Outline of Chapter 15:

Introduction

         vv.     1–6           Absalom Lays the Groundwork for His Populist Revolution

         vv.     7–12         Absalom’s Revolt Begins in Hebron

         vv.    13–17         King David Leaves Jerusalem

         vv.    18–22         King David and His Immigrant Supporters

         vv.    23–29         David Sets up the High Priests to Head His Insurgency Network

         vv.    30–37         God Answers David’s Prayer

Addendum

Charts, Maps and Short Doctrines:

         Introduction         The Principals of 2Sam. 15

         Introduction         The Prequel of 2Samuel 15

         Introduction         The Abbreviated David Timeline

         Introduction         Syndein Notes from R. B. Thieme, Jr.’s Bible Class

         Introduction         A Synopsis of 2Samuel 15

         Introduction         Alternative Outline from Poole

         v.       3              A Summary of the Judicial Problems of the Davidic Court in Jerusalem

         v.       4              True Leadership Versus False Leadership

         v.       5              The Importance of 2Samual 14:33

         v.       6              Guzik on How Absalom Stole the Hearts of the Men of Israel

         v.       8              Why We Know Absalom is Lying

         v.       8              Map of Geshur, Aram

         v.      10              How Can Israel Support Absalom over David?

         v.      10              Guzik on How Israel Became Dissatisfied with David and Allowed Absalom to Steal Their Hearts

         v.      10              How is David a Good King?

         v.      10              How is Absalom Potentially a Lousy King?

         v.      12              The Doctrine of Revolution

         v.      12              The Absalom Revolution

         v.      12              The Citizens of Israel and the Revolution

         v.      13              Clarke’s Reasons Why the People’s Heart was with Absalom

         v.      14              David’s Retreat

         v.      14              God’s Plan for the Believer in National Disaster

         v.      14              Why David Retreats

         v.      14              Map of U.S. bases

         v.      18              Who are the Cherethites and the Pelethites?

         v.      18              2Samuel 15:18c Text from the Greek Septuagint

         v.      18              Side-by-Side Comparison of 2Samuel 15:18

         v.      19              Keil and Delitzsch Obsess over the Lâmed Preposition

         v.      20              2Samuel 15:20b Text from the Greek Septuagint

         v.      20              2Samuel 15:20e Text from the Greek Septuagint

         v.      20              Grace and Truth [= Bible doctrine] in the Bible

         v.      21              Guzik on Ittai’s Testimony of Loyalty

         v.      22              The Geographical Will of God

         v.      23              The Vocabulary of Insurgency and Counterinsurgency

         v.      23              Map of Jerusalem

         v.      23              Map of the Absalom Rebellion

         v.      24              Some Background on Zadok the Priest

         v.      24              The Doctrine of Abiathar—Part I

         v.      24              The Priests, the Ark and the Tabernacle

         v.      26              The Pulpit Commentary on David’s Attitude

         v.      27              Three Hebrew Words Denoting a Prophet

         v.      30              The Pulpit Commentary’s Order of Events

         v.      31              The Pulpit Commentary Lays Out David’s Prayer and How God Will Answer it

         v.      34              Comparing the Greek and Hebrew of 2Samuel 15:34

         v.      34              Commentators Who Don’t Like David’s Covert Warfare

         v.      34              David’s Greatness as a Man and as a King; Attested to by the Word of God

         v.      36              Military Intelligence

         v.      36              Hushai and David

         v.      36              Hushai, the Counterinsurgent

         v.      37              Hushai and Absalom

         Addendum          Josephus’ History of this Time

         Addendum          Edersheim Summarizes 2Samuel 15

         Addendum          A Complete Translation of 2Samuel 15

         Addendum          Acknowledgments

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Winston Churchill on clandestine warfare: "In wartime, truth is so precious that she should be attended by a bodyguard of lies." By the time that we complete this chapter, you will understand what Churchill was talking about.

From Lord Wolseley's "Soldier's Pocket-book" : "As a nation, we are brought up to feel it a disgrace to succeed by falsehood; the word 'spy' conveys in it something as repulsive as slave. We will keep hammering away with the conviction that honesty is the best policy, and that truth always wins in the long run. These pretty little sentences do well enough for a child's copybook, but the man who acts upon them in war had better sheathe his sword for ever."

Sun Tzu, “All war is deception.”

R. B. Thieme, Jr., “Who knew before Sun Tzu?”

2Sam. 15:31b Therefore, David prayed to God, saying, “Frustrate, O Jehovah, the counsel and advice of Ahithophel.”

2Sam. 17:14b For Y^ehowah had ordained [from eternity past] to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel [through the tactics of clandestine warfare], to the intent that He might bring evil on Absalom.

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An Introduction to 2Samuel 15

I ntroduction: 2Sam. 15 is an incredible chapter of Holy Writ. It covers two primary narratives: Absalom, David’s son, organizes a revolution against David; and David flees Jerusalem, and chooses to oppose the revolution from outside Judah. There are quite a number of topics covered in this chapter, including politics (with very modern-day applications) and the concept of clandestine warfare (also known as, when is it okay for the believer to lie?).

Like every portion of Scripture, this is the Word of God inspired by God the Holy Spirit. God expects us to learn from what is found here. There are things in this chapter found nowhere else in the Word of God. This, and the chapters which immediately follow, give us great insight into covert warfare.

This chapter continues the pressure that God puts upon David, but one could argue that, these are the natural results of what David has himself done. That is, God did not reach into the volition of half of Israel and make them rebel against David. David, by his actions, caused much of that.

You may wonder, after the previous chapters, why is David still getting beat up over his sins by God? What has happened throughout this period of a decade is (1) David is reaping what he sowed. The actions of his children were all a matter of his having too many wives and too many families to take care of, and, therefore, his children were raised, for all intents and purposes, by single mothers with financial support from the state. (2) God has to take David to a point where he will not fall into this same gate of sexual arrogance. David had become obsessed with his own personal sexual satisfaction, and it had gotten to a point where, he would literally do anything. It had become an addiction which took over his life. (3) David’s sexual arrogance has affected him in a number of areas. He is off his game judicially: he was too indulgent to the woman from Tekoa and he did not try Amnon or Absalom. He sons should have been dealt with judicially because they broke the law. Being a king’s son does not give anyone the right to break the law.

On the other hand, this appears to be one of the most productive times of David’s writing; he penned 6 or more psalms during this time period (possibly as many as (10), and likely recording the chapters we have been studying.

To warm you up to Absalom’s character, Clarke writes (I think he is quoting Calmet?): [Absalom] was a bold, violent, revengeful, haughty, enterprising, magnificent, eloquent, and popular prince; he was also rich, ambitious, and vain of his personal accomplishments: after the death of Amnon, and his reconciliation to his father, he saw no hindrance in his way to the throne. He despised Solomon because of the meanness of his birth, and his tender years. He was himself of the blood royal, not only by his father David, but also by his mother Maacah, daughter to Talmai, king of Geshur: and, doubtless, in his own apprehension, of sufficient age, authority, and wisdom, to sustain the weight of government. There was properly now no competitor in his way: Amnon, David’s first–born, was dead. Of Chileab, his second son by Abigail, we hear nothing; and Absalom was the third: see 2Sam. 3:2–5. He, therefore, seemed to stand nearest to the throne; but his sin was, that he sought it during his father’s life, and endeavored to dethrone him in order to sit in his stead.

Absalom, David’s son, is not a man who has any patience, and he will do what he believes is right, no matter who thinks differently. He is very much like his father David, but probably unregenerate and without interest in David’s Savior.

Application: We have Supreme Court justices who have, over the past 100 years, far overstepped the bounds of their authority, and have been making law for years now. Their belief is, if what they are ruling on has a right result, in their own estimation, then it does not matter to them how they come to that right result. That is, a particular law may say “X”, but if they believe that “not-X” is the proper outcome, and the righteous outcome, then they will rule “not-X.” Their proper role is to interpret the law in the light of the constitution, which is a relative short document. If a law passed by Congress and signed by the president is contrary to the constitution, they are to strike that law down, no matter how good it seems to them. The idea is—and this, I believe if the Fundamental mistake of Chief Justice John Roberts in this year 2012—no matter how good a law happens to be, there is a much lower threshold required for the passing of a law as opposed to the passing of a constitutional amendment. Therefore, if a law violates the constitution, that law must be struck down, requiring the Congress to re-submit this law under the stricter requirements of being a constitutional amendment, as the only thing which can override a constitutional amendment is a more recent constitutional amendment. All of this takes a great deal of time, and that was the intent of our founding fathers, so that arbitrary laws and philosophical directions are not determined by a set of very transitory leaders, whose rule is overthrown in subsequent elections.

