After this, Absalom prepared a chariot and horses for himself, and fifty men to run before him. Absalom rose up early, and stood beside the way of the gate. When any man had a suit which should come to the king for judgment, then Absalom called to him, and said, “What city are you from?” He said, “Your servant is of one of the tribes of Israel.”
Absalom said to him, “Behold, your matters are good and right; but there is no man deputized by the king to hear you.” Absalom said moreover, “Oh that I were made judge in the land, that every man who has any suit or cause might come to me, and I would do him justice!” It was so, that when any man came near to bow down to him, he stretched out his hand, and took hold of him, and kissed him. Absalom did this sort of thing to all Israel who came to the king for judgment. So Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel. At the end of forty years, Absalom said to the king, “Please let me go and pay my vow, which I have vowed to Yahweh, in Hebron. For your servant vowed a vow while I stayed at Geshur in Syria, saying, ‘If Yahweh shall indeed bring me again to Jerusalem, then I will serve Yahweh.’ ”
The king said to him, “Go in peace.” So he arose, and went to Hebron.
But Absalom sent spies throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, “As soon as you hear the sound of the trumpet, then you shall say, ‘Absalom is king in Hebron!’ ”
Two hundred men went with Absalom out of Jerusalem, who were invited, and went in their simplicity; and they didn’t know anything. Absalom sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, David’s counselor, from his city, even from Giloh, while he was offering the sacrifices. The conspiracy was strong; for the people increased continually with Absalom. A messenger came to David, saying, “The hearts of the men of Israel are after Absalom.”
David said to all his servants who were with him at Jerusalem, “Arise! Let’s flee; or else none of us will escape from Absalom. Hurry to depart, lest he overtake us quickly, and bring down evil on us, and strike the city with the edge of the sword.”
The king’s servants said to the king, “Behold, your servants are ready to do whatever my lord the king chooses.”
The king went out, and all his household after him. The king left ten women, who were concubines, to keep the house. The king went out, and all the people after him; and they stayed in Beth Merhak. All his servants passed on beside him; and all the Cherethites, and all the Pelethites, and all the Gittites, six hundred men who came after him from Gath, passed on before the king. Then the king said to Ittai the Gittite, “Why do you also go with us? Return, and stay with the king; for you are a foreigner, and also an exile. Return to your own place. Whereas you came but yesterday, should I today make you go up and down with us, since I go where I may? Return, and take back your brothers. Mercy and truth be with you.”
Ittai answered the king, and said, “As Yahweh lives, and as my lord the king lives, surely in what place my lord the king is, whether for death or for life, your servant will be there also.”
David said to Ittai, “Go and pass over.” Ittai the Gittite passed over, and all his men, and all the little ones who were with him. All the country wept with a loud voice, and all the people passed over. The king also himself passed over the brook Kidron, and all the people passed over, toward the way of the wilderness. Behold, Zadok also came, and all the Levites with him, bearing the ark of the covenant of God; and they set down God’s ark; and Abiathar went up, until all the people finished passing out of the city. The king said to Zadok, “Carry God’s ark back into the city. If I find favor in Yahweh’s eyes, he will bring me again, and show me both it, and his habitation; but if he says, ‘I have no delight in you;’ behold, here I am. Let him do to me as seems good to him.” The king said also to Zadok the priest, “Aren’t you a seer? Return into the city in peace, and your two sons with you, Ahimaaz your son, and Jonathan the son of Abiathar. Behold, I will stay at the fords of the wilderness, until word comes from you to inform me.” Zadok therefore and Abiathar carried God’s ark to Jerusalem again; and they stayed there. David went up by the ascent of the Mount of Olives, and wept as he went up; and he had his head covered, and went barefoot. All the people who were with him each covered his head, and they went up, weeping as they went up.
Someone told David, saying, “Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom.” David said, “Yahweh, please turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness.”
When David had come to the top, where God was worshiped, behold, Hushai the Archite came to meet him with his tunic torn, and earth on his head. David said to him, “If you pass on with me, then you will be a burden to me; but if you return to the city, and tell Absalom, ‘I will be your servant, O king. As I have been your father’s servant in time past, so I will now be your servant; then will you defeat for me the counsel of Ahithophel.’ Don’t you have Zadok and Abiathar the priests there with you? Therefore whatever you hear out of the king’s house, tell it to Zadok and Abiathar the priests. Behold, they have there with them their two sons, Ahimaaz, Zadok’s son, and Jonathan, Abiathar’s son. Send to me everything that you shall hear by them.”
So Hushai, David’s friend, came into the city; and Absalom came into Jerusalem.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 8, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 23, 24, 25, 26, 30, 31, 34 Hebrew, made him.
Hebrew, made him.
Which were as a guard to set forth his estate.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv1–37 2Sa 15:1 And it came to pass after this,…
2Sa 15:1 And it came to pass after this, that Absalom prepared him chariots and horses, and fifty men to run before him.
Ver. 1. And it came to pass after this.] Two years after, saith Josephus: all which while, Absalom had been hammering and hatching this following insurrection; God raising up evil against David out of his own house, as he had threatened, 2Sa 12:11.
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That Absalom prepared him chariots and horses.] Pride buddeth, {Eze 7:10} and ambition rideth without reins. Absalom will needs have a train and port like a prince and successor to the kingdom, so to dazzel the eyes of the common people, who are apt to judge of inward worth by outward gaiety, and to dote upon glittering shows, as they did upon Herod in his cloth of silver, {Act 12:21-22} and upon Agrippa with his Bernice, when they came to the tribunal with a great deal of pomp. {Act 25:23}
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 36 As being the king’s eldest son, now Amnon was…
As being the king’s eldest son, now Amnon was dead; for Chileab, who was his eldest brother, 2Sa 3:3, was either dead, or manifestly incapable of the government. And this course he knew would draw the eyes and minds of people to him, and make them conclude that David intended him for his successor.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On vv1, 7, 13, 24, 31 Absalom is no sooner restored to his place at…
Absalom is no sooner restored to his place at court than he aims to be in the throne. He that was unhumbled under his troubles became insufferably proud when they were over; and he cannot be content with the honour of being the king's son, and the prospect of being his successor, but he must be king now. His mother was a king's daughter; on that perhaps he valued himself, and despised his father, who was but the son of Jesse. She was the daughter of a heathen king, which made him the less concerned for the peace of Israel. David, in this unhappy issue of that marriage, smarted for his being unequally yoked with an unbeliever. When Absalom was restored to the king's favour, if he had had any sense of gratitude, he would have studied how to oblige his father, and make him easy; but, on the contrary, he meditates how to undermine him, by stealing the hearts of the people from him. Two things recommend a man to popular esteem - greatness and goodness.
I. Absalom looks great, Sa2 15:1. He had learned of the king of Geshur (what was not allowed to the kings of Israel) to multiply horses, which made him look desirable, while his father, on his mule, looked despicable. The people desired a king like the nations; and such a one Absalom will be, appearing in pomp and magnificence, above what had been seen in Jerusalem. Samuel had foretold that this would be the manner of the king: He shall have chariots and horsemen, and some shall run before his chariots (Sa1 8:11); and this is Absalom's manner. Fifty footmen (in rich liveries we may suppose) running before him, to give notice of his approach, would highly gratify his pride and the people's foolish fancy. David thinks that this parade is designed only to grace his court, and connives at it. Those parents know not what they do who indulge a proud humour in their children; for I have seen more young people ruined by pride than by any one lust whatsoever.
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II. Absalom will seem very good too, but with a very bad design. Had he proved himself a good son and a good subject, and set himself to serve his father's interest, he would have done his present duty, and shown himself worthy of future honours, after his father's death. Those that know how to obey well know how to rule. But to show how good a judge and how good a king he will be is but to deceive himself and others. Those are good indeed that are good in their own place, not that pretend how good they would be in other people's places. But this is all the goodness we find in Absalom.
1. He wishes that he were a judge in Israel, Sa2 15:4. He had all the pomp and all the pleasure he could wish, lived as great and in as much ease as any man could; yet this will not content him, unless he have power too: O that I were a judge in Israel! He that should himself have been judged to death for murder has the impudence to aim at being a judge of others. We read not of Absalom's wisdom, virtue, or learning in the laws, nor had he given any proofs of his love to justice, but the contrary; yet he wishes he were judge. Note, Those are commonly most ambitious of preferment that are least fit for it; the best qualified are the most modest and self-diffident, while it is no better than the spirit of an Absalom that says, O that I were a judge in Israel!
2. He takes a very bad course for the accomplishing of his wish. Had he humbly petitioned his father to employ him in the administration of justice, and studied to qualify himself for it (according to the rule, Exo 18:21), no doubt he would have been sure of the next judge's place that fell; but this is too mean a post for his proud spirit. It is below him to be subordinate, though to the king his father; he must be supreme or nothing. He wants to be such a judge that every man who has any cause shall come to him: in all causes, and over all persons, he must preside, little thinking what a fatigue this would be to have every man come to him. Moses himself could not bear it. Those know not what power is that grasp at so much, so very much. To gain the power he aims at, he endeavours to instil into the people's minds,
(1.) A bad opinion of the present administration, as if the affairs of the kingdom were altogether neglected, and no care taken about them. He got round him all he could that had business at the council-board, enquired what their business was; and, [1.] Upon a slight and general enquiry into their cause, he pronounced it good: Thy matters are right. A fit man indeed to be a judge, who would give judgment upon hearing one side only! For he has a bad cause indeed that cannot put a good colour upon it, when he himself has the telling of the story. But, [2.] He told them that it was to no purpose to appeal to the throne: "There is no man deputed of the king to hear thee. The king is himself old, and past business, or so taken up with his devotions that he never minds business; his sons are so addicted to their pleasures that, though they have the name of chief rulers, they take no care of the affairs committed to them." He further seems to insinuate what a great want there was of him while he was banished and confined, and how much the public suffered by his exile; what his father said truly in Saul's reign (Psa 75:3) he says falsely: The land and all the inhabitants of it are dissolved, all will go to wreck and ruin, unless I bear up the pillars of it. Every appellant shall be made to believe that he will never have justice done him, unless Absalom be viceroy or lord-justice. It is the way of turbulent, factious, aspiring men, to reproach the government they are under. Presumptuous are they, self-willed, and not afraid to speak evil of dignities, Pe2 2:10. Even David himself, the best of kings, and his administration, could not escape the worst of censures. Those that aim to usurp cry out of grievances, and pretend to design nothing but the redress of them: as Absalom here.
(2.) A good opinion of his own fitness to rule. That the people might say, "O that Absalom were a judge!" (and they are apt enough to desire changes), he recommends himself to them, [1.] As very diligent. He rose up early, and appeared in public before the rest of the king's sons were stirring, and he stood beside the way of the gate, where the courts of judgment sat, as one mightily concerned to see justice done and public business despatched. [2.] As very inquisitive and prying, and desirous to be acquainted with every one's case. He would know of what city every one was that came for judgment, that he might inform himself concerning every part of the kingdom and the state of it, Sa2 15:2. [3.] As very familiar and humble. If any Israelite offered to do obeisance to him he took him and embraced him as a friend. No man's conduct could be more condescending, while his heart was as proud as Lucifer's. Ambitious projects are often carried on by a show of humility, Col 2:23. He knew what a grace it puts upon greatness to be affable and courteous, and how much it wins upon common people: had he been sincere in it, it would have been his praise; but to fawn upon the people that he might betray them was abominable hypocrisy. He croucheth, and humbleth himself, to draw them into his net, Psa 10:9, Psa 10:10.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv1–37 And it came to pass after this,.... After the…
And it came to pass after this,.... After the reconciliation of David and Absalom, and the latter was admitted to court again:
that Absalom prepared him chariots and horses; to make himself look grand and respectable among the people; perhaps he got these from his grandfather at Geshur in Syria:
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and fifty men to run before him; which added to his pomp and magnificence; and such great personages in later time have had; Nero the Roman emperor never went on a journey with less than a thousand calashes or chariots, and a great number of men that ran before him (c): and this was tacitly setting himself up for king, at least preparing for it, as Adonijah afterwards did in the same way and manner, Kg1 1:5.
(c) Suetonius in Vit. Neron. c. 30. Vid. Senecae, Ep. 87. & 123.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 7, 9, 11, 12, 14, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 30, 34, 36, 37 Absalom steals the hearts of the people, ver. 1-6.…
Absalom steals the hearts of the people, ver. 1-6. He conspires against David, ver. 7-12. David flies from Jerusalem, ver. 13-18. He confers with Ittai, and passes over Kidron, ver. 19- 23. Sends back Zadok with the ark, ver. 24-29. His prayer on this occasion, ver. 30, 31. He concerts with Hushai, ver. 32-37.
Prepared - As being the king's eldest son, now Amnon was dead; for Chileab, who was his eldest brother, chap. iii, 3, was either dead, or incapable of the government. And this course he knew would draw the eyes of the people to him, and make them conclude that David intended him for his successor.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv1, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 17, 19, 20, 23, 24, 25, 27, 30, 31, 32, 33, 37 Absalom conspires against his father, and uses various methods
CHAPTER XV
Absalom conspires against his father, and uses various methods
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to seduce the people from their allegiance to their king, 14.
Under pretence of paying a vow at Hebron, he obtains leave from
David to go thither; and, by emissaries sent through the land,
prepares the people for revolt, 7-11.
He gains over Ahithophel, David's counsellor, 12.
David is informed of the general defection of the people; on
which he, and his life-guards and friends, leave the city, and
go towards the wilderness, 13-18.
The steadfast friendship of Ittai, the Gittite, 19-22.
David's affecting departure from the city, 23.
He sends Zadok and Abiathar with the ark back to Jerusalem,
24-29.
He goes up Mount Olivet; prays that the counsel of Ahithophel
may be turned into foolishness, 30-31.
He desires Hushai to return to Jerusalem, and to send him word
of all that occurs, 32-37.
NOTES ON CHAP. XV
Verse 1. Absalom prepared him chariots and horses] After all that has been said to prove that horses here mean horsemen, I think it most likely that the writer would have us to understand chariots drawn by horses; not by mules or such like cattle.
Fifty men to run before him.] Affecting in every respect the regal state by this establishment. Of this man Calmet collects the following character: "He was a bold, violent, revengeful, haughty, enterprising, magnificent, eloquent, and popular prince; he was also rich, ambitious, and vain of his personal accomplishments: after the death of Amnon, and his reconciliation to his father, he saw no hindrance in his way to the throne. He despised Solomon because of the meanness of his birth, and his tender years. He was himself of the blood royal, not only by his father David, but also by his mother Maacah, daughter to Talmai, king of Geshur: and, doubtless, in his own apprehension, of sufficient age, authority, and wisdom, to sustain the weight of government. There was properly now no competitor in his way: Amnon, David's first-born, was dead. Of Chileab, his second son by Abigail, we hear nothing; and Absalom was the third: see 2Sa 3:2-5. He, therefore, seemed to stand nearest to the throne; but his sin was, that he sought it during his father's life, and endeavoured to dethrone him in order to sit in his stead."
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16, 19, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 27, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 36 2Sa 15:1. Absalom prepared him chariots, &c. — When…
2Sa 15:1. Absalom prepared him chariots, &c. — When he thought he had established himself in his father’s good affection, he began to take great state upon him, set up, as we now speak, a splendid equipage, and was royally attended, as being the king’s eldest son, (now Amnon was dead,) and next heir to the crown. For it seems Chileab, who was elder than he, 2Sa 3:3, was either dead also, or, through some cause, was incapable of the government. Absalom undoubtedly designed, by taking this course, to draw the eyes of the people to himself, who, as they were much in love with his beauty, so were doubtless mightily taken with this fine sight of chariots and horses, especially as it was unusual, not being allowed by the law. David was, however, so indulgent that, it seems, he took no notice of it. And fifty men to run before him — An honour this such as his royal father had neither had, nor thought of. These, though attendants in appearance, were, in effect, guards.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 12, 14, 18, 20, 24, 27, 30, 32 And it came to pass ... - The working…
And it came to pass ... - The working out of Nathan’s prophecy (marginal reference) is the clue to the course of the narrative. How long after Absalom’s return these events occurred we are not told.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 23, 24, 25, 27, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34 Before him. Romulus instituted the 300 guards, whom he…
Before him. Romulus instituted the 300 guards, whom he called Celeres, for the like purpose. (Calmet) --- Absalom’s ambition could not wait patiently for the death of his father, who was not yet sixty years old, and had been first anointed forty years before, ver. 7. He looked upon himself as the heir apparent, Amnon being now slain, and Cheliab (or Daniel) either dead, as it is thought, or unfit for government, while Solomon was only eight years old. (Salien) --- The quality of his mother, and his own personal qualifications, made him despise his brethren, and he began to assume the equipage of a king. (Calmet) --- David considered this as only the effect of juvenile vanity, and he had not a mind to irritate him, without the utmost necessity. (Salien) --- Hebrew, "Absalom prepared for himself a chariot, (Protestants, chariots) and horses," &c. (Haydock) --- It is not certain whether he had any other horsemen but those who mounted the chariots. Horses were then very scarce in Israel. (Calmet) --- Adonias afterwards imitated his brother’s ambition, during his father’s life; (3 Kings i. 5.) so that evil was continually raised up against David, out of his own house, chap. xii. 11.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures 1864 · Public Domain On v1 II. External Shattering of the Royal Authority till its…
II. External Shattering of the Royal Authority till its Loss
2 Samuel 15-18
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1. Absalom’s revolt and David’s flight. 2Sa_15:1 to 2Sa_16:14
1And it came to pass after this that Absalom prepared him chariots [a chariot] and horses, and fifty men to run before him. 2And Absalom rose up early, and stood beside the way of the gate; and it was so, that when any man that had a controversy came to the king for judgment [and it came to pass that, every man that had a cause to come to the king for judgment], then [om. then] Absalom called unto him, and said, Of what city art thou? And he said, Thy servant is of one of the tribes of Israel [or, of such and such a tribe of Israel]. 3And Absalom said unto him, See, thy matters are good and right; but there is no man deputed of the king to hear thee. 4Absalom said moreover [And Absalom said], Oh that I were made judge in the land, that every man which [who] hath any suit or cause [cause or controversy] might come unto me, and I would do him justice! 5And it was so [And it came to pass] that when any man came nigh to him [om. to him] to do him obeisance, he put forth his hand, and took him,1 and kissed him. 6And on this manner did Absalom to all Israel that came to the king for judgment; so [and] Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel.
7And it came to pass after forty [four2] years, that Absalom said unto the king, I pray thee, let me go and pay my vow, which I have vowed unto the Lord [Jehovah], in Hebron. 8For thy servant vowed a vow while I abode at Geshur in Syria, saying, If the Lord [Jehovah] shall bring me again indeed3 to Jerusalem, then I will serve the Lord [Jehovah]. 9And the king said unto him, Go in peace. So 10[And] he arose and went to Hebron. But [And] Absalom sent spies [or, emissaries] throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, As soon as ye hear4 the sound of the trumpet, then ye shall say, Absalom reigneth in Hebron. 11And with Absalom went two hundred men out of Jerusalem, that were called; and they went in their simplicity, and they knew not anything. 12And Absalom sent for5 Ahithophel the Gilonite, David’s counsellor, from his city, even from Giloh, while he offered sacrifices. And the conspiracy was strong; for the people increased continually with Absalom.
13And there came a messenger to David, saying, The hearts of the men of Israel are after Absalom. 14And David said unto all his servants that were with him at Jerusalem, Arise, and let us flee; for we shall not else escape from Absalom; make speed to depart, lest he overtake us suddenly, and bring evil upon us, and smite the city with the edge6 of the sword. 15And the king’s servants said unto the king. Behold, thy servants are ready to do whatsoever my lord the king shall appoint 16[choose]. And the king went forth, and all his household after him. And the king left ten women which were [om. women which were] concubines to keep the 17house. And7 the king went forth, and all the people after him, and tarried [halted] in a place that was far off [in Beth-hammarhak, or, at the far house]. 18And all his servants passed on beside him, and all the Cherethites and all the Pelethites, and all the Gittites, six hundred men, which [who] came after him from Gath passed on before the king.
19Then said the king [And the king said] to Ittai the Gittite, Wherefore goest thou also with us? Return to thy place,8 and abide with the king; for thou art a stranger, and also an exile. 20Whereas thou camest but yesterday [Yesterday thou camest], should I this day [and to-day shall I] make thee go up and down with us? [om.?], seeing I go whither I may [ins.?] Return thou, and take back thy brethren; mercy and truth be with thee. 21And Ittai answered the king and said, As the Lord [Jehovah] liveth, and as my lord the king liveth, surely in what place my lord the king shall be, whether in [for] death or [ins. for] life, even there also will [there will] thy servant be. 22And David said to Ittai, Go, and pass over.9 And Ittai the Gittite passed over, and all his men, and all the little ones that were with him.
23And all the country [land] wept with a loud voice,10 and all the people passed over; the king also himself [and the king] passed over the brook Kedron, and all the people passed over, toward the way of the wilderness. 24And lo Zadok also and all the Levites were [om. were] with him, bearing the ark of the covenant of God;11 and they set down the ark of God; and Abiathar went up, until all the people had done passing out of the city. 25And the king said unto Zadok, Carry back the ark of God into [to] the city. If I shall find favour in the eyes of the Lord [Jehovah], he will 26bring me again, and show me both it and his habitation. But [And] if he thus say, I have no delight in thee; behold, here am I, let him do to me as seemeth good unto him. 27The king said also [And the king said] unto Zadok the priest, Art not [om. not] thou a seer?12 return into [to] the city in peace, and your two sons with you, Ahimaaz thy son, and Jonathan the son of Abiathar. 28See, I will tarry in the plain [by the fords13] of the wilderness, until there come word from you to certify 29me. Zadok therefore [And Zadok] and Abiathar carried the ark of God again to Jerusalem; and they tarried14 there.
30And David went up by the ascent of mount Olivet, and wept as he went up, and had his head covered, and he went barefoot; and all the people that was with him covered every man his head, and they went up, weeping as they went up.
31And one told David, saying, Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom. And David said, O Lord [om. O Lord], I pray thee, turn [Turn, I pray thee] the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness [ins. O Jehovah]. 32And it came to pass that, when David was come to the top of the mount, where he worshipped God [where God was worshipped15], behold Hushai the Archite [Arkite] came to meet him with his coat [garment] rent, and earth upon his head. 33Unto whom David said [And David said to him], If thou passest on with me, then shalt thou be a 34burden unto me; But16 if thou return to the city, and say unto Absalom, I will be thy servant, O king; as [om. as] I have been thy father’s servant hitherto, so will I now also [and now I will] be thy servant; then mayest thou for me defeat the 35counsel of Ahithophel. And hast thou not there with thee Zadok and Abiathar the priests? therefore [and] it shall be that [om. it shall be that] what thing soever thou shalt hear out of the king’s house, thou shalt tell it [om. it] to Zadok and 36Abiathar the priests. Behold, they have there with them their two sons, Ahimaaz Zadok’s son, and Jonathan Abiathar’s son; and by them ye shall send unto me 37everything that ye can [om. can] hear. So [And] Hushai David’s friend came into [to] the city, and Absalom came17 into [to] Jerusalem.
2Sa_16:1 And when [om. when] David was a little past the top of the hill, [ins. and] behold, Ziba the servant of Mephibosheth met him, with a couple of asses saddled, and upon them two hundred loaves of bread, and an hundred bunches [cakes] of raisins, and an hundred of summer-fruits [cakes of figs], and a bottle 2[skin] of wine. And the king said unto Ziba, What meanest thou by these? And Ziba said, The asses be [are] for the king’s household to ride on, and the bread and summer-fruit [figs] for the young men to eat, and the wine that [for] such as be [are] faint in the wilderness may [to] drink. And the king said, And where Isaiah 3 thy master’s son? And Ziba said unto the king, Behold, he abideth at Jerusalem; for he said, To-day shall the house of Israel restore me the kingdom of my father. 4Then said the king [And the king said] to Ziba, Behold, thine are all that pertained unto [is all that belonged to] Mephibosheth. And Ziba said, I humbly beseech thee [I bow down] that [om. that]; I may [may I] find grace in thy sight, my lord O king.
5And when [om. when] king David came to Bahurim, [ins. and] behold, thence came out a man of the family of the house of Saul, whose [and his] name was Shimei, the son of Gera; he came forth, and cursed still as he came. 6And he cast stones at David, and at all the servants of king David; and all the people and all the mighty men were on his right hand and on his left. 7And thus said Shimei when he cursed, Come out, come out, thou bloody man, and thou man of Belial 8[wicked man]. The Lord [Jehovah] hath returned upon thee all the blood of the house of Saul, in whose stead thou hast reigned, and the Lord [Jehovah] hath delivered the kingdom into the hand of Absalom thy son; and behold, thou art taken in thy mischief [thou art in thy calamity18], because thou art a bloody man. 9Then said Abishai the son of Zeruiah [And Abishai, etc., said] unto the king, Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? let me go over, I pray thee, and take off his head. 10And the king said, What have I to do with you, ye sons of Zeruiah? so19 let him curse, because [for] the Lord [Jehovah] hath said unto him, Curse David; [,] who shall then say [and who shall say], Wherefore hast thou done [doest thou] so? 11And David said to Abishai and to all his servants, Behold, my son, which [who] came forth of my bowels, seeketh my life, [ins. and] how much more now may this Benjamite do it [how much more now the Benjaminite]? let him alone, and let him curse; for the Lord [Jehovah] hath bidden him. 12It may be that the Lord [Jehovah] will look on mine affliction, and that the Lord [Jehovah] will requite 13me good for his cursing this day. And as [om. as] David and his men went by [on] the way, [ins. and] Shimei went along on the hill’s side over against him, and cursed as he went, and threw stones at him, and cast dust. 14And the king and all the people that were with him came weary [or, came to Ajephim] and refreshed themselves there.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
2Sa_15:1-12. Absalom’s insurrection.
2Sa_15:1. “After this.” The word here used (מֵאַחֲרֵי כֵן comp. 3:28) shows that what is here related follows immediately20 on the event narrated in 14:28–33. Absalom provides himself a state-chariot with its appurtenances [fifty runners or footmen] in order thus to assume a royal appearance and to attract the wondering attention of the people to himself. Comp. the similar procedure of Adonijah, 1Ki_1:5.
2Sa_15:2 sq. Vivid description of his condescending behaviour (in contrast with his pompous appearance) to gain the favor of the people in connection with their law-matters. [He “rose up early” in order to show his zeal and get opportunities; and such legal business is usually attended to very early in the East; Malcolm (quoted by Philippson) says that Oriental ministers hold their levees at an hour when Western people of quality are not yet up.—Tr.]. The “gate” here referred to is the gate of the royal palace, whither those came that sought the decision of the king in law-matters. “For judgment,” that is, for legal decision. The “hearer” is the judicial officer whose duty it was first to hear and understand the people’s matters, and then lay them before the king, an auscultator. For just decision everything depends on careful hearing and understanding. But there is no hearer for thee on the part of the king.—Absalom guards indeed against accusing the king himself of injustice; but he excites in the minds of the people distrust of the king’s whole judicial practice by saying that there was no regular judicial process for a good and just cause. Perhaps neglect and partiality had crept in, so that Absalom could find some handle for his charges, and avail himself of an already existing dissatisfaction. In the words: See, thy matters are good and right, he gives (in order to win favor) a judicial decision before thorough investigation has been made. Thy just cause, says he, is not investigated; else thou would’st not lack a favorable decision. [Absalom shows himself master of the art of political intriguing—he flatters the people and brings charges against the rulers. Perhaps his insinuations were directed in part against the princes his brothers, possibly against Solomon (Patrick), whose age, however, at this time we do not know, or whether it had been intimated that he was heir to the throne.—Tr.].
