Verses 8-15
David Calls On Judah For The Restoration Of His Power Among The People (19:8b-15).
The rebellion over, discussion began to break out all over Israel about yielding allegiance to David and hoping for forgiveness. They recognised now that they had made a treacherous, foolish and ungrateful choice. David meanwhile was ready to respond to their desires, but he was cautious of acting unless Judah was also involved. It was after all they who had first rebelled, and it was they over whom he had been king for the longest period. Furthermore he probably recognised that anger over the removal of precedence from Hebron in favour of Jerusalem had been at least partly responsible for the rebellion. He did not therefore wish to exacerbate matters further, by allowing Israel to be the ones who welcomed him back alone. So he sent dependable messengers to negotiate with the elders of Judah in order to get matters settled.
Analysis.
a Now Israel had fled every man to his tent (2 Samuel 19:8 b).
b And all the people were arguing throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, “The king delivered us out of the hand of our enemies, and he saved us out of the hand of the Philistines, and now he is fled out of the land from Absalom” (2 Samuel 19:9).
c “And Absalom, whom we anointed over us, is dead in battle. Now therefore why do you not speak a word about bringing the king back?” (2 Samuel 19:10).
d And king David sent to Zadok and to Abiathar the priests, saying, “Speak to the elders of Judah, saying, ‘Why are you the last to bring the king back to his house? Seeing that the spoken word of all Israel is come to the king, to bring him to his house’ ” (2 Samuel 19:11).
c “You are my brothers, you are my bone and my flesh, why then are you the last to bring back the king?” (2 Samuel 19:12)
b “And say you to Amasa, ‘Are you not my bone and my flesh? God do so to me, and more also, if you be not captain of the host before me continually in the room of Joab. And he bowed the heart of all the men of Judah, even as one man, so that they sent to the king, saying, “Return you, and all your servants” (2 Samuel 19:13-14 a).
a So the king returned, and came to the Jordan (2 Samuel 19:14 b).
Note that in ‘a’ Israel fled to their tents, while in the parallel David returned to the Jordan on his way to his ‘tent’. In ‘b’ David had fled from the land because of Absalom and in the parallel Judah now called on him to return. In ‘c’ Israel are arguing their way to bringing back the king, and in the parallel David asks why Judah are the last to bring back the king. Centrally in ‘d’ David contacts the High Priests, calling on them to ask the elders of Judah why they are the last to bring back the king when Israel have already chosen to do so.
2 Samuel 19:8 b (e-Sword Note: For comments on 19:8a, see the commentary on 2 Samuel 19:7
‘Now Israel had fled every man to his tent.’
The rebellious Israelites had all returned to their homes after their defeat by David’s forces, and the question now was what they should do next.
‘ And all the people were arguing throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, “The king delivered us out of the hand of our enemies, and he saved us out of the hand of the Philistines, and now he is fled out of the land from Absalom. And Absalom, whom we anointed over us, is dead in battle. Now therefore why do you not speak a word about bringing the king back?”
As a result there was disputation and discussion taking place throughout Israel as to the next step. They were beginning to realise how foolish and ungrateful they had been, recognising only too late that it was because of David that they no longer feared the Philistines. And now as a result of their anointing Absalom as their king, and as a result of Absalom’s consequent rebellion, this saviour-king had fled from the land from Absalom. But now Absalom was dead and they were without a king, and all the king’s sons were with him in Mahanaim, while the Philistines were no doubt waiting across the border considering the position and wondering whether to act. Thus the people of Israel were beginning to point out to each other that they would be wise to call for the king to return to rule them, which according to 2 Samuel 19:11 they accordingly did.
‘ And king David sent to Zadok and to Abiathar the priests, saying, “Speak to the elders of Judah, saying, ‘Why are you the last to bring the king back to his house? Seeing that the spoken word of all Israel is come to the king, to bring him to his house.’ ”
David, however, was well aware that in returning to rule over Israel alone (notice the clear distinction between Israel and Judah even at this stage) he would be cutting himself off from Judah. After all, they had been the first to approve of him as their king, and they had also been the first to approve of the rebellion. But he wanted a united Israel-Judah. Thus he sent the two High Priests, Zadok and Abiathar, to parley with the elders of Judah, and to call on them to invite the king back as well. By that means he hoped (unavailingly) to avoid friction between the two parts of the nation. He pointed out that Israel had spoken the word which had invited him back. What then about Judah?
“ You are my brothers, you are my bone and my flesh, why then are you the last to bring back the king?”
Indeed he pointed out to them that they were his own kinsfolk. Why then were they slower to call on the king to return? (But he no doubt also understood the fears of reprisal that might be at the back of their minds. Most kings in David’s position would have taken a heavy revenge).
“And say you to Amasa, ‘Are you not my bone and my flesh? God do so to me, and more also, if you be not captain of the host before me continually in the room of Joab.” And he bowed the heart of all the men of Judah, even as one man, so that they sent to the king, saying, “Return you, and all your servants.”
So David offered them a sop, which was also a sign of his genuine forgiveness. Not only did he want them to invite him back, but he promised that he would actually put their own commander-in-chief Amasa, who was his own blood relative, over the army of ‘all Israel’. Thus they could be sure that there would be no reprisals. He was trying his best to give them an undeserved sense of security. It was an act of true forgiveness.
If this appointment of Amasa appears a little surprising we must recognise that it is probable that having found out the whole story of what had occurred during the battle he now recognised that Joab had been directly responsible for the death of Absalom. Thus in some ways this may well have been intended as a kind of punishment. On the other hand it was a convenient appointment in the circumstances, for Judah would undoubtedly have been unhappy for the army of occupation (as they would have seen it) to be under Joab, so while it might seem to have been very unfair to Joab who had always been faithful to him, we must remember that we do not know what he promised Joab in return. He was in fact made commander of David’s bodyguard as we discover from 2 Samuel 20:7.
David does certainly give the appearance of having constantly wrestled with his conscience about Joab, for while Joab had certainly been a loyal supporter of his from the earliest days, and was also David’s nephew (or half-nephew), there was no question about the fact that he had the bad habit of ‘doing his own thing’ in the face of what he knew that David wanted, for example in the killing of Abner (2 Samuel 3:26-27). Furthermore we must remember that Joab had also been responsible for the return of Absalom, and that through trickery (2 Samuel 14:1-21). Such actions were evidence of a hardness and ambition in Joab that David deplored (2 Samuel 3:39). It may also be that Joab’s co-operation with him in disposing of Uriah (2 Samuel 11:14-21) was something that weighed on his conscience, even though it had been in response to his own request (a conscience stricken man is not always logical). He appears to have overlooked the fact that it was Joab who had only just recently brought him to his senses about his grief over Absalom (2 Samuel 19:5-7), although we must not judge too quickly for we do not know what alternative position he offered Joab on top of his being commander of David’s bodyguard. Certainly the appointment of Amasa as commander-in-chief made a lot of political sense in the circumstance. It would make the rebels feel a lot more comfortable, and more willing to welcome David back.
‘So the king returned, and came to the Jordan.’
Having sent off his messengers to Judah, and having been invited back by Israel, the king returned from Mahanaim to the east side of the River Jordan and awaited events. He did not want anyone to feel that he was about to launch an invasion.
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