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001

 

II Samuel

Chapter 16

{Note: 17 years have passed since we saw Mephibosheth last in chapter 9. Ziba, who lost everything, is scheming to get it back.}

{Verses 1-4: Opportunist Ziba At It Again}
1``And when David was a little past the top of the hill,
  {David and his men were fleeing and Ziba knew where David
  would be and wants to 'help' David - and lies about Mephibosheth}
behold, Ziba the servant of Mephibosheth met him,
with a couple of asses saddled,
and upon them two hundred loaves of bread,
and an hundred bunches of raisins,
and an hundred of summer fruits,
and a bottle of wine.

2``And the king said unto Ziba,
"What mean you by these?"

And Ziba said,
"The asses be for the king's household to ride on.

And the bread and summer fruit for the young men to eat.

And the wine, that such as be faint in the wilderness may drink.

3a~~And the king shouted,
"And where is your master's grandson {Mephibosheth}?"

3b~~And Ziba said unto the king,
"Behold, he is remaining at Jerusalem.

For he said, "Today shall the house of Israel
will restore the kingdom of my father to me."
  {David is under pressure and misses the obvious lie. The revolution
  is to put Absalom in power . . . not to put Mephibosheth in
  power!}

{David Taken in By Lie - Hasty and Erroneous Decision}
4a~~Then said the king to Ziba,
"Behold, all that pertained to Mephibosheth is yours."
  {once again Ziba has connived to gain control the property of king
  Saul}

4b``And Ziba said,
"I humbly beseech you that I may find grace in your sight,
my lord, O king."

5``And when king David was coming to Bahurim,
behold, thence came out a man of the family of the house of Saul,
whose name was Shimei . . . the son of Gera.

He came forth, and hurling insults as he came.

6``And he threw stones at David,
and at all the staff of king David.

And all the troops and all the warriors/'mighty men'
were on his right hand and on his left.

7``And these are the insults that Shimei hurled,
"Come out, come out,
you criminal/'bloody man',
and you villain/'man of Belial'."

8``Jehovah/God is paying you back for all your crimes
against the family of Saul,
whose throne you seized.

And Jehovah/God is handing over the throne
to your son Absalom.

You are in trouble because you are a criminal/'bloody man'.

9``Then Abishai, the son of Zeruiah, said unto the king,
  {Zeruiah is David's sister so Abishai is his nephew and a great
  general}

"Why let that 'dead dog' {idiom} abuse/curse my lord the king?

Let me go over, please/'I pray you', and cut off his head."

10``But the king said,
"What has this to do with you, you sons of Zeruiah?

He is abusing/cursing me, because Jehovah/God
told him to abuse David.

And who is to say,
'Why did You do that?' "

11``And David said further to Abishai,
and to all his courtiers/servants/staff,
"If my son, my own issue,
seeks to kill me
how much more the Benjamite?

Let him alone, and let him go on abusing/cursing . . .
for Jehovah/God told him to do it.

12``Perhaps, Jehovah/God will look on my affliction/punishment,
and Jehovah/God may recompense me for the
abuse/cursing {Shimei has uttered} this day."

13``David and his men continued on their way,
while Shimei walked alongside on the slope of the hill
insulting him as he walked
and throwing stones at him and flinging dirt.

14``And the king, and all the those who accompanied him,
arrived exhausted and he rested there.

{Verses 15-23: David's Mole (Hushai of Previous Chapter) Penetrates Absalom's Command}
15~~Now Absalom,
and all the people the men of Israel,
  {referring to the revolutionary forces that joined Absalom
  there is representation of every tribe in the land}
arrived at Jerusalem
and Ahithophel . . . with him.

{Note: Remember from the chapter, it was Hushai's job to frustrate the genius counsel of Ahithophel (Bathsheba's grandfather). He was David's former 'Secretary of State'.}

16~~And it came to pass,
when Hushai the Archite, David's 'mole',
  {re`eh - was originally a word to describe a woman secretly
  entering a man's tent for prostitution. Here it refers to the fact
  that Hushai is loyal to David and is entering into clandestine
  activities on behalf of the legitimate authority of the nation. This
  points out to lie and deceive on and on when the motivation is the
  best interests of the nation of God, it is not a sin. See also Rahab
  the prostitute in Jericho.}
had come unto Absalom,
that Hushai said unto Absalom,
"Let the king live . . . let the king live."
  {this is an idiom that Hushai is saying to Absalom that he 'desires'
  Absalom to have a long and prosperous reign. He is humbling
  himself before arrogant Absalom so that Absalom will accept him
  into his inner court. Absalom lied to his father to start the
  revolution and that was a 'sinful lie'. Here we have an honorable
  lie.}

{Verses 17-19: David's Mole Hushai Penetrates Absalom's Inner Staff}
17~~The Absalom interrogated to Hushai,
"Is this your kindness/loyalty/'manifestation of grace' {checed}
to your friend?
  {Arrogant Absalom can not even call David his 'father' or his 'king'
  so he uses friend}

Why did you not go with your friend {David}?"

