אֵין מַעֲמִידִין אִשָּׁה בְּמַלְכוּת שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (דברים יז טו) "עָלֶיךָ מֶלֶךְ" וְלֹא מַלְכָּה. וְכֵן כָּל מְשִׂימוֹת שֶׁבְּיִשְׂרָאֵל אֵין מְמַנִּים בָּהֶם אֶלָּא אִישׁ:

"A woman may not be appointed queen, as it says, “upon yourselves a king” (Deut. 17:15) - a “king” and not a “queen”. A woman may not be appointed to any Position *Lit., mission. in Israel. Only may a man." — Mishneh Torah, Kings and Wars 1:5; 2012 Reuven Brauner translation

האיש נדמה כמלך אחראי, שכל מעשה שיעשה משפיע על העולם כולו, והאשה כמלכה יפה ואצילית, מעודנת ורגישה, שבכל מעשה טוב שהיא עושה ובכל הרגשה יפה שהיא מרגישה, היא מרוממת את העולם כולו. וכל מלחמותיו וגבורותיו של בעלה למענה, וכל יופייה ומעשיה הטובים למענו. הם מוכנים למסור את הנפש כדי לשמור אמונים זה לזה

"The husband is like a responsible king whose every action affects the entire world, and the wife like a beautiful and noble queen, refined and sensitive, whose every good deed that she does and beautiful emotion that she feels uplifts the whole world. All the battles he fights and the heroic deeds he performs are for her; all her beauty and good deeds are for him. They are willing to give their lives to remain faithful to each other." — Penineh Halakhah Simchat Habayit U'Virkhato 3:12; Yeshivat Har Bracha

Date Finished:

December 4, 2024

Name

Achinoam (אֲחִינֹ֖עַם) means "my brother is delight." Her father's name (Achimaatz, אֲחִימָ֑עַץ) means "my brother is wrath." Her name is used twice in the Shaul-David saga, one as Shaul's wife and one as David's wife from Yizre'el (Jezreel) and mother to Amnon. Now, some scholars speculate that these figures are the same person. Other people suggest that Achinoam's marital status differs based on the republican source (Shaul's wife) versus the monarchist source (David's wife). Within my stuff, they are two separate people.

Design Notes

The ketonet has a golden horn pattern. This represents multiple things.
In my stuff, Achinoam comes from the tribe of Ephraim (Yosef’s younger son), represented by a bull. -There is also some commentary connecting Yosef to the golden calf. In addition, the northern kingdom was associated with golden calf worship, which is part of the reason why Shaul has a negative reputation. He and his lineage has been associated with the northern kingdom even though Shaul never committed idolatry.
The horn shape looks like a crescent. She is mentioned in the Machar Rosh Chodesh haftarah, which is said before the start of a new month and a new moon when it occurs on Sunday. The original definitely mentions her once, but some translations add an extra mention.
The negative space created can look like a pomegranate if you squint. King Shaul is mentioned to stay under a pomegranate tree in chapter 14. “Now Shaul was staying on the outskirts of Gibran under the pomegranate tree at Migron, and the troops with him numbered about 600.” (Sh'muel Aleph (Samuel I) 14:2). At the end of the chapter is Achinoam’s one and only mention by name (Sh'muel Aleph (Samuel I) 14:50).
The trim represents the breastplate of the kohen (high priest) for all 12 tribes. Yosef’s gem was a malachite or an onyx.
I decorated the mitpachat with 6 gemstones (onyx/malachite) to represent her 6 children: Yonatan, Avinadav, Malchishua, Merav, Michal, and Yishvi.
The color of the ketonet and the gold jewelry comes from a line in David’s eulogy to Shaul: “Daughters of Israel, weep over Shaul/who clothed you in crimson and finery/who decked your robes with jewels of gold.” (Sh'muel Bet (Samuel II) 1:24)

Achinoam, Shaul’s wife, dances in a vineyard at Shiloh, inviting an off-screen Sh’aul to dance with her in the vineyard and become her husband. She wears a borrowed linen ketonet, a white head covering, and light brown leather sandals. Her ketonet has 6 embroidered malachite green circles at the neckline and a golden sash at the middle.

