mh_parser/vol_split/10 - 2Samuel/Chapter 14.xml

<div2 id="iiSam.xv" n="xv" next="iiSam.xvi" prev="iiSam.xiv" progress="45.14%" title="Chapter XIV">
<h2 id="iiSam.xv-p0.1">S E C O N D   S A M U E L</h2>
<h3 id="iiSam.xv-p0.2">CHAP. XIV.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="iiSam.xv-p1">How Absalom threw himself out of his royal
father's protection and favour we read in the foregoing chapter,
which left him an exile, outlawed, and proscribed; in this chapter
we have the arts that were used to bring him and his father
together again, and how, at last, it was done, which is here
recorded to show the folly of David in sparing him and indulging
him in his wickedness, for which he was soon after severely
corrected by his unnatural rebellion. I. Joab, by bringing a
feigned issue (as the lawyers speak) to be tried before him, in the
case of a poor widow of Tekoah, gains from him a judgment in
general, That the case might be so as that the putting of a
murderer to death ought to be dispensed with, <scripRef id="iiSam.xv-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:2Sam.14.1-2Sam.14.20" parsed="|2Sam|14|1|14|20" passage="2Sa 14:1-20">ver. 1-20</scripRef>. II. Upon the application of
this, he gains from him an order to bring Absalom back to
Jerusalem, while yet he was forbidden the court, <scripRef id="iiSam.xv-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:2Sam.14.21-2Sam.14.24" parsed="|2Sam|14|21|14|24" passage="2Sa 14:21-24">ver. 21-24</scripRef>. III. After an account of
Absalom, his person, and family, we are told how at length he was
introduced by Joab into the king's presence, and the king was
thoroughly reconciled to him, <scripRef id="iiSam.xv-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:2Sam.14.25-2Sam.14.33" parsed="|2Sam|14|25|14|33" passage="2Sa 14:25-33">ver.
25-33</scripRef>.</p>
<scripCom id="iiSam.xv-p0.1_1" osisRef="Bible:2Sam.14" parsed="|2Sam|14|0|0|0" passage="2Sa 14" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="iiSam.xv-p0.2_1" osisRef="Bible:2Sam.14.1-2Sam.14.20" parsed="|2Sam|14|1|14|20" passage="2Sa 14:1-20" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:2Sam.14.1-2Sam.14.20">
<h4 id="iiSam.xv-p1.6">Joab's Stratagem in Absalom's Favour; The
Art of Joab. (<span class="smallcaps" id="iiSam.xv-p1.7">b. c.</span> 1029.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="iiSam.xv-p2">1 Now Joab the son of Zeruiah perceived that the
king's heart <i>was</i> toward Absalom.   2 And Joab sent to
Tekoah, and fetched thence a wise woman, and said unto her, I pray
thee, feign thyself to be a mourner, and put on now mourning
apparel, and anoint not thyself with oil, but be as a woman that
had a long time mourned for the dead:   3 And come to the
king, and speak on this manner unto him. So Joab put the words in
her mouth.   4 And when the woman of Tekoah spake to the king,
she fell on her face to the ground, and did obeisance, and said,
Help, O king.   5 And the king said unto her, What aileth
thee? And she answered, I <i>am</i> indeed a widow woman, and mine
husband is dead.   6 And thy handmaid had two sons, and they
two strove together in the field, and <i>there was</i> none to part
them, but the one smote the other, and slew him.   7 And,
behold, the whole family is risen against thine handmaid, and they
said, Deliver him that smote his brother, that we may kill him, for
the life of his brother whom he slew; and we will destroy the heir
also: and so they shall quench my coal which is left, and shall not
leave to my husband <i>neither</i> name nor remainder upon the
earth.   8 And the king said unto the woman, Go to thine
house, and I will give charge concerning thee.   9 And the
woman of Tekoah said unto the king, My lord, O king, the iniquity
<i>be</i> on me, and on my father's house: and the king and his
throne <i>be</i> guiltless.   10 And the king said, Whosoever
saith <i>ought</i> unto thee, bring him to me, and he shall not
touch thee any more.   11 Then said she, I pray thee, let the
king remember the <span class="smallcaps" id="iiSam.xv-p2.1">Lord</span> thy God, that
thou wouldest not suffer the revengers of blood to destroy any
more, lest they destroy my son. And he said, <i>As</i> the <span class="smallcaps" id="iiSam.xv-p2.2">Lord</span> liveth, there shall not one hair of
thy son fall to the earth.   12 Then the woman said, Let thine
handmaid, I pray thee, speak <i>one</i> word unto my lord the king.
And he said, Say on.   13 And the woman said, Wherefore then
hast thou thought such a thing against the people of God? for the
king doth speak this thing as one which is faulty, in that the king
doth not fetch home again his banished.   14 For we must needs
die, and <i>are</i> as water spilt on the ground, which cannot be
gathered up again; neither doth God respect <i>any</i> person: yet
doth he devise means, that his banished be not expelled from him.
  15 Now therefore that I am come to speak of this thing unto
my lord the king, <i>it is</i> because the people have made me
afraid: and thy handmaid said, I will now speak unto the king; it
may be that the king will perform the request of his handmaid.
