&c. or 4341.

or 1070.

A. M. 2949, ligence of all this, thought it not safe for him to continue any longer in Jerusalem †, Ant. Chris. but, leaving the place with a design to retire beyond Jordan, he was attended by his 1055, &c. guards, his best troops, and principal friends. Zadok and Abiathar the priests, understanding that the king was departed from Jerusalem, brought the ark of the covenant to accompany him in his distress; but +2 he desired them to carry it back, and to continue in Jerusalem, because they might be of use to gain him intelligence of the enemies motions and designs, and their character was too sacred to fear any violence from the usurper. Hushai, +3 the Archite, his faithful friend and counsellor, came likewise to attend him, and with all expressions of sorrow, to see his royal master in such distress, offered to share his fortune: But David enjoined him to return, and told him, that he would be more serviceable to him in the city, by pretending to adhere to Absalom, and by defeating the counsels of Ahitophel, who, as he understood for certainty, was tengaged in his son's measures, and whose great abilities (which the king was not unacquainted with) gave him no small uneasiness.

David had scarce passed over Mount Olivet, which lies to the east of Jerusalem, when Ziba, whom he had made steward to Mephibosheth his friend Jonathan's son, came and

gines, viz. That neither Absalom, nor the elders of
Israel, nor the rest of the people who were misled by
them, had any intention to divest David of his crown
and dignity, much less to take away his life; but on-
ly to substitute Absalom, as coadjutor to him, for the
execution of the royal authority during his life-time,
and to be his successor after his death. For, as it
would have been monstrously wicked in Absalom to
have designed the destruction of so kind a father, so
it is hard to conceive, how he could have gained to
his party such a multitude of abettors in so villain-
ous an interprise. This however we may observe,
that David looked upon their proceedings (2 Sam.
xv. 14. and xvi. 11.) as an attempt upon his life; and
that (whatever their first intentions were) they came
at last to a resolution to have him killed, to make
way for their own better security: which may be a
sufficient warning to all men, never to begin any
thing that is wrong, for fear that it should lead them
to the commission of that which they at first abhor-
red, when they find they cannot be safe in one wick-
edness without perpetrating a greater. Calmet's and
Patrick's Commentaries.

+ Though the fort of Sion was very strong and im-
pregnable, yet there are several reasons which might
induce David to quit Jerusalem. He had not laid in
provisions for a long siege, nor was Jerusalem in
every part of it defensible; and if Absalom had once
taken it, as it was the capital, he would soon have
been master of the whole kingdom. There was some
reason to suspect likewise, that the inhabitants were
faulty, and so much addicted to the contrary party,
that had he stood a siege, and been reduced to straits,
they might possibly deliver him up, to Absalom. Nor
was the preservation of the city itself, which David
had beautified and adorned with a fine and stately
palace, and where God had appointed to put his name
and worship, the least part of his concern; and there-
fore he thought it more conducive to his interest in
all respects, rather than be cooped up in a place
which he desired to preserve from being the seat of
war, to march abroad into the country, where he

might probably raise a considerable army, both for his own defence, and the suppression of the rebels. Pool's Annotations.

This he might do for several reasons; for either he might think it not decent to have the ark wander about with him he knew not whither, and to expose it to all the hazards and inconveniences which he himself was like to undergo; or he might suppose, that this would be a means to expose the priests to the violence of Absalom's rage, (as he had before exposed them to Saul's fury upon another occasion), if God, in his judgment, should permit him to prevail; or this might look as a distrust of the Divine goodness, and that he placed more confidence in the token of God's presence than he did in God himself, who had preserved him in the long persecution of Saul, when he had no ark with him. But what seems the chief reason at that time for his sending back the ark, was,-That the priests and Levites, (of whose fidelity he was sufficiently satisfied) by giving him intelligence of the enemies motions, might do him more service in Jerusalem than they could do in his camp.

Pool's Annotations.

+3 This man might be of the ancient race of the Archites, descendants from Canaan, of whom Moses speaks, Gen. x. 17. but since the name of these ancient people is differently written, I should rather think that this additional name was given him from the place of his nativity, viz. Archi, a town situated on the frontiers of Benjamin and Ephraim, to the west of Bethel, Josh. xvi. 2.

