2 the third Absalom, son of Maachah daughter of Talmai king of Geshur; the fourth Adonijah, son of Haggith;
and the sons of Israel dispossessed not the Geshurite, and the Maachathite; and Geshur and Maachath dwell in the midst of Israel unto this day.
and the fourth `is' Adonijah son of Haggith, and the fifth `is' Shephatiah son of Abital,
and Absalom her brother saith unto her, `Hath Amnon thy brother been with thee? and now, my sister, keep silent, he `is' thy brother; set not thy heart to this thing;' and Tamar dwelleth -- but desolate -- in the house of Absalom her brother. And king David hath heard all these things, and it is very displeasing to him; and Absalom hath not spoken with Amnon either evil or good, for Absalom is hating Amnon, because that he humbled Tamar his sister. And it cometh to pass, after two years of days, that Absalom hath shearers in Baal-Hazor, which `is' with Ephraim, and Absalom calleth for all the sons of the king. And Absalom cometh unto the king, and saith, `Lo, I pray thee, thy servant hath shearers, let the king go, I pray thee, and his servants, with thy servant.' And the king saith unto Absalom, `Nay, my son, let us not all go, I pray thee, and we are not too heavy on thee;' and he presseth on him, and he hath not been willing to go, and he blesseth him. And Absalom saith, `If not -- let, I pray thee, Amnon my brother go with us;' and the king saith to him, `Why doth he go with thee?' and Absalom urgeth on him, and he sendeth with him Amnon, and all the sons of the king. And Absalom commandeth his young men, saying, `See, I pray thee, when the heart of Amnon `is' glad with wine, and I have said unto you, Smite Amnon, that ye have put him to death; fear not; is it not because I have commanded you? be strong, yea, become sons of valour.'
And Absalom hath fled, and goeth to Geshur, and is there three years;
And Absalom saith unto Joab, `Lo, I sent unto thee, saying, Come hither, and I send thee unto the king to say, Why have I come in from Geshur? -- good for me while I `am' there -- and now, let me see the king's face, and if there is in me iniquity then thou hast put me to death.'
for a vow hath thy servant vowed in my dwelling in Geshur, in Aram, saying, If Jehovah doth certainly bring me back to Jerusalem, then I have served Jehovah.'
And Absalom hath taken, and setteth up for himself in his life, the standing-pillar that `is' in the king's valley, for he said, `I have no son to cause my name to be remembered;' and he calleth the standing-pillar by his own name, and it is called `The monument of Absalom' unto this day.
And the king trembleth, and goeth up on the upper chamber of the gate, and weepeth, and thus he hath said in his going, `My son! Absalom my son; my son Absalom; oh that I had died for thee, Absalom, my son, my son.'
and the king hath covered his face, yea, the king crieth -- a loud voice -- `My son Absalom, Absalom, my son, my son.' And Joab cometh in unto the king to the house, and saith, `Thou hast put to shame to-day the faces of all thy servants, those delivering thy life to-day, and the life of thy sons, and of thy daughters, and the life of thy wives, and the life of thy concubines, to love thine enemies, and to hate those loving thee, for thou hast declared to-day that thou hast no princes and servants, for I have known to-day that if Absalom `were' alive, and all of us to-day dead, that then it were right in thine eyes. `And now, rise, go out and speak unto the heart of thy servants, for by Jehovah I have sworn, that -- thou art not going out -- there doth not lodge a man with thee to-night; and this `is' worse for thee than all the evil that hath come upon thee from thy youth till now.' And the king riseth, and sitteth in the gate, and to all the people they have declared, saying, `Lo, the king is sitting in the gate;' and all the people come in before the king, and Israel hath fled, each to his tents. And it cometh to pass, all the people are contending through all the tribes of Israel, saying, `The king delivered us out of the hand of our enemies, yea, he himself delivered us out of the hand of the Philistines, and now he hath fled out of the land because of Absalom, and Absalom whom we anointed over us `is' dead in battle, and now, why are ye silent -- to bring back the king?'
And Adonijah son of Haggith is lifting himself up, saying, `I do reign;' and he prepareth for himself a chariot and horsemen, and fifty men running before him,
and now, Jehovah liveth, who hath established me, and causeth me to sit on the throne of David my father, and who hath made for me an house as He spake -- surely to-day is Adonijah put to death.' And king Solomon sendeth by the hand of Benaiah son of Jehoiada, and he falleth upon him, and he dieth.