  16 For the king will hear, to deliver his handmaid out of
the hand of the man <i>that would</i> destroy me and my son
together out of the inheritance of God.   17 Then thine
handmaid said, The word of my lord the king shall now be
comfortable: for as an angel of God, so <i>is</i> my lord the king
to discern good and bad: therefore the <span class="smallcaps" id="iiSam.xv-p2.3">Lord</span> thy God will be with thee.   18 Then
the king answered and said unto the woman, Hide not from me, I pray
thee, the thing that I shall ask thee. And the woman said, Let my
lord the king now speak.   19 And the king said, <i>Is not</i>
the hand of Joab with thee in all this? And the woman answered and
said, <i>As</i> thy soul liveth, my lord the king, none can turn to
the right hand or to the left from ought that my lord the king hath
spoken: for thy servant Joab, he bade me, and he put all these
words in the mouth of thine handmaid:   20 To fetch about this
form of speech hath thy servant Joab done this thing: and my lord
<i>is</i> wise, according to the wisdom of an angel of God, to know
all <i>things</i> that <i>are</i> in the earth.</p>
<p class="indent" id="iiSam.xv-p3">Here is, I. Joab's design to get Absalom
recalled out of banishment, his crime pardoned, and his attainder
reversed, <scripRef id="iiSam.xv-p3.1" osisRef="Bible:2Sam.14.1" parsed="|2Sam|14|1|0|0" passage="2Sa 14:1"><i>v.</i> 1</scripRef>. Joab
made himself very busy in this affair. 1. As a courtier that was
studious, by all ways possible, to ingratiate himself with his
prince and improve his interest in his favour: He <i>perceived that
the king's heart was towards Absalom,</i> and that, the heat of his
displeasure being over, he still retained his old affection for
him, and only wanted a friend to court him to be reconciled, and to
contrive for him how he might do it without impeaching the honour
of his justice. Joab, finding how David stood affected, undertook
this good office. 2. As a friend to Absalom, for whom perhaps he
had a particular kindness, whom at least he looked upon as the
rising sun, to whom it was his interest to recommend himself. He
plainly foresaw that his father would at length be reconciled to
him, and therefore thought he should make both his friends if he
were instrumental to bring it about. 3. As a statesman, and one
concerned for the public welfare. He knew how much Absalom was the
darling of the people, and, if David should die while he was in
banishment, it might occasion a civil war between those that were
for him and those that were against him; for it is probable that
though all Israel loved his person, yet they were much divided upon
his case. 4. As one who was himself a delinquent, by the murder of
Abner. He was conscious to himself of the guilt of blood, and that
he was himself obnoxious to public justice, and therefore whatever
favour he could procure to be shown to Absalom would corroborate
his reprieve.</p>
<p class="indent" id="iiSam.xv-p4">II. His contrivance to do it by laying
somewhat of a parallel case before the king, which was done so
dexterously by the person he employed that the king took it for a
real case, and gave judgment upon it, as he had done upon Nathan's
parable; and, the judgment being in favour of the criminal, the
manager might, by that, discover his sentiments so far as to
venture upon the application of it, and to show that it was the
case of his own family, which, it is probable, she was instructed
not to proceed to if the king's judgment upon her case should be
severe.</p>
<p class="indent" id="iiSam.xv-p5">1. The person he employed is not named, but
she is said to be <i>a woman of Tekoah,</i> one whom he knew to be
fit for such an undertaking: and it was requisite that the scene
should be laid at a distance, that David might not think it strange
that he had not heard of the case before. It is said, She was <i>a
wise woman,</i> one that had a quicker wit and a readier tongue
than most of her neighbours, <scripRef id="iiSam.xv-p5.1" osisRef="Bible:2Sam.14.2" parsed="|2Sam|14|2|0|0" passage="2Sa 14:2"><i>v.</i>
2</scripRef>. The truth of the story would be the less suspected
when it came, as was supposed, from the person's own mouth.</p>
<p class="indent" id="iiSam.xv-p6">2. The character she put on was that of a
disconsolate widow, <scripRef id="iiSam.xv-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:2Sam.14.2" parsed="|2Sam|14|2|0|0" passage="2Sa 14:2"><i>v.</i>
2</scripRef>. Joab knew such a one would have an easy access to the
king, who was always ready to comfort the mourners, especially the
mourning widows, having himself mentioned it among the titles of
God's honour that he is <i>a Judge of the widows,</i> <scripRef id="iiSam.xv-p6.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.68.5" parsed="|Ps|68|5|0|0" passage="Ps 68:5">Ps. lxviii. 5</scripRef>. God's ear, no doubt, is
more open to the cries of the afflicted, and his heart too, than
that of the most merciful princes on earth can be.</p>
<p class="indent" id="iiSam.xv-p7">3. It was a case of compassion which she
had to represent to the king, and a case in which she could have no
relief but from the chancery in the royal breast, the law (and
consequently the judgment of all the inferior courts) being against
her. She tells the king that she had buried her husband (<scripRef id="iiSam.xv-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:2Sam.14.5" parsed="|2Sam|14|5|0|0" passage="2Sa 14:5"><i>v.</i> 5</scripRef>),—that she had two sons
that were the support and comfort of her widowed state,—that these
two (as young men are apt to do) fell out and fought, and one of
them unhappily killed the other (<scripRef id="iiSam.xv-p7.2" osisRef="Bible:2Sam.14.6" parsed="|2Sam|14|6|0|0" passage="2Sa 14:6"><i>v.</i> 6</scripRef>),—that, for her part, she was
desirous to protect the manslayer (for, as Rebekah argued
concerning her two sons, <i>Why should she be deprived of them both
in one day?</i> <scripRef id="iiSam.xv-p7.3" osisRef="Bible:Gen.27.45" parsed="|Gen|27|45|0|0" passage="Ge 27:45">Gen. xxvii.
