Rabbotai, I’d now like to dwell on this a bit, to delve into it somewhat in order to reach a wondrous conclusion. The truth is, from the plain meaning of the text, it is very difficult to understand this Haftarah. To do so, we need to go back to the final chapter of Sefer Melachim Alef, where the story of Achav, king of Yisrael, is recounted. It was a period of peace and calm between Yisrael and Aram.
Yehoshafat, the king of Yehuda, comes to visit him, and Achav says: “Tell me, I want to conquer a place called Ramot Gilad. Are you willing to help me?” Yehoshafat replied, “I am with you – my people are your people, my horses are your horses. No problem, whatever you need!”
Before proceeding though, Yehoshafat asks him, “Everything is okay, but did you ask Hashem – via the Navi – whether to go to war or not?” Achav replies, “What’s the problem? In just a minute, I’ll bring you a Navi!”
King Achav then gathered four hundred prophets – albeit false prophets – and asked them whether he should go battle Ramot Gilad or refrain from doing so? They answered positively, telling him he’ll succeed in the fight. Great, four hundred prophets, all answering at once. Yehoshafat breaks the news to him, however, “Chabibi, these aren’t real prophets; this is a kinderlach choir!” It cannot be that all the prophets answer at once, according to Chazal in the Gemara.
Yehoshafat then asks him, “Tell me, is there one more Navi besides these four hundred?” Achav responds, “Yes, but I don’t like him much. His name is Michayahu ben Yimla, and everything he says is always against me! And I despise him because he does not prophesy anything good about me!” Yehoshafat then instructed Achav to call him, and Yehoshafat asked the Navi Michayahu, “We’re going to war against Ramot Gilad – will we win or not?”
(17) Then he said, “I saw all Israel scattered over the hills like sheep without a shepherd; and G-d said, ‘These have no master; let everyone return home in safety.’”
The Navi’s answer is: “You will go out to battle, and no one will die except the shepherd!” In other words, the leader!
(18) “Didn’t I tell you,” said the king of Israel (Achav) to Yehoshaphat, “that he would not prophesy good fortune for me, but only misfortune?”
This is exactly what Achav warned. “What did I tell you? Everyone will return in peace except me? Have you ever seen a war where only the leader dies? He is always against me!” Nonetheless, Achav goes out to battle, after all, he has four hundred so-called prophets who endorsed the plan.
Meanwhile, the king of Aram knows that the Navi Michayahu prophesied that only the king would die, and all the soldiers would come out in peace. The Malbim asks: How did he know? He must have had spies. The king of Aram believes Michayahu, so he gathers all the army commanders and warns them: “No one fires a shot! Anyone who shoots will be court-martialed! In this war, only the king of Yisrael dies!” That is the order, and that is how they proceed.
Achav then says to Yehoshafat: “I will disguise myself, because if I go out in royal garments, they will recognize me immediately. But you, King Yehoshafat, the prophet did not say you would die, so you can be dressed in royal garments!” The battle begins and Aram stands on the other side. Thirty-two chariot commanders go out and they see Yehoshafat from afar, dressed in royal garments.
(32) So when the chariot officers saw Yehoshaphat, whom they took for the king of Israel, they turned upon him to attack him, and Yehoshaphat cried out. (33) And when the chariot officers became aware that he was not the king of Israel, they turned back from pursuing him.
Rashi explains, And Yehoshafat cried out to Hakadosh Baruch Hu: “Ribbono Shel Olam, Michayahu said I would not die!” The chariot commanders, seeing it was not the king of Yisrael, turned back and leave him alone.
(34) Then another man drew his bow at random and he hit the king of Israel between the plates of the armor; and he said to his charioteer, “Turn the horses around and get me behind the lines; I’m wounded.”
A young man then accidently fires a shot! And his stray bullet – or arrow – strikes the king of Yisrael between the joints of his armor, killing him. Chazal say (Midrash Shocher Tov) it was none other than Na’aman whose gun – or bow – went off. When Achav is hit by the bullet, he feels he is going to die and says to his officer: “Get me out of here quickly, because if they see that I’m dead, everyone will flee. Let them continue to fight!” But no one is fighting. They’re not firing any bullets – or arrows – and those on the other side are also standing by. Everyone is waiting.
Who is this man, Na’aman? Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer (16) asks why he merited to be the one who fired the bullet? In Parshat Vayeitze, we read that Lavan, who was also from Aram, held a wedding for his future son-in-law, Yaakov Avinu. And who attended the wedding? They didn’t have entertainers like today, so Lavan invited all the local townsmen, and Chazal recount that he took deposits from everyone. In other words, they paid for their own food! And what did they sing all night? “הִיא לֵאָה ... הִיא לֵאָה – It’s Leah... it’s Leah!” They tried to tip off Yaakov that he was being tricked. Chazal say, Hakadosh Baruch Hu said to them: “You showed kindness to Yaakov, My servant, and I will repay you and give you your reward in this world, as the wicked will have no reward in the World to Come.” They paid for the wedding of Yaakov Avinu and nothing happens without reason. Thus, this Aramean named Na’aman succeeded in killing the king of Yisrael and rose to greatness. Everyone said, “Wow, what a champion sharpshooter!” They carried him on their shoulders and appointed him as commander of the army. He even received a medal of valor because of one stray bullet!
This is the introduction, and we can now study this week’s Haftarah from its beginning.
