2 Samuel
2 Samuel 16
1When David was a little past the top, behold, Ziba the servant of Mephibosheth met him with a couple of donkeys saddled, and on them two hundred loaves of bread, and one hundred clusters of raisins, and one hundred summer fruits, and a container of wine. 2The king said to Ziba, “What do you mean by these?”
Ziba said, “The donkeys are for the king’s household to ride on; and the bread and summer fruit for the young men to eat; and the wine, that those who are faint in the wilderness may drink.”
3The king said, “Where is your master’s son?”
Ziba said to the king, “Behold, he is staying in Jerusalem; for he said, ‘Today the house of Israel will restore me the kingdom of my father.’ ”
4Then the king said to Ziba, “Behold, all that belongs to Mephibosheth is yours.”
Ziba said, “I bow down. Let me find favor in your sight, my lord, O king.”
5When king David came to Bahurim, behold, a man of the family of Saul’s house came out, whose name was Shimei, the son of Gera. He came out and cursed as he came. 6He cast stones at David, and at all the servants of king David, and all the people and all the mighty men were on his right hand and on his left. 7Shimei said when he cursed, “Be gone, be gone, you man of blood, and wicked fellow! 8Yahweh has returned on you all the blood of Saul’s house, in whose place you have reigned! Yahweh has delivered the kingdom into the hand of Absalom your son! Behold, you are caught by your own mischief, because you are a man of blood!”
9Then Abishai the son of Zeruiah said to the king, “Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? Please let me go over and take off his head.” 10The king said, “What have I to do with you, you sons of Zeruiah? Because he curses, and because Yahweh has said to him, ‘Curse David;’ who then shall say, ‘Why have you done so?’ ”
11David said to Abishai, and to all his servants, “Behold, my son, who came out of my bowels, seeks my life. How much more this Benjamite, now? Leave him alone, and let him curse; for Yahweh has invited him. 12It may be that Yahweh will look on the wrong done to me, and that Yahweh will repay me good for the cursing of me today.” 13So David and his men went by the way; and Shimei went along on the hillside opposite him, and cursed as he went, threw stones at him, and threw dust. 14The king, and all the people who were with him, came weary; and he refreshed himself there.
15Absalom and all the people, the men of Israel, came to Jerusalem, and Ahithophel with him. 16When Hushai the Archite, David’s friend, had come to Absalom, Hushai said to Absalom, “Long live the king! Long live the king!”
17Absalom said to Hushai, “Is this your kindness to your friend? Why didn’t you go with your friend?”
18Hushai said to Absalom, “No; but whomever Yahweh, and this people, and all the men of Israel have chosen, I will be his, and I will stay with him. 19Again, whom should I serve? Shouldn’t I serve in the presence of his son? As I have served in your father’s presence, so I will be in your presence.”
20Then Absalom said to Ahithophel, “Give your counsel what we shall do.”
21Ahithophel said to Absalom, “Go in to your father’s concubines that he has left to keep the house. Then all Israel will hear that you are abhorred by your father. Then the hands of all who are with you will be strong.”
22So they spread a tent for Absalom on the top of the house, and Absalom went in to his father’s concubines in the sight of all Israel. 23The counsel of Ahithophel, which he gave in those days, was as if a man inquired at the inner sanctuary of God. All the counsel of Ahithophel both was like this with David and with Absalom.
Commentary
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What others are saying
5 commentators · 56 notes on this chapter
Matthew Henry3
Writes as a pastor rather than a critic. Expect devotional and practical application over historical or linguistic analysis, read through a Reformed covenantal frame — and expect the Old Testament to be read forward toward Christ throughout.
Why this voice is here: The most widely read English commentary for three centuries. Included as a baseline: where Henry and a modern voice diverge, the divergence itself is usually the interesting part.
We read before how kind David was to Mephibosheth the son of Jonathan, how he prudently entrusted his servant Ziba with the management of his estate, while he generously entertained him at his own table, Sa2 9:10. This matter was well settled; but, it seems…
We here find how David bore Shimei's curses much better than he had borne Ziba's flatteries. By the latter he was brought to pass a wrong judgment on another, by the former to pass a right judgment on himself. The world's smiles are more dangerous than its…
Absalom had notice sent him speedily by some of his friends at Jerusalem that David had withdrawn, and with what a small retinue he had gone; so that the coasts were clear, Absalom might take possession of Jerusalem when he pleased. The gates were open, and…
John Gill23
The most exhaustive and the most doctrinally committed here. Expect high — even supralapsarian — Calvinism applied consistently, and unusually heavy use of rabbinic and Talmudic sources for Jewish context. Where a passage bears on election or the will, Gill will read it in one direction, and knowing that in advance is the point.