45</scripRef>), but though she, who was nearest of kin to the
slain, was willing to let fall the demands of an avenger of blood,
yet the other relations insisted upon it that the surviving brother
should be put to death according to law, not out of any affection
either to justice or to the memory of the slain brother, but that,
by destroying the heir (which they had the impudence to own was the
thing they aimed at), the inheritance might be theirs: and thus
they would cut off, (1.) Her comfort: "<i>They shall quench my
coal,</i> deprive me of the only support of my old age, and put a
period to all my joy in this world, which is reduced to this one
coal." (2.) Her husband's memory: "His family will be quite
extinct, and they will <i>leave</i> him <i>neither name nor
remainder,</i>" <scripRef id="iiSam.xv-p7.4" osisRef="Bible:2Sam.14.7" parsed="|2Sam|14|7|0|0" passage="2Sa 14:7"><i>v.</i>
7</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="iiSam.xv-p8">4. The king promised her his favour and a
protection for her son. Observe how she improved the king's
compassionate concessions. (1.) Upon the representation of her case
he promised to consider of it and to give orders about it,
<scripRef id="iiSam.xv-p8.1" osisRef="Bible:2Sam.14.8" parsed="|2Sam|14|8|0|0" passage="2Sa 14:8"><i>v.</i> 8</scripRef>. This was
encouraging, that he did not dismiss her petition with "<i>Currat
lex—Let the law take its course;</i> blood calls for blood, and
let it have what it calls for:" but he will take time to enquire
whether the allegations of her petition be true. (2.) The woman was
not content with this, but begged that he would immediately give
judgment in her favour; and if the matter of fact were not as she
represented it, and consequently a wrong judgment given upon it,
let her bear the blame, and free <i>the king and his throne from
guilt,</i> <scripRef id="iiSam.xv-p8.2" osisRef="Bible:2Sam.14.9" parsed="|2Sam|14|9|0|0" passage="2Sa 14:9"><i>v.</i> 9</scripRef>. Yet
her saying this would not acquit the king if he should pass
sentence without taking due cognizance of the case. (3.) Being thus
pressed, he made a further promise that she should not be injured
nor insulted by her adversaries, but he would protect her from all
molestation, <scripRef id="iiSam.xv-p8.3" osisRef="Bible:2Sam.14.10" parsed="|2Sam|14|10|0|0" passage="2Sa 14:10"><i>v.</i> 10</scripRef>.
Magistrates ought to be the patrons of oppressed widows. (4.) Yet
this does not content her, unless she can get her son's pardon, and
protection for him too. Parents are not easy, unless their children
be safe, safe for both worlds: "<i>Let not the avenger of blood
destroy my son</i> (<scripRef id="iiSam.xv-p8.4" osisRef="Bible:2Sam.14.11" parsed="|2Sam|14|11|0|0" passage="2Sa 14:11"><i>v.</i>
11</scripRef>), for I am undone if I lose him; as good take my life
as his. <i>Therefore let the king remember the Lord thy God,</i>"
that is, [1.] "Let him confirm this merciful sentence with an oath,
making mention of the Lord our God, by way of appeal to him, that
the sentence may be indisputable and irreversible; and then I shall
be easy." See <scripRef id="iiSam.xv-p8.5" osisRef="Bible:Heb.6.17-Heb.6.18" parsed="|Heb|6|17|6|18" passage="Heb 6:17,18">Heb. vi. 17,
18</scripRef>. [2.] "Let him consider what good reason there is for
this merciful sentence, and then he himself will be confirmed in
it. <i>Remember</i> how gracious and merciful <i>the Lord thy
God</i> is, how he bears long with sinners and does not deal with
them according to their deserts, but is ready to forgive.
