II
S A M U E L
CHAP. XIV.
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 and indulging him in his wickedness, for
which he was soon after severely corrected by his unnatural rebellion. I. Joab,
by bringing a feigned issue (as the lawyers speak) to be tried before him, in
the case of a poor widow of Tekoah, gains from him a judgment in general, That
the case might be so as that the putting of a murderer to death ought to be
dispensed with, ver. 1-20. II. Upon the application of this, he gains from him
an order to bring Absalom back to Jerusalem, while yet he was forbidden the
court, ver. 21-24. III. After an account of Absalom, his person, and family,
we are told how at length he was introduced by Joab into the king's presence,
and the king was thoroughly reconciled to him, ver. 25-33.
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Joab's Stratagem in Absalom's Favour; The Art of Joab.
B. C. 1029.
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1
Now Joab the son of Zeruiah perceived that the king's heart was toward
Absalom. 2 And Joab sent to Tekoah, and fetched thence a wise
woman, and said unto her, I pray thee, feign thyself to be a mourner, and put
on now mourning apparel, and anoint not thyself with oil, but be as a woman
that had a long time mourned for the dead: 3 And come to the king,
and speak on this manner unto him. So Joab put the words in her mouth.
4 And when the woman of Tekoah spake to the king, she fell on her face to the
ground, and did obeisance, and said, Help, O king. 5 And the king
said unto her, What aileth thee? And she answered, I am indeed a widow
woman, and mine husband is dead. 6 And thy handmaid had two sons,
and they two strove together in the field, and there was none to part
them, but the one smote the other, and slew him. 7 And, behold,
the whole family is risen against thine handmaid, and they said, Deliver him
that smote his brother, that we may kill him, for the life of his brother whom
he slew; and we will destroy the heir also: and so they shall quench my coal
which is left, and shall not leave to my husband neither name nor
remainder upon the earth. 8 And the king said unto the woman, Go
to thine house, and I will give charge concerning thee. 9 And the
woman of Tekoah said unto the king, My lord, O king, the iniquity be on
me, and on my father's house: and the king and his throne be
guiltless. 10 And the king said, Whosoever saith ought unto
thee, bring him to me, and he shall not touch thee any more. 11
Then said she, I pray thee, let the king remember the LORD thy God,
that thou wouldest not suffer the revengers of blood to destroy any more, lest
they destroy my son. And he said, As the LORD liveth, there shall not one hair of thy son fall to the
earth. 12 Then the woman said, Let thine handmaid, I pray thee,
speak one word unto my lord the king. And he said, Say on.
13 And the woman said, Wherefore then hast thou thought such a thing against
the people of God? for the king doth speak this thing as one which is faulty,
in that the king doth not fetch home again his banished. 14 For we
must needs die, and are as water spilt on the ground, which cannot be
gathered up again; neither doth God respect any person: yet doth he
devise means, that his banished be not expelled from him. 15 Now
therefore that I am come to speak of this thing unto my lord the king, it
is because the people have made me afraid: and thy handmaid said, I will
now speak unto the king; it may be that the king will perform the request of
his handmaid. 16 For the king will hear, to deliver his handmaid
out of the hand of the man that would destroy me and my son together
out of the inheritance of God. 17 Then thine handmaid said, The
word of my lord the king shall now be comfortable: for as an angel of God, so is
my lord the king to discern good and bad: therefore the LORD
thy God will be with thee. 18 Then the king answered and said unto
the woman, Hide not from me, I pray thee, the thing that I shall ask thee. And
the woman said, Let my lord the king now speak. 19 And the king
said, Is not the hand of Joab with thee in all this? And the woman
answered and said, As thy soul liveth, my lord the king, none can turn
to the right hand or to the left from ought that my lord the king hath spoken:
for thy servant Joab, he bade me, and he put all these words in the mouth of
thine handmaid: 20 To fetch about this form of speech hath thy
servant Joab done this thing: and my lord is wise, according to the
wisdom of an angel of God, to know all things that are in the
earth.
