War with the Moabites?—?Insult offered by the king of the Ammonites?—?War with the Ammonites?—?Their Defeat?—?Battle of Helam?—?Attack of Hadadezer?—?Defeat of the AramÆans?—?Acquisition of Damascus?—?War with the IdumÆans?—?Conquest of the town of Rabbah?—?Defeat of the IdumÆans?—?Conquered races obliged to pay tribute?—?Bathsheba?—?Death of Uriah the Hittite?—?Parable of Nathan?—?Birth of Solomon (1033)?—?Misfortunes of David?—?Absalom?—?Wise Woman of Tekoah?—?Reconciliation of David and Absalom?—?Numbering of the Troops?—?Pestilence breaks out in Israel?—?Absalom's Rebellion?—?Murder of Amasa?—?Sheba's Insurrection?—?David and Nathan?—?Adonijah.
1035–1015 B.C.E.
When David had completed two decades of his reign, he became involved in several wars, which withdrew him from the peaceful pursuits of regulating the internal affairs of the country, and of attending to the administration of justice. These wars with distant nations, forced on him against his will, gave him an immense accession of power, and raised the prestige of the people in a surprising degree. David first began a fierce warfare with the Moabites, who dwelt on the opposite side of the Dead Sea. With them he had been on friendly terms during his wanderings, and amongst them he had met with a hospitable reception. It is probable that the Moabites had ousted from their possession the neighbouring Reubenites, and that David hurried to their rescue. It must in any case have been a war of retribution, for, after his victory, David treated the prisoners with a severity which he did not display towards any of the other nations whom he conquered. The Moabite captives were fettered, and cast side by side on the ground, then measured with a rope, and two divisions were killed, whilst one division was spared. The whole land of Moab was subdued, and a yearly tribute was to be sent to Jerusalem.
Some time afterwards, when Nahash, king of the Ammonites, died, David, who had been on friendly terms with him, sent an embassy to his son Hanun, with messages of condolence. This courtesy only roused suspicion in Rabbath-Ammon, the capital of the Ammonites. The new king's counsellors impressed him with the idea that David had sent his ambassadors as spies to Rabbah, in order to discover their weakness, to conquer them, and to deliver them over to the same fate that had befallen the Moabites. Hanun was so carried away by his suspicions that he offered an insult to the king of Israel which could not be passed over unnoticed. He obliged the ambassadors, whose persons, according to the laws of nations, were inviolable, to have their beards shaved off on one side, and their garments cut short, and thus disgraced he drove them out of the country. The ambassadors were ashamed to appear at Jerusalem in this guise, but they informed David of the occurrence. He immediately prepared himself for battle, and the militia was called out; the old warriors girded their loins, and the Cherethite and Pelethite mercenaries sallied forth with their heroic leader Benaiah at their head. Hanun, who feared the valor of the Israelites, looked around for help, and engaged mercenary troops from among the AramÆans, who lived in the regions between the mountains of Hermon and the banks of the Euphrates. Hadadezer, king of Zobah on the Euphrates, contributed the greatest number—20,000 men. David did not personally conduct this war, but left the supreme command with the careful and reliable Joab. Having led the Israelite army across the Jordan, Joab divided it into two bodies. With the one he attacked the AramÆans, the other he left under the command of his brother Abishai. He aroused the enthusiasm of his army by inspiring words: "Let us fight bravely for our people and the city of our God, and may the Lord God do what seemeth good unto Him." Joab then dashed at the AramÆans, and put them to flight. On this, the Ammonites were seized with such fear that they withdrew from the field, and took shelter behind the walls of their capital. It was a most successful achievement. Joab hurried to Jerusalem to report to the king, and to lay before him a plan by which the AramÆans might be totally annihilated, and any future interference on their part prevented. The victorious army, having been recalled from the Ammonitish territories, was reinforced, and with the king himself at its head pursued the AramÆan enemy on the other side of the Jordan. King Hadadezer, on his part, also sent fresh troops to the aid of his defeated forces, but in a battle at Helam, the AramÆan army was again defeated, and its general, Shobach, fell in the encounter. The vassals of the mighty Hadadezer then hastened to make peace with David.
TÔi (or Tou), the king of Hamath, who had been at war with Hadadezer, now sent his son Joram to David with presents, congratulating him on the victory over their common foe. David followed up his successes until he reached the capital of king Hadadezer, situated on the banks of the Euphrates. The AramÆans were then defeated a third time; their chariots and soldiers could not withstand the attack of the Israelite army. The extensive district of Zobah, to which various princes had been tributary, was divided into several parts.
