse 54 on) is recited as the Haftarah of Shmini Atzeret and sometimes also on the Shabbat in which we read the Torah portion of Pekudei, the final portion of the book of Exodus.

Famous Quotes/Phrases: There are numerous memorable quotes in Solomon’s address to the Israelites, but one of the most enduring is the way he describes how future people will acknowledge their missteps. The phrase “chatanu, v’he-evinu, rashanu” — “we have sinned, acted perversely and wickedly” — is closely adapted to language we annually use during supplications on Yom Kippur.

Basic Plot: It’s the holiday of Sukkot. The Temple is complete, and it’s time for the Holy Ark — containing the tablets of the covenant — to be brought to its permanent home. Unlike the time David had the Ark brought to Jerusalem for the first time, this transfer goes off without a hitch. God’s presence descends in a cloud to fill up the divine home.

Solomon addresses the people, celebrating that he has completed the work his father initially wished to do himself. He recounts promises God has made, and then, curiously, asks God to both fulfill those promises and to forgive the people for mistakes they have yet to make.

The Temple dedication concludes with the sacrificial offering of 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep. No one knows how much barbecue sauce is on hand.

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What’s Strange: On what should be Israel’s most blissful day, Solomon devotes precious time in his address a future day of reckoning. It feels very out of sync with the rest of the day. The audacity of it is captured by Daniel Berrigan in his book The Kings and Their Gods: The Pathology of Power:

“And so revealing, the prayer. It echoes the heartbroken grief of exile, a long sigh, and tears. And we are bewildered: How to make sense of such words, placed on the lips of a triumphant hierophant-king?

“They did not issue from his lips. The words surpass him utterly. We have a stroke of literary genius, the irony of an omniscient witness, risen from the dust and rubble of exile. The prayer belongs to an unknown seer of the quality of a Jeremiah. For a start, almost as an aside, the unite chastisement of Babyion has brought a sobering truth home: ‘There is no one without sin.’

“It was Moses who first said it, drove it home like a nail in the flesh. From the prophets we shall hear it again and again: ‘Then, May they return to themselves in the hostile land where you have deported them.’”

What’s Spectacular: Berrigan seems to claim that Solomon wouldn’t dare be a Debbie Downer at the Temple dedication; the section that talks about Israel’s future failings is the work of another person writing centuries later, or a contemporary of Solomon who has the incredible gift of foresight. But this discounts the possibility that Solomon is incapable of such predictive powers himself; given his otherworldly wisdom, it doesn’t seem to be impossible.

Regardless of who is responsible for the sober tone in the middle of national celebration, it’s notable that the text would maintain a reminder of imperfection during an otherwise perfect moment. When you think about it, it’s a very Jewish tendency; our tradition famously maintains the tradition of breaking a glass as the final ritual of a wedding ceremony. We see a need to note what we are lacking even in our most grateful moment. How fitting that one of Naomi Shemer’s most memorable songs, Al Kol Eleh, returns to the idea of “the bitter and the sweet.” We are charged to hold both possibilities in our minds so that no moment will feel too naively perfect, nor too hopeless.

Shabbat Shalom!

Is It Read At Synagogue?: Yes, sometimes; excerpts from this chapter are sometimes read during the Haftarah (prophetic reading) of the Torah portion of Vayakhel from the book of Exodus, or on the second Sabbath of Hanukkah in a year during which the holiday includes two Sabbaths.

Famous Quotes/Phrases: The description of artisan Hiram — who is endowed with “skill, ability, and talent” — echoes the description of Bezalel, the great craftsman of the Tabernacle, in the book of Exodus.

Basic Plot: Sure, it takes seven years for Solomon to build the Temple — but it takes 13 years to build his palace! (More on that in a minute.) Like the Temple, it is built with choice stones and cedar wood.

We are introduced to Hiram, whom Solomon brings in from the neighboring land of Tyre to create masterful works of bronze for the Temple. Some are used for columns, and others are carved into Temple furnishings, including the lavers and their stands. They are so heavy that Solomon doesn’t bother weighing them. Solomon finishes the work of the Temple by creating numerous pieces of furniture out of gold, then depositing the sacred donations belonging to David into the building’s treasury.

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What’s Strange: In his book Israel in the Book of Kings: The Past as a Project of Social Identity, James Richard Linville notes that the structure of this chapter is an indication of the text’s “harsher portrayal of Solomon,” since the account of the Temple’s construction is interrupted by mentioning Solomon’s palace and the building of a house for the daughter of the Pharaoh, one of Solomon’s many wives. “The different sequences may reflect different levels of concern that Solomon had broken the injunctions of Deuteronomy 17:16-17,” Linville writes. What’s so bad about that? Those verses refer to a prohibition against a king (a) “sending people to back to Egypt to add to his horses” and (b) “having many wives, lest his heart go astray.” The text is foreshadowing that Solomon will be lured into idolatry by some of his foreign wives.

What’s Spectacular: You can tell that the text is setting us up to be ultimately disappointed in Solomon. And while it’s hard to escape that feeling at the end, let’s take a moment to be impressed with what he is able to get done: He oversees the construction of two grand buildings that will add to the stature of the Israelite kingdom and its religious life. He has an eye for aesthetics and for those talented enough to make grand visions come to life.

There will be plenty of time to dwell on Solomon’s shortcomings. His accomplishments also deserve some respect.

Shabbat Shalom!