5: Then said Absalom, “Call you now Hushai the Archite also, and let us hear likewise what he says.”
6: And when Hushai was come to Absalom, Absalom spoke to him, saying, “Ahithophel has spoken after this manner: shall we do after his saying? if not; speak you.”
7: And Hushai said to Absalom, “The good counsel that Ahithophel has given is not good at this time. (He's using phycology)
8: For,” said Hushai, “you know your father and his men, that they be mighty men, and they be bitter in their souls, as a bear robbed of her whelps in the field: and your father is a man of war, and will not lodge with the People.
9: Behold, he is hid now in some pit, or in some other place: and it will come to pass, when some of them be overthrown at the first, that whosoever hears it will say, ‘There is a slaughter among the People that follow Absalom.’ (He's going to get blamed for it and not get David)
10: And he also that is valiant, whose heart is as the heart of a lion, shall utterly melt: for all Israel knows that your father is a mighty man, and they which be with him are sons of valour.
11: Therefore I counsel that all Israel be generally gathered to you, from Dan even to Beer-sheba, as the sand that is by the sea for multitude; and that you yourself go to battle (Heb. karãb, never used of battle [which is milhãhãh]. Bikkrab, rendered "to battle", is an abreviation for bekirbah = "in the midst of them", which is the rendering of the Sept. and Vulg.) in your own person. (By all this emphasis Hushai represents Ahithophel's personal malice [which need not disturb Absalom] as being personal pride aimed against Absalom. See vv.1-3, "I will arise"; "I will come"; "I will smite"; "i will bring back", &c. He's playing on his ego to go get credit for it)
12: So shall we come upon him in some place where he shall be found, and we will light upon him according as the dew falls on the ground: and of him and of all the men that are with him there shall not be left so much as one.
13: Moreover, if he be gotten into a city, then shall all Israel bring ropes to that city, and we will draw it into the river, until there be not one small stone found there.” (Cp. Matt.2:24. Mark 13:2. Reference to false Messiah.)
14: And Absalom and all the men of Israel said, “The counsel of Hushai the Archite is better than the counsel of Ahithophel. For the Lord (Yehovah) had appointed to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel, to the intent that the Lord (Yehovah) might bring the evil upon Absalom. (This is irony)
15: Then said Hushai to Zadok and to Abiathar the priests, “Thus and thus did Ahithophel counsel Absalom and the elders of Israel; and thus and thus have I counselled.
16: Now therefore send quickly, and tell David, saying, ‘Lodge not this night in the plains of the wilderness, but speedily pass over (the Jordan); lest the king be swallowed up, and all the people that are with him.’ ”
17: Now Jonathan and Ahimaaz stayed by En-rogel (now the Virgin's Fount, on east side of Ophel, or Jebus, from which the Zinnor runs up to the citadel. See 5:6. Cp. Josh.15:7; 18:16); for they might not be seen to come into the city: and a maidservant went and told them (Cp. Matt.26:69. Mark 14:66. Luke 22:56. John 18:17); and they went and told king David.
18: Nevertheless a lad saw them, and told Absalom: but they went both of them away quickly, and came to a man's house in Bahurim, which had a well in his court; to which place they went down (wells mostly dry in summer).
19: And the woman took and spread a covering over the well's mouth, and spread ground corn thereon; and the thing was not known. (Truth-bearers covered with seed, i.e. another key of David)
20: And when Absalom's servants came to the woman to the house, they said, “Where is Ahimaaz and Jonathan?” And the woman said to them (probably misdirecting them), “They are gone over the brook of water.” And when they had sought and could not find them, they returned to Jerusalem.
21: And it came to pass, after they were departed, that they came up out of the well, and went and told king David, and said to David, “Arise, and pass quickly over the water (the Jordan): for thus has Ahithophel counselled against you.”
22: Then David arose, and all the People that were with him, and they passed over Jordan (cp. Ps.42:6 and 43; Both Pss. referring to this period): by the morning light there lacked not one of them that was not gone over Jordan. (This is what covert activity does. Gives you victory when you know about the enemy)
23: And when Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not followed, he saddled his ass, and arose, and got him home to his house, to his city, and gave charge to his household, and hanged himself (not so much because his counsel was not taken, but because his revenge was not taken on David [see 11:3; 16:21, and 17:1], and that the conspiracy must fail. He hanged himself because he was a traitor), and died, and was buried in the sepulchre of his father.
J O¹ 17:24-18:5. Mahanaim. David. Preparation. P 18:6-8. The battle. O² 18:19-19:8. Mahanaim. David. Report to.
