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The books of Samuel are two parts of the same work. What has been said in theintroduction to the first book holds true for the second.

In this second part, the deeds of King David are narrated. No history as sincere as thiswas ever written in ancient times – a story written by a man of God who could unearthDavid’s real greatness. Thus, what is exceptional about King David can be noted in a seriesof small things that perhaps seemed insignificant or even stupid to his contemporaries (seehow different David is from Joab, the “achiever” and “effective” man). But these thingsdid not pass unnoticed by the one who narrated the story. Then, Israel understood that ifthey had had several outstanding kings, only David provided them with an anticipatedimage of the true King, Christ.

To better understand the events that follow, let us bear in mind that even before David,the tribe of Judah which settled in southern Palestine felt different from the tribes of Israelsituated more to the north. Saul had more allies in the north; while David was aBethlehemite from the tribe of Judah and found his support there.

1Saul leaning on his spear while chariotsand horsemen were closing in on him.7 He turned around and, seeing me,called me. 8 I said, ‘Here I am.’ Heasked, ‘Who are you?’ and I replied, ‘Iam an Amalekite.’ 9 He then said to me,‘Come here and kill me for I feel dizzythough I am fully alive.’ 10 So I wentover and killed him, for I knew that hewould fall and not rise again. Then Iremoved the crown from his head andthe armlet from his arm, both of which Ihave here to give you, my lord.”

11 At this, David took hold of hisclothes and tore them and his men didthe same. 12 And they mourned, weep-ing and fasting until evening, for thedeath of Saul and his son Jonathan, forall the people of Judah and for thenation of Israel.

13 David asked the young man whotold him this, “Where are you from?”And he answered, “I am the son of an

David learns of Saul’s death

• 1 It was thus that Saul died. As forDavid, he returned after defeating

the Amalekites. He was already twodays in Ziklag 2 when, on the third day,a man came from Saul’s camp, with hisclothes torn and dust strewn on hishead. He went to David and fell to theground in homage. 3 David asked him,“Where are you from?” And he an-swered, “I have escaped from the Isra-elite camp.” 4 David then said, “Tell mewhat happened.” And the man toldhim, “The soldiers fled from the battlebut many of them fell and died. Sauland his son Jonathan – they too aredead.”

5 Then David asked the young manwho reported this, “How do you knowthat Saul and his son Jonathan aredead?”

6 The young man replied, “I hap-pened to be on Mount Gilboa and I saw

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Amalekite immigrant.” 14 David said,“Why were you not afraid to lay yourhands on Yahweh’s anointed and killhim?” 15 He then called one of his menand ordered him, “Come and strike himdown.” He struck down the Amalekiteand killed him.

16 David declared, “You will answerfor your own blood for you condemnedyourself when you said, ‘I have killedYahweh’s anointed’.”

17 David sang this song of lamenta-tion for Saul and his son Jonathan, andhad it taught to the people of Judah. Itis called “The Bow” 18 and is found inthe Book of the Just.

19 “Your glory, O Israel, is slain upon yourmountains!

How the mighty ones have fallen!20 Tell it not in Gath,proclaim it not in the streets of Ashkelonlest the Philistine women rejoice,lest foreign maidens exult.21 Mountains of Gilboa,let neither dew nor rain visit you,no more fertile fields on you!For on you the shield of the valiant was

defiled.22 The shield of Saul was not anointed

with oil;but with the blood of the slain.From the fat of the warriors,the bow of Jonathan did not turn back,nor did the sword of Saul return unstained.23 Saul and Jonathan, beloved and cher-

ished,neither in life nor in death were they

parted;swifter than eagles they wereand stronger than lions.24 Women of Israel, weep over Saulwho clothed you in precious scarlet.25 How the valiant have fallen!In the midst of the battle Jonathan lies

slain on your mountains.26 I grieve for you, my brother Jonathan;how dear have you been to me!Your love for me was wonderful,even more than the love of women.27 How the valiant have fallen!The weapons of war have perished!”

David is anointed King over Judah• 1 After this, David consultedYahweh, “Shall I go up to one of the

cities of Judah?” Yahweh answeredhim, “Go!” Then David asked, “Whereshall I go?” He answered, “To Hebron.”2 So David went up to Hebron with histwo wives, Ahinoam of Jezreel andAbigail the widow of Nabal of Carmel.3 David also brought up his men withtheir families and they settled in thetowns of Hebron. 4 Then the men ofJudah came and there they anointedDavid king over the nation of Judah.

David learned that the men of Jab-esh-gilead had buried Saul, 5 so he sentmessengers to them with these words,“May Yahweh bless you for you havedealt kindly with Saul, your master, andhave buried him. 6 May Yahweh showhis love and fidelity to you! I, in turn,will be kind to you for having done this.7 Now be brave and strong for althoughyour master Saul is dead, the people ofJudah have anointed me their king.”

8 Now Abner, son of Ner, Saul’s gen-eral, had taken Ishbaal, son of Saul,and brought him over to Mahanaim9 where he made him king over Gilead,the Ashurites, Jezreel, Ephraim, Ben-jamin and the rest of Israel. 10 Ishbaal,Saul’s son, was forty years old when hebegan to reign over Israel, and hereigned for two years. Only the peopleof Judah followed David. 11 David wastheir king in Hebron and he ruled overthem for seven years and six months.Civil war

12 Abner, son of Ner, and the menservantsof Ishbaal, Saul’s son, left Mahanaim forGibeon 13 where Joab, son of Zeruiah and themen of David met them at the pool of Gibeon.There they sat, one group on one side of thepool, the other on the opposite side. 14 Abner

attributed to him is one of the more ancientsongs in the Bible.

• 2.1 Saul’s death seems to undermine therecently acquired and still fragile unity of thetwelve tribes.

David is proclaimed king by the people of

• 1.1 The first reaction of David, upon hear-ing of Saul’s death, shows his noble qualities.From then on, he champions national unity andstrives to reunite around him both allies andenemies of Saul.

Mountains of Gilboa. David is already knownfor his poetic talents (see 1 S 16:18). This poem

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told Joab, “Let the young men rise and per-form for us.” Joab replied, “Let them rise!”15 So they rose and were counted off: twelveof the Benjaminites of Ishbaal, Saul’s son,and twelve of David’s men. 16 Each onecaught his opponent’s head and thrust hissword in his opponent’s side, and all fell downtogether. Therefore, that place in Gibeon wascalled field of the fighting.

17 After a very fierce battle that day, Abnerand the men of Israel were defeated byDavid’s troops. 18 The three sons of Zeruiah –Joab, Abishai and Asahel – were there.19 Asahel, who ran as fast as a wild gazelle,pursued Abner, turning neither to the rightnor to the left. 20 Abner turned around andasked, “Is that you, Asahel?” He replied,“Yes, it is I.” 21 Abner said to him, “Turn rightor left, go after one of the young men and takehis spoil.” But Asahel refused to desist fromfollowing him, 22 so Abner again said, “Stopfollowing me! I will surely strike you down andthen, how could I face your brother Joab?”23 But Asahel would not heed, and Abner,without turning back, struck him in the bellywith his spear which ran through him andcame out his back. He fell and died on thespot and all who came to the place whereAsahel fell dead, stopped there.

24 Joab and Abishai, however, pursuedAbner and, by sunset, arrived at the hill ofAmmah which lies near Giah toward thedesert of Gibeon. 25 The Benjaminites thenrallied around Abner, forming one band, andtook their position on the hilltop. 26 ThenAbner called to Joab, “When will the swordrest? Do you not realize that this will bring youmore bitterness? When will you order yourmen to stop pursuing their brothers?” 27 Joabreplied, “As God lives, if you had not spoken,my men would have continued pursuing theirbrothers until morning.” 28 So Joab blew thetrumpet and the men desisted from pursuingthe Israelites and fighting them.

29 Abner and his men marched all nightthrough the lowland, crossed the Jordan, andmarched the whole morning until theyreached Mahanaim. 30 As for Joab, hestopped pursuing Abner and gathered all hismen. Besides Asahel, nineteen of David’s

servants were missing. 31 But David’s menhad killed three hundred and sixty of Abner’smen from among the Benjaminites. 32 Asahelwas taken and buried in his father’s tomb atBethlehem. Then Joab and his men marchedall night and reached Hebron at daybreak.

1 There was a long war between Saul’sparty and that of David, but David grew

stronger while Saul’s party grew weaker.• 2 Sons were born to David at Hebron: his

firstborn, Amnon, of Ahinoam of Jezreel; 3 hissecond, Chileab, of Abigail, widow of Nabalof Carmel; the third, Absalom, son of Maacahthe daughter of Talmai, king of Geshur; 4 thefourth, Adonijah, the son of Haggith; the fifth,Shephatiah, the son of Abital; 5 and the sixth,Ithream, of David’s wife Eglah. These wereborn to David in Hebron.

6 While war was going on between theparty of Saul and that of David, Abner wasstrengthening his position in Saul’s family.7 Now Saul had a concubine named Rizpah,daughter of Aiah, on whose account Ishbaalchided Abner, “Why have you slept with myfather’s concubine?” 8 Abner was very angrybecause of Ishbaal’s remark and exclaimed,“Am I a dog’s head? Up to now I have beenloyal to the family of Saul your father, to hisbrothers and friends, and have not deliveredyou into the hands of David, and you comeaccusing me because of this woman. 9 MayGod deal with me severely if I do not do forDavid what Yahweh swore to him – 10 totransfer the kingdom from the family of Saulto that of David and make him king of Israeland Judah to rule over all the land from Danto Beersheba.” 11 Ishbaal could no longer saya word to Abner for he feared him.

12 Abner then sent messengers to David atHebron saying, “To whom does the landbelong? Enter into an agreement with me andI shall help you obtain all Israel.” 13 Davidreplied, “I will make an agreement with you,but on one condition: you may appear beforeme when you bring me Saul’s daughter,Michal.”

• 14 Then David sent messengers to Ish-baal, Saul’s son, to tell him, “Give me my wife

his own tribe of Judah. The north remainsfaithful to Saul’s son. With the aim of unitingthem, David seeks the sympathy of Saul’s allies,and praises the people from the north who gaveSaul burial.

According to the custom of the time, the sizeof the royal harem was according to the impor-tance of the king. David still has only two wivesbut before leaving for Jerusalem he will have six(3:2-5).

• 3.2 David’s children will be the cause ofmuch suffering for him. David’s numerous wives

will bring about fratricidal struggles for succes-sion to the throne: actually each of the firstborn,urged on by his own mother, will aspire toreplace David. Consequently three of his sons:Amnon, Absalom and Adoniah will in turn losetheir lives in this struggle for power, before finallyleaving the throne to Solomon who had not yetbeen born when David reigned in Hebron (seealso 1 K 2:1).

• 14. Sometimes, the Bible says that Godintervened to guide David and lead him tovictory. This does not negate the fact that David

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Michal whom I married for the price of ahundred Philistine foreskins.” 15 Ishbaal sentfor her and took her away from her husbandPaltiel, son of Laish, 16 who followed herweeping all the way to Bahurim. ThereAbner said to him, “Go back!” and heturned back.

17 Abner conferred with the elders of Israeland told them, “You have long wanted tohave David as your king. 18 Well, make itcome true; for Yahweh made a promise toDavid and said: By my servant David, I willsave my people Israel from the Philistines andfrom all their enemies.” 19 Abner also spoketo the people of Benjamin; then he went to tellDavid at Hebron the proposals of Israel andthe Benjaminites.

Joab murders Abner20 When Abner came to David at

Hebron, David prepared a feast for himand the twenty men who were with him.21 Then Abner said to David, “I will nowgo and assemble all Israel for my mas-ter the king, that they may enter into anagreement with you, and that you mayreign over all those you want to rule.”

22 Just then, David’s men and Joabarrived from a raid taking along withthem a great deal of booty. Abner wasno longer with David at Hebron for hehad departed quietly after David haddismissed him. 23 When Joab arrivedwith his troops he was told, “Abner, sonof Ner, came to see the king; then theking sent him on his way and he went inpeace.” 24 Joab then went to the kingand said, “What did you do? WhenAbner came to you, why did you allowhim to leave? 25 You know what Abner,son of Ner, is like; he came to youdeceitfully to observe and find out whatyou are doing.”

26 Joab left David and sent messen-gers to go after Abner and they had him

brought back from the cistern of Sirah.But David did not know of that. 27 WhenAbner arrived at Hebron, Joab tookhim aside within the city gate as thoughto speak with him, privately. There hestabbed him in the belly and he died.Joab did so in revenge for the murder ofhis brother, Asahel.

28 Later on, David heard about this.Then he said, “Yahweh will not punishme and my kingdom for the blood ofAbner, son of Ner. 29 May justice for hisblood fall on Joab and on all his father’sfamily, and may there be foreveramong them some member who hasdischarge, or is sick with leprosy, orwho is only fit to hold a spindle, or whofalls by the sword or hungers!”

30 Joab and his brother Abishai slewAbner because he had killed theirbrother Asahel in the battle at Gibeon.

31 David then told Joab and thosewho were with him, “Tear off yourclothes, put on sackcloth and mournbefore Abner.” King David himself fol-lowed the corpse. 32 They buried Abnerat Hebron; there the king wept aloudover his grave and all the people joinedin the lamentation.

