All these sufferings did not suffice to atone for David's sin. God once
said to him: "How much longer shall this sin be hidden in thy hand and
remain unatoned? On thy account the priestly city of Nob was destroyed,
(109) on thy account Doeg the Edomite was cast out of the communion of
the pious, and on thy account Saul and his three sons were slain. What
dost thou desire now—that thy house should perish, or that thou thyself
shouldst be delivered into the hands of thine enemies?" David chose the
latter doom.
It happened one day when he was hunting, Satan, in the guise of a deer,
enticed him further and further, into the very territory of the
Philistines, where he was recognized by Ishbi the giant, the brother of
Goliath, his adversary. Desirous of avenging his brother, he seized
David, and cast him into a winepress, where the king would have
suffered a torturous end, if by a miracle the earth beneath him had not
begun to sink, and so saved him from instantaneous death. His plight,
however, remained desperate, and it required a second miracle to rescue
him.
In that hour Abishai, the cousin of David, was preparing for the advent
of the Sabbath, for the king's misfortune happened on Friday as the
Sabbath was about to come in. When Abishai poured out water to wash
himself, he suddenly caught sight of drops of blood in it. Then he was
startled by a dove that came to him plucking out her plumes, and
moaning and wailing. Abishai exclaimed: "The dove is the symbol of the
people of Israel. It cannot be but that David, the king of Israel, is
in distress." Not finding the king at home, he was confirmed in his
fears, and he determined to go on a search for David on the swiftest
animal at his command, the king's own saddle-beast. But first he had to
obtain the permission of the sages to mount the animal ridden by the
king, for the law forbids a subject to avail himself of things set
aside for the personal use of a king. Only the impending danger could
justify the exception made in this case.
Scarcely had Abishai mounted the king's animal, when he found himself
in the land of the Philistines, for the earth had contracted
miraculously. He met Orpah, the mother of the four giant sons. She was
about to kill him, but he anticipated the blow and slew her. Ishbi,
seeing that he now had two opponents, stuck his lance into the ground,
and hurled David up in the air, in the expectation that when he fell he
would be transfixed by the lance. At that moment Abishai appeared, and
by pronouncing the Name of God he kept David suspended 'twixt heaven
and earth.
Abishai questioned David how such evil plight had overtaken him, and
David told him of his conversation with God, and how he himself had
chosen to fall into the hands of the enemy, rather than permit the ruin
of his house. Abishai replied: "Reverse thy prayer, plead for thyself,
and not for thy descendants. Let thy children sell wax, and do thou not
afflict thyself about their destiny." The two men joined their prayers,
and pleaded with God to avert David's threatening doom. Abishai again
uttered the Name of God, and David dropped to earth uninjured. Now both
of them ran away swiftly, pursued by Ishbi. When the giant heard of his
mother's death, his strength forsook him, and he was slain by David and
Abishai. (110)