2Samuel 18. Outline of Chapter 18: Introduction

Transcription

1 2Samul 18 2Samul 18:1 33 Absalom is Killd in th War Ths studis ar dsignd for blivrs in Jsus Christ only. If you hav xrcisd faith in Christ, thn you ar in th right plac. If you hav not, thn you nd to hd th words of our Lord, Who said, For God so lovd th world that H gav His only-bgottn [or, uniquly-born] Son, so that vry [on] bliving [or, trusting] in Him shall not prish, but shall b hav trnal lif! For God did not snd His Son into th world so that H should judg th world, but so that th world shall b savd through Him. Th on bliving [or, trusting] in Him is not judgd, but th on not bliving has alrady bn judgd, bcaus h has not blivd in th Nam of th only-bgottn [or, uniquly-born] Son of God. (John 3:16 18). I am th Way and th Truth and th Lif! No on coms to th Fathr xcpt through [or, by mans of] M! (John 14:6). Evry study of th Word of God ought to b prcdd by a naming of your sins to God. This rstors you to fllowship with God (1John 1:8 10). If thr ar popl around, you would nam ths sins silntly. If thr is no on around, thn it dos not mattr if you nam thm silntly or whthr you spak aloud. Ths xgtical studis ar not dsignd for you to rad ach and vry word. For instanc, th Hbrw xgsis is put into gryish tabls, so that if you want to skip ovr thm, that is fin. If you qustion a translation, you can always rfr back to th appropriat Hbrw tabls to sort it all out. Th intnt is to mak this particular study th most complt and most accurat xamination of 2Samul 18 which is availabl in writing. Th ida is to mak vry phras, vrs and passag undrstandabl; and to mak application of all that is studid. Bsids taching you th doctrinal principls rlatd to this chaptr, this commntary is also to hlp bring this narrativ to lif, so that you can undrstand th various charactrs, thir motivations, and th choics that thy mak. Idally, you will b abl to visualiz th popls and armis as thy mov across th landscap of th Land of Promis. Outlin of Chaptr 18: Introduction vv. 1 5 David Mobilizs His Troops for War, but Rmains Bhind vv. 6 8 Th Battl Btwn th Army of David and th Army of Absalom vv Absalom is Discovrd and Killd vv Th Two Monumnts to Absalom vv Th Rac of th Two Runnrs vv Th Two Rports v. 33 David s Grat Sorrow for Absalom Addndum Charts, Maps and Short Doctrins:

2 2Samul Introduction Th Principals of 2Samul 18 Introduction Th Prqul of 2Samul 18 Introduction Th Abbrviatd Davidic Timlin Introduction Matthw Hnry Outlins 2Samul 18 Introduction A Synopsis of 2Samul 18 Introduction An Advrsity Scal of Valus Introduction God and Countrinsurgncy Introduction Arroganc and Rvolution v. 1 Map of Mahanaim v. 1 Modrn Military Hirarchy v. 3 Th Doctrin of On Day at a Tim v. 5 Th Doctrin of Ngativ Emotion v. 5 David Gos Astray v. 5 David s Misguidd Ordr v. 6 Tal of th Tap v. 6 Th Rbllion of Absalom (map) v. 8 Th Easy English Bibl Summation (so far) v. 9 Th Amrican English Bibl on Th Havns and th Earth v. 9 Absalom Hanging on th Oak Tr (graphic) v. 14 Narly Evry Translation of 2Samul 18:14 is Wrong v. 14 Gnral Joab Disobys King David v. 14 Absalom: Not Quit a Paralll to Jsus on th Cross v. 14 Attacking Crtain Rligious Christians or Dnominations v. 14 Clark: Justic for Abraham is Long Ovrdu v. 14 Was Joab Unabl to Kill Absalom? v. 15 Comparing North and South Kora v. 15 Institutions Mattr: Ral Pr Capita GDP in North and South Kora v. 16 Joab s Rstraint v. 17 Lgitimat Authority and th Pottr s Whl v. 17 Catgoris of Humility v. 17 Fling Back Hom v. 18 Th Location of Absalom s Monumnt v. 18 Whr is Absalom Burid? v. 18 Enforcd Humility v. 18 Monumnts v. 18 Gn. Douglas MacArthur Ddication of MacArthur Park v. 18 Gn. Douglas MacArthur dscribing th lgions of uniformd Amrican Patriots v. 18 Stags of Humility v. 29 Is Ahimaaz Lying to David? v. 31 Authority Orintation in Lif v. 32 What W Gt from th Compting Runnrs Narrativ v. 33 Matthw Hnry on David s 5 Mistaks v. 33 Th Pulpit Commntary on David s Grif v. 33 Th Fathr-Son Rlationship in Scriptur v. 33 Som of th Grat Lamntations in Scriptur Addndum What W Larn from 2Samul 18 Addndum Josphus History of this Tim Priod Addndum Edrshim Summarizs 2Samul 18 Addndum A Complt Translation of 2Samul 18

3 6921 Th Book of Samul Chaptr Outlin Bginning of Documnt Charts, Maps and Short Doctrins Doctrins Covrd and Alludd to Chaptrs of th Bibl Alludd To Psalms Appropriatly Exgtd with this Chaptr Introduction Othr Chaptrs of th Bibl Appropriatly Exgtd with this Chaptr Dfinition of Trms Addndum Exgtical Studis in Samul Pr-Introduction Links Doctrins Covrd and Alludd To Chaptrs of th Bibl Alludd To or Psalms Appropriatly Exgtd with this Chaptr Dfinition of Trms Doctrins Covrd Doctrins Alludd To Rvolution Chaptrs of th Bibl Alludd To 1Chron. 11 Psalm 2 Psalms Appropriatly Exgtd with this Chaptr Othr Chaptrs of th Bibl Appropriatly Exgtd with this Chaptr Many who rad and study this chaptr ar 1 or 2 gnration studnts of R. B. Thim, Jr., so that much of st nd this vocabulary is scond natur. On of Bob s contributions to thology is a frsh vocabulary along with a numbr of concpts which ar thologically nw or rworkd, yt still orthodox. Thrfor, if you ar unfamiliar with his work, th dfinitions blow will hlp you to fully undrstand all that is bing said. In addition to this, I will us a numbr of othr mor traditional tchnical thological trms which will b usd and thrfor dfind as wll.

4 2Samul Dfinition of Trms Clint Nation Emotional Arroganc Enforcd Humility Gnuin Humility Intrlocking Systms of Arroganc Laws of Divin Establishmnt Organizational Humility Phas II Clint-Nation, is a national ntity in which a crtain numbr of spiritually matur Christians (th salt of th arth) hav formd a pivot sufficint to sustain th nation and through which God spcifically protcts this nation so that blivrs can fulfill th divin mandats of vanglism, communication and custodianship of Bibl doctrin, providing a havn for Jws, and snding missionaris abroad. Th Unitd Stats is a clint-nation to God. A clint nation must hav frdom: Frdom to sk God, frdom to us on s own volition and slf-dtrmination to succd or fail, frdom from anarchy and tyranny, frdom for vanglism, frdom for blivrs to har Bibl taching without govrnmnt intrfrnc and, thrfor, to grow spiritually, and frdom to snd missionaris to othr nations. Emotional arroganc is whr you allow your motions to dominat your lif, and you will st asid truth (in any of th 3 catgoris) in ordr to satiat your own motions. Enforcd humility mphasizs th function of th particular authority within th socital organization. This on causs popl som problms bcaus hr is whr th tth of authority bgin to b flt. Bcaus mankind is inhrntly sinful, whn God dlgatd rsponsibility and authority in th ralm of Divin Establishmnt, h also had to includ th mans to compl obdinc. Gnuin humility dnots th positiv rspons to authority by th on undr authority. Whras in Enforcd Humility w lookd at humility from th standpoint of th on in authority, w now look at humility from th standpoint of th on undr authority. If a prson is proprly orintd to authority, and has cultivatd th habit of humility, his xprssion of humility will b gnuin-not forcd. Th intrlocking systms of arroganc rfrs to many clustrs of sins which hav a tndncy to intrlock with on anothr. That is, a blivr who gos into intrlocking systms of arroganc through on gat (or ntranc), is likly to intrlock with anothr clustr of sins if h rmains out of fllowship. W hav simpl xampls of this in lif. A prson might bgin to smok marijuana, which is illgal. Som tim latr, h may tak othr drugs (this is why marijuana is oftn calld a gatway drug). H may also bcom involvd in anti-authority actions, xtrm libral philosophy and politics, and brak mor and gratr laws. H may involv himslf with a woman with th sam waknsss, and thy bcom involvd in sxual arroganc togthr (his norms and standards bing wipd out by his changing mors). H ntrs in th gat of smoking marijuana which maks him vulnrabl to a numbr of othr clustrs of sins. Ths ar natural laws which apply to popl and nations, which caus a nation to b prsrvd and a popl to b prptuatd. Ths laws ar dsignd for blivrs and unblivrs alik. Organizational humility focuss on th social structur insid which humility is fostrd and dvlopd. All human socitis hav social structurs. No mattr how diffrnt th culturs ar, thy ar all dividd into social structurs that xist on diffrnt lvls. Phas I is salvation; phas II is th blivr s lif in tim, and phas III is trnity (all blivrs spnd trnity with God).

5 6923 Th Book of Samul Dfinition of Trms Rational Th plan of God rational, th rbound rational Rbound (Rstoration to fllowship with God) Shock troops Typ This is whr you gathr a fw doctrins which giv you confidnc in God, God s plan, and what is gong on around you. Bcaus ths rationals ar in your soul, you ar abl to withstand crtain prssurs. For instanc, th plan of God rational mans, all that is in your lif is a part of th plan of God. Now, obviously, whn you sin, you tak yourslf out of God s will, and that is a sparat considration; but whn you ar filld with th Spirit and advancing spiritually ach day through th intak of Bibl doctrin, thn you ar abl to valuat difficultis in your lif as bing a part of th plan of God. Sinc ths things ar a part of th plan of God, thn God has givn you th whrwithal to ndur ths difficultis. Th rbound rational mans that, no mattr what sin you hav committd, you nam that sin to God, and you ar compltly and totally forgivn in tim for committing that sin. Thrfor, you r-ntr th plan of God. Bcaus of th rbound rational, you do not go back to past sins from 5 or 10 yars ago and lamnt ths grat sins. In th Nw Tstamnt, this is naming your sins to God, so that you ar both rstord to tmporal fllowship with God and ar thn filld with th Spirit of God. In th Old Tstamnt, naming your sins to God would rsult in a rstoration of fllowship and, in som cass, th mpowrmnt of th Holy Spirit onc again (th Holy Spirit was not givn to all Old Tstamnt blivrs). Shock troops ar a group of soldirs traind spcially for carrying out a suddn assault. A typ is a prson, a thing or an act which looks forward to Jsus or to Jsus on th cross. For instanc, Isaac s birth was th typ; our Lord s birth was th antityp, which was th fulfillmnt of th typ. Som of ths dfinitions ar takn from An Introduction to 2Samul 18 I ntroduction: 2Sam. 18 is a ncssary chaptr, in ordr to rval what happns to th rbllion of Absalom, but it is also an odd chaptr insofar as what is found in this chaptr. 3 vrss only ar ddicatd to th actual battl. Much mor tim is givn to Absalom s prdicamnt of bing hung in a tr, along with th prdicamnt of th soldir who finds him, but rfuss to kill Absalom, bcaus of th ordr of th king. Anothr oddity in this chaptr is, thr is a grat dal of tim givn to a narrativ about th prson who would dlivr a mssag to th king about th victory and about Absalom. So, this chaptr is quit ncssary in ordr to ti togthr som loos nds; but it is odd in trms of what sms to b mphasizd and rmmbrd. As you may rcall, Absalom has rblld against his fathr David, and has forcd David out of Jrusalm. David did st up a spy ntwork, so that h was abl to kp track of what was occurring in Jrusalm. H also had a mol at th highst lvl in Absalom s cabint, so David was lightyar s had of Absalom whn it cam to intllignc gathring.

6 2Samul Bcaus of gathring this intllignc, David knw to tak his troops across th Rivr Jordan and it appars that h st up hadquartrs in Mahanaim, but that would not b th plac from whr h would lad his troops into battl against Absalom. Hushai, David s man on th insid, convincd Absalom to gathr troops from all ovr Isral and to prsonally lad ths mn into battl against David. This smd lik an xcllnt ida to a non-military man lik Absalom, not ralizing that (1) this gav David mor tim to rgroup, prpar, and dvlop a stratgy; and (2) a largr army is not always a bttr army. Ahithophl suggstd that Absalom allow him to tak shock troops and to quickly go on th offnsiv against David (Ahithophl was going to tak a substantial army into battl, which might not quit fit th dfinition of shock troops). In any cas, it is vry likly that this approach would hav workd. Howvr, this approach would not hav glorifid Absalom, which was th plans fault, insofar as Absalom was concrnd. In th chaptr bfor us, David rviws and organizs his troops, and is about to go out to war with thm, whn h is ncouragd to rmain bhind at Mahanaim. His 3 gnrals would b abl to dfat Absalom s army. So David rmaind bhind, th popl who supportd him wnt to war against Absalom s army, and David s army prvaild, in part, bcaus of th trrain which David s army chos to fight in. Absalom, who is rally unfamiliar with war, insofar as w know, gts his had caught up in th branchs of a tr, bcaus of all his hair, and h cannot fr himslf whil his mul trots off laving him thr hanging. H is discovrd by mmbr s of Joab s brigad. Although th man who discovrs him rfuss to kill Absalom (bcaus of David s xplicit ordrs), Joab tris to kill Absalom, and thn puts tn of his armor barrs on that job. Aftr Absalom is killd, Joab allows his army to rtrat without taking rtribution against thm. What follows is an odd portion of th narrativ whr Ahimaaz, on of David s courirs, wants to tll David of thir victory. Joab chooss anothr man to do this, but Ahimaaz is so insistnt that Joab allows him to go to dlivr th nws as wll. Intrstingly nough, Ahimaaz dos not tll David all that happnd; but th othr runnr dos. In th nd, David grivs gratly ovr th loss of his son Absalom. W nd to know who th popl ar who populat this chaptr. Th Principals of 2Samul 18 David Absalom Joab Charactrs Abishai and Ittai th Gittit Ahimaaz Biographical Matrial King David of Isral has bn tmporarily pushd out of powr by his son Absalom. H has ld his military supportrs across th Rivr Jordan into astrn Isral. David will not go with his soldirs to war, but h will wait in th city of Mahanaim for word about th war. Whn h finds out that his son has bn killd, h will griv dramatically. Absalom is David s wayward son who had rvoltd against David and forcd him out of Jrusalm. Absalom is lading a vry larg army out of Isral to pursu David and his smallr army, as pr th advic of Hushai in th prvious chaptr. Joab is David s primary gnral, and h will s to it that Absalom is killd in battl. Instad of pursuing Absalom s followrs, h will allow thm to rturn to thir own homs. Ths ar David s othr two gnrals, both of whom play an important part in th battl, but thy ar only mntiond in th narrativ. Aftr David s army dfats Absalom s army (and kills Absalom), Ahimaaz bn Zadok wants to dlivr this mssag of victory to David. Although Joab dcids to snd somon ls, h allow Ahimaaz to dlivr th mssag as wll.

7 6925 Th Book of Samul Th Principals of 2Samul 18 Charactrs Th Cushit runnr Biographical Matrial Joab chooss a Cushit runnr to dlivr th mssag that Absalom s army has bn dfatd. H is also willing to tll David that Absalom is dad, somthing which Ahimaaz is unabl to do. Chaptr Outlin Charts, Maps and Short Doctrins It is important to undrstand what has gon bfor. Th Prqul of 2Samul 18 All of this startd with David chasing skirt prhaps a dcad ago in Jrusalm whn his soldirs wr in th fild at war. H had gon way to far by committing adultry with a marrid woman, and thn h had hr husband killd. Th propht Nathan cam to David, and got David to com to th point of ralizing that what h did was so vry wrong. Onc David rcognizd his own sin, thn God put David undr a grat dal of disciplin and prssur, dsignd to bring him out of this stat of sxual arroganc (which had intrlockd with criminal arroganc). Th child that cam out of that illicit union did. Th grat prssur that David found himslf undr wr th natural rsults of his failur as a parnt, and his sxual arroganc in collcting wivs and mistrsss. His sons, which wr, for all intnts and purposs, wards of th stat, grw up without a fathr to guid thm, as a tru fathr would hav don. David could not giv thm all his tim, so thy grw up th bst thy could, bing raisd by thir mothrs. His son Absalom vntually rblld against him, stting into motion a play to tak David s powr from him. H drov David out of Jrusalm. David lft quickly with a scratch army and, bfor h had crossd ovr th Rivr Jordan, David had st up a systm of spis and an intllignc ntwork, so that h could dtrmin which military movs to mak. Absalom associatd himslf with Ahithophl, who was a brilliant tactician, and Ahithophl gav Absalom a plan which would hav probably succdd. Howvr, this plan did not appal to Absalom s arroganc. Ahithophl was going to gathr up som shock troops and go right aftr David, right thn and thr. H would rturn to Jrusalm aftr dfating David in battl. Ahithophl would hav bn th star of this plan and not Absalom. So whn Hushai, David s mol, prsntd a plan to Absalom, Absalom likd that plan bcaus Absalom was th star of that plan. Absalom had mor hands on in Hushai s plan than in Ahithophl s plan, which was anothr rason why Absalom likd it. Som popl lik to manag vrything, which prtty much dscribs Absalom. Absalom, prtty much on his own, st himslf up as th nw king of Isral h did this by himslf, nvr having don it bfor, and right undr th nos of his ovrindulgnt fathr. Thrfor, Absalom blivd that h had things workd out, as long as h was in charg. Whn Hushai said, You nd to gathr all th popl of Isral and lad thm into battl yourslf; Absalom thought that was a good ida. H had nvr don this bfor, but that s okay, bcaus h had nvr dcidd to bcom king bfor, and h did prtty wll with that. So Absalom is blindly arrogant. H dosn t know what h dosn t know; h dos not rcogniz an uppr limit to his abilitis. Whn it cam to th diffrnc btwn himslf and his son Absalom, his son was th nwst modl. H was youngr and bttr looking, mor progrssiv and mor rlatabl. Although thr was no indication whatsovr that Absalom had th ability to actually lad his country Isral, apart from bing David s son, h rcivd a fairly significant backing from th popl, many of whom wr unhappy with David s skirt chasing and killing

8 2Samul Th Prqul of 2Samul 18 (information which sur got out into th public by this tim). So, this brings us to this chaptr, whr David is ast of th Rivr Jordan, and Absalom has gathrd an opposition army from all ovr Isral. Absalom knows that h must dfat David s army and kill David. David, apparntly, cannot tak himslf to th point whr h rcognizs this himslf. David apparntly blivs that h can dfat Absalom s army and somhow coxist with his son, as will bcom clar at th nd of this chaptr. Chaptr Outlin Charts, Maps and Short Doctrins This timlin is simply a shortnd vrsion of th David Timlin (HTML) (PDF), with a fw principl vnts of David s lif rcordd, along with th vnts of this chaptr. Bracktd dats ar drivd from th Scriptur, basd upon author s original prmiss. Th Abbrviatd David Timlin Fnton-Farrar (F. L. Smith) Bibl Truth 4U Rs s Chronology Bibl Scriptur Narrativ [1085 B.C.] 1040 B.C. [1055 B.C.] Ruth 4:22 David is born B.C B.C. 1Sam. 17 David dfats Goliath B.C. (c B.C.) 1010 B.C B.C. 2Sam. 2:1 4 David bcoms king ovr Judah (th southrn kingdom). David is 30. 2Sam. 5:4 David was 30 yars old whn h bgan to rign. H rignd 40 yars B.C. (c B.C.) 1003 B.C B.C. 2Sam. 5:1 3 1Chron. 11:1 3 David bcoms king ovr all Isral. H is still ruling from Hbron. David is approximatly 37 yars old, according to Bibl Truth 4U B.C B.C. c B.C. (Klassn) 2Sam. 11:2 25 David s sin with Bathshba. H has hr husband, Uriah th Hittit, killd in battl B.C B.C. c.1016 B.C. (Klassn) 2Sam. 11:26 12:23 Psalm David marris Bathshba. David is rbukd by Nathan. David calls for God s forgivnss and clansing B.C B.C. c B.C. (Klassn) 2Sam. 12:24 25 Birth of Solomon. David is approximatly 40 yars old (BT4U) B.C. 990 B.C B.C. 2Sam. 13:1 22 David s son, Amnon, raps David s daughtr, Tamar.

9 6927 Th Book of Samul Th Abbrviatd David Timlin Fnton-Farrar (F. L. Smith) Bibl Truth 4U Rs s Chronology Bibl Scriptur Narrativ 1030 B.C. [ B.C.] B.C. 998 B.C. (Klassn dat was changd; typo in Rs) 2Sam. 13:23 39 David s son Absalom kills Amnon and fls B.C. [ B.C.] 996 B.C. 995 B.C. (Klassn) 2Sam. 14 Joab tris to runit David and Absalom B.C B.C. (?) B.C. 2Sam. 15 2Sam. 16: B.C. 2Sam. 16:15 17: B.C. 992 B.C. 2Sam. 17:24 18:18 Absalom rbls against David and David gos into xil. David s rlationship with th two factions of Isral. David gains th uppr hand ovr Absalom by mans of intrigu and dcption. David s army dfats Absalom s army in battl and Absalom is subsquntly killd. Absalom is approximatly 30 yars old (Rs). According to Rs, David would b 63 yars old and according to Fnton-Farrar, h would b 62 yars old B.C. 2Sam. 18:19 19:8 David racts to Absalom s dath. Chaptr Outlin Charts, Maps and Short Doctrins Th outlins for this chaptr ar not too diffrnt from on anothr. Matthw Hnry Outlins 2Samul 18 This chaptr puts a priod to Absalom's rbllion and lif, and so maks way for David to his thron again, whithr th nxt chaptr brings him back in pac and triumph. W hav hr, 1. David's prparations to ngag th rbls (2Sam. 18:1 5). 2. Th total dfat of Absalom's party and thir disprsion (2Sam. 18:6 8). 3. Th dath of Absalom, and his burial (2Sam. 18:9 18). 4. Th bringing of th tidings to David, who tarrid at Mahanaim (2Sam. 18:19 32). 5. His bittr lamntation for Absalom (2Sam. 18:33). From Matthw Hnry, Commntary on th Whol Bibl; from -Sword, 2Sam. 18 chaptr nots. Chaptr Outlin Charts, Maps and Short Doctrins Clark givs a good synopsis of this chaptr.

10 2Samul A Synopsis of 2Samul 18 David rviws and arrangs th popl, and givs th command to Joab, Abishai, and Ittai, 2Sam. 18:1, 2Sam. 18:2. On his xprssing a dsir to accompany thm to th battl, thy will not prmit him, 2Sam. 18:3. H rviws thm as thy go out of th city, and givs commandmnt to th captains to sav Absalom, 2Sam. 18:4 5. Thy join battl with Absalom and his army, who ar discomfitd with th loss of twnty thousand mn, 2Sam. 18:6 8. Absalom, fling away, is caught by his had in an oak; Joab finds him, and transfixs him with thr darts, 2Sam. 18:9 15. Th srvants of David ar rcalld, and Absalom burid, 2Sam. 18: Ahimaaz and th Cushit bring th tidings to David, who is gratly distrssd at haring of th dath of Absalom, and maks bittr lamntation for him, 2Sam. 18: Takn from Adam Clark, Commntary on th Bibl; from -Sword, 2Sam. 18 chaptr commnts. Chaptr Outlin Charts, Maps and Short Doctrins Absalom has challngd David s authority; in fact, in doing so, h has challngd God s authority with rgards to Isral. Th Pulpit Commntary on David s actions to put down Absalom s rbllion: Our ntir lif is a continuous duty. Obligations attnd us vry day. Right action mans fulfilmnt of purposs, obying laws, harmony with moral ncssity. Th prssur is incssant, and ordinarily is, for th Christian, a not unwlcom yok. But now and thn duty is in forms rquiring all th rsourcs of a strong will, and in a dirction against som of th most chrishd flings of th hart. David was bound to car for th kingdom ovr which h had bn appointd by God. Th validity of his anointing was still unrvokd by him who ordaind it. It was, thrfor, du to himslf, his kingdom, and his God that h should tak mans to put down th usurpation of his own son. Patrnal fling might b paind, but 1 th obligation was imprativ. Som of ths points wr takn from or inspird by R. B. Thim, Jr. s 1972 David sris, lsson #631_0460. An Advrsity Scal of Valus 1. David s son, Absalom, was an insurgnt. H was th titular had of th rvolutionary movmnt. H succssfully rmovd his fathr David from powr, albit tmporarily. 2. David is fighting a war of countrinsurgncy. H is th stablishmnt king with th right to th thron. Evn whn out of Jrusalm, David is calld th king ovr and ovr again by God th Holy Spirit in prvious chaptrs of 2Samul. 3. David and th mn who support him hav to b focusd on dstroying th nmy s talnt, intllignc, ladrship, thinking and planning. Joab sms to undrstand that a fully succssful countrinsurgncy will involv th dath of Absalom; David is unabl to accpt that. 4. David and Joab wnt from a position of powr and prosprity, to grat advrsity; and thrfor, thy nd to hav a dual st of valus for that advrsity. David could valu and njoy his grat DVD collction whn 1 Th Pulpit Commntary; ; by Josph S. Exll, Hnry Donald Mauric Spnc-Jons, courtsy of -sword, 2Sam. 18:1 18.

11 6929 Th Book of Samul An Advrsity Scal of Valus in prosprity; h had to lav it bhind whn undr advrsity. In prosprity, a blivr may hav a surfit of matrial things which h njoys; but ths things must b forgottn, writtn off, abandond or ignord undr advrsity (dpnding upon th lvl of advrsity). 5. Undr advrsity; it is not what you hav that counts but it is what you think that counts. You must lay asid all that you possss and st asid whatvr rank or rcognition that you hav attaind. Ths things ar not important undr advrsity. 6. Going from prosprity to advrsity rquirs a blivr to b flxibl and objctiv. David was flxibl (h lft Jrusalm immdiat); h was not objctiv. H could not dal with th ida of killing his own son. 7. In this chaptr, w ar going to dal with som vry complx issus: David will issu an ordr to all of thos undr him an ordr to not harm Absalom. Howvr, th only way that this rvolution can nd is for Absalom to di. A fild soldir will rfus to disoby David; but Joab will disoby David and bgin th killing of Absalom. 8. Th blivr must b abl to shift gars into an advrsity scal of valus whn facing suddn advrsity. In ordr for th blivr to b abl to shift gars and gt into th advrsity mod; h must hav th plan of God rational, rbound rational, tc. in his soul, to draw upon quickly. Such a blivr must b abl to mak instant application of th prtinnt doctrins whn undr advrsity. 9. God s plan is not changd by disastr. Our plans and our valus must chang undr grat advrsity, but all of this is according to God s plan. 10. Changing circumstancs do not chang blssing from God. Philip. 4:11 13 I'm not saying this bcaus I'm in any nd. I'v larnd to b contnt in whatvr situation I'm in. I know how to liv in povrty or prosprity. No mattr what th situation, I'v larnd th scrt of how to liv whn I'm full or whn I'm hungry, whn I hav too much or whn I hav too littl. I can do vrything through Christ Who kps on pouring th powr into m. (God s Word, mostly) Your happinss dos not dpnd upon matrial blssing, promotion, having succss in lif or finding your right woman. Happinss and contntmnt is a stat of mind. Chaptr Outlin Charts, Maps and Short Doctrins Som of ths points wr takn from or inspird by R. B. Thim, Jr. s 1972 David sris, lsson #631_0460. God and Countrinsurgncy 1. God uss th wapons of rvolution against rvolutionaris: lying, dcit, countr-violnc. David has drawn Absalom to th battlfild of his choic, a battlfild dsignd for a small army rathr than for a larg on; and David s mn ar bttr traind and hav a bttr mntal attitud with which to oppos Absalom and his army. 2. Rvolution is filld with lis you will rcall how Absalom again and again has mislad th popl. H travld with an ntourag to mak himslf look important. H sympathizd with th litigants in court cass h could car lss about. H lurd som of David s supportrs down to Hbron, to mak it sm as if thy wr supportrs of Absalom. So David mployd Hushai th Archit as a mol in Absalom s organization; and bcaus Absalom likd Hushai s advic, Absalom s army will b dstroyd in battl against David s army. Th rvolutionary lis of Absalom ar dfatd by th countrrvolutionary lis of David s organization. 3. Th rvolution was initially succssful bcaus much of Isral rjctd truth in all 3 catgoris: divin stablishmnt truth; th gospl truth and th truth of Bibl doctrin. 4. Absalom usd violnc against David and was willing to kill his own fathr; violnc would b usd against Absalom and h would b dstroyd by it. 5. God allows and vn condons countrinsurgncy tactics in ordr to dfat a rvolution against an stablishd govrnmnt. Thrfor, God allowd and condond th dcption of Hushai th Archit.

12 2Samul God and Countrinsurgncy 6. Th goal of countrinsurgncy is to pntrat th highst chlon of nmy command and to plant disinformation, by using blackmail, flattry, dcption and violnc. 7. Absalom was filld with arroganc whn h opposd David. H was th natural hir to David s thron, and all h ndd to do was bid his tim. H was not willing to do that. H wantd David s powr and h wantd it now. 8. Howvr, Absalom s arroganc would not ovrcom David. Jsus Christ controls history, and God uss man s wrath to prais Him (Psalm 76:10). Evn though David suffrd from an arroganc hangovr concrning his son, whn h was told to stay bhind whil th rst of Isral fought, h was willing to do this. 9. Jams 4:6 God maks war against th arrogant abut h givs grac to th grac orintd. Th laws of divin stablishmnt (HTML) (PDF). Chaptr Outlin Charts, Maps and Short Doctrins Som of ths points wr takn from or inspird by R. B. Thim, Jr. s 1972 David sris, lsson #631_0460. Arroganc and Rvolution 1. Popl gt th ladr that thy dsrv. W rcntly had a spat of rvolutions in th Middl East; howvr, th only chang in govrnmnt which was initially positiv is that which was imposd by th Unitd Stats, to som dgr, from th outsid, in both Iraq and Afghanistan. In th othr countris, thir rvolutions ar not rsulting in a Jffrsonian dmocracy nor can thy. Thy ar th sam popl that thy wr bfor th rvolution. 2. Bcaus Jsus Christ controls history, God allowd David to b rstord to powr and for Absalom to b dstroyd in battl. Thr wr still nough popl in Isral who wr willing to mbrac stablishmnt ladrship, rgardlss of th prsonal failings of King David. 3. In a rvolution, th popl s choic is not God s choic. 4. Absalom had potntial as a ladr, although his arroganc nutralizd this ladrship ability. H had on of th gratst military mind working for him in Ahithophl. Howvr, Absalom s arroganc dstroyd whatvr ability and potntial that h had. 5. Hushai infiltratd th highst chlon of th nmy forcs through flattry. Absalom blivd that Hushai would rjct David and mbrac him. 6. Good dcisions rsult in incrasd options and gratr frdom; bad dcisions limit your options and thy rduc your own frdom. Absalom through a sris of bad and arrogant dcisions will nd up hanging by his hippy hair caught up in th branchs of a tr. 7. Th combination of crusadr arroganc and criminal arroganc rsults in rvolution. Th crusadrs st th stag for rvolution and support th rvolutionary ladrs. Th rvolutionary ladrs want powr, so thy will do whatvr is ncssary to tak that powr. Both groups might us th sam tactics, but th crusadrs bliv that thy ar instituting a nw and bttr way; and th criminals ar simply sizing powr, using whatvr rhtoric and tactics gt thm that powr. Th rign of trror rvals th incomptncy of th rvolution to provid a dcnt nvironmnt in which to liv. 8. Rvolution allows a covr for thos who want to tak rvng on thir nmis. Thy us th coup d'tat in ordr to gt thir rvng. 9. Thos suffring from rvolutionary arroganc rjctd th gratst rign of Isral and rvoltd against David s rign. 10. Rvolutionary arroganc rjcts th laws of divin stablishmnt. Arroganc is strongr than nvironmnt, as David s ladrship providd a good nvironmnt. David himslf had som soul kinks, but th nation of Isral was still grat undr him. Thrfor, arroganc is strongr than grat nvironmnt.