Absalom believed that his approach to governing was superior to his father’s, and he believed that he was right in supplanting his father as ruler of the land. Governing always looks easier from the outside. We saw this from our 2008 election, where our current president, Barack Obama, essentially ran against the actions of policies of his predecessor, George W. Bush. On at least one occasions, Obama railed against the debt that Bush ran up; and on many occasions, he indicated great personal disdain for our prisoner-of-war camp at Guantanamo Bay (which is perhaps the most pleasant prisoner-of-war camp in the history of the world). When in office, President Obama could not control the debt; in fact, it skyrocketed under his management; and, although he signed orders to close Guantanamo Bay Prison, it remains open in this 4^th year of his presidency (I write this in the year of our Lord, 2012). Absalom’s approach will be, he will complain about Israel’s judicial system with his father as a judge of the land. This was a personal issue with Absalom, who was never subjected to a trial (nor was his degenerate brother, Amnon).

We have witnessed this transformation in his personality and direction in life, from being simply a concerned and loving brother, to finally overruling the law of the land by his own hand, believing himself to be right and David to be wrong. Absalom has now reached a point where he believes that it is right over violently overthrow the government of his own father.

Note how different this is from David’s attitude toward Saul, the king of Israel. David had two chances to kill Saul (1Sam. 24 26). Saul was at his mercy, David’s own men encouraged him to kill Saul, and yet he did not. Saul was the Lord’s anointed and David was not going to lift his hand against the Lord’s anointed. David did not have this overpowering lust to be king and to have authority over all Israel. So his judgment was not clouded at that point in time. David was willing to be on God’s timetable.

By rebelling against his father, Absalom fulfills the prophecy of 2Sam. 12:11a Thus says the LORD, “Behold, I will raise up evil against you out of your own house.” Actually, Absalom continues this evil, which was begun by Amnon.

In this chapter, Absalom is going to first attack David where he believes his father to be weakest: in his judicial decisions. David should have ruled in favor of the execution of Amnon, and he did not (which was a serious breech of David’s judicial responsibility). Even though David is wrong, that does not give Absalom the right to supercede David’s judgment.

Application: It is my own belief that Chief Justice John Roberts chose to uphold the Affordable Healthcare Law simply so that his court would not strike down a law based on a 5–4 ruling. However, even though I believe that he came to the wrong conclusion in this case, this does not mean I have any rights to try to remove Justice Roberts from the bench through illegal means. Along the same lines, there are a lot of Congressmen and our current President (I write this in 2012) that I think are making a mess of our country, but it is not my prerogative (or anyone else’s) to illegally remove them from office. This includes anything from voter fraud to assassination (which could include inaccurate character assassination). Wrong as these leaders may be, we must operate within our system of government to correct the problem, no matter how serious we perceive that problem to be.

Many believers are quite confused about warfare and what is allowed and what is not. Some believers understand that, killing in war is not just allowed, but expected of us when we are at war. In fact, the Christian ought to be the greatest killing machine in his unit.

However, another sticky theological point is spying; what can spies do? What can they say? Can a spy who is a believer lie to someone? This chapter and the 2Sam. 17 will answer these questions in the affirmative. Spying is a legitimate tactic in warfare, and lying as a spy is completely legitimate. Although these things can be reasonably confirmed in Joshua, when Rahab the prostitute allies herself with Joshua, this is even more clear in 2Sam. 15 and 17.

And, even though David ruled over Israel as a king, and Absalom attempted to depose him yet as a king, there are still many applications to our politics today. Since I write this in 2012, the applications within will often be from the past decade or so; but many times, the principles found in the Bible are timeless, and can be adjusted and applied to nearly any time period.

This is fallow ground that lay unplowed for centuries until R. B. Thieme, Jr. exegeted it in the 1970's and 1980's. Several pastors who have come out of his church have also taught it. Insofar as I know, this is the first time that this chapter is laid out clearly in great detail in written form.

As in all previous chapters of Samuel, the greater part of this exegesis was done independently of notes from R. B. Thieme, Jr.’s Bible classes. However, they were consulted in the end, just in case an important principles were left out. In other words, these are not Bob Thieme’s notes written out.

As a personal testimony, I cannot tell you just how wonderful it is to sit down with the Word of God and to dissect it. Every chapter seems to become more vibrant and alive to me, with greater and greater applications to real life. I only hope I can convey a portion of what a joy it is to me to be given the grace to examine these things as you see here.

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Absalom Lays the Groundwork for His Populist Revolution

Here is how others have translated this verse:

Ancient texts:                       Note: I compare the Hebrew text to English translations of the Latin, Syriac and Greek texts, using the Douay-Rheims translation ; George Lamsa’s translation, and Sir Lancelot Charles Lee Brenton’s translation as revised and edited by Paul W. Esposito, respectively. I often update these texts with non-substantive changes (e.g., you for thou, etc.). I often use the text of the Complete Apostles’ Bible instead of Brenton’s translation, because it updates the English text.

The Septuagint was the earliest known translation of a book (circa 200 b.c.). Since this translation was made before the textual criticism had been developed into a science and because different books appear to be translated by different men, the Greek translation can sometimes be very uneven.

When there are serious disparities between my translation and Brenton’s (or the text of the Complete Apostles’ Bible), I look at the Greek text of the Septuagint (the LXX) to see if a substantive difference actually exists (and I reflect these changes in the English rendering of the Greek text). I use the Greek LXX with Strong’s numbers and morphology available for e-sword. The only problem with this resource (which is a problem for similar resources) is, there is no way to further explore Greek verbs which are not found in the New Testament. Although I usually quote the Complete Apostles’ Bible here, I have begun to make changes in the translation when their translation conflicts with the Greek and note what those changes are.

The Masoretic text is the Hebrew text with all of the vowels (vowel points) inserted (the original Hebrew text lacked vowels). We take the Masoretic text to be the text closest to the original. However, differences between the Masoretic text and the Greek, Latin and Syriac are worth noting and, once in a great while, represent a more accurate text possessed by those other ancient translators.

In general, the Latin text is an outstanding translation from the Hebrew text into Latin and very trustworthy (I say this as a non-Catholic). Unfortunately, I do not read Latin—apart from some very obvious words—so I am dependent upon the English translation of the Latin (principally, the Douay-Rheims translation).

Underlined words indicate differences in the text.

Bracketed portions of the Dead Sea Scrolls are words, letters and phrases lost in the scroll due to various types of damage. Underlined words or phrases are those in the Dead Sea Scrolls but not in the Masoretic text.

Latin Vulgate                          Now after these things Absalom made himself chariots, and horsemen, and fifty men to run before him.

Masoretic Text (Hebrew)        And so he is from after then and so he makes for himself Absalom a chariot and horses and fifty a man running to his faces.

Peshitta (Syriac)                    AND after this, Absalom prepared for himself chariots and horsemen, and fifty men to run before him.

Septuagint (Greek)                And it came to pass after this that Absalom prepared for himself chariots and horses, and fifty men to run before him.

Brenton’s Septuagint             And it came to pass after this that Abessalom prepared for himself chariots and horses, and fifty men to run before him.

Significant differences:           Chariot is in the singular in the Hebrew; and apparently in the plural in the other languages (confirmed as plural in the Greek). The differences at the beginning of this verse and at the end are simply legitimate ways to translate the Hebrew.

Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrases:

Common English Bible           Absalom plots rebellion

Some time later, Absalom got a chariot and horses for his own use, along with fifty men to run ahead of him.

Contemporary English V.       Some time later, Absalom got himself a chariot with horses to pull it, and he had fifty men run in front.

Easy English (Pocock)           Absalom makes a secret plan against King David

After this, Absalom got a *chariot and some horses. He also got 50 men who ran ahead of him.

Easy-to-Read Version            After this, Absalom got a chariot [A small wagon used in war.] and horses for himself. He had 50 men run in front of him {while he drove the chariot}.

Good News Bible (TEV)         After this, Absalom provided a chariot and horses for himself, and an escort of fifty men.

The Message                         As time went on, Absalom took to riding in a horse-drawn chariot, with fifty men running in front of him.

New Century Version             Absalom Plans to Take David's Kingdom

After this, Absalom got a chariot and horses for himself and fifty men to run before him.

New Life Bible                                                    Absalom Becomes Friends With Men Of Israel

After this, Absalom got a warwagon and horses, and fifty men to run in front of him.

New Living Translation           Absalom's Rebellion

After this, Absalom bought a chariot and horses, and he hired fifty bodyguards to run ahead of him.

Partially literal and partially paraphrased translations:

American English Bible          Well, thereafter, AbSalom obtained some chariots and horsemen, and he recruited fifty men to run in front of him.

God’s Word™                         Soon after this, Absalom acquired a chariot, horses, and 50 men to run ahead of him.

New American Bible              Absalom's Ambition.

After this, Absalom provided himself with chariots, horses, and a retinue of fifty. 1Sam. 8:11 1Kings 1:5.

NIRV                                      Absalom Makes Secret Plans Against David

Some time later, Absalom got a chariot and horses for himself. He also got 50 men to run in front of him.

New Jerusalem Bible             After this, Absalom procured a chariot and horses, with fifty men to run ahead of him.

New Simplified Bible              Absalom provided a chariot and horses for himself. He had an escort of fifty men to run ahead of him.

Revised English Bible            After this Absalom provided himself with a chariot and horses and fifty outrunners.

Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

Ancient Roots Translinear      So afterwards, Absalom was making a chariot with horses for fifty men to run in front of him.

Bible in Basic English             Now after this, Absalom got for himself a carriage and horses, and fifty runners to go before him.

