2 Samuel 19

Egypt on the south, to the Euphrates River on the north, and on the east he conquered Edom, Moab, and Ammon, and on the north defeated the Arameans and the Syrians, including Hamath. Because of God’s gifts and help, David undoubtedly became Israel’s greatest king and greatest military genius. He was blessed with courageous men like Joab and Abishai, plus his “mighty men” (2 Sam. 23; 1 Chron. 11:10–47).

The saintly Scottish pastor Andrew Bonar (1810–1892) used to say, “Let us be as watchful after the victory as before the battle.” It’s possible to win the battle but lose the victory, which is what happened to David after Joab defeated Absalom and his army. What should have been a day of celebration for David’s army at Mahanaim became a confused time of embarrassment and shame as the people stole back into the city as if they had been humiliated by defeat. They had risked their lives for king and country, and were now treated like criminals!

It was very unlike David to be insensitive to the sacrifices his men made as they served him (see 23:13–17; 1 Sam. 30:21–30), but that day he was so obsessed with the death of Absalom that he could think of nothing else. By isolating himself from his men, the king turned a military victory into an emotional defeat. David was not only a great warrior but also a deeply emotional poet and musician, a man who could go from the depths of despair into the heights of glory while writing one psalm. David had experienced a difficult time after the death of Amnon (13:37–39), and the death of his favorite son Absalom left him inconsolable. David’s attitude puzzled his followers, who saw Absalom as a liar, a murderer, a traitor, and a rebel.

Certainly we expect a father to grieve over the tragic death of a son and overlook the son’s mistakes and sins. But leaders must still lead, even if their hearts are broken; that’s one of the prices that leaders must pay. On October 10, 1950, Sir Winston Churchill was introduced at the University of Copenhagen as “the architect of victory” in World War II. Churchill replied: “I was only the servant of my country and had I, at any moment, failed to express her unflinching resolve to fight and conquer, I should at once have been rightly cast aside.” David the father forgot that he was also David the king and that he still had his crown because his brave soldiers put the good of the nation ahead of their own personal interests.

Joab’s short but cutting speech jolted the king back to reality, and David took his place at the gate—where his men came to him and where he acknowledged their brave service. It’s likely that David didn’t yet know that it was Joab who engineered Absalom’s death and burial, otherwise his response might have been different. It didn’t take long for David to find out what Joab and his men did, and this helped to precipitate David’s naming Amasa as general of the army (v. 13; and see 1 Kings 2:5).

The one thing that’s missing in the entire Absalom episode is David’s seeking the mind of the Lord as he made decisions. The younger David called for the Urim and Thummim or asked for the counsel of a prophet, but apart from his prayer in 15:31, we don’t find David requesting guidance. Of course, the wilderness psalms record his concerns and prayers, so we know he wasn’t depending on himself and his leaders alone. But we wish David had sought God’s direction as he dealt with Absalom and the problems he created. When it came to dealing with his sons, David needed all the help he could get, but perhaps he wouldn’t admit it. It’s never too late for God to work.

The repeated theme in this chapter is “bringing back the king” (vv. 10, 11, 12, 15, 41). David was across the Jordan in Mahanaim, but he belonged in Jerusalem. All the tribes, including David’s own tribe of Judah, had participated in Absalom’s rebellion to some extent; now it was time for them to bring their king back to Jerusalem. Years of intrigue and intertribal conflict left Israel a deeply divided nation, and there was a desperate need for a strong display of unity and loyalty. This chapter describes five steps David took to bring about the healing of the nation.

When David finally arrived in Jerusalem, it was a signal to the nation that the rebellion was ended and their true king was back on the throne. But en route to Jerusalem, David made some royal decisions that sent out other important messages to the people. His first message was that he wanted his kingdom to be a united people. The old prejudices and animosities must be buried and the nation must be united behind its king. Within the tribes the people were divided between the followers of Absalom and the followers of David (vv. 9–10), and the old division between “the ten tribes (Israel) and Judah” still persisted (vv. 40–43).

David began with Judah (vv. 11–12). The leaders from all twelve tribes should have united in sending a formal invitation to David to return and reign, but party squabbles and tribal friction kept things in ferment. David knew that the trouble would only increase if he waited too long to regain his city and his throne, so he marched right ahead. After all, he was God’s anointed king (v. 22) and didn’t need to call for a referendum before taking up his fallen scepter.

