2 Samuel 15:7

ABSALOM PROCLAIMED AS KING AT HEBRON

"And at the end of four years Absalom said to the king, "Pray let me go and pay my vow, which I have vowed to the Lord, in Hebron. For your servant vowed a vow while I dwelt at Geshur in Aram, saying, `If the Lord will indeed bring me back to Jerusalem, then I will offer worship to the Lord.'" Then the king said to him, "Go in peace." So he arose and went to Hebron. But Absalom sent secret messengers throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, "As soon as you hear the sound of the trumpet, then say, `Absalom is king at Hebron'!" With Absalom went two hundred men from Jerusalem who were invited guests, and they went in their simplicity, and knew nothing. And while Absalom was offering the sacrifices, he sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, David's counselor, from the city Giloh. And the conspiracy grew strong, and the people with Absalom kept increasing."

"At the end of four years" (2 Samuel 15:7). The KJV and other ancient versions have "forty years" here instead of "four"; but the RSV is doubtless correct here in following the Syriac and certain texts of the LXX.[9] This indicates that it took Absalom four years from the time he was reconciled with David to launch his attempted coup de etat.

"In Hebron" (2 Samuel 15:1,9,10). The reason for Absalom's choice of Hebron as the place to launch his rebellion might have been complex. He was born in Hebron and might have had many friends there. Young wrote that, "Hebron still bore a grudge against David because he had moved the seat of his government to Jerusalem. Also, the allied clans of the Negev, through whose good offices David first mounted the throne, were jealous of the northern tribes who had become the dominant partner in the united kingdom, and whose power had made them very influential with the king."[10]

"Absalom sent secret messengers throughout all the tribes of Israel" (2 Samuel 15:10). "It is evident that much more elaborate preparations had been made for this effort of Absalom to seize the throne than appears on the surface of this concise narrative."[11]

"With Absalom went two hundred men from Jerusalem" (2 Samuel 15:11). These were invited guests, probably the most influential and powerful men in Jerusalem; but they were not co-conspirators with Absalom. Although ignorant of Absalom's plans, they would have been supposed by the citizens of Hebron to be Absalom's partisans. Furthermore, if they had, in any manner, objected to Absalom's having himself proclaimed as king, they would have, at once, become his hostages. This was a clever maneuver indeed.

"He sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, David's counselor, from his city Giloh" (2 Samuel 15:12). Ahithophel was a very wise man, and if Absalom had possessed enough intelligence to follow his counsel, he might easily have triumphed over David.

"From his city Giloh" (2 Samuel 15:12). Some have supposed this place was south or southwest of Hebron, but Willis identified it with, "The modern Khirbert Jala approximately five miles northwest of Hebron."[12] It is very significant that Ahithophel was available at the nearby city of Giloh when Absalom called for him, instead of being in the city of Jerusalem where he belonged as a confidential advisor of King David. From this Keil very logically concluded that, "Ahithophel had been previously initiated into Absalom's plans and had gone to his native city, merely that he might go to Absalom with greater ease."[13] It appears from this that Ahithophel himself might have been one of the principal architects of the rebellion. The reason usually assigned and which we mentioned earlier, is that Ahithophel was the grandfather of Bathsheba and that he hated David for David's treatment of her and for his murder of her husband Uriah. Of course, there could have been some truth in this.

However, Ahithophel was far too wise a man to have joined the conspiracy unless he had been quite sure of its success; and, no doubt, it would have been a success if his advice had been followed. But he knew that if David was given time to gather his forces the coup would fail; and when he saw that Absalom rejected his advice, he promptly committed suicide.

But if the coup had been successful, did not Ahithophel foresee that Bathsheba and her son Solomon, Ahithophel's great-grandson, would have been killed? "Even if Bathsheba had been spared (through Ahithophel's influence), there is no way that Absalom would have refrained from murdering Solomon."[14] From these considerations we still find it very difficult to imagine why Ahithophel consented to aid Absalom.

AND ALL THE WORLD WONDERED AFTER THE BEAST (Revelation 13:3)

To this writer, it seems that the above unrelated text from Revelation is an appropriate designation of the popularity that came to Absalom, as related in 2 Samuel 15:13 below.