2 Samuel 15:13

_AND THERE CAME A MESSENGER TO DAVID, SAYING, THE HEARTS OF THE MEN OF ISRAEL ARE AFTER ABSALOM._ NO JFB COMMENTARY ON THIS VERSE....

13-23 David determined to quit Jerusalem. He took this resolve, as a penitent submitting to the rod. Before unrighteous Absalom he could justify himself, and stand out; but before the righteous God he must condemn himself, and yield to his judgments. Thus he accepts the punishment of his sin. And good men, when they themselves suffer, are anxious that others should not be led to suffer with them. He compelled none; those whose hearts were with Absalom, to Absalom let them go, and so shall their doom be. Thus Christ enlists none but willing followers. David cannot bear to think that Ittai, a stranger and an exile, a proselyte and a new convert, who ought to be encouraged and made easy, should meet with hard usage. But such value has Ittai for David's wisdom and goodness, that he will not leave him. He is a friend indeed, who loves at all times, and will adhere to us in adversity. Let us...

Verse 2 Samuel 15:13. _THE HEARTS OF THE MEN OF ISRAEL ARE AFTER ABSALOM._] It is very difficult to account for this general defection of the people. Several reasons are given: 1. David was old or afflicted, and could not well attend to the administration of justice in the land. 2. It does appear that the king did not attend to the affairs of state, and that there were no properly appointed judges in the land; see 2 Samuel 15:3. 3. Joab's power was overgrown; he was wicked and insolent, oppressive to the people, and David was afraid to execute the laws against him. 4. There were still some partisans of the house of Saul, who thought the crown not fairly obtained by David. 5. David was under the displeasure of the Almighty, for his adultery with Bath-sheba,

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 THERE CAME A MESSENGER TO DAVID,.... Perhaps one of the two hundred that went with Absalom, ignorant of his design; which, when discovered, he disapproved of, and got away from him, and came to David, and informed him how things were: SAYING, THE HEARTS OF THE MEN OF ISRAEL ARE AFTER ABSALOM; to make him king....

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....

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

THE HEARTS OF THE MEN OF ISRAEL ARE AFTER ABSALOM— Some reason may be assigned for this. In every nation there are always turbulent and discontented spirits, who promise themselves some benefit from a change. Saul's party was not yet entirely extinct, and Joab, who was David's prime minister, behaved with an insufferable pride and insolence. His crimes, which were very black, and which David was afraid to punish, reflected upon the king himself; and David's other ministers might have grown insolent in times of uninterrupted success. But what gave the fairest pretence of all, was, probably, the obstruction of the civil administration of justice; for had there not been something of this, Absalom, I think, could have had no grounds for making such loud complaints. See 2 Samuel 15:3 and Grotius on the place....

IV. ABSALOM'S REVOLT, 2 Samuel 15:1 to 2 Samuel 19:43. 1. The Rebellion's Beginning, 2 Samuel 15:1-37. _Absalom's Conspiracy._ 2 Samuel 15:1-13 And it came to pass after this, that Absalom prepared him chariots and horses, and fifty men to run before him. 2 And Absalom rose up early, and stood by the way of the gate: and it was _so,_ that when any man that had a controversy came to the king for judgment, then Absalom called unto him, and said, Of what city _art_ thou? And he said, Thy servant _is_ one of the tribes of Israel. 3 And Absalom said unto him, See, thy matters...