What’s The Truth About . . . David Hamelech Being Unable To Build The Beit Hamikdash?
RABBI DR. ARI Z. ZIVOTOFSKY
Misconception: King David was not permitted to build the Beit Hamikdash because he had “blood on his hands” from all the wars he fought.
Fact: David mentioned this reason to his son Shlomo, who eventually built the Beit Hamikdash, but that was not the reason G-d conveyed to David through Natan the Prophet when David expressed interest in building the Temple.
Background
King David’s reign was turbulent, filled with war, insurrection and intrigue. Yet at some point after he had his palace built (Shmuel II 5:11) and had transferred the Holy Ark (Aron Kodesh) to Yerushalayim, he perceived that there was a modicum of peace and he desired to build a house for the Aron, i.e., the Beit Hamikdash. He expressed this intention to Natan the Prophet, whose immediate reaction was approval.
And it was when the King [David] dwelt in his house, and the L-rd had given him rest from all his surrounding enemies. And the king said to Natan the Prophet: “See now, I live in a house of cedar, but the Ark of G-d dwells within curtains.”
And Natan said to the king: “All that is in your heart, go do, for the L-rd is with you” (Shmuel II 7:1-3 [cf. Divrei Hayamim I 17:1-2]).
That very night, G-d appeared to Natan and informed him that he had erred and that it was a no-go. The prophet informed King David that G-d had scrapped his plan—G-d would establish a dynasty for David, but it would be his son who would build the Beit Hamikdash. Why not King David? G-d’s message to Natan was quite lengthy (Shmuel II 7:4-17; Divrei Hayamim I 17:3-15), and yet the impediment to David’s building it is not at all clear.
What is clear is that there is no hint or allusion to King David being barred from building the Temple due to his having shed blood. The direct communication from G-d “omitted” that popular explanation.
The straightforward reason Shlomo and not David was to build the Mikdash seems to be linked to the initial Biblical command/promise regarding a Divine house, which would only be built following the conquest, when G-d would give rest in the Land. In Devarim (12:9-11) Moshe tells the Jews:
Since you have not yet reached the resting place [menuchah] and the heritage [nachalah] that Hashem, your G-d, gives you. When you cross the Jordan River and live in the land which Hashem, your G-d, gives you, and He gives you rest from all your enemies round about, and you will dwell securely; then it will be that the site that Hashem, your L-rd, will choose to cause His name to dwell there, it is there that you should bring all that I command you: your burnt-offerings, and your eaten sacrifices, your tithes, and bikkurim, and all your choice vows which you will vow to Hashem.
In King David’s initial proposal, he noted that he had vanquished the enemies and G-d had given him rest from them. He thought that was a sufficient condition to build the Mikdash.
But the verse in Devarim also includes “dwelling in safety.” Rashi explains (Shmuel II 7:10) that G-d, in his message via Natan, was telling David that true tranquility would only come during his son’s reign and thus that would be the proper time to build the Mikdash. And so it was. Melachim I 5:5 states that in King Shlomo’s time “Judah and Israel dwelt safely, every man under his vine and under his fig tree, from Dan to Be’ersheva, all the days of Shlomo.” Later in that chapter (verse 17), Shlomo explains to Hiram, king of Zur: “You know that David my father could not build a house for the name of the L-rd, his G-d, because of the wars which surrounded him, until the L-rd put them under the soles of my feet [or, his feet].”
According to Shlomo, the reason David could not build the Temple was not because he was a man of war but because of the wars themselves, i.e., the lack of true peace. Peace and political stability are a prerequisite for building the Temple. The postponement in building the Mikdash, according to the books of Shmuel and Melachim, relates to the national situation, to the historical timing, and not to a flaw with King David. Building the Temple requires national rest, menuchah. In Divrei Hayamim I 28:2, David calls the Temple that he planned to build a “beit menuchah—house of rest—for the Aron.” And in foretelling Shlomo’s birth, Divrei Hayamim I 22:9 calls him “ish menuchah” and states that his name will be Shlomo (peaceful) and that peace (shalom) and quiet will be in Israel in his time.
Still and all, the popular notion of why David could not build the Mikdash is not without basis—it appears twice in Divrei Hayamim, the final Biblical book, both times not as part of a prophecy but in King David’s own explanation for why he did not build the Temple. In Divrei Hayamim I 22, King David charges his son Shlomo to build the Temple and explains why he himself did not build it: “But the word of the L-rd came to me, saying: ‘You have shed much blood and made great wars; you shall not build a house to My name, because you have shed much blood upon the earth in My sight’” (Divrei Hayamim I 22:8). David then continues (verse 9) with an explanation that coincides with the explanation from the Book of Shmuel. He tells Shlomo that G-d had promised him: “Behold, a son will be born to you, he will be a man of rest; and I will give him rest from all his enemies round about; for his name shall be Shlomo, and I will give peace and quietness to Israel in his days.”
Several chapters later it is recorded that David gathered the nation together and explained that Shlomo will build the Temple and he again says (Divrei Hayamim I 28:3): “But G-d said to me: ‘You will not build a house for My name, because you are a man of war, and you have shed blood.’”
How could King David assert that G-d had told him a reason that is not recorded in the earlier prophecy? Possibly, there was an additional earlier, unrecorded prophecy that is here revealed to the reader of Tanach for the first time; or King David is providing his interpretation of what Natan’s prophecy meant; or he is revealing his inner feelings about what G-d “really meant” by the rejection.
Despite this not being the reason given to Natan in Sefer Melachim, several Rishonim refer to it. Rambam (Introduction to Avot, “Shemoneh Perakim,” ch. 7, pp. 197-8 in Mossad Harav Kook 1989 ed.) explains that Divrei Hayamim I 22:8 means that David had a cruel streak in his personality and therefore G-d did not permit him to build the Mikdash even if that trait was only manifest in the justifiable killing of heretics. Ramban (Bamidbar 16:21) explains that since King David’s personality highlighted the attribute of strict justice, he was not the appropriate person to build a “house of mercy.”
According to a radically different interpretation in the late midrashim, Natan explained to David that in G-d’s eye all of the bloodshed he was involved with was “like the killing of deer and gazelles” or like slaughtering sacrifices, i.e. the killing of the wicked was a merit for David. G-d then explained to King David that he could not build the Temple because he was so righteous that if he were to build the Temple, G-d would be unable to destroy it and knowing the Jews would sin in the future, G-d, so to speak, wanted to keep that option open.