13 6931 Th Book of Samul Whn it coms to this rvolution, thr ar many moving parts. Absalom sinks dpr and dpr into arroganc whil David bgins to find his way out, although h dos suffr a bit of an arroganc hangovr at th nd of this chaptr and th bginning of th nxt. Thr ar also th popl of Isral to considr. Som wr carrid away motionally by Absalom, as th king who was nw and shiny and cool and a man of th popl. God had to allow for many of thm to b killd off; and this occurs in a rvolution. As an asid, I am oftn amusd by popl who scoff at th Bibl and dnigrat God bcaus H rquirs, from tim to tim, th dstruction of a popl. Ths sam popl would support a rvolutionary movmnt; ths sam popl who scoff at God would think nothing of innocnt popl bing slaughtrd in a rvolution, as long as thos popl ar consrvativs. But thy ar somhow offndd whn God, Who is omniscint, Who has all of th facts, chooss for a population to b dstroyd or dcimatd. Chaptr Outlin Charts, Maps and Short Doctrins Application: Th taking of powr through violnc and rvolution tstifis to man s inability to njoy or apprciat divin stablishmnt authority and good govrnmnt. Blivrs who undrstand stablishmnt principls apprciat th polic officr, th fir dpartmnt, tc. On th othr hand, if you want to rsnt a mayor or a govrnor tc., that can b lgitimat. David had prsonal failings; but his govrnmnt was stablishmnt orintd. Ovrthrowing David did not just rmov David, but it rmovd all that h put into plac. Do not throw out th baby with th bath watr. Application: W hav stablishmnt govrnmnt in th Unitd Stats, whr w still sttl things with dbats and vots. Obviously thr is a lot of misinformation, a lot of propaganda and a dishonst mdia (most mdia today ar advocacy groups); but with doctrin in your soul and a modicum of information, you can mak th right choics. For instanc, th nuclar family is a principl of divin stablishmnt. Whn on political party is in favor of vrything but; and th othr political party rcognizs th importanc of th family unit, it is asy to mak a choic in th voting booth. Howvr, whn violnc is usd to accomplish this or that nd, thn w bcom involvd in arroganc, as a country. God nvr condons a violnt ovrthrow of th govrnmnt; God nvr condons rvolution; God nvr condons intimidation. As R. B. Thim, Jr. pointd out, W still hav frdom to commnt ngativly about our govrnmnt. Most of us mak mony. That is frdom; that is stablishmnt. W can call 911 and gt a polic out to our homs. God gav us th laws of divin stablishmnt to prptuat 2 man. Application: At prsnt (I writ this in 2013), w hav th worst prsidnt in my liftim with th worst vic prsidnt probably vr nxt in lin for th prsidncy. H has incrasd his powr and has ignord th laws that h dos not want to nforc. This is th gratst arroganc that I hav vr sn in a prsidnt in my liftim. And yt, thr should b no call of rvolution among consrvativ Amricans. W function in a dmocracy. Now, I fully undrstand that, thr is probably som lction fraud which has gon on. Howvr, this is no rason to rvolt; this is no rason to tak up arms to tak back our nation. If 40 48% of our nation ithr supports or is foold by libralism, thn that is problmatic for th Unitd Stats on many lvls; but, it is not nough rason to start a rvolution. Application: During th tim that I writ this (2013), vanglism is taking plac, Bibl taching is taking plac; thr ar no laws against ithr. Our strts ar, for th most part, saf (th xcption is, of cours, many larg citis whr librals hav had a foothold for a long priod of tim). Rvolution mans chaos and somtims for an xtndd priod of tim. W ar sing this in Egypt and Libya, both countris which wr ruld by dspots prviously; but ar now ar in national turmoil. Christians hav fld many countris in th middl ast during this Arab Spring bcaus thir livs wr in dangr. Satan usd th chaos to attack Christians and thir churchs. 2 From B. Thim, Jr. s 1972 David sris, lsson #631_0460. Not an xact quot; takn from my nots.

14 2Samul Application: Look, I raliz that th lft turn which our country has takn is quit disconcrting. I rcogniz that thr ar so many srious problms throughout our nation, including th vr-incrasing class of dpndnts (thos who would rathr collct paymnts from th govrnmnt than work) and th politically adpt homosxual movmnt, who hav bn succssfully pushing thir agnda for dcads now. Ths things must com to pass; ths things must occur. Our nation is undr discipl. Howvr, always kp in mind, ar you abl to safly and asily attnd Bibl class? (This qustion is poisd to thos who livd nar a doctrinal church) If our churchs ar not bing shut down, thn w ar fin. W ar in th midst of a spiritual battl. Thr will always b th strong forcs of Satan in a nation built upon th principls of God. Thr will always b th attacks of Satan in th nation whr thr is Bibl taching and vanglism taking plac. Our solution is nvr political and our solution is nvr rvolution. According to Rs, David would b 63 yars old and according to Fnton-Farrar, h would b 62 yars old. It appars that David and his mn ar stoppd at Mahanaim, and that is whr David will rorganiz his troops and that is whr David will rmain whn his army gos to war against Absalom. Whn David lft Jrusalm, h first organizd and rviwd his troops in 2Sam. 15:17 18, 23 (As th king and his troops wr laving th city on foot, thy stoppd at th last hous. All his mrcnaris passd by him; all th Chrthits, all th Plthits, Ittai, and all 600 mn who had followd him from Gath wr marching past th king. Th whol country was crying loudly as all th troops wr passing by. Th king was crossing th Kidron Vally, and all th popl wr moving down th road toward th dsrt. God s Word ). Sinc thn, David has movd northast to Mahanaim, and it is likly that thousands of mn hav jointd him to do battl against Absalom. This is th city whr David stoppd with his army, and thr wr outpourings of logistical support from all ovr Isral. David had alrady com to Mahanaim by th tim Absalom and all th mn of Isral with him crossd th Jordan Rivr. Whn David cam to Mahanaim, Shobi, son of Nahash from Rabbah in Ammon, and Machir, son of Ammil from Lo Dbar, and Barzillai from Roglim in Gilad brought supplis and food for David and his troops (2Sam. 17:24, 27 28a; God s Word ). S also 2Sam. 19:32. This location fits with th rst of th narrativ. This is a map of Mahanaim, takn from bibl-history.com. Th city is notd in rd on th map, is on th corrct sid of th Jordan, and it is thrfor assumd to b nar th forsts of Ephraim (2Sam. 18:6). Chaptr Outlin Charts, Maps and Short Doctrins David Mobilizs His Troops for War, but Rmains Bhind Kukis slavishly litral: Kukis modratly litral:

15 6933 Th Book of Samul And so numbrs David th popl who [ar] with him; and so h sts ovr thm captains of thousands and captains of hundrds. Kukis not so litral: 2Samul 18:1 David numbrd th soldirs who [wr] with him, and h placd captains of thousands and captains of hundrds ovr thm. David dtrmind th siz of his army and placd liutnant colonls ovr groups of a thousand and captains ovr groups of a hundrd. Hr is how othrs hav translatd this vrs: Ancint txts: Not: I compar th Hbrw txt to English translations of th Latin, Syriac and 3 Grk txts, using th Douay-Rhims translation ; Gorg Lamsa s translation, and Sir Lanclot Charls L Brnton s translation as rvisd and ditd by Paul W. Esposito, rspctivly. I oftn updat ths txts with non-substantiv changs (.g., you for thou, tc.). I oftn us th txt of th Complt Apostls Bibl instad of Brnton s translation, bcaus it updats th English txt. Th Sptuagint was th arlist known translation of a book (circa 200 B.C.). Sinc this translation was mad bfor th txtual criticism had bn dvlopd into a scinc and bcaus diffrnt books appar to b translatd by diffrnt mn, th Grk translation can somtims b vry unvn. Whn thr ar srious disparitis btwn my translation and Brnton s (or th txt of th Complt Apostls Bibl), I look at th Grk txt of th Sptuagint (th LXX) to s if a substantiv diffrnc actually xists (and I rflct ths changs in th English rndring of th Grk txt). I us th Grk LXX with Strong s numbrs and morphology availabl for -sword. Th only problm with this rsourc (which is a problm for similar rsourcs) is, thr is no way to furthr xplor Grk vrbs which ar not found in th Nw Tstamnt. Although I usually quot th Complt Apostls Bibl hr, I hav bgun to mak changs in th translation whn thir translation conflicts with th Grk and not what thos changs ar. Th Masortic txt is th Hbrw txt with all of th vowls (vowl points) insrtd (th original Hbrw txt lackd vowls). W tak th Masortic txt to b th txt closst to th original. Howvr, diffrncs btwn th Masortic txt and th Grk, Latin and Syriac ar worth noting and, onc in a grat whil, rprsnt a mor accurat txt possssd by thos othr ancint translators. In gnral, th Latin txt is an outstanding translation from th Hbrw txt into Latin and vry trustworthy (I say this as a non-catholic). Unfortunatly, I do not rad Latin apart from som vry obvious words so I am dpndnt upon th English translation of th Latin (principally, th Douay-Rhims translation). Undrlind words indicat diffrncs in th txt. Bracktd portions of th Dad Sa Scrolls ar words, lttrs and phrass lost in th scroll du to various typs of damag. Undrlind words or phrass ar thos in th Dad Sa Scrolls but not in th Masortic txt. Ancint txts: 3 I hav bgun to doubt my -sword Douay-Rhims vrsion, so I now us

16 2Samul Latin Vulgat Masortic Txt (Hbrw) Pshitta (Syriac) Sptuagint (Grk) Significant diffrncs: And David, having rviwd his popl, appointd ovr thm captains of thousands and of hundrds. And so numbrs David th popl who [ar] with him; and so h sts ovr thm captains of thousands and captains of hundrds. AND David numbrd th popl who wr with him, and st ovr thm commandrs of thousands and captains of hundrds. And David numbrd th popl with him, and st ovr thm captains of thousands and captains of hundrds. Th Latin appars to b lacking th us of th word captains twic, and it is only found onc in thir English translation. Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrass: Contmporary English V. Easy English Good Nws Bibl (TEV) Th Mssag Nw Brkly Vrsion Nw Living Translation Th Voic David dividd his soldirs into groups of a hundrd and groups of a thousand. Thn h chos officrs to b in command of ach group. David's mn dfat and kill Absalom David countd th soldirs who wr with him. H appointd mn to command groups of 1000 soldirs. H also appointd othr mn to command groups of 100 soldirs. King David brought all his mn togthr, dividd thm into units of a thousand and of a hundrd, and placd officrs in command of thm. David organizd his forcs. H appointd captains of thousands and captains of hundrds. David procdd to organiz th forcs that wr with him nd appointd ovr thm commandrs of units of a thousand and a hundrd. Absalom's Dfat and Dath David now mustrd th mn who wr with him and appointd gnrals and captains [Hbrw appointd commandrs of thousands and commandrs of hundrds.] to lad thm. Thn David gathrd th soldirs who wr with thm and dividd thm into units of a thousand and a hundrd. H appointd ladrs ovr ach unit. Partially litral and partially paraphrasd translations: Amrican English Bibl God s Word Nw Amrican Bibl (R.E.) NIRV Nw Jrusalm Bibl Nw Simplifid Bibl Thn David countd his mn to s how many wr with him, and h assignd gnrals and officrs ovr thm and snt thm out [to battl]... A portion of v. 2 is includd hr for contxt. David calld togthr th troops that wr with him. H appointd commandrs in charg of rgimnts and battalions. Prparation for Battl. Aftr mustring th troops h had with him, David placd officrs in command of units of a thousand and units of a hundrd. Absalom Dis David brought togthr th mn who wr with him. H appointd commandrs of thousands ovr som of thm. H appointd commandrs of hundrds ovr th othrs. David rviwd th troops who wr with him and appointd commandrs of thousands and commandrs of hundrds to lad thm. David calld th troops that wr with him. H appointd commandrs in charg of rgimnts and battalions. Mostly litral rndrings (with som occasional paraphrasing):

17 6935 Th Book of Samul Ancint Roots Translinar Th Expandd Bibl Frar-Fnton Bibl HCSB Nw Advnt (Knox) Bibl NET Bibl NIV UK David countd th popl with him, and st ladrs of thousands and ladrs of hundrds ovr thm. David countd [mustrd; rviwd] his mn and placd ovr thm commandrs of thousands and commandrs of hundrds. So thy mt in th pasturs, whr David and th forc with him had haltd, and h appointd colonls of rgimnts and captains of companis ovr thm. This appars to tak a fw phrass from 2Sam. 17. David rviwd his troops and appointd commandrs of hundrds and of thousands ovr thm. And now David passd th mn who wr with him undr rviw, appointing commandrs and captains ovr thm;... Th Dath of Absalom David assmbld th army that was with him. H appointd ladrs of thousands and ladrs of hundrds. Whn it coms to making an actual matrial chang to th txt, th NET Bibl is prtty good about indicating this. Sinc most of ths corrctions will b clar in th mor litral translations blow and within th Hbrw xgsis itslf, I will not continu to list vry NET Bibl footnot. David mustrd th mn who wr with him and appointd ovr thm commandrs of thousands and commandrs of hundrds. Jwish/Hbrw Nams Bibls: Complt Jwish Bibl xgss companion Bibl Orthodox Jwish Bibl David took a cnsus of th popl who wr with him and appointd ovr thm commandrs of thousands and of hundrds. DAVID LINES UP FOR WAR And David mustrs th popl with him and sts govrnors of thousands and govrnors of hundrds ovr thm:. And Dovid mustrd HaAm that wr with him, and st sari alafim, and sari m'ot ovr thm. Litral, almost word-for-word, rndrings: Darby Translation English Standard Vrsion Th Gnva Bibl Nw King Jams Vrsion Syndin/Thim And David marshalld th popl that wr with him, and st captains of thousands and captains of hundrds ovr thm. Thn David mustrd th mn who wr with him and st ovr thm commandrs of thousands and commandrs of hundrds. And David numbrd [For crtain of th Rubnits, Gadits, and of th half trib could not bar th insolnc of th son against th fathr, and thrfor joind with David] th popl that [wr] with him, and st captains of thousands and captains of hundrds ovr thm. Absalom's Dfat and Dath And David numbrd th popl who wr with him, and st captains of thousands and captains of hundrds ovr thm. {David Organizs th Establishmnt Army} Thn David mustrd/mobilizd {paqad} th army/popl who wr with him and appointd ovr thm commandrs of thousands {thousands would rlat to gnral officrs to command divisions or brigads} and commandrs ovr hundrds {hundrds would rlat to fild grad officrs to command battalions}. {Not: RBT says th book of '' should b calld 'Mobilization' or th book of 'univrsal military training. Paqad which is usually translatd 'numbrd' actually mans to mobiliz th army. David's pr-rvolution army has bn badly split up. H nds to rorganiz it and appoint officrs.}.

18 2Samul World English Bibl Young s Updatd LT Th gist of this vrs: David numbrd th popl who wr with him, and st captains of thousands and captains of hundrds ovr thm. And David inspcts th popl who ar with him, and sts ovr thm hads of thousands and hads of hundrds. David bgan to organiz his troops into military units. 2Samul 18:1a wa (or va) (åç) [pronouncd wah] and so, and thn, thn, and; so, that, yt, thrfor, consquntly; bcaus wâw conscutiv BDB #253 pâqad (ôìè Çã) [pronouncd paw-kahd] to go to a prson, to visit, to hav prsonal contact with, to sort out, to visit a prson, to commit, to charg to th car of, to fall upon, to attack, to numbr, to tak a cnsus rd 3 prson masculin plural, Qal imprfct Strong's #6485 BDB #823 Dâvid (ãìèåäã); also Dâvîyd (ãìèåäéã) [pronouncd daw- VEED] blovd and is translitratd David masculin propr noun Strong s #1732 BDB #187 êth (àæç) [pronouncd ayth] untranslatd gnrally; occasionally to, toward indicats that th following substantiv is a dirct objct Strong's #853 BDB #84 am (òçí) [pronouncd ìahm] popl; rac, trib; family, rlativs; citizns, common popl; companions, srvants; ntir human rac; hrd [of animals] masculin singular collctiv noun with th dfinit articl Strong s #5971 BDB #766 ãshr (àâéùæø) [pronouncd uh-sher] that, which, whn, who, whom rlativ pronoun; somtims th vrb to b is implid Strong's #834 BDB #81 êth (àæç) [pronouncd ayth] with, at, nar, by, among, dirctly from prposition (which is idntical to th sign of th dirct objct); with rd th 3 prson masculin singular suffix Strong's #854 BDB #85 Translation: David numbrd th soldirs who [wr] with him,... David knows that h is about to go to war with Absalom. H dos not hav all of th dtails, although h crtainly has an fficinc and ffctiv G2 squad watching Absalom s vry mov. What a had commandr must do is know his rsourcs insid and out. Th Pulpit Commntary: Th vrb numbrd rally mans that h organizd his army, and arrangd it in companis and divisions. As Absalom gathrd all Isral to him, thr would b som dlay; and David, lik a wis gnral, mad us of it for training th brav but undisciplind mn who had joind

19 6937 Th Book of Samul him, chifly from Gilad. Bsids ths, h had with him numrous vtrans, whos skill and xprinc would b invaluabl in such srvic. Th rsult was that whn th rbls cam to clos quartrs, thy had a vast body of mn, but David a disciplind forc, which, undr skillful gnralship, 4 scattrd Absalom s raw lvis with as. As you will rcall, David has cross ovr th Rivr Jordan with all of his troops, and Absalom was slowd down somwhat, as h was going to follow th plan of Hushai, which would tak longr (h has to assmbl mor troops). Thr hav bn svral groups of popl who hav locatd David and hav providd food for him and for his troops. Thrfor, it is rasonabl to suppos that many mn from that sid of th Jordan hav joind David s army; and som hav also com ovr from th wstrn sid of th Jordan as wll to support David. This is a logical dduction, but it is not dirctly found in th txt. Howvr, whn David marchd out of Jrusalm, you will rcall that h rviwd his troops thn bfor moving out. If h is rviwing his troops again, that suggsts that h has had additions or rductions to his fighting forc. Th formr maks th most sns. It would tak tim for th nws to sprad, and for popl to raliz whr David can b found. In th prvious chaptr, it was obsrvd that David, as a typ of Christ, can b found by thos who support him; h is not so asily found by Absalom or his troops. In th sam way, Jsus can b found by anyon who dsirs a rlationship with God; howvr, thos who hav no intrst in a rlationship with God cannot xpct for God to sarch thm out and offr Himslf to thm as Jsus. 2Samul 18:1b wa (or va) (åç) [pronouncd wah] and so, and thn, thn, and; so, that, yt, thrfor, consquntly; bcaus wâw conscutiv BDB #253 sîym (ùòäéí) [pronouncd sm]; also splld sûwm (ùòåìí) [pronouncd soom] to put, to plac, to st; to mak; to appoint rd 3 prson masculin singular, Qal imprfct Strong's #7760 BDB #962 al (òçì) [pronouncd ìahl] upon, byond, on, against, abov, ovr, by, bsid prposition of rlativ proximity with th 3 rd prson masculin plural suffix Strong s #5921 BDB #752 sar (ùòçø) [pronouncd sar] chiftain, chif, rulr, official, captain, princ, ladr, commandr masculin plural construct Strong s #8269 BDB #978 ãlâpihîym (àâìèôäéí) pronouncd uh-law- FEEM] thousands, familis, [military] units masculin plural noun Strong s #505 (and #504) BDB #48 w (or v ) (åà or åì) [pronouncd wh] and, vn, thn; namly; whn; sinc, that; though; as wll as simpl wâw conjunction BDB #251 sar (ùòçø) [pronouncd sar] chiftain, chif, rulr, official, captain, princ, ladr, commandr masculin plural construct Strong s #8269 BDB #978 4 Th Pulpit Commntary; ; by Josph S. Exll, Hnry Donald Mauric Spnc-Jons, courtsy of -sword, 2Sam. 18:1 (slightly ditd).

20 2Samul Samul 18:1b mê ôwth (îåàåéú) [pronouncd may- OHTH] hundrds fminin plural noun; numral Strong s #3967 BDB #547 Translation:...and h placd captains of thousands and captains of hundrds ovr thm. W do not know xactly who cam out with David. Som groups wr namd arlir; and, at this point, w know that h has a fairly larg army, which includs popl who hav voluntarily joind him ovr th past wk or so. Sinc David placs captains ovr groups of 1000, and that word is in th plural, that suggsts that w hav 5 probably ,000 or mor troops. R. B. Thim, Jr. supposs that thr ar 30,000 in David s army. 6 Elswhr, Bob supposs that thr might b 60,000, brokn down into 3 corps. A grouping of 1000 is known as a battalion, usually hadd by a liutnant colonl. Ths ar brokn down furthr into groups of 100, and that is oftn classifid as a company, ld by a captain or a major. Although armis can b brokn down into smallr units, David is going to lt Absalom com to him, and rspond offnsivly with larg groups of mn. Smallr units would b usd in amorphous warfar. David has intntionally movd his mn away from Jrusalm in ordr to rduc civilian casualtis, and to kp this as his army against Absalom s. Thrfor, smallr units ar not ndd. This is just so you can s how an army is brokn down. Modrn Military Hirarchy Nam Strngth Commandr/Ladr corps 40,000 80,000 liutnant gnral, 3 star gnral division 10,000-30,000 brigad 3,000-5,000 major gnral, divisional gnral or two-star gnral brigadir gnral, brigad gnral, or on-star gnral (somtims colonl) rgimnt or group 1,500-3,000 colonl infantry battalion, U.S. Cavalry squadron, Commonwalth armourd rgimnt or Argntin Army rgimnt/artillry group/battalion 300-1,300 liutnant colonl infantry company, artillry battry, U.S. Cavalry troop, or Commonwalth armour or combat nginring squadron chif warrant officr, captain or major 5 6 R. B. Thim, Jr. s 1972 David Sris #631_0462. R. B. Thim, Jr. s 1972 David Sris #631_0463.

21 6939 Th Book of Samul Modrn Military Hirarchy platoon or Commonwalth troop warrant officr, first or scond liutnant From accssd July 13, Chaptr Outlin Charts, Maps and Short Doctrins 7 Josphus suggsts that th total numbr in David s army is only If David hr is said to b dividing his army into groups of 1000, and thn latr has Joab, Abishai and Ittai ach in control of a third of his army, that suggsts that (1) David has about 3000 mn or (2) David has a larg nough army so that a third of it consists of svral brigads (a brigad is mn) and Joab is in charg of on of thos brigads. Latr, on will say ithr that thy hav an army of 10,000 (which would mak sns) or that David is worth 10,000 of his mn. 10,000 is a nic round numbr to mak a point lik that, but it also suggsts that David s army is 10,000 mn or largr. Putting ths two things togthr, and rcognizing that Absalom has th largr army, David 8 probably has a forc of ovr 10,000 to 20,000 mn. Absalom s army is probably 10x that amount. Although thr ar mor military typs in Isral, it is unlikly that thy can b asily mustrd for a civil war. David dtrmind th siz of his army and placd liutnant colonls ovr groups of a thousand and captains ovr groups of a hundrd. David is bginning to grow spiritually, and h trusts God. This dos not man that h finds a park bnch somwhr and parks his butt and lts God dstroy th nmy. Thr ar tims that will happn. Howvr, unlss God spcifically givs David ordrs, thn David is to valuat th situation that h is in and to act appropriatly. If h intnds to b king again, thn h will hav to dfat Absalom in battl. If h intnds to put down th Absalom rbllion for good, thn h will hav to put Absalom down. Joab, David s lad gnral, undrstands this; David dos not. Application: Contmporary Christians oftn do not hav a clu as to what thy ought to do with thir livs. Thy ar told to hav faith in God in all things; but thn, if thy do anything, thn ar thy xprssing faithlssnss? This may sm absurd to som, but for som blivrs, thy rally struggl with this concpt. If you ar an adult, thn you ought to b working at a job. If you do not hav a job, but you raliz that you nd on, you do not find th narst park bnch and sit down and wait for God to drop a job into your lap. You go out and apply at on plac, thn at anothr, and apply and intrviw, apply and intrviw until you hav scurd a job. If you apply at on plac and you think you lik that company, thn you go back a wk latr (or a month latr) and you inquir again. If thy rquir spcializd training, thn you gt that spcializd training. Application: In many ways, I adaptd quit asily to bing a tachr. I ndd vry littl guidanc from th tachrs for whom I taught; nor did I nd much from th instructor who ovrsaw my work. Thy had to work a grat dal with th othr two studnt tachrs with whom I traind on was too lax and th othr was too strn. Howvr, that did not man that I did not nd any guidanc, any ovrsight, tc. All of that was ncssary, and lik all nw tachrs, I ndd advic and guidanc, dspit adapting to it quit naturally. It would hav bn pur arroganc for m to think that, bcaus I was a Christian, I could do not wrong and mak no mistaks and that I would b hird right out of collg (I was not). Evntually, in ordr to tach, I had to mov to anothr stat. All of this was in God s plan; and it involvd doing a lot mor than finding a park bnch to sit on and using faith until a job was droppd into my lap. Gtting off my duff and moving to Txas for a job was God s plan for my lif. Application: In cas thr is any confusion about this, man was dsignd to work (and womn of cours); and if you ar not working, thn you ar likly outsid of God s plan. 7 Dr. John Gill, John Gill s Exposition of th Entir Bibl; from -Sword, 2Sam. 18:1; Gill cits Josphus; Antiquitis l. 7. c. 10. sct R. B. Thim, Jr. stimats mayb a quartr million. R. B. Thim, Jr. s 1972 David Sris #631_0463.

22 2Samul Back to David and what w gt from this: faith in God dos not man inaction on your part. God dsignd us to function lik rational bings, and to mak rational dcisions. David dtrmind th siz of his army and placd liutnant colonls ovr groups of a thousand and captains ovr groups of a hundrd. David movd out of Jrusalm with som of his supportrs, and now h bgins to organiz his troops. Evn though h has faith in God and vn though God is on his sid and not on Absalom s, this dos not prclud him from making normal, rational dcisions. Th Pulpit Commntary on why David moving out of Jrusalm was a rational dcision: Th hasty flight of David from Jrusalm was not th rsult of cowardic, but of prudnc and of spiritual pntration. H thought it possibl that a movmnt which had won ovr so abl a man as Ahithophl, and which had dvlopd so scrtly, might issu in a suddn rising which would involv th city in bloodshd. Morovr, with th kn spiritual insight which vr charactrizd him, h could not but s in this rbllion th chastising hand bfor which it bcam him in his liflong pnitnc, mingld 9 with sincr trust, to bow. 10 Application: It is a rar situation whr faith will caus you to act against normal, rational thought. In fact, it is oftn nthusiastic but compltly goofy Christians who caus unblivrs to qustion th validity of faith in Jsus Christ. Thy know almost nothing and thy oftn act as if thy know nothing. A nw blivr is oftn much bttr off kping his faith a scrt and larning what h has just don first. Rcall that Jsus instructd His discipls, B wis as snaks and as harmlss as dovs. And so snds forth David th popl, th third in a hand of Joab and th third in a hand of Abishai bn Zruiah brothr of Joab and th third in a hand of Ittai th Gittit. And so says th king unto th popl, Going out I will go out, also m, with you [all]. 2Samul 18:2 David thn dployd his army [lit., th popl], a third in th hand of Joab, a third in th hand of Abishai bn Zruiah (Joab s brothr) and a third in th hand of Ittai th Gittit. Th king said to th popl, I will crtainly go out with you [lit., Going out, I will go out with you vn m. ]. David thn dployd th popl into thr companis on undr Joab, on undr Abishai, his brothr, and on undr Ittai th Gittit. David also said to th popl, I will also go out with you to battl. Hr is how othrs hav translatd this vrs: Ancint txts: Latin Vulgat Masortic Txt (Hbrw) Pshitta (Syriac) And snt forth a third part of th popl undr th hand of Joab, and a third part undr th hand of Abisai th son of Sarvia Joab's brothr, and a third part undr th hand of Ethai, who was of Gth: and th king said to th popl: I also will go forth with you. And so snds forth David th popl, th third in a hand of Joab and th third in a hand of Abishai bn Zruiah brothr of Joab and th third in a hand of Ittai th Gittit. And so says th king unto th popl, Going out I will go out, also m, with you [all]. And David placd a third part of th popl undr th command of Joab, and a third part undr th command of Abishai th son of Zoriah, Joabs brothr, and a third part undr th command of Ittai th Gittit. 9 Th Pulpit Commntary; ; by Josph S. Exll, Hnry Donald Mauric Spnc-Jons, courtsy of -sword, 2Sam. 18: Lt m suggst th xampl of David, whn his child was nar dath, and David was laying on th floor ptitioning God; but, aftr his child did, David pickd himslf up, washd and worshipd God.

23 6941 Th Book of Samul Sptuagint (Grk) Significant diffrncs: And David snt th popl away, a third part undr th hand of Joab, a third part undr th hand of Abishai th son of Zruiah, th brothr of Joab, and a third part undr th hand of Ittai th Gittit. And David said to th popl, I also will surly go out with you. Th Syriac dos not appar to hav David snding his troops out. Also, in th Syriac, David is not saying that h will b going out with his troops. Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrass: Common English Bibl Contmporary English V. Easy-to-Rad Vrsion Good Nws Bibl (TEV) Th Mssag Nw Brkly Vrsion Nw Lif Bibl Th Voic David snt out th army-a third undr Joab's command, a third undr th command of Abishai, Zruiah's son, and a third undr th command of Ittai th Gittit. Th king told th troops, "I will march out with you myslf." H snt out on-third of his army undr th command of Joab, anothr third undr th command of Abishai th son of Zruiah, and th rst undr th command of Ittai from Gath. H told th soldirs, "I'm going into battl with you." {David sparatd th popl into thr groups.} And thn David snt th popl out. Joab ld on third of th popl. Joab s brothr, Abishai son of Zruiah ld anothr third of th popl. And Ittai from Gath ld th last third of th popl. Thn h snt thm out in thr groups, with Joab and Joab's brothr Abishai and Ittai from Gath, ach in command of a group. And th king said to his mn, "I will go with you myslf." Thn David dployd his troops, a third undr Joab, a third undr Abishai son of Zruiah, Joab's brothr, and a third undr Ittai th Gittit. Th king thn announcd, "I'm marching with you." H had th army advanc, on third undr th command of Joab, anothr third undr Joab s brothr Abishai son of Zruiah, and th final third undr th command of Ittai of Gath. But whn th king informd his mn, I am surly going out with you myslf, th popl insistd, You shall not go out! For if w ar put to flight, thy will not b concrnd about us; vn if half of us di, our fat will not mattr. But you ar worth tn thousand of us. So now, it will b bttr for you to b in position to snd us support from th city. V. 3 is includd for contxt. And h snt th popl out. On third of thm was undr th rul of Joab. On third was undr th rul of Zruiah's son Abishai, Joab's brothr. And on third was undr th rul of Ittai th Gittit. Th king said to th popl, "I myslf will go out with you also. H dividd his army into thr groups. A third of thm wr commandd by Joab, a third by Abishai (Zruiah's son, Joab's brothr), and th final third by Ittai th Gittit. David (to his soldirs): I will go out to fight with you. Partially litral and partially paraphrasd translations: Amrican English Bibl Nw Advnt (Knox) Bibl Nw Amrican Bibl (R.E.)...and snt thm out [to battl]. a third undr th dirction of JoAb, a third undr th dirction of AbiShai (th son of ZruJah, JoAb's brothr), and a third undr th dirction of ItTai th Gthit. Thn David said to th popl: 'Now, I'll b lading you.'...on third h ntrustd to Joab, on third to Joab's brothr Abisai, and th rmaindr to Ethai of Gth. H himslf, h told his mn, would go into battl with thm,... David thn dividd th troops thr ways, a third undr Joab, a third undr Abishai, son of Zruiah and brothr of Joab, and a third undr Ittai th Gittit. Th king said to th troops, "I intnd to go out with you myslf."

