2 Samuel · Chapter 18

Verse 1. And set captains of thousands] By this time David’s small company was greatly recruited; but what its number was we cannot tell. Josephus says it amounted to four thousand men. Others have supposed that they amounted to ten thousand; for thus they understand a clause in 2 Samuel 18:3, which they think should be read, We are now ten thousand strong.

Verses 1-3. David numbered the people that were with him — Which had flocked to him thither, so as to make up a small army. And finding himself sufficiently strong to go against the enemy, he resolved not to wait their coming, but to give the assault; and accordingly marched his forces out of the city, dividing them into three parts, and setting a captain over each, one of whom, however, Joab, was, doubtless, also general of the whole army. I will surely go forth with you myself also — Which he thought would be a great encouragement to them, and cause them to fight the more valiantly. The people answered, Thou shalt not go with us — They did not think it advisable that he should hazard his life, on the preservation of which their common cause, in a great measure, depended; signifying that if they should be routed, and half of them slain, Absalom would not think himself a conqueror as long as David was alive, who might raise new forces and give him battle again. Indeed it was Absalom’s great error, and the utter ruin of himself and his cause, to go to battle in his own person, an error into which he was drawn by a divine infatuation, through Hushai’s craft. Now thou art worth ten thousand of us — Not only for the dignity of thy person, but also for the importance of our common cause, which, if thou art slain, is irrecoverably lost. It is better that thou succour us out of the city — By sending us supplies of men and provisions of all sorts, together with counsel and advice, as we shall have occasion; and by securing our retreat if we be defeated.

THE BATTLE IN THE WOOD OF EPHRAIM, AND DEATH OF ABSALOM, 1-33.

1. Numbered the people — Josephus says he found them to be about four thousand. Others have inferred, from verse 3, that they were ten thousand. Many had probably rallied to his standard at Mahanaim.

Verses 1-3. David numbered the people that were with him — Which had flocked to him thither, so as to make up a small army. And finding himself sufficiently strong to go against the enemy, he resolved not to wait their coming, but to give the assault; and accordingly marched his forces out of the city, dividing them into three parts, and setting a captain over each, one of whom, however, Joab, was, doubtless, also general of the whole army. I will surely go forth with you myself also — Which he thought would be a great encouragement to them, and cause them to fight the more valiantly. The people answered, Thou shalt not go with us — They did not think it advisable that he should hazard his life, on the preservation of which their common cause, in a great measure, depended; signifying that if they should be routed, and half of them slain, Absalom would not think himself a conqueror as long as David was alive, who might raise new forces and give him battle again. Indeed it was Absalom’s great error, and the utter ruin of himself and his cause, to go to battle in his own person, an error into which he was drawn by a divine infatuation, through Hushai’s craft. Now thou art worth ten thousand of us — Not only for the dignity of thy person, but also for the importance of our common cause, which, if thou art slain, is irrecoverably lost. It is better that thou succour us out of the city — By sending us supplies of men and provisions of all sorts, together with counsel and advice, as we shall have occasion; and by securing our retreat if we be defeated.

Verse 2. A third part under Ittai, the Philistine general who had faithfully followed the fortunes of the king.

2. Under the hand — Under the direction and generalship. Ittai — Now rewarded for his loyalty with an important office. See on 2 Samuel 15:21.

Verse 3. But now thou art worth ten thousand of us] The particle hty attah, now, is doubtless a mistake for the pronoun hta attah, thou; and so it appears to have been read by the Septuagint, the Vulgate, and the Chaldee, and by two of Kennicott’s and Deuteronomy Rossi’s MSS.

Verses 1-3. David numbered the people that were with him — Which had flocked to him thither, so as to make up a small army. And finding himself sufficiently strong to go against the enemy, he resolved not to wait their coming, but to give the assault; and accordingly marched his forces out of the city, dividing them into three parts, and setting a captain over each, one of whom, however, Joab, was, doubtless, also general of the whole army. I will surely go forth with you myself also — Which he thought would be a great encouragement to them, and cause them to fight the more valiantly. The people answered, Thou shalt not go with us — They did not think it advisable that he should hazard his life, on the preservation of which their common cause, in a great measure, depended; signifying that if they should be routed, and half of them slain, Absalom would not think himself a conqueror as long as David was alive, who might raise new forces and give him battle again. Indeed it was Absalom’s great error, and the utter ruin of himself and his cause, to go to battle in his own person, an error into which he was drawn by a divine infatuation, through Hushai’s craft. Now thou art worth ten thousand of us — Not only for the dignity of thy person, but also for the importance of our common cause, which, if thou art slain, is irrecoverably lost. It is better that thou succour us out of the city — By sending us supplies of men and provisions of all sorts, together with counsel and advice, as we shall have occasion; and by securing our retreat if we be defeated.

3. Better that thou succour us out of the city — Better for thee to remain here at Mahanaim, with a strong force with thee, and thus be able to come forth with reinforcements to our help in case of need.

THE BATTLE IN THE WOOD OF EPHRAIM, AND DEATH OF ABSALOM, 1-33.

