Navi and Leader Interaction Grid

September 27-28th 2000

29th Elul 5670

Please create a table where each row describes a single interaction that a Navi has with a King/Leader in Sefer Melachim (A&B). Create a row for every such interaction in the Sefer.   When complete, the table will define a one-to-one relationship for every Navi-King/Leader interaction.   

The table will have 4 columns:

  1. A sequence number, starting from 1 that describes the interactions in chronological order.
  2. The name of the Navi
  3. The name of the King or Leader.  This includes a few non-Jewish Kings, as well!
  4. A blurb describing the interaction.  2  to 6 sentences should suffice in every case; however, the description must be comprehensive.  Use your own words, not the words in the Sefer. 

Keep in mind that a single Navi may interact with more than one King, a single Navi-King pair may interact with each other more than once, and a single King may interact with more than one Navi.  That is to say: there is a many- to-many relationship between Navi'im and Leaders.

You will not have to enumerate all the instances in order to get 100%; however, I haven't decided how many to require.  I'll let you know. 

To help you prepare for the test:

These are the Navi'im that had interactions with Kings/Leaders in Melachim A&B.  The chapters indicating where the prophets can be found is approximate.

Here's an example of how a  chart would look if we were doing this exercise for Sefer Shmuel A&B. This chart is very incomplete, but it should give you a basic idea of how the test should look, when you apply it to Sefer Melachim.

Chronological Sequence Navi King Interaction
1 Shmuel Leaders of Israel Warns them off taking on a King to be like other nations.  The leaders do not listen
2 Shmuel Shaul Makes him the guest at a feast of honor.  Anoints as King.  Shaul doesn't buy it.
3 Group of Prophets in Giv'ah Shaul Shaul becomes a temporary prophet 
4 Shmuel Shaul Appoints him the King at Mizpah
5 Shmuel Shaul Shmuel castigates Shaul for taking on the roll of a Kohen; instead of waiting for Shmuel to do the sacrifice.  The kingdom is ripped from Shaul (and ostensibly given to his son Yonatan.)
6 Shmuel Shaul Tells him to destroy Amalek
7 Shmuel Shaul Shmuel castigates Shaul for not completely destroying Amalek.  Rips his cloak.  Rips the kingdom from his family.
8 Shmuel Yishai Child Inspection
9 Shmuel David Anoints him as King
10 Shmuel (post mortem) Shaul For whom the bell tolls.  It tolls for  Shaul and Yonatan.
11 David David Checks with the Efod to see if he should do battle with Pelishtim.
12 David David Checks with the Efod to see if he should move to a city in Shevet Yehuda
13 Natan David Don't build a Beit Hamikdash.  His son will build it.
14 Natan David Reads him the riot act for messing up with BetSheva and Uria
15 Natan David Due to David's Teshuva, the death penalty is removed, but...

You may bring to class a Pocket Tanach, the Da'at Mikra on Melachim, the Mikro'ot Gedolot on Melachim, and a concordance if you have one.  (We'll try to grab the 4 or 5 concordances from the Beit HaMedrash for the test.)

This will likely be a two period test, starting on the 26th.  If we can't get two periods together, you will hand in your test papers at the end of class on the 26th, and I will give them back on the 27th for you to complete.