24 2Samul NIRV Nw Jrusalm Bibl Nw Simplifid Bibl Today s NIV Thn David snt th troops out in thr companis. On company was undr th command of Joab. Anothr was undr Joab's brothr Abishai, th son of Zruiah. Th last was undr Ittai, th Gittit. Th king told th troops, "You can b sur that I myslf will march out with you." David dividd th army into thr groups, on undr th command of Joab, anothr undr th command of Abishai son of Zruiah and brothr of Joab, and th third undr th command of Ittai th Gittit. David thn said to th troops, 'I shall tak th fild in prson with you.' David assignd a third of th troops undr Joab s command. H put anothr third undr Joab s brothr Abishai son of Zruiah. Thn h placd th last third undr Ittai from Gath.»I am going into battl with you,«th king said to th troops. David snt out his troops, a third undr th command of Joab, a third undr Joab's brothr Abishai son of Zruiah, and a third undr Ittai th Gittit. Th king told th troops, "I myslf will surly march out with you." Mostly litral rndrings (with som occasional paraphrasing): Ancint Roots Translinar Bibl in Basic English Th Expandd Bibl Frar-Fnton Bibl HCSB NET Bibl David snt a third of th popl in th hand of Joab, and a third in th hand of Abishai th son of Zruiah, Joab's brothr, and a third in th hand of Ittai from Gath. Th king said to th popl, "I will also procd with you.". And David snt th popl out, a third of thm undr th ordrs of Joab, and a third undr th ordrs of Abishai, son of Zruiah, Joab's brothr, and a third undr Ittai th Gittit. And th king said to th popl, And I myslf will crtainly go out with you. H snt th troops out in thr groups. Joab commandd on-third of th mn. Joab's brothr Abishai son of Zruiah commandd anothr third. And Ittai from Gath commandd th last third. King David said to thm, "I will also go with you.". Aftrward David arrangd th forcs, on third undr J oab, and on third undr Abishai, and on third undr Athai th gardnr. (B.C. 1023) Dfat and Dath of Absalom And th king said to th forcs, I also will march with you. H thn snt out th troops, on third undr Joab, on third undr Joab's brothr Abishai son of Zruiah, and on third undr Ittai th Gittit. Th king said to th troops, "I will also march out with you." David thn snt out th army - a third undr th ladrship of Joab, a third undr th ladrship of Joab's brothr Abishai son of Zruiah, and a third undr th ladrship of Ittai th Gittit. Th king said to th troops, "I too will indd march out with you." Jwish/Hbrw Nams Bibls: Complt Jwish Bibl xgss companion Bibl Hbrw Nams Vrsion Thn David dispatchd th popl, a third of thm undr th command of Yo'av, a third undr Avishai th son of Tz'ruyah, Yo'av's brothr, and a third undr Ittai th Gitti; and th king said to th popl, "I will also go out with you, myslf."...and David snds a third of th popl undr th hand of Yah Ab and a third undr th hand of Abi Shai th son of Sruyah th brothr of Yah Ab and a third undr th hand of Ittay th Gittiy. And th sovrign says to th popl, In going, I - I also go with you. David snt forth th popl, a third part undr th hand of Yo'av, and a third part undr th hand of Avishai th son of Tzru'yah, Yo'av's brothr, and a third part

25 6943 Th Book of Samul JPS (Tanakh 1985) Orthodox Jwish Bibl Th Scripturs 1998 undr th hand of Ittai th Gittit. Th king said to th popl, I will surly go forth with you myslf also. David snt out th troops [Som Sptuagint manuscripts rad dividd th troops into thr. ], on-third undr th command of Joab, on-third undr th command of Joab s brothr Abishai son of Zruiah, and on-third undr th command of Ittai th Gittit. And David said to th troops, I myslf will march out with you. And Dovid snt forth a third part of th popl undr th yad Yoav, and a third part undr th yad Avishai Bn Tzruyah (Yoav's brothr), and a third part undr th yad Ittai th Gitti. And HaMlch said unto HaAm, I will surly go forth with you myslf also. And Dawi d snt out on third of th popl undr th hand of Yo a b, and on third undr th hand of A bishai son of Tsruyah, Yo a b s brothr, and on third undr th hand of Ittai th Gittit. And th sovrign said to th popl, I shall crtainly go out with you too. Litral, almost word-for-word, rndrings: Concordant Litral Vrsion Contxt Group Vrsion English Standard Vrsion NASB Nw RSV Syndin/Thim World English Bibl Young s Updatd LT...and David snds th third of th popl by th hand of Joab, and th third by th hand of Abishai, son of Zruiah, brothr of Joab, and th third by th hand of Ittai th Gittit, and th king said unto th popl, `I crtainly go out--i also--with you. And David dividd th popl in thr [ parts ], a third part undr th hand of Joab, and a third part undr th hand of Abishai th son of Zruiah, Joab's brothr, and a third part undr th hand of Ittai th Gittit. And th king said to th popl, I will surly go out with you { pl } myslf also. And David snt out th army, on third undr th command of Joab, on third undr th command of Abishai th son of Zruiah, Joab's brothr, and on third undr th command of Ittai th Gittit. And th king said to th mn, "I myslf will also go out with you." David snt th popl out, on third undr th command [Lit hand] of Joab, on third undr th command [Lit hand] of Abishai th son of Zruiah, Joab's brothr, and on third undr th command [Lit hand] of Ittai th Gittit. And th king said to th popl, "I myslf will surly go out with you also." And David dividd th army into thr groups [Gk: Hb snt forth th army]: on-third undr th command of Joab, on-third undr th command of Abishai son of Zruiah, Joab's brothr, and on-third undr th command of Ittai th Gittit. Th king said to th mn, `I myslf will also go out with you.' And David placd 'th 1st corps'/'a third part' of th army/popl undr th command/hand of Joab, and 'th 2nd corps'/'a third part' undr th command/hand of Abishai, th son of Zruiah, Joab's brothr, {Zruiah was David's sistr and Joab and Abishai ar two of hr thr sons that wr grat gnrals of David's army (th third son was dad by this tim)} and 'th 3rd corps'/'a third part' undr th command/hand of Ittai th Gittit. Aftrward, th king 'announcd a gnral ordr' to th army/popl, "Evn I myslf will dfinitly march out with you." {yatsa' yatsa' - doubling is vry strong in th Hbrw - idiom maning h will prsonally tak th ovrall command th 3 corps}. David snt forth th popl, a third part undr th hand of Joab, and a third part undr th hand of Abishai th son of Zruiah, Joab's brothr, and a third part undr th hand of Ittai th Gittit. Th king said to th popl, I will surly go forth with you myslf also. And David snds th third of th popl by th hand of Joab, and th third by th hand of Abishai, son of Zruiah, brothr of Joab, and th third by th hand of Ittai th Gittit, and th king says unto th popl, I crtainly go out I also with you.

26 2Samul Th gist of this vrs: David furthr dividd up his army into 3 divisions, undr Joab, Abishai and Ittai. H also informd his mn that h would go to war with thm. 2Samul 18:2a wa (or va) (åç) [pronouncd wah] and so, and thn, thn, and; so, that, yt, thrfor, consquntly; bcaus wâw conscutiv BDB #253 shâlach (ùèìçç) [pronouncd shaw- LAKH] to snd, to snd off, to snd away, to dismiss, to giv ovr, to cast out, to lt go, to st fr, to shoot forth [branchs], to shoot [an arrow] rd 3 prson masculin singular, Pil prfct Strong s #7971 BDB #1018 Dâvid (ãìèåäã); also Dâvîyd (ãìèåäéã) [pronouncd daw- VEED] blovd and is translitratd David masculin propr noun Strong s #1732 BDB #187 êth (àæç) [pronouncd ayth] untranslatd gnrally; occasionally to, toward indicats that th following substantiv is a dirct objct Strong's #853 BDB #84 am (òçí) [pronouncd ìahm] popl; rac, trib; family, rlativs; citizns, common popl; companions, srvants; ntir human rac; hrd [of animals] masculin singular collctiv noun with th dfinit articl Strong s #5971 BDB #766 Translation: David thn dployd his army [lit., th popl],... War btwn David and Absalom was about to bgin. Btwn th prvious chaptr and now, Absalom has takn his mn in pursuit of David. Thy ar now in Ephraim, so this mans that David wnt back across th Jordan, so that h is back on th wst sid of th rivr. David must rorganiz his army. First of all, h has not bn th acting had of th ntir army for svral yars now. Scondly, thr ar fwr mn, and not vry man from vry division is with him. Thrfor, thy nd to b organizd again. David organizd thm for a march out of Jrusalm, but now, thr is a nd to organiz his army onc again. 2Samul 18:2b sh lishîym (Äéí ÀìÄ ) [pronouncd sh li- SHEEM] third, a third part, a third tim; chambrs [of th third story] fminin adjctiv/ordinal numral with th dfinit articl Strong s #7992 BDB #1026 h b (áìà) [pronouncd b ] in, into, at, by, nar, on, with, bfor, against, by mans of, among, within a prposition of proximity BDB #88

27 6945 Th Book of Samul 2Samul 18:2b yâd (éèã) [pronouncd yawd] gnrally translatd hand fminin singular construct Strong's #3027 BDB #388 This combination of th bêyth prposition and hand litrally mans in [th] hand of; and can b rndrd by th hand of; in [undr] th powr [control] of; by th powr of; with; through, by, by mans of; bfor, in th sight of. Yôw âb (éåéàèá) b [pronouncd YOH-aw v] Yah is fathr and is translitratd Joab masculin singular propr noun Strong s #3097 BDB #222 Translation:...a third in th hand of Joab,... It is not clar whthr Joab is ovr a brigad of 1000 mn or whthr h is in command of svral brigads. Howvr, a third of th total numbr of soldirs ar undr Joab s command. Joab, on th fild, is David s numbr-on man. H has rplacd David as th grat gnral of Isral. What sms logical is, David has 3 systms of authority: th captain ovr 100 mn; th liutnant colonl ovr 1000 mn, and thn gnrals ovr a third of th army (probably ,000 mn). Obviously, David is ovr all of th mn. Joab is David s nphw and h has bn David s right-hand man for a long tim. David has placd Joab in charg of his military on many occasions, and Joab has prformd admirably in that position. 2Samul 18:2c w (or v ) (åà or åì) [pronouncd wh] and, vn, thn; namly; whn; sinc, that; though; as wll as simpl wâw conjunction BDB #251 sh lishîym (Äéí ÀìÄ ) [pronouncd sh li- SHEEM] third, a third part, a third tim; chambrs [of th third story] fminin adjctiv/ordinal numral with th dfinit articl Strong s #7992 BDB #1026 h b (áìà) [pronouncd b ] in, into, at, by, nar, on, with, bfor, against, by mans of, among, within a prposition of proximity BDB #88 yâd (éèã) [pronouncd yawd] gnrally translatd hand fminin singular construct Strong's #3027 BDB #388 This combination of th bêyth prposition and hand litrally mans in [th] hand of; and can b rndrd by th hand of; in [undr] th powr [control] of; by th powr of; with; through, by, by mans of; bfor, in th sight of. Ãbîyshay (àâáäéùçé) v [pronouncd ub- - SHAH-] my fathr is Jss and is translitratd Abishai masculin singular propr noun Strong s #52 BDB #5 bên (áìåï) [pronouncd ban] son, dscndant masculin singular construct Strong s #1121 BDB #119

28 2Samul Samul 18:2c Ts rûwyâh (öàøåìéèä) [pronouncd tz roo- YAW] translitratd Zruiah fminin singular propr noun Strong s #6870 BDB #863 âch (àèç) [pronouncd awhk] brothr, half-brothr; kinsman or clos rlativ; on who rsmbls masculin singular construct Strong's #251 BDB #26 Yôw âb (éåéàèá) b [pronouncd YOH-aw v] Yah is fathr and is translitratd Joab masculin singular propr noun Strong s #3097 BDB #222 Translation:...a third in th hand of Abishai bn Zruiah (Joab s brothr)... Joab had two brothrs. On was killd back in th arly part of 2Samul, but th othr is still aliv: Abishai. H is a grat man, but h again is in th shadow of his brothr Joab, suggsting that Joab is a gratr soldir. This is bcaus Joab is namd first and Abishai is namd scond and also h is idntifid in trms of Joab. Both Joab and Abishai, David s nphws, wr commandrs in David s army (2Sam. 8:16 10: :26). 2Samul 18:2d w (or v ) (åà or åì) [pronouncd wh] and, vn, thn; namly; whn; sinc, that; though; as wll as simpl wâw conjunction BDB #251 sh lishîym (Äéí ÀìÄ ) [pronouncd sh li- SHEEM] third, a third part, a third tim; chambrs [of th third story] fminin adjctiv/ordinal numral with th dfinit articl Strong s #7992 BDB #1026 h b (áìà) [pronouncd b ] in, into, at, by, nar, on, with, bfor, against, by mans of, among, within a prposition of proximity BDB #88 yâd (éèã) [pronouncd yawd] gnrally translatd hand fminin singular construct Strong's #3027 BDB #388 This combination of th bêyth prposition and hand litrally mans in [th] hand of; and can b rndrd by th hand of; in [undr] th powr [control] of; by th powr of; with; through, by, by mans of; bfor, in th sight of. Ittay (àäúìçé) [pronouncd iht-tah-] with m; translitratd Ithai, Ittai masculin singular propr noun Strong s #863 BDB #87 Altrnat splling: Îthay (àäúçé) [pronouncd -THAH-]. Gittîy (âìäúìäé) [pronouncd git-tee] inhabitant of Gath and possibly win prss; and translitratd Gittit gntilic singular adjctiv with th dfinit articl Strong s #1663 BDB #388

29 6947 Th Book of Samul Translation:...and a third in th hand of Ittai th Gittit. You will rcall that, whn first laving Jrusalm, David spok dirctly to Ittai and told him, You do not nd to travl with m. You can stay bhind with King Absalom, and I will not hold it against you. (2Sam. 15:19 22). But Ittai was loyal to David. Thrfor, h is in charg of a third division. This is what w hav so far: David dtrmind th siz of his army and placd liutnant colonls ovr groups of a thousand and captains ovr groups of a hundrd. David thn dployd th popl into thr companis on undr Joab, on undr Abishai, his brothr, and on undr Ittai th Gittit. An army must b organizd; an army rquirs a systm of authority which all of th mn undrstand. Each many in th army must undrstand th chain of command. W will not s any of that with Absalom s army. This dos not man than no organization was attmptd, but David and Joab ar soldirs; Absalom is not. David and Joab undrstand what nds to b don with th mn; Absalom dos not. Latr on, in this chaptr, w will find Absalom mandring about on his mul without an armor barrs around, and with apparntly littl ability to navigat th forst in which h finds himslf. Th stratgy and tactics involvd in battl is hlpful whn you hav 3 brigads which can b guidd on th battlfild, ach with a spcific purpos. This was common among th Isralits and th Philistins as wll (Judgs 7:16 9:43 1Sam. 11:11 13:17 2Kings 11:5 6). How xactly ths brigads wr usd will b suggstd whn w gt to v. 7. How an army is dividd plays a larg part on how that army is dployd. You may rcall that whn Joab was trappd btwn a holding forc and an aggrssiv forc in 2Sam. 10, h dividd his own army into two parts, on part to mov against th two forcs against him, as wll as bing rady to back up th othr. It was a risky mov, but on that paid off, and on that changd world history. David dtrmind th siz of his army and placd liutnant colonls ovr groups of a thousand and captains ovr groups of a hundrd. David thn dployd th popl into thr companis on undr Joab, on undr Abishai, his brothr, and on undr Ittai th Gittit. What has undoubtdly occurrd, vn though thr is no mntion of this in th narrativ is, mn hav com from all ovr Isral to support David. You will rcall at th clos of th prvious chaptr, w hav mn bringing supplis to David, bcaus mn nd to b fd. If 3 diffrnt mn from 3 vry diffrnt placs hav nough sns to rcogniz that David nds logistical support, thn it is qually logical that groups of mn from all ovr would rcogniz that, in ths circumstancs, David nds an army. So it is likly that, vn though David lft with only a fw troops whn marching out of Jrusalm, sinc thn, thousands of mn hav joind him. This xplains why David organizs his troops in 2Sam. 15:13 23 as wll as in this passag. Th principl is this: thos who ndd to find David wr abl to find him. Thos who did not nd to find him wr unabl to find him (Absalom s army would not fac off David s army until Joab dcidd to lt that happn). Thr is an analogy hr. Just as thos who ndd to find David could find him, th sam is tru of Jsus Christ. Th prson who nds to find Jsus will find Him, no mattr whr that prson is, somon will gt th gospl to him. 2Samul 18:2 wa (or va) (åç) [pronouncd wah] and so, and thn, thn, and; so, that, yt, thrfor, consquntly; bcaus wâw conscutiv BDB #253 âmar (àèîçø) [pronouncd aw-mahr] to say, to spak, to uttr; to say [to onslf], to think; to command; to promis; to xplain; to intnd rd 3 prson masculin singular, Qal imprfct Strong s #559 BDB #55

30 2Samul Samul 18:2 mlk ( îæìæ) [pronouncd MEH-lk] king, rulr, princ masculin singular noun with th dfinit articl Strong s #4428 BDB #572 l (àæì) [pronouncd hl] unto; into, among, in; toward, to; against; concrning, rgarding; bsids, togthr with; as to dirctional prposition (rspct or dfrnc may b implid) Strong's #413 BDB #39 am (òçí) [pronouncd ìahm] popl; rac, trib; family, rlativs; citizns, common popl; companions, srvants; ntir human rac; hrd [of animals] masculin singular collctiv noun with th dfinit articl Strong s #5971 BDB #766 Translation: Th king said to th popl,... David may or may not b spaking to all of thos undr his command. Evn if h is, thr ar thos clos to him who can giv him fdback on his dcision. David is calld th king hr, again bcaus this is how God th Holy Spirit ss him. Absalom is not calld th king, for th most part. God promots us; w do not promot ourslvs. You may rcall a coupl chaptrs back, aftr Absalom had pulld off his rbllion, th txt rfrrd to David again and again as th king. Quit obviously, this is th Holy Spirit ditorializing. This is th Holy Spirit tlling us that, in th ys of God, David is th king. In th ys of man, Absalom is th tmporary king. 2Samul 18:2f yâtsâ (éèöèà) [pronouncd yaw-tzawh] to go [com] out, to go [com] forth; to ris; to flow, to gush up [out] Qal infinitiv absolut Strong's #3318 BDB #422 A Qal infinitiv absolut is a vrb which can act lik noun, a vrb or an advrb. Gnrally it taks th plac of a noun and srvs to intnsify manings. Whn it is found bfor th finit vrb of th sam root, it mphasizs 11 th crtainty or th dcisivnss of th vrbal ida of th root. Whn usd as a complmnt of affirmation, it may b rndrd surly, indd, dfinitly; and whn it is a complmnt of improbability and condition, w rndr it at all, frly, indd. Th Qal infinitiv absolut can also srv as an advrbial complmnt; or, as a 12 vrb, it can rplac finit vrbs, imprativs, participls, and th infinitiv constructs. yâtsâ (éèöèà) [pronouncd yaw-tzawh] to go [com] out, to go [com] forth; to ris; to flow, to gush up [out] st 1 prson singular, Qal imprfct Strong's #3318 BDB #422 gam (âçí) [pronouncd gahm] also, furthrmor, in addition to, as wll; vn, morovr advrb Strong s #1571 BDB #168 ânîy (àèðäé) [pronouncd aw-nee] I, m; in answr to a qustion, it mans I am, it is I st 1 prson singular, prsonal pronoun Strong s #589 BDB # Choon-Long Sow, A Grammar for Biblical Hbrw (Rvisd Edition); Abingdon Prss, Nashvill; 1995, p Takn from Th Complt Word Study Old Tstamnt; Dr. S. Zodhiats; 1994 AMG Publishrs; p

31 6949 Th Book of Samul 2Samul 18:2f îm (òäí) [pronouncd ìm] with, at, by, nar; lik; from prposition of narnss and vicinity with th 2 nd prson masculin plural suffix Strong s #5973 BDB #767 Translation:... I will crtainly go out with you [lit., Going out, I will go out with you vn m. ]. David rcognizs that all of ths popl ar hr bcaus of him, so h says that h will go out to war with thm. You may find this announcmnt a bit odd, but David maks this announcmnt bcaus h has not gon out with his army for a vry long tim (s 2Sam. 11:1). Thrfor, this is an important announcmnt. 13 Gill rasonably suggsts that David might b doing this so that h can intrcd for Absalom whn ncssary. This is probably a portion of David s agnda; but it would b tortur for him to rmain in Mahanaim whil th fighting is going on, and just sitting thr waiting for nws. This portion of v. 2 ithr ought to b a sparat vrs or b placd with v. 3a blow. And so say th popl, You will not go out, for if fling w fl, thy will not st unto us a hart. And if di our half, thy will not st unto us a hart, for now, according to us, tn a thousand. And now good that you ar to us from a city for hlp. 2Samul 18:3 Th popl thn said, You will not go out [with us into battl], for if w indd rtrat, thy will not considr us [lit., plac [thir] hart to us]. And if half of us di, thy will not considr us, for now w [ar] approximatly tn-thousand [strong] [or possibly,...for you (ar) about (qual to) 10,000 (of us)]. Thrfor, [it is bttr] that you ar for us to hlp from [this] city. Howvr, th popl protstd, saying, You should not go out with us into battl, for if w indd rtrat, Absalom s army will not car. If half of us di in battl, thy will not car, for you ar qual to tnthousand of us. Thrfor, it is bttr that you hlp us from this city. Hr is how othrs hav translatd this vrs: Ancint txts: Dad Sa Scrolls Latin Vulgat [But] th army [said], You will [no]t go out. [For if w must rtrat, thy will not car a about us. Not if half of us wr to di would thy c]ar [Singular 4QSam. Plural a MT.] about [4QSam and MT us diffrnt words.] us. [You ar worth tn thousand of us. So at prsnt, it is bttr that] you b [rady to hlp] us [from th city]. W do not hav a full manuscript of 2Samul in th Dad Sa Scrolls; w only hav bits and pics which ar radabl. What is in brackts hr is not radabl. And th popl answrd: You will not go forth: for if w fl away, thy will not much mind us: or if half of us should fall, thy will not gratly car: for you alon ar accountd for tn thousand: it is bttr thrfor that you should b in th city to succour us. 13 Dr. John Gill, John Gill s Exposition of th Entir Bibl; from -Sword, 2Sam. 18:2.

32 2Samul Masortic Txt (Hbrw) Pshitta (Syriac) Sptuagint (Grk) Significant diffrncs: And so say th popl, You will not go out, for if fling w fl, thy will not st unto us a hart. And if di our half, thy will not st unto us a hart, for now, according to us, tn a thousand. And now good that you ar to us from a city for hlp. And th king said to th popl, If w surly should fl, th nmy will not car about us; now thrfor tn thousand mn ar nough for us; for it is bttr for us to rciv hlp from th citis. And thy said, You shall not go out; for if w should indd fl, thy will not car for us; and if half of us should di, thy will not mind us; for you ar as tn thousand of us; and now it is wll that you shall b to us an aid to hlp us in th city. Th English translation of th Syriac is quit diffrnt from th Masortic txt; it should b th popl spaking to th king. Th othr problm, which will b discussd blow in th xgsis, is whthr th popl ar saying that thy ar 10,000 strong or that David is qual in valu to 10,000 of thm (th lattr rading is found in th Latin and th Grk). Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrass: Common English Bibl Contmporary English V. Easy English Easy-to-Rad Vrsion Th Mssag Nw Cntury Vrsion Nw Living Translation Th Voic But th troops rplid, "No! You must not march out! If w fl, thy won't car about us. Evn if half of us di, thy won't car about us. But you ar worth tn thousand of us. It is much bttr if you support us from th city." But th soldirs said, "No, don't go into battl with us! It won't mattr to our nmis if thy mak us all run away, or vn if thy kill half of us. But you ar worth tn thousand of us. It would b bttr for you to stay in town and snd hlp if w nd it." But thy said to David, `You must not com with us. If w hav to run away in th battl, Absalom's mn will not car. Thy will not car vn if half of us di. But you ar worth of us. It will b bttr for you to stay in th city. You can hlp us from th city.' But th popl said, No! You must not go with us. Why? Bcaus if w run away in th battl, Absalom s mn will not car. Evn if half of us ar killd, Absalom s mn will not car. But you ar worth 10,000 of us! It is bttr for you to stay in th city. Thn, if w nd hlp, you can hlp us. Thy said, "No, you mustn't march with us. If w'r forcd to rtrat, th nmy won't giv it a scond thought. And if half of us di, thy won't do so ithr. But you ar worth tn thousand of us. It will b bttr for us if you stay in th city and hlp from thr." But th mn said, "You must not go with us! If w run away in th battl, Absalom's mn won't car. Evn if half of us ar killd, Absalom's mn won't car. But you'r worth tn thousand of us! You can hlp us most by staying in th city." But his mn objctd strongly. "You must not go," thy urgd. "If w hav to turn and run-and vn if half of us di-it will mak no diffrnc to Absalom's troops; thy will b looking only for you. You ar worth 10,000 of us [As in two Hbrw manuscripts and som Grk and Latin manuscripts; most Hbrw manuscripts rad Now thr ar 10,000 lik us.], and it is bttr that you stay hr in th town and snd hlp if w nd it." Soldirs: 3 No, you should rmain in Mahanaim. If w fl, th popl hr will not b concrnd about us; or if half of us di, thy will not car. But thy car about you. You'r worth 10,000 of us. It's bttr that you stay hr and hlp us from th city. Partially litral and partially paraphrasd translations:

33 6951 Th Book of Samul Amrican English Bibl Christian Community Bibl God s Word Nw Advnt (Knox) Bibl Nw Amrican Bibl Nw Amrican Bibl (R.E.) NIRV Nw Jrusalm Bibl Nw Simplifid Bibl Rvisd English Bibl But thy said: 'You can't com; for, if [AbSalom's popl] kill half of us, losing you would b lik losing tn thousand mn. So, it's bst for you stay in th city to dirct us.' But th mn rplid, You shall not go out. Thy could not car lss if w fl or if half of us di. But you ar worth tn thousand of us and it is bttr if you ar abl to snd us assistanc from th city. "You'r not going with us," th troops said. "If w fl, thy won't car about us, and if half of us di, thy won't car ithr. But you'r worth 10,000 of us. It's bttr for you to b rady to snd us hlp from th city."...but thy would not hav it. It maks no grat mattr to th nmy, thy said, whthr w ar routd: vn if half of us should fall, thy would st littl stor by it; thy lif is mor to thm than th livs of tn thousand othrs. Bttr that thou shouldst rmain in th city and garrison it for us. But thy rplid: "You must not com out with us. For if w should fl, w shall not count; vn if half of us should di, w shall not count. You ar qual to tn thousand of us. Thrfor it is bttr that w hav you to hlp us from th city." But thy rplid: "You must not com out with us. For if w fl, no on will car; vn if half of us di, no on will car. But you ar worth tn thousand of us. Thrfor it is bttr that w hav you to hlp us from th city." But th mn said, "You must not march out. If w ar forcd to run away, our nmis won't car about us. Evn if half of us di, thy won't car. But you ar worth 10,000 of us. So it would b bttr for you to stay hr in th city. Thn you can snd us hlp if w nd it." But th troops rplid, 'You ar not to tak th fild. No on will bothr about us if w run away, thy will not vn bothr about us if half of us ar killd, but you ar tn thousand tims mor valuabl. So it is bttr if you stay insid th town, in cas w nd rinforcmnts.'»you must not go with us,«thy answrd.»it will not mak any diffrnc to th nmy if th rst of us turn and run. It will not mattr vn if half of us ar killd. But you ar worth tn thousand of us. It will b bttr if you stay hr in th city and snd us hlp.«but thy said, No, you must not; if w tak to flight, no on will car, nor will thy vn if half of us ar killd; but you ar worth tn thousand of us, and it would b bttr now for you to rmain in th town in support. Mostly litral rndrings (with som occasional paraphrasing): Ancint Roots Translinar Bibl in Basic English Th Expandd Bibl Frar-Fnton Bibl But th popl said, "Do not procd! For if w fl, thy will not st thir hart at us. If half of us di, thy will not st thir hart at us. Now with tn thousand similar to us, it is bttr now for you to hlp us from th city." But th popl said, It is bttr for you not to go out: for if w ar put to flight, thy will not giv a thought to us, and if dath ovrtaks half of us, it will b nothing to thm: but you ar of mor valu than tn thousand of us: so it is bttr for you to b rady to com to our hlp from this town. But th mn said, "You must not go with us [out]! If w run away in th battl [fl], Absalom's mn won't car. Evn if half of us ar killd, Absalom's mn won't car. But you'r worth tn thousand of us! You can hlp us most by staying in th city [It is bttr that you support us from th city]." But th army said, You shall not go; for if w ar dfatd, thy will not st thir hart upon us; and if thy kill half of us, thy will not st thir hart upon us; for you ar worth tn thousand of us, so it is bttr you should hlp by dircting us from th city.

