1Boaz’s power is the humility of Palti, son of Laish, as we said, for he conquered his desire not only for one night, as Boaz did, but for many nights
2Rabbi Yoḥanan says: What is the meaning of that which is written: “Many daughters have done valiantly, but you excel above them all” (Proverbs 31:29)? “Many daughters have done valiantly”; this is a reference to Joseph and Boaz. “But you excel above them all”; this is a reference to Palti, son of Laish, who exceeded Joseph and Boaz in restraint, as discussed above.
3Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥman says that Rabbi Yonatan says: What is the meaning of that which is written: “Grace is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised” (Proverbs 31:30). “Grace is deceitful”; this is a reference to Joseph. “And beauty is vain”; this is a reference to Boaz. “Who fears the Lord, she shall be praised”; this is a reference to Palti, son of Laish, who did not sin with Michal. Although the behavior of Joseph and Boaz is commendable, it is “deceitful” and “vain” relative to that of Palti ben Laish.
4Alternatively: “Grace is deceitful”; this is a reference to the generation of Moses. “And beauty is vain”; this is a reference to the generation of Joshua. “Who fears the Lord, she shall be praised”; this is a reference to the generation of Hezekiah. Although the studying of Torah during the generations of Moses and Joshua was commendable, it was “deceitful” and “vain” relative to that of the generation of Hezekiah, during which the people studied Torah assiduously, despite the suffering caused by war and foreign rule.
5Alternatively: “Grace is deceitful”; this is a reference to the generation of Moses and Joshua. “And beauty is vain”; this is a reference to the generation of Hezekiah. “Who fears the Lord, she shall be praised”; this is a reference to the generation of Rabbi Yehuda, son of Rabbi Ilai, who lived after the decrees of Hadrian, when the people were impoverished and oppressed. It was said about Rabbi Yehuda, son of Rabbi Ilai, that six of his students would cover themselves with one garment, due to their poverty, and nevertheless they would engage in Torah study. Although the studying of Torah during the generations of Moses, Joshua, and Hezekiah was commendable, it was “deceitful” and “vain” relative to that of the people in the generation of Rabbi Yehuda, son of Rabbi Ilai, who studied Torah despite their hardships.
6MISHNA: If a relative of the king dies, he does not emerge from the entrance of his palace [ palterin ], as it does not befit one of his stature to accompany the deceased. Rabbi Yehuda says: If he wishes to follow the bier, he follows it, as that is what we found with regard to King David, who followed the bier of Abner. As it is stated: “And King David followed the bier” (II Samuel 3:31). The Sages said to Rabbi Yehuda: The matter was only to appease the people, so that they should not suspect David of ordering Abner’s death. And when the people comfort the king with the meal of comfort, all the people recline on the ground, and he reclines on the dargash .
7GEMARA: The Sages taught in a baraita : In a place where women were accustomed to follow the bier, they would follow it, and the men would walk in front of the bier, and if the women were accustomed to walk in front of the bier, they would go in front of it. Rabbi Yehuda says: Women always go in front of the bier, as that is what we found with regard to King David, who followed the bier of Abner, as it is stated: “And King David followed the bier,” and presumably David did not go among the women.
8The Sages said to him: The matter was only to appease the people, and they were appeased. As David would go out from among the men and go in among the women, and went out from among the women and went in among the men, as it is stated: “So all the people and all Israel understood that day that it was not from the king to slay Abner, son of Ner” (II Samuel 3:37).
9Rava interpreted a verse homiletically: What is the meaning of that which is written: “And all the people came to comfort David” (II Samuel 3:35)? It is written: “To destroy [ lehakhrot ],” and we read: “To comfort [ lehavrot ],” meaning, in the beginning they wanted to destroy him, as they suspected him of ordering Abner’s assassination, and ultimately, when they saw that he was truly mourning, they decided to comfort him.
10Rav Yehuda says that Rav says: For what reason was Abner punished by being killed? It is because he should have protested to Saul about the killing of the priests of Nob (see I Samuel 22:17–19), but he did not protest. Rabbi Yitzḥak says: He did protest, so that is not the reason for his death, but he was not answered. And both of these Sages interpreted one verse: “And the king lamented for Abner, and said: Should Abner die as a churl dies? Your hands were not bound, nor your feet put into fetters; as a man falls before the children of iniquity, so did you fall” (II Samuel 3:33–34).
11The Gemara explains how each Sage understands the verse: The one who says he did not protest explains that this is what the verse is saying: As “your hands were not bound, nor your feet put into fetters,” what is the reason you did not protest against Saul? Therefore, since you could have protested but did not, then “as a man falls before the children of iniquity, so did you fall.” And the one who says he protested and was not answered explains that this is what the verse is saying: David wondered: “Should Abner die as a churl dies? Your hands were not bound, nor your feet put into fetters,” since you protested at the right time. Since that is the case, what is the reason that “as a man falls before the children of iniquity, so did you fall”?
12The Gemara asks: According to the one who says that Abner protested, what is the reason he was punished with this death? Rav Naḥman, son of Rabbi Yitzḥak, says: It is because he delayed the kingdom of the house of David two and a half years, by supporting the kingdom of Ish-bosheth, the son of Saul, for this period of time.
13§ The mishna teaches: And when they comfort the king with the meal of comfort, he reclines on the dargash . The Gemara asks: What is a dargash ? Ulla says: A bed of fortune, which would be designated in houses for decoration and for good fortune, and no one would sit on it. The Sages said to Ulla: Is there anything which until now we did not authorize one to sit on, but now, in his time of mourning, we seat him on it?
14Rava objects to this question: What is the difficulty in this? Perhaps sitting on the dargash is just as it is with eating and drinking. As until now, we did not feed him nor give him drink, but now, in his time of mourning, we feed him and give him drink, in the meal of comfort. Rather, if it is difficult, this is what is difficult, as it is taught in a baraita : Concerning a dargash , the mourner is not required to overturn it during mourning. Rather, he stands it up on its side. And if it enters your mind to say that this is a bed of fortune, why is he not required to overturn it? But isn’t it taught in a baraita : With regard to one who overturns his bed during mourning, not only does he overturn his own bed, but rather he overturns all the beds he has in his house?
15The Gemara responds: What is the difficulty in this? Perhaps the lack of requirement to overturn the dargash is just as it is with a bed that is designated for the storage of garments, and not for sleeping, as it is taught in a baraita : If it was designated for the storage of garments and not for people to lie down on, he is not required to overturn it. Rather, if it is difficult, this is what is difficult, as it is taught in a baraita : Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel says: One is not required to overturn a dargash . Rather, the mourner loosens the straps [ karvitin ] and it falls on its own. And if it enters your mind to say that this is a bed of fortune, does such a bed have straps?
16Rather, when Ravin came he said: One of the Sages said to me, and Rav Taḥlifa is his name, that he was often in the market of the leather workers, and he said to him: What is the meaning of dargash ? A leather bed. Rabbi Yirmeya says that Rabbi Yoḥanan says: The difference between a bed and a dargash is this: A dargash