“When David’s life was drawing to a close, he instructed his son Solomon, saying” [2:1]. When the time for David to die drew close, he instructed his son Solomon.
“I am going the way of the whole earth, etc.” [2:2]. David said: I am going to die, as is the natural order of all people. You, Solomon, should strengthen yourself and be a man. That is to say, be strong and subdue the evil inclination and do not be childish, like a youth who goes after foolishness.1Radak, I Kings, 2:2.
“Keep the charge of the Lord your God, etc.” [2:3]. You should observe the commandments of your God and walk in His ways, to observe His laws and ordinances. Therefore, the verse says “in His ways.” This means, good attributes, to be compassionate to one’s fellows, just as is the Holy One. “His laws.” That is to say, commandments that we do not know the reasons why the Holy One commanded them, like agricultural mixtures, mixtures of wool and linen and eating pork. If the Holy One had not forbidden them, why should I not have eaten pork? Why should I not have worn a mixture of wool and linen? These commandments are all rules and rites [Numbers, 9:3]. “His ordinances,” means to give laws and proper judgment. “His testimonies,” means keeping the Sabbath and festivals properly. They are called a testimony that the Holy One created the world in six days and rested on the Sabbath. Solomon should observe all of these things, says David your father. You should be intelligent and successful in all the paths that you will follow.2Radak, I Kings, 2:3, with interpolations.
“So that the Lord will fulfill His words, etc.” [2:4]. You Solomon, when you will properly observe the words of God, the Holy One will also keep His words, and you will be a king forever. However, go with truth and with your whole heart to serve the Holy One. God will not cut off any of your descendants from the throne of kingship over Israel forever.
“You know what was done, etc.” [2:5]. Just as I have commanded you to properly observe the commandments of the Holy One, there is also a commandment to kill the evildoers of the world. There are evildoers, like Joab the son of Zeruiah, who did evil to me in that he killed two heroes, commanders of Israel. Abner was righteous and was a sage.3Numbers Rabbah, 19.2; Pesikta de-Rav Kahana, 4.2. The other one was Amasa the son of Jether. They faithfully served me in all the wars, and Joab killed them both. Some sages say that when David said, “that was done to me,” means that David sent a letter to Joab by the hand of Uriah the Hittite, that Joab should have Uriah killed. He always threw the letter up to David and showed it to him in order to embarrass him.4Numbers Rabbah, 23.13; Yalkut Shimoni, I Kings, Remez 170.
“He killed them, shedding blood of war in peacetime” [2:5]. This Joab killed these two righteous men5B. Sanhedrin, 49a. just like he would have killed foreigners in war. He killed them with his sword, with which he girded his loins, as if he had gone to war with foreigners.
“On the sandals that were on his feet” [2:5]. They lay dead at his feet, beneath his shoes. The Midrash says that Joab thought: if I will kill Abner, then I will become a great hero. Therefore, he thought up a stratagem how to kill him. He would come to Abner and ask him about a woman who needs to perform the ceremony of halizah. [As part of the ceremony] she must take off [her brother-inlaw’s] shoe. If the woman has no hands because they had been chopped off, how could she untie his shoe? Then Abner would bend over to show him, with his teeth. That is to say, the woman must remove the shoe with her teeth. When Abner will bend over, then Joab would stick his spear into Abner and kill him. Concerning this, the verse says here, “On the sandals that were on his feet” [2:5]. That is to say, through showing him the shoes on his feet, Joab was able to kill him.6Rashi, B. Sanhedrin, 49a, “Sheheim Darshu”; Radak, I Kings, 2:5.
“So act in accordance with your wisdom and do not let him descend, etc.” [2:6]. That is, do not kill him until you will find some accusation against Joab. Even though he is guilty of the death penalty, yet nevertheless Joab helped greatly in Israel’s wars. However, he did kill these two. Therefore, kill him wisely through an accusation. In any event, do not let him die in his bed, but let him be killed as he killed.7Radak, I Kings, 2:6.
“And the children of Barzilai the Gileadite” [2:7]. You should act graciously with the children of Barzilai the Gileadite. They should eat at your table all the time.
