So they spread a tent for Absalom on the top of the house, and Absalom went in to his father’s concubines in the sight of all Israel.
Parallel Translations
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So they spread a tent for Absalom on the top of the house, and Absalom went in to his father’s concubines in the sight of all Israel.
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So they spread Absalom a tent upon the top of the house; and Absalom went in unto his father’s concubines in the sight of all Israel.
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So they spread Absalom a tent upon the top of the house; and Absalom went in unto his father's concubines in the sight of all Israel. —
Cross-references (10)
Passages linked to 2 Samuel 16:22 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- 2 Samuel 12:11-12 “This is what Yahweh says: ‘Behold, I will raise up evil against you out of your own house; and I will take your wives before your eyes, and give them to your neighbor, and he will lie with your wives in the sight of this sun. For you did this secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun.’ ”
- 2 Samuel 15:16 The king went out, and all his household after him. The king left ten women, who were concubines, to keep the house.
- 2 Samuel 20:3 David came to his house at Jerusalem; and the king took the ten women his concubines, whom he had left to keep the house, and put them in custody, and provided them with sustenance, but didn’t go in to them. So they were shut up to the day of their death, living in widowhood.
- Numbers 25:6 Behold, one of the children of Israel came and brought to his brothers a Midianite woman in the sight of Moses, and in the sight of all the congregation of the children of Israel, while they were weeping at the door of the Tent of Meeting.
- 2 Samuel 11:2 At evening, David arose from his bed and walked on the roof of the king’s house. From the roof, he saw a woman bathing, and the woman was very beautiful to look at.
- Isaiah 3:9 The look of their faces testify against them. They parade their sin like Sodom. They don’t hide it. Woe to their soul! For they have brought disaster upon themselves.
- Jeremiah 3:3 Therefore the showers have been withheld and there has been no latter rain; yet you have had a prostitute’s forehead and you refused to be ashamed.
- Jeremiah 8:12 Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? No, they were not at all ashamed. They couldn’t blush. Therefore they will fall among those who fall. In the time of their visitation they will be cast down, says Yahweh.
- Ezekiel 24:7 “ ‘ “For her blood is in the middle of her. She set it on the bare rock. She didn’t pour it on the ground, to cover it with dust.
- Philippians 3:19 whose end is destruction, whose god is the belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who think about earthly things.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (12 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 2Sa 16:22 So they spread Absalom a tent upon…
2Sa 16:22 So they spread Absalom a tent upon the top of the house; and Absalom went in unto his father’s concubines in the sight of all Israel.
Ver. 22. Upon the top of the house.] Whence David first saw Bathsheba.
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And Absalom went in unto his father’s concubines.] By a worse kind of incest than that of Amnon, or any other unless it were Amida above mentioned, or Pope John XII, as Luitprandus writeth. {a}
{a} Lib. De Reb. Gest. in Europ.
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 Upon the top of the house, to wit, of…
Upon the top of the house, to wit, of the king’s palace, the very place from whence David had spied and gazed upon Bath-sheba, 2Sa 11:2. So that his sin was legible in the very place of his punishment.
Unto his father’s concubines, i.e. to one or some of them; and by so doing did further make claim to the kingdom as his own; and, as it were, take possession of it; it being usual in the eastern countries to account the wives and concubines of the late king to belong of right to the successor: See Poole on 2Sa 12:8.
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In the sight of all Israel; who saw him go into the tent, and thence concluded that he lay with them, as he had designed to do.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain So they spread Absalom a tent on the top…
So they spread Absalom a tent on the top of the house,.... On the top of his father's palace; this, as houses in Jerusalem and Judea were, was built flat, Deu 22:8; and it was on the very spot from whence David had a sight of Bathsheba, and conceived an impure lust after her. The Targum renders it, a canopy; which Kimchi describes as consisting of four pillars, upon and round about which curtains were hung:
and Absalom went in unto his father's concubines in the sight of all Israel; they saw the tent or canopy erected, and saw him go into it, and might reasonably conclude he lay with his father's concubines, or half wives, in it; and this being done in so public a manner fulfilled the prophecy, which said it should be done in the sight of the sun, and of all Israel, Sa2 12:11; this shows how corrupt the people of Israel were at this time, at least those that were with Absalom, that there should be none to object to the counsel Ahithophel gave, nor any to remonstrate against the execution of it, but all seemed to look upon it with pleasure; nor even did Hushai, David's friend, oppose it; perhaps he saw it was to no purpose.