Judaica Press Complete T.    And it came to pass after this, that Absalom made for himself a chariot and horses, and fifty men were running before him.

NET Bible®                             Absalom Leads an Insurrection against David

Some time later Absalom managed to acquire [Heb "acquired for himself."] a chariot and horses, as well as fifty men to serve as his royal guard [Heb "to run ahead of him."]. When it comes to making an actual material change to the text, the NET Bible® is pretty good about indicating this. Since most of these corrections will be clear in the more literal translations below and within the Hebrew exegesis itself, I will not continue to list every NET Bible® footnote.

NIV – UK                                Absalom's conspiracy

In the course of time, Absalom provided himself with a chariot and horses and with fifty men to run ahead of him.

Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

Concordant Literal Version    And it comes to pass afterwards, that Absalom prepares for himself a chariot, and horses, and fifty men are running before him;...

English Standard Version      After this Absalom got himself a chariot and horses, and fifty men to run before him.

exeGeses companion Bible   THE CONSPIRACY OF ABI SHALOM

And so be it, afterward,

Abi Shalom works him chariots and horses

and fifty men to run at his face:...

The Geneva Bible                  And it came to pass after this, that Absalom prepared him chariots and horses, and fifty men to [Which were as a guard to set forth his estate.] run before him.

Hebrew Names Version         It happened after this, that Avshalom prepared him a chariot and horses, and fifty men to run before him.

LTHB                                     And it happened afterward that Absalom prepared a chariot for himself, and horses, and fifty men running before him.

New King James Version       Absalom's Treason

After this it happened that Absalom provided himself with chariots and horses, and fifty men to run before him.

Syndein/Thieme                     {Verses 1-12: Conspiracy of Absalom}

{Verses 1-4: Absalom Undermines David's Authority}

And it came to pass after this {after David's public display of 'forgiving' Absalom - people take it as David's 'approval' of Absalom making him the 'heir apparent' - so Absalom can use 'pseudo- authority' to overthrow true authority}, that Absalom prepared him 'a chariot of state' and horses . . . {merkabah - special chariot here capitalizing on David's public act of forgiveness - giving impression that Absalom is heir apparent} and fifty men 'acting as couriers' {idiom: literally: 'to run before him'}. {carrying the message of the blooming revolution}.

World English Bible                It happened after this, that Absalom prepared him a chariot and horses, and fifty men to run before him.

Young’s Updated LT             And it comes to pass afterwards, that Absalom prepares for himself a chariot, and horses, and fifty men are running before him.

The gist of this verse:          Absalom begins the act the part of a king, to his own way of thinking, by getting a chariot, horses and 50 men to run before him.

Translation: And so it is after this [lit., thus]... In the preface, the exact details of what has occurred has already been discussed. However, Absalom, the king’s son, has developed somewhat of a criminal streak. He has decided that, if he has a plan, that he is going to carry it out, whether it is legitimate or not. So, he has lived in Jerusalem for two years now, without his father prosecuting him for killing his half-brother Amnon, and he and his father David have met and come together as father and son, where all is forgiven, but where there has been no actual application of justice.

We do not know how much time has passed; we do not know exactly what responsibilities that Absalom has; and we do not know what sort of access he has to cash as one of the king’s many sons. However, he is the king’s #1 son at this point, and a man who seems to be very much like his father, at least in the most superficial ways.

Translation: ...that Absalom acquires for himself a chariot and horses... Absalom is David’s third son (2Sam. 3:2–3), who appears to be the most politically motivated of all David’s sons. He wants power and he wants it now, as this chapter will make clear. When speaking of him personally, the Bible emphasizes his flawless physical appearance (2Sam. 14:25). Nowhere does the Bible speak of his fine character or of his devotion to the God of Israel.

Absalom has observed his father and he has observed his grandfather, so he does the things which make him appear to be a ruler of men.

When Barack Obama first won his party’s nomination and later the presidency, all along the way, he did things to make himself seem as though he was a president. On the podium in front of him, he had an official sign saying, “Office of the President Elect.” Now there is no such office as the “office of President Elect.” But it looked official and made it seem as though he is an important government official of sorts. He was attempting to act the part of a president, back in November 2008 before he took office, the idea being, he could do official stuff as president elect, despite the fact that this was considered by some to be illegal.

This is what Absalom is doing. He is making himself out to appear to be a king. He is making it seem as though he is royalty, that he is the natural successor to David, and that, perhaps, he is sort of the unofficial king. He occupied the “Office of the King-in-Waiting.” Or, if you would rather, “The Crown Prince” (a title we are more familiar with).

Barnes confirms this: [Absalom does this] to make himself look grand and respectable among the people; perhaps he got these from his grandfather at Geshur in Syria.

First thing that he needed was a chariot. The verb says that Absalom made a chariot, and that is a possibility. After all, we do not know what sort of skills Absalom acquired over the years. He did not seem to be a lazy layabout like his half-brother Amnon, but he seemed as though he was more the sort of guy who wanted to appear to be king because he wanted to be king, not because he was the king.

The verb suggests that it is possible that Absalom made this chariot. However, the verb can also mean to acquire, and Absalom also acquired horses, apparently to power the chariot. Interestingly enough, Moses warned against a king acquiring too many horses (Deut. 17:16). The idea was, a king should not use his office in order to simply collect wealth (which is one of Solomon’s great failings ). Samuel warned against the same thing in 1Sam. 8:11 (“These will be the ways of the king who will reign over you: he will take your sons and appoint them to his chariots and to be his horsemen and to run before his chariots.”). Part of the reason for such a warning is, the king of Israel was a kind of Christ, and God wanted our Lord to be seen not only as king, but as a meek and humble man, as Jesus gave up His place as God to dwell among us (John 1:1–3, 14 Philip. 2:8).

This is the first instance that we are aware of, where a member of royalty put on such a show.

Translation: ...and fifty men running before him. Here is the place which caused me to wonder about Absalom’s cash flow, because he apparently hires 50 men to run in front of him, so that, everywhere he goes, in this chariot, Absalom appears to be royalty, with a staff of 50 men at his beck and call at any instant. These men also functioned as his bodyguards, because the most important thing to Absalom, besides looking like a king, was his own personal safety.

It is possible that these men look at being with Absalom as being on the inside track. That is, when Absalom takes over the kingship, then these men will all get federal jobs. So, they might be working for slave wages or for nothing. The idea is, their investment in time will pay off in the long run.

And it happens after all of this that Absalom acquired a chariot and horses and fifty men to run before him. Prior to his meeting, Absalom could not have done this. As a man cut off from King David, Absalom could not act like the king’s son; or like a king-in-waiting. The final scene of 2Sam. 14 is key to what Absalom is able to do right here. David kissed him and forgave him in open court, so to speak. Absalom is no longer the king’s estranged son, but the son that the king loves. Therefore, Absalom can get a chariot and horses and 50 men. David himself sees Absalom as probably the next king, so all of this entourage stuff is fine to him, the indulgent father. More will be said about this once we get to v. 5.

And it happens after all of this that Absalom acquired a chariot and horses and fifty men to run before him. Such an entourage for kings and political leaders were common in ancient history as well as modern history. Nero the Roman emperor never went on a journey with less than a thousand calashes or chariots, and a great number of men that ran before him. When Adonijah wants to assume David’s kingship when David is an old man, he will do much the same thing (1Kings 1:5).

Samuel, Paul, and Elijah, among many others, traveled by foot, often with just the barest of necessities.

Application: This does not mean that a believer cannot enjoy some opulence to some degree; nor does it mean that a believer must always travel 3^rd class. There are many pastors like Joel Osteen and Rick Warren who are well-known, and I assume travel with a small entourage, if for nothing else but protection. I don’t know this about these men, but if they traveled with bodyguards, or in first-class seating, that would be no reason to disparage them. All believers have various duties and various stations in life; and they must do what is appropriate to their own notoriety.

However, what Absalom is doing here is putting on a show. He is making it seem as if he is the heir apparent, when he is not. Furthermore, as we will continue to observe, Absalom has absolutely no spiritual dynamics. It is possible that he is not even a believer in Y^ehowah Elohim.

Application: If you are the average believer with an average salary, do not disparage or covet the possessions or manner in which another believer travels. It is not up to you to judge them. It is not up to you to determine whether their level of opulence is acceptable to God. I don’t care if they have a diamond ring on every finger and drive the most expensive car on this planet. Before their own master, God, they stand or fall. If you work up some mental attitude sins over it, then you need to confess those sins and move right along. It does not matter if you live in a cardboard box and they live in the biggest mansion in their state; what they make and what they do with their money is a matter of their own personal freedom. If they are out of bounds, God is fully capable of dealing with that. However, it is NEVER your job to pass judgment on another believer (unless that is your responsibility in your vocation or in some other legitimate manner of evaluating a person, e.g., on a job, mortgage, loan or rental application). To be more specific, if you are a mortgage officer and Rick Warren is applying for a loan, you evaluate him as you would anyone else. You do not deny him a loan because you think he is too rich already; nor do you give him a loan simply because he is a Christian. In a private bank, and if you have the authority to do so, and you want to take his status as a believer into account, that is fine; but his credit record ought to back it up. However, if you are a believer without that sort of connection to Warren, then it is none of your business how he lives, how much money he makes, what he eats, etc. He lives his life before God; and you should respect that.