Judah was the royal tribe (Gen. 49:10); David was from the tribe of Judah; his capital city was in Judah, and the elders of Judah had first made him king (2:1–4), so he logically turned first to the elders of Judah for help. Using his two priests as intermediaries, David told the elders of Judah that the Israelites in the other tribes were talking about returning the king to Jerusalem, but he had heard nothing from his own tribe. Absalom had begun his rebellion in Hebron, which was in Judah, and the leaders of Judah must have cooperated with him, so it was time they displayed their allegiance to David, their rightful king. It’s likely that all the tribal leaders who had foolishly followed Absalom were wondering what David would do to them once he regained his throne.

David appointed Amasa to be his general (vv. 13–14). The news of this appointment must have shocked the leaders of the nation and then brought them great relief, for it meant that David was pardoning all the officials who had followed Absalom. Amasa had been Absalom’s general whose assignment it was to search for David and destroy him, but now David was making his nephew (and Joab’s cousin) the leader of his great army.

But why replace Joab? For one thing, David learned that it was Joab who had slain Absalom in disobedience to the orders the king had given. Even though he deserved death, Absalom could have been taken alive and brought to David to be dealt with later, and Joab didn’t have the authority to defy his sovereign and act as judge and executioner. If Joab did this to the king’s son, what might he do to the king himself? This brings up a second reason David replaced Joab: Joab had been gradually increasing his authority ever since David had been told to stop waging war personally (21:15–17).

In the ancient East, the king was commander in chief of the army, and whoever took his place, for whatever reason, became a man of high esteem and authority. It was Joab who told David to come to Rabbah for the final conquest; otherwise, Joab would take the city and name it after himself! By the time of the battle of the forest of Ephraim, Joab had at least ten armor-bearers (18:15)! Joab had a record of eliminating anybody who threatened his authority. He and his brother Abishai killed Abner, who had been King Saul’s general (3:27ff.), and before the story ends, Joab will kill Amasa (20:4–13).

Joab and his brothers, though capable warriors, caused much grief to David from the early in his reign (3:39; 16:10; 19:22). Of course, Joab knew all about the murder of Uriah (11:14ff.), and perhaps this piece of information carried more power than his sword. When he killed Absalom, Joab went too far, and David saw this as an opportunity to get rid of his power-hungry general. Amasa had led the rebel army, so by appointing him to Joab’s position, David united the army and declared an amnesty to all the rebel soldiers, giving the nation a new beginning.

As the other tribes debated and delayed, the men of Judah united behind David with all their hearts, and they sent him an official invitation to return home. David went down to the Jordan near Gilgal, and the men of Judah met him there. The first place Israel camped after Joshua had led them across the Jordan, Gilgal was less than twenty miles from Jerusalem and a key city in Jewish history. There the males of the new generation entered into covenant with Jehovah and were circumcised (Josh. 3–5), and it was at Gilgal that Samuel renewed the covenant when Saul became king (1 Sam. 11:14–15). The text doesn’t state it, but perhaps David also renewed the covenant at Gilgal and assured the people that Jehovah was still on the throne and His Word was still in force. Perhaps it was a time of rededication for the king, for throughout the rest of the book, we see David very much in charge.

Not only were the men of Judah at the Jordan to welcome David, but his enemy Shimei the Benjamite was there with a thousand men from his tribe (see 16:5–14). Ziba, the land manager for Mephibosheth (9:1–10), was also in the crowd with his fifteen sons and twenty servants, and they crossed the river to meet him on the western shore and help escort him to the other side. Somebody provided a ferryboat that went back and forth across the Jordan to carry the king’s household so they wouldn’t have to ford the river. When David arrived on the western bank of the river, Shimei prostrated himself and begged for mercy.

There’s no doubt that Shimei deserved to be killed for the way he treated David (Ex. 22:28), and Abishai was willing to do the job, but David stopped his nephew just as he had done before (16:9). The first time David stopped Abishai, his reason was that the Lord had told Shimei to curse the king, so David would take his abuse as from the hand of the Lord. But now his reason for sparing Shimei was because it was a day of rejoicing, not a day of revenge. But even more, by pardoning Shimei, King David was offering a general amnesty to all who had supported Absalom during the rebellion.

David kept his word and didn’t have Shimei killed for his crime, but when David was about to die, he warned Solomon to keep an eye on Shimei (1 Kings 2:8–9). Solomon put him under house arrest and told him not to leave Jerusalem, but when Shimei disobeyed the king, he was taken and slain (1 Kings 2:36–46). Shimei had a weakness for resisting authority and treating God’s appointed ministers with disdain (Jude 8), and that’s why David cautioned Solomon. Shimei didn’t appreciate David’s mercy or Solomon’s grace, and his independence and arrogance finally caught up with him.

