Translation & Sermon by Nate Wilson for Christ The Redeemer Church, Manhattan, KS, 17 July 2022
In the last few chapters we have seen Absalom kill his half-brother Amnon for messing with his sister, then Absalom hides out with his foreign in-laws for three years, then Joab convinces King David to welcome Absalom back to Jerusalem, followed by two more years of estrangement between David and his son. In today’s passage, we read of Absalom usurping his father’s throne.
There is some question as to when Absalom started his coup.
In v.7, the Latin Vulgate and the Syriac and Arabic Bibles read that it was at the end of the fourth year, but it doesn’t say the fourth year of what. This was also the position of Josephus1, so if you’re reading in the NIV, ESV, NET Bible, or NLT it says the “fourth year.”
The fourth year of David’s reign would put it before David had conquered Jerusalem2, which is a problem, because David is clearly situated in Jerusalem in this account,
If it’s the fourth year of David’s reign from Jerusalem, it would still be too early for Absalom to be old enough.
So, advocates for the number 4 interpret it as the fourth year since one of the events specified in this story, such as Absalom’s return from Geshur.
On the other hand, the traditional Hebrew and Septuagint, which are the oldest-known manuscripts of the Bible, say in v.7 that it happened at the end of the 40th year, and nine out of the 13 commentaries I referenced support that, so if you’re reading the Geneva Bible, King James, Revised Standard, or NASB, it will say after 40 years3.
Now, if that was the 40th year of David’s reign, it would have been his last year as king right before he died, which seems too late to place this event, so most scholars think it was a few years before David died. David’s actions do seem to be consistent with him being a tired, old man at this point.
But if it means that Absalom was 40 years old, that makes a lot of sense, as him waiting until he would be considered old enough to be a king. David was 30 when he became king(2 Sam. 5:4), but Ishbosheth was 40 when he became king (2 Sam. 2:10).
READ the text: Now, after that, it happened that Absalom did up for himself a chariot with horses and 50 men to run before him. And Absalom would get up early and stand at the gate at the side of the street, where every man would be who had a dispute that was to go to the king for judgment, and Absalom would call to him and say, “What town are you from?” And {the man} would say, “Your servant is from one of the tribes of Israel.” Then Absalom would say to him, “Look, there are good and straightforward things about your case, but there is no one from the king who will give heed to you.” Then Absalom would say, “Who will install me as a judge in the land, so that every man who has a dispute or an adjudication might come to me and I will make things right for him?!” And when a man happened to be near to bow down to him, then he would thrust forth his hand and grab hold of him and kiss him. And Absalom would do something like this to all the Israelites who came to the king for ajudication, thus Absalom stole the affection of the men of Israel. So it was, at the end of 40 years, that Absalom said to the king, “Please let me go to Hebron and bring closure to my vow which I vowed to Yahweh, for your servant vowed a vow when I was residing in Geshur in Syria, saying, ‘If Yahweh really brings me back to Jerusalem, then I will serve Yahweh.’” So the king said to him, “Go in peace.” Then he got up and went to Hebron. Absalom, however, commissioned spies into all the tribes of Israel to say, “As soon as y’all hear the sound of the trumpet, then say, ‘Absalom is king in Hebron!’” Now 200 men invited from Jerusalem went with Absalom, and they went with integrity, for they did not know the whole of the matter. Also, while he was sacrificing the sacrifices, Absalom sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, a counselor of David’s, from his town of Giloh. So the conspiracy became strong, and the people were going along and becoming numerous with Absalom. Presently, the communication came to David, saying that the heart of each Israelite was behind Absalom. Then David said to all his servants who were with him in Jerusalem, “Get up and let us flee, for there will be for us no escape from Absalom’s presence. Move quickly to go, otherwise he will move quickly and overtake us and unleash the worst upon us, and he will strike the city with the edge of a sword.” So the king’s servants said to the king, “As to what ever my lord the king chooses, here we are to be your servants!” And the king went out - along with all his household - on foot, although the king left ten women of {his} concubines to tend to the house. So, the king went out along with all his people on foot, and they stood at the house of the outpost. Then all his servants crossed over on one side of him, and all the Kerethites and all the Pelethites (that is, all 600 men of the Gittites from Gath) went on foot, crossing over to the front of the king.
We’ve already been introduced to Absalom in the previous chapter in terms of the attractiveness of his appearance (2Sam. 14:25a “Now in all Israel there was no one who was praised as much as Absalom for his good looks.” NKJV), and we’ve already noted some signs that he had ambitions to become king. Now we see his actions toward that end.
Absalom wins popular support of folks who are wowed by appearances and vanity.
He gets a chariot custom-made for him, pulled by multiple horses and accompanied by 50 men in royal livery. (Another usurper did the same thing later on in 1 Kings 1:5 “Then Adonijah the son of Haggith exalted himself, saying, ‘I will be king’; and he prepared for himself chariots and horsemen, and fifty men to run before him.” NKJV)
Horses weren’t common in Israel, so they would have been really impressive. Perhaps the horses came from Absalom’s grandfather, the king of Geshur (Gill).
And it takes money to pay the salary of 50 men to go with you wherever you want to go. It also is a very ostentatious thing to have 50 people announcing to everyone in front of you that you are about to arrive. It takes the sort of person whose thinking is oriented around what other people are thinking rather than what God is thinking. It takes a belief that what makes a king is his popularity, not his calling by God.
The old prophet Samuel had warned about this in 1 Sam. 8:11 "This will be the behavior of the king who will reign over you: He will take your sons and appoint them for his own chariots and to be his horsemen, and some will run before his chariots.”
And when Absalom wasn’t dashing about the streets on his chariot, he was hanging out in the public square schmoozing. He would single people out on the street and treat them like somebody special, and they became dazzled like fans over a movie star. And when they bowed before him like he was a king, he welcomed it.