“For they befriended me” [2:7]. When I ran away because of Absalom your brother, Barzilai gave me to eat and drink and consoled me. Therefore, repay him with food.
“There is also with you Shimei the son of Gera, etc.” [2:8]. There is also with you Shimei the son of Gera, of the tribe of Benjamin. He is now within your authority to kill him. He is now in Jerusalem with you. You can easily find an accusation against him, to kill him. The Midrash writes: he is your teacher and is always with you. Therefore, you can easily find an accusation to kill him. He shamed me greatly when I ran away from Absalom. He troubled me greatly and he also spoke much evil against me.8Midrash Shohar Tov (Tehillim), 3.44.
“Terribly” [2:8]. This means a terrible curse that he cursed me.
“He came down to meet me at the Jordan, etc.” [2:8]. That Shimei later came to me and wanted to apologize to me. I swore to him at the Jordan that I would not kill him with my sword.
“And now do not let him go unpunished, etc.” [2:9]. Even though I swore to him, nonetheless he is deserving of the death penalty. You should not kill him because of my oath, but you should find an accusation against him and do not let him go free. You are wise. You will be able to find an accusation against him and cause his blood to descend to the grave.
“So David slept with his fathers and he was buried in the city of David” [2:10]. And David died and was buried with his parents in the city of David.
“The time that David reigned over Israel, etc.” [2:11]. The days that David ruled over Israel were forty years. He was king in Hebron for seven years and in Jerusalem for thirty-three years.
“And Solomon sat on the throne of David his father, etc.” [2:12]. And Solomon sat on the throne of his father, David, and his kingdom was established.
“When David’s time drew near” [2:1]. The Rabbati writes that every righteous person about whom it is written “drew near to die” did not live as long as his parents, since his parents lived for a long time. Boaz, Oved and Jesse9David’s great-grandfather, grandfather and father. lived for four hundred years and David only lived for seventy years.10Genesis Rabbah, 96.4.
The Talmud writes in tractate Berakhot, “his days drew near to die.” Rabbi Samuel the son of Nachmani said: The days that the righteous live are insignificant, since the righteous person lives forever in the next world.11Yalkut Shimoni, I Kings, Remez 169.
The Rabbati writes and asks a question. Why is it written, “And David’s days drew near” [2:1]? That is, it should have said that David died. The answer is that when a person dies, his authority ends. Therefore, in the verse he is called David and not king, because it was the day of his death. Jacob, also, when he was about to die, made himself very humble and asked his son Joseph, with humble words, that he should take him to be buried in the land of Israel, since this was also the day of his death. Rabbi Joshua says in the name of Rabbi Levi: the trumpets that Moses made in the desert, the Holy One hid these trumpets on the day of Moses’ death, so that they should not show that Moses had authority. As the verse says, “there is no authority over the day of death” [Ecclesiastes, 8:8]. There is no authority on the day when a person should die.12Genesis Rabbah, 96.2–4.
The Tanhuma writes about the haftorah [verse] “what Joab did to me” [2:5]. David wrote a letter to Joab. You should put Uriah in the eye of the battle so that he should he killed. Joab did so and caused him to be killed. The chieftains of the war came to Joab and said to him: why did you do this? He showed them the letter that David had written, to kill Uriah. Scripture says concerning this, “what Joab did to me.” That is to say, he did this to me, to show the letter to people, and David commanded that Joab be killed. Joab was David’s nephew. He allowed him to be killed so that he would have atonement for the murder that he had committed, so that he would come to the Garden of Eden in the World to Come.13Midrash Tanhuma (ed. S. Buber), Masa’ei, 9. Yalkut Shimoni, I Kings, Remez 169. The Rabbinic concept is that the execution of the murderer provides a form of atonement for his crime.
The Rabbati writes about this haftorah. Rabbi Yudan said: “Barzilai the Gileadite” is written five times in the haftorah. This teaches us that whoever feeds a righteous person at his table; it is as if he has observed the Torah that consists of five books. That is why Barzilai is written five times, because he gave food to the righteous person.14Genesis Rabbah, 58.8.