2 Samuel 19
David's Grief and Joab's Rebuke 1–8
The Tribes Debate David's Return 9–15
Shimei Seeks Pardon 16–23
David and Mephibosheth 24–30
David Thanks Barzillai 31–40
Conflict Between Israel and Judah 41–43
Bible text: King James Version (1769 Blayney text) · Public domain
Study Notes for 2 Samuel 19
Verse 1
the king weepeth and mourneth for Absalom — The report reaches Joab straight after the messengers' news (18:31–33). 'Weepeth' is bakah, 'mourneth' 'abal, to bewail or lament. It is the cry of 18:33, 'O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom!', now spreading through the camp.
Verse 2
turned into mourning — 'Victory' is teshuah, deliverance or salvation; it is exchanged for 'ebel, mourning. The cause is stated: 'the people heard say that day how the king was grieved for his son'. Verse 3 adds that they came into the city 'by stealth', like men fleeing in battle.
Verse 4
covered his face — The covered head marked David's flight up Olivet, 'and had his head covered' (2 Sam 15:30). Here the king 'cried with a loud voice' (za'aq, a shriek of anguish) and repeats the words of 18:33, 'O my son Absalom, O Absalom, my son, my son!'
Verse 5
Thou hast shamed this day the faces — Yavesh (hiphil) means to put to shame. Joab says the servants 'saved' (malat, to rescue) the lives of the king, his sons, daughters, wives and concubines. It is the Joab who thrust three darts through Absalom's heart (18:14) who now rebukes David.
Verse 7
speak comfortably — The Hebrew is literally 'to the heart' (lev). Joab swears 'by the LORD' that none will 'tarry' (lun, lodge for the night) with David if he does not go out, and that 'will be worse unto thee than all the evil that befell thee from thy youth until now'.
Verse 8
sat in the gate — The gate was where the king received his people: David had sat there awaiting news (18:24), and Absalom had stood by the gate road to meet those with a case for the king (15:2). 'Israel' here are those who had followed Absalom, who 'had fled every man to his tent'.
Verse 9
The king saved us — The tribes reason from David's record: he delivered them 'out of the hand of the Philistines' (see 2 Sam 8:1), yet 'now he is fled out of the land for Absalom', the flight begun at 15:14. 'Delivered' is malat, the verb rendered 'saved' in v.5.
Verse 11
Zadok and… Abiathar the priests — They had carried the ark back to Jerusalem and stayed there (2 Sam 15:29), where David counted on them to pass on what was said in the king's house (15:35–36). He now sends to the 'elders of Judah', his own tribe, who are 'the last' ('acharon) to move.
Verse 12
my bones and my flesh — The kinship formula goes back to Adam, 'bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh' (Gen 2:23). All the tribes used it to David at Hebron: 'we are thy bone and thy flesh' (2 Sam 5:1). David now applies it to Judah, 'etsem and basar, to shame them for coming last.
Verse 13
Amasa — Absalom had made Amasa 'captain of the host instead of Joab' (17:25); his mother was Abigail (1 Chr 2:17), so he is David's kin. David offers him Joab's post under the oath-form 'God do so to me, and more also' (compare Ruth 1:17). Joab had been 'over the host' since 8:16.
Verse 14
bowed the heart — Natah is to stretch or bend. The men of Judah are swayed 'as the heart of one man', the phrase used of Israel gathered 'as one man' in Judg 20:1. They send back the invitation: 'Return thou, and all thy servants.'
Verse 16
Shimei the son of Gera — The man who cursed David and threw stones at Bahurim (2 Sam 16:5, 13), 'of the family of the house of Saul'. He 'hasted' (mahar) to meet the king. David later reminds Solomon of that curse (1 Kings 2:8).
Verse 19
Let not my lord impute iniquity — Shimei asks that David not reckon (chashab) guilt ('avon) to him nor remember what he 'did perversely' ('avah, to make crooked) 'the day that my lord the king went out of Jerusalem'. The day he names is that of the flight from Jerusalem (15:14), on which he cursed David (16:5–13).