Remember that several believers in the Bible were wealthy: Abraham, David and Solomon immediately come to mind. God did not come to them, like some phony liberal, and tell them to sell all they had and give that money to the poor. At no time did God tell them that they had too much money and they needed to redistribute it. So, similarly, it is none of your business what some other believer makes or how he spends his money. Before his own master, he stands or falls (Rom. 14:4).

Application: This is a tangent from the previous application, but not covered enough in most churches: as a believer in Jesus Christ, you ought to have the best damn credit you can have. If you have an unpaid bill, you should not be out buying new stuff without dealing with that bill first. As a believer in Jesus Christ, your credit should be impeccable, even if you owe someone money that you don’t like. You still fulfill your monetary obligations.

Our verse reads: And it happens after all of this that Absalom acquired a chariot and horses and fifty men to run before him. David let Absalom off the hook and he did not deal with his criminal case in a court of law, as he should have. However, Absalom is now clearly an adult, and, therefore, whether his upbringing was good or bad, he now stands on his own two feet. What he reveals in this chapter, beginning with this first verse, is a stunning lack of character, and this observation will continue through this and chapter 17, where he will die as a failure. What David did, on several occasions, was completely wrong. What Absalom should endeavor to do is to learn from what David did wrong.

Application: We have many people who influence us in our lives. Since I was a teacher, I thought about many good and bad teachers that I had in my past. I did my best to emulate what I believed to be the good points of the many great teachers I had, and to do the opposite of what my bad teachers did. When it comes to morality and character, we will observe the same things in our lives; and we need to be able to learn from both our good and bad influences.

Absalom had David, and David had many great qualities and many faults, and Absalom, as his son, probably knew most of them. What David did right, Absalom should have emulated and what David did wrong, Absalom should have avoided.

Application: Once we are adults, this is all on our shoulders. We do not get to blame our past and the lousy people in our past for the lousy things that we do.

And it happens after all of this that Absalom acquired a chariot and horses and fifty men to run before him. What does the Bible say about this approach? Do not put yourself forward in the king's presence or stand in the place of the great, for it is better to be told, "Come up here," than to be put lower in the presence of a noble (Prov. 25:6–7a). Or, Let another man praise you, and not your mouth; a stranger, and not your lips (Prov. 27:2). Absalom is trying to pretend that he holds some kind of office, but he doesn’t; and he will act as though he is going to make great and wonderful changes in the system, which he does not have the first clue as to what he is going to do. What did Jesus say? A modest approach is the order of the day: “When you are invited by anyone to a wedding, do not recline in the chief seat, lest a more honorable man than you may be invited by him. And he who invited you and him shall come and say to you, Give place to this man; and then you begin with shame to take the last place. But when you are invited, go and recline in the lowest place, so that when he who invited you comes, he may say to you, Friend, go up higher. Then glory shall be to you before those reclining with you. For whoever exalts himself shall be abased, and he who humbles himself shall be exalted.” (Luke 14:8–11). Or, as Peter wrote: For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they lure through the lusts of the flesh, by unbridled lust, the ones who were escaping from those who live in error; promising them liberty, they themselves are the slaves of corruption. For by whom anyone has been overcome, even to this one he has been enslaved (2Peter 2:18–19). As you will see in the next few verses, this describes Absalom to a t; he is just the person that these verses are saying, don’t be like that.

One of the things which I have pondered, to which the Bible does not directly speak is, what did David think about this? No doubt, David knows about and has probably seen Absalom moving about town, looking important, with his great entourage. My educated guess is, at the very worst, David was amused. However, it is not out of the realm of possibility that David thought that this was good training or a good approach to being king. Given David’s indulgence toward his own children, it is even possible that David admired Absalom’s initiative, even though this was empty, meaningless initiative. Since Absalom is his kid, David may not be looking carefully and thinking this over, wondering, “Just what is he trying to accomplish?” I think, maybe David was amused; but that he did not realize at all what Absalom was up to. If Absalom became king, he would be leading hundreds of men; so beginning with 50 men was a good start; so David might have thought (recall that David tended to be very indulgent to his sons). That Absalom might use this to try to displace him, probably never cross David’s mind.

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Here is how others have translated this verse:

Ancient texts:

Latin Vulgate                          And Absalom rising up early stood by the entrance of the gate, and when any man had business to come to the king’s judgment, Absalom called him to him, and said: Of what city are you? He answered, and said: Your servant is of such tribe of Israel.

Masoretic Text (Hebrew)        And so has risen early Absalom and has taken a stand upon a road of the gate and so is all the man who is to him a dispute to come unto the king for the judgment. And so calls Absalom to him and so he says, “Where from this one a city you?” And so he says, “From one of tribes of Israel, your servant.”

Peshitta (Syriac)                    And Absalom rose up early and stood beside the king's gate; and it was so that when any man had a case to be tried before the king, then Absalom called him to him, and said, Of what city are you? And he said, Your servant is of one of the tribes of Israel.

Septuagint (Greek)                And Absalom rose early, and stood by the side of the way of the gate. And it came to pass that every man who had a cause came to the king for judgment. And Absalom cried to him, and said to him, Of what city are you? And he said, Your servant is of one of the tribes of Israel.

Significant differences:           The English translation of the Syriac has the king’s gate rather than the way (road) of the gate. The English translation of the Latin has business rather than dispute.

Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrases:

Contemporary English V.       He would get up early each morning and wait by the side of the road that led to the city gate. Anyone who had a complaint to bring to King David would have to go that way, and Absalom would ask each of them, "Where are you from?" If they said, "I'm from a tribe in the north,"...

Easy English                          Absalom used to get up early. He stood by the road that went to the gate of the city. If a person had a problem, that person sometimes went to the king. The king would be the judge. When someone went past Absalom he would say to them, `Which town do you come from?' The man would answer, `Your servant is from one of the *tribes of *Israel.'

Easy-to-Read Version            Absalom got up early and stood near the gate [This was where people came to do all of their business. This was also where many court cases were held.]. Absalom watched for any person with problems who was going to King David for judgment. Then Absalom would talk to that person. Absalom would say, “What city are you from?” The man would answer, “I am from such and such family group in Israel.”

Good News Bible (TEV)         He would get up early and go and stand by the road at the city gate. Whenever someone came there with a dispute that he wanted the king to settle, Absalom would call him over and ask him where he was from. And after the man had told him what tribe he was from,...

The Message                         Early each morning he would take up his post beside the road at the city gate. When anyone showed up with a case to bring to the king for a decision, Absalom would call him over and say, "Where do you hail from?" And the answer would come, "Your servant is from one of the tribes of Israel."

New Berkeley Version           Moreover, Absalom would get up early and stand by the entrance to the gate, [Where judicial cases were decided (Deut. 21:19 22:15)] and whenever a man had a suit to come before the king for judgment, Absalom would call out to him, “From what city are you?” He would answer, “Your servant is from such and such of the tribes of Israel.”

New Century Version             Absalom would get up early and stand near the city gate.[a] Anyone who had a problem for the king to settle would come here. When someone came, Absalom would call out and say, "What city are you from?"

The person would answer, "I'm from one of the tribes of Israel."...

New Life Bible                        He used to get up early and stand beside the way to the gate. When any man had a problem to be decided upon by the king, Absalom would call to him and say, "What city are you from?" And he would answer, "Your servant is from one of the families of Israel."...

Partially literal and partially paraphrased translations:

American English Bible          Then he would get up early each morning and station himself along the street by the city gate. And whenever he saw someone who was coming to try a case before the king, he would call to him and ask, 'What city are you coming from?' And if he replied, 'Your servant is from one of the tribes of IsraEl,...

Christian Community Bible     Absalom used to rise early and stand beside the gateway. Whenever a man with a grievance came before the king’s tribunal, Absalom would call to him and say, “From which city are you?” Should he say, “Your servant is from such and such a tribe in Israel,”...

God’s Word™                         Absalom used to get up early and stand by the road leading to the city gate. When anyone had a case to be tried by King David, Absalom would ask, "Which city are you from?" After the person had told him which tribe in Israel he was from,...

New American Bible              Moreover, Absalom used to rise early and stand alongside the road leading to the gate. If someone had a lawsuit to be decided by the king, Absalom would call to him and say, "From what city are you?" And when he replied, "Your servant is of such and such a tribe of Israel,"...

NIRV                                      He would get up early. He would stand by the side of the road that led to the city gate. Sometimes a person would come with a case for the king to decide.

Then Absalom would call out to him, "What town are you from?"

He would answer, "I'm from one of the tribes of Israel."

New Jerusalem Bible             He would get up early and stand beside the road leading to the city gate; and whenever a man with some lawsuit had to come before the king's tribunal, Absalom would call out to him and ask, 'Which town are you from?' If he answered, 'Your servant is from one of the tribes of Israel,'...