<i>Remember</i> how <i>the Lord thy God</i> spared Cain, who slew
his brother, and protected him from the avengers of blood,
<scripRef id="iiSam.xv-p8.6" osisRef="Bible:Gen.4.15" parsed="|Gen|4|15|0|0" passage="Ge 4:15">Gen. iv. 15</scripRef>. <i>Remember</i>
how <i>the Lord thy God</i> forgave thee the blood of Uriah, and
let the king, that has found mercy, show mercy." Note, Nothing is
more proper, nor more powerful, to engage us to every duty,
especially to all acts of mercy and kindness, than to remember the
Lord our God. (5.) This importunate widow, by pressing the matter
thus closely, obtains at last a full pardon for her son, ratified
with an oath as she desired: <i>As the Lord liveth, there shall not
one hair of thy son fall to the earth,</i> that is, "I will
undertake he shall come to no damage upon this account." The Son of
David has assured all that put themselves under his protection
that, though they should be put to death for his sake, <i>not a
hair of their head shall perish</i> (<scripRef id="iiSam.xv-p8.7" osisRef="Bible:Luke.21.16-Luke.21.18" parsed="|Luke|21|16|21|18" passage="Lu 21:16-18">Luke xxi. 16-18</scripRef>), though they should lose
for him, they shall not lose by him. Whether David did well this to
undertake the protection of a murderer, whom the cities of refuge
would not protect, I cannot say. But, as the matter of fact
appeared to him, there was not only great reason for compassion to
the mother, but room enough for a favourable judgment concerning
the son: he had slain his brother, but he <i>hated him not in time
past;</i> it was upon a sudden provocation, and, for aught that
appeared, it might be done in his own defence. He pleaded not this
himself, but the judge must be of counsel for the prisoner; and
therefore, <i>Let mercy</i> at this time <i>rejoice against
judgment.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="iiSam.xv-p9">5. The case being thus adjudged in favour
of her son, it is now time to apply it to the king's son, Absalom.
The mask here begins to be thrown off, and another scene opened.
The king is surprised, but not at all displeased, to find his
humble petitioner, of a sudden, become his reprover, his
privy-counsellor, an advocate for the prince his son, and the mouth
of the people, undertaking to represent to him their sentiments.
She begs his pardon, and his patience, for what she had further to
say (<scripRef id="iiSam.xv-p9.1" osisRef="Bible:2Sam.14.12" parsed="|2Sam|14|12|0|0" passage="2Sa 14:12"><i>v.</i> 12</scripRef>), and
has leave to say it, the king being very well pleased with her wit
and humour. (1.) She supposes Absalom's case to be, in effect, the
same with that which she had put as her son's; and therefore, if
the king would protect her son, though he had slain his brother,
much more ought he to protect his own, and to <i>fetch home his
banished,</i> <scripRef id="iiSam.xv-p9.2" osisRef="Bible:2Sam.14.13" parsed="|2Sam|14|13|0|0" passage="2Sa 14:13"><i>v.</i>
13</scripRef>. <i>Mutato nomine, de te fabula narratur—Change but
the name, to you the tale belongs.</i> She names not Absalom, nor
needed she to name him. David longed so much after him, and had him
so much in his thoughts, that he was soon aware whom she meant by
his banished. And in those two words were two arguments which the
king's tender spirit felt the force of: "He is banished, and has
for three years undergone the disgrace and terror, and all the
inconveniences, of banishment. <i>Sufficient to such a one is this
punishment.</i> But he is <i>thy</i> banished, thy own son, a piece
of thyself, thy dear son, whom thou lovest." It is true, Absalom's
case differed very much from that which she had put. Absalom did
not slay his brother upon a hasty passion, but maliciously, and
upon an old grudge; not in the field, where there were no
witnesses, but at table, before all his guests. Absalom was not an
only son, as hers was; David had many more, and one lately born,
more likely to be his successor than Absalom, for he was called
<i>Jedidiah,</i> because God loved him. But David was himself too
well affected to the cause to be critical in his remarks upon the
disparity of the cases, and was more desirous than she could be to
bring that favourable judgment to his own son which he had given
concerning hers. (2.) She reasons upon it with the king, to
persuade him to recall Absalom out of banishment, give him his
pardon, and take him into his favour again. [1.] She pleads the
interest which the people of Israel had in him. "What is done
against him is done <i>against the people of God,</i> who have
their eye upon him as heir of the crown, at least have their eye
upon the house of David in general, with which the covenant is
made, and which therefore they cannot tamely see the diminution and
decay of by the fall of so many of its branches in the flower of
their age. Therefore <i>the king speaks as one that is faulty,</i>
for he will provide that my husband's name and memory be not cut
off, and yet takes no care though his own be in danger, which is of
more value and importance than ten thousand of ours." [2.] She
pleads man's mortality (<scripRef id="iiSam.xv-p9.3" osisRef="Bible:2Sam.14.14" parsed="|2Sam|14|14|0|0" passage="2Sa 14:14"><i>v.</i>
14</scripRef>): "<i>We must needs die.</i> Death is appointed for
us; we cannot avoid the thing itself, nor defer it till another
time. We are all under a fatal necessity of dying; and, when we are
dead, we are past recall, as water spilt upon the ground; nay, even
while we are alive, we are so, we have lost our immortality, past
retrieve. Amnon must have died, some time, if Absalom had not
killed him; and, if Absalom be now put to death for killing him,
that will not bring him to life again." This was poor reasoning,
and would serve against the punishment of any murderer: but, it
should seem, Amnon was a man little regarded by the people and his
death little lamented, and it was generally thought hard that so
dear a life as Absalom's should go for one so little valued as
Amnon's. [3.] She pleads God's mercy and his clemency towards poor
guilty sinners: "<i>God does not take away the soul, or life, but
devises means that his banished,</i> his children that have
offended him, and are obnoxious to his justice, as Absalom is to
thine, <i>be not</i> for ever <i>expelled from him,</i>" <scripRef id="iiSam.xv-p9.4" osisRef="Bible:2Sam.14.14" parsed="|2Sam|14|14|0|0" passage="2Sa 14:14"><i>v.</i> 14</scripRef>. Here are two great
instances of the mercy of God to sinners, properly urged as reasons
for showing mercy:<i>—First,</i> The patience he exercises towards
them. His law is broken, yet he does not immediately take away the
life of those that break it, does not strike sinners dead, as
justly he might, in the act of sin, but bears with them, and waits
to be gracious. God's vengeance had suffered Absalom to live; why
then should not David's justice suffer him? <i>Secondly,</i> The
provision he has made for their restoration to his favour, that
though by sin they have banished themselves from him, yet they
might not be expelled, or cast off, for ever. Atonement might be
made for sinners by sacrifice. Lepers, and others ceremonially
unclean, were banished, but provision was made for their cleansing,
that, though for a time excluded, they might not be finally
expelled. The state of sinners is a state of banishment from God.