+ The Jews are of opinion that Ahitophel was incensed against David, and therefore ready to go over to the adverse party, because he had abused Bathsheba, whom they take to have been his grand-daughter, because she was the daughter of Eliam, 2 Sam. xi. 3. and Ahitophel had a son of that name, 2 Sam. xxiii. 34. for this reason they imagine that he advised Absalom to lie with his father's concubines, that he might be repaid in kind; though the Scripture assigns another, viz. that he and his father might thereby become irreconcileable enemies. Pool's Annotations.

presented him with a considerable quantity of wine, and other provisions; but upon From 2 Sam. the king's enquiring for his master, who he thought above all men, in point of gratitude, i to xix. should have kept firm to his interest, the perfidious wretch accused him of staying behind in Jerusalem, in hopes that himself might be made king; and the too credulous king, in this general distraction of his affairs, believing the accusation to be true, made an hasty grant of all Mephibosheth's estate to this base servant and treacherous sycophant.

As David drew near to Bahurim, a city in the tribe of Benjamin, † one Shimei, a descendant from the family of Saul, and who dwelt in that place, came out and threw stones at him, and, in the hearing of the whole company, loaded him with the bitterest reproaches and execrations, so that Abishai desired leave of the king to go and dispatch the insolent rebel: But by no means would the king permit him, but bore all with an admirable patience +2 and resignation to the will of God, as being conscious of his own guilt in the case of Uriah, and of the Divine justice in thus afflicing him.

While David continued at Bahurim, Absalom and his party entering Jerusalem, were received with the general acclamations of the people, and Hushai, not forgetful of the king's instructions, went to compliment him, and offered him his service. Absalom knew that he was his father's intimate friend and counsellor, and therefore bantered him at first upon his pretending to desert his old master; but Hushai †3 excused himself in such a manner, and answered all his questions with that subtilty, that he passed upon the prince for a worthy friend, and accordingly was received into his privy

council.

A council was presently called, wherein Ahitophel, who was president, and stood highest in Absalom's esteem, spake first; and the two chief things which he advised him to do, were, first to place a tent on the top of the palace, (for by this time he had taken possession of his father's palace), and to lie publicly with his father's concubines,

And yet the text tells us, it was but one bottle: But what we render bottle, was in those times a bag, or vessel made of leather, which might contain a great deal of wine; because we cannot suppose but that the liquor was proportionate to the rest of the present. Patrick's Commentary.

+ Whether this man had been a personal sufferer in the fall of Saul's family, or what else had exasperated him against David, it no where appears; but it seems as if he had conceived some very heinous offence against him, when neither the presence of a king, nor the terror of his guards, could restrain him from throwing stones and bitter speeches at him: And it looks as if the king were fallen into the utmost contempt, when one private man could think of venting his malice at him, in so gross a manner, with impunity. Howell's History, in the Notes.

The words of David upon this occasion are, "So let him curse, because the Lord hath said unto him, curse David: Let him alone, let him curse, for the Lord hath bidden him;" not that God commanded it by his word, for that severely forbids cursing, Exod. xxii. 28, nor moved him to it by his Spirit, for neither was that possible, because "God tempteth no man," James i. 13. But the meaning is, that the secret Providence of God did over-rule, and determine him so to do, i. e. God did not put any wickedness into Shimei's heart, (for he had of himself an heart full of malignity and venom against David), but only left him to his own wickedness; took away that com

mon prudence which would have restrained him from
so dangerous an action; directed his malice, that it
should be exercised against David, rather than any
other man; and brought him into so distressed a con- .
dition, that he might seem a proper object of his
scorn and contempt, which is enough to justify the
expression, "The Lord hath bidden him;" in the
same manner that we read of " his commanding the ra-
vens," 1 Kings xvii. 4. and sometimes inanimate crea-
tures, Psal. cxlvii. 15. 18. The short is, David look-
ed upon Shimei as an instrument in God's hands, and
therefore took all his abuses patiently, out of a con-
sciousness of his sinfulness, and a reverence to that
Deity, who had brought him so low as to deserve
the insults of this vile Benjamite. Pool's Annota-
tions.

+3 The manner in which Josephus makes Hushai
answer Absalom is artful enough, though hardly be-
coming an honest man. "There is no contending
(says he) with the will of God, and the consent of the
people; and so long as you have them on your side,
you may be secure of my fidelity. It is from God
that you have received your kingdom; and if you can
think me worthy of a place in the number of those
you will vouchsafe to own, you shall find me as true
to yourself as ever I was to your father. No man is
to account the present state of things uneasy, so long
as the government continues in the same line, and a
son of the same family succeeds to the throne.”
Jewish Antiq. lib. vii. c. 8.

Ant. Christ.

or 1070.

