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.