Revised English Bible            He made it a practice to rise early and stand by the road leading through the city gate, and would hail everyone who had a case to bring before the king for judgement and ask him which town he came from. When he answered, ‘I come, sir, from such and such a tribe of Israel,’...

Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

Ancient Roots Translinear      Absalom arose and stood with a hand over the gate in the way. Any man that had an argument and was coming to the king for a verdict, Absalom called to him, saying, "Where is your city?" He said, "Your servant is from one of the staffs of Israel."

Bible in Basic English             And Absalom got up early, morning after morning, and took his place at the side of the public meeting-place: and when any man had a cause which had to come to the king to be judged, then Absalom, crying out to him, said, What is your town? and he would say, Your servant is of one of the tribes of Israel.

Ferar-Fenton Bible                 ...and early in the mornings Absalom placed himself at the side of the street of the High Court and when any man had a law suit came to the king for a decision, Absalom would invited him to himself, and ask, “From village do you come?”

When he would answer, “Your servant is from one of the Tribes of Israel.”

HCSB                                     He would get up early and stand beside the road leading to the city gate. Whenever anyone had a grievance to bring before the king for settlement, Absalom called out to him and asked, "What city are you from?" If he replied, "Your servant is from one of the tribes of Israel,"...

Judaica Press Complete T.    And Absalom would rise up, and stand beside the path of the gate; and it was when any man that would have a suit due to come to the king for judgment, then Absalom called to him and he said: "From what city are you?" and he said: "Of one of the tribes of Israel is your servant.

New Advent Bible                  And Absalom rising up early stood by the entrance of the gate, and when any man had business to come to the king's judgment, Absalom called him to him, and said: Of what city are you? He answered, and said: Your servant is of such tribe of Israel.

NET Bible®                             Now Absalom used to get up early and stand beside the road that led to the city gate. Whenever anyone came by who had a complaint to bring to the king for arbitration, Absalom would call out to him, "What city are you from?" The person would answer, "I, your servant [Heb "your servant." So also in vv. 8, 15, 21.], am from one of the tribes of Israel."

NIV – UK                                He would get up early and stand by the side of the road leading to the city gate. Whenever anyone came with a complaint to be placed before the king for a decision, Absalom would call out to him, `What town are you from?' He would answer, `Your servant is from one of the tribes of Israel.'

Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

English Standard Version      And Absalom used to rise early and stand beside the way of the gate. And when any man had a dispute to come before the king for judgment, Absalom would call to him and say, "From what city are you?" And when he said, "Your servant is of such and such a tribe in Israel,"...

exeGeses companion Bible   ...and Abi Shalom starts early

and stands at the hand by the way of the portal:

and so be it,

any man who has a controversy

comes to the sovereign for judgment;

and Abi Shalom calls to him and says,

Of what city are you?

And he says,

Your servant is of one of the scions of Yisra El.

New RSV                               Now Absalom would rise early and stand beside the way to the gate. So it was, whenever anyone who had a lawsuit came to the king for a decision, that Absalom would call to him and say, "What city are you from?" And he would say, "Your servant is from such and such a tribe of Israel."

Syndein                                  Now Absalom would rise up 'early in the morning', and stand by the side of the 'castle gate road' so that when anyone had a grievance/complaint and came to the king for 'a judicial decision'/judgment, then Absalom called out to him, and said, "Of what city are . . . you?" {the delay gives 'special attention' to the malcontent} And he would reply, "Your loyal subject is . . . {would name his tribe - this is a 'content quotation'} 'of one of the tribes of Israel'. {Jewish narrative does not give us every one of these discussions in detail - each man would name his own tribe - of Dan, of Judah, of Ruben, etc.} {Note: The picture here is now Absalom is permitted to be at the castle. He is standing by the road that leads to the King's Court room. As malcontents come to ask for justice, he uses his great looks, personality, and authority, to woe the malcontents to being loyal to him instead of David. For revolution to succeed, the law of the land must be disrespected. Second, a malcontent is always impressed when someone in apparent authority gives him 'special attention' - it appeals to their arrogance.}.

Third Millennium Bible            And Absalom rose up early and stood beside the way of the gate; and it was so that, when any man who had a controversy came to the king for judgment, then Absalom called unto him and said, "Of what city art thou?" And he said, "Thy servant is of one of the tribes of Israel."

Updated Bible Version 2.11   And Absalom rose up early, and stood beside the way of the gate: and it was so, that, when any man had a suit which should come to the king for judgment, then Absalom called to him, and said, Of what city are you? And he said, Your slave is of one of the tribes of Israel.

World English Bible                Absalom rose up early, and stood beside the way of the gate: and it was so, that when any man had a suit which should come to the king for judgment, then Absalom called to him, and said, Of what city are you? He said, Your servant is of one of the tribes of Israel.

Young’s Updated LT             And Absalom has risen early, and stood by the side of the way of the gate, and it comes to pass, every man who has a pleading to come unto the king for judgment, that Absalom calls unto him, and says, “Of what city are you?” and he says, “Of one of the tribes of Israel is your servant.”

The gist of this verse:          Absalom regularly went to the road at the gate into Jerusalem, and he would speak to people who had a court case before his father David. Absalom would inquire as to which city he came from and engage these men in conversations.

Translation: Furthermore, Absalom used to rise up early and remain by the road of the gate... Rather than two imperfect verbs held together by two wâw consecutives, we have two perfect verbs held together by two wâw consecutives. This apparently is something which Absalom did regularly. He would get up early and go stand by the gate of the city. The city gate is generally where most legal and commercial transactions took place; and this was often the place of the king’s court. People would come and have their cases heard by the city gate, so they would have to pass by Absalom.

We learn several things here. First of all, Absalom apparently does not have a job, but he has money. Or, if the king has given him responsibilities, Absalom has farmed out that work to others to deal with. He has delegated these responsibilities.

However, Absalom does not mind work. He is not a layabout like Amnon was; he gets up early and, apparently, daily, to do this. Absalom apparently has worked out a long-range plan in his mind, and that plan involves ingratiating himself to the public. We know that Absalom is capable of grand, long-term schemes; and he plays his cards close to the vest. He it is also a man who can manipulate others. He managed to get his father to send Amnon up to a bbq with Absalom, giving Absalom the perfect opportunity to murder his half-brother Amnon. So, what Absalom is doing here is right up his alley.

Although we are not told this specifically, v. 1 suggests that Absalom is taking a stand by the gate with his entire entourage of chariot, horses and 50 men. It is not so powerful if some guy with nothing to do is out there standing by the city gates, after you have had a case in court, starts engaging you in conversation. However, when the king son begins to talk to you, and he is in full entourage mode, surrounded by underlings, minions and acolytes, it is rather impressive. A man would walk by, Absalom would call to him, and the man would be thinking, “You, the king’s son; you want to talk to me?”

Translation: ...and [speak to] any man who had a legal dispute to bring to the king for a judgment. At the city gate, court cases are tried; one might say it is an open court. It was common for public meetings and court cases to all take place in an open air forum right by the city gate. Psychologically, it was a good thing, because it made the king appear busy, and people coming in and out of the city gate saw the king at work solving disputes and making judgments.

According to Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, these cases were heard in the mornings only: Public business in the East is always transacted early in the morning--the kings sitting an hour or more to hear causes or receive petitions, in a court held anciently, and in many places still, in the open air at the city gateway; so that, as those whose circumstances led them to wait on King David required to be in attendance on his morning levees, Absalom had to rise up early and stand beside the way of the gate. Through the growing infirmities of age, or the occupation of his government with foreign wars, many private causes had long lain undecided, and a deep feeling of discontent prevailed among the people. This dissatisfaction was artfully fomented by Absalom, who addressed himself to the various suitors; and after briefly hearing their tale, he gratified everyone with a favorable opinion of his case. Studiously concealing his ambitious designs, he expressed a wish to be invested with official power, only that he might accelerate the course of justice and advance the public interests. His professions had an air of extraordinary generosity and disinterestedness, which, together with his fawning arts in lavishing civilities on all, made him a popular favorite. Thus, by forcing a contrast between his own display of public spirit and the dilatory proceedings of the court, he created a growing disgust with his father's government, as weak, careless, or corrupt, and seduced the affections of the multitude, who neither penetrated the motive nor foresaw the tendency of his conduct.

I write these words in 2012, when the election of 2008 was still firmly in memory. This was nearly exactly the campaign of Barack Obama: This dissatisfaction was artfully fomented by Senator Obama, who addressed himself to the various suitors; and after briefly hearing their tale, he gratified everyone with a favorable opinion of his case...[he] had an air of extraordinary generosity and disinterestedness, which, together with his fawning arts in lavishing civilities on all, made him a popular favorite. Thus, by forcing a contrast between his own display of public spirit and the dilatory proceedings of the court, he created a growing disgust with the Bush administration's government, as weak, careless, or corrupt, and seduced the affections of the multitude, who neither penetrated the motive nor foresaw the tendency of his conduct. This is a commentary written circa 1871. Do you see how up-to-date the Bible is? The Bible is not some old dusty book written by a bunch of old guys who have no idea what life is like today. This is the book of our time and the book of the future.