33 The king began the mourning song forAbner with these words, “Should Abner die asa fool dies? 34 Your hands were not bound,your feet were not fettered; as one falls at thehands of the wicked, so you have fallen.” Andall the people again wept over him.

35 Then the people tried to persuade Davidto take some food while it was still day, butDavid swore, “May God do so to me and moreif I touch food before sundown!” 36 The peopleheeded this and it pleased them; in fact, theywere pleased at whatever the king said.37 This day they realized, as did all the peopleof Israel, that the king had no part in themurder of Abner, son of Ner. 38 Then the king

was an intelligent and capable man, and was ableto impose himself on Israel. God was not actingdifferently at that time than he does today. It isalways men and women who write history and,in so doing, write it with light and shadow.

The new king strives to create a united andstrong nation. This account shows us an attemptto achieve unity which fails because of the meanand vindictive attitude of David’s military offi-cers.

The story illustrates three successive steps inpolitical fanaticism:

– he believes that those who belong to hisparty are good and those, in turn, who belong tothe opposition are bad;

– later, he ascribes bad intentions to every-thing the opposition does;

– finally, he eliminates them by any means.

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said to his servants, “Do you realize that ageneral and valiant warrior passed away to-day in Israel? 39 Although I am the anointedking, today I feel helpless to control the sonsof Zeruiah. May Yahweh repay the one whodid evil.”

Ishbaal is murdered1 When Ishbaal, Saul’s son, heard thatAbner had died at Hebron, he was

stunned and the Israelites were disheartened.2 Saul’s son had two men, captains of raidingbands: one was Baanah, the other Rechab,both sons of Rimmon, a Benjaminite fromBeeroth. For Beeroth was still consideredpart of Benjamin; 3 the Beerothites fled toGittaim and have remained there as immi-grants to the present day.

4 (Jonathan, son of Saul, had a son whosefeet were crippled. He was five years old whenthe news came from Jezreel about the deathof Saul and Jonathan. His nurse took him upand fled so hastily that the boy fell andbecame lame. He was called Mepibaal.)

5 Now Rechab and Baanah, sons of Rim-mon, the Beerothite, went their way andarrived in the heat of the day at the house ofIshbaal who was taking a nap. 6 His door-keeper had been cleaning wheat, but feelingdrowsy, she slept; Rechab and his brotherBaanah got into the house. 7 They rushed intoIshbaal’s bedroom as he lay asleep in his bedand struck him dead. They beheaded him,took his head and left, walking all night by theway of the Arabah. 8 They brought Ishbaal’shead to David at Hebron and said to the king,“Here is the head of Ishbaal son of Saul, yourenemy who sought your life. This day Yah-weh has avenged my lord the king, on Sauland his son.”

9 But David answered Rechab and hisbrother Baanah, sons of Rimmon the Bee-rothite, “Let Yahweh hear, he who has savedme from all adversities. 10 When somebodyreported Saul’s death to me, thinking he wasbringing me good news, I took hold of himand killed him at Ziklag, instead of giving hima reward. 11 Will I do less when wicked menhave murdered a just one in his own house

and on his bed? Shall I not now demand hisblood from your hands and sweep youaway?”

12 So David commanded his young men tokill them. They cut off their hands and feetand hung them beside the pool at Hebron.Then they took Ishbaal’s head and buried it inAbner’s tomb on Hebron.

David is anointed King over Israel• 1 All the tribes of Israel came toDavid at Hebron and said, “We are

your bone and flesh. 2 In the past, whenSaul was king over us, it was you wholed Israel. And Yahweh said to you, ‘Youshall be the shepherd of my peopleIsrael and you shall be commanderover Israel.” 3 Before Yahweh, KingDavid made an agreement with the el-ders of Israel who came to him atHebron, and they anointed him king ofIsrael.

4 David was thirty years old when hebegan to reign, and he reigned for fortyyears: 5 he reigned over Judah, fromHebron, seven and a half years; andover Israel and Judah, from Jerusalem,for thirty-three years.

David captures Jerusalem6 The king and his men set out for

Jerusalem to fight the Jebusites wholived there. They said to David, “If youtry to break in here, the blind and thelame will drive you away,” which meantthat David could not get in. 7 Yet Davidcaptured the fortress of Zion that be-came the “city of David.”

8 That day David said, “Whoeverwants to defeat the Jebusites, let himreach these lame and blind, David’s

tians will know that after the Jerusalem of Pales-tine, God has promised them another Jerusalem– that of heaven (see Rev 20 and 21).

Jerusalem is the image of heaven and, at thesame time, of the church on earth. Often, in theBible, Jerusalem is called Zion, since this was thename of the more ancient part of Jerusalem. Itwas also called the “City of David.”

In the Bible, the unity achieved between thenorthern and southern tribes is a visible sign thatthey are living in God’s grace: all unfaithfulnesstoward God leads to a division among people,and all such division is a sin against God.

• 5.1 This is a great day for David and forIsrael. Those from the north acknowledge him asking, and the unity of all Israel is achieved. Thetribes in the north were separated from those inthe south by the district of Jerusalem, which wasin the hands of the Canaanites. David conquersJerusalem which becomes the capital of thisunited kingdom.

It is a definitive stage. God turns Jerusalem intothe visible center of his presence among people.

Later, the one and only temple of God will bein Jerusalem, and the true kings of the people ofGod will be those who rule in Jerusalem. Jerusa-lem will be the image of the Church and Chris-

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• 6.1 The Ark was very important to theIsraelites. It contained the Law which Mosesreceived from God on Mount Sinai. The Israel-ites imagined God to be present above the Arkwhose golden cap served as a footstool for hisfeet. God wanted them to understand that hewas with his people, in a friendly but demandingpresence.

But to whom did the Ark belong? It belongedto the twelve tribes and not to any one of themin particular. That is why it stayed in differentsanctuaries: Shiloh, Gilgal, Bethel, dependingon circumstances. And what is David’s intentionin bringing it to Jerusalem, his new capital? Is ita political move to establish his authority overIsrael? Most surely. But it is an inseparablereligious act at a time when separation of politi-cal power from religious power was unknown.

Until then, Israel was, as a whole, Yahweh’schosen one, God’s firstborn. But no Israelite feltworthy of special attention from the God of theirpeople. Now David knows that he is the chosenone of Yahweh, the “son of God,” as theprophet Nathan says referring to David’s de-scendants. That is why David aspires to have theArk very close to him, and he wishes God’spresence in a temple that serves as a privatechapel for his family. Such a temple does not yetexist.

God certainly loves all people, but David is thefirst who becomes aware of this and lives by thistruth in a very simple relationship with God.Later the prophets will understand that thepromises made to David are for all of us whobelieve in Christ, God’s only Son.

In Israel only those of Levi’s tribe, being

enemies, through the tunnel for fetch-ing water.” From this came the saying,“The blind and the lame shall not enterthe house.” 9 David lived in the fortress,calling it the City of David, and pro-ceeded to build the city around it, fromthe Millo and inside as well. 10 AndDavid grew more powerful, for Yahweh,the God of hosts, was with him.

11 Hiram, king of Tyre, sent messen-gers to David with cedar trees, carpen-ters and masons to build a house forDavid. 12 David then understood thatYahweh had made him king over Israeland had exalted his reign for the sake ofhis people Israel.

13 After David had come fromHebron he took more concubines andwives from Jerusalem, and more sonsand daughters were born to him.14 These are the names of those whowere born to him in Jerusalem:Shammua, Shobab, Nathan, Solomon,15 Ibhar, Elishua, Nepheg, Japhia,16 Elishama, Eliada and Eliphelet.

17 When the Philistines heard thatDavid had been anointed king of Israel,they went to search for him. On hearingthis, David went down to the strong-hold. 18 When the Philistines overranthe valley of Rephaim, 19 David con-sulted Yahweh, “Shall I attack the Phi-listines? Will you deliver them into myhands?” Yahweh answered David, “Goahead, for I will certainly deliver thePhilistines into your hands.” 20 So David

came to Baalperazim where he de-feated them. He said, “Yahweh hasscattered my enemies before me like asudden bursting flood.” That is why thatplace is called Baalperazim. 21 Therethe Philistines left their idols and Davidand his men picked them up.

22 The Philistines went up again andoverran the valley of Rephaim. 23 Davidconsulted Yahweh who said, “Do not goup straight but circle around and attackthem from behind when you are in frontof the balsam trees. 24 Once you hear amarching sound on top of the balsamtrees, act quickly, for Yahweh is goingahead of you to attack the Philistinearmy.” 25 David obeyed Yahweh’s com-mand and struck down the Philistinesfrom Giba to as far as Gezer.

The ark is brought to Jerusalem• 1 David gathered together oncemore all the picked men of Israel,

numbering thirty thousand in all. 2 Thenhe and all the people with him in Baala-Judah set forth to bring up from therethe ark of God on which Yahweh ofhosts pronounced and put his Name,he who rests on the cherubim. 3 Theyplaced the ark of God on a new cart andbrought it out of the house of Abinadabon the hill. Uzzah and Ahio, sons ofAbinadab, were guiding the cart 4 withthe ark of Yahweh, with Ahio walkingbefore it. 5 David and the Israelites werejoyfully celebrating before Yahweh,

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especially consecrated to Yahweh, have theright to serve him and to approach sacred things.Abinadab and his sons have welcomed the Arkinto their home. But they cannot touch the Arkwithout being affected by the awesome poweremanating from the Holy God.

We are told that Uzzah was “stricken by God.”This phrase well reflects the mentality of thesetimes when the distinction between sin, errorand accidents was hardly made: all that troubledthe traditional and divine order was consideredas sin. The sudden death of Uzzah has the valueof a sign for those who witness it; it helps themto understand how great God is above all, and,at the same time, really present among hispeople.

David had the Ark brought to the house ofObededom. Why is it brought to the house of analien? Because Yahweh will not ask for anaccounting of this non-Israelite? Or because it isbetter that a foreigner suffer the risk of God’sanger?

But if the Ark brings blessings on the one whowelcomes it, its natural place is beside the king!

Luke’s gospel discovers other imagery in thisstory. Like the Ark, and in a more wonderfulway, the Virgin Mary carried for nine monthsGod himself who, on becoming man, sealed theCovenant with all the peoples of the world. Thisis why some have given her the title, “Ark of the

Covenant.” Luke himself had this text beforehim when he was narrating the Virgin’s visit toElizabeth. (Pay attention to vv. 9 and 11 andcompare them with Lk 1:39-45 and 56-64.)

• 14. Let us imagine the transfer of the Ark.There is a huge procession with thousands ofpeople singing, dancing and playing music, withthe king himself leading. Sacrifices beyond countare offered. It is a time of great joy, for theLord is with his people. It is the triumphalentry of the Ark of the Covenant into its rightfulplace – in the capital of the country.

David whirled round dancing with all hisheart before Yahweh. David understands verywell that to give thanks worthily to God, all thisis very little. He does not care what others thinkof him, when he is showing his joy to the Lord;so he sings and dances.

Michal despised David in her heart. Michal,Saul’s daughter, understood nothing, beingmore concerned about “what people will say,”than about praising God.

In this passage, a great king teaches us realgreatness and brings to mind examples fromdaily life: a young man or woman who havingfinished studies go back to the barrio, and remainas simple as before; a Christian who is notashamed of his faith and practices it, whetherpeople are looking or not.

singing and playing on lyres, harps,tambourines, castanets and cymbals.

6 When they came to the threshingfloor of Nacon, the oxen stumbled andUzzah stretched his hand to the ark ofGod to hold it. 7 Yahweh’s anger burntagainst Uzzah and God struck himthere; Uzzah died there beside the ark ofGod. 8 David was angry because Yah-weh had struck Uzzah, and that placeis called Perez-Uzzah to the present day.

9 David was afraid of Yahweh thatday and said, “How can the ark ofYahweh come to me?” 10 So David re-fused to take the ark of Yahweh into thecity of David but had it brought, in-stead, to the house of Obededom theGittite. 11 Yahweh’s ark remained therefor three months and Yahweh blessedObededom and all his household.

12 King David was told that Yahwehhad blessed the family of Obededomand all that belonged to him because ofthe ark of God, so he went to bring upthe ark of God from the house of Obed-edom to the city of David, rejoicing.13 After those who carried the ark of

Yahweh had walked six paces, theysacrificed an ox and a fattened calf.

•14 David whirled round dancing withall his heart before Yahweh, wearing alinen ephod, 15 for he and all the Israel-ites brought up the ark of Yahweh,shouting joyfully and sounding thehorn.

16 As the ark of Yahweh entered thecity of David, Michal, Saul’s daughter,looked out of the window; and whenshe saw King David leaping and whirl-ing round before Yahweh, she despisedhim in her heart.

17 They brought in the ark of Yahwehand laid it in its place in the tent whichDavid had pitched for it. Then Davidoffered burnt and peace offerings be-fore Yahweh. 18 Once the offerings hadbeen made, David blessed the peoplein the name of Yahweh of hosts, 19 anddistributed to each of them, to eachman and woman of the entire assemblyof Israel, a loaf of bread, a portion ofmeat and a raisin cake. With this, all thepeople left for their homes.

20 When David returned to bless his

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• 7.1 I live in a house of cedar but the Arkof God is housed in a tent. David thinks that ifthe king has a palace, why should God not haveone? God, who is greater, thinks otherwise andmakes this known to his prophet Nathan.