2Sa_15:4. “O that I were made judge,” literally: “who will make me judge!” (Ges. § 136, 1). “That to me [lit. “on me”], might come every man.” The “to me” is put first for the sake of emphasis; Absalom contrasts himself as just judge with the state of things under his father. עַל (“on me”) stands for אֶל (“to me”), or, the sentence is to be explained with Thenius from the collective idea “all men” (כָּל־אִישׁ): “In imagination Absalom sees the litigants assembled around him;” comp. Exo_18:13; Jdg_3:19; 1Sa_22:6. The phrase “on me” is not to be explained from the sitting of the judge and the people standing around above him. [The phrase “come on me” is like English “press on,” “lean on,” and implies probably that Absalom would bear their burdens, or else, the proposition here = “at, near, with” (apud).—Tr.].—I would do him justice.—Absalom here presumes on the people’s litigiousness and their confidence in the justice each man of his own cause, and, having brought his father’s judicial procedure into discredit with them, promises to do every man justice. Vulg.: “I should judge justly.”
2Sa_15:5 sq. [Absalom’s affability]. He magnanimously puts aside the honor gained by these arts, and attaches the people to him by a pretended fraternization with every man. The result of these preparations for the purposed insurrection: Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel.—The phrase (גָּנַב לֵב) may also mean “to deceive the heart,” as in Gen_31:20; but the connection shows that the meaning here is “to steal the heart.” [Sept. very well: “made his own the heart,” ἰδιοποιεῖτο; Vulg.: solicitabat corda.—Tr.]. He turned the hearts of the people by guile from his father to himself. [Patrick: a most vile piece of flattery (2Sa_15:5), yet acceptable to the people. So Plato (Rep. Lib. viii.), describes those as doing that would get possession of the government; and see Aristotle Pol. V. 4. Absalom’s beautiful person no doubt attracted the people, as well as his condescending familiarity of manner.—Tr.]
2Sa_15:7-12. The conspiracy set on foot.
2Sa_15:7. The statement of time: At the end of forty years, is certainly wrong according to the connection. An immediate sequence of events being indicated in 2Sa_15:1 [see on 2Sa_15:1 and translator’s note], the phrase “at the end of” can only point to a previous occurrence in Absalom’s life—not, however, to his return from Geshur, which is not important enough in the narrative to serve as reckoning-point (terminus a quo) for a new series of events, but rather to his reconciliation with David (14:33). But Absalom’s procedure here described (2Sa_15:1-6) up to his insurrection cannot have lasted forty years; and further, such a space of time cannot be fitted into the history of David and Absalom, though this would be allowable only in case there were here indicated some chronological-historical point of support, as it has been attempted to find, for example, in Absalom’s age at this time or in the duration of David’s reign. According to these conjectures Absalom’s conspiracy must have occurred in the last days of David’s reign, and this would be wholly unhistorical. The reading of Codd. 70 and 90 (Kennicott) “forty days” is a violent attempt to remove the difficulty, and only introduces another difficulty, since forty days is too short a time after Absalom’s reconciliation with his father for all his preparations here described. We must read “four years” with Syr., Arab., Vulg. [but Codex Amiatinus has “forty”—Tr.], Josephus, Theodoret (Capellus, Grotius, Ewald, Thenius, Keil and others [Bib.-Com.]).21 [Others, (as Ussher, Patrick, Cahen, Philippson) retain the number “forty,” and reckon it in various ways, some from the beginning of David’s reign (Abarbanel), some from David’s anointment by Samuel (Ussher and others), some from the people’s demand for a king (Seder Olam); but the objection to all these is (as Erdmann above suggests) that there is no hint in the text of so remote a terminus a quo as any of them; the time is evidently reckoned from some near event. Though the number four is more probable than forty, it is after all only a conjecture, though a well-supported one; the chronology must here be regarded as uncertain.—Tr.].
2Sa_15:8. Absalom’s “vow” and “serving the Lord” is to be understood of the offering of a sacrifice. He wished to sacrifice in Hebron, ostensibly, no doubt, because it was his birth-place, but really because (his father having there assumed the crown) he considered it a peculiarly suitable place for his being proclaimed king. He chose this place, not because there was dissatisfaction at the removal of the royal residence to Jerusalem (Thenius and Keil, following the “Exegetical Manual”), but because he could there count on a numerous following from the tribe of Judah.22 [We have here an example of sacrificial feasting not in connection with the Tabernacle (as in David’s history 1Sa_20:6), an indication that the strict law of Leviticus (Lev_17:3-4; comp. Deu_12:13-14) was not in practical operation; else David would have objected to sacrificing in Hebron.—Tr.].
2Sa_15:9. David permits himself to be deceived by the pretence of a thank-offering in Hebron, which Absalom might have offered as well, or better, in Jerusalem. Ewald remarks: “that David observed nothing of all this till the startling news reached him that the heart of Israel was turned to Absalom, cannot be reckoned to his disadvantage, since so ancient and simple a kingdom had nothing like our modern state-police; it is rather a mark of the noble-minded security that we elsewhere see in him, that he gives so free scope to his beloved son, who might be regarded as first-born and heir-apparent, and whose quiet nature certainly even greatly pleased him.”
2Sa_15:10. “Absalom sent.” The verb is not Pluperfect but Imperfect, since the sending out of emissaries might be synchronous with the journey to Hebron, where Absalom’s accomplices had gotten everything in readiness for proclaiming him king, else he could not have said: As soon as ye hear the sound of the trumpet,23 say, Absalom is become king in Hebron. Absalom sent emissaries into all the tribes of Israel, to find out public opinion and prepare for his attempt throughout the whole kingdom at the same time, he having already gotten the favor of the people by the arts above-related, and thrown his net over them. The emissaries had only to spread the net wider and deeper, and then at the signal to draw it in and catch the people.
2Sa_15:11. The two hundred men that accompanied him were not “poor, dependent people,” which would certainly have excited surprise, but courtiers such as ususually accompanied kings and kings’ sons on their journeys without causing remark. That these men might be perfectly at their ease, under the impression that they were going to a sacrificial feast at Hebron, and that the real purpose might the better be concealed from David, nothing was said to them of Absalom’s design; they knew “nothing at all” of the matter. Taken by surprise in Hebron by the sudden proclamation of Absalom as king, they must have appeared to the people at Jerusalem and elsewhere as part of the royal retinue. [Bib.-Com. points out the extreme secrecy of the affair as explaining David’s ignorance of it, and also Absalom’s taste for large entertainments.—Tr.]. 2Sa_15:12. Ahithophel appears as Absalom’s secret counsellor in the contriving of the conspiracy, and so as traitor to David, whose counsellor he was. His native city Giloh was near and south of Hebron (Jos_15:51; Jos_15:54). The text reads literally: “He sent Ahithophel from his city,” that is, he caused him to come. Either this expression is to be regarded as a pregnant one=“he sent and brought” (Keil), or we must change the vowel-points.24 Why Ahithophel abandoned David is not said; probably from dissatisfaction and ambition. [Patrick: “And it is supposed by the Jews that Ahithophel was incensed against David for abusing Bathsheba, whom they take to have been his grand-daughter, she being the daughter of Eliam (11:3), and Eliam being the son of Ahithophel (23:34).”—So Blunt, Coincidences, Part II. (ix.)—Tr.]—No doubt he had been slyly working at Giloh, and had prepared everything for proclaiming Absalom. The conspiracy grew rapidly, and the people came to Absalom in constantly increasing numbers. It is noticeable that it is in the tribe of Judah that this defection from David is consummated. The elements of this so astonishingly successful insurrection of Absalom were David’s grievous sins, his weakness towards Amnon and Joab, the lacks of the royal government and the consequent dissatisfaction among the people. [The expression: “while he offered bloody offerings” is difficult. If the subject be Ahithophel, it does not appear why his offering should be mentioned; or if, as is more probable, the subject is Absalom, the reason for his sending for Ahithophel while he was offering is not clear; we should rather have expected the latter to be present at the beginning of the solemn sacrifice that was to pledge the conspirators. As the text stands, it cannot be rendered: “he sent for Ahithophel to be present when he offered,” nor: “and while he sacrificed, the conspiracy grew strong,” though something like one of these renderings seems to be the meaning. The text is discussed in “Text, and Gram.”—Grotius refers to the similar procedure of Civilis (pledging conspirators at a feast), Tacit., Hist. IV. 14.—Tr.]
2Sa_15:13 to 2Sa_16:14. David’s flight before Absalom.25
2Sa_15:13. Literally: “the messenger;” according to our usage: “a messenger,” the Heb. employing the Def. Art, to express the class individualized in the person in question. Comp. Ges. § 109, 3, Rem. 1 b, c.—“The heart of the men of Israel is after Absalom”—“to be after one” means “to attach one’s self to him, embrace his cause.” Comp. 2:10; 1Sa_12:14.
2Sa_15:14. Up! let us flee. David’s immediate flight is to be explained (according to the reason that he himself here gives) by the fact that seized not with momentary fear (Thenius), but doubtless with sudden terror at the unexpected revolution, he yet sees that the fulfilment of Nathan’s prophecy of approaching “misfortune” (12:10, 11) is now beginning, that the punishment cannot be warded off, and that to stay in Jerusalem will only occasion a storming of the city with much bloodshed, which he wishes to avoid. “Against an insurrection so vigorous, and yet so thoroughly groundless and unintelligible, the best defence was to withdraw quietly and try to gain time; the first fright happily gotten over, sober thought would soon return in many places” (Ewald). [How far Jerusalem was now in condition to stand a siege (Zion was probably fortified), or whether David had a well-organized standing army, and how much of the army Absalom carried off, we do not know; David’s forces seem not to have received any important addition after he left the city. Two reasons for leaving Jerusalem would be: to spare the city the horrors of a siege, and to gain the advantage of his military skill and of the discipline of his tried warriors in the open country.—Tr.]—[2Sa_15:15. David’s servants (soldiers) declare themselves ready to obey his commands—a comfortable faithfulness in the midst of general defection.—Tr.]
2Sa_15:16. The king’s household went “after him” (בְּרַגְלָיו), comp. Jdg_4:10; Jdg_4:15, not: “on foot” (Michaelis). The king left ten concubines to keep the house. It appears from 19:6 [Eng. A. V. 5] that other concubines went along with him.
2Sa_15:17. “All the people,” all persons attached to the court, including the numerous body of servants = “the whole household” (2Sa_15:16). They halted at “the farthest (or far) house” [Eng. A. V.: “a place that was far off”] on the road to Mount Olivet, but this side the Kidron. So the German phrase “the last cent” (der letzte Heller) used as a proper name to designate a farm lying at the extremity of a region. Probably this designation had already become a proper name among the people. [Bib. Com.: “very likely a fort guarding the passage of the Kidron.” Others write: Beth-merhak.—Tr.]
2Sa_15:18. David having halted here with his immediate retinue (of his household), caused first all his servants to pass by at his side (עַל־יָדוֹ), then his body guard and six hundred Gittites (who had followed him from Gath) to pass before him, so that the latter formed the vanguard. On the “Cherethites and Pelethites” comp. 8:18. As the “six hundred men that followed him from Gath” are called “all the Gittites,” they must be those six hundred faithful companions-in-arms that gathered about David during Saul’s persecution (1Sa_22:2; 1Sa_23:13; 1Sa_25:13), went with him to Gath (1Sa_27:2 sq.) and settled with him in Ziklag (1Sa_27:8; 1Sa_29:2; 1Sa_30:1; 1Sa_30:9). Thence they marched with him to Hebron (2:3) and Jerusalem (5:6). They are the same that are called “Gibborim” [heroes, mighty men] in 16:6, and appear as his military escort. Comp. 20:7; 23:8 sqq., where the Gibborim seem to be identical with these. “They very probably formed, from the time that David went to reside at Jerusalem, a special body, known as ‘the Gibborim,’ kept always in full number (hence here also, six hundred), living in barracks at Jerusalem (see Appendix to the Books of Kings, § 7), employed only in the most important undertakings (10:7; 20:7, 9) the Old Guard, as it were, who here also will protect the retreat of their lord with their stout, faithful bodies” (Thenius). They are here called “the Gittites” because they were so called by the people, as having followed David “from Gath on” (Keil). There is no necessity for read- Gibborim instead of Gittites (Thenius), especially as all the versions have the latter. [This reading is discussed in “Text. and Gram.” Some hold these “Gittites” to be foreigners (Philistines) that had entered David’s service, as we know many foreigners did; and this is probable, if we retain the present text. But that the Gibborim were called “Gittites” (Keil) is not probable, and as there is no account of such a body of Philistines having followed David from Gath (that is, when he lived there), there is strong reason for reading Gibborim instead of Gittites.—Tr.]
2Sa_15:19. Ittai was a Philistine of Gath, “who had lately with other bold Philistine warriors come over to David, and, having probably had a good position in his native city, was also assigned a high place by David” (Ewald). According to 2Sa_15:22 his wife and children were with him. He was given command of one-third of the army (18:2), and stood along with Joab and Abishai as an able general. It need not surprise us that a foreigner should occupy such a military position; comp. 11:3, Uriah the Hittite. David advises this faithful follower not to go with him, but to remain “with the king” at Jerusalem. This phrase cannot mean: with him that is or will be king, according to God’s will, whether it be David or Absalom (Keil, and so Seb. Schmidt: “it is not your business to decide this contest: wait quietly, see whom God chooses and serve him”), but it must be referred definitely to Absalom, who in David’s eyes is now king de facto. Ewald: David gave him the friendly advice to stay in Jerusalem with the new king. David thus neither recognizes Absalom as rightful king (Böttch.), nor ironically so calls him = “with him who is acting as if he were king” (Clericus). In this usurpation of the throne David recognizes and submits to a divine dispensation, and so calls Absalom king.—The reason for his counsel to Ittai: “For thou art a stranger and moreover an emigrant (exile) in thy place. “Stranger” = not an Israelite; “emigrant or exile” (גֹּלֶה) = one not in his native land. The last phrase may be rendered: “for26 thy place,” or “in respect to thy place,” or may be taken to express a state of quiet (comp. Ges. § 154, 3 e). The meaning is: “as a foreigner, thou needst not care who is king, or join either side; stay where thou art.” The reading of Sept., Vulg., Syr., Arab.: “thou hast come from thy place,” does not warrant us in changing the preposition “to” of the Heb. into “from;” for, if the latter were the original text, it is hard to see how the present difficult reading came. [The passage reads literally: “Return, and abide with the king, for thou art a stranger and also an exile to thy place.” Eng. A. V. transposes the last phrase, or supposes a parenthesis: “return to thy place and abide,” etc. (and so Kimchi), and Bib.-Com.: “Return and dwell with the king (for thou art a foreigner and thou art an exile) at thy place” (i. e. Jerusalem). Erdmann in his translation of the chapter (prefixed to the Exposition) gives: “for thou art a stranger and moreover a man that has been carried away from his place,” but here renders it quite differently: “for thou art a stranger and an exile in thy place,” that is, remaining quietly in thy place (Jerusalem, thy adopted home). Philippson: “thou art a stranger, etc., in respect to thy place” (Gath, thy native place). The parenthesis of Eng. A. V. is improbable, and Erdmann’s rendering in the Exposition is impossible; we must adopt Philippson’s, or change the Prep. and read “from,” as Erdmann in his translation. See the discussion in “Text. and Gram.”—Tr.]—Whether Ittai came with his family (2Sa_15:22) and his kinsfolk (2Sa_15:20) to Jerusalem as hostage (Thenius), or went over to David with other warriors (Ewald), cannot be determined, as nothing is said thereon. But as he was a man in high position and a distinguished military leader, and as David broke the Philistines’ supremacy in the last war with them (8:1), it is probable (2Sa_15:20 : “thou camest yesterday”) that this victory of David’s was the occasion of his coming to Jerusalem.
2Sa_15:20. The sense is: “Shall 1 drag27 thee, a stranger lately come, and an exile, into my unquiet and precarious life?” Since I go whither I go, without certain aim, “whither the way leads me” (Maurer). Comp. 1Sa_23:13.—David wishes Ittai the favor and the faithfulness of God. From this and from Ittai’s saying: “as the Lord lives,” it is probable that Ittai with his whole house had already become a believer in the God of Israel. [From this expression we cannot infer anything as to Ittai’s religious position, much less as to that of his family. Any foreigner might believe in Jehovah as a deity and swear by His name (so Achish, 1Sa_29:6) without giving up his own gods. On general grounds it is not improbable that Ittai accepted the God of Israel; but we have no information as to any special religious depth or conversion in his history.—Tr.] It is doubtful whether we should render: “carry thy brethren back with thee in grace and truth.” (Maurer), or take the latter part separately: “with thee be grace and truth,” that is, God’s (Keil); the accents favor the first, the connection of thought the second. Sept. and Vulg. have: “and the Lord will do with thee grace and truth,” to which Vulg. adds: “because thou hast shown grace and faithfulness,” whence Thenius (with Ew. and Böttch. for the Sept. reading) will correspondingly change the Heb. text.28 But the words of Sept. and Vulg. seem to be an interpreting paraphrase, with the similar words in 2:5, 6, in mind. The text without this addition gives a good sense: “lead thy brethren back; with thee be grace and faithfulness.”
2Sa_15:21. Ittai’s answer expresses unconditional devotion and fidelity for life and death.29
2Sa_15:22. David accepts Ittai’s vow of fidelity. The latter with his whole family (wife and children, טַף, comp. Exo_12:37) remains in the line of march.
2Sa_15:23. Description of the deep and loud lamentation of all the faithful people over the misfortune of their king. “All the land” = all the inhabitants who poured out with the procession; “all the people” = David’s courtiers and servants, were “passing by,” namely, in front of these crowds of people standing on the way-side. The procession marched eastward over the brook Kedron, it being David’s aim to reach the wilderness of Judah [that is, between Jerusalem and Jericho]. The Kedron, filled with water only in the winter or rainy season, was in the valley of Jehoshaphat, east of Jerusalem, between the city and Mount Olivet. David passed “in the direction of the way”30 to the wilderness, the northern part of the wilderness of Judah.
2Sa_15:24-29. The priests sent back with the ark to Jerusalem.
2Sa_15:24. Zadok (of the branch of Eleazar) with the priests took the ark from its place (2 Samuel 6), brought it out to David, and set it down where he halted (after passing the Kidron) on the declivity of the mount of Olives, “to give the people that were yet coming on time to join the procession” (Keil). On the other hand Abiathar (of the line of Eli [branch of Ithamar]) had remained in the city “till the people had all passed over from the city.” He went up, that is, of course, to the summit of Mount Olivet, where the ark was set down; the rendering: “he sacrificed” (Schultz, Böttcher), is impossible, since the verb (עלה) never has this meaning except in connection with the substantive “burnt-offering” (עוֹלָה) [or some other offering, Isa_57:6.—Tr.], or without reference to it in the connection; in the passages cited by Böttcher, 1Sa_2:28; 2Sa_24:22; 1Ki_3:15, the context points to offering. Thenius proposes to read: “and Abiathar waited,”31 for which there is no necessity, as the text in the connection (in respect to the locality) gives a good sense.—[Böttcher: “And Zadok, etc., bearing the ark, etc., of God, and Abiathar the son of Ahimelech at the head of all the Levites, and they set down the ark of God, and Abiathar offered sacrifices until,” etc., an improbable reading, in which the inserted clause is suggested by the Sept. ἀπὸ βαινὰρ = Abiathar. Wellhausen acutely suggests that the words: “and Abiathar went up (or, offered sacrifices),” are in the wrong place; the text reads: “they set down the ark till all the people,” etc. It is hard to get any good sense from the present text, or to explain what part Abiathar took in the proceedings. Some think he staid in the city till the ark was set down; others (contrary to the text) that he preceded the ark, which was not set down till he stopped. Probably Abiathar ought to be somehow connected with Zadok in the bearing of the ark (see the plural “your” in 2Sa_15:27), and perhaps in sacrificing; but we have not the means of satisfactorily restoring the text.—Tr.]
2Sa_15:25 sqq. The ark sent back. David declares that he does not need this sign of God’s gracious presence and protection. His reason for this is expressed in the words [2Sa_15:26]: “if I find favor,” etc., wherein in contrast with the visible sign of God’s presence he emphasizes His spiritual nearness, on which everything depends, and gives himself unconditionally up to the will of the Lord, whom he knows to be present, whose hand he sees in these events, according to the announcement made him by Nathan. He resigns himself to God in the proper sense of the word for “favor or disfavor.” David speaks only to Zadok, who here (as in in 2Sa_15:24) appears as the officiating high-priest at the head of the Levites. [But from 1Ki_2:35 it seems that Abiathar was the superior (Bib.-Com., Bähr on “Kings” (Lange’s Bible-work), Patrick). It is not improbable that some mention of Abiathar has here fallen out of the text (see 2Sa_15:29); though it may be that in the distribution of duties the care of the ark fell to Zadok. The two priests are throughout this narrative represented as equally faithful to David.—Tr.]
2Sa_15:27 sqq. [The king says to Zadok: Return to the city, and I will await word from you at the fords.] The word הראה [Eng. A. V. seer] presents great difficulties if we adopt the interrogative pointing, and render: “Seest thou not?” (Grot.), where the insertion of the negative is unwarranted, or: “Seest thou?” (De Wette), or: “Understandest thou?” namely, what I have just said (Böttcher), which renderings are partly too heavy, partly superfluous. [These translations take the word as Participle. Eng. A. V. takes it as a substantive, and unwarrantably inserts a negative, leaving out which, the rendering: “art thou a seer?” is grammatically possible, but not suitable to the circumstances.—Tr.] Instead of the Interrogative particle (הֲ) we must read the Article (הָ), and render: “Thou seer,” that is, thou prophet, “since a high-priest might certainly bear this higher, yet archaic name” (Ewald). The high-priest might well be called a seer, because he received divine revelations through the Urim and Thummim. David’s reason for so naming him here is found in his words in 2Sa_15:25 sqq. Zadok is to return to Jerusalem and learn God’s will through events, and through him David is to learn whether the Lord will again take him into favor and restore him to Jerusalem; that is, Zadok was to act as seer for him.—[This interpretation is hardly conveyed by the words. Zadok was to act as observer, as reporter or intermediary between Hushai and David, and in fact does so act. But he performs none of the functions of the official Roeh or Seer, and it is not easy to see why he should be so called. Usage forbids us to take the word in its literal sense: “seeer” = observer. Wellhausen’s reading: “high-priest” (ראש) belongs to a later time, and that of the Sept. “see!” (רְאֵה) seems to offer fewer difficulties than any other.—Tr.]—Ahimaaz and Jonathan the sons of the two high-priests are to be the messengers to bring news from Jerusalem; comp. 2Sa_15:28 and 2Sa_15:36.—In 2Sa_15:28 we retain (from 17:6 comp. with 19:19) the Kethib or text: “the fords of the wilderness” (instead of the Qeri “plains”32 [so Eng. A. V.], 2Ki_25:5), the point where one passed from the wilderness over the Jordan. Thither (to the west side of the Jordan) David had to repair in order to escape any threatening danger by crossing the river at one of the several fords in the vicinity; and there he would await information from Jerusalem. Comp. the Jordan-fords, Jos_2:7; Jdg_3:28.
2Sa_15:29. The ark is carried back to Jerusalem, and the two high-priests remain there.
2Sa_15:30-37. Continuation of the flight on the road to the wilderness of Judah over the Mount of Olives.
2Sa_15:30. David went up the height of the olive trees, that is, Mount Olivet [Eng. A. V.: the ascent (or acclivity) of Mount Olivet]. Deep and loud mourning of David and all the faithful people that accompanied him. “Covering the head” is the symbol of the mind sorrowfully sunk in itself, wholly withdrawn from the outer world. Comp. Est_6:12; Eze_24:17. Of David it is said besides that he went “barefoot,” “as a penitent” (Ewald), or: “to manifest his humiliation in the sight of God” (Thenius).
2Sa_15:31. “It was told David,”33 he learned from Jerusalem, that the crafty Ahithophel (see on 2Sa_15:12) was “among the conspirators” with Absalom. He replies only by a brief ejaculation, praying the Lord “to make foolish the counsel of Ahithophel,” that is, to bring it to naught.
2Sa_15:32. The fulfilment of this prayer is straightway prepared by the arrival of Hushai, the old, faithful friend of David, see 17:1 sq.—David came to the top, that is, of Mount Olivet, its highest point, whither David had come after ascending from the height below on the declivity (comp. 2Sa_15:24 with 2Sa_15:30); for there only can have been the place where men were wont to worship. By some (Sept., Vulg., Ew.) [Eng. A. V.]) “David” is taken as the subject of the verb “worshipped;” but then an Infin. with Prep. “to” (לְ) must have been employed, or a Pers. Pron. (הוּא) inserted before the verb (Böttch.). This place on the top of Mount Olivet, therefore, was one of the Bamoth or high places, which still existed in various places in Palestine.—Hushai was a trusted, proved counsellor of the king, as appears from the duties assigned him (2Sa_15:33 sq.). That he was in close friendship with the king is shown by his repeated designation as “David’s friend,” 2Sa_15:37; 2Sa_16:16; 1Ch_27:33.—The Arkite, from the city Erek in Ephraim, on its south border near Atharoth (Jos_16:2). Hushai came to meet David, had consequently preceded him in the flight [or else, had been out of the city]. The “torn garment and the earth on the head” betoken his grief, comp. 1Sa_4:12. [According to Braun this garment was like a surplice, with sleeves, worn commonly by men of rank and position (Patrick).—Tr.]
2Sa_15:33 sq.—David, however, suggests to Hushai to return to Jerusalem. If thou pass on with me, thou wilt be a burden to me—why, it is not said. Ewald thinks it was because he was not used to war; but the matter in hand now was not war, but flight. Clericus supposes that he was a talented and prudent man, but not a warrior, and so Keil. Thenius: “thou wouldst thus increase my cares.” Probably David thinks that Hushai would impede his flight, either because he was old, or because, as the king’s intimate friend and confidential counsellor he would require special care. By entering Absalom’s service, he thinks, Hushai may foil Ahithophel’s plans (2Sa_15:34), and through the priests’ sons keep him informed of the state of affairs in Jerusalem. Hushai is to say to Absalom: Thy servant, O king, I will be; thy father’s servant was I formerly; but now—well,34 I am thy servant. [This was not honest, but it was according to the policy practiced in those days, and indeed in all ages. Which Procopius Gazæus approves so far as to say that “a lie told for a good end is equivalent to truth.” But I dare not justify such doctrine (Patrick).—Tr.]—[2Sa_15:35-36. Zadok and Abiathar and their sons are to participate in the stratagem of Hushai, and their moral position in the matter is perhaps the same as his and David’s. Bp. Patrick’s judgment above cited is hardly too severe. This was not an ordinary stratagem; these men, Zadok and the rest, were not simply spies, but we can avoid calling them traitors only by supposing that the priests were not recognized as adherents of Absalom, but as indifferent non-combatants, or as friends of David.—Tr.]
