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2 SAMUEL 19

PARAGRAPH DIVISIONS OF MODERN TRANSLATIONS

READING CYCLE THREE (see "Bible Interpretation Seminar")

FOLLOWING THE ORIGINAL AUTHOR'S INTENT AT THE PARAGRAPH LEVEL

This is a study guide commentary, which means that you are responsible for your own interpretation of the Bible. Each of us must walk in the light we have. You, the Bible, and the Holy Spirit are priority in interpretation. You must not relinquish this to a commentator.

Read the chapter in one sitting. Identify the subjects. Compare your subject divisions with the five translations above. Paragraphing is not inspired, but it is the key to following the original author's intent, which is the heart of interpretation. Every paragraph has one and only one subject.

1. First paragraph
2. Second paragraph
3. Etc.

WORD AND PHRASE STUDY

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 19:1-7
  ¹Then it was told Joab, "Behold, the king is weeping and mourns for Absalom." ²The victory that day was turned to mourning for all the people, for the people heard it said that day, "The king is grieved for his son." ³So the people went by stealth into the city that day, as people who are humiliated steal away when they flee in battle. ⁴The king covered his face and cried out with a loud voice, "O my son Absalom, O Absalom, my son, my son!" ⁵Then Joab came into the house to the king and said, "Today you have covered with shame the faces of all your servants, who today have saved your life and the lives of your sons and daughters, the lives of your wives, and the lives of your concubines, ⁶by loving those who hate you, and by hating those who love you. For you have shown today that princes and servants are nothing to you; for I know this day that if Absalom were alive and all of us were dead today, then you would be pleased. ⁷Now therefore arise, go out and speak kindly to your servants, for I swear by the Lord, if you do not go out, surely not a man will pass the night with you, and this will be worse for you than all the evil that has come upon you from your youth until now."

19:1 The MT numbers link this verse with 2 Sam. 18:33. In the MT 18:33 is 19:1.

19:2 What should have been a day of rejoicing over the victory turned into a sad day because of David's grief.

19:3 This verse clearly shows what affect David's actions (and inaction) caused his followers.

19:4 David's grief was overwhelming (cf. 2 Sam. 18:33; 19:1).

19:5-7 Joab talks tough to David. He spells out clearly how David's actions are affecting his supporters.

1. their faces covered in shame
2. they meant "nothing" to David
3. David seemed to want Absalom alive more than them
4. if David did not change these supporters would all leave

19:7 Notice Joab's imperatives to David.

1. arise ‒ BDB 877, KB 1086, Qal
2. go out ‒ BDB 422, KB 425, Qal
3. speak ‒ BDB 180, KB 210, Piel

Joab spells out the consequences for inaction in graphic hyperbolic language.

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 19:8a
  ⁸So the king arose and sat in the gate. When they told all the people, saying, "Behold, the king is sitting in the gate," then all the people came before the king.

19:8 David was at the gate when they had left for battle; finally he returned to the gate to congratulate and welcome back his victorious army.

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 19:8b-10
  ^8bNow Israel had fled, each to his tent. ⁹All the people were quarreling throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, "The king delivered us from the hand of our enemies and saved us from the hand of the Philistines, but now he has fled out of the land from Absalom. ¹⁰However, Absalom, whom we anointed over us, has died in battle. Now then, why are you silent about bringing the king back?"

19:9 Israel remembered the military victories of David over their enemies. They had made a big mistake following Absalom. They wanted David back as king of united Israel.

19:10 "anointed" See SPECIAL TOPIC: "ANOINTING" IN THE BIBLE.

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 19:11-15
  ¹¹Then King David sent to Zadok and Abiathar the priests, saying, "Speak to the elders of Judah, saying, 'Why are you the last to bring the king back to his house, since the word of all Israel has come to the king, even to his house? ¹²You are my brothers; you are my bone and my flesh. Why then should you be the last to bring back the king?' ¹³Say to Amasa, 'Are you not my bone and my flesh? May God do so to me, and more also, if you will not be commander of the army before me continually in place of Joab.'" ¹⁴Thus he turned the hearts of all the men of Judah as one man, so that they sent word to the king, saying, "Return, you and all your servants." ¹⁵The king then returned and came as far as the Jordan. And Judah came to Gilgal in order to go to meet the king, to bring the king across the Jordan.

19:11-16 David's priests (i.e., Zadok and Abiathar) are sent to the elders of Judah with a message, "Why is it taking so long for you to call David back as king?"

