1-5 David viewing the armies in their march gives them charge of Absalom 6-8 The israelites are sorely smitten in the wood of ephraim 9-17 Absalom, hanging in an oak is slain by Joab, and cast into a pit 18 Absalom's place 19-32 Ahimaaz and Cushi bring tidings to David 33 David mourns for Absalom

numbered Ex 17:9 Jos 8:10

captains of thousands 1Sa 8:12

2 And David sent forth a third part of the people under the hand of Joab, and a third part under the hand of Abishai the son of Zeruiah, Joab's brother, and a third part under the hand of Ittai the Gittite. And the king said unto the people, I will surely go forth with you myself also.

a third part Jud 7:16,19 9:43

the hand of Joab 2Sa 10:7-10

Ittai 2Sa 15:19-22

I will surely 2Sa 17:11 Ps 3:6 27:1-3 118:6-8

3 But the people answered, Thou shalt not go forth: for if we flee away, they will not care for us; neither if half of us die, will they care for us: but now thou art worth ten thousand of us: therefore now it is better that thou succor us out of the city.

Thou shalt 2Sa 21:17

if we flee 2Sa 17:2 1Ki 22:31 Zec 13:7

care for us [heb] set {their} heart on us
but now The particle {dittah}, NOW, is doubtless a mistake for the pronoun {attah}, THOU: and so it appears to have been read by the LXX. Vulgate, and Chaldee, and by {two} of Kennicott's and De Rossi's MSS

worth, etc. [heb] as ten thousand of us La 4:20

succour [heb] be to succour 2Sa 10:11 Ex 17:10-12

4 And the king said unto them, What seemeth you best I will do. And the king stood by the gate side, and all the people came out by hundreds and by thousands.

by the gate 2Sa 18:24 Isa 28:6

by hundreds David's small company, by this time, was greatly recruited; but what its number was we cannot tell. Josephus says it amounted only to 4000 men. 2Sa 18:1 1Sa 29:2

5 And the king commanded Joab and Abishai and Ittai, saying, Deal gently for my sake with the young man, even with Absalom. And all the people heard when the king gave all the captains charge concerning Absalom.

Deal gently 2Sa 16:11 17:1-4,14 De 21:18-21 Ps 103:13 Lu 23:34

all the people 1Sa 18:12

6 So the people went out into the field against Israel: and the battle was in the wood of Ephraim;

wood of Ephraim The wood of Ephraim was evidently beyond Jordan, and apparently not far from Mahanaim; and it is supposed to be the place where the Ephraimites were slain by Jephthah Jos 17:15,18 Jud 12:4-6

7 Where the people of Israel were slain before the servants of David, and there was there a great slaughter that day of twenty thousand men.

the people 2Sa 2:17 15:6 19:41-43

a great Pr 11:21 24:21

twenty thousand 2Sa 2:26,31 2Ch 13:16,17 28:6

8 For the battle was there scattered over the face of all the country: and the wood devoured more people that day than the sword devoured.

in the wood That is, probably, many more were slain in pursuit through the wood than in the battle, by falling into swamps, pits, etc., and being entangled and cut down by David's men. Such is the relation of Josephus; but the Chaldee, Syriac, and Arabic state, that they were {devoured by wild beasts} in the wood. Ex 15:10 Jos 10:11 Jud 5:20,21 1Ki 20:30 Ps 3:7 43:1

devoured more [heb] multiplied to devour

9 And Absalom met the servants of David. And Absalom rode upon a mule, and the mule went under the thick boughs of a great oak, and his head caught hold of the oak, and he was taken up between the heaven and the earth; and the mule that was under him went away.

his head Riding furiously under the thick boughs of a great oak, which hung low and had never been cropped, either the twisted branches, or some low forked bough of the tree, caught him by the neck, or, as some think, by the loops into which his long hair had been pinned, which had been so much his pride, and was now justly made a halter for him. He may have hung so low from the bough, in consequence of the length of his hair, that he could not use his hands to help himself, or so entangled that his hands were bound, so that the more he struggled the more he was embarrassed. This set him up as a fair mark to the servants of David; and although David would have spared his rebellious son, if his orders had been executed, yet he could not turn the sword of Divine justice, in executing the just, righteous sentence of death on this traitorous son. 2Sa 18:14 14:26 17:23 Mt 27:5

taken up De 21:23 27:16,20 Job 18:8-10 31:3 Ps 63:9,10 Pr 20:20 30:17 Jer 48:44 Mr 7:10 Ga 3:13