Mephibosheth, the lame prince, had been “adopted” into David’s household and permitted to eat at the king’s table (9:1ff.), a gift from David in honor of Jonathan, Mephibosheth’s father and David’s beloved friend. When David became king of all Israel, he inherited everything that had belonged to Saul, including his land, and some of the land he turned over to Mephibosheth to help support him and his family. David commanded Saul’s servant Ziba to care for the land and to obey Mephibosheth, which he promised to do. But when David was escaping from Jerusalem, Ziba showed up without his master and brought help to David and his people. At that time, David made an impulsive decision and gave all the land to Ziba (16:1–4). Ziba also showed up to help David cross the river and return home (19:17).

Ziba wasn’t on hand to help him, so it would have been difficult for the crippled prince to travel the twenty miles or so from Jerusalem to the Jordan, but he did it. He knew that Ziba had slandered him by telling David that he hoped the rebellion would succeed and the crown be returned to the house of Saul. Mephibosheth wanted an opportunity to speak to David personally, deny Ziba’s lies, and affirm his own allegiance to the king, all of which he did. The repeated address “my lord the king” came from his heart. He was loyal to the king.

As David listened to Mephibosheth’s explanation, he realized that he had jumped to conclusions when he gave all the land to Ziba, but David didn’t have time to conduct a hearing to settle the matter. Mephibosheth made it clear that he wasn’t asking his king for anything. The king had given him life, so what more was there to desire? To paraphrase his speech, “I have more than I deserve, so why should I seek the throne? I was destined to die and you not only saved me but took me into your own family circle.”

David’s response isn’t easy to understand. On the surface, he seemed to be saying, “There’s no need to go into the matter again. You and Ziba divide the land.” But was David the kind of man who went back on his word? How would that kind of decision be received by the thousand Benjamites who came to the Jordan to welcome David? After all, doing something kind to Mephibosheth would have strengthened David’s ties with both the tribe of Benjamin (Saul’s tribe) and also the ten tribes that had originally followed the house of Saul. Taking away half of Mephibosheth’s inheritance hardly fit into the joyful and forgiving atmosphere of the day, and yet by dividing the estate, David was also forgiving Ziba of his lies and treachery to his master. By dividing the land between Ziba and Mephibosheth, David was taking the easy way out.

But Mephibosheth’s reply must have stunned David: “Rather, let him take it all, inasmuch as my lord the king has come back in peace to his own house” (v. 30 nkjv). But thanks to David’s impetuous judgment, Ziba already had it all! This situation reminds us of the “case of the dead baby” that Solomon had to solve (1 Kings 3:16–28). When he offered to divide the living baby, the child’s true mother protested, and that’s how Solomon discovered her identity. Unlike a living baby, land isn’t harmed when it’s divided, but perhaps David was testing Mephibosheth to see where his heart was. The text doesn’t tell us, but perhaps Mephibosheth did receive all the land as in the original contract. Either way, the lame prince was cared for as Ziba worked the land.

Barzillai was one of three wealthy landowners who met David when he arrived at Mahanaim and together supplied his needs and the needs of his people (17:27–29). He returned to his home in Rogelim, twenty to twenty-five miles north. When he heard that David was returning to Jerusalem, he came down to see him off. Unlike Shimei, he had no sins to confess, nor was there a misunderstanding to straighten out as with Mephibosheth. Barzillai wanted no favor from the king. All he wanted was to have the joy of sending him off safely, knowing that the war was over. These two trips must have been difficult for an eighty-year-old man, but he wanted to give his best to his king.

David wanted to reward Barzillai by caring for him at his palace in Jerusalem. Not only did David want to express his thanks, but by having so important a man in Jerusalem, it would strengthen ties with the trans-Jordanic citizens at a time when unity was an important commodity. But Barzillai graciously refused David’s offer on the grounds that he was too old. Older people don’t like to pull up their roots and relocate, and they want to die at home and be buried with their loved ones. At his age, Barzillai couldn’t enjoy the special pleasures of life at court, and he would only be a burden to the king, who had enough to think about.