1. Numbered the people — Josephus says he found them to be about four thousand. Others have inferred, from verse 3, that they were ten thousand. Many had probably rallied to his standard at Mahanaim.

V. 5. Deal gently-If you conquer (which be presaged they would by God’s gracious answer to his prayer for the turning of Ahithophel’s counsel into foolishness,) take him prisoner, but do not kill him. Which desire proceeded, from his great indulgence towards his children: from his consciousness that he himself was the meritorious cause of this rebellion, Absalom being given up to it for the punishment of David’s sins; from the consideration of his youth, which commonly makes men foolish, and subject to ill counsels: and from his piety, being loth that he should be cut off in the act of his sin without any space for repentance. But ‘‘what means, says Bp. Hall, this ill-placed mercy? Deal gently with a traitor? Of all traitors with a son? And all this for thy sake, whose crown, whose blood he hunts after? Even in the holiest parents nature may be guilty of an injurious tenderness. But was not this done in type of that unmeasurable mercy, of the true King of Israel, who prayed for his murderers, Father, forgive them! Deal gently with them for my sake!” Yea, when God sends an affliction to correct his children, it is with this charge, deal gently with them for my sake: for he knows our frame.

Verse 5. Deal gently-with the young man] David was the father of this worthless young man; and is it to be wondered at that he feels as a father? Who in his circumstances, that had such feelings as every man should have, would have felt, or acted otherwise?

Verse 5. Deal gently for my sake, &c. — If you conquer, (which he expected they would, from God’s gracious answer to his prayer, in turning Ahithophel’s counsel into foolishness,) take him prisoner, but do not kill him. Which desire proceeded from his great indulgence toward his children; from his consciousness that he himself was the meritorious cause of this rebellion, Absalom being given up to it for the punishment of David’s sins; from the consideration of Absalom’s youth, which commonly makes men foolish, and subject to ill counsels; and from David’s own piety, being loath that his son should be cut off in the act of his sin without any space for repentance. But “what means,” says Bishop Hall, “this ill-placed mercy? Deal gently with a traitor? Of all traitors, with a son? And all this for my sake, whose crown, whose blood he hunts after? Even in the holiest parents, nature may be guilty of an injurious tenderness. But was not this done in type of that unmeasurable mercy of the true King of Israel, who prayed for his murderers, Father, forgive them! Deal gently with them for my sake!” Yea, when God sends an affliction to correct his children, it is with this charge, Deal gently with them for my sake: for he knows our frame.

5. Gently for my sake with the young man — Josephus says that he was afraid some mischief might befall himself if Absalom were slain. But it was David’s deep affection for the beautiful youth, which, notwithstanding all his errors, still yearned for him. The tenderness of the father exceeded the justice of the king.

Ver. 6. The wood of Ephraim lay beyond Jordan, and was not in the lot of Ephraim; but was called so, either because Jephthah defeated the Ephraimites there, Judges 12., or on some other account. Rabbi Abulensis says, there was a precipice in this wood over which the routed mass of the rebels were driven.

6. Against Israel — Alas! It was Israel against Israel. But it had come to pass that strong prejudices were manifest between the people of Israel and the men of Judah. The wood of Ephraim — A forest evidently not far from Mahanaim, and probably near the Jordan, but its exact locality and the origin of its name are now unknown. Grotius conjectured that it took its name from the great slaughter of the Ephraimites recorded Judges 12:1-6; and the Jews have a tradition that Joshua, who was an Ephraimite, permitted the people of his tribe to pasture their flocks in this forest. Keil argues that it was on the west of the Jordan in the tribe-land of Ephraim, which, according to Joshua 17:15, abounded in wood. But as David was at Mahanaim, and Absalom in Gilead, (2 Samuel 17:20,) this battle doubtless took place on the east of the Jordan.

Verse 7. Twenty thousand men.] Whether these were slain on the field of battle, or whether they were reckoned with those slain in the wood of Ephraim, we know not.

7. Twenty thousand — Surely the multitude that followed Absalom must have been like the sand of the sea. 2 Samuel 17:11.

V. 8. The wood-More people died in the wood, either through hunger, and thirst, and weariness: or, by the wild beasts, whereof great numbers were there, which, though they were driven away from the place of the main battle, yet might easily meet with them when they fled several ways: or, by falling into ditches and pits, which were in that place, ver. 17, and probably were covered with grass or wood, so that they could not see them till they fell into them: and especially by David’s men, who pursued them, and killed them in the wood: and the wood is rightly said to have devoured them, because it gave the occasion to their destruction, inasmuch as the trees, and ditches, and pits, entangled them, and stopped their flight, and made them an easy prey to David’s men, who followed them, and slew them in the pursuit. The sword-In the main battle: the sword being put for the battle, by a common figure.

Verse 8. The wood devoured more people] It is generally supposed that, when the army was broken, they betook themselves to the wood, fell into pits, swamps, &c., and, being entangled, were hewn down by David’s men; but the Chaldee, Syriac, and Arabic, state that they were devoured by wild beasts in the wood.