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 The top - Of the king's palace, the very…
The top - Of the king's palace, the very place from whence David had gazed upon Bathsheba, chap. xi, 2, so that his sin was legible in the very place of his punishment. Went in - To one, or some of them. And by so doing did farther make claim to the kingdom; and, as it were, take possession of it. It being usual in the eastern countries to account the wives and concubines of the late king, to belong of right to the successor. Israel - Who saw him go into the tent; and thence concluded, that he lay with them, as he had designed to do. God had threatened by Nathan, that for his defiling Bathsheba, David's own wives should be defiled in the face of the sun. This is now fulfilled: the Lord is righteous; and no word of his shall fall to the ground.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain 2Sa 16:22. So they spread a tent upon the…
2Sa 16:22. So they spread a tent upon the top of the house — Of the king’s palace, the very place from whence David had gazed upon Bath-sheba: so that his sin was legible in the very place of his punishment. And Absalom went in unto his father’s concubines — To one or some of them. In the sight of all Israel — Who saw him go into the tent, and thence concluded that he had converse with them as he had designed. “An action of such profligate impiety, and abandoned impudence, as it were to be wished no sun had seen, or history related.” By this we may see the character of Absalom and his party, and how abominably wicked they must have been, whom such a scandalous action tied the faster to him. And we may further learn how corrupt the body of the people were, and how ripe for that judgment, which was now hastening toward them. Now was David’s adultery (which had been planned, and, it may be, perpetrated in the same place) judicially chastised, and God’s vengeance denounced upon it by his prophet signally executed, and his wives prostituted in the sight of the sun, 2Sa 12:11. The Lord is righteous, and no word of his shall fall to the ground!
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Israel, who saw him enter the tents, (Calmet) on…
Israel, who saw him enter the tents, (Calmet) on the flat roof, chap. xi. 2., and xii. 11. (Haydock) --- The wives of the conquered king were reserved for the victor. Smerdis married all the wives of his predecessor, Cambyses. (Herodotus iii. 68, 83.) (Calmet)
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).
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 22. Upon the top of the house — That…
22. Upon the top of the house — That roof of the royal palace whence David took the lustful look upon Bathsheba. 2Sa_11:2.
In the sight of all Israel — As Nathan’s bitter prophecy foretold. See 2Sa_12:11-12.
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 22. upon the top of the house] The fact…
22. upon the top of the house] The fact that the very roof on which David was walking when he secretly conceived his great sin was the public scene of its punishment, and the nature of the punishment, corresponding to the nature of the sin, as Nathan had foretold, make this retribution signally striking. See ch. 2Sa_12:11-12; and cp. 2Ki_9:25-26.
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 (22) A tent upon the top of the house.—Nathan…
(22) A tent upon the top of the house.—Nathan had foretold that the nature of David’s public punishment should correspond to the character of his secret crime. The fact that this punishment takes place on the very roof where David had first yielded to his guilty passion makes it particularly striking.
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 A tent; Hebrew, the tent; that constantly used by…
A tent; Hebrew, the tent; that constantly used by David and his family for the enjoyment of the cool evening breeze, and which the citizens of Jerusalem had frequently seen erected on the flat roof of David"s house. It was when walking on this roof that David had given way to guilty passion, and now it is the scene of his dishonour.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 they spread
they spread
"they set up"
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in the sight of all Israel
This means that people were able to see the tent and Absalom walking in and out of the tent with the women. The phrase "all of Israel" is a generalization, for only people near the palace could see it. AT: "where the Israelites could see him go into the tent" (See: Hyperbole and Generalization)
Now the advice of Ahithophel ... was as if a man heard
Here the author compare how much people trusted Ahithophel's advice with how much they would trust advice directly from God. AT: "Now people trusted the advice of Ahithophel in those days in the same way they would have trusted it if had come" (See: Simile)
as if a man heard from the mouth of God himself
Here God's mouth represents himself and emphasizes his speech. AT: "as if God had said it with his own mouth" or "as if a man heard it spoken by God himself" (See: Synecdoche and Reflexive Pronouns)
all of Ahithophel's advice was viewed by both David and Absalom
This can be translated in active form. AT: "both David and Absalom viewed all of Ahithophel's advice"
was viewed
"was thought of"
translationWords
tent
had relations with
concubine
advice
God
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 16:22 Absalom intended to show the people that he…
16:22 Absalom intended to show the people that he had assumed the throne with its royal prerogatives. His shameful act echoed David’s adultery with Bathsheba, which also began on that roof (11:2-4); the episode fulfilled Nathan’s prophecy (12:11-12).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.