Bible Commentaries

3. The Civil War

2 Samuel 17:24 to 2 Samuel 18:33 [ 2 Samuel 19:1]

a. David at Mahanaim. 2 Samuel 17:24-29

24Then [And] David came to Mahanaim. And Absalom passed over Jordan, he and all the men of Israel with him 25 And Absalom made Amasa captain of the host instead of Joab, which [and] Amasa was a man’s Song of Solomon,¹³ whose name was Ithra, an Israelite [the Ishmaelite], that went in to Abigail the daughter of Nahash, sister 26 to Zeruiah, Joab’s mother. So [And] Israel and Absalom pitched in the land of Gilead 27 And it came to pass, when David was come to Mahanaim, that Shobi the son of Nahash of Rabbah of the children of Ammon, and Machir the son of 28 Ammiel of Lo-debar, and Barzillai the Gileadite of Rogelim, Brought¹⁴ beds, and basons, and earthen vessels, and wheat, and barley, and flour, and parched corn, and beans, and lentiles, and parched pulse [corn], 29And honey, and butter [curds], and sheep, and cheese of kine, for David, and for the people that were with him, to eat; for they said, The people is [got¹⁵] hungry, and weary, and thirsty in the wilderness.

b. The battle in the forest of Ephraim. 2 Samuel 18:1-8

1And David numbered [mustered] the people that were with him, and set captains of thousands and captains of hundreds over them 2 And David sent forth [gave¹] a third part of the people under [into4] the hand of Joab, and a third part under [into] the hand of Abishai the son of Zeruiah, Joab’s brother, and a third part under [into] the hand of Ittai the Gittite. And the king said unto the people, 3I will surely [om. surely] go forth with you myself also. But [And] the people answered [said], Thou shalt not go forth; for if we flee away, they will not care for [pay attention to²] us; neither [and] if half of us die, will they care for us [they will not pay attention to us]; but now thou [for thou5] art worth ten thousand of us; therefore [and] now it is better that thou succour us out of the city 4 And the king said unto them, What seemeth you best I will do. And the king stood by the gate-side, and all the people came out [went forth] 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 [om. even with] Absalom. And all the people 6 heard when the king gave all the captains charge concerning Absalom. So [And] the people went out into the field against Israel; and the battle was [or, took place] 7in the wood of Ephraim. Where [And] the people of Israel were slain [smitten there] before the servants of David, and there was there³ a great slaughter that day 8 of twenty thousand men. For [And] the battle was there scattered over the face of all the country; and the wood devoured more people that day than the sword devoured.

c. Absalom murdered by Joab. 2 Samuel 18:9-18

9And Absalom met⁴ the servants of David. And Absalom rode [was riding] upon a [the] mule, and the mule went under the thick boughs of a [the] great oak [terebinth], and his head caught hold of the oak [terebinth], and he was taken up between the heaven and the earth, and the mule that was under him went away10[passed on]. And a certain man saw it, and told Joab, and said, Behold, I saw Absalom hanged in an oak [the terebinth]. And Joab said unto the man that told 11 him, And behold, thou sawest him, and why didst thou not smite him there to the ground? and I would have given thee ten shekels [pieces] of silver, and a girdle 12 And the man said unto Joab, Though⁵ I should receive a thousand shekels [pieces] of silver in mine hand, yet would I not put forth my hand against the king’s son; for in our hearing the king charged thee and Abishai and Ittai, saying, Beware 13 that none touch the young man Absalom. Otherwise⁶ I should have wrought falsehood against mine own life; for there is no matter hid from the king, and thou thyself wouldest have set thyself against me. 14Then said Joab [And Joab said], I may not tarry thus with thee. And he took three darts⁷ in his hand, and thrust them through [into] the heart of Absalom, while he was yet alive in the midst of the oak [terebinth]. 15And ten young men that bare Joab’s armour compassed about and smote Absalom, and slew him 16 And Joab blew the trumpet, and the people 17 returned from pursuing after Israel, for Joab held back⁸ the people. And⁹ they took Absalom, and cast him into a [the] great pit in the wood, and laid a very great 18 heap of stones upon him; and all Israel fled, every one to his tent. Now [And] Absalom in his lifetime had taken and reared up for himself a [the] pillar,¹⁰ which is in the king’s dale; for he said, I have no son to keep my name in remembrance; and he called the pillar after his own name, and it is called unto this day, Absalom’s place [monument].

d. The tidings of joy and grief. David’s lament over Absalom. 2 Samuel 17:19-29 [ 2 Samuel 19:1]

