2 Samuel 3:2

REPORT OF SONS BORN TO DAVID AT HEBRON

"And sons were born to David at Hebron: his first-born was Amnon of Ahinoam of Jezreel; and his second, Chileab of Abigail the widow of Nabal of Carmel; and the third, Absalom the son of Maacah the daughter of Talmai king of Geshur; and the fourth, Adonijah the son of Haggith and the fifth, Shephatiah the son of Abital; and the sixth, Ithream, of Eglah, David's wife. These were born to David in Hebron."

In a collective sense, these sons of David were nothing special. Amnon raped his half-sister Tamar, the full sister of Absalom (2 Samuel 13:1) and was murdered by Absalom, who also rebelled against his father and sought to dethrone him. Practically nothing is known of Chileab, who is called Daniel in 1 Chronicles 3:1. Adonijah had himself proclaimed king during the final illness of David; but upon what pretext we are not told. It has been supposed that Chileab (his older brother) was dead; and, if so, he might have claimed to be David's oldest living son, the other older sons Absalom and Ammon both having been killed. Nothing is known either of Shephatiah or Ithream except what is stated here. Regarding Adonijah, Beecher declared that, "His conduct gives us no reason"[1] to have a high opinion of him. If we may judge, therefore, by the behavior of the three sons whose records have come down to us, the group of sons mentioned here could not have been, in any sense, ideal princes of David's kingdom.

Among David's many sins, his polygamy must be cited as one of the worst. "It resulted in friction, hatred, and division in his household."[2] Apparently, love for the women he married had little to do with David's marriages, in which financial, political and other motives also entered. For example, his marriage to a daughter of Talmai, king of Geshur, strengthened his relative position with regard to the house of Saul, because, "It cemented an alliance which helped to isolate Ishbosheth, since Geshur was an Aramaean state lying north of Gilead."[3] "Talmai's capital was Bashan where Og was once king (Deuteronomy 3:11)."[4]

"Ithream, of Eglah, David's wife" (2 Samuel 3:5). As Willis noted: "This statement that Eglah was David's wife is a mystery."[5] The statement applies equally to all six of the wives mentioned here, and commentators are puzzled by the appearance of these words regarding Eglah. Matthew Henry stated that, "Some think that `Eglah' is another name for Michal, David's first and most rightful wife, and that, although she had no child after mocking David, she might have borne a son before that."[6] To this writer, the most logical explanation, while unprovable, is that there were two prominent women named Eglah known to the people of that time, and that "David's wife" was added here to distinguish between them.