In ancient times it was unthinkable that acapital city be without its temple and its palace.God and the king were inseparable associates toensure the good order of the state. This conceptstrongly linked to the nature of religion (seecommentary on Dt 4:1) will however be chal-lenged by the Gospel.

God will be the one to make David a house.House in the Bible refers to both persons andthings belonging to someone. David’s “house” ishis family, his servants, his counsellors andofficials.

I will provide a place for my people Israel.God chooses this moment for a decisive step inthe development of his people. Israel had beena people of twelve tribes since Joshua’s time.Now, it will be a nation organized in its own land,with a central and stable authority: the kingsdescending from David.

Now I will make your name great as thename of the great ones on earth. Yahweh hasaccompanied David in all his undertakings; butnow he makes use of him and his works to buildsomething permanent for the salvation of hu-mankind.

The same thing happened with Abraham(Gen 17:7).

The same thing happened with Peter (Mt16:18).

The Kingdom of God from now on will be thekingdom of David.

I will raise up your son after you (see Lk1:32). God’s promise points to Solomon,David’s son and successor, and also to thosewho will come after. To all appearances thepromise was broken when, after four centuries,the kingdom of David was destroyed. Neverthe-less, it is Jesus, one of his descendants, who,much later, will fully realize what Nathan an-nounced. Several times in the Gospel, Jesus willbe called Son of David (Mk 12:35).

Jesus will also be king, although not in themanner of this world’s rulers. He will realize fullyin his person what was merely sketched in theperson of David:

– the shepherd who gathers together the scat-tered sheep;

– the conqueror who gives his people thepeace he has won;

– God’s deputy among people.The way God gets ahead of David and answers

him, gives us two remarkable lessons:– As in David’s case, very often people want

to offer God something. In reality we can neveranticipate him; he gives his favors even beforewe have begun to serve him.

– What pleases God is not so much thetemples we build for him, as the spiritual tem-ple which he wants to build in people themselves

household, Michal, Saul’s daughter,met him and said, “How the king ofIsrael honored himself today, exposinghimself before his servants’ maids asuncouth men do!” 21 But David said toMichal, “I did that before Yahweh whochose me instead of your father and hisfamily, making me commander overIsrael, Yahweh’s people. By Yahweh’slife I swear that I will dance and whirlagain before him. 22 I will humble my-self still more and you may look at me,but I will not be rejected by the maidsyou spoke about.” 23 And Michal, Saul’sdaughter, had no child to the day shedied.

The prophecy of Nathan• 1 When the king had settled in hispalace and Yahweh had rid him of

all his surrounding enemies, 2 he said toNathan the prophet, “Look, I live in ahouse of cedar but the ark of God ishoused in a tent.” 3 Nathan replied, “Doas it seems fit to you for Yahweh is withyou.”

4 But that very night, Yahweh’s wordcame to Nathan, 5 “Go and tell my ser-vant David, this is what Yahweh says:Are you able to build a house for me tolive in? 6 I have not dwelt in a housesince I brought the Israelites up fromEgypt to the present day, but I wentabout with a tent for shelter. 7 As long asI walked with the Israelites, did I sayanything to the chiefs of Israel whom Icommanded to shepherd my peopleIsrael? Did I say: Why have you notbuilt me a house of cedar?

8 Now you will tell my servant David,this is what Yahweh of hosts says: I tookyou from the pasture, from tending thesheep, to make you commander of mypeople Israel. 9 I have been with youwherever you went, cutting down allyour enemies before you. Now I willmake your name great as the name ofthe great ones on earth. 10 I will providea place for my people Israel and plantthem that they may live there in peace.They shall no longer be harassed, norshall wicked men oppress them as be-

2 SAMUEL 7

1K8:17

Acts7:48

Ex40:34

Jdg19:30

1S16:1117:15

Ps89:27

Ex15:17

Jer24:6

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– a project which he will realize after manycenturies through his Church.

• 8.1 This chapter narrates David’s victorieswith pride. Through these wars, David’s king-dom came into existence; they were a necessarystep in the long preparation of God’s Kingdom.The Israelites will remember David as the victo-rious warrior-king and, at the same time, willlook forward to the Messiah, the son of David, asthe king of peace who will conquer all enemies(see Is 9:5 and Mic 5:1-4).

At that time, primitive instincts were so pow-erful that the humble and merciful David did nothesitate to execute his prisoners. The Biblepraises him for having spared some of them.

The fact is that faith does not replace culture;and all of us, faithful though we be, depend onthe moral ideas of our surroundings. We knowthat during many centuries of Christianity believ-ers and saints, who were ready to give up theirlife for a sick brother or sister, did not think ofdenouncing abuses which appear intolerable tous.

fore. 11 From the time when I appointedjudges over my people Israel it is onlyto you that I have given rest from allyour enemies. Yahweh also tells youthat he will build you a house.

12 When the time comes for you torest with your ancestors, I will raise upyour son after you, the one born of youand I will make his reign secure. 13 Heshall build a house for my name and Iwill firmly establish his kingship for-ever. 14 I will be a father to him and heshall be my son. If he does wrong, I willpunish him with the rod, as men do.15 But I will not withdraw my kindnessfrom him as I did from Saul when Iremoved him out of your way. 16 Yourhouse and your reign shall last foreverbefore me, and your throne shall beforever firm.”

17 Nathan repeated these words andrelated this vision to David.

18 Then King David went in, sat beforeYahweh and said, “Who am I, O Yahweh God,and who is my family that you have broughtme so far? 19 Yet this was not enough for you,O Yahweh God, for you have also spoken ofyour servant’s house for a long time to come.Is this the way men act, O Yahweh God?20 What more can David say to you? Youknow your servant, O Yahweh God! 21 Youfulfill your promise and carry out your plan,as you do now in bringing about all thesegreat things and revealing them to your ser-vant. 22 Therefore you are great, O YahwehGod, for there is no one like you, nor is therea God other than you from all that we our-selves have heard. 23 Is there on earth anothernation like your people Israel, whom God hascome to redeem, and to make his people?Indeed you made them famous when you did,for your glory, great and awesome things,rescuing them out of Egypt, from their peopleand their gods. 24 You have set apart your

people Israel to become your people forever;and you, Yahweh, have become their God.

25 Now, O Yahweh God, keep forever thepromise you made and have now revealed tome regarding myself and my family, 26 thatyour name may be honored forever andpeople may say, ‘Yahweh of hosts is God overIsrael.’ The house of your servant David willbe secure before you 27 because you, O Yah-weh of hosts, God of Israel, have made itknown to your servant and have said to him:‘Your family will last forever.’ This is why Ihave dared to address this prayer to you.

28 So now, O Yahweh God, since you arethe faithful God, and have promised me thisgood thing, 29 please bless my descendants,that they may continue forever before you.For you, O Yahweh God, have spoken and,with your blessing, my family shall be blessedforever.”

David’s victories• 1 After this, David defeated the Philis-tines, crushing them in such a way that

they were no longer in control of the land.2 Then he defeated the Moabites. He hadthem measured with a line and made them liedown on the ground; two thirds of them wereto be executed, and one third to be spared.And so the Moabites became David’s ser-vants and paid tribute to him.

3 David also defeated Hadadezer, son ofRehob, king of Zobah, when he tried to retakethe valley of the Euphrates. 4 David capturedfrom him a thousand and seven horsemenand twenty thousand foot soldiers. He ham-strung all the chariot horses but left a suffi-cient number for a hundred chariots. 5 TheArameans of Damascus came to helpHadadezer, king of Zobah, but David wonover twenty-two thousand of their men.6 Then David set up governors in Aram ofDamascus and the Arameans becameDavid’s servants, paying tribute to him.

Yahweh made David victorious whereverhe went. 7 David took the golden shieldscarried by the servants of Hadadezer andbrought them to Jerusalem; 8 he also took agreat quantity of bronze from Betah andBerothai, cities of Hadadezer.

9 When Toi, king of Hamath heard that

2 SAMUEL 7

1K2:4

Acts2:30

1K5:18

Heb1:5

1S13:1415:20

23:5Lk

1:32

1S18:18

Lk12:30

1Chr18

Jos11:6,

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David’s sons were priests. At that time, twocenturies after Moses, priesthood was not yetreserved to the Levites. Solomon himself offerssacrifices and consecrates the Temple (1 K8:64).

David had defeated the entire army ofHadadezer, 10 he sent his son Joram to KingDavid to greet him and thank him for havingfought against Hadadezer and defeating him.For the latter had often been at war with Toi.Joram brought with him articles of silver,gold and bronze 11 which King David conse-crated to Yahweh together with the silver andgold which he consecrated from all the na-tions he subdued: 12 from Edom, Moab, theAmmonites, the Philistines, Amalek, as wellas the booty of Hadadezer, son of Rehob, kingof Zobah.

• 13 David became famous when he re-turned from defeating an army of eighteenthousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt. 14 Heset up governors in Edom and the Edomitesbecame his servants. So Yahweh madeDavid victorious wherever he went.

15 David reigned over all Israel, issuingdecrees and administering justice to all hispeople. 16 Joab, son of Zeruiah, was com-mander of the army; Jehoshaphat, son ofAhilud, recorder; 17 Zadok, son of Ahitub andAhimelech, son of Abiathar, priests; Seraiah,secretary; 18 and Benaiah, son of Jehoiada,was in charge of the Cherethites and thePelethites. David’s sons were priests.

1 David asked, “Is there anyone left of thehouse of Saul to whom I can show kind-

ness for the sake of Jonathan?” 2 So theycalled a servant of Saul, named Ziba, andbrought him to David who asked, “So you areZiba?” He replied, “I am your servant.” 3 Thenthe king asked him, “Is there still someone ofthe house of Saul to whom I can give God’sfavor?” Ziba answered the king, “A son ofJonathan whose feet are crippled still lives.”4 The king asked him, “Where is he?” AndZiba replied, “He is in the house of Machir,son of Ammiel, at Lodebar.” 5 So King Davidsent for him and had him brought from thehouse of Machir, son of Ammiel, at Lodebar.

6 When Mepibaal, son of Jonathan, son ofSaul arrived, he fell on the ground and paidhomage to David who said, “Mepibaal!” Hereplied, “Your servant listens.” 7 David thentold him, “Do not be afraid. I will do you afavor for the sake of your father Jonathan andgive you back all the land of Saul your father.Besides, you shall always eat at my table.”8 He bowed down and said, “What is yourservant that you should show concern for adead dog like myself?”

9 The king called Ziba, Saul’s servant, and

said to him, “I have turned over to yourmaster’s son everything that Saul and hisfamily possessed. 10 You yourself, your sonsand servants shall till the land for him andcarry in the harvest so that your master’sfamily may have food, although yourmaster’s son Mepibaal shall always eat at mytable.” Ziba, who had fifteen sons and twentyservants 11 said to the king, “Your servant willdo whatever my lord the king commands. YetMepibaal ate at my table like a king’s son.”12 Mepibaal had a young son named Mica;and all who lived in Ziba’s house becameMepibaal’s servants. 13 But Mepibaal lived inJerusalem for he always ate at the king’stable. He was lame in both feet.

1 When the king of the Ammonites diedand Hanun his son reigned in his place,

2 David said, “I will be kind to Hanun son ofNahash as his father was kind to me.” SoDavid sent his servants to comfort him overhis father’s death. When David’s servantsarrived in the land of the Ammonites, 3 theAmmonite chiefs told Hanun their lord, “Doyou think that, by sending men with condo-lences, David is honoring your father? Hasnot David rather sent his servants to you toexplore the city, spy on it and overthrow it?”

4 At this, Hanun seized David’s servants,shaved off half their beard, cut away the lowerhalves of their garments even up to their hipsand sent them away. 5 When this was reportedto David, he sent messengers to meet thesemen who felt greatly ashamed and to tellthem, “Stay in Jericho and return after yourbeards have grown.”

6 The Ammonites saw that David could nolonger bear with them, so they sent for andhired the Arameans of Beth-rehob and ofZobah numbering twenty thousand foot sol-diers, the king of Maacah with one thousandmen and also twelve thousand men of Tob.7 On hearing this, David sent out Joab with allthe warriors. 8 The Ammonites came out inbattle formation at the entrance gate whilethe Arameans of Zobah and Rehob and themen of Tob and Maacah grouped separatelyin the open country.

9 When Joab saw that there were two bat-tlefronts, one in front of him and the otherbehind, he selected picked men of Israel andarranged them in battle formation against theSyrians. 10 Then he entrusted the rest of hisarmy to Abishai his brother and arrangedthem in battle formation against the Ammo-

• 13. Neither Abraham nor Moses had sec-retaries or assistants: these wanderers had nooffices, not even an archives-bearing donkey.David forms the first nucleus of officials in thekingdom, and only with Solomon will sacredliterature start.

2 SAMUEL 10

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nites. 11 And he said, “If the Syrians are toostrong for me, you shall help me; but if theAmmonites are too strong for you, I will cometo your assistance. 12 Take courage! Let usact like men for the sake of our people andGod’s cities; and may Yahweh do what seemsgood to him.”

13 Joab and the people who were with himlaunched the attack against the Arameansand put them to flight. 14 When the Ammo-nites saw the Arameans fleeing, they too fledbefore Abishai and entered the city. ThenJoab returned from his battle against theAmmonites and came to Jerusalem.