34 2Samul HCSB NET Bibl NIV UK "You must not go!" th popl pladd. "If w hav to fl, thy will not pay any attntion to us. Evn if half of us di, thy will not pay any attntion to us bcaus you ar worth 10,000 of us. Thrfor, it is bttr if you support us from th city." But th soldirs rplid [Hb "th popl said."], "You should not do this [Hb "march out."]! For if w should hav to mak a rapid rtrat, thy won't b too concrnd about us [Hb "thy will not plac to us hart."]. Evn if half of us should di, thy won't b too concrnd about us. But you [Th translation follows th Sptuagint (LXX) (xcpt for th Lucianic rcnsion), Symmachus, and Vulgat in rading àèúìèä ('atta, "you") rathr than Masortic Txt (MT) òèúìèä ('atta, "now").] ar lik tn thousand of us! So it is bttr if you rmain in th city for support." But th mn said, `You must not go out; if w ar forcd to fl, thy won't car about us. Evn if half of us di, thy won't car; but you ar worth tn thousand of us [Two Hbrw manuscripts, som Sptuagint manuscripts and Vulgat; most Hbrw manuscripts car; for now thr ar tn thousand lik us]. It would b bttr now for you to giv us support from th city.' Jwish/Hbrw Nams Bibls: Complt Jwish Bibl JPS (Tanakh 1985) Orthodox Jwish Bibl But th popl rplid, "Don't go out; bcaus if w fl, thy won't car about us. Evn if half of us di, thy won't car about us. But you ar worth tn thousand of us; so it is bttr now that you stay in th city and b rady if w nd hlp." But th troops rplid, No! For if som of us fl, th rst will not b concrnd about us; vn if half of us should di, th othrs will not b concrnd about us. But you ar worth tn thousand of us [So two Hbrw manuscripts, Sptuagint, and Vulgat. Most manuscripts and th ditions rad Now thr ar tn thousand lik us. ]. Thrfor, it is bttr for you to support us from th town. But HaAm answrd, Thou shalt not go forth; for if w fl away, thy will not st thir lv on us; nithr if half of us di, will thy st thir lv on us; but now thou art worth tn thousand of us; thrfor, now it is bttr that thou support us from th Ir [i.., Machanayim]. Litral, almost word-for-word, rndrings: Concordant Litral Vrsion English Standard Vrsion Th updatd Gnva Bibl Grn s Litral Translation Modrn KJV Nw King Jams Vrsion And th popl say, `You do not go out, for if w uttrly fl, thy do not st [thir] hart upon us; and if half of us di, thy do not st [thir] hart unto us--for now lik us [ar] tn thousand; and now, bttr that you b to us from th city for an hlpr. But th mn said, "You shall not go out. For if w fl, thy will not car about us. If half of us di, thy will not car about us. But you ar worth tn thousand of us. Thrfor it is bttr that you snd us hlp from th city." But th popl answrd, You will not go forth: for if w fl away, thy will not car for us; nithr if half of us di, will thy car for us: but now [you ar] worth tn thousand of us [Signifying that a good govrnor is so dar to his popl that thy would rathr los thir livs than hav anything happn to him.]: thrfor now [it is] bttr that you succour us out of th city. And th popl said, You shall not go out, for if w fl thy will not st thir hart on us vn if half of us di; for now you ar lik tn thousand to us. And now it is good that you b a hlpr for us from th city. But th popl answrd, You shall not go forth. For if w run away, thy will not st thir hart on us, vn if half of us di. For now you ar worth tn thousand of us. And now it is bttr that you rmain to hlp us from th city. But th popl answrd, "You shall not go out! For if w fl away, thy will not car about us; nor if half of us di, will thy car about us. But you ar worth tn thousand of us now. For you ar now mor hlp to us in th city."

35 6953 Th Book of Samul Syndin/Thim World English Bibl Young s Updatd LT Th gist of this vrs: But th army/popl answrd, "You {David} will not march out with us. {Not: Thy know that David's military brains ar th most important thing h can offr. Thy nd to know h is in a scur plac, lading th ovrall battl.} Bcaus if w ar forcd to rtrat, thy {th officr's corps} will not tak cognizanc of our situation. {idiom: 'thy will not put us to hart'} Furthrmor, if half of us should di, thy {our officrs} will tak cognizanc of th casualtis. {idiom: 'thy will not put us to hart'} Bcaus you, compard with us, ar worth tn thousand. Now thrfor it is bttr that you support us from th city with th rsrvs. {Not: David's mn ar indicating dfatism. Thy do not know thir officrs and in arroganc, thy xpct dfat and most of thm will di, and thy want David in th rar to tak car of th rmnant. Thy ar tlling David how to run th war. This officr corps of David will prov to b so grat that Isral will b protctd for th nxt 50 yars.}. But th popl said, You shall not go forth: for if w fl away, thy will not car for us; nithr if half of us di, will thy car for us: but you ar worth tn thousand of us; thrfor now it is bttr that you ar rady to hlp us out of th city. And th popl say, You will not go out, for if w uttrly fl, thy do not st thir hart upon us; and if half of us di, thy do not st thir hart unto us for now lik us ar tn thousand; and now, bttr that you b to us from th city for an hlpr. Th popl insist that David not go out with thm, as h is worth 10,000 of thm. 2Samul 18:3a wa (or va) (åç) [pronouncd wah] and so, and thn, thn, and; so, that, yt, thrfor, consquntly; bcaus wâw conscutiv BDB #253 âmar (àèîçø) [pronouncd aw-mahr] to say, to spak, to uttr; to say [to onslf], to think; to command; to promis; to xplain; to intnd rd 3 prson masculin singular, Qal imprfct Strong s #559 BDB #55 am (òçí) [pronouncd ìahm] popl; rac, trib; family, rlativs; citizns, common popl; companions, srvants; ntir human rac; hrd [of animals] masculin singular collctiv noun with th dfinit articl Strong s #5971 BDB #766 lô (ìéà or ìåéà) [pronouncd low] not, no ngats th word or action that follows; th absolut ngation Strong s #3808 BDB #518 yâtsâ (éèöèà) [pronouncd yaw-tzawh] to go [com] out, to go [com] forth; to ris; to flow, to gush up [out] nd 2 prson masculin singular, Qal imprfct Strong's #3318 BDB #422 Translation: Th popl thn said, You will not go out [with us into battl],... W do not know xactly th way this mting is st up. It appars as if David is spaking bfor his ntir army. Howvr, it is possibly that h is spaking to his gnrals, liutnant colonls and captains. And if David is addrssing all of his mn, his top mn would b thos who could discuss mattrs with him. On or mor of ths spok up, saying, You will not go out to war with us. Whn it says th popl said, this dos not man that all of th popl spok at onc and

36 2Samul in unison. What this suggsts is, this ida has alrady bn discussd, and this sntimnt is in accordanc with th popl in gnral. So Joab or Abishai might b saying this, but this rflcts th thinking of thir mn. Thn thy xplain why. 2Samul 18:3b kîy (ëìäé) [pronouncd k] for, that, bcaus; whn, at that tim, which, what tim xplanatory or tmporal conjunction; prposition Strong's #3588 BDB #471 îm (àäí) [pronouncd m] if, though; lo, bhold; oh that, if only; whn, sinc, though whn (or, if followd by a prfct tns which rfrs to a past vnt) primarily an hypothtical particl Strong's #518 BDB #49 nûwç (ðåìñ) [pronouncd noos] to fl, to fl from, to scap, to dpart, to rtrat, to hastn quickly [away] Qal infinitiv absolut Strong's #5127 BDB #630 nûwç (ðåìñ) [pronouncd noos] to fl, to fl from, to scap, to dpart, to rtrat, to hastn quickly [away] st 1 prson plural, Qal imprfct Strong's #5127 BDB #630 A Qal infinitiv absolut is a vrb which can act lik noun, a vrb or an advrb. Gnrally it taks th plac of a noun and srvs to intnsify manings. Whn it is found bfor th finit vrb of th sam root, it mphasizs 14 th crtainty or th dcisivnss of th vrbal ida of th root. Whn usd as a complmnt of affirmation, it may b rndrd surly, indd, dfinitly; and whn it is a complmnt of improbability and condition, w rndr it at all, frly, indd. Th Qal infinitiv absolut can also srv as an advrbial complmnt; or, as a 15 vrb, it can rplac finit vrbs, imprativs, participls, and th infinitiv constructs. lô (ìéà or ìåéà) [pronouncd low] not, no ngats th word or action that follows; th absolut ngation Strong s #3808 BDB #518 sîym (ùòäéí) [pronouncd sm]; also splld sûwm (ùòåìí) [pronouncd soom] to put, to plac, to st; to mak; to appoint rd 3 prson masculin plural, Qal imprfct Strong's #7760 BDB #962 l (àæì) [pronouncd hl] unto; into, among, in; toward, to; against; concrning, rgarding; bsids, togthr with; as to dirctional prposition (rspct or dfrnc may b implid) with th st 1 prson plural suffix Strong's #413 BDB #39 lêb (ìåá) [pronouncd b lay v] hart, innr man, mind, will, thinking; midst masculin singular noun Strong's #3820 BDB #524 Translation:...for if w indd rtrat, thy will not considr us [lit., plac [thir] hart to us].... It will not mattr to Absalom s army if ths mn rtrat. This is not a concrn to thm. It is Absalom s army which will hav no considration or thought for David s army. It dos not mattr to thm if thy liv or di. Th ida is, if thy ar Choon-Long Sow, A Grammar for Biblical Hbrw (Rvisd Edition); Abingdon Prss, Nashvill; 1995, p Takn from Th Complt Word Study Old Tstamnt; Dr. S. Zodhiats; 1994 AMG Publishrs; p

37 6955 Th Book of Samul batn back, and if thy do rtrat, Absalom s army will just com aftr thm and kill thm n mass. Thr is a crtain blood-lust in war, and somtims whn an army bgins to kill, it just kps on killing. 2Samul 18:3c w (or v ) (åà or åì) [pronouncd wh] and, vn, thn; namly; whn; sinc, that; though; as wll as simpl wâw conjunction BDB #251 îm (àäí) [pronouncd m] if, though; lo, bhold; oh that, if only; whn, sinc, though whn (or, if followd by a prfct tns which rfrs to a past vnt) primarily an hypothtical particl Strong's #518 BDB #49 mûwth (îåìú) [pronouncd mooth] to di; to prish, to b dstroyd rd 3 prson masculin plural, Qal imprfct Strong's #4191 BDB #559 chãtsîy (çâöäé) [pronouncd khuh- TSEE] half, middl masculin singular noun st with th 1 prson plural suffix Strong s #2677 BDB #345 lô (ìéà or ìåéà) [pronouncd low] not, no ngats th word or action that follows; th absolut ngation Strong s #3808 BDB #518 sîym (ùòäéí) [pronouncd sm]; also splld sûwm (ùòåìí) [pronouncd soom] to put, to plac, to st; to mak; to appoint rd 3 prson masculin plural, Qal imprfct Strong's #7760 BDB #962 l (àæì) [pronouncd hl] unto; into, among, in; toward, to; against; concrning, rgarding; bsids, togthr with; as to dirctional prposition (rspct or dfrnc may b implid) with th st 1 prson plural suffix Strong's #413 BDB #39 lêb (ìåá) [pronouncd b lay v] hart, innr man, mind, will, thinking; midst masculin singular noun Strong's #3820 BDB #524 Translation:...And if half of us di, thy will not considr us,... Thy will not giv a thought if thy kill half of David s army. This is all a mans to an nd. What thy want is David. If Absalom s army nds to kill half of David s army, this is of no concrn to thm. This is in contrast with Joab, who will allow Absalom s army to rtrat unabatd aftr Absalom is killd. Joab is not out for blood; Joab dos car about th popl of Isral, vn though h is at war with thm. 2Samul 18:3d kîy (ëìäé) [pronouncd k] for, that, bcaus; whn, at that tim, which, what tim xplanatory or tmporal conjunction; prposition Strong's #3588 BDB #471

38 2Samul Samul 18:3d attâh (òçúìèä) [pronouncd ìaht-tawh] now, at this tim, alrady advrb of tim Strong s #6258 BDB #773 Clark: Th particl éúä attah, now, is doubtlss a mistak for th pronoun àúä attah, you; and so it appars to hav bn rad by th Sptuagint, th Vulgat, and th Chald, and by two of Knnicott s and D Rossi s 16 manuscripts. Clark (or th prson who transcribd Clark s work into -sword) has mad a mistak with th Hbrw hr (s th nots blow or th Hbrw word abov), but h dos list which ancint translations ar ssntially in agrmnt with him. kaph or k (ëìà) [pronouncd k ] lik, as, just as; according to, aftr; about, approximatly prposition of comparison, rsmblanc or approximation; with th st 1 prson plural suffix BDB # Th kaph prposition can b usd of tim, and translatd about, at; as, whn, at th tim of. asârâh (òçùòèøèä) [pronouncd ìah-saw- RAW] tn fminin numral Strong s #6235 BDB #796 lph (àæìæó) [pronouncd EH-lf] thousand, family, (500?); military unit masculin singular noun Strong s #505 (and #504) BDB #48 Th NET Bibl s translation: But th soldirs rplid, "You should not do this! For if w should hav to mak a rapid rtrat, thy won't b too concrnd about us. Evn if half of us should di, thy won't b too concrnd about us. But you ar lik tn thousand of us! So it is bttr if you rmain in th city for support." Th NET Bibl s not on this: Th translation follows th Sptuagint (LXX) (xcpt for th Lucianic rcnsion), 18 Symmachus, and Vulgat in rading àèúìèä ('atta, "you") rathr than Masortic Txt (MT) òèúìèä ('atta, "now"). 19 JPS (Tanakh 1985) has th footnot: So two Hbrw manuscripts, Sptuagint, and Vulgat. Most manuscripts and th ditions rad Now thr ar tn thousand lik us. Thy also rfrnc 1Kings 1:18, whr thr is a similar altrnat rading (a confounding of you and now). Translation:...for now w [ar] approximatly tn-thousand [strong] [or possibly,...for you (ar) about (qual to) 10,000 (of us)]. Although thr ar som translations that throw an if in thr, on intrprtation is that, this simply tlls us how many hav com along with David. Thr ar probably 9 brigads, and Joab, Abiathar and Ittai ach hav 3 brigads undr thm. Howvr, if you will notic th final not mad in th Hbrw xgsis, that thr may b a slight diffrnc in on Hbrw word, which changs a grat dal. Saying that thy ar 10,000 strong dos not rally fit into th contxt of this convrsation. Howvr, if thy say that David should not go with thm and that h is qual to about 10,000 troops, that maks mor sns. That fits into what is bing said, and many of th English translations hav gon with that intrprtation (Grn s Litral Translation, th NKJV, R. B. Thim, Jr., th WEB, tc.) Adam Clark, Commntary on th Bibl; from -Sword, 2Sam. 18:3. As pr Th Brown-Drivr-Briggs Hbrw and English Lxicon; Hndrickson Publishrs; h1996; p From accssd July 18, Tanakh, th Jwish Bibl by th Jwish Publication Socity; 1985; p. 498.

39 6957 Th Book of Samul Both approachs still rquir som additional words to smooth things out; but th altrnat rading appars to b mor suitd ot th contxt. Lt m suggst that som of th words or lttrs wr droppd out, and thn latr, somon trid to fix th txt with that on minor chang. Just a thory. In any cas, it maks complt sns for th popl undr David to rcogniz that it is his lif or dath that is ky in this rvolution. If h is killd, thy hav no rason to continu fighting. Howvr, at th sam tim, Absalom s army may choos to continu fighting, just to kill any sort of opposition. Rmmbr, thy do not car about thos who hav followd David thy hav no concrn for thm whatsovr. So far, vv. 1 3d rads: David dtrmind th siz of his army and placd liutnant colonls ovr groups of a thousand and captains ovr groups of a hundrd. David thn dployd th popl into thr companis on undr Joab, on undr Abishai, his brothr, and on undr Ittai th Gittit. David also said to th popl, I will also go out with you to battl. Howvr, th popl protstd, saying, You should not go out with us into battl, for if w indd rtrat, Absalom s army will not car. If half of us di in battl, thy will not car, for you ar qual to tn-thousand of us. So David has organizd his army into various units, and h has installd officrs ovr ths units, and prsumably a battlground has bn chosn (whr thy will fight will b vry advantagous to David s army). Howvr, th war hr is actually btwn David and Absalom. Whn on of thm is killd, that will nd th war (not ncssarily th killing, but th actual war). 2Samul 18:3 w (or v ) (åà or åì) [pronouncd wh] and, vn, thn; namly; whn; sinc, that; though; as wll as simpl wâw conjunction BDB #251 attâh (òçúìèä) [pronouncd ìaht-tawh] now, at this tim, alrady advrb of tim Strong s #6258 BDB #773 Whn followd by an imprativ or an intrrogativ, w + th advrb attâh man and so, thus, things bing so, thrfor, now thrfor, now thn. Somtims, th concpt of tim is lost whn this combination is usd to incit anothr. þôwb (èåéá) [pronouncd b toh v] plasant, plasing, agrabl, good, bttr; approvd masculin singular adjctiv which can act lik a substantiv Strong s #2896 BDB #373 kîy (ëìäé) [pronouncd k] for, that, bcaus; whn, at that tim, which, what tim xplanatory or tmporal conjunction; prposition Strong's #3588 BDB #471 hâyâh (äèéèä) [pronouncd haw-yaw] to b, is, was, ar; to bcom, to com into bing; to com to pass nd 2 prson masculin singular, Qal imprfct Strong's #1961 BDB #224 lâmd (ìà) [pronouncd l ] to, for, towards, in rgards to, with rfrnc to, as to, with rgards to; blonging to; by dirctional/rlational prposition with th 1 st prson plural suffix BDB #510 min (îäï) [pronouncd min] from, off, out from, of, out of, away from, on account of, sinc, than, mor than prposition of sparation Strong's #4480 BDB #577 îyr (òäéø) [pronouncd ìr] ncampmnt, city, town fminin singular noun Strong's #5892 BDB #746

40 2Samul Samul 18:3 lâmd (ìà) [pronouncd l ] to, for, towards, in rgards to, with rfrnc to, as to, with rgards to; blonging to; by dirctional/rlational prposition BDB #510 âzar (òèæçø) [pronouncd ìaw-zahr] to hlp, to aid Qal infinitiv construct Strong s #5826 BDB #740 Th lâmd with an infinitiv construct gnrally xprsss purpos or rsult, although it can hav thr othr common uss with th infinitiv: (1) It can hav a grundial or advrbial sns to xplain th circumstancs of a prvious action; (2) it can act as a priphrastic futur in nominal clauss; and, (3) it can bhav as a grund, in th sns of is to b, must b, ought to b. (4) Lâmd with th infinitiv can connot shall or must. Translation: Thrfor, [it is bttr] that you ar for us to hlp from [this] city. David and his troops ar apparntly in a city, basd upon this and th nxt vrs. Furthrmor, as w hav studid, this city appars to b Mahanaim. Th army will go out of th city. Now, how can David hlp from th city? H might b coordinating thir supplis; h might b rciving information from th front lins and advising. Howvr, David can rst assurd that things will b handld wll, as h has 3 grat gnrals ovr his troops. V. 3: Howvr, th popl protstd, saying, You should not go out with us into battl, for if w indd rtrat, Absalom s army will not car. If half of us di in battl, thy will not car, for you ar qual to tn-thousand of us. Thrfor, it is bttr that you hlp us from this city. David s ladrs ar acting rationally. Thy ar concrnd with what is bst for victory. Thrfor, whil thy ar at war, David will b at Mahanaim waiting for nws of th war. H might b coordinating supplis and gathring mn to hlp his popl rtrat, if ncssary. Thr is a paralll which is bing st up hr. Prviously, what got David into this mss in th first plac was, whn his soldirs would go out to war, h would chas skirt throughout Jrusalm, mbarrassing himslf and th God h blivd in. So again, his soldirs ar out to war, but David will b lft bhind. H might organiz a citizn s brigad from Mahanaim; but mostly what David is going to do is think. H has th tim to think right now. Howvr, as w will find out, David dos not think any of this through. It will b Joab who finally has to brac him in th nxt chaptr, and to st David straight. Howvr, David is givn th opportunity hr to put things togthr; to think about himslf, God, his actions and th Absalom rvolution. Application: I hav sn instancs in many livs whr a prson is givn a grat dal of tim during which to think. An xtndd illnss or accidnt; a st of circumstancs which taks thm off thir job. Thy hav ral tim to contmplat thir livs and thir xistnc, and to tak stock of thir livs and thir dcisions. And, what I hav also obsrvd, in most of ths cass, ths popl squandr this tim of rflction. Thr ar tims whn you sm to b rushing about to do things and, out of nowhr, thr is this xtndd priod of grat calm if God givs you tim lik that, thn us it. Doubl up on your Bibl study; dvot mor tim to prayr. This dosn t man that you ar not allowd to watch 3 sasons of Downton Abby, bcaus God dos not rquir you to rad your Bibl or study 24 hours a day or vn 12 hours a day. But whn givn th tim, honor God with mor tim than you hav bn giving Him bfor. As Paul wrot to th Ephsians: Us your tim wll, for ths ar vil days (Eph. 5:16; CJB). 20 th Th bulk of this was paraphrasd from J.C.L. Gibson, Davidson s Introductory Hbrw Grammar~Syntax; 4 Edition, T&T Clark Ltd., 1994, pp and from Biblical Hbrw; by Pag Klly; William B. Erdmans Publishing Co., 1992, p Kil & Dlitzsch s Commntary on th Old Tstamnt; 1966 Hndrickson Publishrs, Inc.; Vol. 2, p. 438.

41 6959 Th Book of Samul Givn this information, that David has som tim to considr his lif and what is going on, whil his soldirs risk thir livs for him and his kingship, it would b important to touch on this doctrin: Th Doctrin of On Day at a Tim 1. Th blivr orintd to grac rgards vry day alik. Rom. 14: This dos not man that w do xactly th sam thing vry day. On som days, w work; on th wknds (for most of us), w ar off. So, quit obviously, w do not do xactly th sam thing on a workday and on a wknd. Howvr, vry day ought to b spnt in th Spirit and, on vry day, you ought to tak in th Word of God, whthr th doors of your church ar opn or not. 3. Rom. 14:5 8 On prson considrs on day to b abov anothr day. Somon ls considrs vry day to b th sam. Each on must b fully convincd in his own mind. Whovr obsrvs th day, obsrvs it to th Lord. Whovr ats, ats to th Lord, sinc h givs thanks to God; and whovr dos not at, it is to th Lord that h dos not at, yt h thanks God. For non of us livs to himslf, and no on dis to himslf. If w liv, w liv to th Lord; and if w di, w di to th Lord. Thrfor, whthr w liv or di, w blong to th Lord. (HCSB) Our livs ar intrtwind with th plan of God. Thrfor, whatvr day it is, it is th Lord s and w ar to b thankful for that day, and liv that day so that it glorifis God. 4. Living vry day alik is rlatd to God and our spiritual lif. This dos not man that w do not clbrat birthdays or Christmas or Thanksgiving. Can you imagin a Christian tlling his family, I cannot attnd th family Thanksgiving dinnr; I am a Christian and must liv vry day alik. That is not a Christian tstimony; that is just dumb. 5. Th blivr uss vry day to glorify th Lord. Evry day is a day of diffrnt circumstancs and a diffrnt configuration. 6. Living vry day alik is crtainly not a mattr of doing vrything at th sam tim. Schduls ar good, traditions ar good, and organization is good. Howvr, so is flxibility. You may liv a lif whr dinnr is at 6 pm sharp vry vning; and that Bibl study is at 7 pm sharp. In othr homs, this may not b th cas. You may hav a mor fluid or disorganizd schdul. For m, I found that my schdul and day could vary dramatically, and hav chosn to spnd my arly mornings bfor vryon ls taking in th Word of God and studying th Word of God. 7. Thrfor watch carfully how you walk, not as unwis, but as wis; rdming th tim, bcaus th days ar vil. Thrfor don't b foolish, but undrstand what th will of th Lord is (Eph. 5:15 17; WEB). Evry day is a gracious gift form th Lord to b purchas for th Lord. Th contxt of Eph. 5:16 tlls us that w can buy this tim by bing filld with th Spirit. Whn you ar filld with th Spirit, that tim has bn purchasd. You might vn b abl to log tim slping. 8. God s grac is givn to us a day at a tim. Y howah s grac is not consumd, bcaus His compassion nvr fails. His gracious acts ar nw vry morning; grat is Your faithfulnss (Lv. 3:22 23). Part of our lif ach day ought to b rcognizing God s plac in that God; and God s faithfulnss to us ach and vry day. W nd to rcogniz this for priods of stability and priods of grat instability. 9. Th only tim w possss to glorify God on th arth is th numbr of days givn to us in phas II (phas II is lif hr on arth for th blivr). Jams. 4: God provids th capital to mak ach day count for grac. Jams 4:6 11. Evry day is a spcial day in phas II; no on day is mor holy than anothr. Thr is no authorization in th Word of God to mak Sunday a spcial day. Howvr, bcaus w hav that day off, it is oftn bst for us to hav 2 or 3 lssons in th Word of God. Thrfor, 2 or 3 srvics at a local church is rasonabl. Th obsrvation of th Sabbath in th Old Tstamnt was to tach popl grac. Thy workd all th rst of th wk. 12. Each day th blivr is to avoid mntal attitud sins which produc slf-inducd misry. 13. Psalm 103 God only has on chanc to show us grac in suffring, which H can only do in tim. Thr is no suffring in trnity (Rv. 21:4). 14. This is how purchasing a day works: God givs us tim on this arth; whn w us that tim wisly (by bing filld with th Holy Spirit and by knowing Bibl doctrin), th rsult is th cration of divin good. Divin good is rwardd in tim and in trnity. Thrfor, whn you purchas this tim by bing filld with th Holy Spirit, you ar also laying asid gold, silvr and prcious stons in havn (1Cor. 3:9 12,

42 2Samul Th Doctrin of On Day at a Tim 14). Thos who try to do this in som othr way will b producing wood, hay and stubbl, to b burnd in th judgmnt (1Cor. 3:13 15). This has com, in larg part, from R. B. Thim, Jr. s 1969 Basic Bibl Doctrin Sris, lsson #23. It was also taught in his 1961 Basic Sris, lsson #28. Ths points hav bn ditd and appndd. Chaptr Outlin Charts, Maps and Short Doctrins From my nots, R. B. Thim, Jr. s translation of vv. 1 3: Thn David rviwd [mobilizd, mustrd] his troops and appointd commandrs of hundrds and of thousands ovr thm. H thn snt out th troops [David thn organizd his soldirs as follows:], on third undr Joab [th first corps undr th command of Joab], on third undr Joab's brothr Abishai son of Zruiah, and on third undr Ittai th Gittit. Th king said to th troops, "I will also march out with you." [And I myslf will assum command ovr th ntir army] "You must not go!" th popl [= th army] pladd. "If w hav to fl [If w ar forcd to rtrat], thy [David s officrs] will not pay any attntion to us [thy will not tak us to hart; thy will not concntrat (or tak cognizanc) on our situation]. Evn if half of us di, thy will not pay any attntion to us bcaus you ar worth 10,000 of us. Thrfor, it is bttr if you support us from th city [as a rsrv forc]." David has a spcial circumstanc hr, whr h is not rquird to do anything but wait and think. This allows him th opportunity to considr his mistaks and th justic of God. H nds to think through this thing with Absalom; but David dos not us this tim wisly. H will spnd much of his tim sitting in th gat of th city waiting for nws of th battl. And so says unto thm th king, That [which] is good in your ys I will do. And so stands th king unto a hand of th gat and th popl hav gon out to hundrds and to thousands. 2Samul 18:4 Th king thn rplid, Whatvr [sms] good in your ys, [that] I will do. So th king stood at th sid of th gat whil all th popl hav gon out by hundrds and by thousands. Th king thn rplid, I will agr to what you hav said. Thrfor, th king stood at th sid of th gat watching th popl go out marching in formation by hundrds and by thousands. Hr is how othrs hav translatd this vrs: Ancint txts: Latin Vulgat Masortic Txt (Hbrw) Pshitta (Syriac) Sptuagint (Grk) And th king said to thm: What smth good to you, that will I do. And th king stood by th gat: and all th popl wnt forth by thir troops, by hundrds and by thousands. And so says unto thm th king, That [which] is good in your ys I will do. And so stands th king unto a hand of th gat and th popl hav gon out to hundrds and to thousands. And th srvants of David said to him, W will go forth quickly to fight against thm. And th king said to thm, Whatvr sms good to you, do it. Thn th king stood by th sid of th gat, and all th popl wnt out by hundrds and by thousands. And th king said to thm, Whatvr sms good in your ys I will do. And th king stood by th sid of th gat, and all th popl wnt out by hundrds and by thousands.

43 6961 Th Book of Samul Significant diffrncs: Th first sntnc of th Syriac is not found in th Hbrw. Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrass: Contmporary English V. Nw Brkly Vrsion Nw Living Translation Th Voic David said, "All right, if you think I should." Thn in a voic loud nough for vryon to har, h said, "Joab! Abishai! Ittai! For my sak, b sur that Absalom coms back unharmd." David stood bsid th town gat as his army marchd past in groups of a hundrd and in groups of a thousand. Th war with Isral took plac in Ephraim Forst. Th CEV is combining svral vrss hr. Th king said to thm, Whatvr sms bst to you I will do. Thn th king took his post bsid th gat whil all th troops marchd out by hundrds and by thousands. "If you think that's th bst plan, I'll do it," th king answrd. So h stood alongsid th gat of th town as all th troops marchd out in groups of hundrds and of thousands. David: 4 All right. I'll do what you think is bst. David is torn btwn his dutis as king and his dutis as fathr. Whn his own son attmpts to ovrthrow him, h is forcd to fl his kingdom and is subjctd to ridicul and contmpt. Absalom slps with all th royal concubins, a dadly insult, and it looks as though David will b ovrthrown just as Saul was bfor him. Evn now with Absalom lading an outright rbllion, dishonoring his fathr, and sking his dath, David sks to spar his son. So David stood bsid th gat whil his soldirs marchd out to fight against Absalom, organizd into fighting units by th hundrds and by th thousands. Partially litral and partially paraphrasd translations: Amrican English Bibl God s Word Nw Advnt (Knox) Bibl NIRV And th king said: 'I'll do whatvr you wish.' So, th king stood at th city gat as his army passd by in companis and divisions. "I'll do what you think bst," th king rspondd. So th king stood by th gat whil all th troops marchd out by battalions and rgimnts. So th king told thm h would abid by thir judgmnt, and h stood watching at th gat whil thy marchd out company by company, in thir hundrds and thousands. Th king said, "I'll do what you think is bst." So th king stood bsid th city gat. Th whol army marchd out in companis of hundrds and companis of thousands. Mostly litral rndrings (with som occasional paraphrasing): Ancint Roots Translinar Bibl in Basic English Th Expandd Bibl Frar-Fnton Bibl NET Bibl Th king said to thm, "What is-good in your y, I will do." Th king stood by th hand of th gat and all th popl procdd by hundrds and by thousands. And th king said to thm, I will do whatvr sms bst to you. So th king took his plac by th door of th town, and all th popl wnt out by hundrds and by thousands. L Th king said to his popl, "I will do what you think is bst [ is good in your sight/ys]." So th king stood at th sid of th gat as th army wnt out in groups of a hundrd and a thousand. Th king consquntly rplid, Whatvr is good in your opinion I will do. Thrfor th king stood at th sid of th gat, and all th forc wnt out by companis and rgimnts. Thn th king said to thm, "I will do whatvr sms bst to you."

