Translation & Sermon by Nate Wilson for Christ The Redeemer Church, Manhattan, KS, 2 Oct. 2022
To recap the context of the passage we are studying today, King David’s son Absalom has staged a coup, and David has taken refuge across the Jordan River in the walled city of Machanaim. Absalom mobilized a huge army and tried to wipe David off the face of the earth, but, in a surprise reversal, Absalom was instead killed, and his army retreated.
Now David’s soldiers are trudging off the battlefield back to Machanaim to regroup with David and their families inside the walled city, but instead of being greeted by a commander-in-chief who is handing out medals and congratulations, the first thing they hear when they arrive is David above the gateway, weeping because they had killed Absalom.
Read
passage from my translation:
Presently, it was communicated to
Joab that the king was there weeping and mourning over Absalom. So
the deliverance became a mourning-occasion for all the people on
that day, since the people heard it said on that day, “The
king is grieving over his son.” So on that day, the people
stole in, entering the city like when the people steals in ashamed
when they they have fled during the battle. And the king himself was
covering his face, and the king was crying out with a loud voice,
“My son Absalom! Absalom, my son, my son!” So Joab went
to the king at his house and said, “Today you have put to
shame the faces of all your servants, the very ones who have
delivered your life {} and the life of your sons and your daughters
and the life of your wives and {} of your concubines, as a result,
loving those who hated you and hating those who love you, for you
have managed to communicate today that there are no officers or
servants belonging to you! Indeed, I understand today that were
Absalom alive and all of us dead {}, only then would it be right in
your eyes. So get up, right now, go out there, and speak to the
heart of your servants, for I swear by Yahweh, there is no way,
apart from you going out there, that any man will stay the night
with you tonight. And for you, this could be worse than all the evil
which has come upon you from your boyhood until now!” Then the
king got up and began officiating in the gateway. So they
communicated to all the people saying, “Look, the king is
officiating in the gateway!” and all the people came before
the king. Meanwhile, Israel had fled, each to his tent. Then all the
people throughout all the tribes of Israel were trying to come up
with a verdict, saying, “{David} the king has brought about
deliverance for us from the grip of our enemies, and it was he who
rescued us from the grip of the Philistines, yet now he has fled
from the country on account of Absalom. However, Absalom, whom we
anointed-king over us, has died in the battle, so now, why are y’all
keeping quiet about initiating the return of the king?” Then
David the king sent a commission to Zadoq and to Abiathar the
priests to say, “Speak to the elders of Judah, saying, ‘Why
are y’all being the last to initiate the return of the king to
his palace since the verdict of all Israel has come in to the king
at his house? Y’all are my brothers – you’re my
bone and my flesh, so why be last to initiate the return of the
king? Also, say to Amasa, ‘Are you not my bone and my flesh?
May God deal with me thus and even more, if you do not become
general over the army in my presence all my days instead of Joab.’”
So he inclined the heart of all the men of Judah like they were one
man, and they send a commission to the king{ to say}, “Return,
you and all your servants!” Then the king began the return and
came up to the Jordan, and Judah went toward Gilgal to go call on
the king in order to bring the king over the Jordan.
There is a lot in this passage about “come-backs.”
The people of Israel and Judah who have to decide whether they want David to come back as their king.
And there’s David mourning in his house over the death of his son, yet he has to come back to the gate and celebrate his army’s victory anyway.
But first, there’s the return of David’s soldiers to Machanaim after the battle.
Here they had risked their lives in an almost-hopeless last-stand to defend David and bring an end to Absalom’s despotic and murderous actions, yet, when they had finally succeeded against all odds, they return to their base only to find their king upset at them, even though what they did what was best for the country.
“David, don’t you realize what would have happened if Absalom’s army had killed you? How can you be sad that we didn’t get slaughtered out there on the battlefield?? We won, for crying out loud! Why should we have to sneak back into our own city like a bunch of lily-livered greenhorns who ran home from the battle line crying for their mommies when they should have been fighting? Absalom deserved worse than he got; would you quit moaning about it already? What the heck are you thinking??”
But, of course you couldn’t speak that disrespectfully to a king, so you just slunk in and found the apartment where your family was staying and started figuring out what you could eat for dinner. No victory parade, no cheering crowds, not even a slap on the back.
Joab noticed how this discouraged the troops and how this weakened David’s position to lead the nation, so he decided to do something about it.
Joab’s tone is not as respectful as it should have been, but he was in a unique relationship to David as his nephew and as his army general, and he was warning David about a true emergency that could not be put off even one more day. His sharpness could be overlooked due to the urgency of his message.
He actually follows Jesus’ advice from Matthew 18:15 “Now, if your brother happens to sin in regards to you, go on and lay out a case to him between you and him alone. If he happens to heed you, you will have gained your brother.” (NAW)
Notice that Joab does not confront David in public, but rather in the privacy of David’s “house.”
He lays out the case to David that David has sinned by dishonoring the men who risked their lives to protect him.
In their culture, shame and respectfulness were a much bigger deal than they are in our culture. For the king to ignore his men when they had returned in triumph, and to mourn over what they had done, was a serious affront; it was as much as saying, “Despite the fact that you have showed love to me by saving my life, I hate you. You are court-martialled; I no longer recognize you as my soldiers. I wish you were all dead.” Ouch!
Joab helps David see how offensive his behavior was to his troops and how dangerous it would be for him to alienate his people like that.
