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II Samuel
Chapter 13 (Continued)
{David
Ignores Leviticus 20:17 - Trial and Judgment of Offender}
21~~Now
when king David heard of all these things,
he
became extremely angry . . .
{Septuagint
adds:}
"But,
he {David} did not trouble the spirit/life of his son Amnon,
because
he was his firstborn {the crown prince}."
{Note: This last line may or may not be in the original manuscripts. RBT says that the Septuagint translation and the works of Josephus had this line. But it does explain why David did not follow Lev 20:17 and hold a trial. If he was found guilty, Amnon would have been put to death. Now 'he got angry' is interesting. Quite often one we love does wrong and we get angry because they embarrassed YOU! 'How could he do this to ME?' or 'How can he be from my loins?' type questions. No righteous indignation here.}
22~~And
Absalom did not speak to his brother Amnon
with
respect to either good nor evil . . .
nevertheless,
Absalom hated Amnon
{sane' - perfect tense - completed action - he hated and would
until he killed him},
because
he had raped his sister Tamar.
{Note: This is Absalom's distortion of his 'honor code' - similar to Japan's bushido code. Absalom did not let Amnon know the depth of his hatred for him. And, instead of letting God punish Amnon, Absalom will think about it, and think about it, until revenge was his. When poise becomes a façade for hatred, then it is hypocrisy.}
{Verses
23-39: David's 3rd Installment of Divine Discipline}
23~~
'After two years'/
'And
it came to pass after two full years' {change of subject},
that
Absalom had sheepshearers in Baal-Hazor,
which
was at the border of Ephraim . . .
and
Absalom invited all the king's sons.
{Note: Hazor was a city about 10 miles due North of Capernaum. It was a crossroads city that dominates a valley that was important for the caravans and for military purposes. The Rothschild family paid to have the city excavated in the 1950's and 1960's.}
{Note: This sheep ranch is across the river from his grandfather's kingdom of Geshur. So Absalom has been plotting his revenge for two years. At the same time, David is given a two year reprieve from his discipline so he can take in doctrine to help him with the 3rd installment of discipline. Since he handles this poorly, he probably did not take in all the doctrine that he should have.}
24~~Then
Absalom went to the king, and said,
"Please
note that your servant {himself - Absalom}
has
sheepshearers
{meaning they are going to have a sheep-shearing party}.
Please
let the king and his servants
go
with your servant {Absalom} {to the party}."
{Note: Absalom is manipulating the king, whom he knows very well. He got the young princes excited first. They want a party. David will decline the invitation because to the expense to Absalom for him to attend 100 miles form Jerusalem. Conspiracy needs enthusiasm. Enthusiasm takes emotion. And, emotion clouds discernment.}
25~~And
the king replied to Absalom,
"No,
my son, all of us should not go
{someone has to stay and mind the royal business -
Absalom was counting on David's sense of duty},
so
that we are not burdensome to you
{Absalom was also counting on David's thoughtfulness}.
Although
he {Absalom} urged him {David}
{putting on a front to keep David in the dark}.
However
he {David} kept on refusing/declining to go,
but
{David} blessed {barak} him {Absalom}
{meaning David gave royal approval for the party and expressed
'well wished'}.
{Note: Absalom is following exactly what David did to kill Uriah the Hittite. Absalom is using David's authority to isolate Amnon and kill him; just as David used his authority as king to isolate Uriah and have him destroyed.}
26~~Consequently
Absalom requested,
"If
not {if you David will not attend},
please/'I
pray you', permit Amnon, my brother,
go
with us {implying to make the party successful}
{as the crown prince, it would be normal for Amnon to represent
David if David was absent - so Absalom is tricking David into
helping him order Amnon to attend the party - just as Amnon
tricked David into ordering Tamar to Amnon's palace so Amnon
could rape her}.
Then
the king replied to him, "Why should he go with you?"
{indicating a latent suspicion on the part of David though 2 years
has passed David should have had this thought 2 years ago when
Amnon requested Tamar come to his palace to 'cook for him'. Why
should she go??}
27~~But
Absalom pressed him {David} . . .
so
that he {David} let Amnon and all the king's sons go with him.
{Verses
28-29: Murder of Amnon}
28~~Now
Absalom had {previously} commanded
his
bodyguards/servants, saying,
{in this remote area Absalom's men would be protection for the
unarmed guests}
"Observe
when 'Amnon gets high on wine'/
'Amnon
gets loud with intoxication'
{idiom: literally "Amnon's heart is merry with wine"}.
Then
I will say unto you, "Kill Amnon . . . then kill him,
do
not {al} be afraid . . . for I have commanded you
{the weakness of his plan was that him men might get squeamish
and think king David will kill me if I do this - Absalom is saying this
is his responsibility} .
Be strong . . . and become courageous/'men of valor'."
{Note: There are two negative articles in the Hebrew: "Lo and Al". In the Greek there are two equivalent negative articles: "Ouk and Me". 'Lo and Ouk' are the indicative negative (means absolute certainty) . . . where 'Al and Me' are the subjective negative (there is uncertainty).}
29~~And
the bodyguards/servants of Absalom
did
to Amnon as Absalom had commanded.
