And David numbered the people that were with him, and set captains of thousands and captains of hundreds over them.
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.
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 succour us out of the city.
Thou shalt
2 Samuel 21:17 But Abishai the son of Zeruiah succored him, and smote the Philistine, …
if we flee
2 Samuel 17:2 And I will come on him while he is weary and weak handed, and will …
1 Kings 22:31 But the king of Syria commanded his thirty and two captains that …
Zechariah 13:7 Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, and against the man that is …
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
Lamentations 4:20 The breath of our nostrils, the anointed of the LORD, was taken in …
succour [heb] be to succour
2 Samuel 10:11 And he said, If the Syrians be too strong for me, then you shall …
Exodus 17:10-12 So Joshua did as Moses had said to him, and fought with Amalek: and …
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.
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
2 Samuel 16:11 And David said to Abishai, and to all his servants, Behold, my son, …
2 Samuel 17:1-4,14 Moreover Ahithophel said to Absalom, Let me now choose out twelve …
Deuteronomy 21:18-21 If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son, which will not obey …
Psalm 103:13 Like as a father pities his children, so the LORD pities them that fear him.
Luke 23:34 Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they …
all the people
1 Samuel 18:12 And Saul was afraid of David, because the LORD was with him, and …
So the people went out into the field against Israel: and the battle was in the wood of Ephraim;
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
2 Samuel 2:17 And there was a very sore battle that day; and Abner was beaten, …
2 Samuel 15:6 And on this manner did Absalom to all Israel that came to the king …
2 Samuel 19:41-43 And, behold, all the men of Israel came to the king, and said to …
a great
Proverbs 11:21 Though hand join in hand, the wicked shall not be unpunished: but …
Proverbs 24:21 My son, fear you the LORD and the king: and meddle not with them …
twenty thousand
2 Samuel 2:26,31 Then Abner called to Joab, and said, Shall the sword devour for ever? …
2 Chronicles 13:16,17 And the children of Israel fled before Judah: and God delivered them …
2 Chronicles 28:6 For Pekah the son of Remaliah slew in Judah an hundred and twenty …
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.
Exodus 15:10 You did blow with your wind, the sea covered them: they sank as lead …
Joshua 10:11 And it came to pass, as they fled from before Israel, and were in …
Judges 5:20,21 They fought from heaven; the stars in their courses fought against Sisera…
1 Kings 20:30 But the rest fled to Aphek, into the city; and there a wall fell …
Psalm 3:7 Arise, O LORD; save me, O my God: for you have smitten all my enemies …
Psalm 43:1 Judge me, O God, and plead my cause against an ungodly nation: O …
devoured more [heb] multiplied to devour
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.
2 Samuel 18:14 Then said Joab, I may not tarry thus with you. And he took three …
2 Samuel 14:26 And when he polled his head, (for it was at every year's end that …
2 Samuel 17:23 And when Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not followed, he saddled …
Matthew 27:5 And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, …
taken up
Deuteronomy 21:23 His body shall not remain all night on the tree, but you shall in …
Deuteronomy 27:16,20 Cursed be he that sets light by his father or his mother. And all …
Job 18:8-10 For he is cast into a net by his own feet, and he walks on a snare…
Job 31:3 Is not destruction to the wicked? and a strange punishment to the …
Psalm 63:9,10 But those that seek my soul, to destroy it, shall go into the lower …
Proverbs 20:20 Whoever curses his father or his mother, his lamp shall be put out …
Proverbs 30:17 The eye that mocks at his father, and despises to obey his mother, …
Jeremiah 48:44 He that flees from the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that …
Mark 7:10 For Moses said, Honor your father and your mother; and, Whoever curses …
Galatians 3:13 Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse …
And a certain man saw it, and told Joab, and said, Behold, I saw Absalom hanged in an oak.
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.
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.
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
2 Samuel 1:15,16 And David called one of the young men, and said, Go near, and fall …
2 Samuel 4:10-12 When one told me, saying, Behold, Saul is dead, thinking to have …
for there is no
2 Samuel 14:19,20 And the king said, Is not the hand of Joab with you in all this? …
Hebrews 4:13 Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight…
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.
And ten young men that bare Joab's armour compassed about and smote Absalom, and slew him.
And Joab blew the trumpet, and the people returned from pursuing after Israel: for Joab held back the people.
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.
Joshua 7:26 And they raised over him a great heap of stones to this day. So the …
Joshua 8:29 And the king of Ai he hanged on a tree until eventide: and as soon …
Joshua 10:27 And it came to pass at the time of the going down of the sun, that …
Proverbs 10:7 The memory of the just is blessed: but the name of the wicked shall rot.
