G-d swore by His Throne of Glory, says Rebbi Eliezer, that a gentile from any nation who comes to convert will be accepted, unless he comes from Amalek and his family (Mechilta). That is why the Torah writes “mi’dor dor”. Rebbi Eliezer derives this from a combination of the fact that a ‘Gimel’ and a ‘Daled’ (like all consecutive letters) are inter-changeable, and that “mi’dor dor” is written without ‘Vavin’. Consequently, the Pasuk reads “milchomoh la’Hashem ba’Amalek mi’ger ger”, teaching us G-d’s total rejection of the Amalekim, even after they have converted.
And he goes on to prove this from the episode in Shmuel 2, where David asked the young man who claimed to have killed King Shaul where he was from, to which he replied that he was the son of an Amaleki convert.
At that moment, David recalled the command that G-d issued Moshe … not to accept converts from Amalek, and so he replied “You have caused your own death, by virtue of your testimony”.
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This is most strange, asks the Torah Temimah. From the flow of the Pesukim it would seem that David was referring to the Amaleki’s testimony that he had killed King Shaul, and not to the fact that he was an Amaleki. Indeed, that is how the commentaries explain it, despite the fact that, contrary to the Amaleki’s claim, it was Shaul who fell on his sword, killing himself.
In fact, David Hamelech implied that, were it not for his claim, he would not have killed him, even though he was an Amaleki, negating the very point that the Rebbi Eliezer is making.
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To resolve this difficulty, the Torah Temimah, points to David’s unusually lengthy explanation as to why he killed the young man. Why, he asks, did he find it necessary to justify his act, when on numerous occasions, he sentenced people to death without as much as a murmer?
Evidently, David, in his deep wisdom, realized from the Amaleki’s words that he had not killed Shaul at all, and that he was merely looking to find favour in David’s eyes. In that case, he did not really merit the death penalty for killing Shaul, and certainly not for his vain boasts, even if they were false.
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It is therefore evident that David’s real motive for issuing the death-penalty here was because, as the youth himself testified, he was an Amaleki, and, as Rebbi Eliezer learns from our Pasuk, G-d’s war with Amalek continues even after they have converted.
Why then, did he convey the impression that he was punishing him for striking down the king, seeing as that was not the real reason at all? The answer to that is for political expedience. He preferred to hide his true motive from the nations of the world to avoid the ensuing outrage at his callousness. He therefore took advantage of the information supplied by the Amaleki, and used it as a cover-up.
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The Torah Temimah himself in Parshas No’ach (9:5 [8]), explains the Pasuk in Shmuel quite differently, based on a Yerushalmi. The Yerushalmi in Kidushin rules that, as opposed to a Jew, a gentile is put to death on his own admission.
In that case, what David Hamelech was saying to the youth was, that had he not stated his nationality, he (David) would not have been able to kill him (seeing as there were no witnesses, and a Jew cannot be sentenced to death without witnesses). However, having admitted that he was an Amaleki convert, he had effectively signed his own death warrant, since his conversion was null and void (like the ruling of the Mechilta). Consequently, he remained a gentile as before, and he stood implicated by his own testimony.
SHORT VORT, Rabbi Moshe Kormornick. Published by Adir Press. $9.99 in stores worldwide and online here
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