Why this voice is here: The strongest Calvinist reading available in the public domain, and the best on Jewish background. Read alongside Clarke, not instead of him — between them you get both sides of the argument.
And when David was a little past the top of the hill,.... Of the mount of Olives, the ascent of which he is said to go up by, and to come to the top of it, 2 Samuel 15:30, behold, Ziba, the servant of Mephibosheth, met him; of whom see 2 Samuel 9:2; with a…
And the king said unto Ziba, what meanest thou by these?.... Are they to be said, or are they presents? and Ziba said, the asses be for the king's household to ride on; for himself, his wives, and children, his courtiers, and the principal officers of his…
And the king said, and where is thy master's son?.... The son of Saul, who was Ziba's master, meaning Mephibosheth: and Ziba said unto the king, behold, he abideth at Jerusalem; as there was reason for it, since he was lame of both his feet, 2 Samuel 9:13…
Adam Clarke10
The linguist of this set. Expect Hebrew and Greek word study, oriental custom, and geography — and an Arminian reading of grace and free will where Gill or Henry would read election. Note one real divergence: Clarke denied the eternal sonship of Christ, a position most of the tradition rejects, so read him closely on the person of Christ.
Why this voice is here: Where you want to know what a word actually says, Clarke is the one who will tell you — with the caveat above on Christ’s sonship.
Two hundred loaves of bread - The word loaf gives us a false idea of the ancient Jewish bread; it was thin cakes, not yeasted and raised like ours. Bunches of raisins - See on Sa1 25:18 (note). Summer fruits - These were probably pumpions, cucumbers, or…
The asses be for the king's household - This is the Eastern method of speaking when any thing is presented to a great man: "This and this is for the slaves of the servants of your majesty," when at the same time the presents are intended for the sovereign…
To-day shall the house of Israel - What a base wretch was Ziba! and how unfounded was this accusation against the peaceable, loyal and innocent Mephibosheth!
Keil & Delitzsch12
The technical one, and Old Testament only. Expect Hebrew grammar, textual argument, and direct engagement with nineteenth-century critical scholarship — closer to a scholarly apparatus than a devotional read. Where a modern critic claims a text is late or composite, this is where the conservative counter-argument was made.
Why this voice is here: Old Testament only, and heavy going — but the place to look when someone asserts a passage cannot mean what it appears to.
Ziba's faithless conduct towards Mephibosheth. - Sa2 16:1. When David had gone a little over the height (of the Mount of Olives: הראשׁ points back to Sa2 15:32), Mephibosheth's servant Ziba came to meet him, with a couple of asses saddled, and laden with two…
Shimei's cursing. - Sa2 16:5, Sa2 16:6. When the king had come to Bahurim, on the other side of the Mount of Olives, but not far off (see at Sa2 3:16), there came out of that place a man of the family of the house of Saul, i.e., a distant relation of Saul…
Shimei cursed thus: "Out, out (away, away), thou man of blood, and worthless man! Jehovah hath repaid thee (now) for all the blood of the house of Saul, in whose stead thou hast become king, and hath given the kingdom into the hand of Absalom thy son. Behold…
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown8
The concise option. Three authors split the canon, so the voice shifts between sections. Expect brief, sober, conservative notes that resolve difficulties rather than dwelling on them — useful for orientation, thinner than Gill or Clarke where a passage is genuinely contested.
Why this voice is here: The quickest way to see what the mainstream Reformed reading of a passage is. Start here, then go to Gill or Clarke when it matters.
The asses be for the king's household to ride on--The royal fugitives were moving on foot, not from inability to procure conveyances, but as being suitable to their present state of humiliation and penitence.
To-day shall the house of Israel restore me the kingdom of my father--Such a hope might not unnaturally arise at this period of civil distraction, that the family of David would destroy themselves by their mutual broils, and the people reinstate the old…
SHIMEI CURSES DAVID. (Sa2 16:5-19) when king David came to Bahurim--a city of Benjamin (Sa2 3:16; Sa2 19:16). It is, however, only the confines of the district that are here meant. Shimei, . . . a man of the family of Saul--The misfortune of his family, and…
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