Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
Absalom solicits the people, and conspires against David in Hebron; wherefore David with his followers, verse 14, flees, and, verse 24, sends back the priests following him with the ark to the city. Finally, verse 30, ascending the Mount of Olives, with bare feet, weeping and covered head, he sends Hushai back to the city, to frustrate the counsel of Ahithophel.
Vulgate Text: 2 Kings 15:1-37
1. Therefore after these things Absalom prepared for himself chariots, and horsemen, and fifty men to run before him. 2. And rising early, Absalom stood beside the entrance of the gate, and when any man had a suit to come to the king for judgment, Absalom called him to himself and said: From what city are you? He answered and said: From such a tribe of Israel is your servant. 3. And Absalom answered him: Your words seem good and just to me; but there is no one appointed by the king to hear you. And Absalom said: 4. Who will appoint me judge over the land, that all who have a suit may come to me, and I may judge justly for them? 5. Moreover, when any man came to him to salute him, he would put forth his hand and take him and kiss him. 6. And Absalom did this to all Israel who came for judgment to be heard by the king, and he solicited the hearts of the men of Israel. 7. And after forty years, Absalom said to King David: Let me go and pay my vows which I have vowed to the Lord in Hebron. 8. For your servant made a vow when he was in Geshur of Syria, saying: If the Lord shall bring me back to Jerusalem, I will offer sacrifice to the Lord. 9. And King David said to him: Go in peace. And he arose and went to Hebron. 10. And Absalom sent spies throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying: As soon as you hear the sound of the trumpet, say: Absalom reigns in Hebron. 11. Now two hundred men went with Absalom from Jerusalem, who had been invited and went with a simple heart, knowing nothing of the matter. 12. Absalom also sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, David's counselor, from his city Giloh, while he was offering sacrifices; and the conspiracy was strong, for the people with Absalom were continually increasing. 13. And a messenger came to David, saying: All Israel with their whole heart follows Absalom. 14. And David said to all his servants who were with him in Jerusalem: Arise, let us flee; for there will be no escaping for us from the face of Absalom; make haste to go out, lest he come and overtake us, and bring ruin upon us, and strike the city with the edge of the sword. 15. And the king's servants said to him: Whatever our lord the king commands, we your servants will gladly do. 16. So the king went out, and all his household on foot; and the king left ten women, his concubines, to keep the house. 17. And the king went out, and all the people on foot, and stood far from the house. 18. And all his servants walked beside him, and the legions of the Cherethites and Pelethites, and all the Gittites, valiant warriors, six hundred men who had followed him from Gath on foot, went before the king. 19. And the king said to Ittai the Gittite: Why do you come with us? Return and dwell with the king, for you are a stranger, and you departed from your own place. 20. You came yesterday, and today shall I compel you to move with us? But I shall go where I am about to go; return, and take back your brethren with you, and the Lord will show you mercy and truth, because you have shown grace and faithfulness. 21. And Ittai answered the king and said: As the Lord lives, and as my lord the king lives, in whatever place you shall be, my lord the king, whether in death or in life, there will your servant be. 22. And David said to Ittai: Come then, pass over. And Ittai the Gittite passed over, and all the men who were with him, and the rest of the people. 23. And they all wept with a loud voice, and all the people passed over; the king also crossed the brook Kidron, and all the people marched toward the way that looks to the desert. 24. And Zadok the priest also came, and all the Levites with him, carrying the ark of the covenant of God, and they set down the ark of God; and Abiathar went up, until all the people who had gone out of the city had finished passing over. 25. And the king said to Zadok: Carry back the ark of God into the city; if I shall find grace in the eyes of the Lord, He will bring me back, and will show me it and His tabernacle. 26. But if He shall say to me: You do not please me; I am ready, let Him do what is good before Him. 27. And the king said to Zadok the priest: O seer, return into the city in peace; and let Ahimaaz your son and Jonathan the son of Abiathar, your two sons, be with you. 28. Behold, I will hide in the plains of the desert, until word comes from you to tell me. 29. So Zadok and Abiathar carried back the ark of God into Jerusalem and remained there. 30. But David went up by the ascent of the Mount of Olives, going up and weeping, walking with bare feet and with his head covered; and all the people who were with him went up with their heads covered, weeping. 31. And it was told David that Ahithophel also was in the conspiracy with Absalom; and David said: Frustrate, O Lord, I beseech You, the counsel of Ahithophel. 32. And when David was come to the top of the mountain where he was about to worship the Lord, behold Hushai the Archite came to meet him with his garment torn and his head covered with earth. 33. And David said to him: If you come with me, you will be a burden to me; 34. but if you return to the city and say to Absalom: I am your servant, O king; as I have been your father's servant, so I will be your servant; you shall defeat the counsel of Ahithophel. 35. And you have with you Zadok and Abiathar the priests; and whatever word you shall hear from the king's house, you shall tell Zadok and Abiathar the priests. 36. And there are with them their two sons, Ahimaaz the son of Zadok and Jonathan the son of Abiathar; and by them you shall send to me every word that you shall hear. 37. So Hushai the friend of David went into the city; and Absalom entered Jerusalem.