O¹ y 17:24-. Mahanaim. Arrival. z 17:-24-26. Camp of Absalom. y 17:27-29. Mahanaim. Refreshments. z 18:1-5. Camp of David.
24: Then David came to Mahanaim. (near where Jacob and Esau had their gathering)
And Absalom passed over Jordan, he and all the men of Israel with him (Fig., the whole put for the greater part).
25: And Absalom appointed Amasa captain over the host instead of Joab: which Amasa was a man's son, whose name was Jethrer an Ishmaelite (a son of the tribe of Esau. See 1 Chron.2:17), that went in to (probably meaning seduced. If so, it would be during David's stay in Moab [1 Sam.22:3,4]) Abigail the daughter of Nahash (David was probably half-brother to Abigail and Zeruiah, havig the same mother; he having Jesse for his father, they having Nahash), sister to Zeruiah (implying that she was not sister to David) Joab's mother. (Amasa was an illegitimate cousin to Joab)
26: So Israel and Absalom pitched in the land of Gilead. (This was kind of a civil war)
27: And it came to pass, when David was come to Mahanaim, that Shobi the son of Nahash of Rabbah of the sons of Ammon (cp. 10:2), and Machir the son of Ammiel of Lo-debar (he had brought uo Mephibosheth. Cp. 9:5), and Barzillai the Gileadite of Rogelim,
28: Brought beds, and basons, and earthen vessels, and wheat, and barley, and flour, and parched corn, and beans, and lentiles, and parched feed,
29: And honey, and butter (scarce in Lo-debar. Cp.9:4. The word means place of "no pasture"), and sheep, and cheese of kine, for David, and for the People that were with him, to eat: for they said, “The People is hungry, and weary, and thirsty, in the wilderness (or jungle).
18)
1: And David inspected the People that were with him (David was now 56), and set captains of thousands and captains of hundreds over them.
2: And David sent forth a third part of the People under the hand of Joab, and a third part under the hand of Abishai the son of Zeruiah, Joab's brother, and a third part under the hand of Ittai the Gittite. And the king said to the People, “I will surely go forth with you myself also.” (David was sound in military action. David liked to attack two fronts and keep the rest for reserves.)
3: But the People answered, “You shall not go forth: for if we flee away, they will not care for us; neither if half of us die, will they care for us: but now you are worth ten thousand of us: therefore now it is better that you come to us out of the city with succour by prayer and counsel.”
4: And the king said to them, “What seems best to you I will do.” And the king stood by the gate side, and all the People came out by hundreds and by thousands.
5: And the king commanded Joab and Abishai and Ittai, saying, “Deal gently for my sake with the young man, even with Absalom.” And all the people heard when the king gave all the captains charge concerning Absalom. (This explains v.12. David still had love in his heart for his son even though his son went bad)
P a 6-8. The battle. fought. b 9-15. Absalom. Death. a 16. The battle. Return from. b 17,18. Absalom. Burial.
933 B.C.
6: So the People went out into the field against Israel: and the battle was in the wood of Ephraim (= the jungle. Cp. Josh.17:15-18);
7: Where the People of Israel were slain before the servants of David, and there was there a great slaughter that day of twenty thousand men. (David didn't lose that many, it was Absalom's army that was going down the drain)
8: For the battle was there scattered over the face of all the country: and the wood devoured more people that day than the sword devoured. (Absalom knew nothing. Compare with web of life when you get away from God's Word.)
9: And Absalom met the servants of David. And Absalom rode upon a mule, and the mule went under the thick boughs of a great oak, and his head caught hold of the oak, and he was taken up between the heaven and the earth; and the mule that was under him went away. (He hung himself with his beautiful hair. The tradition about his "hair" comes from Josephus [VII.10.2])
10: And a certain man saw it, and told Joab, and said, “Behold, I saw Absalom hanged in an oak.”
11: And Joab said to the man that told him, “And, behold, you saw him, and why did you not smite him there to the ground? and I would have given thee ten shekels of silver, and a girdle.” (a common present, made of silk, linnen, or leather, and worked sometimes in gold. Used for fastening up loose garments)
12: And the man said to Joab, “Though I should receive a thousand shekels of silver in my hand, yet would I not put forth my hand against the king's son: for in our hearing the king charged you and Abishai and Ittai (see v.5), saying, ‘Watch any one who would touch for my sake the young man Absalom.’
13: Otherwise I should have wrought falsehood against my own soul: for there is no matter hid from the king, and you yourself would have set yourself against me.”