10 And a certain man saw it, and told Joab, and said, Behold, I saw Absalom hanged in an oak.

11 And Joab said unto the man that told him, And, behold, thou sawest him, and why didst thou not smite him there to the ground? and I would have given thee ten shekels of silver, and a girdle.

12 And the man said unto Joab, Though I should receive a thousand shekels of silver in mine hand, yet would I not put forth mine hand against the king's son: for in our hearing the king charged thee and Abishai and Ittai, saying, Beware that none touch the young man Absalom.

receive, etc. [heb] weigh upon mine hand
in our hearing 2Sa 18:5

Beware, etc. [heb] Beware, whosoever ye be, of the

13 Otherwise I should have wrought falsehood against mine own life: for there is no matter hid from the king, and thou thyself wouldest have set thyself against me.

sought 2Sa 1:15,16 4:10-12

for there is no 2Sa 14:19,20 Heb 4:13

14 Then said Joab, I may not tarry thus with thee. And he took three darts in his hand, and thrust them through the heart of Absalom, while he was yet alive in the midst of the oak.

with thee [heb] before thee
thrust them 2Sa 18:5 Jud 4:21 5:26,31 Ps 45:5 1Th 5:3

midst [heb] heart Mt 12:40

15 And ten young men that bare Joab's armor compassed about and smote Absalom, and slew him.

16 And Joab blew the trumpet, and the people returned from pursuing after Israel: for Joab held back the people.

blew the trumpet 2Sa 2:28 20:22 Nu 10:2-10 1Co 14:8

17 And they took Absalom, and cast him into a great pit in the wood, and laid a very great heap of stones upon him: and all Israel fled every one to his tent.

laid This was the ancient method of burying, whether heroes or traitors; the heap of stones being designed to perpetuate the memory of the event, whether good or bad. The Arabs in general make use of no other monument than a {heap of stones} over a grave. Thus, in an Arabic poem, it is related, that Hatim the father, and Adi the grandfather of Kais was capable of reflection, his mother kept it a profound secret; and in order to guard him against having any suspicion, she collected a parcel of stone on two hillocks in the neighbourhood, and told her son that the one was the grave of his father, and the other of his grandfather. The ancient {cairns} in Ireland and Scotland, and the {tumuli} in England, are of this kind. Jos 7:26 8:29 10:27 Pr 10:7 Jer 22:18,19

18 Now Absalom in his lifetime had taken and reared up for himself a pillar, which is in the king's dale: for he said, I have no son to keep my name in remembrance: and he called the pillar after his own name: and it is called unto this day, Absalom's place.

reared up 1Sa 15:12

the king's Ge 14:17

I have no son 2Sa 14:27 Job 18:16,17 Ps 109:13 Jer 22:30

he called Ge 11:4 1Sa 15:12 Ps 49:11 Da 4:30

Absalom's place Josephus says there was in his time, about two furlongs from Jerusalem, a marble pillar called {Absalom's hand}, as it is in the Hebrew, (See note on 1Sa 15:12;) and there is one shown to the present day, in the valley of Jehoshaphat, which, though comparatively a modern structure, probably occupies the site of the original one set up by Absalom. Ge 11:9 Ac 1:18,19

19 Then said Ahimaaz the son of Zadok, Let me now run, and bear the king tidings, how that the LORD hath avenged him of his enemies.