To further underscore the urgency of his message, Joab swears an oath in the name of the LORD.
It’s hard to tell for sure; perhaps his oath was a threat that he would defect with all the troops that night if David didn’t snap out of it1,
but I’d like to think he was just describing how fragile the loyalty of the troops had become toward David in order to help David realize how crucial it was to act immediately.
If you don’t give them a reason to stick around in Machanaim, they’re all going to go back to Jerusalem (or wherever their farms and houses are) and get on with their lives, and they’re going to write you out of their lives and find someone else to be king. They are already starting to leave now, because you have not made them feel wanted here.
“So get up, right now, go out there, and speak to the heart of your servants.” If you don’t snap out of this funk and do everything in your power to make a comeback right now, you’re a lost cause. But just speak to them; I know you can win them back, if you’ll only just get up and do it!
Sometimes we need to hear a kick-in-the-pants exhortation like that when we get stuck in our heads.
Proverbs 27:5-6 says, “Open rebuke is better Than love carefully concealed. Faithful are the wounds of a friend...” (NKJV)
You probably don’t want to be that kind of “friend” to everybody all the time, with nothing but rebuke, but are you able to be that kind of friend to somebody when they need it?
The result is that David gets up and sits in the gateway.
This is what a community leader did back in those days. The gate was where the elders did their job of judging legal disputes and deciding how to lead the community.
Joab’s exhortation was successful in jogging David out of his morose fit and getting him back in the game, to fulfill God’s calling upon him to be king of Israel. Next...
Over the last several chapters, “the people” has usually meant David’s soldiers, and for that reason, the NIV often translated that Hebrew word as David’s “men” or “troops” instead of “people.” I think it’s the same soldiers who supported David that are being referred to in verses 8-10 as “the people” rallying to David and dispersing throughout Israel to make the case with the men from Absalom’s army (who had already returned to their homes) to bring back David as king of Israel.
Their two main talking points were that
1) Absalom was dead, so they might as well go back to David, and
2) David had previously done a great job defending the country from enemies.
Now, this took some grace on the part of David’s soldiers. They had just been insulted so badly that they were about to mutiny. They had to first forgive David for his inconsiderate and rude behavior toward them, and then they had to decide to trust him again as their leader, before they could do this political campaigning for him in hostile territory.
The decision whether or not to rally back to a leader who has done something wrong takes wisdom. Whether it is a husband who has sinned against his wife, an employer who has sinned against his employee, a pastor, or (as the case was here) a political leader who has sinned, there are circumstances when the leader should be rejected, and other circumstances where the leader should be extended grace and be given the opportunity to try again to do better.
Considerations would include whether the nature of the offense was such that it could be overlooked. In this case, it was merely an insult, and that wasn’t a crime. It was perfectly understandable that David, as a father would experience emotional conflict over the execution of his son, even though it was needful and just. His offense could be overlooked.
Another consideration is, if it is a serious problem, whether it is likely to happen again, or whether the leader has truly repented. In this case, it was unusual for David not to support his men, this outburst from him was an outlier, and he seemed to be responding well to Joab’s rebuke, so it was reasonable to give him another chance.
One more consideration I’d mention is the amount of risk which giving a leader another chance would exposes others to. If David’s sin had been idolatry or treason, it might have been better to find another king, but in this case, the risk was just having the king sidelined temporarily by grief again, which was a risk that could be endured for the sake of national stability.
So David’s men went on the campaign trail and built a consensus among the northern tribes of Israel until they said, “Yes, let’s bring the old king back!”
But what about the southern tribe of Judah? It was there that Absalom’s rebellion had been hatched. It was there that Absalom had worked hardest to undermine trust in David. The next verses describe how David won them over:
David decided to work through the high priests. These church leaders were respected; they were close to God, and they were stable; they hadn’t fled the country with David. They had kept their connection to the people of Judah. But, of course David knew that their sympathies were with him and that he could count on them to help him.
I imagine that Ahimaaz and Jonathan were the guys David commissioned with this message for their dads.
David asked the priests to talk to the elders of the tribe of Judah. That’s because the elders were the community decision-makers. They were the ones who held the people’s respect. They were the ones who had anointed David king in the first place – back in chapter 5. If the elders could be persuaded, the rest of the people would follow.
David appeals to them to remember their covenant with him from back in chapter 5, when they had told him that they were of his “bone and flesh.” He reminds them of their own covenantal words to him.
When we have bombed out and lost our credibility due to our foolishness or our sin, David shows us the way forward with these two principles:
Who are the authorities in your life that you need to reconcile with, by showing them your respect? This is especially relevant in resolving conflict in the home with your parents, on the job with your boss, or in the church with your elders. Reconcile with your authorities.
The second principle is this: What covenant promises have you have made in the past that you need to return to and keep? This is especially relevant with marriage failures, to return to honoring your marriage vows, but it also applies to work contracts and to church membership. Return to keeping your promises.
Also, part of David’s appeal was that he was a relative. David was from the tribe of Judah, and he was appealing to the elders of Judah. It was only natural for them to support their own kin.