The apostles in the New Testament church warned us that this kind of thing would continue to lead people astray: “For there will be those who do not serve our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly, and by smooth words and flattering speech deceive the hearts of the simple.” (Romans 16:18, NKJV) Don’t be deceived!
Absalom also uses impressive speeches to undermine those in authority over him in government and he campaigned to replace them.
Absalom got up early because “Public business in the East is always transacted early in the morning” before the day gets hot. (Jamieson)
But instead of a pompous young fool at the gates of the city, God’s word said that there should be elders at the gates of the city: Deut. 16:18 "You shall appoint judges and officers in all your gates, which the LORD your God gives you, according to your tribes, and they shall judge the people with just judgment.”
Absalom slandered his father and the elders by telling people that their case wouldn’t be heard by the king’s representatives, and he lied to the folks who came with their court cases for the king, by saying that every one of them was right, despite the nature of justice that requires only one party to be in the right and the other party to be in the wrong – or sometimes both parties are in the wrong, but not everybody can be right.
David may well have been running behind on his caseload, but it must have been an exaggeration for Absalom to say that the king had nobody to listen to judicial cases, for if there really was nobody, then people would have known better than to show up hoping to be seen. (Tsumura) Perhaps Absalom could have done something to help David catch up, but he wasn’t lifting a finger to help with the problem.
“[T]he propertie of ambitious men is, to dispraise all but themselues.” ~Andrew Willett
Also, the fact that Absalom is choosing to spend the productive hours of his day in non-productive social pursuits, just hanging out and complaining to folks rather than working, is another clue as to his spoiled character.
Perhaps the reason why he had not been appointed to a government office was that his character disqualified him, but he was too proud to recognize that. (Gill)
Absalom’s self-centeredness is emphasized by the emphatic “to me” in the Hebrew text of v.4, when he says, “Oh that every man might come to me to judge them.”
And understand that when Absalom wished to be made “judge,” this was equivalent to saying he wanted to be the “king.” That was the way their government worked after the time of the judges.
We are warned in 2 Peter 2:10 that unrighteous men will be this way: “...those who walk according to the flesh in the lust of uncleanness and despise authority. They are presumptuous, self-willed. They are not afraid to speak evil of dignitaries…” (NKJ,)
Absalom is characterized by self-centered attention-getting and rebellious undermining of his authority. He is also characterized by religious hypocrisy and deception.
He deceives David and 200 other upstanding men from Jerusalem by pretending to want to worship God, when what he really intended to do was to overthrow the government.
Had Absalom really made a vow to provide for a worship service to the LORD in Hebron? It’s hard to say.
Scripture doesn’t give any other indication that Absalom was a worshipper of God, but it does mention Absalom saying things to manipulate other people, so it is easy to be skeptical about his sincerity when he mentions this vow.
Maybe Absalom asked permission because he was still under some kind of probation, or maybe he just asked in order to keep David from getting suspicious. On only one other previous occasion do we read of Absalom asking to go somewhere else, and that was the sheep-shearing feast where he assasinated his older brother. David may have been a bit uneasy about his sons getting too far out of his supervision, and for good reason!
At any rate, Absalom trekked the 20 miles south from Jerusalem to Hebron, where he had been born, and where he had family, and he made animal sacrifices.
Many of those animals would be fellowship offerings which were cooked and eaten by the whole party, so his companions were probably having a good time.
Some think that the sacrifices he offered were not for sin but rather were for dedication to becoming a king. (Tsumura)
But note what Absalom is doing in v. 12 while he was offering sacrifices. He was inviting Ahithophel and thinking about the strategy of his coup attempt while in the act of offering sacrifices! He is not there to worship God; his thoughts are consumed with grabbing the throne of Israel for himself.
Absalom’s ostentationus pride, undermining of authority, and hypocritical deception make him the sort of character that makes for a terrible leader.
In vs. 10ff, Absalom makes his bold move and has himself announced king in Hebron, where David’s kingship had first been.
Perhaps David lost some supporters from Hebron when he moved his capitol city up to Jerusalem. (K&D)
Or perhaps it was just a shrewd move (under Ahithophel’s advice) to cut David off from his base of support in Judah and to prevent David from being able to retreat into the Judean wilderness to hide. (Goldman)
Anyway, Absalom must have developed some kind of support base there in the south, and now he was bringing 200 folks from Jerusalem down to Hebron to see the support he had and to swell the ranks of his supporters. (There is a Jewish tradition4 that David had only given him permission to invite two friends to go with him, but Absalom invited 200.)
This raises a point of application that if you are invited to a party or an event, do your homework and find out who is leading it, what their character is, and what the purpose of the event is. Is it really something God has called you to invest your time in? You don’t want to be caught by surprise like those 200 naive men from Jerusalem, appearing to support the overthrow of your government when you thought you were just going to a worship service!
Or it might be something less momentous, but just as time-wasting, like when I accepted a free lunch last year from a guy, thinking it was about discussing a concert venue for my family band, but it ended up with him giving me a hard-sell on a product he had tried to sell me a couple of years back and I wasn’t interested in. I should have known better, but I wasted two good hours because I was naieve.
Absalom was banking on crowd psychology that if he could get a critical mass of trumpeters and people announcing him as king, then everybody in the crowd would join in unthinkingly.
Trumpets were customary for announcing a new king. The Bible tells us that Solomon (1 Kings 1:34), Jehu (2 Kings 9:13), and Joash (2 Kings 11:14) were all coronated to the accompaniment of trumpet blasts.
But David was the rightful king over Hebron5 and over Israel still. No change of covenant, no new anointing, and no new word of the LORD had occurred to make Absalom king.
There is a powerful attraction to joining a crowd, but Jesus told us to “be wise as serpents and harmless as doves” (Matt. 10:16).
Absalom also called for Ahithophel, one of David’s counselors and cabinet members who lived near Hebron to come on down and join the revolution.