15 When the Arameans saw that they hadbeen defeated by Israel, they gathered to-gether. 16 Hadadezer sent for the Syrians andhad them brought from beyond the Euphra-tes. They came to Helam with Shobach, thecommander of Hadadezer’s army, leadingthem. 17 This was reported to David who, inturn, gathered together all Israel and came toHelam after crossing the Jordan. The Ara-means then arranged themselves in battleformation and fought against David, 18 butthey fled before Israel. David had seven hun-dred of the men in chariots and forty thou-sand horsemen killed. Shobach, too, thecommander of their army was slain and diedthere. 19 After having been defeated by Israel,all the kings who depended on Hadadezermade peace with Israel and became subjectto them. So the Arameans no longer dared tohelp the Ammonites.

David and Bathsheba• 1 In the spring of that year, whenkings usually set out to fight,

David sent out Joab, his officers and allthe Israelite troops. They slaughteredthe Ammonites and attacked Rabbah,while David remained in Jerusalem.

2 One afternoon, David got up fromhis siesta and took a walk on the roof ofthe royal house. From the rooftop, he

saw a woman bathing, and the womanwas very beautiful. 3 David sent to in-quire about the woman, and was told,“She is Bathsheba, daughter of Eliamand wife of Uriah, the Hittite.” 4 SoDavid sent messengers to have herbrought to him; and he had intercoursewith her after she had cleansed herselfafter her monthly period. Then she re-turned to her house.

5 As the woman saw she was withchild, she sent word to David, “I amwith child.”

6 David then sent a message to Joab,“Send me Uriah the Hittite.” So Joabsent Uriah to David. 7 When Uriahcame, David asked him about Joab,how the people were and how the warwas proceeding; 8 then he told Uriah,“Go down to your house and wash yourfeet.”

Uriah left the palace and the kinghad a portion from his table sent tohim. 9 Uriah, however, did not go downto his house but slept by the door of theking’s palace with all the servants ofhis lord. 10 David was told that Uriah didnot go down to his house, and he saidto him, “Have you not come from ajourney? Why did you not go down toyour house?” 11 Uriah replied, “The ark,the men of Israel and Judah are housedin tents while my lord Joab and hisservants are encamped in the opencountry. Shall I go to my house to eatand drink there and sleep with mywife? As you live, I will not do this!”12 So David said to Uriah, “Remain here

– David kills Uriah treacherously after havinginstructed him to bring the letter to Joab.

How could a book intended to preserve thememory of the model king dare to narrate thisevent without hiding anything that makesDavid’s crime more odious and win greatersympathy for his victim? An official historian ofanother people would never have done this.

The Bible is not a book written to the glory ofa king, or a people. It is “revelation of God” in theclearest sense of the word. In meditating on theWord of God, one learns to know God but alsoto truly know oneself in the light of God: every-one of us is a sinner in need of the Savior Godsends us.

• 11.1 David’s “sin” helps us to reflect onthe weakness and wickedness of which evenGod’s friends are capable.

We observe David’s defects in several inci-dents. He is impulsive and deceptive. Here (inchap. 11) everything contributes toward makinghis crime more odious:

– Uriah is a foreigner who came to serve theking.

– Uriah strictly observes the religious lawsconcerning war (to abstain from sexual rela-tions), and he observes solidarity with his com-panions, while David abandons himself to pas-sion far away from any danger.

2 SAMUEL 10

111K20:26

Lev15:19

1S21:6

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today also and I will dismiss you tomor-row.” Uriah therefore stayed in Jerusa-lem that day and the day after. 13 Davidinvited him to table and he ate anddrank until he was drunk. When eve-ning fell, however, he went to lie downon his couch with the guards of his lordinstead of going down to his house.

14 The next morning, David wroteJoab a letter to be taken by hand byUriah, 15 in which he said, “Place Uriahin the front row where the fighting isvery fierce and then withdraw fromhim so that he may be struck down anddie.” 16 When Joab was attacking thecity, he assigned Uriah to a place whichhe knew was being defended by strongwarriors. 17 And the defenders attackedthe men of Joab. Some of David’s sol-diers and officers were killed; Uriah theHittite also died.

18 Then Joab sent a messenger to tellDavid everything that had happened duringthe battle. 19 And he said to him, “When youhave finished recounting the outcome of thebattle to the king, 20 perhaps he will get angryand ask you, ‘Why did you go so near the cityto fight? Did you not know they would shootfrom the wall? 21 Who killed Abimelech, son ofJerubbesheth? Was it not a woman whodropped a millstone on him from the wall sothat he died at Thebez? Why did you go soclose to the wall?’; then you shall say: Yourservant Uriah the Hittite is also dead.”

22 So the messenger went to tell David allthat Joab instructed him. 23 So he answeredthe king and explained, “These men hadovercome us and pushed us in the field; thenwe drove them back to the entrance gate.24 But the archers aimed at your guard fromthe top of the wall, killing some of them. Yourservant Uriah the Hittite has also been killed.”

25 David said to the messenger, “Try toencourage Joab with this message: Do not letthis thing disturb you, for the sword devours

one this time and another at another time.Intensify your attacks against the city andoverthrow it.”

26 When Uriah’s wife heard of thedeath of her husband, she mourned forhim. 27 After her mourning was over,David had her brought to his house.She became his wife and bore him ason. But Yahweh was displeased withwhat David had done.

• 1 So Yahweh sent the prophetNathan to David. Nathan went to

the king and said to him, “There weretwo men in a city: one was rich; theother, poor. 2 The rich man had manysheep and cattle, 3 but the poor manhad only one little ewe lamb he hadbought. He himself fed it and it grew upwith him and his children. It shared hisfood, drank from his cup and slept onhis lap. It was like a daughter to him.4 Now a traveler came to the rich man,but he would not take from his ownflock or herd to prepare food for thetraveler. Instead, he took the poorman’s lamb and prepared that for hisvisitor.”

5 David was furious because of thisman and told Nathan, “As Yahwehlives, the man who has done this de-serves death! 6 He must return the lambfourfold for acting like this and showingno compassion.”

7 Nathan said to David, “You are thisman! It is Yahweh, God of Israel, whospeaks: ‘I anointed you king over Israeland saved you from Saul’s hands; 8 Igave you your master’s house and yourmaster’s wives; I also gave you thenation of Israel and Judah. But if this

• 12.1 David will be a model of the repen-tant sinner. Why did you despise the word ofYahweh? What has David done that God shouldchoose him? Everything in his life has been thework of Yahweh’s love. God chose a simpleshepherd to make him king. Even more, hechose this “king” from a small nation, to estab-lish the permanent kingdom. There are noexcuses for David.

You did what displeases me. David easilyforgets that Yahweh does not look for external

ceremonies, but rather for purity of heart andjustice to the neighbor.

You killed Uriah and took his wife. Godbrings into broad daylight what David had hiddenfrom everyone and from his own conscience.

David’s attitude: he humbly acknowledges hissin and accepts the consequences of his fault.Psalm 51, the moving prayer of a repentantsinner, is attributed to him.

God’s attitude:– God has forgiven your sin. God remains

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faithful and keeps his promises to David’s de-scendants. More than that, Solomon, son ofBathsheba and David, will be the beneficiary ofthe promises mentioned: God will let grace passthrough where sin had passed.

– Your misfortune will rise from your ownhouse. In pardoning, God does not erase theconsequences of the crime.

• 15. The child born without love betweenDavid and Bathsheba falls sick and dies. The king

realizes that this is another sign to make himunderstand the gravity of his sin. God is notvindictive nor does he bear grudges. His heart isnot like ours. He is “slow to anger and no onesurpasses him in kindness.”

Another child is born of the same woman, nowhis wife; it is the future king Solomon, whomGod chooses to succeed David. In spite of his sin,God has not abandoned David.

• 13.1 Amnon’s crime and assassination

were not enough, I would have givenyou even more. 9 Why did you despiseYahweh by doing what displeases him?You struck down Uriah the Hittite withthe sword and took his wife for yourself.Yes, you killed him with the sword of theAmmonites. 10 Now the sword willnever be far from your family becauseyou have despised me and taken thewife of Uriah the Hittite for yourself.

11 Thus says Yahweh: Your misfortune willrise from your own house! I will take yourwives from you and give them to your neigh-bor who shall lie with them in broad daylight.12 What you did was done secretly, but what Ido will be done before Israel in broad day-light.”

13 David said to Nathan, “I have sinnedagainst Yahweh.” Nathan answered him,“Yahweh has forgiven your sin; you shall notdie. 14 However, because you have dared todespise Yahweh by doing such a thing, thechild that is born to you shall die.” 15 ThenNathan left and went to his house.

• Yahweh struck the child that Uriah’s wifebore to David and it became sick. 16 Davidentreated God for the child; he kept a strictfast and lay on the ground the whole night.17 The elders of his house asked him to risefrom the ground but he refused. Nor did hejoin them to eat. 18 On the seventh day, thechild died. David’s servants were afraid to tellhim that the child was dead for they said,“When the child was still alive, we spoke tohim but he would not listen to us. What will hedo if we tell him the child is dead?”

19 When David saw his servantswhispering to one another, he realizedthat the child was dead and askedthem, “Is the child dead?” They replied,“He is dead.” 20 Then David rose fromthe ground, washed and anointed him-self, and changed his clothes. He en-tered the house of Yahweh and wor-shiped.

After that, he went to his own house,asked for food and ate. 21 Then his ser-vants asked him, “Why are you actinglike this? You fasted and wept for thechild while it was alive; but after it died,you got up and took food.” 22 Davidanswered, “While the child was stillalive, I fasted and wept thinking: whoknows? Perhaps Yahweh will be kind tome and let my child live. 23 But now thathe is dead, why should I fast? Can Ibring him back to life? I can go to himbut he cannot return to me.”

24 David comforted his wife Bath-sheba. He went in and slept with herand she bore a son whom he namedSolomon. Yahweh loved him 25 andmade it known through Nathan theprophet, who named him Jedidiah onYahweh’s behalf.

26 Joab fought against Rabbah of the Am-monites and conquered the king’s city.27 Then he sent messengers to David and toldhim, “I have fought against Rabbah and con-quered the city of waters. 28 Gather then therest of the people to attack and capture thecity lest I myself do it and the city be called bymy name.” 29 So David mustered the people,attacked and captured Rabbah. 30 He took thecrown of their god Milkom from its head, theweight of which was a talent of gold, andwhich had a precious stone embedded in it.This they put on David’s head. He carried offan amount of booty 31 and brought away thepeople whom he set to labor with saws, ironpicks and iron axes, making them work at thebrick-kilns. David dealt like this with all theAmmonite cities, then he returned to Jerusa-lem with all the people.

Amnon and Tamar• 1 Now David’s son Absalom had abeautiful sister named Tamar. It hap-

pened that Amnon, another of David’s sons,loved her. 2 Amnon was so obsessed that hebecame ill and, as Tamar was a virgin, he

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could not do anything. 3 Amnon had a friendnamed Jonadab, son of Shimeah, David’sbrother. Jonadab, who was a very shrewdman, said to him, 4 “Oh son of the king, why doyou look so miserable morning after morn-ing? Will you not tell me?” Amnon replied, “Ilove Tamar, sister of my brother Absalom.”5 So Jonadab said to him, “Lie down on yourbed and pretend to be ill; and when your fathercomes to see you, say to him, ‘Let my sisterTamar come to give me bread to eat and lether prepare the food in my presence so that Imay eat it from her hand.” 6 So Amnon laydown and pretended to be ill; and when theking came to see him, he told the king, “Pleaselet my sister Tamar come to make somecakes in my presence; I will eat from herhand.”

7 So David sent for Tamar and said to her,“Go to your brother Amnon’s house andprepare him some food.” 8 Tamar went to herbrother Amnon’s house where he was lyingdown. She took dough, kneaded it, made andbaked cakes before him. 9 But when she tookthe pan and set the cakes before him, herefused to eat and said, “Send everyoneoutside.” After they all left, 10 Amnon said toTamar, “Bring the food into the bedroom andlet me eat from your hand.” Tamar took thecakes she had made and brought them to herbrother Amnon in the bedroom. 11 But whenshe brought them to him to eat, he grabbedher and said, “Come, lie with me, my sister.”12 She answered him, “No, my brother, do notforce me. No such thing is done in Israel. Donot commit this foolishness. 13 Where will Ihide my shame? And you yourself would beregarded as a foolish man by all the people.So please, talk to the king for he will not keepme from you.” 14 But he refused to listen to herand, being stronger than she, forced her andlay with her.

15 Afterwards, Amnon hated her with ahatred exceeding the love he had had for her;and he said to Tamar, “Get up and leave.”16 But she answered him, “No, my brother.Sending me away is a greater offense thanwhat you did to me.” But Amnon refused tolisten. 17 He called his servant and said, “Getthis woman out and bolt the door behind her.”18 (Now Tamar was wearing a long robe withsleeves like the virgin daughters of the kingused to wear.) So the servant brought her out,bolting the door behind her. 19 Tamar then putashes on her head and tore the long robe shewas wearing. Laying her hand on her head,she went away crying aloud.

20 Her brother Absalom spoke to her, “Hasyour brother Amnon been with you? Be calmand do not take this to heart for he is yourbrother.” Desolate as she was, Tamar stayedin her brother Absalom’s house.

21 When King David heard of this, he wasvery angry but he did not like to scold Amnonbecause he loved him as his firstborn.22 Absalom, for his part, no longer spoke toAmnon. He hated him for having raped hissister Tamar.

