719 matching verse commentaries
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And say ye to Amasa,.... Who was the general of Absalom's army, and who might fear he should never be pardoned, whoever was, and looked upon his case as desperate; who had led on the army with Absalom against the king's threes, and fought them: [art] thou not of my bone, and of my flesh? nearly related to him, being his sister's son: God do so to...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And he bowed the heart of all the men of Judah, even as [the heart of] one man,.... This the Jewish commentators generally understand of Amasa that he used his interest with the men of Judah, and so wrought upon them, that they agreed as one man to send for the king, and bring him back; but it seems best to understand it of David, who by these...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
So the king returned, and came to Jordan,.... From Mahanaim thither, which according to Bunting (i) was twenty eight miles: and Judah came to Gilgal; that is, the elders, or principal men of the tribe of Judah, came thither; which place, according to the same writer (k), was twelve miles from Jerusalem, and four from Jordan; and was the first...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Shimei the son of Gera, a Benjamite, which [was] of Bahurim,.... Of whom see 2 Samuel 16:5; hasted and came down with the men of Judah to meet King David: he took the first opportunity to meet the king, and ask his pardon for his ill treatment of him when he fled from Jerusalem; for, hearing: that Absalom was slain, and the victory was on the...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And there were a thousand men of Benjamin with him,.... Of which tribe he was, and these were either a band of soldiers, of which he was the chiliarch; or tenants of his, which showed him to be a great man; or his neighbours, and persons of some figure, whom he prevailed upon to come as intercessors for him: and Ziba the servant of the house of...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And there went over a ferry boat to carry over the king's household,.... His wives and children, who could not so well ford the river on foot: some will have this to be a bridge of boats, a pontoon; and Abarbinel thinks it might be a company of men, who carried the women and children on their shoulders, one after another: and to do what he thought...
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...