Here is, I. Joab's design to get Absalom recalled out of banishment, his crime
pardoned, and his attainder reversed, v. 1. Joab made himself very busy
in this affair. 1. As a courtier that was studious, by all ways possible, to
ingratiate himself with his prince and improve his interest in his favour: He perceived
that the king's heart was towards Absalom, and that, the heat of his
displeasure being over, he still retained his old affection for him, and only
wanted a friend to court him to be reconciled, and to contrive for him how he
might do it without impeaching the honour of his justice. Joab, finding how
David stood affected, undertook this good office. 2. As a friend to Absalom,
for whom perhaps he had a particular kindness, whom at least he looked upon as
the rising sun, to whom it was his interest to recommend himself. He plainly
foresaw that his father would at length be reconciled to him, and therefore
thought he should make both his friends if he were instrumental to bring it
about. 3. As a statesman, and one concerned for the public welfare. He knew
how much Absalom was the darling of the people, and, if David should die while
he was in banishment, it might occasion a civil war between those that were
for him and those that were against him; for it is probable that though all
Israel loved his person, yet they were much divided upon his case. 4. As one
who was himself a delinquent, by the murder of Abner. He was conscious to
himself of the guilt of blood, and that he was himself obnoxious to public
justice, and therefore whatever favour he could procure to be shown to Absalom
would corroborate his reprieve.
II. His contrivance to do it by laying somewhat of a parallel case before the
king, which was done so dexterously by the person he employed that the king
took it for a real case, and gave judgment upon it, as he had done upon
Nathan's parable; and, the judgment being in favour of the criminal, the
manager might, by that, discover his sentiments so far as to venture upon the
application of it, and to show that it was the case of his own family, which,
it is probable, she was instructed not to proceed to if the king's judgment
upon her case should be severe.
1. The person he employed is not named, but she is said to be a woman of
Tekoah, one whom he knew to be fit for such an undertaking: and it was
requisite that the scene should be laid at a distance, that David might not
think it strange that he had not heard of the case before. It is said, She was
a wise woman, one that had a quicker wit and a readier tongue than most
of her neighbours, v. 2. The truth of the story would be the less
suspected when it came, as was supposed, from the person's own mouth.
2. The character she put on was that of a disconsolate widow, v. 2.
Joab knew such a one would have an easy access to the king, who was always
ready to comfort the mourners, especially the mourning widows, having himself
mentioned it among the titles of God's honour that he is a Judge of the
widows, Ps. lxviii. 5. God's ear, no doubt, is more open to the cries of
the afflicted, and his heart too, than that of the most merciful princes on
earth can be.
3. It was a case of compassion which she had to represent to the king, and a
case in which she could have no relief but from the chancery in the royal
breast, the law (and consequently the judgment of all the inferior courts)
being against her. She tells the king that she had buried her husband (v.
5),--that she had two sons that were the support and comfort of her widowed
state,--that these two (as young men are apt to do) fell out and fought, and
one of them unhappily killed the other (v. 6),--that, for her part, she
was desirous to protect the manslayer (for, as Rebekah argued concerning her
two sons, Why should she be deprived of them both in one day? Gen.
xxvii. 45), but though she, who was nearest of kin to the slain, was willing
to let fall the demands of an avenger of blood, yet the other relations
insisted upon it that the surviving brother should be put to death according
to law, not out of any affection either to justice or to the memory of the
slain brother, but that, by destroying the heir (which they had the impudence
to own was the thing they aimed at), the inheritance might be theirs: and thus
they would cut off, (1.) Her comfort: "They shall quench my coal,
deprive me of the only support of my old age, and put a period to all my joy
in this world, which is reduced to this one coal." (2.) Her husband's
memory: "His family will be quite extinct, and they will leave him
neither name nor remainder," v. 7.