44 2Samul NIV UK So th king stayd bsid th city gat, whil all th army marchd out by hundrds and by thousands. Th king answrd, `I will do whatvr sms bst to you.' So th king stood bsid th gat whil all his mn marchd out in units of hundrds and of thousands. Jwish/Hbrw Nams Bibls: xgss companion Bibl Orthodox Jwish Bibl And th sovrign says to thm, Whatvr wll-plass your ys, I work. And th sovrign stands by th portal handl and all th popl go by hundrds and by thousands. And HaMlch said unto thm, What smth you bst I will do. And HaMlch stood by th sid of th sha'ar, and kol haam cam out by hundrds and by thousands. Litral, almost word-for-word, rndrings: Syndin/Thim World English Bibl Young s Updatd LT Th gist of this vrs: And th king rplid unto thm {David acquiscs}, "Whatvr sms bst 'to you'/'in your ys', I will do. Thrfor th king stood bsid th gat {on a rviwing stand}, whil th army marchd out by battalions/hundrds and by divisions/thousands. Th king said to thm, What sms you bst I will do. Th king stood by th gatsid, and all th popl wnt out by hundrds and by thousands. And th king says unto thm, That which is good in your ys I do; and th king stands at th sid of th gat, and all th popl hav gon out by hundrds and by thousands. Th king agrs to rmain bhind, and his troops march out to battl bfor him. 2Samul 18:4a wa (or va) (åç) [pronouncd wah] and so, and thn, thn, and; so, that, yt, thrfor, consquntly; bcaus wâw conscutiv BDB #253 âmar (àèîçø) [pronouncd aw-mahr] to say, to spak, to uttr; to say [to onslf], to think; to command; to promis; to xplain; to intnd rd 3 prson masculin singular, Qal imprfct Strong s #559 BDB #55 l (àæì) [pronouncd hl] unto; into, among, in; toward, to; against; concrning, rgarding; bsids, togthr with; as to dirctional prposition (rspct or dfrnc may b implid) with th rd 3 prson masculin plural suffix Strong's #413 BDB #39 mlk ( îæìæ) [pronouncd MEH-lk] king, rulr, princ masculin singular noun with th dfinit articl Strong s #4428 BDB #572

45 6963 Th Book of Samul 2Samul 18:4a ãshr (àâéùæø) [pronouncd uh-sher] that, which, whn, who, whom rlativ pronoun; somtims th vrb to b is implid Strong's #834 BDB #81 Th rlativ pronoun ãshr (àâéùæø) [pronouncd uh-sher] can also b usd as th subjct of a vrb, as wll 22 as th dirct objct of a vrb. It can b translatd who, whovr, whomvr, whom, [on] which, [on] whom; st nd whatvr. Similarly, but rarly, this rlativ pronoun can b usd as th dfining adjunct for a 1 or 2 prson pronoun: I who, you who. yâþab (éèèçá) [pronouncd B yaw-ta V] to b good [wll, commndabl, plasing]; to do good [wll, commndably], to mak glad, to mak a thing good rd 3 prson masculin singular, Qal imprfct Strong s #3190 BDB #405 h b (áìà) [pronouncd b ] in, into, at, by, nar, on, with, bfor, against, by mans of, among, within a prposition of proximity BDB #88 êynayim (òåéðçéäí) [pronouncd ìay-nah- YIM] ys, two ys, litral y(s), spiritual ys; fac, apparanc, form; surfac fminin dual noun with nd th 2 prson plural suffix Strong s #5869 (and #5871) BDB #744 This phras is litrally in your ys, but it can b translatd in your opinion, in your stimation, to your way of thinking, as you s [it]. Th dual and plural forms of this word appar to b idntical. Possibly, this could also man, as you plas, as you want, as you dsir, whatvr you think is right. âsâh (òèùéèä) [pronouncd ìaw-sawh] to do, to mak, to construct, to fashion, to form, to prpar, to manufactur st 1 prson singular, Qal imprfct Strong's #6213 BDB #793 Translation: Th king thn rplid, Whatvr [sms] good in your ys, [that] I will do. Notic this complt humility dmonstratd by David. H dos not hav to hav th last word, vn though h is king. H dosn t hav to tak th thing told to him and giv it a spin or a slight chang, so that it sms as though it ndd to com from him. H considrs what was said, h agrs that this is for th bst, and h gos along with it. David was narly always a humbl prson (that is, h was grac orintd). H undrstood th plan of God and his plac in it; and vn as th king ovr his popl, h prformd this as a function of his lif (just as I would, as a tachr, prform th dutis of a tachr in th classroom). David s high authority did not mak him arrogant (h got thr on his own). That David is rcovring is sn in many of th good dcisions that h maks (not all of his dcisions ar good, by th way). Hr, h is willing to hang back and lt Joab and th othrs lad his mn into battl. An gomaniac has to b out in front, guiding vrything, micro-managing vrything. David, on th good advic of his mn, dos not rquir this in his own lif. Alrady in this chaptr, I hav bn harsh on David, and pointing out som of his shortcomings, vn bfor thy hav occurrd in this chaptr. Howvr, his ability to stand back, in accordanc with th wishs of his popl, is admirabl. This, in fact, is in grat contrast with Absalom. You may rcalld that Ahithophl had an outstanding plan which h prsntd to Absalom; a plan that would hav vry likly rsultd in David s dath. But Absalom rjctd this plan for Hushai s plan bcaus Hushai s plan was cntrd about Absalom bing victorious ovr David; Ahithophl s plan had Ahithophl, as a rprsntativ of Absalom, bing victorious ovr David. Absalom 22 Th Brown-Drivr-Briggs Hbrw and English Lxicon; Hndrickson Publishrs; h1996; p. 82.

46 2Samul is vry slf-cntrd; Absalom thinks only of himslf. If somthing lvats him, h liks it; if somthing appars to diminish him, h dos not lik that. If victory for David is achivd, it will b bcaus of Joab, Abishai and Ittai. David is okay with this. H listnd to th rasons for such an approach, undrstood ths rasons, and agrd. H is not concrnd about gtting th crdit or not; h is not concrnd about bing xaltd or not. My point is, dspit David s waknss rgarding Absalom, h is a far mor humbl man than Absalom is. If David is aliv, Absalom has a problm; if David is dad, thn thr is no problm for Absalom. Absalom has no ral opposition xcpt for his fathr David. So, th formost thing in his mind is, Kill David. That is what must b don in ordr for Absalom to hav complt control of Isral. Absalom s arroganc mad him want to b in on it. 2Samul 18:4b wa (or va) (åç) [pronouncd wah] and so, and thn, thn, and; so, that, yt, thrfor, consquntly; bcaus wâw conscutiv BDB #253 âmad (òèîçã) [pronouncd ìaw-mahd] to tak a stand, to stand, to rmain, to ndur, to withstand; to stop rd 3 prson masculin singular, Qal imprfct Strong's #5975 BDB #763 mlk ( îæìæ) [pronouncd MEH-lk] king, rulr, princ masculin singular noun with th dfinit articl Strong s #4428 BDB #572 l (àæì) [pronouncd hl] unto; into, among, in; toward, to; against; concrning, rgarding; bsids, togthr with; as to dirctional prposition (rspct or dfrnc may b implid) Strong's #413 BDB #39 yâd (éèã) [pronouncd yawd] hand; strngth, powr (figurativly); sid (of land), part, portion (mtaphorically) (figurativly); (various spcial, tchnical snss); sign, monumnt; part, fractional part, shar; tim, rptition; axltrs, axl; stays, support (for lavr); tnons (in tabrnacl); a phallus, a hand (maning unsur); wrists fminin singular construct Strong's #3027 BDB #388 sha ar (ùçòçø) [pronouncd SHAHìahr] gat [control of city can b implid]; ara insid front gat; ntranc masculin singular noun Strong s #8179 BDB #1044 Translation: So th king stood at th sid of th gat... No doubt, David dsird, with vry fibr of his bing, to b out thr, with his faithful mn, guiding thm, giving ordrs, bst pntrating th armd forcs of Absalom. Howvr, instad, it was for him to stay bhind. Furthrmor, h crtainly would hav prfrrd to hav bn thr to act as a protctor for Absalom. Howvr, David fully undrstands that, if h is killd in battl, thn ths mn ar risking thir livs for nothing.

47 6965 Th Book of Samul This is a much mor difficult dcision to mak if you ar grac orintd, as David is. David is not ovrly concrnd about his own lif. H is not psycho with a dath wish; but h dos not far dath as most mn. H undrstands that h will b with God at dath. So David rmains bhind, not bcaus h fars dath, but bcaus his soldirs ar corrct if h is front and cntr and killd, thn his mn ar fighting for no rason. W guard our prsidnts carfully much for th sam rason. It is not that a prsidnt is any bttr than you or I; nor will h occupy a bttr plac in havn (if that is whr h nds up). But, as our ladr, for our national stability, th prsidnt s lif must b prsrvd. Th prsrvation of his lif is rlatd dirctly to th stability of our nation. Th mark of a good ladr is, h can rcogniz good advic, no mattr who is coms from. Som of th bst advic I rcivd cam from a frind of min who was in rvrsionism, but starting to com back from it. H was rading through som of ths xgtical studis and was complaining about th Hbrw bing strwn throughout th xgsis. At that tim, I would mntion on or two or mor words in a vrs, and giv thir splling and maning, and discuss that. For him, having this stuff thrown into th middl of th xplanation was problmatic, particularly sinc I did it oftn. Aftr thinking about this, I sparatd out th Hbrw into th grayd tabls you s abov and blow. That way, most of th Hbrw discussion can b asily skippd ovr. At th sam tim, whn I translat a vrs, and somon says, Now, how th hll did h com up with that translation? That s not what my Bibl says. Th gry Hbrw xgsis tabls contain all of th information ncssary to justify th translation. If thr is som kind of disput about th rading, that is usually includd as wll. It would hav bn quit asy for m to look at this guy and say, Look, I know what I am doing. You hav bn so far out of God s will that you don t hav a clu. But thanks anyway for your advic. It was good advic and it rvolutionizd th xgsis of ach vrs in a good way, I bliv. Application: Lt s tak this to a diffrnt ralm: music. I hard an intrviw with an artist th othr day (was it Barry Manilow?), and h writs his own music, but h has no clu whthr this song is good, or grat, or lam. Thr was somon ls attachd to him I don t rcall if it was his rcord producr, his managr, or th had of his music labl, but that prson could har th song and say, That s good; that will brak big. So th artist, th man who writs and oftn prforms ths songs, is willing to listn to somon ls somon without a tnth 23 of his talnt and tak is good advic. W all hav diffrnt parts to play, and w all rank diffrntly whn it coms to having authority. This is quit important bcaus, whn all of this is said and don, David s army will dfat Absalom s army, and yt David will b in a funk bcaus his son was killd in th battl. David ought to b rjoicing with his soldirs; and h ought to b giving out mdals to his bravst mn; but h is, instad, griving ovr his worthlss son. Joab will hav to stp in and straightn David out. David, in this ara whr h was most blind, must b abl to har Joab and to rcogniz th truth of what h says. David and his troops ar in a walld city, and hr, h stands by th gat as his army xits th city. 2Samul 18:4 w (or v ) (åà or åì) [pronouncd wh] and; vn; in particular, namly; whn, whil; sinc, sing, though; so, thn, thrfor; or, but yt; who, which; or; that, in that; with; also, in addition to, at th sam tim simpl wâw conjunction BDB # Don t gt m wrong; I am not a Barry Manilow fan; I just rcall th illustration from listning to an NPR intrviw.

48 2Samul Samul 18:4 kôl (ëìéì) [pronouncd kohl] th whol, all of, th ntirty of, all; can also b rndrd any of masculin singular construct followd by a dfinit articl Strong s #3605 BDB #481 am (òçí) [pronouncd ìahm] popl; rac, trib; family, rlativs; citizns, common popl; companions, srvants; ntir human rac; hrd [of animals] masculin singular collctiv noun with th dfinit articl Strong s #5971 BDB #766 yâtsâ (éèöèà) [pronouncd yaw-tzawh] to go [com] out, to go [com] forth; to ris; to flow, to gush up [out] rd 3 prson masculin plural, Qal prfct Strong's #3318 BDB #422 lâmd (ìà) [pronouncd l ] to, for, towards, in rgards to, with rfrnc to, as to, with rgards to; blonging to; by dirctional/rlational prposition BDB #510 mê ôwth (îåàåéú) [pronouncd may- OHTH] hundrds fminin plural noun; numral Strong s #3967 BDB #547 w (or v ) (åà or åì) [pronouncd wh] and, vn, thn; namly; whn; sinc, that; though; as wll as simpl wâw conjunction BDB #251 lâmd (ìà) [pronouncd l ] to, for, towards, in rgards to, with rfrnc to, as to, with rgards to; blonging to; by dirctional/rlational prposition BDB #510 ãlâpihîym (àâìèôäéí) pronouncd uh-law- FEEM] thousands, familis, [military] units masculin plural noun Strong s #505 (and #504) BDB #48 Translation:...whil all th popl hav gon out by hundrds and by thousands. David s army is organizd. Thy did not just lav this city as a mob, going whrvr. Thy marchd out, and thy wr in formation. Thy had authoritis ovr thm, and thy rspctd ths authoritis. Thr wr gnrals ovr groups of 3000 or so. Thos brigads wr brokn down into battalions, ach battalion undr th command of a liutnant colonl, ach battalion was furthr brokn down in companis of 100 mn ach, all undr a captain or a major. My point hr is, this was not a mob; ths wr not popl who actd as a law unto thmslvs; this was not som rabbl who wr out to kill thir opposition. Ths wr organizd military units with a clar lin of authority ovr thm; and ach did as dirctd by thir supriors. Thy marchd out of this city in formation. Thy undrstood authority; thy undrstood disciplin; and thy undrstood that a rvolution must b stoppd. In cas you missd it, th Doctrin of Rvolution (HTML) (PDF) (WPD).

49 6967 Th Book of Samul And so ordrs th king Joab and Abishai and Ittai, to say, To gntly for m to th youth to Absalom. And all th popl hard to ordr, th king, all th commandrs upon a word of Absalom. 2Samul 18:5 Th king gav ordrs to Joab, Abishai and Ittai, saying, [Trat] th youth, Absalom, gntly for m. And all of th popl hard th king giv [this] ordr to all th commandrs for th sak of Absalom. As thy wr laving, th king gav spcific ordrs to Joab, Abishai and Ittai, saying, Trat this young man, Absalom, gntly, for my sak. And all th popl hard th king giv this ordr to his commandrs on bhalf of Absalom. Hr is how othrs hav translatd this vrs: Ancint txts: Dad Sa Scrolls Latin Vulgat Masortic Txt (Hbrw) Pshitta (Syriac) Sptuagint (Grk) Significant diffrncs: [Th king gav ordrs t]o Joab, [Abishai, and Ittai, saying, Dal gntly, for my sak, a with th young man Absalom. And vr]y[on] hard [4QSam and MT us diffrnt forms.] [th king giv all th captains ordrs concrning Absalom]. And th king commandd Joab, and Abisai, and Ethai, saying: Sav m th boy Absalom. And all th popl hard th king giving charg to all th princs concrning Absalom. And so ordrs th king Joab and Abishai and Ittai, to say, To gntly for m to th youth to Absalom. And all th popl hard to ordr, th king, all th commandrs upon a word of Absalom. And th king commandd Joab and Abishai and Ittai, saying, Captur for m th young man Absalom aliv. And all th popl hard whn th king gav ordrs to all commandrs concrning Absalom. And th king commandd Joab and Abishai and Ittai, saying, Spar th young man Absalom for my sak. And all th popl hard th king charging all th commandrs concrning Absalom. Th undrlind vrbs ar quit diffrnt from th advrb which David uss in th Hbrw. Howvr, th vrbs usd in th othr ancint translations giv th gist of what David is saying to Joab. Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrass: Common English Bibl Easy English Easy-to-Rad Vrsion Good Nws Bibl (TEV) Th Voic Th king gav ordrs to Joab, Abishai, and Ittai: "For my sak, protct my boy Absalom." All th troops hard what th king ordrd rgarding Absalom to all th commandrs. Th king ordrd Joab, Abishai and Ittai, `B gntl with th young man Absalom. I car about him.' All th soldirs hard David's ordrs about Absalom, which David gav to ach ladr. Th king gav a command to Joab, Abishai, and Ittai. H said, Do this for m: B gntl with young Absalom! H gav ordrs to Joab, Abishai, and Ittai: "For my sak don't harm th young man Absalom." And all th troops hard David giv this command to his officrs. Thn David instructd his gnrals Joab, Abishai, and Ittai. David: For my sak, b mrciful to th young man Absalom. Now vryon had hard about David's instructions to th commandrs concrning Absalom. Partially litral and partially paraphrasd translations:

50 2Samul Amrican English Bibl hristian Community Bibl Nw Advnt (Knox) Bibl Nw Amrican Bibl (R.E.) NIRV Nw Simplifid Bibl Today s NIV And th king gav ordrs to JoAb, AbiShai, and ItTai, saying, 'Spar th young man AbSalom for m!' And all th popl hard what th king said to thm about AbSalom. Th king ordrd Joab, Abishai and Ittai, Don t hurt th young man Absalom for my sak. All th army hard th king giving ordrs to all th commandrs concrning Absalom. On charg th king laid upon Joab and Abisai and Ethai alik, Spar m my son Absalom; and this charg about Absalom was so givn to ach of thm that th mn in th ranks could har it. But th king gav this command to Joab, Abishai, and Ittai: "B gntl with young Absalom for my sak." All th soldirs hard as th king gav commands to th various ladrs with rgard to Absalom. Th king gav an ordr to Joab, Abishai and Ittai. H commandd thm, "B gntl with th young man Absalom. Do it for m." All of th troops hard th king giv th commandrs that ordr about Absalom. Th king ordrd Joab, Abishai, and Ittai:»Trat th young man Absalom gntly for my sak.«all th troops hard him giv th commandrs this ordr rgarding Absalom. Th king commandd Joab, Abishai and Ittai, "B gntl with th young man Absalom for my sak." And all th troops hard th king giving ordrs concrning Absalom to ach of th commandrs. Mostly litral rndrings (with som occasional paraphrasing): Ancint Roots Translinar Bibl in Basic English Frar-Fnton Bibl NET Bibl Th king commandd Joab and Abishai and Ittai, saying, "Quit th lad Absalom." All th popl hard th king command all th ladrs th word ovr Absalom. And th king gav ordrs to Joab and Abishai and Ittai, saying, Bcaus of m, b gntl to th young man Absalom. And this ordr about Absalom was givn in th haring of all th popl. But th king commandd Joab, and Abishai, and Athai, saing, Spar th lad Absalom for m! And th army hard th king s ordrs about Absalom, to all th officrs. Th king gav this ordr to Joab, Abishai, and Ittai: "For my sak dal gntly with th young man Absalom." Now th ntir army was listning whn th king gav all th ladrs this ordr concrning Absalom. Jwish/Hbrw Nams Bibls: Complt Jwish Bibl xgss companion Bibl JPS (Tanakh 1985) Orthodox Jwish Bibl Th king gav ordrs to Yo'av, Avishai and Ittai, "For my sak, dal gntly with young Avshalom."All th popl wr listning whn th king gav all th commandrs this ordr concrning Avshalom. And th sovrign misvahs Yah Ab and Abi Shai and Ittay, saying, For my sak, b gntl to th lad Abi Shalom. And all th popl har th sovrign misvah th word to all th govrnors concrning Abi Shalom:... Th king gav ordrs to Joab, Abishai, and Ittai: Dal gntly with my boy Absalom, for my sak. All th troops hard th king giv th ordr about Absalom to all th officrs. And HaMlch commandd Yoav and Avishai and Ittai, saying, Dal gntly for my sak with th na'ar, vn with Avshalom. And kol HaAm hard whn HaMlch gav all th sarim charg concrning Avshalom.

51 6969 Th Book of Samul Litral, almost word-for-word, rndrings: Concordant Litral Vrsion English Standard Vrsion Grn s Litral Translation Syndin/Thim World English Bibl Young s Updatd LT Th gist of this vrs:...and th king chargs Joab, and Abishai, and Ittai, saying, `Gntly--for m, for th youth, for Absalom;' and all th popl hard in th king's charging all th hads concrning Absalom. And th king ordrd Joab and Abishai and Ittai, "Dal gntly for my sak with th young man Absalom." And all th popl hard whn th king gav ordrs to all th commandrs about Absalom. And th king commandd Joab, and Abishai, and Ittai, saying, For my sak dal gntly with th young man, with Absalom. And all th popl hard as th king commandd th commandrs concrning Absalom. {Officr's Call - David's last Gnral Ordr - Into Emotional Arroganc for David} And th king 'issud a gnral ordr'/commandd Joab, Abishai and Ittai, saying, "Dal with th young man Absalom... gntly... 'for my sak'." Furthrmor, th ntir army hard whn th king issud ordrs to th corps commandrs concrning Absalom. {Not: David must hav had a strong spaking voic. H boomd out this command and th word got around to vryon.}. Th king commandd Joab and Abishai and Ittai, saying, Dal gntly for my sak with th young man, vn with Absalom. All th popl hard whn th king gav all th captains charg concrning Absalom. And th king chargs Joab, and Abishai, and Ittai, saying, Gntly for m, for th youth, for Absalom. And all th popl hard in th king s charging all th hads concrning Absalom. David ordrs his gnrals to trat Absalom gntly, and h dos this so that th popl har this command as wll. 2Samul 18:5a wa (or va) (åç) [pronouncd wah] and so, and thn, thn, and; so, that, yt, thrfor, consquntly; bcaus wâw conscutiv BDB #253 tsâvâh (öèåèä) [pronouncd tsaw-vaw] to commission, to mandat, to appoint; to ordain; to lay charg upon, to giv charg to, charg, command, ordr; to instruct [as in, giving an ordr] rd 3 prson masculin singular, Pil imprfct Strong's #6680 BDB #845 mlk ( îæìæ) [pronouncd MEH-lk] king, rulr, princ masculin singular noun with th dfinit articl Strong s #4428 BDB #572 êth (àæç) [pronouncd ayth] untranslatd gnrally; occasionally to, toward indicats that th following substantiv is a dirct objct Strong's #853 BDB #84 Yôw âb (éåéàèá) b [pronouncd YOH-aw v] Yah is fathr and is translitratd Joab masculin singular propr noun Strong s #3097 BDB #222 w (or v ) (åà or åì) [pronouncd wh] and, vn, thn; namly; whn; sinc, that; though; as wll as simpl wâw conjunction BDB #251

52 2Samul Samul 18:5a êth (àæç) [pronouncd ayth] untranslatd gnrally; occasionally to, toward indicats that th following substantiv is a dirct objct Strong's #853 BDB #84 Ãbîyshay (àâáäéùçé) v [pronouncd ub- - SHAH-] my fathr is Jss and is translitratd Abishai masculin singular propr noun Strong s #52 BDB #5 w (or v ) (åà or åì) [pronouncd wh] and, vn, thn; namly; whn; sinc, that; though; as wll as simpl wâw conjunction BDB #251 êth (àæç) [pronouncd ayth] untranslatd gnrally; occasionally to, toward indicats that th following substantiv is a dirct objct Strong's #853 BDB #84 Ittay (àäúìçé) [pronouncd iht-tah-] with m; translitratd Ithai, Ittai masculin singular propr noun Strong s #863 BDB #87 Translation: Th king gav ordrs to Joab, Abishai and Ittai,... David could not hlp himslf with rspct to Absalom. Evn at this point, h has not fully com to grips with th viciousnss of his own son, Absalom, who would kill him without a scond thought. Th king giv ordrs to his commandrs, and h givs ths ordrs loudly. H wants all of thos in his army to har ths ordrs. 2Samul 18:5b lâmd (ìà) [pronouncd l ] to, for, towards, in rgards to, with rfrnc to, as to, with rgards to; blonging to; by dirctional/rlational prposition BDB #510 âmar (àèîçø) [pronouncd aw-mahr] to say, to spak, to uttr; to say [to onslf], to think; to command; to promis; to xplain; to intnd Qal infinitiv construct Strong s #559 BDB #55 Th lâmd with an infinitiv construct gnrally xprsss purpos or rsult, although it can hav thr othr common uss with th infinitiv: (1) It can hav a grundial or advrbial sns to xplain th circumstancs of a prvious action; (2) it can act as a priphrastic futur in nominal clauss; and, (3) it can bhav as a grund, in th sns of is to b, must b, ought to b. (4) Lâmd with th infinitiv can connot shall or must. lâmd (ìà) [pronouncd l ] to, for, towards, in rgards to, with rfrnc to, as to, with rgards to; blonging to; by dirctional/rlational prposition BDB # th th bulk of this was paraphrasd from J.C.L. Gibson, Davidson s Introductory Hbrw Grammar~Syntax; 4 Edition, T&T Clark Ltd., 1994, pp and from Biblical Hbrw; by Pag Klly; William B. Erdmans Publishing Co., 1992, p Kil & Dlitzsch s Commntary on th Old Tstamnt; 1966 Hndrickson Publishrs, Inc.; Vol. 2, p. 438.

53 6971 Th Book of Samul 2Samul 18:5b aþ (àçè) [pronouncd at] softly, gntly; softly; flowing advrb/substantiv Strong s #328 BDB #31 Howvr, as combind with a lâmd prposition, this can man a gntl sound, a murmur, a whispr. According to Barns, th vrbal cognat (if this is takn as on word) mans to wrap around, to muffl, to covr, to concal, and, thrfor, to mak scrt. lâmd (ìà) [pronouncd l ] to, for, towards, in rgards to, with rfrnc to, as to, with rgards to; blonging to; by dirctional/rlational prposition with th 1 st prson singular suffix BDB #510 lâmd (ìà) [pronouncd l ] to, for, towards, in rgards to, with rfrnc to, as to, with rgards to; blonging to; by dirctional/rlational prposition BDB #510 na ar (ðçòçø) [pronouncd NAH-ìahr] boy, youth, young man; prsonal attndant; slav-boy masculin singular noun with th dfinit articl Strong s #5288 & #5289 BDB #654 lâmd (ìà) [pronouncd l ] to, for, towards, in rgards to, with rfrnc to, as to, with rgards to; blonging to; by dirctional/rlational prposition BDB #510 Ãbîyshâlôwm (àâáäéùèìåéí) [pronouncd ub-shaw-lohm] my fathr is pac and is translitratd Absalom masculin singular propr noun Strong s #53 BDB #5 Translation:...saying, [Trat] th youth, Absalom, gntly for m. Thr is an intrsting rptition of th lâmd prposition; it is found in this portion of v. 5 four tims, which is a lot. In fact, bfor vry word, thr is a lâmd prposition, indicating somwhat of a soothing ton prtty much th last thing mn nd to har bfor going to war. Now listn, mn, I want you to trat th nmy nicly. I want you to b kind and gntl to him. David is not saying this, but h might as wll b. His nmy is Absalom. All of th popl know this. His commandrs know this. But David cannot s Absalom for who h is. Many popl hav a child, and onc that child gts into his tns or into his 20's, h is nothing lik that gntl, playful, prcocious littl man that you knw at ag 3 or 5 or 8. To David, Absalom is whatvr ag that David has fond mmoris of. If th last tim Absalom was this fun littl man was ag 10, thn that is how David ss him. David cannot s him as th grasping, conniving vicious man that h is. Absalom is a powr-hungry dspot and h will do anything to tak powr from his fathr, including killing his fathr in ordr to gain this powr. Absalom would not lt anything stand in his way. Kill Joab, th on man in David s administration who has givn him a fair shak, again and again? Absalom would kill Joab in a hartbat. What Absalom ss is powr, and h wants to tak that powr. With vry fibr of his bing, Absalom wants to rul of Isral, and h will not allow sntimntality or any motion to stand in his way. It is highly unlikly that Absalom has strong motional flings about David or Joab. David, on th othr hand, tll his gnrals, B kind to Absalom; trat him gntly. Do not allow any harm to com to him. David is not ignorant of Absalom s dsigns. Rcall 2Sam. 16:11a And David said to Abishai and to all his srvants, "Bhold, my own son sks my lif. David said this whn xcusing th bhavior of a loudmouthd Bnjamit. So, it is not as if David dos not undrstand or cannot com to grips with Absalom s intnt. Som of ths points wr inspird by or takn from R. B. Thim, Jr. s 1972 David Sris, Lsson #631_0467.

54 2Samul Th Doctrin of Ngativ Emotion 1. Evry prson has motion; w all ract in a varity of ways to diffrnt things, and somtims this raction involvs motion. 2. Blivrs and matur popl ar nvr to allow thir livs to b run by motion. 1) This is th ky to libralism; narly vrything is motional. Popl ar motionally involvd, motionally kyd in, motionally stimulatd, and thy thrfor rspoind to what libralism is slling. 2) Thos who hav a diffring opinion ar tratd as vil or as having slfish motivation. If you do not undrstand this, bring up Dick Chny s nam or Sarah Palin s nam amongst a group of librals, and Chny will b spokn of as vil incarnat and Palin will b mad fun of for not bing vry smart (oftn by popl who ar lss intllignt than sh is). 3) For many librals any attmpt to cut back on any libral program, lik food stamps (actually, a food stamp card) is starving hungry childrn, and th thought of doing this maks thm sad or angry; and oftn slf-rightous. 4) From what I hav prsonally obsrvd, thr is a grat dal of slf-rightousnss which is closly rlatd to most librals. Thy ar right and thy hav a kind hart, bcaus thy do not want ths childrn to go hungry; and th consrvativ who suggsts rducing th food stamp program is man and wants childrn to go hungry. 3. Som popl (th libral xampl abov works hr) allow ngativ motion to rplac divin truth in all 3 catgoris: 1) Instad of stablishmnt thinking, thy favor libral idology. 2) Instad of salvation, som ar offndd that th Bibl says that Jsus is th only way; thy want popl who follow Confucius, Mohammd, and Gandhi to all b accptd by God; motionally, thy cannot accpt th ida that Jsus is th way, th truth and th lif; and that no man can com to th Fathr xcpt through Him (John 14:6). 3) Instad of Bibl doctrin, thy go in for motionalism in Christianity; thy xprimnt with tongus; thy allow music to stimulat thir motions; but thy rjct carful taching of th Word of God. 4. In contrast to ngativ motions, good motions ar th rsult of bing subordinat to thought. 5. Any motion that is considrd to b suprior to thinking or to truth or to rason is ngativ motion and such a prson might b involvd in ngativ arroganc. Th tongus movmnt is motional arroganc, whr ngativ motion dominats th soul. How thy fl about spaking in tongus is far mor important than what th Bibl says. Thy will twist any st of Scripturs to allow thmslvs th chanc to spak in tongus. 6. Whn motion dominats th soul, thinking is supprssd. Instad of thinking and rasoning guiding th soul, th soul is dominatd by motion. 7. Aftr a priod of tim whn motions dominat th soul to th xclusion of any form of thinking, that individual bcoms divorcd from rality and gnrally is pulld into th arroganc complx. 8. David s failur in this chaptr and th nxt is sntimntality ovr Absalom. H will b so motional ovr Absalom that h cannot think straight. 9. Whn th blivr or unblivr bcoms ntangls in th intrlocking systms of arroganc, thy bcom vulnrabl to flattry, far, irrsponsibility, and sociopathic bhavior. Essntially, any of th othr gats of th intrlocking systms of arroganc can pull thm in. 10. Humility is that stat of th soul whr th individual is rlatd to rality through thinking, rathr than through motion. This dos not man that you cannot b movd by your motion or that you must rspond to all things with motion; but you must b abl to think in ordr to act. 1) Again, librals mak a wondrful illustration hr. If thy cannot s somthing with thir own ys, thn thy ar not likly to b movd. For instanc, no on could watch an abortion without having som motional rspons; and th mor human th child looks whn h is wrnchd out of th womb, th gratr th motional rspons. 2) Thrfor, in ordr to prsrv th libral stanc on abortion, librals ar against ultrasound photos bing shown to th xpctant mothr. Thy do not want that prson to s a baby with fingrs and tos. Thy do not want to b th xpctant mothr, contmplating abortion, and look at a littl fac with littl fingrs and tos.

