2 Samuel 18 - Introduction
_DAVID COMMANDS THEM, WHEN GOING TO BATTLE, TO SPARE HIS SON ABSALOM; WHO IS SLAIN BY JOAB: DAVID VERY BITTERLY LAMENTS HIS DEATH._ _Before Christ 1023._... [ Continue Reading ]
_DAVID COMMANDS THEM, WHEN GOING TO BATTLE, TO SPARE HIS SON ABSALOM; WHO IS SLAIN BY JOAB: DAVID VERY BITTERLY LAMENTS HIS DEATH._ _Before Christ 1023._... [ Continue Reading ]
DEAL GENTLY FOR MY SAKE WITH THE YOUNG MAN, &C.— The king yielded to the affectionate entreaties of the people, that he should not hazard his life in the battle; and, no doubt, he did it with less reluctance, upon a reflection that he must otherwise go against his own subjects, and draw his sword ag... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE BATTLE WAS IN THE WOOD OF EPHRAIM— It is supposed that this wood, which was in Gilead, not far from Maanaim, took its name either from the victory which Gideon gained over Oreb and Zeeb, kings of the Midianites, by the assistance of the Ephraimites, Joshua 7:25 or from the great daughter of... [ Continue Reading ]
THE MULE WENT UNDER THE THICK BOUGHS OF A GREAT OAK, &C.— Several commentators suppose, that Absalom was suspended by the long hair of his head; while others, imagining that he had a helmet on, think that his neck was so wedged in between the boughs, that he was not able to disengage himself. It is... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HE TOOK THREE DARTS, &C.— Joab's killing Absalom was a direct, deliberate, cowardly murder, and a treasonable murder too against the express orders of the king, and in open defiance and contempt of him.... [ Continue Reading ]
THEY TOOK ABSALOM—AND LAID A VERY GREAT HEAP OF STONES UPON HIM— Bishop Patrick here observes, that thus he was, after a sort, stoned, as the law ordered a rebellious son should be. Adricomius, in his description of the Holy Land, says, that this _heap_ remained to his days; and that all travellers,... [ Continue Reading ]
NOW ABSALOM IN HIS LIFE TIME HAD—REARED—A PILLAR— The sacred writer mentions this particular, not only to shew the vanity of Absalom, but, we may reasonably conclude, still further to shew the vanity of human life in general. Absalom having lost his sons, (ch. 2 Samuel 14:27.) and being desirous to... [ Continue Reading ]
O MY SON ABSALOM! &C.— There certainly cannot be produced from any writer a more striking instance of the true pathetic than the present. See Dr. Lowth's 22nd Praelection. It is, however, extremely difficult to reconcile this degree of sorrow with David's usual piety and resignation. The king's comm... [ Continue Reading ]