23 Two years later, when Absalom hadcelebrated the shearing of his flock at Baal-hazor near Ephraim, he invited all the king’ssons. 24 He himself went to the king and said,“I have shearers; so please let the king and hisservants accept my invitation.” 25 But theking answered Absalom, “No, my son, not allof us should go lest we be a burden to you.”As Absalom urged him the king refused to gopersonally but gave him his blessing. 26 ThenAbsalom said, “If you will not go, please letmy brother Amnon come with us.” The kingreplied, “Why should he go with you?” 27 ButAbsalom insisted until the king allowedAmnon and all the king’s sons to go with him.Absalom prepared a royal feast. 28 Then hecommanded his servants, “Watch until Am-non gets drunk and when I tell you, ‘StrikeAmnon,’ kill him. Have no fear for I myselfhave given you this order. Be brave anddetermined.” 29 So Absalom’s servants did toAmnon what he had commanded. On seeingthis all the sons of the king hastily mountedtheir mules and fled.

30 While they were on the way, a reportreached David, “Absalom has slain all theking’s sons, leaving no one alive.” 31 At this,the king tore his garments and lay on theground; and all his servants around him alsotore their garments. 32 But Jonadab, son ofShimeah, David’s brother, said, “Don’t imag-ine that they have killed all your sons. OnlyAmnon is dead, for Absalom had decided tokill him from the day Amnon raped his sisterTamar. 33 So let not my lord the king believethat all his sons are dead: Amnon alone isdead.”

34 Meanwhile, Absalom had fled. Then theyoung watchman saw many people comingfrom the Horonaim road by the side of themountain. 35 Jonadab said to the king, “Wasit not true what I said to you? It is your sonswho are coming.” 36 As soon as he had spo-ken, the king’s sons came, crying aloud; theking, too, and all his servants wept bitterly.

37-38 As for Absalom, he fled to Talmai

appear to be a repetition of David’s sin in his ownfamily – a thing which hurts his feelings deeply.

Such incidents were common occurrencesanywhere in ancient times. Other religions ofthat time demanded cult and sacrifice; they didnot talk, or scarcely talked, of moral uprightness.

On the contrary, from the beginning of the Bibleone sees how Yahweh demands moral behaviorand justice on the part of his people. The peopleof the Bible are not always better than otherpeoples who do not know God, but they knowbetter what sin is.

2 SAMUEL 13

Gen38:11

1Mac16:16

Gen37:35

Gen34:7

Dt22:21

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son of Ammihud, king of Geshur, where heremained for three years. 39 All this time KingDavid mourned for his son. And when he hadrecovered from the death of Amnon he beganto yearn for Absalom.

1 Now Joab son of Zeruiah saw that theking was yearning for Absalom. 2 So he

sent a messenger to Tekoa to fetch a wisewoman and he told her this, “Please pretendto be a mourner. Put on mourning garmentsand do not perfume yourself with oil that youmay look like a woman who has been mourn-ing for several days for the dead 3 and go tothe king with this message.” And Joab toldher what to say.

4 When the woman of Tekoa appearedbefore the king, she fell on her face in homageand said, “Help me, O king!” 5 The king askedher, “What is wrong?” She answered, “Alas, Iam a widow; my husband is dead. 6 I, yourhandmaid, had two sons who quarreled withone another in the field. Since there was noone to part them, one struck the other andkilled him. 7 Now the entire family demandthat I give up the one who struck his brother.And they say: ‘We will kill him and avenge hisbrother’s death.’ So they want to quench myremaining hope; with this they will leave myhusband without name or posterity on theearth.”

8 Then the king said to the woman, “Gohome and I will give orders on your behalf.”9 But the woman of Tekoa said to the king,“Let me and my family be blamed, my lordthe king, and let the king and his throne notbe criticized for this.” 10 The king said, “Ifanyone says anything to you, bring him to meand he shall never bother you again.” 11 Thenshe said, “Please let the king swear byYahweh, his God, that the avenger of bloodmay not deepen my disgrace by killing myson.” The king replied, “As Yahweh lives, notone hair of your son shall perish.”

12 Then the woman said, “Please allow meto say something to my lord the king.” Theking told her, “Speak.” 13 And she went on,“Why do you yourself act against the peopleof God? In giving this decision, the kingcondemns himself for not having brought hisbanished son back home. 14 We are all mor-tals and as water spilt on the ground cannotbe gathered up again, so God does not makethe soul return. So let the king find a way tobring back his banished son. 15 Now, if I havecome to talk about this to my lord the king, itis because the people scared me and Ithought, ‘I will speak to the king; perhaps hewill listen to me. 16 If he agrees to help mewhen I tell him about the man who seeks tocut off both me and my son from the inherit-ance God gave us, 17 he will surely give thedecision which will bring us peace. For my

lord the king is like an angel of God inunderstanding everything. Yahweh your Godbe with you!”

18 Then the king said to the woman, “Donot hide anything from me when I questionyou.” The woman replied, “Let my lord theking speak.” 19 The king asked, “Is Joabbehind you in all this?” The woman an-swered, “As you surely live, my lord the king,all is as my lord the king says. It was yourservant Joab who ordered me and taught meeverything I had to say. 20 Joab did this todisguise the purpose. But my lord is as wiseas an angel of God, knowing all things thathappen on earth.”

21 Then the king told Joab, “Well, I shall doit. Go, fetch the young man Absalom.”22 Joab fell on his face to the ground inhomage and blessed the king, saying, “To-day I know that you look kindly on me, mylord the king, because you have granted thismy request.” 23 Joab went on his way toGeshur to fetch Absalom and bring him toJerusalem. 24 The king, however, told him,“Let him stay in his own house for I shall notreceive him.” So Absalom stayed in his ownhouse and was not received by the king.

25 In all Israel, there was no one as praisedfor his handsome appearance as Absalom,from the sole of his feet to the crown of hishead he was without defect.

26 When he cut his hair (every year he cuthis hair when it became too heavy for him),he weighed it, and it weighed two hundredshekels by the king’s weight. 27 There wereborn to Absalom three sons and a daughternamed Tamar, a beautiful woman.

28 For two years Absalom stayed inJerusalem but the king did not receive him.29 Absalom called for Joab to send him to theking, but Joab refused to see him. He calledfor him a second time but Joab would notcome. 30 So Absalom said to his servants,“You know Joab’s field which is next to mine,planted with barley. Go set it on fire.” And sothey did. Then the servants of Joab came tohim to tell him, “The servants of Absalom setyour field on fire.” 31 Then Joab went toAbsalom’s house and asked him, “Why haveyour servants set my field on fire?” 32 Absa-lom replied, “Come over, for I want to sendyou to the king with this message, ‘Why didyou let me return from Geshur? It would bebetter for me to be there yet.’ Now I want to bereceived by the king. If I am guilty, let himsend me to death!” 33 Joab went to the kingand brought him the message. So the kingcalled for Absalom who appeared before theking, bowing low with his face to the ground.And the king embraced Absalom.

1 After this, Absalom got himself achariot and horses, as well as fifty men

2 SAMUEL 13

2K4:1

Gen4:8

1S25:24

1S29:9

14

15

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13 A messenger came to report toDavid that the Israelites were sidingwith Absalom. 14 Then David said to allhis servants who were with him inJerusalem, “Let us flee, for we cannotresist Absalom. Go quickly, lest hecome hurriedly and overtake us. Surelyhe will put the city to the sword if he canbring disaster upon us.” 15 The king’sservants answered him, “Your servantsare with you in whatever my lord theking decides.”

16 The king departed with all hishousehold, but left ten concubines be-hind to take care of the house. 17 Theking left on foot and the people fol-lowed him. They stopped at the lasthouse of the city and 18 his servantsmarched past him, as well as theCherethites, the Pelethites and all thesix hundred Gittites who had followedhim from Gath, and went ahead of him.

19 Then the king said to the com-mander, Ittai, the Gittite, “Why are youalso coming with us? Go back and staywith your king, for you are a foreigner,an exile from your home. 20 Are yousetting out when you have just arrived?Shall I make you wander about with us?Go back, take your brothers with youand may Yahweh show you kindnessand faithfulness. 21 Ittai, however, an-swered the king, “As Yahweh lives, andas my lord the king lives, wherever mylord the king shall be, whether in life orin death, there also will your servantbe.”

to run before him. 2 Absalom used to rise earlyand stand beside the gateway. Whenever aman with a grievance came before the king’stribunal, Absalom would call to him and say,“From which city are you?” Should he say,“Your servant is from such and such a tribe inIsrael,” 3 Absalom would tell him, “Yourcause is good and just but there is no one tohear you on behalf of the king.”

4 Absalom added, “I wish I were judge inthe land! Then every man with a grievance orcause could come to me and I would give himjustice.” 5 Whenever a man approached topay him homage, he would stretch out hisarms to hold and embrace him.

6 Absalom did this to all Israelites whocame to the tribunal of the king, winning theirhearts for himself.

7 After four years, Absalom said to theking, “Please allow me to go and fulfill thevow I have to pay to Yahweh in Hebron. 8 Forwhile I lived at Geshur in Aram, I made thisvow: ‘If Yahweh will really bring me back toJerusalem, I shall go there to worship him!”9 The king said to him, “Go in peace,” and heleft for Hebron.

Absalom’s rebellion• 10 Absalom sent spies throughout

the tribes of Israel with this instruction,“As soon as you hear the trumpetsound, proclaim: ‘Absalom is king inHebron!”

11 Two hundred men from Jerusalemhad left with Absalom as invited guests.But nothing of his purpose dawned onthem. 12 While Absalom was offeringthe sacrifices, he sent for Ahitophel theGilonite, David’s counselor, from hiscity Giloh. Meantime, the conspiracygrew strong and the number of peoplewith Absalom kept increasing.

him; his present misfortune is like an invitationfrom Yahweh to have greater trust. In order toattract Yahweh’s mercy, he refuses todefend himself or to take revenge.

In chapters 15–17, what happens to David islike a prefiguring of the Messiah in his passionand resurrection. Even the details suggest this:

15:12 – a traitor from David’s council…who hangs himself 17:23.

15:23 – the crying, the river of Kidron.15:30 – the Mount of Olives.15:32 – the small group of followers on the

hilltop.16:9 – the general wants to defend his king

with the sword; David forbids him to do so.16:13 – the insults, the brief flight that ends

with the death of the rebel.

• 15.10 God wanted the Israelites of theperiod before Christ to have an image of him inthe person of David, their first king. Thosehappy and glorious days of the young ruler,beloved by all, are followed by days of sorrow forthe old king. During those years the counte-nance of Christ appears more clearly throughKing David.

The sword shall never be far from yourhouse. Nathan has announced the consequenceof David’s adultery. In the trial, what emerges isonly the humble loyalty of David who, withoutcomplaint, accepts Yahweh’s will.

The way David bears with the curses of Shimeiastonishes us. How much more puzzling it was topeople of those times who could only understandrevenge. David knows that God will never leave

2 SAMUEL 15

Gen28:20

16:23

1S27

Ru1:16

Lk9:57

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22 Then David said to Ittai,“Go then,march on.” So Ittai the Gittite marchedon with all his men and all the childrenwho were with him. 23 Meanwhile, allthose in the countryside wept aloud asall the people passed by. Then the kingcrossed the brook Kidron and all thepeople moved on to the desert.

24 The priest Zadok came with all theLevites bearing the ark of the Covenantof God. They set down the ark of Godwhere Abiathar stood until the peoplehad all gone out of the city; 25 afterwhich the king said to Zadok, “Carrythe ark of God back into the city. IfYahweh looks kindly on me, he willbring me back and allow me to againsee the ark and its lodging place. 26 Butif he says, ‘I am not pleased with you,’ Iam here; let him do to me what seemsgood to him.”

27 The king also said to the priestZadok, “See, better go back to the cityin peace and take with you your sonAhimaaz, and Jonathan, son of Abia-thar. 28 I will wait in the desert fordsuntil you send word for me.” 29 SoZadok and Abiathar carried the ark ofGod back to Jerusalem and remainedthere.

30 David himself went up the Mountof Olives, weeping. He was barefootedand had his head covered, and all thepeople who were with him had theirheads covered and wept as they went.Humiliation for David

31 When David was informed that Ahito-phel was among the conspirators with Absa-lom, he said, “O Yahweh, turn the counsel ofAhitophel into folly.”

32 When David reached the summit whereGod is worshiped, Hushai the Archite methim with his coat torn and dust strewn on hishead. 33 David said to him, “If you come withme, you will be a burden to me. 34 It would bebetter for you to return to the city and say toAbsalom, ‘I will be your servant, O king! Justas I have been your father’s servant in thepast, I will now be your servant.’ In that wayyou will be useful to me in thwarting thecounsel of Ahitophel. 35 The priests Zadokand Abiathar are there to help you. Reportwhatever you hear from the king’s house.

36 Both their sons are there, Ahimaaz,Zadok’s son, and Jonathan, Abiathar’s son,and you shall report to me through themeverything you hear.” 37 So David’s friendHushai arrived in the city just as Absalom wasentering Jerusalem.

1 When David had gone a little be-yond the summit, Ziba the steward of

Mepibaal met him with saddled asses ladenwith two hundred loaves of bread, a hundredbunches of raisins, a hundred summer fruitsand a skin of wine. 2 The king then asked Ziba,“Why have you brought these?” Ziba an-swered, “The asses are for the king’s house-hold to ride on. The bread and summer fruitare for your servants to eat, while the wine isdrink for those who faint in the desert.”