Verse 8. The battle was scattered over all the country — In that neighbourhood; both in the field and in the wood. The wood devoured more people than the sword — Some think the wood is said to devour them because they fell into pits, or stumbled upon stumps of trees, or pressed one another to death, as they came into strait places, or were killed by wild beasts. But the most natural meaning of the words is, that there were more slain in the wood, into which Absalom’s men fled, than in the open field; that is, more in their flight, which was stopped by the wood, than in the battle.

8. Scattered — For they could not march en masse through the tangled forests. The wood devoured more people… than the sword — This forest was probably full of deep gorges and pits, into which, in their haste, multitudes were thrown and perished; others were lost; and some, perhaps, as the Chaldee, Syriac, and Arabic versions suggest, destroyed by wild beasts. Tristram, who passed through this region in 1864, writes: “We rose to the higher ground, and cantered through a noble forest of oaks. Perhaps we were in the woods of Mahanaim. Somewhere a little to the east of us was fought the battle with the rebellious Absalom, and by such an oak as these was he caught. In picturing the broken lines, and a rout through such an open forest, how we realized the statement: ‘The battle was there scattered over the face of all the country, and the wood devoured more people that day than the sword devoured.’ As I rode under a grand old oak tree, I, too, lost my hat and turban, which were caught by a bough.”

V. 9. The servants of David-Who, according to David’s command, spared him, and gave him an opportunity to escape. His head-In which probably he was entangled by the hair of the head, which being very long and thick, might easily catch hold of a bough, especially when the great God directed it. Either he wore no helmet, or he had thrown it away as well as his other arms, to hasten his flight. Thus the matter of his pride was the instrument of his ruin.

Verse 9. And his head caught hold of the oak] It has been supposed that Absalom was caught by the hair, but no such thing is intimated in the text. Probably his neck was caught in the fork of a strong bough, and he was nearly dead when Joab found him; for it is said, 2 Samuel 18:14, he was yet alive, an expression which intimates he was nearly dead.

Verse 9. Absalom met the servants of David — Who, according to David’s command, spared him, and gave him an opportunity to escape. But whom they would not arrest, the divine vengeance arrested. For the mule, on which he rode, went under the thick boughs of a great oak, and his head caught hold of the oak — Probably he was entangled by the hair of his head, which, being long and thick, might easily catch hold of a bough. For it is likely he either wore no helmet, or he had thrown it away, as well as his other arms, to hasten his flight. Thus the matter of his pride was made the instrument of his ruin. Some think his neck stuck fast between two boughs, or arms, of this oak, and was so wedged in by the swift motion of his mule that he was not able to disentangle himself; but yet, that, by the help of his hands, he so supported himself as not to be strangled.

9. Absalom met the servants of David — And probably darted rapidly one side through the forest to avoid them, when he met with the accident which exposed him helpless to his enemy. His head caught hold of the oak — Probably entangled by his hair, (compare 2 Samuel 14:26,) and so Josephus affirms.

Verse 10. I saw Absalom hanged in an oak.] He must have hung there a considerable time. this man saw him hanging; how long he had been hanging before he saw him, we cannot tell. He came and informed Joab; this must have taken up a considerable time. Joab went and pierced him through with three darts; this must have taken up still more time. It is therefore natural to conclude that his life must have been nearly gone after having been so long suspended, and probably was past recovery, even if Joab had taken him down.

10. Saw Absalom hanged — Suspended by his head, hair, and arms, and probably struggling to disentangle himself. He must have suffered serious injury to his person and almost perished by this mishap before the darts of Joab pierced him, for so the statement in verse 14, that he was yet alive, seems to imply.

Verse 11. And a girdle.] The military belt was the chief ornament of a soldier, and was highly prized in all ancient nations; it was also a rich present from one chieftain to another. Jonathan gave his to David, as the highest pledge of his esteem and perpetual friendship, 1 Samuel 18:4. And Ajax gave his to Hector, as a token of the highest respect.-Hom. Il. vii., ver. 305.

Ver. 11. And a girdle. This would have been a great mark of military honour; for Jonathan gave his girdle to David. 1 Samuel 18:4. Military rewards have been common to all nations.

THE BATTLE IN THE WOOD OF EPHRAIM, AND DEATH OF ABSALOM, 1-33.

1. Numbered the people — Josephus says he found them to be about four thousand. Others have inferred, from verse 3, that they were ten thousand. Many had probably rallied to his standard at Mahanaim.

THE BATTLE IN THE WOOD OF EPHRAIM, AND DEATH OF ABSALOM, 1-33.

1. Numbered the people — Josephus says he found them to be about four thousand. Others have inferred, from verse 3, that they were ten thousand. Many had probably rallied to his standard at Mahanaim.

Verse 13. Thou thyself wouldest have set thyself against me.] This is a strong appeal to Joab’s loyalty, and respect for the orders of David; but he was proof against every fine feeling, and against every generous sentiment.