Jeremiah 22:18,19 Therefore thus said the LORD concerning Jehoiakim the son of Josiah …
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
1 Samuel 15:12 And when Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning, it was told …
the king's
Genesis 14:17 And the king of Sodom went out to meet him after his return from …
I have no son
2 Samuel 14:27 And to Absalom there were born three sons, and one daughter, whose …
Job 18:16,17 His roots shall be dried up beneath, and above shall his branch be cut off…
Psalm 109:13 Let his posterity be cut off; and in the generation following let …
Jeremiah 22:30 Thus said the LORD, Write you this man childless, a man that shall …
he called
Genesis 11:4 And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top …
1 Samuel 15:12 And when Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning, it was told …
Psalm 49:11 Their inward thought is, that their houses shall continue for ever, …
Daniel 4:30 The king spoke, and said, Is not this great Babylon, that I have …
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
1 Samuel 15:12 And when Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning, it was told …
Genesis 11:9 Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the LORD did there …
Acts 1:18,19 Now this man purchased a field with the reward of iniquity; and falling …
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
2 Samuel 18:23,27-29 But howsoever, said he, let me run. And he said to him, Run. Then …
2 Samuel 15:36 Behold, they have there with them their two sons, Ahimaaz Zadok's …
2 Samuel 17:17 Now Jonathan and Ahimaaz stayed by Enrogel; for they might not be …
avenged him [heb] judged him from the hand, etc.
Psalm 7:6,8,9 Arise, O LORD, in your anger, lift up yourself because of the rage …
Psalm 9:4,16 For you have maintained my right and my cause; you sat in the throne …
Psalm 10:14,18 You have seen it; for you behold mischief and spite, to requite it …
Romans 12:19 Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place to wrath: …
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.
Then said Joab to Cushi, Go tell the king what thou hast seen. And Cushi bowed himself unto Joab, and ran.
Then said Ahimaaz the son of Zadok yet again to Joab, But howsoever, let me, I pray thee, also run after Cushi. And Joab said, Wherefore wilt thou run, my son, seeing that thou hast no tidings ready?
But howsoever, said he, let me run. And he said unto him, Run. Then Ahimaaz ran by the way of the plain, and overran Cushi.
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
2 Samuel 18:4 And the king said to them, What seems you best I will do. And the …
1 Samuel 4:13 And when he came, see, Eli sat on a seat by the wayside watching: …
the watchman
2 Kings 9:17-20 And there stood a watchman on the tower in Jezreel, and he spied …
Isaiah 21:6-9,11,12 For thus has the LORD said to me, Go, set a watchman, let him declare …
Ezekiel 33:2-7 Son of man, speak to the children of your people, and say to them, …
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.
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.
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.
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.
2 Samuel 1:2 It came even to pass on the third day, that, behold, a man came out …
2 Samuel 14:4 And when the woman of Tekoah spoke to the king, she fell on her face …
Blessed
2 Samuel 22:27 With the pure you will show yourself pure; and with the fraudulent …
Genesis 14:20 And blessed be the most high God, which has delivered your enemies …
Genesis 24:27 And he said, Blessed be the LORD God of my master Abraham, who has …
2 Chronicles 20:26 And on the fourth day they assembled themselves in the valley of …
Psalm 115:1 Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to your name give glory, for your …
Psalm 124:6 Blessed be the LORD, who has not given us as a prey to their teeth.
Psalm 144:1,2 Blessed be the LORD my strength which teaches my hands to war, and …
Revelation 19:1-3 And after these things I heard a great voice of much people in heaven, …
delivered up [heb] shut up
1 Samuel 24:18 And you have showed this day how that you have dealt well with me: …
1 Samuel 26:8 Then said Abishai to David, God has delivered your enemy into your …
Psalm 31:8 And have not shut me up into the hand of the enemy: you have set …
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.
And the king said unto him, Turn aside, and stand here. And he turned aside, and stood still.
And, behold, Cushi came; and Cushi 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
2 Samuel 18:19,28 Then said Ahimaaz the son of Zadok, Let me now run, and bear the …
2 Samuel 22:48,49 It is God that avenges me, and that brings down the people under me…
Deuteronomy 32:35,36 To me belongs vengeance and recompense; their foot shall slide in …
Psalm 58:10 The righteous shall rejoice when he sees the vengeance: he shall …
Psalm 94:1-4 O Lord God, to whom vengeance belongs; O God, to whom vengeance belongs, …
Psalm 124:2,3 If it had not been the LORD who was on our side, when men rose up against us…
Luke 18:7,8 And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night to …
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.
And the king said unto Cushi, Is the young man Absalom safe? And Cushi answered, The enemies of my lord the king, and all that rise against thee to do thee hurt, be as that young man is.
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!
