2 Samuel 20:3

2Sa 20:3 And David came to his house at Jerusalem; and the king took the ten women [his] concubines, whom he had left to keep the house, and put them in ward, and fed them, but went not in unto them. So they were shut up unto the day of their death, living in widowhood.

Ver. 3. And David came to his house at Jerusalem.] Which had been in his absence basely defiled, and was therefore by him newly dedicated. {Psa 30:1, title}

And put them in ward.] He committed them to perpetual, yet liberal imprisonment: because they had not rather died, as they ought to have done, than yielded to Absalom’s lust, in so public a manner especially. Pellican here observeth that David was to blame for not punishing such others, now in his power, as were either causers or consenters to that disgrace; such as was Amasa, a chief man, then about Absalom. Of one Ode Severus, Archbishop of Canterbury, A.D. 934, we read that he excommunicated King Edwin’s concubines; and caused one of them, whom the king doted unreasonably upon, to be fetched out of the court by violence, burnt her in the forehead with a hot iron, and banished her into Ireland. {a} Absalom had no such zealots about him; but what should David have done?

{a} Godw., Catal., 62.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

2Sa 20:3. But went not in unto them — He looked upon them as become impure to him, having been defiled by his son. They were shut up to the day of their death, living in widowhood — Being royal wives, it was not proper they should be married to any one else, and therefore David did not give them a bill of divorce, but shut them up close, that no man might have converse with them. And indeed it would not have been prudent to have let them be so much as seen abroad, as that would have renewed the remembrance of Absalom’s crime.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

CRITICAL AND EXPOSITORY NOTES.—

2Sa_20:3. “Living in widowhood.” Lit. In widowhood of life. Probably meaning so long as their lifetime, or it may mean during the lifetime of David. “They were not divorced, for they were guiltless; but they were no longer publicly recognised as David’s wives; nor was their confinement to a sequestered life a very heavy doom in a region where women have never been accustomed to go much abroad.” (Jamieson).

2Sa_20:4. “Said to Amasa.” Thus appointing him to the position which he has promised him in 2Sa_19:13.

2Sa_20:5. “He tarried.” “Either because he met with distrust and opposition among the people, and could not so soon execute his commission; or, because he did not wish to make haste, and nourished in his breast traitorous designs.” (Erdmann).

2Sa_20:6. “Abishai.” “Joab’s was still David’s official commander-in-chief, but David speaks to Abishai rather than to him, because he wished to have nothing to do with the latter on account of his crabbedness, and further knew that be would take Amasa’s appointment ill.’ (Erdmann). “Servants, soldiers.” “The standing army in distinction from the levy of the people for which Amasa was sent.” (Erdmann). “Escape us.” The verb means “to take away,” and the phrase has been variously rendered, escape, turn away, and tear out, our eye. This latter rendering (adopted by Keil, Thenius and others) is taken to be equivalent to “severely injure us.” But it seems more probable that one of the other readings is more correct, and that the expression means to elude the sight—to escape.

2Sa_20:7. “Joab’s men.” Some have thought it strange that those who went out with Abishai should be so designated, and have, therefore, without sufficient reason, substituted Joab’s name for that of his brother in 2Sa_20:6. But from what follows, Joab appears to have marched with his brother to the field. “Cherethites.” etc. (see on 2Sa_8:18). “The mighty men.” Gibborim. “The six hundred heroes mentioned in 2Sa_15:18.” (Erdmann.)

2Sa_20:8. “The great stone,” etc. Doubtless an isolated rock of considerable size. Gibeon lay north-west of Jerusalem, in the mountains of Ephraim, whither Sheba (2Sa_20:2), had gone.” (Erdmann). “Went before,” rather came towards. “Joab’s garment.” “The minute description of Joab’s military dress and arms is intended to make it clear how he could suddenly kill Amasa without anyone’s noticing his purpose.” (Erdmann). “His loins.” “This statement receives ample illustration from the Assyrian sculptures on which warriors are depicted, their swords not upon the thigh, but on the loin or side.” (Jamieson.) “Fell out.” Josephus explains that Joab purposely allowed it to drop out so that stooping to raise it at the moment when he saluted Amasa, he might hold it naked in his hand ready for action, without exciting suspicion.

