2 Samuel 16:1-4. David met by Ziba with a present 1. _the top of the hill_ See note on ch. 2 Samuel 15:32. _two hundred loaves of bread_, &c. Compare Abigail's present (1 Samuel 25:18). Ziba was shrewd enough to foresee the result of the rebellion, and wished to secure the king's favour. _an hund... [ Continue Reading ]
_the wilderness_ See note on ch. 2 Samuel 15:23.... [ Continue Reading ]
_thy master's son_ Mephibosheth is called the son, i.e. grandson, of Ziba's lord Saul in ch. 2 Samuel 9:9. David was hurt by Mephibosheth's apparent ingratitude. _for he said, To day_, &c. That Ziba was calumniating Mephibosheth is sufficiently obvious. How could Mephibosheth, an insignificant crip... [ Continue Reading ]
_Behold, thine are all_, &c. David was rash and hasty in thus treating his grant to Mephibosheth as forfeited by treason without a word of inquiry. This unreflecting impetuosity was a marked fault of his character. Cp. 1 Samuel 25:13 ff. _I humbly beseech thee_, &c. Rather, I BOW MYSELF DOWN: equiv... [ Continue Reading ]
David cursed by Shimei 5. _Bahurim_ See note on ch. 2 Samuel 3:16. _Shimei_ See ch. 2 Samuel 19:16-23; 1 Kings 2:8-9. His connexion with the clan of Saul accounts for the virulence of his hatred.... [ Continue Reading ]
_And he cast stones_, &c. The scene is described with an exactness which bespeaks an eye-witness. The road apparently was parallel to a ridge the "_rib_" or "side of the hill," 2 Samuel 16:13 and separated from it by a deep but narrow ravine "let me go _over_," 2 Samuel 16:9 so that Shimei was out o... [ Continue Reading ]
_Come out, come out_ OUT! OUT! from the land and from thy kingdom into exile. _thou bloody man_ THOU MAN OF BLOOD, thou murderer. Shimei seems to have supplied Cromwell's army with the terms of its resolution "to call Charles Stuart, that man of blood, to account for the blood he has shed and the m... [ Continue Reading ]
_all the blood of the house of Saul_ Shimei probably refers to the deaths of Saul and his sons at Gilboa, of Abner and Ish-bosheth by treacherous murder, charging David with the guilt of crimes which he had repudiated and punished: possibly also he regarded the execution of Saul's sons (ch. 2 Samuel... [ Continue Reading ]
_Then said Abishai_ Consistently with his character on the former occasion when he wished to slay Saul (1 Samuel 26:8), and on the later occasion, when he was for refusing Shimei's suit for pardon (ch. 2 Samuel 19:21). His fiery zeal reminds us of the Sons of Thunder (Luke 9:54), and David's answer... [ Continue Reading ]
_What have I to do with you_ -What have we in common? leave me alone." The phrase is used to repel an unwelcome suggestion, and repudiate participation in the thoughts and feelings of another. Cp. ch. 2 Samuel 19:22; John 2:4. _ye sons of Zeruiah_ Joab probably seconded Abishai's request. For David... [ Continue Reading ]
_this Benjamite_ Who has some plausible ground for spite against a king who has succeeded to the honours once held by his family. _the_Lord _hath bidden him_ David recognises Shimei as the divinely appointed instrument for his chastisement, and therefore he can say, "the Lord hath bidden him." But S... [ Continue Reading ]
_mine affliction_ This reading is supported by the Sept. and Vulg. and is probably right. Cp. Psalms 25:18. The _Qrî_has _mine eye_, which is explained to mean _my grief_, but the expression is unparalleled. The _Kthîbh_gives _mine iniquity_, meaning, -perhaps the Lord will look graciously upon my g... [ Continue Reading ]
_on the hill's side_ See note on 2 Samuel 16:6.... [ Continue Reading ]
_came weary_ There is no place mentioned to which _there_at the end of the verse can refer. It is clear from ch. 2 Samuel 17:18, that the halting-place was not Bahurim, but some place beyond it. We must suppose that the name of the place has fallen out of the text, or that the word for _weary_should... [ Continue Reading ]
Absalom's entrance into Jerusalem. Hushai's offer of his services 15. _And Absalom_, &c. The narrative of Absalom's proceedings is continued from ch. 2 Samuel 15:12; 2 Samuel 15:37. He seems to have entered Jerusalem soon after David left it, perhaps about noon on the same day. _the men of Israel_... [ Continue Reading ]
_God save the king_ Or, LONG LIVE THE KING: lit. _Let the king live_: vivat Rex. See note on 1 Samuel 10:24.... [ Continue Reading ]
Ahithophel's counsel 21. _And Ahithophel said_, &c. Ahithophel advised Absalom to make a decisive assumption of royal authority by publicly taking possession of the royal harem. This act was a claim of heirship and succession [101], and was not regarded with abhorrence by the Israelites, whose feel... [ Continue Reading ]
_upon the top of the house_ The fact that the very roof on which David was walking when he secretly conceived his great sin was the public scene of its punishment, and the nature of the punishment, corresponding to the nature of the sin, as Nathan had foretold, make this retribution signally strikin... [ Continue Reading ]
_had inquired at the oracle of God_ Lit. _had inquired of the word of God_= had inquired of God, which was done by means of the Urim and Thummim in the breastplate upon the High-priest's ephod. Cp. 1 Samuel 10:22.... [ Continue Reading ]