Hebrews 2:11ff reminds us that our Savior and King Jesus also shares kinship with Christians: “...the One who makes holy [that’s Jesus] and the ones who are being made holy [that’s Christians] are all of one kind, on account of which He is not ashamed to call them brothers… the children have shared flesh and blood, He also similarly partook of the same things in order that through death He might put out of commission the one who has the power of death (that is, the Devil)…” (NAW)
However, the folks from Judah may have been wondering if David might try to punish them for supporting Absalom’s uprising against him. They were probably hanging back, afraid of what David might do to get back at them once he returned to the throne.
David’s message encourages them that there will be no political witch hunt. If they step forward in support of him, he will treat them like family.
When you move to restore a broken relationship, people are going to watch to see if you can forgive them for the hurt they did to you or whether you’re just going to hold grudges – whether you’ve come back to the relationship to get revenge.
If David had not reached out to the elders of Judah with his message of reconciliation, he might have wasted the rest of his life waiting on the East bank for the Judeans to make the first move.
As Mark Travers pointed out from the Gospels at our church retreat, Jesus teaches that whether you are the offender (Matt. 5:23) or the one sinned against (Matt. 18:15), just go ahead and take the initiative to reconcile.
The last part of David’s message was to tap Amasa, Absalom’s army general, as the new general of the reunited kingdom. This move may have been motivated by several things:
For one, it made the statement that David was in power, not Joab. Joab had been the leader on the battlefield, whereas David hadn’t even shown his face, so some may have suspected that David had just become a puppet under Joab’s control, but by acting independently of Joab, David asserted his own leadership.
David also knew that the nation was still in a fragile state and could easily split again, so he wanted to quickly put into power a man that the northern tribes trusted. Joab’s murder of Abner probably still did not sit well with the Northern tribes, and they would have a hard time trusting their lives to his command.
There may have been some punitive action in this as well, since Joab had acted expressly against David’s orders not to kill Absalom. David had to come up with some way to give Joab some kind of discipline for that.
David’s message to the elders of Judah and to Amasa was successful in winning the heart of the nation. Once again Israel was united in supporting David as king, so they encouraged him to come back to Jerusalem!
Our story ends, for now, with David moving out of the walled city of Machanaim and travelling west toward the Jordan River, while the representatives of the tribe of Judah wind out of the Judean hills from Jerusalem eastward, down to the lowlands of the Jordan River, just past Jericho to the nice, flat campground of Shechem on the other side of the river from David.
Can you imagine what a huge encouragement it was for David, to look out west across the river and see this crowd of family and friends cheering because they wanted him back?
If a family member or a friend or co-worker has bombed out and is struggling to get back on their feet, look for opportunities to encourage them and welcome them back, like the people of Judah did for David!
Hebrews 3:12-13 “Keep watch, brothers, otherwise there will be in some of y'all an evil heart of unbelief in the act of apostatizing from the Living God. Rather, encourage one another throughout each day – as long as it is called ‘today’ in order that some of y'all might not be hardened by means of the deceitfulness of his sin.” Don’t be the last to encourage them and bring them back!
In waiting for his people to desire him as their king, David is also a model of Jesus’ Kingship over the church, for, like David, Jesus is perfectly capable of using all the force at His disposal to require immediate submission of all His subjects, yet He has chosen to win the hearts of His people and to let our expressions of faith in Him as Savior and Lord be what marks us as His subjects. (Henry)
I hope you are already making application to yourself with this theme of making a comeback.
One application is to return to our God-given calling when we get sidetracked.
When you have done something great that you think deserves praise, like David’s soldiers coming back triumphant from battle, but, for whatever reason, your boss (or our Mom and Dad) get upset at you instead. Are you going to quit trying to do what’s right? Are you going to write those important relationships off? Or are you going to put out the effort to overcome the offense?
When you have become overwhelmed by an emotion of anger or depression or mania that derailed you from what you should have been doing, like David did in his greif. Are you going to wallow in that emotion and allow it to take control of you, or will you take your thoughts captive to the obedience of Christ, and return to your mission?
When you have sinned, and you are so ashamed of that sin that you don’t want to even show your face again. Are you willing to confess your sin to God and to the affected parties, and ask Jesus to save you, and open yourself up to being forgiven and loved anyway by God and by God’s people, the church?
God might have to send a messenger to call us out of our preoccupied state, and that message might not be easy to accept. Joab’s rebuke of David was uncomfortably sharp. Will you pay attention when your friends exhort you, and listen past their irritating manners to the friendly concern that they have for you in their hearts and their desire for you to get right again? Will you humble yourself and thank them for bringing problems to your attention instead of biting their heads off?
Another application is to help others make a comeback after they have blown it:
By being a Joab with a kick-in-the-pants rebuke, “get up, right now, go out there, and [do what God has called you to do]!”
James 5:19-20 “Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth, and someone turns him back, let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins.” (NKJV)
Another way we can help others is by being like David’s people who overlooked (or forgave) an offense committed by their beloved leader, gave him time to come around, and then rallied behind him when he stepped back into the saddle.
Hebrews 10:24-25 “Let us also be considerate of one another towards the provocation of love and of good works, not leaving out the gathering together of ourselves (as the custom is with certain persons), but instead being encouraging - and so much the more while you are seeing The Day getting close.” (NAW)
And that leads me to my final application.
We have a king, who, like David, is coming back to take His rightful place as King on this earth.
Are you expectantly looking for His return? (Phil. 3:20) We don’t know when Jesus is coming back, but He has told us it will be “soon” (Rev. 22:20.)
