The Pulpit Commentary — 2 Samuel — Section 336

much depravity should he.ve been found in t.he family of e. man eo p;odly and devout until we remember the nnfavourableness of polygamy to the right training of families' the foolish indulgence of David towards his children, and his own evil conduct, which ·weakened his authority. Passing by, however, all other particulars, let us consider awhile thiR statement, "Amnon bad a friend, whose name was Jone.dab , , , a very ~ubtil man." J. A 1;:nm 01" FRIENDSHIP TO BE ABHORRED AND AVOIDED. At first view the friend- i:hip of ,Tone.dab and Amnon seems nature.I and proper. They were first cousins; ,Tonadab was e. man of intelligence (" subtil," equivalent to" wise," not necessarily " BU btlc" in the bad sense) ; he "showed himself friendly " by noticing his friend's ,loleful ~ppearilncc and inquiring the cause. Not until we observe the a.dvice he gave, and see bow it was accepted and followed, do we discover how base he was, how ba.se they both were. Amnon's vileness appears, indeed, earlier, in his indulgence of a passion for his beautiful half-sister, and that so violent, while so seemingly hopeless, that it affected his health. A case, surely, calling for pity and sympathy! No wonder that his dear friend so feelingly inquired after his health, and employed his subtlety to find a remedy I They must have known each other very well for one to acknowledac so disreputable a cause of his ill looks, and the other to suggest so infamous a rest~ rative. ~"hat a real friend would have advised is obvious. He would have urged Amnon, by every consideration of morality and religion, of regard for the honour of his family and nation, the happiness of his father, and the duty he owed to his sister, to conquer his guilty passion. But Amnon knew well that he was in no peril of being troubled with such counsel, or he would not have acknowledged his shameful lust. Observe, too, how utterly this pair of friends, like all their tribe, disregarded the ruin and misery which they were plotting for the innocent Tamar. They seem to have been tolerably sure that the offence would not be thought very serious by "society," and that the law would not be put in force by David. His own sins of a similar kind would give them confidence of impunity. Even after committing the foul crime, Amnon does not seem to have thought it necessary, for the sake either of safety or decency, to retire for at least a time from Jerusalem until the affair had "blown over." What a contrast between this friendship and that of David and Jonathan! Many such friends, alas! are to be found in the world; men who are counselliog and aiding and hardening each other in licentiousness, whose delight is to ruin the innocent, and bring dishonour and misery on their families; and who are preparing ea.eh other for well-merited damnation. Yet their debauchery is overlooked by "society," especially if they be of high rank, while their victims receive no pity. It would be of little use to address such wretches, even if we could gain access to them. But we may warn young men who have not yet come under their deadly influence, but who may be in danger of doing so. For in all classes of society persons are to be found who, corrupt themselves, delight in corrupting others. Young men coming from the country to great cities, where at present they have no friends, are in peril, not only from prostitutes or sometimes from loose married women, but from men of the class referred to. These will test them by using doubl6 entendres, advancing to outspoken ribaldry and freer conversation about sexual indul- gences. If discouraged, they will laugh at the "ionocence" and "squeamishness" of the youth they would corrupt. If he at all encourage them, they will introduce him to indecent books, or offer themselves as guides to the places where he may safely indulge his paseioos. To an inexperienced youth, not yet well grounded in Christian prin- ciples, such approaches present very powerful temptations. The assault from without meets with auxiliaries within, in the awakening passions themselves, and in a curiosity " to see a little life." The manner in which such temptations are met at the begin- ning is likely to determioe the character of the youth's whole future life. To yield is to be undone; to resist and conquer is to gaio new strength for future conflict a.od victory. Let, then, those who are thus tempted shrink back from their tempter a.s from a viper. At the first indication of such depravity let them "cut" those who display it, however related to them by blood, however agreeable as companions (the more a.gree- able the more dangerous), however able to help them in their worldly career. If their counsel be not followed, yet friendly association with them in any degree must exer- cise a debasing influence. It may not be possible to avoid them altogether; they may be empleyed in the same estal.,Jishment, and iodulgc themselves in loose language in dit. XIl!. 1-39.] THE SECOND BOOK OF SAMUEL, 311