Haftarah Art

Tanakh

וּמִיכַ֨ל בַּת־שָׁא֜וּל נִשְׁקְפָ֣ה ׀ בְּעַ֣ד הַחַלּ֗וֹן וַתֵּ֨רֶא אֶת־הַמֶּ֤לֶךְ דָּוִד֙ מְפַזֵּ֤ז וּמְכַרְכֵּר֙ לִפְנֵ֣י יי וַתִּ֥בֶז ל֖וֹ בְּלִבָּֽהּ׃  

"[And as the coffer of Hashem was coming into the City of David,] Mikhal daughter of Sha’ul was looking out through the window: she saw King David leaping and whirling in the presence of Hashem, and she despised him in her heart. " — Sh'muel Bet (Samuel II) 6:16; 1995 Shocken Bible Everett Fox translation

וַיָּ֥שׇׁב דָּוִ֖ד לְבָרֵ֣ךְ אֶת־בֵּית֑וֹ {ס}        וַתֵּצֵ֞א מִיכַ֤ל בַּת־שָׁאוּל֙ לִקְרַ֣את דָּוִ֔ד וַתֹּ֗אמֶר מַה־נִּכְבַּ֨ד הַיּ֜וֹם מֶ֣לֶךְ יִשְׂרָאֵ֗ל אֲשֶׁ֨ר נִגְלָ֤ה הַיּוֹם֙ לְעֵינֵי֙ אַמְה֣וֹת עֲבָדָ֔יו כְּהִגָּל֥וֹת נִגְל֖וֹת אַחַ֥ד הָרֵקִֽים׃ 

וַיֹּ֣אמֶר דָּוִד֮ אֶל־מִיכַל֒ לִפְנֵ֣י יְהֹוָ֗ה אֲשֶׁ֨ר בָּחַר־בִּ֤י מֵֽאָבִיךְ֙ וּמִכׇּל־בֵּית֔וֹ לְצַוֺּ֨ת אֹתִ֥י נָגִ֛יד עַל־עַ֥ם יְהֹוָ֖ה עַל־יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל וְשִׂחַקְתִּ֖י לִפְנֵ֥י יְהֹוָֽה׃ 

וּנְקַלֹּ֤תִי עוֹד֙ מִזֹּ֔את וְהָיִ֥יתִי שָׁפָ֖ל בְּעֵינָ֑י וְעִם־הָֽאֲמָהוֹת֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר אָמַ֔רְתְּ עִמָּ֖ם אִכָּבֵֽדָה׃ 

וּלְמִיכַל֙ בַּת־שָׁא֔וּל לֹא־הָ֥יָה לָ֖הּ יָ֑לֶד עַ֖ד י֥וֹם מוֹתָֽהּ׃ {פ}

"Then David returned to bless his household; but Mikhal daughter of Sha’ul went out to meet David

and said: 'How he has gotten honor today, the king of Israel, who has exposed himself today before the eyes of his servants’ maids—like one of [those] empty-men exposes himself!'

David said to Mikhal: 'In the presence of Hashem, who chose me over your father and over all his house, to commission me as Nagid over the people of Hashem, over Israel: I’ll dance in the presence of Hashem

and will hold-myself-lightly more than this; I’ll be lowly in my own eyes—with the serving-maids of whom you spoke, with them I’ll get honor!'

And Mikhal daughter of Sha’ul had no child until the day of her death."  — Sh'muel Bet (Samuel II) 6:20-23; 1995 Shocken Bible Everett Fox translation

Talmud, Midrash, and Commentary:

בזתה אותו בלבה, כי חשבה שאין זה מדרך המלך, ואף לפני הארון:

"She despised him in her heart because she thought that this was not conduct for the king, especially before the ark." — Metzudat David on Sh'muel Bet 6:16

אָמְרָה לוֹ הַיּוֹם נִגְלָה כְּבוֹדוֹ שֶׁל בֵּית אַבָּא, בּוֹא וּרְאֵה מַה בֵּינְךָ לְבֵין בֵּית אַבָּא, כָּל בֵּית אָבִי הָיוּ צְנוּעִים וּקְדוֹשִׁים, אָמְרוּ עָלָיו עַל בֵּית שָׁאוּל שֶׁלֹא נִרְאָה מֵהֶם לֹא עָקֵב וְלֹא גּוּדָל מִימֵיהֶם, הֲדָא הוּא דִכְתִיב

"She [Michal] said to him [David]: 'Today the glory of father’s household has been revealed. Come and see what the difference is between you and father’s household. All members of my father’s household were modest and holy.’ They said about the household of Saul that neither heel nor big toe of theirs was ever seen.'

מִיכַל, שֶׁל בֵּית אַבָּא הָיוּ צְנוּעִין כָּל כָּךְ וְאַתְּ עוֹמֵד וּמְגַלֶּה לְבוּשְׁךָ כְּאַחַד הָרֵיקִים. כֵּיוָן שֶׁגָּמְרָה דְבָרֶיהָ אָמַר לָהּ, וְכִי לִפְנֵי מֶלֶךְ בָּשָׂר וָדָם שִׂחַקְתִּי וְלֹא לִפְנֵי מֶלֶךְ מַלְכֵי הַמְלָכִים שִׂחַקְתִּי אֲשֶׁר בָּחַר בִּי מֵאָבִיךְ וּמִכָּל בֵּיתוֹ, וְאִלּוּ הָיָה אָבִיךְ צַדִּיק יוֹתֵר מִמֶּנִּי הָיָה הָאֱלֹהִים בּוֹחֵר בִּי וּפוֹסֵל בְּבֵית אָבִיךְ, הֲדָא הוּא דִכְתִיב

'That is what Mikhal said to him: ‘The members of father’s household were so modest, and you stand and expose your garment like one of the idlers.’ 

