18.19–32 Two messengers inform David of the outcome of the battle.
18.19 Ahimaaz son of Zadok (see 15.27; 17.17) is unaware of the death of Absalom (see v. 29).
18.20–21 Joab knows that if he tells Ahimaaz, who has always been loyal to David’s wishes, that Absalom has been slain despite David’s request to the contrary (see v. 5), Ahimaaz will make an unfavorable report to the king. So Joab declines Ahimaaz’s offer to report the news to David and gives the assignment to a Cushite, probably an Ethiopian or Nubian.
18.23 The way of the Plain, the lower Jordan Valley—the rougher but shorter route to Jerusalem.
18.33–19.8a Joab chides David for his excessive grief over Absalom.
2 SAMUEL 19
1It was told Joab, “The king is weeping and mourning for Absalom.” 2So the victory that day was turned into mourning for all the troops; for the troops heard that day, “The king is grieving for his son.” 3The troops stole into the city that day as soldiers steal in who are ashamed when they flee in battle. 4The king covered his face, and the king cried with a loud voice, “O my son Absalom, O Absalom, my son, my son!” 5Then Joab came into the house to the king, and said, “Today you have covered with shame the faces of all your officers who have saved your life today, and the lives of your sons and your daughters, and the lives of your wives and your concubines, 6for love of those who hate you and for hatred of those who love you. You have made it clear today that commanders and officers are nothing to you; for I perceive that if Absalom were alive and all of us were dead today, then you would be pleased. 7So go out at once and speak kindly to your servants; for I swear by the LORD, if you do not go, not a man will stay with you this night; and this will be worse for you than any disaster that has come upon you from your youth until now.” 8Then the king got up and took his seat in the gate. The troops were all told, “See, the king is sitting in the gate” and all the troops came before the king.
David Recalled to Jerusalem
Meanwhile, all the Israelites had fled to their homes. 9All the people were disputing throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, “The king delivered us from the hand of our enemies, and saved us from the hand of the Philistines; and now he has fled out of the land because of Absalom. 10But Absalom, whom we anointed over us, is dead in battle. Now therefore why do you say nothing about bringing the king back?”
11King David sent this message to the priests Zadok and Abiathar, “Say to the elders of Judah, ‘Why should you be the last to bring the king back to his house? The talk of all Israel has come to the king.a 12You are my kin, you are my bone and my flesh; why then should you be the last to bring back the king?’ 13And say to Amasa, ‘Are you not my bone and my flesh? So may God do to me, and more, if you are not the commander of my army from now on, in place of Joab.’” 14Amasab swayed the hearts of all the people of Judah as one, and they sent word to the king, “Return, both you and all your servants.” 15So the king came back to the Jordan; and Judah came to Gilgal to meet the king and to bring him over the Jordan.
16Shimei son of Gera, the Benjaminite, from Bahurim, hurried to come down with the people of Judah to meet King David; 17with him were a thousand people from Benjamin. And Ziba, the servant of the house of Saul, with his fifteen sons and his twenty servants, rushed down to the Jordan ahead of the king, 18while the crossing was taking place,c to bring over the king’s household, and to do his pleasure.
David’s Mercy to Shimei
Shimei son of Gera fell down before the king, as he was about to cross the Jordan, 19and said to the king, “May my lord not hold me guilty or remember how your servant did wrong on the day my lord the king left Jerusalem; may the king not bear it in mind. 20For your servant knows that I have sinned; therefore, see, I have come this day, the first of all the house of Joseph to come down to meet my lord the king.” 21Abishai son of Zeruiah answered, “Shall not Shimei be put to death for this, because he cursed the LORD’s anointed?” 22But David said, “What have I to do with you, you sons of Zeruiah, that you should today become an adversary to me? Shall anyone be put to death in Israel this day? For do I not know that I am this day king over Israel?” 23The king said to Shimei, “You shall not die.” And the king gave him his oath.