Now, obviously, I make application to recent American politics because that is what I know; however, any Bible teacher who knows and understands these various chapters can find illustrations from their own politics, no matter what the country, no matter what the era.

Here is what we have so far: Furthermore, Absalom used to rise up early and remain by the road of the gate and [speak to] any man who had a legal dispute to bring to the king for a judgment. In every court case, just about, there is a winner and a loser. Absalom is there, his minions are there (probably in the spectators for each case), and judgment is pronounced. Often, once a judgment has been rendered, one of the people walks out of the court displeased. It is easy for one of these minions to signal which party is least happy with the verdict.

Translation: And Absalom called to him... So, Absalom is not talking to every single person who comes into court. But, either he is given a signal or he can read people, and he calls out to those who do not appear to be pleased with the final decision. Now, with 50 men under him, Absalom does not have to be there right in the court to know what is going on. He needs to know one thing: is Charlie Brown, who just came out of the court yard (so to speak), upset with King David?

Here is the idea: Absalom sees David as being weak when it comes to making court judgments, because David did not call for the execution of Amnon. So, in Absalom’s mind, David is unable to be objective (and, with regards to David’s sons, David is unable to be objective).

I have been to court many, many times, and on one of those occasions, I had a judge who was not the least bit objective, and his lack of objectivity stood out like a sore thumb (he was later removed as a judge). Most of the other judges that I have seen in action seemed to be reasonable and objective.

So Absalom is watching these people just coming out of court (from an open air court). He knows how they feel about this verdict, and so he calls out to them. He is simply going to chat with them, as equals, as friends, as citizens of Israel who are concerned about the same things.

Translation: ...and said, “Which city are you from?” Absalom doesn’t talk to them immediately about the verdict; he gets to know them. He asks them a personal question or two. They have a conversation. He is warm and engaging. People like this young man Absalom. “He looks important and royal; and yet, he is talking to me.” So the passers-by are pleased to talk to someone. There is Absalom, the son of the king, standing in his chariot, poised to ride out, with 50 soldiers standing in front of him, at attention. And yet, he talks to the common man, and talks about normal things.

If you have ever been to court and have lost, there is nothing you would rather do than vent. Now, if you can vent to the son of the judge, that is even better. “Do you know what your low-life father decided? He was just wrong.”

Translation: And he would answer [lit., and so he says], “Your servant [is] from one of the tribes of Israel.” So these men, unhappy with the results of their court case, would begin engaging in a conversation with Absalom.

Now, remember: this man has a family. He has a wife, he was brothers, he has children, he has a mother and a father, and he has co-workers. Most of them know about him going to court and wonder about the disposition of his case. The whole idea is, Charlie Brown is going to come home and say, “I am so upset with King David; I was right in my case, but he ruled against me anyway. In fact, even his son, Absalom, agreed with me.”

“You spoke to the king’s son?”

“Yes. In fact, he is a very nice fellow; and, although he appeared to be ready to go off somewhere, he took the time to talk to me. And he agrees with me! He thought his father’s ruling was wrong.”

So, you take each of these men, and multiply them by 10 or by 100; and that is how many people know about his court case and about his conversation with Absalom. How many court cases are tried each day? Maybe 5–10 and possibly more, if the cases are simple.

Bear in mind, for the past 10 years, there have been rumors flying all over about David and Bathsheba, and about her husband who was mysteriously killed in the war. These people also know about Amnon raping his half-sister and how David was unable to take action against Amnon; and Absalom had to step in and take care of him. So, there is talk flying all over the country about the royal family, and about what is going on.

We have the same thing today. People can tell you about various television shows and who is in them and what their social lives are like, and what movies they are also in. Well, there was one set of celebrities in David’s day and time: that was David and the royal family. They were the reality stars of their day; and people talked about David, and his wives, and his affair with Bathsheba.

What you need to understand here is, even though David was one of the greatest kings in human history, and even though most of his decisions and rulings were good, he made some grand mistakes, and people knew about these mistakes. In fact, many people hated David (as we will see in the next chapter).

Application: One of the things which was difficult for me to grasp at first was the concept of morality and kings. On many occasions, even in the New Testament, God dealt with immoral kings. I often wondered, “If they are halfway decent kings, why is God concerned about a second marriage or some random affair?” But when a king is immoral, and the people know it, they react in two possible ways: (1) they resent the king and revolution is fomented, which means a lack of stability in the region; or (2) the people simply copy the bad behavior of the king and also engage in immorality themselves. We have the most recent example of President Bill Clinton who had an affair with a young intern in the White House, and this changed the attitudes of at least a generation of young people about sex relations.

Application: Let’s say that the people in life you admire all work hard, are genuinely humble, and have strong close relationships with their spouses; then you see that as what is good and right and the norm for living. However, if the people that you admire do drugs, coast on their celebrityship, cheat on their wives (or husbands), are in and out of relationships, and have children scattered all over, then you have a completely different set of values. The values of the people that you admire have an effect upon your values; what they do actually impacts you and your thinking.

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Here is how others have translated this verse:

Ancient texts:

Latin Vulgate                          And Absalom answered him: “Your words seem to me good and just. But there is no man appointed by the king to hear you.”

Masoretic Text (Hebrew)        And so says to him, Absalom, “Look, your words good and just, and hearing none to you from with the king.”

Peshitta (Syriac)                    And Absalom said to him, I see your arguments are good and just; but there is no man deputed by the king to hear you.

Septuagint (Greek)                And Absalom said to him, See, your affairs are right and clear, yet you have no one appointed of the king to hear you.

Significant differences:           The words arguments and affairs are reasonable translations from the Hebrew. The final phrase (in the Latin, Syriac and Greek) appears to be a reasonable understanding of what is said in the Hebrew.

Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrases:

Common English Bible           ...then Absalom would say to him, "No doubt your claims are correct and valid, but the king won't listen to you.

Contemporary English V.       Absalom would say, "You deserve to win your case. It's too bad the king doesn't have anyone to hear complaints like yours.

Easy English                          Then Absalom would say to him, `Your situation is right. But the king does not have an assistant who can listen to you.'

Easy-to-Read Version            Then Absalom would say to this man, “Look, you are right, but King David won’t listen to you.”

Good News Bible (TEV)         Absalom would say, "Look, the law is on your side, but there is no representative of the king to hear your case."

The Message                         Then Absalom would say, "Look, you've got a strong case; but the king isn't going to listen to you."

New Century Version             Then Absalom would say, "Look, your claims are right, but the king has no one to listen to you."

New Life Bible                        Then Absalom would say to him, "Your side of the problem is good and right. But there is no man to listen to you for the king."

New Living Translation           Then Absalom would say, "You've really got a strong case here! It's too bad the king doesn't have anyone to hear it.

Partially literal and partially paraphrased translations:

American English Bible          ...he would say, 'Look, you have a good case, but no one from the king will listen to it.

Beck’s American Translation “see,” Absalom would say to him, “your claims are good and right, but the king hasn’t appointed anyone to her you.”

God’s Word™                         Absalom would say, "Your case is good and proper, but the king hasn't appointed anyone to hear it."

NIRV                                      Absalom would say, "Look, your claims are based on the law. So you have every right to make them. But the king doesn't have anyone here who can listen to your case."

New Jerusalem Bible             ...then Absalom would say, 'Look, your case is sound and just, but not one of the king's deputies will listen to you.'

New Simplified Bible              Absalom would say: »My friend, the law is on your side. However, there is no representative of the king to hear your case.«

Revised English Bible            ...Absalom would say to him, ‘I can see that you have a very good case, but you will get no hearing from the king.’

Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

Ancient Roots Translinear      Absalom said to him, "See, your words are good and honest, but the king will not hear you."

Bible in Basic English             And Absalom would say to him, See, your cause is true and right; but no man has been named by the king to give you a hearing.

Complete Jewish Bible           Avshalom would say to him, "Look, your cause is good and just; but the king hasn't deputized anyone to hear your case."

Ferar-Fenton Bible                 Then Absalom would say to him, “Look! Your case is good and right; but there is no one appointed by the king to hear it for you.”

HCSB                                     Absalom said to him, "Look, your claims are good and right, but the king does not have anyone to listen to you."

New Advent Bible                  And Absalom answered him: Your words seem to me good and just. But there is no man appointed by the king to hear you. And Absalom said:...

NET Bible®                             Absalom would then say to him, "Look, your claims are legitimate and appropriate [Heb "good and straight."]. But there is no representative of the king who will listen to you."

NIV – UK                                Then Absalom would say to him, `Look, your claims are valid and proper, but there is no representative of the king to hear you.'

Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

The Amplified Bible                Absalom would say to him, Your claims are good and right, but there is no man appointed as the king's agent to hear you.

English Standard Version      Absalom would say to him, "See, your claims are good and right, but there is no man designated by the king to hear you."

exeGeses companion Bible   And Abi Shalom says to him,

See, your words are good and straight;

but there is no man of the sovereign to hear you.

LTHB                                     And Absalom said to him, Behold, your matters are good and right. And there is no listener to you from the king.

NASB                                     Then Absalom would say to him, "See, your claims [Lit words] are good and right, but no man listens to you on the part of the king."

