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• The Zohar (Zohar II, 238a) teaches that David's inquiry of the LORD — "Shall I go up to any of the cities of Judah?" — before making any move toward the throne demonstrates that Malkhut does not seize power but receives it from above. God's direction to Hebron was not arbitrary: Hebron is the city of Abraham, the seat of Chesed, and the gateway to the Cave of Machpelah where the patriarchs and matriarchs rest. David's kingship would be rooted in the deepest strata of holiness.
• According to Zohar III (Zohar III, 213a), the seven and a half years David reigned over Judah alone — while Ish-bosheth held the northern tribes — represents the partial manifestation of Malkhut, the kingdom divided as the upper and lower faces of the sefirah. The Sitra Achra's strategy was delay: if it could not prevent David's kingship entirely, it would fragment it, keeping the full power of Malkhut from coalescing. Abner's installation of Ish-bosheth was the human agent of this strategy.
• The Zohar (Zohar I, 213a) explains the strange combat at the pool of Gibeon — where twelve men of Benjamin and twelve of Judah seized each other and fell together — as a mirror of the war in the upper worlds, where the tribes' guardian angels clashed over the transfer of Malkhut. The Zohar calls this "war before the throne," a preliminary engagement that must be resolved before the physical kingdom can be unified. The mutual destruction symbolized the cost of division.
• Tikkunei Zohar (Tikkun 34) identifies Abner's killing of Asahel (Joab's brother) as the planting of a blood-feud that the Sitra Achra would use to destabilize David's reign for years to come. The Other Side thinks in long arcs — a killing today becomes a revenge cycle tomorrow. Asahel's refusal to stop pursuing Abner despite warnings was the recklessness of Gevurah (severity) without Chesed (mercy), an imbalance the Klipot exploit.
• The Zohar (Zohar II, 239a) notes that the "long war between the house of Saul and the house of David" in which "David grew stronger and stronger, and the house of Saul grew weaker and weaker" mirrors the cosmic process by which holiness gradually displaces the Sitra Achra. The transfer is never instantaneous because the Klipot have legitimate claims that must be adjudicated in the Heavenly Court. Malkhut's rise is always gradual, always contested.
• Sanhedrin 20a records that David inquired of the Lord before going to Hebron to be crowned, and the Talmud notes that even with a clear divine mandate, David waited for specific guidance on timing and location. The sages teach that the righteous do not assume that a general promise includes permission to act at any moment — they seek confirmation for each step. David's caution contrasts with Saul's impulsiveness.
• Megillah 14a discusses David's seven-year reign at Hebron over Judah alone, while Ish-bosheth (Saul's son) reigned over the northern tribes. The Talmud treats this divided period as a necessary purgation — David could not immediately inherit Saul's full kingdom because the northern tribes had to come to him voluntarily. The sages read the delay as God's method of ensuring that David's kingdom was built on consent rather than conquest.
• Sanhedrin 19b records the battle at the pool of Gibeon between David's forces (under Joab) and Ish-bosheth's forces (under Abner), and the Talmud discusses the twelve-on-twelve combat that devolved into general warfare. The sages note that the civil war was conducted with reluctance on both sides — Abner repeatedly tried to avoid killing Joab's brother Asahel. The passage illustrates the tragedy of Israelite fighting Israelite.
• Berakhot 3b discusses Asahel's pursuit of Abner and Abner's warning to desist, noting that the Talmud treats Abner's killing of Asahel as justified self-defense but recognizes that it created a blood feud that would eventually consume Abner himself. The sages read the Gibeon battle as the beginning of the cycle of violence that plagued David's reign — each killing demanded retribution, creating an escalating chain.
• Yevamot 76b notes that David's coronation at Hebron was attended by the elders of Judah alone, and the Talmud records that the anointing was performed with the oil of the horn (shemen ha-keren), not the flask, signifying a permanent dynasty. The sages teach that the form of anointing determined the permanence of the monarchy — the flask (pak) was for temporary kings (Saul, Jehu), while the horn was for the eternal house of David.