14: Then said Joab, “I may not tarry thus with you.” And he took three clubs in his hand (Heb. shêbet, a club with a long spike at the end. Still used in Palestine), and thrust them through the heart of Absalom, while he was yet alive in the midst of the oak.
15: And ten young men that bare Joab's weapons compassed about and smote Absalom, and slew him. (David beng 57 years old; Absalom,24; Solomon,7. Joab had a quick temper. He's tired of this. Showing mercy on David so he would not have to answer for prior event [i.e. David's sin with Bath-sheba and the order to send Uriah to his death])
16: And Joab blew the trumpet, and the People returned from pursuing after Israel: for Joab held back the People.
17: And they took Absalom, and cast him into a great pit in the wood (type of Satan), and laid a very great heap of stones upon him (not a memorial to honour but to warn [Josh.7:26;8:29]): and all Israel fled every one to his tent.
18: Now Absalom in his lifetime had taken and reared up for himself a pillar (marks ambitious aim, whie the heap of stones [v.17] mark's ambition's end), which is in the king's dale: for he said, “I have no son to keep my name in remembrance (cp. 14:27. Therefore built before the firstborn; or after his sons [14"27] were dead): and he called the pillar after his own name: and it is called unto this day, Absalom's monument (about a quarter mile east of Jerusalem, in the valley of Jehoshaphat).
O² Q¹ 18:19-33. Soreow indulged. Q² 19:1-8. Sorrow restrained.
Q¹ R 19-23. Tidings borne. S 24-. David's seat. R -24-32. Tidings delivered. S 33. David's lamentation.
R c 19. Request (Cushi). d 20. Refusal. e 21. Permission. c 22-. Request (Ahimaaz). d -22. Reluctance. e 23. Permission.
19: Then said Ahimaaz (= brother of anger) the son of Zadok, “Let me now run, and bear the king tidings, how that the Lord (Yehovah) has avenged him of his enemies.”
20: And Joab said to him, “You shall not bear tidings this day, but you shall bear tidings another day: but this day you shall bear no tidings, because the king's son is dead.”
21: Then said Joab to Cushi (= black), “Go tell the king what you have seen.” And Cushi bowed himself to Joab, and ran.
22: Then said Ahimaaz the son of Zadok yet again to Joab, “But howsoever, let me, I pray you, also run after Cushi.”
And Joab said, “Why will thou run, my son, seeing that you have no tidings ready?”
23: “But howsoever,” said he, “let me run.” And he said to him, “Run.” Then Ahimaaz ran by the way of the plain, and overran Cushi.
24: And David sat between the two gates (the outer and inner gates of the city wall):
R f -24,25. The first runner. g 26. The second runner. f 27-30. Name of first, Ahimaaz. g 31,32. Name of the second, Cushi.
and the watchman went up to the roof over the gate to the wall, and lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold a man running alone.
25: And the watchman cried, and told the king. And the king said, “If he be alone (otherwise it would be flight), there is tidings in his mouth.” And he came apace, and drew near.
26: And the watchman saw another man running: and the watchman called to the gatekeeper (no gates without the "Bawab", or gatekeeper. Cp. 2 Kings 7:17. 1 Chron.9:21), and said, “Behold another man running alone.” And the king said, “He also brings tidings.”
27: And the watchman said, “Me thinks the running of the foremost is like the running of Ahimaaz the son of Zadok.” And the king said, “He is a good man (cp. 1 Kings 1:42), and comes with good tidings.”
28: And Ahimaaz called, and said to the king, “All is well.” And he fell down to the earth upon his face before the king, and said, “Blessed be the Lord (Yehovah) your God (Elohim), which has delivered up the men that lifted up their hand against my lord the king.”
29: And the king said, “Is the young man Absalom safe?” And Ahimaaz answered, “When Joab sent the king's servant, even me your servant, I saw a great tumult, but I knew not what it meant.”
30: And the king said to him, “Turn aside, and stand here.” And he turned aside, and stood still.
31: And, behold, Cushi came; and Cushi said, “Tidings, my lord the king: for the Lord (Yehovah) has avenged you this day of all them that rose up against you.”
32: And the king said to Cushi, “Is the young man Absalom safe?” And Cushi answered, “The enemies of my lord the king, and all that rise against you to do you hurt, be as that young man is.”
33: And the king was much moved, and went up to the chamber over the gate, and wept: and as he went, thus he said, “O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! would God (Elohim) I had died instead of you, O Absalom, my son, my son!”