The king of Damascus, an ally of the king of Zobah, was also defeated by David, and the ancient town of Damascus henceforth belonged to the king of Israel. David placed land-overseers in all the AramÆan territories from Hermon to the Euphrates, in order to enforce the payment of tribute. David and his army themselves must have been astonished at the wonderful result which they had achieved. It rendered the king and his army objects of fear far and wide. Meanwhile the king of the Ammonites had escaped punishment for his insults to the ambassadors of Israel. In consequence of the campaign against the AramÆans, which lasted nearly a year, the Israelitish army had been unable to resume the war against Hanun. It was only after the great events narrated above that David was again enabled to send his forces, under Joab, against Ammon. Yet another war arose out of the hostilities against this nation. The IdumÆans, on the south of the Dead Sea, had also assisted the Ammonites by sending troops to their aid, and these had to be humiliated now. David deputed his second general, Abishai, Joab's brother, to direct the campaign against the IdumÆans. Joab was in the meantime engaged in a long contest with the Ammonites, who had secured themselves behind the strong walls of their fortified capital, and were continually making raids on their foes. The Israelitish army had neither battering rams nor other instruments of siege. Their only alternative was to storm the heights of the city, and in their attempts to carry out this plan they were often repelled by the bowmen on the walls. At length Joab succeeded, after repeated attacks, in gaining possession of one part of the city—the Water-Town; he reported this victory to David at once, and urged him to repair to the camp in order to lead in person the attack on the other quarters, so that the honour of the conquest might be entirely his own. When David arrived at Rabbah with fresh troops, he succeeded in subduing the whole town, and in obtaining rich booty. David himself put on his head the golden diadem, richly adorned with precious stones, which had heretofore crowned the Ammonitish idol Malchom (Milchom). It appears that David did not destroy the city of Rabbah, as he had intended. He merely condemned the male inhabitants, or perhaps only the prisoners, to do hard work, such as polishing stones, threshing with iron rollers, hewing wood with axes, and making bricks. He treated the other prisoners from the various towns in a similar manner. Hanun, the original cause of the war, who had so deeply insulted David, was either killed or driven out of the kingdom. In his stead David appointed his brother Shobi as king. Meanwhile Abishai had been engaged in a war against the IdumÆan king, and had utterly routed him in the Valley of Salt—probably in the neighbourhood of the rocksalt mountain, near the Dead Sea. Eighteen thousand IdumÆans are said to have fallen there. The rest probably submitted; and for this reason David contented himself with placing excise officers and a garrison over them, as he had done in Damascus and the other AramÆan provinces. The IdumÆans, however, seem later on to have revolted against the Israelitish garrison and the tax collectors, and to have massacred them. Joab therefore repaired to IdumÆa, caused the murdered Israelites to be buried, and all IdumÆan males to be put to death. He was occupied with this war of destruction during half a year, and so thoroughly was the task executed that only a few of the male sex could save themselves by flight. Amongst them was a son or a grandson of the IdumÆan king.
By these decisive victories, in the west over the Philistines, in the south over the IdumÆans, in the east (on the opposite side of the Jordan) over the Moabites and Ammonites, and in the north over the AramÆans, David had raised the power of Israel to an unexpected degree. While, at the commencement of his reign, when he was first acknowledged king of all Israel, the boundaries of the country had been comprised between Dan and Beersheba, he now ruled over the widespread territory from the river of Egypt (Rhinokolura, El-Arish) to the Euphrates, or from Gaza to Thapsacus (on the Euphrates). The nations thus subdued were obliged annually to do homage by means of gifts, to pay tribute, and perhaps also to send serfs to assist in building and other severe labour.
These wars and victories were better calculated than his early hardships to bring to light the great qualities of David's mind. Strong and determined as he was in every undertaking in which the honour and safety of his people were involved, he remained modest and humble, without a spark of presumption, after success had been attained. He erected no monument to commemorate his victories as had been done by Saul; like his general, Joab, he was imbued with the thought that to God alone was to be attributed the victory. The faith in God, to which David had given utterance when he prepared himself for the duel with the Rephaite Goliath (I Samuel xvii. 47), he preserved in all great contests. David elaborated this guiding thought in a psalm, which he probably chanted before the ark at the close of the war, and in which he gives a retrospect of his entire past life.
In consequence of their great victories, two firm convictions were impressed on the minds of the people, and these actuated and possessed them in all times to come. The one idea occurs in various forms: "A king cannot escape by the multitude of his army, nor a warrior by his power; vain is the horse for safety." God alone decides the fate of war, brings it to a close, gives victory or defeat, and "to Him it is equally easy to conquer with few or with many." The other idea, in closest connection with it, is that God leads the armies of Israel to victory, if they go forth to glorify His name or to save His people. The God of Israel was, in accordance with this idea, designated by a special name which fully expresses this thought; He was named the God of hosts (Adonai Zebaoth), the God who gives victory unto Israel in its conflicts. The King Zebaoth was invoked before every battle, and the Israelitish troops went forth with the firm conviction that they could never be defeated. This confidence, certainly, worked wonders in the course of time.
Severely as David treated the idols of the nations whom he had conquered, he behaved with comparative leniency to the conquered idolaters. The Moabites alone were cruelly punished, and the Ammonites were enslaved, but the other conquered races were merely obliged to pay tribute. The offences of the former must have been very great to have deserved so heavy a punishment. The foreign races residing in the country were not molested; thus we find Jebusites in Jerusalem, and Canaanites and Hittites in other parts of the country. Hence we find many strangers and natives not of Israelitish descent enrolled in his corps of warriors, or leading their own troops in his service. The Hittite Uriah, one of David's thirty heroes, who was destined to play a melancholy part in David's career, was deeply attached to the Israelitish nation.
The joy over these great achievements remained, however, but for a short time unmarred. The happiness of a state, like that of individuals, is but seldom of long duration, and days of sunshine must be followed by periods of darkness, to prevent the enervation of the national vigour. By one false step David lost not only his own inward contentment and peace, but shook the very foundations of that state which it had cost him such exertions to establish. When David returned home from the AramÆan war, and was resting from the fatigues of battle, which Joab and his army were still undergoing in the land of Ammon, he beheld from the roof of his palace a beautiful woman, who was bathing. She was the wife of one of his most faithful warriors (the Hittite, Uriah), and her name was Bathsheba. The houses of the warriors were built on Zion in the vicinity of the king's palace, and thus he happened to see Bathsheba. Carried away by his passion, he sent messengers to command her to repair to the palace, and Bathsheba obeyed. When David, some time after, found that this violation of the marriage tie had not been without consequences, his only thought was to save his honour, and thus he involved himself in deeper sin. He commanded Uriah to return to Jerusalem from the camp at Rabbah. He received him in a friendly manner, and gave him permission to rest, and enjoy the company of his wife. Uriah, however, made no use of this permission, but remained with the guard, who slept at the entrance of the king's palace, and protected his person. David was disappointed. He sought an escape from the dilemma, and this led him into a heinous crime. As he could not save his honour, he determined that Uriah should lose his life. David therefore sent him to the camp with a letter to Joab, saying that the bearer should be placed in a post of extreme danger—nay, of certain death—during one of the sorties of the Ammonites. This command was fulfilled, and Uriah fell, struck dead by an Ammonite arrow. Bathsheba fulfilled the customary time of mourning for her husband, and was then received into the palace by David as his wife.
