2 Samuel 13:37

DAVID LONGED FOR ABSALOM TO RETURN

"But Absalom fled, and went to Talmai the son of Ammihud, king of Geshur. And David mourned for his son day after day. So Absalom fled and went to Geshur, and was there three years. And the spirit of the king longed to go forth to Absalom; for he was comforted about Amnon, seeing he was dead."

Absalom was no doubt welcomed at the court of his maternal grandfather, a pagan king who no doubt heartily approved of all that Absalom had done. David, at first, grieved bitterly over Amnon's death, but in time this grief was diminished, and David's heart once more longed for the return of Absalom. As Matthew Henry expressed it, "Time wore off David's grief for Amnon, but it also wore off entirely too much of his detestation of Absalom's terrible sin.[29]

This final little paragraph is difficult, and scholars tell us there are imperfections in the text; "But the sense must be that David gradually became resigned to Amnon's death and anxious to see Absalom again."[30] Keil seriously questioned this understanding of the place, pointing out that the sense as alleged here is at variance with the fact (as stated in 2 Samuel 24) that when Absalom was finally allowed back in Jerusalem, David did not allow him to come into his presence for years.[31] We believe that a more perfect knowledge of what is written here would resolve that difficulty.