3 Then the king asked him, “Where is yourmaster’s son?” Ziba replied, “He is staying inJerusalem, for he said, ‘Today the Israeliteswill give me back my father’s kingdom!” 4 Tothis, the king said, “Everything that belongsto Mepibaal is now yours.” And Ziba said, “Ipay homage to my lord the king. May I alwaysfind favor with you.”

5 When King David came to Bahu-rim, a man from the clan of Saul’s fam-ily named Shimei, son of Gera, cameout cursing him. 6 He threw stones atDavid and his officers although theking’s men and warriors flanked theking on the right and left. 7 Shimei saidas he cursed, “Go away! Go away! Youbloodthirsty good-for-nothing! 8 Yah-weh has brought down on your head allthe blood of the family of Saul. Youbecame king in his place, but God hasnow placed the kingdom in the handsof your son Absalom. Ruin has comeupon you because you are a blood-thirsty man.”

9 Then Abishai, son of Zeruiah, saidto the king, “Why should this dead dogcurse my lord the king? Let me go andcut his head off.” 10 But the king said,“Why should I listen to you, sons ofZeruiah? If Yahweh has ordered him tocurse me, who shall ask him why heacts like this?” 11 Then David said toAbishai and his officers, “If my own sonwants to kill me, how much more thisBenjaminite! Leave him alone and lethim curse me if Yahweh has orderedhim to do so. 12 Perhaps Yahweh will

2 SAMUEL 15

1K2:37

Jn18:1

1S3:18

Ps33:10

1S25:18

19:30

19:17

1S17:46

19:23

16

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look on my affliction and turn to goodthings the curses heaped on me today.”13 So David and his men went their waywhile Shimei, following on the hillsideopposite him, continued to curse as hethrew stones and flung dust at him.14 The king, together with his men, ar-rived exhausted at the Jordan where herefreshed himself.

15 Now Absalom, accompanied by Ahito-phel, entered Jerusalem with all the Israel-ites. 16 When Hushai the Archite, David’sfriend, appeared before Absalom and ex-claimed, “Long live the king!” 17 Absalomsaid to Hushai, “Is this your loyalty to yourfriend? Why did you not go with your friend?”18 Hushai said to Absalom, “No, I will be withthe one Yahweh and this people and theIsraelites have chosen, and with him I willremain. 19 Whom am I now to serve? Are younot his son? As I have served your father, sowill I serve you.”

20 Then Absalom said to Ahitophel, “Havea meeting to decide what we shall do.” 21 Ahi-tophel said to Absalom, “Go and be with theconcubines your father has left to keep hishouse. When the Israelites hear that you havemade yourself odious to your father, all thoseof your party will be strengthened.” 22 So theypitched a tent for Absalom on the terrace andAbsalom went in to his father’s concubines inthe sight of the Israelites. 23 In those days,Ahitophel’s counsel was deemed as sound asthe oracle of God, and so it was deemed byboth David and Absalom.

1 Ahitophel said to Absalom, “Let mechoose twelve thousand men that I

may set out and pursue David tonight. 2 I willattack him while he is tired and discouragedand throw him into a panic. All those who arewith him will flee so I will strike down only theking. 3 Then I will bring all the people back toyou as a bride comes home to her husband.Seek the death of only one man and then allthe people will be unharmed.” 4 The advicepleased Absalom and all the elders of Israel.

5 Then Absalom said, “Call in Hushai theArchite to hear what he has to say.” 6 WhenHushai came before Absalom, Absalomasked him, “Ahitophel has given this advice.Shall we follow it? If not, you speak.” 7 SoHushai said to Absalom, “This time,Ahitophel’s advice is not good. 8 You knowthat your father and his men are warriors.When enraged, they are like a bear robbed ofher cubs in the field. Besides, your father isexpert enough in war not to spend the nightwith his men. 9 Right now he is hiding in oneof the pits or in some other place. If some of

your men fall in the first attack, whoeverhears of it will say, ‘There has been a slaugh-ter among the men who follow Absalom.’10 Then even the valiant man whose heart islike that of a lion will utterly melt with fear, forall Israel knows that your father is a warrior,as are the men who are with him. 11 My adviceis for you to gather all the Israelites from Danto Beersheba, as many as the sands of thesea, and go to battle in person. 12 Then weshall find him wherever he is and fall on himas the dew falls on the ground. Neither he norany of his men will be left alive. 13 If hewithdraws into a city, all Israel will bring ropesand drag it into the valley until not even apebble of it remains.” 14 Absalom and all theIsraelites said, “The counsel of Hushai theArchite is better than the counsel ofAhitophel.” For Yahweh had decreed that thegood counsel of Ahitophel be defeated, sothat he might bring evil upon Absalom.

15 Then Hushai reported to the priestsZadok and Abiathar, “Ahitophel advisedAbsalom and the elders of Israel in this way;but I have advised them in this manner.16 Therefore send word to David quickly, ‘Donot lodge tonight at the desert fords. Gobeyond them lest the King and all the menwith him be trapped!”

17 Now Jonathan and Ahimaaz were wait-ing at Enrogel where a maidservant regularlywent to report to them so they could go andtell king David, for they themselves must notbe seen in the city. 18 But a lad saw them andreported to Absalom. The two hurriedly leftthe place and entered the house of a man ofBahurim who had a well in his courtyard, andthey got down into it. 19 The woman took acovering and spread it over the well’s mouth,then scattered grain over it without anyonenoticing. 20 When Absalom’s servants cameto the woman’s house, they asked, “Whereare Ahimaaz and Jonathan?” The womananswered them, “They left, following thebrook.” They looked for them but could notfind them; and so they returned to Jerusalem.

21 After they had gone, the men came upout of the well and went to tell David, “Hurryand cross over the river, for this is whatAhitophel has counseled against you.” 22 SoDavid and all those who were with himcrossed over the Jordan; and by daybreak,not one was left who had not crossed theJordan.

23 When Ahitophel saw that his advice wasnot followed, he saddled his ass and rodeback home to his own city. After setting hishouse in order, he hanged himself and died.He was then buried in the tomb of his father.

24 David had already entered Mahanaimwhen Absalom crossed over the Jordan withall the Israelites. 25 Absalom had put Amasain charge of the army instead of Joab. Amasa

2 SAMUEL 17

Lev26:25

15:3115:34

Ne4:9

15:27

Jos2:4

21:17

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was the son of Ithra, an Ishmaelite who hadmarried Abigail the daughter of Isai, sister ofZeruiah, the mother of Joab. 26 The Israelitesand Absalom pitched camp in the land ofGilead.

27 When David arrived at Mahanaim,Shobi the son of Nahash from Rabbah of theAmmonites, and Machir the son of Ammielfrom Lodebar, and Barzillai the Gileaditefrom Rogelim, 28 brought beds, basins,earthen vessels, wheat, barley, meal, roastedgrain, beans and lentils, honey and curds,sheep and cheese from the herd. All this wasfor David and the people with him to eat 29 forthey said, “The people are hungry, weary andthirsty in the desert.”

1 David then mustered the men whowere with him and set over them com-

manders of a thousand men and command-ers of a hundred men. He sent forth the army,of which one third was under the command ofJoab; 2 one third, under the command ofAbishai, son of Zeruiah, Joab’s brother, andone third, under the command of Ittai, theGittite. Then the king said to the men, “Imyself will go out with you.” 3 But the menreplied, “You shall not go out. They could notcare less if we flee or if half of us die. But youare worth ten thousand of us and it is better ifyou are able to send us assistance from thecity.” 4 So the king said to them, “I will dowhatever seems best to you.” Then the kingstood by the side of the gate while the entirearmy marched out by hundreds and by thou-sands. 5 The king ordered Joab, Abishai andIttai, “Don’t hurt the young man Absalom formy sake.” All the army heard the king givingorders to all the commanders concerningAbsalom.

Defeat and death of Absalom• 6 The army of David went out into

the field against Israel. The battle wasfought in the forest of Ephraim 7 wherethe Israelites were defeated by the menof David. The slaughter there on thatday was great, numbering twenty thou-sand men. 8 The battle spread over theentire country and more people per-ished in the ravines of the forest thanwere killed by the sword that day.

9 Absalom was riding a mule and

happened to meet the guards of David.As the mule passed under the thickbranches of a big oak tree, his headwas caught in the oak tree and he wasleft hanging between heaven and earth,while the mule he was riding went itsway. 10 Someone reported to Joab, “Isaw Absalom hanging from an oaktree.” 11 Joab said to the man who re-ported this, “What! You saw him but didnot strike him at once? I would havegiven you ten pieces of silver and abelt.” 12 But the man answered Joab,“Even if I felt in my hand the weight of athousand pieces of silver, I would notraise my hand against the king’s son,for we heard the king command you,Abishai and Ittai: ‘For my sake, sparethe young man Absalom.’ 13 If I had notdone my duty, the king would come toknow about it and you yourself wouldhave kept your distance.” 14 Joab re-plied, “I will not waste time talking withyou.” So he took three spears in hishand and thrust them into Absalom’sheart while he was still alive in the oaktree. 15 Then ten guards, Joab’s armor-bearers, surrounded Absalom andstruck him down.

16 Joab blew the trumpet and thetroops stopped pursuing the Israelitesas Joab restrained them. 17 They thentook Absalom, threw him into a deeppit in the forest and covered him with agreat heap of stones. In the meantimeall the Israelites fled, each one to hisown home.

18 During his lifetime Absalom had a me-morial created for himself in the king’s Valleyfor he said, “I have no son by whom my namemay be remembered.” He called the pillarafter his own name and, to this day, it is calledAbsalom’s monument.

19 Then Ahimaaz, the son of Zadok, said,“Let me run and report to the king thatYahweh has delivered him from the power of

much love has he that he stands at the gates ofthe city waiting for word, like the father in theparable who was the first to see his son as hereturned.

Joab is right from the political standpoint, butDavid is closer to God’s thinking.

• 18.6 This account, very lively and beauti-ful, is difficult to abridge.

The scene, doubtless, reminds us of the par-able of the Prodigal Son. Even though the sonleft his father’s house and did him much harm,the father does not lose hope. Moreover, so

2 SAMUEL 17

13:29

1S15:12

2S14:16,

27

2K9:20

18

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his enemies.” 20 But Joab said to him, “Todayyou would not be a bearer of good news;another day you will run, but today there is nogood news because the king’s son is dead.”21 Joab then said to a Cushite, “Go tell theking what you have seen.” The Cushitebowed before Joab and ran. 22 But Ahimaaz,the son of Zadok, again said to Joab, “Comewhat may, let me also run behind theCushite.” Joab asked, “Why must you run,my son, seeing that you will have no rewardfor this news?” 23 Ahimaaz insisted, “It doesnot matter, I will run.” So Joab allowed him togo, and Ahimaaz ran by way of the plain,outrunning the Cushite.

David is told of Absalom’s death24 David was sitting between the two

gates. The watchman posted at the roofof the gate, on the wall, saw a manrunning alone. 25 So he called out andreported to the king who said, “If he isalone, he brings good news.” As he wasdrawing near, 26 the watchman saw an-other man running. So he called to thegatekeeper and said, “Look, anotherman is running alone!” The king said,“He also brings good news.” 27 Thewatchman said, “The first man runs likeAhimaaz, the son of Zadok.” The kingreplied, “He is a good man, so hecomes with good news.”

28 Then Ahimaaz cried out to theking, “All is well.” Bowing before theking with his face to the ground, hesaid, “Blessed be Yahweh your Godwho has delivered up the men who re-belled against my lord the king!” 29 Theking asked him, “How is the youngAbsalom?” Ahimaaz answered, “WhenJoab sent your servant, I saw a greattumult but did not know what it was allabout.” 30 So the king said, “Move awayand stand here.” He moved aside andstayed there.

31 The Cushite arrived and said,“Good news for my lord the king! Yah-weh has done you justice today andsaved you from all those who rebelledagainst you.” 32 The king asked theCushite, “How is the young Absalom?”The Cushite answered, “May the ene-mies of my lord the king and all who

rebel against you end up like thatyoung man.”

1 The king was greatly disturbedand, going up to the room over

the gate, he wept and said, “O, my sonAbsalom! My son, my son Absalom!Would that I had died instead of you, OAbsalom, my son, my son!”

2 It was reported to Joab, “The kingis weeping and mourning for Ab-salom.” 3 So the victory that day turnedinto mourning for all the people, whenthey heard that the king was grievingover his son. 4 The people quietly en-tered the city that day, like those fleeingfrom battle in shame. 5 The king cov-ered his face and was crying aloud, “Omy son Absalom, O Absalom, my son,my son!”

6 Joab then came to the king’s houseand said, “You have today put to shameall your servants who saved your life,the lives of your sons and daughters,and of your wives and concubines.7 Yes, you love those who hate you andhate those who love you. For you havemade it clear today that your com-manders and guards mean nothing toyou. I know that if Absalom were alivetoday and all of us dead, you would bepleased. 8 You must now show yourselfand say a good word to your guards for,I swear by Yahweh, if you do not, no onewill stay with you tonight, and this willbe worse than all the evil that has hap-pened to you from your youth to thepresent day.”

