David Fox on II Samuel -- "The Rebuke of David"

Today, Mark’s great friend, David Fox, joins him for a discussion of II Samuel. David has become one of America’s premier transactional attorneys who, over his 35 years in the profession, has contributed his wisdom and expertise to deals totaling in the hundreds of billions of dollars. He was once touted as one of the top 45 lawyers under 45, and his father, Seymour Fox, was a Rabbi and renowned Jewish educator. All of these factors render him the ideal person to join Mark in today’s scripture analysis.

David begins by sharing the context and details of II Samuel and offers his perspective of Nathan’s tactic in it and the constant theme of David’s dishonesty and subterfuge in this and other areas of the Torah. He and Mark then try to determine why someone with David’s wisdom would make such a mistake, and then discuss the parallels between David and those who possess similar power in the present day. As always, the podcast finishes with our guest offering two lessons he has learned about mankind throughout his life and his storied career. The relevance of the Torah today is once again clearly demonstrated here as these two good friends explain how this remarkable text provides insight into the actions that have become all too familiar in the headlines of late.

Episode Highlights:

The context for today’s passage David’s perspective on Nathan’s tactic The constant theme of David’s dishonesty and subterfuge Why would such a smart guy like David make such a stupid mistake? How this story relates to those who have power today Two lessons that David has learned about mankind in all his years

Quotes:

“This is really one of the foundational stories of our nation.”

“All throughout the Torah, the value, in fact the indispensability, of rebuke is emphasized.”

“This is not a good story about David on any level.”

“He had the power, he had the temptation, and he didn’t have the character to withstand it.”

“People don’t believe when they are sitting at the top of the pyramid that people can see what’s really going on and what’s going on inside them.”

II Samuel The men of Judah came and there they anointed David king over the House of Judah. https://www.sefaria.org/II_Samuel.1.5?lang=bi&with=all&lang2=en

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