Chapter 11.
HOW DAVID, WHEN HE HAD RECOVERED HIS KINGDOM, WAS RECONCILED
TO SHIMEI, AND TO ZIBA; AND SHOWED A GREAT AFFECTION TO BARZILLAI; AND
HOW, UPON THE RISE OF A SEDITION, HE MADE AMASA CAPTAIN OF HIS HOST, IN
ORDER TO PURSUE SEBA; WHICH AMASA WAS SLAIN BY JOAB.FJAJ 7.62
1. NOW those Hebrews that had been With Absalom, and had retired out
of the battle, when they were all returned home, sent messengers to every
city to put them in mind of what benefits David had bestowed upon them,
and of that liberty which he had procured them, by delivering them from
many and great wars
But they complained, that whereas they had ejected
him out of his kingdom, and committed it to another governor, which other
governor, whom they had set up, was already dead, they did not now beseech
David to leave off his anger at them, and to become friends with them,
and, as he used to do, to resume the care of their affairs, and take the
kingdom again
This was often told to David
And, this notwithstanding,
David sent to Zadok and Abiathar the high priests, that they should speak
to the rulers of the tribe of Judah after the manner following: That it
would be a reproach upon them to permit the other tribes to choose David
for their king before their tribe, "and this," said he, "while
you are akin to him, and of the same common blood." He commanded them
also to say the same to Amasa the captain of their forces, That whereas
he was his sister's son, he had not persuaded the multitude to restore
the kingdom to David; that he might expect from him not only a reconciliation,
for that was already granted, but that supreme command of the army also
which Absalom had bestowed upon him
Accordingly the high priests, when
they had discoursed with the rulers of the tribe, and said what the king
had ordered them, persuaded Amasa to undertake the care of his affairs.
So he persuaded that tribe to send immediately ambassadors to him, to beseech
him to return to his own kingdom
The same did all the Israelites, at the
like persuasion of Amasa.FJAJ 7.63
2. When the ambassadors came to him, he came to Jerusalem; and the tribe
of Judah was the first that came to meet the king at the river Jordan.
And Shimei, the son of Gera, came with a thousand men, which he brought
with him out of the tribe of Benjamin; and Ziba, the freed-man of Saul,
with his sons, fifteen in number, and with his twenty servants
All these,
as well as the tribe of Judah, laid a bridge [of boats] over the river,
that the king, and those that were with him, might with ease pass over
it
Now as soon as he was come to Jordan, the tribe of Judah saluted him.
Shimei also came upon the bridge, and took hold of his feet, and prayed
him to forgive him what he had offended, and not to be too bitter against
him, nor to think fit to make him the first example of severity under his
new authority; but to consider that he had repented of his failure of duty,
and had taken care to come first of all to him
While he was thus entreating
the king, and moving him to compassion, Abishai, Joab's brother, said,
"And shall not this man die for this, that he hath cursed that king
whom God hath appointed to reign over us?" But David turned himself
to him, and said, "Will you never leave off, ye sons of Zeruiah? Do
not you, I pray, raise new troubles and seditions among us, now the former
are over; for I would not have you ignorant that I this day begin my reign,
and therefore swear to remit to all offenders their punishments, and not
to animadvert on any one that has sinned
Be thou, therefore," said
he, "O Shimei, of good courage, and do not at all fear being put to
death." So he worshipped him, and went on before him.FJAJ 7.64
3. Mephibosheth also, Saul's grandson, met David, clothed in a sordid
garment, and having his hair thick and neglected; for after David was fled
away, he was in such grief that he had not polled his head, nor had he
washed his clothes, as dooming himself to undergo such hardships upon occasion
of the change-of the king's affairs
Now he had been unjustly calumniated
to the king by Ziba, his steward
When he had saluted the king, and worshipped
him, the king began to ask him why he did not go out of Jerusalem with
him, and accompany him during his flight
He replied, that this piece of
injustice was owing to Ziba; because, when he was ordered to get things
ready for his going out with him, he took no care of it, but regarded him
no more than if he had been a slave; "and, indeed, had I had my feet
sound and strong, I had not deserted thee, for I could then have made use
of them in my flight: but this is not all the injury that Ziba has done
me, as to my duty to thee, my lord and master, but he hath calumniated
me besides, and told lies about me of his own invention; but I know thy
mind will not admit of such calumnies, but is righteously disposed, and
a lover of truth, which it is also the will of God should prevail
For
when thou wast in the greatest danger of suffering by my grandfather, and
when, on that account, our whole family might justly have been destroyed,
thou wast moderate and merciful, and didst then especially forget all those
injuries, when, if thou hadst remembered them, thou hadst the power of
punishing us for them; but thou hast judged me to be thy friend, and hast
set me every day at thine own table; nor have I wanted any thing which
one of thine own kinsmen, of greatest esteem with thee, could have expected."