19Then said Ahimaaz, the son of Zadok [And Ahimaaz the son of Zadok said], Let me now run, and bear the king tidings how [om. how] that the Lord [Jehovah] hath avenged [delivered] him of [from] his enemies 20 And Joab said unto him, Thou shalt not bear tidings this day, but thou shalt bear tidings another day; but this day thou shalt bear no tidings, because¹¹ the king’s son is dead 21 Then said Joab to Cushi [And Joab said to the Cushite], Go, tell the king what thou hast seen. And Cushi [the Cushite] bowed himself unto Joab and ran 22 Then said Ahimaaz the son of Zadok [And Ahimaaz the son of Zadok said] yet again to Joab, But, however, let me, I pray thee, also run after Cushi [the Cushite]. And Joab said, Wherefore wilt thou run, my Song of Solomon, seeing that thou hast no tidings ready.¹² 23But howsoever, said he,¹³ let me run. And he said unto him, Run. Then [And] Ahimaaz ran by the way of the plain, and overran Cushi [the Cushite].

24And David sat [was sitting] between the two gates; and the watchman went up to the roof over [of] the gate unto the wall, and lifted up his eyes, and looked25[saw], and behold a man running alone. And the watchman cried [called] and told the king. And the king said, If he be alone, there is tidings in his mouth. And he came apace and drew near [he came nearer and nearer]. 26And the watchman saw another man running; and the watchman called unto the porter,¹⁴ and said, Behold, another [om. another, ins. a] man running alone. And the king said, He also bringeth tidings 27 And the watchman said, Methinketh the running of the foremost is like the running of Ahimaaz the son of Zadok. And the king said, He is a good man, and cometh with good tidings 28 And Ahimaaz called, and said unto the king, All is well [Peace!] And he fell down to the earth upon his face before the king, and said, Blessed be the Lord [Jehovah] thy God, which hath 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 [said] When Joab sent the king’s servant and me [om. the king’s servant and me¹⁵] thy servant, I saw a great tumult, but I knew not what it was. 30And the king said unto him [om. unto him], Turn aside, and stand here. And he turned aside and stood still 31 And behold, Cushi [the Cushite] came; and Cushi [the Cushite] said, Tidings, my lord the king, for the Lord [Let my lord the king receive the tidings that Jehovah] hath avenged [delivered] thee this day of [from] all them that rose up against thee 32 And the king said unto Cushi [the Cushite], Is the young man Absalom safe? And Cushi answered [the Cushite said], The enemies of my lord the king, and all that rise against thee to do thee hurt [for evil] be as that [the] young man is [om. is]. 19:1]. 33And 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 Song of Solomon, my son Absalom! would God [O that] I had died for thee, O Absalom, my Song of Solomon, my son!

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL

a. 2 Samuel 17:24-29. David at Mahanaim

[A well-provisioned country, friendly to David (Bib-Com.).—Tr.]—Absalom’s passage over the Jordan took place when he had had time to gather (according to Hushai’s counsel) “all the men of Israel,” that is, all the military force of the country (comp. 2 Samuel 17:11 sq.). 2 Samuel 17:25. Whether Amasa, appointed by Absalom captain in place of Joab (who remained faithful to David), is the same with the Amasai of 1 Chronicles 12:17-18 (Ewald, Bertheau), must be left undetermined. “If this conjecture were correct, the man, so cordially received by David ( 1 Chronicles 12:17), would have committed grave wrong in attaching himself to Absalom” (Then.). Elsewhere the phrase “son of a man (or woman)” is defined by a following appositional word or genitive (Böttcher); but here the defining phrase is introduced by “and” [“and his name was Ithra”], so that we have the independent assertion: “son of a man,” which is meaningless. Perhaps the text originally had: “whose name was” (אֲשֶׁר שְׁמוֹ), and the relative pronoun has fallen out (from the following אשׁר). Böttcher conjectures that “foreigner” (גֵר) stood after “ man,” comp. 2 Samuel 1:13 [it would then read: “Amasa was the son of a foreigner, and his name was Ithra.”—Tr.].—With this would agree that Ithra was an Ishmaelite, for so we must here read instead of “Israelite,” after 1 Chronicles 2:17, where Jether is shortened form of Ithra (Sept.: “the Jezreelite,” Joshua 19:18, so David’s wife Ahinoam, 1 Samuel 28:3). The designation of Ithra as an “Israelite” would be superfluous; but the statement that he was an “Ishmaelite” serves to illustrate the fact that Amasa was an illegitimate son of Abigail. If Nahash be taken as a man’s name, and the word “sister” in apposition with Abigail, then Zeruiah and Abigail are daughters of David’s mother by her first marriage with Nahash, step-daughters of Jesse, and on this side step-sisters of David (so the older expositors, Michaelis and Schultz). But Nahash may, with Movers and Thenius (who refers to 1 Chronicles 4:12, where it is the name of a city), be taken as a woman’s name, here a second wife of Jesse. In this case also the two, Zeruiah and Abigail, would be David’s step-sisters. Clericus supposes Nahash to be another name, or a surname of Jesse; Capellus would read “Jesse” instead of “Nahash” (after a variant of the Sept.); Böttcher puts “sister” in apposition with “Nahash,” which he regards as a woman’s name. [It is an old Jewish view that Nahash is another name of Jesse. For many persons, says Kimchi, had two names, and this (Nahash) signifies “a serpent.” From whence it is that when Isaiah ( 2 Samuel 14:29) saith: “out of the serpent’s root (or, the root of Nahash) shall come forth a cockatrice or basilisk,” the Chaldee paraphrase expounds it, “out of the root of Jesse shall come forth the Messiah;” who was typified by the brazen serpent in the wilderness (Patrick). This would be baseless allegorizing, even if Nahash were proved to be another name of Jesse, which is not probable. The omission of the name Nahash in 1 Chronicles 2:16 is against the view that it belongs to a daughter of Jesse; more probably it is the name of the otherwise unknown father of Abigail. See “Text. and Gram.”—Tr.]