9 So the king took his seat at the gate andas the people were informed that the king wassitting at the gate, they came before him.

The people of Israel had fled, each man tohis own home. 10 Yet throughout all the tribesof Israel, the people were arguing, “The kingwho delivered us from the Philistines has hadto flee because of Absalom. 11 We ourselvesanointed Absalom to rule over us. But if hedied in battle, what prevents us from bringingback the king?”

David returns to Jerusalem12 King David heard what the Israelites

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said. So he sent this message to the priestsZadok and Abiathar, “Say to the elders ofJudah: ‘Why should you be the last to bringthe king back to his house? 13 You are rela-tives, of my own race. Why should you be thelast to bring back the king?’ 14 Say also toAmasa, ‘Are you not of my own family? Iswear before God that I will make you generalof my army in place of Joab.”

15 So he won over the men of Judah and, asone man, they sent word to the king, “Pleasereturn with your servants.” 16 So the kingcame back and the men of Judah went overto Gilgal to welcome him and help him crossthe Jordan.

17 Shimei, son of Gera, the Benjaminitefrom Bahurim, hurried down with the peopleof Judah to meet King David. 18 He had takenwith him a thousand men from Benjamin.Ziba also, the steward of Saul’s family, hur-ried down to the Jordan before the king withhis fifteen sons and twenty servants. 19 Hehelped the king’s household cross the fordand attended to his needs.

Shimei the son of Gera fell down before theking, as he was about to cross the Jordan,20 and said to him, “Let not my lord hold meguilty or remember the wrong your servantdid when my lord the king left Jerusalem. Letnot the king remember this, 21 for I confessthat I have sinned; and therefore I have cometoday, the first from Joseph’s tribes to wel-come my lord the king.”

22 Abishai the son of Zeruiah answered,“Shall not Shimei be put to death for havingcursed Yahweh’s anointed?” 23 But Davidsaid, “Far be it from me to listen to you, yousons of Zeruiah! This is bad advice; no oneshall be put to death in Israel today. Do I notknow that I am ruling again over Israel thisday?” 24 So the king assured Shimei with anoath, “You shall not die.”

25 Mepibaal, the son of Saul, came downfrom Jerusalem to meet the king. He had notwashed his feet, or trimmed his beard, orcleaned his clothes since the king departed.26 When he arrived to meet the king, the kingsaid to him, “Why did you not go with me,Mepibaal?” 27 He answered, “My lord, O king!My steward deceived me. For I said to him,‘Saddle an ass for me so that I may ride on itand go with the king,’ since I am lame. 28 But

he has slandered me to my lord the king. Andyet my lord the king is like an angel of God.Do, therefore, what seems good to you. 29 Myfather’s family was doomed to die before mylord the king, but you counted your servantamong those who eat at your table. Whatfurther right do I have to complain to theking?” 30 The king said to him, “Why talkmore? I have decided – you and Ziba shalldivide the land.” 31 Mepibaal answered, “Oh,let him take it all since my lord the king hascome home safely.”

32 Now, Barzillai the Gileadite had comedown from Rogelim and he crossed the Jor-dan with him; then he said goodbye to him.33 Barzillai was a very old man of eighty, who,being a very wealthy man, had provided theking with food when he remained inMahanaim. 34 The king said to Barzillai,“Come, join me and stay with me; I will takecare of you in Jerusalem.” 35 But Barzillai saidto the king, “How many more years will I livethat I should go up with the king to Jerusa-lem? 36 Today, I am eighty years old and candiscern neither what is pleasant nor what isnot. Can your servant still taste what he eatsor drinks; or listen to the voice of men andwomen singing? Why then should your ser-vant be an added burden to my lord the king?37 Your servant will accompany the king justa little past the Jordan. Why should the kingreward me for this? 38 Please allow me toreturn to my own city where I may die and beburied near the graves of my father andmother. But let this my son Kimham, yourservant, continue with my lord the king. Youcan do for him whatever it may please you.39 The king answered, “Kimham will comewith me and I will give him whatever seems fitto you. Besides, I will do for you whatever youdesire of me.” 40 As all the people had crossedthe Jordan, the king also crossed. Then theking embraced and blessed Barzillai whothen returned to his own home.

• 41 The king went on to Gilgal accompa-nied by Kimham, together with the men ofJudah and some Israelites. 42 Then the Isra-elites came to the king and asked, “Whyhave our brothers, the men of Judah,grabbed you and brought the king and hisentire family over the Jordan together with

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• 19.41 David’s victory does not really solvethe problem, which is lack of unity among thetribes, since Absalom only took advantage of andworsened the existing division. The people ofJudah are resentful of Israel, forgetting that intheir own tribe many assisted Absalom; thus theyprevent David from becoming king over all andtheir victory is one more split in the recentlygained unity.

When we are personally engaged in a conflict,the exclusion of those who oppose us or our

party often seems to be the best solution. Whenwe see things from outside, we quickly condemnthose who exclude others. The Bible reveals thathuman beings are sinners: there will always betension between our thirst for unity and thenecessity to impose sanctions on the culprit (1Cor 5) or the one who seems to be one. Weshould always be modest both when we decidefor exclusion and when we proclaim our attach-ment to unity and peace.

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they believed that this was authorized by God.This episode also confirms that seeking a re-sponse from God can lead to worse deviations:“those responsible for the famine are the de-scendants of Saul because he killed theGibeonites…”

A disaster occurs and the people say it is God’s

all your soldiers?” 43 The men of Judah an-swered the Israelites, “Because the king isour immediate relative. But why does thisrouse your anger? Have we fed ourselves atthe king’s expense or received any gift fromhim?” 44 But the Israelites answered the menof Judah, “We have more right to the kingthan you because we are ten tribes. Why didyou disregard us? Were we not the first tohave the king brought back?” But the men ofJudah argued more vehemently than theIsraelites.

Sheba rebels against David1 There happened to be there a basefellow named Sheba, son of Bichri, a

Benjaminite, who sounded the trumpet andsaid, “We have nothing to do with David.What can we expect from the son of Jesse?Go back, O Israelites, each man to his home!”2 So all the Israelites left David and followedSheba the son of Bichri. The men of Judah,however, steadfastly followed their king fromthe Jordan to Jerusalem.

3 When David reached his house atJerusalem, he took the ten concubines whomhe had left to keep the palace and put themunder guard. He provided for them but had norelations with them. So they were secludeduntil the day of their death and lived likewidows.

4 The king said to Amasa, “Assemble allthe men of Judah within three days; thencome here to me.” 5 So Amasa left to sum-mon the men of Judah but he failed to showup at the appointed time. 6 David then said toAbishai, “Sheba son of Bichri, will do us moreharm than Absalom. Take my guards andpursue him lest he flee to any fortified city andescape from us.” 7 So Abishai, with the menof Joab, the Cherethites, Pelethites and all thewarriors, left Jerusalem to pursue Sheba, sonof Bichri. 8 When they reached the big stonein Gibeon, Amasa came to meet them. NowJoab was wearing over his tunic a belt with asheathed sword. The sword slipped out.9 Joab said to Amasa, “How are you, mybrother?” And he held Amasa’s beard with hisright hand as if to embrace him. 10 Amasa didnot notice the sword which he held until Joabstabbed him, shedding his entrails to theground. Amasa died on the spot without needof a second thrust.

Then Joab and Abishai his brother pur-sued Sheba, son of Bichri. 11 Meantime, one

of Joab’s men stood beside Amasa and said,“Let him who is for Joab and stands by Davidfollow Joab.” 12 Amasa then lay bathed in hisblood, lying on the highway. When the mansaw the people stopping to look, he carriedAmasa from the highway into the field andcovered him with a garment. 13 When he wasremoved from the highway, the people fol-lowed Joab in pursuit of Sheba, son of Bichri.

14 Sheba passed through all the tribes ofIsrael and entered Abel of Bethmaacah withall his allies who had assembled to followhim. 15 Joab’s men came and attacked him inAbel of Bethmaacah. They set up a moundagainst the city, and all the men of Joab dugunder the wall to throw it down.

16 Then a wise woman called out from thecity, “Listen! Listen! Tell Joab to come herethat I may speak to him.” 17 As Joab ap-proached, the woman asked, “Are youJoab?” He answered, “I am.” 18 The womancontinued, “They used to say in olden days tosettle a matter, ‘Seek advice at Abel if youwant to know the ancient customs 19 of thefaithful of Israel.’ And you want to destroy acity which is a mother city in Israel. Why doyou want to destroy the heritage of Yahweh?”20 Joab answered, “By no means do I want todestroy it! 21 But a man from the hill countryof Ephraim, named Sheba, son of Bichri, hasrebelled against King David. Only surrenderhim and I will withdraw from the city.” So thewoman said to Joab, “We shall throw his headover the wall to you.” 22 The woman thengathered the inhabitants and spoke to themso persuasively that they beheaded Sheba,son of Bichri, and threw his head out to Joabwho then sounded the trumpet for the peopleto depart from the city. Then everyone wenthome and Joab himself returned to the kingin Jerusalem.

23 Joab was in command of all the army ofIsrael while Benaiah, son of Jehoiada, was incommand of the Cherethites and the Pele-thites. 24 Adoram was in charge of the forcedlabor, and Jehoshaphat, son of Ahilud, wasthe recorder. Sheva was secretary, 25 andZadok and Abiathar were priests, 26 and Irathe Jairite was David’s priest.

The great famine• 1 There was famine during the reignof David for three consecutive years

and David consulted Yahweh. The answerwas, “There is bloodguilt on Saul and his

• 21.1 This episode shows us the most inhu-man religious prejudices existing at that time.

David consulted Yahweh… The answerwas… We have already seen this practice ofconsulting God by means of the Urim andThummim, i.e., by casting lots. It is possible thatGod guided them through these means since

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society or in an institution, many search outwhom to sacrifice before finding out if theythemselves have had a share in the fault.

• 22.1 This “canticle” of David is repro-duced almost identically in the Psalms: Ps 18.

family because he put the Gibeonites todeath.”

2 The Gibeonites were not of the people ofIsrael but descendants of the Amorites. Al-though the Israelites had sworn to sparethem, Saul had attempted to wipe them outon behalf of the people of Israel and Judah.3 So David called the Gibeonites and askedthem, “What shall I do for you? And how shallI repay you that you may bless the people ofYahweh?” 4 The Gibeonites answered him,“Our quarrel with Saul and his family is notover silver or gold, nor is it our task to put anyIsraelite to death.” The king asked again,“Tell me then what I shall do for you”; 5 andthey replied,“That man slaughtered us andplanned our destruction so that we would nolonger occupy any place in Israel. 6 Surrenderseven of his sons to us so that we may hangthem up before Yahweh at Gibeon on themountain of Yahweh.” To this, the king said,“I will surrender them.”

7 David spared Mepibaal, son of Jonathan,Saul’s son, because of the oath David andJonathan took before Yahweh. 8 But he tookthe two sons of Rizpah, daughter of Aiahwhom she bore to Saul – Armoni andMepibaal; and the five sons of Merab, daugh-ter of Saul, whom she bore to Adriel, son ofBarzillai the Meholathite. 9 He delivered theminto the hands of the Gibeonites who hangedthem on the mountain of Yahweh where allseven perished together. They were put todeath in the first days of harvest at the begin-ning of the barley harvest.

10 Then Rizpah, daughter of Aiah, tooksackcloth and spread it for herself on therock, from the beginning of harvest until rainfell on them from the heavens. She did notallow the birds of the air to come on them byday or the beasts of the field by night. 11 WhenDavid was told what Rizpah, Aiah’s daughterand Saul’s concubine, had done, 12 he askedthe men of Jabesh-gilead for the bones ofSaul and those of his son Jonathan. (Theyhad taken them from the wall of Bethshanwhere the Philistines had nailed them whenthey killed Saul on Gilboa.) 13 So David hadbrought up from there the bones of Saul andhis son Jonathan, and the bones of those whohad been hanged were gathered. 14 All ofthem were buried in the land of Benjamin inZela, in the tomb of Kish their father. When allthat the king had commanded was done, Godhad pity on the land.

15 The Philistines waged war again withIsrael, and David went down together with hisservants to fight against them. When Davidwas already tired, 16 Ishbibenob, one of thedescendants of the giants whose spearweighed three hundred shekels of bronze andwho had put on a new sword, thought ofkilling David. 17 But Abishai, son of Zeruiah,came to his help, attacking and killing thePhilistine. Then David’s men urged him, “Youshall not join us anymore in battle lest thelamp of Israel be extinguished.”

18 After this, there was more fighting withthe Philistines at Gob; there Sibbecai theHushathite, slew Saph, one of the descen-dants of the giants. 19 There was anotherbattle with the Philistines at Gob whereElhanan, son of Jaareoregim, the Bethle-hemite, slew Goliath the Gittite, the shaft ofwhose spear was the size of a weaver’s beam.20 In another encounter at Gath, there was ahuge man with six fingers on each hand andsix toes on each foot, numbering twenty-fourin all. He too was a descendant of the giants.21 When he taunted Israel, Jonathan, son ofShimei, David’s brother, slew him. 22 All fourdescendants of the giants fell by the hand ofDavid and his guards.