55 6973 Th Book of Samul Th Doctrin of Ngativ Emotion 3) So librals support on-dmand abortion, for whatvr rason; and ar absolutly against any viw of th baby, bcaus that would illicit an motional rspons. 11. In ordr for a prson to us th faith rst drill, thy must b abl to think. Thy must b abl to concntrat on a promis or upon a principl, and thn apply that to thir prsonal situation. This cannot b don if a prson is angry, upst, jalous, in grat far, tc. Ths various motions will short-circuit th thinking of such a prson. In ordr to us th various rationals, th blivr must b orintd to rality. David has a varity of facts at his disposal; h undrstands that Absalom sks to kill him. H was on of Isral s gratst gnrals. Howvr, bcaus David is thinking with his motion, h asks for Absalom to b tratd gntly. Chaptr Outlin Charts, Maps and Short Doctrins vv. 4 5b rad: Howvr, th popl protstd, saying, You should not go out with us into battl, for if w indd rtrat, Absalom s army will not car. If half of us di in battl, thy will not car, for you ar qual to tn-thousand of us. Thrfor, it is bttr that you hlp us from this city. As thy wr laving, th king gav spcific ordrs to Joab, Abishai and Ittai, saying, Trat this young man, Absalom, gntly, for my sak. In motional arroganc, David cannot sm to assmbl all of th facts to dvlop a cohrnt plan. Thr is th possibility that David s top gnrals got togthr and discussd this vry fact, and that this was on rason David was askd to rmain bhind. Thy cannot say this to his fac. Joab cannot say, Listn, David, you ar too motional about your son, and you would jopardiz th mission in ordr to s him liv. Th rason that was givn for David rmaining bhind is rasonabl; but this unspokn fact is vn a gratr rason that David should not go with thm. In fact, from hr and halfway into th nxt chaptr, David will ract motionally to all that is going on, and finally, Joab will hav to straightn him out in 2Sam. 19:4 7 (Joab is on of th vry fw who could gt away with doing this). R. B. Thim, Jr. gav th bst xplanation for David s psych throughout ths past 10 or so yars of David s lif h was in th intrlocking systms of arroganc, th plac in th blivr s lif whr h bcoms vulnrabl to a numbr of diffrnt forms of arroganc. David ntrd th intrlocking systms of arroganc through sxual arroganc, whr h placd his sxual dsirs abov all ls. This particular gat quickly intrlockd with criminal arroganc and with motional arroganc, which is whr David appars to b trappd right now. Emotional arroganc is whr you allow your motions to dominat your lif, and you will st asid truth (in any of th 3 catgoris) in ordr to satiat your own motions. David can only think of his son Absalom in motional trms, and thrfor cannot com to grips with th rality of what is going on right at this momnt with Absalom. Thr is a problm with David, and laving him bhind in Mahanaim is probably th bst thing for Isral. David Gos Astray 1. David has bn in a slow rcovry from th arroganc complx. This is bcaus onc on ntrs th arroganc complx, it is asy to bcom involvd in othr forms of arroganc. 2. David ntrd th arroganc complx by th sxual arroganc gat; howvr, h quickly intrlockd with th criminal arroganc gat and th motional arroganc gat. 3. David, in his rcovry, has mad som xcllnt dcisions: h lft Jrusalm, taking his supportrs with him; h did not kill Shimi bn Gra, vn though h would hav bn an asy targt. David st up a spy ntwork in Jrusalm, and h movd to a plac from which h can fight and b victorious ovr Absalom. So David is rcovring and David is thinking straight in som aras. 4. Although David has mad som xcllnt dcisions up to this point, whn h considrs Absalom and what is about to happn, David falls apart. H cannot think logically. His motions rul his dcision-making procss.

56 2Samul David Gos Astray 5. Thrfor, David asks his 3 gnrals to dal gntly with Absalom, indicating that h wantd Absalom prsrvd. 6. David is unabl to s that h is part th point of no rturn with Absalom. Thr is Absalom or thr is David; but, bcaus of this rvolution, ths two mn can no longr co-xist. 7. Apart from motional arroganc, David could rcogniz this fac; but his motion is strongr than his thinking, with rgards to Absalom his son. 8. Although ths rasons ar not citd by Joab or anyon ls, this is probably th ral rason why David is askd to rmain bhind in Mahanaim. Chaptr Outlin Charts, Maps and Short Doctrins vv. 4 5b rad: Howvr, th popl protstd, saying, You should not go out with us into battl, for if w indd rtrat, Absalom s army will not car. If half of us di in battl, thy will not car, for you ar qual to tnthousand of us. Thrfor, it is bttr that you hlp us from this city. As thy wr laving, th king gav spcific ordrs to Joab, Abishai and Ittai, saying, Trat this young man, Absalom, gntly, for my sak. David s Misguidd Ordr 1. Absalom is th ladr of th rvolution. All of this happnd bcaus of what Absalom has don. Absalom would hav bn th nxt in lin to bcom king; no violnc and no rvolution was ncssary. 2. Howvr, David cannot sm to wrap his mind around th fact that Absalom nds to b judgd; and as th ladr of th rvolution, Absalom nds to b killd. As long as h rmains aliv, thr will b thos who support him. Killing Absalom is not rvng, it is justic. 3. David, asking for Absalom to b spard, is condoning rvolution and vil. 4. David s ordr rvals that his soul is still trappd in motional arroganc. This will b th final gat from which h xtricats himslf. 5. Th Bibl rcords David s failurs so that w do not rplicat thm in our own livs. 6. Th problm with David and Absalom is, David has nvr dmandd rightousnss of this son; h has nvr tratd his son in justic; h has only bn motional in his dalings with Absalom. So asking for Absalom to b spard indicats that David continus to oprat from his motions rgarding Absalom. 7. This rvolution will continu as long as Absalom is aliv; h will always hav supportrs. Thr ar always thos who lik th nw candidat, th young candidat, th cool candidat. 8. Probably many of Absalom s supportrs do not raliz that h taks absolut control aftr h kills his fathr David. Thy ar supporting mor than just a nw king; thy ar also supporting th dath of David, whthr thy raliz this or not. 9. Th plan of God vntually dmands th killing of Absalom. Thr is no ordr or stability in Isral as long as Absalom is in th wind. 10. Th important dtails of lif vanglization and th taching of God s Word ar accomplishd most ffctivly in a stabl nvironmnt. So vn a bad govrnmnt is bttr than no govrnmnt. 11. In a rvolution, vryon s attntion is on who taks powr, and not Who God is. 12. In an application to today, nation U.S.A. may b bginning to rot from th insid out, and w may nd up sing a sris of Dmocratic prsidnts and Congrsss as a rsult (I writ this in 2013). Ths lctions may b won fair and squar and thr may b som chicanry involvd. Howvr, whovr our ladrs ar, w support thos ladrs. Blivrs ar not to bcom involvd in a rvolutionary movmnt against thir own country. Unlik th tims of David, onc an lction is ovr, it is ovr. 13. Howvr, in David s tim, if both mn rmain aliv at th sam tim, thr will always b a possibl rvolution. So on of th mn has to di. 14. God th Holy Spirit has clarly statd on svral occasions that David is th king, vn whn h was on th run.

57 6975 Th Book of Samul David s Misguidd Ordr 15. Thrfor, Absalom will hav to di. David is unabl to fac this invitability straight on. Som of ths points com from or ar inspird by nots from R. B. Thim, Jr. s 1972 David sris, lsson #631_0468. Chaptr Outlin Charts, Maps and Short Doctrins 2Samul 18:5c w (or v ) (åà or åì) [pronouncd wh] and, vn, thn; namly; whn; sinc, that; though; as wll as simpl wâw conjunction BDB #251 kôl (ëìéì) [pronouncd kohl] th whol, all of, th ntirty of, all; can also b rndrd any of masculin singular construct followd by a dfinit articl Strong s #3605 BDB #481 am (òçí) [pronouncd ìahm] popl; rac, trib; family, rlativs; citizns, common popl; companions, srvants; ntir human rac; hrd [of animals] masculin singular collctiv noun with th dfinit articl Strong s #5971 BDB #766 shâma (ùèîçò) [pronouncd shaw- MAHÌ] to listn [intntly], to har, to listn and oby, [or, and act upon, giv hd to, tak not of], to harkn to, to b attntiv to, to listn and b cognizant of rd 3 prson masculin plural, Qal prfct Strong's #8085 BDB #1033 h b (áìà) [pronouncd b ] in, into, at, by, nar, on, with, bfor, against, by mans of, among, within a prposition of proximity BDB #88 tsâvâh (öèåèä) [pronouncd tsaw-vaw] to commission, to mandat, to appoint; to ordain; to lay charg upon, to giv charg to, charg, command, ordr; to instruct [as in, giving an ordr] Pil infinitiv construct Strong's #6680 BDB #845 mlk ( îæìæ) [pronouncd MEH-lk] king, rulr, princ masculin singular noun with th dfinit articl Strong s #4428 BDB #572 êth (àæç) [pronouncd ayth] untranslatd gnrally; occasionally to, toward indicats that th following substantiv is a dirct objct Strong's #853 BDB #84 kôl (ëìéì) [pronouncd kohl] th whol, all of, th ntirty of, all; can also b rndrd any of masculin singular construct followd by a dfinit articl Strong s #3605 BDB #481 sar (ùòçø) [pronouncd sar] chiftain, chif, rulr, official, captain, princ, ladr, commandr masculin plural noun with th dfinit articl Strong s #8269 BDB #978

58 2Samul Samul 18:5c al (òçì) [pronouncd ìahl] upon, byond, on, against, abov, ovr, by, bsid prposition of proximity Strong s #5921 BDB #752 dâbâr (ãìèáèø) [pronouncd b daw -VAWR] word, saying, doctrin, thing, mattr, command masculin singular construct Strong's #1697 BDB #182 b Togthr, al dâbâr (ãìèáèø òçì) [pronouncd ìahl-daw -VAWR] man bcaus of, bcaus of [that], for th sak of, for th caus of [that]. Ãbîyshâlôwm (àâáäéùèìåéí) [pronouncd ub-shaw-lohm] my fathr is pac and is translitratd Absalom masculin singular propr noun Strong s #53 BDB #5 Translation: And all of th popl hard th king giv [this] ordr to all th commandrs for th sak of Absalom. Unfortunatly, most of David s army hars what h says. David spaks this ordr loudly, and, no doubt, ach man tlls his nighbor what David said. Mor than likly, ach commandr passs in rviw, and stops and saluts David, and David saluts him back, and thn David dlivrs that ordr, loudly, so that th 3000 or 4000 mn in that brigad (or division if thr ar mor) can har his command. This is going to b tough. Joab is tough h will tak out Absalom if ncssary. In fact, h knows that h must kill Absalom. Joab knows Absalom for who h is; h knows th lust for powr that Absalom has, and that Absalom is not going to lt it rst. Joab is th xampl of grat humility in th lif of David h was always David s #2 man, and h would rmain David s #2 man and, at no tim, dos Joab say in his soul, I can do a bttr job than David dos. Lt m tak th rigns of powr. Instad, Joab allows God to work His will; Joab allows vnts to transpir without having a nd to siz th powr whn h ss his chanc. 26 How do w know this? For all intnts and purposs, much of this army is as loyal to Joab as it is to David. Many of ths mn hav had Joab as thir commanding officr for a dcad or mor. So, what could Joab do? H could say, David, you nd to gt out thr, on your hors, and rid with your had hld high and lad us into battl; thinking, all th whil,...and gt your damn fool had cut off. But Joab dos not say that. Joab urgs David to rmain in this city, saf from th war, so that, no mattr what happns on th battlfild, David rmains aliv. Joab is mor than willing to tak his own lif into his own hands; but h is not willing to tak that chanc with his king. This is grat humility. Joab s mad a fw mistaks along th way no on livs a lif dvoid of mistaks but whn it counts, Joab is a stand-up guy, and man of tru humility. Thr ar othr circumstancs which confirm Joab s lack of arroganc. Whn h was about to tak Rabbah, th capitol city of Ammon, h calld in David to lad th mn, so that David rcivd th crdit in th ys of ths mn, and th popl of Isral undrstood that David ld this final assault as wll (2Sam. 12:26 31). Whn #2 man lik Joab can s an obvious opning to bing #1, and yt h nvr taks it, that is gratnss and humility. And this dos not man that Joab and David always s y-to-y; nor dos it man that Joab can asily prsuad th king. You may rcall that Joab hird an actrss to spak to David in court in ordr to bring Joab back to Jrusalm. Joab could not hav don what this woman did with a simpl argumnt. Right now, Joab and 26 W will s th xampl of th Cushit runnr at th nd of this chaptr who bows bfor Joab, but dos not bow bfor David.

59 6977 Th Book of Samul David disagr gratly about th disposition of Absalom. If Joab finds Absalom, h will kill him nd of rvolution. But David hr is ordring Joab to trat Absalom gntly. V. 5 rads: As thy wr laving, th king gav spcific ordrs to Joab, Abishai and Ittai, saying, Trat this young man, Absalom, gntly, for my sak. And all th popl hard th king giv this ordr to his commandrs on bhalf of Absalom. This is th problm. David lovs his son motionally, to th point whr h cannot apply th concpt of rightousnss and justic to him. Absalom is a rvolutionary and h has organizd an army against David. Many popl will di bcaus of Absalom s rbllion. This cannot b ignord; it cannot b smoothd ovr. Rightousnss and justic cannot b abandond simply bcaus of lov. Absalom must fac th final judgmnt; h cannot b pardond by David if thr is to b justic in Isral. This is th final bit of arroganc that David is holding onto th arroganc of motion. H fls so strongly about his son that h cannot viw him objctivly. Joab knows that Absalom s crims cannot b ovrlookd; David is unabl to gt to that point yt. Lt s tak this to th paralll of God s ssnc. W hav hard so many tims that God is lov, and this is absolutly tru; but God is also rightousnss and justic. God is prfct rightousnss, and thrfor, cannot associat with unrightousnss or with rlativ rightousnss. What fllowship has light with darknss? How can rightousnss and lawlssnss b associatd? (2Cor. 6:14). Rightousnss can only judg unrightousnss. W ar savd, not bcaus of any good thing that w hav don, but bcaus God s Son did for our sins and took upon Himslf th pnalty for sin that w dsrvd (Titus 3:5 1Ptr 3:18). Our rlationship with God must stand upon His rightousnss and justic. If not that, thn thr is no rlationship btwn God and us. Chaptr Outlin Charts, Maps and Short Doctrins Th Battl Btwn th Army of David and th Army of Absalom And so go out th popl [into] th fild to mt Isral; and is th battl in a forst of Ephraim. 2Samul 18:6 Th popl th wnt out [toward] th opn ara to mt Isral. Th battl would b in th forsts of Ephraim. David s army wnt out toward th opn ara to mt Isral; th battl would tak plac in th forsts of Ephraim. Hr is how othrs hav translatd this vrs: Ancint txts: Latin Vulgat Masortic Txt (Hbrw) Pshitta (Syriac) Sptuagint (Grk) Significant diffrncs: So th popl wnt out into th fild against Isral, and th battl was fought in th forst of Ephraim. And so go out th popl [into] th fild to mt Isral; and is th battl in a forst of Ephraim. So th popl wnt out into th fild against Isral... And all th popl wnt out into th woods against Isral; and th battl was in th woods of Ephraim. Th Syriac is missing a phras. Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrass:

60 2Samul Common English Bibl Easy English Easy-to-Rad Vrsion Good Nws Bibl (TEV) Th Mssag Nw Brkly Vrsion Nw Lif Bibl Nw Living Translation Th Voic So th troops marchd into th fild to mt th Isralits. Th battl was fought in th Ephraim forst. David's army wnt out into th opn country to fight th army of *Isral. Thy fought in th forst of Ephraim. David s army wnt out into th fild against Absalom s Isralits. Thy fought in th forst of Ephraim. David's army wnt out into th countrysid and fought th Isralits in Ephraim Forst. Th army took th fild to mt Isral. It turnd out that th battl was joind in th Forst of Ephraim. Th troops took to th fild to ngag Isral, and th battl was joind in th woods of Ephraim. Thn th popl wnt out into th fild to fight against Isral. Th battl was fought among th trs of Ephraim. So th battl bgan in th forst of Ephraim, and th Isralit troops wr batn back by David's mn. A portion of v. 7 is includd for contxt. Thn th army wnt out to fight against Isral, and th battl was fought in th woodd aras of Ephraim. Partially litral and partially paraphrasd translations: Amrican English Bibl Nw Advnt (Knox) Bibl Nw Amrican Bibl (R.E.) NIRV Rvisd English Bibl Wll, thy marchd to a forst that was dirctly opposit [th army of] IsraEl, and th battl startd thr in th Woods of Ephraim. So his army took th fild against Isral; it was in th forst of Ephraim that battl was joind. Dfat of Absalom's Forcs. David's army thn took th fild against Isral, and a battl was fought in th forst nar Mahanaim. David's army marchd into th fild to fight against Isral. Th battl took plac in th forst of Ephraim. Th army took th fild against th Isralits, and th battl was fought in th forst of Ephron. Mostly litral rndrings (with som occasional paraphrasing): Ancint Roots Translinar Bibl in Basic English Th Expandd Bibl Frar-Fnton Bibl HCSB NIV UK Th popl procdd to th fild to grt Isral. Th war was in th forst of Ephraim... So th popl wnt out into th fild against Isral, and th fight took plac in th woods of Ephraim. David's army wnt out into th fild against Absalom's Isralits [Isral], and thy fought in th forst of Ephraim. Thus th forc wnt into th fild to mt Isral, and th battl occurrd in th forst of Ephraim. Thn David's forcs marchd into th fild to ngag Isral in battl, which took plac in th forst of Ephraim. David's army marchd out of th city to fight Isral, and th battl took plac in th forst of Ephraim. Jwish/Hbrw Nams Bibls: Complt Jwish Bibl xgss companion Bibl So th popl wnt out into th fild against Isra'l; th battl took plac in th forst of Efrayim....and th popl go to th fild to mt Yisra El: and th war is in th forst of Ephrayim;...

61 6979 Th Book of Samul JPS (Tanakh 1985) Orthodox Jwish Bibl Th troops marchd out into th opn to confront th Isralits [Th usual trm in this narrativ for th supportrs of Absalom.], and th battl was fought in th forst of Ephraim [Som Sptuagint manuscripts rad Mahanaim ; compard 2Sam. 17:24.]. HaAm wnt into th sadh against Yisrol; th milchamah was in ya'ar (forst) of Ephrayim;... Litral, almost word-for-word, rndrings: Concordant Litral Vrsion Th Gnva Bibl Nw RSV Syndin/Thim Wbstr s Bibl Translation World English Bibl Young s Updatd LT Th gist of this vrs: And th popl gos out into th fild to mt Isral, and th battl is in a forst of Ephraim;... So th popl wnt out into th fild against Isral: and th battl was in th wood of Ephraim. So calld, bcaus th Ephraimits (as som say) fd thir cattl byond Jordan in this wood. So th army wnt out into th fild against Isral; and th battl was fought in th forst of Ephraim. {Vrss 6-8: Battl of th Forst of Ephraim} So th {stablishmnt} army marchd out/advancd to oppos Isral {rvolutionary forcs} into th fild. And th battl occurrd {was fought} in th forst/'forstd trrain' of Ephraim. {Not: Joab slctd th battlfild. Th on who slcts th battlfild normally wins. And, Joab slctd a battlfild that was ruggd trrain whr th individual charactristics of th soldir will win out ovr shr numbrs.}. So th popl wnt out into th fild against Isral: and th battl was in th wood of Ephraim;... So th popl wnt out into th fild against Isral: and th battl was in th forst of Ephraim. And th popl go out into th fild to mt Isral, and th battl is in a forst of Ephraim. Th two armis mt in th forst of Ephraim. 2Samul 18:6a wa (or va) (åç) [pronouncd wah] and so, and thn, thn, and; so, that, yt, thrfor, consquntly; bcaus wâw conscutiv BDB #253 yâtsâ (éèöèà) [pronouncd yaw-tzawh] to go [com] out, to go [com] forth; to ris; to flow, to gush up [out] rd 3 prson masculin singular, Qal imprfct Strong's #3318 BDB #422 am (òçí) [pronouncd ìahm] popl; rac, trib; family, rlativs; citizns, common popl; companions, srvants; ntir human rac; hrd [of animals] masculin singular collctiv noun with th dfinit articl Strong s #5971 BDB #766 sâdh (ùòèãæä) [pronouncd saw-deh] fild, land, country, opn fild, opn country masculin singular noun with th dfinit articl Strong s #7704 BDB #961

62 2Samul Samul 18:6a lâmd (ìà) [pronouncd l ] to, for, towards, in rgards to, with rfrnc to, as to, with rgards to; blonging to; by dirctional/rlational prposition BDB #510 qârâ ( ÈøÈà) [pronouncd kaw-raw] to ncountr, to bfall, to mt; to assmbl [for th purpos of ncountring God or xgting His Word]; to com, to assmbl Qal infinitiv construct Strong s #7122 & #7125 BDB #896 Th lâmd with an infinitiv construct gnrally xprsss purpos or rsult, although it can hav thr othr common uss with th infinitiv: (1) It can hav a grundial or advrbial sns to xplain th circumstancs of a prvious action; (2) it can act as a priphrastic futur in nominal clauss; and, (3) it can bhav as a grund, in th sns of is to b, must b, ought to b. (4) Lâmd with th infinitiv can connot shall or must. Yis râ êl (éäùòàøçàåì) [pronouncd yis-raw- ALE] God prvails; contndr; soldir of God; translitratd Isral masculin propr noun Strong s #3478 & #3479 BDB #975 Translation: Th popl th wnt out [toward] th opn ara to mt Isral. Th popl rfr to David s supportrs; Isral rfrs to thos who support Absalom. Thir going out to th opn fild or to th opn ara was to mov away from th city to allow th armis to fight it out. David did not want to subjct womn and childrn to th harshnss of warfar. This is on of th rasons that h lft Jrusalm in th first plac. W hav 2 vry diffrnt armis Whn I was much youngr, I was a boxing fan, and oftn th two boxrs would b st up sid-by-sid with a list of thir comparativ sizs and rcord. This was oftn calld Tal of th Tap. Tal of th Tap Catgory David s Army and David Absalom s Army and Absalom Siz Exprinc Skill Probably 6,000 to 60,000 strong. R. B. Thim, Jr. stimats 30,000 vrsus ,000. Mostly xprincd soldirs. Vry skilld and organizd. Absalom has collctd an army from all ovr Isral, so h probably has 100,000 or mor. His army may b 10x th siz of David s army. A mixtur of xprinc and inxprincd soldirs; many rsrvists hav bn calld up. Modratly skilld; and not wll-organizd, givn that Absalom is thir gnral. 27 th th bulk of this was paraphrasd from J.C.L. Gibson, Davidson s Introductory Hbrw Grammar~Syntax; 4 Edition, T&T Clark Ltd., 1994, pp and from Biblical Hbrw; by Pag Klly; William B. Erdmans Publishing Co., 1992, p Kil & Dlitzsch s Commntary on th Old Tstamnt; 1966 Hndrickson Publishrs, Inc.; Vol. 2, p R. B. Thim, Jr David Sris; lsson #631_0469.

63 6981 Th Book of Samul Tal of th Tap Catgory David s Army and David Absalom s Army and Absalom Ladrship Organization Spiritual powr Establishmnt orintation Prsonal prcption of ladrs Motivation of th ladrship Motivation of th army Joab, Abishai and Ittai 3 grat ladrs. Thy hav also shown thmslvs to b authority orintatd. David twic organizd his troops; h intractd with his top gnrals prior to th first battl. A supply lin had bn st up and his army was fd and supportd. David and many of thos undr him bliv in th powr of th God of thir armis. David is stablishmnt orintd. David has agrd to wait in Mahanaim during this battl, so h had no nd to b sn as th conquring hro. David looks to glorify God and to do His will. To protct and rtain th lif which thy hav njoyd. R. B. Thim, Jr. said 30 that on of th gratst motivations in war is fighting for th lov of a woman and to prsrv hr frdom. Absalom is th only ladr of not (it dos not appar that Hushai wnt with him; and Ahithophl hangd himslf); and Absalom has prhaps no military xprinc at all. W do not know much about Absalom. Nothing is said about th organization of his army or of its logistical support. Sinc Absalom had nvr ld an army bfor, it is likly that h had no ida what to do in this rgard. Absalom has nvr mntiond God; and thr is no on namd in his army who sms to hav a strong dpndnc upon God. Absalom is anti-stablishmnt, and h is snaky. His drumming up of support was vry dishonst. In going with Hushai s ida, Absalom undrstood only two things: h would b glorifid as th gnral of his army and his army would gratly outnumbr David s army. Absalom sks prsonal powr and glorification. To support a ladr and a plan which thy hav nvr sn put into plac bfor. Thy ar not fighting for frdom; thy ar fighting for chang. This is vry much lik th hop and chang candidat of th 2008 lction in th Unitd Stats. Battlground Chosn by David or Joab. Havily forstd ara which favors small hand-tohand combat and smallr military groupings. Lurd into this particular battlground. worst battlground for a larg army. Th Som of ths diffrncs will bcom mor clar as w continu through this narrativ. For instanc, at th nd of this battl, Absalom s soldirs will b rtrating, and Absalom will b lft by himslf riding a mul, not sur what to do nxt. This shows a lack of organization and a lack of courag on th part of his soldirs. To Absalom, siz was vrything. H knw nothing about warfar, which was why his lading ths mn into battl was such a mistak. Chaptr Outlin Charts, Maps and Short Doctrins 30 R. B. Thim, Jr David Sris; lsson #631_0469.

64 2Samul Samul 18:6b w (or v ) (åà or åì) [pronouncd wh] and, vn, thn; namly; whn; sinc, that; though; as wll as simpl wâw conjunction BDB #251 hâyâh (äèéèä) [pronouncd haw-yaw] to b, is, was, ar; to bcom, to com into bing; to com to pass rd 3 prson fminin singular, Qal imprfct Strong's #1961 BDB #224 mil châmâh (îäìàçèîèä) [pronouncd mil-khaw- MAW] battl, war, fight, fighting; victory; fortun of war fminin singular noun with th dfinit articl Strong s #4421 BDB #536 h b (áìà) [pronouncd b ] in, into, at, by, nar, on, with, bfor, against, by mans of, among, within a prposition of proximity BDB #88 ya ar (éçòçø) [pronouncd YAH-ìahr] wood, forst, thickt; a bhiv; an xcss of hony; a thickt of trs masculin singular construct Strong s #3293 and #3264 (plural form) BDB #420 Eph rayim (àæôàøçéäí) [pronouncd f-rahyim] to bar fruit, to b fruitful; doubl ash hap translitratd Ephraim masculin propr noun Strong s #669 BDB #68 Som LXX manuscripts rad Mahanaim hr. For som rason, th REB has Nphron hr. Translation: Th battl would b in th forsts of Ephraim. Now, you will rcall that David lft Jrusalm on th northast quadrant, going up th Mount of Olivs, and thn hading ovr to th Rivr Jordan, whr h would cross ovr at th word of th sons of th two prists (2Sam. 17:21 22). Howvr, Ephraim is on th othr sid of th Rivr Jordan, opposit to whr David probably wnt originally (2Sam. 17:24). R. B. Thim, Jr. says that th Ephraimits took thir cattl and shp to th othr sid of th Jordan to graz, and that bcam known as th forsts of Ephraim. Thr was a war btwn th Ephraimits and th Giladits, both of whom ar on opposits sids of th Jordan Rivr from on anothr. This is rcordd in Judgs 12:4 6 Jphthah thn mustrd all th mn of Gilad and mad war on Ephraim, and th mn of Gilad dfatd Ephraim -- sinc th lattr usd to say, 'You ar only fugitivs from Ephraim, you Giladits in th hart of Ephraim and Manassh.' Gilad thn cut Ephraim off from th fords of th Jordan, and whnvr Ephraimit fugitivs said, 'Lt m cross,' th mn of Gilad would ask, 'Ar you an Ephraimit?' If h said, 'No,' thy thn said, 'Vry wll, say Shibbolth.' If anyon said, "Sibbolth", bcaus h could not pronounc it, thn thy would siz him and kill him by th fords of th Jordan. Forty-two thousand Ephraimits fll on this occasion. (NJB) Gilad hr is victorious. Did thy somhow choos to nam that ara across th Jordan Rivr from Ephraim, th forsts of Ephraim? Barns writs: It sms crtain that th scn of this battl was on th ast of Jordan. It sms thrfor invitabl to conclud that som portion of th thick wood of oaks and trbinths which still runs down to th Jordan on th ast sid was for som rason calld th wood of Ephraim, ithr bcaus it was a continuation on th ast sid of th grat Ephraimitic forsts on th wst, or bcaus of som transaction thr in which Ephraim had takn part, such as th slaughtr of th Midianits

65 6983 Th Book of Samul 31 (Judgs 7:24 25), or thir own slaughtr (Judgs 12:6). Aftr all, thr is a Kansas City in Kansas; but thr is also a Kansas City in Missouri. Th othr option is that David s army wnt back across th rivr to fight with Absalom. That would man that Absalom originally cam ovr th rivr, in pursuit of David, and thn wnt back across th rivr again. This maks lss sns, as it appars that th rivr can b crossd nar th opning to th Dad Sa, but not much is found in th Bibl about crossing th Jordan anywhr ls. Th Rbllion of Absalom (map) from Jsus Walks. Th only thing which is somwhat difficult hr is th location of th forsts of Ephraim. In any cas, th battlfild that thy choos is going to b a thick forst, whr th advantag of having a larg army is nutralizd by having a battlfild which ncourags small forays hr and thr, and allows th mn of th smallr army to, whnvr ncssary, to suddnly disappar into th forst onc again. Furthrmor, as w will discovr, it will appar as if th forst allis itslf with David s troops, as it will tak th livs of th soldirs in Absalom s rbllion in gratr numbrs than will th battl itslf. It will bcom clar that th battlfild chosn was not an opn flat plain, but a vry ruggd trrain with a grat many trs, bushs, hills, tc. Th foliag is quit thick hr, so that you might b 20 ft. away from th nmy and not b abl to s him. This is vry difficult trrain for a larg army to do battl on, as it is mor difficult to mov thm about as ndd as a larg unit. Howvr, David s army is smallr, and thrfor mor adpt at fighting in this nvironmnt. Furthrmor, David s army has bn brokn down into smallr units companis undr th ladrship of a captain so that ths smallr units may strik, mov, strik, disappar. W ar not givn a grat many dtails of this battl, but nough to know that David s army was vry wll-disciplind and organizd, and that it appars as if thy lurd Absalom s much largr, much lss-disciplind army into this forst. 32 Hr w larn on mor thing about Hushai s advic. If Absalom has to tak th tim to gathr an army from all ovr Isral, thn this givs David mor tim to plan out th battl and, in particular, to choos th plac of 33 battl. This is ky to th victory. If Ahithophl wnt aftr David immdiatly with his shock troops, David would hav had no chanc to organiz and no chanc to lur Absalom s army into a particular battlfild. Absalom s army is th aggrssiv army, so thy will pursu David s army to whrvr it is. Thrfor, bcaus of th xtra tim Hushai s advic ntaild, David s army is abl to choos th battlfild, bcaus thy choos whr to stand and fight. David s army has bn givn th chanc to incras in siz, to organiz, to choos th battlfild, and to bcom rady for Absalom s army. 31 Albrt Barns, Barns Nots on th Old Tstamnt; from -Sword, 2Sam. 18:6. 32 You will rcall that Ahithophl, Absalom s advisor, was rady to gathr up an army for a quick assault on David. Hushai, David s mol in Absalom s uppr chlon, suggstd that Absalom gathr a hug army and lad that army against David. Absalom likd Hushai s plan, which was his own undoing, as w ar studying in this chaptr. 33 Which is a group of soldirs traind spcially for carrying out a suddn assault.