Ahimaaz 2Sa 18:23,27-29 15:36 17:17

avenged him [heb] judged him from the hand, etc. Ps 7:6,8,9 9:4,16 10:14,18 Ro 12:19

20 And Joab said unto him, Thou shalt not bear tidings this day, but thou shalt bear tidings another day: but this day thou shalt bear no tidings, because the king's son is dead.

bear tidings [heb] be a man of tidings 2Sa 17:16-21

because 2Sa 18:5,27,29,33

21 Then said Joab to Cushy, Go tell the king what thou hast seen. And Cushy bowed himself unto Joab, and ran.

22 Then said Ahimaaz the son of Zadok yet again to Joab, But howsoever, let me, I pray thee, also run after Cushy. And Joab said, Wherefore wilt thou run, my son, seeing that thou hast no tidings ready?

howsoever [heb] be what may
ready. or, convenient Ro 1:28 Eph 5:4

23 But howsoever, said he, let me run. And he said unto him, Run. Then Ahimaaz ran by the way of the plain, and overran Cushy.

overran Cushi Joh 20:4

24 And David sat between the two gates: and the watchman went up to the roof over the gate unto the wall, and lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold a man running alone.

between 2Sa 18:4 1Sa 4:13

the watchman 2Ki 9:17-20 Isa 21:6-9,11,12 Eze 33:2-7

25 And the watchman cried, and told the king. And the king said, If he be alone, there is tidings in his mouth. And he came apace, and drew near.

26 And the watchman saw another man running: and the watchman called unto the porter, and said, Behold another man running alone. And the king said, He also bringeth tidings.

27 And the watchman said, Me thinketh the running of the foremost is like the running of Ahimaaz the son of Zadok. And the king said, He is a good man, and cometh with good tidings.

Me thinketh [heb] I see 2Ki 9:20

he is a good 1Ki 1:42 Pr 25:13,25 Isa 52:7 Ro 10:15

28 And Ahimaaz called, and said unto the king, All is well. And he fell down to the earth upon his face before the king, and said, Blessed be the LORD thy God, which hath delivered up the men that lifted up their hand against my lord the king.

All is well. or, Peace be to thee. [heb] Peace
he fell down upon his face. This act was not only in reverence to the king, but in humble adoration of God, whose name he praises for this victory. The more our hearts are fixed and enlarged, in thanksgiving to God for our mercies, the better disposed we shall be to bear with patience the afflictions mixed with them. 2Sa 1:2 14:4

Blessed 2Sa 22:27 Ge 14:20 24:27 2Ch 20:26 Ps 115:1 124:6 144:1,2 Re 19:1-3

delivered up [heb] shut up 1Sa 24:18 26:8 Ps 31:8

29 And the king said, Is the young man Absalom safe? And Ahimaaz answered, When Joab sent the king's servant, and me thy servant, I saw a great tumult, but I knew not what it was.

Is the young man Absalom safe? [heb] is there peace to, etc.
I saw a great 2Sa 18:19,20,22

30 And the king said unto him, Turn aside, and stand here. And he turned aside, and stood still.

31 And, behold, Cushy came; and Cushy said, Tidings, my lord the king: for the LORD hath avenged thee this day of all them that rose up against thee.

Tidings [heb] Tidings is brought
the Lord 2Sa 18:19,28 22:48,49 De 32:35,36 Ps 58:10 94:1-4 124:2,3 Lu 18:7,8

Cushi was the man Joab ordered to carry the tidings to David. He was an Ethiopian, as his name signifies, and some think he was so by birth--a black, who waited on Joab, probably one of the ten who had helped to dispatch Absalom; though it was dangerous for one of those to bring the news to David, lest his fate should be same with theirs that reported the death of Saul and Ishbosheth to him.

32 And the king said unto Cushy, Is the young man Absalom safe? And Cushy answered, The enemies of my lord the king, and all that rise against thee to do thee hurt, be as that young man is.

The enemies Thus Cushi obliquely and slowly informs David of the death of his son Absalom. Jud 5:31 Ps 68:1,2 Da 4:19

33 And the king was much moved, and went up to the chamber over the gate, and wept: and as he went, thus he said, O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! would God I had died for thee, O Absalom, my son, my son!

O my son 2Sa 19:4

would God 2Sa 12:10-23 Ps 103:13 Pr 10:1 17:25 Jas 5:17