[Mesorah] David melech Yisrael

[Zev Sero]

It seems that I was unclear in my previous message on this topic.

What I'm suggesting is that "vayishkav im avotav" doesn't mean "he
died", for a king or anyone else, any more than "vayigva" means that
in the chumash.  Rather, it means some other part of the end-of-life-
as-we-know-it process.  I'm suggesting that the Tanach never actually
tells us that any kings died, but we can infer it from the fact that
they lay-with-their-fathers and were no longer king, which usually
involves death.  The Tanach doesn't tell us that they died, any more
than it tells us that they got sick or that they spoke to their
families or that they left instructions, because it's not an important
part of the narrative.  The important part is that they vacated the
throne, which we need to know so we don't wonder why in the next
pasuk someone else is king.

What makes David special, I contend, is that we are given a detailed
description of his passing, which goes on for chapters, so it seems
odd that at the end ikkar chaser min hasefer, his actual death isn't
mentioned.  This leads me to conclude that, like Yaacov Avinu, he
didn't really "die" but merely lay-with-his-fathers, and is in that
sense actually "chai vekayam".


-- 
Zev Sero               Something has gone seriously awry with this Court's
zev at sero.name          interpretation of the Constitution.
                      	                          - Clarence Thomas