Absalom’s Conspiracy
Some time later, Absalom provided for himself a chariot with horses and fifty men to run ahead of him. 1Ki 1:51Sa 8:112Sa 12:11Psa 20:71Ki 1:331Ki 10:26-29Deu 17:16Jer 22:14-16 He would get up early and stand beside the road leading to the city gate. 1Ki 3:16-282Sa 19:8Exo 18:14Exo 18:16Exo 18:26Job 24:14Mat 27:1Pro 4:16
Whenever anyone had a grievance to bring before the king for a decision, Absalom would call out and ask, “What city are you from?” And if he replied, “Your servant is from one of the tribes of Israel,” Absalom would say, “Look, your claims are good and right, but the king has no deputy to hear you.” 1Pe 2:172Pe 2:102Sa 8:15Act 23:5Dan 11:21Exo 20:12Exo 21:17Ezk 22:7
And he would add, “If only someone would appoint me judge in the land, then everyone with a grievance or dispute could come to me, and I would give him justice.” Jdg 9:292Pe 2:19Jdg 9:1-5Luk 14:8-11Pro 25:6Pro 27:2
Also, when anyone approached to bow down to him, Absalom would reach out his hand, take hold of him, and kiss him. 2Sa 14:33Pro 26:25Psa 10:9-10Psa 55:21 Absalom did this to all the Israelites who came to the king for justice. In this way he stole the hearts of the men of Israel. Rom 16:182Pe 2:3Pro 11:9
After four 1years had passed, Absalom said to the king, “Please let me go to Hebron to fulfill a vow I have made to the LORD. Isa 58:41Sa 16:1-21Sa 16:132Sa 13:24-272Sa 13:38Mat 2:8Mat 23:13Pro 21:27 For your servant made a vow while dwelling in Geshur of Aram, saying: ‘If indeed the LORD brings me back to Jerusalem, I will worship the LORD in Hebron.’ 2” 2Sa 13:37-38Gen 28:20-211Sa 1:11Jer 9:3-51Sa 16:22Sa 14:232Sa 14:32Ecc 5:4
“Go in peace,” said the king. So Absalom got up and went to Hebron.
Then Absalom sent spies throughout the tribes of Israel with this message: “When you hear the sound of the horn, you are to say, ‘Absalom reigns in Hebron!’” 1Ch 11:31Ch 12:231Ch 12:381Ki 1:342Ki 9:132Sa 13:282Sa 14:302Sa 19:10
Two hundred men from Jerusalem accompanied Absalom. They had been invited as guests and they went along innocently, for they knew nothing about the matter. 1Sa 9:131Sa 22:151Sa 16:3-5Gen 20:5Mat 10:16Pro 14:15Pro 22:3Rom 16:18-19 While Absalom was offering the sacrifices, he sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, David’s counselor, to come from his hometown of Giloh. 2Sa 15:31Psa 41:9Jos 15:51Psa 55:12-14Tit 1:161Ki 21:122Sa 17:142Sa 17:23
So the conspiracy gained strength, and Absalom’s following kept increasing.
David Flees Jerusalem
(Psalms 3:1–8)
Then a messenger came to David and reported, “The hearts of the men of Israel are with Absalom.” Jdg 9:32Sa 15:6Mat 27:222Sa 3:36Mat 21:9Psa 62:9
And David said to all the servants with him in Jerusalem, “Arise and let us flee, or we will not escape from Absalom! We must leave quickly, or he will soon overtake us, heap disaster on us, and put the city to the sword.” 2Sa 19:92Sa 12:112Sa 23:16-17Ezk 46:18Luk 10:15Mat 11:12Psa 137:5-6Psa 3:1-8
The king’s servants replied, “Whatever our lord the king decides, we are your servants.” Jhn 6:66-69Luk 22:28-29Pro 18:24Jhn 15:14
Then the king set out, and his entire household followed him. But he left behind ten concubines to take care of the palace. 2Sa 16:21-222Sa 20:3Psa 3:1Rom 12:21Sa 25:271Sa 25:422Sa 12:11Jdg 4:10
So the king set out with all the people following him. He stopped at the last house, Ecc 10:7Psa 3:1-2Psa 66:12 and all his servants marched past him—all the Cherethites and Pelethites, and six hundred Gittites who had followed him from Gath. 2Sa 8:181Ch 18:171Ki 1:381Sa 30:142Sa 20:232Sa 20:71Sa 27:32Sa 15:19-22
Then the king said to Ittai the Gittite, “Why should you also go with us? Go back and stay with the new king, since you are both a foreigner and an exile from your homeland. 2Sa 18:2Rut 1:11-13 In fact, you arrived only yesterday; should I make you wander around with us today while I do not know where I am going? Go back and take your brothers with you. May the LORD show you loving devotion and faithfulness. 3” 1Sa 23:132Sa 2:6Heb 11:37-38Jhn 1:172Ti 1:16-18Amo 8:12Pro 14:22Psa 25:10
But Ittai answered the king, “As surely as the LORD lives, and as my lord the king lives, wherever my lord the king may be, whether it means life or death, there will your servant be!” Rut 1:16-17Pro 17:172Ki 4:302Co 7:32Ki 2:22Ki 2:42Ki 2:6Act 11:23
“March on then,” said David to Ittai. So Ittai the Gittite marched past with all his men and all the little ones who were with him.