In every other State the court circle would have discussed a king's fancy with bated breath; it would hardly have been blamed, and certainly it would soon have been forgotten. But in Israel there was an eye which could pierce this factitious darkness, and a conscience which declaimed in a loud voice against the crimes of even a royal wrong-doer. Prophetism possessed this clear sight which never failed, and this conscience which never slept. It was its foremost duty not to allow sin to grow into a habit by hushing it up and screening it, but to expose it in glaring colors, and brand it with the stamp of public condemnation.
David no doubt believed that Bathsheba alone was cognisant of his sin, and Joab the only accessory to the plot against Uriah's life. But this error was suddenly and rudely dispelled. The prophet Nathan one day came to David, and requested permission to bring a certain case to his notice. He then related the following parable:—In a great city there lived a rich man, who possessed great flocks and herds; and near him lived a poor man who possessed but one little lamb, which he had reared for himself. One day, when a guest came to the rich man, he was too stingy to kill one of his flock for the meal, but he took the lamb of the poor man to feast his friend. On hearing this complaint, David's sense of justice was aroused, and he said indignantly that the heartless rich man deserved to die, and should pay the poor man four times the value of the lamb. Then the prophet replied, "Thou art the man!"
Any other king would have punished the moralist who had dared speak the truth to a crowned head, to the representative of God on earth. David, however, the pupil of the prophet Samuel, when the picture of his misdeeds was thus placed before him, penitently answered, "Yes, I have sinned." He certainly did not fail to offer up heartfelt prayers, and to make atonement in order to obtain God's forgiveness. The child which was born died in early infancy, although David had worn himself away in fasting and prayers for its life. Bathsheba afterwards had a second son named Jedidiah, or Solomon (1033), who became the favourite of his father.
But though God pardoned the king for his heinous sins, humanity did not forgive them, and they proved fatal to domestic peace. Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah, was the daughter of Eliam (one of David's warriors), and the granddaughter of his counsellor Ahithophel. The father and grandfather felt their honour disgraced through their daughter's seduction, which they could never forgive, although they kept silence, and did not betray their hatred. Ahithophel especially nursed his vengeance in secret, and only awaited an opportunity to wreak it on the king. David did all in his power to appease them. He elevated Bathsheba to the rank of first queen, promised her secretly that her son should be his successor, and solemnly swore to fulfil this promise. He wished at any cost to make peace with Ahithophel, whose counsel was precious to him. Ahithophel, however, remained immovable. A scandalous event in the house of David involved matters to a still greater extent, and robbed his remaining years of all tranquillity. His eldest son Amnon seduced his half-sister Tamar, and thereby aroused the fierce anger of her brother Absalom, who determined to avenge her. Each of the king's sons, six of whom had been born in Hebron, and eleven, in Jerusalem, had, when he attained manhood, his own house, household and lands. Absalom's lands and herds were situated at Baal-Hazor, not far from the capital. Thither he invited all the king's sons to the feast of sheep-shearing. Whilst they and their guests were enjoying the feast, and drinking freely, Absalom's servants, at their master's command, attacked Amnon, and dealt him his death-blow. Absalom served a double purpose by this murder. He avenged the insult offered to his sister, and hoped to secure his own succession to the throne by ridding himself of his elder brother. The son of Abigail, the second in succession, was already dead, and so it seemed inevitable that he, as the third son, must be the successor. David's son a fratricide!—What will be the consequences of this bloody deed? Only his faith in God saved him from becoming, like his predecessor, a victim to insanity, although the dire fate which had befallen him was but too real, and not merely the effect of a distrustful imagination.
David's first impulse was to seek out the murderer, who had taken refuge with his grandfather, King Talmai, of Geshur, on the south-west boundary of JudÆa, in order to deal with him as he deserved, even at the risk of going to war on his account. But there were various influences at work against such a policy. In fact, since the affair with Bathsheba, intrigues had been rife at David's court. Joab was opposed to the succession of the last-born, Solomon, and was naturally on the side of Absalom, the eldest surviving son. Ahithophel, David's infallible counsellor, also favoured Absalom's claim to the throne, because he could use him as a tool against his father. On the other hand, Adonijah, David's fourth son, advocated the infliction of condign punishment on Absalom. Adonijah thought his prospects of displacing the infant Solomon fairer than his chance with the remorseless Absalom. If the latter were punished for fratricide, Adonijah would be the next in succession. He and his mother Haggith may perhaps, therefore, have incensed David against Absalom, but Joab and Ahithophel were wiser, and knew how to exert their influence in favour of abandoning all warlike attempts upon him or his grandfather, whose protection he was enjoying.
When David had at length decided on seizing or demanding the surrender of his guilty son (though he had been absent for three years), Joab employed a ruse to turn the king from his resolve. He sent for a woman living in the adjacent town of Tekoah, who had a reputation for adroit and clever speech. With her he devised a plan to make the king realise how horrible it was for a father to be willing to put to death a son for the not altogether unjustifiable murder of his brother. The wise woman of Tekoah consequently appeared before the king in mourning garments, and as though invoking his mercy she called out in an entreating voice and with deep prostrations, Help! O king, help! When she stated her fictitious case, the king readily recognised the hidden point of her story, and the allusion to his own case, and he demanded an open answer from her as to whether Joab had assisted her in her disguise and invention. When the woman of Tekoah had confessed the truth, the king sent for Joab, and assured him that he no longer entertained evil intentions against Absalom, and assigned to him the task of conducting his son to Jerusalem. The woman of Tekoah had, in her ingenious manner, made it clear to him that blood-revenge against his own son would be a contradiction in itself.