Young Achinoam at Shiloh

Tanakh

וַיִּֽחַר־אַ֤ף שָׁאוּל֙ בִּיה֣וֹנָתָ֔ן וַיֹּ֣אמֶר ל֔וֹ בֶּֽן־נַעֲוַ֖ת הַמַּרְדּ֑וּת הֲל֣וֹא יָדַ֗עְתִּי כִּֽי־בֹחֵ֤ר אַתָּה֙ לְבֶן־יִשַׁ֔י לְבׇ֨שְׁתְּךָ֔ וּלְבֹ֖שֶׁת עֶרְוַ֥ת אִמֶּֽךָ׃

"Sha'ul's anger flared up against Yehonatan; he said to him: [You] son of a twisted rebellion! Don't I know that you have chosen the son of Yishai, to your shame and to the shame of your mother's nakedness?" — Sh'muel Aleph (Samuel I) 20:30; 1995 Shocken Bible Everett Fox translation

Rabbinic Commentary

"'A straying woman, deserving of punishment.' נָע is an expression of straying and wandering, a gadding woman. Just as you have זַעֲוָה from זָע, similarly you have נַעֲוָה from נָע, and the 'ת' is for construct state, for it is connected to הַמַּרְדּוּת. 'Deserving of punishment.' Who deserves to be chastised and disciplined. Another explanation is that when the men of Binyomin grabbed the girls of Shiloh, who came out to dance in the vineyards, Shaul was bashful and did not want to grab, until she herself came, behaving insolently, and pursued him. 'Straying.' Because of the vineyards. And that is the winepress, as in "purge the winepress" [and] "His winepresses will drip with wine in the Targum's translation of 'His eyes are red [from wine].'" — Rashi on Sh'muel 20:30:1-3 from the Metsudah Tanakh Series

“You were not properly born from your mother. She was not modest and she was brazen to me when she danced. She asked me to dance with her and I had to take her as a wife." — Tze'enah Ure'enah Haftarot, When Rosh Chodesh occurs on Sunday 8

Date Finished:

November 26, 2024 (Achinoam); 2025 (background)

Ritzpah

Tanakh

וּלְשָׁא֣וּל פִּלֶ֔גֶשׁ וּשְׁמָ֖הּ רִצְפָּ֣ה בַת־אַיָּ֑ה

"Now Sha'ul had a concubine named Rizpah, daughter of Aiah" — Sh'muel Bet (Samuel II) 3:7; 1995 Shocken Bible Everett Fox translation

Talmud, Midrash, and Commentary:

רִבִּי יוּדָן אוֹמֵר. נוֹשֵׂא הַמֶּלֶךְ אַלְמָנַת הַמֶּלֶךְ. שֶׁמָּצִינוּ בְדָוִד שֶׁנָּשָׂא אַלְמָנַת שָׁאוּל. שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר. וָֽאֶתְּנָ֨ה לְךָ֜ אֶת־בֵּ֣ית אֲדֹנֶ֗יךָ וְאֶת־נְשֵׁ֤י אֲדֹנֶ֙יךָ֙ בְּחֵיקֶ֔ךָ. זוֹ רִצְפָּה וַאֲבִיגַיִל וּבַת שֶׁבַע.

"Rebbi Jehudah says, 'a king may marry a king’s widow, since we find that David married Saul’s widow, as it is said: "I gave your master’s house to youand your master’s wives on your breast.” This refers to Riṣpah, Abigail and Batseba.'" — Jerusalem Talmud Sanhedrin 2:3:6; Sefaria Community Translation

ר' שמואל בר נחמני אמר לאבישי בן צרויה נשבע ואמר לו חי ה' אם תגע בדמו של צדיק שאני מערב דמך בדמו. (שמואל-ב ג ז) ולשאול פלגש. כד איתעבד שאול מלך הוא עוד זעירא אפילו וכתיב (שם ה יג) ויקח דוד עוד נשים ופלגשים מירושלים. ואת מדמה עצמך לשאול.