Ahithophel, remember, was the grandfather of Bathsheba (whom David had treated disgracefully) and an in-law of Uriah (whom David had murdered). Absalom probably figured Ahithophel would have an axe to grind against David, even though he acted as a political advisor to David.
David may have been speaking of Absalom and Ahithophel in Psalm 41 when he wrote: “My enemies speak evil against me, ‘How long until he dies and his name perishes?’ And when he comes in to spy, he speaks vanity. As for his heart, it collects iniquity to himself. He goes out; he speaks to the outside. All those who have hatred toward me whisper together against me; they think up evil against me... Even my peaceful ally – who I confided in, who ate my food – he has enlarged [his] footprint over me.” (Ps. 41:5-9, NAW)
Ahithophel is thought to have been the brains behind Solomon’s coup to make it so successful.
Now, surely David must have had some suspicion beforehand and must have had some sort of intelligence during Absalom’s king-making campaign in Hebron. Finally, one of his magid communications-specialists tells him the news he is dreading. Israel has gotten behind Absalom as king, and the movement is so strong that there’s no stopping it.
David’s response is surprising: hurriedly running away with his household and bodyguard.
Where is the David who faced down a lion in the field and who was not intimidated by Goliath in battle?
Notice in v.14, where is David’s attention? “Let us flee… there is no escape for us… he will overtake us… calamity upon us… the city.” His eyes are not upon God at this point, but upon himself - us.
When you begin to feel panicky, you need to take a break and refocus your attention on God: Colossians 3:1-4 “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.” (NIV)
We know that David did “set his mind on things above” pretty soon after fleeing Jerusalem, because that’s when he wrote Psalm 3, “Yahweh, how have my oppressors become [so] many? Many are rising up against me! Many are saying to my soul, ‘There is no salvation for him in God.’ [but then notice how he sets his heart on things above] Yet you, Yahweh, are a shield beside me, my glory, and You are lifting up my head.”
But at the beginning of that day, David was panicking,
worrying that everybody in Jerusalem will be slaughtered
and everyone who is loyal to David will be tortured
and that none of them would ever be able to escape.
That seems to be overestimating Absalom’s army and underestimating God’s protection.
But don’t we all do that sometimes? We overestimate human threats and underestimate God’s providence. And being in a hurry tends to make our distorted perspective worse.
In the past, David called for the priest and asked God what to do (that would have been a great way to set his “mind on things above”!), but this day David didn’t do that. As for us, we need to remember to pray before making big decisions.
In the past, David reminded himself of God’s word, particularly God’s word which appointed him to be king and progenitor of the Messiah:
Psalm 1 “The LORD knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish”
Psalm 2 “I have installed my king upon Zion my holy hill”
Psalm 18 “You have made me the head of nations… showing lovingkindness to David and his descendants forever...”
But not this day. David left Jerusalem, abandoning it for Absalom to take over as king.
As for us, we need to remember our calling; we should not hurry to leave the post that God has given us.
In case any of you are curious, let me mention in passing what I’ve researched about a couple of the obscure phrases in verses 17-18
It is not obvious why v.17 describes David and his company “standing” at “the Bethmerhak” (AJV) “the far house”
Perhaps this was just the name of a building near the exit gate of Jerusalem.
It has to be somewhere between David’s palace at the top of the hill and the brook Kidron at the bottom of the hill.
Most commentators interpret it that David waited on the outskirts of Jerusalem for everybody to catch up before leaving town together.
The other obscure phrase is the “Cerethites and Pelethites and Gittites”
Bible scholars agree that they were all soldiers of some sort. Some think that they describe soldiers from three different ethnic groups, but I think that the Gittites are the same thing as the Cherithites and Pelethites – the 600 men who were outlaws with David in Gath (from which the word “Gittite6” comes) and Ziqlag in Philistine territory before he became king, along with perhaps their wives and children and grandchildren7.
As he exits Jerusalem, David sends these old trusty fighting men ahead of him to scout and protect the others.
David also has something like 9 wives and some 20 kids, many of whom probably had grandkids by now, as well as numerous servants, and these he keeps “by his side” as they come down the hill from Jerusalem across the Kidron brook to escape eastward.
It is also interesting to note that the phrase translated “after him” or “accompanying him” literally means in Hebrew “with his feet,” so most commentators believe this indicates that they walked out “on foot” rather than using donkeys and mules, perhaps to navigate uneven terrain and hide better (Tsumura) or perhaps as a social display of disgrace (Willett)8.
Ostentatious pride
charactarized Absalom, but that is not to characterize followers
of Jesus:
1 John 2:15-17 “Stop loving the world
and the things in the world. If someone loves the world, the
Father's love is not in him, For everything in the world - the
desire of the flesh, the desire of the eyes, and the showy lifestyle
- is not from the Father but is from the world, And the world and
its desires are being phased out, but the one who does the will of
God remains forever.” (NAW) Stop loving the world; love
your heavenly Father instead.
Rebellion against authority characterized Absalom, but that is not to characterize followers of Jesus: 1 Peter 2:1 “...displace all wickedness and deceptiveness and hypocrisies and rivalries… 13-15 “SUBMIT to every human institution on account of the Lord, whether to a KING AS unto him who is a superior, or whether to GOVERNORS AS unto those who are sent by Him for vengeance against evildoers and praise for good-doers, BECAUSE the will of God is thus: to silence the ignorance of mindless men through y'all doing good.” (NAW)
Religious hypocrisy and deception characterized Absalom, but that is not to characterize followers of Jesus, for “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth." (John 4:24 ,NKJV) Not outward show and deception, but spirit and truth.
And that goes, not only for you, but for your children and those you disciple. We should challenge rotten fruits like these. Puritan Bible commentator Matthew Henry wrote, “Those parents know not what they do who indulge a proud humour in their children; for I have seen more young people ruined by pride than by any one lust whatsoever.”