When she finished her words, he said to her: ‘Was I reveling before a king of flesh and blood? Was it not before the King of kings that I was reveling, who chose me over your father and his entire household? Were your father more righteous than I, would God have chosen me and rejected your father’s household?’" — Bamidbar Rabbah 4:20

Date Finished:

April 27, 2025

Description:

Michal and David have a spat that ends up torpedoing their relationship. Beneath a seemingly minor fight about modesty (tzinut) vs. joy (simcha) lies deeper issues: mainly David obtaining more wives despite forcing Michal to leave her new husband.

My Interpretation:

Michal may have loved David, but in my opinion, David didn't love her. He only married her for the throne and because of her brother, Yonatan. After David left, Shaul married her to Paltiel, son of Laish, who is mentioned as having wept after David took her away. After her disapproval of David's behavior in front of the Ark, Michal is said to have not had a child until her dying day (i.e. she had no more children OR she never had children because she was infertile/David stopped having relations with her OR she died in childbirth). There is no mention of divorce from David, but if David stopped having relations with her, he breached his obligations to his wife. Jewish marriages entitle a wife to sustenance, clothing/shelter, and cohabitation (Shemot (Exodus) 21:10). If the husband is unable or unwilling to do so (mored, rebellious husband), the wife is entitled to a divorce and money from the ketubah. However, only the husband can grant a Jewish divorce (get) to his wife (Devarim (Deuteronomy) 24:1). If a husband cannot or refuses to grant a get (Jewish religious divorce document) to his wife, the Jewish woman is an agunah, a chained woman stuck in her dead marriage. An agunah's husband either cannot or refuses to give his wife a get. In the modern day, abuse in the form of get refusal is more common than the inability to give a get. An alternative explanation suggests that Michal refused to give David a universally recognized heir, but I adhere to the agunah interpretation myself.

Certain commentary attributes Shaul forcing David to divorce her to avoid her from becoming an agunah (Radak on I Samuel 25:43:1; Abarbanel on I Samuel 25:44:1; Malbim on I Samuel 25:44:1). Within my story, he may have done this because he had gotten visions that his daughter would be an agunah, but his attempts to avoid this fate just made everything worse. Others say that David wrote a get freely but then renounced it in secret. So everyone thought that Michal’s remarriage was legal. And some rabbis say that Michal’s remarriage wasn’t really a marriage as much as being guarded by Paltiel (Abarbanel on I Samuel 25:44:1).

In any case, Doeg allowed Michal to remarry under “a rebel is as good as dead.” This marriage was  technically illegal under current halacha and Doeg was condemned as someone who allowed sexual immorality (Bereshit Rabbah 32:1; Bereshit Rabbah 38:1)

The rabbis often ascribe her to be Eglah for various reasons, but I venture a different explanation: because her marriage was traded for like a heifer. Like a heifer, the yolk of marriage became her chain and unlike Miryam, Michal had to bear that yoke until she died. 

Design Notes

Unlike an earlier drawing of Michal with her primary colors as blue and yellow, Michal's primary color scheme here resembles her father's with Tyrian purple and scarlet cloth as well as the clothing described in the poem Eshet Chayil ("Woman of Valor"), a ode traditionally recited every Shabbat to the matriarch of the household (Mishlei Proverbs 31:10-31). Various opinions exist on which woman or women the poem discusses with one midrash suggesting that one of the lines of the poem describes Michal (Midrash Mishlei 31:5). Therefore, I gave Michal pearls since the Eshet Chayil is said to be more valuable than pearls. The Eshet Chayil clothed her household in scarlet cloth (Mishlei (Proverbs) 31:21) and herself in fine linen and purple (Mishlei (Proverbs) 31:22). I gave her silver because David replaced her at least five times over with new women: Achinoam, Avigayil, Maaccah, Haggit, and Avital and if one interprets Eglah as another woman rather than Michal herself, six times over. To reflect what she says in the midrash, I gave her a long ketonet with long sleeves and a conservative neckline. I gave David a linen ephod to wear based on the plain text and I decorated it with bits of gold. Although David in the plain text is described as in the "right," the Torah aligns with Michal's idea of modesty for the priests. The disparate traditions on whether or not she had children also suggest a variety of opinions even if the author of the original haftarah disapproved of Michal's response.

What brings Michal extra pain in my art is how David wears the things her father wore: the crown and armlet and yet, he dishonors them both with his immodesty, his attitude, and his collection of wives. They look similar to the past but they are not the same since the jaspers have now been exchanged for turquoise. Notably, the rabbis criticize David for having too many wives in contrast to Shaul who only had one wife and one concubine (Midrash Tehillim 7:2). I also used a window lattice behind Michal to further emphasize her caged nature as David's wife. In The Shaul Chronicles, Shaul vowed to only have one wife, and he kept that vow. Meanwhile David collects women as status symbols since after their children are mentioned and/or their acquisition by David, these wives are not mentioned again.