2Sa_15:37. Hushai returned to Jerusalem at the same time35 that Absalom entered the city. The addition of the Vulg.: “and Ahithophel with him” was occasioned, no doubt, by 16:15 (Thenius).
1sa 16:1–14. Two disturbing experiences in David’s flight continued from the summit of the Mount of Olives.—1) 2Sa_16:1-4. Meeting with Ziba, and the latter’s calumny against Mephibosheth.
2Sa_16:1. When David was a little past the top [of Olivet], the point where he met Hushai (15:32). On Ziba, Mephibosheth’s servant, see 9:2 sq. He came to meet David, had therefore gone on in advance of the army (as Hushai did) in order more easily to secure David’s attention after the first disorder was over. On two saddled asses he brings a quantity of food, two hundred loaves of bread, one hundred cakes of raisins or dried grapes, one hundred cakes of fruit [probably fig-cakes] (παλάθαι, comp. the Sept. in Jer_40:10; Jer_40:12) and a skin of wine.
2Sa_16:2. Ziba states his purpose in bringing this food.40 [His gift was particularly thoughtful and seasonable.—Tr.]—His real wish was to gain the king’s favor and gratitude, he being shrewd enough to see that David would come out victor over his son.
2Sa_16:3. David asks: “where is the son (Mephibosheth) of thy lord (Jonathan)?”; to which he replies with the calumny, that Mephibosheth had stayed in Jerusalem, hoping to regain the kingdom of his father (Jonathan), who, if he had outlived Saul, would have been king. That the helpless cripple had designs on the throne, was an evident lie. But David might now believe it, partly because the present excitement prevented quiet consideration and opened his mind to such an insinuation, partly because he feared the Sauline party, dissatisfied with his government, might use the confusion produced by Absalom’s insurrection to restore Saul’s dynasty under the name of the last scion of his house. The aim of Ziba in this calumny (19:25 sqq. proves it undoubtedly to have been such) was to get possession of the estate committed to him for Mephibosheth’s benefit (9:7 sq.), comp. 19:27–29. The manner of Ziba’s trick was this (19:26): Mephibosheth, learning of David’s flight, had ordered asses saddled for himself and his servants, in order to repair to the king in token of his faithful attachment; Ziba had taken the asses together with the presents intended by Mephibosheth for the king, come to the latter, and left the helpless Mephibosheth in the lurch. He was therefore not only an arrant liar and calumniator, but also an impudent thief and traitor.41
2Sa_16:4. Another example of David’s credulity and haste. He believes Ziba without investigation, and bestows on him all his master’s property. The impudent swindler replies to this grace with two words: 1) I bow myself, that is, I manifest my most humble and devoted thanks; 2) may I find favor in the eyes of my lord, the king. I commend myself to your further good-will, comp. 1Sa_1:18. David, in the excitement of momentary misfortune, is here guilty of a double wrong, first in treating the faithful Mephibosheth as a traitor, and then in royally rewarding the false and slanderous Ziba.
2) 2Sa_16:5-14. Shimei curses David. The flight reaches Bahurim, on the position of which place see on 3:16, Thenius in loco and Käuffer’s bibl. Stud. II. 154.—[It was between Mount Olivet and the Jordan, but the exact site is unknown.—Tr.]—Shimei was of the race of Saul’s house.—[See the lists in Gen_46:21; 1Ch_8:1 sqq. Some identify him (but doubtfully) with the Cush of the title of Psalms 7.—Tr.] This explains his rage against David, which he here vents in curses and revilings and in throwing stones at him and his followers. [Such virulence is to this day exhibited in the East towards fallen greatness. Josephus states (Ant. 7, 9, 7) that Bahurim lay off the main road, which agrees very well with the account of Shimei’s behaviour (Smith’s Bib.-Dict., Art. Bahurim).—Tr.]
2Sa_16:7 sqq. Out, out, namely, out of the kingdom and the land. He calls David “thou bloody man” probably because he ascribed to him the murder of Ishbosheth and Abner (3:27 sqq.; 4:6 sqq.), of which he was wholly guiltless. [Others, less probably, think also of Saul and Jonathan, and even of Uriah.—Tr.] The misfortune [Eng. A. V. not so well “mischief”] that Absalom’s insurrection had brought on him he regards as a punishment from God, because he had become king in Saul’s stead. This shows how embittered Saul’s kindred were over David’s elevation to the throne, and how, therefore, Ziba’s slander against Mephibosheth found readier acceptance with David. [Shimei is here so far devout and religious that he ascribes the present state of things wholly to Jehovah, the God of Israel; but he ignores Samuel’s sentence of rejection (1 Samuel 15.), and otherwise shows a bad spirit.—Tr.]
2Sa_16:9. [Abishai wishes to kill Shimei.] On Abishai compare 2:23 sq.; 3:30. The “dead dog” is the expression of the extremest vileness and badness, comp. 9:8. Abishai appears here as in chaps, 2., 3. [and 1Sa_26:8] violent and revengeful. He wishes to make Shimei atone for his reviling with his head.
2Sa_16:10. [David restrains Abishai.]—Ye sons of Zeruiah. Joab is here joined with his brother (as in 2:23), being probably of the same opinion with him. “What is there to me and to you?” (comp. Joh_2:4,τί ἐμοὶ καὶ σοὶ; Jos_22:24; 1Ki_17:18; for the thought comp. Luk_9:52-56), that is, what have I in common with you? [Eng. A. V.: what have I to do with you?]. David decidedly repels Abishai’s suggestion, saying: I have here no feeling in common with you; we are different persons; I will have nothing to do with you in such self-help and revenge. He bases this strict prohibition on the admonition that Shimei’s cursing is by dispensation of God. The marginal reading: “so let him curse, for the Lord” [so Eng. A. V.], and the insertion of Sept. and Vulg.: “and let him alone” (following the “let him alone” of 2Sa_16:11) after “sons of Zeruiah,” are explanations owing their origin to the difficulty that the text presented when the first particle (כִּי) was taken as causal (= “for” or “because”), the second (וְכִּי) being then very harsh. Render both particles by “when,” and begin the apodosis with “and who” (וּמִי). Maurer: “when he curses and when Jehovah has said to him, Curse David, who then shall say,” etc.42
2Sa_16:11 sq. David here combines Shimei’s cursing and Absalom’s revolt under the point of view of the divine permission and causation; and the fresh reference to this divine cause shows how deeply in his pious heart David feels in this misfortune also the blows of God’s chastening hand. “The repetition of the: And he said, is not superfluous, for the discourse is addressed to more persons than before” (Thenius). How much more the Benjamite, that is, the member of Saul’s tribe, who hate me. It is not surprising that such a one reviles me, when my own son seeks my life. David thus shows that from a purely human point of view there was no ground for the course proposed by Abishai.
2Sa_16:12. “Perhaps the Lord will look on my iniquity.” Instead of this (עֲוֹנִי) the Qeri or margin has “my eye” (עֵינִי), that is, the Lord will perhaps look on “my tears,” the Masorites [ancient Jewish editors of the Heb. text] not being able to comprehend how David, guiltless in respect to this reviling, could acknowledge himself guilty. We are not, however, to change the text to “my affliction” (עָנְיִי, Then., Ew. [Eng. A. V.]), but to retain the idea of guilt, since David deeply feels that he has offended, not, indeed, in the matter mentioned by Shimei, but against the Lord. God’s “looking on His iniquity” can then be only a gracious and merciful looking. “Perhaps the Lord will requite me good for the curse that has come on me this day,” since I patiently bear it as a chastisement of His hand. Retain the text “my curse” = the curse that has befallen me, against the Qeri “his curse” [Eng. A. V.], that is, Shimei’s. [It seems more in accordance with the thought here to read “my affliction” instead of “my iniquity;” see “Text. and Gram.” David’s humility is seen in his “perhaps;” he will not be sure of the divine blessing (Patrick). His feeling towards Shimei here seems to be controlled by an overpowering sense of God’s chastising providence. He does not exonerate his reviler, but feels that at this moment it is not his business to asssert his right, but only to bow under God’s hand. The misfortune that has befallen him is so terrible that he thinks Shimei’s addition to it only natural. Afterwards (19:23) under the generous impulses of victory, he pardons him, but finally (1Ki_2:8-9) hands him over to Solomon’s vengeance. Whatever his feeling in this last act, it is clear that now his humble sense of God’s chastisement has driven all self-assertion and revenge from his heart.—Tr.].
2Sa_16:13. Shimei’s rage is increased, it would seem, by David’s quiet behaviour; he runs along the side of the acclivity (by which the road passed) opposite him, cursing and throwing stones at David and his followers.
2Sa_16:14. David’s arrival in “Ajephim” [Eng. A. V.: “weary”]. A place of this name, indeed, is not known; but that is no ground against its existence. If the word be rendered “weary,” no place is named to which they came, as the word “there” indicates. This place was certainly not Bahurim [2Sa_16:5], for 17. 18 shows that David’s rest-place was beyond Bahurim towards the Jordan, the priests’ sons having hidden at Bahurim, and then gone on farther towards David. [Bib. Com. suggests that Ajephim was a caravansary, for which the meaning of the word (weary) would be appropriate.—Tr.].—The exact statement of the localities of David’s flight [and, indeed, of the whole history of the day of flight—Tr.] is remarkable; comp. 15:17, 23, 30, 32; 16:1, 5, 13, 14.
HISTORICAL AND THEOLOGICAL
1. The starting-point of the shattering of the theocratic kingdom till its very existence was threatened is found in the disruption of David’s house and family by the crimes of his two oldest sons. From the royal household itself comes the seducer of the people to conspiracy and insurrection against the divinely ordained government of David. From the morally corrupt soil of the royal court, whose highest officials break faith and rise against the kingly government, springs the evil spirit (the confederate of that seducer) that drags the people into revolution. But the success of Absalom and his accomplice shows that in the nation itself there was already dissension with the Davidic government and a process of disintegration that co-operated with Absalom’s act of insurrection; if there had not been widespread dissatisfaction at defects and wrongs in administration of justice, Absalom’s treacherous conduct could not have had so great and immediate results. If the bonds of fidelity and obedience, which before held the people to David, had not been sorely loosened, Absalom could not have straightway turned “the heart of the men of Israel” from him. And it is David’s own tribe, Judah, whence the rebellion proceeds and is carried on. Absalom’s general-in-chief is Amasa, a near kinsman of Joab and David; his counsellor is Ahithophel of Giloh in Judah; and the insurrection begins at Hebron, the old capital of the tribe. “There must, therefore, have been dissatisfaction in David’s own tribe. Indeed this tribe murmurs and holds back after Absalom is slain, and the other tribes submit. The hereditary tribe jealousy and the old opposition between Judah and the others, are not extinct” (Ew. Hist. III., p. 239). The first impulse to the insurrection was given in Judah, and in Judah its effects are longest to be seen.
If we inquire, indeed, concerning the innermost grounds and causes of the insurrection and the national disintegration, we must first and chiefly note the treachery of Absalom and his accomplice, which was combined with hypocrisy and with kindness offered as a bribe, and, on the other hand, the fickleness and unfaithfulness of the people. The ambition of Absalom and his associates used all means to befool the people and win their favor. And during time of peace the God-fearing sense that saw in David the Anointed of the Lord, the God-chosen king, had been lost by a great part of the people. Perhaps, also, David had erred in the government of the nation and State as of his house, and was partly to blame for the popular dissatisfaction. All these ethical factors combined to produce the present disintegration.—But, over against this manifold human guilt, David, looking at his present misfortune from the highest point of view, the theocratic, recognizes in it a divine punishment (comp. 12:10, 11), beneath which he humbly bows. Such a recognition is contained in his flight without attempt to withstand the insurrection. He goes his way a fugitive in tears, bowing humbly and quietly beneath God’s hand. “The Lord hath commanded him”—this is the expression of his submission to God. This is the source of his humble tranquillity, as he pursues his fugitive way, of his childlike submission to God’s will (“let Him do to me as seemeth Him good”) and of the gentle patience with which he takes men’s wickedness without return in word or deed, and bears it as a dispensation of God. But in all this there shows itself at the same time the fruit of this sorrowful experience: it proves to him a real visitation; he turns anew to his God with humble obedience and childlike trust; having obtained forgiveness of sins, he makes these sufferings as a paternal chastisement minister to the purification and sanctification of his heart and mind. “Only through new wrestling with the divine grace, only through humble submission to Jehovah’s righteous chastisement can he succeed in passing safely through this valley of death-shade.”
2. Penitent humility shows itself in the truly pious in patient endurance of ills that they must recognize as the consequence of their own guilt and accept as a chastisement and means of purification, as well as in the rejection of the self-willed efforts of others to ward off the evil or take vengeance on its originators.
3. To this period is to be referred (with most expositors) the origin of Psalm 41. and 55. Both Psalms have, as Delitzsch rightly observes, “the most marked historical, individual physiognomy;” they are mourning Psalms, picturing the hostility and falseness of numerous adversaries of the singer, and especially lamenting the faithlessness of a trusted friend and counsellor, with whom his numerous enemies are combined. The statement in 2Sa_16:23 shows how near Ahithophel stood to David as friend and counsellor, and how much importance the latter attached to his counsel. According to Psalms 41. a long sickness of the Psalmist is the occasion for his enemies to employ all their false and treacherous arts against him. In the midst of this suffering he implores the divine mercy and help, recognizing and bearing the suffering as chastisement for sin, yet affirms his conviction of God’s favor towards him as His servant, the uprightness of his heart, his firm confidence in the saving grace of the Lord, who will not let his enemies triumph over him, and (without expressing any revengeful desires, Hupfeld), holds in view the just requital that will overtake his enemies, “to which he, as a just king, was pledged” (Moll). In Psalms 55. the abruptness of the words, the excited haste of the discourse and the anguished tone of the Psalmist indicate a worsened situation, the extreme danger from the insurrection, which had now flamed openly out. By the hostility of his opponents he is brought to uttermost distress (Psa_55:2-6 [Eng. A. V. 1–5]). He wishes for the wings of a dove, to find a refuge in the wilderness (Psa_55:7-9 [6–8]), while in the city and on its walls are violence and deceit (Psa_55:10-12 [9–11]), and a formerly trusted friend and companion joins his enemies (13–15 [12–14]), who are united with the hypocritical and faithless man (Psa_55:21-22 [20, 21]). On these enemies he invokes destruction as divine punishment for their insurrection against the Lord’s Anointed, and for their wickedness from which they do not turn (Psa_55:16-20 [15–19]). In this extreme need (corresponding exactly to the situation at the beginning of Absalom’s rebellion) the Psalmist exhorts his own soul to bear patiently the burden of suffering sent by the Lord, or rather, to cast it on Him, and expresses the firm hope and confidence, that the Lord will deliver the righteous by punishing evil-doers, concluding with the energetic exclamation of unconditional trust in God:—“But I, I trust in Thee!”—These traits of humble submission to God’s will and confident hope in His help answer precisely to David’s frame of mind as given in history. [The correctness of the foregoing historical explanation of these two Psalms is very doubtful. Psalms 41. was written while the author was still on a bed of sickness (Psa_55:11 [10]), as David certainly was not when he heard of Ahithophel’s treachery. The alleged connection between the two Psalms as portraying the rise and full bursting-forth of the rebellion is impossible; for David did not hear of it till it was consummated. As to Psalms 55., its writer seems to be in the city (Psa_55:9-12 [8–11]), nor does the history say anything of such intimate relations between David and Ahithophel as are indicated in Psa_55:15 [14]; it was Hushai that was David’s friend.—Of course the religious value of these Psalms is not affected by our ignorance of their date and authorship.—Tr.]
4. This event of David’s history is of typical significance for the sufferings of Jesus in connection with the betrayal of Judas Iscariot, of which Jesus (Joh_13:18) says, referring to Psa_41:10 [9] (“he that eateth bread with me hath lifted up his heel against me”) that it happened “that the Scripture might be fulfilled.” The Old Testament prediction of the betrayal, assumed in Joh_17:12 and Act_1:16 must be found (according to our Lord’s reference to Psa_41:10 [9]) in the treachery of Ahithophel, and the fate of Judas in his fate. [This view of typical significance falls of course with the failure to establish the connection of Psalms 41. with this history. Our Lord’s reference in Joh_13:18 is not necessarily more than a very general one. Act_1:16 refers (see Psa_55:20) to Psa_109:8; Psa_69:26 [25]. Since David suffered for his own sins, and had probably grievously wronged Ahithophel (see note on 2Sa_15:12) it is hardly allowable to make him herein typify Christ, and to regard Ahithophel as the forerunner of Judas.—Tr.]—Further, the separate incidents of David’s flight are strikingly parallel to the Lord’s way over the same path when He was betrayed by Judas. Though David suffered for his many sins, he had yet through penitence already obtained forgiveness of sins. Thus he was the righteous sufferer, who could appeal to God for the purity of his heart and the holiness of his cause. And for this reason he may be regarded as a type of Christ, as indeed Christ Himself by His reference to the passage in Psalms 41. establishes this typical connection.
5. It is noteworthy, how this break-down in David’s theocratic government by his own fault, through family-insurrection and popular defection, led to its restoration and confirmation. “We may say: just as David falls away from Jehovah, to be more firmly bound to him, so Israel turns away from David, to be (as the close of the history shows) more devotedly attached to him. The prelude to this first clearing-up of the relations between king and people is given in the conduct of the faithful band who stand firmly by David in the general defection” (Baumgarten). God’s instruments for building up His kingdom often sorely injure it by their sins, but receive therefor the deepest humiliations through God’s righteous chastisements, and must to their shame admit that He does not for their sin give His cause over to ruin, but raises it the more gloriously up from the fall occasioned by this sin—yea, uses them again as instruments to this end, in so far as they go not their own way in impenitent self-will (as Saul did), but (like David) with broken and grace-filled hearts go the Lord’s way and give themselves up wholly to His will.
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
Proof of the complete resignation to the painful leadings of the Lord occasioned by one’s own fall, 1) In humbly holding still under the strokes of God’s hand, 2) In patiently enduring the sufferings inflicted by bad men, 3) In quietly awaiting the Lord’s decision, whether He will exercise His grace or His justice towards us, and 4) In wisely using the means which please God for overcoming the evil, while decidedly rejecting tempting counsels that are against God’s will.
[Taylor: Civil war is always a terrible calamity; but when the standard of rebellion is raised by a son against his father, we have about the most painful form of strife of which this earth can be the scene..… That he whom we have fondled in our arms and nestled in our bosom, and whose first lisping utterances have been in the attempt to call us father, should live to be at deadly feud with us, and to attempt our destruction—this is misery indeed. “How sharper than a serpent’s tooth it is to have a thankless child.”—Tr.]
Fr. Arndt: In the manner in which David bears this deserved suffering, he appears to us again as the man after God’s own heart, in whom faith purified and strengthened by repentance had brought forth quite extraordinary steadfastness, fidelity and virtue-power, and revealed itself in a glory and elevation which throughout shines before us a picture worthy of imitation. This faith developed itself namely: 1) as obedience, 2) as resignation, 3) as prayer.
2Sa_15:1-6. Starke: When one winks at gross evil-doers too much, they become all the worse. That is the way with rude and wanton sinners; the more God attracts them by His goodness to repentance, the more they misuse it to greater and more numerous sins (Rom_2:4-5).—Berl. B.: Even the proofs of grace which so greatly humble the souls that draw near to God with simplicity and uprightness, make hypocrites to be full of pride.—Schlier: Ambition plunges from one sin into another; by ambition no one comes to anything right.—[Henry: Those are good indeed that are good in their own place, not that pretend how good they will be in other people’s places. … Those are commonly most ambitious of preferment, that are least fit for it; the best-qualified are the most modest and self-diffident.—Hall: No music can be so sweet, to the ears of the unstable multitude, as to hear well of themselves, ill of their governors.—Scott: For such is human nature, that these arts and attainments go much further in gaining the favor of the multitude, than wisdom and justice, truth and piety, or the most important and long-continued services. This is the old hackneyed way for men, destitute of conscience or honor, to wind themselves into important stations; and yet it is as much practiced, and as little suspected, as if it were quite a new discovery.—Tr.]
2Sa_15:7-12. Schlier: How often it happens that piety is for us an outward thing, just as we put on a garment, and inwardly we are strangers to the matter.—Absalom’s rebellion was the Lord’s chastening..… Even when we have found forgiveness, we must yet always feel the Lord’s mighty hand; and this hand often lies quite heavily upon us.—[2Sa_15:11. Hall: How many thousands are thus ignorantly misled into the train of error; their simplicity is as worthy of pity, as their misguidance of indignation. Those that will suffer themselves to be carried with semblances of truth and faithfulness, must needs be as far from safety as innocence.—Tr.]
2Sa_15:13 sqq. Starke: The dear name of God and religion must always be to ungodly men a cloak for their wickedness.—S. Schmid: How unfaithful the human heart is towards God, appears also from the unfaithful behaviour of men towards their greatest benefactors.—Berl. B.: David would rather be regarded as a timid man, than resist God. He regarded Absalom as an executor of God’s righteousness; accordingly he yields only to God, not to Absalom.—One can scarcely imagine the manifold inventions of which God’s strict love makes use, to crucify the converted souls that have once given themselves up thereto. It leaves nothing in them that is not overturned and annihilated. Before Thee, O Lord, all mountains must be made low and all valleys exalted.—Starke: God makes even severe temptations endurable for His people (1Co_10:13).—F. W. Krummacher: This unexpected meeting (with Ittai) immediately before the gates of the city appeared to the royal fugitive almost like a friendly greeting of his God, and dropped the first soothing balsam-drops into the painful wounds of his deeply lacerated heart.—Schlier: Here we have an example of what true fidelity is, and how beautiful it is to remain faithful to one’s king and lord. Fidelity becomes a man, and doubly becomes a Christian.
2Sa_15:25 sq. Cramer: Everything that opposes thee, endure it, and be patient in every sort of trouble (Sir_2:4). For patience is the best way to win.—J. Lange: Well for him who has so believing and open an eye that he can see through everything to God.
2Sa_15:30. Schlier: How instructive is this picture of David; how humble and yet at the same time how spiritual is Israel’s king! Who can fail to see that David on the Mount of Olives goes up truly bowed and contrite, with an humbled and thoroughly softened heart? But David knew that the Lord cannot reject an humbled and broken heart. Therefore in all his humiliation he is not hopeless.—Osiander: The more patiently and humbly we submit ourselves to the cross, the sooner we are released from it.—Berl. B.: The too great strength which one supposes himself to possess, causes self-conceit; weakness, on the contrary, makes a man very little and lowly.—Schlier: Whence comes all despair, whence all little-faith? Is it not because we still hold ourselves too good? And a thoroughly softened heart learns also more and more to take courage and be comforted, and believes ever more firmly that the Lord is kind to the humble.
2Sa_15:31. Osiander: The cunning and secret assaults of our enemies and those of the Gospel we can best bear up against and destroy through fervent prayer to God.—Even short prayers are mighty, if they only proceed from faith.—Starke: God can take the wise in their craftiness (Job_5:13; 1Co_3:19). When wickedness is armed with cunning and power, none but God can overcome it.—Even when the need is greatest, God causes His grace to be seen, and creates means whereby the misfortune is a little softened.—Schlier: Here we see what David, who bad before put all in the Lord’s hand, did in order really to obtain the Lord’s help. First of all David prayed. But after he has prayed he does not lay is hands in his bosom, but he does what he can to get help.—It is wrong to think we might manage the thing without prayer; but it is not less wrong if we think that prayer alone does it, and are disposed then not to do our duty also.
2Sa_16:1-4. [Scott: Selfish men often affect to appear generous in giving away the property of others for their own advantage, and are great adepts in address and insinuation. Flatterers are generally backbiters; for it is as easy to them to forge slanders of the absent, as to pretend affection and respect for the present.—Tr.].—Berl. B.: Shameful as was this slander to David against the innocent Mephibosheth by the false earner of thanks and eye-servant, in like manner inexcusable is the credulity and forgetfulness of David towards his faithful friend, Jonathan, in that he is here so swift to give a decree against his son, and does not once investigate the accusation against him, but condemns him unheard, contrary to his own practical knowledge.—Cramer: It is wrong to give a decision at once upon the allegations of one side, and to believe one party’s account. Persons in authority should guard against this (Pro_14:15). [“Audi alteram partem.”—Tr.]
2Sa_16:5-14. Starke: Judgment begins at the house of God (1Pe_4:17). Who need wonder then if Christ and all holy men of God have been the world’s execration and off-scourings?—Schlier: It is always wrong to scorn and revile an enemy; and doubly wrong when it is done to an unfortunate, whose sorrow without this might almost break his heart.—Starke: Pious men should not murmur when they are chastened by the Lord, but should rather remember their sins, and recognize that after God’s strict judgment they would well have deserved something more (Mic_7:9).—Even in righteous zeal one must take good account of the time; for an untimely zeal, although righteous, amounts to nothing.—Schlier: The Lord controls even the sin of men, and where something evil has been devised in one’s heart, God takes even the evil into His service, and does not suffer it to do what the man wishes, but God does with it what He wishes. Therefore David bows, not indeed to that insolent man, but he bows to the Lord. He thinks of his sin; he confesses himself guilty and accepts even the injustice that is done him as a wholesome medicine. [Hall: Every word of Shimei was a slander. He that took Saul’s spear from his head, and repented to have but cut the lap of his garment, is reproached as a man of blood. The man after God’s own heart is branded for a man of Belial. He that was sent for out of the fields to be anointed, is taxed for an usurper; if David’s hands were stained with blood, yet not of Saul’s house. … It is not possible that eminent persons should be free from imputations; innocence can no more protect them than power.—Tr.]
2Sa_16:9. Berl. B.: It is a strong sign of pride to take offence at everything.—Cramer: Without God’s permission nothing evil can befall the pious (Act_18:10).—Berl. B.: Almost all men commit the fault of looking to those who persecute them, instead of fixing their eyes only on God and His holy command. And this causes all the great sufferings that are experienced in such a case, the bitterness and the aversion that are felt for persecutors. David also did indeed commit precisely this fault, when Nabal refused him bread, on which account he also repented afterwards. But as he has now gone further, everything comes to him as a command of God, and his eye discerns God’s direction in everything. Therefore he suffered patiently, without growing indignant.—David is here above measure edifying in his behaviour, and beautifully teaches us in what way we should bear every sort of cross, and in all oppression, injustice and distress should bow and humble ourselves, not before man but before God from whom everything comes. There is nothing that amid all injustice and sufferings from men more quiets our mind and gives it peace than this consideration, that nothing befalls us through the wickedness of men without God’s holy and wise government.—[Maurice: To have his people’s heart stolen from him, to have his child for his enemy, to be deserted by his counsellors, to lose his kingdom, to be mocked and cursed,—this was rough discipline surely. But he had desired it; he had said deliberately, “Make me a clean heart, and renew a right spirit within me.” And that blessing,—if it was granted him in part at once, if he rose up from that very prayer a freed man with a free spirit,—yet was to be realized through his whole life and to be secured by methods which he certainly would not have devised or chosen for himself.