Joab himself brought Absalom from Geshur to Jerusalem. The son, however, was not permitted to appear before his father, but was obliged to remain in his own house. By this means Joab unconsciously sowed the seeds of dissension in the house of David. Night and day, Absalom, in his isolation and disgrace, brooded over the vile plan of deposing his father. But he dissembled in order to lull the latter's suspicion. To this end it was absolutely necessary that a reconciliation should be effected. Joab, who earnestly desired peace between father and son, became the mediator, and David decided that, after a two years' exile from his presence, his son might now be allowed to return. At this meeting, Absalom played to perfection the part of the penitent, obedient son; David then gave him a fatherly embrace, and the reconciliation was complete. Seven years had passed since the death of Amnon. But now Absalom's intrigues commenced. No doubt he had frequent meetings with Ahithophel, and was following his advice. He obtained chariots and horses from Egypt, procured a guard of fifty men, and displayed regal grandeur. He arose betimes in the morning, listened to disputes, and found every one's case just, but regretted that the king would not listen to all, and would not give justice to all. He hinted that were he the judge, no one would have to complain of difficulty in obtaining his dues. Absalom pursued this course for four years after the reconciliation with his father. He was the handsomest man of his times. He was then about thirty, and in the full pride of his strength. His beautiful thick hair fell in waves over his neck and shoulders, like the mane of a lion. His affability won him the hearts of all who approached him. David was so blinded that he did not see how his crafty son was alienating the affections of the people from their sovereign, whilst Absalom merely awaited a favourable opportunity to proceed against his father, to dethrone him, and perhaps to attempt his life. This opportunity soon offered itself.
It appears that David was occupied, in the last decade of his reign, with a comprehensive plan, apparently that of a great war which would require a numerous body of soldiers. He had already enlisted bands of mercenaries, six hundred Hittites, who, with their general Ittai, (whose admiration for David secured his unswerving attachment), had arrived from Gath. The king also wished to ascertain the number of able-bodied men over twenty years of age in all the Israelitish tribes, in order to determine whether he could undertake with their aid a campaign which would probably prove severe and tedious. The king delegated the office of numbering the men who could bear arms to his commander-in-chief, Joab, and the other generals. The work of enumeration lasted nine months and twenty days. From the numbers which were handed in, supposing them to be correct, it appears that, out of an entire population of 4,000,000, there were 1,300,000 men and youths capable of bearing arms.
This counting of the nation, however, proved to be a mistake for which David had to pay heavily. The people were highly incensed against him. In itself the act was displeasing to them, as they saw in it the preliminaries to enlistments for a war of long duration; added to this was the fear that the counting itself must be attended by evil results, for such was the view held in those days. A fearful pestilence broke out, which carried off great numbers, and confirmed all minds in the belief that it had arisen in consequence of the numbering of the people. The capital, being densely populated, naturally suffered the greatest loss from the pestilence. On seeing the heaps of corpses, or, to speak in the metaphorical language of those days, at sight of "the angel of Destruction" that had snatched away so many, David exclaimed:—"I have sinned and done wrong, but what has my poor flock done? Let thy hand strike me and the house of my fathers." The plague having spared Mount Moriah, where the Jebusites had settled, the prophet Gad bade the king erect an altar, and offer up sacrifices on that mountain, and he announced that the pestilence would then be averted from Jerusalem. Without hesitation, David and his entire court repaired thither. When the chief of the Jebusites, Ornah (Araunah), saw David approaching, he hurried to meet him, saluted him humbly, and asked what was his desire. David then informed him that he wished to buy the mountain in order to build an altar on it. Ornah graciously offered him the spot and all appertaining to it as a gift, but David refused to accept it. No sooner was an altar hastily erected there and a sacrifice offered, than the pestilence ceased in Jerusalem. From that time Mount Moriah was considered a sacred spot, which destruction could not approach; it was also the mountain on which Abraham was supposed to have offered his son Isaac as a sacrifice.
In consequence of this plague the nation conceived a dislike to David; it condemned him for the loss of the thousands of human beings whom the Angel of Destruction had snatched away. Ahithophel made use of this dislike in order to avenge himself on David, and he employed Absalom as his tool, and, with him, contrived a conspiracy which could not fail to succeed. Absalom secretly despatched messengers in every direction, in order to give those adherents who were already attached to him the necessary signal. The insurrection was to be set on foot in Hebron, an outpost of the tribe of Judah, whose elders had already been won for Absalom. The latter invented subterfuges by which to deceive David as to the true purpose of his visit to Hebron, and the king permitted him to depart without suspicion.
Absalom arrived at Hebron, attended by his friends and guards, and by two hundred prominent men of Jerusalem, whom he had invited under some pretext, and who did not suspect his real aims. These two hundred men, through their very ignorance of matters, contributed to the success of the project. The people of Hebron, seeing that even prominent men had joined Absalom's party, gave up David's cause as lost. Ahithophel, who had likewise invented a pretext to absent himself from court, openly declared for Absalom, thus giving his cause an immense accession of power, as he was known to be David's right hand.
The traitorous plan succeeded but too well. The Hebronites and others present saluted Absalom as king, forswore their allegiance to David, and sacrificed burnt-offerings. Ambition prompted various members of David's family also to join Absalom. This was more especially the case with Amasa, his cousin, who considered himself a great commander, and thought that Joab had unjustly been preferred to him. The messengers then gave the signal previously agreed upon, and the conspirators who sided with Absalom gathered together, and shouted "Long live King Absalom!" They carried with them all who had been incensed against David for taking a census of the people, and in fact all who hoped to gain some advantage from changes and dissension. The Benjamites, whom the accession of David had deprived of supremacy, and the ever-dissatisfied Ephraimites, were more particularly delighted at David's downfall, and willingly did homage to the usurper; they hoped to regain their former freedom through David's misfortunes. They had greater chances of obtaining power under Absalom, who was very vain, and not likely to retain the favour of the nation for a long time, than under the rule of David. The chief towns of all the tribes sent ambassadors to Hebron to salute the new king, and his adherents daily increased in number. At first the conspiracy was kept secret from those in authority; no one was permitted to journey to Jerusalem, lest the news spread. David received the information of his own dethronement and the accession of his son simultaneously with the news that the houses of Judah and Israel had renounced their allegiance to him.