Verse 13. I should have wrought falsehood against my own life — Not only have been false and disobedient to the king, but should have betrayed my own life, and therefore not have been true to myself. For there is no matter hid from the king — This, as all other things, would certainly have come to the king’s ear. Thou thyself wouldest have set thyself against me — Thou wouldest have been my adversary and accuser, both because it would have been thy duty to be so, and to vindicate thyself from any blame in the matter. He knew the disposition of Joab so well, that he was sure that general would have been as forward as any one both to inform the king of what had been done, and to have had the person punished who did it, for disobeying his sovereign.

Ver. 13. Thou thyself wouldst have set thyself against me. This is bold talk of a soldier to the general in chief. The man knew that human nature is apt to lay all blame on others. Joab himself was dismissed for the deed, having exceeded his powers in piercing Absalom.

13. Falsehood against mine own life — Rather, against his life, that is, Absalom’s life, for such is the reading of the Hebrew text, (wvpnb,) and only the Masoretic pointing favours the English version. To work falsehood against his life means to slay him secretly, and keep it unknown by whose hand he fell. The whole verse should be thus translated: But if I had wrought falsehood againt his life, and everything (word) is not hidden from the king, even thou wouldst have set thyself in opposition.

Verse 14. I may not tarry thus with thee] He had nothing to say in vindication of the purpose he had formed.

Thrust them through the heart of Absalom] He was determined to make sure work, and therefore he pierced his heart.

Joab should have obeyed the king’s commandment: and yet the safety of the state required the sacrifice of Absalom. But independently of this, his life was quadruply forfeited to the law:-1. In having murdered his brother Amnon. 2. In having excited an insurrection in the state. 3. In having taken up arms against his own father, Deuteronomy 21:18, 21. 4. In having lain with his father’s concubines, Leviticus 18:29. Long ago he should have died by the hand of justice; and now all his crimes are visited on him in his last act of rebellion. Yet, in the present circumstances, Joab’s act was base and disloyal, and a cowardly murder.

Verses 14, 15. I may not tarry thus with thee — I must not lose time in contending with thee, till I let the occasion slip. And thrust them through the heart of Absalom — Not through the part properly so called, (for then he would have died immediately, and there would have been no need for his soldiers to fall upon him as they afterward did, verse 15,) but through the midst of his body, which did not kill him outright, but some life still remained in him. Ten young men that bare Joab’s armour — Who waited upon his person as general of the army; smote Absalom and slew him — By Joab’s command, who probably judged that there could be no safety to the king, nor peace to the kingdom, nor security to himself, and David’s friends and other loyal subjects, or to any good men, if Absalom was suffered to live. For he thought that some unquiet people, who were deeply engaged in this rebellion, would soon take occasion to move new disturbances to set him on the throne, which Absalom would be very ready to encourage. Therefore, knowing that he had been guilty of several crimes which the law of God made capital, especially of committing incest with his father’s concubines, and raising an unnatural rebellion against him, with a design to rob him both of his kingdom and his life; Joab did, not as David commanded, but as, he imagined, he ought to have commanded. “Thus fell,” says Delaney, “this cruel, this murderous, this incestuous parricide! and with him, twenty thousand of his rebel adherents.” So much mischief may one restless, interested man do in his country! and such ruin may his ambition bring upon it! We do not, however, intend, by these observations, to plead Joab’s justification in the act of direct disobedience to his sovereign’s orders, but leave the reader to form his own judgment of the matter.

14. I may not tarry — I have no time to lose in thus talking with thee, and am not thus careful to obey the king in this matter. Absalom’s life, says Clarke, “was quadruply forfeited to the law. (1) In having murdered his brother Amnon; (2) In having excited an insurrection in the state; (3) In having taken up arms against his own father, (Deuteronomy 21:18, 21;)

(4) In having lain with his father’s concubines. Leviticus 18:29. Long ago he should have died by the hand of justice.” But we cannot, with Clarke and others, denounce this act of Joab as a cowardly murder, base and disloyal. True, he disobeyed the king, but he felt it a duty to disobey. He was too much of a warrior and statesman to think that the rebellion could be successfully subdued without the death of Absalom, and he afterwards vindicated himself before David with a severity of rebuke which the king dared not gainsay or resist. 2 Samuel 19:1-8. Yet alive — Compare note on verse 10.

V. 15. Slew him-The darts did not dispatch him, and therefore they smote him again, and killed him.

Verse 15. Ten young men-smote Absalom and slew him.] That is, they all pierced the body; but there could be no life in it after three darts had been thrust through the heart: but they added as much as would have killed him had he been alive.

