2 Samuel 15:12

_AND ABSALOM SENT FOR AHITHOPHEL THE GILONITE, DAVID'S COUNSELLOR, FROM HIS CITY, EVEN FROM GILOH, WHILE HE OFFERED SACRIFICES. AND THE CONSPIRACY WAS STRONG; FOR THE PEOPLE INCREASED CONTINUALLY WITH ABSALOM._ Absalom sent for Ahithophel - who he knew was ready to join the revolt, through disgust and revenge, as Jewish writers assert, at David's conduct toward Bath-sheba, who was his granddaughter. GILOH - near Hebron х_ MI-GILOH_ (H1542)]. [The nomina Gentilia, _ GIYLONIY_ (H1526), 'Iyloniy. (1 Kings 11:29; 1 Kings 12:15), lead us from the supposed form to the substantive termination -own-which liquids may drop, and express the remaining waw (w) vowel by he (h) (Ewald, sec

7-12 See how willing tender parents are to believe the best concerning their children. But how easy and how wicked is it, for children to take advantage of good parents, and to deceive them with the show of religion! The principal men of Jerusalem joined Absalom's feast upon his sacrifice. Pious persons are glad to see others appear religious, and this gives occasion for deceptions. The policy of wicked men, and the subtlety of Satan, are exerted to draw good persons to countenance base designs....

Verse 2 Samuel 15:12. _SENT FOR AHITHOPHEL_] When Absalom got _him_, he in effect got the _prime minister_ of the kingdom to join him....

AHITHOPHEL - It has been with great probability supposed that Ahithophel was estranged from David by personal resentment for his conduct in the matter of Bath-sheba and Uriah (see 2 Samuel 11:3). WHILE HE OFFERED SACRIFICES - Rather, that Absalom sent for Ahithophel to be present when he offered the sacrifices; the intention being that all who partook of the sacrifice should be bound together to prosecute the enterprise. Absalom, too, would take advantage of the excitement of the great feast to inflame the ardour of the guests, and pledge them irrevocably to his cause....

EXPOSITION 2 SAMUEL 15:1 AFTER THIS. The Hebrew is a more precise phrase than that on which we have commented on 2 Samuel 10:1 and 2 Samuel 13:1, and implies that Absalom began his devices soon after obtaining his liberty. CHARIOTS AND HORSES; Hebrew, _a chariot and horses; _that is, a chariot for state occasions, in which Absalom rode, while fifty footmen ran at his side. Probably his grandfather Talmai practised similar magnificence at Geshur. In India it is still common for men of rank to be attended by runners on foot, who will keep up with horses or elephants for an incredible distance....

AND ABSALOM SENT FOR AHITHOPHEL, THE GILONITE, DAVID'S COUNSELLOR,.... To advise with about this treasonable affair he was engaged in, and to get out of him David's secrets, who was reckoned the best counsellor in the land; and he might rather hope he would come to him, if he was the grandfather of Bathsheba, as say the Jews, 2 Samuel 11:3; since he might be disgusted with and resent David's adultery with Bathsheba his granddaughter, and the murder of her husband Uriah: him he sent for, FROM HIS CITY, [EVEN] FROM GILOH; a city in the tribe of Judah, in the mountainous part of it, near to Hebron, where Absalom now was; and, according to Bunting i, twenty miles from Jerusalem, see Joshua 15:48; WHILE HE OFFERED SACRIFICES; not Ahithophel, but Absalom, his p

5. ABSALOM'S CONSPIRACY AND DAVID'S FLIGHT CHAPTER 15 _ 1. Absalom steals the hearts of the men of Israel (2 Samuel 15:1)_ 2. His conspiracy (2 Samuel 15:7) 3. The flight of the king (2 Samuel 15:13) The beautiful prince gradually prepared for the great conspiracy of which we read now and which made of his own father the Lord's anointed, an exile. Chariots and horses with fifty men to run before him won no doubt the admiration of the people. His evident interest in their welfare, kissing those who sought his presence and advice, endeared him still more to the men of Israel. To this must be added his open words, which must have quickly circulated among the people, “Oh, that

2 Samuel 15:1 to 2 Samuel 16:14. REVOLT OF ABSALOM. FLIGHT OF DAVID (J). 2 Samuel 15:1. Absalom makes himself popular by professing an interest in the litigation of the people. 2 SAMUEL 15:7. After four years (so read with Syr. and some texts of LXX), having obtained the king's permission on a false pretext, Absalom goes to Hebron and organises revolt. 2 SAMUEL 15:12. GILOH: Joshua 15:51....

SENT FOR. Septuagint reads "sent and called". AHITHOPHEL. David's counsellor. Compare Psalms 41:9; Psalms 55:13. See note on "Uriah", 2 Samuel 11:3. HIS CITY. Compare Joshua 15:51. OFFERED SACRIFICES. See App-43. INCREASED. Compare Psalms 3:1....

Absalom's Rebellion For the Psalms illustrative of this period see Introd. ch. VIII. § 6, p. 48....