He has also told us that there are certain things that need to be accomplished before He returns. David’s followers had campaigns to fulfill in Israel and Judah, to win the hearts of people to want David to be their king again. Similarly, Jesus commanded His followers in Matthew 28:19 to “Go, make disciples of every ethnic group,” and in Matthew 24:14 He said, “...this good news of the kingdom will be announced in the whole of the world for a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will arrive.” (NAW) Let us be faithful to hasten the return of our King by winning hearts with the good news of Jesus!
LXX |
Brenton |
DRB |
KJV |
NAW |
MT |
2) καὶ ἀνηγγέλη τῷ Ιωαβ [λέγοντες] Ἰδοὺ ὁ βασιλεὺς κλαίει καὶ πενθεῖ ἐπὶ Αβεσσαλωμ. |
1 And [they] brought Joab word, [saying,] Behold, the king weeps and mourns for Abessalom. |
1
And it was told Joab, that the king wept and mourned for [his]
|
1 And it was told Joab, Behold, the king weepeth and mourneth for Absalom. |
1 Presently, it was communicated to Joab that the king was there weeping and mourning over Absalom. |
2 וַיֻּגַּד לְיוֹאָב הִנֵּה הַמֶּלֶךְ בֹּכֶה וַיִּתְאַבֵּלB עַל-אַבְשָׁלֹם: |
3) καὶ ἐγένετο ἡ σωτηρία ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ εἰς πένθος παντὶ τῷ λαῷ, ὅτι ἤκουσεν ὁ λαὸς ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ λέγων [ὅτι] Λυπεῖται ὁ βασιλεὺς ἐπὶ τῷ υἱῷ αὐτοῦ· |
2
And the victory was [turned]
X
that
day into mourning to all the people, for the people heard say X
that day, The king grieves |
2 And the victory X that day was [turned] into mourning unto all the people: for the people heard say X that day: The king grieveth for his son. |
2 And the victory X that day was turned into mourning unto all the people: for the people heard say X that day how the king was grieved for his son. |
2 So the deliverance became a mourning-occasion for all the people on that day, since the people heard it said on that day, “The king is grieving over his son.” |
3 וַתְּהִי הַתְּשֻׁעָה בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא לְאֵבֶל לְכָל-הָעָם כִּי-שָׁמַע הָעָם בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא לֵאמֹר נֶעֱצַב הַמֶּלֶךְ עַל-בְּנוֹ: |
4) καὶ διεκλέπτετο ὁ λαὸς ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ τοῦ εἰσελθεῖν εἰς τὴν πόλιν, καθὼς διακλέπτεται ὁ λαὸς οἱ αἰσχυνόμενοι ἐν τῷ αὐτοὺς φεύγειν ἐν τῷ πολέμῳ. |
3 And the people stole away that day to go into the city, as people stealX away when they are ashamed as they flee in the battle. |
3
And the people |
3 And the people gat them by stealth X that day X into the city, as people being ashamed stealX away when they flee in X battle. |
3 So on that day, the people stole in, entering the city like when the people steals in ashamed when they they have fled during the battle. |
4 וַיִּתְגַּנֵּבC הָעָם בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא לָבוֹא הָעִיר כַּאֲשֶׁר יִתְגַּנֵּב הָעָם הַנִּכְלָמִים בְּנוּסָם בַּמִּלְחָמָהD: |
5) καὶ ὁ βασιλεὺς ἔκρυψεν τὸ πρόσωπον αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἔκραξεν ὁ βασιλεὺς φωνῇ μεγάλῃ λέγων Υἱέ μου Αβεσσαλωμ, Αβεσσαλωμ υἱέ μου X X. |
4 And the king hid his face: and the king cried with a loud voice, My son Abessalom! Abessalom my son X X! |
4
And the king covered his |
4 But the king covered his face, and the king cried with a loud voice, O my son Absalom, O Absalom, my son, my son! |
4 And the king himself was covering his face, and the king was crying out with a loud voice, “My son Absalom! Absalom, my son, my son!” |
5 וְהַמֶּלֶךְ לָאַט אֶת-פָּנָיו וַיִּזְעַק הַמֶּלֶךְE קוֹל גָּדוֹל בְּנִי אַבְשָׁלוֹם אַבְשָׁלוֹם בְּנִי בְנִי: ס |
6) καὶ εἰσῆλθεν Ιωαβ πρὸς τὸν βασιλέα εἰς τὸν οἶκον καὶ εἶπεν Κατῄσχυνας σήμερον τὸ πρόσωπον πάντων τῶν δούλων σου τῶν ἐξαιρουμένων X σε σήμερον καὶ τὴν ψυχὴν τῶν υἱῶν σου καὶ τῶν θυγατέρων σου καὶ τὴν ψυχὴν τῶν γυναικῶν σου καὶ X τῶν παλλακῶν σου |
5
And Joab went in to the king, into the house, and said, Thou hast