It was a terrible blow for the king. But his resolve was soon taken; he would not resort to a civil war, as the sons of Zeruiah and many other faithful followers probably urged him to do. Deserted by all the tribes, he would be obliged to shut himself up in his capital. The city would not be able to resist the attack of so large an army; and he saw, now that he was undeceived, that Absalom would not scruple to turn Jerusalem into a sea of blood. David felt deeply wounded by the alliance of Ahithophel with his usurping son, and he was greatly discouraged by it. He saw, too late, that the conspiracy was of long standing, that the plan had been maturely considered, and that resistance on his part would only lead to his own destruction. He therefore announced to his people that he would depart from Jerusalem in all haste, before Absalom could leave Hebron with his numerous followers.
This step was instrumental in proving to David that he still had faithful friends, who would be true to him till death. When, on leaving his palace, he passed the Place of the Sellers of Ointment, he observed to his great joy that a great concourse followed him. Not only his general, Joab, with his brother, Abishai, and their followers; not only a great number of the warrior-corps (Gibborim), the hired troops, Cherethites and Pelethites, with Benaiah their leader, but also Ittai the Hittite, with six hundred men, whom David had only a short time before enlisted. The entire population wept aloud, whilst David withdrew to the Vale of Kedron, where he mustered his followers before taking the road over the Mount of Olives to the desert near the Jordan. He did not venture to take refuge in a city from fear of treachery.
Later on the two high priests Zadok and Abiathar with all the Levites hurried after him, bearing the ark of the covenant with them. David, however, urged the priests to return to Zion with the ark, saying, "If by God's mercy I shall be permitted to return to Jerusalem, then I shall again behold the ark of the covenant and the sanctuary; if not, if God rejects me, I am ready to endure what seemeth good unto Him." It also appeared to him that the priests could be of more service to him if they remained in Jerusalem than if they joined him in exile. Whilst, then, the priests hastily took the ark back to Jerusalem, David ascended the Mount of Olives barefoot, his head covered, and his face bathed in tears. All his attendants wept bitterly. But when his grief and despair had reached their climax, a friend, who was to give him help, came from the other side of the Mount of Olives, and met him at its highest point. Hushai from the city of Erech was a confidant of David, and a counsellor of no less wisdom than Ahithophel. He advanced in mourning array, his garments torn, and earth upon his head, prepared to share the king's flight. David, however, refused to permit this, because, being an aged man, he would only be a burden. In Absalom's vicinity he might do valiant service by counteracting Ahithophel's counsels, and by keeping David informed of all that occurred. Hushai therefore repaired to Jerusalem.
The first town through which David passed in his flight was the Benjamite city of Bahurim. Far from meeting with a friendly reception there, he was received with insult and neglect. A Benjamite named Shimei, of the house of Gera, reviled and cursed him, saying, "Thou outcast and man of blood, God will repay thee for thy treatment of the house of Saul, whose crown thou hast stolen." He followed David's march for a long distance, throwing stones and earth at him, so that the soldiers had to shield the king. David, however, had some friends in Bahurim also. Humbled and exhausted, the king at length accomplished the journey through the desert, and reached the neighbourhood of Jericho with his forces.
Here he could recruit his energies after his recent bodily and mental exertions, while awaiting the news which his faithful adherents would transmit to him from Jerusalem.
When David was approaching the banks of the Jordan, Absalom arrived in Jerusalem with his traitorous adherents, among them Ahithophel, the faithless counsellor. Ahithophel urged the usurper to commit ever greater crimes in order to widen the breach between him and his father, and render a reconciliation impossible; he advised him to take possession of his father's harem. It mattered little to Ahithophel that Absalom would incur the hatred of the people through this fresh misdeed. His sole object was to revenge himself on David, and to ruin him. The weak-minded sinner who called himself king, and who was incapable of undertaking anything, unless incited thereto by others, allowed himself to be induced to commit this crime. But, whilst Absalom was revelling in sin, the man who was destined to frustrate all his ruthless plans was near at hand. Hushai had apparently submitted to the new king, and had assured him that he would serve him as faithfully as he had served his father, and Absalom relied on this promise. He called a council to consider the most expedient plan for defeating and ruining his father. The elders of the tribes, who were in the city, were invited to attend. Ahithophel gave the diabolical advice to attack David that very night with a strong army, to disperse his following in a sudden onslaught made by a force its superior in point of numbers, and to capture and slay the king, whom he imagined to be utterly worn out and dispirited. But Absalom also consulted Hushai with regard to the campaign against his father, and Ahithophel's advice was rejected by him as impracticable. Hushai urged such plausible objections that Absalom was duped by them; he advised that David should not be attacked with a small force, but that Absalom should raise from the entire nation—from Dan to Beersheba—an army whose numbers would render it irresistible. Hushai's advice was more favourably received than Ahithophel's, and steps were forthwith taken to act upon it. The attack was postponed, and the campaign was deferred till the numerous forces could be assembled. Hushai immediately conveyed the results of the meeting to David by means of Jonathan and Ahimaaz, the sons of the High Priest.
