45 matching verse commentaries
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And said unto the king, let not my lord the king impute iniquity unto me,.... That is, deal with him according to the desert of it, punish him for it, but forgive it: for non-imputation of sin is in effect the pardon of it: neither do thou remember that which thy servant did perversely the day my lord the king went out of Jerusalem: he desires...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
For thy servant doth know that I have sinned,.... He was sensible of it, and sorry for it, and publicly acknowledged it before all the men he brought with him, and before all the servants of David; and as a token of the sincerity of his repentance, and as an earnest of his future fidelity, he made this early submission: therefore, behold, I am...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
But Abishai the son of Zeruiah answered and said,.... The same person that would have taken off the head of Shimei at the time he cursed David, if he would have given him leave, 2 Samuel 16:9; shall not Shimei be put to death for this? this humiliation and acknowledgment he has made, shall he be forgiven on that account? shall so small a matter as...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And David said, what have I to do with you, ye sons of Zeruiah?.... [See comments on 2 Samuel 16:10]; that ye should this day be adversaries unto me? or a Satan unto me, as the word is, by advising him to do what would be prejudicial to his interest; see Matthew 16:22; as to use severity at such a time as this would have been; for had he...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Therefore the king said unto Shimei, thou shalt not die,.... This day by my hands, or order, or by the sword, 1 Kings 2:8; and the king sware unto him; that he should not die for that offence, or for that only; but if he committed a new one, this oath was no longer binding on him, and not at all upon his heir and successor.
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Mephibosheth the son of Saul came down to meet the king,.... Not down to Jordan, but Jerusalem; when the king was come thither, he came from his own dwelling to the king's palace; he is called the son of Saul, though he was his grandson, and grandsons are sometimes called sons; though in the Septuagint it is, the son's son of Saul; and the...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And it came to pass, when he came to Jerusalem to meet the king,.... Perhaps from the place where his estate was; or, as the Arabic version, when he came from Jerusalem, from whence he went a little way to meet the king, as he was coming thither; for it was said he abode at Jerusalem, 2 Samuel 16:3; that the king said unto him, wherefore wentest...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And he answered, my lord, O king, my servant deceived me,.... His servant Ziba, who, instead of saddling an ass for him by his order, went off with that and another himself, 2 Samuel 16:1; for thy servant said, I will saddle me an ass; he not only determined this in his own mind, but gave orders to his servant to saddle one for him: that I may...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And he hath slandered thy servant unto my lord the king,.... By suggesting that he stayed at Jerusalem with a view to the kingdom, hoping that the quarrel between David and Absalom would issue in the restoration of it to his father's family; which was a mere calumny, he having had no such thought, nor was there any foundation for it: but my lord...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
For all [of] my, father's house were but dead men before my lord the king,.... Or "men of death" (m); worthy of death, not on account of Saul's persecution, for which his family did not deserve to suffer; rather for the attempt of Ishbosheth to get the kingdom from him, which might be deemed treason, and so the family was tainted for it; though...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And the king said unto him, why speakest thou any more of thy matters?.... Of his father's family, and the injuries done by them to David, and of the benefits and favours which he had received from David, or of his temporal affairs, of his estate, which David had given away to Ziba: I have said, thou and Ziba divide the land; revoking his last...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Mephibosheth said unto the king, yea, let him take all,.... The whole estate, as David had given it to him; he was content that that last grant should stand: forasmuch as my lord the king is come again in peace unto his own house; his palace in Jerusalem; which was a strong expression of affection for him, and loyalty to him. (Solomn used a...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Barzillai the Gileadite came down from Rogelim,.... The place of his habitation, to Jordan, see 2 Samuel 17:27; and went over Jordan with the king to conduct him over Jordan; to accompany him over the river, and then take his leave of him.
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Now Barzillai was a very aged man, [even] fourscore years old,.... Which was ten years beyond the common term of man's life, and reckoned a very great age in David's time, and has been ever since, and still is, see Psalms 90:10; and he had provided the king of sustenance while he lay at Mahanaim: had supported him and his family, furnished him...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And the king said to Barzillai, come thou over with me,.... Over Jordan; Barzillai came with an intent to accompany the king over Jordan; but the king meant not only to go over Jordan, but when over to go further with him, even to Jerusalem: and I will feed thee with me in Jerusalem; meaning, that he should dwell with him in his palace, and eat at...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Barzillai said unto the king,.... In answer to the grateful proposal he made: how long have I to live; that could not be said with exactness by any; but it might be probably conjectured from the age he was of, and the infirmities that attended him, that he could not live long; it was but a short time he had to be in the world: that I should go...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
I [am] this day fourscore years old,.... Not that that day was precisely his birthday, but that he was about such an age, very little under or over; very probably he was full that age: [and] can I discern between good and evil? signifying, either that his intellectual powers were impaired, and could not distinguish what was right and wrong, and so...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Thy servant will go a little way over Jordan with the king,.... That is, go a little way after he was over Jordan with him, and then return to his own city: and why should the king recompense it with such a reward? the sense is, why should the king recompense so trifling a thing as I have done, and which was but my duty, with such a reward, as to...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Let thy servant, I pray thee, turn back again,.... To his own city, after he is gone ever Jordan, and seen the king a little way on his journey: that I may die in my own city: the city of Rogelim, where perhaps he was born, and had lived all his days, and where it is natural for people to desire to die, even in their native place: [and be buried]...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And the king answered, Chimham shall go over with me,.... He admitted of him instead of his father: and I will do unto him that which shall seem good unto thee; he puts it to Barzillai, and leaves it with him to ask what he would for his son, and he would grant it. We nowhere read what it was that Barzillai asked, or whether he asked anything;...