Verse 1: Absalom Solicits the Kingdom
1. THEREFORE AFTER THESE THINGS ABSALOM PREPARED FOR HIMSELF CHARIOTS -- as if soliciting the kingdom, especially because after the death of Amnon the firstborn, and also after Chileab had died or proved unfit for the kingdom, he, born in third place, seemed to have the nearest right to the kingdom.
Verse 7: After Forty Years
7. AFTER FORTY YEARS, ABSALOM SAID TO THE KING. -- Some from Josephus read four instead of forty. But the Hebrew, Chaldean, and Septuagint consistently have forty. I say therefore that these 40 years are to be computed from the first anointing of David as king, done by Samuel in 1 Kings XVI, 13. For this was done when David was in his 20th year; from there count 40 years, and you arrive at the 60th year of David's age, when Absalom's conspiracy took place.
Verse 14: David's Flight
14. AND DAVID SAID: ARISE, LET US FLEE. -- St. Chrysostom gives the reason for the flight in Psalm III, which David then composed: "David was fleeing from his son, because he had fled from chastity; he was fleeing from his son, because he had violated chaste marriage. He was fleeing from his son, because he had fled from the law of God, which says: You shall not kill, You shall not commit adultery."
Morally, learn here how vain it is for parents to glory in their children, and how true that saying: "The children of heroes are scourges." For often children are degenerate and enemies of their parents. Behold, David begot three sons, of whom the first, Amnon, violated his sister by incest; the second, Absalom, was a fratricide and parricide; the third, Solomon, was an idolater and plainly a womanizer.
Verse 27: The Seer Sent Back
27. O SEER, RETURN -- that is to say, O priest, O pontiff, return to the city. For the pontiff is called a "Seer," that is, a Prophet, because clothed with the rational, in which was the Urim and Thummim, consulting God he received His oracles, and proclaimed and prophesied them.
Verse 30: The Mount of Olives
30. NOW DAVID WAS ASCENDING THE SLOPE OF THE OLIVES -- namely the Mount of Olives. He ascended it, both so that fleeing Absalom he might go into the desert and hide there; and so that on the Mount of Olives, abounding in olives and olive trees, he might worship God and implore God's help and mercy (whose symbol is the olive and olive oil) in so great a crisis.
CLIMBING AND WEEPING, WALKING WITH BARE FEET AND COVERED HEAD. -- For the Hebrews, like the later Romans, walked with uncovered heads as free and unencumbered people; but in mourning they covered and veiled their heads. See here the wonderful humility, penitence, and patience of David, who weeping, barefoot, and mourning with covered head, takes to flight.
Verse 31: Ahithophel's Conspiracy
31. THAT AHITHOPHEL WAS IN THE CONSPIRACY. -- The Hebrews give as the reason that Ahithophel wished to avenge the wrong done to his granddaughter by David: for Bathsheba was the daughter of Eliam the son of Ahithophel.
MAKE FOOLISH, I PRAY, O LORD, THE COUNSEL OF AHITHOPHEL. -- For he was a very prudent man and of great counsel. Now God has various ways of making foolish the counsels of the prudent, and this without sin; for example, by suggesting other counsels, other thoughts, other reasons and methods, which at first glance seem more advantageous and attractive, and by concealing their disadvantages, difficulties, and dangers.