2 Samuel 17:16
Ver. 16. Now therefore send quickly and tell David,.... What has been advised to on both sides:saying, lodge not this night in the plains of the wilderness; which reached to Jericho; this advice he gave, because he knew not whether his counsel would be abode by, though preferred; Absalom and the elders of Israel might change their minds, and Ahithophel might, by the strength of his oratory, prevail upon them after all to follow his advice; and therefore, to guard against the worst, he judged it most prudential in David to make all the haste he could from that place where he was, and not continue a night longer in it; for, if Ahithophel's counsel should take place, he would be in pursuit of him that very night:but speedily pass over; the river Jordan:lest the king be swallowed up, and all the people that [are] with him: be destroyed by the forces Ahithophel should bring with him, which he would not be able to withstand. 2 Samuel 17:17Ver. 17. Now Jonathan and Ahimaaz stayed by Enrogel,.... Who were the sons of the priests; these did not go into the city of Jerusalem with their parents, when they were sent back by David, 2Sa 15:27; but stayed by their direction at this place, which was near Jerusalem, and is called in the Targum the fuller's fountain, where they washed their clothes; and, as Kimchi and Jarchi say, by treading them with their feet, whence it had the name of Rogel, of which See Gill on "Jos 15:7";(for they might not be seen to come into the city); having been charged by their parents to continue there for the sake of carrying intelligence to David, or because suspected by Absalom's party of carrying on such an intrigue:and a wench went and told them: what Hushai had communicated to the priests, and what was his advice to David; this girl is supposed by Kimchi and Abarbinel to be of the family of Zadok, by whom she was sufficiently instructed to tell her message, and of whom there would be no suspicion:and they went and told King David; the sons of the priests went and related to him all that had been transmitted to them. 2 Samuel 17:18Ver. 18. Nevertheless, a lad saw them, and told Absalom,.... Saw them conversing with the girl, and departing for David's army; according to Josephus {o}, they were some horsemen that saw them about two furlongs or a quarter mile from Jerusalem, and acquainted Absalom with it:but they went both of them away quickly; made all the haste they could with their message to David:and came to a man's house in Bahurim; where very probably they had been informed David had been, whither he came weary, and had refreshment, 2Sa 16:14; or rather, perceiving they were discovered and pursued, they turned in hither, the first place they came to, for safety:which had a well in his court; which they observed, and was the reason of their turning in:whither they went down; to hide themselves from their pursuers, it being dry, as sometimes wells were in the summertime: Josephus says {p}, a woman let them down by a rope.{o} Antiqu. l. 7. c. 9. sect. 7. {p} Ibid. 2 Samuel 17:19Ver. 19. And the woman took and spread a covering over the well's mouth,.... This woman, very probably, was the man's wife of the house, as Abarbinel notes; who took a cloth, and spread it over the well's mouth, that it could not be seen or known that there was a well there:and spread ground corn thereon: just taken out of the mill, before it was sifted, while in the bran; or corn unhusked, or just threshed out, in order to be dried in the sun, and then parched; or wheat bruised for that purpose: Josephus says {q} they were locks of wool she spread:and the thing was not known; that the young men were in the well.{q} Antiqu. l. 7. c. 9. sect. 7. 2 Samuel 17:20Ver. 20. And when Absalom's servants came to the woman to the house,.... Who were sent after then, had intelligence which way they took, and into what house they turned:they said, where [are] Ahimaaz and Jonathan? calling them by their names, being persons well known, and as to them, so to the woman of the house, as they supposed:and the woman said unto them, they be gone over the brook of water; the river Jordan; so the Targum,"they have already passed over Jordan;''this was a lie she told them, which is not to be justified; the Vulgate Latin version,"they passed over hastily, having drank a little water;''and so Josephus {r} in some copies:and when they had sought and could not find [them]; not only searched that house, but very probably others in Bahurim:they returned to Jerusalem; to give an account what success they had.