Rashi on I Samuel Chapter 26
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מְעוּכָה. נְעוּצָה:
Stuck. Thrust.
חַי ה׳. יֵשׁ אוֹמְרִים, לְיִצְרוֹ נִשְׁבַּע, וְיֵשׁ אוֹמְרִים, לַאֲבִישַׁי נִשְׁבַּע, אִם תַּהֲרֹג אֶת הַצַּדִּיק, אֲנִי אֲעָרֵב דָּמְךָ בְּדָמוֹ:
As Adonoy lives. Some say that he swore to his temptation;¹ others say that he swore to Avishai, that if you kill this righteous man [Shaul], I shall mingle your blood with his blood.
footnotes: ¹ The use of swearing to ward off temptation is done by many Tzadikim. For example, Avrohom swore [Bereishis 14:22-23] that he will not take the spoils of victory after defeating the four kings. It was Dovid’s inclination to kill Shaul for trying to kill him. He therefore swore that he will not kill Shaul.—See Midrash Tanchuma Beha’aloscha 10.
כִּי אִם ה׳ יִגָּפֶנּוּ. יְקָרֵב מִיתָתוֹ:
Adonoy will strike him. Will bring his death prematurely.²
footnotes: ² Like Novol.—Radak.
אוֹ יוֹמוֹ יָבֹא. יוֹם שֶׁזְּמַן מִיתָתוֹ בּוֹ:
Or his day will come. The day in which he is destined to die.³
footnotes: ³ Is in the very near future.—Radak.
צַפַּחַת. צְלוֹחִית:
Flask. Jug.
הֱסִיתְךָ בִי. לִשְׂנָאָתִי, כָּל הֲסָתָה לְשׁוֹן שׂוּמָה, אמיטמנ״ט בלע״ז:
Who has incited you against me. To hate me. Every expression of הֲסָתָה means setting;⁴ametement in O.F.
footnotes: ⁴ See Devarim 13:7, where Rashi states ‘הַסָּתָה always denotes inciting.’
יָרַח מִנְחָה. יְקַבֵּל בְּרַחֲמִים תְּפִלָּתִי, לְהָשִׁיב חֲמָתְךָ מִמֶּנִּי:
Let my offering be pleasing to Him. He will accept with mercy my prayer to turn your anger away from me.
כִּי גֵרְשׁוּנִי. מֵאֶרֶץ יִשְׂרָאֵל:
For they have driven me away. From Eretz Yisroel.
לֵךְ עֲבֹד אֱלֹהִים אֲחֵרִים. הַיּוֹצֵא מֵאֶרֶץ יִשְׂרָאֵל לְחוּץ לָאָרֶץ בִּזְמַן הַבַּיִת, כְּאִלּוּ עוֹבֵד עֲבוֹדָה זָרָה וְיוֹנָתָן תִּרְגֵּם: ״אִיזִיל דָּוִד בֵּינֵי עַמְמַיָּא פָּלְחֵי טָעוּתָא״:
Go serve other gods. Whoever goes out of Eretz Yisroel to other lands during the time of the Temple is considered as though he worshipped idols.⁵ Targum Yonoson renders, 'Go, Dovid, among nations who worship idols.'⁶
footnotes: ⁵ See Maseches Kesubos 110b. ⁶ Or the reference to idol worship means that by causing Dovid to flee from his enemies made him abandon his Torah study thereby moving him closer to idolatry.
הַקֹּרֵא. עוֹף שֶׁשְּׁמוֹ קוֹרֵא, ובלע״ז פרדי״ץ, וְכֵן (ירמיהו יז:יא): ״קֹרֵא דָגַר וְלֹא יָלָד״, וּמְרַדֵּף אַחַר קִנֵּי שְׁאָר עוֹפוֹת, וְיוֹשֵׁב עַל בֵּיצֵיהֶם:
As the partridge. A bird named קוֹרֵא, and in O.F. perdriz; and similarly, "as the partridge calls together [offspring] it did not bear"⁷ and it seeks the nests of other birds, and sits on their eggs.⁸
footnotes: ⁷ Yirmiyahu 17:11. ⁸ Maseches Chulin 140b. Dovid compared Shaul’s fate to that of the partridge. Just as the partridge seeks the nests of other birds but the young return to their natural mother and the partridge is unable to keep them, so too, Shaul who chased after Dovid will be unable to keep his kingship.
יָשִׁיב לָאִישׁ. לְכָל צַדִּיק וְצַדִּיק:
Each man. To each righteous man.⁹
footnotes: ⁹ Who does as I have done.—Radak. Dovid was hinting to ה׳ that just as Shaul’s life was precious in his eyes, so too may his life be precious in the eyes of ה׳.