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Absalom Usurps the Throne

15 After this Absalom provided for himself a chariot and horses and fifty men to run ahead of him.(A) Absalom used to rise early and stand beside the road into the gate, and when anyone brought a suit before the king for judgment, Absalom would call out and say, “From what city are you?” When the person said, “Your servant is of such and such a tribe in Israel,”(B) Absalom would say, “See, your claims are good and right, but there is no one deputed by the king to hear you.” Absalom would also say, “If only I were judge in the land! Then all who had a suit or cause might come to me, and I would give them justice.”(C) Whenever people came near to do obeisance to him, he would put out his hand and take hold of them and kiss them. Thus Absalom did to every Israelite who came to the king for judgment, so Absalom stole the hearts of the people of Israel.(D)

At the end of four[a] years Absalom said to the king, “Please let me go to Hebron and pay the vow that I have made to the Lord.(E) For your servant made a vow while I lived at Geshur in Aram: If the Lord will indeed bring me back to Jerusalem, then I will serve the Lord in Hebron.”[b](F) The king said to him, “Go in peace.” So he got up and went to Hebron. 10 But Absalom sent secret messengers throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, “As soon as you hear the sound of the trumpet, then shout: Absalom has become king at Hebron!” 11 Two hundred men from Jerusalem went with Absalom; they were invited guests, and they went in innocence, knowing nothing of the matter.(G) 12 While Absalom was offering the sacrifices, he sent for[c] Ahithophel the Gilonite, David’s counselor, from his city Giloh. The conspiracy grew in strength, and the people with Absalom kept increasing.(H)

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Footnotes

  1. 15.7 Gk Syr: Heb forty
  2. 15.8 Gk mss: Heb lacks in Hebron
  3. 15.12 Or he sent

Absalom Instigates Civil War

15 Sometime later, Absalom acquired a chariot equipped with horses and recruited[a] 50 men to accompany[b] him.[c] Then he[d] would get up early, stand near the passageway to the palace[e] gate, and when anyone arrived to file a legal complaint for a hearing before the king, Absalom would call to him and ask, “You’re from what city?” If[f] he replied, “Your servant is from one of Israel’s tribes,” Absalom would respond, “Look, your claims are valid and defensible, but nobody will listen to you on behalf of the king. Who will appoint me to be a judge in the land? When anyone arrived to file a legal complaint or other cause, he could approach me for justice and I would settle it!” Furthermore, if a man approached him to bow down in front of him, he would put out his hand, grab him, and embrace him. By doing all of this to anyone who came to the king for a hearing, Absalom stole the loyalty[g] of the men of Israel.

And so it was that forty[h] years after Israel had demanded a king,[i] Absalom asked the king, “Please let me go to Hebron so I can pay my vow that I made to the Lord, because when I was living at Geshur in Aram, your servant made this solemn promise:[j] ‘If the Lord ever brings me back to Jerusalem, then I will serve the Lord.’”

The king replied to him, “Go in peace!” So Absalom[k] got up and left for Hebron.

10 But Absalom sent agents throughout all of the tribes of Israel, telling them, “When you hear the sound of the battle trumpet, you’re to announce that Absalom is king in Hebron.” 11 Meanwhile, 200 men left Jerusalem with Absalom. They had been invited to go along, but were innocent, not knowing anything about what was happening.[l] 12 Absalom also sent for Ahithophel[m] the Gilonite, David’s counselor, to come[n] from his home town of Giloh while Absalom[o] was presenting the sacrificial offerings. And so the conspiracy widened, because the common people increasingly sided with Absalom.

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Samuel 15:1 The Heb. lacks recruited
  2. 2 Samuel 15:1 Lit. to run before
  3. 2 Samuel 15:1 Cf. 1Sam 8:11
  4. 2 Samuel 15:2 Lit. Absalom
  5. 2 Samuel 15:2 The Heb. lacks palace
  6. 2 Samuel 15:2 The Heb. lacks If
  7. 2 Samuel 15:6 Lit. hearts
  8. 2 Samuel 15:7 So MT and LXX; Syr Peshitta and Lucian recension of LXX read four
  9. 2 Samuel 15:7 The Heb. lacks after Israel had demanded a king; i.e. about ten years before David began his reign. Or forty years after David’s anointing at Bethlehem; cf. 1Sam 16:13
  10. 2 Samuel 15:8 Lit. servant vowed a vow
  11. 2 Samuel 15:9 Lit. he
  12. 2 Samuel 15:11 Lit. about the matter
  13. 2 Samuel 15:12 Ahithophel was Bathsheba’s grandfather; cf. 2Sam 11:3; 23:34
  14. 2 Samuel 15:12 The Heb. lacks to come
  15. 2 Samuel 15:12 Lit. he