---
title: "Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible -  2 Samuel 18"
description: "CHAPTER 18   :-. DAVID
REVIEWING THE ARMIES. 1, 2. David numbered the people that
were with him—The hardy mountaineers of Gilead came in great
numbers at"
image: "/images/missing.jpg"
url: "https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/2-samuel/18"
---

CHAPTER 18

. DAVID
REVIEWING THE ARMIES.

**1, 2. David numbered the people that
were with him**—The hardy mountaineers of Gilead came in great
numbers at the call of their chieftains, so that, although without
money to pay any troops, David soon found himself at the head of a
considerable army. A pitched battle was now inevitable. But so much
depending on the life of the king, he was not allowed to take the
field in person; and he therefore divided his forces into three
detachments under Joab, Abishai, and Ittai, the commander of the
foreign guards.
. GIVES THEM
CHARGE OF ABSALOM.

**5. Deal gently for my sake with the
young man, even with Absalom**—This affecting charge, which the
king gave to his generals, proceeded not only from his overwhelming
affection for his children, but from his consciousness that this
rebellion was the chastisement of his own crimes, Absalom being
merely an instrument in the hand of retributive Providence;—and
also from his piety, lest the unhappy prince should die with his sins
unrepented of.

**6. wood of Ephraim**—This wood,
of course, was on the east of Jordan. Its name was derived, according
to some, from the slaughter of the Ephraimites by Jephthah—according
to others, from the connection of blood with the trans-jordanic
Manasseh.

**7. the people of Israel were
slain**—This designation, together with the immense slaughter
mentioned later, shows the large extent to which the people were
enlisted in this unhappy civil contest.

**8. the wood devoured more people
than the sword**—The thick forest of oaks and terebinths, by
obstructing the flight, greatly aided the victors in the pursuit.

**9. Absalom met the servants of
David**—or was overtaken. "It is necessary to be continually
on one's guard against the branches of trees; and when the hair is
worn in large locks floating down the back, as was the case with a
young man of the party to which I belonged, any thick boughs
interposing in the path might easily dislodge a rider from his seat,
and catch hold of his flowing hair" [HARTLEY].
Some, however, think that the sacred historian points not so much to
the hair, as to the *head* of Absalom, which, being caught while
running between two branches, was enclosed so firmly that he could
not disengage himself from the hold, nor make use of his hands.
**the mule that was under him
went away**—The Orientals, not having saddles as we do, do not
sit so firmly on the beasts they ride. Absalom quitting his hold of
the bridle, apparently to release himself when caught in the oak, the
mule escaped.

**11, 12. Joab said unto the man that
told him, . . . I would have given thee ten shekels of silver, and a
girdle**—that is, would have raised him from the ranks to the
status of a commissioned officer. Besides a sum of money, a girdle,
curiously and richly wrought, was among the ancient Hebrews a mark of
honor, and sometimes bestowed as a reward of military merit. This
soldier, however, who may be taken as a fair sample of David's
faithful subjects, had so great a respect for the king's wishes, that
no prospect of reward would have tempted him to lay violent hands on
Absalom. But Joab's stern sense of public duty, which satisfied him
that there could be neither safety to the king, nor peace to the
kingdom, nor security to him and other loyal subjects, so long as
that turbulent prince lived, overcame his sensibilities, and looking
upon the charge given to the generals as more befitting a parent than
a prince, he ventured to disobey it.
. HE IS
SLAIN BY JOAB.

**14. he took three darts . . . and
thrust them through the heart of Absalom**—The deed, partially
done by Joab, was completed by his bodyguard. Being a violation of
the expressed wish, as well as of all the fond paternal feelings of
David, it must have been deeply offensive to the king, nor was it
ever forgotten ([1 Kings 2:5](../../../kjv/1-kings/2/5)); and
yet there is the strongest reason for believing that Joab, in doing
it, was actuated by a sincere regard to the interests of David, both
as a man and a monarch.

**16. Joab blew the trumpet, . . . and
held back the people**—Knowing that by the death of the usurper
there was no occasion for further bloodshed, he put an end to the
pursuit and thereby evinced the temperate policy of his conduct.
However harsh and unfeeling to the king Joab may appear, there can be
no doubt that he acted the part of a wise statesman in regarding the
peace and welfare of the kingdom more than his master's private
inclinations, which were opposed to strict justice as well as his own
interests. Absalom deserved to die by the divine law ([Deuteronomy 21:18](../../../kjv/deuteronomy/21/18);
[Deuteronomy 21:21](../../../kjv/deuteronomy/21/21)), as well as being an
enemy to his king and country; and no time was more fitting than when
he met that death in open battle.

**17. they took Absalom, and cast him
into a great pit . . . and laid a very great heap of stones upon
him**—The people of the East indicate their detestation of the
memory of an infamous person by throwing stones at the place where he
is buried. The heap is increased by the gradual accumulation of
stones which passers-by add to it.

**18. Absalom in his lifetime had
reared up for himself a pillar**—literally, "hand." In
the valley of Jehoshaphat, on the east of Jerusalem, is a tomb or
cenotaph, said to be this "pillar" or monument: it is
twenty-four feet square, dome-topped, and reaches forty feet in
height. This may occupy the spot, but cannot itself be the work of
Absalom, as it evidently bears the style of a later architecture.

**19. Then said Ahimaaz . . . Let me .
. . run and bear the king tidings**—The reasons why Joab declined
to accept Ahimaaz' offer to bear intelligence of the victory to
David, and afterwards let him go along with another, are variously
stated by commentators—but they are of no importance. Yet the
alacrity of the messengers, as well as the eager excitement of the
expectants, is graphically described.

**23. by the way of the plain**—or
*ciccar,* "circle." This word is only used elsewhere
in connection with the valley of the Jordan. It is possible that
there may have been a place or region so called on the tablelands of
Gilead, as the *Septuagint* seems to indicate. Or Mahanaim may
have been so situated, with the regard to the battlefield, as to be
more easily accessible by a descent to the plain of the Jordan, than
over the hills themselves. Or the word may signify (as EWALD
explains) a manner of quick running [STANLEY].

**24-32. David sat between the two
gates**—that is, in the tower-house on the wall that overhung the
gate of Mahanaim. Near it was a watchtower, on which a sentinel was
posted, as in times of war, to notify every occurrence. The delicacy
of Ahimaaz' communication was made up by the unmistakable plainness
of Cushi's. The death of Absalom was a heavy trial, and it is
impossible not to sympathize with the outburst of feeling by which
David showed that all thoughts of the victory he had won as a king
were completely sunk in the painful loss he had sustained as a
father. The extraordinary ardor and strength of his affection for
this worthless son break out in the redundancy and vehemence of his
mournful ejaculations.

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