David and Mephibosheth Meet
24Mephiboshethagrandson of Saul came down to meet the king; he had not taken care of his feet, or trimmed his beard, or washed his clothes, from the day the king left until the day he came back in safety. 25When he came from Jerusalem to meet the king, the king said to him, “Why did you not go with me, Mephibosheth?”d 26He answered, “My lord, O king, my servant deceived me; for your servant said to him, ‘Saddle a donkey for me,e so that I may ride on it and go with the king.’ For your servant is lame. 27He has slandered your servant to my lord the king. But my lord the king is like the angel of God; do therefore what seems good to you. 28For all my father’s house were doomed to death before my lord the king; but you set your servant among those who eat at your table. What further right have I, then, to appeal to the king?” 29The king said to him, “Why speak any more of your affairs? I have decided: you and Ziba shall divide the land.” 30Mephiboshethf said to the king, “Let him take it all, since my lord the king has arrived home safely.”
David’s Kindness to Barzillai
31Now Barzillai the Gileadite had come down from Rogelim; he went on with the king to the Jordan, to escort him over the Jordan. 32Barzillai was a very aged man, eighty years old. He had provided the king with food while he stayed at Mahanaim, for he was a very wealthy man. 33The king said to Barzillai, “Come over with me, and I will provide for you in Jerusalem at my side.” 34But Barzillai said to the king, “How many years have I still to live, that I should go up with the king to Jerusalem? 35Today I am eighty years old; can I discern what is pleasant and what is not? Can your servant taste what he eats or what he drinks? Can I still listen to the voice of singing men and singing women? Why then should your servant be an added burden to my lord the king? 36Your servant will go a little way over the Jordan with the king. Why should the king recompense me with such a reward? 37Please let your servant return, so that I may die in my own town, near the graves of my father and my mother. But here is your servant Chimham; let him go over with my lord the king; and do for him whatever seems good to you.” 38The king answered, “Chimham shall go over with me, and I will do for him whatever seems good to you; and all that you desire of me I will do for you.” 39Then all the people crossed over the Jordan, and the king crossed over; the king kissed Barzillai and blessed him, and he returned to his own home. 40The king went on to Gilgal, and Chimham went on with him; all the people of Judah, and also half the people of Israel, brought the king on his way.
41Then all the people of Israel came to the king, and said to him, “Why have our kindred the people of Judah stolen you away, and brought the king and his household over the Jordan, and all David’s men with him?” 42All the people of Judah answered the people of Israel, “Because the king is near of kin to us. Why then are you angry over this matter? Have we eaten at all at the king’s expense? Or has he given us any gift?” 43But the people of Israel answered the people of Judah, “We have ten shares in the king, and in David also we have more than you. Why then did you despise us? Were we not the first to speak of bringing back our king?” But the words of the people of Judah were fiercer than the words of the people of Israel.
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a Gk: Heb to the king, to his house
b Heb He
c Cn: Heb the ford crossed
d Or Merib-baal: See 4.4 note
e Gk Syr Vg: Heb said, ‘I will saddle a donkey for myself
f Or Merib-baal: See 4.4 note
19.6 Love, hatred, here political loyalties; cf. 1 Sam 18.1, 3 and note on 1 Sam 20.17.
19.8 David, by sitting in the gate, is assuming the traditional role of judge in Israel (cf. 1 Sam 4.12–18), thus symbolically reclaiming his sovereignty.
19.8b–15
David and the people of Judah are reconciled.
19.12 My bone and my flesh. See note on 5.1. David’s point is that the people of Judah, his kin, should be the first to restore his rule.
19.13 To conciliate the people of Judah, who must have represented Absalom’s chief support, David appoints his kinsman Amasa (see 17.25) as commander of the army in place of Joab, who executed Absalom.
19.15 The ancient shrine of Gilgal had special associations with kingship; see note on 1 Sam 10.8.
19.16–23 Shimei asks for David’s forgiveness.
19.16 The account of David’s hostile encounter with Shimei is found in 16.5–14.
19.17 Ziba, the servant of Mephibosheth. See 9.2; 16.1–4.
19.20 Knowing that his life is in jeopardy, Shimei pleads that he is the first of all the house of Joseph, i.e., the first non-Judahite, to welcome the king on his return.
19.21 True to his character (see 2.18; 1 Sam 26.8) and consistent with his role in the earlier Shimei incident (see 16.9), Abishai proposes a violent reaction to Shimei’s reappearance; he believes that Shimei has committed a capital crime because he cursed the LORD’s anointed, who is sacrosanct (see 1 Sam 24.6–7).
