2 Samuel 16:1-14

2. The Role of Absalom in Jerusalem, 2 Samuel 16:1-23.

The People Divided. 2 Samuel 16:1-14

And when David was a little past the top of the hill, behold, Ziba the servant of Mephibosheth met him, with a couple of asses saddled, and upon them two hundred loaves of bread, and a hundred bunches of raisins, and a hundred summer fruits, and a bottle of wine.

2 And the king said unto Ziba, What meanest thou by these? And Ziba said, The asses be for the king's household to ride on; and the bread and summer fruit for the young men to eat; and the wine, that such as be faint in the wilderness may drink.

3 And the king said, And where is thy master's son? And Ziba said unto the king, Behold, he abideth at Jerusalem: for he said, Today shall the house of Israel restore me the kingdom of my father.

4 Then said the king to Ziba, Behold, thine are all that pertained unto Mephibosheth. And Ziba said, I humbly beseech thee that I may find grace in thy sight, my lord, O king.

5 And when king David came to Bahurim, behold, thence came out a man of the family of the house of Saul, whose name was Shimei, the son of Gera: he came forth, and cursed still as he came.

6 And he cast stones at David, and at all the servants of king David: and all the people and all the mighty men were on his right hand and on his left.

7 And thus said Shimei when he cursed, Come out, come out, thou bloody man, and thou man of Belial:
8 The Lord hath returned upon thee all the blood of the house of Saul, in whose stead thou hast reigned; and the Lord hath delivered the kingdom into the hand of Absalom thy son: and, behold, thou art taken in thy mischief, because thou art a bloody man.

9 Then said Abishai the son of Zeruiah unto the king, Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? let me go over, I pray thee, and take off his head.
10 And the king said, What have I to do with you, ye sons of Zeruiah? so let him curse, because the Lord hath said unto him, Curse David. Who shall then say, Wherefore hast thou done so?
11 And David said to Abishai, and to all his servants, Behold, my son, which came forth of my bowels, seeketh my life: how much more now may this Benjamite do it? let him alone, and let him curse; for the Lord hath bidden him.

12 It may be that the Lord will look on mine affliction, and that the Lord will requite me good for his cursing this day.
13 And as David and his men went by the way, Shimei went along on the hill's side over against him, and cursed as he went, and threw stones at him, and cast dust.
14 And the king, and all the people, that were with him, came weary, and refreshed themselves there.

1.

Why did Ziba come to David? 2 Samuel 16:1

Ziba came to bring provisions for David and his men. He also gave a report on Mephibosheth. Ziba may have misrepresented Mephibosheth. Mephibosheth later came before David in the same submissive manner he manifested when David first befriended him (2 Samuel 19:24). On the other hand, Mephibosheth may have felt that he could step into the breach between David and Absalom and usurp the throne in the name of his father Saul, Israel's first king. His tribe had been honored by having Israel's first king selected from her ranks. Abner had championed their claim by putting Ishbosheth on the throne in Mahanain. Sheba led a revolt of Benjaminites against David later (2 Samuel 20:1), indicating there was some opposition to David and Judah. If this feeling were strong enough, Mephibosheth may have had some hope of becoming a king.

2.

What reward did David give to Ziba? 2 Samuel 16:4

Since David was convinced that Mephibosheth was turning against him, he gave everything that belonged to Mephibosheth to Ziba. Ziba was grateful for this, and asked that he might find favor in David's sight. What Ziba brought was a substantial gift, inasmuch as there were 200 loaves of bread, 100 bunches of raisins, 100 bunches of summer fruits, and wine for such as might become faint in the wilderness. He also provided a couple of asses on which David might ride. David rewarded Ziba at this time, but later he was not sure that he had told him the truth. He divided Mephibosheth's inheritance between him and Ziba at that time (2 Samuel 19:29).

3.

Where was Bahurim? 2 Samuel 16:5

Bahurim was a spot near the road which ran from Jerusalem to Jericho. Ruins in the Wady Ruwaby have been identified as this spot. The name signifies a young man's village. Shimei was a native of this town which indicated that it belonged to the tribe of Benjamin. His father was named Gera, a name that was quite common in Benjamin, and probably stemmed from the root ger which means, a sojourner. Being of this background Shimei was a champion of the house of Saul and happy to see any kind of misfortune come to David, since he viewed him as one who had usurped Saul's throne.

4.

What epithet did he hurl at David? 2 Samuel 16:7

Shimei called David a bloody man and a man of Belial. The latter term was a common epithet used to describe a shameful and worthless fellow. It was the equivalent of calling him a son of Satan. His hatred for David was deep.

5.

What caused Shimei's hatred for David? 2 Samuel 16:8

Shimei blamed David for the demise of the house of Saul. Such a misconstruing of the facts demonstrates why David was so careful to prevent his being linked directly in any way to the death of Saul. Even though David had slain the Amalekite who brought him word of Saul's death, and killed the two assassins of Ish-bosheth, some of the people still thought that David was responsible for the fall of the house of Saul. Shimei viewed David as reigning where a son of Saul ought to be reigning. Shimei believed that God had brought a just penalty on David, and delivered the kingdom into the hands of Absalom, his son, as a punishment for David's having taken over the throne from Saul. In other words, Shimei was saying that it was good enough for David that he was driven out from Jerusalem.

6.

What was Abishai's proposal? 2 Samuel 16:9

Abishai called Shimei a dead dog. He thought it terrible that he was cursing his king. He proposed to go over and behead the man. Such a proposal was typical of Abishai's spirit. It was Abishai who had suggested killing Saul as he lay sleeping as he and David slipped into his camp (1 Samuel 26:8). Abishai had also been involved in killing Abner at Hebron (2 Samuel 3:30).

7.

Why did David stop Abishai? 2 Samuel 16:10

Once again, David said that the sons of Zeruiah were too hard for him. This is the same thing he had said when Joab and Abishai had killed Abner (2 Samuel 3:39). David felt that Joab and Abishai, the sons of Zeruiah, David's sister, were too anxious to put people to death. He stopped them from killing Shimei because he felt that God had a hand in the situation. David said that Absalom his own son, had turned against him, and he was not surprised that a man from the tribe of Benjamin would curse him. David believed that if injustices were being done to him in such matters as Shimei's cursing, then God would see that justice was done. He believed that God would repay him with good things for all the evil things which were befalling him.

8.

Why did Shimei throw dust on David? 2 Samuel 16:13

Shimei was in a position above David, as the trail wound along the descent down into the Jordan valley. He threw stones at David with some expectation of injuring him, but the main emphasis of his actions was not to inflict bodily injury, as much as to heap imprecations and shame on David. His dusting him with dust could hardly injure him, but it would be a nuisance and a sign of contempt on the part of Shimei. No mention is made of the place where they stopped, but it is conjectured by many that they stopped in the edge of the Jordan valley. One of the Greek manuscripts has the phrase, along the Jordan.