4. The king promised her his favour and a protection for her son. Observe how
she improved the king's compassionate concessions. (1.) Upon the
representation of her case he promised to consider of it and to give orders
about it, v. 8. This was encouraging, that he did not dismiss her
petition with "Currat lex--Let the law take its course; blood
calls for blood, and let it have what it calls for:" but he will take
time to enquire whether the allegations of her petition be true. (2.) The
woman was not content with this, but begged that he would immediately give
judgment in her favour; and if the matter of fact were not as she represented
it, and consequently a wrong judgment given upon it, let her bear the blame,
and free the king and his throne from guilt, v. 9. Yet her
saying this would not acquit the king if he should pass sentence without
taking due cognizance of the case. (3.) Being thus pressed, he made a further
promise that she should not be injured nor insulted by her adversaries, but he
would protect her from all molestation, v. 10. Magistrates ought to be
the patrons of oppressed widows. (4.) Yet this does not content her, unless
she can get her son's pardon, and protection for him too. Parents are not
easy, unless their children be safe, safe for both worlds: "Let not
the avenger of blood destroy my son (v. 11), for I am undone if I
lose him; as good take my life as his. Therefore let the king remember the
Lord thy God," that is, [1.] "Let him confirm this merciful
sentence with an oath, making mention of the Lord our God, by way of appeal to
him, that the sentence may be indisputable and irreversible; and then I shall
be easy." See Heb. vi. 17, 18. [2.] "Let him consider what good
reason there is for this merciful sentence, and then he himself will be
confirmed in it. Remember how gracious and merciful the Lord thy God
is, how he bears long with sinners and does not deal with them according to
their deserts, but is ready to forgive. Remember how the Lord thy
God spared Cain, who slew his brother, and protected him from the avengers
of blood, Gen. iv. 15. Remember how the Lord thy God forgave
thee the blood of Uriah, and let the king, that has found mercy, show
mercy." Note, Nothing is more proper, nor more powerful, to engage us to
every duty, especially to all acts of mercy and kindness, than to remember the
Lord our God. (5.) This importunate widow, by pressing the matter thus
closely, obtains at last a full pardon for her son, ratified with an oath as
she desired: As the Lord liveth, there shall not one hair of thy son fall
to the earth, that is, "I will undertake he shall come to no damage
upon this account." The Son of David has assured all that put themselves
under his protection that, though they should be put to death for his sake, not
a hair of their head shall perish (Luke xxi. 16-18), though they should
lose for him, they shall not lose by him. Whether David did well this to
undertake the protection of a murderer, whom the cities of refuge would not
protect, I cannot say. But, as the matter of fact appeared to him, there was
not only great reason for compassion to the mother, but room enough for a
favourable judgment concerning the son: he had slain his brother, but he hated
him not in time past; it was upon a sudden provocation, and, for aught
that appeared, it might be done in his own defence. He pleaded not this
himself, but the judge must be of counsel for the prisoner; and therefore, Let
mercy at this time rejoice against judgment.
5. The case being thus adjudged in favour of her son, it is now time to apply
it to the king's son, Absalom. The mask here begins to be thrown off, and
another scene opened. The king is surprised, but not at all displeased, to
find his humble petitioner, of a sudden, become his reprover, his
privy-counsellor, an advocate for the prince his son, and the mouth of the
people, undertaking to represent to him their sentiments. She begs his pardon,
and his patience, for what she had further to say (v. 12), and has
leave to say it, the king being very well pleased with her wit and humour.