19.23 David grants Shimei a royal pardon now, but at the end of his own life he will consign the Benjaminite to death (see 1 Kings 2.8–9, 36–46).
19.24–30 The background to this section is the dispute between Mephibosheth and Ziba, described in 9.1–13; 16.1–4.
19.24 Not taken care of his feet, obscure, perhaps related to his crippled condition (see 9.13).
19.27 For the comparison of the king’s wisdom to that of the angel of God, see 14.17.
19.28 My father’s house, the house of Saul. Those who eat at your table. See note on 9.7.
19.31–43 Barzillai was one of those who befriended David when he arrived in Mahanaim after his flight from Jerusalem (see 17.27–29).
19.35 Barzillai declines David’s invitation on the grounds that he is too old to be able to enjoy life at court.
19.37 Chimham, perhaps one of the sons of Barzillai commended by David on his deathbed in 1 Kings 2.6.
19.41–43 The people, here the tribal militia of Judah or Israel; the issue is sectional hostility between the Judahites, to whom David is near of kin, and the Israelites, who claim ten shares in the king because of the ten northern tribes.
2 SAMUEL 20
The Rebellion of Sheba
1Now a scoundrel named Sheba son of Bichri, a Benjaminite, happened to be there. He sounded the trumpet and cried out,
“We have no portion in David,
no share in the son of Jesse!
Everyone to your tents, O Israel!”
2So all the people of Israel withdrew from David and followed Sheba son of Bichri; but the people of Judah followed their king steadfastly from the Jordan to Jerusalem.
3David came to his house at Jerusalem; and the king took the ten concubines whom he had left to look after the house, and put them in a house under guard, and provided for them, but did not go in to them. So they were shut up until the day of their death, living as if in widowhood.
4Then the king said to Amasa, “Call the men of Judah together to me within three days, and be here yourself.” 5So Amasa went to summon Judah; but he delayed beyond the set time that had been appointed him. 6David said to Abishai, “Now Sheba son of Bichri will do us more harm than Absalom; take your lord’s servants and pursue him, or he will find fortified cities for himself, and escape from us.” 7Joab’s men went out after him, along with the Cherethites, the Pelethites, and all the warriors; they went out from Jerusalem to pursue Sheba son of Bichri. 8When they were at the large stone that is in Gibeon, Amasa came to meet them. Now Joab was wearing a soldier’s garment and over it was a belt with a sword in its sheath fastened at his waist; as he went forward it fell out. 9Joab said to Amasa, “Is it well with you, my brother?” And Joab took Amasa by the beard with his right hand to kiss him. 10But Amasa did not notice the sword in Joab’s hand; Joab struck him in the belly so that his entrails poured out on the ground, and he died. He did not strike a second blow.
Then Joab and his brother Abishai pursued Sheba son of Bichri. 11And one of Joab’s men took his stand by Amasa, and said, “Whoever favors Joab, and whoever is for David, let him follow Joab.” 12Amasa lay wallowing in his blood on the highway, and the man saw that all the people were stopping. Since he saw that all who came by him were stopping, he carried Amasa from the highway into a field, and threw a garment over him. 13Once he was removed from the highway, all the people went on after Joab to pursue Sheba son of Bichri.
14Shebaa passed through all the tribes of Israel to Abel of Beth-maacah;b and all the Bichritesc assembled, and followed him inside. 15Joab’s forcesd came and besieged him in Abel of Beth-maacah; they threw up a siege ramp against the city, and it stood against the rampart. Joab’s forces were battering the wall to break it down. 16Then a wise woman called from the city, “Listen! Listen! Tell Joab, ‘Come here, I want to speak to you.’” 17He came near her; and the woman said, “Are you Joab?” He answered, “I am.” Then she said to him, “Listen to the words of your servant.” He answered, “I am listening.” 18Then she said, “They used to say in the old days, ‘Let them inquire at Abel’ and so they would settle a matter. 19I am one of those who are peaceable and faithful in Israel; you seek to destroy a city that is a mother in Israel; why will you swallow up the heritage of the LORD?” 20Joab answered, “Far be it from me, far be it, that I should swallow up or destroy! 21That is not the case! But a man of the hill country of Ephraim, called Sheba son of Bichri, has lifted up his hand against King David; give him up alone, and I will withdraw from the city.” The woman said to Joab, “His head shall be thrown over the wall to you.” 22Then the woman went to all the people with her wise plan. And they cut off the head of Sheba son of Bichri, and threw it out to Joab. So he blew the trumpet, and they dispersed from the city, and all went to their homes, while Joab returned to Jerusalem to the king.