However, Barzillai was willing to let his son Chimham take his place (1 Kings 2:7) and go to Jerusalem to live. What Barzillai didn’t need for himself he was willing for others to enjoy. Said Matthew Henry, “They that are old must not begrudge young people those delights which they themselves are past the enjoyment of, nor oblige them to retire as they do.” Barzillai crossed the river with David and Chimham and went a short distance with them, and then they said good-bye, David affectionately kissing his friend and benefactor. In Jeremiah’s time, there was a site known as Geruth Kimham (“habitation of Chimham”) near Bethlehem (Jer. 41:17), which may have been where Barzillai’s son settled down with his family.

But David’s troubles weren’t over yet, for the longrunning feud between the ten tribes and Judah would surface again and almost cause another civil war. Shakespeare was right: “Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown.”

The humorous poet Ogden Nash was sounding a serious note when he wrote, “People could survive their natural troubles all right if it weren’t for the trouble they make for themselves.” Ouch!

As we read the account of David’s later life, we can see the truth of that statement. All parents have predictable problems with their children, but the sins of David’s children seemed to set new records, especially those of Absalom. All leaders have problems with their followers, but in David’s case, the sword flashed repeatedly in Israel with brother fighting against brother. How painful are the consequences of forgiven sin! These chapters describe four different conflicts that David had to deal with after Absalom’s rebellion had been crushed.

A crisis will bring out the best in some people and the worst in others. The representatives of the tribes were gathered at Gilgal to escort their king back to Jerusalem, and instead of rejoicing at the victory God had given His people, the tribes were fighting among themselves. The “men of Israel” were the ten northern tribes, and they were angry at the southern tribe of Judah, which had also absorbed the tribe of Simeon. Israel was angry because Judah had not waited for them to arrive on the scene to help take David home. Judah had “kidnapped” the king and had ignored and insulted the other ten tribes. Judah replied that David was from their tribe, so they had the greater responsibility to care for him. Israel argued that they had ten shares in David but Judah had only two, as though the king were some kind of security on the stock market. Apparently nobody urged the tribes to call on Jehovah for His help and to remember that Gilgal was the place where Israel had made a new beginning in Joshua’s day (Josh. 3–5).

The conflict between Judah and Israel had deep roots, just like the political conflicts that divide many nations today. When King Saul assembled his first army, it was divided between Israel and Judah (1 Sam. 11:8), and this division continued throughout his reign (15:4; 17:52; 18:16). After the death of Saul, the ten tribes of Israel followed Saul’s son Ish-Bosheth, while Judah followed David (2 Sam. 2:10–11). Judah, of course, was obeying the will of God, for the Lord had named David as the nation’s next king. This tribal rivalry existed even in David’s day (11:11; 12:8). “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation,” said Jesus, “and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand” (Matt. 12:25). When Rehoboam became king after the death of Solomon his father, the rift widened and the kingdom divided into Judah and Israel.

All it takes to light the fires of conflict is a speech from a would-be leader, and Sheba was that leader. Being a Benjamite, he favored the house of Saul, and he was probably an officer in the northern army. If the ten tribes seceded from the kingdom, perhaps he could become commander of their army. Sheba didn’t declare war; all he did was dismiss the army and the citizens who came from the northern tribes and tell them not to follow David any longer. But in essence it was a declaration of war, for Sheba marched through the northern tribes trying to gather a following (v. 14). It appears that not many people responded, and Sheba and his followers ended up in the walled city of Abel.

Joab again took command of David’s troops and followed Sheba to Abel, surrounded the city, and began to lay siege to it. For the third time in the “David story,” a woman changes the course of events. Abigail was the first (1 Sam. 25), and the woman of Tekoa was the second (2 Sam. 14). The wise woman called to Joab from the wall and assured him that her city was not in league with any rebels and therefore didn’t deserve to be attacked. Perhaps she was thinking about the law in Deuteronomy 20:10–16 requiring that a city first be given an offer of peace before it was attacked. When Joab explained that it was only Sheba he was after, she persuaded the citizens to kill the rebel leader and save the city. However, Sheba wasn’t a scapegoat; as a rebel against the king, he deserved to be slain. Sheba wanted to be head of the army, but instead, his head was thrown over the wall to the army.

The chapter closes with a second listing of David’s officers (8:15–18), and two new officers are added: Adoram (or Adoniram) was in charge of the forced labor, and Ira the Jairite served as David’s chaplain. The “forced labor” was done by prisoners of war, but Israelites were occasionally conscripted to assist with government building projects. During Solomon’s reign and after, the officer in charge of these labor projects didn’t have an easy time of it (1 Kings 4:6; 5:14; 12:18ff.; 2 Chron. 10:18–19).

Now we must back up a bit to discover how Joab regained the command of David’s army.