Verses 14, 15. I may not tarry thus with thee — I must not lose time in contending with thee, till I let the occasion slip. And thrust them through the heart of Absalom — Not through the part properly so called, (for then he would have died immediately, and there would have been no need for his soldiers to fall upon him as they afterward did, verse 15,) but through the midst of his body, which did not kill him outright, but some life still remained in him. Ten young men that bare Joab’s armour — Who waited upon his person as general of the army; smote Absalom and slew him — By Joab’s command, who probably judged that there could be no safety to the king, nor peace to the kingdom, nor security to himself, and David’s friends and other loyal subjects, or to any good men, if Absalom was suffered to live. For he thought that some unquiet people, who were deeply engaged in this rebellion, would soon take occasion to move new disturbances to set him on the throne, which Absalom would be very ready to encourage. Therefore, knowing that he had been guilty of several crimes which the law of God made capital, especially of committing incest with his father’s concubines, and raising an unnatural rebellion against him, with a design to rob him both of his kingdom and his life; Joab did, not as David commanded, but as, he imagined, he ought to have commanded. “Thus fell,” says Delaney, “this cruel, this murderous, this incestuous parricide! and with him, twenty thousand of his rebel adherents.” So much mischief may one restless, interested man do in his country! and such ruin may his ambition bring upon it! We do not, however, intend, by these observations, to plead Joab’s justification in the act of direct disobedience to his sovereign’s orders, but leave the reader to form his own judgment of the matter.

Ver. 15. Ten young men, the body guard of the general. Joab was a great general in the field, brave in fight, and yet humane in blowing the retreat; but alas, he too often acted as a monarch, forgetting that he was only general in chief.

15. Ten young men — These armour-bearers of Josh, of course, accompanied their chieftain when he went to smite Absalom, and after he had pierced him with his fatal darts they also wantonly abused his lifeless body, and afterwards cast him into the pit. Verse 17.

Verse 16. Joab blew the trumpet] He knew that the rebellion was now extinguished by the death of Absalom; and was not willing that any farther slaughter should be made of the deluded people.

Verse 16. Joab blew the trumpet, and the people returned — He knew Absalom’s men had been drawn unthinkingly into this rebellion, and would return to their duty, now they had none to head them. For Joab held back the people — Who otherwise, being highly incensed against the rebels, would have hotly pursued, and made still greater slaughter among them. In this Joab acted like a wise and merciful man, who wished to stop the further effusion of Israelitish blood.

16. Blew the trumpet — The signal for the people to come together: the death of Absalom virtually ending the rebellion.

Verse 17. And laid a very great heap of stones] This was the method of burying heroes, and even traitors, the heap of stones being designed to perpetuate the memory of the event, whether good or bad. The ancient cairns or heaps of stones, in different parts of the world, are of this kind. The various tumuli or barrows in England are the same as the cairns in different parts of Ireland and Scotland. In the former, stones were not plenty; hence they heaped up great mounds of earth.

Verse 17. They took Absalom and cast him into a great pit — They would not bring his body to be disposed of by his father’s order, lest it should excite his grief to excess. And laid a very great heap of stones upon him — As a lasting monument of his sin and shame, and of the righteous judgment of God upon him. Thus the Israelites treated the dead body of Achan, and those of the king of Ai, and the five kings of the Amorites. See Joshua 7:26, and 8:29, and 10:27. Absalom was, in a sort, first hanged, which was an accursed death, and then thrust through with darts and swords; and, after all, in a manner stoned, which was a proper punishment of a rebellious son, Deuteronomy 21:21-23. Adricomius, in his description of the Holy Land, according to Bishop Patrick, says, that this heap remained to his days, and that all travellers, as they went by it, were wont to throw a stone to add to the heap, in detestation of his rebellion against his father. And all Israel fled every one to his tent — To their houses and dwellings, to avoid the shame and punishment of their rebellion.

Ver. 17. A very great heap of stones. Such has been the practice of all ancient people. Our Saxon fathers have done it in all places, but they often raised round hills or banks of earth where stones were not at hand, to perpetuate the memorial of victories, which in so short a space of time have now no historic records.

17. Heap of stones upon him — As in the case of Achan and the king of Ai. Joshua 7:26; 8:29.

V. 18. A pillar-To preserve his name; whereas it had been more for his honour if his name had been buried in perpetual oblivion.

Verse 18. Reared up for himself a pillar] There was a marble pillar in the time of Josephus called Absalom’s pillar: and there is one shown to the present day under this name; but it is comparatively a modern structure. Absalom’s place.] Literally Absalom’s HAND. See Clarke’s note on “1 Samuel 15:12”.

Verse 18. Now Absalom had reared up for himself a pillar — To preserve his name; where as it had been more for his honour if his name had been buried in perpetual oblivion. But this was the effect of that pride and vain glory, which were the chief causes of his ruin. Which is in the king’s dale — A place so called, near Jerusalem. For he said, I have no son — He had had three sons, (2 Samuel 14:27,) but it appears by this they were all now dead, or if any one of them was alive, he thought him unfit and unworthy to keep up his name and honour; and it was a remarkable dispensation of divine providence, that he, who struck at his father’s life, should be punished with the death of all his sons. It is called unto this day, &c. — That is, unto the time when this book was compiled. Indeed, to this day there is a monument, shown to travellers, called Absalom’s Pillar; but it is evidently of modern structure. In the time of Josephus, it was nothing more than a single marble pillar. Absalom’s Place — Hebrew, Absalom’s hand, that is, his work; made, though not by his hand, yet for him and his glory, and by his appointment. But this work of vanity soon became a memorial of reproach. “Strange power of guilt,” says Delaney, “which can, in one moment, turn all the devices of vanity, all the memorials of excellence, all the securities of fame, into monuments of infamy.”