23Now Joab was in command of all the army of Israel;e Benaiah son of Jehoiada was in command of the Cherethites and the Pelethites; 24Adoram was in charge of the forced labor; Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud was the recorder; 25Sheva was secretary; Zadok and Abiathar were priests; 26and Ira the Jairite was also David’s priest.
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a Heb He
b Compare 20.15: Heb and Beth-maacah
c Compare Gk Vg: Heb Berites
d Heb They
e Cn: Heb Joab to all the army, Israel
20.1–22 The slogan (v. 1) of this revolt contains an anticipation of the revolt that ends the union of Judah and Israel after the death of Solomon (see 1 Kings 12.16).
20.3 David arrests the ten concubines claimed by Absalom during his revolt (see 15.16).
20.7 Cherethites, Pelethites. See notes on 1 Sam 30.14; 2 Sam 8.18.
20.8 The important town of Gibeon (see 2.12) will figure prominently in ch. 21, but the location and significance of the large stone is not known.
20.14 Abel of Beth-maacah. a town about twelve miles north of Lake Huleh near the city of Dan. Bichrites, members of the same clan as Sheba son of Bichri.
20.16 The people of Abel choose a wise woman to negotiate for them; her skills are the same as those of the wise woman of Tekoa employed by Joab (see 14.2).
20.18 Citing an old adage, Let them inquire at Abel, the woman tells Joab that he has come to a town known for its wisdom and good judgment.
20.19 With a bit of rhetorical exaggeration, the woman describes Abel as a mother in Israel, i.e., a principal city or metropolis.
20.23–26 Another list of David’s officers appears in 8.15–18.
20.24 Adoram should be “Adoniram” he continued in office under Solomon (see 1 Kings 4.6; 5.14) and Rehoboam (1 Kings 12.18; cf. 2 Chr 10.18, Hadoram). He was in charge of the forced labor, i.e., the impressing of Israelites into work on state projects, a practice that seems to have generated strong opposition du
ring Solomon’s reign (see 1 Kings 9.21; 2 Chr 8.8).
20.26 Ira the Jairite was a native of Havvoth-jair in Gilead (see, e.g., Num 32.41; Deut 3.14); in contrast to later periods it seems to have been acceptable during David’s reign for the king to have a private priest who was not a Levite.
2 SAMUEL 21
David Avenges the Gibeonites
1Now there was a famine in the days of David for three years, year after year; and David inquired of the LORD. The LORD said, “There is bloodguilt on Saul and on his house, because he put the Gibeonites to death.” 2So the king called the Gibeonites and spoke to them. (Now the Gibeonites were not of the people of Israel, but of the remnant of the Amorites; although the people of Israel had sworn to spare them, Saul had tried to wipe them out in his zeal for the people of Israel and Judah.) 3David said to the Gibeonites, “What shall I do for you? How shall I make expiation, that you may bless the heritage of the LORD?” 4The Gibeonites said to him, “It is not a matter of silver or gold between us and Saul or his house; neither is it for us to put anyone to death in Israel.” He said, “What do you say that I should do for you?” 5They said to the king, “The man who consumed us and planned to destroy us, so that we should have no place in all the territory of Israel—6let seven of his sons be handed over to us, and we will impale them before the LORD at Gibeon on the mountain of the LORD.”a The king said, “I will hand them over.”
7But the king spared Mephibosheth,b the son of Saul’s son Jonathan, because of the oath of the LORD that was between them, between David and Jonathan son of Saul. 8The king took the two sons of Rizpah daughter of Aiah, whom she bore to Saul, Armoni and Mephibosheth;c and the five sons of Merabd daughter of Saul, whom she bore to Adriel son of Barzillai the Meholathite; 9he gave them into the hands of the Gibeonites, and they impaled them on the mountain before the LORD. The seven of them perished together. They were put to death in the first days of harvest, at the beginning of barley harvest.
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