2Sa 15:1-19 | TNotes | STEP | Summary for 2Sam 15:1-19: 15:1-19 Absalom revolted against David eleven years after Amnon violated Tamar (cp. 13:23 , 38 ; 14:28 ; 15:7 ), approximately the twenty-fifth year of David’s thirty-three-year reign in Jerusalem. 15:1 a chariot and horses, and ... fifty bodyguards: These three items, distinct signs of kingship, were also the first items that Samuel said the king would take from the people (1 Sam 8:11 ). Another of David’s sons, Adonijah, collected the same items when he coveted the throne (1 Kgs 1:5 ).

Summary for 2Sam 15:1-19: 15:1-19 ^a Absalom revolted against David eleven years after Amnon violated Tamar (cp. 13:23 ^b, 38 ^c; 14:28 ^d; 15:7 ^e), approximately the twenty-fifth year of David’s thirty-three-year reign in Jerusalem. 15:1 ^f a chariot and horses, and ... fifty bodyguards: These three items, distinct signs of kingship, were also the first items that Samuel said the king would take from the people (1 Sam 8:11 ^g). Another of David’s sons, Adonijah, collected the same items when he coveted the throne (1 Kgs 1:5 ^h).
15:5 ⁱ To bow before ... Absalom was, in effect, to honor him as king (see 14:33 ^j).
15:6 ^k stole the hearts: Absalom’s accessibility and false pretense of care for the people gained their loyalty.
15:7 ^l After four years: Hebrew reads forty years, which would put Absalom’s uprising in David’s last year as king and create many chronological difficulties with events that happened afterward (also see study note on 15:1-19). The Greek and Syriac reading is much more likely.

• fulfill a vow: Unlike the freewill offering of devotion and gratitude that a worshiper promised to God, this type of offering was to fulfill a promise to God (see Gen 28:20-22 ^m; Judg 11:30-31 ⁿ; 1 Sam 1:11 ^o). Absalom was probably lying (cp. 1 Sam 20:28-29 ^p).
15:8 ^q Geshur in Aram: After killing Amnon, Absalom had sought refuge in the homeland of his mother (also see study notes on 13:34-39, 37).

• The perfect place for Absalom to turn his grassroots popularity into a full-fledged revolt against David was in Hebron, David’s first capital.
15:12 ^r Ahithophel was Bathsheba’s grandfather (cp. 11:3 ^s; 23:34 ^t); years later, he might still have been angry over what David did to his granddaughter.

• Giloh was located in the region of Hebron (Josh 15:51 ^u, 54 ^v).
Summary for 2Sam 15:15-16: 15:15-16 ^w Possibly David left ten of his concubines behind because he believed his exile would be short-lived. See 16:21-22 ^x.
15:18 ^y 600 men from Gath: This alliance went back to David’s relationship with the Philistines in Saul’s day (1 Sam 21:10-15 ^z; 27:1-12 ^aa; 29:1-11 ^ab).

• the king’s bodyguard: See study note on 2 Sam 8:18.
15:19 ^ac Ittai, a Philistine from Gath, was associated with Gibeah in Benjamin (23:29 ^ad; 1 Chr 11:31 ^ae); the Philistines had established a garrison in Gibeah at the beginning of Saul’s career (1 Sam 10:5 ^af; 13:3 ^ag).

• David was stepping aside for King Absalom, who had successfully swayed the loyalty of Israel.