18. A pillar — A monumental column inscribed with his own name. King’s dale — Supposed by some to be the lower part of the Kidron valley, near the pool of Siloam. See at Genesis 14:17. No son — The three sons mentioned (2 Samuel 14:27) seem to have died in childhood, and their names were never registered. Called unto this day, Absalom’s place — That is, at the time of the writer the pillar was yet standing and its history known. There still stands in the Kidron valley a monument bearing this name. It is an isolated block hewn out of the rocky ledge, twenty-four feet square and forty in height. Most travellers have decided, with Robinson, that its style of architecture shows the work of a later age than that of Absalom; but some are inclined to identify it with the ancient pillar.

Verses 19, 20. Let me now run — Ahimaaz wished to be made the messenger of this good success to the king; but Joab, who loved him, and knew how disagreeable the account of Absalom’s death would be to David, refused to let him be the bearer of such unwelcome news. Thou shalt bear no tidings, because the king’s son is dead — Thou shalt not be a messenger of evil tidings; they will be unwelcome to the king, and procure no good to thee.

19. Then said Ahimaaz — This son of the high priest had already performed valuable service as messenger for the king, (2 Samuel 15:36; 17:21,) and thereby he had gained the confidence and esteem of David. Verse 27. He was also swift of foot, and had a burning desire to be first in bearing the tidings of this victory to Mahanaim.

Verses 19, 20. Let me now run — Ahimaaz wished to be made the messenger of this good success to the king; but Joab, who loved him, and knew how disagreeable the account of Absalom’s death would be to David, refused to let him be the bearer of such unwelcome news. Thou shalt bear no tidings, because the king’s son is dead — Thou shalt not be a messenger of evil tidings; they will be unwelcome to the king, and procure no good to thee.

THE BATTLE IN THE WOOD OF EPHRAIM, AND DEATH OF ABSALOM, 1-33.

1. Numbered the people — Josephus says he found them to be about four thousand. Others have inferred, from verse 3, that they were ten thousand. Many had probably rallied to his standard at Mahanaim.

Verse 21. Tell the king what thou hast seen] At this time the death of Absalom was not publicly known; but Joab had given Cushi private information of it. This Ahimaaz had not, for he could not tell the king whether Absalom were dead. To this Joab seems to refer, 2 Samuel 18:22: “Thou hast no tidings ready.”

21. Cushi — Supposed by some to have been an Ethiopian slave in the service of Joab. What thou hast seen — He was probably among those ten young men (verse 15) that smote Absalom.

Verse 22. Wherefore wilt thou run, my son? — So he terms him, both with respect to his younger years, and to that true and tender affection which he had for him. Seeing thou hast no tidings ready — Art not acquainted with the particulars of the fight, of which I have not time to inform thee.

22. Wherefore wilt thou run — According to Josephus, Joab opposed Ahimaaz in his desire to bear the tidings to the king, because he had always before borne good news, and now he knew that it would greatly offend and afflict David to inform him of the death of his son. My son — An address of affectionate tenderness. Compare Joshua 7:19. Thou hast no tidings ready — No good tidings, such as thou art wont to bear and receive a reward for. Furst renders: And the tidings are not profitable unto thee; that is, will not obtain for thee a reward. Perhaps his greatest desire in bearing the tidings was to obtain a reward.

23. Ran by the way of the plain — He seems to have understood the routes better than Cushi, and also to have been a swifter runner. What plain is here intended is not clear. If the Jordan valley is meant, then the wood of Ephraim must have been somewhere near the river. See note on verse 6.

V. 24. Gates-For the gates of the cities then were, as now they are, large and thick; and for the greater security, had two gates, one more outward, the other inward. Here he sat, that he might hear tidings when any came into the city.

Verse 24. David sat between the two gates] He was probably in the seat of justice. Before the gate of the city it is supposed there was an enclosure, which had its gate also; David sat in the space between these two doors. Over the larger gate there appears to have been a turret, on which a sentinel or watchman stood continually, and gave information of what he saw in the country.

Verse 24. David sat between the two gates — It is probable the gates of cities then were, as they now generally are, large and thick, and that, for greater security, they had two gates, one more outward, and the other inward. Here the king sat, that he might hear tidings as soon as they came to the city.

24. Sat between the two gates — The city of Mahanaim seems to have been enclosed by a double wall, and its main entrance guarded by two gates, an outer and an inner one, between which was a sort of court. The roof over the gate unto the wall — The top of one of the towers of the outer gate. The outer gate of fortified cities was usually surmounted by a tower, in which chambers were often built. The top was a suitable station for a watchman. Such towers were also built into the city walls at various places.

Verse 25. If he be alone, there is tidings] That is, good tidings. For if the battle had been lost men would have been running in different directions through the country.

Verse 25. If he be alone, there are tidings in his mouth — He is sent with some special message, which was a very probable conjecture, and that he brought good news; for if he had run, or fled from the enemy, many others would have followed him.