Poor banished sinners are likely to be for ever expelled from God
if some course be not taken to prevent it. It is against the mind
of God that they should be so, for he is not willing that any
should perish. Infinite wisdom has devised proper means to prevent
it; so that it is the sinners' own fault if they be cast off. This
instance of God's good-will toward us all should incline us to be
merciful and compassionate one towards another, <scripRef id="iiSam.xv-p9.5" osisRef="Bible:Matt.18.32-Matt.18.33" parsed="|Matt|18|32|18|33" passage="Mt 18:32,33">Matt. xviii. 32, 33</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="iiSam.xv-p10">6. She concludes her address with high
compliments to the king, and strong expressions of her assurance
that he would do what was just and kind both in the one case and in
the other (<scripRef id="iiSam.xv-p10.1" osisRef="Bible:2Sam.14.15-2Sam.14.17" parsed="|2Sam|14|15|14|17" passage="2Sa 14:15-17"><i>v.</i>
15-17</scripRef>); for, as if the case had been real, still she
pleads for herself and her son, yet meaning Absalom. (1.) She would
not have troubled the king thus but that the people made her
afraid. Understanding it of her own case, all her neighbours made
her apprehensive of the ruin she and her son were upon the brink
of, from the avengers of blood, the terror of which made her thus
bold in her application to the king himself. Understanding it of
Absalom's case, she gives the king to understand, what he did not
know before, that the nation was disgusted at his severity towards
Absalom to such a degree that she was really afraid it would
occasion a general mutiny or insurrection, for the preventing of
which great mischief she ventured to speak to the king himself. The
fright she was in must excuse her rudeness. (2.) She applied to him
with a great confidence in his wisdom and clemency: "I said, <i>I
will speak to the king</i> myself, and ask nobody to speak for me;
for the king will hear reason, even from so mean a creature as I
am, will hear the cries of the oppressed, and will not suffer the
poorest of his subjects to be <i>destroyed out of the inheritance
of God,</i>" that is, "driven out of the land of Israel, to seek
for shelter among the uncircumcised, as Absalom is, whose case is
so much the worse, that, being shut <i>out of the inheritance of
God,</i> he wants God's law and ordinances, which might help to
bring him to repentance, and is in danger of being infected with
the idolatry of the heathen among whom he sojourns, and of bringing
home the infection." To engage the king to grant her request, she
expressed a confident hope that his answer would be comfortable,
and such as angels bring (as bishop Patrick explains it), who are
messengers of divine mercy. What this woman says by way of
compliment the prophet says by way of promise (<scripRef id="iiSam.xv-p10.2" osisRef="Bible:Zech.12.8" parsed="|Zech|12|8|0|0" passage="Zec 12:8">Zech. xii. 8</scripRef>), that, when <i>the weak shall
be as David, the house of David shall be as the angel of the
Lord.</i> "And, in order to this, <i>the Lord thy God will be with
thee,</i> to assist thee in this and every judgment thou givest."