(1.) She supposes Absalom's case to be, in effect, the same with that which
she had put as her son's; and therefore, if the king would protect her son,
though he had slain his brother, much more ought he to protect his own, and to
fetch home his banished, v. 13. Mutato nomine, de te fabula
narratur--Change but the name, to you the tale belongs. She names not
Absalom, nor needed she to name him. David longed so much after him, and had
him so much in his thoughts, that he was soon aware whom she meant by his
banished. And in those two words were two arguments which the king's tender
spirit felt the force of: "He is banished, and has for three years
undergone the disgrace and terror, and all the inconveniences, of banishment. Sufficient
to such a one is this punishment. But he is thy banished, thy own
son, a piece of thyself, thy dear son, whom thou lovest." It is true,
Absalom's case differed very much from that which she had put. Absalom did not
slay his brother upon a hasty passion, but maliciously, and upon an old
grudge; not in the field, where there were no witnesses, but at table, before
all his guests. Absalom was not an only son, as hers was; David had many more,
and one lately born, more likely to be his successor than Absalom, for he was
called Jedidiah, because God loved him. But David was himself too well
affected to the cause to be critical in his remarks upon the disparity of the
cases, and was more desirous than she could be to bring that favourable
judgment to his own son which he had given concerning hers. (2.) She reasons
upon it with the king, to persuade him to recall Absalom out of banishment,
give him his pardon, and take him into his favour again. [1.] She pleads the
interest which the people of Israel had in him. "What is done against him
is done against the people of God, who have their eye upon him as heir
of the crown, at least have their eye upon the house of David in general, with
which the covenant is made, and which therefore they cannot tamely see the
diminution and decay of by the fall of so many of its branches in the flower
of their age. Therefore the king speaks as one that is faulty, for he
will provide that my husband's name and memory be not cut off, and yet takes
no care though his own be in danger, which is of more value and importance
than ten thousand of ours." [2.] She pleads man's mortality (v.
14): "We must needs die. Death is appointed for us; we cannot
avoid the thing itself, nor defer it till another time. We are all under a
fatal necessity of dying; and, when we are dead, we are past recall, as water
spilt upon the ground; nay, even while we are alive, we are so, we have lost
our immortality, past retrieve. Amnon must have died, some time, if Absalom
had not killed him; and, if Absalom be now put to death for killing him, that
will not bring him to life again." This was poor reasoning, and would
serve against the punishment of any murderer: but, it should seem, Amnon was a
man little regarded by the people and his death little lamented, and it was
generally thought hard that so dear a life as Absalom's should go for one so
little valued as Amnon's. [3.] She pleads God's mercy and his clemency towards
poor guilty sinners: "God does not take away the soul, or life, but
devises means that his banished, his children that have offended him, and
are obnoxious to his justice, as Absalom is to thine, be not for ever expelled
from him," v. 14. Here are two great instances of the mercy of
God to sinners, properly urged as reasons for showing mercy:--First,
The patience he exercises towards them. His law is broken, yet he does not
immediately take away the life of those that break it, does not strike sinners
dead, as justly he might, in the act of sin, but bears with them, and waits to
be gracious. God's vengeance had suffered Absalom to live; why then should not
David's justice suffer him? Secondly, The provision he has made for
their restoration to his favour, that though by sin they have banished
themselves from him, yet they might not be expelled, or cast off, for ever.
Atonement might be made for sinners by sacrifice. Lepers, and others
ceremonially unclean, were banished, but provision was made for their
cleansing, that, though for a time excluded, they might not be finally
expelled. The state of sinners is a state of banishment from God. Poor
banished sinners are likely to be for ever expelled from God if some course be
not taken to prevent it. It is against the mind of God that they should be so,
for he is not willing that any should perish. Infinite wisdom has devised
proper means to prevent it; so that it is the sinners' own fault if they be
cast off. This instance of God's good-will toward us all should incline us to
be merciful and compassionate one towards another, Matt. xviii. 32, 33.
6. She concludes her address with high compliments to the king, and strong
expressions of her assurance that he would do what was just and kind both in
the one case and in the other (v. 15-17); for, as if the case had been
real, still she pleads for herself and her son, yet meaning Absalom. (1.) She
would not have troubled the king thus but that the people made her afraid.
Understanding it of her own case, all her neighbours made her apprehensive of
the ruin she and her son were upon the brink of, from the avengers of blood,
the terror of which made her thus bold in her application to the king himself.