this day shamed the faces of all thy servants that have delivered
X
thee this day, and [have
savedF]
the li |
5
Then Joab going into the house to the king, X
said: Thou hast shamed this day the faces of all thy servants,
that have saved thy life X,
and the li |
5
And Joab came into the house to the king, and said, Thou hast
shamed this day the faces of all thy servants, which this day have
saved thy life, and the li |
5 So Joab went to the king at his house and said, “Today you have put to shame the faces of all your servants, the very ones who have delivered your life {} and the life of your sons and your daughters and the life of your wives and {} of your concubines, |
6 וַיָּבֹא יוֹאָב אֶל-הַמֶּלֶךְ הַבָּיִת וַיֹּאמֶר הֹבַשְׁתָּ הַיּוֹם אֶת-פְּנֵי כָל-עֲבָדֶיךָ הַמְמַלְּטִים אֶת-נַפְשְׁךָ Gהַיּוֹם וְאֵת נֶפֶשׁ בָּנֶיךָ וּבְנֹתֶיךָ וְנֶפֶשׁ נָשֶׁיךָ וְנֶפֶשׁ פִּלַגְשֶׁיךָ: |
7) τοῦ ἀγαπᾶν τοὺς μισοῦντάς σε καὶ μισεῖν τοὺς ἀγαπῶντάς σε καὶ ἀνήγγειλας σήμερον ὅτι οὔκ εἰσιν οἱ ἄρχοντές [σου] οὐδὲ παῖδες, ὅτι ἔγνωκα σήμερον ὅτι εἰ Αβεσσαλωμ ἔζη, πάντες ἡμεῖς σήμερον νεκροί, ὅτι τότε τὸ εὐθὲς ἦν ἐν ὀφθαλμοῖς σου· |
6 forasmuch as thou lovest them that hate thee, and hatest them that love thee; and thou hast this day declared, that [thy] princes and [thyH] servants are nothing in thy [sight]: for I know this day, that if Abessalom were alive, and all of us dead to-day, then it would have been right in thy sight. |
6
X
Thou
lovest
them that hate thee, and thou hatest them that love thee: and thou
hast shewn
this day that X
thou
[carest]
not [for
thy]
nobles, nor [for
thy]
servants: and I |
6
In
that
thou lovest thine |
6 as a result, loving those who hated you and hating those who love you, for you have managed to communicate today that there are no officers or servants belonging to you! Indeed, I understand today that were Absalom alive and all of us dead {}, only then would it be right in your eyes. |
7 לְאַהֲבָה אֶת- שֹׂנְאֶיךָ וְלִשְׂנֹא אֶת-אֹהֲבֶיךָ כִּי הִגַּדְתָּ הַיּוֹם כִּי אֵין לְךָ שָׂרִים וַעֲבָדִים כִּי יָדַעְתִּי הַיּוֹם כִּי לֹאI אַבְשָׁלוֹם חַי וְכֻלָּנוּ הַיּוֹםJ מֵתִים כִּי-אָז יָשָׁר בְּעֵינֶיךָ: |
8) καὶ νῦν ἀναστὰς ἔξελθε καὶ λάλησον εἰς τὴν καρδίαν τῶν δούλων σου, ὅτι ἐν κυρίῳ ὤμοσα ὅτι [εἰ] μὴ ἐκπορεύσῃ [σήμερον], εἰ αὐλισθήσεται ἀνὴρ μετὰ σοῦ τὴν νύκτα [ταύτην· καὶ ἐπίγνωθι σεαυτῷ] καὶ κακόν σοι τοῦτο ὑπὲρ πᾶν τὸ κακὸν τὸ ἐπελθόν σοι ἐκ νεότητός σου ἕως τοῦ νῦν. |
7
And now arise, [andK]
go forth, and speak comfortably
|
7
Now therefore arise, [and]
go out, and speak to
the satisfaction
of thy servants: for I swear to thee by the Lord, that [if]
thou wilt not go forth, there will not tarry with thee [so
much as]
one this night: and |
7
Now therefore arise, go forth, and speak comfortably
|
7 So get up, right now, go out there, and speak to the heart of your servants, for I swear by Yahweh, there is no way, apart from you going out there, that any man will stay the night with you tonight. And for you, this could be worse than all the evil which has come upon you from your boyhood until now!” |
8 וְעַתָּה קוּם צֵא וְדַבֵּר עַל-לֵב עֲבָדֶיךָ כִּי בַיהוָה נִשְׁבַּעְתִּי כִּיL- אֵינְךָ יוֹצֵא אִם- יָלִין אִישׁ אִתְּךָ הַלַּיְלָה וְרָעָה לְךָ זֹאת מִכָּל-הָרָעָה אֲשֶׁר-בָּאָה עָלֶיךָ מִנְּעֻרֶיךָ עַד-עָתָּה: ס |
9) καὶ ἀνέστη ὁ βασιλεὺς καὶ ἐκάθισεν ἐν τῇ πύλῃ, καὶ X πᾶς ὁ λαὸς ἀνήγγειλαν λέγοντες Ἰδοὺ ὁ βασιλεὺς κάθηται ἐν τῇ πύλῃ· καὶ εἰσῆλθεν πᾶς ὁ λαὸς κατὰ πρόσωπον τοῦ βασιλέως. Καὶ Ισραηλ ἔφυγεν ἀνὴρ εἰς τὰ σκηνώματα αὐτοῦ. |
8 Then the king arose, and sat in the gate: and X all the people X reported, saying, Behold, the king sits in the gate. And all the people went in before the king [to the gateM]; for Israel had fled every man to his tent. |
8
Then the king arose and sat
in the gate: and |
8 Then the king arose, and sat in the gate. And they told unto all the people, saying, Behold, the king doth sit in the gate. And all the people came before the king: for Israel had fled every man to his tent. |