Great expectations are great engagements, especially to persons of
honour, to do their utmost not to disappoint those that depend upon
them.</p>
<p class="indent" id="iiSam.xv-p11">7. The hand of Joab is suspected by the
king, and acknowledged by the woman, to be in all this, <scripRef id="iiSam.xv-p11.1" osisRef="Bible:2Sam.14.18-2Sam.14.20" parsed="|2Sam|14|18|14|20" passage="2Sa 14:18-20"><i>v.</i> 18-20</scripRef>. (1.) The king
soon suspected it. For he could not think that such a woman as this
would appeal to him, in a matter of such moment, of her own accord;
and he knew none so likely to set her on as Joab, who was a politic
man and a friend of Absalom. (2.) The woman very honestly owned it:
"<i>Thy servant Joab bade me.</i> If it be well done, let him have
the thanks; if ill, let him bear the blame." Though she found it
very agreeable to the king, yet she would not take the praise of it
to herself, but speaks the truth as it was, and gives us an example
to do likewise, and never to tell a lie for the concealing of a
well-managed scheme. <i>Dare to be true; nothing can need a
lie.</i></p>
</div><scripCom id="iiSam.xv-p0.3" osisRef="Bible:2Sam.14.21-2Sam.14.27" parsed="|2Sam|14|21|14|27" passage="2Sa 14:21-27" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:2Sam.14.21-2Sam.14.27">
<h4 id="iiSam.xv-p11.3">Absalom's Recalled. (<span class="smallcaps" id="iiSam.xv-p11.4">b. c.</span> 1029.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="iiSam.xv-p12">21 And the king said unto Joab, Behold now, I
have done this thing: go therefore, bring the young man Absalom
again.   22 And Joab fell to the ground on his face, and bowed
himself, and thanked the king: and Joab said, To day thy servant
knoweth that I have found grace in thy sight, my lord, O king, in
that the king hath fulfilled the request of his servant.   23
So Joab arose and went to Geshur, and brought Absalom to Jerusalem.
  24 And the king said, Let him turn to his own house, and let
him not see my face. So Absalom returned to his own house, and saw
not the king's face.   25 But in all Israel there was none to
be so much praised as Absalom for his beauty: from the sole of his
foot even to the crown of his head there was no blemish in him.
  26 And when he polled his head, (for it was at every year's
end that he polled <i>it:</i> because <i>the hair</i> was heavy on
him, therefore he polled it:) he weighed the hair of his head at
two hundred shekels after the king's weight.   27 And unto
Absalom there were born three sons, and one daughter, whose name
<i>was</i> Tamar: she was a woman of a fair countenance.</p>
<p class="indent" id="iiSam.xv-p13">Observe here, I. Orders given for the
bringing back of Absalom. The errand on which the woman came to
David was so agreeable, and her management of it so very ingenious
and surprising, that he was brought into a peculiarly kind humour:
<i>Go</i> (says he to Joab), <i>bring the young man Absalom
again,</i> <scripRef id="iiSam.xv-p13.1" osisRef="Bible:2Sam.14.21" parsed="|2Sam|14|21|0|0" passage="2Sa 14:21"><i>v.</i> 21</scripRef>.
He was himself inclined to favour him, yet, for the honour of his
justice, he would not do it but upon intercession made for him,
which may illustrate the methods of divine grace. It is true God
has thought of compassion towards poor sinners, not willing that
any should perish, yet he is reconciled to them through a Mediator,
who intercedes with him on their behalf, and to whom he has given
these orders, <i>Go, bring them again. God was in Christ
reconciling the world to himself,</i> and he came to this land of
our banishment to bring us to God. Joab, having received these
orders, 1. Returns thanks to the king for doing him the honour to
employ him in an affair so universally grateful, <scripRef id="iiSam.xv-p13.2" osisRef="Bible:2Sam.14.22" parsed="|2Sam|14|22|0|0" passage="2Sa 14:22"><i>v.</i> 22</scripRef>. Joab took it as a kindness to
himself, and (some think) as an indication that he would never call
him to an account for the murder he had been guilty of. But, if he
meant so, he was mistaken, as we shall find, <scripRef id="iiSam.xv-p13.3" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.2.5-1Kgs.2.6" parsed="|1Kgs|2|5|2|6" passage="1Ki 2:5,6">1 Kings ii. 5, 6</scripRef>. 2. Delays not to execute
David's orders; he brought Absalom to Jerusalem, <scripRef id="iiSam.xv-p13.4" osisRef="Bible:2Sam.14.23" parsed="|2Sam|14|23|0|0" passage="2Sa 14:23"><i>v.</i> 23</scripRef>. I see not how David can be
justified in suspending the execution of the ancient law (<scripRef id="iiSam.xv-p13.5" osisRef="Bible:Gen.9.6" parsed="|Gen|9|6|0|0" passage="Ge 9:6">Gen. ix. 6</scripRef>), <i>Whoso sheds man's
blood, by man shall his blood be shed,</i> in which a righteous
magistrate ought not to <i>acknowledge even his brethren, or know
his own children.</i> God's laws were never designed to be like
cobwebs, which catch the little flies, but suffer the great ones to
break through. God justly made Absalom, whom his foolish pity
spared, a scourge to him. But, though he allowed him to return to
his own house, he forbade him the court, and would not see him
himself, <scripRef id="iiSam.xv-p13.6" osisRef="Bible:2Sam.14.24" parsed="|2Sam|14|24|0|0" passage="2Sa 14:24"><i>v.</i> 24</scripRef>. He
put him under this interdict, (1.) For his own honour, that he
might not seem to countenance so great a criminal, nor to forgive
him too easily. (2.) For Absalom's greater humiliation. Perhaps he
had heard something of his conduct when Joab went to fetch him,
which gave him too much reason to think that he was not truly
penitent; he therefore put him under this mark of his displeasure,
that he might be awakened to a sight of his sin and to sorrow for
it, and might make his peace with God, upon the first notice of
which, no doubt, David would be forward to receive him again into
his favour.</p>
<p class="indent" id="iiSam.xv-p14">II. Occasion taken hence to give an account
of Absalom. Nothing is said of his wisdom and piety. Though he was
the son of such a devout father, we read nothing of his devotion.