Syndein                                  Furthermore Absalom would say to him, "Look, your grievances are valid and legitimate . . . but 'you have no one authorized by the king' {Idiom: literally 'there is no man for you'} to 'judge the case' {implying the judicial system is wrong - and attacking the laws of establishment such as law enforcement, military, marriage, judicial system - a tool of revolutionists is to take a perceived error and exploit it to overthrow the existing government}. {Insinuates Only Arrogant Absalom is Qualified to Obtain Justice for the People}.

World English Bible                Absalom said to him, Behold, your matters are good and right; but there is no man deputized of the king to hear you.

Young’s Updated LT             And Absalom says unto him, “See, your matters are good and straightforward—and there is none hearkening to you from the king.”

The gist of this verse:          Absalom agrees with the merits of the case, but suggests that the king doesn’t properly assign out responsibilities to hear these cases.

Translation: Then Absalom said to him,... We are given the gist of one particular conversation, but this took place many times on many days. We do not know how long that Absalom did this. But he talked to enough people to help foster a revolt against his father.

Furthermore, what we have here is probably a sample of the sort of thing that Absalom would say. He is a smart young man, and he could tailor his message to whomever he spoke.

Translation:...“Look, your matter [is] good and just [and straightforward]. At some point, Absalom listened to the case that Charlie Brown brought before the court, and he agrees with Charlie Brown. “It is obvious; your court case is very straightforward. You have a good case and you are right in your claims.” The guy could be the biggest idiot in Israel, but if Absalom could agree with him, he would. Absalom is only looking to ingratiate himself to each man who has a case.

This is something that Absalom probably said on many occasions. When he spoke to any man coming out of court, if things did not go his way, no matter what the reason, Absalom listens to his case and agrees that it is a good one. If you are trying to gain favor, you do not listen to a case and then suggest, “Okay, I hear what you’re telling me, but your case is a loser from the word go.”

Absalom was not really interested in the case, nor did he have any interest in investigating the validity of each man’s claims. He is simply playing on the frustrations of those who have brought their dispute to Jerusalem. He wants each of these men, who are a little turned off by the system at this time already, to look upon Absalom as a friend that he could count on.

Translation: [There is] none to hear you directly from the king.” On some days, the king would be judging these cases, and, apparently, on other days, he would appoint someone to decide these matters. It is very likely that someone listened to Charlie Brown’s claims and ruled against him. Charlie Brown did not just show up, and there was no one to judge his case. This is an important function of the king.

There are other possibilities. The docket is too full and Charlie Brown’s case is unsubstantial or there is not enough time to get to it. Or, it is heard, and the judge throws his case out, based upon Charlie Brown’s testimony alone (which ought to be done in more cases in the United States). Or, for whatever reason, the case is not heard; perhaps the judge did not show up on this day.

What we have here is a particular instance, which no doubt occurred from time to time. But this was not Absalom’s only rap. This is simply an example of what Absalom would say. Then Absalom said to him, “Look, your matter [is] good and just [and straightforward]. [There is] none to hear you directly from the king.” In this case, the plaintive’s case was not heard. Judge did not show up; the docket was too full; or his case was thrown out on summary judgment.

Keil and Delitzsch point out: Of course the king himself could not give a hearing to every complainant, and make a personal investigation of his cause; nor could his judges procure justice for every complainant, however justly they might act, though it is possible that they may not always have performed their duty conscientiously.

The Pulpit commentary suggests what they believe to be the case: Probably all causes between citizens were tried by it, just as causes in the country were tried by the mishpachah; (see note on 2Sam. 14:7) but with an appeal in weighty matters to the king. It is a mistake to suppose that David altogether neglected his judicial functions. On the contrary, the woman of Tekoah obtained an audience, as a matter of course; and Absalom would not have risen up thus early unless David had also taken his seat in the early morning on the royal divan to administer justice. It was the suitors on their way to the king whom Absalom accosted, and made believe that he would be more assiduous in his duties than his father, and that he would have decided every suit in favour of the person to whom he was talking, whereas really one side alone can gain the cause. Still, we may well believe that, guilty himself of adultery and murder, and with his two eider sons stained with such terrible crimes, David"s administration of justice had become half hearted. And thus his sin again found him out, and brought stern punishment. For Absalom used this weakness against his father, and, intercepting the suitors on their way, would ask their city and tribe, and listen to their complaint, and assure them of the goodness of their cause, and lament that, as the king could not hear all causes easily himself, he did not appoint others to aid him in his duties. It was delay and procrastination of which Absalom complained; and as many of the litigants had probably come day after day, and not succeeded in getting a hearing, they were already in ill humour and prepared to find fault. Now, as David possessed great powers of organization, we may well believe that he would have taken measures for the adequate administration of law had it not been for the moral malady which enfeebled his will. In the appointment of Jehoshaphat and Seraiah (2Sam. 8:16–17) he had made a beginning, but soon his hands grew feeble, and he did no more.

So, because of the previous chapter, we do know for a fact that David sat as judge on some court hearings, and that he listened patiently and with interest, and made valid rulings. However, as we also saw in the previous chapter and in the one before that, sitting as the judge over the supreme court of the land was not David’s forte. He could not rule properly if a case was too close to him (e.g, it involved any of his sons) and he was too easily influenced by women (2Sam. 14). David no doubt should not have been trying all of the cases which came before him. In fact, like Moses (Ex. 18:14–26), he should have delegated this particular duty to other people.

It is possible—in fact, it is implied here—that David was not doing enough by way of stocking the courts with judges to hear the cases which came to Jerusalem. We do not know if this was a weakness in David’s government in general, or if this was a more recent problem which had come to pass. We do know a couple of things: David had an eye for the ladies, and when his soldiers were out of town, David apparently made use of this time (2Sam. 11). We also know that, when it came time to judge Amnon, David was unwilling to do that (he did get mad, but he never took it any further than that—2Sam. 12:21).

Application: When you are in a position of power, you need to know what your weaknesses are, and you need to put someone in your place to shore up your lack of knowledge or ability in that area.

Application: In many cases, a president has little foreign diplomacy experience, and he is to be negotiating with men who, in many cases, have been ruling for 20 or more years, and therefore, have some knowledge of how to manipulate other leaders. A president, therefore, needs to have foreign advisors and a Secretary of State who has real understanding of the geo-politics that our nation faces. A president needs to have a few, easily discernable foreign-policy principles, and he needs to find people who know enough to carry out these principles.

Absalom is carefully blaming the “system” by emphasizing to these “victims” that he would be doing a better job. He is careful not to attack his father personally and outright.

By the way, David was capable of farming out responsibilities. Joab was his commanding general in charge of all warfare, below David. Joab was his man in the field at all times. It was not that David was unable to do this; but David was older, getting past his prime, and he had other responsibilities.

We are not given any specifics on David’s judicial appointments, apart from the complaint made here. Did he appoint inferior judges? Did they not show up? Did he not hire enough judges to hear the cases which came in? What we do know is, there are times when a case was not heard or fully heard; that David did sit in on court cases, and that David was clearly influenced by women who were plaintiffs or defendants. He seemed less likely to do follow-up or investigations of cases involving women complainants.

This verse reads: Then Absalom would say to him, “Look, it is clear that your claim is valid and just, but there is no one designated by the king to properly listen to you.” There are a number of things at work here. Probably, some cases were not heard; some cases might be thrown out when the preliminary statement of the complainant is given; some cases may not get on the docket in time or there is not enough time to get to them. And, of course, there is always the loser in every case.

What is implied here, but not stated outright, is, the person who heard the case did not get it. He was not qualified to hear Charlie Brown’s case. His care was straightforward and should have obviously been decided and Charlie’s favor, but it was not. Therefore, the person at the bench was not really qualified. Absalom has to be careful about what he says. He cannot just come out and say, “The judge is crooked. He got paid off.” Or, “The judge is a drunk and he just came off the 3 month bender.” Or, “King David is too lazy to come to court today, so he just sent some unqualified flunky to sit in for him.” There is a certain decorum here, and Absalom cannot be seen to be seditious.

What we have here is just one example of one judicial problem. There were no doubt many. I have been in court, and, although I have found most judges to be honest, forthright, and desirous to follow the law; I have seen others who have not been fair-minded or unbiased. This was a wonderful time in Israel; and they had a great judicial system. However, that does not mean that it was not flawed; that does not mean that there were no mistakes that were made. And, even in a nearly flawless system, one half of a lawsuit is going to be unhappy with the result.

Absalom preyed upon any weakness that he could see, real or believed by the person to whom he spoke.

When we hear exactly what we want to hear—particularly from a politician—then we need to remember David’s own words from Psalm 12:2 People speak lies to one another. They speak with flattering lips and with double-heart (i.e., They say one thing but mean another). (NSB). Or Psalm 36:3–4 The words of his mouth are troubling and deceitful; he has ceased to act wisely and do what is right. He plots trouble before he falls asleep; he makes himself look good when he really isn’t; he does not reject evil [human viewpoint thinking]. Jer. 9:8 Their tongue is a murderous arrow; it speaks deceitfully; with his mouth each speaks peace and friendship to his neighbor, but in his heart he plans an ambush for him.