8 Then the king got up and began officiating in the gateway. So they communicated to all the people saying, “Look, the king is officiating in the gateway!” and all the people came before the king. Meanwhile, Israel had fled, each to his tent. |
9 וַיָּקָם הַמֶּלֶךְ וַיֵּשֶׁב בַּשָּׁעַר וּלְכָל-הָעָם הִגִּידוּ לֵאמֹר הִנֵּה הַמֶּלֶךְ יוֹשֵׁב בַּשַּׁעַר וַיָּבֹא כָל- הָעָם לִפְנֵי הַמֶּלֶךְ וְיִשְׂרָאֵל נָסN אִישׁ לְאֹהָלָיו: ס |
10)
καὶ ἦν πᾶς ὁ λαὸς
κρινόμενος ἐν
πάσαις φυλαῖς
Ισραηλ λέγοντες
Ὁ βασιλεὺς
[Δαυιδ]
ἐρρύσατο ἡμᾶς
ἀπὸ |
9
And all the people disputed among all the tribes of Israel,
saying, X
King
[David]
delivered us from |
9
And all the people were at strife in all the tribes of Israel,
saying: The king delivered us out of the hand of our enemies, and
he saved us out of the hand of the Philistines: and now he is fled
out of the land |
9
And all the people were at strife throughout all the tribes of
Israel, saying, The king saved us out of the hand of our enemies,
and he delivered us out of the hand of the Philistines; and now he
is fled out of the land |
9 Then all the people throughout all the tribes of Israel were trying to come up with a verdict, saying, “{David} the king has brought about deliverance for us from the grip of our enemies, and it was he who rescued us from the grip of the Philistines, yet now he has fled from the country on account of Absalom. |
10 וַיְהִי כָל- הָעָם נָדוֹןP בְּכָל-שִׁבְטֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל לֵאמֹר הַמֶּלֶךְQ הִצִּילָנוּ מִכַּףR אֹיְבֵינוּ וְהוּא מִלְּטָנוּ מִכַּף פְּלִשְׁתִּים וְעַתָּה בָּרַח מִן- הָאָרֶץ Sמֵעַל אַבְשָׁלוֹם: |
11) καὶ Αβεσσαλωμ, ὃν ἐχρίσαμεν ἐφ᾿ ἡμῶν, ἀπέθανεν ἐν τῷ πολέμῳ, καὶ νῦν ἵνα τί ὑμεῖς κωφεύετε τοῦ ἐπιστρέψαι τὸν βασιλέα; [καὶ τὸ ῥῆμα παντὸς Ισραηλ ἦλθεν πρὸς τὸν βασιλέα.] -- |
10 And Abessalom, whom we anointed over us, is dead in battle: and now why are ye silent about bringing back the king? [And the word of all Israel came to the king.] |
10
But Absalom, whom we anointed over us, is dead in the battle: X
X
how
long
are you silent, |
10
And Absalom, whom we anointed over us, is dead in battle. Now
therefore why |
10 However, Absalom, whom we anointed-king over us, has died in the battle, so now, why are y’all keeping quiet about initiating the return of the king?” |
11 וְאַבְשָׁלוֹם אֲשֶׁר מָשַׁחְנוּ עָלֵינוּ מֵת בַּמִּלְחָמָה וְעַתָּה לָמָה אַתֶּם מַחֲרִשִׁים לְהָשִׁיב אֶת-הַמֶּלֶךְT: ס |
12) καὶ ὁ βασιλεὺς Δαυιδ ἀπέστειλεν πρὸς Σαδωκ καὶ πρὸς Αβιαθαρ τοὺς ἱερεῖς λέγων Λαλήσατε πρὸς τοὺς πρεσβυτέρους Ιουδα λέγοντες Ἵνα τί γίνεσθε ἔσχατοι τοῦ ἐπιστρέψαι τὸν βασιλέα εἰς τὸν οἶκον αὐτοῦ; καὶ λόγος παντὸς Ισραηλ ἦλθεν πρὸς τὸν βασιλέα X X XU. |
11
And king David sent to Sadoc and Abiathar the priests, saying,
Speak to the elders of |
11 And king David sent to Sadoc, and Abiathar the priests, saying: Speak to the ancients of Juda, saying: Why are you the last to bring the king back to his house? (For the talk of all Israel was come to the king in his house.) |
11 And king David sent to Zadok and to Abiathar the priests, saying, Speak unto the elders of Judah, saying, Why are ye the last to bring the king back to his house? seeing the speech of all Israel is come to the king, even to his house. |
11 Then David the king sent a commission to Zadoq and to Abiathar the priests to say, “Speak to the elders of Judah, saying, ‘Why are y’all being the last to initiate the return of the king to his palace since the verdict of all Israel has come in to the king at his house? |
12 וְהַמֶּלֶךְ דָּוִד שָׁלַח אֶל-צָדוֹק וְאֶל-אֶבְיָתָר הַכֹּהֲנִים לֵאמֹר דַּבְּרוּ אֶל-זִקְנֵי יְהוּדָה לֵאמֹרW לָמָּה תִהְיוּ אַחֲרֹנִים לְהָשִׁיב אֶת-הַמֶּלֶךְ אֶל- בֵּיתוֹ וּדְבַר כָּל- יִשְׂרָאֵל בָּא אֶל- הַמֶּלֶךְ אֶל-בֵּיתוֹ: |
13) ἀδελφοί μου ὑμεῖς, ὀστᾶ μου καὶ σάρκες μου ὑμεῖς, καὶ ἵνα τί γίνεσθε ἔσχατοι τοῦ ἐπιστρέψαι τὸν βασιλέα [εἰς τὸν οἶκον αὐτοῦ]; |