Understanding it of Absalom's case, she gives the king to understand, what he
did not know before, that the nation was disgusted at his severity towards
Absalom to such a degree that she was really afraid it would occasion a
general mutiny or insurrection, for the preventing of which great mischief she
ventured to speak to the king himself. The fright she was in must excuse her
rudeness. (2.) She applied to him with a great confidence in his wisdom and
clemency: "I said, I will speak to the king myself, and ask nobody
to speak for me; for the king will hear reason, even from so mean a creature
as I am, will hear the cries of the oppressed, and will not suffer the poorest
of his subjects to be destroyed out of the inheritance of God,"
that is, "driven out of the land of Israel, to seek for shelter among the
uncircumcised, as Absalom is, whose case is so much the worse, that, being
shut out of the inheritance of God, he wants God's law and ordinances,
which might help to bring him to repentance, and is in danger of being
infected with the idolatry of the heathen among whom he sojourns, and of
bringing home the infection." To engage the king to grant her request,
she expressed a confident hope that his answer would be comfortable, and such
as angels bring (as bishop Patrick explains it), who are messengers of divine
mercy. What this woman says by way of compliment the prophet says by way of
promise (Zech. xii. 8), that, when the weak shall be as David, the house of
David shall be as the angel of the Lord. "And, in order to this, the
Lord thy God will be with thee, to assist thee in this and every judgment
thou givest." Great expectations are great engagements, especially to
persons of honour, to do their utmost not to disappoint those that depend upon
them.
7. The hand of Joab is suspected by the king, and acknowledged by the woman,
to be in all this, v. 18-20. (1.) The king soon suspected it. For he
could not think that such a woman as this would appeal to him, in a matter of
such moment, of her own accord; and he knew none so likely to set her on as
Joab, who was a politic man and a friend of Absalom. (2.) The woman very
honestly owned it: "Thy servant Joab bade me. If it be well done,
let him have the thanks; if ill, let him bear the blame." Though she
found it very agreeable to the king, yet she would not take the praise of it
to herself, but speaks the truth as it was, and gives us an example to do
likewise, and never to tell a lie for the concealing of a well-managed scheme.
Dare to be true; nothing can need a lie.
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Absalom
Recalled.
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B. C. 1029.
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21
And the king said unto Joab, Behold now, I have done this thing: go therefore,
bring the young man Absalom again. 22 And Joab fell to the ground
on his face, and bowed himself, and thanked the king: and Joab said, To day
thy servant knoweth that I have found grace in thy sight, my lord, O king, in
that the king hath fulfilled the request of his servant. 23 So
Joab arose and went to Geshur, and brought Absalom to Jerusalem.
24 And the king said, Let him turn to his own house, and let him not see my
face. So Absalom returned to his own house, and saw not the king's face.
25 But in all Israel there was none to be so much praised as Absalom for his
beauty: from the sole of his foot even to the crown of his head there was no
blemish in him. 26 And when he polled his head, (for it was at
every year's end that he polled it: because the hair was heavy
on him, therefore he polled it:) he weighed the hair of his head at two
hundred shekels after the king's weight. 27 And unto Absalom there
were born three sons, and one daughter, whose name was Tamar: she was a
woman of a fair countenance.
Observe here, I. Orders given for the bringing back of Absalom. The errand on
which the woman came to David was so agreeable, and her management of it so
very ingenious and surprising, that he was brought into a peculiarly kind
humour: Go (says he to Joab), bring the young man Absalom again,
v. 21. He was himself inclined to favour him, yet, for the honour of
his justice, he would not do it but upon intercession made for him, which may
illustrate the methods of divine grace. It is true God has thought of
compassion towards poor sinners, not willing that any should perish, yet he is
reconciled to them through a Mediator, who intercedes with him on their
behalf, and to whom he has given these orders, Go, bring them again. God
was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, and he came to this land
of our banishment to bring us to God. Joab, having received these orders, 1.
