Dear Rabbi Kornfeld,
I would like to ask you two questions-
1 When the gates of the Bais Hamikdash opened when
Shlomo Hamelech mentioned the merit of Dovid, the Gemara says that "yod'u kol ho'om vechol yisroel". Who are "kol ho'om" and who are "kol yisroel"?
2 The Gemara says that Dovid could not live one more day
because one kingdom cannot encroach on another's, and it was time for Shlomo to become king. Why doesn't the Gemara use the same reasoning when Dovid asks to die erev shabbos: why should the kingdom of Shlomo encroach on that of Dovid more so than vice versa?
Thank you
Gershon
1) The commentators explain elsewhere that when the term "ha'Am" appears, it refers to the less-righteous of the nation. The term "Yisrael" refers to the righteous people. This could also be the explanation here, for this verse is refering to the enemies of David ha'Melech and to his closest devotees.
2) Certainly, if David ha'Melech would have died a day before his kingship was to end, and the time for Shlomo's reign had not yet come, Divine intervention would have caused something to happen to delay Shlomo's kingship from beginning until its proper time, and not to have an additional day of kingship.