Quotation for Sanhedrin 2:4
וּמוֹצִיא לְמִלְחֶמֶת הָרְשׁוּת עַל פִּי בֵית דִּין שֶׁל שִׁבְעִים וְאֶחָד. וּפוֹרֵץ לַעֲשׂוֹת לוֹ דֶרֶךְ, וְאֵין מְמַחִין בְּיָדוֹ. דֶּרֶךְ הַמֶּלֶךְ אֵין לוֹ שִׁעוּר. וְכָל הָעָם בּוֹזְזִין וְנוֹתְנִין לְפָנָיו, וְהוּא נוֹטֵל חֵלֶק בָּרֹאשׁ. לֹא יַרְבֶּה לּוֹ נָשִׁים (דברים יז), אֶלָּא שְׁמֹנֶה עֶשְׂרֵה. רַבִּי יְהוּדָה אוֹמֵר, מַרְבֶּה הוּא לוֹ, וּבִלְבַד שֶׁלֹּא יְהוּ מְסִירוֹת אֶת לִבּוֹ. רַבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן אוֹמֵר, אֲפִלּוּ אַחַת וּמְסִירָה אֶת לִבּוֹ, הֲרֵי זֶה לֹא יִשָּׂאֶנָּה. אִם כֵּן לָמָּה נֶאֱמַר (דברים יז) וְלֹא יַרְבֶּה לּוֹ נָשִׁים, אֲפִלּוּ כַאֲבִיגָיִל. לֹא יַרְבֶּה לּוֹ סוּסִים (שם), אֶלָּא כְדֵי מֶרְכַּבְתּוֹ. וְכֶסֶף וְזָהָב לֹא יַרְבֶּה לּוֹ מְאֹד (שם), אֶלָּא כְדֵי לִתֵּן אַפְסַנְיָא. וְכוֹתֵב לוֹ סֵפֶר תּוֹרָה לִשְׁמוֹ. יוֹצֵא לַמִּלְחָמָה, מוֹצִיאָהּ עִמּוֹ. נִכְנָס, מַכְנִיסָהּ עִמּוֹ. יוֹשֵׁב בַּדִּין, הִיא עִמּוֹ. מֵסֵב, הִיא כְנֶגְדּוֹ, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (שם) וְהָיְתָה עִמּוֹ וְקָרָא בוֹ כָּל יְמֵי חַיָּיו:
And he takes out (the army) to a "permitted war" [a war with peoples other than Amalek, and with (nations other than) the seven nations], by authorization of a beth-din of seventy-one. And he breaches [the fence of others] to make way for himself [to go to his vineyard or his field], and he may not be held back (from doing so). The path of the king has no limits. All of the people take of the spoil and place it before him, and he takes the prime portion. [He chooses first and takes half of all the spoil.] He may not take more than eighteen wives. [For David had six wives, and the prophet (Nathan) said to him (II Samuel 12:8): "And if these (six wives) were too few for you, I could have added to you as these and as these": "as these" — six; "and as these" — six, making a total of eighteen.] R. Yehudah says: He may take more [than eighteen], so long as they do not turn his heart astray. R. Shimon says: He may not marry even one who turns his heart astray.] If so, why is it written (Deuteronomy 17"7): "And he shall not multiply for himself wives"? Even such as Avigayil. [There are three different views on the matter: The first tanna holds that he may marry eighteen, even if they are immodest, and not more than eighteen, even if they are modest, this being the Scriptural decree. R. Yehudah holds that he may marry eighteen, even if they are immodest, but not more than eighteen of such; and he may marry as many modest, virtuous ones as he likes. He differs with the fist tanna on one count. R. Shimon holds that he may not marry even one immodest one, and not more than eighteen modest, virtuous ones. He differs from the first tanna on one count, and from R. Yehudah on both counts. The halachah is in accordance with the first tanna.] (Ibid. 16): "He shall not multiply for himself horses," but (may take) only as many as he needs for his chariot. [It is only "idle" horses (that he may not multiply), to vaunt and aggrandize himself with an abundance of horses; but for his chariot and for his horsemen to war against his foes, it is permitted.] (Ibid. 17): "And silver and gold he shall not multiply for himself overmuch," but only as much as is required for aspania [the wages of those troops who go in and out with him the entire year.] And he writes a Torah scroll for himself, [aside from the Torah scroll that every Jewish man must have, and which he keeps in his treasury. The Torah scroll that he writes for himself when he is king goes in and out with him constantly.] When he goes out to war, he takes it with him. When he comes back, it comes back with him. When he sits in judgment, it is with him. When he sits down (to eat), it is beside him, viz. (Ibid. 19): "And it shall be with him, and he shall read in it all the days of his life."
Ruth Rabbah
“The Philistines gathered there to wage war; there was a portion of a field full of barley” (I Chronicles 11:13). One verse says barley and one verse says: “lentils” (II Samuel 23:11). Rabbi Yaakov said: They were lentils, but their kernels were like barley. Rabbi Levi said: The Philistines who came were as tall as barley, and they left as lowly as lentils.172They came full of arrogant confidence, but their defeat left them lowly and humbled (Midrash HaMevoar).
“They stood in the midst of the portion and they rescued it” (I Chronicles 11:14), but another verse says: “He rescued it” (II Samuel 23:12). This teaches that they returned it to its owner, to whom it was as dear as a field filled with saffron. Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥman said: It was the same year, but they were two fields.173One of barley and one of lentils. It was clear to him [that it was permitted] to destroy and to pay money; why is it necessary [to ask]?174It was clear to David that it was permitted for him to destroy the field in order to battle the Philistines, who had taken cover there, and then to compensate the owner of the field. If you say [it was permitted for him] to destroy and not to pay money,175As that is the right of a king. the question remains which of them to destroy, the lentils or the barley? The lentils are food for people, the barley is food for animals. The Omer is not sacrificed from lentils, but it is sacrificed from barley. From lentils, one does not separate ḥalla, from barley, one separates ḥalla. The Rabbis say: It was one field and they were [incidents that occurred in] two [different] years. Could they not learn from the previous year? One does not learn from an incident.176One cannot draw a legal conclusion from an incident whose details differ from the case in question.
“David desired, and said: Who will give me water to drink?” (I Chronicles 11:17). Rabbi Ḥiyya said: He needed a halakhic ruling. “The three breached” (I Chronicles 11:18). Why three? It is because halakha is clarified only with three. “They drew water from the well of Bethlehem that was near the gate, and took it, and brought it to David; but David would not drink it, [and he poured it out [vayenasekh] to the Lord]” (I Chronicles 11:18). He did not want the halakha to be determined in their names; he stated it unattributed [masekhta] and established a halakha for the generations: A king breaches to make a road for himself and no one objects.177Thus, it was permitted for David to burn the field without paying compensation. Nonetheless, they did not burn the field, and in that way it was saved. Bar Kappara said: It was the festival of Sukkot, it was the libation of water, and it was the time when improvised altars were permitted.178David asked for water in order to perform the special water libation that is offered on Sukkot. “The three breached,” why were they three? There was one to kill, one to clear away the dead, and one to bring in the flask [of water] in ritual purity.179Without touching the dead. Rabbi Ḥonya said in the name of Rabbi Yosef: He needed a ruling regarding a woman captive. Rabbi Shimon ben Rabbi said: He demanded the construction of the Temple.