Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 2 Samuel 18:16
And Joab blew the trumpet, and the people returned from pursuing after Israel: for Joab held back the people.
16. blew the trumpet ] Sounded the recall to stop further pursuit. Cp. ch. 2Sa 2:28 , 2Sa 20:22.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Blew the trumpet – To stop the pursuit and slaughter 2Sa 2:28; 2Sa 20:22.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 16. Joab blew the trumpet] He knew that the rebellion was now extinguished by the death of Absalom; and was not willing that any farther slaughter should be made of the deluded people.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Who otherwise were highly incensed against the rebels, and hotly pursued them. But the head of the rebellion being cut off, and the danger thereby past, be puts a stop to the effusion of Israelitish blood.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
16. Joab blew the trumpet, . . . andheld back the peopleKnowing that by the death of the usurperthere was no occasion for further bloodshed, he put an end to thepursuit and thereby evinced the temperate policy of his conduct.However harsh and unfeeling to the king Joab may appear, there can beno doubt that he acted the part of a wise statesman in regarding thepeace and welfare of the kingdom more than his master’s privateinclinations, which were opposed to strict justice as well as his owninterests. Absalom deserved to die by the divine law (Deu 21:18;Deu 21:21), as well as being anenemy to his king and country; and no time was more fitting than whenhe met that death in open battle.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And Joab blew the trumpet,…. As the sign of a retreat:
and the people returned from pursuing after Israel; upon the sound of the trumpet, the meaning of which they understood:
for Joab held back the people: from shedding any more blood; the head of the conspiracy being removed, the thing would be crushed at once; and Joab neither chose to slay any more, nor take any prisoners, to be tried as traitors, being unawares, without thought, drawn into this rebellion.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Immediately afterwards Joab stopped any further pursuit, “for Joab spared the people,” i.e., he wanted to spare them.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
(16) Blew the trumpet.Comp. 2Sa. 2:28; 2Sa. 20:22. With the death of Absalom the rebellion was at an end, and Joab would stop further slaughter.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
HUSHAI’S MESSAGE TO DAVID, 2Sa 18:15-22.
16. Send quickly Hushai seems to have feared that his counsel might not be followed, and so without delay apprizes the king of his danger.
The plains Or, crossing places. See note on 2Sa 15:28.
Pass over Cross the fords of the Jordan.
Swallowed up Overwhelmed and destroyed by the numbers of the enemy that may speedily pursue.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
16. Blew the trumpet The signal for the people to come together: the death of Absalom virtually ending the rebellion.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
(16) And Joab blew the trumpet, and the people returned from pursuing after Israel: for Joab held back the people. (17) And they took Absalom, and cast him into a great pit in the wood, and laid a very great heap of stones upon him: and all Israel fled everyone to his tent. (18) Now Absalom in his lifetime had taken and reared up for himself a pillar, which is in the king’s dale: for he said, I have no son to keep my name in remembrance: and he called the pillar after his own name: and it is called unto this day, Absalom’s place.
As Absalom’s death was awful, so his burying was ignominious. The prophet Ezekiel gives a dreadful representation of the funeral of such men, such as this of Absalom; 2Sa 24:25 to the end. Observe, Reader! in what is here said of Absalom’s pillar, the folly of monumental pillars to the ungodly. Alas! what an awful thing it is, for a lying stone to speak well of a man where he is not; and the man himself to be in torments where he is.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
2Sa 18:16 And Joab blew the trumpet, and the people returned from pursuing after Israel: for Joab held back the people.
Ver. 16. For Joab held back the people. ] From pursuing the rebels, as pitying their seduction: he knew as well how to use victory, as to get it, which Hannibal did not.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Tidings That Failed to Bring Joy
2Sa 18:16-30
Ahimaaz was far-famed for his swift running. He had already served the royal cause, and his family was intimate with the king, 2Sa 15:36; 2Sa 17:17. Joab was therefore unwilling to entrust the youth with tidings which must give the king bitter sorrow, and perhaps cause him to associate them ever after with the bearer. Perhaps Joab also feared that the part which he himself had taken in Absaloms death would be exposed by Ahimaaz. The tidings were therefore entrusted to an Ethiopian slave. He ran along the straight road to Mahanaim, but the young priest took the way of the plain and outran him.
Tidings are constantly pouring in upon us, some by the stranger, some by the friend. But if we trust in the Lord we shall not be afraid of them, Psa 112:7. Only let our heart be fixed. For us also there shall arise light in the darkness, our heart shall be established, and we shall not be moved. When next you break the seal of the dreaded letter, lift your heart to God. He will bring good out of evil.
Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary
blew the trumpet: 2Sa 2:28, 2Sa 20:22, Num 10:2-10, 1Co 14:8
Reciprocal: Jdg 9:55 – General
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
2Sa 18:16. Joab blew the trumpet, and the people returned He knew Absaloms men had been drawn unthinkingly into this rebellion, and would return to their duty, now they had none to head them. For Joab held back the people Who otherwise, being highly incensed against the rebels, would have hotly pursued, and made still greater slaughter among them. In this Joab acted like a wise and merciful man, who wished to stop the further effusion of Israelitish blood.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
18:16 And Joab {d} blew the trumpet, and the people returned from pursuing after Israel: for Joab held back the people.
(d) For he had pity on the people, who were seduced by Absalom’s flattery.