Chapter 15: Abishalom Wants to Make Himself Judge Over Ysrayl: The People of Ysrayl Like Absalom and Bow to Him and He Liked the People Bowing to Himself
1 After this, it happened that Absalom provided himself with chariots and horses and fifty men to run before him. 2 Now Absalom would rise early and stand beside the way to the gate. So it was, whenever anyone who had a lawsuit came to the king for a decision, that Absalom would call to him and say, “What city are you from”? And he would say, “Your servant is from such and such a tribe of Ysrayl”. 3 Then Absalom would say to him, “Look, your case is good and right but there is no deputy of the king to hear you”. 4 Moreover, Absalom would say, “Oh, that I were made judge in the land and everyone who has any suit or cause would come to me, then I would give him justice”. 5 And so it was, whenever anyone came near to bow down to him, that he would put out his hand and take him and kiss him. 6 In this manner Absalom acted toward all Ysrayl who came to the king for judgment. So Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Ysrayl.
Abishalom Goes to Hebron
7 Now it came to pass after forty (or reads after four years) years that Absalom said to the king, “Please, let me go to Hebron and pay the vow which I made to Yah. 8 For your servant took a vow while I dwelt at Geshur in Syria saying, ‘If Yah indeed brings me back to Yahrushalim, then I will serve Yah’.” 9 And the king said to him, “Go in peace”. So he arose and went to Hebron.
Abishalom Conspires Against David Committing Treason
10 Then Absalom sent spies throughout all the tribes of Ysrayl saying, “As soon as you hear the sound of the trumpet, then you shall say, ‘Absalom reigns in Hebron’!” 11 And with Absalom went two hundred men invited from Yahrushalim and they went along innocently and did not know anything. 12 Then Absalom sent for Athithophyah the Gilonite, David’s counselor, from his city, from Giloh while he offered sacrifices. and the conspiracy grew strong, for the people with Absalom continually increased in number.
David is Told the Children of Ysrayl are Allied With Abishalom So David and His Men Flee Yahrushalim Leaving His Ten Wives and Concubines in His House
13 Now a messenger came to David saying, “The hearts of men of Ysrayl are with Absalom”. 14 So David said to all his servants who were with him at Yahrushalim, “Arise and let us flee or we shall not escape from Absalom. Make haste to depart, lest he overtake us suddenly and bring disaster upon us and strike the city with the edge of the sword”. 15 And the king’s servants said to the king, “We are your servants, ready to do whatever my master the king commands”. 16 Then the king went out with all his household after him. But the king left ten women, concubines, to keep the house. 17 And the king went out with all the people after him and stopped at the outskirts.
A Few Nations Want to Help David: David Crosses the Brook Kidron into the Wilderness with Ittai the Gittite
18 Then all his servants passed before him and all the Cherethites, all the Pelethites and all the Gittites, six hundred men who had followed him from Gath passed before the king. 19 Then the king said to Ittai the Gittite, “Why are you also going with us? Return and remain with the king. For you are a foreigner and also an exile from your own place. 20 In fact, you came only yesterday. Should I make you wander up and down with us today, since I go I know not where? Return and take your brothers back. Mercy and truth be with you”. 21 But Ittai answered the king and said, “As Yah lives and as my master the king lives, surely in whatever place my master the king shall be, whether in death or life, even there also your servant will be”. 22 So David said to Ittai, “Go and cross over”. Then Ittai the Gittite and all his men and all the little ones who were with him crossed over. 23 And all the country wept with a loud voice and all the people crossed over. The king himself also crossed over the Brook Kidron and all the people crossed over toward the way of the wilderness.
David Orders Zadok the Priest and the Levites to Carry the Ark of Yah Back to Yahrushalim to Await Yah’s Judgment
24 There was Zadok also and all the Levites with him bearing the ark of the Covenant of Yah. And they set down the ark of Yah and Abiathar went up until all the people had finished crossing over from the city. 25 Then the king said to Zadok, “Carry the ark of Yah back into the city. If I find favor in the eyes of Yah, He will bring me back and show me both it and His dwelling place. 26 But if He says thus: ‘I have no delight in you’ here I am, let Him do to me as seems good to Him”. 27 The king also said to Zadok the priest, “Are you not a seer? Return to the city in peace and your two sons with you, Ahimazz your son and Yahanathan the son of Abiathar. 28 See, I will wait in the plains of the wilderness until word comes from you to inform me”. 29 Therefore, Zadok and Abiathar carried the ark of Yah back to Yahrushalim. And they remained there.
David Cries as He Goes Up Mount Olives: David Gets Word that His Counselor is with Abishalom
30 So David went up by the Ascent of the Mount of Olives and wept as he went up and he had his head covered and went barefoot. And all the people who were with him covered their heads and went up, weeping as they went up. 31 Then someone told David saying, “Ahithophyah is among the conspirators with Absalom”. And David said, “O Yah, I pray, turn the counsel of Ahithophyah into foolishness”!
*Compare to Luke 22:39-48, David went up Mount Olives weeping and praying to Yah about being betrayed by Absalom, Ahithophyah and ‘them’ and also Yahoshua went up Mount Olives praying and grieved before He is betrayed by Yahudah.