{Note: An arrogant person is not an effective interrogator. Here Absalom is not really looking for information, instead he is more interested in having Hushai grovel and bow before him. He is asking questions of pettiness.}

{Hushai Answers a Question with a Question}
18~~And Hushai said unto Absalom,
"No, but whom Jehovah/God,
and this people, and 'all the men of Israel' {the military} choose,
to him I will be loyal . . .
therefore I will remain with him.

{Note: So this is an 'honorable lie'. Hushai knows that God has not chosen Absalom. But when the interests of the nation require it, in counter-insurgency - lying and many other despicable things are not sin.}

19~~Furthermore,, whom should I serve?
  {answering a question with a question - distracting the
  interrogation of Absalom}

Should I not serve his son?
  {idiom: literally 'is it not before his son?'}

'Just as I have {loyally} served your father, so I will serve you.'
  {Idiom: literally: As I have served in your father's presence,
  so will I be in your presence."

{Note: Hushai lies that his former faithfulness to his father, means he will also be loyal to Absalom. The lie appeals to Absalom's arrogance. So, Hushai is now in place to frustrate the counsel of Ahithophel.}

20~~Then said Absalom to Ahithophel,
"Give us your advice what we should do now."

{Note: Ahithophel was the grandfather of Bathsheba - famous Secretary of State. Normally his advice was objective and respected by David and by Absalom. But, he was so upset with David over Bathsheba, that he plotted revenge - gave subjective advice. It was the Absalom revolution, but it was Ahithophel who was the driving force behind it.}

21~~Then Ahithophel advised Absalom,
  {imperative mood - a command - indicates Ahithophel is truly the
  leader of the revolution in the next staff meeting we will see
  Ahithophel lost his position of authority and the revolution was
  lost - Hushai did frustrate the counsel of Ahithophel}
" 'Have sex with' all your father's concubines/mistresses {piylegesh}
  {idiom: literally 'go into all your father's concubines'},
whom he {David} has left to 'take care of'/administrate the palace.
  {from II Samuel 15:16 we saw there were 10 mistresses left behind
  to care for Castle Zion}

Then all Israel will hear
that you have made yourself 'a stench'/odorous
in your father's nostrils.

And the hands of everyone with you
will be strengthened.
  {meaning there is no turning back}

{Note: By taking his father's woman, he is saying "I have my father's authority". But Ahithophel knows that once this occurs, there is no going back. Absalom and David will not be able to reconcile - it will be a fight to the death. This is also the fulfillment of Nathan's prophesy in II Samuel 12:11.}

{Note: Also, for a revolution to succeed, it needs intimidation. When the criminals see Absalom rape these 10 women, it will start a reign of terror. Raping, looting, murder will occur. So when they go to other cities, they will be allowed in 'if they do not do this to us also'.}

22a~~So they 'were caused to pitch'
  {natah - hiphil stem - causative stem - concept here of
  'motivation'}
a tent
  {'ohel - this is an unusual word for 'tent' not the one used for
  'tabernacle' this is the tent the royal family would use in summer
  months}
for Absalom
on the roof/battlement of the castle.

{Note: The roof of the castle is same place where David spied on Bathsheba, lusted after her, and raped her. Here we have the 4th and final installment discipline to David for the Bathsheba and Uriah incident. David's discipline was spread over 7 years - or he would have died under the weight of the discipline.}

22b~~And Absalom raped/'copulated with' his father's mistresses
in the sight of all Israel.
  {he raped them all out in the sunlight where all the people could see
  him on top of the roof of the castle which was on the highest
  point of Mt. Zion - the fulfillment of Nathan's prophecy in
  II Samuel 12}

23~~Now in those days, the counsel of Ahithophel,
was like one who makes inquires of 'Elohiym/Godhead
  {idiom meaning Ahithophel was such a mature believer that his
  viewpoint was normally 'divine viewpoint' - objective and sound
  advice - not this time however}
so all the advice of Ahithophel was valued
both by David {when he was in charge}
and with Absalom.

{Note: RBT says that Ahithophel will end up going insane - as a mature believer. The combination of his arrogance and sins - here inciting revolution (one of the sins that God abhors) will lead him to commit suicide.}