2Sa_16:11. Hall: Even while David laments the rebellion of his son, he gains by it, and makes that the argument of his patience, which was the exercise of it. The wickedness of an Absalom may rob his father of comfort, but shall help to add to his father’s goodness. It is the advantage of great crosses, that they swallow up the less.—Tr.]
2Sa_16:12. Cramer: It is a great consolation in suffering, to have a good conscience (Psa_7:4; 1Pe_3:16).—Osiander: If we patiently leave vengeance to God, we move Him to cover us with blessings in place of the evil we have suffered.—Starke: Even in the midst of the cross we should not allow our hope and trust in God to sink (Heb_10:35; Rom_5:3-5).—Berl. B.: David suffers the evil with a gentle, quiet and humble spirit, and hopes that for this evil God will send him good. And this hope did not deceive him.
2Sa_16:13. David acted like one who does not turn at the barking of a dog, and thereby gives you this lesson: If you know well what you have inwardly within yourself, you will not care what men say outwardly about you.—Schlier: We should receive as from the Lord’s hand the wrongs that assail us, and if men insult and revile us we should not look at men but at the Lord, who rules and guides every thing.—[Wordsworth: S. Gregory observes that David was thus brought to a deeper sense of his own sins, and was exercised in true repentance, and so found cause to be thankful for these indignities, which made him nearer and dearer to God. It was a wise saying of S. Chrysostom that “no man is ever really hurt by any one but himself.” And even the heathen poet could bless heaven for injuries, and say, “It is a most wretched fortune to have no enemy.”—Hall: In good dispositions, injury unanswered grows wearied of itself, and dies in a voluntary remorse; but evil natures grow presumptuous upon forbearance.—Tr.]
[15:6. Stealing the people’s hearts. 1) The king—his weak negligence in not preventing, nor even perceiving all this. Men in responsible positions should be always on their guard. 2) The demagogue; a) his ostentation (2Sa_15:1), b) his painstaking (2Sa_15:2; 2Sa_15:6), c) his flatteries (2Sa_15:3; 2Sa_15:5), d) his lavish promises (2Sa_15:4). 3) The people—their folly in being duped by transparent arts—the net spread in their very sight, and they go in (Pro_1:17).—Tr.]
[2Sa_15:7-8. To make pretended devoutness a cloak for wicked designs, is one of the most heinous sins a man can possibly commit.
2Sa_15:19-21. David and Ittai—unselfish generosity, and unselfish fidelity.
2Sa_15:25-26. Sending back the ark. a) David does not suppose the presence of the ark to be a necessary condition of God’s presence. Contrast 1Sa_4:4-5. b) He does not despair of God’s favor, c) He is resigned to God’s will. Comp. 1Sa_3:18.—Tr.]
[14:5–13. David and Shimei: 1) The baseness of seizing a time of calamity to revile. And encouraged by finding it unpunished (14:13). Comp. 19:19, 20. 2) The false accusations. As to “the house of Saul,” David had been neither a) bloody, nor b) wicked in general. He was indeed “in his calamity” because of his sins, but they were not what Shimei charged. Revilers of the unfortunate often accuse falsely. 3) David’s devout patience under gross insult. Represses the resentment of his nephew, a) This insult is a trifle compared with Absalom’s course. b) David accepts the reviling as a punishment from Jehovah. c) He has hope that Jehovah may yet requite him for it (comp. 15:25).—Tr.]
Footnotes:
[1][2Sa_15:5. This is the only place in the O. T. where the verb החזיק is followed by לְ with the object taken hold of (though it is sometimes followed by עַל and by the simple noun), and here 29 MSS. and 2 printed EDD. have בְּ. Perhaps this לְ was imitated from, or by error of copyist arose from the following לְ.—Tr.]
[2][2Sa_15:7. Though the true reading is here unknown, the reading “four” instead of “forty” has been adopted in the revised translation because it seems at any rate much more nearly correct than the Heb. text. The reading “forty” is found in Sept. and other Greek VSS., Chald., Vulg., Cod. A. (Amiatinus); “four” in Syr., Arab., Vulg., Cod., B. C. D. E. F. K. Veronensis, Josephus.—Tr.]
[3][2Sa_15:8. The Kethib or text is Hiph. Impf. (יָשִׁיב), the Qeri or marginal reading (ישוב) is Qal Impf. (יָשׁוּב) or Qal Inf. Absolute (יָשׁוֹב). The text is maintained by Böttcher and Erdmann as a repetition of the finite verb for emphasis; but this, if possible here, is certainly less probable than the Inf. Absol. construction (favored by Sept., Syr., Chald.): write Hiph. Inf. הָשֵׁב (Thenius, Wellhausen, Bib.-Com.).—Tr.]
[4][2Sa_15:10. A few MSS. and EDD. have בְּ as prefix instead of כְּ; here impossible.—Tr.]
[5][2Sa_15:12. The present Heb. text (וישׁלח), whether it be pointed as Qal or as Piel, cannot be so rendered, but means “and he sent,” which gives no sense. Only Chald. renders the Heb. literally; the other versions insert לְ or אֶל (“to”) after the verb, Vulg. accersivit (so Eng. A. V.). Others (as Böttcher, Thenius) insert וַיָּבֵא: “and he sent and brought Ahithophel;” Wellhausen suggests: “and he sent to Ahithophel and he came (ויּבֹא), Some such change seems necessary in order to make sense of the passage.—The following phrase also: “as he was sacrificing” is obscure, as it does not appear what his sacrificing has to do with the matter. Cod. Amiatinus of the Vulg. reads: “and when he sacrificed (was sacrificing), the conspiracy became strong,” thus connecting the growth of the conspiracy with the sacrifice, and so Böttcher: “when the man was come to Absalom to Hebron, as he was sacrificing, etc.,” while Wellhausen would omit the phrase. But there is no sufficient ground for changing the text here, not even for adopting the slight change of the Vulg., which Thenius prefers, rendering: “and by his sacrificing the confederation (קֶשֶׁר) was made firm,” that is, under the solemn excitement of the offering the conspirators were brought to swear fidelity to Absalom. But the meaning of the Heb. rather is that the conspiracy grew strong by accession of numbers. If we retain the text, we shall have to understand that Ahithophel was brought away as he was discharging a solemn duty, that is, summoned in haste to join the conspiracy, where success depended on rapid movement, or that he was summoned to join Absalom as the latter was sacrificing (so Chandler, Bib.-Com.). Patrick says: “after he had sacrificed,” but the words do not permit thisּ—Tr.]
[6][2Sa_15:14. לְפִי = “to (according to) the mouth,” or at “the mouth.”—Tr.]
[7][2Sa_15:17. The Sept. here varies somewhat from the Heb., and various changes of the latter have been suggested. The Sept. translation, however, in its present form contains a duplet; two different renderings of 17 b and 18 are combined, and these two in general confirm the Heb. text. The first Sept. rendering (2Sa_15:17-18) is: “and the king went forth and all his servants” (Heb. “all the people,” but some MSS. agree with the Greek, and Chald. has “all his household”) on foot (properly “at his feet, after him”), and stood in the far house. And all his servants passed by at his hand and all the Cherethites and all the Pelethites and all the Gittites the six hundred men that came after him from Gath and going before the face of the king,” which varies from the Heb. in one word only, putting “servants” (i. e., body-guard) instead of “people.” The second Sept. rendering (beginning with 17 b and inserted in the above after the word “Pelethites”) is: “and stood at the olive-tree in the wilderness” (בְּזֵית הַמִּדְבָּר instead of בֵית הַמֶּרְחָק “far house”), and all the people (Heb. “servants”) went by at his side (hand) and all those about him (this is possibly a general rendering of “Cherethites and Pelethites,” who formed a body-guard) and all the stout men and all the warriors (perhaps a double rendering of גִּבּוֹרִים “heroes,” which they read instead of גִּתִּים “Gittites”) six hundred men, and were at his hand,” after which the phrase “Cherethites and Pelethites” is repeated by error of copyist. From a comparison of the Heb. and Greek texts Böttcher proposes to read “at the olive-tree in the wilderness” (2Sa_15:17) instead of “at the far house;” to which Thenius replies that this is impossible, since David had not then passed over the Kidron. Thenius himself would adopt the “mighty men” (גִבּוֹרִים) suggested by the Sept. instead of the “Gittites” of the Hebrew; this emendation is a very natural one, but the fact of David’s having a band of foreign warriors is not so strange and improbable as to call for correction; the other versions here support the Heb. In 2Sa_15:17 Wellhausen prefers the “servants” of the Sept. to the “people” of the Heb. as indicating that David’s body-guard stood with him while the army passed on: and this reading, which is supported by some MSS. and EDD., and by the Chald. (see above) is probable; so in 2Sa_15:18 Sept. has “people” instead of “servants.” Wellhausen thinks also that some phrase introducing Ittai is necessary at the end of 2Sa_15:18, and that there are traces in the Heb. text of some such original passage; as, the statement that the six hundred men came “after him” from Gath, which was not true of this march. 2Sa_15:18 might then read: “and all the people passed on by him, and all the Cherethites and all the Pelethites and all the heroes (Gibborim), six hundred men, and Ittai also the Gittite, who not long before had come from Gath to Jerusalem, passed on before the king.” While this would ease the text and explain the circumstances, it seems too violent a change to make without more external support, especially as abrupt introduction of personages well-known at the time is not contrary to the usage of our narrative.—Tr.]
[8][2Sa_15:19. Eng. A. V. here gives the only possible translation (which is also that of Pagninus) of the Heb. text in its present form. Pagninus: “Return (and abide with the king, for thou art a stranger and an exile) to thy place.” Bib.-Com.: “Return and abide with the king (for thou art, etc.) at thy place.” But this parenthesis is very hard, and it would seem better either to remove the “to thy place” and put it after “return” (in the Heb.), a change that is without external support, or to read “from” (מִן) instead of “to” (לְ), and render: “and an exile art thou from thy place” (so one MS., several printed EDD., and Sept., Syr., Arab., Vulg.). Cahen follows the Chald.: “for thou art a stranger, and also if thou wilt migrate, go to thy place,” which differs from Eng. A. V. only in inserting the word “go” instead of transposing the phrase “to thy place.” Philippson: “thou art an exile for thy place,” which gives no good sense.—Böttcher and Thenius object to the supposed satirical tone of the remark: “abide with the king;” the former would read “in the city (בְּעִיר) of the king,” which is an improbable phrase, the latter simply “in the city.” The Syr. and Arab. also seem to have felt a difficulty here; Syr.: “desist from the king,” Arab.: “go not forth with the king.” The Heb. text is preferable.—Tr.]
[9][2Sa_15:22. Sept.: “Come and pass over with me. And Ittai the Gittite passed over, and the king and all his men, etc.,” which Thenius adopts, but Böttcher and Wellhausen remark that it entirely misrepresents the scene, where the troops are passing in review before the king, and it is impossible to suppose that his “little ones” were with him; the king himself does not pass over the brook till 2Sa_15:23.—Tr.]
[10][2Sa_15:23 Instead of קוֹל “voice” some Heb. MSS., Syr., Arab., have בְּכִי “weeping,” an unnecessary change. Some MSS. and EDD. omit the difficult אֶת at the end of the verse, but Böttcher changes it to זֵית “olive” in accordance with his untenable correction in 2Sa_15:17 (and so Thenius and some anonymous Greek versions).—Wellhausen omits the first כָּל־הָעָם, changes עֹבֵר into עֹמֵד and לִפְנֵי into לְפָנָיו, and renders: “and all the land wept with a loud voice and passed over; and the king stood in the brook Kidron, and all the people passed over in his presence the way of the wilderness.” The first correction is unnecessary, since the Heb. text (omitting אֶת) gives a good sense; the second correction, which represents the king as standing in the brook while the people passed, is not probable; the third gets rid of the superfluous repetition of the statement that the people passed over, but has the disadvantage of representing the bystanders (“all the land”) as passing over, which there is no reason to suppose they did.—Tr.]
[11][2Sa_15:24. The Sept. insertion here, ἀπὸ Βαιθάρ, a corruption apparently of Ἀβιάθαρ, has suggested various changes of the text. Probably our text is here defective, and Abiathar was perhaps more prominent in the original; but there is no ground for Wellhausen’s remark that we have here a post-exilian attempt to eliminate Abiathar from the narrative in the interests of the Zadokites.—Tr.]
[12][2Sa_15:27. The present Heb., with the masoretic pointing can only be rendered: “art thou a seer?” Erdmann, changing the pointing (הֲ into הָ): “Thou seer!” To this Thenius objects that “prophet” and “seer” are two different things, and that there is no propriety in here calling Zadok by the latter name; he himself writes: הַפְנֵה “turn back,” which, however, does not account for the text-reading. The simplest emendation is that of Wellhausen, who writes: הַכֹּהֵן הָרֹאשׁ “to Zadok the high-priest.” To this the objection is that the phrase occurs only in late books, Kings, Jer., Ezra, Chron., and this is not satisfactorily removed by Wellhausen’s remark that “the expression comes from the redactor,” since this would be the only instance in which a late (postexilian?) redactor has used the expression. The reading רְאֵה or רְאוּ would be supported by the same word at the beginning of 2Sa_15:28, as well as by Sept. The Syr. omits the word.—Tr.]
[13][2Sa_15:28. So (with Kethib) Erdmann, Böttcher, Thenius, Wellhausen, Keil. Cahen and Wordsworth: “passages of the wilderness” (leading to the river).—Tr.]
[14][2Sa_15:29. Sept.: “It abode there,” preferred by Wellh., but unsupported by other versions, and not decidedly better than the Heb.—Tr.]
[15][2Sa_15:32. Or, “where it was the custom to worship God,” an indication that public worship of God was maintained also elsewhere than at the Tabernacle.—Hushai is here called simply “the Arkite,” but in the Septuagint “the Arkite, the friend of David” (ἀρχιετᾶιρος = Αρχὶ ἑταῖπος), see 2Sa_15:37. This is probably an addition of the Sept., as Böttcher remarks.—The word rendered “coat” in Eng. A. V. is the Kuttoneth or tunic (χιτών), but we do not know its exact shape and size; it seems to have been shorter than the meil, which was the outer garment or robe.—Tr.]
[16][2Sa_15:34. The present form of the Sept. reads: “and if thou return to the city and say to Absalom, Thy brethren are passed over, and the king behind me has passed over, thy father; and now I am thy servant, O king, suffer me to live; thy father’s servant was I then and lately, and now I am thy servant; and thou shalt disconcert for me the counsel of Ahithophel.” Ewald would adopt the words “thy brethren, etc.,” as a statement that David and his other sons had gone on while Hushai went to Jerusalem. But Thenius and Wellhausen properly remark that the Sept. text here contains a duplet; the sentence “thy brethren, etc.,” is simply a misreading of the Heb. words “thy servant am I, etc.” The phrase “suffer me to live” (which Wellh. calls “too spaniel-like”) is the rendering of אֶהְיֶה (instead of the text אֶחְיֶה); and Böttcher remarks that the “and lately” (καὶ ἀρτίως) is an addition of the Sept. without support in the Heb.—The frequency of the וְ (“and”) in this verse is remarkable, and is imitated only by the Chald.: “I indeed was thy father’s servant, and now I indeed am thy servant,” a form of address intended to convey the eagerness of the speaker.—Tr.]
[17][2Sa_15:37. The Impf. יָבוֹא. Ewald (Gr. § 346 b): “the Impf. in simple narrations, where we should perhaps expect the Perf., indicates something synchronous or continuous.” Here, “when Absalom was on the point of entering Jerusalem.”—Tr.]
[18][2 Samuel 16. 2Sa_15:8. Margin of Eng. A. V.: “behold thee in thy evil.” Vulg,: “thy evils press thee.” Anonymous Greek: “and he showed me thy evil” (misreading, הִגִּד for הִנְּךָ). The context shows that רעה is here “calamity” rather than “mischief.”—Tr.]
[19][2Sa_16:10. Eng. A. V. here follows the Qeri. Erdmann, Maurer, Wellhausen, Thenius, Philippson and others retain the Kethib and render the כִּי variously; Maurer: “when;” De Rossi: “for;” Philippson: “yea;” Cahen: “if.” The apodosis may be begun with וְכִי יהוה אָמַר or with וּמִי; in the first case render: “when he curses, Jahveh has bidden him, etc.;” in the second case: “when he curses, and when Jahveh has bidden him, who will say?” Sept. and Vulg. (from 2Sa_15:11): “let him alone.”;—Böttcher renders: “if (כִּי), he curses the mouth of Jahveh (פִּי יהוה, that is, Jahveh Himself) has ordered it.” This reading was suggested to him, he says, by the fact, that, reading in the twilight, he mistook the כִּי for פִּי; but it has little in its favor.—Tr.]
[20][This remark is made also by Thenius and Keil, but it is doubtful whether the idea of immediateness is contained in the adverb itself, that is, especially in the prefix מִן. This prefix (= “from”) cannot in itself convey the idea, and the meaning of the adverb must be determined by usage; but it occurs too seldom in the O. T. (only three times 2Sa_3:28; 2Sa_15:1; 2Ch_32:23) to permit us to draw the conclusion stated by Thenius.—Tr.]
[21]According to Ewald and Böttcher our text arose from the fact that אַרְבָעִים שָׁנָה [arbaim shanah, forty years] occurs much more frequently than אַרְבַּע שָׁנִים [arba shanim, four years], and the terminations a and im were confounded by the careless hearing of the scribe. The numbers from 2 to 10 usually take the plural after them; but there are exceptions, as 2Ki_22:1. Comp. Ges. § 120.2.
[22] יָשִׁיב is not Infin., but Impf. Hiph., used for emphasis instead of the Infin.; “if he really bring me back.” Comp. Böttcher. [On this see “Text. and Gram.—Tr.]
[23][Cahen: “As it was impossible to hear one trumpet all over the land, we must suppose that there were various stations where the signal was repeated.”—Tr.]
[24]So as to read וַיְּשַׁלַּח [Piel] for וַיִּשְׁלַח [Qal]. [But this does not help. See “Text, and Gram.”—Tr.]
[25][Ewald remarks that a completer history is given of this day than of any other day in the Bible-narrative—a day crowded with events.—Tr.]
[26] לִמְקוֹמֶךָ, the לְ as Dat. commod.
[27]Instead of the Kethib אֲנוּעֲךָ [Qal] read the Qeri אֲנִיעֲךָ, Hiph. of נוּעַ, “to waver, wander.” [Böttcher thinks the Qeri an old Qal with the force of Hiphil.—Tr.]
[28] ויהוה יַעִשֶׂה עִמְּךָ וגו׳, so Then., Böttcher and Ew. after Sept.; כִּי עָשִׂיתָ חֶסֶר וֶאֱמֶת, so Thenius [to which latter Böttcher objects, and calls it a medieval gloss. Martianæus explains that Jerome in this addition gives what he thought was contained in David’s wish.—Tr.]
[29]The Kethib כִּי אִם = “surely,” is to be retained against the Qeri כִּי. Comp. Gen_40:1; Job_42:8; Ew., § 356 b. The second כִּי = “yea!” or is a simple particle of introduction = ὅτι [“that”].
[30] עַל־פְּנֵי דֶרֶךְ אֶת־הַמִּדְבָּר.—[On the text see “Text. and Gram.”—Tr.]
[31] וַיָּחֶל [from חוּל; Böttcher rejects the form as unsupported (in Gen_8:10 Qeri he reads Piel).—Tr.].
[32] עַבְרוֹת instead of עַרְבוֹת.
[33]Instead of חִגִּיד read (after Sept., Vulg., Chald., Cod. Kenn. 254) with Thenius הֻגַּד, or with Ewald (§ 131 d) הֻגִּיד (an unusual Hophal-form). הִגִּיד with Accus. of the person informed (instead of the usual לְ) occurs, indeed, in some passages (Job_31:37; Job_26:4; Eze_43:10); but the rendering: “David announced” (Mich., Schulz, Gesen.), as if David had known it before, and had only kept silence out of consideration for his friends, gives no sense appropriate to the connection, since the next sentence: “And David said,” etc., necessarily presupposes that information has just been received. Nor do other constructions, such as the supplying a מַגִּיד [informant] (Maurer), or the change of דַּיִד to לְדָוִד taking the verb impersonally: “one told David” (Keil [Eng. A. V.]), or the change of וְדָוִד to וְדֶרֶךְ with impersonal construction of the verb: “and on the way one announced” (Böttch.), commend themselves, because of their arbitrariness and violent character.
[34]The apodosis is both times introduced by וַאֲנִי, comp. Ew. § 348 a.
[35]On synchronousness expressed by וְ with following Impf. (here יָבוֹא) see Ew. § 346 b.
[40]For Kethib ולהלחם (an obvious clerical error) read וְהַלֶחֶם. [Some MSS. and edd. have this Qeri in the text—Tr.]
[41][“It is impossible to say whether Mephibosheth was quite guiltless or not. If Psalms 116. was composed after the quelling of Absalom’s rebellion, 2Sa_14:11 may contain David’s confession of a hasty judgment in the matter” (Bib. Com.)—Tr.]
[42][On the text see “Text, and Gram.”—Tr.]
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv2, 7, 10, 11, 12, 14, 18, 23, 24, 30, 31, 32 Absalom rose up early, and stood beside the way…
Absalom rose up early, and stood beside the way of the gate--Public business in the East is always transacted early in the morning--the kings sitting an hour or more to hear causes or receive petitions, in a court held anciently, and in many places still, in the open air at the city gateway; so that, as those whose circumstances led them to wait on King David required to be in attendance on his morning levees, Absalom had to rise up early and stand beside the way of the gate. Through the growing infirmities of age, or the occupation of his government with foreign wars, many private causes had long lain undecided, and a deep feeling of discontent prevailed among the people. This dissatisfaction was artfully fomented by Absalom, who addressed himself to the various suitors; and after briefly hearing their tale, he gratified everyone with a favorable opinion of his case. Studiously concealing his ambitious designs, he expressed a wish to be invested with official power, only that he might accelerate the course of justice and advance the public interests. His professions had an air of extraordinary generosity and disinterestedness, which, together with his fawning arts in lavishing civilities on all, made him a popular favorite. Thus, by forcing a contrast between his own display of public spirit and the dilatory proceedings of the court, he created a growing disgust with his father's government, as weak, careless, or corrupt, and seduced the affections of the multitude, who neither penetrated the motive nor foresaw the tendency of his conduct.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 27, 28, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34 ABSALOM’S REBELLION, 2Sa_15:1-12.
ABSALOM’S REBELLION, 2Sa_15:1-12.
Absalom had a boundless ambition to attain the crown. There is reason to think that these aspirations were forming before the time of Amnon’s incest with his sister, so that that disgrace of Tamar was not the sole reason for his slaying Amnon. David’s firstborn was an obstacle in his way to the throne, and if he lived Absalom’s hopes must die. But now, with Amnon out of the way, and himself reinstated in the royal favour, he yet fears that he will fail to receive the kingdom by inheritance, and, too ambitious to await his chances in the future, he plots and carries out this bold rebellion, the history of which extends through the four following chapters.
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1. Prepared him chariots and horses — Like Adonijah, who at a later period aspired to the throne. Many of these horses and chariots were probably those that David had captured in war.
Fifty men to run before him — So that he affected royalty in its most ostentatious form.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 30, 32, 33, 34, 37 Ch. 2Sa_15:1-6. Absalom ingratiates himself with the people
Ch. 2Sa_15:1-6. Absalom ingratiates himself with the people
1. And it came to pass after this] To recall Absalom without granting him a full pardon was ill-judged: to readmit him to favour, after he had been irritated by two years of exclusion, without the slightest sign of repentance on his part, was fatal. The natural consequences of such treatment are recorded in the following chapters[100].
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[100] Dryden has made use of the events of this period as the basis of his political poem on the court of Charles II., entitled “Absalom and Achithophel,” in which Absalom represents the Duke of Monmouth, and Achithophel his evil adviser Shaftesbury.
chariots and horses, &c.] A chariot and horses. Absalom imitated the magnificence of foreign monarchs, in order to make an impression on the people. Cp. Adonijah’s practice (1Ki_1:5), and see 1Sa_8:11.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv1, 3, 7, 10, 11, 12, 14, 17, 18, 19, 23, 24, 26, 27, 28, 31, 32, 34 (1) Prepared him chariots and horses.—As a preparation for…
XV.
(1) Prepared him chariots and horses.—As a preparation for his rebellion, it was necessary to impress the people with his wealth and splendour. (Comp. 1Ki_1:5, where Adonijah does the same thing.) This was the first use in Israel of chariots and horses as a part of regal pomp.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 6, 7, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 37 After this. The Hebrew is a more precise phrase…
After this. The Hebrew is a more precise phrase than that on which we have commented on 2Sa_10:1 and 2Sa_13:1, and implies that Absalom began his devices soon after obtaining his liberty. Chariots and horses; Hebrew, a chariot and horses; that is, a chariot for state occasions, in which Absalom rode, while fifty footmen ran at his side. Probably his grandfather Talmai practised similar magnificence at Geshur. In India it is still common for men of rank to be attended by runners on foot, who will keep up with horses or elephants for an incredible distance.
Vers. 1-12.
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The shady side of human nature.
The facts are:
1. Absalom sets up a large domestic establishment with a semblance ofroyalty.
2. Rising early in the morning of each day, he is first to meet the suitors forjudgment at the gate of the city, and seizes the occasion for insinuating that there is defect in the king"s provision for the administration of justice.
3. He also professes to manifest sympathy with suitors by expressing thewish that he were in a position to do them justice, and gives outward evidence of his concern for them by taking each one by the hand and kissing him.
4. These plans being in progress, he next asks permission of David to go toHebron, on the plea that he desired to redeem a vow which he had sacredly made to God while in exile; and David granting his request, he sets out for Hebron, with a company of men ignorant of his design.
5. Meanwhile he sends spies throughout Israel, so that on a given signalthey might simultaneously make the announcement, "Absalom reigneth in Hebron.
6. He moreover gains to his side Ahithophel, David"s counsellor, and so advances his cause among the people. The narrative gives us in brief form the scheme, the principles, the methods, and early form of Absalom"s conspiracy. He knew his own mind, and was set on the overthrow of his father"s authority, from sheer vanity and lust of power. The outline of his method was clearly defined:
(1) to win over the people by criticizing the king"s administration, and gratifying them by a showy establishment, professed zeal for justice, and marked personal attentions;
(2) to secure a good centre for proclaiming his authority, and this by a hypocritical profession of religion which required him to go there;
(3) by scattering agents through the land, and gaining to his side the king"s most sagacious adviser. There is not one relieving feature to the dark picture of pride, ingratitude, filial alienation, low cunning, and religious hypocrisy. It is, however, our province to extract good out of evil, and in the early stages of Absalom"s rebellion we may see illustrations of the shady side of human nature, which, if noted and applied to conduct, may warn against often-recurring evils, and put us on our guard against the same tendencies in other departments of life.