He goes on to write in his commentary on 2 Samuel 15: “Had [Absalom] proved himself a good son and a good subject, and set himself to serve his father's interest [submitting to the authorities God ordained], he would have done his present duty, and shown himself worthy of future honours, after his father's death. Those that know how to obey well know how to rule... Those are good indeed that are good in their own place, not that pretend how good they would be in other people's places...Those are commonly most ambitious of preferment that are least fit for it; the best qualified are the most modest and self-diffident.” ~Matthew Henry
Be faithful in the role that God has given you; don’t abandon your post too quickly just because it is hard. Set your minds on things above, pray to God when you are confronted with a challenge, remind yourself of God’s word, and keep doing what you know God has called you to do.
LXX |
Brenton |
DRB |
KJV |
NAW |
MT |
1
Καὶ
ἐγένετο μετὰ
ταῦτα καὶ ἐποίησεν
ἑαυτῷ Αβεσσαλωμ
ἅρματ |
1 And it came to pass after this that Abessalom prepared for himself chariot[s] and horses, and fifty men to run before him. |
1 Now after these things Absalom made himself chariot[s], and horsemen, and fifty men to run before him. |
1 And it came to pass after this, that Absalom prepared him chariot[s] and horses, and fifty men to run before him. |
1 Now, after that, it happened that Absalom did up for himself a chariot with horses and 50 men to run before him. |
(א)וַיְהִי מֵאַחֲרֵי כֵן וַיַּעַשׂ לוֹ אַבְשָׁלוֹם מֶרְכָּבָה וְסֻסִים וַחֲמִשִּׁים אִישׁ רָצִים לְפָנָיו. |
2 καὶ ὤρθρισεν Αβεσσαλωμ καὶ ἔστη ἀνὰ χεῖρα τῆς ὁδοῦ τῆς πύλης, καὶ ἐγένετο πᾶς ἀνήρ, ᾧ ἐγένετο κρίσις, ἦλθεν πρὸς τὸν βασιλέα εἰς κρίσιν, καὶ ἐβόησεν πρὸς αὐτὸν Αβεσσαλωμ καὶ ἔλεγεν αὐτῷ Ἐκ ποίας πόλεως σὺ εἶ; καὶ εἶπεν [ὁ ἀνήρ] Ἐκ μιᾶς φυλῶν Ισραηλ ὁ δοῦλός σου. |
2 And Abessalom rose early, and stood by the side of the way of the gate: and it came to pass that every man who had a cause, came to the king for judgment, and Abessalom cried to him, and said to him, Of what city art thou? And heB said, Thy servant is of one of the tribes of Israel. |
2
And Absalom
rising up early stood by the |
2 And Absalom rose up early, and stood beside the way of the gate: and it was so, that when any man that had a controversy came to the king for judgment, then Absalom called unto him, and said, Of what city art thou? And he said, Thy servant is of one of the tribes of Israel. |
2 And Absalom would get up early and stand at the gate at the side of the street, where every man would be who had a dispute that was to go to the king for judgment, and Absalom would call to him and say, “What town are you from?” And {the man} would say, “Your servant is from one of the tribes of Israel.” |
(ב) וְהִשְׁכִּים אַבְשָׁלוֹם וְעָמַד עַל יַד דֶּרֶךְ הַשָּׁעַרC וַיְהִי כָּל Dהָאִישׁ אֲשֶׁר יִהְיֶה לּוֹ רִיב לָבוֹא אֶל הַמֶּלֶךְ לַמִּשְׁפָּט וַיִּקְרָא אַבְשָׁלוֹם אֵלָיו וַיֹּאמֶר אֵי מִזֶּה עִיר אַתָּהE וַיֹּאמֶר מֵאַחַד שִׁבְטֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל עַבְדֶּךָ. |
3
καὶ
εἶπεν πρὸς αὐτὸν
Αβεσσαλωμ
Ἰδοὺ οἱ λόγ |
3 And Abessalom said to him, See, thy affair[s] are right and clear, yet thou hast no one appointed of the king to hear thee. |
3 And Absalom answered him: Thy word[s seem to] good and just. But there is no man [appointed] by the king to hear thee. |
3 And Absalom said unto him, See, thy matter[s] are good and right; but there is no man deputed of the king to hear thee. |
3 Then Absalom would say to him, “Look, there are good and straightforward things about your case, but there is no one from the king who will give heed to you.” |
(ג) וַיֹּאמֶר אֵלָיו אַבְשָׁלוֹם רְאֵה דְבָרֶךָ טוֹבִים וּנְכֹחִים וְשֹׁמֵעַ אֵין לְךָ מֵאֵת הַמֶּלֶךְ. |
4 καὶ εἶπεν Αβεσσαλωμ Τίς με καταστήσει κριτὴν ἐν τῇ γῇ, καὶ ἐπ᾿ ἐμὲ ἐλεύσεται πᾶς ἀνήρ, ᾧ ἐὰν ᾖ ἀντιλογία καὶ κρίσις, καὶ δικαιώσω αὐτόν; |
4
And Abessalom said, |
And
Absalom said: 4
|
4
Absalom said moreover, |
4 Then Absalom would say, “Who will install me as a judge in the land, so that every man who has a dispute or an adjudication might come to me and I will make things right for him?!” |