2Sa_20:9. “By the beard.” A mode of salutation in the East. Kissing the beard is also a token of great respect and goodwill. “My brother.” “He was his first cousin.” (Biblical Commentary).

2Sa_20:10. “Fifth rib.” “Rather the abdomen.” (Keil). “Joab and Abishai.” “The connection of the two favour the view that Joab had gone out at the head of the body of troops under Abishai.” (Erdmann).

2Sa_20:11. “By him,” i.e., Amasa, no doubt by Joab’s command. “He that favoureth.” etc. This was said to the men whom Amasa had gathered, and who came on ignorant at first of their leader’s fall, and then of the cause of his death. This plan of Joab identifies his cause with that of David.

MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—2Sa_20:3-13

DAVID’S RETURN TO JERUSALEM AND THE MURDER OF AMASA

I. The consequences of violating God’s laws are not in this life confined to him who violate them. David had no sooner returned to his city and his palace than he found himself confronted with a difficulty arising out of a double transgression. As we have before had occasion to remark (see on 1Sa_1:2, etc.), polygamy was a violation of God’s intention with regard to marriage, which brought great sorrow upon David and upon others. The practice of concubinage seems a much farther remove from the Divine ideal, and a nearer approach to the customs of the heathen nations, and must in any case have often been felt to be a hardship by the woman. But David’s great transgression entailed upon the women of his harem a heavier penalty than was common to such a position. It it true they were Eastern women, and therefore less alive to their humiliation by Absalom than women of this age and nation would be in similar circumstances, but they were women, and we have no reason to suppose they were entirely destitute of the instincts and desires proper to their sex. Upon them the consequences of David’s transgression fell very heavily, and endured to the end of life. The certainty that in this sense, as in many others, no man liveth to himself, ought to be a strong motive to keep us from forbidden paths.

II. The consciousness of even pardoned guilt makes one in power weak and cowardly towards similar offenders. One of the most bitter elements in David’s cup of affliction after his fall must have been to see his own evil deeds so faithfully imitated by those around him, and to feel unable to deal out the punishment they deserved. Amnon closely copied his adultery and Absalom his act of murder, without his being able to deal with either as he could have done if he had himself been innocent. And now when he probably hoped he had reaped the last of the harvest from that fatal sowing of sin, he sees his deed reproduced by Joab with startling similarity. The master had not scrupled to remove by violent means one who stood in his way, and it could not be expected that his less scrupulous servant would falter on the same line of action. Truly Joab had known the way before (2Sa_3:27), but he could be bolder now that David had gone the same road. David had been able to declare himself guiltless before the Lord from the blood of Abner, but he is silent concerning the death of Amasa, remembering without doubt how he had once commanded Joab to commit as cowardly a crime. It must have surely been this sense of blood-guiltiness which sealed his lips at this time, and almost compelled him henceforth to accept in silence whatever measures Joab thought fit to adopt, and to leave to his son the odious task of reckoning with him.

The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.

20:3 The fate of the ten concubines (15:16) whom Absalom had publicly violated (16:21-22) was like Michal’s (see 6:23 and corresponding note).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

the king took the ten women his concubines--Jewish writers say that the widowed queens of Hebrew monarchs were not allowed to marry again but were obliged to pass the rest of their lives in strict seclusion. David treated his concubines in the same manner after the outrage committed on them by Absalom. They were not divorced, for they were guiltless; but they were no longer publicly recognized as his wives; nor was their confinement to a sequestered life a very heavy doom, in a region where women have never been accustomed to go much abroad.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 3. The ten women] He could not well divorce them; he could not punish them, as they were not in the transgression; he could no more be familiar with them, because they had been defiled by his son; and to have married them to other men might have been dangerous to the state: therefore he shut them up and fed them - made them quite comfortable, and they continued as widows to their death.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(3) Living in widowhood.—This was the necessary result, under the system of polygamy, of what had happened. The clause may be understood as “in widowhood of life,” as in our version, or “in widowhood of the living,” i.e., while their husband was living, as in the Chaldee.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

