The Pulpit Commentary — 2 Samuel — Section 323

his silence nnrl forl,en,mnce macle him snp- Abaalom would sooner or later take hi• pose th11t 'l'umBr's wrong bad not crrnRed revenge. her brother 11ny deep sorrow. Himself a Ver. 32.-By the appointment; literally, m1m of wo.rm feolings, ho bad expected an for ,ipon the mouth nf Absalom it 11x1• /ai,J Immediate outburst of n,nger, but duch stern from the day he humbler! Tamr,r Id• s-i•wr. mucour persevered in for so long a time "Month" is not the word we shonlrl lrnve with such foline calmness of manner we.s expected here, and the Syriac instend ha~ beyond the ro.ngo of his suspicions; e.ncl the "mind," e.nd the Chaldre "heart." But invitation, first to himself o.nd then to o.11 the month often expresses determination. his sons, mo.cle him suppose tho.t Abso.lom and Jonadab mav have noticed Ahsalorn J,nd nothing but o.ffectiono.te feelings towo.rd looking at his brother with compressed lipa. them nil. More probably, however, it is a colloquial Ver. 28.-Smite A.mnon. The order was phrase, with no special application to Absa- given before the banquet bego.n, and every lom; e.nd the Syrie.c gives the true sense. arrangement me.de to render the attack suc- Ver. 34.-But Absalom fled. These wor,ls cessful. Though Tamar's wrong was the break the form of the narrative, but com- mainspring of Absalom's conduct, yet neither plete the sense. They briefly state that he nor his men ,vould forget that Amnon Jonado.b was right: for, so far from molestin" stood: between him e.nd the crown ; and any of the rest of the king's sons, Abealo,;; •Amnon, entirely off hie guarcl, never very he.d no other thought than for his own safety. wise at hie best, and with his senses me.de He had avenged his sister, but had at pre- dull by wine, seems to have fallen an easy sent no other sinister design. It was David's prey. And as soon as the murder was com- method of treating him which drove this mitted, the rest of the king's sons, though youth, with a nature fit for treachery, into all had attendants with them, fled in dismay, schemes of rebellion. The ws.y of the hill- not knowing what might be the extent of side behind him. This may mean '' from the Absalom's purpose. It is said that they fled west," as, in taking the points of the com- on mules, this being the first place in which pass, the Hebrews looked to the east, which this animal is me.ntioned, as the word so wonld thus be "before them." Compare translated in Gen. xxxvi. 24 really means " the backside of the desert," that is, " the "hot springs," and is so translated iu the western side," in Exod. iii. 1 ; and " the Revised Version. The breeding of hybrids Syrians before and the :Philistines behind,~ was forbidden in Lev. xix. 19, and probably that is, on the east e.nd west (Isa. ix. 12). they were procured, os were horses, by trade. But the versions differ so strangely in their Up to this time the ass had been used for renderings that they could scarcely have riding; but now David had a favourite mule been me.de from our present text. (1 Kings i. 33), and Solomon received mules Ver. 36.-The king also s.nd all his servants as tribute (1 Kings x. 25). Horses seem to wept very sore. The narrative sets very have been used chiefly for chariots. clearly before us the great terror of the ldng, Ver. 30.-Tidmgs came. Some of the who at first supposes that all his sons ore servants seem to have fled immediately that murdered; there is then suspense while the attack was made, and in their terror Jonadab suggests that one only h!l.'3 been reported, not what had really happened, but sacrificed to private vengeance; then quickly what they assumed we.s Abaalom's purpose. comes the watchman's report of the appear- • It shows, however, bow thoroughly Absalom ance of much people rapidly descending the he.d dissembled when thus they entirely hillsicle, and this is followed by the hasty forgot that he had a grudge a.go.inst Amnon. rush of the fugitives into bis presence, and Aud David, in utter misery, tears his robes, the terrible certainty that one son has, with and throws himself prostrate 011 the ground, long-premeditated malice, murdered his while his courtiers, with rent garments, brother, And as he wept, David, we may stand speechless round him. But the guilty feel sure, thought of Uriah,, murdered be- Jone.dab guesses more correctly the truth. cause of his own base passions, whereas He had probably we.tohed Abso.lom closely, Amnon had brought death upon himself by o.nd dist.rusted hie silence. Nothing, per- following, o.la.s I the example of his own haps, had happened to justify hie suspicions, father. He would think, too, of the words but as soon o.s tho tidings co.me he divined ot' his sentence, that " the sword should the real mooning. And, wioked as he was, never depart from his house." It had he could never have supposed that Amuon olo.imed one victim, and who could now stop would turn upon the woman he he.d wronged, the outburst of angry passions in a family and insult o.ud diagro.oe her. He probably which previously had dwelt in kindly friend- imo.gined that Amnon really loved her, and ship? Probably, too, he reproached himself that the matter would be patched up. But for uot punishing Amuou. Had he done so when the wretched youth noted so shame- with sufficient severity to h,we St\tisfied lessly, Jonadab probnbly felt sure tht1t Abst1low, he would have saved the life of  J28 THE SECOND BOOK OF SAMUEL. [on. xm. 1-39.