I THE PRINCIPLES AND METHODS OF UNJUSTIFIABLE REBELLION. Rebellion against existing authority may perhaps be right under special circumstances. People do not exist for governments, but governments for the people; and it is possible that the rights of the people may be so utterly trodden upon that it is the duty of self preservation to rebel. Even parental authority must be resisted when it comes into direct collision with conscience and with Christ. (Mat_10:33-38) But rebellion is wicked when, as in this case, it springs from a blending of conceit, dislike of constituted authority, and lust for power. This may characterize rebellion originating in an individual or in a restless people. Talk of oppression, justice, kindness and consideration for the oppressed, may be but a cloak for a selfish aversion to restraint and a love of self-will. Even where there is justification for resistance to an evil rule, it is wicked to have recourse to flattery, deceit, hypocrisy, and low cunning to accomplish the end in view. In times of turbulence and agitation it is important that men scrutinize the secret motives of their actions. As a rule, injustice in rulers can be best resisted by the calm, sober protest and passive resistance of conscientious men. Faith in God, and in the force of true principles, with patient persistence, will in the end accomplish more than can be secured by violence; and where injustice exists only in the imagination of the restless, and the evils of life spring from their own habits and practices, then rebellion is one of the greatest crimes of which man is capable.
II INCIDENTAL REVELATIONS OF CHARACTER. The character of a man lies primarily in the main principles and passions that are deep down in his nature, and which in course of years shape his outward conduct. Absalom"s real character was in existence long before it came out to the eye of the public in the form of rebellion against his father"s authority.
Probably David discerned its incipient form, and hence his extreme slowness in recalling him to a position of prominence. The setting up by Absalom of a large princely establishment, with chariots and horses and runners, was really an incidental revelation in palpable form of a character internally maturing. It was a sign to such men as David and Nathan of what they had believed to exist a vain, proud, ostentatious spirit. So in course of time men generally do something in their domestic arrangements or business developments which, if the world will only read aright, brings into public view tendencies and tastes which hitherto have been kept under restraint. Our visible acts and creations are the successive revelations of our condition. A man"s dress, his handwriting, his domestic establishment, his bearing before the public, his mode of transacting business, is a manifestation of the hidden man the indicator of the elements entering into the permanent character. The outward aspects of a man"s life may be studied with a view to a knowledge of the habits and tastes of his mind.
III EVIL TENDENCIES IN CONGENIAL ENVIRONMENT. The evil tendencies of Absalom were somewhat pronounced when he set up his pretentious establishment, but by his own act those tendencies were placed in the midst of circumstances eminently calculated to strengthen and develop them further. The heart of man can devise things out of its own tastes and propensities which become at once food on which those tastes and propensities grow to further power. A man of pleasure out of his own desires creates occupations and pursuits which become the nourishers of the passion for pleasure. The same holds of dreadful vices and blessed virtues. There is a self-promotive power in the forces that dwell within our moral nature. Intellectual and physical forces are not so recuperative of themselves by means of what they create as are the moral. We are to ponder the path of our feet, forevery step increases the momentum in the road, be it good or bad.
IV LUST OF POWER MINUS FITNESS FOR ITS EXERCISE. Absalom set his heart on being King of Israel. The vision of a throne and a submissive people had great attractions for him. The princely establishment, With chariots and horsemen, was only the first instalment of a splendour soon to be won. Like all such men, he had unlimited confidence in himself. He could administer justice! He could win the people and hold them in subjection! And yet this vanity, this low cunning, this love of outward show, and mean lying flattery of the people, disqualified him for ruling as a king. Morally speaking, he was a handsome fool, and knew it. not. The lust for power is common, and often very strong in men. As manifested in bad men, it is an abnormal development of a love of mastery over what is not self. The possession of power over man is safe and good only when there coexist with it justice, generosity, considerateness, and honesty.
V ALIENATION FROM A FATHER"S HEART THE CLIMAX OF EVIL. Absalom was no longer a true son. No man could have entered on such a scheme and have devised such means unless he had lost all true natural affection. To find fault with a father"s administration, to expose a father to ridicule, to seek to alienate men from attachment to a father, and, in short, crush a father"s hopes and life"s work, could only proceed from a heart utterly alienated. And such a father! Weak and erring as David in a notable instance had been, he was the most generous, and magnanimous of men, and had brought peace and plenty and honour to Israel. Absalom"s crime was one of the basest ever recorded. And all alienation from a true father"s heart is utterly base and deserving the strongest detestation. There is hope for sons when they still cherish love and reverence for parents; none when these are gone. Every feeling, and act, and companionship, and habit which tend towards this awful separation of heart, should be shunned as men shun the road to death. And yet this is the real state of the human heart in relation to God. The gulf is awful; and nothing but a new creation will lead to a reconciliation. (Joh_3:5; Rom_8:7)
VI PSEUDO-PATRIOTISM AN ASSUMED VIRTUE. Patriotism is strong in men whose country has been associated in memory with great deeds. To care for one"s land and people, to be more concerned for the maintenance of justice and adjustment of the claims of the poor than for the form and personnel of government, this is always commendable; and so much is this virtue esteemed that it is assumed by Absalom for his own purposes. We cannot believe in the patriotism of any man who shuts his heart against a good father. Civil virtues cannot make amends for the absence of the domestic and primary virtues. It is easy to prate about justice and the oppressed, and to speak smoothly to the populace; to keep the heart pure, loving, true toward man and God, is not so easy. There is much pseudo-patriotism in political life. Men claim virtues they do not possess, and use the claim for gaining an influence that else would be unattainable.
VII RELIGION A CLOAK FOR EVIL DESIGNS. Absalom knew his father to be a pious man, and therefore seeks to accomplish his purpose by a profession of piety. The heartless son finds no difficulty in taking the holy name of God in vain, and concocting a tissue of lies. To the populace he can be a critic of the government; to the pious king he can be a devout man, intent on keeping sacred vows. No clearer proof of a Satanic spirit than when men dare to lay hold of the most sacred things and use them for vile and selfish purposes. Righteous, indeed, was the indignation of Christ against such "hypocrites." "Woe" from the lips of love came upon them. Manifold are the forms and degrees in which this evil appears. To worship in order to be respectable, to profess religion for the sake of trade, to utter pious phrases in order to win popular applause, are but the less repulsive forms of the very crime of Absalom. How abominable such persons must appear in the sight of the all-searching God!
VIII TAKING UNDUE ADVANTAGE OF ANOTHER"S DIFFICULTY. In consequence of the immense work thrown on an absolute monarch, the growing complications of a flourishing state, and the incompetence of subordinates, there would necessarily arise many difficulties in the administration of the affairs of the kingdom. In all lands people have to wait for justice when others are being served. But the evil heart of Absalom showed itself in using whatever incidental delays arose as an occasion of promoting its own wicked schemes. There is too much of this in the world. The rich have often taken advantage of the ignorance and helplessness of the poor to secure ends otherwise unattainable. In political life it is a maxim to seize the hour of weakness for a party triumph. It is the devil"s opportunity with feeble souls to render more sure their destruction. Trouble in state, Church, or family affords opportunity for testing the qualities of men. Love or hate, sympathy or antagonism, will thereby be revealed. How different to others the blessed Saviour in presence of human infirmity!
IX POPULARITY ON AN UNSTABLE AND HOLLOW BASIS. The people"s hearts were won to Absalom. It seems a great triumph to win the hearts of multitudes; it is an indication of great power on the part of the conqueror or of fickleness on the part of the conquered. But in this, as in many instances, the conquest was a revelation of shallow thinking on the one side and basest cunning on the other. There is in most men a soil for receiving the seeds of discontent from the hand of a deft sower. People are easily caught by flatteries and personal attentions. A visible parade of splendour dazzles and pleases the crowd, who think modest, quiet bearing a sign of mediocrity. The dash and careless promises of a young and handsome man excite the imagination, and raise up pictures of great possibilities. The mass of men do not think; they feel, and are led by the clever orator who can stir up their feelings. It is not always a credit to "go with the multitude," and fall in with an order of things because it is popular. The vox populi maxim is often false. Of One it was once true, "Of the people there was none with him." He was "despised and rejected of men.
X AN ILLUSTRATION OF THE MOST DREADFUL OF CONSPIRACIES. It is not necessary to endeavour to trace resemblance in all details between antagonism to the mortal king in Zion and opposition to the immortal King in Zion. But there has been and still is a plot to destroy the authority of him whose right it is to reign. Fashion, wealth, power of speech, wit, and alliances with wise Ahithophels, continue to undermine and eventually overthrow the influence of Christ over the hearts of men. The "gates of hell" take counsel against the Lord and his Anointed. Another seat of supreme influence is being set up as a substitute for that occupied by the Anointed One, and "spies" are abroad seeking to create doubt and distrust in the hearts of the faithful. As we read the account of Absalom"s ingratitude, daring, and baseness, and feel for his deeds the utmost detestation, so holy beings who look on the endeavour to destroy the authority of Christ over men cannot but regard the deed as the basest, most daring, and at the same time most fatal to the perpetrators, ever attempted. The wicked may seem to triumph, but their end is destruction.
HOMILIES BY B. DALE. Vers. 1-12. (JERUSALEM, HEBRON.)
The rebellion of Absalom.
About twelve years had elapsed since David"s fall into sin. One of its effects was the rebellion of Absalom. The history of this event most critical for the theocratic monarchy, and "revealing the thoughts of many hearts sheds a clear light upon the condition of Israel. "We seem to know all the people; the natural manners and vivid outbursts of feeling make the scene stand out with a kind of homely poetry." In it we discern the presence and influence of:
1. Divine chastisement, announced by the prophet, (2Sa_12:10) "The sword shall never depart from thine house," etc. Forgiveness of sin does not annul its natural consequences. Such consequences are sure, however they may appear to be delayed; and, though inflicted by the hand of man, they do not less really proceed from the hand of God. Already David had experienced the effects of his transgression in his family; he must now experience them, on a larger scale, in his kingdom.
2. Defective administration of judgment by the king (ver. 3); due, not so much to advancing age (over sixty), as to timidity, irresolution, and want of energy, consequent on what had taken place; and "a tendency to shrink into private life, with a preference for such duties as preparing materials for the future temple rather than those of active government;" perhaps also to serious illness, brought on by trouble of heart, and partially incapacitating him from performing the increasing duties of his office. (Ps 38 Ps 39 Ps 41 Ps 55)
3. Prevalent dissatisfaction among the people. His sin "broke the powerful spell which had hitherto bound the whole nation to the name of David" (Ewald). "The imperfections and defects of his internal administration of the kingdom, when the time of his brilliant victories was past, became more and more perceptible to the people, and furnished occasion for dissatisfaction with his government" (Keil). "His pious actions, his attention to the public ordinances of worship, perhaps even his psalms, had for the time lost their credit and their sacredness. Not every one was capable of estimating aright the repentance of the fallen man, and his humiliation before the Almighty. It was almost forgotten that he was king by the grace of God" (Krummacher). "The infirm condition of the king, his eminent godliness and opposition to popular feelings, and the distance of age that now separated him from the sympathies of the younger portion of the people" (Blaikie); some discontent in his own tribe of Judah (ver. 10); "the still lingering hopes of the house of Saul and of the tribe of Benjamin; (2Sa_16:3, 2Sa_16:8) and the deep-rooted feeling of Ephraim and the northern tribes (2Sa_19:41) against Judah" (Stanley); all combined to make the people ripe for insurrection.
4. Private animosity on the part of its leaders: Absalom, on account of his long banishment in Geshur and exclusion from court; Ahithophel, the grandfather of Bathsheba (ver. 12; 2 Samuel:3), on account of the dishonour done to his house; Amasa, son of Abigal, David"s half-sister, (2Sa_17:25) possibly on account of some neglect or discourtesy shown toward him. "These four years (ver. 7) were for David a time of increasing care and anxiety, for that which was planned cannot have remained altogether concealed from him; but he had neither the courage nor the strength to smother the evil undertaking in the germ" (Delitzsch, in Ps 41). The course of Absalom (now twenty-seven years of age) was marked by
I AMBITION CRIMINALLY INDULGED. Sinful perversion of the natural desire of preeminence; unhallowed love of power and glory (as in the case of Adonijah, his brother, (1Ki_1:5) the bait by which Satan seeks to allure men to a false worship (Mat_4:9; 1Sa_15:1-9)
He showed him in a jewell"d wreath All crowns the earth bestows; But not the rankling thorns beneath, That pierce the wearer"s brows.
Absalom"s ambition was peculiarly culpable; because of his:
1. Self-conceit; his selfish, proud, and false estimate of his own worth. Hewas "the representative of vain glory and self-conceit (Wordsworth). Those are commonly most ambitious of preferment that are least fit for it" (Matthew Henry).
2. Covetousness; the object of his desire belonging to another, andunattainable save by injustice. It is not likely that he wished simply to share the sovereignty of Israel.
3. Disaffection and unnatural envy toward his father.
4. Disloyalty toward the king.
5. Rebellion against God, the supreme King of Israel, by whose ordinanceDavid had been appointed. He had, apparently, "no spark of religious principle in his breast.
6. Self-will; indisposition to submit to the will of Jehovah, to defer to thenomination of the king, or to wait for his decease. He resolved to anticipate all, and have his own way. "He that destroys self-will, destroys hell.
7. Suspicion and jealousy of his brother. "It is our impression that Davidalready knew that Solomon was, by the Lord"s appointment, to be his successor to the throne. In the promise made to David through Nathan, it was clearly indicated that a son not yet born was to sit upon his throne, and when Solomon was burn he could not but understand that this applied to him. If he had any doubt of this, it must have been removed by his knowledge that the "Lord loved him," and had, through Nathan, bestowed upon him the new name of Jedidiah. (2Sa_12:24, 2Sa_12:25) It is even probable that he had, tong before the present time, if not from the first, received those more distinct intimations of the Lord"s will in this matter, which he mentions in 1Ch_28:5-7...As the intimations we have traced were long before afforded, it is likely that the pledge (1Ki_1:17) which was founded on them had not been so long delayed" (Kitto, "Daily Bible Illust."). "Absalom was a bold, valiant, revengeful, haughty, enterprising, magnificent, eloquent, and popular prince; he was also rich, ambitious, and vain of his personal accomplishments; and, after the death of Amnon and his reconciliation with his father, he saw no hindrance in his way to the throne. He despised Solomon because of the meanness of his birth and his tender years. He was himself of the blood royal, not only by his father, but also by his mother; and doubtless in his own apprehension of sufficient age, authority, and wisdom to sustain the weight of government. He seemed to stand nearest to the throne; but his sin was that he sought it during his father"s lifetime, and endeavoured to dethrone him in order to sit in his stead" (Calmer).
O sacred hunger of ambitious minds, And impotent desire of men to reign! Whom neither dread of God, that devils binds, Nor laws of men, that common weals contain, Nor bands of nature, that wild beasts restrain, Can keep from outrage and from doing wrong, Where they may hope a kingdom to obtain: No faith so firm, no trust can be so strong, No love so lasting then, that may endure long. ("The Faerie Queene," canto 12. )
II POPULARITY FRAUDULENTLY ACQUIRED. "Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel" (ver. 6); by methods which many a demagogue has since adopted. "David won their hearts by noble deeds of generosity, as well as by deeds of prowess;" but Absalom stole them by:
1. Subtlety and guile.
2. Ostentation; affecting royal state. "Absalom prepared him chariots," etc.: (ver. 1; 2Sa_13:23, 2Sa_13:27; 1Sa_8:4-22)
3. Assiduity, in attending to public affairs. "Absalom rose up early," etc. (ver. 2). "Those who least understand the duties and could least endure the burdens of authority are commonly most desirous of it; but when ambition prompts, the most self-indulgent assume the appearance of diligence, and the most haughty that of affability and condescension; and while men aspire to the pinnacle of earthly grandeur, they, for the time, pay the most abject court to the meanest of the mob!" (Scott).
4. Courtesy and pretended sympathy. "Absalom called unto him, and said, Of what city art thou?" etc.; "He put forth his hand, and took him, and kissed him" (ver. 6).
And then I stole all courtesy from heaven, And dressed myself in such humility, That I did pluck allegiance from men"s hearts, Loud shouts and salutations from their mouths, Even in. the presence of the crowned king. ("King Henry IV," Part 1. act 3. sc. 2. )
1. Flattery. "Absalom said unto him, See, thy matters are good and right" (ver. 3).
2. Disparagement of the existing, adminstration, and insinuation of the king"s incapability and neglect. "But there is no man deputed of the king to hear thee.
3. Fair and lavish promises, and holding out the prospect of a golden age under his reign. "And Absalom said, Oh that I were made judge in the land!" etc. (ver. 4). It is not to be wondered at that, by such arts as these, aided by his ready speech and attractive person and manners, he turned the hearts of the people, already prepared for change, from their rightful monarch. "After thus flattering the people, and ingratiating himself into their favour during four years, he decides upon the execution of his cunningly devised project" (Ewald). "The success of this godless rebel shows a lack of true theocratic feeling in the mass of the people, who, in abandoning the king"s government, were guilty of opposition to the government of God" (Erdmann).
III CONSPIRACY CRAFTILY CARRIED OUT (vers. 7-12); apparent in:
1. The selection of the place, Hebron (his birthplace), notable on many accounts, especially as the chief city of Judah, where sympathy could be calculated upon. "There may have been many persons there who had been displeased by the removal of the court to Jerusalem" (Keil). "Accustomed from the earliest times to independence and pre-eminence, Judah stood proudly apart under David even after Saul"s death, and now probably offered some opposition to the growing unity of the kingdom" (Ewald).
2. The profession of a religious purpose the fulfilment of a vow (vers. 7,. 1Sa_1:11) "With a subtle refinement of hypocrisy, he pretended that his thank offering was for his return to Jerusalem" (Plumptre). "No villainy can be termed complete which is not disguised under the mask of religion, especially at those times when the profession of godliness is treated with general respect.
1. The obtaining of the king"s sanction: "Go in peace" (ver. 9); therebydisarming suspicion and winning confidence.
2. The despatch of emissaries through all the tribes, to prepare for the simultaneous proclamation, "Absalom reigneth in Hebron!" (ver. 10).
3. The securing of the presence of numerous persons from Jerusalem; depriving the king of their aid, and making them unwittingly adherents of Absalom (ver. 11).
4. The gaining of the open support of Ahithophel, whose secret counsel had doubtless been long before afforded (vers. 12, 31). He was "the sinews of Absalom"s cause" (Blunt). "While the sacrifices were proceeding, Absalom sent for him from Giloh, and the presence of this influential personage appears to have caused the final outbreak of a conspiracy which had been carefully prepared, and which immediately spread with amazing rapidity, and pouring like a wild mountain torrent from the ancient capital of Judah, soon threatened to flood the whole country" (Ewald).
IV INSURRECTION SUCCESSFULLY INCITED, only to be disastrously defeated. "And the conspiracy was strong," etc. Its success was:
1. Great, swift, surprising. A few hours later, Jerusalem was in the hands ofAbsalom.
2. Temporary. The prosperity of the wicked is but for a moment.
3. Followed by signal retribution, whilst itself employed as an instrumentthereof, by Divine providence, whose ways, though mysterious, are always just and right. The death of Absalom (2Sa_18:14) was "the end of a bitter family history, whose every sorrow was linked to the father"s blame." The people who shared his crime shared his punishment. The fatal spark of tribal enmity kindled under his influence, though quenched for the moment, soon burst forth again, and ultimately destroyed the unity, independence, and strength of the nation. D.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 7, 14, 17, 19, 23, 25, 31, 32 Absalom prepared him chariots and horses, and fifty men…
2Sa_15:1-37
Absalom prepared him chariots and horses, and fifty men to run before him.
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Absalom; or, the fast young man
The Bible resembles a portrait gallery adorned with the faces of remarkable historic men, where every variety of feature and every type of character may be found. An imaginative person, visiting such a gallery, and gazing at the silent faces which look down upon him from the walls, until lost in the thoughts and reflections awakened by them, may fancy at length that they are alive. As we study the characters of the people there portrayed, we recognise in them permanent, types of different classes. As such they live again to us. We have known such persons; they have lived in our time; they have acted anew the parts, and displayed the qualities which of old distinguished or disgraced them. They reappear in every age. It is this typical character of the Bible that gives such value to this ancient book. In reading it, we forget that it is an old book. It seems a new book, from exhibiting the latest phases of human conduct, from setting before us moral qualities and actions which we recognise as familiar, and, connecting with them timely lessons for our instruction and warning. Such reflections are awakened by the perusal of the story of Absalom. It is a typical story, and he was a typical character and representative of what is called the fast young man.
I. It teaches the vanity of personal beauty and outward show apart from moral worth. In the pictures of Hogarth, and other painters of society, we find that such superior beauty is the common heritage of the fast young man. It has been called a fatal dower. It is so regarded because it is apt to make the possessor the petted darling of parents and friends, and liable to be spoiled by the thoughtless admiration and flattery lavished upon him. Thus an exaggerated estimate is placed upon mere physical charms. Beauty of face and form is set above the higher excellence of character, whereby vanity and frivolity of mind are engendered, and amiability of disposition and goodness of heart sacrificed. But there is truth in the homely adage that Handsome is who handsome does, and all beauty which is not united with fair doing is only a poor sham.
II. The story of Absalom reveals the type of character that is most dangerous and dreadful. His was not an impulsive nature, hurried away by gusts of passion into sin. There is much allowance to be made for such hot-tempered spirits. The misdemeanours of which they are guilty are not, as a rule so reprehensible as those which are perpetrated by their authors in cold blood. They are more likely than the latter to be only escapades from virtue--exceptions to a course that is ordinarily straightforward and well-meaning. Absaloms wickedness was deliberate and studied. His character is evinced in the way he avenged the outrage done by Amnon to his sister.
III. This fast young man, of desperate type, becomes an intriguing politician. Absalom is the earliest specimen on record, we believe, of a finished demagogue. As we consider the subtle arts by which he courted popularity and wound himself into the favour of men--his attendance at the gate, where the kings judgment seat was, his affability and condescension towards the people who brought causes for adjudication, and his pretended sympathy for their grievances on account of the delay of justice, we seem to have come upon the original model after which the modern opposition candidate has shaped himself It agrees with the character to be forever arraigning those in power for neglect of duty and malfeasance in office, and to promise a complete reformation in case the party of the critic is entrusted with the conduct of affairs. When the outs are in, and the ins are out, all wrong shall be righted, and the millennium will come. So Absalom laboured to make the flattered people believe.
IV. Another aspect in which Absalom appears is that of a wayward, undutiful son. The fast young man causes agonising heartache to his aged father or distressed mother. In the eyes of the Jews, with their traditions of the patriarchal period and its form of government, where the father was both priest and ruler of his household, such a child was a monster of depravity, worthy only of death. Hence the emphasis put upon the fifth commandment, the first commandment with promise; hence the sternness of their legislation with respect to unfilial conduct, and the fearful denunciation their proverbs utter against it. The eye that mocketh at his father, says Agur, and despiseth to obey his mother, the ravens of the valley shall pick it out, and the young eagles shall eat it.
V. The story of Absalom contains another lesson, without which it would be incomplete, namely, the lesson of sins retribution. It is a striking example of the declaration: As righteousness tendeth to life, so he that pursueth evil, pursueth it to his own death. The last act of the tragedy is short and impressive. David and his adherents stayed not in their flight until they found shelter behind the walls of Mahanaim, in the land of Gilead. There opportunity was given to recover from panic, and organise their strength; and thither Absalom and his forces leisurely pursued them. (A. H. Charlton.)
David and Absalom
I. In how many ways men serve themselves in serving others.
1. We may serve ourselves, strengthen our position, advance our temporal interests, when we are truly serving others, But when we are doing them disservice, encouraging them, helping them, to evil, we are our own enemies as well as theirs. We have something higher than temporal interests to think of. Gold is far from everything. In the protest of conscience how the fine gold becomes dim! And when conscience is seared, and the heat dead to all sensibility, at what a cost has anything, how-ever desired by men, been secured.
2. We truly befriend ourselves by unselfishly serving others. And this we can do as we make everything a Divine service. Sometimes we may seem on the vanquished side, like true-hearted Ittai, staunch to David in his flight, but the end will justify us. To be on the side of honesty, truth, purity, is ever at the last to be on the side that wins. So he who forgets himself in doing the things right in the sight of God will be vindicated in the sight of the world as good and faithful servant, as having well done for himself as well as others.
II. In absalom we see how the motive determines the value of conduct. This appears in his bearing towards Amnon. Similarly with Absaloms conduct when seeking to ingratiate himself with the people. The animating motive of what we do should be tested by us. Could we read others as God reads us, could we look at the heart as He does, with what rejection would we meet much that is now welcomed by us! But if we cannot appraise the lives of others by their motives, and if they cannot thus appraise ours, there is One ever thus testing us. There is One who pierces every mask of hypocrisy. There is One who looks through our outward appearance of truth, purity, devotion, and sees whether there is a corresponding inward reality. With Him the motive makes the act.
III. In Absalom we see to what cruel lengths unchecked ambition will lead a man. That was his ruling passion; the explanation, I think, of his long-delayed stroke at Amnon. Ambition goaded Absalom from crime to crime till lie had wrapped the land in the horrors of civil war--of all wars the most prolific in misery--and nerved him to assail a fathers life that he might, over his dead body, step up into the throne. It win not do for us to say that in all this there is no beacon to us. There are many thrones. Some of us, it may be, eager to get into one--to be over others; kings and queens of influence in our little kingdom. There can be ambition in a cottage as well as in a court. There may be wretched envy, the evil eyeing of an imagined rival, the wicked gladness that hears, and that with pretended reluctance retails the disparaging slander; the sty persistence that insinuates itself, or the rough resolution that tramples its way into the petty throne. God save us from such ambition! In His kingdom the thrones are for the lowly.
IV. In David we see the threatened punishment for his sin. Penitent for his great wickedness in the matter of Uriah, his life had been spared, but the sword was not to depart from his house. Sin has broken him, even forgiven sin. A thing to be remembered. He may never have been wisely firm enough in the training of his children. But that feel transgression of his loosened the filial bond that bound his children to obedience, and encouraged them to crimes that laid his kingly head in the dust. Sin finds men out, even godly men. Whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap. He who sows to the flesh, though he be a David, shall of the flesh reap corruption. Well, then, for us to stand in awe and sin not.
V. In the darkness of calamity the better David shines to us. In the bowed, barefooted man weeping his way across the Kedron, and up Olivet, it is a king we see. It is David again. A Divine permission he recognises in all that is befalling him. He has no superstitious trust in the ark--let Zadok and Abiathar carry it back to Jerusalem. In God was his trust. Let Him do to me as seemeth good unto Him. So on--one of the most pathetic figures of all history--goes weeping David-on towards the plains of the wilderness. And as he passes out of our sight do you not hear such words as these? Sorrow by sin! Peace by pardon! Blessed is the man whose transgression is forgiven! Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted. (G. J. Coster.)
