The (Second) Book of Samuel: chapter 19

Welcome to 2 Samuel, Shmuel part Bet, chapter nineteen

Episode 46: The Return of the King

Previously on the book of Shmuel part bet - We saw what was referred to in Shir HaShirim 7:6 as מֶלֶךְ אָסוּר בָּרְהָטִים the king held captive in the hairlocks. David’s army, and the battle location was too much for Avshalom’s troops. Yoav callously put an end to Avshalom and then in the beginning of chapter 19 we saw a broken king mourning the death of yet another child.

The rest of the chapter will remind you, if you are a Tolkein fan, and if you are not we need to speak to remedy that, of the Gray Heavens, or in Joseph Campbell language, the concluding return of the Hero’s journey, where he meets upon his return the same cast of characters he met on his way out.

But first we take a brief excursus to note the many thematic and textual parallels between Saul's son Jonathan, and David's son Absalom.

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The (Second) Book of Samuel: chapter 18

Welcome to 2 Samuel, Shmuel part Bet, chapter eighteen

Episode 45: One Tin Soldier

Previously on the book of Shmuel part bet - David was able to successfully flee Jerusalem thanks in no small part to the spy network he put in place and the chicanery of Chushai. Achitofel, seeing the writing on the wall, kills himself as Avshalom pursues David in the transjordan region.

In this chapter the battle will be met in earnest, and a tragedy, perhaps avoidable, will ensue. The first half of our story is the battle, the second is the aftermath. None of it is good. We continue to live in a world post the sin with Batsheva and as David continues to receive his comeuppance the question that continues to dangle over our heads is, why exactly is he still king.

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The (Second) Book of Samuel: chapters 16 & 17

Welcome to 2 Samuel, Shmuel part Bet, chapters sixteen and seventeen

Episode 44: Ramble On

Previously we saw the beginning of Avshalom’s rebellion which happened in stages, all while David sat on his hands. Then we saw David’s reaction, which was to neither confirm nor deny the new king, but rather to leave the scene. In his travels he meets a number of supporters and establishes his network of spies. This will come in handy in the upcoming chapters as those men go to work disrupting Avshalom’s counselors and informing David of what is to come.

In these chapters we meet 2 additional people who met David on his way, who were from Binyamin, Ziba who is clearly on David’s side but perhaps with dubious motives, while Shimi is clearly against David, though perhaps for purer motives, especially given that David had several other members of Shaul’s family killed (we kinda foreshadowed this previously, don’t worry, we’ll see more about that at the end of the book). In the meantime there is descension in the ranks of Avshalom as Achitofel’s first suggestion was accepted but his latter was foiled by Hushai. This leads to Achitofel’s demise by his own hand, and David’s successful escape with the help of his spy network.