Parents cannot give grace to their children, though they give them
ever so good an education. All that is here said of him is, 1. That
he was a very handsome man; there was not his equal in all Israel
for beauty, (<scripRef id="iiSam.xv-p14.1" osisRef="Bible:2Sam.14.25" parsed="|2Sam|14|25|0|0" passage="2Sa 14:25"><i>v.</i>
25</scripRef>), a poor commendation for a man that had nothing else
in him valuable. Handsome are those that handsome do. Many a
polluted deformed soul dwells in a fair and comely body; witness
Absalom's, that was polluted with blood, and deformed with
unnatural disaffection to his father and prince. In his body there
was no blemish, but in his mind nothing but wounds and bruises.
Perhaps his comeliness was one reason why his father was so fond of
him and protected him from justice. Those have reason to fear
affliction in their children who are better pleased with their
beauty than with their virtue. 2. That he had a very fine head of
hair. Whether it was the length, or colour, or extraordinary
softness of it, something there was which made it very valuable and
very much an ornament to him, <scripRef id="iiSam.xv-p14.2" osisRef="Bible:2Sam.14.26" parsed="|2Sam|14|26|0|0" passage="2Sa 14:26"><i>v.</i> 26</scripRef>. This notice is taken of his
hair, not as the hair of a Nazarite (he was far from that
strictness), but as the hair of a beau. He let it grow till it was
a burden to him, and was heavy on him, nor would he cut it as long
as ever he could bear it; as pride feels no cold, so it feels no
heat, and that which feeds and gratifies it is not complained of,
though very uneasy. When he did poll it at certain times, for
ostentation he had it weighed, that it might be seen how much it
excelled other men's, and it weighed 200 shekels, which some reckon
to be three pounds and two ounces of our weight; and with the oil
and powder, especially if powdered (as Josephus says the fashion
then was) with gold-dust, bishop Patrick thinks it is not at all
incredible that it should weigh so much. This fine hair proved his
halter, <scripRef id="iiSam.xv-p14.3" osisRef="Bible:2Sam.18.9" parsed="|2Sam|18|9|0|0" passage="2Sa 18:9"><i>ch.</i> xviii.
9</scripRef>. 3. That his family began to be built up. It is
probable that it was a good while before he had a child; and then
it was that, despairing of having one, he set up that pillar which
is mentioned <scripRef id="iiSam.xv-p14.4" osisRef="Bible:2Sam.18.18" parsed="|2Sam|18|18|0|0" passage="2Sa 18:18"><i>ch.</i> xviii.
18</scripRef>, to bear up his name; but afterwards he had three
sons and one daughter, <scripRef id="iiSam.xv-p14.5" osisRef="Bible:2Sam.14.27" parsed="|2Sam|14|27|0|0" passage="2Sa 14:27"><i>v.</i>
27</scripRef>. Or perhaps these sons, while he was hatching his
rebellion, were all cut off by the righteous hand of God, and
thereupon he set up that monument.</p>
</div><scripCom id="iiSam.xv-p0.4" osisRef="Bible:2Sam.14.28-2Sam.14.33" parsed="|2Sam|14|28|14|33" passage="2Sa 14:28-33" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:2Sam.14.28-2Sam.14.33">
<h4 id="iiSam.xv-p14.7">Absalom's Return. (<span class="smallcaps" id="iiSam.xv-p14.8">b. c.</span> 1029.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="iiSam.xv-p15">28 So Absalom dwelt two full years in Jerusalem,
and saw not the king's face.   29 Therefore Absalom sent for
Joab, to have sent him to the king; but he would not come to him:
and when he sent again the second time, he would not come.  
30 Therefore he said unto his servants, See, Joab's field is near
mine, and he hath barley there; go and set it on fire. And
Absalom's servants set the field on fire.   31 Then Joab
arose, and came to Absalom unto <i>his</i> house, and said unto
him, Wherefore have thy servants set my field on fire?   32
And Absalom answered Joab, Behold, I sent unto thee, saying, Come
hither, that I may send thee to the king, to say, Wherefore am I
come from Geshur? <i>it had been</i> good for me <i>to have
been</i> there still: now therefore let me see the king's face; and
if there be <i>any</i> iniquity in me, let him kill me.   33
So Joab came to the king, and told him: and when he had called for
Absalom, he came to the king, and bowed himself on his face to the
ground before the king: and the king kissed Absalom.</p>
<p class="indent" id="iiSam.xv-p16">Three years Absalom had been an exile from
his father-in-law, and now two years a prisoner at large in his own
house, and, in both, better dealt with than he deserved; yet his
spirit was still unhumbled, his pride unmortified, and, instead of
being thankful that his life is spared, he thinks himself sorely
wronged that he is not restored to all his places at court. Had he
truly repented of his sin, his distance from the gaieties of the
court, and his solitude and retirement in his own house, especially
being in Jerusalem the holy city, would have been very agreeable to
him. If a murderer must live, yet let him be for ever a recluse.