Everyone in the countryside was weeping loudly as all the people passed by. And as the king crossed the Kidron Valley, all the people also passed toward the way of the wilderness. 2Sa 16:21Ki 2:37Jhn 18:11Ki 15:132Ch 29:16Luk 1:80Mat 3:1Mat 3:3
Zadok was also there, and all the Levites with him were carrying the ark of the covenant of God. And they set down the ark of God, and Abiathar offered sacrifices 4until the people had passed out of the city. 2Sa 8:17Num 4:152Sa 20:251Sa 22:201Ch 15:21Ch 6:8-121Ki 1:81Ki 2:35
Then the king said to Zadok, “Return the ark of God to the city. If I find favor in the eyes of the LORD, He will bring me back and let me see both it and His dwelling place again. Jer 25:30Psa 26:8Psa 84:10Exo 15:13Psa 43:3-41Sa 4:3-112Sa 12:10-112Sa 6:17 But if He should say, ‘I do not delight in you,’ then here I am; let Him do to me whatever seems good to Him.” 1Sa 3:181Ki 10:92Sa 22:202Ch 9:8Isa 62:4Num 14:8Isa 42:1Jdg 10:15
The king also said to Zadok the priest, “Are you not a seer? 5 Return to the city in peace—you with your son Ahimaaz, and Abiathar with his son Jonathan. 6 1Sa 9:92Sa 17:171Ch 25:52Sa 15:342Sa 15:362Sa 24:11 See, I will wait at the fords of the wilderness until word comes from you to inform me.” 2Sa 17:162Sa 15:232Sa 16:22Sa 17:1
So Zadok and Abiathar returned the ark of God to Jerusalem and stayed there.
David Weeps at the Mount of Olives
(Psalms 63:1–11)
But David continued up the Mount of Olives, weeping as he went up. His head was covered, and he was walking barefoot. And all the people with him covered their heads and went up, weeping as they went. Est 6:122Sa 19:4Luk 19:41Act 1:12Ezk 24:17Ezk 24:23Isa 20:2-4Jer 14:3-4
Now someone told David: “Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom.” 2Sa 17:142Sa 17:23Psa 41:9Jas 3:15Job 5:121Co 1:201Co 3:18-202Sa 15:12
So David pleaded, “O LORD, please turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness!”
When David came to the summit, where he used to worship God, Hushai the Archite was there to meet him with his robe torn and dust on his head. Jos 16:22Sa 1:2Psa 3:3-51Ki 11:71Ki 8:44-452Sa 13:192Sa 15:302Sa 16:16-19
David said to him, “If you go on with me, you will be a burden to me. 2Sa 19:35 But you can thwart the counsel of Ahithophel for me if you return to the city and say to Absalom: ‘I will be your servant, my king; in the past I was your father’s servant, but now I will be your servant.’ 2Sa 15:202Sa 16:16-192Sa 17:5-14Jos 8:2Mat 10:16
Will not Zadok and Abiathar the priests be there with you? Report to them everything you hear from the king’s palace. 2Sa 17:15-16 Indeed, their two sons, Ahimaaz son of Zadok and Jonathan son of Abiathar, are there with them. Send them to me with everything you hear.” 2Sa 17:172Sa 15:272Sa 18:19-33
So David’s friend Hushai arrived in Jerusalem just as Absalom was entering the city. 1Ch 27:332Sa 16:15-16