2 Samuel 3:16

2Sa 3:16 And her husband went with her along weeping behind her to Bahurim. Then said Abner unto him, Go, return. And he returned.

Ver. 16. And her husband went with her along weeping.] Heb., Going and weeping, as having still a month’s mind - as we say - to a wife so noble and beautiful. So have many to their sweet sins, which yet, for some inconveniences, they are forced to leave, but cannot be drawn to loath. Phaltiel might have taken up that for his motto - Nocet empta dolore voluptas, and so shall all sinners at length,

“ Habet omnis hoc voluptas,

Stimulis agit fruentes:

Apiumque par volantum

Ubi greta mella fudit,

Fugit et nimis tenaci

Ferit icta corda morsu. ”

- Boet., lib. iii. metr. 7.

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.

3:16 In spite of Palti’s anguished weeping, he was powerless to stop what was happening (cp. Judg 18:1-26). • Bahurim was probably a center of support for Saul’s clan just east of Jerusalem (cp. 2 Sam 16:5).

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

Verse 16. Weeping behind her] If genuine affection did not still subsist between David and Michal, it was a pity to have taken her from Phaltiel, who had her to wife from the conjoint authority of her father and her king.

Nevertheless David had a legal right to her, as she had never been divorced, for she was taken from him by the hand of violence.

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

(16) Weeping behind her.—Phaltiel appears to have been sincerely attached to Michal, and it may be supposed that his affection was reciprocated. But it is to be remembered that she was not rightfully his wife, and that David’s claim was prior as well as better. According to 1Sa_25:44, Phaltiel was of Gallim, a place thought, from the connection in which it is mentioned in Isa_10:30, to have been in Benjamin, and not far from Gibeah; but he had probably crossed the Jordan with the adherents of the house of Saul. Bahurim was on the road from the Mount of Olives to the Jordan valley, and hence on the way from Mahanaim to Hebron, and a long distance from the former. It was the residence of Shimei (2Sa_16:5), and the place of concealment of David’s messengers, Jonathan and Ahimaaz (2Sa_17:18).

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

16. Bahurim] A village mentioned again only in connexion with David’s flight from Jerusalem as the residence of Shimei (ch. 2Sa_16:5), and the place where Jonathan and Ahimaaz hid themselves (ch. 2Sa_17:18). It belonged to the tribe of Benjamin, and was on the road from Jerusalem over the Mount of Olives to the Jordan fords. A Jewish tradition in the Targum identifies it with Almon (Jos_21:18), now Almît, about 4 miles N.E. of Jerusalem, and a mile beyond Anathoth (Anâta). According to this view, which is adopted by Lieut. Conder, it was not on the main road through Bethany, but on a road which leads across the saddle north of the principal summit of the Mount of Olives.

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 her husband went with her along weeping behind her,.... Because of his great affection to her, unwilling to part with her, but forced to it at the command of the king her brother:

to Bahurim; a city in the tribe of Benjamin, Sa2 19:16; perhaps the same with Almon, Jos 21:18; these two words being of the same signification; and the Targum has it hero Almuth; so Alemeth in Ch1 6:60. It seems to be the same Josephus (c) calls Bachures, and says it was not far from Jerusalem. Bunting (d) says it was something more than a mile towards the northeast, and at this time is a fair castle strongly fortified, standing in a high place, and in the valley near it, at the stone Bohan, Jos 15:6; see Sa2 17:18,

then said Abner to him, go, return, and he returned; by which it appears that Abner came with her to introduce her to David, without whom he was not to see his face; and he did not choose her husband should go with her any further, and was at his orders obliged to go back, who otherwise would have gladly accompanied her further still, through his great affection for her.

(c) Antiqu. l. 7. c. 9. sect. 7. (d) Travels, p. 144.

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

Bahurim - Best known as the residence of Shimei, and as the place where Jonathan and Ahimaaz were concealed in a well on the occasion of David’s flight from Absalom 2Sa 16:5; 2Sa 17:18. It seems to have been situated in the southern border of the tribe of Benjamin, and on the route from Jerusalem to the Jordan fords, since Phaltiel came from Mahanaim 2Sa 2:8.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Bahurim, in the tribe of Benjamin. (Adrichomius 28.)

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).

Bahurim; a city of Benjamin, upon the borders of Judah. See 2Sa 19:16; 1Ki 2:8.

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

16. Weeping behind her — “There has been much idle talk about the cruelty of taking her away from a man with whom she had lived some years, and who, for all that appears, was a good husband, seeing that he followed her weeping and lamenting, until he was compelled to desist by those who bore her from him. But this was the fruit of his own wrong, which a man always reaps in the long run. He had coveted another man’s wife, and had wrongfully possessed himself of her, knowing well that she belonged to another; and Phaltiel was not the first man, nor the last, who has lamented to be deprived of that which did not belong to him.” — Kitto.

Bahurim — A place a little east or northeast of Jerusalem, beyond the mount of Olives, (compare 2Sa_16:1-5,) but its site has not been determined.

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

Her husband went with her along weeping behind her. "Along weeping" is a very awkward rendering of the Hebrew phrase, "going and weeping." The Revised Version is far better, "weeping as he went and followed her." Phaltiel had been Michal"s husband for eight or nine years, and his sorrow at losing her excites sympathy for them both. They had evidently loved one another, and she was now going to be but one of many wives; and though David may have desired her restoration because he valued her and cherished the remembrance of their youthful affection, yet there was a large admixture of political motive in his conduct. At Gallim she had been Phaltiel"s one jewel, and had been loved for her own sake; at Hebron she would have many rivals. But women of royal rank have often to pay the price of sacrificed affections for the ends of statecraft. Near Bahurim, on the road from Jerusalem to Gilgal, in the valley of the Jordan, the convoy approached the borders of Judah, and Abner will not allow the weeping husband to enter David"s dominions. Painful as was his fate, he had himself done wrong in marrying another man"s wife; and if he was weeping now, we may well believe that David had felt equal anguish when Michal was torn from him and sold to another, for fathers in those days received instead of giving a dowry upon themarriage of their daughters. Saul in this matter was most to blame, and if he had not committed this wrong, David might never have sought an evil solace in multiplying to himself other wives

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

Following and crying. Over the good deed [about to be] leaving him because all those years he thrust a sword into the bed [separating] between him and her and he did not stumble [into sinful intimacy] with her.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.