A. M. 2919, that all the soldiers might see, and conclude that, after such an indignity, there could &c. or 4341 be no hopes of a reconciliation, and thereby be incited to fight more desperately to se1055, &c. cure him in the possession of the throne. This advice was suitable perhaps to the young man's vicious inclinations, and therefore he delayed not to put it in execution : But, as for the second thing which Ahitophel proposed, viz. "To take twelve thousand choice men, and pursue after David that * very night, and to fall upon his guards, which were fatigued with their march, and unable to make resistance, and so surprise the king and kill him," he desired to consult Hushai herein; who, seeming not to slight Ahitophel's proposal, advised rather to delay the attempt until he had got all the forces of the kingdom together. "For as David and his men were known to be brave, and at that time both † exasperated and desperate, in case they should worst the party sent against them, this would be a means to discourage others, and be thought a very inauspicious beginning: whereas, if they staid till a numerous army were come together, they might be assured of victory." Absalom and the rest of the council approved of this last advice, and Hushai immediately dispatched two messengers to David, acquainting him with what had passed in council, and advising him instantly to pass the Jordan, lest Absalom should change his mind, and come and fall upon him on a sudden.

The messengers, as they were making the best of their way, happened to meet some of Absalom's party, but had the good fortune to conceal themselves in a well, until their pursuers were returned; and then proceeding on their journey, came and delivered their dispatches to the king, who decamped by break of day, passed the Jordan, and came to Mahanaim, a city of Gilead, where he was kindly received. As soon as Ahitophel heard that David was out of danger, either taking it amiss that his counsel was slighted, or perceiving, by Absalom's weak conduct, that things were not likely to succeed, and he consequently *2 liable to be exposed to David's hottest indignation, for the

It is a wise observation in Tacitus, "Nihil in discordiis civilibus festinatione lætius, ubi facto, potius quam consulto opus est:" Ahitophel therefore thought it highly necessary to make dispatch upon this occasion; because he knew, that if he should give the people, that had revolted from their allegiance, leisure to think of what they were doing against their lawful prince, he would give that prince time to raise some regular troops, and those that were about him space to recover from their first fright; Absalom's party would dwindle into nothing, and David's grow stronger and stronger: "Daret malorum pœnitentiæ, daret honorum consensui: scelera impetu, bona concilia morâ valescere," Tacit. Hist. lib. i. And therefore he advised marching immediately against him, without giving him a moment's time to recover himself. Calmet's Commentary.

There is something very plausible and elegant too in the advice which Hushai gives Absalom, not immediately to pursue and fall upon David; "Thou knowest thy father and his men, that they be mighty men, and they be chafed in their minds as a bear robbed of her whelps in the field," 2 Sam. xvii. 8. Every one knows that a bear is a very fierce creature; but she-bears (as Aristotle tells us) are more fierce than the male, particularly when they have young ones, but most of all when these young ones are taken from them. For this reason the Scripture makes frequent use of this similitude: "I will be unto them as a lion," says God, in relation to the people of Israel, "and as a leopard by the way; I will meet them as a

bear that is bereaved of her whelps, and will rent the caul of their hearts," Hosea xiii. 7, 8. Vid. Prov. xvii. 12, &c. So that the purport of Hushai's advice is founded on this maxim," That we should not drive an enemy to despair, nor attack those who are resolved to sell their lives at as dear a rate as possible." Calmet's Commentary.

+ The benefits which Hushai suggests, from Absalom's having a large army, are thus expressed in an hyperbolical way, suitable to the genius of that insolent young man, to whom he gave his advice, and therefore more likely to prevail with him: "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," 2 Sam. xvii. 13. Where his meaning is, that if David should quit the open field, and betake himself to the strongest of their cities, encompassed with high walls and deep ditches, such a numerous army (as he proposed) would be sufficient to begirt it round, and, by ropes put about the walls, draw them down, and all the houses of the city into the ditch that ran about it: not that any such practice was ever used in war; and therefore the words must be looked upon as merely thrasonical, and calculated to please Absalom; unless we will say with some, that the word in the original may denote such machines as are worked by ropes, and were at that time in use to batter down walls. Calmet's and Patrick's Commentaries.

counsel he had already given; partly out of pride, and partly out of fear of worse tor- From 2 Sam. ments, he went to his own house, where he first made his will, and then hanged himself. i. to xix. David had not been long at Mahanaim before Absalom, having got together a numerous army, which was commanded by Amasa, the son of Ithra, a relation of Absalom's by marriage, left Jerusalem, and passed the Jordan in pursuit of his father. The king hearing of the approach of his rebel son, and foreseeing that a battle was unavoidable, divided his army into three bodies. The first to be commanded by Joab, the second by his brother Abishai, and the third by † Ittai the Gittite, and himself intended to go in person with them: but by the importunity of the people about him, he was prevailed with not to hazard his person in battle; and perhaps was more easily dissuaded from it, because the battle was to be against a son, for whom he still retained so tender an affection, that he gave the three generals a strict charge, in the hearing of the soldiers, that (for his sake) they should use Absalom kindly, in case he should fall into their hands.