But Absalom could not bear this just and gentle mortification. He
longed to see the king's face, pretending it was because he loved
him, but really because he wanted an opportunity to supplant him.
He cannot do his father a mischief till he is reconciled to him;
this therefore is the first branch of his plot; this snake cannot
sting again till he be warmed in his father's bosom. He gained this
point, not by pretended submissions and promises of reformation,
but (would you think it?) by insults and injuries. 1. By his
insolent carriage towards Joab, he brought him to mediate for him.
Once and again he sent to Joab to come and speak with him, for he
durst not go to him; but Joab would not come (<scripRef id="iiSam.xv-p16.1" osisRef="Bible:2Sam.14.29" parsed="|2Sam|14|29|0|0" passage="2Sa 14:29"><i>v.</i> 29</scripRef>), probably because Absalom had
not owned the kindness he had done him in bringing him to Jerusalem
so gratefully as he thought he should have done; proud men take
every service done them for a debt. One would think that a person
in Absalom's circumstances should have sent to Joab a kindly
message, and offered him a large gratuity: courtiers expect noble
presents. But, instead of this, he bids his servants set Joab's
corn-fields on fire (<scripRef id="iiSam.xv-p16.2" osisRef="Bible:2Sam.14.30" parsed="|2Sam|14|30|0|0" passage="2Sa 14:30"><i>v.</i>
30</scripRef>), as spiteful a thing as he could do. Samson could
not think of a greater injury to do the Philistines than this.
Strange that Absalom should think, by doing Joab a mischief, to
prevail with him to do him a kindness, or to recommend himself to
the favour of his prince or people by showing himself so very
malicious and ill-natured, and such an enemy to the public good,
for the fire might spread to the corn of others. Yet by this means
he brings Joab to him, <scripRef id="iiSam.xv-p16.3" osisRef="Bible:2Sam.14.31" parsed="|2Sam|14|31|0|0" passage="2Sa 14:31"><i>v.</i>
31</scripRef>. Thus God, by afflictions, brings those to him that
kept at a distance from him. Absalom was obliged by the law to make
restitution (<scripRef id="iiSam.xv-p16.4" osisRef="Bible:Exod.22.6" parsed="|Exod|22|6|0|0" passage="Ex 22:6">Exod. xxii. 6</scripRef>),
yet we do not find either that he offered it or that Joab demanded
it. Joab (it might be) thought he could not justify his refusal to
go and speak with him; and therefore Absalom thought he could
justify his taking this way to fetch him. And now Joab (perhaps
frightened at the surprising boldness and fury of Absalom, and
apprehensive that he had made an interest in the people strong
enough to bear him out in doing the most daring things, else he
would never have done this) not only puts up with this injury, but
goes on his errand to the king. See what some men can do by
threats, and carrying things with a high hand. 2. By his insolent
message (for I can call it no better) to the king, he recovered his
place at court, to see the king's face, that is, to become a privy
counsellor, <scripRef id="iiSam.xv-p16.5" osisRef="Bible:Esth.1.14" parsed="|Esth|1|14|0|0" passage="Es 1:14">Esth. i. 14</scripRef>.
(1.) His message was haughty and imperious, and very unbecoming
either a son or a subject, <scripRef id="iiSam.xv-p16.6" osisRef="Bible:2Sam.14.32" parsed="|2Sam|14|32|0|0" passage="2Sa 14:32"><i>v.</i>
32</scripRef>. He undervalued the favour that had been shown him in
recalling him from banishment, and restoring him to his own house,
and that in Jerusalem: <i>Wherefore have I come from Geshur?</i> He
denies his own crimes, though most notorious, and will not own that
there was any iniquity in him, insinuating that therefore he had
been wronged in the rebuke he had been under. He defies the king's
justice: "Let him kill me, if he can find in his heart," knowing he
loved him too well to do it. (2.) Yet with this message he carried
his point, <scripRef id="iiSam.xv-p16.7" osisRef="Bible:2Sam.14.33" parsed="|2Sam|14|33|0|0" passage="2Sa 14:33"><i>v.</i> 33</scripRef>.
David's strong affection for him construed all this to be the
language of a great respect to his father, and an earnest desire of
his favour, when alas! it was far otherwise. See how easily wise
and good men may be imposed upon by their own children that design
ill, especially when they are blindly fond of them. Absalom, by the
posture of his body, testified his submission to his father: <i>He
bowed himself on his face to the ground;</i> and David, with a
kiss, sealed his pardon. Did the bowels of a father prevail to
reconcile him to an impenitent son, and shall penitent sinners
question the compassion of him who is the Father of mercy? If
Ephraim bemoan himself, God soon bemoans him, with all the kind
expressions of a fatherly tenderness: <i>He is a dear son, a
pleasant child,</i> <scripRef id="iiSam.xv-p16.8" osisRef="Bible:Jer.31.20" parsed="|Jer|31|20|0|0" passage="Jer 31:20">Jer. xxxi.
20</scripRef>.</p>
</div></div2>