25. If he be alone, there is tidings — For if many had been running together it would have indicated a flight.

26. The porter — The gate keeper.

Verses 27-29. He is a good man, and cometh with good tidings — He is true to my interest, and loves me well, and therefore would not afflict me with evil tidings. Blessed be the Lord thy God, which hath delivered. &c. — Like a truly religious man, he ascribes the victory which they had obtained unto the Lord; who still showed his mercy unto David, and continued to be his God and benefactor. Is the young man Absalom safe? — David is so much a father that he forgets he is a king; and therefore cannot rejoice in the news of victory till he knows whether his son be safe; for whom his heart trembled, almost as much as Eli’s, in a like case, for the ark of God. Ahimaaz answered, When Joab sent the king’s servant — That is, Cushi, who appears by this to have been one belonging to the court; I saw a great tumult, but I knew not what it was — He dissembled his knowledge of Absalom’s death; and perhaps in this said true, that he did not know the particular manner of it; though it appears plainly from verse 20, that he knew he was dead. The king, doubtless, apprehended the worst, and he was thus, in some degree, prepared for the afflictive information Cushi was to give him.

27. Methinketh — Rather, as the margin, I see the running of the foremost, etc. The swift-footed Ahimaaz was well known for his fleetness. He is a good man — One of the most valuable and cheering of all the tidings David ever received was borne by this messenger, (comp. 2 Samuel 15:31, 34, and 17:14-17,) and this fact made Ahimaaz to be loved by him.

Verses 27-29. He is a good man, and cometh with good tidings — He is true to my interest, and loves me well, and therefore would not afflict me with evil tidings. Blessed be the Lord thy God, which hath delivered. &c. — Like a truly religious man, he ascribes the victory which they had obtained unto the Lord; who still showed his mercy unto David, and continued to be his God and benefactor. Is the young man Absalom safe? — David is so much a father that he forgets he is a king; and therefore cannot rejoice in the news of victory till he knows whether his son be safe; for whom his heart trembled, almost as much as Eli’s, in a like case, for the ark of God. Ahimaaz answered, When Joab sent the king’s servant — That is, Cushi, who appears by this to have been one belonging to the court; I saw a great tumult, but I knew not what it was — He dissembled his knowledge of Absalom’s death; and perhaps in this said true, that he did not know the particular manner of it; though it appears plainly from verse 20, that he knew he was dead. The king, doubtless, apprehended the worst, and he was thus, in some degree, prepared for the afflictive information Cushi was to give him.

28. All is well — µwlv, Peace. Equivalent to Hail! Blessed be the Lord — Observe the indirect way in which the tidings are announced.

Verse 29. I saw a great tumult] It was very probable that Ahimaaz did not know of the death of Absalom; he had seen the rout of his army, but did not know of his death. Others think he knew all, and told this untruth that he might not be the messenger of bad news to David.

Verses 27-29. He is a good man, and cometh with good tidings — He is true to my interest, and loves me well, and therefore would not afflict me with evil tidings. Blessed be the Lord thy God, which hath delivered. &c. — Like a truly religious man, he ascribes the victory which they had obtained unto the Lord; who still showed his mercy unto David, and continued to be his God and benefactor. Is the young man Absalom safe? — David is so much a father that he forgets he is a king; and therefore cannot rejoice in the news of victory till he knows whether his son be safe; for whom his heart trembled, almost as much as Eli’s, in a like case, for the ark of God. Ahimaaz answered, When Joab sent the king’s servant — That is, Cushi, who appears by this to have been one belonging to the court; I saw a great tumult, but I knew not what it was — He dissembled his knowledge of Absalom’s death; and perhaps in this said true, that he did not know the particular manner of it; though it appears plainly from verse 20, that he knew he was dead. The king, doubtless, apprehended the worst, and he was thus, in some degree, prepared for the afflictive information Cushi was to give him.

29. The king’s servant — Cushi, who was now close by. I saw a great tumult, but I knew not what it was — He knew the king’s son was dead, for Joab had told him, (verse 20;) but knowing the tenderness of David for Absalom, he would not be the herald of sad news to him. Josephus states that Ahimaaz obtained leave of Joab to run to David by assuring him that he would relate only the victory of his army, and not the death of Absalom.

Verse 30. Stand here.] He intended to confront two messengers, and compare their accounts.

THE BATTLE IN THE WOOD OF EPHRAIM, AND DEATH OF ABSALOM, 1-33.

1. Numbered the people — Josephus says he found them to be about four thousand. Others have inferred, from verse 3, that they were ten thousand. Many had probably rallied to his standard at Mahanaim.

THE BATTLE IN THE WOOD OF EPHRAIM, AND DEATH OF ABSALOM, 1-33.

1. Numbered the people — Josephus says he found them to be about four thousand. Others have inferred, from verse 3, that they were ten thousand. Many had probably rallied to his standard at Mahanaim.

Verse 32. Is the young man Absalom safe?] This was the utmost of his solicitude, and it well merited the reproof which Joab gave him, 2 Samuel 19:5.