(ד) וַיֹּאמֶר אַבְשָׁלוֹם מִי יְשִׂמֵנִי שֹׁפֵט בָּאָרֶץ וְעָלַיG יָבוֹא כָּל אִישׁ אֲשֶׁר יִהְיֶה לּוֹ רִיב וּמִשְׁפָּט וְהִצְדַּקְתִּיו. |
5 καὶ ἐγένετο ἐν τῷ ἐγγίζειν ἄνδρα τοῦ προσκυνῆσαι αὐτῷ καὶ ἐξέτεινεν τὴν χεῖρα αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐπελαμβάνετο αὐτοῦ καὶ κατεφίλησεν αὐτόν. |
5 And it came to pass when a man came near to do him obeisance, that he stretched out his hand, and took hold of him, and kissed him. |
5
Moreover when [any]
man came to him to |
5 And it was so, that when [any] man came nigh to him to do him obeisance, he put forth his hand, and took him, and kissed him. |
5 And when a man happened to be near to bow down to him, then he would thrust forth his hand and grab hold of him and kiss him. |
(ה) וְהָיָה בִּקְרָב אִישׁ לְהִשְׁתַּחֲוֹת לוֹ וְשָׁלַח אֶת יָדוֹ וְהֶחֱזִיק Hלוֹ וְנָשַׁק לוֹ. |
6 καὶ ἐποίησεν Αβεσσαλωμ κατὰ τὸ ῥῆμα τοῦτο παντὶ Ισραηλ τοῖς παραγινομένοις εἰς κρίσιν πρὸς τὸν βασιλέα, καὶ ἰδιοποιεῖτο Αβεσσαλωμ τὴν καρδίαν ἀνδρῶν Ισραηλ. |
6 And Abessalom did after this manner to all Israel that came to the king for judgment; and Abessalom gained the heart[s] of the men of Israel. |
6 And X X this he did to all Israel that came for judgment, to be heard by the king, and he enticed the heart[s] of the men of Israel. |
6 And on this manner did Absalom to all Israel that came to the king for judgment: so Absalom stole the heart[s] of the men of Israel. |
6 And Absalom would do something like this to all the Israelites who came to the king for ajudication, thus Absalom stole the affection of the men of Israel. |
(ו) וַיַּעַשׂ אַבְשָׁלוֹם כַּדָּבָר הַזֶּה לְכָל יִשְׂרָאֵל אֲשֶׁר יָבֹאוּ לַמִּשְׁפָּט אֶל הַמֶּלֶךְ וַיְגַנֵּב אַבְשָׁלוֹם אֶת לֵב אַנְשֵׁי יִשְׂרָאֵל. |
7 Καὶ ἐγένετο ἀπὸ τέλους τεσσαράκοντα ἐτῶν καὶ εἶπεν Αβεσσαλωμ πρὸς τὸν πατέρα αὐτοῦ Πορεύσομαι δὴ καὶ ἀποτείσω τὰς εὐχάς μου, ἃς ηὐξάμην τῷ κυρίῳ, ἐν Χεβρων· |
7 And it came to pass after forty years, that Abessalom said to his father, I will go now, and pay my vows, which I vowed to the Lord in Chebron. |
7
And after |
7 And it came to pass after forty years, that Absalom said unto the king, I pray thee, let me go and pay my vow, which I have vowed unto the LORD, in Hebron. |
7 So it was, at the end of 40 years, that Absalom said to the king, “Please let me go to Hebron and bring closure to my vow which I vowed to Yahweh, |
(ז) וַיְהִי מִקֵּץ אַרְבָּעִיםJ שָׁנָה וַיֹּאמֶר אַבְשָׁלוֹם אֶל הַמֶּלֶךְ אֵלֲכָה נָּא וַאֲשַׁלֵּם אֶת נִדְרִי אֲשֶׁר נָדַרְתִּי לַיהוָה בְּחֶבְרוֹן. |
8 ὅτι εὐχὴν ηὔξατο ὁ δοῦλός σου ἐν τῷ οἰκεῖν με ἐν Γεδσουρ ἐν Συρίᾳ λέγων Ἐὰν ἐπιστρέφων ἐπιστρέψῃ με κύριος εἰς Ιερουσαλημ, καὶ λατρεύσω τῷ κυρίῳ. |
8 For thy servant vowed a vow when I dwelt at Gedsur in Syria, saying, If the Lord should indeed restore me to Jerusalem, then will I serve the Lord. |
8 For thy servant made a vow, when he was in Gessur of Syria, saying: If the Lord shall X bring me again into Jerusalem, X I will offer sacrifice to the Lord. |
8 For thy servant vowed a vow while I abode at Geshur in Syria, saying, If the LORD shall bring me again indeed to Jerusalem, then I will serve the LORD. |
8 for your servant vowed a vow when I was residing in Geshur in Syria, saying, ‘If Yahweh really brings me back to Jerusalem, then I will serve Yahweh.’” |
(ח)כִּי נֵדֶר נָדַר עַבְדְּךָ בְּשִׁבְתִּי בִגְשׁוּר בַּאֲרָם לֵאמֹר אִם יָשִׁיבK יְשִׁיבֵנִי יְהוָה יְרוּשָׁלִַם וְעָבַדְתִּי אֶת יְהוָה. |
9 καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῷ ὁ βασιλεύς Βάδιζε εἰς εἰρήνην· καὶ ἀναστὰς ἐπορεύθη εἰς Χεβρων. |
9 And the king said to him, Go in peace. And he arose and went to Chebron. |
9 And king David said to him: Go in peace. And he arose, and went to Hebron. |
9 And the king said unto him, Go in peace. So he arose, and went to Hebron. |
9 So the king said to him, “Go in peace.” Then he got up and went to Hebron. |
(ט) וַיֹּאמֶר לוֹ הַמֶּלֶךְ לֵךְ בְּשָׁלוֹם וַיָּקָם וַיֵּלֶךְ חֶבְרוֹנָה. |
10 καὶ ἀπέστειλεν Αβεσσαλωμ κατασκόπους ἐν πάσαις φυλαῖς Ισραηλ λέγων Ἐν τῷ ἀκοῦσαι ὑμᾶς τὴν φωνὴν τῆς κερατίνης καὶ ἐρεῖτε Βεβασίλευκεν βασιλεὺς Αβεσσαλωμ ἐν Χεβρων. |
10 And Abessalom sent spies throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, When ye hear the sound of the trumpet, then shall ye say, Abessalom is become king in Chebron. |