Absalom: a study
Untrained, except in self-admiration and self-indulgence, imperious, ambitious, quick to take offence and slow to forgive, hot with the riot of youthful blood, the young man--so fathered, so mothered, so brought up--is suddenly flung upon the world, and exposed to the temptations of a court in which the Uriah and Bathsheba scandal is being discussed in all its forms and incidents. And the first grave adventure he meets in it is the intolerable wrong and shame inflicted on his beautiful sister by the heir to the throne! Will not the king avenge so dreadful a crime? No; David is very wroth with Amnon, but does not care to vex his spirit, because he is his first-born. By all Eastern as well as by Hebrew law, then, public justice having failed, Absalom is the goel, the avenger of his sister; it is no crime, bug a duty, to wipe out her shame with blood. But as David will not vex the spirit of Amnon, his son--and there is a world of weak unfatherliness in that fatherly phrase--so neither will he suffer it to be vexed. Hence Absalom is left to brood over the wrong in silence for a couple of years, till, by a treacherous ruse, he makes way for his revenge, and Amnon is stabbed as he sits at his brothers table and drinks his brothers wine. We blame the deed, and, above all, the manner of the deed: but can we very severely blame the man? Not if we remember what the wrong was which he avenged, and how the world has always allowed a certain latitude to the avenger of such wrongs. Not if we remember that the justice, which the king ought to have been forward to execute, had been deliberately refused, and how imperative were the duties imposed on the goel both by Eastern custom and Hebrew law. Amnon was his half-brother, indeed--a thought which might well have given him pause; but have we yet to learn that brothers born in the harem are born enemies, rivals from the first to the last? And it was not Absaloms fault that harem manners and jealousies had been introduced into Israel. If beauty is a gift, beauty is also a snare. To few has the gift been so largely accorded as to Absalom; to few has it proved a snare so deadly. In him the personal comeliness and vigour of Jesses line seems to have culminated. Of Absalom we are told simply that his beauty was without blemish and beyond compare; but it seems probable that it may have been of that rare type in the Hebrew race which stirs even them to an unwonted admiration. It may have been because of his rare and superb beauty that, while still a child, he was celled Absalom, father of peace, though he proved to be a father of strife rather than of peace; for it may not unnaturally have been thought that a child so exceptionally lovely would kindle smiles and win a kindly welcome wherever he went. It adds the last touch to our conception of his beauty if we note that it sprang from the most vigorous physical health, as his magnificent fell of hair indicates. For, then, we can only think of him as quick with life and energy, and accomplished in all the exercises of peace and of war. Now if we think of this young prince with his hereditary bias, his defective training, never taught to rule or deny himself, coming out into a lax world--tall, graceful, strong, his blue eyes swimming in light, his fair locks failing thickly on his broad shoulders--we shall understand that his very beauty may have been a fatal gift to him. Met with smiles, welcome, and an easy compliance with his whims and desires, on every hand, hardly any one saying No to him, he never saying No to himself, what wonder if he became wilful, bold, insolent? What wonder if, his will once thwarted, he should kindle into a blaze; or, If he hid his fire, he should nurse and feed it till it found vent, and swept him beyond all bounds of law and duty? Is it not plain that position, training, temperament, habits, gifts, even the gift of beauty, all worked together to make him self-willed, capricious, restless, imperious, and, if crossed, violent and revengeful? Even in the brief space he occupies in the Sacred Record, we have many proofs that there was something reckless and desperate in the man, that he was apt to throw the reins on the neck of his lusts, and let them carry him where they would. That David and his men had some such suspicion of him, that they held him to be at least capable of an excessive and criminal violence in order to serve his ends, is proved by the fact that whoa an exaggerated report, of Amnons assassination reached them, when they were told, Absalom hath slain all the kings sons, there is not one of them left, they found nothing incredible in the horrible rumour, but rent their clothes and cast themselves on the earth, and wept for the goodly young men cut off in their prime (2Sa_13:30-31.) If the tale were not true, it was only too likely to have been true. A touch of the same recklessness and desperation comes out in the manner in which he jogged the drowsy memory of Joab (2Sa_14:23.) It was by the intervention of Joab that Absalom was called back to Jerusalem from his three years banishment in Syria. It was on Joabs intercession that he relied for an entire reconciliation with the king, who for two years after his return, refused to see his face. Joab may have been doing his best, or he may not. In any case he did not move fast enough for the imperious prince. He sends for Joab, therefore; but, Joab having no good tidings to give him, will not come. He sends a second time, and still Joab will not come. Whereupon he sends servants into Joabs farm to fire his standing barley, and so compels the old warrior to wait upon him, and to listen to his complaint that he would rather die than continue to live such a life as his. But, of course, it, was in his long-planned and artfully prepared rebellion against his father and king that all that was vehement, self-willed, unrestrained in the man found full vent. With Absaloms tragic end the bolt of retribution flew right home. And yet the pity of it! For, had Absalom been reared as hardily and piously as David was, in the home and on the hills of Bethlehem; had he been snubbed, laughed at, kept down, as David was, by a band of tall, stalwart brothers; had he, like David, been tried by stroke on stroke of adversity and undeserved reproach through all the opening years of manhood, there seems little reason to doubt that he might have been no worse a man morally than his father was; or, at least, no room to doubt that, by such a severe and pious training in duty and obedience, he might have been saved from the crimes by which his life was stained, and from the shame by which his memory is oppressed. In him, too, the spiritual man might have conquered the natural man at the last, and stilled and controlled the fever of his blood. As it is, we can but use his name to point a moral, for we can hardly add and to adorn a tale. And that moral is, of course, the immense danger of suffering the animal man in us to overget the spiritual man. The bias of our blood and temperament may not jump with his; our training may have been better than his; our faults, our passions, our gifts, may not resemble his; and certainly we arc not, most of us tempted to an indolent self-indulgence and self-will by a splendour of personal beauty and charm which makes it hard for any one to resist us. And yet no one who knows himself will doubt that the brute is strong in him; that he, too, has inherited cravings, passions, lusts, which must be subdued if he is to be saved from sins as fatal, if not as flagrant, as those of Absalom. And the flesh is not to be subdued and starved in any of us save as we feed and cherish the spirit. We can only overcome evil as we follow after that which is good. But if we seek to subdue the flesh by nourishing the spirit, whether in ourselves or in our children, He who makes large allowance for us all will largely and effectively help us all. (S. Cox, D. D.)
Absaloms rebellion
The monument to Absalom in the valley of the Kidron is buried deep in stones, cast against it by the Jews, as through generations they have passed, in token of their execration of this unatural prince--the counterpart, in the Old Testament, of Judas in the New. These stones are the true monument of Absalom. Let us add our tribute to make it a prominent and permanent landmark in religious history. This instructive example is held up before us in great detail. It is a warning, especially to young men. The methods by which it was secured are carefully stated. The instance is particular; but the application is as general as mankind.
I. Absalom perverted his natural advantages. He was a gifted and handsome young man; he came of a well-favoured stock, and he was its flower. He had a fine head of hair; he paid strict attention to it. It became a matter of national interest when Absalom cut his hair. He had a sheep-farm. We do not know the particulars of his clip of wool; but the weight of his annual poll of hair is carefully noted as two hundred shekels, or more than three pounds. The hair of Absalom represents all natural advantages. For personal gifts play an important part in securing success in this world.
II. Absalom had a perverse energy of character. He had persistency of purpose in a high degree--a masterful trait. He was calculating and deep. He was a tenacious man. Many men of fine powers fail through want of tenacity. The good man in the famous ode of Horace was tenacious of his purpose. So our bad man, Absalom, did not fail here. When Amnon wronged his sister Tamar he concealed his resentment for two years. He bided his time. When he determined to undermine Davids throne he showed a like steadfastness of resolution. He rose promptly in the morning. David rose early to pray; Absalom rose early to plot. This course of patient, insidious plotting Absalom continued for months, perhaps for years, until he was known throughout the kingdom as the poor mans friend.
III. Absalom perverted the study of human nature. He studied the weaknesses of men. This is called by men of his base aims the study of men. The vices and the foibles are noted; the theory being that for one who would play effectively on this fine instrument what is especially necessary is a Wagnerian mastery of discords. The adventurer, the opposition politician, the quack doctor, the fortune-seeker, give themselves to men have succeeded as Absalom succeeded--in politics, in professional life, in Absaloms study of human weakness. Upon this knowledge their success depends.
IV. Absalom had unlimited and perverted self-assurance. With all his shrewdness in measuring others, he had no proper sense of his own weaknesses. To scrutinise the weaknesses of others he closed, so to speak, one eye--that one whose outlook was upon his own heart. Exaggerated self-confidence is typical of this class of men. To the ordinary man with his misgiving and fear of himself it is surprising, dazzling. His own modesty prepares him to yield to the most audacious and preposterous claims of another. Perhaps the wonderful physician can work a cure of the incurable. He says he can. And what hair he hast Perhaps the politician can redress the evils of society which have baffled the wisest statesmen. He says he can. He is a remarkable-looking man. Perhaps one can be safely given a place of trust, though it would seem as if he can have had no experience to fit him for its delicate duties. He says he is competent. There is a degree, and, it is an amazing degree oftentimes, to which men will give confidence to bare pretension. Absaloms pretension was most shrewdly calculated.
V. Absalom Perverted The Choice Of Counsellors. He chose sagacious, but evil advisers; masterly, but unprincipled. Ahithophel was the oddest statesman in the nation. Absalom improved the opportunity. He sent for Ahithophel. The bad old man came to him--a man after his own heart. We must recognise the dangerous wisdom of the councils of this world. This wisdom is necessary to worldly success. If one heeds it, he greatly increases his prospects of accomplishing all worldly aims.
VI. Absalom perverted the use of religion. It has been suggested here that when David rose early to pray he and Absalom may have met. It may be that the crafty prince first shared his fathers devotions on the way to the gate. He saw the hold which religion had upon David and upon the nation. It would not answer for him to have the reputation of being irreligious; he must guard his religious standing. He made a religious excuse for visiting Hebron. It was a natural one. He had made a vow, he explained, while he was in Geshur in exile for the murder of Amnon. It was a nicely-calculated excuse. David believed in vows. He would look upon the handsome prince with heightened tenderness, touched by his manifest sensibility. Religion, in all times, is one of the readiest and most serviceable of cloaks. It especially serves the purposes of one who would win success in a religious community. Thus Satan comes among us disguised as an angel of light.
VII. Absalom studiously secured the support of good men, with the same steady perseverance. He valued them. They could help him. He wanted the approval of such men at large in the nation. He despised them. He wanted them only as tools. But he knew the value to his cause of having men of character associated with his followers. The rebellion triumphed without a blow. It war one of the best considered and most brilliant enterprises in history. Absalom seemed to be repaid for all his self-denial, his unsavoury wiles, his clever hypocrisy, his long patience. He had reached his goal. He was king. Many society. You may be tempted to cherish the low aim. But look at Absalom at the goal of his hopes, in tile full flush of success! Even then who would take his place? What had he accomplished but the fatal perversion of a life capable of greatest things. Look into his heart, and try to conceive the thoughts which must have been there in the very exaltation of his triumph. Then look again upon that sombre background, the forest of Ephraim, the figure of a man dripping with blood from many wounds, hanging and swaying in the awful twilight in the terebinth tree, suspended by his beautiful hair. Ah! this, then, is a part of what Absalom was planning--that part of which he was all unconscious, but the inevitable end! Learn from this history how the noblest gifts may be perverted, industriously, painfully, fatally, to secure the false success. How are you using your life? your fine natural advantages? How are you treating the privileges of religion? Who are your chosen counsellors? For what aim of life are you fostering deep, tenacious, self-sacrificing purposes? What a man Absalom might have been with a right aim I What a man you may become if you set your heart on the one end worthy of a Son of God--to be a prince of the kingdom of tight; in love and loyalty and honour, to be one of the pillars of His temple. (Monday, Club Sermons.)
The rebellion of Absalom
I. Absaloms conduct began in the exercise of the basest ingratitude. He assassinated Amnon at a banquet, and then fled to his grandfathers city Geshur for a refuge. There he remained for some years; the popular soldier Joab caused the woman of Tekoa to go to David with a parable and an entreaty; and the king reluctantly permitted his son to return to Jerusalem, but he would not meet him in the palace. That gave Absalom a chance again. And now we have two lessons to learn at once.
1. One is this: what a man sows he must also reap. Davids boys divided up Davids crimes between them, and repeated his guilt there under his own roof. That was an instance of sowing the wind and reaping the whirlwind. It is wise to remember that harvests are greater than seed.
2. The second lesson is, there is no gain in discipline unless it leaves behind it a better heart. Even after a shipwreck, the old philosopher Seneca remarks, there are hosts who still wilt seek the sea. It is not for any man to say that affliction sanctifies; of itself it sours a heart which is not sanctified beforehand. And he has lost much who has lost a discipline at Gods hand; he has had all the weary pain of it without any of the good; he has had the roughness of the ploughing without any of the fruit from the furrows.
II. This rebellion disclosed itself in the mere show of personal vanity. That is the only significance of such gorgeousness of equipage, and a half a hundred men to run before this conceited creature Absaloms chariot. There is not a sign of patriotism in his course. So here we have another lesson to learn: all true leadership is taught by the discipline of endurance under fierce distress. It was with David as with Jesus Christ; he that is to be a Captain of salvation unto Gods people must consent, as our Divine Saviour consented, to be made perfect through suffering.
III. This outbreak of Absalom was conducted with the hypocrisies of malicious deceit. How plausibly the man talked; how venomous were his insinuations; how false were his kisses; yet thus it was that he won the peoples hearts and undermined his fathers throne. The lesson that comes to us just here is: there can be no dependence on mere personal advantages unless they are put to a serviceable use. The record which is familiar to us all reminds us of the old commendations of Saul in the day when he came out before the people a head and shoulders above any one of those who cried God save the king! We have a kindling picture of Absaloms attractions of person and form. The old honest historian of the Greeks says with a creditable frankness that Themistocles was able to make his insipid son, Cleophantes, a good horseman, but he failed in every particular when he endeavoured to make him a good man. And that same failure has been reached a great many times since.
IV. That this insurrection was relentlessly continued through a long period of time. Not forty years, surely, as one of the verses seem to say; such a chapter can be found neither in Davids nor in Absaloms biography. It is impossible to put the reckoning anywhere. Josephus states the time, with the authority of the Syriac and the Arabic version behind him, as being four years instead of forty. And that is long enough certainly for an ungrateful son to continue mischievously to plot against his father is so villianous a way. There can be no value in a noble lineage unless the position is employed nobly. Absalom had nothing to do with the item of his birth; it would be a credit to him or a shame according to what he should do with it. Honour and wealth from no condition rise. The Bible makes short work with primogeniture; in almost every instance the chieftainship goes away from the sons earliest born. Later history is suggestive. Cleanthes lived by watering gardens; Pythagoras was the child of a silversmith; Euripides was brought up to help his brothers till the fields; Demosthenes was the son of a cutler; Virgils father was a potter. There is no pretension more impertinent than that which is forcing itself forward on the merits of mere parentage and position:
V. That this wild rebellion is consummated at last with a lie in the name of religion. This was at once the meanest and the shrewdest of all Absaloms subterfuges. In order to cover his absence from suspicion, and put David off his guard in Jerusalem, he trumped up this pretext of an old vow. God sometimes leaves wicked people to the retribution of apparent success. Absalom comes to Jerusalem, is actually crowned as king, has a few military victories; then his downfall is swift and heavy; the triumph of traitors is short. In a part of one year is dissipated all the fortune of the four years the treacherous son had plotted against his father. Ahithophel closes his career with a suicide, and ere long the rebellion is ended; David sits in his throne and sings brighter songs even while he mourns in his heart.
VI. We mention a few reflections concerning the death which this rebel prince died.
1. There is a limit beyond which patience, both human and Divine, cannot be expected to go. When the heart of this royal ingrate became fixed in his wickedness, the Lord simply withdrew from all interposition; so he was left to his fate; he died the rebel he had lived. Here is an inspired warning: Some mens sins are Open beforehand, going before to judgment; and some men they follow after.
2. When a false leader falls, he drags down his favourites in the failure. The most interesting feature of this story has always been the immediateness with which the rebellion subsided when those darts went through Absaloms heart: What ultimately became of those who had perilled all their fortunes upon his success we are not informed. Their hopes failed; they had attributed many excellences to that young and beautiful prince; possibly they had not studied the future carefully, into the abysses of which they land now plunged. Hereafter they were outlaws and wanderers.
3. There can be no advantage in having a fair chance in life unless one hastens to improve it for the good of others. The fact is, we instinctively hold this man Absalom responsible all the more sternly because he had opportunities so fair and abused them so basely. His sin was the more heinous on account of his conspicuous position.
4. The hour of retribution is likely to be an hour of melancholy review. Confidence in the successful issue of evil purposes only deepens the humiliation of defeat. There is even to this day pointed out in the valley close by Jerusalem a lofty structure of stone called Absaloms Tomb. The Scripture has given us a hint concerning its true origin, but not of its date: Now Absalom in his lifetime had taken and reared up for himself a pillar, which is in the kings dale: for he said, I have no son to keep my name in remembrance: and he called the pillar after his own name: and it is called unto this day, Absaloms place. That particular structure is perhaps replaced by this: tradition says it is not a sepulchre, but a monument; and Josephus goes so far as to insist that it was called Absaloms Hand, and bore at its summit a hand as the symbol of power and victory. (C. S. Robinson, D. D.)
Absaloms rebellion
After domestic broils and the violent death of Amnon in circumstances full of horror and disgrace, and after Absaloms banishment and return, this adroit and unscrupulous man, impelled by his own ambition, and having no idea of co-operation with Deity in the punishment of evil, sets about dethroning his own father and, if possible, possessing himself of the crown. When one thing is radically wrong, other Wrong things follow in the train of it. Like woes, sins cluster. The city-gate was the place for the administration of justice (Rth_4:1), and those who were charged with dispensing it held court early in the day. On the approach to the court an anxious litigant is greeted with frank courtesy by the handsome and stately Absalom, who with the deepest interest inquires about his residence and his business. Won by the affability of such a distinguished and exalted questioner, the man tells his place and his grievance. The hollow courtier has the same story for each. He reaches a verdict without the trouble of a hearing of the case or the appearance of the other side. The man is delighted. He is at rest. And when the simple provincial, in addition to such intelligent sympathy with his wrongs, found himself taken by the hand and kissed by the handsome pretender, he was sure to go back to his own town and say that David had become useless as a king and was neglecting his duties, and that things never would be right until Absalom, who was as wise as he was elegant, filled the throne. Alas, poor human natural It is the same to-day that it was in Davids time. Ambition, as a word, comes from the Roman politicians going about in their canvass for votes, fawning upon and flattering the people. English ladies of rank have gone and coaxed and caressed butchers whom they scorned to secure their votes for their husbands or their proteges. Members of legislatures have kissed the children and hobnobbed with their parents to make reputation among them. Doctors have sat as friends by the bedside of the wealthy, hinted their regrets that more vigorous measures were not adopted and more hopeful views taken by the physicians in attendance, only dropping their smooth generalities when the device succeeded and they were called into consultation, and regard for their reputation compelled them to agree with the rest. It is all in the same line with the policy of the mean, smooth-mannered traitor who (v. 6) stole the hearts of the men of Israel. It took three years to carry out his schemes, make his party and arrange for his being proclaimed. So he made a pretence of going to Hebron, the old capital; which probably resented the loss of its prestige, where friends of his youth probably lived and could be counted upon, and where his father had been crowned. It is not needful to ask if his vow were a reality. He was now at his ease in lying, and could readily supply the details of v. 8. To keep up the show of things, Absalom offered sacrifices, in which all who partook were to be held as pledged to his support. Men of this sort will use religion for their own ends. History since the Reformation has many a sad case of rulers shaping their religious courses so as to secure popular sympathy. Meanwhile, and in order to have him at the banquet, Absalom invites Ahithophel, a man of influence, whose adhesion would carry great weight, as he was Davids counsellor. Absalom probably knew his feelings of discontent and dissatisfaction with David. Absaloms plans now seemed sure to succeed. The conspiracy was strong. He had many friends throughout the tribes. The fascination of his personal approaches, the fair promises he had informally made, the relation he sustained to royalties already--all these things influenced the people, and his following increased continually. Ill-news will commonly travel fast. A messenger--from some friend perhaps--to David announced the extent of the movement, no doubt with details of Absaloms plans as far as they were known or inferred. The afflicted king realised the danger, and at once decided upon flight. There were two good reasons for this: No preparation had been made for the defence of Jerusalem, and an attack on it would have been disastrous in the extreme. But such an assault would have been the natural and politic course of the rebels if David remained there and attempted to hold the city. It was both humane and politic to quit the capital. At the same time, the flight must be prompt and rapid, lest he overtake us suddenly and bring evil upon us. This suggests the second reason: Flight gave time for the development of events and for calm reflection on the part of the people, This shrewd view was held, it will be noticed, by Ahithophel (2Sa_17:1-2), and also by Hushai the Archite (2Sa_17:7-13). They looked at it simply as managers and political observers. The following points may be emphasised with profit:--
1. The home and the public welfare are inseparably linked. Samuels sons took bribes and proved unfit for continuing the system of judges. Davids family-life was not as it Ought to have been, anal murder, widespread rebellion and slaughter, with indescribable dishonour and disgrace and danger to the kingdom, are the results. The suffering, too, falls on the sinning family first of all.
2. Bad morals on the part of rulers relax the ties of obedience and make government contemptible. The plausibilities of the rebel son drew their force from real faults of Davids administration. We may well pray for just and pure men in places of power.
3. But over and above these natural effects we have the just rule of Jehovah. David in his misery and penitence owns this. There is a difference between him and an enemy of God (2Sa_15:25-26). Hence his language regarding the cursing of Shimei (2Sa_16:11).
4. The life of Absalom speaks to both parents and children, setting in a clear light the weakness, folly, and sin of unreasoning parental indulgence, and on the other hand the atrocious character of ingratitude, selfishness and disobedience on the part of a child. Vices go in groups. They deaden sensibilities; one prepares for another. The impure and lustful will be ready for dishonesty, violence, and unnatural crime. (J. Hall, D. D.)
An ungrateful son
Everyone recognises that ingratitude is a grievous defect in a character. The ingrate is invariably condemned by the opinion of his fellows and by posterity. Who, for example, has not sympathised with poor Beethoven, when at the close of a laborious, self-sacrificing life his heart was broken by the knowledge that the boy to whom he had given all he possessed had repaid his love with cold selfishness and cruelty? There can only be one opinion as to the blameworthiness of the pampered ingrate. Ingratitude is all but universally regarded as one of the worst of faults. (J. R. Campbell.)
A struggle for a crown
A man will venture a knock that is in reach of a crown. The ambitious will run all risks of cruel wounds, and death itself to reach a throne; the prize hardens them against all hazards. Even so will every wise man encounter all difficulties for the crown of life; and when, by faith, he sees it within reach, he will count all afflictions light through which he wades to glory. If we suffer, we shall also reign with him. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Ambition
The brilliant, but erratic, Marie Bashkertsheff, wrote in her diary: It is the New Year. At the theatre, precisely at midnight, watch in hand, I wished nay wish in a single word, Fame! This is frank, but tragic. Yet if men were equally honest with themselves and at New Years breaking, or any time of solemn impression, spoke their candid feelings, one would cry Pleasure, another Gold, another Fame, another Power, and, thank God, not a few would cry To me to live is Christ. Ambition in itself is not evil; all depends on its quality, its supreme aim. Paul had three ambitions, and each of them was noble and worthy of a Christ-purchased and Christ-possessed soul.
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Expositor's Bible 1887 · Public Domain On vv1, 13
CHAPTER X I X.
ABSALOM'S REVOLT
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2Sa_15:1-12.
WHEN Absalom obtained from his father the position he had so eagerly desired at Jerusalem, he did not allow the grass to grow under his feet. The terms on which he was now with the king evidently gave him a command of money to a very ample degree. By this means he was able to set up an equipage such as had not previously been seen at Jerusalem. "He prepared him a chariot and horses, and fifty men to run before him." To multiply horses to himself was one of the things forbidden by the law of Moses to the king that should be chosen (Deu_15:16), mainly, we suppose, because it was a prominent feature of the royal state of the kings of Egypt, and because it would have indicated a tendency to place the glory of the kingdom in magnificent surroundings rather than in the protection and blessing of the heavenly King. The style of David's living appears to have been quiet and unpretending, notwithstanding the vast treasures he had amassed; for the love of pomp or display was none of his failings. Anything in the shape of elaborate arrangement that he devised seems to have been in connection with the public service of God - for instance, his choir of singers and players (1Ch_23:5); his own personal tastes appear to have been simple and inexpensive. And this style undoubtedly befitted a royalty which rested on a basis so peculiar as that of the nation of Israel, when the king, though he used that title, was only the viceroy of the true King of the nation, an i where it was the will of God that a different spirit should prevail from that prevalent among the surrounding nations. A modest establishment was evidently suited to one who recognized his true position as a subordinate lieutenant, not an absolute ruler.
But Absalom's tastes were widely different, and he was not the man to be restrained from gratifying them by any considerations of that sort. The moment he had the power, though he was not even king, he set up his imposing equipage, and became the observed of all observers in Jerusalem. And no doubt there were many of the people who sympathized with him, and regarded it as right and proper that, now that Israel was so renowned and prosperous a kingdom, its court should shine forth in corresponding splendour. The plain equipage of David would seem to them paltry and unimposing, in no way fitted to gratify the pride or elevate the dignity of the kingdom. Absalom's, on the other hand, would seem to supply all that David's wanted. The prancing steeds, with their gay caparisons, the troop of out-runners in glittering uniform, the handsome face and figure of the prince, would create a sensation wherever he went; There, men would say emphatically, is the proper state and bearing of a king; had we such a monarch as that, surrounding nations would everywhere acknowledge our superiority, and feel that we were entitled to the first place among the kingdoms of the East.
But Absalom was far too shrewd a man to base his popularity merely on outward show. For the daring game which he was about to play it was necessary to have much firmer support than that. He understood the remarkable power of personal interest and sympathy in winning the hearts of men, and drawing them to one's side. He rose up early, and stood beside the way of the gate, where in Eastern cities judgment was usually administered, but where, for some unknown reason, little seems to have been done by the king or the king's servants at that time. To all who came to the gate he addressed himself with winsome affability, and to those who had "a suit that should come to the king for judgment" (R.V.) he was especially encouraging. Well did he know that when a man has a lawsuit it usually engrosses his whole attention, and that he is very impatient of delays and hindrances in the way of his case. Very adroitly did he take advantage of this feeling, - sympathizing with the litigant, agreeing with him of course that he had right on his side, but much concerned that there was no one appointed of the king to attend to his business, and devoutly and fervently wishing that he were made judge in the land, that every one that had any suit or cause might come to him, and he would do him justice. And with regard to others, when they came to do him homage he seemed unwilling to recognize this token of superiority, but, as if they were just brothers, he put forth his hand, took hold of them, and kissed them. If it were not for what we know now of the hollowness of it, this would be a pretty picture - an ear so ready to listen to the tale of wrong, a heart so full of sympathy, an active temperament that in the early hours of the morning sent him forth to meet the people and exchange kindly greetings with them; a form and figure that graced the finest procession; a manner that could be alike dignified when dignity was becoming, and humility itself when it was right to be humble. But alas for the hollow-heartedness of the picture! It is like the fabled apples of Sodom, outside all fair and attractive, but dust within.