66 2Samul And so wr struck thr th popl of Isral to facs of srvants of David. And so is thr th slaughtr grat in th day th that twnty a thousand. 2Samul 18:7 Th popl of Isral wr struck down thr bfor th srvants of David. Th slaughtr was grat that day 20,000 [mn did]. Th popl of Isral wr struck down bfor th army of David. It was a grat slaughtr, whr 20,000 mn did. Hr is how othrs hav translatd this vrs: Ancint txts: Latin Vulgat Masortic Txt (Hbrw) Pshitta (Syriac) Sptuagint (Grk) Significant diffrncs: And th popl of Isral wr dfatd thr by David's army, and a grat slaughtr was mad that day of twnty thousand mn. And so wr struck thr th popl of Isral to facs of srvants of David. And so is thr th slaughtr grat in th day th that twnty a thousand. And thr was a battl, and th popl of Isral wr dfatd thr bfor th srvants of David, and thr was a grat slaughtr on that day of twnty thousand mn. And th popl of Isral fll down thr bfor th srvants of David, and thr was a grat slaughtr in that day, vn twnty thousand mn. Nothing significant. Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrass: Common English Bibl Contmporary English V. Easy English Th Mssag Nw Brkly Vrsion Nw Cntury Vrsion Nw Living Translation Th Voic Th army of Isral was dfatd thr by David's soldirs. A grat slaughtr of twnty thousand mn took plac that day. Battls wr bing fought all ovr th forst, and David's soldirs wr winning. Twnty thousand soldirs wr killd that day, and mor of thm did from th dangrs of th forst than from th fighting itslf. And David's army dfatd th army of *Isral mn did that day. Th army of Isral was batn badly thr that day by David's mn, a trrific slaughtr--twnty thousand mn! At that plac th forcs of Isral wr ovrthrown bfor th srvants of David and th slaughtr thr that day was havy, amounting to twnty thousand mn. Thr David's army dfatd th Isralits. Many did that day-twnty thousand mn. Thr was a grat slaughtr that day, and 20,000 mn laid down thir livs. David's forcs won a grat victory against Absalom's mn, and 20,000 mn wr killd in th battl that day. Partially litral and partially paraphrasd translations: Amrican English Bibl God s Word Nw Advnt (Knox) Bibl Nw Amrican Bibl (R.E.) But th army of IsraEl didn't far wll against th followrs of David, for thy lost twnty thousand of thir mn. Thr David's mn dfatd Isral's army, and th massacr was sizabl that day- 20,000 mn. And th Isralits wr routd by David's mn, with grat loss; twnty thousand mn fll that day,... Th forcs of Isral wr dfatd by David's srvants, and th casualtis thr that day wr havy-twnty thousand mn.

67 6985 Th Book of Samul NIRV Nw Jrusalm Bibl Nw Simplifid Bibl Rvisd English Bibl Today s NIV Thr David's mn won th battl ovr Isral's army. A hug numbr of mn wr woundd or killd that day. Th total numbr was 20,000. Thr, th army of Isral was batn by David's rtainrs; it was a grat dfat that day, with twnty thousand casualtis. Battls wr fought all ovr th forst. David s soldirs wr winning. Twnty thousand soldirs wr killd that day. Thr th Isralits wr routd bfor th onslaught of David s mn, and th loss of lif was grat, for twnty thousand fll. Thr Isral's troops wr routd by David's mn, and th casualtis that day wr grat--twnty thousand mn. Mostly litral rndrings (with som occasional paraphrasing): Ancint Roots Translinar...and thr th popl of Isral plagud in front of th srvants of David. Thr that day 20,000 had a grat plagu. Bibl in Basic English And th popl of Isral wr ovrcom thr by th srvants of David, and thr was a grat dstruction that day, and twnty thousand mn wr put to th sword. L Th Expandd Bibl Thr David's army dfatd th Isralits. Many did [ Th slaughtr was/casualtis wr grat] that day-twnty thousand mn. Frar-Fnton Bibl...whr th army of Isral was routd bfor th gnrals of David; and in th grat rout of that day twnty thousand prishd,.. HCSB Th popl of Isral wr dfatd by David's soldirs, and th slaughtr thr was vast that day--20,000 casualtis. NET Bibl Th army of Isral was dfatd thr by David's mn [Hb "srvants" (also in v. 9).]. Th slaughtr thr was grat that day - 20,000 soldirs wr killd. NIV UK Thr Isral's troops wr routd by David's mn, and th casualtis that day wr grat - twnty thousand mn. Jwish/Hbrw Nams Bibls: Complt Jwish Bibl xgss companion Bibl PS (Tanakh 1985) Orthodox Jwish Bibl Th popl of Isra'l wr dfatd thr by David's srvants; thr was a trribl slaughtr that day of 20,000 mn....whr th popl of Yisra El ar smittn at th fac of th srvants of David; and that day thr is a grat plagu of twnty thousand:... Th Isralit troops wr routd by David s followrs, and a grat slaughtr took plac thr that day twnty thousand mn. Whr Am Yisrol wr slain bfor th avadim of Dovid, and thr was thr a magfah gdolah that day of srim lf. Litral, almost word-for-word, rndrings: Th Amplifid Bibl Darby Translation English Standard Vrsion Grn s Litral Translation NASB [Absalom's] mn of Isral wr dfatd by th srvants of David, and thr was a grat slaughtr that day of 20,000 mn. And th popl of Isral wr routd bfor th srvants of David, and thr was a grat slaughtr thr that day: twnty thousand mn. And th mn of Isral wr dfatd thr by th srvants of David, and th loss thr was grat on that day, twnty thousand mn. And th popl of Isral wr strickn bfor David's srvants. And thr was a grat dstruction on that day of twnty thousand. Th popl of Isral wr dfatd [Lit smittn] thr bfor th srvants of David, and th slaughtr thr that day was grat, 20,000 mn.

68 2Samul Nw King Jams Vrsion Syndin/Thim World English Bibl Young s Updatd LT Th gist of this vrs: Th popl of Isral wr ovrthrown thr bfor th srvants of David, and a grat slaughtr of twnty thousand took plac thr that day. Thrfor th army/popl of Isral {rvolutionary army} wr dfatd by th soldirs of David, and thr th casualtis that day wr grat... twnty thousand mn. {Not: Joab apparntly snt on corps into an opn madow whr th Amasa's forcs could s thm. Amasa had disprsd his army and Joab now concntratd his. So, Amasa's mn wr marching in column to attack and Joab's 2 corps in hiding hit thm in lin and routd thm. Bcaus of th ruggd trrain causalitis wr havy. RBT says that th mn who did wr most likly th hard cor rvolutionists and that was thir punishmnt. Th othr 230,000 or so mn in th rvolutionary army will b pardond by David. So, in panic many ran off cliffs, fll into marshs/ quicksand, and finally wild animals could hav takn som.}. Th popl of Isral wr struck thr bfor th srvants of David, and thr was a grat slaughtr thr that day of twnty thousand mn. And struck thr ar th popl of Isral bfor th srvants of David, and th striking down thr is grat on that day twnty thousand. 20,000 mn blonging to Absalom s army wr struck down in this battl. 2Samul 18:7a wa (or va) (åç) [pronouncd wah] and so, and thn, thn, and; so, that, yt, thrfor, consquntly; bcaus wâw conscutiv BDB #253 nâgaph (ðèâçó) [pronouncd naw-gahf] to b struck down, to b smittn, to b hit; [possibly] batn, woundd rd 3 prson masculin plural, Niphal imprfct Strong's #5062 BDB #619 shâm (ùèí) [pronouncd shawm] thr; at that tim, thn; thrin, in that thing advrb of plac Strong s #8033 BDB #1027 am (òçí) [pronouncd ìahm] popl; rac, trib; family, rlativs; citizns, common popl; companions, srvants; ntir human rac; hrd [of animals] masculin singular collctiv noun in th construct stat Strong s #5971 BDB #766 Yis râ êl (éäùòàøçàåì) [pronouncd yis-raw- ALE] God prvails; contndr; soldir of God; translitratd Isral masculin propr noun Strong s #3478 & #3479 BDB #975 lâmd (ìà) [pronouncd l ] to, for, towards, in rgards to dirctional/rlational prposition BDB #510 pânîym (ôìèðäéí) [pronouncd paw- NEEM] fac, facs, countnanc; prsnc masculin plural construct (plural acts lik English singular) Strong s #6440 BDB #815 Togthr, thy man upon th fac of, bfor, bfor th fac of, in th prsnc of, in th sight of, in front of. Whn usd with God, it can tak on th mor figurativ maning in th judgmnt of. This can also man forwards; th front part [or, th dg of a sword]. L pânîym (ìàôìèðäéí) can tak on a tmporal sns as wll: bfor, of old, formrly, in th past, in past tims.

69 6987 Th Book of Samul 2Samul 18:7a bd (òæáæã) [pronouncd B ÌE -vd] slav, srvant; undrling; subjct masculin plural construct Strong s #5650 BDB #713 Dâvid (ãìèåäã); also Dâvîyd (ãìèåäéã) [pronouncd daw- VEED] blovd and is translitratd David masculin propr noun Strong s #1732 BDB #187 Translation: Th popl of Isral wr struck down thr bfor th srvants of David. David s army was quit proficint at killing th soldrs of Absalom (who ar calld th popl of Isral hr). David s mn wr bttr traind, bttr dployd, and bttr motivatd. It is possibl that thy had surpris and a choic of th trrain hr as wll. It is logical for David to divid up th army into 3 brigads. Two can b usd to manuvr, and th third can b kpt in rsrv. In a battl, you do not ncssarily put all of your troops out thr n mass from th vry start. Joab s brigad might hit Absalom s forcs had-on. Abishai s brigad might do a flanking movmnt. Ittai s might mov to th othr sid, but not attack and allow th rtrating soldirs to com to thm. Finally, this might b don in such a way that th havy forst is dirctly bhind Absalom s army. Absalom can hav a much largr army, but bcaus of th trrain, thr ar limitations on th ara ovr which his troops mt up with Joab s troops. On a larg battlfild, Absalom s army could ovrrun David s army; but whr th battlfront is limitd by th trrain, Absalom cannot xploit th siz of his army. David s smallr army can mov mor quickly and outmanuvr Absalom s army. Furthrmor, Absalom dos not know how to lad an army; h dos not undrstand stratgy and tactics. So, not only is h suckd into a battlfild which robs him of th advantag of numbrs, but h dos not know how to gt out of it; h dos not know what to do nxt. H just xpcts his largr army to tak out David s smallr army. W will discovr Absalom latr wandring about, apparntly sparatd from his troops, not lading in any possibl way. 2Samul 18:7b wa (or va) (åç) [pronouncd wah] and so, and thn, thn, and; so, that, yt, thrfor, consquntly; bcaus wâw conscutiv BDB #253 hâyâh (äèéèä) [pronouncd haw-yaw] to b, is, was, ar; to bcom, to com into bing; to com to pass rd 3 prson fminin singular, Qal imprfct Strong's #1961 BDB #224 shâm (ùèí) [pronouncd shawm] thr; at that tim, thn; thrin, in that thing advrb of plac Strong s #8033 BDB #1027 maggêphâh (îçâìåôèä) [pronouncd mahg-gay- FAW] a blow, a slaughtr, plagu, pstilnc fminin singular noun with th dfinit articl Strong s #4046 BDB #620

70 2Samul Samul 18:7b gâdôwl (âìèãåéì) [pronouncd gaw-dohl] larg, grat or mighty [in powr, nobility, walth; in numbr, or magnitud and xtnt], loud, oldr, important, distinguishd; vast, unyilding, immutabl, significant, astonishing fminin singular adjctiv Strong s #1419 BDB #152 h b (áìà) [pronouncd b ] in, into, at, by, nar, on, with, bfor, against, by mans of, among, within a prposition of proximity BDB #88 yôwm (éåéí) [pronouncd yohm] day; tim; today (with a dfinit articl); possibly immdiatly masculin singular noun with th dfinit articl Strong s #3117 BDB #398 hûw (äåìà) [pronouncd hoo] that; this; sam masculin singular, dmonstrativ pronoun with a dfinit articl Strong s #1931 BDB #214 s rîym (òæùòàøäéí) [pronouncd ìs - REEM] twnty plural numral adjctiv Strong s #6242 BDB #797 lph (àæìæó) [pronouncd EH-lf] thousand, family, (500?); military unit masculin singular noun Strong s #505 (and #504) BDB #48 Translation: Th slaughtr was grat that day 20,000 [mn did]. Thr wr about 10,000 soldirs fighting for David, so, on avrag, ach of thm killd two mn. Th 20,000 hr lik rfrs only to thos of Absalom s army, and ths ar likly at th hands of David s soldirs (although it is possibl ths numbrs includ thos killd by th Forst of Ephraim, as in v. 8). Matthw Hnry: [God judgd ths criminal rvolutionaris] justly for thir trason against thir lawful princ, thir unasinss undr so good a govrnmnt, and thir bas ingratitud to so good a govrnor; and thy found what it was to tak up arms for a usurpr, who with his kisss and carsss had whdld thm into thir own ruin. Now whr ar th rwards, th prfrmnts, th goldn days, thy promisd thmslvs from him? Now thy s what it is to tak counsl against th Lord and His 34 Anointd, and to think of braking his bands asundr. This is indicativ of any tim that man placs himslf in opposition to th Lord. Th kings of th arth st thmslvs, and th rulrs tak counsl togthr, against th Y howah, and against His Anointd (Psalm 2:2). Such mn say, Lt us brak thir bands asundr, and cast away thir cords from us. (Psalm 2:3). This is how mn rvolt against God; in this instanc, th ar rvolting against God s anointd. This might b a good plac to xamin Psalm 2 (HTML) (PDF) (WPD). Bar in mind what is going on hr this is a rvolution and thr ar a grat many popl who support Absalom. Rvolution is vil and God will s that many of th rvolutionaris di hr. Rvolutionaris ar a cancr to a socity, and God will rmov thm in som instancs, thus fulfilling Prov. 11:21, which stats: B assurd, an vil prson will not go unpunishd, but th offspring of th rightous will b dlivrd. (ESV) Th rvolutionaris which God striks down hr ar th worst of th worst; thy support Absalom and thy will go to war against th 34 Matthw Hnry, Commntary on th Whol Bibl; from -Sword, 2Sam. 18:1 8 (slightly ditd).

71 6989 Th Book of Samul stablishmnt king, David, in ordr to install Absalom as king ovr all Isral. S th Doctrin of Rvolution (HTML) (PDF) (WPD). Application: It is not nough for librals to gt thir own way; thy must b abl to impos it upon popl who disagr with thm as wll. Absalom is not contnt with ruling in Jrusalm; h must kill his fathr and clarly subjugat all of Isral to his prsonal whims. H will not allow for a dividd kingdom or for thr to b any opposition rmaining. This is on of th rasons Absalom must di. And so is thr th battl bing scattrd upon facs of all th arth; and so multiplis a forst to at in th popl from which at th sword in th day th that. 2Samul 18:8 Th battl was scattrd thr upon all th arth; and th forst multiplid th dvouring among th popl in that day mor than th sword dvourd. Th battl sprad out ovr that land, so that th forst dvourd mor popl in that day than th sword did. Hr is how othrs hav translatd this vrs: Ancint txts: Latin Vulgat Masortic Txt (Hbrw) Pshitta (Syriac) Sptuagint (Grk) Significant diffrncs: And th battl thr was scattrd ovr th fac of all th country, and thr wr many mor of th popl whom th forst consumd, than whom th sword dvourd that day. And so is thr th battl bing scattrd upon facs of all th arth; and so multiplis a forst to at in th popl from which at th sword in th day th that. For thr was a grat battl which sprad ovr th fac of th country; and th wild basts of th forst dvourd mor popl that day than th sword dvourd. And th battl thr was scattrd ovr th fac of all th land. And th woods consumd mor of th popl than th sword consumd in that day. Th Syriac has Absalom s soldirs bing dvourd by th basts of th forst. Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrass: Easy English Easy-to-Rad Vrsion Th Mssag Nw Brkly Vrsion Nw Lif Bibl Nw Living Translation Th Voic Th battl sprad ovr a larg ara. Mor popl did in th forst than in th battl. Th battl sprad through all th country. But that day mor mn did in th forst than by th sword. Thr was fighting hltr-skltr all ovr th plac--th forst claimd mor livs that day than th sword! Th battl, morovr, sprad ovr th fac of th whol country thr, and th woodd trrain that day causd mor dstruction among th popl than did th sword. Th battl was sprad ovr th whol country. Dangrs from th trs dstroyd mor popl that day than th sword. Th battl ragd all across th countrysid, and mor mn did bcaus of th forst than wr killd by th sword. Th battl sprad all across th landscap, and mor of his opponnts wr lost to th forst than to th sword. David taks th fight into a forstd ara rathr than staying out in th opn fild. Sinc his army is mor xprincd in fighting in such trrain, thr is an

72 2Samul Partially litral and partially paraphrasd translations: opportunity for a smallr forc to dfat a largr on. Absalom's mn (and Absalom himslf, as illustratd in th following vrss) di as a rsult of not knowing how to fight in th forst and avoid its pitfalls. Amrican English Bibl Nw Advnt (Knox) Bibl Nw Amrican Bibl Nw Amrican Bibl (R.E.) NIRV Nw Jrusalm Bibl Nw Simplifid Bibl Rvisd English Bibl Howvr, th war ragd on throughout th land. And th thick forst killd as many mn as wr killd with swords that day....and mor of thm prishd in th woods than in th fighting itslf, so scattrd was thir flight ovr all th country-sid. Th battl sprad out ovr that ntir rgion, and th thickts consumd mor combatants that day than did th sword. Th battl sprad out ovr that ntir rgion, and th forst consumd mor combatants that day than did th sword. Th fighting sprad out ovr th whol countrysid. But mor mn wr killd in th forst that day than out in th opn. Th fighting sprad throughout th rgion and that day th forst claimd mor victims than th sword. Mor soldirs did from th dangrs of th forst than from th fighting. Th fighting sprad ovr th whol countrysid, and th forst took toll of mor popl that day than th sword. Mostly litral rndrings (with som occasional paraphrasing): Bibl in Basic English Th Expandd Bibl Frar-Fnton Bibl HCSB NET Bibl NIV UK And th fighting wnt on ovr all th fac of th country: and th woods wr rsponsibl for mor daths than th sword. Th battl sprad through all th country [countrysid], but that day mor mn L L did [ wr dvourd/swallowd up] in th forst than in th fighting [ by th sword]....for th battl was sprad ovr all th district, and mor of th popl wr dstroyd in th forst than what th sword dstroyd at th momnt. Th battl sprad ovr th ntir rgion, and that day th forst claimd mor popl than th sword. Th battl thr was sprad out ovr th whol ara, and th forst consumd mor soldirs than th sword dvourd that day. Th battl sprad out ovr th whol countrysid, and th forst swallowd up mor mn that day than th sword. Jwish/Hbrw Nams Bibls: Complt Jwish Bibl xgss companion Bibl Orthodox Jwish Bibl For th battl thr was sprad all ovr th countrysid; th forst dvourd mor popl that day than did th sword....for th war scattrs ovr th fac of all th land: and that day th forst abounds and consums mor popl than th sword consums. For th milchamah was thr scattrd ovr th fac of kol ha'artz; and th ya'ar dvourd mor popl that day than th chrv dvourd. Litral, almost word-for-word, rndrings: Concordant Litral Vrsion...and th battl is thr scattrd ovr th fac of all th land, and th forst multiplis to dvour among th popl mor than thos whom th sword has dvourd in that day.

73 6991 Th Book of Samul Nw RSV Syndin/Thim Third Millnnium Bibl World English Bibl Young s Updatd LT Th gist of this vrs: Th battl sprad ovr th fac of all th country; and th forst claimd mor victims that day than th sword. For th battl was thr was 'scattrd in fright' ovr th 'ntir trrain'/'fac of all th country'. {th rvolutionary troops wr routd and ran in far} And th forst dvourd mor popl/'rvolutionary troops' that day than th sword consumd. {Not: Th popl in front wr frightnd and thy panickd. Many wr killd in combat, but mor wr killd bcaus of panic and th difficulty of th mountainous and woodd trrain.}. For th battl thr was scattrd ovr th fac of all th country; and th woods dvourd mor popl that day than th sword dvourd. For th battl was thr sprad ovr th surfac of all th country; and th forst dvourd mor popl that day than th sword dvourd. And th battl is thr scattrd ovr th fac of all th land, and th forst multiplis to dvour among th popl mor than thos whom th sword has dvourd in that day. Mor mn wr killd by th trrain of th forst than by th actual battl. 2Samul 18:8a wa (or va) (åç) [pronouncd wah] and so, and thn, thn, and; so, that, yt, thrfor, consquntly; bcaus wâw conscutiv BDB #253 hâyâh (äèéèä) [pronouncd haw-yaw] to b, is, was, ar; to bcom, to com into bing; to com to pass rd 3 prson fminin singular, Qal imprfct Strong's #1961 BDB #224 shâm (ùèí) [pronouncd shawm] thr; at that tim, thn; thrin, in that thing advrb of plac Strong s #8033 BDB #1027 mil châmâh (îäìàçèîèä) [pronouncd mil-khaw- MAW] battl, war, fight, fighting; victory; fortun of war fminin singular noun with th dfinit articl Strong s #4421 BDB #536 pûwts (ôìåìõ) [pronouncd poots] disprsd, scattrd, bing scattrd; bing brokn into pics fminin singular, Niphal participl Strong s #6327 BDB #806 al (òçì) [pronouncd ìahl] upon, byond, on, against, abov, ovr, by, bsid prposition of proximity Strong s #5921 BDB #752 pânîym (ôìèðäéí) [pronouncd paw- NEEM] fac, facs, countnanc; prsnc masculin plural construct (plural acts lik English singular) Strong s #6440 BDB #815 Togthr, âl and pânîym man upon th fac of, facing, in front of, bfor (as in prfrnc to), in addition to, ovrlooking. kôl (ëìéì) [pronouncd kohl] th whol, all of, th ntirty of, all; can also b rndrd any of masculin singular construct followd by a dfinit articl Strong s #3605 BDB #481

74 2Samul Samul 18:8a rts (àæøæõ) [pronouncd EH-rts] arth (all or a portion throf), land, trritory, country, continnt; ground, soil; undr th ground [Shol] fminin singular noun with th dfinit articl Strong's #776 BDB #75 Translation: Th battl was scattrd thr upon all th arth;... Th war did not go as Absalom xpctd. H had a much largr army than David did, so h xpctd to ovrpowr David s troops. In a flat, opn ara, man against man, this might hav bn th cas. Howvr, thy wr in th forst of Ephraim, scattrd all ovr, so it was not just svral mn against on. War is rarly basd upon on factor. Hr trrain, training, organization and surpris wr all on David s sid; and ths factors far outwighd Absalom s numrical supriority. Th word to scattr is th Niphal participl of pûwts (ôìåìõ) [pronouncd poots], and it mans disprsd, scattrd, bing scattrd; bing brokn into pics. Strong s #6327 BDB #806. So th battl was brokn down into many pics a fw fighting hr, a fw fighting thr, and scattrd throughout this thick forstd ara. This is idal for a smallr army particularly on which is so wll organizd that it can b brokn down into much smallr fighting units (rcall how David had organizd his army with mn ovr units of 100). It appars that Absalom s ntir battl stratgy was, Thr s th nmy; charg! 2Samul 18:8b wa (or va) (åç) [pronouncd wah] and so, and thn, thn, and; so, that, yt, thrfor, consquntly; bcaus wâw conscutiv BDB #253 râbâh (øèáèä) [pronouncd b raw -VAWH] to mak [do] much; to multiply, to incras; to giv much; to lay much; to hav much; to mak grat; many [as a Hiphil infinitiv construct] rd 3 prson masculin singular, Hiphil imprfct Strong s #7235 BDB #915 ya ar (éçòçø) [pronouncd YAH-ìahr] wood, forst, thickt; a bhiv; an xcss of hony; a thickt of trs masculin singular noun with th dfinit articl Strong s #3293 and #3264 (plural form) BDB # Clark: th Chald, Syriac, and Arabic, stat that thy wr dvourd by wild basts in th wood. lâmd (ìà) [pronouncd l ] to, for, towards, in rgards to dirctional/rlational prposition BDB #510 âkal (àèëçì) [pronouncd aw-kahl] to at; to dvour, to consum, to dstroy Qal infinitiv construct Strong s #398 BDB #37 35 Adam Clark, Commntary on th Bibl; from -Sword, 2Sam. 18:8.

75 6993 Th Book of Samul 2Samul 18:8b Th lâmd with an infinitiv construct gnrally xprsss purpos or rsult, although it can hav thr othr common uss with th infinitiv: (1) It can hav a grundial or advrbial sns to xplain th circumstancs of a prvious action; (2) it can act as a priphrastic futur in nominal clauss; and, (3) it can bhav as a grund, in th sns of is to b, must b, ought to b. (4) Lâmd with th infinitiv can connot shall or must. h b (áìà) [pronouncd b ] in, into, at, by, nar, on, with, bfor, against, by mans of, among, within a prposition of proximity BDB #88 am (òçí) [pronouncd ìahm] popl; rac, trib; family, rlativs; citizns, common popl; companions, srvants; ntir human rac; hrd [of animals] masculin singular collctiv noun Strong s #5971 BDB #766 Translation:...and th forst multiplid th dvouring among th popl... It appars as if th forst itslf was dvouring th mn who wr at war thr. Although th vrb hr commonly mans to at, it can also man to dvour, to consum, to dstroy. So th forst itslf was working against th popl of Isral. This is bcaus God was against ths rvolutionists, and God was going to dstroy som of thm as wll. 2Samul 18:8c min (îäï) [pronouncd min] from, off, out from, of, out of, away from, on account of, sinc, than, mor than prposition of sparation Strong's #4480 BDB #577 ãshr (àâéùæø) [pronouncd uh-sher] that, which, whn, who, whom rlativ pronoun; somtims th vrb to b is implid Strong's #834 BDB #81 Togthr, th min prposition and th rlativ pronoun can man from whr; mor than. âkal (àèëçì) [pronouncd aw-kahl] to at; to dvour, to consum, to dstroy rd 3 prson fminin singular, Qal prfct Strong s #398 BDB #37 chrb (çæøæá) B [pronouncd kh-re V] sword, knif, daggr; any sharp tool fminin singular noun with th dfinit articl Strong s #2719 BDB #352 h b (áìà) [pronouncd b ] in, into, at, by, nar, on, with, bfor, against, by mans of, among, within a prposition of proximity BDB #88 yôwm (éåéí) [pronouncd yohm] day; tim; today (with a dfinit articl); possibly immdiatly masculin singular noun with th dfinit articl Strong s #3117 BDB # th th bulk of this was paraphrasd from J.C.L. Gibson, Davidson s Introductory Hbrw Grammar~Syntax; 4 Edition, T&T Clark Ltd., 1994, pp and from Biblical Hbrw; by Pag Klly; William B. Erdmans Publishing Co., 1992, p Kil & Dlitzsch s Commntary on th Old Tstamnt; 1966 Hndrickson Publishrs, Inc.; Vol. 2, p. 438.

76 2Samul Samul 18:8c hûw (äåìà) [pronouncd hoo] that; this; sam masculin singular, dmonstrativ pronoun with a dfinit articl Strong s #1931 BDB #214 Translation:...in that day mor than th sword dvourd. In fact, so many did at th hands of th forst, that thr wr mor mn killd by th forst than by hand-to-hand combat. Gill: Th ranks of Absalom's soldirs wr brokn, and thy wr thrown into th utmost confusion, and ran about hr and thr all ovr th fild or plain in which th battl was fought, and into th 38 nighbouring wood. Thr ar som mchanics of Scriptur which ar not fully mad clar to us. God oftn snds out angls to do His work, and it is possibl that is what happnd hr. How xactly ths forsts killd th popl of Isral, w do not know xactly nor can w say without rsrvation that avnging angls of God wr killing ths rvolutionaris. Howvr, thr ar mn that God ndd to rmov from socity, and thy wr ithr takn out 39 by th sword, or by misfortun as thy trompd through th thick woods. According to Clark, th Chald, Syriac, and Arabic translations hav Absalom s soldrs bing dvourd by wild animals in th thick forst. This is not out of th qustion, whthr this is a part of th original Hbrw or not. Satan appard to spak through a srpnt in th Gardn of Edn, so it would not b too far out thr to suggst that angls usd animals to kill som of Absalom s soldirs. Basd upon othr Scripturs, w know that thr ar lions and bars in Palstin. W may rasonably assum thr ar poisonous snaks thr as wll. Thr ar pits and prcipics, forstd aras so thick as to stop a prson in thir tracks, if not ntangl thm as if by a spidr s wb. Whn running in a havy forst, a prson can 40 trip or bcom disorintd and who knows what thy may fall upon. Pool suggsts that som soldirs could hav bn impactd by hungr, thirst and warinss as wll. For whatvr rason, th soldirs who supportd Absalom appar to b th ons who ar discombobulatd by th forst, whras th soldirs undr Joab s command sm to b organizd and orintd to thir nvironmnt. W will only b givn on cas history of th forst working against David s nmis, and that is Absalom riding along on his mul, and branchs catch him on th had and pull him off. H was probably a good ridr of muls, but it is unlikly that h rod much in havily forstd aras, and ths branchs took Absalom by surpris. This may b an xampl of how angls usd th forst against Absalom. Thy may wll hav guidd his donky to suddnly tak Absalom undr a low-hanging branch. Basd upon Gn. 3 and Num. 22, angls can hav intractions with animals which ar outsid of that which is normal for man. Along with Absalom, thr wr many incidnts whr mn wr killd simply by running through this forst. It was as if God was working against thm (which H was). Thr also sms to b an authority orintation among David s soldirs, as wll as grat organization, dspit th nvirons. This will b mad clar in th vrss which follow. On of David s soldirs will rfus to kill Absalom bcaus of David s ordr (that is authority orintation). Howvr, h sms to hav littl troubl finding Joab and Joab sms to hav littl troubl finding his way to Absalom. All of this suggsts xcllnt organizational skills in David s army Dr. John Gill, John Gill s Exposition of th Entir Bibl; from -Sword, 2Sam. 18:8 (ditd). Adam Clark, Commntary on th Bibl; from -Sword, 2Sam. 18:8. Matthw Pool, English Annotations on th Holy Bibl; h1685; from -Sword, 2Sam. 18:8.