10 And Absalom sent spies into all the tribes of Israel, saying: As soon as you shall hear the sound of the trumpet, say ye: Absalom reigneth in Hebron. |
10 But Absalom sent spies throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, As soon as ye hear the sound of the trumpet, then ye shall say, Absalom reigneth in Hebron. |
10 Absalom, however, commissioned spies into all the tribes of Israel to say, “As soon as y’all hear the sound of the trumpet, then say, ‘Absalom is king in Hebron!’” |
(י) וַיִּשְׁלַח אַבְשָׁלוֹם מְרַגְּלִיםL בְּכָל שִׁבְטֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל לֵאמֹר כְּשָׁמְעֲכֶם אֶת קוֹל הַשֹּׁפָר וַאֲמַרְתֶּם מָלַךְ אַבְשָׁלוֹם בְּחֶבְרוֹן. |
11 καὶ μετὰ Αβεσσαλωμ ἐπορεύθησαν διακόσιοι ἄνδρες ἐξ Ιερουσαλημ κλητοὶ καὶ πορευόμενοι τῇ ἁπλότητι αὐτῶν καὶ οὐκ ἔγνωσαν πᾶν ῥῆμα. |
11 And there went with Abessalom two hundred chosen men from Jerusalem; and they went in their simplicity, and knew not anything. |
11
Now there went with Absalom
two hundred
men out of Jerusalem that were called, going
with simplicity
of |
11 And with Absalom went two hundred men out of Jerusalem, that were called; and they went in their simplicity, and they knew not any thing. |
11 Now 200 men invited from Jerusalem went with Absalom, and they went with integrity, for they did not know the whole of the matter. |
(יא) וְאֶת אַבְשָׁלוֹם הָלְכוּ מָאתַיִם אִישׁ מִירוּשָׁלִַם קְרֻאִים וְהֹלְכִים לְתֻמָּם וְלֹא יָדְעוּ כָּל דָּבָר. |
12 καὶ ἀπέστειλεν Αβεσσαλωμ [καὶ ἐκάλεσεν]M τὸν Αχιτοφελ τὸν Γελμωναῖον τὸν σύμβουλον Δαυιδ ἐκ τῆς πόλεως αὐτοῦ ἐκ Γωλα ἐν τῷ θυσιάζειν αὐτόν. καὶ ἐγένετο σύστρεμμα ἰσχυρόν, καὶ ὁ λαὸς πορευόμενος καὶ πολὺς μετὰ Αβεσσαλωμ. |
12 And Abessalom sent to Achitophel the Theconite, the counsellor of David, from his city, from Gola, where he was sacrificing: and there was a strong conspiracy; and the people with Abessalom were increasingly numerous. |
12 Absalom also sent for Achitophel the Gilonite, David's counsellor, from his city Gilo. And while he was offering sacrifices, there was a strong conspiracy, and the people running together increased with Absalom. |
12 And Absalom sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, David's counsellor, from his city, even from Giloh, while he offered sacrifices. And the conspiracy was strong; for the people increased continually with Absalom. |
12 Also, while he was sacrificing the sacrifices, Absalom sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, a counselor of David’s, from his town of Giloh. So the conspiracy became strong, and the people were going along and becoming numerous with Absalom. |
(יב) וַיִּשְׁלַח אַבְשָׁלוֹם אֶת אֲחִיתֹפֶל הַגִּילֹנִי יוֹעֵץ דָּוִד מֵעִירוֹ מִגִּלֹה בְּזָבְחוֹ אֶת הַזְּבָחִים וַיְהִי הַקֶּשֶׁר אַמִּץN וְהָעָם הוֹלֵךְ וָרָב אֶת אַבְשָׁלוֹם. |
13
Καὶ
παρεγένετο
ὁ ἀπαγγέλλων
πρὸς Δαυιδ
λέγων Ἐγενήθη
ἡ καρδία ἀνδρ |
13
And there came |
13
And there came |
13
And there came |
13 Presently, the communication came to David, saying that the heart of each Israelite was behind Absalom. |
(יג) וַיָּבֹא הַמַּגִּיד אֶל דָּוִד לֵאמֹר הָיָה לֶב אִישׁ יִשְׂרָאֵל אַחֲרֵי אַבְשָׁלוֹם. |
14 καὶ εἶπεν Δαυιδ πᾶσιν τοῖς παισὶν αὐτοῦ τοῖς μετ᾿ αὐτοῦ τοῖς ἐν Ιερουσαλημ Ἀνάστητε καὶ φύγωμεν, ὅτι οὐκ ἔστιν ἡμῖν σωτηρία ἀπὸ προσώπου Αβεσσαλωμ· ταχύνατε τοῦ πορευθῆναι, ἵνα μὴ ταχύνῃ καὶ καταλάβῃ ἡμᾶς καὶ ἐξώσῃ ἐφ᾿ ἡμᾶς τὴν κακίαν καὶ πατάξῃ τὴν πόλιν στόματι μαχαίρης. |
14
And David said to all his servants who were with him in Jerusalem,
Rise, and let us flee, for X we
|
14
And David said to X his
servants, that were with him in Jerusalem: Arise and let us flee:
for we shall not X escape
else from the face of Absalom: make
haste
to go out, lest he |
14 And David said unto all his servants that were with him at Jerusalem, Arise, and let us flee; X for we shall not X else escape from X Absalom: make speed to depart, lest he overtake us suddenly, and bring evil upon us, and smite the city with the edge of the sword. |
14 Then David said to all his servants who were with him in Jerusalem, “Get up and let us flee, for there will be for us no escape from Absalom’s presence. Move quickly to go, otherwise he will move quickly and overtake us, and unleash what is evil upon us, and he will strike the city with the edge of a sword.” |
