Ziba’s story
16
📚And when David had passed a little beyond the top of the mount, Ziba 📖, the servant of Mephibosheth, appeared, meeting him with a couple of donkeys. On them were two hundred loaves of bread and a hundred clusters of raisins and a hundred summer fruits and a wineskin of wine.2 📚And the king said to Ziba, “What do you mean by these?” And Ziba said, “The donkeys are for the king’s household to ride on, and the bread and summer fruit for the young men to eat, and the wine for those who become faint in the wilderness to drink”.
3 📚And the king said, “And where is your master’s son 📖?”
And Ziba said to the king, “See, he is staying in Jerusalem, for he said, ‘Today the house of Israel will restore the kingdom of my father to me’”.
4 📚Then the king said to Ziba, “See, all that belonged to Mephibosheth is yours”.
16:4 David was too quick to believe Ziba, and later changed this decision (2 Sam 19:29).⚜
And Ziba said, “I humbly bow. May I find grace in your sight, my lord, O king”.
Shimei curses David
5 📚And when King David came to Bahurim, suddenly a man of the family of the house of Saul came out, whose name was Shimei, the son of Gera. He came out, uttering curses as he came. 6 And he hurled stones at David, and at all the servants of King David. And all the people and all the mighty men were at his right hand and at his left.
7 📚And as Shimei cursed he said, “Get out! Get out! You man of blood, you wicked scoundrel! 8 📚The LORD has brought back onto you all the blood of the house of Saul 📖, in whose stead you have reigned, and the LORD has handed over the kingdom to the hands of your son Absalom. And, see, you are caught in your wickedness, because you are a man of blood”.
16:5-8 Evidently Shimei thought David was finished forever and wanted to give him a kick while he was down (2 Sam 19:16-23; 1 Kings 2:8-9, 44-46; Ex 22:28).⚜
9 📚Then Abishai, the son of Zeruiah, said to the king, “Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? Please let me go over and take off his head”.
10 📚And the king said, “What have I to do with you, you sons of Zeruiah? So let him curse, because the LORD has said to him, ‘Curse David.’ Who then will say, ‘Why have you done so?’ ”
11 📚And David said to Abishai, and to all his servants, “Look, my son, who came out of my body, is seeking my life. How much more now may this Benjamite do it? Leave him alone and let him curse, for the LORD has told him to do it.
16:11 David knew that though he was innocent in the matter of Saul’s household, he had shed the innocent blood of others (2 Sam 11:14-17; 2 Sam 12:9-10).⚜
12 📚It may be that the LORD will look on my suffering, and that the LORD will repay me with good for his cursing this day”.
13 📚And as David and his men proceeded on the road, Shimei went along on the hillside opposite him and uttered curses as he went, and hurled stones at him and threw dust. 14 And the king, and all the people who were with him, arrived at their stopping place exhausted, and they refreshed themselves there.
16:14 Sometime during his flight from Absalom, perhaps here, David wrote Psalm 3 and (probably) Psalm 63. Both psalms show David’s great confidence in God in a time of danger.⚜
Two advisors – Hushai and Ahithophel
15 📚And Absalom, and all the people, the men of Israel, came to Jerusalem, and Ahithophel was with him. 16 📚And this happened when Hushai the Archite, David’s friend, came to Absalom: Hushai said to Absalom, “God save the king! God save the king!”
17 📚And Absalom said to Hushai, “Is this your kindness to your friend? Why did you not go with your friend?”
18 📚And Hushai said to Absalom, “No; but I will belong to the one whom the LORD and this people and all the men of Israel choose, and I will stay with him. 19 📚And besides, whom should I serve? Should I not serve in the presence of his son? As I have served in your father’s presence, so I will be in your presence”.
16:17-19 Did Absalom suspect that Hushai’s heart was with David? Hushai’s answer evidently deceived him and put his mind at rest (2 Sam 15:34).⚜
20 📚Then Absalom said to Ahithophel, “Give your counsel. What shall we do?”
21 📚And Ahithophel said to Absalom, “Go in to your father’s concubines 📖, whom he left to keep the house, and all Israel will hear that you are abhorrent to your father. Then the hands of all who are with you will be strengthened”. 22 📚So they spread a tent for Absalom on the roof of the house, and Absalom went in to his father’s concubines in the sight of all Israel.
23 📚And the counsel of Ahithophel, which he gave in those days, was as if a man had inquired of the word of God. All the counsel of Ahithophel both with David and with Absalom was like that.