But hollow though it was, the policy succeeded - he became exceedingly popular; he secured the affections of the people. It is a remarkable expression that is used to denote this result - ''He stole the hearts of the men of Israel." It was not an honest transaction. It was swindling in high life. He was appropriating valuable property on false pretences. To constitute a man a thief or a swindler it is not necessary that he forge a rich man's name, or that he put his hand into the pocket of his neighbour. To gain a heart by hypocritical means, to secure the confidence of another by lying promises, is equally low and wicked; nay, in God's sight is a greater crime. It may be that man's law has difficulty in reaching it, and in many cases cannot reach it at all. But it cannot be supposed that those who are guilty of it will in the end escape God's righteous judgment. And if the punishments of the future life are fitted to indicate the due character of the sins for which they are sent, we can think of nothing more appropriate than that those who have stolen hearts in this way, high in this world's rank though they have often been, should be made to rank with the thieves and thimble-riggers and other knaves who are the habitués of our prisons, and are scorned universally as the meanest of mankind. With all his fine face and figure and manner, his chariot and horses, his out-runners and other attendants, Absalom after all was but a black-hearted thief.
All this crooked and cunning policy of his Absalom carried on with, unwearied vigour till his plot was ripe. There is reason to apprehend an error of some kind in the text when it is said (2Sa_15:7) that it was "at the end of forty years" that Absalom struck the final blow. The reading of some manuscripts is more likely to be correct, - "at the end of four years," that is, four years after he was allowed to assume the position of prince. During that space of time much might be quietly done by one who had such an advantage of manner, and was so resolutely devoted to his work. For he seems to have laboured at his task without interruption all that time. The dissembling which he had to practice, to impress the people with the idea of his kindly interest in them, must have required a very considerable strain. But he was sustained in it by the belief that in the end he would succeed, and success was worth an infinity of labour. What a power of persistence is often shown by the children of this world, and how much wiser are they in their generation than the children of light as to the means that will achieve their ends! With what wonderful application and perseverance do many men labour to build up a business, to accumulate a fortune, to gain a distinction! I have heard of a young man who, being informed that an advertisement had appeared in a newspaper to the effect that if his family would apply to someone they would hear of something to their advantage, set himself to discover that advertisement, went over the advertisements for several years, column by column, first of one paper, then of another and another, till he became so absorbed in the task that he lost first his reason and then his life. Thank God, there are instances not a few of very noble application and perseverance in the spiritual field; but is it not true that the mass even of good men are sadly remiss in the efforts they make for spiritual ends? Does not the energy of the racer who ran for the corruptible crown often put to shame the languor of those who seek for an incorruptible? And does not the manifold secular activity of which we see so much in the world around us sound a loud summons in the ears of all who are at ease in Zion - ''Now it is high time to awake out of sleep"?
The copestone which Absalom put on his plot when all was ripe for execution was of a piece with the whole undertaking. It was an act of religious hypocrisy amounting to profanity. It shows how well he must have succeeded in deceiving his father when he could venture on such a finishing stroke. Hypocrite though he was himself, he well knew the depth and sincerity of his father's religion. He knew too that nothing could gratify him more than to find in his son the evidence of a similar state of heart. It is difficult to comprehend the villainy that could frame such a statement as this: - "I pray thee, let me go and pay my vow, which I have vowed unto the Lord, in Hebron. For thy servant vowed a vow, while I abode at Geshur in Syria, saying. If the Lord shall indeed bring me again to Jerusalem, then I will serve" (marg. R.V., worship) "the Lord." We have already remarked that it is not very clear from this whether up to this time Absalom had been a worshipper of the God of Israel. The purport of his pretended vow (that is, what he wished his father to believe) must have been either that, renouncing the idolatry of Geshur, he would now become a worshipper of Israel's God, or (what seems more likely) that in token of his purpose for the future he would present a special offering to the God of Israel. This vow he now wished to redeem by making his offerings to the Lord, and for this purpose he desired to go to Hebron. But why go to Hebron? Might he not have redeemed it at Jerusalem? It was the custom, however, when a vow was taken, to specify the place where it was to be fulfilled, and in this instance Hebron was alleged to be the place. But what are we to think of the effrontery and wickedness of this pretence? To drag sacred things into a scheme of villainy, to pretend to have a desire to do honour to God simply for the purpose of carrying out deception and gaining a worldly end, is a frightful prostitution of all that ought to be held most sacred. It seems to indicate one who had no belief in God or in anything holy, to whom truth and falsehood, right and wrong, honour and shame, were all essentially alike, although, when it suited him, he might pretend to have a profound regard to the honour of God and a cordial purpose to render that honour. We are reminded of Charles II. taking the Covenant to please the Scots, and get their help towards obtaining the crown. But indeed the same great sin is involved in every act of religious hypocrisy, in every instance in which pretended reverence is paid to God in order to secure a selfish end.
The place was cunningly selected. It enjoyed a sanctity which had been gathering round it for centuries; whereas Jerusalem, as the capital of the nation, was but of yesterday. Hebron was the place where David himself had begun his reign, and while it was far enough from Jerusalem to allow Absalom to work unobserved by David, it was near enough to allow him to carry out the schemes which had been set on foot there. So little suspicion had the old king of what was brewing that, when Absalom asked leave to go to Hebron, he dismissed him with a blessing - "Go in peace."
What Joab was thinking of all this we have no means of knowing. That a man who looked after his own interests so well as Joab did, should have stuck to David when his fortunes appeared to be desperate, is somewhat surprising. But the truth seems to be that Absalom never felt very cordial towards Joab after his refusal to meet him on his return from Geshur. It does not appear that Joab was much impressed by regard to God's will in the matter of the succession; his being engaged afterwards in the insurrection in favour of Adonijah when Solomon was divinely marked out for the succession shows that he was not. His adherence to David on this occasion was probably the result of necessity rather than choice. But what are we to say of his want of vigilance in allowing Absalom's conspiracy to advance as it did either without suspecting its existence, or at least without making provision for defending the king's cause? Either he was very blind or he was very careless. As for the king himself, we have seen what cause he had, after his great trespass, for courting solitude and avoiding contact with the people. That he should be ignorant of all that was going on need not surprise us. And moreover, from allusions in some of the Psalms (38, 39, 41) to a loathsome and all but fatal illness of David's, and to treachery practiced on him when ill, some have supposed that this was the time chosen by Absalom for consummating his plot. When Absalom said to the men applying for justice, whom he met at the gate of the city, "There is no man deputed of the king to hear thee," his words implied that there was something hindering the king from being there in person, and for some reason he had not appointed a deputy. A protracted illness, unfitting David for his personal duties and for super- intending the machinery of government, might have furnished Absalom with the pretext for his lamentation over this want. It gives us a harder impression of his villainy and hardness of heart if he chose a time when his father was enfeebled by disease to inflict a crushing blow on his government and a crowning humiliation on himself.
Three other steps were taken by Absalom before bringing the revolt to a crisis. First, he sent spies or secret emissaries to all the tribes, calling them, on hearing the sound of a trumpet, to acknowledge him as king at Hebron. Evidently he had all the talent for administration that was so conspicuous in his nation and in his house, - if only it had been put to a better use. Secondly, he took with him to Hebron a band of two hundred men, of whom it is said "they went in their simplicity, and they knew not anything" - so admirably was the secret kept. Thirdly, Absalom sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, David's counsellor, from his city, having reason to believe that Ahithophel was on his side, and knowing that his counsel would be valuable to him in the present emergency. And every arrangement seemed to succeed admirably. The tide ran strongly in his favour - "the conspiracy was strong, for the people increased continually with Absalom." Everything seemed to fall out precisely as he wished; it looked as if the revolt would not only succeed, but that it would succeed without serious opposition. Absalom must have been full of expectation that in a few days or weeks he would be reigning unopposed at Jerusalem.
This extraordinary success is difficult to understand. For what could have made David so unpopular? In his earliest years he had been singularly popular; his victories brought him unbounded éclat; and when Ishbosheth died it was the remembrance of these early services that disposed the people to call him to the throne. Since that time he had increased his services in an eminent degree. He had freed his country from all the surrounding tribes that were constantly attacking it; he had conquered those distant but powerful enemies the Syrians; and he had brought to the country a great accumulation of wealth. Add to this that he was fond of music and a poet, and had written many of the very finest of their sacred songs. Why should not such a king be popular? The answer to this question will embrace a variety of reasons. In the first place, a generation was growing up who had not been alive at the time of his early services, and on whom therefore they would make a very slender impression. For service done to the public is very soon forgotten unless it be constantly repeated in other forms, unless, in fact, there be a perpetual round of it. So it is found by many a minister of the gospel. Though he may have built up his congregation from the very beginning, ministered among them with unceasing assiduity, and taken the lead in many important and permanent undertakings, yet in a few years after he goes away all is forgotten, and his very name comes to be unknown to many. In the second place, David was turning old, and old men are prone to adhere to their old ways; his government had become old-fashioned, and he showed no longer the life and vigour of former days. A new, fresh, lively administration was eagerly desired by the younger spirits of the nation. Further, there can be no doubt that David's fervent piety was disliked by many, and his puritan methods of governing the kingdom. The spirit of the world is sure to be found in every community, and it is always offended by the government of holy men. Finally, his fall in the matter of Uriah had greatly impaired the respect and affection even of the better part of the community. If to all this there was added a period of feeble health, during which many departments of government were neglected, we shall have, beyond doubt, the principal grounds of the king's unpopularity. The ardent lovers of godliness were no doubt a minority, and thus even David, who had done so much for Israel, was ready to be sacrificed in the time of old age.
But had he not something better to fall back on? Was he not promised the protection and the aid of the Most High? Might he not cast himself on Him who had been his refuge and his strength in every time of need, and of whom he had sung so serenely that He is near to them that call on Him in sincerity and in truth? Undoubtedly he might, and undoubtedly he did. And the final result of Absalom's rebellion, the wonderful way in which its back was broken and David rescued and restored, showed that though cast down he was not forsaken. But now, we must remember, the second element of the chastisement of which Nathan testified, had come upon him. "Behold, I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house." That chastisement was now falling, and while it lasted the joy and comfort of God's gracious presence must have been interrupted. But all the same God was Still with him, even though He was carrying him through the valley of the shadow of death. Like the Apostle Peter, he was brought to the very verge of destruction; but at the critical moment an unseen hand was stretched out to save him, and in after-years he was able to sing, "He brought me up also out of a fearful pit, and out of the miry clay; and He set my feet upon a rock and established my goings; and He hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God; many shall see it and shall fear, and shall trust in the Lord."
William Robertson Nicoll, ed., The Expositor's Bible (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1887–1910) — public domain. 65 of 66 books (1 Corinthians is not separately keyed, as that volume carries no machine-parseable verse references); section-level commentary keyed to the opening verse. Introductory and overview sections not keyed to a specific passage are excluded.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain On v1 2Sa_15:1. “After this.” Keil, Erdmann and Thenius attach the…
CRITICAL AND EXPOSITORY NOTES.
2Sa_15:1. “After this.” Keil, Erdmann and Thenius attach the idea of immediateness to the Hebrew adverb here used, but other scholars consider this doubtful. The word occurs only here, in 2Sa_3:28, and in 2Ch_32:23, and its precise meaning cannot therefore be determined by usage. “Chariots,” i.e., “a state carriage.” (Keil.) “Fifty men.” “These runners are accustomed to precede the equipage of persons of distinction in Oriental countries. They usually carry a staff or baton, which they constantly wave about them, and strike right and left to clear the way, especially in the streets of Oriental cities which are always narrow and crowded.… They can keep on at a rapid pace, with the equipage which they precede, for many miles without stoppage, their feet covered with dust and frequently bleeding from wounds. In ancient times fifty of these runners formed the usual attendance upon royalty. See 1Ki_1:5.” (Jamieson).
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2Sa_15:2. “Rose up early,” etc. “The gate here referred to is the gate of the royal palace, whither those came that sought the decision of the king in law matters. (Erdmann). Malcolm-son says that Oriental ministers hold their levees before western people of rank rise from their beds.
2Sa_15:3. “No man,” etc. Lit. “No hearer for thee on the part of the king.” The hearer signifies the judicial officer, who heard complainants and examined into their different causes for the purpose of laying them before the king.” (Keil.)
2Sa_15:4. “O that I were,” etc. Lit. “Who will make me,” etc.
2Sa_15:6. “So Absalom stole,” etc. “The phrase may also mean to deceive the heart, as in Gen_31:20; but the connection shows that the meaning here is to bring a person over to one’s side secretly and by stratagem.” (Erdmann and Keil.)
2Sa_15:7. “After forty years.” It seems imposssble to read forty in this connection as it cannot be understood either of David’s reign or Absalom’s age, as David’s entire reign was only forty years and a half, and Absalom was born after his father became king. Almost all commentators read four years, but the chronology here must evidently be regarded as uncertain.
2Sa_15:7. “Hebron.” “Probably assigning as a reason that he was born there, but really because his father had been made king there, and also possibly because there may have been many persons there who had been displeased by the removal of the court to Jerusalem.” (Keil.)
2Sa_15:8. “Serve the Lord.” Rather to do a service, explained by Josephus to mean to offer a sacrifice. “We have here an example of sacrificial feasting, not in connection with the tabernacle (as in 1Sa_20:6), an indication that the strict law of Leviticus (Lev_17:3-4, and Deu_12:13-14) was not in practical operation, else David would have objected to sacrificing in Hebron.” (Translator of Lange’s Commentary.)
2Sa_15:9. “Go in peace.” “That David observed nothing of all this till the startling news reached him that the heart of Israel was turned towards Absalom, cannot be reckoned to his disadvantage, since so ancient and simple a kingdom had nothing like our modern state police; it is rather a mark of the noble-minded security that we elsewhere see in him, that he gives so free scope to his beloved son, who might be regarded as first-born and heir-apparent.” (Ewald.)
2Sa_15:10. “Spies.” “So called because they were first of all to find out the feeling of the people and only execute their commission where they could reckon on support. (Keil.) “The trumpet.” “We must suppose that there were various stations where the summons was repeated.” (Cohen.)
2Sa_15:11. “Two hundred men.” “Courtiers such as usually accompanied kings and kings’ sons on their journeys.” (Erdmann.) “Called,” i.e., invited to the sacrificial feast. “Knew not anything,” i.e., were ignorant of the conspiracy.
2Sa_15:12. “Giloh.” Upon the mountains of Judah and a little to the south of Hebron (Jos_15:51). “Ahithophel had no doubt been previously initiated into Absalom’s plans, and had probably gone to his native city merely that he might come to him with greater ease, since his general place of abode, as king’s councillor, must have been in Jerusalem.” (Keil.) On the possible cause of Ahithophel’s desertion of David, see notes on 2Sa_11:3.
2Sa_15:14. “Let us flee.” “David’s immediate flight is to be explained by the reason that he himself gives, by the fact that he sees that the fulfilment of Nathan’s prophecy of approaching misfortune is now beginning, that the punishment cannot be warded off, and that to stay in the city will only occasion much bloodshed.” (Erdmann.) “To leave the city would be to gain the advantage of his military skill and of the discipline of his tried warriors in the open country.” (Translator of Lange’s Commentary).
2Sa_15:15. “Servants,” i.e., soldiers. (Lange’s Commentary.)
2Sa_15:17. “A place that was far off.” Literally, “The house of the distance” “Probably a proper name given to a house in the neighbourhood of the city, and on the road to Jericho, which was called ‘the farthest house,’ viz., from the city.” (Keil.)
2Sa_15:18. “Cherithites,” etc. See note on 2Sa_8:18. “Gittites.” Most scholars identify this body of men with the Gibborim or mighty men mentioned in 2Sa_16:6. Some suppose that Gittite is a corruption of Gibborim. It is not likely that they were all natives of Gath, although they are said to have followed David thence. Most commentators consider that this body-guard was formed of David’s first faithful followers (1Sa_22:2), kept always up to the number of six hundred by the addition of other trusted and valiant soldiers.
2Sa_15:19. “A stranger,” etc. “Do you remain with whoever is or shall be king, since there is no necessity for you as a stranger to take sides at all,” (Keil) or, “You may remain quiet and see whom God shall appoint as king, and whether it be I or Absalom; you can serve the one whom God shall choose.” (Schmidt). “Stranger—not an Israelite; emigrant or exile—one not in his native land.” (Erdmann). Some suppose that the latter noun signifies that Ittai was a captive or a hostage taken in war, but his position in David’s army is against such a supposition.
2Sa_15:20. “Mercy and truth” From this and from Ittai’s saying, “As the Lord lives,” it is probable that Ittai, with his whole house, had already become a believer in the God of Israel.” (Erdmann.)
2Sa_15:22. “Pass over,” rather, pass on, (Keil.) “The little ones.” “It is characteristic of Oriental people that they carry their whole family along with them in all their migrations.” (Jamieson.)
2Sa_15:23. “Kidron.” This mountain torrent, which only flows during the rainy season, runs through the valley of Jehoshaphat, between the eastern side of Jerusalem and the Mount of Olives. “Afterwards passed over by the son of David, the King of Israel, when He was rejected by Jerusalem.” (Wordsworth.)
2Sa_15:24. “Zadok” and Abiathar. (See notes on 2Sa_8:17.) “Zadok is placed before Abiathar by the historian, although Abiathar was the High Priest, either because Zadok, as the younger man, took the lead in bearing the ark, or perhaps because Abiathar was already beginning to show some signs of lukewarmness and disaffection towards David and his cause. The writer composed the history at a time when it was a well-known fact that Abiathar was deposed by Solomon for disloyalty, and Zadok was placed in his room (See 1Ki_1:7; 1Ki_2:35.) (Wordsworth.) Keil and Erdmann consider that Abiathar did not join the procession until all the people had passed out of the city, and therefore his name could not have been placed first here. But the same order is observed in 2Sa_15:29. “Went up.” “That is, to the summit of the Mount of Olives, where the ark was set down.” (Erdmann.)
2Sa_15:27. “Art not thou,” etc., rather, “Thou seer.” On this word see note on 1Sa_9:9. David’s reasons for so naming Zadok is found in 2Sa_15:25 scq. Through him David is to learn whether the Lord will again take him into favour and restore him to Jerusalem; that is, Zadok was to act as seer for him.” (Erdmann).
2Sa_15:28. “The plain,” rather the fords, the place where the Jordan could be crossed.
2Sa_15:30. “The ascent of Olivet.” “Josephus reckons the distance from Jerusalem to the top of the mount at five stadia, and Luke (Act_1:12) says it was a Sabbath day’s journey. The same pathway over that mount has been followed ever since that memorable day.” (Jamieson.) “His head covered.” “Covering the head is the symbol of the mind sorrowfully sunk in itself, wholly withdrawn from the outer world. Comp. Est_6:12; Eze_24:18.” (Erdmann.) “See examples of King Darius having his head covered, 2 Curtius, lib. iv. cap. 10, sec. 33, and lib. v. cap. 12, sec. 8. (Jamieson.) “Bare-foot.” While all covered the head, this sign of mourning appears to have been adopted by David only either “as a penitent” (Ewald), or “to manifest his humiliation in the sight of God.” (Thenius).
2Sa_15:32. “Where he worshipped.” Rather, where men worshipped, etc., supposed to have been one of the “high places” which then existed in Palestine. “Hushai the Archite.” See 2Sa_15:37, 2Sa_16:16, and 1Ch_27:33. Keil and others consider him to have been a privy councillor. He was probably a native of the city of Ezek. (See Jos_16:2.)
2Sa_15:33. “A burden,” “He was probably a very old man.” (Keil).
2Sa_15:34. “I will be thy servant.” “This was not honest, but it was according to the policy practised in those days, and indeed in all ages; which Procopins Gazaens approves so far as to say that ‘a lie told for a good end is equivalent to truth.’ But I dare not justify such doctrine.” (Patrick).
2Sa_15:36. “Zadok,” etc. “This was not an ordinary stratagem; these men were not simply spies, but we can avoid calling them traitors by supposing that the priests were not recognised as adherents of Absalom, but as indifferent non-combatants, or as friends of David.” (Translator of Lange’s Commentary).
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE CHAPTER
THE REBELLION UNDER ABSALOM
We have here—
I. An aggravated crime. The rebellion of Absalom against his father would have been an act of great wickedness in whatever manner he had carried it out, but the cloak which he used to conceal it added to his guilt. He must have been a bad man indeed to conspire against his father’s throne; but to dress up his base designs in the garb of patriotism, and even of piety, added hypocrisy to his other sins. But there appears to be no limit to the extent to which men will veil a vicious act in the semblance of a virtuous deed, and thus give proof of the great depravity of which human nature is capable.
II. An aggravated calamity. If Absalom’s guilt was increased by the attendant circumstances so was David’s sorrow. There was, first, the quarter from which it came. It was no small addition to the severity of the trial that the evil sprang from David’s own house—that the rebel was one of his own children and apparently a son for whom he had a deep affection. And added to this was the fact that Absalom was aided and encouraged by one in whom David had placed implicit confidence, his “familiar friend,” Ahithophel, whose faithfulness, it seems, he had never doubted (Psa_41:9). David had been warned to look for trouble, and for trouble from his own family; but he could hardly have expected so heavy a calamity as the one which now befel him nor is it likely he had ever thought it possible that Absalom and Ahithophel would be the chief instruments of his chastisement. Then, again, it must have been a bitter surprise and mortification to David to find that so many of his people were ready to renounce their allegiance to him and to follow one who was in all respects his inferior, and who had no claims upon their gratitude. Faulty as David had been in his later years, and just as might have been the charge brought against him by Absalom (2Sa_15:3), his rule upon the whole had been productive of great good to the nation, whereas Absalom had done nothing for it. Yet, when the standard of rebellion was raised, many men gathered to it who doubtless owed much to the efforts which David had made to benefit the people and thus showed themselves capable of great ingratidude. And we all know that unkindness from such a quarter is much harder to bear than when it comes from the hand of strangers. But by far the greatest aggravation of David’s trial must have been the consciousness that he had brought it on himself. It was no arbitrary sentence which God passed upon him when He warned him that evil would come from his own house. If David’s household had been ordered more in accordance with the will of God, and his own personal life been under more strict discipline, it is more than probable he would have had no such sons as Amnon and Absalom, and no subjects so faithless as Ahithophel and those who followed with him. But even if then such circumstances had arisen, the father and the king would have found strong consolation in the reflection that he was in no sense blameworthy. But he could not have this strongest support in trial but had this burden in addition to all the others, that he was only reaping as he had sown. And, alas! although he alone was responsible for the sowing, many besides himself had to taste the bitter fruit. To a man like David, this must have been an inexpressible grief. To any true-hearted man or woman it is far easier to suffer than to be the means of bringing suffering upon others, even when it is a matter of pure misfortune. But surely nothing can cause such agony of mind as to look upon the miseries of others and to feel that we are the cause of it, and that by our own transgression. David now saw his kingdom rent by civil war with all its attendant desolations, and knew that he, and he only, was to blame; and as we look upon this man after God’s own heart, ascending the Mount of Olives, where can we find a more vivid illustration of the terrible consequences of sin or of the inflexible impartiality of God. If David must thus suffer even after his repentance, what must be the tribulation necessary for those who live a life of rebellion against their God and their conscience and who have never, like him, acknowledged their transgressions and sought to be cleansed from their sin.
III. Calamity lightened by the faithfulness of friends and by confidence in God. If Absalom and his followers afford painful examples of human hypocrisy and ingratitude and make us ashamed of our manhood, the unselfishness and fidelity of Ittai and other servants of David more than redeem it from the disgrace. Although there are many false and cowardly men in the world, there are also many brave and noble ones, and times of trial, whether personal or national, are times of self-revelation which bring to light the real character of both the good and bad. If it had not been for Absalom and Ahithophel’s treachery, David would never have known how deep was the affection which his friends felt for him, and their devotion would not have had the opportunity of manifesting itself and of gaining for them the admiration of future generations. So it is in all times—the wickedness of some brings out the goodness of others and strengthens their virtue and makes it shine more brightly. And to David, in this hour of sorrow, this loyalty—where perhaps he least looked for it—must have been what a spring of living water is to a weary traveller in a spot where he did not expect it. For the friend that comes without being sought in the day when friends are few, is indeed a well in the wilderness, which restores the strength of the fainting wayfarer and enables him to go on his way. To David this faithfulness on the part of man would be a pledge of the faithfulness of God, and a confirmation of the truth of his own words, “Unto the upright there ariseth light in the darkness.”
But David’s own conduct and temper under the trial, tended also to lighten the affliction. Behind the wrong-doing of man he sees the righteousness of God and acknowledges the justice of the permissive providence which allowed such a calamity to overtake him. And although he knows that he is being chastised for his sin, he does not lose the sense of God’s loving-kindness; but, as his words testify (see Psalms 3) hopes in Him against whom he has sinned, having the blessed assurance that although he is thus afflicted, his iniquity is forgiven. Any man who is able thus to meet affliction, finds its sting removed; but a soul which cannot see a Divine hand behind the dark cloud, or, seeing it, does not recognise it as a hand of justice and love, is indeed in a sad case. Many as were the aggravations of David’s calamity, it had this greatest alleviation.
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
2Sa_15:2. The plot which Absalom was working out required a great amount of sapping and mining—a kind of labour extremely trying, and demanding much patience and self-command. Yet for years, apparently, he persevered in it, upheld and encouraged by the one hope of ultimate success. How much wiser in their generation are the children of this world than the children of light! If for wicked or selfish ends men toil with so much perseverance, how should good men labour in the service of God!—Blackie.
2Sa_15:19. David’s general desertion by his own people—the tribe of Judah—and the attention which he received from comparative strangers foreshadowed the Lord’s own experience, when betrayed by Judas, denied by Peter, and forsaken by all the apostles, His only sympathy seemed to come from the weeping women, and when strangers like Nicodemus and Joseph were left to attend his funeral.—Blackie.