12 Ye are my brethren, ye are my bone[s] and my flesh: X why are ye the last to bring back the king [to his house]? |
12 You are my brethren, you are my bone, and my flesh, X why are you the last to bring back the king? |
12 Ye are my brethren, ye are my bone[s] and my flesh: wherefore then are ye the last to bring back the king? |
12 Y’all are my brothers – you’re my bone and my flesh, so why be last to initiate the return of the king? |
13 אַחַי אַתֶּם עַצְמִי וּבְשָׂרִי אַתֶּם וְלָמָּהX תִהְיוּ אַחֲרֹנִים לְהָשִׁיב אֶת- הַמֶּלֶךְY: |
14) καὶ τῷ Αμεσσαϊ ἐρεῖτε Οὐχὶ ὀστοῦν μου καὶ σάρξ μου σύ; [καὶ νῦνZ] τάδε ποιήσαι μοι ὁ θεὸς καὶ τάδε προσθείη, εἰ μὴ ἄρχων δυνάμεως ἔσῃ ἐνώπιον ἐμοῦ πάσας τὰς ἡμέρας ἀντὶ Ιωαβ. |
13 And ye shall say to Amessai, Art thou not my bone and my flesh? [and now] God do so to me, and more also, if thou shalt not be commander of the host before me continually in the room of Joab. |
13 And say ye to Amasa: Art not thou my bone, and my flesh? So do God to me and add more, if thou be not [the chief] captain of the army before me always in the place of Joab. |
13 And say ye to Amasa, Art thou not [of] my bone, and [of] my flesh? God do so to me, and more also, if thou be not captain of the host before me continually in the room of Joab. |
13 Also, say to Amasa, ‘Are you not my bone and my flesh? May God deal with me thus and even more, if you do not become general over the army in my presence all my days instead of Joab.’” |
14 וְלַעֲמָשָׂא תֹּמְרוּ הֲלוֹא עַצְמִי וּבְשָׂרִי אָתָּה כֹּה יַעֲשֶׂה- לִּי אֱלֹהִים וְכֹה יוֹסִיף אִם-לֹא שַׂר-צָבָא תִּהְיֶה לְפָנַי כָּל-הַיָּמִים תַּחַת יוֹאָב: |
15) καὶ ἔκλινεν τὴν καρδίαν παντὸς ἀνδρὸς Ιουδα ὡς ἀνδρὸς ἑνός, καὶ ἀπέστειλαν πρὸς τὸν βασιλέα [λέγοντες] Ἐπιστράφητι σὺ καὶ πάντες οἱ δοῦλοί σου. |
14 And he bowed the heart of all the men of Juda as [that of] one man; and they sent to the king, [saying,] Return thou, and all thy servants. |
14 And he inclined the heart of all the men of Juda, as it were of one man: and they sent to the king, [saying:] Return thou, and all thy servants. |
14 And he bowed the heart of all the men of Judah, even as the heart of one man; so that they sent this word unto the king, Return thou, and all thy servants. |
14 So he inclined the heart of all the men of Judah like they were one man, and they send a commission to the king{ to say}, “Return, you and all your servants!” |
15 וַיַּטAA אֶת- לְבַב כָּל-אִישׁAB- יְהוּדָה כְּאִישׁ אֶחָד וַיִּשְׁלְחוּ אֶל-הַמֶּלֶךְAC שׁוּב אַתָּה וְכָל- עֲבָדֶיךָ: |
16) καὶ ἐπέστρεψεν ὁ βασιλεὺς καὶ ἦλθεν ἕως τοῦ Ιορδάνου, καὶ [ἄνδρες] Ιουδα ἦλθαν εἰς Γαλγαλα τοῦ πορεύεσθαι εἰς ἀπαντὴν τοῦ βασιλέως διαβιβάσαι τὸν βασιλέα τὸν Ιορδάνην. -- |
15 And the king returned, and came as far as X Jordan. And [the men of] Juda came to Galgala on their way to meet the king, to cause the king to pass over Jordan. |
15
And the king returned and came as far as the Jordan, and [all]
Juda came |
15 So the king returned, and came to X Jordan. And Judah came to Gilgal, to go to meet the king, to conduct the king over X Jordan. |
15 Then the king began the return and came up to the Jordan, and Judah went toward Gilgal to go call on the king in order to bring the king over the Jordan. |
16 וַיָּשָׁב הַמֶּלֶךְ וַיָּבֹא עַד-הַיַּרְדֵּן וִADיהוּדָה בָּא הַגִּלְגָּלָה לָלֶכֶת לִקְרַאת הַמֶּלֶךְ לְהַעֲבִיר אֶת-הַמֶּלֶךְ אֶת-הַיַּרְדֵּן: |
1The text could mean this, and Josephus, Matthew Henry, John Gill, and Robert Jamieson interpreted it that way.
AMy
original chart includes the NASB, NIV, and ESV, but their copyright
restrictions have forced me to remove them from the
publicly-available edition of this chart. (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 19
are 4Q51 Samuela containing parts of verses 5-15, 24-26,
& 38-37, dated between 50-25 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) 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}.