David’s song of praise• 1 David sang this song to Yahweh onthe day Yahweh delivered him from

his enemies and from Saul. 2 He said,

The Lord is my rock, my rampart,my deliverer 3 and my God,the rock in whom I take refuge.He is my shield, my salvation,my stronghold and my refuge,my Savior; you save me from violence.4 I call on the Lord, who is worthy of praise;he saves me from my enemies.5 Waters of death carried me along,torrents of destruction terrified me.6 Caught as by the cords of the grave,I was utterly helpless before the snares of

death.7 But I called upon the Lord in my distress,to my God I cried for help;and from his temple he heard my voice,my cry of grief reached his ears.8 Then the earth reeled and rocked;the foundations of the heavens shook;they trembled in his fury.9 From his nostrils smoke rose,

punishment and, if it is a punishment, they mustfind the one responsible. Possibly David himselfshares the common belief; except that he useshis authority to save the son of his friend,Jonathan.

We cannot say that this mentality has com-pletely disappeared. If something goes wrong in

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from his mouth a devouring firethrowing off live embers.10 He bent the heavens and came downwith dark clouds under his feet.11 He rode on a cherub and flew,he was seen on the wings of the wind.12 He set darkness around him as his tent,a heap of waters in the thick clouds.13 Then from the brightness of his presenceflared up fiery embers.14 From heaven the Lord thundered;the voice of the Most High resounded.15 Sending out a hail of arrows,he scattered them;flashing forth bolts of lightning,he routed them.16 The beds of the seas lay uncoveredas the foundations of the worldwere laid bare,at your rebuke, O Yahweh,at the blast from your nostril’s breath.17 Reaching down from above,he drew me out of the deep water.18 Too strong for me were my enemies,but he rescued me from my adversaries.19 They have launched their attackin an opportune daybut the Lord has been my stay.20 In the open he has set me free.How great indeed is his love for me!21 Yahweh rewarded me according to my

justice,and according to my righteousness.22 For I have been faithful to Yahweh’s

wayand I did not sin far from him.23 With his ordinances all before me,I have always followed his statutes.24 Before him I have done uprightlyand kept myself from iniquity.25 Therefore Yahweh has given merecompense according to my righteous-

ness.26 To the faithful you show yourself faith-

ful;to the blameless you show yourself

blameless;27 to the pure you show yourself pure;but to the crooked you show yourself

astute.28 For you raise up the humbleand humiliate the arrogant.29 Yahweh, you are my lamp.O my God, you brighten up my darkness.30 Yes, with you I can crush an armed

band,and by my God I can leap over a wall.31 This God – his way is perfect;the word of the Lord is always fulfilled.To those who seek refuge in him, he is a

shield.32 There is no other God but Yahweh;

there is no other rock but our God.33 This God is my strongholdand keeps my path unerring and safe.34 He has made my feet as swift as the

hinds;he has set me secure on the heights.35 He trains my hands for warand my arms to bend a bow of brass.36 You have given me your shield for pro-

tection,and your help has made me great.37 You have given wide room for my steps,so that they have never faltered.38 I have pursued my enemies and wiped

them out,I did not turn back till I had destroyed

them.39 Thrusting them through,I did not give them time to riseas they fell under my feet.40 You have given me strength for the

battle;you have subdued my adversaries be-

neath me;41 you have put my enemies to flightand destroyed those who opposed me.42 They cried for help, but no one came.They cried to the Lord;he did not answer them.43 I pulverized them as dust of the earth;like mud in the streets I trampled on

them.44 You have delivered me fromthe people’s assaultand have made me head over the nations.They came to serve me –people I had not known.45 Foreigners approached me,cringing and fawning.At the sound of my voice,they rose to obey.46 Foreigners succumbedor locked themselves in their fortresses.47 Yahweh lives! Praised be my rock!Exalted be my savior God –48 the God who grants me vengeanceand subdues the peoples for me.49 He brings me out from my foes;he exalts me above my adversaries;he rescues me from men of violence.50 For this I will extol you, Yahweh,among the nations;I will sing praise to your name.51 You have given your king great victory;you have shown your love foreverto your anointed, to David and to hisdescendants.

1 These are the last words of David:The oracle of David, son of Jesse, the

oracle of the man whom God exalted, theanointed of the God of Jacob, the singer of thesongs of Israel:

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2 “The Spirit of Yahweh speaks throughme, his word is on my tongue.

3 The God of Israel has spoken,the Rock of Israel has said to me:when one rules justly over people,ruling in the fear of God,

4 he dawns on them like the morning light,like the sun shining forth on a cloudless

morning,making grass sprout from the ground after

the rain.5 Yes, is not my family like this before

God? He has made with me an eternal cov-enant, orderly and secure.

Will he not complete my salvation andfulfill my desire?

6 But the godless are like thorns that arethrown away.

They cannot be held with one’s hand7 but are uprooted with iron and the shaft of

a spear,and they are burned in fire.”

David’s champions• 8 These are the names of the warriors

who were with David: the first of the Threewas Ishbaal, a Hachemonite who wielded hisspear against eight hundred whom he slew ina single encounter.

9 Next was Eleazar, son of Dodo, son ofAhohi, who was with David when they chal-lenged the Philistines who were gatheredthere for battle. When he saw the retreat of theIsraelites, 10 he fought and struck down thePhilistines until his hand grew tired fromholding the sword without pause. Yahwehbrought about a great victory that day.Theothers returned after him, but only to strip theslain.

11 Next was Shammah, son of Agee theHararite. The Philistines gathered together atLehi, where there was a plot of groundplanted to barley, and the men fled from thePhilistines. 12 But Shammah stood in themiddle of the plot to defend it and slew thePhilistines. And Yahweh worked a great vic-tory.

13 At about harvest time, three of the Thirtywent down to David at the cave of Adullamwhile a band of Philistines was encamped inthe valley of Rephaim. 14 David was in thestronghold while the Philistine garrison was atBethlehem. 15 David longed for water and

said, “Who will give me water to drink fromthe well by the gate of Bethlehem!” 16 At this,the three warriors broke through the Philistinecamp, drew water out of the well by the gateof Bethlehem and brought it to David. ButDavid refused to drink of it and poured it outas an offering to Yahweh. 17 He said, “By nomeans should I do this. Shall I drink the bloodof the men who risked their lives?” Therefore,he refused to drink it. These were the deeds ofthe three warriors.

18 Now Abishai, brother of Joab, son ofZeruiah, was chief of the Thirty. He wieldedhis spear against three hundred men and slewthem, winning a name beside the Thirty.19 Though he was the most popular of theThirty and became their commander, he didnot equal the Three.

20 Benaiah son of Jehoiada, a warrior ofKabzeel, was a man of great achievementswho killed the two sons of Ariel of Moab. Healso went down into a pit on a snowy day andslew a lion. 21 He slew a handsome Egyptianwho held a spear. Benaiah went against himwith a staff, snatched the spear from theEgyptian’s hand and killed him with his ownspear. 22 Benaiah, son of Jehoiada, did thesethings and won a name beside the thirtywarriors. 23 He was popular among the Thirtybut did not equal the Three. David put him incommand of his bodyguard.

24 Asahel, brother of Joab, was one of theThirty; Elhanan, son of Dodo of Bethlehem;25 Shammah of Harod, Elika of Harod;26 Helez, the Paltite; Ira the son of Ikkesh ofTekoa; 27 Abiezor of Anathoth; Mebunnai, theHushathite, 28 Zalmon the Ahohite; Maharaiof Netophah; 29 Jeleb, the son of Baanah ofNetophah; Ittai, the son of Ribai of Gibeah ofthe Ben-jaminites; 30 Benaiah of Pirathon;Hiddai, of the brooks of Gaash; 31 Abialbon,the Arbathite; Azmaveth of Bahurim;32 Eliahba of Shaalbon; the sons of Jashen,Jonathan; 33 Shammah, the Hararite; Ahiam,the son of Sharar, the Hararite, 34 Eliphelet,the son of Ahasbai of Maacah; Eliam, the sonof Ahithophel of Gilo; 35 Hezro of Carmel;Paarai the Arbite; 36 Igal, the son of Nathan ofZobah, Bani, the Gadite; 37 Zelek the Ammo-nite; Naharai of Beeroth, the armor-bearer ofJoab, the son of Zeruiah, 38 Ira, the Ithrite;Gareb the Ithrite; 39 Uriah, the Hittite – thirty-seven in all.

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needed for the evolution of moral standards. Itwas to take centuries to complete the educationof God’s people and for this education to takeplace this people had to survive: wars were atthat time the necessary condition to survive.

• 24.1 The kingdom has grown very muchin territory, animals and wealth. Israel is a nu-merous people and so David is tempted to countthem and orders a census.

• 23.8 In dedicating this chapter to thememory of David’s “valiant men” (see also com-mentary on 1 S 22), the Bible gives them whatthey deserved. These men lived their faith andaccomplished their human mission throughfighting and killing their enemies – which seemsto us to be very far from Gospel values. Yet Davidbecame king because of them, their sword, theirstrength and their courage. Here again faithdoes not suppress human reality, nor the time

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The census• 1 Again the anger of Yahwehblazed out against Israel. So he

let David harm them in this way, “Countthe people of Israel and Judah.” 2 Theking said to Joab and the commandersof the army who were with him, “Gothrough all the tribes of Israel from Danto Beersheba and count the people thatI may know how many they are.”

3 Joab told the king, “May Yahwehyour God multiply the people a hun-dred times and may my lord the kingsee this blessing. But why does my lordthe king want to take a census?”

4 But the king’s word prevailed sothat Joab and the commanders of thearmy went out from the king’s presencein order to count the people of Israel.5 They crossed the Jordan and startedwith Aroer, the city in the middle of thevalley, and went on toward Gad and toJazer. 6 Then they proceeded to Gileadand to Kadesh in the land of the Hittites.They then went to Dan, and from Danto Sidon, 7 and arrived at the fortress ofTyre and the cities of the Hivites and theCanaanites. They went out through theNegeb of Judah at Beersheba and 8 af-ter having gone through all the land,returned to Jerusalem at the end ofnine months and twenty days. 9 Joabgave the total count of the people to theking: eight hundred thousand sword-wielding warriors in Israel and five hun-dred thousand men in Judah.

10 But after he had the peoplecounted, David felt remorse and said toYahweh, “I have sinned greatly in what I

have done, but now, O Yahweh, I askyou to forgive my sin for I have actedfoolishly.”

11 The following day, before Davidawoke, Yahweh’s word had come to theprophet Gad, David’s seer, 12 “Go, andgive David this message: I offer youthree things and I will let one of thembefall you according to your ownchoice.” 13 So Gad went to David andasked him, “Do you want three years offamine in your land? Or do you want tobe pursued for three months by yourfoes while you flee from them? Or doyou want three days’ pestilence in yourland? Now, think and decide what an-swer I shall give him who sent me.”

14 David answered Gad, “I am greatlytroubled. Let me fall into the hands ofYahweh whose mercy is abundant; butlet me not fall into human hands.”

15 So Yahweh sent a pestilence onIsrael from morning until the appointedtime, causing the death of seventythousand men from Dan to Beersheba.16 When the angel stretched forth hishand toward Jerusalem to destroy it,Yahweh would punish no more and saidto the angel who was causing destruc-tion among the people, “It is enough,hold back your hand.” The angel ofYahweh was already at the threshingfloor of Araunah, the Jebusite.

17 When David saw the angel strikingthe people, he spoke to Yahweh andsaid, “I have sinned and acted wickedly,but these are only the sheep; what havethey done? Let your hand strike me andmy father’s family.”

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The census in itself is not bad. What is bad isto feel greater because one has so many peopleor soldiers, or to have an obsession for quantity,for numbers, forgetting the essential which isquality. David forgets that he is the administratorand deputy of God in Israel: the sheep do notbelong to him. At all levels of life, people like tocount their animals, or recall their accomplish-ments. There are many ways of feeling oneself“owner” when, in reality, all belongs to God.

Here, the author presents the pestilence asGod’s intervention to punish the king. People ofthat time easily accepted an intervention of

Yahweh to kill the Israelites even if they were notresponsible for the sin of their king. It seemsmore accurate for us to say that God intervenedby sending the prophet Gad a few days beforethe pestilence broke out, a pestilence which, ofcourse, was not miraculous in nature. Thus hewanted to impart to David a lesson and a sign ofthe gravity of his sin, using a language he couldunderstand.

See what is said about collective punishment inJoshua 7, and about the Angel of Yahweh inGenesis 16.

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18 Gad went to David that day and said tohim, “Go, set up an altar to Yahweh on thethreshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.”19 So David left to follow Yahweh’s commandmade through Gad. 20 When Araunah saw theking and his officials coming toward him, hewent forward, paid homage to the king withhis face to the ground, and said, 21 “Why hasmy lord the king come to his servant?” Davidanswered, “I will buy your threshing floor inorder to build an altar to Yahweh so that theplague may end among the people.” 22 ThenAraunah said to David, “Let my lord the kingtake the threshing floor and offer the sacrifice

2 SAMUEL 24

that seems good to him: here you have myoxen for the burnt offering, the threshingsledges, and the oxen’s yokes for the wood.23 All this, O king, Araunah gives to the king.May Yahweh your God hear you.”

24 But the king said to Araunah, “No, I willpay you for all this, for I will not offer toYahweh my God something that costs menothing.” So David bought the threshing floorand the oxen for fifty shekels of silver. 25Davidbuilt there an altar to Yahweh and offeredburnt offerings and peace offerings. So Yah-weh had mercy on the land and the plagueended in Israel.