Why does it say "va'Tatehu Lah El ha'Tzur"?
Radak #1: She put it on the rock to cover them. They were hanging on the rock - "va'Yoki'um ba'Har" (verse 9).
Radak #2: She justified Hashem's judgment, and said "ha'Tzur Tamim Pa'alo" (Devarim 32:4).
What is "Ad Nitach Mayim"?
Rashi: It is the rainy season, [which begins] in Tishrei.
Radak (11 citing Bamidbar Rabah 8:4): It is the 17th of Cheshvan. 1 Then a little rain fell, to show that they should be buried. After burial, "va'Ye'aser Elokim la'Aretz" (verse 14), and much rain fell.
Malbim: It is when the rain came. Then they knew that Hashem would bring [relief] to His nation, and the pitfall was removed.
This is the day that the flood began. There are three opinions about the proper days for the first three rains to come. All agree that one of them is Cheshvan 17. If rain did not come), some start fasting for rain on this day (Ta'anis 6a).
Why did they leave the bodies hanging? The Torah forbids leaving a body hanging overnight (Devarim 21:23)!
Rashi, citing Yevamos 79a: It is better to uproot a letter of the Torah in order to publicly sanctify Hashem's name. Passersby would ask about the people hanging. They would learn that they were sons of kings who harmed converts, and say 'there is no nation as proper to cling to as Yisrael!'
Radak (1): The king commanded to hang them. He thought that they took them down at night; they did not, for they thought that the king commanded to hang them, and he will command to take them down. When the rainy season came, they asked David to take them down due to Ritzpah's righteous act 1 of guarding them, lest birds eat them.
Why does it depend on her act? (PF)