Returns thanks to the king for doing him the honour to employ him in an affair
so universally grateful, v. 22. Joab took it as a kindness to himself,
and (some think) as an indication that he would never call him to an account
for the murder he had been guilty of. But, if he meant so, he was mistaken, as
we shall find, 1 Kings ii. 5, 6. 2. Delays not to execute David's orders; he
brought Absalom to Jerusalem, v. 23. I see not how David can be
justified in suspending the execution of the ancient law (Gen. ix. 6), Whoso
sheds man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed, in which a righteous
magistrate ought not to acknowledge even his brethren, or know his own
children. God's laws were never designed to be like cobwebs, which catch
the little flies, but suffer the great ones to break through. God justly made
Absalom, whom his foolish pity spared, a scourge to him. But, though he
allowed him to return to his own house, he forbade him the court, and would
not see him himself, v. 24. He put him under this interdict, (1.) For
his own honour, that he might not seem to countenance so great a criminal, nor
to forgive him too easily. (2.) For Absalom's greater humiliation. Perhaps he
had heard something of his conduct when Joab went to fetch him, which gave him
too much reason to think that he was not truly penitent; he therefore put him
under this mark of his displeasure, that he might be awakened to a sight of
his sin and to sorrow for it, and might make his peace with God, upon the
first notice of which, no doubt, David would be forward to receive him again
into his favour.
II. Occasion taken hence to give an account of Absalom. Nothing is said of his
wisdom and piety. Though he was the son of such a devout father, we read
nothing of his devotion. Parents cannot give grace to their children, though
they give them ever so good an education. All that is here said of him is, 1.
That he was a very handsome man; there was not his equal in all Israel for
beauty, (v. 25), a poor commendation for a man that had nothing else in
him valuable. Handsome are those that handsome do. Many a polluted deformed
soul dwells in a fair and comely body; witness Absalom's, that was polluted
with blood, and deformed with unnatural disaffection to his father and prince.
In his body there was no blemish, but in his mind nothing but wounds and
bruises. Perhaps his comeliness was one reason why his father was so fond of
him and protected him from justice. Those have reason to fear affliction in
their children who are better pleased with their beauty than with their
virtue. 2. That he had a very fine head of hair. Whether it was the length, or
colour, or extraordinary softness of it, something there was which made it
very valuable and very much an ornament to him, v. 26. This notice is
taken of his hair, not as the hair of a Nazarite (he was far from that
strictness), but as the hair of a beau. He let it grow till it was a burden to
him, and was heavy on him, nor would he cut it as long as ever he could bear
it; as pride feels no cold, so it feels no heat, and that which feeds and
gratifies it is not complained of, though very uneasy. When he did poll it at
certain times, for ostentation he had it weighed, that it might be seen how
much it excelled other men's, and it weighed 200 shekels, which some reckon to
be three pounds and two ounces of our weight; and with the oil and powder,
especially if powdered (as Josephus says the fashion then was) with gold-dust,
bishop Patrick thinks it is not at all incredible that it should weigh so
much. This fine hair proved his halter, ch. xviii. 9. 3. That his
family began to be built up. It is probable that it was a good while before he
had a child; and then it was that, despairing of having one, he set up that
pillar which is mentioned ch. xviii. 18, to bear up his name; but
afterwards he had three sons and one daughter, v. 27. Or perhaps these
sons, while he was hatching his rebellion, were all cut off by the righteous
hand of God, and thereupon he set up that monument.
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Absalom's
Return.
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B. C. 1029.
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28
So Absalom dwelt two full years in Jerusalem, and saw not the king's
face. 29 Therefore Absalom sent for Joab, to have sent him to the
king; but he would not come to him: and when he sent again the second time, he
would not come. 30 Therefore he said unto his servants, See,
Joab's field is near mine, and he hath barley there; go and set it on fire.
And Absalom's servants set the field on fire. 31 Then Joab arose,
and came to Absalom unto his house, and said unto him, Wherefore have
thy servants set my field on fire? 32 And Absalom answered Joab,
Behold, I sent unto thee, saying, Come hither, that I may send thee to the
king, to say, Wherefore am I come from Geshur? it had been good for me to
have been there still: now therefore let me see the king's face; and if
there be any iniquity in me, let him kill me. 33 So Joab
came to the king, and told him: and when he had called for Absalom, he came to
the king, and bowed himself on his face to the ground before the king: and the
king kissed Absalom.