{r} Antiqu. l. 7. c. 9. sect. 7. Hudson. not. in ib. 2 Samuel 17:21Ver. 21. And it came to pass after they were departed,.... The servants of Absalom:that they came up out of the well; the sons of the priests, being informed by the woman that they were gone; Josephus {s} says they were drawn up by the woman with a rope:and went and told King David; who was now in the plain of the wilderness, perhaps near Jericho, and not a great way from Jordan, to whom they related the whole of their message:and said unto David; as they were directed:arise, and pass quickly over the water; the river Jordan:for thus hath Ahithophel counselled against you; to come with twelve thousand men, and fall upon him that very night; and it was not certain his counsel would be rejected; and therefore it was advisable for David to prepare against the worst.{s} Antiqu. l. 7. c. 9. sect. 7. Hudson. not. in ib. 2 Samuel 17:22Ver. 22. Then David arose, and all the people that [were] with him, and passed over Jordan,.... Taking the advice of Hushai:by the morning light there lacked not one of them that was not gone over Jordan; they travelled all night, and before it was morning they had all passed the river in boats, or through the fords, and not one was lost in the passage, nor any deserted, see Joh 17:12; and now perhaps David penned the forty second and forty third psalms, Ps 42:1. 2 Samuel 17:23Ver. 23. And when Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not followed,.... But that of Hushai:he saddled [his] ass; or ordered it to be saddled:and arose, and gat him home to his house, to his city; which was Giloh in the tribe of Judah, 2Sa 15:12;and put his household in order; made his will, and disposed of his estates, see Isa 38:1; or "commanded his house" or "household" {t}; gave orders and instructions, both relating to himself when dead, where and how he should be buried, and to his family, how they should behave to one another and among their neighbours, and towards their superiors; and particularly, the Jews say {u}, he gave them this charge, not to rebel against the government of the house of David:and hanged himself; so to his other sins added that of suicide, which was done deliberately, as the preceding clause shows; this he did, partly because his proud spirit could not bear it that his counsel should be slighted, and that of another be preferred to it; and partly because he plainly foresaw that the cause of Absalom would be ruined by neglecting his counsel and following that of Hushai's, whereby he himself would fall into the hands of David, and be put to death by him as a traitor; and he chose to die by his own hand, and not his; and the rather, to prevent the confiscation of his goods and estates as a traitor, and his heirs being deprived of them; though some think he died of a disease, by strangling or suffocation in the throat, was choked through grief and trouble; so R. Elias observes {w}, that some say that this disease came upon him through the greatness of his grief of mind and trouble of soul, because his counsel was not taken, and he died of strangling; and they say this, because they reckon it an absurdity for so wise and understanding a man as he was to hang himself; but the case seems very clear that he did kill himself; the Jews say {x} he was but thirty three years of age when he died; for being a bloody and deceitful man, he did not live out half his days, Ps 55:23; which psalm was penned on his account; but one so young could hardly be a counsellor of David, and so famous for his wise counsel; and besides, if so young, could not be the grandfather of Bathsheba, as the Jews say:and died, and was buried in the sepulchre of his father; though he died an ignominious death, he had an honourable burial; it perhaps not being usual in those times to put any mark of infamy on those that killed themselves, by refusing them interment in the common burying places of their friends and neighbours.{t} wtyb la wuy "praecepit ad domum suam", Montanus. {u} T. Hieros. Sanhedrin, fol. 29. 1. {w} In Tishbi, p. 129. & David de Pomis, Lexic. fol. 148. 2. {x} T. Bab. Sanhedrin, fol. 106. 2. 2 Samuel 17:24Ver. 24. Then David came to Mahanaim,.... A city on the other side Jordan in the tribe of Gad, Jos 13:26, famous for its being the place where the angels of God met Jacob, Ge 32:1; and was for some time the seat of Ishbosheth the son of Saul, 2Sa 2:8;and Absalom passed over Jordan, he, and all the men of Israel with him; not directly after David, but some time after, when, according to the counsel of Hushai, he had gathered all the warlike men of Israel to him that he could, and with this army pursued his father; not content to drive him to the other side Jordan, sought to seize his person, and take away his life, and so secure the crown and kingdom to him, of which he made no doubt, having such a numerous army, on which he relied. 