2 Samuel 19:8

_THEN THE KING AROSE, AND SAT IN THE GATE. AND THEY TOLD UNTO ALL THE PEOPLE, SAYING, BEHOLD, THE KING DOTH SIT IN THE GATE. AND ALL THE PEOPLE CAME BEFORE THE KING: FOR ISRAEL HAD FLED EVERY MAN TO HIS TENT._ The king arose, and sat in the gate - appeared daily in the usual place for the hearing of causes. ALL THE PEOPLE CAME BEFORE THE KING - i:e., the loyal natives who had been faithful to his government, and fought in his cause. ISRAEL HAD FLED - i:e., the adherents of Absalom, who, on his defeat, had dispersed, and saved themselves by flight....

1-8 To continue to lament for so bad a son as Absalom, was very unwise, and very unworthy. Joab censures David, but not with proper respect and deference to his sovereign. A plain case may be fairly pleaded with those above us, and they may be reproved for what they do amiss, but it must not be with rudeness and insolence. Yet David took the reproof and the counsel, prudently and mildly. Timely giving way, usually prevents the ill effects of mistaken measures....

Verse 2 Samuel 19:8. _THE KING - SAT IN THE GATE._] The place where justice was administered to the people....

David saw the justice of what Joab said, and the new danger which threatened him if he did not rouse himself from his grief. FOR ISRAEL ... - Not David’s followers, but as before 2Sa 17:26; 2 Samuel 18:6, 2 Samuel 18:17, Absalom’s army....

EXPOSITION 2 SAMUEL 19:2 THE VICTORY (Hebrew, _the salvation_) THAT DAY WAS turned INTO MOURNING. Naturally, the people did not understand the poignant emotions caused by the activity of David's conscience, and were pained at this seeming ingratitude to them for their brave exertions in his behalf, and at what they must have regarded as indifference to the welfare of the nation. Nor would it be easy for us to understand his conduct during the flight from Jerusalem, and in bearing Shimei's imprecations so tamely, did we not find in the psalms written at this time that David was suffering extreme and even excessive self-reproach and mental anguish at his past sin. It was a relief to bear Shimei's rudeness, for God might remember it for good. Racked thus with self-

THAN THE KING AROSE, AND SAT IN THE GATE,.... Of the city, a public place, where the inhabitants met on divers accounts at times, and where there were always people passing and repassing: AND THEY TOLD UNTO ALL THE PEOPLE; or it was reported to the soldiers particularly: SAYING, BEHOLD THE KING DOTH SIT IN THE GATE; has laid aside his mourning, appears in public, and receives his friends, and attends to business: AND ALL THE PEOPLE CAME BEFORE THE KING; to congratulate him on the victory obtained, to receive his thanks and his favours: FOR ISRAEL HAD FLED EVERY MAN TO HIS TENT: or to his city, as the Targum; that is, those that followed Absalom; which is observed not on account of what goes before, but of what follows after; see 2 Samuel 18:17....

9. THE RETURN OF THE KING CHAPTER 19 _ 1. The continued grief of the king (2 Samuel 19:1)_ 2. The return of the king (2 Samuel 19:9) 3. Mercy shown to Shimei (2 Samuel 19:17) 4. Mephibosheth's joy (2 Samuel 19:24) 5. Barzillai and Chimham (2 Samuel 19:31) 6. Strife between Judah and Israel (2 Samuel 19:41) What grief must have been David's that “the victory of that day was turne

Joab induces the king to present himself to the people. 1 SAMUEL 19:9. THE RETURN OF DAVID (J). 2 SAMUEL 19:9. The two parts of 2 Samuel 19:11 must be transposed with the LXX, giving the following: Absalom's death left Western Palestine in a state of anarchy; the obvious remedy was the restoration of David, so that men said, Why speak ye not a word of bringing the king back? And the king learned what was being said throughout Israel; and king David sent to Zadok and to Abiathar the priests, saying, Speak unto the elders of Judah, saying, Why are ye the last to bring the king back? They were to promise Amasa that he should supplant Joab as commander-in-chief. The men of Judah invite the king

ISRAEL. Note this name for Absalom's forces (2 Samuel 17:24; 2 Samuel 17:26; 2 Samuel 18:6; 2 Samuel 18:7). MAN. Hebrew. _'ish._ App-14. RDRT rdrs rdrw5 rdrcf1 rdrr rdrs rdrw15 rdrcf1 rdrb rdrs rdrw10 rdrcf1...

_in the gate_ Where kings and rulers were accustomed to give audience to their subjects. See note on ch. 2 Samuel 15:2. _for Israel had fled_ The words should begin a new sentence, BUT ISRAEL HAD FLED, &c. _Israel_, that part of the nation which had followed Absalom, is contrasted with "the people," i.e. David's army. The sentence resumes the narrative from ch. 2 Samuel 18:17, and prepares the way for the account which follows....