"Rabbi Shmuel bar Nachmani said to Avishai ben Tzeruya, "By the life of the Lord, if you touch the blood of the righteous, I will mix your blood with his." And Saul had a concubine, as it is written (2 Samuel 3:7), "And David took more concubines and wives out of Jerusalem." And you [David] compare yourself to Saul." — Midrash Tehillim 7:2; Sefaria Community Translation

וְכֵן לוֹקֵחַ מִכָּל גְּבוּל יִשְׂרָאֵל נָשִׁים וּפִילַגְשִׁים. נָשִׁים בִּכְתֻבָּה וְקִדּוּשִׁין. וּפִילַגְשִׁים בְּלֹא כְּתֻבָּה וּבְלֹא קִדּוּשִׁין. אֶלָּא בְּיִחוּד בִּלְבַד קוֹנֶה אוֹתָהּ וּמֻתֶּרֶת לוֹ. אֲבָל הַהֶדְיוֹט אָסוּר בְּפִילֶגֶשׁ אֶלָּא בְּאָמָה הָעִבְרִיָּה בִּלְבַד אַחַר יִעוּד. וְיֵשׁ לוֹ [רְשׁוּת] לַעֲשׂוֹת הַפִּילַגְשִׁים שֶׁלּוֹקֵחַ לְאַרְמוֹנוֹ טַבָּחוֹת וְאוֹפוֹת וְרַקָּחוֹת. שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (שמואל א ח יג) "וְאֶת בְּנוֹתֵיכֶם יִקָּח לְרַקָּחוֹת וּלְטַבָּחוֹת וּלְאֹפוֹת":

"Similarly, he [a king] may take wives and concubines from the entire territory of Eretz Yisrael. The term 'wives' implies women who were married with a ketubah and kiddushin; concubines, women who were not given a ketubah and kiddushin. With the act of yichud alone, the king acquires her and relations with her are permitted him. A commoner is forbidden to have a concubine. The only similar relationship is the union with a Hebrew maid servant after she has been designated by her master. The king may make the concubines which he takes to his palace cooks, bakers, and perfumers as ibid.:13 states: 'He will take your daughters to be perfumers, cooks, and bakers'" — Mishneh Torah, Kings and Wars 4:4; Eliyahu Touger translation

Date Finished

December 8, 2024

Description

Ritzpah is Shaul's concubine and effectively his second wife via common-law. In my story, she is only a concubine because of Shaul's vow to only marry one time. She serves as a calming and stabilizing force but still has her own problems.

Name

Ritzpah (רִצְפָּ֣ה) means "pavement" or "glowing stone, coal, or a live coal." Her parent's name Ayah (אַיָּ֑ה) is a feminine noun meaning a "hawk, falcon, or kite."

Design Notes

The seven stars in the sky represent the seven male descendants of Shaul’s house whom she protected. The bigger stars represent her own sons by Shaul (Armoni and Mefiboshet).
The moon is pretty full because the beginning of the barley harvest was the second day of Pesach. Pesach falls on a full moon.
The pattern on the ketonet can be read as feathers or barley. The barely because that was when she started her protection of Shaul’s descendants. The feathers because her parent is named Ayah, meaning “hawk/eagle/kite.”
The gray agate beads are based on what I believe her tribe to be. It is not mentioned where she came from in the original text. Secret Book of Kings says that she came from Jabesh-Gilead. Jabesh-Gilead is in Gad’s territory, so I went with that.
The amount of pleats was unintentional but it reinforces the star symbolism.

Page updated

Google Sites

Report abuse