2 Samuel 17:26. Absalom pitched his camp in Gilead. Nothing is said of a siege (Ewald) of Mahanaim. Against this view is the fact that David, as appears from what follows, here got supplies of men and provisions, formed an army, and organized it in three divisions, which required time. It is hence evident that David was able to establish himself strongly at Mahanaim without being attacked by Absalom’s army.

2 Samuel 17:27-29. David receives reinforcements and provisions. Shobi, the son of Nahash, from Rabbah, the capital of the Ammonites; this last statement “guards against the possible error that Shobi was a brother of Abigail” (Thenius). Rabbah, on the lower Jabbok ( 2 Samuel 12:26-31), belonged to David’s empire, and now remained true to him. Shobi, if not an Israelite, was perhaps a son of the deceased Ammonite king Nahash and brother of the Hanun ( 2 Samuel 10:1 sqq.) conquered by David (Keil), or a member of the royal house of Ammon favored by David (Ewald). [Shobi was hardly tributary king of Ammon (Bib-Com.), else he would have been called king.—Tr.]—Machir, son of Ammiel of Lodebar, who had received Jonathan’s lame son Mephibosheth into his house ( 2 Samuel 9:4).—Barzillai, a Gileadite of Rogelim, an otherwise unknown place, mentioned besides here only in 2 Samuel 19:32. The Sept. (alone among the ancient versions) inserts “ten” before “beds” and before “basons;” but this does not agree with the connection, since the articles mentioned were brought by several persons for “the people” ( 2 Samuel 17:29), and therefore certainly in considerable quantities. Ten would have been too few for David’s “court and army” (Ew.); the insertion of this number in the Sept. was perhaps suggested by 1 Samuel 17:17-18. Whether they were “fine mattress-beds” (Ew.) must be left undecided. “Basons,” metallic vessels for preparing food. “Parched food” (קָלִי), comp. 1 Samuel 17:17. As not only corn-grains, but also pulse-beans were roasted (Bochart, Hier. II:582, Harmar, Beobacht. I:255 sq.), the second word may refer to pulse, of which, as well as of corn, two kinds are named; and therefore the omission of the second (קלי) as an error (Sept, Syr, Arab.) is unnecessary [Eng. A. V. retains it, and renders: “parched pulse”]. The last term in the list (שְׁפוֹת נָּקָר) is variously translated; Vulg.: “fat calves;” Theod.: “sucking calves;” Chald, Syr, Rabbin.: “cheese of kine (cows)” [so Eng. A. V.]. The last sense agrees better with the preceding words [Eng. A. V. incorrectly: “butter”]; the first sense accords with the “sheep” (small cattle). Sept. transfers the Heb. word: “saphoth of oxen.” The meaning of the Heb. phrase is doubtful. The verb in this sentence (“brought”) stands strangely and unnaturally after the long list of articles; it is therefore better, with Sept, Vulg, Syr, Arab, to supply a verb-form (partcp.) at the beginning of 2 Samuel 17:28, and then to insert “and” before the verb in 2 Samuel 17:29 : “they brought beds, etc., and gave them to David.” [Eng. A. V. simply transfers the verb to the beginning of 2 Samuel 17:28. On the reading see “Text. and Gram.” Patrick calls attention to the food of the times (only one sort of meat) as indicated by the list in 2 Samuel 17:28-29, and Bib-Com. remarks that God’s care for David was evident in the kindness of these people.—Tr.]

For the HISTORICAL AND THEOLOGICAL and HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL sections, see 1 Samuel 18:1 ff.

Footnotes