The first result of these events was favourable to the cause of David, for Ahithophel departed from Jerusalem, and hanged himself in his native town of Gilo. He was led to this course either by disgust at Absalom's conduct in setting aside his counsel, or by the conviction that Absalom's cause would be lost through delay, and that he himself would reap well-deserved punishment. This suicide was a severe blow to the usurper, for he had no capable man amongst his followers, and he himself was neither warlike nor prudent. His general Amasa had but little military genius. The enrolment of soldiers was actually begun, but before it could be completed David had obtained an important advantage. He went to Mahanaim, the inhabitants of which town received him with a welcome as cordial as that which in former times they had extended to the fugitive son of Saul. All the Israelites on the opposite side of the Jordan offered their assistance, and placed themselves under his command. Two men of Gilead outvied each other in attentions to the unhappy king and father, and provided him and his followers with all necessaries. They were old men—Barzillai from Rogelim, and Machir from Lo-debar—and help came also from Shobi, king of Ammon, the son of Nahash. When at length Absalom or Amasa had succeeded in collecting a large force, they crossed the Jordan by means of rafts, and approached Mahanaim. The Absalomites encamped opposite the wood without any particular plan or order. David, on the other hand, divided his army into three divisions, commanded respectively by Joab, Abishai and Ittai, who were all proved and competent soldiers. David himself was not permitted to accompany them, as his generals knew too well his love for his wicked son. The contest cost many human lives. Although Absalom's forces exceeded those of David in point of numbers, yet they were defeated, for they were not well disciplined, and were not able to find their way in the forest. David's troops, on the other hand, fought valiantly. The forest was more destructive than the sword. Twenty thousand warriors are said to have fallen there. The forest of Rephaim was also the cause of Absalom's personal destruction. His long hair, of which he was very vain, caught in the branches of an oak, and the mule he had been riding galloped away. It seems providential that the death-blow was dealt by Joab, who had formerly favoured him, and who had thus unwittingly assisted him in his conspiracy. Joab then sounded the horn as a signal for David's army to cease from the contest, and the adherents of Absalom took to flight, and crossed the Jordan.
Thus ended the second civil war of David's reign, a war which was the more unnatural because of the close relationship between the rival combatants, and the sad causes which led to the contest. The first duty of the victors was to transmit the news of their triumph to David. This was in itself a painful office, for all knew how deeply David would feel the death of his wicked son. David was terrified at the news, wept and sobbed, and cried repeatedly, "My son, my son, Absalom; would, I had fallen instead of thee!" The depths of a father's heart are unsearchable. Perhaps, he considered Absalom in the light of a victim whom Ahithophel had inveigled and urged on to rebellion. The warriors dared not enter Mahanaim as victors, but repaired homewards stealthily, as though humiliated after a defeat. David would see and speak to no one, but mourned continually for his son's loss. At length Joab took heart, and reproached him in harsh terms for indulging in continued mourning, and thereby manifesting ingratitude towards his soldiers. In order to rouse the king, Joab further threatened that if he did not immediately show himself to his soldiers, and address them kindly, his faithful followers would leave the same night, and he would remain alone and helpless. These sharp words of the rough but faithful Joab induced David to rouse himself, and appear before the people. The corpse of Absalom was thrown into a cave, and covered with a heap of stones. He left a beautiful daughter, but his three sons had been snatched away by death before his revolt, as though it were destined that no son of his should witness the attempt against his father's life. During his short reign at Jerusalem, he had erected a splendid monument in the "King's Valley," to perpetuate his own name. Intended for his glorification, it became the commemoration of his disgrace. After the close of the war, David contemplated returning to Jerusalem. He did not wish, however, to force the tribes into submission, he preferred to await their repentant return to him, and the renewal of their oaths of allegiance. It was a curious fact that the tribes of the north were the first to take this course. The voice of the people appealed to the elders to lead them back to their king. They cried, "The king who delivered us from our enemies, and freed us from the yoke of the Philistines, was forced by Absalom to flee from his own country. Absalom is now dead. Why do you not hasten to bring back our king? Come, let us lead him home." Thereupon the elders of the tribes invited David to return to his capital; and thus, a second time, they acknowledged him as king. Contrary to all expectation, the tribe of Judah, and naturally the tribe of Benjamin were still holding back. They did not move one step to welcome their king. Probably the men of Judah felt bitterly ashamed of the revolt they had started in Hebron, and did not venture to entreat David's pardon. Perhaps, too, the discontent which had incited them to forswear their allegiance was still at work amongst them. It seems that Amasa, who had fled to Jerusalem after the defeat in the forest of Gilead, still exercised great influence over the men of Judah.
When David saw that the tribe of Judah was still holding aloof from him, he commanded the two priests, Zadok and Abiathar, who had remained in Jerusalem, to admonish the elders of Judah to invite their king to return. He told the priests to assure Amasa that he would not only receive a free pardon, but even retain his rank as general. With this prospect before him, Amasa determined to accept David's offers, and he persuaded the elders to accede to the king's proposal. The men of Judah thereupon sent an invitation to David, and an embassy went forth to meet the king, and receive him at Gilgal. The men of Benjamin were sorely puzzled by this conduct. What were they to do? The Benjamites had publicly shown themselves inimical to David when he had fled from Jerusalem through their territory; they had not thought it possible that he would ever return, and reclaim his throne. Now affairs had changed, and not only the northern tribes, but even Judah was preparing to do him homage. The Benjamites felt no attachment to David, but they could not isolate themselves, for then the king's wrath would fall heavily on them. Shimei, whose insults had caused David such bitter pain during his flight, and who, in consequence, had most cause to fear the king's anger, advised that they should display intense enthusiasm for David's cause, exceeding that of the other tribes, since, by appealing to his generosity, they might incline him favourably towards them. In obedience to this advice, one thousand Benjamites went forward to meet David, joined the JudÆan embassy, and, on arriving at the bank of the Jordan, threw a bridge across the river in order to facilitate the king's transit. Meanwhile the king had left Mahanaim, and was approaching the Jordan, attended by his court, his servants, and the faithful followers who had joined him on the opposite shore. Shimei advanced before all the others, threw himself at the king's feet as he was about to cross the river, acknowledged his fault, and entreated David's forgiveness. David now returned with a larger concourse of followers than had accompanied him on his flight across the Jordan: he was attended by the JudÆan embassy, by a thousand Benjamites, and by the faithful friends who formed his guard of honour. The first town reached after crossing the Jordan was Gilgal. Here the ambassadors of the different tribes on this side of the river were assembled to renew their homage; they felt surprised and annoyed that the JudÆans had stolen a march on them by meeting the king at the very shore of the Jordan. They saw in this eager display of loyalty, which they could not consider sincere, an effort on the part of the house of Judah to regain the king's favour, to the detriment of the house of Israel.