Then
all the king's sons were moved with panic,
and
each one mounted his mule, and fled/escaped.
{Note: Cowardness is the absence of thought in danger. All these sons of David were cowards. This is an indication that David did not teach his sons doctrine up to this point. Also, it is interesting that the royal choice of transportation at this time is the mule. A mule is a cross-breed between a horse and an ass. This is prohibited in Israel under the Mosaic Law - Leviticus 19:19a.}
{Verses
30-31: False Rumor and Royal Reaction}
30~~And
it came to pass
{change of scene - 'how back at the castle'},
while
they were still 'on the road'/'in transit',
that
news/'false rumor' came to David, saying,
"Absalom
has slain all the king's sons, so that not one of them is left."
{Note: From the verses that follow, it is likely that Jonadab had a spy at the ranch who jumped a horse and using a relay system got the news to Jonadab first that Amnon was dead. The cunning Jonadab is now going to try to turn this to his advantage - correcting the rumor for David and hopefully gaining his favor.}
{Royal
Reaction}
31~~Then
the king {David} 'arose in a state of shock',
and
'ripped and tore' his clothes,
and
'fell on the floor and was rolling and rolling'.
And
all his staff stationed there stood by with their clothes torn
{only the king had the right to roll on his court floor}.
{Note: This false rumor is really horrible for David. He takes it very badly. But once he takes this position, in his arrogance hangover, he can not move back from this and save face.}
{Jonadab's
Contrivance and Opportunism}
32~~And
Jonadab, the son of Shimeah - David's brother - answered
{answered what? You could not talk to the king in court unless he
talked first. So, Jonadab must have purposely NOT torn his
clothes. David would have noted the disrespect and questioned
him, "Why are you not grieving?" This is just more
manipulation on
the part of Jonadab}
and
said, "Do not let my lord {David} assume/conclude
that
they have killed all the young men . . . the king's sons
for
only Amnon has died.
For
by the order of Absalom
{idiom: literally 'by the mouth of Absalom'}
it
was determined from the day that he raped Tamar, his sister.
{SideNote: Shimeah was Jesse's third son and David was Jesse's seventh son. Shimeah was passed over by God via the prophet Samuel when Samuel was finding God's choice for king of Israel.}
{Note: David will come to realize that Jonadab has known for two years the threat to Amnon and did not warn him. This will not bode well for Jonadab.}
33-34~~Now
therefore do not let my lord the king
'worry
about this rumor'/'take the thing to his heart',
assuming
that all the king's sons have died
for
it is is not true . . . for only Amnon has died 34~~
and
Absalom has fled.
Meanwhile,
the young officer,
who
'was on guard duty'/' kept the watch',
lifted
up his eyes, and saw something . . . and, behold,
there
came much people by the mountain side road
{from
the west} behind him . . .
{Septuagint Adds the following:}
on
the descent. And the guard came and told the king,
"I
see men on the 'mountainside road'."
{Note: RBT says that this young man might have been Jonathan - the brother of Jonadab who became a great general later. This would be a great contrast between the two brothers.}
35~~
And Jonadab said unto the king {David},
"Behold/'Look
there', the king's sons come . . .
according
to the word of your servant . . . so it has come to pass
{the only polite way to say to a king - 'I told you so'
but this is the last we hear of Jonadab - apparently David
caught on to this con man and that was that for him}.
{Hypocrisy
of the King's Sons}
36~~And
it came to pass,
as
soon as he {Jonadab} had finished speaking, that,
behold,
the king's sons arrived,
and
lifted up their voice and wept
{they hated Amnon so this is shear hypocrisy for the benefit of King
David}.
And
the king also and all his courtiers wept with very great weeping.
37~~For
Absalom had fled, and went to Talmai
{crossing the Jordan River},
the
son of Ammihur - king of Geshur.
{Ammihur is a Hurrian name. In the KJV it is shown as Ammihud
which is a Hebrew derivative - but RBT says that is incorrect}
Meanwhile,
David himself mourned for his son every day.
{Brief
Resume of Absalom after the Murder}
38~~After
Absalom fled and went to Geshur,
he
stayed there for three years.
{Note: So now we have another period for David to recover between his bouts of installment discipline. He failed to learn what he needed for the 3rd installment, but David apparently will learn what he needs for the next installment and handles the revolution coming up beautifully.}
39~~And
the soul of king David longed to go forth to Absalom . . .
{this is normal love, but is bad justice}
for
he received comfort concerning Amnon . . . since he was dead
{this tells us that David knew Amnon was a believer and is in a
better place - Doctrine of Death being applied by David}.
{Note: Amnon was David's favorite son. But after a period of grieving passed, he wanted the presence of his next favorite son - Absalom. To forgive is good - but David is King and Judge - he can not afford to forget the victim. Between these two chapters we will see David return into the systems of arrogance.}
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