Verses 32, 33. The enemies of my Lord the king be as that young man is — A decent way this of informing him that Absalom was dead. And the king was much moved — So that we do not find he made any inquiry concerning the manner of his death, or any of the particulars of the victory. And went up to the chamber over the gate — That he might, in private, give vent to his distress; yet he could not refrain from tears and lamentations, even till he got thither; but was heard crying out as he went, O my son Absalom! my son, my son Absalom! would God I had died for thee, O Absalom, my son, my son! — Words most passionate, and dictated by his excessive love to Absalom, and grief for his death; which made him vent himself in expressions which were very inconsiderate, especially in wishing he had died for him. “The king’s command to spare Absalom,” says Delaney, “was an extraordinary instance of mercy, equalled only in Him who, dying, prayed for his murderers; yet it is to be accounted for from his fatherly fondness, and the benignity of his nature. But there is something astonishing in this excess of grief for such a reprobate; and I confess it is to me utterly unaccountable from any other principle than the sad and shocking reflection of his having died with all his sins upon his head, and gone down quick to perdition.” Certainly a deep sense of Absalom’s eternal state, as dying in his sins, together with the consideration, that David himself by his sins had been the occasion of his death, might be the principal cause of the excessive sorrow which he felt, and thus expressed.

THE BATTLE IN THE WOOD OF EPHRAIM, AND DEATH OF ABSALOM, 1-33.

1. Numbered the people — Josephus says he found them to be about four thousand. Others have inferred, from verse 3, that they were ten thousand. Many had probably rallied to his standard at Mahanaim.

V. 33. Over the gate-Retiring himself from all men and business, that he might wholly give up himself to lamentation. My son-This he might speak from a deep sense of his eternal state, because he died in his sins, and because David himself had by his own sins been the occasion of his death. But it seems rather to be the effect of strong passion, causing him to speak unadvisedly with his lips.

Verse 33. O my son Absalom] It is allowed by the most able critics that this lamentation is exceedingly pathetic. In what order the words were pronounced, for much depends on this, we cannot say. Perhaps it was the following:—

בני אבשלום בני

Beni Abshalom, beni!

My son Absalom! O my son!

אבשלום בני

Beni Abshalom!

O my son Absalom!

Ëytjt אני ytwm יתנ ym

Mi yitten muthi ani thachteicha.

O that I had died in thy stead!

בני בני אבשלום

Abshalom, beni! beni!

O Absalom, my son, my son!

Is there no hope for the soul of this profligate young man? He died in his iniquity: but is it not possible that he implored the mercy of his Maker while he hung in the tree? And is it not possible that the mercy of God was extended to him? And was not that suspension a respite, to the end that he might have time to deprecate the wrath of Divine justice? This is at least a charitable conjecture, and humanity will delight in such a case to lay hold even on possibilities. If there be any room for hope in such a death, who that knows the worth of an immortal soul, would not wish to indulge in it?

II SAMUEL

Verses 32, 33. The enemies of my Lord the king be as that young man is — A decent way this of informing him that Absalom was dead. And the king was much moved — So that we do not find he made any inquiry concerning the manner of his death, or any of the particulars of the victory. And went up to the chamber over the gate — That he might, in private, give vent to his distress; yet he could not refrain from tears and lamentations, even till he got thither; but was heard crying out as he went, O my son Absalom! my son, my son Absalom! would God I had died for thee, O Absalom, my son, my son! — Words most passionate, and dictated by his excessive love to Absalom, and grief for his death; which made him vent himself in expressions which were very inconsiderate, especially in wishing he had died for him. “The king’s command to spare Absalom,” says Delaney, “was an extraordinary instance of mercy, equalled only in Him who, dying, prayed for his murderers; yet it is to be accounted for from his fatherly fondness, and the benignity of his nature. But there is something astonishing in this excess of grief for such a reprobate; and I confess it is to me utterly unaccountable from any other principle than the sad and shocking reflection of his having died with all his sins upon his head, and gone down quick to perdition.” Certainly a deep sense of Absalom’s eternal state, as dying in his sins, together with the consideration, that David himself by his sins had been the occasion of his death, might be the principal cause of the excessive sorrow which he felt, and thus expressed.

33. The chamber over the gate — An apartment in the upper part of the tower of one of the gates. O my son Absalom — This lamentation is the most touchingly pathetic of all David’s elegies, and it sprung from the deepest depths of his heart. One hardly knows which most to wonder at, the excessive tenderness of the father, or the pitiable weakness of the king. In the life and death of Absalom we have a picture of the fast young man. At an early period of his life a bitter hatred towards his brother soon ends in impious fratricide, and a soul thus passionate and rash can easily find its way to the crimes of an incendiary. 2 Samuel 14:30. Excessively vain, he loves to display his beauty, and have his praises spoken of in Israel; and this path of vainglory leads him rapidly on to an ostentatious prodigality that affects regal pomp and splendour, (2 Samuel 15:1,) and even erects a pillar to perpetuate his name. For a youth thus reckless and headstrong it was no difficult matter to plot treason, (even against a father’s throne,) seduce the people, betray the innocent, and commit the most shameful incest. Such abandoned characters are sure to meet with a miserable end.