Q² h¹ 1. Mourning of David. i¹ 2,3. People. Sympathy with the king. h² 4. Mourning of David. i² 5-7. Joab. Remontrance with the king. h³ 8. Mourning of David and the People.
19)
1: And it was told Joab, “Behold, the king weeps and mourns for Absalom.”
2: And the victory that day was turned into mourning to all the People: for the People heard say that day how the king was grieved for his son.
3: And the People got them by stealth that day into the city, according as People being ashamed steal away when they flee in battle.
4: But the king covered his face (symbol of mourning), and the king cried with a loud voice, “O my son Absalom, O Absalom, my son, my son! (cp. 18:33)
5: And Joab came into the house to the king, and said, “You have shamed this day the faces of all your servants, which this day have saved your soul, and the souls of your sons and of thy daughters, and the souls of your wives, and the souls of your concubines;
6: In that you love your enemies, and hate your friends. For you have made clear this day, that you regard neither princes nor servants: for this day I perceive, that if Absalom had lived, and all we had died this day, then it had pleased you well.
7: Now (Fig., to emphasis the completeness of Joab's reasoning) therefore arise, go forth, and speak comfortably (Heb. ‘al-lêb, to the heart. Cp. Isa.40:2) to yor servants: for I swear by the Lord (Yehovah), if you go not forth, there will not tarry one with you this night: and that will be worse to you than all the evil that befell you from your youth until now.”
8: Then the king arose, and sat in the gate. And they told to all the People, saying, “Behold, the king does sit in the gate.” And all the people came before the king: for Israel had fled every man to his tent (note this name for Absalom' forces [17:24,26; 18:6,7]).
L j 9,10. King's return. Desired. k 11,12. Message to Judah. k 13. Message to Amasa. j 14,15. King's return. Accomplished.
9: And all the People were at strife throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, “The king saved us out of the hand of our enemies, and he delivered us out of the hand of the Philistines; and now he is fled out of the land for Absalom.
10: And Absalom, whom we anointed over us, is dead in battle. Now therefore why speak you all not a word of bringing the king back?”
11: And king David sent to Zadok and to Abiathar the priests, saying, “Speak to the elders of Judah, saying, ‘Why are you all the last to bring the king back to his house? seeing the speech of all Israel is come to the king, even to his house.
12: You all are my brethren, you all are my bones and my flesh : why then are you all the last to bring back the king?’
13: And say you all to Amasa, ‘Are you not of my bone, and of my flesh? (i.e. my near relation = my nephew [17:25]. Son of David's sister Abigail [1 Chron.2:17]) Elohim do so to me, and more also, if you be not captain of the host before me continually in the room of Joab.’ ”
14: And he bowed the heart of all the men of Judah, even as the heart of one man; so that they sent this word to the king, “Return you, and all your servants.”
15: So the king returned, and came to Jordan. And Judah came to Gilgal (here Samuel renewed the kingdom. 1 Sam.11:14. Cp. Josh.5:9; 9:6; 10:6. 1 Sam. 7:16; 15:33), to go down to meet the king, to conduct the king over Jordan.
M l 16. Shimei. Reception. m 17,18-. Ziba. Deception. l -18-23. Shimei. Forgiveness. m 24-30. Ziba. Discovery.
16: And Shimei the son of Gera, a Benjamite, which was of Bahurim, hasted and came down with the men of Judah to meet king David.
17: And there were a thousand men of Benjamin with him, and Ziba the servant of the house of Saul, and his fifteen sons and his twenty servants with him; and they went over Jordan before the king.
18: And there went over a ferry boat to carry over the king's household, and to do what he thought good.
l n -18-20. Shimei. Confession. o 21. Abishai. Resentment. o 22. Abishai. Resented. n 23. Shimei. Forgiveness.
And Shimei the son of Gera fell down before the king, as he was come over Jordan;
19: And said to the king, “Let not my lord impute iniquity to me, neither do ou remember that which your servant did perversely the day that my lord the king went out of Jerusalem, that the king should take it to his heart.
20: For your servant does know that I have sinned: therefore, behold, I am come the first this day of all the house of Joseph to go down to meet my lord the king.” (Put by Fig., for the 2 tribes Ephraim and Manasseh, or for the 10 tribes, Israe [Amos 5:6,12; 6:6. Obad.18. Zech.10:6]. Cp. v.43. In Ps.80:1 and 81:5, Joseph is put for the 12 tribes)
21: But Abishai the son of Zeruiah answered and said (always the impetuous one. 1 Sam.26:8. 2 Sam.16:9), “Shall not Shimei be put to death for this, because he cursed the Lord' (Yehovah's) anointed?”
