25 matching verse commentaries
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
INTRODUCTION TO SECOND SAMUEL 16 In this chapter is an account of Ziba, the servant of Mephibosheth, getting his inheritance by misrepresentation of him, and by presents to David, 2 Samuel 16:1; and of Shimei's cursing David as he passed along, which David bore patiently, and would not suffer others to avenge it on him, 2 Samuel 16:5; and of...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And when David was a little past the top [of the hill],.... Of the mount of Olives, the ascent of which he is said to go up by, and to come to the top of it, 2 Samuel 15:30; behold, Ziba, the servant of Mephibosheth, met him; of whom see 2 Samuel 9:2; with a couple of asses saddled: and so fit to ride on, but for the present he used them to...
Matthew Henry - Complete Commentary - Matthew Henry
In the close of the foregoing chapter we left David flying from Jerusalem, and Absalom entering into it; in this chapter, I. We are to follow David in his melancholy flight; and there we find him, 1. Cheated by Ziba, ver. 1-4. 2. Cursed by Shimei, which he bears with wonderful patience, ver. 5-14. II. We are to meet Absalom in his triumphant...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And the king said unto Ziba, what meanest thou by these?.... Are they to be said, or are they presents? and Ziba said, the asses [be] for the king's household to ride on; for himself, his wives, and children, his courtiers, and the principal officers of his house; it being usual in those times and countries for great personages to ride on asses,...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And the king said, and where [is] thy master's son?.... The son of Saul, who was Ziba's master, meaning Mephibosheth: and Ziba said unto the king, behold, he abideth at Jerusalem; as there was reason for it, since he was lame of both his feet, 2 Samuel 9:13, though he could have rode upon an ass, and followed the king, as he proposed to do; but...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Then said the king to Ziba, behold, thine [are] all that [pertaineth] to Mephibosheth,.... Being forfeited to the king by an overt act of treason as they had been before by the rebellion of Ishbosheth, but had been graciously restored to Mephibosheth; and had it been true what Ziba suggested, it would have been a righteous thing to have taken them...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And when King David came to Bahurim,.... The Targum is, Alemath, perhaps the same that is said to be a city of the Levites, given unto them out of the tribe of Benjamin, 1 Chronicles 6:60 for the man next described, who was of this place, was a Benjaminite, 2 Samuel 19:16; [See comments on 2 Samuel 3:16]; David was not yet come to the city itself,...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And he cast stones at David, and at all the servants of King David,.... Not that he was within the reach of them, or could hurt them, by casting them at them; but this he did to show his contempt of them, and to intimate that they deserved to be stoned, and especially David, at whose adultery he might point by it: and all the people, and all the...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And thus said Shimei, when he cursed, come out, come out,.... Or rather, "go out, go out" (t); that is, out of the nation, where he deserved not to live, as he judged, and out of the kingdom, which he had usurped, as he supposed; and the repeating the words not only denotes his vehement desire to have him gone, but the haste he should make to get...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
The Lord hath returned upon thee all the blood of the house of Saul,.... Which he would suggest was shed by David, or, however, that he was the cause of its being shed; as if he had stirred up the Philistines to that battle in which Saul and his sons were slain, and had an hand secretly in the deaths of Ishbosheth and Abner, all which were false...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Then said Abishai the son of Zeruiah unto the king,.... A sister's son of his, and a general in the army, who could not bear to hear the king abused in this manner: why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? be suffered to do it with impunity; a "dog" he calls him, because of his vileness and baseness, and because of his impudence, and on...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And the king said, what have I to do with you, ye sons of Zeruiah?.... It seems as if Joab, the brother of Abishai, joined with him in this request to have leave to take off the head of Shimei; and though David had to do with them as his relations, his sister's sons, and as they were generals in his army; yet in this case he would have nothing to...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And David said to Abishai, and all his servants,.... In order to make them easy, and reconcile them to this usage of him: behold, my son, which came forth of my bowels, seeketh my life; meaning Absalom: how much more now [may this] Benjamite [do it]? who was not only of the same tribe that Saul was, but of the same family, and so bore an ill will...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
It may be that the Lord will look on mine affliction,.... Through the rebellion of his son, and now aggravated by the cursing of Shimei; that is, with an eye of pity and commiseration, and deliver him out of it: or "look upon my eye" (x); for there is a various reading; the tear of mine eye, as the Targum; so Jarchi and R. Isaiah; the tears in it,...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And as David and his men went by the way,.... In the high road that led to Bahurim, taking no notice of the cursing of Shimei, which made him bolder and more impudent; here is a large pause in the Hebrew text, in the midst of this verse: Shimei went along on the hill side over against him; as David and his men walked in the plain, he went on a...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And the king, and all the people that [were] with him, came weary,.... With their journey, and through grief and trouble at what they met with: and refreshed themselves there: that is, at Bahurim, with food and rest; which revived their spirits, and put as it were new life and soul into them, as the word used signifies. Josephus (y) says, when...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Absalom, and all the people, the men of Israel, came to Jerusalem,.... At the same time that David and his people came to Bahurim; which, as Josephus (z) says, was a place near to Jerusalem; and, according to Bunting (a), was little more than a mile from it; though elsewhere (b) he makes it three miles; so that had not David made the hasty...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And it came to pass that when Hushai the Archite, David's friend, was come unto Absalom,.... Who came into Jerusalem at the same time that Absalom did, and who, no doubt, took the first opportunity to make his court to him, 2 Samuel 15:37; that Hushai said unto Absalom, God save the king, God save the king; or "may the king live" (c), live long,...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Absalom said to Hushai, [is] this thy kindness to thy friend?.... Meaning to David; though he would not mention his name, nor his title, nor even the relation of a father he stood in to him, only speaks of him as Hushai's friend: Hushai had professed great friendship to David, and David had been a friend to Hushai, had raised him to great...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Hushai said to Absalom,.... In answer to his questions: nay, but whom the Lord, and his people, and all the men of Israel choose: here again he speaks very ambiguously; for this circumlocution, or descriptive character of the king of Israel, better agrees with David, whom he might bear in mind, than with Absalom; for the Lord had chosen David,...