_A.M. 2981. B.C. 1023._ David prepares to engage the rebels, 2 Samuel 18:1. The total defeat of Absalom, 2 Samuel 18:6. His death and burial, 2 Samuel 18:9. The news brought to David, 2 Samuel 18:19. His lamentation over Absalom, 2 Samuel 18:33.... [ Continue Reading ]
_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... [ Continue Reading ]
_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 consciousn... [ Continue Reading ]
_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... [ Continue Reading ]
_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_... [ Continue Reading ]
_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... [ Continue Reading ]
_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 up... [ Continue Reading ]
_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, a... [ Continue Reading ]
_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 hi... [ Continue Reading ]
_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... [ Continue Reading ]
_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... [ Continue Reading ]
_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.... [ Continue Reading ]
_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.... [ Continue Reading ]
_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.... [ Continue Reading ]
_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... [ Continue Reading ]
_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... [ Continue Reading ]