48443 matching verse commentaries
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Absalom came to the king,.... At Jerusalem, to invite him in person: and said, behold now, thy servant hath sheepshearers; persons employed in shearing his sheep: and this being a time of entertainment and joy, let the king, I beseech thee, and his servants, go with thy servant; he invited the king and the whole royal family to go with him to...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And the king said to Absalom, nay, my son, let us not all now go,.... He did not object to the invitation entirely, he was willing some of the family should go, but not all; it seems probable that he particularly excepted himself and his eldest son, the heir to his crown, for the reason following: lest we be chargeable unto thee; one or two...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Then said Absalom, if not,.... If it is not thy pleasure to go with me, if I cannot have the honour of thy company: I pray thee, let my brother Amnon go with us; let me have the next mark of honour that can be given me, the presence of the king's eldest son, and heir to the crown; he seems to express affection for him, and a particular desire of...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
But Absalom pressed him,.... Which one would think would have increased his suspicion, if he had any, or have raised it in him; but his mind was blinded, that Amnon's incest might be punished and the threatening to David and his house be fulfilled on account of the affair of Uriah and Bathsheba: that he let Amnon and all the king's sons go with...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Now Absalom had commanded his servants,.... Before he and his guests were set down to the entertainment: saying, mark ye now when Amnon's heart is merry with wine; as he was determined to make him if possible, and as he supposed he would be, knowing his inclination to drink: and when I say unto you, smite Amnon, then kill him; smite him that he...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And the servants of Absalom did unto Amnon as Absalom had commanded,.... They smote him, and killed him, when he gave the word: then all the king's sons arose; from the feast, imagining they were all designed to be slain: and every man gat him up upon his mule, and fled; creatures much used in Judea instead of horses, which, though they might not...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And it came to pass while they were in the way,.... On their road homewards, before they got to Jerusalem: that tidings came to David; perhaps brought by one who was at the entertainment, who upon seeing Amnon smitten, immediately rose up and fled with the news of it to David: saying, Absalom hath slain all the king's sons, and there is not one of...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Then the king arose, and tore his garments,.... In token of extreme grief and sorrow, as Jacob did when he was shown the coat of Joseph, supposing him to have been slain, as David thought all his sons were, Genesis 37:34; and lay on the earth; on the bare ground, another token of mourning; so Job did on hearing the death of his sons, Job 1:20; and...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Jonadab the son of Shimeah, David's brother,.... The same that advised Amnon to feign himself sick, to get Tamar sent to him, that he might enjoy her, 2 Samuel 13:3; answered and said; said in answer to the report brought to the king, which threw him into such an agony: let not my lord suppose [that] they have slain all the young men the...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Now therefore let not my lord the king take the thing to his heart,.... Neither suppose it, nor be troubled for it: to think that all the king's sons are dead: which was not to be thought, nor could any good reason be given for such a supposition for Amnon only is dead; he repeats it again with great assurance, which seems to confirm the suspicion...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
But Absalom fled,.... He who promised his servants protection could not protect himself, and who no doubt fled with him; he knew what he had done was death by law, and that there was no city of refuge for such sort of murder as this, and he had no reason to hope the king would suffer so foul a crime as this to pass unpunished: and the young man...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Jonadab said to the king, behold, the king's sons come,.... For as they came nearer, it was plainly discovered that they were the king's sons, seen on the side of the hill: as thy servant said, so it is; he seems to applaud himself, and exult at his penetration and foresight.
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And it came to pass, as soon as he had made an end of speaking,.... As soon as the above words were out of his mouth: that, behold, the king's sons came: into the palace, and into the apartment where the king was: and lifted up their voice and wept; not being able to tell the sorrowful news with their mouths, but declared it by gestures: and the...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
But Absalom fled,.... As before related, but here repeated for the sake of what follows: and went to Talmai, the son of Ammihud, king of Geshur: his mother's father, see 2 Samuel 3:3, where he might hope for protection and safety: and [David] mourned for his son every day; or "all the days" (q), i.e. of the three years Absalom was in Geshur, about...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
So Absalom fled,.... This is the third time it is mentioned, and the reason of it here Abarbinel thinks is, that when he first fled to his grandfather, he used to stand openly in the court of his palace, and go with him wherever he went from place to place; but when he understood that his father mourned so for the death of Amnon, he was afraid he...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And [the soul of] King David longed to go forth unto Absalom,.... In like manner it is supplied and paraphrased in the Targum, because the word rendered "longed" is feminine; though it may be used to denote the effeminateness of David's disposition and carriage on this occasion. Aben Ezra thinks the word "wife", should be supplied, and then the...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
INTRODUCTION TO SECOND SAMUEL 14 This chapter relates that Joab, perceiving David's inclination to bring back Absalom, employed a wise woman of Tekoah to lay before him a feigned case of hers, drawn up by Joab, whereby this point was gained from the king, that murder might be dispensed with in her case, 2 Samuel 14:1; which being applied to the...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Now Joab the son of Zeruiah,.... The general of David's army: perceived that the king's heart [was] towards Absalom; and longed to have him returned, though he knew not how to bring it about with credit to himself, his crime being so foul, and worthy of death. This Joab perceived by some words he now and then dropped, and by his conduct, not...
Matthew Henry - Complete Commentary - Matthew Henry
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...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Joab sent to Tekoah,.... Which Kimchi says was a city in the tribe of Asher, and others in the tribe of Benjamin, but it seems rather to be in the tribe, of Judah, 2 Chronicles 11:5; according Jerom (s), it was twelve miles from Jerusalem, though in another place (t) he says it was but nine; of this place was Amos, and some think (u) the woman...