(יד) וַיֹּאמֶר דָּוִד לְכָל עֲבָדָיו אֲשֶׁר אִתּוֹ בִירוּשָׁלִַם קוּמוּ וְנִבְרָחָה כִּי לֹא תִהְיֶה לָּנוּ פְלֵיטָה מִפְּנֵי אַבְשָׁלוֹם מַהֲרוּ לָלֶכֶת פֶּן יְמַהֵר וְהִשִּׂגָנוּ וְהִדִּיחַ עָלֵינוּ אֶת הָרָעָה וְהִכָּה הָעִיר לְפִי חָרֶב. |
15 καὶ εἶπον οἱ παῖδες τοῦ βασιλέως πρὸς τὸν βασιλέα Κατὰ πάντα, ὅσα αἱρεῖται ὁ κύριος ἡμῶν ὁ βασιλεύς, ἰδοὺ οἱ παῖδές σου. |
15 And the king's servants said to the king, In all things which our lord the king chooses, behold we are thy servants. |
15
And the king's servants said to |
15 And the king's servants said unto the king, Behold, thy servants are ready to do whatsoever my lord the king shall appoint. |
15 So the king’s servants said to the king, “As to what ever my lord the king chooses, here we are to be your servants!” |
(טו) וַיֹּאמְרוּ עַבְדֵי הַמֶּלֶךְ אֶל הַמֶּלֶךְ כְּכֹל אֲשֶׁר יִבְחַר אֲדֹנִי הַמֶּלֶךְ הִנֵּה עֲבָדֶיךָ. |
16 καὶ ἐξῆλθεν ὁ βασιλεὺς καὶ πᾶς ὁ οἶκος αὐτοῦ τοῖς ποσὶν αὐτῶν· καὶ ἀφῆκεν ὁ βασιλεὺς δέκα γυναῖκας τῶν παλλακῶν [αὐτοῦ] φυλάσσειν τὸν οἶκον. |
16 And the king and all his house went out on foot: and the king left ten women of [his] concubines to keep the house. |
16 And the king went forth, and all his household on foot: and the king left ten women [his] concubines to keep the house: |
16
And the king went forth, and all his household |
16 And the king went out - along with all his household - on foot, although the king left ten women of {his} concubines to tend to the house. |
(טז) וַיֵּצֵא הַמֶּלֶךְ וְכָל בֵּיתוֹ בְּרַגְלָיוP וַיַּעֲזֹב הַמֶּלֶךְ אֵת עֶשֶׂר נָשִׁים פִּלַגְשִׁים לִשְׁמֹר הַבָּיִת. |
17
καὶ
ἐξῆλθεν ὁ βασιλεὺς
καὶ πάντες οἱ
|
17
And the king and all [his]
|
17
And the king going forth and all |
17
And the king went forth, and all the people |
17 So, the king went out along with all his people on foot, and they took their stand at the house of the outpost. |
(יז) וַיֵּצֵא הַמֶּלֶךְ וְכָל הָעָםQ בְּרַגְלָיו וַיַּעַמְדוּR בֵּית הַמֶּרְחָק. |
18
καὶ
πάντες οἱ παῖδες
αὐτοῦ ἀνὰ χεῖρα
αὐτοῦ παρῆγον
καὶ πᾶς ὁ χεττι
καὶ πᾶς ὁ φελετθι
[καὶ
ἔστησαν ἐπὶ τῆς
ἐλαίας ἐν τῇ
ἐρήμῳ· καὶ πᾶς
ὁ λαὸς παρεπορεύετο
ἐχόμενος αὐτοῦ
καὶ πάντες οἱ
περὶ αὐτὸν καὶ
πάντες οἱ ἁδροὶ
καὶ πάντες οἱ
μαχηταί, ἑξακόσιοι
ἄνδρες, καὶ
παρῆσαν ἐπὶ χεῖρα
αὐτοῦ· καὶ
πᾶς ὁ χερεθθι
καὶ πᾶς ὁ φελεθθι]
καὶ πάντες οἱ
Γεθθαῖοι,
ἑξακόσιοι
ἄνδρες οἱ ἐλθόντες
τοῖς
ποσὶν αὐτῶν
ἐκ Γεθ, |
18
And all his servants passed on by his side, and every Chelethite,
and every Phelethite, [and
they stood by the olive tree in the wilderness: and all the people
marched near him, and all his court, and all the men of might, and
all the men of warS,
six hundred: and they were present at his side: and every
Chelethite, and every Phelethite,]
and all the six hundred Gittites that came on
foot out of Geth, [and]
they |
18
And all his servants |
18
And all his servants passed on beside him; and all the
Cherethites, and all the Pelethites, and all the Gittites, six
hundred men which came |
18 And all his servants crossed over on one side of him, and all the Kerethites and all the Pelethites (that is, all 600 men of the Gittites from Gath) went on foot, crossing over to the front of the king. |
(יח) וְכָל עֲבָדָיו עֹבְרִים עַל יָדוֹ וְכָל הַכְּרֵתִי וְכָל הַפְּלֵתִי וְכָל הַגִּתִּים שֵׁשׁ מֵאוֹת אִישׁ אֲשֶׁר בָּאוּ בְרַגְלוֹT מִגַּת עֹבְרִים עַל פְּנֵי הַמֶּלֶךְ. |
1And so did Theodoret, Gill, Keil & Delitzsch, and Jamieson.
21 Kings 2:11 The period that David reigned over Israel was forty years; seven years he reigned in Hebron, and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty-three years. (NKJV)
3Including those by Osiander, Vatablus, Pellican, Luther, Willett, Henry, Lightfoot, Goldman, and the Talmud.
4Cited by Gill from Bemidbar Rabba, sect. 9. fol. 194. 4.
51 Chron. 11:3 “Therefore all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron, and David made a covenant with them at Hebron before the LORD. Then they anointed David king over Israel, according to the word of the LORD by Samuel.” (NKJV)
6Some commentators indicated that the Gittites were a separate group from the C’s and P’s and were under Ittai’s leadership. I don’t think that this chapter necessarily says that.