David demonstrated his willingness to forgive and forget by offering Joab's job to Amasa (i.e., Absalom's military leader, cf. 2 Sam. 17:25)!

19:12 "my bone and my flesh" This is an idiom for blood-relatives (cf. Gen. 29:11; Jdgs. 9:2; 2 Sam. 5:1). We must remember the people of the OT were tribal. Their first priority was not self, but family. Western individualism skews the historical setting of biblical texts.

19:14 "he" In context this could refer to

1. David (TEV, REB)
2. Amasa (NRSV, JPSOA)

19:15 "to bring the king across the Jordan" Josephus, Antiq. 7.11.2, says "All these, as well as the tribe of Judah, laid a bridge (of boats) over the river, that the king, and those that were with him, might with ease pass over it."

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 19:16-23
  ¹⁶Then Shimei the son of Gera, the Benjamite who was from Bahurim, hurried and came down with the men of Judah to meet King David. ¹⁷There were a thousand men of Benjamin with him, with Ziba the servant of the house of Saul, and his fifteen sons and his twenty servants with him; and they rushed to the Jordan before the king. ¹⁸Then they kept crossing the ford to bring over the king's household, and to do what was good in his sight. And Shimei the son of Gera fell down before the king as he was about to cross the Jordan. ¹⁹So he said to the king, "Let not my lord consider me guilty, nor remember what your servant did wrong on the day when my lord the king came out from Jerusalem, so that the king would take it to heart. ²⁰For your servant knows that I have sinned; therefore behold, I have come today, the first of all the house of Joseph to go down to meet my lord the king." ²¹But Abishai the son of Zeruiah said, "Should not Shimei be put to death for this, because he cursed the Lord's anointed?" ²²David then said, "What have I to do with you, O sons of Zeruiah, that you should this day be an adversary to me? Should any man be put to death in Israel today? For do I not know that I am king over Israel today?" ²³The king said to Shimei, "You shall not die." Thus the king swore to him.

19:16-23 David deals with Shimei (cf. 2 Sam. 16:5-13) with mercy. Because he wants to please the Benjamites. However, he will later ask Solomon to kill him (cf. 1 Kgs. 2:8-9).

19:17 "There were a thousand men of Benjamin with him" Shimei had a great influence on the tribe of Saul.

19:20 "the first of all the house of Joseph" The tribe of Benjamin may be considered "first" because of King Saul.

The "house of Joseph" is just another way to refer to the northern tribes (cf. Josh. 18:5; Jdgs. 1:22,23,35; 1 Kgs. 11:28). Usually this phrase refers to the tribe from Joseph ‒ Ephraim and Manasseh, but not here.

19:22 "adversary" This is the Hebrew NOUN "satan" (BDB 966).

SPECIAL TOPIC: SATAN

▣ "O sons of Zeruiah" This refers to Joab and Abishai.

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 19:24-30
  ²⁴Then Mephibosheth the son of Saul came down to meet the king; and he had neither cared for his feet, nor trimmed his mustache, nor washed his clothes, from the day the king departed until the day he came home in peace. ²⁵It was when he came from Jerusalem to meet the king, that the king said to him, "Why did you not go with me, Mephibosheth?" ²⁶So he answered, "O my lord, the king, my servant deceived me; for your servant said, 'I will saddle a donkey for myself that I may ride on it and go with the king,' because your servant is lame. ²⁷Moreover, he has slandered your servant to my lord the king; but my lord the king is like the angel of God, therefore do what is good in your sight. ²⁸For all my father's household was nothing but dead men before my lord the king; yet you set your servant among those who ate at your own table. What right do I have yet that I should complain anymore to the king?" ²⁹So the king said to him, "Why do you still speak of your affairs? I have decided, 'You and Ziba shall divide the land.'" ³⁰Mephibosheth said to the king, "Let him even take it all, since my lord the king has come safely to his own house."

19:24 Notice these unusual signs of mourning.

1. neither cared for his feet ‒ the VERB (BDB 793, KB 889, Qal PERFECT) basically means "to do something"; here, it denotes washing (BDB, 5). The LXX adds "nor pared his nails."
2. trimmed his mustache ‒ same VERB
3. not washed his clothes ‒ BDB 460, KB 459, Piel PERFECT

Mephibosheth was disheveled, which showed his grief over David's exile and that he himself did not claim kingship or privilege.