Verse 21
cursed the LORD'S anointed — Abishai's charge echoes the law, 'Thou shalt not revile the gods, nor curse the ruler of thy people' (Ex 22:28). It is Abishai who had asked leave to strike Saul, and David answered that none could stretch out a hand 'against the LORD'S anointed, and be guiltless' (1 Sam 26:9).
Verse 22
ye sons of Zeruiah — David used the same words at 16:10, and had said at 3:39 that these men 'be too hard for me'. 'Adversaries' is satan, an opponent. 'Shall there any man be put to death this day in Israel?' recalls Saul's word at his own victory (1 Sam 11:13).
Verse 24
neither dressed his feet, nor trimmed his beard, nor washed his clothes — 'Dressed' and 'trimmed' are one verb, 'asah, to do or make. These are signs of mourning kept 'from the day the king departed until the day he came again in peace' (shalom). Mephibosheth is Saul's grandson, Jonathan's son (9:6).
Verse 26
my servant deceived me — Ramah is to beguile or betray. Ziba had brought David saddled asses and told him that Mephibosheth stayed at Jerusalem hoping the kingdom would be restored to him (16:1–3). Mephibosheth says he meant to saddle an ass himself, 'because thy servant is lame' (pisseach; see 4:4).
Verse 27
an angel of God — Ragal is to go about as a tale-bearer, from regel, foot. The compliment is one David had heard before: the woman of Tekoa said, 'my lord is wise, according to the wisdom of an angel of God' (14:20). Mephibosheth leaves the matter to the king's own eyes.
Verse 29
Thou and Ziba divide the land — At 16:4 David had given Ziba 'all that pertained unto Mephibosheth'; originally Ziba and his household were to farm the land for Mephibosheth (9:10). 'Divide' is chalaq, to apportion. Verse 30 gives Mephibosheth's answer.
Verse 30
let him take all — Mephibosheth's reason is that the king 'is come again in peace' (shalom), the word with which v.24 marks the end of his mourning. Laqach, 'take', gives his consent to Ziba holding all of the land, over and above the division the king had named.
Verse 31
Barzillai the Gileadite — He is named among those who brought David beds and food at Mahanaim (2 Sam 17:27–29). Rogelim means 'fullers', a place east of the Jordan. He now comes down to escort the king over the river, 'to conduct him over Jordan'.
Verse 33
I will feed thee with me — The verb is kul, to sustain, the one in v.32 where Barzillai 'had provided the king of sustenance'. David answers that support at Mahanaim by offering him a place at the royal table in Jerusalem, as he gave Mephibosheth one (9:13).
Verse 35
fourscore years old — Barzillai lists what age has taken: discernment 'between good and evil', taste for 'what I eat or what I drink', hearing 'the voice of singing men and singing women'. Ps 90:10 speaks of 'fourscore' as the limit 'by reason of strength'. A 'burden' is massa.
Verse 37
thy servant Chimham — Barzillai asks only to die 'in mine own city' by the grave of his parents and sends Chimham in his place. David agrees (v.38) and Chimham crosses with him (v.40). David later charged Solomon, 'shew kindness unto the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite' (1 Kings 2:7).
Verse 41
stolen thee away — Ganab, to steal, the verb of v.3 where the people came 'by stealth' into the city. Israel's complaint is that Judah brought over the king, his household 'and all David's men' without them. Ephraim had made a like complaint to Gideon, 'Why hast thou served us thus' (Judg 8:1).
Verse 42
near of kin — Qarob, near. Judah rests its case on the claim David himself made in v.12, 'ye are my bones and my flesh', and denies profit, asking whether the men of Judah had 'eaten at all of the king's cost'. The answer is a plea of kinship, not of reward.
Verse 43
ten parts in the king — 'Parts' is yad, hands; Israel claims ten shares to Judah's one. The ten pieces torn from the kingdom in 1 Kings 11:31 are the same number. 'Fiercer' (qashah) words from Judah lead straight to Sheba, of whom David says, 'more harm than did Absalom' (2 Sam 20:6).