77 6995 Th Book of Samul On th othr hand, Absalom is going to find himslf riding around on a mul, ostnsibly on his own. His soldirs will b running in all dirctions to th point whr thy ar dying in th forst du to a varity of forst-rlatd accidnts. That suggsts a total lack of organization as wll as no carful lin of authority. Taking th xampl of Absalom, w may suppos that thr ar allis of Absalom running through th forst, and som ar trippd, som ar trappd hr or thr, som fall into hols. Ths ar rvolutionists, but this dos not mak thm grat soldirs or vn good soldirs. A rvolutionist is diffrnt from an stablishmnt army typ, inasmuch as, th stablishmnt-typ knows xactly what h is fighting for h is fighting for his land, his wif and his childrn (Nh. 4:14). Th rvolutionist is fighting for somthing which dos not yt xist and may not xist. H is fighting for som kind of idal which dos not xist nor can this idal b guarantd. Furthrmor, a soldir is profssionally traind; a rvolutionary may or may not hav training; and a rvolutionary must b rachd motionally in ordr for thm to b a part of th rvolution. A wll-traind soldir dispatchs his nmis unmotionally. Application: Anyon can look at any country and find flaws throughout. Howvr, that dos not man that a rvolution will solv any of thos flaws. Quit obviously, whn you plung your country into war, no mattr what happns, lif is going to b much mor difficult on th othr sid of that war. And th rvolutionist trusts ladrs who ar no lss corrupt and no lss powr-hungry than th mn thy claim thy will rplac. Application: Th only tim that a country might b bttr off aftr a rvolution is whn th rvolutionary forcs ar killd or thoroughly nutralizd. Application: In Egypt, ovr th past fw yars (I writ this in 2013), thr was th famous facbook rvolution, whr popl dcidd that thir long-tim dictator, Mubarak, was just not a vry nic prson, and now thy could twt this to vryon that thy knw; and thy could arrang mtings and dmonstrations. Although many Amricans saw this, at first, as a grat triumph for dmocracy, onc Mubarak had bn oustd from offic, a nw powr aros that of th vil Muslim brothrhood. Thy hung back during th actual rvolution, but in th lction, thy bcam mor and mor visibl, and Egypt, bing an Islamic country, votd for th Muslim brothrhood. In a nation with dozns, if not hundrds of factions, thr was no rquirmnt of 51% of th popl to stand bhind a Muslim candidat. Application: This candidat won, and thn bgan to push through Islamic rforms, making him a pariah among th popl of Egypt. Thy prscutd Christians, Christian nighborhoods, and all but dstroyd th tourist industry for a nation that was havily dpndnt upon tourists. At th tim that I writ this, th Muslim ladr has bn forcd out, but h has not bn rplacd and th words I har mor oftn than any othrs ar faild stat. Egypt could bcom on of th largst countris in th world to bcom a faild stat and all of this bcaus thy had a rvolution. My point hr is, a rvolution dos not insur a bttr govrnmnt. In fact, most of th tim, you can xpct a mor opprssiv rgim to siz powr. Application: As has bn discussd in prvious chaptrs, thr ar th idalists, who ar manipulatd into bginning th rvolution; and th hard-cor rvolutionaris, who, if th rvolution is won, thn siz powr, bing vn mor xtrm than th powr thy rplacd. This is xactly what occurrd in Egypt. Thr wr th idalists, th facbook rvolutionaris; but thn, th Muslim Brothrhood sizd powr (vn though thy got powr lgitimatly, thy ar an illgitimat forc in Egypt). Application: Th War for Amrican Indpndnc (mistaknly calld th Amrican Rvolutionary War) was fighting for thir homs, thir wivs and thir childrn. Thy wr fighting for what thy had, which th British wr trying to tak away from thm. Thy wr not trying to ovrthrow th British; thy wr not trying to kill Gorg III and rplac him with somon ls. Thy wr fighting for thir prsonal sovrignty, much of which thy alrady had a tast of. Thr was no nirvana promisd by a fw rvolutionaris thr was simply th lif which thy alrady knw and lovd that thy fought for.

78 2Samul Application: This dos not man that th Amrican War for Indpndnc was lacking in sin or lacking in mn who dsird powr and control. Howvr, thr was a rasonabl consnsus among th Amricans who favord throwing off th shackls of English rul to not allow th fdral govrnmnt to grow to a point whr it was ndlssly opprssiv (as it is today). Application: I hav startd to go prtty far afild hr, but lt m strongly not that I am not suggsting or ndorsing any sort of rvolution in th Unitd Stats today. W gt th govrnmnt w dsrv and w gt th ladrs that w dsrv. W crtainly hav a country which is rotting from th insid out; popl who ar willing to tak govrnmnt handouts in xchang for not working and voting Dmocrat. Howvr, a rvolution dos not solv that problm Bibl doctrin in th souls of blivrs and stablishmnt valus solvs that problm. Bar in mind that th vocabulary of this Bibl and its xpository sction is dsignd to b simpl. Although thy do not spcify a grad lvl, thr is a slid show that giv th gnral ida bhind th Easy English Bibl (it will opn up PowrPoint or Prsntations on your computr). Th Easy English Bibl Summation (so far) Mor mn had probably joind David's army. H organisd thm so that thy wr rady for th battl with Absalom. David's army was much smallr than Absalom's army. But David's mn wr good soldirs. And thy had thr strong ladrs. David wantd to lad his army himslf. But his mn did not want to risk David's lif. Two mn, David and Absalom, wr claiming to b king of *Isral. But only on man could b king. David's army could dfat Absalom's army in this battl. But, if David did, thn Absalom would b th king. So, David had to stay in th city, whr h was saf. Th gat of th city was an important plac. David watchd his army go to th battl. And h waitd thr until h hard nws from th battl. Absalom had takn th *kingdom of *Isral from David. So, Absalom was David's nmy. But Absalom was also David's son. David wantd his army to win th battl. But h did not want thm to hurt his son. Evryon hard what David said about this. David's small army dfatd Absalom's hug army. But many mn did. In thos days, thr was a forst on th ast sid of th Rivr Jordan. It was asy to fight in a clar ara. But it was difficult to fight in a forst. Trs grow clos togthr in a forst. So, it is usually quit dark. Also, thr ar vry fw clar paths. Nobody could tak food or drink to th soldirs in th forst. Thy would hav lost thir way. Som mn may hav falln down hols in th ground. And wild animals may hav attackd othr mn. Each soldir had to fight on his own or in a small group. Thy could not protct ach othr. Absalom had mor mn, but David's mn wr mor skilld in thos surroundings. From accssd July 19, Chaptr Outlin Charts, Maps and Short Doctrins Vv. 7 8 rad: Th popl of Isral wr struck down bfor th army of David. It was a grat slaughtr, whr 20,000 mn did. Th battl sprad out ovr that land, so that th forst dvourd mor popl in that day than th sword did. Th Bibl at tims rquirs us to dig carfully for som of th dtails which ar not xplicit. W hav a vry larg (but probably untraind) army ld by Absalom, pursuing David s army. Thy ar ld into a thick forst whr th battl taks plac. This thick forst favors a mor mobil, bttr organizd army, and David s army was quit succssful in bating down thir opponnts. And thos that David s army did not kill, many did in thos forsts, running into trs, into branchs, falling into hols, tc. Chaptr Outlin Charts, Maps and Short Doctrins

79 6997 Th Book of Samul Absalom is Discovrd and Killd And so mts Absalom to facs of srvants of David and Absalom was riding upon th mul. And so gos th mul undr thick branchs of th oak th grat and so is hld fast his had in th oak. And so h was dlivrd up btwn th [two] havns and btwn th arth and th mul which [was] undr him passd on. 2Samul 18:9 Absalom [unxpctdly] mt up fac to fac with David s srvants whil Absalom was riding upon his mul [lit., th mul]. Th mul wnt undr th thick branchs of th grat oak so that his had was hld fast by th oak [branchs]. Consquntly, h was dlivrd up [to thm, hanging] btwn havn and arth whil th mul which [was] undr him kpt going. Absalom unxpctdly mt up with som of David s srvants whil Absalom was riding his mul. Th mul wnt undr som thick branchs of a grat oak tr so that Absalom s had was caught up in th branchs of th oak. Consquntly, h was dlivrd up thr to his nmis by God, suspndd btwn havn and arth, whil th mul undr him kpt on going. Hr is how othrs hav translatd this vrs: Ancint txts: Dad Sa Scrolls Latin Vulgat Masortic Txt (Hbrw) Pshitta (Syriac) Sptuagint (Grk) Significant diffrncs: a L [Absalom happnd on som of David s troops. As] h [4QSam LXX. Absalom MT LXX B ] [rod his mul, th mul wnt undr th thick branchs of a larg oak, a and his had got caught in th] oak and h hung [4QSam. Was stuck MT] [btwn th sky and th ground, whil th mul undr him continud on]. And it happnd that Absalom mt th srvants of David, riding on a mul: and as th mul wnt undr a thick and larg oak, his had stuck in th oak: and whil h hung btwn th havn and th arth, th mul on which h rod passd on. And so mts Absalom to facs of srvants of David and Absalom was riding upon th mul. And so gos th mul undr thick branchs of th oak th grat and so is hld fast his had in th oak. And so h was dlivrd up btwn th [two] havns and btwn th arth and th mul which [was] undr him passd on. And it happnd that Absalom mt th srvants of David. And Absalom was riding upon a mul, and th mul wnt undr th thick boughs of a grat oak, and Absalom s had caught fast in th grat oak, and h was hanging btwn th havn and th arth; and th mul that was undr him wnt away. And Absalom wnt to mt th srvants of David. And Absalom was mountd on his mul, and th mul cam undr th thick boughs of a grat oak; and his had was ntangld in th oak, and h was suspndd btwn havn and arth; and th mul passd on from undr him. Th Syriac sms to hav th vrb to b at th bginning of this vrs. Thr nd sms to b som disagrmnt on th 2 to th last vrb (bold in th MT abov), a th MT having th Hophal of to giv. To hang is found in th 4QSam. Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrass: Common English Bibl Contmporary English V. Absalom cam upon som of David's mn. Absalom was riding on a mul, and th mul wnt undr th tangld branchs of a larg oak tr. Absalom's had got caught in th tr. H was lft hanging in midair whil th mul undr him kpt on going. Absalom was riding his mul undr a hug tr whn his had caught in th branchs. Th mul ran off and lft Absalom hanging in midair. Som of David's soldirs happnd by,...

80 2Samul Easy English Easy-to-Rad Vrsion Good Nws Bibl (TEV) Th Mssag Nw Brkly Vrsion Nw Cntury Vrsion Nw Lif Bibl Nw Living Translation Th Voic Thn Absalom suddnly mt som of David's soldirs. Absalom was riding his royal *mul. Th *mul wnt undr th thick branchs of a larg oak (a typ of tr). Th branchs wnt into Absalom's hair and thy stayd thr. His *mul ran away. So Absalom was hanging in th air. It happnd that Absalom mt David s officrs. Absalom jumpd on his mul and trid to scap. Th mul wnt undr th branchs of a larg oak tr. Th branchs wr thick, and Absalom s had got caught in th tr. His mul ran out from undr him, so Absalom was hanging abov th ground [Litrally, "btwn havn and arth."]. Suddnly Absalom mt som of David's mn. Absalom was riding a mul, and as it wnt undr a larg oak tr, Absalom's had got caught in th branchs. Th mul ran on and Absalom was lft hanging in midair. Absalom ran into David's mn, but was out in front of thm riding his mul, whn th mul ran undr th branchs of a hug oak tr. Absalom's had was caught in th oak and h was lft dangling btwn havn and arth, th mul running right out from undr him. Now Absalom was confrontd unxpctdly by th srvants of David. H had bn riding his mul; but th mul had passd undr a ntwork of branchs of a larg tr, so that his had was caught in th tr and h was suspndd btwn havn and arth, whil th mul on which h had bn mountd trottd on. His luxurious locks wr caught in its branchs, or his had caught in a fork of th tr Absalom Dis Thn Absalom happnd to mt David's troops. As Absalom was riding his mul, it wnt undr th thick branchs of a larg oak tr. Absalom's had got caught in th tr, and his mul ran out from undr him. So Absalom was lft hanging abov th ground. Absalom mt th srvants of David. H was going on his hors, and th hors wnt undr th many branchs of a larg oak tr. Absalom's hair caught in th branchs of th oak. H was lft hanging btwn havn and arth, whil th hors undr him kpt going. During th battl, Absalom happnd to com upon som of David's mn. H trid to scap on his mul, but as h rod bnath th thick branchs of a grat tr, his hair [Hbrw his had.] got caught in th tr. His mul kpt going and lft him dangling in th air. Absalom himslf ncountrd David's forcs, and as h was riding away on his mul, th animal took him into th thick ovrhanging branchs of a hug oak tr. Thr his hair was caught, and h dangld btwn th sky and arth as his mul fld from undrnath him. Partially litral and partially paraphrasd translations: Amrican English Bibl Christian Community Bibl Nw Advnt (Knox) Bibl Thn David's mn caught up with AbSalom, who was riding his mul. And as th mul took off into a dns thickt, his had got caught in th branchs of an oak tr, and h hung thr btwn th sky and th ground, bcaus th mul took off and lft him hanging thr. Absalom was riding a mul and happnd to mt th guards of David. As th mul passd undr th thick branchs of a big oak tr, his had was caught in th oak tr and h was lft hanging btwn havn and arth, whil th mul h was riding wnt its way. Som of David's mn ncountrd Absalom himslf, riding on a mul; and away th mul wnt, undr th tangld branchs of a grat oak, which caught him by th had and kpt him hanging thr btwn arth and sky, whil th bast that carrid him prssd on.

81 6999 Th Book of Samul Nw Amrican Bibl Nw Amrican Bibl (R.E.) NIRV Nw Jrusalm Bibl Nw Simplifid Bibl Rvisd English Bibl Today s NIV Absalom happnd to gt in front of som of David s mn. Absalom was riding on a mul, and th mul wnt undr th tangld branchs of a larg tr, and his had was caught in th tr, and so h was suspndd [Grk; suspndd; omittd in Hbrw] btwn havn and arth whn th mul that was undr him ran away. Dath of Absalom. Absalom unxpctdly cam up against David's srvants. H was mountd on a mul, and, as th mul passd undr th branchs of a larg oak tr, his hair caught fast in th tr. H hung btwn havn and arth whil th mul undr him kpt going. Absalom happnd to com across som of David's mn. H was riding his mul. Th mul wnt undr th thick branchs of a larg oak tr. Absalom's had got caught in th tr. H was lft hanging in th air. Th mul h was riding kpt on going. Absalom happnd to run into som of David's guards. Absalom was riding his mul and th mul passd undr th thick branchs of a grat oak. Absalom's had got caught in th oak and h was lft hanging btwn havn and arth, whil th mul h was riding wnt on. Absalom happnd to com fac to fac with som of David s mn. H was riding on a mul. Th mul wnt undr th tangld branchs of a larg tr. Absalom s had bcam caught in th tr. H was lft hanging in midair whn th mul undr him ran away. Som of David s mn caught sight of Absalom; h was riding his mul and, as it passd bnath a larg oak, his had was caught in its boughs; h was lft in midair, whil th mul wnt on from undr him. Now Absalom happnd to mt David's mn. H was riding his mul, and as th mul wnt undr th thick branchs of a larg oak, Absalom's hair got caught in th tr. H was lft hanging in midair, whil th mul h was riding kpt on going. Mostly litral rndrings (with som occasional paraphrasing): Ancint Roots Translinar Bibl in Basic English Th Expandd Bibl Frar-Fnton Bibl NET Bibl Nw Hart English Bibl Absalom visitd in front of th srvants of David: Absalom rod ovr a mul, and th mul cam tangld undr a grat trbinth-tr. Th trbinth-tr fortifid on his had, giving him btwn th havn and th land. Th mul undr him passd on. And Absalom cam across som of David's mn. And Absalom was satd on his mul, and th mul wnt undr th thick branchs of a grat tr, and his had bcam fixd in th tr and h was liftd up btwn arth and havn, and th bast undr him wnt on. Absalom Dis L Thn Absalom happnd to mt [run into; com upon] David's troops [ srvants]. As Absalom was riding his mul, it wnt undr th thick branchs of a larg oak tr. Absalom's had got caught in th tr, and his mul ran out from undr him. L So Absalom was lft hanging abov th ground [ btwn havn and arth]. Absalom also fld bfor th srvants of David. Absalom was mountd on a mul, and th mul ran undr th boughs of a grat oak-tr, and his had was caught in th oak, so h hung btwn th sky and th arth. But th mul that was undr him passd on. Thn Absalom happnd to com across David's mn. Now as Absalom was riding on his [Hb "th."] mul, it [Hb "th donky."] wnt undr th branchs of a larg oak tr. His had got caught in th oak and h was suspndd in midair [Hb "btwn th sky and th ground."], whil th mul h had bn riding kpt going. Absalom happnd to mt th srvants of David. Absalom was riding on his mul, and th mul wnt undr th thick boughs of a grat oak, and his had caught hold

82 2Samul NIV UK of th oak, and h was takn up btwn th sky and arth; and th mul that was undr him wnt on. Now Absalom happnd to mt David's mn. H was riding his mul, and as th mul wnt undr th thick branchs of a larg oak, Absalom's hair got caught in th tr. H was lft hanging in mid-air, whil th mul h was riding kpt on going. Jwish/Hbrw Nams Bibls: Complt Jwish Bibl xgss companion Bibl JPS (Tanakh 1985) Orthodox Jwish Bibl Avshalom happnd to mt som of David's srvants. Avshalom was riding his mul, and as th mul walkd undr th thick branchs of a big trbinth tr, his had got caught in th trbinth, so that h was lft hanging btwn arth and sky, as th mul wnt on from undr him. THE DEATH OF ABI SHALOM And Abi Shalom facs th srvants of David: and Abi Shalom rids on a mul; and th mul gos undr th thickt of a grat oak; and th oak holds his had givn btwn th havns and btwn th arth; and th mul undr him passs on. Absalom ncountrd som of David s followrs. Absalom was riding on a mul, and as th mul passd undr th tangld branchs of a grat trbinth, his hair got caught in th trbinth; h was hld [Maning of Hbrw uncrtain. Ancint a vrsions and 4QSam rad was lft hanging. ] btwn havn and arth as th mul undr him kpt going. And Avshalom mt th avadim of Dovid. And Avshalom rod upon a prd (mul), and th prd wnt undr th thick boughs of a grat oak, and his rosh (had) caught hold of lah (tr, oak), and h was suspndd btwn HaShomayim and ha'artz; th prd undr him wnt on. Litral, almost word-for-word, rndrings: Th Amplifid Bibl Concordant Litral Vrsion A Consrvativ Vrsion Darby Translation English Standard Vrsion Grn s Litral Translation Thn Absalom [unavoidably] mt th srvants of David. Absalom rod on a mul, and th mul wnt undr th thick boughs of a grat oak, and Absalom's had caught fast [in a fork] of th oak; and th mul undr him ran away, laving him hanging btwn th havns and th arth. And Absalom mts bfor th srvants of David, and Absalom is riding on th mul, and th mul coms in undr an ntangld bough of th grat oak, and his had taks hold on th oak, and h is placd btwn th havns and th arth, and th mul that [is] undr him has passd on. And Absalom chancd to mt th srvants of David. And Absalom was riding upon his mul, and th mul wnt undr th thick boughs of a grat oak, and his had caught hold of th oak. And h was takn up btwn sky and arth, and th mul that was undr him. And Absalom found himslf in th prsnc of David's srvants. And Absalom was riding upon a mul, and th mul wnt undr th thick boughs of th grat trbinth, and his had caught in th trbinth, and h was takn up btwn th havn and th arth; and th mul that was undr him wnt away. And Absalom happnd to mt th srvants of David. Absalom was riding on his mul, and th mul wnt undr th thick branchs of a grat oak, and his had caught fast in th oak, and h was suspndd btwn havn and arth, whil th mul that was undr him wnt on. And Absalom cam bfor David's srvants. And Absalom was riding on a mul, and th mul cam in undr th thick branchs of a grat oak. And his had caught

83 7001 Th Book of Samul NASB Nw RSV Syndin/Thim Third Millnnium Bibl World English Bibl Young s Updatd LT Th gist of this vrs: hold in th oak, and h was liftd up btwn th havns and th arth. And th mul undr him passd on. Now Absalom happnd to mt th srvants of David. For Absalom was riding on his mul, and th mul wnt undr th thick branchs of a grat oak. And his had caught fast in th oak, so h was lft hanging [Lit placd] btwn havn and arth, whil th mul that was undr him kpt going. Absalom happnd to mt th srvants of David. Absalom was riding on his mul, and th mul wnt undr th thick branchs of a grat oak. His had caught fast in th oak, and h was lft hanging [Gk Syr Tg: Hb was put] btwn havn and arth, whil th mul that was undr him wnt on. And Absalom {happnd to} mt th soldirs of David. And Absalom fld {in panic} on a {royal} mul, and th mul wnt undr th thick branchs of a larg oak tr, and his '{long hair on his} had' got caught in th {branchs of th} oak tr, {Absalom only wnt to a barbr onc a yar and his hair hr is vry long RBT says that long hair is usually th sign of a lack of rspct for authority} with th rsult that h was suspndd btwn havn and th arth {h was hanging by his hair caught in th branch of a tr} whil th mul h was riding 'kpt on going'/'road away without him'. {Not: A good military tactic is to snd out a rconnaissanc patrol bhind nmy lins to locat thir rsrv troops. Apparntly, Joab snt out such a patrol and thy ncountrd Absalom who flt sav nough to b riding alon and riding without a hlmt.}. And Absalom mt th srvants of David. And Absalom rod upon a mul, and th mul wnt undr th thick boughs of a grat oak; and his had caught hold of th oak, and h was takn up btwn th havn and th arth, and th mul that was undr him wnt away. Absalom happnd to mt th srvants of David. Absalom was riding on his mul, and th mul wnt undr th thick boughs of a grat oak, and his had caught hold of th oak, and h was takn up btwn th sky and arth; and th mul that was undr him wnt on. And Absalom mts bfor th srvants of David, and Absalom is riding on th mul, and th mul coms in undr an ntangld bough of th grat oak, and his had taks hold on th oak, and h is placd btwn th havns and th arth, and th mul that is undr him has passd on. Absalom, whil on a mul, has his had caught up in som thick branchs of a tr, just as h ncountrs David s guard. H rmains suspndd thr as his mul rids off. 2Samul 18:9a wa (or va) (åç) [pronouncd wah] and so, and thn, thn, and; so, that, yt, thrfor, consquntly; bcaus wâw conscutiv BDB #253 qârâ ( ÈøÈà) [pronouncd kaw-raw] to mt; to mt unxpctdly; to hav bn mt, to hav ncountrd rd 3 prson masculin singular, Niphal imprfct Strong s #7122 & #7125 BDB #896 Ãbîyshâlôwm (àâáäéùèìåéí) [pronouncd ub-shaw-lohm] my fathr is pac and is translitratd Absalom masculin singular propr noun Strong s #53 BDB #5

84 2Samul Samul 18:9a lâmd (ìà) [pronouncd l ] to, for, towards, in rgards to dirctional/rlational prposition BDB #510 pânîym (ôìèðäéí) [pronouncd paw- NEEM] fac, facs, countnanc; prsnc masculin plural construct (plural acts lik English singular) Strong s #6440 BDB #815 Togthr, thy man upon th fac of, bfor, bfor th fac of, in th prsnc of, in th sight of, in front of. Whn usd with God, it can tak on th mor figurativ maning in th judgmnt of. This can also man forwards; th front part [or, th dg of a sword]. L pânîym (ìàôìèðäéí) can tak on a tmporal sns as wll: bfor, of old, formrly, in th past, in past tims. bd (òæáæã) [pronouncd B ÌE -vd] slav, srvant; undrling; subjct masculin plural construct Strong s #5650 BDB #713 Dâvid (ãìèåäã); also Dâvîyd (ãìèåäéã) [pronouncd daw- VEED] blovd and is translitratd David masculin propr noun Strong s #1732 BDB #187 Translation: Absalom [unxpctdly] mt up fac to fac with David s srvants... Th vrb usd hr is gnrally undrstood to b in th passiv, but thr is also th ida hr of this mting bing unxpctd. Absalom has not rally bn in an all-out war bfor, and, as w hav sn, h tnds not to gt his own hands dirty (h had his srvants kill his half-brothr Amnon). So h was not looking for a confrontation. H might hav bn a bit confusd by th horror and chaos of warfar. Howvr, all of a suddn, thr is Absalom and thr ar som of 41 David s soldirs. My guss is, Absalom s soldirs wr gtting bat, thy rtratd, and Absalom was ssntially just lft thr, to fnd for himslf. H was probably trying to scap himslf. Howvr, how do you scap from a forst that is working against you and you ar so compltly turnd around anyway bcaus of th war? 42 R. B. Thim, Jr. suggsts that Joab has snt out a rconnaissanc patrol bhind nmy lins to locat thir rsrv troops (or to dtrmin th position takn by th nmy). Joab s patrol apparntly ncountrd Absalom who flt sav nough to b riding alon and riding without a hlmt. My guss is, not having bn in a war bfor, and not having his troops rally organizd, Absalom nding up alon riding his mul mor as a rsult of th chaos of war, and th lack of training of his own troops, who should hav had a primtr guard around him. For whatvr rason th rality of th battl movd to clos to Absalom h appars to b off on his own, on a mul, trying to b inconspicuous. What appars to b th cas is, Absalom ss th soldirs, but thy do not s him at first. H may hav th ida to surrptitiously rid out of thr. 41 Th Pulpit Commntary paints a mor hroic pictur of Absalom in Th Pulpit Commntary; ; by Josph S. Exll, Hnry Donald Mauric Spnc-Jons, courtsy of -sword, 2Sam. 18:9. Howvr, basd upon th txt I hav found, I bli this dscription is mor apt. 42 From accssd July 19, 2013.

85 7003 Th Book of Samul 2Samul 18:9b w (or v ) (åà or åì) [pronouncd wh] and; vn; in particular, namly; whn, whil; sinc, sing, though; so, thn, thrfor; or, but yt; who, which; or; that, in that; with; also, in addition to, at th sam tim simpl wâw conjunction BDB #251 Ãbîyshâlôwm (àâáäéùèìåéí) [pronouncd ub-shaw-lohm] my fathr is pac and is translitratd Absalom masculin singular propr noun Strong s #53 BDB #5 râkab (øèëçá) [pronouncd B is riding Qal activ participl raw-kah V] Strong s #7392 BDB #938 al (òçì) [pronouncd ìahl] upon, byond, on, against, abov, ovr, by, bsid prposition of proximity Strong s #5921 BDB #752 prd (ôìæøæã) [pronouncd PEH-rd] mul masculin singular noun with th dfinit articl Strong s #6505 BDB #825 Translation:...whil Absalom was riding upon his mul [lit., th mul]. It was routin for royalty to rid muls. Absalom appars to b in a fairly wll-hiddn plac, whil h rids around during this war. It dos not appar as if h is prsonally doing battl with anyon. Rcall that, although Absalom has ordrd th dath of his halfbrothr, h has not prsonally killd anyon, insofar as w know; nor is thr any Biblical rcord of him having bn in military srvic. It is as if h blivs that th actions of th king in war ar things h can fak; and what is happning in rality is not xactly what h xpctd. 2Samul 18:9c wa (or va) (åç) [pronouncd wah] and so, and thn, thn, and; so, that, yt, thrfor, consquntly; bcaus wâw conscutiv BDB #253 bôw (áìåéà) [pronouncd boh] to com in, to com, to go in, to go, to ntr, to advanc rd 3 prson masculin singular, Qal imprfct Strong s #935 BDB #97 prd (ôìæøæã) [pronouncd PEH-rd] mul masculin singular noun with th dfinit articl Strong s #6505 BDB #825 tachath (úìçççú) [pronouncd TAHkhahth] undrnath, blow, undr, bnath; instad of, in liu of; in th plac [in which on stands]; in xchang for; on th basis of prposition of location or foundation Strong s #8478 BDB #1065 sôwbk ( ùòåéáæ) [pronouncd SOH-bhk] thick branchs, ntangld branchs, a ntwork [of boughs] masculin singular construct Strong s #7730 BDB #959

86 2Samul Samul 18:9c êlâh (àåìèä) [pronouncd â-law] oak, trbinth; tr fminin singular noun with th dfinit articl Strong s #424 BDB #18 gâdôwl (âìèãåéì) [pronouncd gaw-dohl] larg, grat or mighty [in powr, nobility, walth; in numbr, or magnitud and xtnt], loud, oldr, important, distinguishd; vast, unyilding, immutabl, significant, astonishing fminin singular adjctiv with th dfinit articl Strong s #1419 BDB #152 Translation: Th mul wnt undr th thick branchs of th grat oak... Now, ithr th mul is spookd or Absalom is a bit spookd, so it appars as though h tris to rid off. Thr is nothing to indicat that h was charging David s soldirs. As mntiond, it dos not appar as if David s soldirs s Absalom quit yt, but Absalom surly ss thm, and h is a bit panickd as h gts his mul to mov. Absalom has not rally bn in a situation lik this bfor. H dos not appar to hav any protction around him if h dos, thy ar not mntiond. So Absalom appars to b making a run for it. Howvr, vrywhr, th forst is ovrgrown and thick with foliag (much of Palstin was probably lik this), and th mul gos undr th branchs of a hug oak tr. What is suggstd hr is, th mul dos this on his own. As if God is involvd somhow, guiding this mul. Absalom sms to b an appndag to this mul. 2Samul 18:9d wa (or va) (åç) [pronouncd wah] and so, and thn, thn, and; so, that, yt, thrfor, consquntly; bcaus wâw conscutiv BDB #253 châzaq (çèæç ) [pronouncd khaw- ZAHK] to ti up, to bind; to hold fast, to adhr to, to b stuck to; to b strong, to b firm, to incras in prosprity, to strngthn rd 3 prson masculin singular, Qal imprfct Strong s #2388 BDB #304 rô sh (øéàù or øéàæù) [pronouncd rohsh] had [of a man, city, stat, nation, plac, family, prist], top [of a mountain]; chif, princ, officr; front, choicst, bst; hight [of stars]; sum masculin singular noun rd with th 3 prson masculin singular suffix Strong's #7218 BDB #910 h b (áìà) [pronouncd b ] in, into, at, by, nar, on, with, bfor, against, by mans of, among, within a prposition of proximity BDB #88 êlâh (àåìèä) [pronouncd â-law] oak, trbinth; tr fminin singular noun with th dfinit articl Strong s #424 BDB #18

87 7005 Th Book of Samul Translation:...so that his had was hld fast by th oak [branchs]. Absalom, if you will rcall, has all kinds of hair a hug amount of hair which h kps vry long, and it distinguishs him from vryon ls (2Sam. 14:25 26). In a tim whn thr wr no nwspaprs and Popl Magazin was not yt in circulation in this part of th world, Absalom was known by dscription, and mn who thn saw him rcognizd him by his dscription. Prsonally, givn th hair, I think of Phil Spctor, xcpt that Absalom is a vry handsom young man who looks lik a young David with vry long and thick hair. So many popl, basd upon this dscription, would b abl to pick Absalom out of a crowd. Th pictur is Absalom Hanging on th Oak Tr. Illustration for Th Old Tstamnt - Part II (Brunoff, 1904), takn from Psalmbird.nt. I rightly assumd that this incidnt would hav inspird a numbr of artists ovr th cnturis. I am surprisd that most of th graphics I saw wr disappointing, including this on. Is that a mul? And th forst dos not appar to b vry thick. Howvr, Absalom s thick rd hair is probably rasonably rndrd hr (if indd it is rd). Som discussion is mad of Absalom waring a hlmt or not. W rally do not know for crtain, but it is my guss, givn his unfamiliarity with warfar, that Absalom probably chos no hlmt so that h might b known far and wid to his soldirs. Clarly, h did not xpct for his army to b routd. Wsly rmarks at this point: [Absalom was] probably ntangld by th hair of th had, which bing vry long and thick, might asily catch hold of a bough, spcially whn th grat God dirctd it. Eithr h wor no hlmt, or h had thrown it away as wll as his othr arms, to hastn his flight. Thus 43 th mattr of his prid was th instrumnt of his ruin. This givs a good dscription particularly th final sntnc, which, in many ways, dscribs Absalom s lif. Absalom is probably not hanging by his had alon, but his ntir uppr body is probably caught up in ths thick branchs, but it is likly his hair that is th most tangld up. H cannot simply xtricat himslf bcaus of his full had of hippy hair. Th illustrations just do not do this justic. It is as if God is srving Absalom up on a silvr plattr for David s soldirs. 2Samul 18:9 wa (or va) (åç) [pronouncd wah] and so, and thn, thn, and; so, that, yt, thrfor, consquntly; bcaus wâw conscutiv BDB #253 nâthan (ðèúçï) [pronouncd naw-thahn] to b givn, b bstowd, b givn up, b dlivrd up; to b put upon rd 3 prson masculin singular, Hophal imprfct Strong's #5414 BDB # John Wsly; Explanatory Nots on th Whol Bibl; courtsy of -sword, 2Sam. 18:9 (slightly ditd).