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Commentary on 1 Chronicles 3 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 3
1Ch 3:1-9. Sons of David.
1-3. Now these were the sons of David, which were born unto him in Hebron—It is of consequence for the proper understanding of events in the domestic history of David, to bear in mind the place and time of his sons' birth. The oldest son, born after his father's accession to the sovereign authority, is according to Eastern notions, the proper heir to the throne. And hence the natural aspirations of ambition in Ammon, who was long unaware of the alienation of the crown, and could not be easily reconciled to the claims of a younger brother being placed above his own (see on 2Sa 3:1-5).
3. Eglah his wife—supposed to be another name of Michal, who, though she had no son after her mockery of David for dancing before the ark [2Sa 6:16, 20], might have had one previous to that time. She has the title of wife appended to her name because she was his proper wife; and the mention of her name last probably arose from the circumstance that, having been withdrawn from David and married to another husband but afterwards restored, she had in reality become the last of his wives.
5. four, of Bath-shua the daughter of Ammiel—or, "Bath-sheba" (2Sa 11:3), and there her father is called "Eliam." Of course Solomon was not her "only son," but he is called so (Pr 4:3) from the distinguished affection of which he was the object; and though the oldest, he is named the last of Bath-sheba's children.
6. Elishama and Eliphelet—Two sons of the same name are twice mentioned (1Ch 3:8). They were the children of different mothers, and had probably some title or epithet appended by which the one was distinguished from the other. Or, it might be, that the former two were dead, and their names had been given to sons afterwards born to preserve their memories.
8. nine—The number of David's sons born after his removal to Jerusalem, was eleven (2Sa 5:14), but only nine are mentioned here: two of them being omitted, either in consequence of their early deaths or because they left no issue.
1Ch 3:10-16. His Line to Zedekiah.
10. Solomon's son was Rehoboam, &c.—David's line is here drawn down to the captivity, through a succession of good and bad, but still influential and celebrated, monarchs. It has rarely happened that a crown has been transmitted from father to son, in lineal descent, for seventeen reigns. But this was the promised reward of David's piety. There is, indeed, observable some vacillation towards the close of this period—the crown passing from one brother to another, an even from uncle to nephew—a sure sign of disorderly times and a disjointed government.
15. Zedekiah—called the son of Josiah (compare Jer 1:3; 37:1), but in 2Ch 36:19 he is described as the brother of Jehoiachin, who was the son of Jehoiakim, and consequently the grandson of Josiah. Words expressive of affinity or relationship are used with great latitude in the Hebrew.
Shallum—No king of this name is mentioned in the history of Josiah's sons (2Ki 14:1-29; 23:1-37), but there is a notice of Shallum the son of Josiah (Jer 22:11), who reigned in the stead of his father, and who is generally supposed to be Jehoahaz, a younger son, here called the fourth, of Josiah.
1Ch 3:17-24. Successors of Jeconiah.
17. the sons of Jeconiah; Assir—rather, "Jeconiah the prisoner," or "captive." This record of his condition was added to show that Salathiel was born during the captivity in Babylon (compare Mt 1:12). Jeconiah was written childless (Jer 22:30), a prediction which (as the words that follow explain) meant that this unfortunate monarch should have no son succeeding him on the throne.
18. Malchiram also—As far as Jeconiah, everything is plain; but there is reason to suspect that the text in the subsequent verses has been dislocated and disarranged. The object of the sacred historian is to trace the royal line through Zerubbabel; yet, according to the present reading, the genealogical stem cannot be drawn from Jeconiah downwards. The following arrangement of the text is given as removing all difficulties [Davidson, Hermeneutics]:—1Ch 3:17. And the sons of Jeconiah the the captive, Salathiel (Shealtiel, Ezr 3:2; Ne 12:1; Hag 1:12, 14; 2:2) his son. 1Ch 3:18. And the sons of Salathiel; Zerubbabel and Shimei; and the sons of Zerubbabel; Meshullam, Hananiah, and Shelomith their sister. 1Ch 3:19. And Hashubah, and Ohel, and Berechiah, and Hasadiah, Jushab-hezed. 1Ch 3:20. And Malchiram, and Rephaiah, and Shenazar, Jecamiah, Hoshama, and Nedabiah. 1Ch 3:21. The sons of Hananiah; Pelatiah and Jesaiah; the sons of Rephaiah; his son Arnan, his son Obadiah, his son Shecaniah.