2 Samuel 17:25Ver. 25. And Absalom made Amasa captain of the host instead of Joab,.... Who was along with David:which Amasa [was] a man's son whose name [was] Ithra, an Israelite; he is called Jether the Ishmaelite, 1Ch 2:17; either because he was an Ishmaelite by birth, and being proselyted to the Jewish religion, was called an Israelite; or rather he was an Israelite by birth, and having sojourned in the land of Ishmael some time, was called an Ishmaelite, as Uriah the Hittite, and others; and when Amasa is called a "man's son", it means a great man, as Kimchi observes:that went in to Abigail, the daughter of Nahash, sister to Zeruiah,Joab's mother: so that Joab and Amasa, the generals of David and Absalom, were own cousins, sisters' children, and David uncle to them both; for Abigail and Zeruiah were David's sisters, 1Ch 2:16; children of Jesse, whose name is here called Nahash, having two names, or this was his surname; though others think Nahash is the name of a woman, the wife of Jesse, and that these two sisters had two mothers, but one father; it seems by this expression, "went in to", as if Amasa was not begotten in the conjugal state, but was illegitimate. 2 Samuel 17:26Ver. 26. So Israel and Absalom pitched in the land of Gilead. Which belonged to the tribes of Reuben and Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh; here the Israelites that were with Absalom encamped, in order to give battle to David and his men. 2 Samuel 17:27Ver. 27. And it came to pass, when David was come to Mahanaim,.... When he first came thither, 2Sa 17:24;that Shobi the son of Nahash of Rabbah of the children of Ammon: who was either the son, or rather the brother of Hanun king of the Ammonites, that used David's ambassadors in so shameful a manner, whom David overcame and deposed, and set up this brother in his room; who had showed his dislike of his brother's conduct, and now makes a grateful return to David for his favours; though some say this was Hanun himself, as Jarchi, now become a proselyte, which is not so likely; others take this man to be an Israelite that continued in Rabbah, the metropolis of the Ammonites, after it was taken by David:and Machir the son of Ammiel of Lodebar; the same that brought up Mephibosheth, from whom David received him and took him off of his hands, for which now he requited him, see 2Sa 9:5;and Barzillai the Gileadite of Rogelim; a place that lay under the hills of Gilead {y}; it had its name from the "fullers" who dwelt here for the convenience of fountains of water to wash their clothes in.{y} Fuller's Pisgah-View, B. 2. c. 3. sect. 10. p. 94. 2 Samuel 17:28Ver. 28. Brought beds,.... For David and his men, who, fleeing from Jerusalem in haste, could bring none with them, and therefore were ill provided while in the plains of the wilderness; the Septuagint version says there were ten of them, and that they were of tapestry, wrought on both sides, and such the ancients used {z}, see Pr 7:16; and so ten basins in the next clause:and basins, and earthen vessels; to put their food and liquors in, and eat and drink out of, and for other services:and wheat, and barley, and flour, and parched [corn]; or "kali", which was made of the above corn ground into meal, and mixed with water or milk, and eaten with honey or oil, as there was another sort made of pulse, later mentioned:and beans, and lentiles, and parched [pulse]; or "kali", made of these in the above manner. Some think {a} coffee is meant, but without reason.{z} Vid. Aristophan. in Pluto, p. 55. {a} Sterringa, Animadv. Philol. Sacr. p. 48. 2 Samuel 17:29Ver. 29. And honey and butter,.... Honey was much in use with the ancients; Homer {b} speaks of it as a part of the provisions at a feast, and as food with which persons were nourished and brought up; and the ancient Scythians lived on milk and honey {c}; and this and butter were pretty much the food of the people in Judea; see Isa 7:15;and sheep; with which and goats the land of Gilead abounded; see So 4:1;and cheese of kine: made of the milk of cows, as it commonly is:for David, and for the people that [were] with him, to eat; and no doubt they brought wine with them for them to drink; the men that brought these, some brought one sort, and some another, or however different parcels of the same, and did not join in one present; for they came from different parts:for they said, the people [is] hungry, and weary, and thirsty, in the wilderness; where they had been some time, and out of which they had just come, and so weary with travelling, and therefore brought beds to lie down and rest upon; and being hungry and thirsty, through want of bread and water in the wilderness, they brought them both eatables and drinkables; for though the latter is not expressed, it is to be understood, as the word "thirsty" supposes.{b} Iliad. 11. ver. 630. Odyss. 10. ver. 245. & Odyss. 20. ver. 72. Alex. ab Alex. Genial. Dier. l. 3. c. 11. Sueton. Vita Nero. c. 27. {c} Justin e Trogo, l. 2. c. 2.
John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.