and hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon. Now therefore the sword shall never depart from thy house, because thou hast despised me, and hast taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife.' Thus saith Jehovah, ‘Behold, I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house.'. . And David said unto Nathan, "I have sinned against Jehovah." And Nathan said unto David, "Jehovah also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die. Howbeit, because by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of Jehovah to blaspheme, the child also that is born unto thee shall surely die." And Nathan departed unto his house.

And Jehovah struck the child that Uriah's wife bare unto David, and it was very sick. David therefore besought God for the child; and David fasted, and went in, and lay all night upon the earth. And the elders of his house arose, and stood beside him, to raise him up from the earth: but he would not, neither did he eat bread with them. And it came to pass on the seventh day, that the child died. And the servants of David feared to tell him that the child was dead; for they said, "Behold, while the child was yet alive, we spake unto him, and he hearkened not unto our voice: how will he then vex himself, if we tell him that the child is dead." But when David saw that his servants were whispering together, David perceived that the child was dead; and David said unto his servants, "Is the child dead?" And they said, "He is dead." Then David arose from the earth, and washed, and anointed himself, and changed his apparel; and he came into the house of Jehovah, and worshipped: then he came to his own house; and when he required, they set bread before him, and he did eat. Then said his servants unto him, "What thing is this that thou hast done? thou didst fast and weep for the child,

while it was alive; but when the child was dead, thou didst rise and eat bread." And he said, "While the child was yet alive, I fasted and wept; for I said, 'Who knoweth whether Jehovah will not be gracious to me, that the child may live?' But now he is dead, wherefore should I fast? can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he will not return to me."

And David comforted Bathsheba his wife, and went in unto her, and lay with her: and she bare a son, and he called his name Solomon.1 And Jehovah loved him.

[Misfortune seems to have followed David from the
time that he plotted to secure the death of Uriah the
Hittite. A quarrel between two of his older sons, Amnon
and Absalom, culminated in the killing of Amnon.
Although Absalom was the favorite son of his father,
the crime could not be overlooked and the young prince
was forced to flee from the royal palace. He escaped to
the district of Geshur, where he remained for three years.
At the end of that time David ordered Joab, the com-
mander of his army, to bring Absalom back.
As soon
as Absalom found himself restored to favor he started a
plot to usurp the throne. So powerful did he become
that David felt it was dangerous to remain in the palace.
With a small band of followers he fled to a safe place and
began preparations for the expected attack of Absalom.]

LXIX

THE REVOLT OF ABSALOM

(II Samuel xiv: 25, 26; xvi: 23; xvii: 1-xviii: 18)

Now in all Israel there was none to be so much prais d as Absalom for his beauty: from the sole of his foot even to the crown of his head there was no blemish in him. And when he cut the hair of his head (now it was at every

1. "Peaceable."

year's end that he cut it; because it was heavy on him, therefore he cut it); he weighed the hair of his head at two hundred shekels, after the king's weight.1 And the counsel of Ahithophel,2 which he gave in those days, was as if a man inquired at the oracle of God: so was all the counsel of Ahithophel both with David and with Absalom.

Moreover Ahithophel said unto Absalom, "Let me now choose out twelve thousand men, and I will arise and pursue after David this night: and I will come upon him while he is weary and weak-handed, and will make him afraid; and all the people that are with him shall flee; and I will smite the king only; and I will bring back all the people unto thee: the man whom thou seekest is as if all returned: so all the people shall be in peace." And the saying pleased Absalom well, and all the elders of Israel.

Then said Absalom, "Call now Hushai the Archite also, and let us hear likewise what he saith." And when Hushai was come to Absalom, Absalom spake unto him, saying, "Ahithophel hath spoken after this manner: shall we do after his saying? if not, speak thou." And Hushai said unto Absalom, "The counsel that Ahithophel hath given this time is not good." Hushai said moreover, "Thou knowest thy father and his men, that they are mighty men, and they are chafed in their minds, as a bear robbed of her whelps in the field; and thy father is a man of war, and will not lodge with the people. Behold, he is hid now in some pit, or in some other place: and it will come to pass, when some of them are fallen at the first, that whosoever heareth it will say, 'There is a slaughter among the people that follow Absalom.' And even he that is valiant, whose heart is as the heart of a lion, will

1. Nearly four pounds.

2. Ahithophel, King David's adviser, became a traitor and joined Absalom in his revolt.

utterly melt; for all Israel knoweth that thy father is a mighty man, and they that are with him are valiant men. But I counsel that all Israel be gathered together unto thee, from Dan even to Beer-sheba, as the sand that is by the sea for multitude; and that thou go to battle in thine own person. So shall we come upon him in some place where he shall be found, and we will light upon him as the dew falleth on the ground; and of him and of all the men that are with him we will not leave so much as one. Moreover, if he be gotten into a city, then shall all Israel bring ropes to that city, and we will draw it into the river, until there be not one small stone found there." And Absalom and all the men of Israel said, "The counsel of Hushai the Archite is better than the counsel of Ahithophel." For Jehovah had ordained to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel, to the intent that Jehovah might bring evil upon Absalom.

Then said Hushai unto Zadok and to Abiathar the priests, "Thus and thus did Ahithophel counsel Absalom and the elders of Israel; and thus and thus have I cɔunselled. Now therefore send quickly, and tell David, saying Lodge not this night at the fords of the wilderness, but by all means pass over; lest the king be swallowed up, and all the people that are with him."" Now Jonathan and Ahimaaz were staying by En-rogel; and a maidservant used to go and tell them; and they went and told king David: for they might not be seen to come into the city. But a lad saw them, and told Absalom: and they went both of them away quickly, and came to the house of a man in Bahurim, who had a well in his court; and they went down thither. And the woman took and spread the covering over the well's mouth, and strewed bruised grain thereon; and nothing was known. And Absalom's servants came to the woman to the house; and they said,

"Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan?" And the woman said unto them, "They are gone over the brook of water." And when they had sought and could not find them, they returned to Jerusalem.

And it came to pass, after they were departed, that they came up out of the well, and went and told king David; and they said unto David, "Arise ye, and pass quickly over the water; for thus hath Ahithophel counselled against you." Then David arose, and all the people that were with him, and they passed over the Jordan: by the morning light there lacked not one of them that was not gone over the Jordan. And when Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not followed, he saddled his ass, and arose, and gat him home, unto his city, and set his house in order, and hanged himself; and he died, and was buried in the sepulcher of his father.

Then David came to Mahanaim. And Absalom passed over the Jordan, he and all the men of Israel with him. And Absalom set Amasa over the host instead of Joab. Now Amasa was the son of a man, whose name was Ithra the Israelite, that went in to Abigal, the daughter of Nahash, sister to Zeruiah, Joab's mother. And Israel and Absalom encamped in the land of Gilead.

And it came to pass, when David was come to Mahanaim, that Shobi the son of Nahash of Rabbah of the children of Ammon, and Machir the son of Ammiel of Lo-debar, and Barzillai the Gileadite of Rogelim, brought beds, and basins, and earthen vessels, and wheat, and barley, and meal, and parched grain, and beans, and lentils, and parched pulse, and honey, and butter, and sheep, and cheese of the herd, for David, and for the people that were with him, to eat: for they said, "The people are hungry, and weary, and thirsty, in the wilderness."

And David numbered the people that were with him,