2Sa_15:31. This text is a glass wherein God’s justice is plainly to be seen. David had formerly falsely forsaken Uriah, and now God suffers Ahithophel to forsake David.… I. Let us learn when our friends forsake us, to enter into a serious scrutiny with our own souls. Hast thou never played false or foul with thy friend, if not in action yet in intention? Dost thou not mean to prove base if put to the trial? If so, know thy false friend hath only got the start of thee.… II. The most politic heads have not always the faithfullest hearts.… While David swayed the sceptre, who more loyal to him than Ahithophel? and once David is in banishment, he falls first to Absalom; he loved to worship the sun rising; yea, while, David, the true sun, was but overcast with a cloud, he falls adoring a blazing star—a comet.… That cement which conglutinates hearts is grace and goodness, whereof many politic heads are utterly devoid (1Co_1:26), and politic men make their own profit the rule and square of their lives.… Do not, then, undervalue the love of those who are of mean and inferior parts. Wise men have made use of such servants and found them more manageable and more profitable; though their judgments were weaker, their affections might be stronger than wiser men. III. False friends will forsake thee in times of adversity. He that believeth that all those who smile on him and promise fair in time of prosperity will perform it in time of his want may as well believe that all the leaves that be on trees at Midsummer will hang there as fresh and as fair on New Year’s Day. Come we now to consider what good uses one may make to himself from the unfaithfulness of friends when they forsake us.
1. Consider with thyself whether thou hast not been faulty in entertaining tale-bearers, and lending a listening ear to them. Solomon says, “A whisperer separateth chief friends” (Pro_16:28.) …
2. If herein thy conscience accuse thee not, examine thyself, whether there was not a eæsum principium in the first initiation of your love. How came you first acquainted.… Didst thou first purchase his favour with the price of a sin? For, know, friends unjustly gotten are not long comfortably enjoyed.… We see King Hezekiah, who procured Sennacherib’s love by his sacrilege, enjoyed not that purchase which he made God and His temple pay for. (2Ki_18:16.) …
3. If there has been no fault in the inclination, examine hath there been none in the continuance of your friendship? Hast thou not committed many sins to hold in with him?… Hast thou not flattered him in his faults, or at leastwise by thy silence consented to him.… If Amnon, in cold blood viewing the heinousness of his offence, so hated Tamar, who only concurred passively in his transgression, how may our friends justly hate us, if haply we have been the causers, movers, and procurers of our badness!…
4. Hast thou not idolatrised to thy friend? Hath he not totally monopolised thy soul? It if just with God that those wooden pillars should break, on whom we lay too much heft.
5. Hast thou not undervalued thy friend?… If so, God hath taught the worth of a pearl by losing it. And this often comes to pass, though not in our friends voluntary deserting us, yet when God takes them away by death.…
6. It may be God suffers thy friends to prove unfaithful to thee, to make thee stick more closely to Himself. Excellent to this purpose is Mic_7:5-7. As if he had said, “Is the world come to this bad pass that one must be far from trusting their nearest friends? It is well, then, I have one fast Friend on whom I may rely, the God of heaven.” I must confess these words of the prophet are principally meant of the time of persecution, but they contain an eternal truth, whereof good use may be made at any time.—Thos. Fuller.
2Sa_15:34. In the midst of such piety and resignation, it is strange to find David asking his friend thus to act a dishonest part, and play the spy. We are not called to vindicate his conduct. The Scriptures simply record it; and we must not suppose that everything here is approved which is not directly, and in so many words, condemned. But we may say two things by way of debarring hasty judgment here. First—and I am using now the words of Professor Plumptre: “Slowly in the character of any people; more slowly still in that of any Eastern people; most slowly of all, perhaps, in that of Israel, have men risen to the excellence of veracity. We must not think that the king’s religion was a hypocrisy because it did not bear at once the fruit of the spotless honor and unswerving truth which mark the highest forms of Christian goodness. The Christian Church herself has to notice many like inconsistencies among her crowned martyrs.” Second: let us not forget what those means are by which, even in these modern days, with all our Christian loftiness of character, we seek to countermine and check political rebellion. Some years ago, while I was a resident in Liverpool, there was great talk of Fenianism. We heard of plots for the taking of the ancient city of Chester, and the burning of ships in our own docks. How did we hear of them? By spies, who feigned themselves Fenians for the time! and the man whose astuteness made these discoveries through means of Hushai-like instruments was rewarded by being made a companion of the Most Honorable Order of the Bath! Observe, I do not vindicate either David or these modern officers. I simply state the facts, and beg to say, that if men, with the New Testament in their hands, can do such things, we ought to be tender in our treatment of David here.—Taylor.
2Sa_15:16-27. There is no single day in the Jewish history of which so elaborate an account remains as of this memorable flight. There is none, we may add, that combines so many of David’s characteristics—his patience, his high-spirited religion, his generosity, his calculations: we miss only his daring courage. Was it crushed, for the moment, by the weight of parental grief, or bitter remorse?—Stanley.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Sermon Bible 1900 · Public Domain On v1 2Sa 15:19-21
2Sa 15:19-21
I. We have in this passage a remarkable instance of the spirit of true patriotism, all the more remarkable because, in one sense, patriotism is not quite the word to apply to Ittai, for he was a stranger and an alien, though a naturalised Israelite. In him we have a singular instance of that devotion to a person which will always be the leading characteristic of the Christian life. The legalist may be devoted to a system; the moralist may be devoted to an idea; the real Christian will be devoted to a Person, to the person of a living Christ.
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II. Ittai was the kind of man that David wanted, and he is the kind of man that Christ wants now. There are many people ready enough to make the Lord Jesus Christ a kind of stepping-stone to help them into heaven. If they can make a convenience of Him and He can serve their purpose in a dying hour, it is all very well. It is not such as these the Lord wants. The "citizens of heaven" are men who are partakers of their Master’s nobility.
III. It was the fact that David had received him as an exile that first bound Ittai’s heart to him. We also are strangers and exiles. Christ gives us a home. Our adoption into His family should be a motive power which will bear us through all the shocks of the battle of life and make us "more than conquerors through Him that loved us."
W. Hay Aitken, Mission Sermons, 1st series, p. 168.
2Sa 15:21
Foremost among the little band who followed David from Jerusalem came six hundred men from Gath—Philistines from Goliath’s city. These men, singularly enough, the king had chosen as his bodyguard; perhaps he was not altogether sure of the loyalty of his own subjects, and possibly felt safer with foreign mercenaries who could have no secret leanings to the deposed house of Saul. At all events, here they are, "faithful among the faithless," as foreign soldiers surrounding a king often are, notably the Swiss guard in the French Revolution. David’s generous nature shrinks from dragging down Ittai with himself. Generosity breeds generosity, and the Philistine captain breaks out into a burst of passionate devotion, garnished, in soldier fashion, with an unnecessary oath or two, but ringing very sincere and meaning a great deal. As for him and his men, they have chosen their side.
I. Look at the picture of this Philistine captain, as teaching us what grand, passionate self-sacrifice may be evolved out of the roughest natures. Ringing in his words we hear three things which are the seed of all nobility and splendour in human character: (1) a passionate personal attachment, (2) love issuing in willing sacrifice that recks not for a moment of personal consequences, and (3) a supreme, restful delight in the presence of him whom the heart loves. This capacity, which lies dormant in all of us, will make a man blessed and dignified" as nothing else will. The joy of unselfish love is the purest joy that man can taste.
II. These possibilities of love and sacrifice point plainly to God in Christ as their true object. We are made with hearts that need to rest upon an absolute love, with understandings that need to grasp a pure, a perfect, and a personal truth.
III. Observe the terrible misdirection of these capacities in the sin and the misery of the world. There is nothing more tragic than the misdirection of man’s capacity for love and sacrifice. We must lay ourselves on Christ’s altar, and that altar will sanctify both the giver and the gift
A. Maclaren, Christ in the Heart, p. 145.
References: 2Sa 15:21.—J. M. Neale, Sermons in Sackville College, vol. iii., p. 420; Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxvi., No. 1512. 2Sa 15:23.—Ibid., Morning by Morning, p. 152. 2Sa 15:30.—J. Van Oosterzee, Year of Salvation, vol. ii., p. 463. 2Sa 16:10.—Expositor, 2nd series, vol. i., p. 244. 2Sa 16:12.—Parker, vol. vii., p. 239. 2Sa 16:13.—Ibid., p. 240. 2Sa 16:15.—W. M. Taylor, David King of Israel, p. 238. 2Sa 16:16.—R. Lee, Penny Pulpit, No. 491.
The Sermon Bible, ed. William Robertson Nicoll (1888–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Alexander MacLaren 1905 · Public Domain On vv1, 15, 21 2 Samuel
2 Samuel
PARDONED SIN PUNISHED
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2Sa 15:1 - 2Sa 15:12.
There was little brightness in David’s life after his great sin. Nathan had told him, even while announcing his forgiveness, that the sword should never depart from his house; and this revolt of Absalom’s may be directly traced to his father’s disgraceful crime. The solemn lesson that pardoned sin works out its consequences, so that ‘whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap,’ is taught by it. The portion of the story with which we are concerned has two stages,-the slow hatching of the plot, and its final outburst.
I. 2Sa 15:1 - 2Sa 15:6 give us the preparation of the mine. It takes four years, during which Absalom plays all the tricks usual to aspirants for the most sweet voices of the multitude. He seems to have been but a poor creature; but it does not take much brain to do a great deal of mischief. He was vain, headstrong, with a dash of craft and a large amount of ambition. He had no love for his father, and no ballast of high principle, to say nothing of religion. He was a spoiled child grown to be a man, with a child’s petulance and unreason, but a man’s passions. He loved his unfortunate sister, but it was as much wounded honour as love which led him to the murder of his elder brother Amnon. That crime cleared his way to the throne; and David’s half-and-half treatment of him after it, neither sternly punishing nor freely pardoning, set the son against the father, and left a sense of injury. So he became a rebel.
The story tells very vividly how he adopted the familiar tactics of pretenders. How old, and yet how modern, it reads! We who live in a country where everybody is an ‘elector’ of some sort, and candidates are plentiful, see the same things going on, in a little different dress, before our eyes. Absalom begins operations by dazzling people with ostentatious splendour. In better days Samuel had trudged on foot, driving a heifer before him, to anoint his father; and royalty had retained a noble simplicity in the hands of Saul and David. But ‘plain living and high thinking’ did not suit Absalom; and he had gauged the popular taste accurately enough in setting up his chariot with its fifty runners. That was a show something like a king, and, no doubt, much more approved than David’s simplicity. But it was an evil omen to any one who looked below the surface. When luxury grows, devotion languishes. The senseless ostentation which creeps into the families of good men, and is sustained by their weak compliance with their spoiled children’s wishes, does a world of harm. We in Lancashire have a proverb, ‘Clogs, carriage, clogs,’ which puts into three words the history of three generations, and is verified over and over again.
How well Absalom has learned the arts of the office-seeker! Along with his handsome equipage he shows admirable devotion to the interests of his ‘constituents.’ He is early at the gate, so great is his appetite for work; he is accessible to everybody; he flatters each with the assurance that his case is clear; he gently drops hints of sad negligence in high quarters, which he could so soon set right, if only he were in power; and he will not have the respectful salutation of inferiors, but grasps every hard hand, and kisses each tanned cheek, with an affectation of equality very soothing to the dupes. ‘Electioneering’ is much the same all the world over; and Absalom has a good many imitators nearer home.
There was, no doubt, truth in the charge he made against David of negligence in his judicial and other duties. Ever since his great sin, the king seems to have been stunned into inaction. The heavy sense of demerit had taken the buoyancy out of him, and, though forgiven, he could never regain the elastic energy of purer days. The psalms which possibly belong to this period show a singular passivity. If we suppose that he was much in the seclusion of his palace, a heavily-burdened and spirit-broken man, we can understand how his condition tempted his heartless, dashing son to grasp at the reins which seemed to be dropping from his slack hands, and how his passivity gave opportunity for Absalom’s carrying on his schemes undisturbed, and a colour of reasonableness to his charges. For four years this went on unchecked, and apparently unsuspected by the king, who must have been much withdrawn from public life not to have taken alarm. Nothing takes the spring out of a man like the humiliating sense of sin. The whole tone of David’s conduct throughout the revolt is, ‘I deserve it all. Let them smite, for God hath bidden them.’ To this resourceless, unresisting submission to his enemies, sin had brought the daring soldier. It is not old age that has broken his courage and spirit, but the consciousness of his foul guilt, which weighs on him all the more heavily because he knows that it is pardoned.
II. The second part of our subject tells of the explosion of the long-prepared mine. It was necessary to hoist the flag of revolt elsewhere than in Jerusalem, and some skill is shown in choosing Hebron, which had been the capital before the capture of the Jebusite city, and in which there would be natural jealousy of the new metropolis. The pretext of the sacrifice at Hebron, in pursuance of a vow made by Absalom in his exile, was meant to touch David’s heart in two ways,-by appealing to his devotional feelings, and by presenting a pathetic picture of his suffering and devout son vowing in the land where his father’s wrath had driven him. It is not the first time that religion has been made the stalking-horse for criminal ambition, nor is it the last. Politicians are but too apt to use it as a cloak for their personal ends. Absalom talking about his vow is a spectacle that might have made the most unsuspecting sure that there was something in the wind. Such a use of religious observances shows more than anything else could do, the utter irreligion of the man who can make it. A son rebelling against his father is an ugly sight, but rebellion disguised as religion adds to the ugliness. David suspects nothing; or, if he does, is too broken to resist, and, perhaps glad at any sign of grace in his son, or pleased to gratify any of his wishes, sends him away with a benediction. What a parting,-the last, though neither knew it!
The plot had spread widely in four years, and messengers had been sent through all Israel to summon its adherents to Hebron. If David had been as popular as in his early days, it would have been impossible for such a widely spread conspiracy to have come so near a head without some faithful soul having been found to tell him of it. But obviously there was much smouldering discontent, arising, no doubt, from such causes as the pressure of taxation, the gloom that hung over the king, the partial paralysis of justice, the transference of the capital, the weight of wars, and, at lowest, the craving for something new. Few reigns or lives set in unclouded brightness. The western horizon is often filled with a bank of blackness. Strangely enough, Absalom invited two hundred men to accompany him, who were ignorant of the plot. That looks as if its strength was outside Jerusalem, as was natural. These innocents were sufficiently associated with Absalom to be asked to accompany him, and, no doubt, he expected to secure their complicity when he got them away. Unsuspecting people are the best tools of knaves. It is better not to be on friendly terms with Absalom, if we would be true to David. The last piece of preparation recorded is the summoning of Abithophel to come and be the brain of the plot. He had been David’s wisest counsellor, and is probably the ‘familiar friend, in whom I trusted,’ whose defection the Psalmist mourns so bitterly, and whose treachery was a marvellous foreshadowing of the traitor who dipped in the dish with David’s Lord. Note that he had already withdrawn from Jerusalem to his own city, from which he came at once to Hebron. Absalom could flatter and play the well-worn tricks of a pretender, but a subtler, cooler head was wanted now, and the treacherous son was backed up by the traitor friend. ‘And the conspiracy was strong; for the people increased continually with Absalom.’ What a tragical issue to the joyous loyalty of early days! What a strange madness must have laid hold on the nation to have led them to prefer such a piece of petulance and vanity to their hero-poet-king! What did it mean?
The answer is not far to seek, and it is the great lesson of this story. David’s sin was truly repented and freely forgiven, but not left unpunished. God is too loving to shield men from the natural consequences, in the physical and social world, of their sins. The penitent drunkard’s hand shakes, and his constitution is not renewed, though his spirit is. Only, punishment is changed into discipline, when the heart rests in the assurance of pardon, and is accepted as a token of a Father’s love. In every way God made of the vice the whip to scourge the sinner, and David, like us all, had to drink as he had brewed, though he was forgiven the sin.
Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. R. Dummelow 1909 · Public Domain On v1 The Rebellion of Absalom
The Rebellion of Absalom
His party is so strong that David is obliged to flee from Jerusalem. He is joined by Ittai the Gittite, and by Zadok and Abiathar the priests, and by Hushai the Archite. The king, however, orders Zadok, Abiathar, and Hushai to return to Jerusalem.
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1. Fifty men to run before him] Such runners have always formed part of royal state in the East: cp. 1Ki_1:5; 1Ki_18:46.
2. Rose] rather, 'used to rise,' and stand by the gate so as to meet all who went in or out.
7. Forty years] This is obviously a mistake. Some versions read 'four.'
8. I will serve the lord] i.e. by sacrifices and offerings (2Sa_15:12). Absalom may have remembered his father's device (1Sa_20:6).
9. Went to. Hebron] Absalom probably hoped that the ancient capital, Hebron, would be jealous of Jerusalem.
11. Called] i.e. invited to share in the festivities. They were probably men of influence and position.
12. While he offered sacrifices] This gave him an opportunity of conferring with Ahithophel without exciting remark: cp. 1Sa_16:2.
14. Let us flee] LXX adds 'lest the people come upon us.' David is taken completely by surprise, and mistrusts his subjects and his household.
17. A place that was far off] RV takes it as a proper name, 'Beth-merhak.'
18. Gittites] see on 1Sa_30:14. Ittai and his followers from Gath (Goliath's city) were now among David's staunchest followers.
19. With the king] i.e. with whoever chances to be king. As a foreigner Ittai had nothing to do with the internal quarrels of Israel. David generously suggests that he should keep them out of his own conflicts.
24. And Abiathar went up] These words are probably out of place. They are omitted in some MSS of the LXX, and look like a scribe's insertion.
26. In spite of all his anxiety and misery, David's resignation and piety never waver.
27. Art not thou a seer? return] LXX 'see, thou shalt return.'
28. The plain of the wilderness] The locality is that described in 2Ki_25:5 as 'the plains of Jericho.' It was in the level plain of the Jordan valley and near the fords (2Sa_17:16).
32. Where he worshipped God] RV 'where God was worshipped.' Olivet was a well-known high-place: cp. 1Ki_11:7, 1Ki_11:8. The Archite] i.e. an inhabitant of Erech, a town on the southern frontier of Ephraim, between Bethel and Beth-horon.
J. R. Dummelow, A Commentary on the Holy Bible (Macmillan, 1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On v7 Some authorities read "four."
forty
Some authorities read "four."
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Arno C. Gaebelein 1922 · Public Domain On v1 5. Absalom’s Conspiracy and David’s Flight
5. Absalom’s Conspiracy and David’s Flight
CHAPTER 15
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1. Absalom steals the hearts of the men of Israel (2Sa 15:1-6)
2. His conspiracy (2Sa 15:7-12)
3. The flight of the king (2Sa 15:13-37)
The beautiful prince gradually prepared for the great conspiracy of which we read now and which made of his own father the Lord’s anointed, an exile. Chariots and horses with fifty men to run before him won no doubt the admiration of the people. His evident interest in their welfare, kissing those who sought his presence and advice, endeared him still more to the men of Israel. To this must be added his open words, which must have quickly circulated among the people, “Oh, that I were made judge in the land, that every man which hath any suit or cause might come unto me, and I would do him justice.”
This continued for about four years. (“Forty” is incorrect. Ancient versions have “four years” which we take is the correct number. Others have suggested that the 40 years should be reckoned from David’s anointing (1Sa 16:13). This, however, is unlikely.) During this time he stole the hearts of the men of Israel. All is now ripe for the great rebellion. He lies to his father about an alleged vow he had made at Geshur. The unsuspecting King said, “Go in peace.” So he arose and went to Hebron. The signal is given at which all the tribes of Israel were to say, “Absalom reigneth in Hebron.” Then he sent for David’s counsellor, Ahitophel. He was away from Jerusalem at Giloh, a short distance from Hebron, which would seem that he also was in league with Absalom. Ahitophel (the brother of folly) was the grandfather of Bath-sheba. As his name so was his deed in joining the revolution, through which he may have thought of avenging the shame which had been put upon his family by David’s sin.
When David hears the news he said to his servants who were with him in Jerusalem, “Arise and let us flee.” Fear now takes hold on him. He feared for himself and for his city. Yet he passed through the deepest soul-exercise and clung to the Lord in all the chastisement which followed, stroke after stroke, upon him. The third Psalm gives the culmination of this. It bears the inscription, “A Psalm of David when he fled from Absalom his son.” In spite of his fears he trusted the Lord. “But Thou, Oh LORD, art a shield for me; my glory and the lifter up of mine head” (Psa 3:3). It is claimed that Psalm 49 also refers to this period of his life. If that is correct then David was sick at the time of Absalom’s rebellion. Verse 9 in that Psalm would have a meaning in connection with Ahitophel, the traitor. Joh 13:18 makes it clear that Judas Iscariot is predicted; but Ahitophel is a type of Judas, like him he was a suicide. Another Psalm which was probably written during the rebellion of Absalom and which speaks of Ahitophel’s treachery is Psalm 55. The king and his household left the city and all the people after him. All the Cherethites and Pelethites (executioners and runners) and six hundred which came after him from Gath accompanied the King. And not all was bitterness. Ittai (with Jehovah) the Gittite, and his devotion to the King, must have greatly comforted David’s heart. He was a stranger and an exile, who had come but yesterday to David. He told him to return to abide with the king (that is, Absalom). Beautiful is his answer, which strongly reminds us of the blessed words of Ruth, the Moabitess (Rth 1:16). What noble purpose he expresses! He wants to be with the king in life or in death. Grace has linked us even closer with our Lord. Ittai in his devotion and attachment to the king is a blessed type of those who are true to the Lord in the days of His rejection.
And there was much weeping as David passed over Kidron. Our Lord passed over that brook also to enter the garden (Joh 18:1) where He offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears. The ark had been carried along, but now the king directed Zadok to carry it back to the city. “if I shall find favour in the eyes of the LORD, He will bring me again, and show me both it and his habitation.” Beautiful it is to see that in all his great sorrow, conscious that it was the hand of the Lord which chastised him, in all his affliction he does not forget the Lord. He trusts in His mercy. Deep submission breathes in these words.
What a sight the weeping king, barefooted, his head covered, ascending Olivet! A type of Him who also ascended Olivet and wept (Luk 19:41). Then Hushai (hasty) met David. Alas! for the evidence of unbelief in the king, in planning to have Hushai return to the city and feign friendship for Absalom so as to defeat the counsel of Ahitophel.
Arno C. Gaebelein, The Annotated Bible (1913–1922) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On vv1, 13, 21 The Insurrection Begun
The Insurrection Begun
v. 1. And it came to pass after this, shortly after Absalom had received the pardon of his father, that Absalom prepared him chariots, a state-chariot, and horses, and fifty men to run before him, to be runners or footmen. He thus appeared before the people in royal state and influenced their minds to think of him as the coming ruler.
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v. 2. And Absalom rose up early, in order to impress people with his zeal in their behalf, and stood beside the way of the gate, at the entrance to the royal palace; and it was so that, when any man that had a controversy came to the king for judgment, if he had a matter in which he sought the king’s decision, then Absalom, with every show of winning condescension, called unto him and said, of what city art thou? Such an inquiry on the part of a royal prince was, of course, very flattering to the average member of the nation. And he said, Thy servant is of one of the tribes of Israel, a member of the Israelitish nation, belonging to this or that specific tribe.
v. 3. And Absalom, who had inquired also about his business, said unto him, See, thy matters are good and right, his decision being made without a thorough investigation of the matter; but there is no man deputed of the king to hear thee. The "hearers" of Oriental kings were judicial officers whose duty it was to investigate the matters brought to the king’s court, the king usually deciding on the basis of their findings. It is possible that neglect and partiality had crept in without the knowledge of David, so that Absalom could avail himself of a dissatisfaction already existing.
v. 4. Absalom said moreover, in following up the advantage of the good impression made by this bid for the people’s favor, Oh that I were made judge in the land, literally, "Who will establish me as judge in the land?" that every man which hath any suit or cause might come unto me, and I would do him justice! Absalom’s imagination causes him to see the people crowding around him as he sits on the throne of judgment before them, eager to correct all the faults which had crept into the judicial procedure of the kingdom
v. 5. And it was so that, when any man came nigh to him to do him obeisance, to fall down before him and render him homage, he put forth his hand, and took him, and kissed him, thus feigning an affability which was ready to acknowledge all men as brothers.
v. 6. And on this manner did Absalom to all Israel that came to the king for judgment; so Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel, secretly, by guile, gained them for himself, made everything ready for the insurrection which he had planned.
v. 7. And it came to pass after forty years, about four gears after Absalom’s return to Jerusalem, that Absalom said unto the king, I pray thee, let me go and pay my vow which I have vowed unto the Lord in Hebron. He pretended that his vow required a sacrifice in the city of his birth, but in reality he considered Hebron a city peculiarly suited for his temporary capital after he had been proclaimed king.
v. 8. For thy servant vowed a vow while I abode at Geshur in Syria, during his banishment, saying, if the Lord shall bring me again indeed to Jerusalem, then I will serve the Lord, namely, by a special sacrifice.
v. 9. And the king said unto him, Go in peace. Since full order had not yet been restored in the religious observances of Israel and the strict law of Leviticus 2Sa 17:3-4, was not in practical operation, such sacrifices, especially in priestly cities, were not unusual at that time. So he arose and went to Hebron, to carry out his intention of gaining the kingdom.
v. 10. But Absalom, having gained the hearts of the people by the methods described above, sent spies, emissaries, through out all the tribes of Israel, saying, As soon as ye hear the sound of the trumpet, then ye shall say, Absalom reigneth in Hebron. The sound of the trumpet was to be a signal to all those who favored him to proclaim him as king over the entire nation.
v. 11. And with Absalom went two hundred men out of Jerusalem that were called, members of the king’s household; such as usually accompanied the royal princes, invited to the sacrificial feast; and they went in their simplicity, and they knew not anything, they were in total ignorance of Absalom’s intentions.
v. 12. And Absalom sent for Ahithophel, the Gilonite, David’s counselor, from his city, even from Giloh, a city near Hebron, while he offered sacrifices, for he felt that the time for the open insurrection had now come. Ahithophel had probably joined Absalom’s party some time before, turning traitor to David either from motives of ambition or on account of the affair with Bathsheba, who apparently was his relative. And the conspiracy was strong; for the people increased continually with Absalom. His venture seemed to be very successful. Absalom is a type of a rebel who disregards the Fourth Commandment. Such people are disobedient to their parents and oppose the lawfully constituted government. Their stock in trade consists of deceits and treason, and they end by being murderers.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 16, 19, 21, 24, 27, 30, 32, 35 It came about
It came about
This phrase is used to introduce the next event in the story line. (See: Introduction of a New Event)
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with fifty men to run before him
These men would run in front of the chariot to honor Absalom. AT: "with fifty men to run before him to honor him" (See: Symbolic Action)
Your servant
When a man would respond to Absalom's question he would refer to himself as "your servant" to honor Absalom.
translationWords
Absalom
chariot
horse
gate
king
judge
call
servant
tribe
Israel
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv1, 5, 6, 7, 8, 12, 15, 18, 19, 23, 24, 25, 27, 31, 32, 34 15:1-19 Absalom revolted against David eleven years after Amnon…
15:1-19 Absalom revolted against David eleven years after Amnon violated Tamar (cp. 13:23, 38; 14:28; 15:7), approximately the twenty-fifth year of David’s thirty-three-year reign in Jerusalem.
15:1 a chariot and horses, and . . . fifty bodyguards: These three items, distinct signs of kingship, were also the first items that Samuel said the king would take from the people (1 Sam 8:11). Another of David’s sons, Adonijah, collected the same items when he coveted the throne (1 Kgs 1:5).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.