71 Sam. 27:2 “Then David arose and went over with the six hundred men who were with him to Achish the son of Maoch, king of Gath.”
8See Endnote P for more information on this.
AMy
original chart includes the NASB and NIV, but their copyright
restrictions have forced me to remove them from the
publicly-available edition of this chart. I have included the ESV in
footnotes when it employs a word not already used by the KJV, NASB,
or NIV. (NAW is my translation.) When a translation adds words not
in the Hebrew text, but does not indicate it has done so by the use
of italics (or greyed-out text), I put the added words in [square
brackets]. When one version chooses a wording which is different
from all the other translations, I underline it. When a
version chooses a translation which, in my opinion, either departs
too far from the root meaning of the Hebrew word or departs too far
from the grammar form of the original text, I use strikeout.
And when a version omits a word which is in the original text, I
insert an X. (I also place an X at the end of a word if the original
word is plural but the English translation is singular.) I
occasionally use colors to help the reader see correlations between
the various editions and versions when there are more than two
different translations of a given word. The only known Dead Sea
Scrolls containing 2 Samuel 15 are 4Q51 Samuela
containing parts of verses 1-7, 20-31 & 37, dated between 50-25
B.C., and 4Q53 Samuelc, containing verses 1-15, dated
around 100 B.C. Where the DSS is legible and in agreement with the
MT, the MT is colored purple. Where the
DSS supports the LXX (or Vulgate or Syriac) with omissions or text
not in the MT, I have highlighted
with yellow the LXX
and its translation into English, and where I have accepted that
into my NAW translation, I have marked it with {pointed brackets}.
BVaticanus omits the explicit subject “the man” stated in the majority of LXX manuscripts.
CBoth DSS omit the word “gate” and put the definite article on the word for “way/road.”
DDSS omits the definite article, which doesn’t change the meaning.
EThere is extra space in this obliterated section of both DSS to include the explicit subject in the LXX “the man,” but it makes no difference in meaning. One DSS reduplicates the verb with “and he answered and said.”
FOld Latin reads singular iustificabo eum instead of the Vulgate iuste iudicem
G"עָלַי placed before יָבִא for the sake of emphasis, may be explained from the fact that a judge sat, so that the person who stood before him rose above him (comp. Ex. 18:13 with Gen. 18:8)” ~Keil & Delitzsch
HTargums and some other manuscripts read instead בו (“with him”) which is essentially synonymous.
IAlthough Douay rendered this number as 40, the Vulgate actually reads 4 (quattuor).
JSyriac, Vulgate, and Lucian Rescription of the Septuagint all read “four” instead of “forty.” The DSS is obliterated here, and, due to the paragraph break, the spacing isn’t certain, but if this verse started on a new line, the spacing might favor the shorter reading of 4.
KQere recommends this be read as an infinitive (יָשׁוֹב “He will do again”) rather than as the Hiphil Imperfect (“he will bring back”) in the Masoretic text. Vulgate omits it altogether, as do some Greek manuscripts, but Rohlfs edition of the Septuagint renders it as a participle, agreeing with the Qere, and with this the Syriac and Targums seem to agree. It doesn’t change the story at all either way. (Tsumura notes other instances where a Qal Infinitive absolute is used with a derived stem of a finite verb as here: Gen. 26:11, Ex. 19:13, 1 Sam. 23:22, and 2 Sam. 20:18.)
LDSS reads “from Jerusalem,” which has a lot of the same letters as “by foot” in Hebrew.
M“and called” is not in the MT or the Vaticanus or other versions, but it substitutes for “Absalom” in one of the two DSS. It basically means the same as the previous phrase “he sent for,” so it doesn’t add anything.
NRelatively rare word only found here and in Job 9:4&19, Job 17:9; Isa. 28:2 & 40:26; Amos 2:16, and Nah. 2:2.
OMT is singular. Lucian Rescription of the LXX reads “all” along with the Latin. But whether it is translated “each” or “all” or “men,” the gist still comes across the same.
POf the 11 other passages in the Hebrew Bible that use this term, only two others are interpreted by some English versions to mean “following” rather than “on foot,” namely Jdg. 4:10, and 5:15 . The other nine are interpreted by all English versions to mean “on his feet” (Judges 4:15, 17; 2 Sam. 2:18; 1 Kings 2:5; 2 Kings 4:27; 2 Chron. 16:12; Job 18:8; Isa. 41:3; Amos 2:15). Levi Ben Gershom, Andrew Willett, Matthew Henry, Tsumura (NICOT) and NET Bible supported “on foot.” Geneva, KJV, RV, NASB, NIV and ESV went for “after/with/following/accompanying him,” although, in another place, one of them interpreted it “at his heels.”
QThere are other Hebrew manuscripts which offer a synonym here, some which read עבדיו (“his servants”) with the Septuagint, and others which read ביתו (“his house”) with the text of the previous verse. Neither changes the story.
RThis could mean “to stand,” as in “come to a standstill,” or “to stand” as in “make a stand” or “serve” (For the latter see Psalm 134:1 “...who stand by night in the house of the LORD,” and Psalm 135:2.)
SThis long reading of the Greek appears to be a combination of the Septuagint tradition of both translating and transliterating obscure words (note the parallel between “servants… Chelethites... Pelethites... Gittites” – mostly transliterated, and the translations “the people… court… men of might… fighting men”) as well as a bit of haplography at the end, none of which introduces anything new or different from the traditional text. It is not in any other ancient versions, and the paragraph is too obliterated in the DSS to draw any conclusion from it.
THere the MT changes from plural “feet” to singular “foot,” and the Syriac follows suit, but there are multiple other Hebrew manuscripts which make this instance plural too, as the Septuagint does. Meanwhile, the Targums interpret figuratively with the preposition “with,” and that is the reading of most English versions.