23 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 the days are multiplied, and the daughter of Shuah, Judah's wife, dieth; and Judah is comforted, and goeth up unto his sheep-shearers, he and Hirah his friend the Adullamite, to Timnath. And it is declared to Tamar, saying, `Lo, thy husband's father is going up to Timnath to shear his flock;'
And David heareth in the wilderness that Nabal is shearing his flock,
and, now, I have heard that thou hast shearers; now, the shepherds whom thou hast have been with us, we have not put them to shame, nor hath anything been looked after by them, all the days of their being in Carmel.
And Abigail cometh in unto Nabal, and lo, he hath a banquet in his house, like a banquet of the king, and the heart of Nabal `is' glad within him, and he `is' drunk unto excess, and she hath not declared to him anything, less or more, till the light of the morning.
and he sacrificeth ox, and fatling, and sheep in abundance, and calleth for all the sons of the king, and for Abiathar the priest, and for Joab head of the host -- and for Solomon thy servant he hath not called.
for he hath gone down to-day, and doth sacrifice ox, and fatling, and sheep, in abundance, and calleth for all the sons of the king, and for the heads of the host, and for Abiathar the priest, and lo, they are eating and drinking before him, and they say, Let king Adonijah live!
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on 2 Samuel 13
Commentary on 2 Samuel 13 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 13
The righteous God had lately told David, by Nathan the prophet, that, to chastise him for his son in the matter of Uriah, he would "raise up evil against him out of his own house,' (ch. 12:11). And here, in the very next chapter, we find the evil beginning to rise; henceforward he was followed with one trouble after another, which made the latter part of his reign less glorious and pleasant than the former part. Thus God chastened him with the rod of men, yet assured him that his "loving-kindness he would not utterly take away.' Adultery and murder were David's sins, and those sins among his children (Amnon defiling his sister Tamar, and Absalom murdering his brother Amnon) were the beginnings of his punishment, and the more grievous because he had reason to fear that his bad example might help to bring them to these wickednesses. In this chapter we have,
Both were great griefs to David, and the more because he was unwittingly made accessory to both, by sending Tamar to Amnon and Amnon to Absalom.
2Sa 13:1-20
We have here a particular account of the abominable wickedness of Amnon in ravishing his sister, a subject not fit to be enlarged upon nor indeed to be mentioned without blushing, that ever any man should be so vile, especially that a son of David should be so. Amnon's character, we have reason to think, was bad in other things; if he had not forsaken God, he would never have been given up to these vile affections. Godly parents have often been afflicted with wicked children; grace does not run in the blood, but corruption does. We do not find that David's children imitated him in his devotion; but his false steps they trod in, and in those did much worse, and repented not. Parents know not how fatal the consequences may be if in any instance they give their children bad examples. Observe the steps of Amnon's sin.
2Sa 13:21-29
What Solomon says of the beginning of strife is as true of the beginning of all sin, it is as the letting forth of water; when once the flood-gates are plucked up, an inundation follows; one mischief begets another, and it is hard to say what shall be in the end thereof.
2Sa 13:30-39
Here is,