The elders of Israel made no secret of their displeasure, and gave vent to it in David's presence; the JudÆans, however, retaliated on them. The question of precedency degenerated into a violent quarrel, the JudÆans making angry retorts, thus offending the northern tribes still more. Bitter animosity arose between the contending parties; David appears to have inclined to the side of the JudÆans. Sheba, a Benjamite of the family of Bichri, taking advantage of the general confusion, sounded the trumpet and cried, "We have no portion in David, and no share in the son of Jesse; let every Israelite return to his tent." Heeding this cry, the elders of the northern tribes withdrew, and followed Sheba the Bichrite. The men of Judah alone remained faithful to David, and accompanied him to Jerusalem. The joy of their return was mingled with annoyance: a fresh breach had arisen, a civil war was imminent. At this sad juncture David had recourse to a step which may be considered either very wise or very foolish. Joab had become obnoxious to him since the king had learned that he had killed Absalom, and David did not wish him to fill the office of general any longer. Besides this, he desired to keep his word with Amasa, and to appoint him to the office of commander-in-chief. David, being now dependent on the tribe of Judah, felt the necessity of retaining Amasa's good-will, as the latter's influence had immense weight with the JudÆans. Without consulting Joab, he commanded Amasa to summon the forces of the tribe of Judah within three days, in order to proceed against the rebels. The time expired, and Amasa did not return. David became uneasy; he thought Amasa might have deceived him, and made common cause with the insurgents. It was necessary to be expeditious, lest Sheba's followers increase in numbers, and also gain time to occupy fortified cities. David had no choice but to turn to the sons of Zeruiah, who, in their unswerving fidelity, had remained true to him in spite of frequent slights, and whose skill in matters of war he had amply tested. David would not, however, give the supreme command to Joab, but entrusted it to his brother Abishai. He set out with the Cherethites and Pelethites, who were to form the nucleus of the army which he hoped to collect on the way. Joab overlooked the insult which had been offered him, and joined the troops, or rather became their leader. He appears to have issued an appeal to the people to gather around him. When Amasa joined them in Gibeon, Joab killed him with one stroke of his sword, and the JudÆans, whom Amasa had collected, followed the sons of Zeruiah. In all the towns, fresh partisans and followers attached themselves to David's cause. Sheba found but few adherents, the northern tribes being unwilling to begin a civil war for the sake of a man who was but little known, and who was followed only by a small band of soldiers. He had thrown himself into the fortified town of Abel, and a part of his followers occupied the town of Dan, which lay at an hour's distance from the base of Mount Hermon, not far from the source of the Jordan. Joab quickly ordered a trench to be dug round the town of Abel, and without calling on the inhabitants to surrender, he began to undermine the walls. The inhabitants became greatly alarmed. Then a wise woman called from the wall to the sappers below to summon Joab. When he approached, she addressed him reproachfully, "Thou shouldst have asked first in Abel and Dan that thou mightest have heard, whether all those who are faithful and peace-loving have departed from Israel. Why wilt thou slaughter the mothers and the children of Israel? Why wilt thou destroy the inheritance of Jacob?" Joab replied that he did not wish to do this, that he merely desired to capture the man who had lifted his hand against the king. On this the woman promised that the head of the rebel should soon be thrown over the wall. She kept her word, for she secretly persuaded her fellow-citizens to separate Sheba from his few followers, and to kill him. His gory head was cast over the wall, and Joab raised the siege, dismissed his soldiers, and returned to Jerusalem with the news of his victory. The king was obliged, against his will, to leave him in command of the army.
David returned to his capital with a purged soul. He had suffered and atoned heavily for his sins. He had taken away the wife of his faithful servant, and his son had taken away his wives. He had spilt Uriah's blood, and the streams of blood shed in his own house had almost overwhelmed him. He had found by bitter experience that even the best king cannot build on his people's love. His plan of undertaking a great war against his heathen foes was shattered. He, therefore, in his old age, during the last years of his reign, confined his attention to the internal affairs of his kingdom. He wished to carry out, before death overtook him, an idea he had long cherished. He wished to build a magnificent temple to the God of Israel, who had rescued him in his many troubles. Before commencing, David consulted Nathan, the prophet; for in those days the prophet ranked higher than the priest. He said, "I live in a palace of cedar wood, whilst the Ark of God is only in a temporary tent. I will build a temple of cedar for it!" Nathan approved the plan and said, "Carry out all that is in thy heart, for God is with thee!" The next day, however, the prophet came to him, and revealed to David that he was not destined to build a temple, because he had shed blood, but that this task would be reserved for his son. At the same time David was informed that his throne was established for many years to come,—that a long succession of kings would descend from him, and occupy his throne, provided that they walked in the ways of God. Much as David had wished to build a stately temple in Jerusalem, he bowed humbly to the divine decree revealed to him by Nathan, and gave up his project. Before the ark of the covenant, he thanked God in a heartfelt prayer for the mercies bestowed on him, who had been raised up from the dust. His heart was filled with gratitude that his royal house and his throne were to be established for many years to come. David gave expression to this feeling in a psalm, which, however, has not the same verve as his former songs; it was, perhaps, his last poetic prayer.
Although David did not commence the erection of the temple himself, he began to make the necessary preparations. He devoted to the sanctuary a part of the booty which he had acquired from the conquered nations. He also regulated the order in which divine services were to be conducted, by having, according to Samuel's method, choirs of Levites to play on the harp and sing psalms, in addition to the ordinary sacrificial rites. He is also considered the inventor of the various musical instruments which were later on introduced into the service.
David's vital energy began to decrease before he had attained his seventy-first year. The anxieties of his youth, the constant warfare, the exciting events in his own family, Amnon's sinfulness and Absalom's revolt caused him to grow old at a comparatively early age. He felt no warmth in his body; he felt cold despite the torrid heat of Jerusalem, and all the clothes which he could procure did not seem to supply him with the necessary vital heat.