22: And David said, “What have I to do with you (see 16:10), all you sons of Zeruiah, that you all should this day be adversaries (Heb. satan) to me? shall there any man be put to death this day in Israel? for do not I know that I am this day king over Israel?”
23: Therefore the king said to Shimei, “You shall not die.” And the king swore to him.
m p 24. Mephibosheth. Mourning. q 25. David. Reproach. r 26. Ziba. Deception. r 27,28. Ziba. Slander. q 29. David. Reparation. p 30. Mephibosheth. Comfort.
24: And Mephibosheth the grandson of Saul came down to meet the king, and had neither dressed his feet, nor trimmed his beard, nor washed his clothes (a Sybol and proof of great grief), from the day the king departed until the day he came again in peace.
25: And it came to pass, when he was come to Jerusalem to meet the king, that the king said to him, “Why went you not with me, Mephibosheth?”
26: And he answered, “My lord, O king, my servant deceived me: for your servant said, ‘I will saddle me an ass (the Sept. reads "Saddle for me the ass". A command which Ziba disobeyed, and went off himself instead. But was there only one ass in Jerusalem? See v.29), that I may ride thereon, and go with the king; because your servant is lame.
27: And he has slandered your servant to my lord the king; but my lord the king is as an angel of God (Elohim): do therefore what is good in your eyes.
28: For all of my father's house were but dead men before my lord the king (some codices read "When in all the house of my father were none other than dead men" [Heb. men of death, i.e. doomed men]): yet did you set your servant among them that did eat at your own table. What right therefore have I yet to cry any more to the king?” (to emphasise the free grace of David)
29: And the king said to him, “Why do you speak any more of your matters? (Fig., to show disatisfaction with Mephibosheth's defence. Hence his division of Saul's estate) I have said (cp. 9:10. David revokes 16:4, and falls back on 9:10), ‘You and Ziba (cp. 16:4) divide the land.’ ” (i.e. Saul's estate)
30: And Mephibosheth said to the king, “Yes, let him take all, now that my lord the king is come again in peace to his own house.”
N a 31-38. Barzillai. b 39-. The People. a -39,40-. Barzillai. b -40-43. The People.
31: And Barzillai (= = iron, i.e. strong) the Gileadite came down from Rogelim, and went over Jordan with the king, to conduct him over Jordan.
32: Now Barzillai was a very aged man, even eighty years old: and he had provided the king of sustenance while he lay at Mahanaim; for he was a very great man.
33: And the king said to Barzillai, “Come you over with me, and I will feed you with me in Jerusalem.”
34: And Barzillai said to the king, “How long have I to live, that I should go up with the king to Jerusalem?
35: I am this day eighty years old: and can I discern between good and evil? can your servant taste what I eat or what I drink? can I hear any more the voice of singing men and singing women? why then should your servant be yet a burden to my lord the king?
36: your servant will go a little way over Jordan with the king: and why should the king recompense it me with such a reward?
37: Let your servant, I pray you, turn back again, that I may die in my own city, and be buried by the grave of my father and of my mother. But behold your servant Chimham; let him go over with my lord the king; and do to him what shall seem good to you.”
38: And the king answered, “Chimham(= longing) shall go over with me, and I will do to him that which shall seem good to you: and whatsoever you shall require of me, that will I do for you.”
39: And all the People went over Jordan.
And when the king was come over, the king kissed Barzillai, and blessed him; and he returned to his own place.
40: Then the king went on to Gilgal, and Chimham went on with him:
t u¹ -40. Judah and Israel. v¹ 41. Israel. Complaint. u² 42. Judah. Answer. v² 43-. Israel. Complaint. u³ -43. Judah and Israel. Prevelence.
and all the People of Judah conducted the king, and also half the People of Israel. (a whole-hearted act on part of Judah: and a half-heartd act on the part of Isael. This explains what follows)
41: And, behold, all the men of Israel came to the king, and said to the king, “Why have our brethren the men of Judah stolen you away, and have brought the king, and his household, and all David's men with him, over Jordan?”
42: And all the men of Judah answered the men of Israel, “Because the king is near of kin to us: why then be you all angry for this matter? have we eaten at all of the king's cost? or has he given us any gift?”
43: And the men of Israel answered the men of Judah, and said, “We have ten parts in the king, and we have also more right in David than you all: why then did you all despise us, that our advice should not be first had in bringing back our king?”
And the words of the men of Judah were fiercer than the words of the men of Israel.