19:26 Mephibosheth claims Ziba tricked him and slandered him.

19:27 "like the angel of God" David can discern truth (cf. 2 Sam. 14:17,20). See full note at 1 Sam. 29:9.

19:29 At first David gave all of Saul's property to Mephibosheth, then he gave it all to Ziba, now he splits it between them!

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 19:31-39
  ³¹Now Barzillai the Gileadite had come down from Rogelim; and he went on to the Jordan with the king to escort him over the Jordan. ³²Now Barzillai was very old, being eighty years old; and he had sustained the king while he stayed at Mahanaim, for he was a very great man. ³³The king said to Barzillai, "You cross over with me and I will sustain you in Jerusalem with me." ³⁴But Barzillai said to the king, "How long have I yet to live, that I should go up with the king to Jerusalem? ³⁵I am now eighty years old. Can I distinguish between good and bad? Or can your servant taste what I eat or what I drink? Or can I hear anymore the voice of singing men and women? Why then should your servant be an added burden to my lord the king? ³⁶Your servant would merely cross over the Jordan with the king. Why should the king compensate me with this reward? ³⁷Please let your servant return, that I may die in my own city near the grave of my father and my mother. However, here is your servant Chimham, let him cross over with my lord the king, and do for him what is good in your sight." ³⁸The king answered, "Chimham shall cross over with me, and I will do for him what is good in your sight; and whatever you require of me, I will do for you." ³⁹All the people crossed over the Jordan and the king crossed too. The king then kissed Barzillai and blessed him, and he returned to his place.

19:31-39 David rewards and affirms the elderly Barzillai (cf. 2 Sam. 17:27-29; 1 Kgs. 2:7).

The Hebrew ADJECTIVE (BDB 152) has a wide semantic field.

1. great in magnitude or extent
2. great in number
3. great in intensity
4. great sound
5. great age
6. great in importance
7. great in wealth

Barzillai was great

1. in his love for David
2. in his making provisions for David and his men (wealth and generosity)
3. in his age (80 years)

19:35 This, like Eccl. 12:1-7, describes old age as a loosening of the pleasures of life.

19:37 "Chimham" He was probably Barzillai's son (cf. 1 Kgs. 2:7 and some LXX MSS; and Josephus, Antiq. 7.11.4).

Crossing over Jordan with David and going to the sacred site Gilgal (v. 15) was a kind of re-coronation and affirmation of David's kingship (cf. vv. 36-39,40).

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 19:40-43
  ⁴⁰Now the king went on to Gilgal, and Chimham went on with him; and all the people of Judah and also half the people of Israel accompanied the king. ⁴¹And behold, all the men of Israel came to the king and said to the king, "Why had our brothers the men of Judah stolen you away, and brought the king and his household and all David's men with him over the Jordan?" ⁴²Then all the men of Judah answered the men of Israel, "Because the king is a close relative to us. Why then are you angry about this matter? Have we eaten at all at the king's expense, or has anything been taken for us?" ⁴³But the men of Israel answered the men of Judah and said, "We have ten parts in the king, therefore we also have more claim on David than you. Why then did you treat us with contempt? Was it not our advice first to bring back our king?" Yet the words of the men of Judah were harsher than the words of the men of Israel.

19:40-43 This clearly shows the continuing jealousy and rivalry between the tribes of Israel, particularly Judah vs. the northern ten tribes (v. 43).

Because of vv. 9-10 and v. 40 (i.e., "half the people of Israel"), it seems not everyone was supportive of David's return.

19:42 "Have we eaten at all at the king's expense" This is an emphatic form (i.e., an INFINITIVE ABSOLUTE and a PERFECT VERB of the same root, BDB 37, KB 46).

The men of Israel claimed their right as descendants of Israel/Jacob. The LXX adds "we are the first-born rather than you" (cf. 1 Chr. 5:2).

Some of the men of Judah had apparently supported Absalom, like most of the other tribes.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

This is a study guide commentary which means that you are responsible for your own interpretation of the Bible. Each of us must walk in the light we have. You, the Bible, and the Holy Spirit are priority in interpretation. You must not relinquish this to a commentator.

These discussion questions are provided to help you think through the major issues of this section of the book. They are meant to be thought-provoking, not definitive.

1. Why was David so distressed over the death of Absalom?
2. How did David's grief affect his soldiers?
3. Why did David make Amasa the leader of his military?
4. Why was David crossing the Jordan so significant?

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