David’s Servant Hushai Becomes a Double (Spy) Agent for David: Abishalom Moves into Yahrushalim
32 Now it happened when David had come to the top of the mountain, where he worshiped Yah, there was Hushai the Archite coming to meet him with his robe torn and dust on his head. 33 David said to him, “If you go on with me, then you will become a burden to me. 34 But if you return to the city and say to Absalom, ‘I will be your servant, O king, as I was your father’s servant previously, so I will now also be your servant, then you may defeat the counsel of Ahithophyah for me. 35 And do you not have Zadok and Abiathar the priests with you there? Therefore, it will be that whatever you hear from the king’s house, you shall tell to Zadok and Abiathar the priests. 36 Indeed, they have there with them their two sons, Ahimazz, Zadok’s son and Yahanathan, Abiathar’s son and by them you shall send me everything you hear”. 37 So Hushai, David’s friend went into the city. And Absalom came into Yahrushalim.
Chapter 16: Mephibosheth’s Servant Ziba Gives David Food Hoping to Receive Favor From David by Slandering Mephibosheth
1 When David was a little past the top of the mountain, there was Ziba the servant of Mephibosheth, who met him with a couple of saddled donkeys and on them two hundred loaves of bread, one hundred clusters of raisins, one hundred summer fruits and a skin of wine. 2 And the king said to Ziba, “What do you mean to do with these”? So Ziba said, “The donkeys are for the king’s household to ride on, the bread and summer fruit for the young men to eat and the wine for those who are faint in the wilderness to drink”. 3 Then the king said, “And where is your master’s son”? And Ziba said to the king, “Indeed he is staying in Yahrushalim, for he said, ‘Today the house of Ysrayl will restore the kingdom of my father to me’.” 4 So the king said to Ziba, “Here, all that belongs to Mephibosheth is yours”. And Ziba said, “I humbly bow before you, that I may find favor in your sight, my master, O king”! *See 2 Shemuyah 19:26-27.
Shimei a Relative of Shaul at Bahurim Calls David a Bloodthirsty Rogue and Throws Stones at David and His Men
5 Now when king David came to Bahurim, there was a man from the family of the house of Shaul, whose name was Shimei the son of Gera coming from there. He came out, cursing continuously as he came. 6 And he threw 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. 7 Also Shimei said thus when he cursed: “Come out! Come out! You bloodthirsty man, you rogue! 8 Yah has brought upon you all the blood of the house of Shaul, in whose place you have reigned and Yah has delivered the kingdom into the hand of Absalom your son. So now you are caught in your own evil because you are a bloodthirsty man”!
Abishai Wants to Kill Shimei But David Does Not Let Him: David Discerns that Yah is Speaking Through Shimei: Yah’s Sword is Still in the Process of Splitting David’s Family Because of What He Did to Uriyah and David Knows it
9 Then Abishai the son of Zeruiyah said to the king, “Why should this dead dog curse my master the king? Please, let me go over and take off his head”! 10 But the king said, “What have I to do with you, you sons of Zeriuyah? So let him curse, because Yah has said to him, ‘Curse David’. Who then shall say, ‘Why have you done so’?” 11 And David said to Abishai and all his servants, “See how my son who came from my own body seeks my life. How much more now may this Benyamite? Let him alone and let him curse for so Yah has ordered him. 12 It may be that Yah will look on my affliction (or reads tears of my eyes) and that Yah will repay me with good for his cursing this day”. 13 And as David and his men went along the road, Shimei went along the hillside opposite him and cursed as he went, threw stones at him and kicked up dust. 14 Now the king and all the people who were with him became weary so they refreshed themselves there.
David’s Friend Hushai Talks to Abishalom: Abishalom Questions His Loyalty
15 Meanwhile Absalom and all the people, the men of Ysrayl came to Yahrushalim and Ahithophyah was with him. 16 And so it was, when Hushai the Archite, David’s friend, came to Absalom, that Hushai said to Absalom, “Long Live the king! Long live the king”! 17 So Absalom said to Hushai, “Is this your loyalty to your friend? Why did you not go with your friend”? 18 And Hushai said to Absalom, “No, but whom Yah and this people and all the men of Ysrayl choose, his I will be and with him I will remain. 19 Furthermore, whom should I serve? Should I not serve in the presence of his son? As I have served in your father’s presence, so will I be in your presence”.
Abishalom Takes Ahithophyah’s Evil Advice to Lay with David’s Concubines So All Ysrayl Will See and to Provoke David
20 Then Absalom said to Ahithophyah, “Give advice as to what we should do”. 21 And Ahithophyah said to Absalom, “Go into your father’s concubines, whom he has left to keep the house and all Ysrayl will hear that you are abhorred by your father. Then the hands of all who are with you will be strong”. 22 So they pitched a tent for Absalom on the top of the house and Absalom went into his father’s concubines in the sight of all Ysrayl. 23 Now the advice of Ahithophyah, which he gave in those days was as if one had inquired at the oracle of Yah. So was all the advice of Ahithophyah with David and with Absalom.
*Remember Yah said another man will lay with your wives for all Ysrayl to see in 2 Shemuyah 12:11-12. This prophesy is now fulfilled.
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