When he had said this, David resolved neither to punish Mephibosheth, nor
to condemn Ziba, as having belied his master; but said to him, that as
he had [before] granted all his estate to Ziba, because he did not come
along with him, so he [now] promised to forgive him, and ordered that the
one half of his estate should be restored to him.FJAJ 7.65
(20)
By David's disposal of half Mephibosheth's estate to Ziba, one would imagine
that he was a good deal dissatisfied, and doubtful whether Mephibosheth's
story were entirely true or not; nor does David now invite him to diet
with him, as he did before, but only forgives him, if he had been at all
guilty. Nor is this odd way of mourning that Mephibosheth made use of here,
and 2 Samuel 19:24, wholly free from suspicion by hypocrisy. If Ziba neglected
or refused to bring Mephibosheh an ass of his own, on which he might ride
to David, it is half to suppose that so great a man as he was should not
be able to procure some other beast for the same purpose.
Whereupon Mephibosheth said, "Nay, let Ziba take all; it suffices
me that thou hast recovered thy kingdom."FJAJ 7.66
4. But David desired Barzillai the Gileadite, that great and good man,
and one that had made a plentiful provision for him at Mahanaim, and had
conducted him as far as Jordan, to accompany him to Jerusalem, for he promised
to treat him in his old age with all manner of respect - to take care of
him, and provide for him
But Barzillai was so desirous to live at home,
that he entreated him to excuse him from attendance on him; and said that
his age was too great to enjoy the pleasures [of a court,] since he was
fourscore years old, and was therefore making provision for his death and
burial: so he desired him to gratify him in this request, and dismiss him;
for he had no relish of his meat, or his drink, by reason of his age; and
that his ears were too much shut up to hear the sound of pipes, or the
melody of other musical instruments, such as all those that live with kings
delight in
When he entreated for this so earnestly, the king said, "I
dismiss thee, but thou shalt grant me thy son Chimham, and upon him I will
bestow all sorts of good things." So Barzillai left his son with him,
and worshipped the king, and wished him a prosperous conclusion of all
his affairs according to his own mind, and then returned home; but David
came to Gilgal, having about him half the people [of Israel], and the [whole]
tribe of Judah.FJAJ 7.67
5. Now the principal men of the country came to Gilgal to him with a
great multitude, and complained of the tribe of Judah, that they had come
to him in a private manner; whereas they ought all conjointly, and with
one and the same intention, to have given him the meeting
But the rulers
of the tribe of Judah desired them not to be displeased, if they had been
prevented by them; for, said they, "We are David's kinsmen, and on
that account we the rather took care of him, and loved him, and
so came
first to him;" yet had they not, by their early coming, received any
gifts from him, which might give them who came last any uneasiness
When
the rulers of the tribe of Judah had said this, the rulers of the other
tribes were not quiet, but said further, "O brethren, we cannot but
wonder at you when you call the king your kinsman alone, whereas he that
hath received from God the power over all of us in common ought to be esteemed
a kinsman to us all; for which reason the whole people have eleven parts
in him, and you but one part (21)
I clearly prefer Josephus's reading here, when it supposes eleven tribes,
including Benjamin, to be on the one side, and the tribe of Judah alone
on the other, since Benjamin, in general, had been still father of the
house of Saul, and less firm to David hitherto, than any of the rest, and
so cannot be supposed to be joined with Judah at this time, to make it
double, especially when the following rebellion was headed by a Benjamite.
See sect. 6, and 2 Samuel 20:2, 4.
we are also elder than you; wherefore you have not done justly in coming
to the king in this private and concealed manner."FJAJ 7.68
6. While these rulers were thus disputing one with another,
a certain
wicked man, who took a pleasure in seditious practices, (his name was Sheba,
the son of Bichri, of the tribe of Benjamin,) stood up in the midst of
the multitude, and cried aloud, and spake thus to them: "We have no
part in David, nor inheritance in the son of Jesse." And when he had
used those words, he blew with a trumpet, and declared war against the
king; and they all left David, and followed him; the tribe of Judah alone
staid with him, and settled him in his royal palace at Jerusalem
But as
for his concubines, with whom Absalom his son had accompanied, truly he
removed them to another house, and ordered those that had the care of them
to make a plentiful provision for them, but he came not near them any more.