Application: Do not listen to people’s words simply because they sound good or even if they sound sincere. You need to evaluate their actions as well. This should be the order of the day when listening to a politician. In the time that I write this, there has rarely been a better example of this than our current President Barack Obama. Part of the reason that his transgressions have been so egregious is that, we have more access to the things that he has said than any other president in previous history. He has said many things, particularly in the 2008 election, which swayed huge numbers of people, because he looked and sounded good. However, 10 or more years previous to this, we did not have easy access to promises made by presidents. There was no YouTube; there was no alternative media. If the press did not want to recall what Bill Clinton promised as a candidate, then we never heard it after the campaign. However, if the press wanted to remind us of what President George H. W. Bush promised in his campaign (“Read my lips: no new taxes”), then we saw it over and over again. We are in a position, post the year of our Lord 2000, to compare what a politician says with what he does.

Vv. 2–3: Furthermore, Absalom made a habit of rising up early and waiting by the road into the city to speak to any man who had a legal dispute to bring before the king for a resolution. And Absalom would then call out to him, saying, “Which city are you from?” And he would answer, “You servants is from one of the tribes of Israel.” Then Absalom would say to him, “Look, it is clear that your claim is valid and just, but there is no one designated by the king to properly listen to you.” There is another unstated narrative behind all of what Absalom is saying. Absalom’s own sister, Tamar, had been raped by their ne’er-do-well half-brother Amnon. Absalom and Tamar did not get the justice that they ought to have gotten (2Sam. 14:1–21). Absalom eventually had Amnon killed, and this was no doubt on the minds of many citizens in Israel. Absalom was the kind of man who saw that a job got done. He was the kind of man who would see justice done, no matter what the cost. Absalom is not going to be there bragging, on “the steps of the courthouse,” how he killed his half-brother Amnon. But, this would be on the minds of many of the men who spoke with him. Absalom was a doer. He didn’t just talk a good game; he followed through.

——————————

Here is how others have translated this verse:

Ancient texts:

Latin Vulgate                          And Absalom said: O that they would make me judge over the land, that all that have business might come to me, that I might do them justice. “And Absalom said:” is actually a part of v. 3 in the Latin.

Masoretic Text (Hebrew)        And so says Absalom, “Who places me judging in the land? And upon me comes every man who is to him a dispute and a judgment, and I have brought him justice.”

Peshitta (Syriac)                    Absalom said moreover, Oh that I were made a judge in the land, that every man who has a lawsuit or a cause might come to me, and I would do him justice!

Septuagint (Greek)                And Absalom said, O that one would make me a judge in the land; then every man who had a dispute or a cause would come to me, and I would judge him!

Significant differences:           In the first part of Absalom’s quotation, it appears that the words he used could be so translated into English (see the Hebrew exegesis below).

Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrases:

Common English Bible           If only I were made a judge in the land," Absalom would continue, "then anyone with a lawsuit could come to me, and I would give them justice."

Contemporary English V.       I wish someone would make me the judge around here! I would be fair to everyone."

Easy English                          Then Absalom would say, `I wish that someone would appoint me as the judge of this nation. Then everyone who has problems could come to me. I would make sure that each person gets a fair judgement.'

Easy-to-Read Version            Absalom would also say, “Oh, I wish someone would make me a judge in this country! Then I could help every man who comes to me with a problem. I would help him get a fair solution to his problem.”

Good News Bible (TEV)         And he would add, "How I wish I were a judge! Then anyone who had a dispute or a claim could come to me, and I would give him justice."

The Message                         Then he'd say, "Why doesn't someone make me a judge for this country? Anybody with a case could bring it to me and I'd settle things fair and square."

New Century Version             Absalom would also say, "I wish someone would make me judge in this land! Then people with problems could come to me, and I could help them get justice."

New Life Bible                        And Absalom would say, "If only I were chosen to be the one to be judge in the land! Then every man who has a problem could come to me. And I would do for him what is right and fair."

New Living Translation           I wish I were the judge. Then everyone could bring their cases to me for judgment, and I would give them justice!"

Partially literal and partially paraphrased translations:

American English Bible          So, why doesn't he appoint me as the judge of the land and let me handle the disputes and cases, for I will give you justice.’

God’s Word™                         He would add, "I wish someone would make me judge in the land. Then anyone who had a case to be tried could come to me, and I would make sure that he got justice."

New American Bible              And he would continue: "If only I could be appointed judge in the land! Then everyone who has a lawsuit to be decided might come to me and I would render him justice."

NIRV                                      Absalom would continue, "I wish I were appointed judge in the land! Then anyone who has a case or a claim could come to me. I would make sure he is treated fairly."

New Jerusalem Bible             Absalom would say, 'Oh, who will appoint me judge in the land? Then anyone with a lawsuit or a plea could come to me and I should see he had justice!'

Revised English Bible            He would add, ‘If only I were appointed judge in the land, it would be my business to see that everyone with a lawsuit or claim got justice from me.’

Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

Ancient Roots Translinear      Absalom said, "Who set me as judge in the land? Any man having an argument comes over to me for righteous verdicts!"

Bible in Basic English             And more than this, Absalom said, If only I was made judge in the land, so that every man who has any cause or question might come to me, and I would give a right decision for him!

Complete Jewish Bible           Then Avshalom would continue, "Now if I were made judge in the land, anyone with a suit or other cause could come to me, and I would see that he gets justice!"

Ferar-Fenton Bible                 Next he would exclaim, “If I were appointed as a judge in the country, and any man came to me who had a wrong, I would decide and rectify it for you!”

HCSB                                     He added, "If only someone would appoint me judge in the land. Then anyone who had a grievance or dispute could come to me, and I would make sure he received justice."

JPS (Tanakh—1985)               And Absalom went on, “If only I were appointed judge in the land and everyone with a legal dispute came before me, I would see that he got his rights.”

NET Bible®                             Absalom would then say, "If only they would make me [Heb "Who will make me?"] a judge in the land! Then everyone who had a judicial complaint [Heb "a complaint and a judgment." The expression is a hendiadys] could come to me and I would make sure he receives a just settlement."

NIV, ©2011                             And Absalom would add, "If only I were appointed judge in the land! Then everyone who has a complaint or case could come to me and I would see that they receive justice."

The Scriptures 1998              And Ab?shalom would say, “Oh, that I were made judge in the land, and everyone who has any complaint or case would come to me, and I shall let right be done to him.”

Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

Concordant Literal Version    And Absalom said, `Who does make me a judge in the land, that unto me does come every man who has a plea and judgment? --then I have declared him righteous.

Darby Translation                  And Absalom said, Oh that I were made judge in the land, that every man who has any controversy and cause might come to me, and I would do him justice!

English Standard Version      Then Absalom would say, "Oh that I were judge in the land! Then every man with a dispute or cause might come to me, and I would give him justice."

exeGeses companion Bible   And Abi Shalom says,

Who set me judge in the land,

that every man who has any plea or judgment

comes to me to justify him?.

LTHB                                     And Absalom said, Who shall make me a judge in the land, that every man who has a dispute, I will then declare him right, even with justice?

Syndein                                  Then Absalom would add, "Who will appoint me a judge in the land, {Absalom's arrogance and self-centeredness exposed} that every man which has any suit or cause might come unto me, and I would see to he, that he receives justice!.

World English Bible                Absalom said moreover, Oh that I were made judge in the land, that every man who has any suit or cause might come to me, and I would do him justice!

Young’s Updated LT             And Absalom says, “Who does make me a judge in the land, that unto me does come every man who has a plea and judgment? —then I have declared him righteous.”

The gist of this verse:          Absalom claims that if he were judge in Israel, he would see to it that everyone got a fair shake.

Translation: Then Absalom would say, “Who will [or, O that one might] appoint me a judge in the land? Now, you will note that Absalom does not call for this discontented person to support him in a revolution. He simply seems to be musing to himself. Now, in the previous verse, Absalom said to him; but in this verse, there is no to him. The idea is, Absalom would engage them in some conversation, usually about their dispute, but then Absalom would kind of look out in the distance and say, “Who will appoint me as a judge?” Or, “O that I would be a judge in Israel.” Or words to that effect. As if, this is what God has called him to do.

Now, bear in mind, it does not appear that Absalom actually has a public office or a responsibility. He looks quite kingly, with his great entourage, but that is all for show. However, the people who talk to him don’t know that. They don’t look up at him and say, “You phoney so-and-so.” Absalom looks like he’s important; he looks like he is somebody. He looks successful and powerful. That is what he wants. However, he is apparently just a man living off the taxpayer dole. If David has given him any responsibility, he has sloughed that off on someone else. People are supposed to look at him and think that he is really something, but he’s not. He’s really not much different than today’s “welfare mom;” except that he gets a much higher pay to do nothing. He apparently has some kind of an expense account which allows him to buy frivolous things, such as a chariot and horses, and to hire men.

And this man, who has just been able to blow off a little steam because of his own court case to the king’s son, who is surrounded by this great entourage, and he thinks of Absalom in a very favorable way. He also thinks, “If only Absalom had been my judge. He obviously understands the case and would render the correct decision.”