BThe MT reads “weeping” and “he mourns” (participle + indicative), but the Targums and a couple of other Hebrew manuscripts read participle + participle, and the LXX reads indicative + indicative. It doesn’t change the interpretation, though, because, in Hebrew, when verbs are in a chain, even if they are in different tenses, the second is normally interpreted in the same tense as the first.
CThis is the only passage in the Bible which contains the Hithpael form of this verb (which normally means “to steal”).
DSyriac and Vulgate read “from” the battle rather than “in,” and the NIV follows them.
EThe second iteration of “the king” is omitted in the Vulgate, Syriac, and Greek Lucian Rescription. Even if it is missing, it is assumed to be the subject of the second clause, since it is the subject of the first clause, so there is no difference in meaning. After this, the Syriac, Targums, and some editions of the Greek and Hebrew insert the preposition “with” before “loud voice,” but even without the explicit preposition, the same preposition is universally assumed.
FThis verb is not in the Vaticanus or in Rahlfs’ edition of the Septuagint.
GThe DSS is illegible for the rest of the verse past the direct object particle, but there is not enough space between this and the next legible word to fit all the text of the MT; it is about 10 characters (including spaces) too short. This corroborates with the LXX, which omits 2 words in the MT totalling 10 characters (with spaces): the second instance of the word “today” in this verse, and the last instance of the word “nephesh.” The Vulgate agrees with the omission of the second “hayyom” but not with the omission of the “soul” of the concubines. The Syriac & Targums agree with the MT. The meaning is not changed with the omission of these words because they are both repeated from earlier in the verse, so their meaning applies whether they are written explicitly again or not.
HThis possessive pronoun was added by Brenton. It is not in the Vaticanus or other LXX texts.
IQere is לוּ, and DSS agrees, but it is just a different spelling, not a different meaning.
JDSS is illegible here, but seems to omit this word, as does the Vulgate, Syriac and Lucian Recension of the LXX.
KAdded by Brenton, not in LXX or Vaticanus.
LDSS and several other Hebrew manuscripts (including some from the 9th century Cairo Geniza) insert <a, and the Latin (quod si non), Greek ( ὅτι εἰ μὴ) , and Syriac (?) versions all follow that longer reading.
MThe Vaticanus adds this tidbit which is not in any other manuscript, although there is space in the DSS for it in an obliterated section. It does not add any new or different information, for it was already stated that David was at the gate.
Ncf. DSS נח (“retired”), and Targums אְפַך ... לְקִרוֹהִי (“headed toward his walled-city”), but LXX, Vulgate, and Syriac agree with the MT.
OVaticanus followed the DSS by inserting “and,” differing from the majority of Septuagint manuscripts according to Rohlfs. The DSS does not, however, support the extra phrase in the Septuagint “and his kingdom.” This extra phrase merely teases out more explicitly the implication of what is stated already in all the manuscripts.
PThis is the only Niphal instance of this verb in the Bible.
QDSS and LXX insert “David,” which is still the same person as “the king.”
RDSS is illegible at this point, but the LXX and Syriac read as though the Hebrew were כל (“all”) instead of כף (“palm [of the hand]. The two words are spelled very similarly in Hebrew. Although semantically different, it is not substantially different in meaning in the context of the sentence. All are agreed on כף later on in the verse (“palm of the Philistines”).
SDSS and Vaticanus insert a conjunction here, which is not a substantial change in meaning.
TThe DSS supports the short reading of the MT, but the LXX, Syriac, and some editions of the Vulgate, add a phrase here. Here’s the Syriac in Hebrew script: אמרו גבר לחברה (I’m not sure about the translation, but maybe it is, "And they all in Hebron said…”) Neither the LXX nor the Syriac insertions contradict the story according to the MT, however.
UThe Vaticanus supplies the words in the MT, which are missing in the LXX, by adding εις τον οικον αυτου.
VThe LXX and Vaticanus both say “Judah,” not “Israel.”
WDSS has room for an extra word, but it is unreadable at this point. Syriac omits about half of the verse.
XVaticanus omits the vav conjunction, as does Vulgate and Syriac and some Hebrew manuscripts, but it’s in the LXX majority and Targums, as in the MT.
YThe LXX repeats the final phrase from the previous verse, and the Lucian Rescription (along with the Leningrad Syriac codex) repeats the final phrase from a couple of verses back “ and the word of all Israel came to the king.”
ZThis additional “and now” isn’t in any Hebrew editions or other language versions. DSS is obliterated at this point, so the spacing is all we have to go on in that for comparison, and, while there is space for the extra word, the space could have been used without the extra word, so it is not definitive.
AAJewish commentators followed by Jamieson, interpreted the subject as Amasa, but Willett, Gill, and Keil & Delitzsch interpreted the subject as David, as do I. (Tsumura refused to take a side, claiming it should be interpreted “impersonally… ‘their hearts were turned.’”)
ABDSS is obliterated here, but it doesn’t have enough space for all the words in the MT (It is about 10 characters short, including spaces between words.), but all the other ancient manuscripts and versions have all the words in the MT.
ACDSS spacing supports the MT, but the LXX, Syriac, and Vulgate, as well as some Hebrew manuscripts, insert “to say,” the meaning of which is naturally assumed, but the explicit inscription of it makes the reading smoother.
ADTargums insert “house of,” LXX inserts “men of,” and Vulgate inserts “all of,” but DSS and Syriac support the MT.