Adonijah, the king's fourth son, endeavoured, by taking advantage of David's failing powers, to secure the succession. He was the next heir after Amnon and Absalom, but he feared that he might be passed over if he awaited the death of his father, and he had probably heard of the secret understanding, according to which the son of Bathsheba, his youngest brother, was to succeed to the throne. Adonijah had no desire to rebel against his father as Absalom had done, he merely wished to have his right to the succession recognised by the chief dignitaries of the kingdom. He therefore took counsel with those of David's court who were opposed to Solomon's succession. Foremost amongst these was Joab, who supported him as he had formerly supported Absalom. Adonijah's other confidant was Abiathar, the second of the high priests, who seems to have been placed in an inferior position by David. Zadok, whose family had been appointed hereditary high priests by Saul at Gibeon, had been retained in that position by David, who wished to secure his support, and therefore bestowed upon him the highest rank in the sanctuary. Abiathar may have felt hurt by this neglect, and perhaps took the part of Adonijah in order to secure the position he could not hope to obtain under Solomon. The other sons of the king also wished to see the throne assured to Adonijah, and thus intrigues at the court commenced afresh. Adonijah was as handsome and as popular as Absalom had been, and also, it appears, as thoughtless and as unfit for governing. Like Absalom, he began to draw the eyes of the people upon himself by a truly royal display; he procured chariots and attendants on horseback, and kept a guard of fifty runners, who preceded him wherever he went. David was weak in his behaviour to him, as he had been to Absalom—permitted him to have his own way, and thus tacitly acknowledged him as his successor. One day Adonijah invited his confidants, Joab, Abiathar, and all the king's sons excepting Solomon, to a meeting. They offered up sacrifices near a well, and during the feast his followers cried, "Long live King Adonijah!" The first to take exception to Adonijah's proceedings was Nathan the prophet. He knew of the secret promise, given by David to his wife Bathsheba, that Solomon should inherit the crown. He had also revealed to David that Solomon was appointed by God to be his successor. He seems to have had confidence in Solomon's character, and to have expected better things from him than from Adonijah. Nathan, therefore, went to Bathsheba, and they devised a plan by which Adonijah's scheme might be overthrown. Bathsheba then repaired to the king, reminded him of his oath, and directed his attention to the fact that, in the event of Adonijah's succession, she and her son both would be lost, and her marriage would be branded with ignominy.
Hardly had she ended the description of the sad fate which awaited her if Solomon's claims were set aside, when the prophet Nathan was announced, and confirmed her assertions. David's resolve was quickly taken, and carried into effect on the same day, for he was most anxious to keep his oath to leave the sceptre to Solomon. He called upon the dignitaries who had not conspired with Adonijah, on Zadok, Benaiah and the warriors, and announced to them his resolve that Solomon should be anointed king during his own lifetime, and they all solemnly promised to acknowledge Solomon. Thereupon, David summoned the Cherethites and Pelethites to attend his son. Solomon then mounted one of the royal mules, and proceeded to the valley of Gihon, to the west of the town. A crowd of people joined the procession, and when the high-priest Zadok and the prophet Nathan had anointed him with oil from the tent of the sanctuary, the soldiers blew their trumpets, and all the people cried, "Long live King Solomon!"
Great excitement now prevailed in Jerusalem. While the eastern mountains echoed with the cry of "Long live King Adonijah!" the western chain was resounding with shouts of "Long live King Solomon!" Had both the king's sons and their adherents remained obstinate, a civil war must have ensued. But Adonijah was not like Absalom—he did not wish to excite a rebellion. Nor would his chief supporters, Joab and Abiathar, have assisted him in such an attempt. No sooner did Adonijah hear that Solomon had been anointed king by his father's command than his courage failed him. He hastened to the sanctuary at Zion in order to seek refuge in the holy of holies. Solomon, however, who had immediately taken the reins of government, sent to inform him that he might leave the sanctuary, that not a hair of his head should be touched so long as he did not attempt any fresh revolt. Adonijah then repaired to the young king, paid him due homage, and was dismissed with presents. Thus the contest for the succession ended.
David's weakness gradually increased, until after a stormy reign of forty years and six months (1015), he expired peacefully. He was the first to occupy a place in the royal mausoleum which he had built in a rocky cave on the southern slope of Mount Zion.
David's death was deeply mourned. He had made the nation great, independent and happy, and death transfigured him. When he had passed away, the nation began to realise the true value of his work, and what he had been to them. He had reunited the various tribes, each of which had before followed its own special interests, and he formed them into one nation. The revolts of Absalom and Sheba proved sufficiently how strong the feeling had become which bound the tribes together. The house of Israel did not seize the opportunity offered by his death of severing itself from the house of Judah, and great as was their jealousy of each other, they held together. David had removed every inducement for party divisions, and had knit them together with a kind but firm hand. During his reign the priesthood and the prophets worked amicably together. Thus Solomon was anointed by the high priest Zadok in conjunction with the prophet Nathan. David maintained friendly relations between the priestly houses of Eleazar and Ithamar, represented by Zadok and Abiathar respectively. The nation had no reason to complain of oppression, for he dealt justly to the extent of his ability. By destroying the power of the Philistines, who had so long held the neighbouring tribes in subjection, and by conquering the nations inhabiting the banks of the Euphrates, he had not only established internal prosperity, but had also founded a great empire which could vie in power with Egypt, and had cast into the shade the ChaldÆan and Assyrian kingdoms on the Euphrates and the Tigris. By this means he had roused the people to the proud consciousness that it constituted a mighty nation of the Lord, the possessor of the law of God, the superior of the neighbouring nations. David's sins were gradually forgotten, for his atonement had been both grievous and manifold. Posterity pronounced a milder judgment on him than did his contemporaries. The remembrance of his great deeds, his kindness, his obedience to God, caused him to appear invested with the traits of an ideal king, who served as a pattern to all later rulers,—one who had always walked in the ways of God, and never departed therefrom. The kings of his house who succeeded him were measured by his standard, and were judged by the extent of their resemblance to him.
David's reign shone through the ages as perfect,—as one in which power and humility, fear of God and peace were united. Every succeeding century added its tribute to David's character, until he became the ideal of a virtuous king and sacred poet.