He also appointed Amass for the captain of his forces, and gave him the
same high office which Joab before had; and he commanded him to gather
together, out of the tribe of Judah, as great an army as he could, and
come to him within three days, that he might deliver to him his entire
army, and might send him to fight against [Sheba] the son of Bichri
Now
while Amass was gone out, and made some delay in gathering the army together,
and so was not yet returned, on the third day the king said to Joab, "It
is not fit we should make any delay in this affair of Sheba, lest he get
a numerous army about him, and be the occasion of greater mischief, and
hurt our affairs more than did Absalom himself; do not thou therefore wait
any longer, but take such forces as thou hast at hand, and that [old] body
of six hundred men, and thy brother Abishai, with thee, and pursue after
our enemy, and endeavor to fight him wheresoever thou canst overtake him.
Make haste to prevent him, lest he seize upon some fenced cities, and cause
us great labor and pains before we take him."FJAJ 7.69
7. So Joab resolved to make no delay, but taking with him his brother,
and those six hundred men, and giving orders that the rest of the army
which was at Jerusalem should follow him, he marched with great speed against
Sheba; and when he was come to Gibeon, which is a village forty furlongs
distant from Jerusalem, Amasa brought a great army with him, and met Joab.
Now Joab was girded with a sword, and his breastplate on; and when Amasa
came near him to salute him, he took particular care that his sword should
fall out, as it were, of its own accord: so he took it up from the ground,
and while he approached Amasa, who was then near him, as though he would
kiss him, he took hold of Amasa's beard with his other hand, and he smote
him in his belly when he did not foresee it, and slew him
This impious
and altogether profane action Joab did to a good young man, and his kinsman,
and one that had done him no injury, and this out of jealousy that he would
obtain the chief command of the army, and be in equal dignity with himself
about the king; and for the same cause it was that he killed Abner
But
as to that former wicked action, the death of his brother Asahel, which
he seemed to revenge, afforded him a decent pretense, and made that crime
a pardonable one; but in this murder of Amasa there was no such covering
for it
Now when Joab had killed this general, he pursued after Sheba,
having left a man with the dead body, who was ordered to proclaim aloud
to the army, that Amasa was justly slain, and deservedly punished.FJAJ 7.70
"But,"
said he, "if you be for the king, follow Joab his general, and Abishai,
Joab's brother:" but because the body lay on the road, and all the
multitude came running to it, and, as is usual with the multitude, stood
wondering a great while at it, he that guarded it removed it thence, and
carried it to a certain place that was very remote from the road, and there
laid it, and covered it with his garment
When this was done, all the people
followed Joab
Now as he pursued Sheba through all the country of Israel,
one told him that he was in a strong city, called Abelbeth-maachah
Hereupon
Joab went thither, and set about it with his army, and cast up a bank round
it, and ordered his soldiers to undermine the walls, and to overthrow them;
and since the people in the city did not admit him, he was greatly displeased
at them.FJAJ 7.71
8. Now there was a woman of small account, and yet both wise and intelligent,
who seeing her native city lying at the last extremity, ascended upon the
wall, and, by means of the armed men, called for Joab; and when he came
to her, she began to say, That "God ordained kings and generals
of armies, that they might cut off the enemies of the Hebrews, and introduce
a universal peace among them; but thou art endeavoring to overthrow and
depopulate a metropolis of the Israelites, which hath been guilty of no
offense." But he replied, "God continue to be merciful unto me:
I am disposed to avoid killing any one of the people, much less would I
destroy such a city as this; and if they will deliver me up Sheba, the
son of Bichri, who hath rebelled against the king, I will leave off the
siege, and withdraw the army from the place." Now as soon as the woman
heard what Joab said, she desired him to intermit the siege for a little
while, for that he should have the head of his enemy thrown out to him
presently
So she went down to the citizens, and said to them, "Will
you be so wicked as to perish miserably, with your children and wives,
for the sake of a vile fellow, and one whom nobody knows who he is? And
will you have him for your king instead of David, who hath been so great
a benefactor to you, and oppose your city alone to such a mighty and strong
army?" So she prevailed with them, and they cut off the head of Sheba,
and threw it into Joab's army
When this was done, the king's general sounded
a retreat, and raised the siege
And when he was come to Jerusalem, he
was again appointed to be general of all the people
The king also constituted
Benaiah captain of the guards, and of the six hundred men
He also set
Adoram over the tribute, and Sabathes and Achilaus over the records
He
made Sheva the scribe, and appointed Zadok and Abiathar the high priests.FJAJ 7.72