3. David’s return to Jerusalem

3. living in widowhood] Either in widowhood for life, or as the Targum explains it, in widowhood while their husband was still alive. Since they had been appropriated by Absalom, they could no longer be regarded as members of the royal harem, nor could they be set at liberty.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And David came to his house at Jerusalem,.... His palace there, which was in that part of the city called the fort of Zion, and city of David:

and the king took the ten women his concubines, whom he had left to keep the house; when he fled from Jerusalem because of Absalom, Sa2 15:16,

and put them in ward; partly as a punishment for easily yielding to the lust of Absalom, and partly that they might not be seen, which would bring to remembrance his sin:

and fed them; he did not put them to death, nor put them away, but kept them thus confined, and made a proper provision for them, not suffering them to marry any other, and be maintained by them:

but went not in unto them: into their apartments to lie with them, having been defiled by his son, Sa2 16:22,

so they were shut up unto the day of their death; kept in the ward till they died:

living in widowhood; neither used by the king as his concubines, as they had been before, nor suffered to many any other; or "in the widowhood of life" (o), which is so expressed, to distinguish it from widowhood made by death; this was such sort of widowhood as obtained while their husband was living; so the Targum,"widows of their husband alive,''

or remaining.

(o) "in viduitate vitae", Pagninus, Montanus.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Widowhood, or celibacy, (Menochius) like nuns. (Grotius; Salien) --- David could not with propriety approach to them, (Estius) as they resembled his daughters-in-law; (Leviticus xviii. 15.; Menochius) and no other person could marry them, while he was still their husband. (Haydock) --- The punishment of seclusion was very small in the East, where women seldom go out. The Jews assert, that the widows of the Hebrew kings could not marry again. (Selden, Uxor. i. 10.) --- The like custom formerly prevailed in Spain. (Council of Toledo, xiii. 3., A.D. 683.; [Council] of Saragossa, canon 5., A.D. 691.) So great was the respect for the king or the apprehension, lest those who married their widows, should aspire to the throne. (Calmet)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Put them in ward; partly, because they had not vigorously opposed Absalom’s lustful desire, as they should have done, even with the hazard of their lives; and partly, lest the sight of them should renew the memory of Absalom’s filthiness, and of their own and David’s reproach, which it was fit to bury in-perpetual oblivion; and partly, because it might appear incestuous to have to do with those who had been defiled by his own son; and partly, because as David would not, so it was not now convenient that any other man should have any conjugal conversation with them.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

3. Put them in ward — Shut them up in a place of security, where no one could come at them.

Fed them — Provided them with temporal comforts. “He could not well divorce them; he could not punish them, as they were not in the transgression; he could no more be familiar with them, because they had been defiled by his son; and to have married them to other men might have been dangerous to the state.” — Clarke.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

They were shut up. We are not to conclude that all widows had to live in seclusion, but only that those women who belonged to the royal harem, but had been taken by another, were not allowed to return to it, but condemned to a sort of imprisonment. Living in widowhood. This is explained by the Chaldee as lasting only during David"s life, its rendering being, "in widowhood while their husband was alive."

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

to keep the palace

Here the phrase "to keep" means to take care of. AT: "to take care of the palace" (See: Idiom)

in a house under guard

If a house is "under guard" it means that a guard is posted at the house. AT: "in a house and put a guard there" (See: Idiom)

they were shut up

This means that they were not allowed to leave the house. AT: "they were shut inside the house" (See: Idiom)

widows

These are women whose husbands have died.

translationWords

palace

Jerusalem

servant

had relations with

die

life

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.