Three years Absalom had been an exile from his father-in-law, and now two
years a prisoner at large in his own house, and, in both, better dealt with
than he deserved; yet his spirit was still unhumbled, his pride unmortified,
and, instead of being thankful that his life is spared, he thinks himself
sorely wronged that he is not restored to all his places at court. Had he
truly repented of his sin, his distance from the gaieties of the court, and
his solitude and retirement in his own house, especially being in Jerusalem
the holy city, would have been very agreeable to him. If a murderer must live,
yet let him be for ever a recluse. But Absalom could not bear this just and
gentle mortification. He longed to see the king's face, pretending it was
because he loved him, but really because he wanted an opportunity to supplant
him. He cannot do his father a mischief till he is reconciled to him; this
therefore is the first branch of his plot; this snake cannot sting again till
he be warmed in his father's bosom. He gained this point, not by pretended
submissions and promises of reformation, but (would you think it?) by insults
and injuries. 1. By his insolent carriage towards Joab, he brought him to
mediate for him. Once and again he sent to Joab to come and speak with him,
for he durst not go to him; but Joab would not come (v. 29), probably
because Absalom had not owned the kindness he had done him in bringing him to
Jerusalem so gratefully as he thought he should have done; proud men take
every service done them for a debt. One would think that a person in Absalom's
circumstances should have sent to Joab a kindly message, and offered him a
large gratuity: courtiers expect noble presents. But, instead of this, he bids
his servants set Joab's corn-fields on fire (v. 30), as spiteful a
thing as he could do. Samson could not think of a greater injury to do the
Philistines than this. Strange that Absalom should think, by doing Joab a
mischief, to prevail with him to do him a kindness, or to recommend himself to
the favour of his prince or people by showing himself so very malicious and
ill-natured, and such an enemy to the public good, for the fire might spread
to the corn of others. Yet by this means he brings Joab to him, v. 31.
Thus God, by afflictions, brings those to him that kept at a distance from
him. Absalom was obliged by the law to make restitution (Exod. xxii. 6), yet
we do not find either that he offered it or that Joab demanded it. Joab (it
might be) thought he could not justify his refusal to go and speak with him;
and therefore Absalom thought he could justify his taking this way to fetch
him. And now Joab (perhaps frightened at the surprising boldness and fury of
Absalom, and apprehensive that he had made an interest in the people strong
enough to bear him out in doing the most daring things, else he would never
have done this) not only puts up with this injury, but goes on his errand to
the king. See what some men can do by threats, and carrying things with a high
hand. 2. By his insolent message (for I can call it no better) to the king, he
recovered his place at court, to see the king's face, that is, to become a
privy counsellor, Esth. i. 14. (1.) His message was haughty and imperious, and
very unbecoming either a son or a subject, v. 32. He undervalued the
favour that had been shown him in recalling him from banishment, and restoring
him to his own house, and that in Jerusalem: Wherefore have I come from
Geshur? He denies his own crimes, though most notorious, and will not own
that there was any iniquity in him, insinuating that therefore he had been
wronged in the rebuke he had been under. He defies the king's justice:
"Let him kill me, if he can find in his heart," knowing he loved him
too well to do it. (2.) Yet with this message he carried his point, v.
33. David's strong affection for him construed all this to be the language of
a great respect to his father, and an earnest desire of his favour, when alas!
it was far otherwise. See how easily wise and good men may be imposed upon by
their own children that design ill, especially when they are blindly fond of
them. Absalom, by the posture of his body, testified his submission to his
father: He bowed himself on his face to the ground; and David, with a
kiss, sealed his pardon. Did the bowels of a father prevail to reconcile him
to an impenitent son, and shall penitent sinners question the compassion of
him who is the Father of mercy? If Ephraim bemoan himself, God soon bemoans
him, with all the kind expressions of a fatherly tenderness: He is a dear
son, a pleasant child, Jer. xxxi. 20.
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