2 Samuel 15:5-9 NIV

The Pulpit Commentary - 2 Samuel 15:1-12

The shady side of human nature. The facts are: 1 . Absalom sets up a large domestic establishment with a semblance of royalty. 2 . Rising early in the morning of each day, he is first to meet the suitors for judgment at the gate of the city, and seizes the occasion for insinuating that there is defect in the king's provision for the administration of justice. 3 . He also professes to manifest sympathy with suitors by expressing the wish that he were in a position to do them... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 2 Samuel 15:1-12

( JERUSALEM , HEBRON .) The rebellion of Absalom. About twelve years had elapsed since David's fall into sin. One of its effects was the rebellion of Absalom. The history of this event—most critical for the theocratic monarchy, and "revealing the thoughts of many hearts"—sheds a clear light upon the condition of Israel. "We seem to know all the people; the natural manners and vivid outbursts of feeling make the scene stand out with a kind of homely poetry." In it we discern the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 2 Samuel 15:6

Absalom stole the hearts. By professing anxiety to devote himself to the hearing and deciding of the people's causes, by flattering each one with the assurance that his case was so good that it needed only a hearing to be decided in his favour, and by his affability, made the more charming and irresistible by his personal beauty, he won the love of the people almost without their knowing how devoted they had become to him. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 2 Samuel 15:7

After forty years. As Absalom was born in Hebron after David was made king ( 2 Samuel 3:3 ), and as David's whole reign lasted only forty years and six months, the reading "forty" is evidently incorrect. Suggestions, such, for instance, as that the forty years are to be reckoned from the desire of the Israelites to have a king, or from the anointing of David by Samuel, are merely methods of evading a difficulty. The Syriac, however, and the Vulgate—except the Codex Amiatinus, which reads... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 2 Samuel 15:7-9

Absalom's pious vow. David and his ministers must have been singularly blind and negligent to have allowed Absalom so far to have prepared the way for the revolution he contemplated as he must have done before asking permission to go to Hebron. Nor does the permission itself show less blindness. David should have known his son better than to have so readily believed that he was likely to have made a pious vow, and to be burdened in conscience by its long non-fulfilment, especially as he... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - 2 Samuel 15:6

Stole the hearts - i. e., deceived them, for so the same phrase means Genesis 31:20, Genesis 31:26. read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - 2 Samuel 15:7

Forty years - An obvious clerical error, though a very ancient one for four years, which may date from Absalom’s return from Geshur, or from his reconciliation with David, or from the commencement of the criminal schemes to which 2 Samuel 15:1 refers.Hebron - This, as having been the old capital of David’s kingdom and Absalom’s birthplace, was well chosen. It was a natural center, had probably many inhabitants discontented at the transfer of the government to Jerusalem, and contained many of... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - 2 Samuel 15:4-6

2 Samuel 15:4-6. Absalom said, O that I were made judge in the land! Though he was admitted to come to court, and see the king, he had no office there, as, it seems, the rest of the king’s sons had. This he took ill, and endeavoured to bring the people to do so too, by persuading them that, if he were in authority, he would take speedy care to do them justice. When any man came nigh to do him obeisance To fall prostrate before him as the king’s son. He put forth his hand and took him ... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - 2 Samuel 15:7

2 Samuel 15:7. After forty years That is, as some say, from the change of the government into a monarchy, which change took place about ten years before David began to reign. So that this fell out about the thirtieth year of his reign. But the Syriac and Arabic, whom Houbigant follows, read, After four years; that is, from the time of his father’s reconciliation with him. Josephus, Theodoret, the manuscripts mentioned in the Benedictine edition of Jerome’s version, the canon of the Hebrew... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - 2 Samuel 15:8-9

2 Samuel 15:8-9. If the Lord shall bring me again to Jerusalem, &c. This vow, we see, of Absalom is conceived exactly in the style of the patriarchal piety; and plainly implies, that however he was tempted by his grandfather to serve the gods of Geshur, yet he continued steady to the true religion, and determined against idolatry. This, we may be sure, David was highly delighted to hear, and therefore gave a ready consent to the performance of his vow, saying, Go in peace. So he arose... read more

The Pulpit Commentary - 2 Samuel 15:1-12

The Pulpit Commentary - 2 Samuel 15:1-12

The Pulpit Commentary - 2 Samuel 15:6

The Pulpit Commentary - 2 Samuel 15:7

The Pulpit Commentary - 2 Samuel 15:7-9

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - 2 Samuel 15:6

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - 2 Samuel 15:7

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - 2 Samuel 15:4-6

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - 2 Samuel 15:7

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - 2 Samuel 15:8-9

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