Synopsis of the Chapter
Joab, through the fair-speaking of the woman of Tekoa, reconciles Absalom to David, but so that David does not admit him to his presence. Then, verse 25, the beauty, hair, offspring of Absalom are described, as well as his burning of Joab's fields; stirred by which Joab arranges for him to be admitted to David's kiss.
Verse 1: The King's Heart Turned Toward Absalom ¶
1. THE KING'S HEART WAS TURNED TOWARD ABSALOM -- both because he was the third son born to him, and therefore almost next in line to succeed him in the kingdom; and because he was handsome and of royal appearance; and because he had had a just occasion for the killing, namely the violation committed against his sister, whose chastity he had championed. For this was considered by all as a matter of great praise, and regarded as a heroic deed. Whence the Gentiles celebrate Lucretia, who, having been violated by force by Sextus Tarquinius, son of King Tarquinius Superbus, stabbed herself from grief and love of chastity.
Verse 2: The Wise Woman of Tekoa ¶
2. HE SENT TO TEKOA, AND BROUGHT FROM THERE A WISE WOMAN. -- Tekoa was a city situated on a mountain, abounding in very rich pastures, six miles from Bethlehem, nine from Jerusalem. So St. Jerome, Adrichomius, and others.
6. YOUR HANDMAID HAD TWO SONS WHO QUARRELED, etc. -- The Hebrews, and from them Rabanus and Angelomus, consider this not to be a fable but a true history.
Verse 7: The Spark That Remains ¶
7. AND THEY SEEK TO EXTINGUISH MY SPARK WHICH IS LEFT -- that is, my only son who is left to me, to be the spark by which I may rekindle, restore, and propagate the nearly extinguished family of myself and my husband. For just as when a fire is consumed, embers and sparks are left under the ashes, from which the fire can be rekindled; so when all other sons are destroyed, the last one remains, as a spark from which the family line may be raised up, and its name and memory preserved.
Verse 8: David's Judgment ¶
8. GO TO YOUR HOUSE, AND I WILL GIVE ORDERS CONCERNING YOU -- that is to say, I will see to it that your son is preserved. You may ask whether this judgment of David was just, because the law of God commanded that a murderer be killed. I answer: The law commanded the killing of a public murderer, whose murder could be publicly proved in court by witnesses. For the law of Deuteronomy XVII, 6, commands that no one be killed unless convicted by two witnesses. But this was a secret fratricide, at which no witness had been present. So Vatablus.
Verse 14: We All Die Like Waters ¶
14. WE ALL DIE, AND LIKE WATERS WE SLIP AWAY INTO THE EARTH, WHICH DO NOT RETURN. -- This is the second argument of the Tekoite woman, that David should grant pardon to Absalom: Human life is transient and fleeting; even if Amnon had not been killed, he would equally have had to die shortly.
NOR DOES GOD WILL THAT A SOUL SHOULD PERISH. -- This is the third argument drawn from the imitation of God's mercy, which often at the prayers of sinners, or of saints praying for sinners, mitigates or revokes the sentence of death pronounced against them.
FOR AS THE ANGEL OF GOD, SO IS MY LORD THE KING, THAT HE IS MOVED NEITHER BY BLESSING NOR BY CURSE. -- The Tekoite woman by flattery seeks to win David's goodwill, as if to say: Your kindness, O king, like an Angel hears all things calmly, both bad and good, and judges sincerely about all things.
Verse 19: The Hand of Joab ¶
19. IS NOT THE HAND OF JOAB WITH YOU? -- that is to say, Is it not by the work and direction of Joab that you do and say all these things?
NEITHER TO THE LEFT NOR TO THE RIGHT -- that is to say, It is nothing other than what you have most shrewdly detected, namely that I do all these things at the instigation of Joab.
Verse 21: Absalom's Recall ¶
21. BEHOLD, I HAVE BEEN APPEASED AND GRANTED YOUR REQUEST -- to spare Absalom and recall him from exile. You may ask whether David sinned by sparing Absalom the murderer. Cajetan responds that laws decree in general what is to be done commonly and regularly, but singular cases are left to the prudence of the Prince. There was danger that the grandfather, the king of Geshur, would aid Absalom, and wars would arise about succession to the kingdom among David's sons; which to avoid, David wisely spared Absalom.
Verse 25: The Beauty of Absalom ¶
25. NOW THERE WAS NOT A MAN AS BEAUTIFUL AS ABSALOM IN ALL ISRAEL. -- Scripture here mentions the beauty of Absalom incidentally, to indicate why he was acceptable and popular with everyone, and to tropologically indicate how vain all the goods of this life are, and how mixed with evils. For Absalom was most beautiful in body, but most dark in mind, and therefore fell into a most dreadful death.
26. HE WAS SHORN ONCE A YEAR, BECAUSE HIS HAIR WAS HEAVY UPON HIM. -- THE HAIR OF HIS HEAD WEIGHED TWO HUNDRED SHEKELS. -- A shekel was a coin weighing four drachmas, that is half an ounce: therefore two hundred shekels weighed one hundred ounces, which make eight pounds and four ounces.
Verse 27: Absalom's Children ¶
27. AND TO ABSALOM WERE BORN THREE SONS. -- All of these died before their father. Whence Absalom, chapter XVIII, verse 18, is said to have been without children. So Theodoret.
AND ONE DAUGHTER NAMED TAMAR, OF ELEGANT FORM. -- It is likely that this name was given her from Tamar, the aunt and sister of Absalom.
Verse 33: The King's Kiss ¶
32. AND ABSALOM ANSWERED JOAB: I SENT TO YOU ENTREATING YOU TO COME TO ME, THAT I MIGHT SEND YOU TO THE KING, AND YOU MIGHT SAY TO HIM: WHY DID I COME FROM GESHUR? IT WOULD HAVE BEEN BETTER FOR ME TO BE THERE STILL; I BESEECH YOU THEREFORE LET ME SEE THE FACE OF THE KING: AND IF HE REMEMBERS MY INIQUITY, LET HIM KILL ME. 33. Joab therefore went in to the king and told him everything; and Absalom was summoned and came in to the king, and bowed with his face to the ground before him; and the king kissed Absalom.