:

The two armies met in the † wood of Ephraim, which belongeth to the tribe of Manasseh, where Absalom's army, though much superior in number, was defeated, and put to flight for the loyalists, upon this occasion, behaved so gallantly, that they killed +3 twenty thousand of the rebels upon the spot, and would doubtlessly have carried the slaughter farther, had not Absalom (the chief cause of all this mischief) been taken and slain.

His hair (as we said before) was of a prodigious length and largeness; and as he was now in flight from the enemy, and riding with great speed under the trees, it happened to * entangle itself on one of the boughs in such a manner, that it lifted him off his

mily together, and told them the advice which he had given Absalom, but that he would not follow it, and that in a short time that refusal would be his ruin; for David would certainly baffle him, and soon recover his kingdom. Now it is more honourable for me, says he, to 'die, asserting my liberty like a man, than to wait sneaking till David comes in again, and to be flayed at last for the services I have done the son against the father." Jewish Antiq. lib. vii. c. 9.

† In 2 Sam. xv. 18. we read, that "all the Gittites, six hundred men, which came after him, (viz. David) from Gath, passed on before the king;" but who those Gittites were, it is hard to determine, because we have no mention made of them in any other part of Scripture. Some imagine that they were natives of Gath, who, taken with the fame of David's piety and happy successes, came along with Ittai, (whom the Jews suppose to have been the son of Achish, king of Gath) and being proselyted to the Jewish religion, became part of David's guard, and attended him in his wars. But others rather think, that they were men of Jewish extract, but had this additional name from their fleeing unto David (probably under the conduct of Ittai) while he was at Gath, and accompanying him ever after, not only in the time of Saul's persecution of him, but even after his accession to the united kingdoms of Judah and Israel. Patrick's Commentary.

+ This wood was so called, (as some imagine) because the Ephramites were wont to drive their cattle over Jordan to feed them in it; but others (with more probability) suppose, that it had its name from the great slaughter (related in Judg. xii.)which Jephthah had formerly made of the Ephramites in that place. Howell's Hist. in the Notes.

VOL. II.

+3 The expression in the text is, "The wood devoured more people that day than the sword devoured," 2 Sam. xviii. 8. which some think was occasioned by their falling into pits, pressing one another to death in strait places, creeping into lurking holes, and there being starved to death, or otherwise devoured by wild beasts, which met them in their flight: But the most easy and simple meaning of the passage is, that there were more slain in the wood, than in the field of battle. The field of battle (as Josephus tells us, Jewish Antiq. lib. vii. cap. 9.) was a plain, with a wood contiguous to it; and therefore, when Absalom's army was put to the rout, and betook themselves to the wood for refuge, their pursuers made a greater slaughter of them there than they otherwise would have done, because they could not run away so fast in the wood as they might have done in the open field. Patrick's Commentary.

* The words in the text, indeed, make no men. tion of Absalom's hair in this place: They only inform us, that "Absalom rode upon a mule, and that 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," 2 Sam. xviii. 9. From whence some infer, that the meaning of the historian is, not that Absalom hung by his hair, but that his neck was so wedged between the boughs, by the swift motion of the mule, that he was not able to disengage himself. For it is hardly to be questioned, say they, but that when he went to battle, he had an helmet on; and an helmet, which covered his head, would have hindered his hair from being entangled in the boughs: but it is only supposing, either that his 2 B

A. M. 2948, saddle, and his mule running from under him, left him there hanging in the air, and &c. or 4341. unable to disengage himself.

Ant. Chris.

1055, &c.

or 1070.

In this condition a private soldier found him, and told it unto Joab, who blamed him for not having killed him; and when the man in excuse urged the command which he heard the king give the generals, to be very tender and careful of his son's life, Joab, looking upon all this as nothing, or as a command fitter for a parent than a king, went to the place where he was * hanging, and having first given him his death's wound himself, ordered the people, which were by, to dispatch him; and so went, and sounded a retreat to prevent any farther effusion of blood, and to give Absalom's party an opportunity of escaping to their respective homes.

Thus died the wicked and rebellious Absalom; and instead of an honourable interment, fit for a king's son, his body was taken down, and thrown into a pit, and covered with an * heap of stones.

THE OBJECTION.

THIS indeed was the woeful end of David's favourite son and heir; but to his own misconduct the father might impute the irregularities of his children, since, either by an over-weening fondness to them, a tacit connivance at what they did amiss, or an exemplary encouragement given to it by himself, he suffered iniquity to abound among them. For, after his adultery with Uriah's wife, (and yet one would think he had women