Today, I am reading and commenting on  2 Samuel 18-19.

The first thing which I thought about as I read today was where the passage tells us, after recounting Absalom’s death, that Absalom had built a monument for himself.  We are told that he built this because he thought that it would preserve his name even though he had no sons.  Yet back in chapter fourteen it says that Absalom had three sons and a daughter.  I have read several commentaries which suggest that even though Absalom’s monument was not mentioned until after his death it was probable built before the birth of his children.

After the death of Absalom the men of Israel debated whether or not they should call David back as king.  David reached out to the tribe of Judah, which called him back to be their king before the rest of Israel made up their minds what to do.  Along with the men of Judah, Shimei led the tribe of Benjamin to bring David back to be king.  The same Shimei who had cursed David as he fled from Absalom.  Ziba, who was the steward of Saul’s household and who had brought David supplies when he was fleeing Absalom, accompanied Shimei and the other men of Benjamin to greet David and escort him back to Jerusalem.  Then we learn that Mephibosheth also came to greet David at the Jordan as he returned.  What makes this interesting is that Ziba said that Mephibosheth had remained in Jerusalem as Absalom advanced because he hoped to be made king, yet here we are told that Mephibosheth had acted similar to a man in mourning since the moment David had left Jerusalem.  David who, when Ziba brought him supplies, had given Ziba all of the properties he had earlier given to Mephibosheth, with Ziba to manage them for Mephibosheth, now splits those properties between Mephibosheth and Ziba.  As best I can understand the situation when Ziba first came to David as he fled, David chose to reward Ziba for his support and punish Mephibosheth for his perceived betrayal.  Here, David retracted the punishment of Mephibosheth, but maintained the reward without acknowledging that Ziba had lied to him.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  2 Samuel 18-19.

Today’s passage once again shows us the contradictions in King David’s complicated relationship with the sons of Zeruiah, David’s sister, which makes them his nephews.  While fleeing Jerusalem ahead of Absalom, David had reprimanded Abishai for suggesting that Shimei should be killed for cursing David.  And in his reprimand David had expressed unhappiness with both Abishai and his brother Joab.  No sooner had David established himself in Mahanaim then he appointed Joab and Abishai as two of the three commanders over his army.  Then, after the victory of David’s army over Absalom’s army, and Absalom’s death, Joab confronts David over the way his mourning for Absalom is disheartening his army, and the threat that poses to David’s safety.  Finally, Abishai once more called on David to have Shimei killed as David re-establishes himself as king of Israel, a recommendation which David gets angry about.  Abishai’s argument for executing Shimei echoes David’s condemnation of wanting to kill King Saul when the two of them had  snuck into Saul’s camp, and David’s justification for ordering the execution of the Amalekite who claimed to have administered the coup-de-gras to King Saul.  I would struggle more to understand David’s hostility towards Joab and Abishai were it not for the two occasions where Joab killed the men David had attempted to replace Joab with as commander over his armies.  As I said on the 12th, I think David’s hostility has to do with Joab and Abishai only being concerned with what they perceived as best for themselves, David, or the kingdom rather than giving any thought to what was the right thing to do.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  2 Samuel 18-19.

After the death of Absalom the people of Israel debated whether or not to invite David to come back as king over Israel.  The debate appears to have been between those who wanted to call David back to resume being king and those who wished some other solution.  David resolved the issue by reaching out to the leaders of the tribe of Judah through the priests who had remained loyal to him.  As part of his campaign to regain the support of the tribe of Judah, David offered Amasa, who had been commander of Absalom’s army, the title of commander of his army in place of Joab.  David did this despite, or maybe because of, the fact that Joab had saved him from himself by forcing him out of his funk over the death of Absalom.  I am not sure if it has any significance, but Shimei is identified as a member of the tribe of Benjamin, but he declared himself the first from among the tribes of Joseph to come and greet David upon his return.  So, does this mean that all of the tribes which were not part of the tribe of Judah considered themselves as tribes of Joseph?  The final element of this I want to point out is what the writer says about Mephibosheth.  The writer tells us that Mephibosheth had not taken care of his feet, nor trimmed his mustache, nor washed his clothes since David had fled Jerusalem.  All of which lends credence to Mephibosheth’s claim that he intended to join David when he fled, but was unable to do so because Ziba had left without him to curry favor with David.

The last few days I have found myself writing about the historical events, and the politics of ancient Israel, when what I really want to study are the spiritual lessons we can take from these accounts.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.