The Design of the ‘Dual Causality’ Principle 563 II. “Thou art in evil plight” (16,8) Around Shimei’s curse and David’s reaction to it there are several ambiguous expressions and the literary sophistication is especially prominent here. When Shimei curses David he says: “the LORD has returned upon thee all the blood of the house of Saul whom thou hast usurped; and the LORD has delivered the kingdom into the hand of Absalom thy son: and behold, thou art in evil plight because thou art a bloody man” (16,8). What is the “evil plight” at which Shimei directs his words? The simple reading — in Bar-Efrat’s words — is “David’s bad state of affairs right now” (23). That is, his being forced to abandon his house and Jerusalem due to his son’s rebellion. Most translations and interpretations have translated the verse in such a manner, for instance McCarter: “You’re in this evil predicament” (24). This reading is supported by Nathan’s prophecy, which had been said to David after the sin with Bathsheba: “I will raise up evil against thee out of thy own house” (12,11). Nathan had probably directed his words to the punishment David would receive in the future and indeed, now, the prophesized punishment is realized. Yet, there are those who translate the verse differently and actually raise the possibility of another reading of the verse. Alter, for example, has translated the verse in the following manner: “and here you are, because of your evil” (25). He interprets the case letter ‘b’ to mean ‘because’ and suggests that the evil mentioned in Shimei’s curse is not a punishment but a ‘sin’, which from Shimei’s point of view is usurping the kingdom from Sha’ul. This reading is also supported by Nathan’s prophecy mentioned above. There it says: “Why hast thou despised the commandment of the LORD, to do evil in his sight?” (12,9) (26). In Nathan’s prophecy this is in intentional wordplay, one which emphasizes the principle of measure for measure (27): The sin: Its punishment: To do evil in his sight I will raise up evil against thee out of thy own house And hast taken his wife to And I will take thy wives before thy eyes and give be thy wife them to thy neighbor And hast slain him with the The sword shall never depart from thy house sword of the children of Ammon Now, the point of view of the cursing Shimei combines with the words of Nathan. In his words as well, the reader tends to hear the ‘evil’ — the sin you had done, and parallel to it, the ‘evil’ — the punishment you have received. (23) S. BAR-EFRAT, II Samuel: Introduction and Commentary (Mikra Leyisra’el; Jerusalem 1996) 173. (24) MCCARTER, Samuel, 362; A.A. ANDERSON, 2 Samuel, (WBC; Dallas, TX 1989) 199: “and here you are in your calamity”; FOKKELMAN, Narrative Art in Samuel, 198: “there you are in your misfortune”. (25) R. ALTER, The David Story. A Translation with Commentary of 1 and 2 Samuel (New York 1999) 292. (26) About the motif of ‘evil’ and its extensive use in the cycle of David’s stories, see: F. POLAK, Biblical Narrative Aspects of Art and Design (Jerusalem 21999) 185. (27) J. JACOBS, Measure for Measure as Literary and Ideological Tool in the Biblical Storytelling (Ph. D Thesis; Bar-Ilan University 2002), 227 (compare: FOKKELMAN, Narrative Art in Samuel, 83-86).