faid unto the people, I will ſurely go forth with you my ſelfalſo c,
b Towit,for his eſpecial condu& and management in the Battel: otherwiſe Joab was the General of all the Forces ; nor had David yet taken away that Power from him, nor was thisa time ro do it. Bur ſuch diſtriburions of Forces are uſual in Batrels. c That by my preſence 1 may put life and courzge into my Soldiers ; and be« caule It is fit T ſhould run the ſame hazards with you, which you do for my ſake. :
3 Bur *the people anſwered, Thou ſhall not go forth
d : for if we flee away, they will not F care for us ; : neither if half of us die, will they care for us: but 3 Heb.
now thou art | worth ten thouſand of use : therefore ſ their _=_ zt is better that thou F ſuccour us out of the ci- 54a ty f eb, d For thiswas Abſalows great error, into which he wasdrawn by - aw a Divine infatuation, and by Heſhai's craft to go to Battel in his + Heb. bs own Perſon, which was the utter ruin of him and of his Cauſe. þ ſuccour e Not only for the Dignity of thy Perfon, bur alſo for the impor- * x tance of our common cauſe and concern, which, if thou art ſlain, 1s 1recoverably loſt. f By ſending us Supplics of Men, and Pro- viſions of all ſorts, as we have occation ; and by ſecuring our re- treat, if we be defeated Or thus : not go along to the Batrel with us, but only goout with us, or accompany us out of the City ( to encourage the Company ) and then retire for thy own ſafety. And ſoir ſeems by the next Verſe. 4 And the king ſaid unto them, What ſeemeth you beſt, I will do. And the king ſtood by the gate-ſide g, andall the people came out by hundreds, and . by
thouſands. g i. e. Between the two Gates of the City, as it is expreſſed below;
V. 24
5 And the king commanded Joab, and Abiſhai, and Ittai, ſaying, Deal gently for my ſake with the young man, even with Abſalom bh. And all the people i heard when the king gave all the captains charge concerning
Abſalom.
kh If you Conquer ( which he preſaged they would byGod's gra- cious Anſwer to his Prayer for the turning of Ahithophe!'s Counſel into fooliſhneſs, ) take tim Priſoner, but do not kill him. Which deſire proceeded, partly, from his great Indulgence towards his Children : partly, from Davids Conſciouſneſs that he himſelf was the meritorious and procuring cauſe of this Rebellion, £4/alom being given up to it for the puniſhment of David's ſins; and therefore did indeed deſerve ſome pity from him : partly, from the conſideration of his Youth, which commonly makes Men fooliſh,and heady, 2nd violent, and ſubje& to i]] Counſels: And partly, from his Piety, being loath that he ſhould be cur off in the a& of his ſin withour any ſpace, or means for repentance, whereby both his Soul and Body would be in danger to periſh for ever. i To wit, the Citizensand others who ſtood with the King in the Gate when the Army marched forth. 6 © So thepeople went out into the field againſt {-
rael : and the batrel was in the wood of Ephraim G. k So
"a, 15-1 + Heb.
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+ So called, not from its ſiruation in the Tribe of Ephraim, which was on the other fide Jordan, as is evident ; but from ſome memorable aCtion or occurent of the Ephraimites beyond Jordan ; whether it was their killing of Orcb and Zeeb there, Juag. 7. 25. and $. 3, or, their flaughter by jephthab, Judg. -I2. 5, 6. or, ſome other not mentioned in Sacred Scripture.
7 Where thepeople of Iirael / were ſlain before the ſervants of David, and there was there a great ſlaugh- ter that day of twenty thouſand men.
1 3. e. The Soldiers of Abſalom ; ſo called, partly, to note that all Irzel (ſome few excepted) were engaged in this Rebellion, which made David's deliverance more glorious and remarkable ; and part- ly, in oppoſition to David's Men, who, as to the main Body, or moſt ccntiderable part, were of the Tribe of Judah, or had follow- ed him from Judah.
8 For the battel was there ſcattered #2 over the face of all the country: and the * wood 7 devoured more people » than the {word devoured 0.
m i.e. The Warriers being beaten in the fight, fled and were diſperſed : The abſtraft being pur for the concrete, as poverry 1s pur for poor men, 2 Kings 24.14. and deceit for the deceiver, and dreams tor arean.ers, Prov. 12. 24. and 13+6. »n i.e. More People died
in the Wood,either through hunger, and thirſt, and wearineſs: Or, |.
by the wild Beaſts, whereof great numbers. were there, which, though they were driven away by noiſe and clamourfrom the place of rhe main Battel, yet might eaſily meet with them when they fled ſeveral ways, which alſo might be direCted and ſent to them by God's Providence, and juſt Judgement to puniſh them for their Rebellion: Or, by falling into ditches and pits, which were in that place, verſe 17. and probably were covered with Graſs or Wood, ſo as they could not ſee them till they fell into them : Or, by be- ing hanged in Trees, as Abſalom was, verſe g. and eſpecially by Dae via's Men, who purſued them, and killed them in the Wood: And
_ the Modis rightly ſaid to have devoured them, becauſe 1t gave the
occaſion to their deftru&tion, inaſmuch as the Trees, and Ditches, and Pits ,entangled them, and ſtopped their flight, and made them an caſie Prey to David's Men, who followed them, and flew them in the purſuit, being therein dire&ed and aſſiſted bythe People of that Country, who, after the manner, fell in with the victorious ſide. o To wit, In the main Battel : The Sword being put for the Battel, by a common Metonymy.
9 T And Abſalom met the ſervants of David p ; and Abſalom rode upon a mule, and the mule went under the thick boughs of a great oak, and his head caught hold of the oak q, and he was takenup between the heaven and the earth, and the mule that was under
him went away r. |